Obsidian eyes scanned over Boulder town as Cerberus at on the rooftop of a building. Feeling the soft cool air of the underworld breeze dance as the entire world sang, Cerberus closed his eyes as he felt the ores and the world itself.

It was wrong, something was corrupting this world. 

'I need more information,' Taking a deep breath, the young man crossed his legs as an amber boulder covered his form before disappearing as if he were a mirage in a desert,

---

"Oh, Geo!" A young man that looked like him in his mid-20s said, dressed in white with green designs. 

"Dendro..." Cerberus said as he wore a faded white and brown robe over his clothes. 

"Fine, Cerberus," Dendro said as his green eyes turned to a pair of obsidian filled with knowledge and wisdom. "What do you need? It's rare for you to drop by?" 

A soft gust of powerful winds notified both Cerberus and Dedro of a new arrival. A young man that shared a familiar face, one that he shared between the two.

"Well, well, well." The figure said as he sat on a throne while he removed his hood, revealing dark hair that faded into aqua the more they got closer to the tips of his hair. His eyes, compared to the two, looked like they were carved from black diamonds. "If it isn't the failure," 

"Anemo," Dendro warned as a green glow appeared in his eyes. 

"Finally found your backbone, Dendry?" Anemo said with a sly smile causing both Cerberus and Dendro to flinch before Cerberus fell to his knees as blood poured from his eyes and his pores while Dendro held his chest in where his heart should be as the glow from his green eyes dimmed.

"Enough!" A powerful voice roared out as a man dressed in white and purple robes appeared from thin air, carrying a sword. 

"Oh, Electro's here," Cyan orbs met with amethyst-tinted orbs as both Cerberus and Dendro took deep breaths. "Finally done simping for your life?"

"Shut up, you asshole..." Cerberus gritted out, his obsidian eyes shining with a dim amber tint. 

"Big words, rocky boy." As if the entire world was brought down on him, Cerberus found himself staring into a pair of amused black diamond orbs as he was crushed by the weight of the world. In Contrast to his aloof visage, an intense pressure effortlessly radiated from Anemo's form. "Don't forget that even with your Gnosis, you are the weakest one here," 

Growling, a wave of pressure erupted from Cerberus as he managed to force himself to a knee as amber lines formed around his body and on the right side of his face. Weakly, the former archon of Geo found himself on his feet, shakily trying to keep himself from falling, only to find himself on the ground face first as Anemo raised his brow before the pressure disappeared. 

"Disappointing, even after all this time, you're still so pathetic," Anemo said as Dendro approached Cerberus, gently helping the former Geo Archon to stand up. 

"I don't... want... to hear that... from you..." Cerberus gritted out, defiantly glaring at his Anemo counterpart. "After all... you were the... one that repeated what He did," 

"Say what you will about our Dear great-grandfather," Anemo said with a smile, "But he was a smart man." 

"And you lost everything for what? Power?" 

"Who knows? I don't care," Anemo remarked as he rose from his seat. "What's the point of caring if it doesn't matter?" Anemo asked as he poured some wine from a bottle into a glass as he nonchalantly floated from his seat. "Maybe you do, preserver?"

Ignoring Anemo, Cerberus clenched his hands as he reached inside himself, towards the connection that he held in this place, a location that only versions of himself that became archons can access. Finding it, the young man grabbed it and severed the connection without hesitation. 

"Anemo, was that necessary? After all, you did do what great grandpa Otto did." 

"Maybe," 

----

Soft and tired breaths escaped the young man's form as he felt the connection on the Archon hall get severed. 

The amber shell that covered him dissolved to dust before entering a pouch on his waist, connected to his belt. 

"Cerberus!" March's voice echoed in the town, causing Cerberus to raise his brow. Spreading his senses and sending several pulses into the roof, a mental map of the entire town appeared in his mind, causing him to instantly locate March, Dan Heng, Seele, Bronya, and Stelle. Tapping into the leylines, Cerberus felt his boy get more lighter.

