Seeing Luna about to crash out from having been peeped on in her nightmares, Otto started to gently pat her head.
"There, there, when the time comes...You'll get your chance to beat the life out of her, but don't start blasting my office with blood."
Luna started to whine in happiness, feeling his warm and comfy hand pressing down onto her head.
"Sorry, it's just that...The thought of her watching my dream is nerve-wracking. Makes me want to shove a spear down her throat until she chokes to her death."
Hearing this, Otto projected a small plushie of a toy horse into her hands, "Here, play with this...I gotta use the bathroom for a moment."
Luna nodded and started to gently grasp it like a precious pet. "Alright, don't take too long...Merry-go-Round."
After entering the room, Otto stepped into the middle of it and soon walked counter- clocked wise into each corner of the room. Each time Otto did this, he would perform a chant until the Luck Enchancement Ritual was finished.
Stepping into the middle of the bathroom, he waited for moments until a roar of distorted overlapping murmurs filled his mind, and soon after they subsided, he was once again back in Sefirah Castle.
It was still the same ancient palace that Otto was familiar with it until he noticed the faint brightness that covered the entire space. As he gazed upwards, a small orb of glimmering starlight.
Otto immediately knew what it was, the Sefirot for the Condenser Pathway, and the most important ingredient in becoming the Supernova Dominator.
The 10 New Pathways introduced in LOTM 2 didn't have their Sefirot named, but they still conceptually existed.
"Let's call it...Garden of Stars. They bring warmth to this cold and endless void of the Universe with their light. I'll imagine it'll get larger the more I advance on the Path of Stars."
His emerald shifted to the newly reformed chair as two symbols were added to the back of the chair. A snow white platinum worm with multiple segments and clocks on its body, slipping through fate, and the other was a radiant blue star burning within a crossed spiked compass.
Seeing the symbol, Otto remembered the two distinct abilities gained from the Sequence 9, Astronomical Knowledge, and a Physical Enhancement.
His brain mainly gained the bare basics of what the Cosmos was, how Stars created light, and how the Universe was in a natural order.
The Physical Enhancement was similar to a barely super-human sailor who can crack a medium-sized rock, and his Spirituality was barely increased.
Finished reviewing himself, Otto soon took a seat in his usual chair at the ancient long table. The gray fog covering the palace started to condense a silver mirror into his hand, which had ancient patterns on the back and an eye-like pattern on each side at the front.
It was modeled after a famous perverted mirror named Arrodes in LOTM, but alas, this was just a replica with no real sentience. Even without the personality, it would be a perfect vessel for Magic Mirror Divination.
Usually it allows the user to receive a revelation from a third party through the mirror, but it was highly risky since if the third party was a being without any good will, they could harm by possession, cursing, corrupting, etc.
Luckily, Otto would use Sefirah Castle as a third party to get this revelation. With the specialty of the Sefirot, it would be quite accurate unless he decided to divine an Aeon-level entity.
The Spirit World doesn't exist, so the Sea of Quantum would be a replacement where he would get the info from, and the Sefirah Castle as his booster for more accurate answers.
"Do Ghosts and Evil Spirits even exist in this World? They exist in Teyvat, but I don't know about here. Oh well, it's not like I am a Fool to call one."
He rubbed the surface of a mirror with his thumb and said in a crisp voice, "Arrodes, Arrodes on the wall, what's the reason why the Shepherd named Emily Rose was watching Luna in her dreams and nightmares?"
The reflected surface started to shimmer, and the words that appeared were, 'Grow the most beautiful vessel for her only one True Deity, but through Luna's unwillingness and constant rebellion, she lost interest...Only viewing her with minor costs.'
"Of course, most classic troupe...Arrodos, what are her abilities and current level?"
'To form and manipulate Yearning Roses out of blood. She can make them grow till a town is engulfed by them and feast on a target's lifeforce to increase their stats further.
