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.

Dissection and new members

FIRE MOTH BASE – 2018(Previous era) (Three days later)

The base became busier after it was announced that a leading biologist was arriving and handling the dissection of the Dragon that Kevin's squad killed the last week. Walking down the halls Kevin however had something else in his mind entirely.

Flashback

It had been almost four days since the mission in the Andes. The dragon corpse had been brought back to the base with huge difficulties, and now the head of R&D Dr. Welt Yang had gone to the UK to bring this person he said could help with its analysis.

Kevin was currently standing in front of a massive monument to remember all the soldiers fallen in the Andes expedition. Most often this was how they made memorials since mostly those who perished couldn't be recovered. Kevin was himself bandaged up but was still standing after everyone left after the service. Many attended, mostly the friends, family, and spouses of the ones who perished. They looked at him with eyes of hatred, some even said why a 'scum' like him was alive instead of their loved ones; Kevin agreed fully with them. Everywhere he went, he only brought pain and death. Aniki and aneki could protect while he could only destroy.

The rain fell hard, but he felt nothing but numbness. He then knelt before the memorial and renewed his oath that he made to the ones he failed to protect:

"As a warrior bold, I will live by my oath I swore.

Purge the vile Honkai, and Burn down the false gods."

This was his promise, his duty and his atonement. He will honour it even when he dies. Suddenly he felt someone standing behind him.

"The life of a soldier means you have to be prepared when your time comes. It is only what you do in your final moments that imprints upon the ones who come after. They were brave men and women, so see them off with your head held high Kevin."

Standing there was General Alexei, he was carrying an umbrella that he shared with Kevin. Once he was close enough Kevin said:

"But it doesn't change the fact that I failed them. It wasn't the dragon who killed them, it was me."

"If that is the case, then I am equally to blame as well, for allowing you all to go ahead. These are times of war Kevin, and being in war means you have to be prepared to lose the things you hold close."

"…" Kevin remained silent.

The General didn't continue further and motioned Kevin to leave the cemetery together with him. As they were going through the gate Kevin looked at the monument last time and thought darkly:

'Why I, a Monster am still alive?'

Current time

Kevin was brought out of his thoughts when he collided with someone, causing them to fall on their back.

"Ow." The person said.

"I apologize for not looking."

"Don't worry I was partially my fault too."

Kevin stretched his hand to the fallen man, when he fully registered him. Had orange blonde hair with a baby face. He was wearing the standard Moth soldier uniform and on his left shoulder, the insignia of the 3rd squad was printed; 'Aniki's squad huh?' he thought to himself. As he helped the man up, the man finally noticed who he bumped into and was shocked:

"S-S-S-Sgt. Kevin? I'm so sorry for bumping into you sir." The man went ramrod straight and saluted Kevin.

"You know of me?" Kevin asked

"Sir, there's nobody in the base who doesn't know about you. The Youngest Warrior, The Reaper of Honkai, The Dragon Slayer. Sir, you are the source of inspiration for so many of us. To think I would meet my role model here… mumble, mumble."

"?" Kevin was surprised, do people really look up to him like that, why? He was just a monster.

The person realized that he was ranting on for some time, he quickly became nervous and apologized to Kevin "I'm sorry for ranting on, sir."

"It's okay. Let me treat you to a meal in the cafeteria for bumping into you by accident."

"Sir, you don't have to. If anyone it should be me." The man became flustered.

"I said it's okay. I won't repeat myself twice."

"SIR." The man went stiff again.

"By the way what are your name and rank?"

"Private Emile Jeffery from 3rd squad under Lt. Ato sir."

"Hmm. Then Emile let's go." Kevin started walking in the direction of the cafeteria.

"Yes sir." the Private, Emile started following him.

Kevin made his way to the new Physiology department that was established with the coming of the world-famous biologist 'Mobius Grantz' was it? Dr. Welt had come back to the base yesterday along with the biologist and her lab assistant. Kevin had not met her until now, however, as he was on a patrol duty yesterday to one of the areas cleared of Honkai beasts recently. His squad was very short on manpower, with only around twenty-five of the hundred remaining. The battle really took a toll on them, this made Kevin realize that the battles ahead especially with those Herrschers are going to be bloodier. Was he really prepared to sacrifice his men for the greater good of humanity? He was so sure when he joined the Moths but now, He didn't know anymore.

When he reached the lab, he was met with complete silence. Odd, he thought Dr. Welt along with that biologist have started to dissect the dragon by now? He entered the lab calling his name:

"Dr. Welt, I Kevin have come regarding the dissection of the dragon beast."

