Cerberus panted heavily as he supported himself with his amber greatsword, arm shaking slightly at the heavy blows Mei gave him as he bled all over with superficial cuts. 

"These are my only clothes," Cerberus said as he took a deep breath as he cracked his neck, and prepared himself only for Mei to sheath her blade. 

"Seele, when did bugs evolve into Honkai beasts?" Mei said, towards Seelem giving the Herrscher of the Cosmos a side-eye. "Especially worthless milk-buying promise-breaking idiots," 

Cerberus wilted as he saw Asta fearlessly approach the battlefield, a.k.a. the theater stage, and take his arm, helping her stand up properly and ignoring the blood from his wounds

"Womanizing bugs," Mei growled out as she walked out of the stage and turned into a smiling mess as she caught Reese. 

"Who was that?" Asta asked, worried about her unofficial fiancee.

 "A good friend of mine," Cerberus said as his wounds healed but slumped onto her for a bit. "Sorry, I'm not as strong as I used to be,"

 "It's fine, your hurt," Asta said, helping the Herrscher walk towards his seat. Reena smiled at the interaction as she prepared a door. 

"Fa- I mean, Geo, you can use your former room and change." 

"Remove that stupid illusion too," Mei said with a scowl as she felt annoyed at the sight of Asta being close to him. "Honestly... we thought he was dead and here he was... womanizing," She said with a pout as she watched him heal his wounds and walked towards the door. "Kiana even cried and broke down on his birthdays..." Mei whispered, remembering the feeling of each year his birthday came up and how it broke her siblings-in-law. 

"Well, he does have his mind fragmented by the Amber throne," Reena said. Looking at her, Mei's eyes widened as he saw Kiana and Rex at her. Immediately as soon as he felt the faint power of finality, she understood who she was. 

"Thank goodness you look a lot like your mother," Mei said as she hugged Reena. The princess of finality's eyes widened as she was hugged by her... she was not sure. 

"How did you?"

"Kiana has the authority and power of Finality. The fact that you can hide it that well means Rex taught you a lot." Mei said with a smile. 

"Oh, who are you? I'm Gui Zhong, Cerberus' adoptive mother," Guizhong said with a grin, fearlessly approaching Mei, while a bit intimidated by her size, she was more curious about her connection with Cerberus.

"Cerberus?" Mei asked,

"She means Rex-Onii-chan, Mei-Onee-sama," Seele said with a smile. 

"Oh, well. Rex and I were friends," Mei said with a smile. 

"Why did you attack him though?" Asta asked, looking at Mei as she approached them. 

"Because he became a womanizing scumbag," Mei said coldly as she looked at Asta. "We thought he was dead after he entombed himself on his amber throne, and here he was," Mei then turned to Stelle, and her eyes widened at Bronya and Seele from Belobog before the girls from the Luofo. 

Reese, sensing her new moneymaking empire was in danger, hugged her aunt. 

"Auntie Mei! Can we go and sit with the Astral Express crew? Uncle Rex joined them and they are good! Like Auntie Himeko!" 

"Okay, sweetie," Mei said as she carried her niece-in-law

"I'm back! Phew! That was a nice bath!" Cerberus said as he stepped out of the door dressed in similar clothes similar to his favorite aunt. 

Asta blushed at the sheer perfection of her unofficial Fiancee. Guizhong smiled as she shook Zhongli.

"He really does look like he could be our son!" Guizhong squealed as Cerberus looked at them with a raised brow. 

"That suits you. Rex-Onii-chan!" Seele said with a smile while her counterpart silently agreed with her. Bronya hid her blush by coughing into her hand. 

"Seele, can you tell the womanizer to at least make sure he does not use his stupid illusion anymore," Mei said as she looked at Cerberus from the corner of her eyes, nodding at his looks inside her mind. 

"Uhmm..."

"Are you still mad about the date I had with Kiana?" Cerberus asked, missing the point as he stretched a bit and teleported to his seat.  March smirked as she took a photo of him and 'accidentally' pushed Stelle on his lap. Stelle blushed as she landed on his lap, Mei pouted as she saw this and sat beside him, just before Lumine can go back to her seat. 

"I don't know," Mei said as she leaned on him. 

'Goddamn women...' Cerberus thought as he rubbed Stelle's head. 'Crusades are way easier than these,' he thought as he looked around. Lumine pouted as her seat was stolen, wanting to chat more with her new friend while Reese patted the empty seat she used beside her uncle. 

"So, are we all ready?" Rex said, dressed in a form-fitting shirt and vest with a pair of glasses on. "Kiana, why did you have to make me wear this?" The young man asked as he loosened his belt and tie. 

"No reason," Kiana said as she wore her maid uniform with a black bow that resembled cat ears. "No reason at all," she whispered as her blue eyes narrowed on his ass. 

"Hm... as expected of our son," Guizhong said with a nod in her seat as her hand squeezed her lover's ass, making the children they adopted groan. Asta noted to buy her unofficial fiancee a plethora of suits while the others had some other imaginations. 

