‘Thinking’
“Talking”
[Attack]
Act 5 (Part 5) — A Dark Blue Locomotive and the Princess’s Hand
[ Location: Yagami Star System – Kiana’s Quarters ]
[ POV: Kiana Kaslana ]
The next morning, I woke up after the best night of sleep I’d had in years.
As soon as my eyes opened, the memory of Mei’s soft kiss on my cheek flooded back.
A sudden wave of heat rushed straight to my face, turning my cheeks bright crimson.
I buried my head in my pillow for a moment before forcing myself to sit up, take a deep breath, and get ready for the day.
After changing into fresh clothes, I walked down the quiet corridor toward Mei’s room.
I knocked softly on her door.
A few seconds later, the door slid open to reveal Mei, looking slightly sleepy as she blinked at me.
“Good morning, Kiana.
Is something wrong?”
“Morning,” I smiled.
“I’m about to set up a conference call with Screwllum, Herta, and Stephen to discuss the Soul Gems.
Do you want to join me?”
Mei nodded immediately.
“Of course.
Give me ten minutes to freshen up and change.”
“Take your time,” I replied.
Ten minutes later, Mei joined me in the cafeteria, pulling up a chair right beside mine.
Reaching into the Gate of Finality, I materialized a fresh breakfast spread steaming coffee for me, fine tea for her, and a plate of warm pastries and snacks to share.
We ate quietly, chatting casually about our upcoming projects.
Mei seemed particularly eager to see Herta’s reaction to the Soul Gem project.
As she took a bite of a chocolate croissant, a tiny dab of chocolate caught on the corner of her lip.
Without overthinking it, I leaned in, gently wiping the chocolate off her face with my thumb, and licked it clean.
Mei froze, staring at me in absolute shock as a deep blush bloomed across her face.
“W-When did you become so bold?!” she stammered.
I offered her my most smug, confident grin.
“For you, Mei?
I’ll always be bold.”
Her face flushed an even deeper shade of red, making her look utterly adorable.
I couldn’t help but laugh softly as she tried desperately to regain her composure.
Once we settled down, we brought up the central terminal and initiated a secure multi-line call.
The first holographic window flickered to life, revealing Herta standing in her study.
“Hello, Herta,” I greeted cheerfully.
“Hope we’re not interrupting anything.”
“Hello Kiana, Mei,” Herta replied, crossing her arms.
“No, you’re fine.
I was just about to start my daily research cycle.” Her eyes locked onto me with keen interest.
“What’s the urgent topic you wanted to discuss?”
“Let’s wait for Screwllum and Stephen to connect, then I’ll give everyone a complete briefing.”
Herta raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
Moments later, a second holographic window opened as Screwllum joined the call.
“A pleasant day to you, Madam Kiana, Madam Mei, and Madam Herta,” Screwllum greeted in his classic, aristocratic tone.
He turned his mechanical gaze toward my camera feed.
“Miss Kiana, what is the core agenda for today’s gathering?
Did you encounter an unexpected threat?”
I chuckled softly.
“Nothing like that, Mr.
Screwllum.
Me and Mei are completely fine.
We’re just waiting on Stephen before I break the news.”
Screwllum bowed his head in understanding.
Seconds later, a third feed flickered on, revealing Stephen looking slightly flustered.
“H-Hello everyone!” Stephen stammered awkwardly.
“I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long!”
“Not at all, Stephen, you’re right on time,” I reassured him.
I straightened my posture, my expression turning focused.
“I brought you all together to present my latest invention the Soul Gem.
I wanted to offer the Genius Society an advance sample before I take it to the open market.
In short, the Soul Gem amplifies a Pathstrider’s energy output by twenty-five to thirty-five percent with exceptional cases jumping even higher.
Additionally, it features a tactical combat mode inspired by classical ‘magical girl’ tropes, manifesting high-output armor equipped for both offense and defense.”
Stephen and Screwllum looked genuinely fascinated by the theoretical framework.