Silence.

"Dr. Welt?"

Again nothing.

"Dr. Welt are you present?"

"Who do we have here? Hmm, a boy, curious." said a voice he didn't recognize. Kevin turned to see a woman with lime green hair, green upper and pink lower eyes and a double infinity-shaped earring on her left ear. She was wearing a lab coat typical of a professional researcher over a dark green shirt, and a navy-blue skirt with black thigh-high stockings. Even though she was beautiful, Kevin was on his guard as the aura this woman gave was dangerous. Kevin felt if he wasn't careful in dealing with her, he will end up on a surgical table.

"Good morning, Dr. Mobius Grantz." Kevin greeted her.

"Oh my, how did you know my name?" the woman hummed.

"It's on your ID card." Kevin replied.

"Oh." She noticed the card hanging in her left breast pocket "you are very perceptive aren't you, boy."

"It's my job."

"I see." Mobius said while examining the boy. Even though he didn't show it, she could see from the way of his posture and the way he carried himself, that he was an experienced fighter. Also, his knuckles and fingers were very sturdy, and his palms were full of callouses indicating a strict lifestyle. But the biggest question was what a child barely in his teens was doing in this place, not to mention was wearing the uniform she wore the guards who accompanied Welt wore. She decided to indulge in her curiosity for a while.

"What is your name boy?"

"…"

"Oh, so you are of the silent types I see."

"…"

The boy remained silent throughout the exchange. Mobius understood that he was not interested in small talks, so she decided to ask the reason why he came.

"Why have you come here, boy?"

"Dissection of the dragon beast." he said just those five words.

"And how would you know that thing, my dear boy?" Mobius said narrowing her eyes so that they looked like a snake's when they locate their prey and tilting the boy's chin upwards.

To his credit, however, he didn't flinch at all and looked straight into her eyes. Those steely sky-blue eyes drew Mobius in and made her feel something that she hadn't felt for anyone. She was extremely interested in him now and wanted to know more about this boy standing in front of her.

Kevin was a little tense at that moment. The woman was scrutinizing him like the Honkai beasts that he fought on daily basis. He understood that she was interested in him, but he failed to understand why. He felt further discomfort when she invaded his personal space and whispered in his ear:

"Won't you satisfy my curiosity, boy?" the woman said in a sultry tone. He stepped back recreating some distance between them and gave her a hard look.

"Not interested, I'm leaving." Kevin said and started to leave the lab; but was stopped when someone grabbed his arm.

"Wait, wait. Okay, I get it; you don't have to leave for that geez." said the woman puffing her cheeks?

"Dragon dissection."

"Yes, yes. I and Dr. Welt have decided to start the dissection and analysis now when he comes after his morning meeting with that silver-haired mountain of a man."

"His name is Alexei Romanov and he is the head of the Moths." corrected Kevin.

"Yeah him, so we will commence the dissection after he comes from his morning meeting with him."

"I understand. I will then come tomorrow to learn about the dissection results." Kevin said and he started to leave the lab again.

"Wait."

"?" he stood still to allow the woman to speak what she wanted with him now.

Mobius had managed to stop him, but now what? How can she make him stay? She can't believe she allowed someone to disregard her the way this boy- no this man did. He was definitely a man with that kind of eyes. Anyway, she had managed to stop him but was unable to say anything. She mentally berated herself:

'Mobius, you are one of the world's leading biologists. Come on say something, anything.'

She hated the way this man made her feel and act, she was always in control but she can't with this person. Furthermore, she felt that if she wasn't sincere with her words, he would leave her which for some reason made her very uncomfortable. She wanted to know about him more but he wasn't even telling her his name. Right now, she hoped for something to give her this chance; 'hope', such a fickle word that she chose to leave behind the day she walked out of her home but here she was.

Fortunately, her 'prayers' (she internally scoffed at this notion) were answered in the form of the figure of Welt and Klein coming to the lab.

"Dr. Mobius, we can get started now- oh Kevin, what brings you here?"

'So, his name is Kevin.'

"I came to check the dissection results of the dragon beast, but Dr. Mobius here said that you guys have not started yet, so I was about to leave but she stopped me to say something."

"Is that so?"

"Well then ask what you want Dr. Mobius and then we can start."

Mobius was now in a spot. She had to come up with something fast or otherwise she wouldn't able to meet him before dissection-… wait dissection? She suddenly got an idea.

