A.N. You thought it was an April fools joke but it was I...a chapter. Now give me your follows, faves, and reviews.
Seigfied felt relief when the first thing he saw when his eyes had opened was his wife. She gave him a loving smile and he likewise returned it.
"Am I in dead?" He asked.
"If you say because you're seeing an angel, I'll knock you out myself," Cecilia half laughed.
"Eh…it was worth a shot," He chuckled. He could hear the medical equipment buzzing nearby. They weren't in the field anymore; they weren't in danger. "Is it over?" He questioned weekly.
Cecilia paused, contemplating how to answer the question. The war was over, but there was so much left for them to do and discuss. "Sirin's not a threat anymore," Cecilia answered. "But…she's still alive," She added.
"I see," Siegfied answered.
"There's also something else," Cecilia noted. She wasn't sure about explaining Void and Thunder but she knew she at least had to try for Sirin. "Do you remember the dream world we were in?" Cecilia questioned as she held Siegfied's hand. "The one where I told you…Sirin was our daughter,"
"Yeah, I remember," Siegfied answered. He then cast a glance at Cecilia. "Do you…want to save Sirin?" He questioned. He could see the longing look on his wife's face. He knew she had the biggest heart of them all. Even if it was a daunting task, he knew she would want to save Sirin from herself and the Honkai. "You did say she was our daughter, and you did save her back there, even when you saw through the lie,"
"I don't think we need to save her," Cecilia muttered. Siegfied was confused at first before she gestured to the bed directly in front of him. His eyes widened as he saw the purple-haired girl sleeping, recovering.
"I see," Siegfied mused. "So, I guess I should start worrying about beating the suitors off of two daughters instead of just one," Siegfied chuckled.
"Yeah….two," Cecilia laughed nervously. He had no idea about the bomb she was holding. The laughter soon died down as a more serious look crossed Siegfied's face.
"Do you think she'll hate me?" He wondered. "I wasn't exactly in the best state of mind back there." He recalled. He honestly could only make out blurred bits and pieces about the battle. All he could think of was saving Cecilia and destroying the Honkai at the time.
Yet he remembered most clearly the fearful expression Sirin had. At the time he may have considered it a good thing. He had invoked fear into the Herrscher. A part of him didn't regret it. The situation back then had called for it, to regret it would be to say that the alternative outcome would have been better; that Sirin should have won, Cecilia should have died, and the world should have been destroyed
He didn't regret what he did at the time. It had to be done. The fallout now though, would be something he wished he didn't have to deal with. Especially with how it would affect the entire family.
"I can't say." Cecilia thought. "Sirin's been through a lot. She's known nothing but hate and loneliness for so long."
"Theresa had told me about what happened," Siegfied muttered. "What she had seen, what Sirin had shown off her past." He growled.
"I can't say I blame her." He told Cecilia. "I feel given the chance I'd have killed those bastards myself," He muttered. He couldn't fathom how people could have been so cruel. To claim to be doing those 'actions' for the benefit of humanity, was blasphemy at its finest. To do it to children, made his blood boil.
"I know what you mean," Cecilia answered. "If Kiana had been in the same situation, I don't know what I would have done," She grimaced The two houses Kaslana and Schariac had always been there to serve humanity in the war against the Honkai. Yet after witnessing this…both of the current descendants could only feel sadness at how things devolved.
"Kiana…where's Kiana?" Siegfied's wondered.
"Don't worry…she safe," Cecilia said. "She's actually-" But she never got to finish as the door opened.
"Mama, look what big sis bought me," Kiana said as she walked in with a little green hoodie on. However, all her thoughts were immediately brushed aside as she saw her father. "Daddy," She cheered as she rushed to her father. She was about to jump and give him a bone crush hug.
Seigfied closed his eyes braced for the impact but was surprised when he felt nothing. "Hey, let me down Thunder," He heard his daughter call. Upon opening his eyes he saw a giant red robotic-like hand holding his daughter right above him. Cecilia didn't seem to be bothered so Siegfied relaxed, especially when he saw Dr. Einstein standing to her side of her.
"Now Kiana, your dad has just woken up," Einstein explained. "I need to make sure he isn't hurt anywhere,"
"But I still want to hug my daddy," Kiana pouted. He had expected Cecilia to immediately console her and to his credit, she was about to, however, another voice was quicker.
