Disclaimer: 'Honkai impact 3rd' is the property of Hoyoverse, Singapore. I do not own any characters in this story except the minor OCs here and there.
Extra- 1: A Warrior's memory 1
ELYSIAN REALM – 2018(Current Era)
Raiden Mei made her way through the central hub where she saw him; the strongest MANTIS, the Last Hero of the Previous Era, the leader of the current World Serpent: Kevin Kaslana.
As she approached him, he noticed her as well, but made no move to acknowledge her presence. She greeted him once she was close enough.
"Kon'nichiwa."
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"It seems that you have no intentions to have a conversation, Kevin." said Mei.
"It is not necessary, I have already told you everything you needed to hear."
"But you have not told me the answers that I seek."
"That is your duty to find out."
Mei sighed, even in the real world and here he is the same. A man whose heart has been frozen so solid that no warmth can ever melt it. But she wasn't going to give up, as he was one whom she held closest to her heart.
Suddenly she remembered something that she picked up earlier: some kind of weird crystal. It looked like literal fire was trapped in ice. The inside of the crystal flickered like a live flame, but how was this possible? The only one who could answer it was the man before her.
"I found this while I was exploring the realm." she said as she raised the said object for both of them to see.
"Do you know what is it, Kevin?" asked Mei.
Kevin's simulation was silent for some time before he started to speak.
"When I released the Judgement of Shamash against the fight with the 9th Herrscher, I froze some of its residual flames."
"You can freeze a Divine Key on your own?"
"If I couldn't, it wouldn't still be a divine key today."
Mei was intrigued by this. She wanted to learn all the little things about him, so she could understand him better and save him from himself how he saved her. It was one of the reasons she joined the World serpents.
"What does it mean to you?" she asked him innocently.
"Destruction." Kevin said with a tone of finality that shocked Mei to her core. It seemed that he couldn't escape his demons even in this simulated world and it saddened her. However, she couldn't show it on her face now; she had to know the whole story of what happened in the previous era if she was to save the man.
Kevin then handed the crystal to Mei catching her in surprise.
"You are giving it to me?"
"As a sim, I no longer need it as a reminder."
"A reminder? So you have regrets too? I could never tell." That was a lie, she could see the pain, loneliness, regrets and resolve in his eyes no matter how much he tried to bury them in the depths of his soul. A part of her wished to be strong like him. But she knew, that there was a limit to how much a person could bear on their own before they break; and looking at him he shattered long ago, living for the sake of a goal by barely scraping himself together in the process. However, the pain has numbed him so much over the years that he barely noticed it at all, continuously fighting against the Honkai following that stupid oath of his.
Mei wondered between him and Kiana-chan who carried the heavier burden, but realized just how stupid her thought had been. There was no comparision. Kiana-chan still had many friends whom she can fall back on, to catch when she fell down and to guide her. However for him, there was no one, or rather he refused to acknowledge them. She knew Kiana-chan and the others were also trying their best to grow stronger so they can shoulder the burden of the world alongside him sooner.
He was like this Mei realized, carrying all the pain, and suffering alone so the others could have their happy ending. But that doesn't mean that it didn't hurt others by seeing him do this again and again, whether be it in be previous era or this one. She knew that Elysia, Eden and Class Monitor shared her sentiments, and they often talked about him whenever they were together.
Mei decided that if no one was willing to pick up the fragments of this broken hero and hold them together, then she will do it herself. This was one of the main reasons that she came to the realm, to know what made him 'him', and then to help him.
She was brought out of her thoughts when Kevin's simulation started speaking:
"The releasing produced consequences beyond my intentions."
"But it's not to remind me of my past mistakes."
"To do something only you can do, you have to pay the price only you can pay."
"Kevin, please stop. I beg you, if you use it any more you will-"
"This is my duty and my oath. I will follow it no matter what you or Mei say, Elysia."
"Please Kevin, I beg you. Please stop..." Elysia sobbed as she begged him to stop using it; the Weapon that only brought pain and anguish to all of them.
Her plea was cut short as Kevin held the sword form of the Seventh Divine Key like a knight in front of him. Elysia's eyes widened in horror as she heard him say the words which she feared the most.
"JUDGEMENT OF SHAMASH: ZEROTH POWER."
Power never seen before floods the entire battlefield, with flames burning hotter than ever before that not even his Meta-morph can protect against fully. Everyone present looked in awe and reverence at the full release of the strongest Anti-Honkai weapon that their Hero wielded; all the while tears streamed down Elysia's cheeks without stopping. As she watched helplessly the man she loved dearly burn himself away to protect everyone, Kevin uttered the true name of the power that he wielded.
"SHUHADAKU OF URIEL."
"That's what these flames remind me." said Kevin's simulation as he finished speaking.
"And is this the 'Greater resolve' you mentioned?" asked Mei.
At this Kevin's simulation again went quiet for some time before he spoke up again:
"Herrscher, do you still dream? Of people you failed to save? Those that died because of you?"
It hurt a little to be called a Herrscher by him, but Mei decided to ignore it knowing that he meant little by it.
"I do." she replied.
"But I don't anymore." said Kevin's simulation. He thought to himself as he said those words:
'They haunt me even in my waking moments.'
That's when Mei saw his face, the hint of expression of pain, regret and self-hate, that made her heart break for him again.
'What happened to you, Kevin? Why won't you share your pain with me like how you made me do?' thought Mei as she processed what he said.
"I have nothing more to say. Be on your way, Raiden Mei." said Kevin's simulation ending the conversation.
Understanding that she wouldn't get him to talk anymore, Mei left to further explore the Elysian realm as only one single thought remained on her mind.
'I'm here for you Kevin, and I'm not leaving you alone.'
Hello everyone, welcome back to 'A Warrior's Destiny'.
So, this extra is meant to be snippets for the future stages of the fic. As in the game, they will appear named as the interactions. However, you may have noticed the name 'Warrior's memory' instead of 'Hero's memory' as in the game. That is the main premise of the story, Kevin here is a Warrior, not a Hero, and he will not hesitate to do things that the cannon previous era him couldn't do to make everyone have a happy ending. What are those, you just have to wait and see.
As always if you enjoy the story please leave a follow, favourite and/or review.
Thank you for reading, until next time.