Despite not having a good enough compatibility with the Geo Gnosis, it bestowed numerous abilities that he could use. Such as, 

Cerberus' form dissolved into dust.

A few moments later, Cerberus reformed in an alley just as the group was nearing the area. Trusting in his mental map, the young man exited the alley and bumped into Stelle. Moving quickly, the former archon of geo wrapped an arm around the trailblazer's waist, preventing her from falling, with one hand while using the other to support her by holding her shoulder. 

"Sorry, didn't notice you," 

Off to the side, blue and pink gradient eyes sparkled with interest as she looked at the trailblazer and former archon of Geo. Noticing this, Dan Heng shook his head.

Letting Stelle go, the young man looked at Seele and Bronya, noticing that-

"Look! Rex-nii-chan! Bronya-Onee-chan and I completed it!" A young girl of 16 with short black and indigo hair said with a smile, showing a younger Cerberus a beautiful flower crown. 

"Good job, you two," Noticing a look, turning his attention to it, the sight of a woman with white hair and blue eyes looking at a woman with purple hair while making a crown of her own. 

"Seems like you two reached an agreement," Cerberus remarked as he looked at the future supreme guardian and member of Wildfire. 

'I wonder how they are doing...' 

"I found out that I was an Underworlder," Bronya said as she looked at Cerberus.

"Huh, neat," Cerberus said, careful to not treat Bronya the same way he treated the Bronya that was his good friend. "Where we going?" 

"To Svarog's place!" March said with a smile. "well, we have six people, meaning we can all partner together."

"Good plan," Cerberus said, agreeing with the logic that March's plan. "I'll go with Dan-"

"I'll go with Dan Heng!" March said with a bright smile making Cerberus wince and look at Dan Heng apologetically. 

"With-"

"Oh! Bronya and Seele can go together!" March said, her eyes daring Cerberus to disagree with her choice. "Meaning~"

"Stelle and I will partner together," Cerberus finished for the annoyingly cheerful girl that eerily reminded him of someone he used to know. "I just hope this won't end like it did when I went to America," Cerberus whispered under his breath as he looked at the trailblazer who nodded at him. 

"America?" Stelle asked, hearing the name from the young man.

"A country from where I'm from," Cerberus explained as he answered the questions the trailblazer had, March nodded with a smile on her face.

----

After completing the process to open the gate to Svarog's gate, the young man and his companions found themselves in Rivet town to look for Clara. 

"Found her," Cerberus said as he pulled out his weapon,

"Cerberus?" Stelle asked as she looked at the young man while he spun his revolver in one hand before crouching. 

"She's in danger, I'm going there first," Cerberus said as he ran ahead, hopping over numerous obstacles and destroying a fragmentum monster on his way with a kick.

"Cerberus! Wait up!" March cried out as she and the others ran after the former lord of Geo.

Rex arrived at the entrance of the workshop, noticing how Clara looked terrified at the monster in front of her. An image of the girl he saw in his dreams that eerily looked like a female child version of his oldest brother, the young man moved. Tapping into the leylines, amber lines appeared in his body and allowing him to close the distance and bat it away with a pistol whip.

"You okay?" The former lord of Geo asked Clara as he knelt to her eye level.

"I'm okay..." The girl replied even though she was shaking.

"Strong girl," Cerberus said, wrapping his jacket around her. "I want you to cover your ears, okay?"

"P-please be careful! I don't want you to get hurt!"

Smiling, Cerberus ruffled her hair and without looking, backhanded the fragmentum monster, sending it crashing through the wall and a house. 

A young woman holding a pair of guns, using a martial arts her family created. 

"Come on, Rex!"

"I'm trying, *****!" 

"You finally want to admit that I'm better than you?"

"How cruel," Cerberus whispered as a lone tear fell from his eye just as he holstered his revolver. 

"Mister! Look out!" 

