Arc City's observatory sat halfway up the hillside — not especially high, but high enough to look out over half the city's lights.
It was quiet here most of the time. Just a few stray cats that wandered through on occasion.
For Carole, this place had been her "sanctuary" since she was small. Whenever her mom chewed her out, or she got caught slacking off in training, she'd come here and stare blankly at the stars — and, while she was at it, curse her mom's muscles to shrink by a size overnight.
Right now.
Carole was hugging her knees, curled into the corner of the observatory railing.
The night breeze was cold enough to make her shiver, and the palm print on her cheek still burned.
The tears had already dried — all that remained were the tracks streaked across her face, making her look like a little calico cat that had just crawled out of a coal pile.
"Whirrr——"
The distinctive whine of an e-scooter motor broke the silence. Then the sound of brakes. Then footsteps.
Carole sniffled and buried her face even deeper into her knees, a little impatient.
Mom must've sent someone to drag her back.
Hmph. I'm not going. Not until she comes herself and apologizes!
"Excuse me..."
A male voice came from just above her head.
"Is this spot reserved? I was hoping to borrow this prime real estate to do a little stargazing."
Carole blinked.
That voice... sounded kind of familiar?
She snapped her head up.
In the dim amber glow of the streetlight, she saw a familiar face.
Wasn't that the "ultimate specimen" that Squad Monitor Fu Hua was always going on about — the senior who allegedly slept until noon every day and coasted through life on talent and good looks — Senior Su Yu?
"Su... Senior Su?"
Carole stared, dumbfounded.
She reflexively swiped at her face, trying to wipe away the tear tracks.
"How did you get here? Did... did Ah Hua send you?"
It had to be.
Ah Hua, that big-hearted softie, must've heard about what happened at the Police Station. Too embarrassed to come herself, so she'd asked this idle senior to come check on her.
A warm feeling welled up in Carole's chest — followed immediately by a tiny pang of disappointment.
If it had been Ah Hua, she could've thrown herself at her and cried her eyes out.
But Senior Su... he seemed like a good guy, sure, but he was still a guy. And a "legendary" figure at that. Crying in front of him would be mortifying.
However.
Just as Carole was about to stand up and play it cool with a casual greeting —
Her gaze drifted past Su Yu's shoulder.
And landed on the white-haired girl walking behind him, casually stuffing chips into her mouth as she went.
White hair drifting in the night breeze.
Features too perfect to look real.
And those eyes — heterochromatic irises that shimmered even in the darkness.
"Snap."
Something in Carole's brain short-circuited.
Wait.
This person...
Wasn't this the mysterious girl from the alley just now — the one who'd kicked that armed robber flying and saved her life?!
Wasn't this the same newly-minted Vigilante who'd gone toe-to-toe with her mom, held her to a draw, and done it all while visibly holding back?
She'd even forwarded the video to Ah Hua under Captain Lewis's authorization, asking Ah Hua if she was confident enough to spar with this new junior.
And what's more —
If she remembered right, Ah Hua had sent her a video clip a few days back.
In it, this girl had torn through the Inch Heart Dojo like a force of nature — scared the big guy Ma Feima into tucking himself into a corner, and left genius Senior Sister Cheng completely unable to mount a counterattack.
What had Ah Hua said about her?
"This is our Tai Xu Sect's newest... Little Grandmaster."
Vigilante = lifesaver = Little Grandmaster?!
The three equations slammed together inside Carole's skull like billiard balls.
This feeling.
It was like buying a lottery ticket on a whim, only to find out you'd not only hit the jackpot — but the celebrity handing out the prize was your absolute favorite idol, and said idol had personally driven to your apartment building to deliver the winnings in cash.
This was way too surreal!
Even a TV drama wouldn't dare write this!
Carole's jaw dropped open. She pointed at Kiana, her finger trembling.
"Y-you, you you you..."
She couldn't string a single coherent sentence together.
All the grievance, the anger, the heartache from before — every last bit of it got bulldozed clean out of her head by sheer shock.
Kiana looked at this completely dazed brown-skinned girl standing before her.
She blinked, chewed, and swallowed the chip in her mouth.
Then, perfectly naturally, she walked over and plopped herself down on the step right beside Carole.
"Here."
She held out the half-eaten bag of chips.
"Wasabi flavor. It's a bit of a punch to the nose, but the more you eat the more you want — want some?"
This... this was the manner of a true master?
This was the Little Grandmaster's way of welcoming a guest?
With... half a bag of chips?
Carole mechanically reached out, grabbed a chip, and put it in her mouth.
The sharp, fierce wasabi hit the roof of her skull instantly, making her already red-rimmed eyes water all over again.
But that sting also jolted her right back out of her stupor.
