Chapter - 3

Theresa sighed as she returned inside the apartment and looked at Anastasia, who was awkwardly standing like a friend that just witnessed a fight between his best friend and his mother. The white-haired girl sighed before smiling "Come, I'll show you where you'll sleep"

With a nod, Anastasia started following Theresa. The valkyrie had a feeling that Otto was going to give her a roommate especially since that apartment was made for two people, in all honesty, Theresa was hoping that Cecilia was coming to live with her, she certainly didn't expect to get a sister.

Theresa and Anastasia entered the second bedroom. In it, there was a bed, a desk with a computer, the door that led to the bathroom, a wardrobe and a TV. Anastasia analyzed the room with her eyes, it looked a bit plain but she will make sure to make it more lively, maybe with some objects she could buy.

"If you need anything just tell me okay?" Theresa said with a smirk before leaving the room.

Anastasia silently walked to the bed and sat on it. Her mind was thinking of the situation she was in, she couldn't remember anything of her past but her grandpa told her that she was able to defeat an Emperor Class Honkai and that she's the future of mankind...he probably wants her to fight the honkai once again.

Anastasia turned her hand into a fist 'I can't let him down' she thought. Otto did so much for her, she needs to repay her debt.

She looked at the clock and noticed that she spent hours immersed in her thoughts and now it was getting pretty late, though her stomach was grumbling quite a bit. She got up and walked out of the room and into the kitchen. She noticed how Theresa wasn't in the living room nor in her bedroom.

With the help of her vectors, she started cooking before she could even notice she had made some pasta for two. She watched the dish like it was something alien to her and yet she felt a wave of nostalgia and sadness soon followed by a sharp pain from the right side of her head. The girl fell on knees and placed her hands on the origin of her pain. After a few moments, the pain was gone as if it was never there.

Anastasia got up again and looked at the pasta...she might have exaggerated since it was enough for at least 3 people. She heard the door in the living room open, Anastasia quickly went to greet Theresa but to her surprise, her sister wasn't alone. There was a woman with her, she had long white hair and sky blue eyes, she almost looked like a doll.

"Oh! there you are Ana!" Theresa said with a smile "This is a friend of mine, Cecilia"

Anastasia nodded and bowed her head a little "Hello, I'm Anastasia Apocalypse"

"Cecilia Schariac" Cecilia replied with a smile

Theresa sniffed the hair "is...is this...?"

"Oh yeah, I cooked some pasta, I hope you don't mind" Anastasia replied scratching the back of her head

"I sure don't!" Theresa said smiling "I'm an okay chef but just from the smell I can tell it's going to be delicious"

The pink-haired girl just nodded and walked back inside the kitchen, without putting too much thought in it, she started to set the table with her vectors.

"See, that's what I meant with doing weird stuff" Theresa whispered as Cecilia nodded

The two white-haired girls sat down at the table while Anastasia served them their pasta. Both of them were surprised when they found themselves looking at a black-colored pasta.

Theresa looked at Cecilia with the expression that said 'Is this even edible?'

Anastasia was happily eating at this point.

Cecilia simply put the food in her mouth and hummed happily at the taste of the dish, to Theresa's shock.

"Are you Venetian, Anastasia? I once had a mission there and I remember eating this type of pasta back then it was a specialty of the place if I remember correctly" she asked causing the pink-haired girl to stop eating and clean her mouth with a napkin

"I don't know? Sorry...I suffer from memory loss" Anastasia said with a nervous chuckle

"Oh my, what happened?" the woman asked

"She fought an emperor class honkai and won" Theresa stepped in calmly "The Overseer told me that the honkai reduced her pretty bad"

"That's quite an achievement...no valkyries were dispatched?" Cecilia asked

"Yes, you knew them it was Mila Weber, Emma Klein, and Emma Barbarigo" Theresa said as Cecilia stopped any movements and look at Theresa waiting for an explanation.

Theresa just shrugged and her shook her head.

"Am I, missing something?" Anastasia said tilting her head

"No no dear" Cecilia replied shaking her head "It's just that I knew those three and I was surprised to hear that you were the one to avenge them"

The dinner kept going silently and when it was over Cecilia just left leaving the two sisters alone. Since it was late they both went to bed but Anastasia's sleep wasn't a calm one. The images of battles, of monsters and apocalyptic landscapes, filled her dreams. Some times it was an island and other times it was New York. She could understand a few words between the chaos of images.

Prophet, CEPH, HONKAI, Alpha Ceph, C.E.L.L, Claire, Psycho, Archangel

Those words repeated themselves in her mind in rapid succession but suddenly all the chaos disappeared and instead, Anastasia found herself in a garden full of flowers with a massive tower in the middle of it.

A hooded figure appeared in front of her, she couldn't see his or her face, he or she pointed towards the sky and the image of New York appeared but this time, it was showing Grand Central Terminal. The hooded figure's lips moved and like a whisper in the wind the voice reached Anastasia's ears

Go there

Everything turned black and Anastasia woke up from her dreams, she slowly turned her head to see the clock on the wall and noticed that it was 9 AM. She got up, had a shower, and walked out of the room. To her surprise, there was Otto inside the living room alone. Theresa was still inside her room.

"Did you sleep well?" Otto asked with a smile as he offered her some sweets he got on the way to the apartment.

Anastasia nodded "Yeah..." she said as she graciously accepted the sweets "Grandpa..."

"What is it, dear?" Otto asked eager to know Anastasia's question.

"What is...a Ceph?" she asked causing the blonde man to frown as he put his hand on his chin

"Never heard of it" Otto replied shaking his head "Where did you hear it?"

"In my dreams..." Anastasia replied a bit embarrassed, to her surprise, Otto actually leaned forward looking clearly interested in what she just said "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, I just find it interesting" Otto replied slowly nodding "Do you have any other question?"

"Am I...Venitian?" Anastasia asked tilting her head

"Why yes" Otto replied nodding "We have indeed found you in Venice, did you remember something?"

Anastasia just shook her head "No but yesterday Cecilia told me that I have cooked a typical dish of that place..."

"Ohh, you've met Cecilia" Otto said seemingly pleased "What did you talk about?"

"Not much...Theresa and her turned silent suddenly after talking about the Valkyries that died the day you rescued me" she replied

Otto expression turned serious for a moment before returning soft as Theresa got out of the room in her pajamas "Oh there you are"

"What are you doing here, grandpa?" Theresa asked

"I came here to talk with Ana" Otto replied calmly

Anastasia tilted her head "What is it?"

"I want to test your strength, do you mind?" Otto asked as Theresa stiffened

Anastasia blinked a few times before nodding "Sure"

"Good, eat your sweets and then we'll go, there is no need to rush things" Otto said amused

Theresa narrowed her eyes as she looked at Otto, he was up to something, she had no doubt.