"Heh, cowboy!" ***** said with a grin as she covered his head with the cowboy hat. "You only use a revolver and it fits!" 

"What? want me to say, high noon every time I fight?"

"Why not?"

"It's high noon," Cerberus whispered and in an instant, the smoking barrel of his gun was raised up with the bullets falling off the container. Noticing how the monster raised an arm to protect its head, "What? You only saw one?"

Cracks appeared on the Fragmentum monster before shattering into countless fragments of dust that slowly gathered in his pouch. Several bullets appeared on the young man's hand as he reloaded his revolver just in time to see Dan Heng and the others. 

"Where is it?! I'm gonna fight it!" March said as she frantically looked around, only to be held back by Dan Heng. 

"Did you take care of it?" Dan Heng asked Cerberus as he noticed the damaged house. 

"Yeah," Spinning his big iron, the former Geo Archon holstered his revolver on his hip. Digging into his pocket, the young man pulled out a cigarette stick that he bought earlier and bit into it before lighting it on fire. 

Listening to the conversation that happened between Seele and Clara, 

"Uh... I know you're working hard for the people down here, but Mr. Svarog doesn't trust human emotions. He only trusts his calculations." 

"Smart guy," Cerberus whispered, bitterness lacing his voice. Hearing this, the others looked at him but decided to focus on Clara.

"Rex, I'm going to the moon and seal the Honkai away," 

"..." Saying nothing, Cerberus closed his eyes as he remembered her smile... he even forgot her name... damn it, why?

"Rex... why?" Her beautiful eyes shone with fear and horror as she batted away at the barrier that manifested between her and her dearest friend. 

"You know why." Lowering his hood, the younger Cerberus smiled as his amber eyes looked at hers. "What's the point of protecting all things beautiful if you can't cherish it?"

"No! I have to do this!"  

Gently, the younger Cerberus reach out, reaching for the barrier, wishing to caress her cheek one more time, to say those words but he held himself back. Lowering his hand, Cerberus turned around as the power of Geo in the moon's Leylines along with the contract he made powered his entire being. The golden gate in front of him was a choice. A choice that needed him to not hesitate and without any problems, he sealed his emotions away as he approached the door, each impact that hit his barrier and the cries of his friend as well as the pleas and threats of his brothers, family, and friends wearing his resolve as he desperately tried to keep his emotions sealed away.

"Cerberus?" Worried golden eyes filled his vision. "You're crying," 

Raising his hand and feeling the warm liquid falling from his eyes, the young man shook his head and shackled his emotions away, tightly containing them in his soul. 

"I was just thinking about my brothers," Cerberus lied as naturally as he breathed. "Clara's heading back to Svarog's place," 

"How did you?" 

"It's simple, really," Cerberus said as he turned around, using a facet of his ability to manipulate the element of geo to turn his tears to dust before storing them in his pouch. "It's the most logical choice.

Arriving and helping with Clara, Cerberus and the others found themselves in front of Svarog.

"I'll protect Clara," Cerberus said as he walked towards the red-themed girl, immediately standing beside her. 

"Hey! Get back here!" March cried out with a glare aimed at the former geo archon. 

"Annihilation protocol commence," Deflecting Svarog's punch, Cerberus grabbed Svarog's wrist, pulling the robot close and delivering a low kick at the robot's foot, sending the heavy robot into the air while twisting his body and slamming Svarog onto the ground, a good few meters away from him

"You can do that?!" March shouted in annoyance as she watched Cerberus put a cigarette in his mouth before lighting it. 

"You made this mess, deal with it. I'll protect the kid," 

Discreetly, the young man drew up his connection to the entire world as he watched the fight. The teamwork the trailblazers, Bronya, and Seele had were perfect and flawless. 

'Is there any doubt? The Seele and Bronya I know possessed that terrifying chemistry on the battlefield,' Cerberus thought as he noticed Sampo and the doctor appear. 

Once Svarog has been defeated,

A man, a warrior from the past era, wanting to ensure the survival of humankind. 