She shot to her feet, pressed her hands flat against her thighs, snapped her spine ramrod straight, and gave Kiana a ninety-degree bow — deep and formal.
Voice loud and clear, projecting from the diaphragm: "L-Little Grandmaster, greetings!!!"
"Pfft — cough cough cough!"
Kiana nearly choked on her chip.
"No no no! Don't call me that!"
Kiana waved her hands in a panic, her little antenna hair recoiling in alarm.
She shot a glance at Su Yu and found him covering his mouth, shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter — which made her blood boil.
This was all Su Yu's fault. He just had to go and saddle her with this "Little Grandmaster" persona.
And now look. Now she had people calling her "Ancestral Grandmaster" at the drop of a hat — this was going to take years off her life.
"Ahem... that, uh, Carole, right?"
Kiana cleared her throat and did her best to arrange her face into the dignified air of a senior figure.
"No need to stand on ceremony out here. Just call me... just call me Kiana."
"Yes! Ki... Kiana... sis?"
Carole tried it out tentatively. When Kiana didn't object, she let out a quiet breath of relief.
She sat back down, a little stiff, but her gaze stayed glued to Kiana like a devoted fan who'd just met her idol.
"So... Kiana sis. And Senior Su."
Carole sniffled and asked, a touch sheepish.
"How did you end up here? Did... did Ah Hua send you?"
Kiana shook her head.
She looked at the palm print still lingering on Carole's cheek, and her expression softened.
"It wasn't Squad Monitor — I mean, it wasn't Ah Hua."
"It's because we saw you and your mom arguing at the Police Station just now."
"And also..."
Kiana pointed at Carole's eyes.
"You looked like you were really hurting."
Carole blinked.
She unconsciously touched her own cheek.
The grief she'd just barely pushed down came surging back up at those simple words of concern.
"I... I was just trying to help."
The girl lowered her head, staring at her own toes, her voice muffled.
"I've looked up to my mom my whole life. She's a hero of the SWAT unit. She's Arc City's guardian. I want to be someone like her too."
"So I trained as hard as I could. I pushed myself to learn combat. I wanted to show her — that I've grown up, that I'm capable of protecting people."
"But..."
Carole's fingers dug into the fabric over her knees.
"She always says I'm not ready. That I'm too green. That my skills aren't there yet. That I just get in the way."
"And just now too — I was genuinely trying to catch the bad guy! Even if... even if I was a little reckless, I really didn't want to let him get away!"
"Why did she have to hit me? Why can't she... even once... just say something good about me?"
The tears fell again.
They hit the concrete and bloomed into small, dark flowers.
Kiana listened in silence.
She watched this girl crying like a child.
For a moment, her vision blurred.
She felt like she was looking into a mirror.
In its reflection stood the girl she used to be — back at St. Freya Academy, carefree and thoughtless.
That was me too, wasn't it?
Thinking she was a genius. Thinking she could handle anything.
Finding Teacher Himeko's nagging annoying, finding Auntie's lectures tedious.
Whenever she caused trouble, she'd argue back without a hint of remorse.
"I'm fine, aren't I!"
"I'm the strongest there is!"
Until... that final lesson.
Kiana drew a long, slow breath.
She set the bag of chips down beside her, reached out, and gently patted Carole on the shoulder.
"Carole."
Kiana's voice was quiet.
"Do you want to hear a story?"
"A story?" Carole lifted her head and looked at her through blurred, tearful eyes.
"Mm. A story about... a foolish disciple and a strict master."
Kiana tilted her head back to look at the stars.
To stay true to her "Little Grandmaster come down from the mountain" persona, she adjusted her phrasing carefully — draping the story in the style of a wuxia novel.
"Once upon a time, on a snowy mountain very far away, there was a hidden sect." (By which she meant St. Freya.)
"That sect had a foolish disciple."
"She was gifted and strong, but reckless in temperament — she always believed she was the best in the world."
"She had a master. A heroine who wielded a great blazing sword, who had a terrible temper, and who loved her drink."
At the words "loved her drink," Su Yu standing nearby felt the corner of his mouth twitch.
Could the description be any more obvious?
But even as he thought it —
He couldn't help feeling a flicker of worry.
Bringing up Teacher Himeko now, of all times — was this really a good thing for Kiana?
He opened his mouth like he might say something. But in the end he just drew a quiet breath and didn't interrupt her.
"That master was incredibly strict with her disciple."
Kiana went on, the corner of her mouth curling into a bittersweet smile of remembrance.
"Whenever the disciple slacked off in training, or stirred up trouble outside, the master would scold her without mercy. Sometimes she'd make her copy out the sect rules as punishment, or go sweep the training grounds."
"That foolish disciple resented it. She thought the master was singling her out — that she didn't believe in her."
