Author's Notes: First things first! This took a little while to come out due to some extensive rewrites of the final act. We're getting closer and I want this to be as good as it can be for all of you. In any case, please enjoy!
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«Why is she here?»
«So what they're making child soldiers now? Poor thing…»
«These girls must have more blood on their hands than most veterans here-
«Be quiet!»
….
«Don't look at them. Ignore them. Walk past them. Be better than them.»
…..
«Schicksal is not a daycare center you brat, get lost!»
…...
«I'm just so… lonely…»
…
«Mister Otto?» the small girl asked, pulling the man's coat for attention.
«Yes Kiana?» he responded without turning to look at her.
«When is daddy going to come back?»
Otto sighed and he stopped tinkering with his equipment, leaving his gloves on the counter as he knelt down to the girl.»
«Kiana, we've talked about this. He's not coming to get you. Which is why you need to get stronger. That way you'll be able to protect yourself.»
«But you don't know that for sure… h-he must have had something important to do… T-there's no way he'd…»
Otto pulled the girl closer for a hug as he rubbed the back of her head soothingly.
«Siegfried won't come back on his own. Sooner you accept that, the sooner it will stop hurting.»
«H-he wouldn't just leave me alone…» Kiana softly spoke in-between sobs and Otto stood up.
«But you're not alone. I'm still here for you right?»
Kiana looked up to him with hopeful eyes and slowly stood up herself. The small girl then moved to reach for the man and-
«You look really peaceful like that, y'know that?»
Kiana shot up from her chair with wide eyes, scanning the room for any danger. Stupid. She must have drifted off to sleep on the chair… She looked at her prisoner with self-conscious eyes and wondered how this might have looked to him.
«Hey, relax! It's not like I can do anything if you decide to doze off for a while. I mean look at me!» Siegfried said as he looked at his leg, or rather, where his left leg should have been.
Kiana dejectedly sighed and sat back down on her chair.
«It defeats the whole point of watching your prisoner. I will be more careful.» she replied simply and her posture stiffened.
Siegfried looked up, lost in his thoughts and Kiana remained silent after that. The silence remained for a few moments before Siegfried decided to speak.
«So what do you do around here usually? It can't be anything a normal girl your age would do when in need of some stress relief. I mean, fun and HQ don't really go well together if you catch my-
«Shut up, or I will make sure your tongue is nailed to the floor. And stop ogling at me. Even I can tell.»
«You have the wrong idea.» Siegfried said, chuckling slightly. «I'm simply observing how nicely you've turned out, all things considered.»
«You're showing an awful lot of interest in me. I'm not your daughter. Shouldn't you be more concerned about that clone anyway?»
«You might not want to hear this but you're exactly the same, you and her. Both body and soul. So in a way, I'm observing her too, if it's any consolation.»
«It's not.» Kiana leveled him with a hard glare. «And you don't know anything about me if you think me and that are the same…»
«You know, I used to think the same thing. After I realized my mistake I… I couldn't even look at that little girl. I thought, it's not my Kiana. It will never be as good as my daughter. I neglected her so much…» Siegfried looked down sadly.
«Yeah, I bet you felt real stupid…» she said with a small smirk and Siegfried met her gaze with a fierce glare.
«I feel stupid yes. But for the things I did. This regret, all of the pain I was going through, I thrust it all upon that poor girl. But she was strong. Stronger than I was. She had it in her heart, Kiana! She wanted to protect others. She was prepared to throw away her life even for trash like me. It was then I realized I wasn't being fair to her. She is a Kaslana, down to her soul. Just like you. In the end, how different could you two be?»
«I guess not too much since you ended up abandoning her too.» Kiana replied darkly and stood up, leaving Siegfried with a stunned expression on his face.
«I'm going to take a break. Someone else will watch you in the meantime until I get back. And when I do, I expect you to be a lot more… quiet.»
Without another word, Kiana walked away and exited the room. The only thing that could be heard from the room, was the sound of soft sobbing and tears as they hit the hard metallic floor.
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Theresa Apocalypse collapsed to the ground, panting heavily from exhaustion. The last hours were the most tiring of her entire life. The beasts never stopped coming. One after the other, they all flooded into the Deep, seeking for the tremendous amount of Honkai Energy that the Gem of Desire was putting out.
She looked at the pile of scrap laying next to her, World Serpent mechs sent to clean up loose ends. The more Theresa thought about it, the more she worried that Einstein really was-
«This just isn't my day… when I get home, I'm just gonna sit on my comfy chair and catch up on all the latest manga I've missed. But first…»
She looked at her arm and winced in pain. The damn thing should have grown back by now…
Just as she was about to get up again, a rumbling shockwave moved through the Deep, a booming roar echoing in the distance. Theresa sighed.
«Yeah, I'm not gonna bother with that until it gets closer…»
«You might not have a choice…»
The principal looked around her for the source of the voice, only to find a small child standing behind her. His eyes matched his brown hair and the small boy greeted her with a smile.
«Greetings, Lady Theresa. I would advise you not to move around too much for now.»
Theresa stood in shock, watching the young boy in front of her in disbelief before snapping out of her stupor.
«I'm sorry but, how do you know me?»
«We've met before. Although the form you encountered was a bit more… mature. You know me as Welt Young.»
«Welt?!» Theresa inched closer to the boy and proceeded to examine him thoroughly. «What are you doing here? Tesla and Einstein have been looking for you for… I don't even remember how long it's been. And how did your body-
«I'm afraid I have to interrupt you Lady Theresa. For clarification, I'm not actually here. This is the Sea of Quanta's doing. Someone has irreversibly messed with it and it's energy is spiralling out of control.»
«The Sea? Is this Bronya's fault?» Theresa wondered and Welt shook his head.
«No. Outside interference was not the cause of this. Rather, it is something that my friends and I have opted to keep secret from inside the Sea. It's the Gem of Creation… and it's now out of control.»
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Bronya and Seele stepped off of the carrier and Bronya motioned for the pilot to wait until they got back. Seele observed the interaction and Bronya turned to smile at the girl, catching her off-guard.
Deciding it would be for the best to start looking around, the girls wordlessly started walking towards the Eye of the Deep until Seele broke the silence.
«Never knew there were vehicles able to get you underwater…»
«Da. The Bronya supposes it never came up before.»
Nothing more was said after that and Seele started to fiddle around with her fingers uncomfortably. Upon notice, Bronya turned to look at Seele.
«Feeling nervous?»
«J-just a bit. I mean… I didn't think I'd be coming back so soon…»
«Seele, we aren't going to the Sea of Quanta. We are here to look for the Principal.» the Snowy Sniper replied reassuringly and Seele sighed in response.
«I know but still… It's unbearably close…»
«Do not worry Seele. The Bronya will be there for you.»
Before the blue-haired girl had a chance to respond, a group of Honkai Beasts flew over their heads, seemingly moving towards the Eye of the Deep. Bronya took Seele's hand and ran after them.
«That must be where the Principal is. We should hurry!»
Seele shook her head and steeled her nerves. What was out there didn't matter right now. Bronya needed her help. She had no time to be scared anymore.
«Yes, let's go!»