Transcluded Script

This section contains story script that was transcluded from the game with the help of OCR tools to avoid human-made mistakes as much as possible. Generally speaking, it shouldn't be altered unless the in-game equivalent has been changed. Any typos or other errors that are also present in the game are to be retained on the wiki but can be marked via {{sic}}.

Chinese and Japanese romanizations and translations, if present, are unofficial.

Signets

Granting Signets 1

Aponia

Such beautiful hands. May I hold them? I cannot salvage you, but at least I can tell you that... you are not alone.

Granting Signets 2

Aponia

Your eyes are filled with such tragedy and resignation. Has no one ever noticed your weariness? Relax... No one can hurt you here.

Granting Signets 3

Aponia

What a shame. I wish I could really touch you. Those poor souls that lost themselves on the wrong path. They all had a chance to turn back, but because they lacked an embrace... they'll regret forever.

Granting Signets 4

Aponia

All that matters is that you are safe and sound... You are like everyone else, you fear everything I do.

Granting Signets 5

Aponia

Some said humans were gods before sinning, and everything they created came from their memories about heaven. As pessimistic as it sounded, it comforted us.

Granting Signets 6

Aponia

Even if your will is strong, I advise you to leave now. Compared to what the future holds, I can't bear to see the numerous scars you have now.

Granting Signets 7

Aponia

Thank you. You prove that humanity has an eternal and pure brilliance.

Granting Signets 8

Aponia

What has been said is true: everything humanity feared was brought by me and realized by me. For which, fate is not to blame. I know my sin, and my sin precedes me.

Granting Signets 9

Aponia

Yes, that was also what caused you to enter the darkness. I don't know what pains your heart, but may the salvation you wish to bestow upon others not come at such a steep price.

Granting Signets 10

Aponia

*Please* allow me to adjust your collar. Hmm? I'm not fussy about details, only... I know exactly when such a trifle will become a luxury.

Granting Signets 11

Aponia

Destiny is no longer "abnormal" to me. That's why it has a luster of "cruelty".

Granting Signets 12

Aponia

Indeed, the line that defines virtue is ever changing, shifting like daylight. Everything I did out of goodwill withered to bitterness. But I will not... and cannot fear making mistakes. Even if it is a mistake from the ancient past, a mistake of a liftime.

Granting Signets 13

Aponia

The pressure to do evil is immense... If there comes a day when I must "discipline" you, please believe me that my only thought is of... protecting you.

Granting Signets 14

Aponia

The fact is, the weak are willing to be shackled. Unbridled "freedom" will first awaken their fears.

Granting Signets 15

Aponia

When I gaze at you, I am gazing into every moment of your life.

Granting Signets 16

Aponia

Please forgive my selfishness of wanting to keep you here. I simply cannot turn a deaf ear to the echoes reverberating from the breakpoint.

Granting Signets 17

Aponia

I stand above all consequences, yet I move forward on looped paths. I... am a very odd person, aren't I?

Granting Signets 18

Aponia

Yes... Despite the fact that I can manipulate the process. When I do so, I witness all manner of miracles. This has led me to believe that... we did not enter each other's life by chance.

Granting Signets 19

Aponia

Our era has no shortage of leaders, but they went so far away that their followers lost them. That's why... I came back.

Granting Signets 20

Aponia

I once thought of raising the morning light in pure darkness, but Kevin would tell me what brings the long darkness to an end isn't light by fire. To this day, I still can't agree with that sentiment.

Ascetic's Memory 1

Mei

You've finally come out of that place.

Aponia

Is this not what you wanted? Since our first meeting... have I not satisfied your every need?

Mei

While under your control?

Aponia

Your guards are high. Hmm... in order for us to continue communicating...

Aponia

"Please" calm down.

Mei

You...

Aponia

Look, Mei, I do not have to rely on the dark space or the pendant to make a request.

Aponia

I chose to meet you there because... I feel more comfortable at home.

Mei

We aren't communicating. It's been one-sided so far.

Aponia

People only communicate when they are willing to understand each other. It is a lengthy process, so I took the liberty to skip it.

Aponia

I will try to avoid doing so. However, I need to prove something for once.

Mei

So, ititSic this one of your abilities?

Aponia

Hmm? Have you not realized? In your memory, I see Su explained it to you.

Aponia

Before I became a MANTIS, I had discovered my gift for convincing others. Perhaps the Meta-Morph surgery only reinforced this trait.

Mei

I think I see why you're ranked 3rd. This is a dangerous trait.