"Now, now Kiana. I can hover you over to hug him, but you still need to be careful," A voice came behind the arms. A figure walked beside them, to bring the pouting Kiana to their eye level. It was a woman in white, black, and red, with horns on her head. "Will that work?" The woman asked the girl.
"Fine…it will do big sis," Kiana grumbled.
Siegfied hugged his daughter mechanical arms suspending her and whatnot, before the hands rested her in Cecilia's arms, and then fazed out of existence shortly afterward. He stared cautiously at the woman; his senses were on high alert. A part of him was even feeling threatened and wary of her presence.
"Stop staring you womanizer," Teri shouted from beside him as she bonked him on the head. When did she even enter the room he wondered.
"Theresa," He whined as he rubbed his head.
"Don't Theresa me, I saw you looking at her….and in front your wife as well. Have you no shame?" Teri scolded.
"Now Teri, be nice," Cecilia said in defense. "I'm sure he was just curious about the Herrscher holding his daughter," She explained.
"Yeah…I was just curious about the Herrscher holding Kiana," Siegfied said in agreement. It then dawned on him immediately what he had just said. "HERRSCHER?" He exclaimed in surprise.
"Yeah about that," Cecilia laughed.
"Herrscher and new sister," Kiana said proudly.
"SISTER?" Siegfied muttered as he turned to Cecilia. He had been fine with Sirin, he was prepared for her…but who the hell was this new girl.
"Ehe," Cecilia nervously chuckled as she turned to look at Teri and Einstein for help, only to see them fleeing the scene.
Elsewhere, Bella watched as her Master, no, as Void was cleaning and shining the weapons of her 'parents'. It was a strange sight in an even stranger situation. She had witnessed fragments of her Master's life. She saw and knew what these humans meant to her Master, yet the disconnect was still there.
Her Master considered the people who tried to kill her as family. Cecilia who fought and stopped the spread of the Honkai was seen as her mother. Siegfied, the man who was solely responsible for almost ending her, was her father. The same man who shot Bella's wing, who tore the cores out of Sirin's chest, who sliced off her Master's arm, Void viewed him as the sole male role model in her life.
To see her Master cleaning their weapons, the very same that had been used against her, with the intention of returning them to her parents, felt wrong. Yet Bella knew, firsthand that her Master had become very merciful and forgiving than she was before. She had forgiven Bella, after nearly being killed by her. It was only fair that the same courtesy be extended elsewhere. After all Who was Bella to tell the Herrscher of Void who she could forgive and not forgive?
"It's funny," Void muttered as she held up the gun. "This weapon was once nearly the end of me. Yet I've found peace in being its presence." She mused to her former servant.
Her relationship with Siegfied was complicated, her warring sides had always made it so. Yet once she began to reconcile with them, the hatred for Siegfied had disappeared with time. On the side of Kiana, Void's light, despite his abandoning of her, considered Siegfied to be her father and love him dearly as he loved her.
The side of Sirin, Void's dark, hated him for his meddling in her plans and was traumatized partially by his power. Yet whenever Sirin thought of a father it was Siegfied, even if it was all a dream, he was the only one who fit the role.
When the two sides were rectified and made whole it became obvious why the bad aspects in her memory existed. He abandoned Kiana to stop the Herrscher from wreaking havoc. He fought against Sirin to save his wife and ensure the people he cared about had a future.
When he and Void had finally reunited. It had been…something.
"I always knew you had good inside you," Siegfied had told her. "I saw it in your eyes that day."
"I'm nothing but a monster who looks like your daughter," Void had responded. "Had she been here, would you still have seen me as such?" Void asked.
"Kiana was my daughter, yes, but I failed as a father. She died because of my carelessness but I still had a chance to raise you even if it was a short while." He sighed with a smile. "You're the one and only daughter, I managed to not screw over." He muttered. "I failed Sirin and I failed Kiana…but I'd like to think…I never failed you," He told Void.
That moment had been short-lived, but it was enough to help her make peace with her father. Her nightmares of the raging demon that had haunted Sirin, of the disappearing figure that Kiana chased, would never appear after that. Instead, Void was left with a few fleeting memories of her father taking pride in a girl he raised twice over.