"She told herself: 'Once I've mastered the ultimate arts, I'll make the master eat her words. And after that, I'll never have to listen to her nagging again.'"
Carole was hanging on every word.
This was practically her and her mom to the letter.
"Then what happened?" Carole pressed.
"Then..."
The light in Kiana's eyes dimmed.
"Then the sect faced a great catastrophe. A demonic cult invaded."
"That foolish disciple, blinded by her own arrogance, fell right into the enemy's trap. The cult's leader seized control of her mind and turned her into a monster that knew nothing but slaughter."
"To save her..."
Kiana's voice trembled faintly.
"That master — the one who was always scolding her, always berating her."
"That master — whose body was already gravely wounded, who could barely even hold a sword."
"Put on the armor that burns through life itself."
"She stood alone, in front of everyone."
"With the last of her strength, she swung that great blazing sword."
"She didn't kill the disciple who had become a monster. She took the only antidote — and injected it into the disciple's body."
Kiana closed her eyes.
She drew a long, deep breath, as though searching the already-warm early summer air for some fragment of strength to hold onto.
She fought with everything she had to keep her voice from breaking — but a trace of it crept in anyway.
"When that foolish disciple finally woke up."
"The master was gone."
"She didn't know whether the master was alive or dead. But deep in her heart there was a powerful certainty —"
"She would never hear the master's nagging again."
"She would never have the chance... to say 'I'm sorry' to the master. Or 'thank you.'"
The observatory fell completely silent.
Only the whisper of wind through the leaves.
Kiana opened her eyes and turned to look at Carole, who sat there utterly still.
She reached out and gently wiped the tear tracks from Carole's face.
"Carole."
"Your mom hit you — not because she doesn't believe in you."
"It's because... she was scared."
"She was scared you'd end up like that foolish disciple — throwing your life away because of a moment of recklessness."
"That slap landed on your cheek. But the one who felt the pain — was her."
"While she's still here."
"While you can still hear her nag."
"Don't be like that foolish disciple... don't wait until you've lost someone to learn what regret means."
Carole stared at Kiana.
She'd called it a "story."
But those eyes. That voice.
This was plainly something she had lived herself.
Looking into those eyes — so close now, carrying what seemed like a boundless sorrow —
Carole parted her lips. And something about the mythological "Little Grandmaster" she'd built up in her mind... felt, in this moment, a little less unreachable.
So.
Even someone like Kiana — who seemed, in Carole's eyes, like she could do absolutely anything —
She had her own pain. Her own grief.
And yet here was Carole — a total stranger. Worse than that: someone who'd caused trouble. Someone who hadn't even properly thanked the person who'd saved her life.
And still, Kiana had reached out her hand. Even when she herself was covered in wounds.
Something bittersweet and aching welled up in her chest.
"Kiana sis..."
Carole suddenly threw herself into Kiana's arms and burst out sobbing.
"Waaah... I know I was wrong... I'm going straight back to find my mom..."
"I don't want to be that foolish disciple... waaah..."
In those tears were both the terror of having nearly never seen Lewis again — and gratitude, and heartache, for Kiana.
Kiana startled for just a moment. Then she wrapped her arms gently around this crying girl.
She patted Carole's back softly — just the way that, once upon a time...
No one had ever done for her.
She hadn't even had time to think about it — she'd woken up and found herself adrift in Arc City.
But she knew. If it had been Teacher Himeko, this was exactly what she would have done.
Su Yu stood off to one side, watching.
He didn't say a word. He just quietly held out a packet of tissues.
Then he turned away and sent a text to Lewis:
[Found her. She's at the observatory. She's fine — bringing her back soon.]
Su Yu pocketed his phone and turned back around.
He didn't walk over right away.
He just leaned against the nearby railing, a few steps removed, and watched the two figures on the steps.
Kiana had her arms around a loudly weeping Carole — one hand gently patting her back, the other still clutching the half-eaten bag of wasabi chips, the bag crinkling softly in her grip.
Her profile looked a little indistinct in the amber glow of the streetlight.
But Su Yu could see her slightly downcast lashes, and the little white antenna hair that was usually perky and defiant — now resting quietly against her head.
He wanted to say something.
Something like "you doing okay," or "that story just now...," or in his usual style — a light jab like "who knew the dummy Kiana had a hidden talent for life coaching."
But there was something lodged in his chest.
Not quite sadness.
Something more complicated than that.
Stuck there. Couldn't go up, couldn't go down.
He thought of the System's earlier warning — the progress on the Herrscher awakening, the risk that each recovered memory might accelerate the Honkai corruption.
He thought of the look on Kiana's face when she'd put on that shock collar — that expression of near-relief, as though it was a weight off her shoulders.
This dummy...
She was still teetering right on the edge of the abyss herself — and yet she'd already learned how to reach out and pull someone else back from it.
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