Aponia

Such is the irony and contradiction of things. I gained the power to see fate, but lost the right to expect.

Aponia

Yet at the same time, I could heal the hearts of others to some extent. I could change everything, except for the end that mattered the most to me.

Aponia

Discipline? Perhaps Despair is a more fitting name.

Ascetic's Memory 2

Mei

I heard about what happened at Sundown Alley. You're one of the two Flame-Chasers taken from there.

Aponia

True, I was born and raiseraiseSic there. Until the MOTHs identified me as a criminal, I had never left there.

Aponia

I suppose you already know why?

Mei

... Because you gathered and sheltered the carriers, they thought you had an ulterior motive?

Aponia

That was their excuse. How else could they justify detaining me?

Mei

An excuse... was that really an accident?

Aponia

Mei, I was not born with the power to see the future.

Aponia

There was a time I was manipulated by others.

Aponia

And those poor people... they were weary and pained. I only wanted to do whatever I could to bring them peace.

Mei

But if the MOTHs claimed that you were the instigator of the Honkai disease incident to detain you, what made them do it?

Aponia

I do not know.

Aponia

They interrogated me at great length in many ways. Their oblique response suggested they thought I knew the secrets of the MOTHs' core.

Aponia

But I knew nothing of it.

Mei

Are you telling the truth?

Aponia

Perhaps an average woman who appeared then and there was suspicious and dangerous in her own right.

Aponia

From a different angle, they were right. Whatever my intent was, I triggered that incident.

Aponia

After confirming I could not provide any useful information, they sent me to the surgery center.

Mei

To erase the insider?

Aponia

Or wanting me to survive and serve them.

Aponia

Anyhow... the MOTHs lost the power to confine me.

Aponia

And the reason I chose to stay... was complicate. I needed time to properly consider Elysia's offer.

Ascetic's Memory 3

Aponia

Mei, do you... dislike the pendant I gave you? I have not seen you wear it.

Mei

Of course. I don't want to get sucked into that dark space again.

Mei

The Deep End... you locked yourself up there for a long time after joining the MOTHs.

Mei

Was it necessary? Or unlike the other Flame-Chasers, you don't care about the state of affairs?

Aponia

My abilities frightened my companions, but did little to the soulless Honkai Beasts. I believed I was better at handling trivial matters than fighting.

Aponia

We needed a leader like Kevin, but also someone to hold the weak'sweak'sSic hands, telling them everything would be okay when all hope was lost.

Mei

The weak... I'm pretty sure the people imprisoned there were mostly felons.

Aponia

The nefarious were not the only ones. You cannot imagine how many of them were heroes once.

Mei

Were heroes once?

Aponia

Mei, you and I... we are the lucky ones.

Aponia

Most people deserving of hero status lost everything because of resisting once.

Aponia

Some were maimed and could not care for themselves. Some became monsters and could never walk in the sun again.

Aponia

The rest... were unable to let go of their loss and consequently turned on humanity. The place was thick with despairs, rather than sins.

Aponia

As for the true sinners... I realized long after which that some hearts were not meant to be saved.

Aponia

That was why I insisted on staying there. I couldn't reach out to the sinners, but I could at least endure their evil for the masses.

Mei

......

Aponia

Ah... the conversation suddenly turned difficult. To apologize for spoiling the mood, I will give you a new gift for our meeting.

Aponia

This is a statue I made, nothing special. I used to enjoy making gifts for others, and they came in varieties.

Mei

Came in varieties? This was your hobby?

Aponia

I may be better at it than you think. In fact... every Flame-Chaser wears an accessory I made. You can guess what they are.

Aponia

Mei, I know... you see me as a plotter who dwells in the darkest corner.

Aponia

I felt bored, so I... eventually learned a few crafts. It is a shame that I rarely get the chance to make them.

Ascetic's Memory 4

Aponia

You look baffled, Mei.

Aponia

I exist to endure. You may speak freely.

Mei

......

Mei

I'm just wondering... why did everyone believe in your ability without knowing what it really was?

Aponia

Is it not the same for you?

Aponia

No one can weave a perfect lie. The essence of this ability... eluded me, others even more so.

Mei

But what's your vision really like? It can't be specific imagery, right?

Aponia

Did Su not provide a fine answer? The string he said was not a metaphor, but the truth.

Aponia

In my eyes, all living beings, even the dead, are hanging on strings, unable to act on their own.

