Chapter 1686: Is it a reunion or a first meeting?
Preparation and planning.
Despite the usefulness of these two actions, despite the fact that doing so can help resolve issues before they pop up, not a lot of people enjoy doing them.
By and large, nobody likes to think about something going wrong or the myriad of ways something could go wrong.
However, it is only by doing so that one can prevent a somewhat expensive vacation from becoming a devastating mistake that would take generations to resolve...or requires blood in order to he washed.
Then again, all the preparation in the world can be rendered pointless if the basis for it was a mistake to begin with.
-A sentiment shared by the survivor of the Nine Hour war, a devastating loss that eradicated five entire kingdoms.
...
Multiple times up until now, Serena had told herself that if given the chance, she would exact bloody vengeance on the people responsible for her sister’s death.
That she would personally burn them alive, decapitate them, and then show off their remains to the people of Emberona, to share with them the traitors that dared to harm the people that they were supposed to protect.
This feeling didn’t change when she found out that these traitors were Hulna and Feroxxa, two of the most influential church leaders in the theocracy.
It still didn’t change when she learned that the true culprit was the [Flame of Ambition, and that the aforementioned church leaders were little more than henchmen to the sentient aether treasure offshoot.
And when she was in the throes of battle, almost lost Copper, and performed one of the most powerful aether arts in her life, she was still certain that she was going to exact bloody revenge on Hulna and Feroxxa in the end, even after she saw them get drained of power.
But now, after being forced to remember the truth of that evening so long ago, given time to cool off, and seeing Hulna and Feroxxa locked behind a specially made prison door...Serena felt conflicted.
’Look at how pathetic and quiet they are now,’ the Hearth Tender thought to herself as she stared at defeated abbotts. ’The same assholes that I thought to be untouchable are now laying against each other in such a defeated state. I wouldn’t even have to use much effort to finally kill them. All I would have to do is him in there and slit their throats and it would be done...so why can’t I bring up that feeling of hatred I had before? Is it because of Zhen Liu?"
Zhen Liu, the Kaijin Lord, had asked her multiple times if she was certain that she wanted to exact bloody vengeance on the people who wronged her, on the people who took her sister’s life.
She assumed it was because Zhen Liu was a pacifist, a fucked-up one who preferred to torture and maim over a quick death, but a pacifist all the same.
It was now, she realized, he was asking for her sake.
Kaijin are beings of [Desire] and as their Lord, Zhen Liu was more than capable of detecting people’s innermost [Desire].
When Zhen Liu used [Karmic Empowerment], Serena could feel it wasn’t just righteous [Retribution] that was fueling her flame.
If it was, then her [Hearth Tender’s Grace] would’ve become twisted and full of violence.
Instead, it just sort...of gently reunited with the [Flame of Ambition] and became whole again...mostly.
It was actually undergoing a transformation that Serena wasn’t entirely sure about, but she could feel it had gotten stronger.
Regardless, what truly empowered her attack was actually [Reunion].
She wanted desperately to reunite with her sister, with her family, but it was something that could never be.
’He knew that my sister would never approve of me sowing a path of bloody carnage for the sake of revenge,’ Serena thought to herself. ’But if that’s the case...what do I do now?’
Serena had been maintaining her position because the [Sacred Flame] chose her, so she wasn’t completely without purpose...but, her main motivation had been revenge.
But now she wasn’t even sure if—
"Excuse me? Miss Hearth Tender? Do you mind if I ask you something?"
"Huh? Sorry I was...was..."
Serena was aware that Zhen Liu had a veritable army of monsters and mortal allies, and was well aware that the latter were in the same room as herself.
However, she didn’t really pay attention to any of their features due to focusing on Abbott Hulna and Abbott Feroxxa the moment she entered the prison. If she had paid attention to the other people, though, she would’ve been more emotionally prepared for this moment.
"Uh...Miss Serena? Are you okay?"
"..."
Standing before was a tall albino woman dressed in armor that was clearly made from the chitinous parts of giant insects and with a longbow upon her back.
This woman, for reasons Serena wasn’t entirely sure about, greatly resembled her late older sister.
Not by the color of her hair or her eyes, but because of everything else.
The cheekbones were similar, the shape of the eyes, the lips, the nose, even the ears.
If Serena didn’t know better, she would’ve assumed the woman before her was a kaijin Zhen Liu had made using her sister’s body and spirit.
But no, she could tell this woman was younger than her sister...and even younger than herself.
’Wait a minute...’
A thought struck Serena in that exact instance, but she kept this thought quiet for now.
There was no reason to freak out the young woman before, especially since she didn’t even know how they were beyond being one of Zhen Liu’s confidants.
"Miss Hearth Tender? Are you okay?"
"Huh? Oh, yes. Sorry, I was just...lost in thought. Apologies Miss..."
"Ah...Xiao Liu gets like that too," Rianna nodded in understanding. "Something about him having to process the thoughts of a lot of different kaijin at once...wait, do you also have people in your head talking all the time? Also, my name is Rianna.
"No, I...actually I sort of do, but that’s besides the point," Serena shook her head in order to bring attention back to the present. "You wanted to ask me something, right?"
What Serena didn’t say at this moment was that she found it kind of odd that her name rhymed with own.
"Yes," the albino woman nodded. "I was wondering if the two of us have ever met before."
"Pardon?"
This question intrigued Serena for reasons she wasn’t even clear about.
"I know how weird of a question it is," Rianna said while scratching the back of her head in a manner that cause Serena’s eye to twitch with the pain of familiarity, "but have we ever met before? I mean, before you met Xiao Liu, that is."
"Eh?"
The question confused Serena, but at the same time...she couldn’t help but to also take it seriously.
"What do you mean? I am fairly certain that this is the first time we have ever met," Serena answered, the confidence in her voice mildly shaky.
Rianna, for her part, couldn’t help but to pause before explaining her question further.
"Well...I can say for certain that this is probably the first time we’ve had a proper conversation with one another," Rianna confirmed. "But I couldn’t help but notice that you seemed really familiar to me. Which is weird because as I said, this is the first time we met."
As soon as those words left Rianna’s mouth, Serena couldn’t help but to feel some weird modicum of hope.
"What...makes you think I would be able to answer that question?"
"Well, for starters, you’re older than me from the looks of it, so it’s possible that you might’ve met me from before my dad found me," Rianna answered in a blunt manner that immediately reminded Serena of Zhen Liu.
"That’s a bit...wait a minute...what do you mean by found?"
"Ah, well..."
Rianna proceeded to explain Serena her entire backstory leading up to now, how she was originally an orphan that had been found in the middle of a jungle filled with giant insects, how her father sacrificed himself to save her, and how Zhen Liu found her for entirely separate reasons before bringing her back to civilization.
But there was only one detail Serena cared about in this entire conversation.
As far as Rianna was aware, she was an orphan of no background.
And as for as long as Serena could remember she technically had two sisters: one older and one younger.
The older sister was gone, nobly sacrificing herself to save her life.
But now, standing before her was someone who may very well be her lost younger sister.
The problem was, she didn’t know how to confirm this.
"Unless..."
...I wonder who’s she thinking about...
"Damn, I kind of wish I was there to see all of this in person," Zhen Li said as he watched a the incredibly emotional meeting between his Amazonian girlfriend and her maybe long lost sister.
"Wait a minute..."
Staring at the meeting unfolding before his eyes, Zhen Liu had a strange epiphany.
"This happened without my interference or presence...and right now I got a lot of issues that technically don’t need my help specifically...but if I leave them alone, the outcome won’t be as nice as this..."