Herta, on the other hand, suddenly stood dead still, her eyes literally sparkling with unbridled excitement.
The entire call went dead quiet for three seconds as we all stared at her rare, utterly un-Herta like reaction.
Screwllum cleared his throat, breaking the silence.
“Miss Kiana…
could you provide us with a physical demonstration of the Soul Gem’s operational capacity?”
“I think a hands-on trial would be much better,” I smiled.
“Where should we meet?”
“The Herta Space Station!” Herta interjected instantly, practically vibrating with excitement.
“You’re all coming to the space station.
Meet me there in two hours!
I’ll personally ensure the primary reception deck is cleared and secured for our meeting!”
We all let out a collective chuckle at her overwhelming enthusiasm.
“Two hours it is,” I agreed.
“See you all soon.”
With the meeting confirmed, we ended the call.
I turned toward Mei with a teasing grin.
“You were right.
Herta lost her mind the second I mentioned the magical girl transformation.”
Mei giggled softly, shaking her head.
“I told you.
“A spot-on prediction,” I chuckled.
Standing up, I bowed dramatically and extended my hand toward her.
“Shall we depart for our destination, my lady?”
Mei accepted my hand, her eyes dancing with amusement at my antics.
“We shall.
What manner of vessel do you intend to use for our journey?”
I held onto her fingers, winking.
“I was thinking of taking the 2nd Divine Key the Cosmic Juggernaut.”
Mei raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
“You want to summon a Divine Key capable of traversing parallel realities…
just to take a short trip to the Herta Space Station?”
“Why not?” I replied cheekily.
“The Astral Express uses a train, so why can’t we?
Unless you have a better idea?”
Mei let out a long, fond sigh, unable to hide her smile.
“You win.
We will use the Cosmic Juggernaut.
I admit, I am curious to analyze its spatial engine architecture anyway.”
Hand in hand, we walked down to the primary hangar bay.
Raising my hand, I invoked the [Gate of Finality], folding space to summon the 2nd Divine Key into physical reality.
A massive, Dark blue and gold locomotive materialized before us, its spatial thrusters humming with quiet, reality bending power.
Before stepping aboard, I summoned Kyubey through [ Void ], holding the creature comfortably in my arm.
I turned back to Mei, offering my free hand once more with a playful smile.
“Shall we take a ride, my lady?”
Mei took my hand, a subtle, beautiful smirk touching her lips.
“We shall…
my princess.”
I blinked, completely caught off guard by the nickname, before a brilliant smile spread across my face.
We stepped inside the luxurious interior of the Cosmic Juggernaut, locking in the spatial coordinates for the outskirts of the Herta Space Station.
To ensure Herta had ample time to clear the docking bay, we scheduled our arrival for fifteen minutes ahead of the meeting.
We set the train to move out of the star system at sub-light speed first, giving us time to run a final security sweep.
Before initiating the spatial jump, I pinged Madoka to verify that our orbital station, production lines and the star system were completely locked down, while Mei checked in with Zhī Shēng to confirm laboratories and star system’s security.
With all protocols green lit, the Cosmic Juggernaut engaged its spatial engines, leaping across the light years to drop us precisely one light-year out from the station.
As the locomotive glided gracefully toward the space station during the final leg of the journey, Mei and I sat together in the lounge car, sipping tea and chatting effortlessly.
The air between us was soft, warm, and sweet a quiet sanctuary amidst the infinite expanse of stars.
Author’s Note
Terming Update: Gate of Babylon has been officially renamed to the Gate of Finality!
Kiana has upgraded and fundamentally rewritten the artifact’s core logic to anchor it directly to her Herrscher Authority.
Chapter Lengths: Thank you all for your patience regarding chapter pacing!
I work 12 hour shifts, but I am making sure every single chapter meets a strict minimum of 1,000+ words, with longer chapters dropping whenever I have free days.
Thank you for reading and supporting the story!
Please Drop the power stone!