Aponia

Tangled threads, uneven stripes, flickering candlelight... I can use many metaphors to describe what I see, but I cannot explain more.

Aponia

When I began to see, I did not understand what I saw. The colors and routes of the strings... I gradually came to realize that there were patterns.

Aponia

What they represented became clear once I took the later happenings into account... it just took time.

Mei

Rest assured that I will sever it myself

Aponia

It is fine, please try all you want. Accepting the truth... takes time, and I'm no exception.

Mei

You've doubted your power?

Aponia

We want to believe the future is uncertain, Mei. Maybe it's best for you not to see me as a perpetual outcast.

Aponia

You assume the mind is a toy to me, but I too wait in line when shopping for discounted items.

Mei

......

Aponia

But what troubled me the most at the time was not the truth.

Aponia

Did you know that in all the patterns of the strings, one's end was the easiest to discern, and the first thing I learned to predict?

Aponia

It was on this premise that I slowly learned what my vision signified. Like a story once said...

Aponia

"I wanted to explore their lives, but had to face their deaths first."

Ascetic's Memory 5

Mei

You said you tried to uphold the morals of the masses through discipling for some time... why did you stop?

Aponia

I did not stop... only I no longer placed my last hopes on it.

Aponia

Mei... have you ever seen someone who is truly free? They will not be bent by reality, and their desires are always fulfilled. Their freedom is absolute.

Mei

I don't think so. It's too unrealistic.

Aponia

I have.

Aponia

She tried to influence others arbitrarily. She lead them to the seemingly right path, but they always ended in destruction. As a result, she becomebecomeSic an unmatched evil who instilled fear in all who knew her.

Aponia

This is not an isolated case. Even when one enjoys minimal freedom, their first reaction is to commit evil.

Mei

You're an advocate of human nature being evil.

Aponia

"Man errs so long as he strives." There are no exceptions.

Aponia

Of course, it is not all negative. Freedom is initially manifested as a bad thought, but at some point during doing evil, it inclines to goodness.

Aponia

I cannot explain, but it is what I have perceived.

Aponia

My Discipline exists solely to protect them.

Aponia

Few can reach the good end. Most are destroyed while committing evil, whether by themselves or others.

Aponia

For the sake of their welfare, it is better for them to be unfree, do you not agree?

Mei

But at the same time, you've deprived them of their future possibilities.

Aponia

That is the job of the pathfinders. My concern is how to send the weak off to sleep.

Aponia

Those who would never have reached the end... rather than watching their souls struggle in the dark, I can help them live a life at the start.

Mei

But your thinking changed.

Aponia

Yes. The boundaries of morality are ever-changing, and there is no such thing as a perfect standard. No matter how thought-out and well-meaning my restrictions are, they can still lead to disastrous consequences.

Aponia

I have made many mistakes of the kind, I even... caused a tragedy you know.

Aponia

I finally realized that human nature cannot be changed, much like the strings I see. The more I restrain it, the more it wants out.

Mei

......

Mei

Was the absolutely free person you mentioned a Flame-Chaser?

Aponia

Ah... I must concede that person is me.

Ascetic's Memory 6

Mei

I learned something about Discipline. Everyone, including you, has different opinions on it.

Aponia

Please go ahead. Too many people have expressed hatred to my face. It saddens me, but I'm accustomed to it.

Mei

......

Aponia

Though you didn't go into detail, Dr. MEI showed you the essence of Discipline.

Mei

In addition to letting you place subjective restraints, it fuels the subconscious cravings of the receiver.

Aponia

True... For this reason, I do not want anyone of you to tread the unknown. To cross the fence is to foundfoundSic all astonishing results on accidents and sacrifices.

Mei

You're implying something. How did Dr. MEI discover its essence?

Aponia

I suppose the root cause is that people either overestimate or underestimate sentience.

Aponia

Depending on the subject, a discipline can manifest itself beyond a restriction on an action. I can even... affect bodily functions.

Mei

Bodily functions? Say you impose the discipline of live, what will happen?

Aponia

Aside from strengthening the will to survive, it also accelerates recovery to a superhuman rate. The receiver may even survive a mortal wound.

Aponia

Still, it's far weaker than that of a MANTIS, for it falls within human limits. Discipline can push the receiver towards an extreme.

Aponia

That is why the MOTHs value this ability. They wishwishSic to apply it on a large scale and at their own will. They named it SWARA - has a nice ring to it, no?

Mei

... Hua.

Aponia

Yes, she is a rare success.

