Y/N, THE 14TH MEMBER OF THE FLAMECHASERS: An [Honkai Impact 3rd] Mini-Story

41. ELYSIAN REALM: ELEVENTH TRIAL - INVESTIGATING THE ANOMALIES

With Mei...
She just finished clearing the fourth space and picked a signet from Eden.
Once again, the two paths functioned themselves active as the herrscher got closer to them.

Mei:  'These odd portals...'

These portals revealed to her once again.
Meaning something abnormal will be happening, just like the few times she experienced.
Without hesitation, she activates the Bodhi portal and moves onto the next space.

...
...
...

Fifth space.
Once again, she made it to the odd area.

GLITCH!
GLITCH!
The communications turn on.

Mei:  "?"
Mei:  "Is it you, Klein?"

Klein:  "I've detected some strange data fluctuations."
Klein:  "Is there anything unusual where you are?"

Mei:  "It's quiet here, I don't see any enemies."
Mei:  "Is that what you meant by anything unusual?"

Just then...
WARNING!
WARNING!

Klein:  "Based on the readings I'm picking up..."
Klein:  "No."

Mei:  "...Luckily, I can see it with my own eyes."
Mei dismisses as an enemy with a dark purple barrier around it starts to spawn in the middle of the area and comes after her.
She tried attacking the monster but was repelled and got a bit of an injury.
During this, the scenery of the area was getting dark.

Klein:  "Wow..."
Klein:  "Strange, I'm getting a bunch of invalid data transmissions from you."
Klein:  "Hold on, I'll deal with this."
Klein:  "In the meantime, try not to approach any enemies."
Klein warns Mei.

Doing what she is told, Mei moves around the enemy, avoiding combat with it until she is told to.
But...

Mei:  "Have you made any progress, Klein?"
Mei:  "My surroundings here are getting stranger and stranger."
Mei says as two more enemies with the same dark purple barrier appears in the middle of the area.
In the midst of things, the area was getting more darker than usual.

Klein:  "Oh..."
Klein:  "Forget it, I'll use a temporary solution."
Klein:  "You should be able to find some uh..."
Klein:  "Light-emitting plants nearby."

Mei:  "...Plants?"
Mei questions as the scenery was now abnormally and completely dark for Mei's liking.

Klein:  "You can go light them up temporarily restore this are to its normal state."
Klein:  "They are really data units used to stabilize the memory space."
Klein:  "They're just displayed as plants for consistency with the environment."

Within her vision, Mei sees the first plant and lights it up.
But...

Mei:  "Didn't seem to change anything."
Mei says as she moves around to avoid enemy contact.

Klein:  "There should be three of them there to turn the area back to its normal state temporarily."
Klein:  "While you lit up the first plant, there is less invalid data being sent back now."
Klein:  "Continue following my instructions."

Without question, Mei lights up the last two while invading the enemies following behind her.
Just then...

WHOOOOSH!
Everything becomes bright again, just like how it was before, yet it was the same distorted place.
The three enemies's dark purple barrier now diminished, leaving them vulnerable to kill now.

Klein:  "Excellent, the invalid data transmission has been cut off."

Mei:  "No need to repeat observations I can make visually."
Mei:  "If I approach enemies now, will my vision still be affected?"
Mei says as she takes out the last two enemies.

Klein:  "Based on these readings, probably not..."
Klein:  "Huh?"
Klein:  "Wait, this is..."

Abruptly, communications between Klein and Mei were cut off.

Mei:  "...Klein?"
Mei:  "Can you still hear me, Klein?"
Mei:  "Klein..."
Mei:  "Where did she go?"

Mei had just realized this is the fifth space.
Where the anomalies happened the last two times...
This time, it happened again, on the same floor.
And this is the exact same number of floors anomalies keep happening.
For the third time, in the fifth space once again...
The anomaly showed up once more.

Mei:  'This has been the third time I've experienced this, and now, I can say confidently...'
Mei:  'This isn't by chance, it's coincidence by purpose.'
Mei:  'It would always go back to normal after the sixth floor and moving on...'
Mei:  'Klein did say there are other areas I haven't reached yet, and I don't have access to them for now.'
Mei:  'Are these anomalies also in areas I can't reach nor access?'
Mei:  'Is this is the only area I can reach for now?'
Mei:  'I still need answers.'
Mei:  'For now...'

...
...
...

Mei:  'I need to go back to reality and see Klein.'