"You didn't fail me," Void muttered.
Once Void had finished polishing the pair of guns, she held one up and fire into a portal. The dragon assumed she would have fired the next gun, but instead the Herrscher opened another portal and pulled, a third gun out, identical to the first two, and fired. "Perfect," She heard her master mutter as she stared at the two in hand. The Herrscher repeated the process again, bringing a fourth gun from the portal as well. In the end, she had two pairs of blue guns, one belonging to the Siegfied of this timeline and the other belonging to Void, Bella assumed. Void returned her weapons to her pocket space shortly afterward.
"And that's that," Void said as she places the guns to the side. She then turned her focus to Cecilia's lance. Unfortunately, while she had pleasant memories with Father's guns, she couldn't say the same for Mother's lance. It always left a bitter taste in her mouth whenever she had met…Durandal.
It had enraged Void to no end to see her mother's weapon in the hands of one of Otto's lackeys. Many times, Void would have clashed with Durandal and the results had always been the same, stalemate. Even when Void was able to overpower Durandal, that damn maid or someone else would always be around and stop her before she could regain the weapon. The closest she had ever been to the weapon was unironically when Durandal would impale her with it, several times….in the same place.
Void considered if given the option now, she'd consider giving both Durandal and Rita premature deaths. Admittedly Cecilia might not approve so she'd let them go for now. If she found either of them working for Otto later though, or worse yet if Durandal and Rita came after Sirin and Kiana, Void was going to show them the true meaning of fear.
"So that's what happened," Cecilia said as she finished explaining the situation to Siegfied. The man stayed silent as he lay in his bed contemplating what his wife had just told him. It was nothing something one would expect to learn after recovering from a war.
"So…I have…four daughters now," He mumbled.
"Actually, it might be five," Thunder chimed in. She was currently having her hair braided by Kiana. An innocent and harmless sight Siegfied thought, were it not for her nature and the unknown surrounding her. "Sirin's dragon, Bella, also has a human form and will most likely desire to stay with Sirin," She explained.
"Right…five," Siegfied repeated. 'We have five daughters now, 3 of which a Herrschers and 1 is a Honkai beast," He recounted.
"In my defense, I only ever intended to adopt one Herrscher. It just so happens that Kiana wanted the others to be her sisters as well," Cecilia defended.
"Cecilia…I am pretty sure Kiana is no excuse for that," Siegfied muttered.
As if on cue Kiana was now in front of Siegfied giving him the most adorable puppy dog look she could muster. "Please Daddy, can they be my sisters?" Kiana begged with the biggest sad eyes he had ever seen.
"Okay, so Kiana is pretty a good excuse," Siegfied repeated. "But you couldn't have waited until I woke up. I'm not emotionally prepared for this," He muttered. "I mean I was barely prepared as it was for one daughter, how am I gonna love five," He mumbled much to their surprise.
"So, wait…you aren't mad," Cecilia said in shock.
"Eh…I always wanted a big family with you…this is weird way of doing it but it's alright," Siegfied answered with a smile. "Just inform me in advance instead of surprising me like this next time," he told her.
"Will do," Cecilia answered.
"Although," Siegfied muttered before turning to Thunder. "Before we do actually do go forward…I'd like to know for sure, just who my new 'daughters' are and what they intend to do," He announced as he eyed the Herrscher.
"I expected as much," Thunder answered. "You'll get your answers when Sirin wakes up and when Void returns," She explained.
"Right, Void," Siegfied repeated. "The 'true' Herrscher of the Void," He mused. She was honestly the more worrisome one in his eyes. Sirin was the supposed Herrscher of the Void, and she was something to handle, and Void was stronger. At the very least he was glad Void was on friendly terms with the people here.
"The one and only, Old Man," A voice called as a portal opened in the room. Siegfied eyes widened as he was introduced to his last daughter. The one who looked to resemble his first ironically enough.
He could see the face of the Herrscher that he unknowingly agreed to adopt, a face that looked so much like his own daughter. At this point, only a few words could leave his mouth.
"What the fu-"
"LANGUAGE" Cecilia and Tunder had screamed as the latter covered Kiana's ears.