"Yes Dr. Welt I was about to ask him to help us with the dissection."

"Me?" Kevin raised his brow.

"Yes. As you can see the beast is very large, and we need more people's help to perform the dissection properly." Mobius explained

"But I'm hardly the right person for the job, Dr. Tesla or Dr. Einstein would be able to help with this more."

"I think it's a good idea Kevin." said Welt "both of them are busy with the Soulium weapon research, and furthermore you are the one to kill this beast so your input will be more helpful."

"If you say so, Dr. Welt." Kevin agreed reluctantly.

Mobius was genuinely shocked, however. HE killed THIS beast, this mountain of an organism on his own. She was now extremely interested in this Kevin person. A person who can kill a so-called Honkai beast of this magnitude was a special specimen to her and maybe he held the key to humanity's ascension; however, she was interested in him as a person as well.

"Klein, analyze the reports and document them properly the various results that this dissection gives, okay?"

"Yes doctor." Her assistant Klein acknowledged.

"Well then let's begin Dr. Welt, Kevin." She winked at the latter but was ignored.

'I am not going to let you go Kevin.' thought Mobius as she entered the anatomy lab followed by Welt and Kevin.

The dissection took almost twelve hours and even then, the full analysis and research of the collected samples were going to take weeks. It was deep into the night when they finished dissecting the beast completely. Now the collected samples had to be studied and tests needed to be performed to give any conclusive results.

"I think we can end it now. I will be studying the samples and will give you guys the full anatomical report by the day after tomorrow." Mobius said.

"Yawn…" Welt stretched his body, as he felt stiff standing in the same position for hours on end "I feel stiff all over, I should give you credit for being able to do things like this regularly Dr. Mobius."

He continued "let's turn in for the night, and continue tomorrow."

"You guys can go ahead; I will begin my analysis now. Klein, get the coffee ready, we will be starting after a small break."

"Yes Doctor." Klein said obviously looking tired.

"You guys are going to analyze ALL these samples now; you guys are really dedicated." Welt said.

"I agree with Dr. Welt. You both should take a rest for today; you can do the analysis tomorrow." Kevin spoke for the first time.

"Oh my. Are you worried about me? I'm touched, but don't worry this is normal for me and Klein."

"Suit yourself. Let's leave Kevin."

Kevin nodded and left with Welt; that left just Klein and Mobius in the empty lab. After some time, Mobius spoke up:

"Klein, I think I will join this place after all."

"But why Doctor? The university provides all the necessary resources for you right."

"I know. Let's just say I found something worth my time here." Mobius said smiling to herself. Klein was confused at the doctor's reaction, but thought better of it. If she said she was interested in something here then it might be worthwhile.

"Klein get me my cup of coffee."

"Yes doctor."

Next morning

'Finally, the analysis is half done, maybe I will take a nap for a while.' Mobius thought as she exited the lab but what she found outside shocked her. Sitting outside on a pulled-up chair was Kevin. He had his eyes closed and looked like he was sleeping; yet when she drew near to him, he opened his eyes and greeted her.

"Good morning, Dr. Mobius. Is the analysis over?"

"Were you waiting sitting here all night long?" Mobius asked, shock clear in her voice. Why would he do something like this?

"This temporary lab doesn't have any guards assigned to it, so I took the job for yesterday night. I will talk with the General about this and post some guards here by today afternoon." Kevin said getting up.

"You didn't have to do so."

"It's not safe for a woman like you to be alone in an unprotected place at night." Kevin said with a straight face.

Mobius was stunned. Nobody had cared for her like this in her entire life. To think he was concerned for her even though he barely knew her. And he called her a woman. Mobius felt her face heat up for some reason.

"Thank you." she said in a voice that even she wasn't sure belonged to herself.

"Are you okay Dr. Mobius? Your face is flushed." Kevin asked motioning his hand to touch her forehead. To this Mobius quickly shook her head.

"I'm okay, just tired."

"If that's so, please take a rest for now." Kevin said as he started to leave.

"Wait, what about you? You also spend the night guarding this place."

"It's already time for my morning training; furthermore, I'm used to not sleeping for many days continuously." he said and left the place. Presumably for training.

Mobius saw his back getting smaller and smaller until it finally vanished around a corner. She realized that he had kept awake the whole night while guarding the place, sitting on this uncomfortable chair.