Cerberus smiled as he looked at Kiana and sighed before going to the kitchen to double-check their prepared date, only for him to stop when Kiana smiled and leaned on his back 

"As payback for this," Kiana whispered to his ear huskily before smiling as she bit his ear. A small, barely noticeable tremor happened, causing Kiana to smirk. "I want us to go on a date," she said, draping her arms over his shoulders, only to bite his weak spot, a particular spot under his jaw. A small moan escaped the archon's mouth before he stopped himself, causing his face to turn red. "Just us two, candlelight," she whispered, tracing his earlobe with small agonizing bites. 

"I... Kiana," Cerberus said, trying to get his best friend off, only for the Valkyrie to take advantage of him taking his arm off his shoulder to pin him on the wall. 

"hmm, next week. I already have Rein's permission," Kiana said as she smirked at him. Pulling away, Kiana winked at him as she walked away, swaying her lips. Just as she was about to exit the room, she winked at him. 

"Fuck... Mei is gonna kill me," Rex whispered as he calmed himself as he fixed his uniform. While his face was stone cold, the amber streaks on his hair glowed faintly.

Silence. 

Silence filled the theater as the genocidal former archon's past self was bullied to submission by a woman. 

"So that's why she was happy," Mei said with a smile that looked so cold as she looked at him. "So, Rex-kun?" Mei said, ignoring Stelle. "Did you go on a date with Kiana?" 

"Yes..." Cerberus answered calmly. 

"Reena, can you show it to us?" Mei asked the girl with a sweet smile opposite to when she asked Cerberus. 

"Y-yes, Mei-san!" Reena said, scared at her aunt. 

"Please call me Mei or Mom"," Mei said. "Or Auntie," Mei said as she heard her look-alike (Makoto) cough in her hand.

The screen of the theater opened up to reveal Rex biting on an apple as looked at the horizon on an unknown island. Dressed in an open hoodie, revealing his scarred body, the young man focused on his connection to the Geo element and ley lines. He looked older than the last showing by a year or so. His dark hair was now brown with dark tips, his eyes resembled a pair of carved obsidian. 

"Everything okay?" Kiana Kaslana asked as she approached him. 

"I'm fine," Rex said as he looked at his hand and the small spatial distortion around it. 

"It's not your fault," Kiana said as she hugged him. "Remember, you were there for me and now, it's your turn to rely on me," 

Rex smiled as he caressed her cheek. "Thank you," he whispered with a smile. Feeling a soft pair of lips on his own, the young Herrscher looked at his companion who grinned at him. 

"Come on! I saw some dolphins earlier!" Kiana said, holding his hand, easily dispelling the distortion as she dragged him with her. 

Mei watched the viewing intently, taking mental notes. Stelle, curious about what she saw, raised her hand and scratched under the young man's jaw. Not even a second later, the former archon melted in her hands, 

"All you need to be is to be assertive," Herta whispered to her lead researcher. 

Not even a few minutes later, Kiana smiled as she splashed some seawater on him. Rex smiled as he splashed some back. 

Off to the side, at a snack house, Reinhardt smiled at the sight of his brother having fun as Elysia went into his line of sight. 

"Rex! Look!" Kiana said as she took a deep breath and dove underwater Rex raised his brow only to raise his brow when the girl rose behind him and draped herself over him while showing a seashell. 

"A seashell, huh?" he said as he took it while Kiana grinned and wrapped her legs around his waist, securing her position on his back. 

"Yup! We used to collect them," Kiana said, admiring the way how the seashell looked. 

"Yeah," he said with a smile as his head twisted in pain as the memories of Rex Lapis' battle with Osial appeared in his mind. 

The people of Liyue, the archons, and those that knew of the Gnosis focused on the screen. 

"Are the memories?" Kiana asked as she hugged him. 

"Yeah," Rex admitted. "Day by day, the more memories I see... the more I slowly turn insane."

"You know, you can sleep with me," Kiana said with a smile. "You already did a lot for us..." 

"I'll be fine, I found out that meditation helps," Rex said with a smile. Kiana pouted in frustration as she effortlessly did a handstand on his head before jumping in the air and landing on his arms. 

"Fine, but you'll sleep with me today," Kiana said with a grin. "I won't take no for an answer," 

Distortion

of the screen changed much to everyone's confusion. 

Rex smiled as he watched his family and friends interact. Seele and Bronya, Kiana and Mei, his brothers and their girls, etc. The young man felt a pit of loneliness in his mind. 

"They don't need you..." A sinister voice whispered as the young man's eyes widened. 

Rex said nothing as he sealed the emotions away. 

"Karmic debt..." Xiao whispered as the familiar dark thoughts he felt were shown on screen. 

"Impossible, the only way for that to happen is to." A yaksha said only for her eyes to widen in horror. 

"The amber throne is not just a seal, but a prison isn't it," Charles, the emperor of mankind, said as he showed them the schematics. "Your prison,"

"Rex-kun..." Mei whispered as she looked t him. "What did he mean..." 

"Your awakenings weren't the only ones that caused a genocide, Mei," Cerberus said as he looked far older than he should be, "While yours and Kiana's were a city, mine cost an entire world."