"That's enough!" Cerberus said, raising his voice as Geomarrow crystals formed a wall in front of Clara and Svarog before it cracked and shattered to reveal a thin barrier between the two groups,

"Geomarrow crystals! How did you?" Seele said in awe as she noticed the shards in front of her. For a split second, a white long-sleeved robe covered the young man's form with a hood that covered his face. For that entire moment, a primordial power flowed from the young man as the tips of his dark hair turned brown like the earth beneath their feet. 

Satisfied that the fighting has stopped, the young man lowered the barrier as he approached Clara and gently patted her head. 

"Why not let Clara handle this," The former geo archon offered as he looked at the group.

"You're going to have a lot of explaining to do," March said as she looked at the former archon who just shrugged.

========

Omake: 

"Daddy! Look!" The young daughter of Reinhardt Crozzo and his mysterious lover said with a smile as she proudly presented her closed sketchpad to her father in the middle of a party. 

"Oh, hello Reese," Kiana Kaslana said with a smile, getting the daughter of her dear friend's older brother

"Auntie Kiana!" Reese said with a smile as she hugged Kiana's leg. "Auntie Mei! Big sis Bronya! Big sis Seele!" Reese said with a bright smile.

"Hello, Reese," Bronya said with a smile, smugly picking up Reese as the little girl jumped in her arms. The five-year-old was very close to Bronya for some reason. 

"Where's Auntie Rin?" The dark-haired child asked, looking for the pink-haired young woman that was now a full-fledged Crozzo Family member and knight. Something tickled the little girl's nose. Looking away, the  young girl teared up-

"Achoo!" A cute noise escaped her nose as she sneezed, causing everyone to freeze up. Not because of her sneeze, but because of the amber-colored dust that was produced when she sneezed. 

Reinhardt's eyes widened as he saw the dust. 'Impossible... only one person alive can use that!'

"Hey, Rein. You know, one day, someone might have my powers, and if that happens," 

"Rex? What are you-"

 "Nah, never mind," Rex said with a smile as he took a sip from his cup of lemon iced tea. "I hope that you can forgive me," It was a faint whisper yet Reinhardt heard it. 

"Daddy? Did I do something wrong?" Reese asked, looking at her father as she got off Bronya's arms while tugging at his pants. "I'm sorry," Reese apologized despite having no idea what she did that made her father cry. 

Knowing that the oldest brother who essentially raised his younger brothers would not be able to say anything, Kiana Kaslana gently patted the girl's head. 

"You didn't do anything, sweetie," The young woman said as her blue eyes looked at her fondly, despite the pain at the memory of the last time she saw those amber clouds of dust. "Y-your father just remembered someone special to him," 

"What did you want to show us, Reese?" Mei asked, steering the topic away from their dearly deceased friend. After all, they all knew that the only way for those powers to manifest in Reese was for him to have died. Hiding her pain, the empress of lightning smiled at how Reese opened her drawing pad,

"Here! I draw my best friend, Cerberus!" 

"Cerberus?"

"He's a friend Reese told us she made a few days ago," Reverre 'Reve' Crozzo said with a smile as he entered the living room while rubbing his niece's head. "An imaginary friend." 

"Cerberus is not an imaginary friend!" Reese shouted with a pout aimed at her uncle who just smile and playfully poked her forehead. "Cerberus is way more awesome than you! Stinky Uncle Reve!" 

Meanwhile,

Cerberus, who was smoking a cigar, suddenly sneezed, sending a small cloud of amber dust into the air along with cigarette smoke before he fixed himself and made sure no one saw it.

"Stinky?!" 

"Yeah! You stink with Auntie Bianka's perfume all the time!" The child's words made the sword saint turn red as his wife, Bianka looked away to hide her red face. "Hmph! Here!" Reese said, opening her drawing pad to reveal a beautiful landscape of the cosmos that reminded Seele of her time in the sea of Quanta while a crudely-drawn version of Reese with a happy face looked at a figure of a man with dark hair with a white jacket around his shoulders like a cape. 