'He's such an idiot.' Mobius thought as she went to her temporary quarters. Unbeknownst to her, a small smile graced her lips. She also was a bit gleeful for some reason

FIRE MOTH BASE – 2019(Previous era) (Six months later)

It had been six months since the expedition in the Andes, the dissection had been completed and the findings were shared with the entire organization. It was concluded that the dragon had an active sentience, as its brain structure was very similar to a human's. Kevin wondered if it could talk as well.

The second finding was a stone fragment of some kind found inside the beast's body which was concluded the source of its power. Furthermore, the dragon was not fully developed and was believed to be in its growing phase, which means if it was not killed then it would have grown more powerful and then defeating it would have been impossible.

Considering all these and many other small details it was decided that the Emperor class was unsuitable to place the beast in. So, a new class was created to recognize beasts with immeasurable powers that could destroy a large number of lands with ease: The JUDGEMENT CLASS; and this dragon was to be recorded as the first case of the appearance of one. All the Judgement class beasts were to be given a unique name to differentiate them as special, and the dragon was named after the river that flew in the underworld in Greek mythology:

COCYTUS.

Another thing that has changed over the past six months was the addition of the new Honkai Anatomy and physiology 1st department or simply called the First institute. And it was headed by none other than-

"Keeevin, why are you late?"

"I have other duties to attend Dr. Mobius."

Yes, after the dissection was completed successfully and the results published, General Alexei gave her an invitation which she took very eagerly, to the dismay of Welt. He knew his headaches were going to permanently increase, but he needed multiple talented people to keep the Honkai research paced in various fields.

The opening of the First institute also meant the recruitment of new members; one of whom surprisingly turned out to be Clara, Griseo's mother. Apparently, she was one of Mobius' old colleagues and was her personal assistant until she met Ato. She then quit as her assistant but not before finding Klein. When Mobius learned that Ato worked in the same organization, she called Clara and asked her to be her assistant once more. Ato also supported this by saying that they can finally work at the same place. Finally, after some coaxing she accepted and that meant that whole of Ato's family moved to the base.

It also meant Griseo also came; and the moment she saw her Nii-Nii, she latched herself to him again. Apparently, during these half a year time, she had developed a love for painting. Nowadays she roamed around the base, painting anything that caught her interest; and hung in her father's office and with her mother. But even though she wanted to spend time with Kevin, the latter started taking missions more often to everybody's dismay. He started to spend less and less time on the base. That's why Mobius was excited whenever he came back and tried to spend some time with him doing whatever came to mind.

"Anyway, let's take a walk outside Kevin."

"Don't you have work to do now?"

"My assistants can handle it on their own."

"Please stop treating them as slaves, doctor."

"I told you to call me just Mobius."

"…"

"Hmph, meanie."

"So where do you want to take a walk doctor?"

"Hmmm, let's see; maybe the forest at the west side would do."

"That area's off-limits."

"Please."

"Sigh… follow me."

"Yay."

And so Kevin took an energetic Mobius to the west forest. The forest was full of Sakura trees as they called it in a far eastern country. It was for this reason that only selected people were allowed access, and Kevin was one of the few. As they reached a particularly large tree near a stream Mobius said:

"I guess, we can take a short rest here for a while."

"Weren't we taking just a walk?"

"Come on, a little rest wouldn't hurt anyone."

Kevin was stupefied a little. All the rumours he heard in the base painted her as a researcher who would go to lengths to further her research. But all he could see here was a woman in her twenties acting like a child and he couldn't decide whether it was a good or a bad thing. She became like this whenever they were together, acting all spoiled; but Kevin admitted that sometimes spoiling her wasn't bad.

Is this what it meant to have people close to you? he thought. if it was indeed so then Kevin was a little jealous of the others in the base. He knew he couldn't have this no matter how much he wished. But maybe that was for the better as he brought only pain to those close to him anyways. To him, fighting the Honkai so he could purge them all and protect others was the only thing he could have along with his oath. Thinking such thoughts, he didn't know when he drifted off.

Mobius noticed that Kevin had fallen asleep, no doubt because he was extremely tired from his continuous missions.

'Such an idiot.' Mobius thought as she kept his head on her lap and ran her hand through his hair caressing it. In the six months that she knew him, she had noticed how stupidly kind this man laying in her lap was. But he also carried a great burden that she knew nothing about. She was not the only one to notice this, however. Blanca, her husband, cute Griseo, that woman; all had noticed the sadness and loneliness in his eyes. However, to their dismay, he never talked about it, being tight-lipped about what happened, even to the General.