Aponia

As you have presumed, the additional effects a discipline may bring can exceed even the wildest of imaginations.

Aponia

SWARA, on the other hand... is a product of removing the regulator.

Aponia

It created numerous monsters before Hua.

Mei

You didn't try to stop it?

Aponia

I had no grounds to do it.

Aponia

However, Miss Raiden, please believe that whatever I... we did, it was for the future of humanity.

Mei

You said please, but this time...

Aponia

I did not employ any ability. I hope you can, at the very least, make your own judgement on such matters.

Ascetic's Memory 7

Aponia

I have not asked you this question yet... Mei, are you curious about your future?

Aponia

If you see the book that records your life story, will you open it?

Mei

No.

Mei

I know what I'm supposed to do and I will make it happen. I don't need a book to remind me.

Aponia

Is that so? Indeed... I've handed out many books of fate.

Aponia

Few owners deemed it a gift. Most owners deemed it a torture.

Mei

I thought none of them would like it.

Aponia

There are people who disregard the outcome, Mei. I sense the same tendency in you.

Aponia

Since the books revealed several life nodes for them... they prepared them for the inevitable.

Aponia

If you know you have ten years left, you will not worry about the risky operation next day.

Mei

I... have reservations about it.

Aponia

Understandable. You have been skeptical.

Aponia

Even if you know the answer, you are advised against acting resklessly.

Aponia

There were people who, after receiving my gift, thought nothing except their own fate could kill them, and ended up paralyzed for decades.

Mei

......

Mei

This reminds me of something... you once said that the ability to see into the future is a heavy load and potentially an unbearable pain.

Mei

It's unusual for you to tell others of their fate so hastily.

Mei

......

Mei

You didn't... only gift these books to the people you hated, did you?

Aponia

My... why would I? I never had the heart to torture others.

Aponia

"Please" believe me. All I did was... schooling gently.

Ascetic's Memory 8

Mei

From what I know... you weren't actively engaged in anti-Honkai warfare?

Aponia

If you mean fighting on the front, then yes. Psychics are vulnerable in combat, and we are more useful elsewhere.

Mei

Like Su?

Aponia

Yes... Su opposed the laissez-faire morality. As a psychic, he managed to confront the Final Herrscher on Earth...

Aponia

Unlike me, who was brooding over... how to die right.

Aponia

I'm afraid nobody could stay away from Honkai for long. I only... took a different path.

Mei

Looking after the weak, right?

The answer was a sigh.

Aponia

It was only an expedient.

Aponia

The true meaning of looking after the weak was to help them die as regretlessly as possible.

Mei

Impossible. The best care in the world can't cure regrets.

Aponia

So this is the only scenario where I abuse my ability.

Aponia

When some were dying, I erased their lifelong pains. They would die believing they lived a perfect life.

Mei

But this perfection was a lie.

Aponia

In fact, Mei, memory is the only thing you own, but it another's or yours.

Aponia

If your wish is to change... I can grant it.

Aponia

After all... if everyone remembers you have done something, then you have.

Mei

No need. I find it meaningless.

Aponia

So do I.

Aponia

But Mei, most people crave far less than you imagine.

Aponia

They do not seek the truths of this world, and they know they are powerless to change. They only want to be held on their death bed.

Aponia

Though I'm just as helpless when it comes to changing... I was able to grant them this little wish.

Ascetic's Memory 9

Mei

You said you tried many ways to change the end... Aponia, can you give me some examples?

Aponia

Of course... which kind would you like to hear?

Aponia

The kind that people had high hopes for and I spared no efforts, or the kind that was a lone and desperate struggle?

Mei

It doesn't matter.

Aponia

Then I shall serve the save the second kind for later. I do not wish to deepen your misunderstanding of me.

Aponia

Though I do not feel this way, many believed... I was too extreme and perhaps cruel at that time.

Aponia

The first kind... was unpredictable as well. I initially strove to change the consequence by changing its cause. It became the lowest point in my life.

Mei

I know a thing or two. But according to you, you weren't so keen on following your vision.

Aponia

Su and I discussed this. He believed the end could not be changed due to the laws of historical development. "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be," history is doomed to repeat itself.

Aponia

I could not refute. It impelled me to try humanity.

Mei

Then you'd have to change every human, which seemed...

Mei

......

Mei

Wait, you said you disciplined for another purpose. Is this it?

Aponia

Yes, but my efforts came to noughtnoughtSic. The other approaches I adopted later were little more than struggles.