When she plants a rose within a target, she connects with them spiritually, allowing her to know their exact location and enter the target's dream.
She gained this power from developing a Stigma within a Honkai-filled town and is currently near the level of an S-Rank Valkyrie.'
Otto quickly asked another question with a worried tone, "Is a Rose planted on Luna right now?"
'No. It was removed after she woke up.'
Otto let out a sigh of relief, hearing this. "Using Fenghuang Down to wipe her mind is just distasteful."
"Arrodes...Where's her current location? I may need to have a stern talk with this Shepherd."
The words shifted to another sentence, 'Currently on a train to a Schicksal Recruitment Center near the Mediterranean.'
Otto put a hand on his chin in a stupor, "She can't be that dimwitted...Does she think she could solo an entire Organization by sneaking in? What is her current goal?"
'Since getting a glimpse of a man with sun-kissed hair, she made it her new goal to drink the blood of the current Schicksal Overseer till the last drop.' The mirror reflected on its screen.
Otto slowly dropped the mirror onto the table and softly muttered to himself, "What a freaky Church filled with deviants."
Before he would descend back to reality, Otto asked Arrodes one last question, "Does the God of Beasts that the Church of Monsters worship exist?"
'Before the Cocoon of Finality sets its eyes onto Earth, a creature known as a Leviathan crashed onto the still-developing Earth and died from the impact. Its corpse burned to a crisp, and its fluids served as a starting point for dinosaurs to appear.
The Previous Era took note that every Dinosaur had one common ancestor, and their DNA had the trait of being filled with voracity. The Paleontologists patched together a vague but symbolic image of their ancestor.
A worm covered in dusk and with a gaping maw that could devour worms...That one image was the breaking point for the founder of the Church of Monsters, Flitz Lovelace had when faced with the Second Eruption, the broken man came to a realization.
Human flesh is weak. The only meaning of life was to indulge in their desires until one devoured them ownselves.'
Otto let the mirror disappear back into a wisp of gray fog as he rubbed his forehead in frustration. A glass filled with wine was summoned in his hand, picked it up and lifted it as a gesture.
"May Oroboros and the Leviathans stay forever dead."
...
Having lived a life full of agony, Luna couldn't experience the wonders of the world, but this horse plushie in her arms was quite a delicacy. The way it started puffing up when her arms hugged her...How comfy!
It was way softer than the rough chains that bound her and the dense beds she slept on. Well, she would even be more elated if it were a plushie of her dearest Gramps.
'...Why does my heart clinch when I just think about leaving him? Even if it hurts...I still wanna follow my dream, exploring the world for her and becoming a "Hero" at the same time.'
She stared at the door with a fond gaze, 'Even if one day he forgets about me...I'll remember this week till the day I depart from this world.'
Her body shook from fright as the door suddenly opened with a quick shock.
"Luna! I am back and I have news. Would you be pissed if the reason of why you were held captive is because they wanted to raise you as a vessel for "God."
"Yes, I would!" Her words snapped with venom as she tightly held the plush in her arms.
Otto soon explained his findings to the Vampire.
"Great! So she is coming here with a perverted reason...Wait, how do you even know all of this information?"
"I run a worldwide organization. Why wouldn't I have a wide source of information, but the question is, do you want to still strive for revenge or move on from all of this?"
"What do you mean?" Luna tilted her head, but she was curious, and with her silence, Otto continued.
"Have you ever thought of continuing your education before going out into the world...You can stay as long as you want there, or you can leave the moment you get there, but what I want is for you.
...To make some friends, create new memories with them, enjoy yourself, and get back the life you lost.
It's a school made for raising Valkyries, but with my sweet Granddaughter being its principal, you can live a life that a growing child should have, one filled with warmth and a yearning for tomorrow. St Freya is its name.
I am not going to force you to choose...It's an opportunity and choice that I am offering you."