"And what does he look like?" Bianka asked, curiously looking at her niece and her eye widened when an amber figurine of a man with his arms crossed appeared on top of Reese's hand,

"Woah! Cool!" Reese shouted as she held the amber figurine of Cerberus, a complete replica of the real one but in all amber, "Cerberus looks like this!" 

----

Omake: how Reese got her powers

"I'm bored!" Reese shouted and whined as she kicked and rolled in the empty yet vast cosmos that she appeared in while Cerberus was sitting cross-legged on the ground, meditating peacefully. 

"You should focus and calm down, it's just meditation," Cerberus said before raising his brow when his niece, not that Reese knows that he is her uncle, suddenly climbed up his shoulder.

"Hey! Can you teach me something?" 

"... If I do, will you stop?" 

"I promise!" 

"I can see you crossing your fingers behind your back!" 

"Woah! How did you know?!"

 "..." Cerberus said nothing as he remembered all the times he did the same thing to Reinhardt. 'This must be Karma for all the things that I did,' 

"Hello?!" Reese said, gently tugging on his hair.

"Fine, here," Poking her forehead, the young man focused on the remnants of the geo gnosis' powers and passed it to her. 

"Now, go to bed or something, it's late..." 

Cerberus blinked as he found himself staring into March as the girl shook him awake. Despite being a badass warrior, Cerberus got off March's hold and vomited into the floor. 

----- 

Omake:

"Kiana?" Mei asked her Fiancee, entering the room that they both shared in the Crozzo Family estate. 

The Herrcher of Finality smiled at Mei, a smile that did nothing to hide the pain that she felt at the revelation that she had about the powers that her Niece-in-law manifested. 

"What is it, Mei?" Kiana asked, wiping her tears away but it did nothing to stop them. 

"I miss him too," Mei said, hugging Kiana in a tight yet loving hug. 

"Cerberus said I shouldn't do this but he isn't here," Reese said with a smile. Noticing their niece, the couple wiped their tears and followed the girl along with Seele and Bronya. 

Once they were in the courtyard, Reese smugly puffed her chest out like a little gremlin.

"Geo power, transform!" Reese announced while striking a pose. A pose that belonged to a magical girl. 

Nothing happened. 

"Why won't you work!" Reese screamed in annoyance as an amber statue of Cerberus appeared in front of her, "I'm sorry my mentor. I've failed you,"

"Hey! I'm not dumb!" Reese suddenly shouted, surprising her audience. "What do you mean by that?" 

"The wonders of the mind of a child," Bronya said with a smile, her eyes looking at the statue of Cerberus. She looked at Seele and her former classmates. They all nodded at each other. Something was familiar with the statue. 

"Fine! I'll do it, stinky Cerby!" Reese said before sticking her eye at the statue of Cerberus before twirling and striking a pose that the four were sure Theresa showed her. 

"Geo Power, transform!" Ending the pose with a peace sign, a bright light covered the 5-year-old before it died down revealing a Reese in a magical girl costume with earth-themed colors and a pair of pants under her skirt. A white hood covered her head with several lines of Shenzhou characters over them. "Woo! I look cool!" Reese said, cheering happily only to wince when the statue of Cerberus shattered, with an amber spear appearing and smacking her on the head. 

"I guess... it's true," Kiana whispered longingly as she looked at Reese and at the magical girl uniform that she had on. "You idiot..." The image of a young man with dark hair behind a golden barrier separating them appeared in her mind. She already forgot his voice. 

"You did that on purpose!" Reese growled out before whacking the amber spear on the ground several times. "Bleh! You can't kick me, dumby Cerby!" Reese said, sticking her tongue out and pulling her eye at the spear, the 5-year-old ran away back to the estate.

For a split second, the girls swore they saw an amber-colored visage of a young man facepalming as the little girl tripped on her new hooded cloak.