As she was contemplating, she saw two squirrels running up to them and stopping near them. She reached out her hand to stroke them, expecting them to run away. But to her surprise, they didn't run and nuzzled themselves into her hands. A part of her told her that such a thing was only possible because of the man on her lap; it was as if he perfected all of her imperfections. He gave her a second chance, which she searched her entire life for but didn't get, so it was only fair that she should wisely use it.

She knew that she was not being herself. She was supposed to be cold and rational, finding a way to ascend humanity to new heights. But being with him made her feel like it didn't matter as much before. She was still continuing her research but not as fervently as before, and now took time to enjoy little things more than she had earlier. However, this side of her was only for him; to others, she would be the same as ever, a cold and manipulative head of the First institute. She realized that she had come to care for him more than she thought, the interest evolved into something more but she didn't mind it at all.

Thinking these thoughts Mobius didn't realize her own eyes closing, the last thought on her mind was:

'I wish the days would continue like this forever.'

...

Kevin woke with his head on something soft. The last thing he remembered thinking some heavy thoughts and then he fell asleep. He looked up to see Mobius sleeping with a serene expression on her face, and that was when he noticed that he was sleeping on her lap.

'When did this happen?' Kevin thought totally puzzled. He was befuddled at this situation but decided to leave it at that. He then noticed the sun was sinking on the horizon, the last rays shining like gold. The rays when hit Mobius-san made her look like an unearthly being, with her pale skin shining like white gold and her hair looking like a waterfall falling gracefully. Seeing her like this made Kevin realize that she was just like others, trying to find her happiness in this world. But it also made his heart heavy, she looked like an angel while he was a monster and will only bring disaster to her if he stays around.

He picked her up in princess style gently so as to not wake her up. She was very light compared to how she looked. She smelled like lavender and her hair tickled his face. As he made his way back to the base with her in his arms, he just wished that she would find her happiness.

He found Klein pacing back and forth in front of her lab when he came back. She was muttering things like graphs, reports and some kind of meeting. When she saw Kevin carrying Mobius in his arms, she grew relaxed and came running to them.

"Thank goodness, you found Dr. Mobius. I was worried about where she had gone."

"She's sleeping, so please quiet down a little." Kevin shushed her.

"Oh, but thank you anyway. I'm relieved that you were with her."

"Where is her room, I will carry her there." Kevin said.

"Right, please follow me." Klein motioned him to follow her. When they reached her room, Kevin laid Mobius on her bed and tucked her in. After that both he and Klein switched off the lights; and as they were leaving, he heard Mobius mumbling in her sleep.

"mm… mm… Papa… Klein… Kevin."

"Thank you for looking after her Mr. Kaslana" Klein said as they made their way out of the room.

"Why?"

"She may not look like it, burying herself in her research and all; but Dr. Mobius gets pretty lonely sometimes. Before she came here, she had this look that she was disinterested in everything. However, when she met you she started to change."

"…."

"She started to smile more often, not her usual smile but a soft one. You know what I mean right?"

"…"

"So, thank you Mr. Kaslana for saving her." Klein said in a sincere voice and bowed deeply.

"No need to thank me."

At this Klein giggled and said:

"How to put it Mr. Kaslana, it's very you to brush off others' gratitude so easily."

"Well then, I will be leaving ahead."

"Yes, good night and take care Mr. Kaslana."

As Kevin made his way through the now empty hallways, he thought about the words Klein had said earlier. Had he really saved her, no he decided; monsters can't save someone, they can only kill and destroy. He didn't deserve any of his comrades: aniki, aneki, Welt-san and now Mobius-san. He then decided that he will fight to the bitter end for them to have their happy ever after.

'Mobius-san, I give you all of my blessings with whatever remains of me human that you may find your deserved happiness.' thought Kevin as he disappeared into the dark hallways.

To be continued….

Hello everyone, welcome back to 'A Warriors Destiny'.

To be frank, I don't know what to write now. As you have seen this chapter was not focused on fighting but more on other things. As you can see Mobius has started developing feelings for Kevin but they are budding stage for now. Is this story going to be a harem? You may think. And the answer is yes, but romance is more of a subplot rather than an actual thing. It will not be like those mangas where the girl falls in love for no reason; I want the romance to be slower, more subtle because after all, we have 50,000 years for it. The main theme of course remains Kevin's fight against the Honkai and his path and destiny as a warrior. Starting next chapter, we will be delving into the second eruption of the Previous era and how it will affect Kevin.

As always if you like the story please leave a follow, favourite and/or review.

Thank you for reading, until next time.