Luna's body stopped in its tracks, and her mouth couldn't even speak the way she wanted to. His words weren't coming from the Overseer of Schicksal but a Guardian wanting the best for their child.
"I-I-I-I I don't know what to say...I'll consider it, but let's say I do accept...Will you make sure to visit me?"
"Yes, whenever time doesn't start flittering with me."
"Will you make sure to write me letters on whatever adventures you get yourself into?"
"Yup, my life will be inevitably filled akin to an Epic filled with glory, honor, and treasure in one piece."
Luna lightly smiled at his words and asked another request, "Will you always...Be the one to sate my Bloodlust?"
"That depends? Will you forever chase that dream and forever live as the one who chases the flame of infinite possibilities...After all, the Universe is filled with endless adventures." Otto proclaimed as he let out his hand towards her with a genuine, warm smile on his face.
Luna unwrapped one of her hands from the toy horse and accepted the gesture. Her grip was cold like a corpse, but filled with utter fondness towards the man, and she soon said with a tone full of tooth-aching sweetness.
"I'll think about it, but you accepting my demands won't sway my decision, you know...If I were more of a villain, I would have kept on extorting you till you had nothing left."
"But you wouldn't because you're a sweet girl and one whom I can trust, right?"
Luna's cheeks had a slight red hue, "Damn it...Could you stop trying to swoon me with your words?"
"Sorry, but it's the defining truth...I am fine with whatever choice you make, but I hope you don't make one you won't regret."
Otto soon let go of his hand to Luna's dismay.
"Tomorrow, I can take you to St. Freya for a tour, but for today, I have to take you to a Testing Center. To see you're vitals, how your body works, etc. By any chance, are you afraid of needles?"
...
Within the Schicksal P.T Center and in one of the rooms, Bianka felt her hand burn as her gloved fist launched toward the metal-plated punching bag. It shook violently from the force of her impact.
She let out an onslaught of timed punches onto her target, ignoring the pain in her knuckles with each time she struck.
Her hand cocked back one last and before she delivered the final blow, a memory of a blonde man falling into a bottomless pit of darkness flashed before her eyes.
*BANG*
The punching bag cracked and split down the middle as metal powder started to drip from its insides.
Bianka shook her right hand to ease the burning emanating from it. She clenched her hand as that same memory kept on reappearing, as if it kept mocking her for being unwilling to take action.
The rational side of her mind lingered on the thought that there was no need for help, but she couldn't help to think if she was stronger, wiser, or quicker.
There was something she could have done to change the outcome of watching her Overseer sacrifice himself to stop that hole from devouring everything.
Her fighting instincts suddenly flashed as she felt a cold sensation on her cheek. She let out a punch by instinct, but it was too late to fix her mistake and change the direction of her strike.
"Wow...Quite unexpected of you to react to a zesty popsicle."
A soft gust of wind blew as her strike was easily caught by the one lingering in her current thoughts.
"Overseer!... Sorry, I didn't mean to!" She quickly said.
"What are you apologizing for? I am the one who snuck up on you. Care for a popsicle?" The same object that gave her the same freezing fright was offered up to her.
Feeling the sweat and heat dripping onto her body, she quickly accepted the sweet treat. Its freezing taste made her relax with a visible smile on her face.
"Thank you, Overseer, no Otto. May I ask what you're doing here?" She questioned.
"I am here with my newly "adopted" child. Make sure to greet her properly, Luna and make sure not to ask any inappropriate questions."
Luna quickly popped herself from behind Otto's figure and made a bowing gesture with grace whilst saying,
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Bianka Ataegina, the Spear of my highly esteemed Liege. My name is Luna Apocalypse, heir of the Apocalypse Family and sworn knight of the Schicksal Overseer."
Her eyes stared at the blonde girl with a look of smugness.
Bianka stared back with an indescribable expression, but in her heart, she firmly knew...A rivalry was brewing.
A/N: Who would win, Goose or Bat?