Aponia

Must we continue this topic? Thought it was never my intent, I have hurt too many people.

Mei

You crave change, but demand me to follow a set path?

Aponia

This may upset you... Mei, you are among the weak I seek to protect.

Aponia

I tried, and I failed. But still, I will do my best to give you a happy ending.

Ascetic's Memory 10

Aponia

Could you come over, Mei?

Mei

... What is it?

Aponia

You look like a frightened animal... "Please" come to me.

Mei

......

Mei

Didn't you say you won't do it again?

Aponia

Since you are fated to accept it, I might as well trim the branches beforehand.

Aponia

"Please" reach out your hand.

Soon, a cold sensation wrapped around Mei's finger.

Mei

What's this?

Aponia

A symbol.

Aponia

When I first attained the power of Discipline, I would give such a ring to anyone who received my discipline. The corresponding discipline was engraved on it.

Mei

What's the point of doing this?

Aponia

I value the sense of ceremony.

Aponia

Every discipline was also an imprint on myself that served as a reminder. But as the world continued to deteriorate, I disciplined more and more often...

Aponia

Even I found that troublesome.

Mei

......

Mei

What about this one? Is a discipline engraved on it?

Aponia

No, I will not impose a true discipline on you, Mei. It is harmful to one who should continue to exist in reality.

Aponia

As for this ring... I made it when disciplining myself. It was a restraint to myself, but now my blessing to you.

Mei

I can't refuse, can I?

Aponia

You may try. In all honesty, this is not a threat.

Mei

... Fine. Can I offer you a suggestion, Aponia?

Aponia

Yes?

Mei

Maybe there was no such tradition in your era, but...

Mei

Next time you give someone a ring, don't wear it on this finger.

Chapter 3

About Elysian Realm 1

Su

Well then, have you come for Mobius?

Su

What she had started has already ended... completely.

Aponia

You all knew that plan would not come to fruition, Su.

Aponia

If you are here, the Elysian Realm will not go awry.

Su

Then... do you plan on interfering again?

Su

You've heard this before. You should try taking advice.

Aponia

...

Su

Aponia, please stop trying.

Su

It's us who enable the realm to exist in this form, so I know better than them... that we both have limits.

Su

Future... belongs to the future.

Aponia

Su, there are subtle differences between us.

Su

True. My talent as a psychic is incomparable with yours.

Su

Your control over the realm... is unusual. Using more power when shaping the realm doesn't justify it.

Su

... It happened after I had fallen into a coma.

Su

You took the last step to completing the realm alone... What did you do?

Aponia

Su, nothing escapes your eyes.

Aponia

However...

Aponia

We did not complete this place together. I... am the Elysian Realm itself.

About Myself 1

Aponia

Mei, does it feel different to meet me here?

Mei

...

Aponia

Won't you say anything?

Mei

I'm being as friendly as I can to someone who threatened to kill me someday.

Aponia

That will happen inevitably. Pay it no mind.

Mei

Inevitably... You love this word.

Aponia

Sigh. Must you continue questioning this? But it is what makes you you.

Aponia

You may leave, but you must have discovered it by now... that you cannot escape your fated end even in reality.

Mei

...

Mei

If the Elysian Realm is constructed by minds, then when a living being enters it, a psychic MANTIS can extend their influence to their brain.

Mei

I wasn't aware of it because Su didn't want to do it.

Aponia

No, a psychic is less horrible than you make them out to be, Mei.

Aponia

No matter how astonishing an ability is, it will perish together with its master. No amount of memories stored here can alter this fact.

Aponia

But there was an accident... with Discipline.

Mei

... Can you be more specific?

Aponia

At first, we believe Discipline was a binding - essentially a more powerful mind-hacking.

Mei

You're downplaying it. Most people who mentioned it to me dreaded it.

Aponia

Perhaps... they dreaded more than me.

Aponia

I used it as a suggestive power to restrain behaviors... and defend morality.

Aponia

But the essence of Discipline, which I unintentionally wielded, was not discovered until Dr. MEI studied it...

Aponia

Discipline, while conveying the will of the giver, also detects and realizes the desires of the receiver.

Mei

Realize? In what sense?

Aponia

I would tell you if I knew. If...

Aponia

Ridiculous, is it not? They may think of me as the strongest psychic MANTIS, yet I cannot fathom my own power.

Aponia

All in all, if you still doubt my prophecy, it would be wise to leave the realm on the tenth day.

Aponia

But I know... you will not.