The Blizzards' Inception

"Ugh..."

A groan was heard in a blank white void. The void should have only been accessible to two people, but someone else now occupied this place.

The noise came from a red haired woman that lay on the ground. She felt groggy as she woke from her position on the floor.

What happened, Himeko pondered. She still felt half asleep as her memory failed her.

She stood up with a bit of effort and looked at the area she had found herself in.

It was a vast expanse of space that was a blinding white. The only thing that was in the room was a stone throne that sat a few meters from where the woman had woken.

There was no wind nor smell in the stagnant air. It felt as though she was the only thing with any motion in the entire expanse.

Despite the feeling of solidarity, Himeko could not stop the sinking feeling that formed in her gut. As though she was somewhere she knew she wasn't supposed to be.

Suddenly, a voice pierced the void, "Well well, what have we here? A rat within my palace perhaps? Or a thief in the night?"

Himeko swiftly turned to the throne, where a girl clothed in white sat upon it. She had hair just as colorless and skin as pale as snow.

The most striking feature about the young girl, however, was her golden eyes. They seemed to burn with a calm rage that made Himeko feel like a criminal before a queen.

The girl rested her head upon her hand as she gazed at the woman, "Do you have no defense for yourself?" The girl questioned in a bored tone.

The words spurned Himeko out of her current confusion, "I- where am I?" Perhaps it was not the best of defenses, but her mind was still groggy, and she was curious where she was and how she got there. She hopped it didn't involve and alcohol again.

The girl laughed at Himeko's words, "Humans truly are the stupidest of creatures aren't they?" Her question was blatantly rhetorical and forced the red haired woman to bite back the words she sought to say. She had a feeling this young girl wouldn't take too kindly to anything she had to say.

"However, you are in a unique position. I can't kill you, as that would anger someone I have great affection for. So, I will offer you a choice; do you seek power or death?" The girl inquired with a predatory smile that made both options seem like a trap.

The girl continued, "You were sent to take a portion of my power. I am willing to part with an insignificant amount as long as you choose it for yourself."

Himeko was suspicious of the pale child, "Why do I have to choose to take it?" She still had no memory of what lead her to this place and was cautious of the girl's intentions.

"Simply put, if you choose to take the power, then you will die."

"Then what's the point of it in the first place if I'm only going to die." That seemed rather pointless, after all, what would be the purpose of strength for the dead.

The girl answered amusedly, "Oh you won't die immediately, but you will not live nearly as long as most. Your frail body can't contain my power forever."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then I send you back to where you came from with no recollection of this place or of me."

Himeko pondered her choices. She still couldn't recall why she was here but had a feeling that this girl was responsible for that.

If she took this offer than she might be able to tip the fight with the Honkai in their favor, but her life would be on a timer. And she wouldn't know when it stopped.

On the other hand, if she refused then they could find another way to beat the invaders without her life being on the line more than it already was.

Well, when I put it like that my answer is obvious, Himeko thought with a grim chuckle.

"I accept."

The girl clapped her hands together in childish glee, "Wonderful! Then let's not waste any more time shall we?" She stood up off of her throne and walked towards the crimson woman.

Himeko was confused as the girl, who only came up to her chest, stopped I front of her. The girl's eyes burned a bright gold as Himeko gasped.

It felt as though she was drinking fire.

Her blood boiled and her stomach tightened as liquid flames pooled in her body.

The girl smiled innocently as she spoke, "Do remember to tell Einar this was your decision, alright."

"Wha-"

Himeko's world vanished in a swirl of black.

"Ugh..."

Himeko felt a strange sense of déjà vu as she awoke.

"I see you finally decided to wake up." A voice beside her spoke.

Himeko groaned out a response, "I'm sure I didn't drink anything this time."

"No, but you did do something stupid."

The groggy woman recognized the voice, "Fu Hua?"

The girl, Hua, responded, "Yep, it's me. You didn't get drunk, so you don't have to worry about that."

Despite her reassuring words, the girl's face was contorted in a mix of sadness and frustration. As Himeko shook the sleep from her mind and her memories came back to her, she realized why.

"So, you found out huh?" She sighed.

Hua looked a bit incredulous, "Did you seriously expect to keep this hidden forever?" Himeko was her captain after all, the odds that she wouldn't find out about the woman's condition, whether it failed or not, was improbable.

The older woman smiled sheepishly, "Yeah, I guess I shouldn't have expected that to work huh?"

"We would have been before our next mission anyway, which makes me think that you had some other goal in mind."

Himeko looked like a deer caught in the headlights as Hua continued, "I'm not going to pry, but just know that, while I might not like your decision, I would still support you no matter what you chose."

"I would hope not every decision."

"Within certain limits most definitely." Hua agreed. Her captain was certainly not perfect, so it was up to her, as Himeko's subordinate, to set her straight when she needed it most.

The crimson woman grinned, "Well then, I'll be trusting you to set me smack some sense into me if I go to crazy alright?"

Hua smiled, "Of course captain."

The girl was thrilled to support the woman she so greatly admired, she only hoped that Himeko would never need that promised smack.

Only time would tell.

Mei was found sitting in a simple chair.

The room she occupied was a fairly simple debriefing room, filled with naught but an elongated table with chairs and a single large monitor near the front of the room.

She seemed, however, to be waiting for something or someone.

Suddenly the door to the room slammed open with enough force to dent the wall.

Einar strode through with his face contorted in rage and his eyes burning with color. His right burned a fiery gold and his left crackled in an azure light. The boy looked as though he was going to burn the room to the ground, it was a far cry from the normal cheery and lighthearted expression he usually had.

So, this is what he looks like when he's mad, observed Mei with a calm expression. While she couldn't deny the slight fear, she felt when she beheld Einar's face, she knew what he was here for and how to handle the situation.

The boy paused in the doorway to take a long breath before he walked up to the chair that the scientist was sitting in.

"Mei, you are a great friend." Einar started off the conversation, "But give me one reason I shouldn't kill you."

The words that the boy spoke hurt Mei far more than she had expected but she maintained her composure and answered him, "You are referring to the situation with Himeko, I presume?"

The question was merely formality, but it never hurt to clarify.

"Of course, it's the situation with Himeko! What were you thinking, infusing her body with Honkai energy!? We have no idea what that will do to her!" Einar spoke with a volume and heat that further emphasized the wrath he felt at having something like this done to Himeko.

The boy was the only one outside of the Herrschers that understood that the Honkai had a will of its own and he worried that Kaguya would corrupt his captain's will.

Mei's voice gained a slight edge to it as she responded, "And when did I need your permission to perform a test on her with her own consent. She is not your responsibility."

The girl's words seemed to hit Einar in the gut.

She continued, "I understand your strength and while it is invaluable, it is not something we can solely rely on. There are far more threats out there than just the Herrschers and Himeko willingly volunteered to help with that knowing full well of the risks involved.

"And this was the first thing that you thought of? Combining humans with the very thing that we're fighting against!?"

Mei raised her voice for the first time during the conversation, "We have the Honkai breathing down our necks. We may have won against the last four Herrschers but what and how many are next is anyone's guess. Adding to that, Honkai beasts are attacking humanity across the globe as we speak! We don't have the luxury of time whether you approve or not!"

She calmed down before responding, "Listen, I know you are quite close to captain Himeko but its either gamble her life or the loves of humanity. I made my choice and so did she."

The logic was sound, cruel though it might be, but a part of Einar's mind still wanted to run from the facts. The only way he could convince Mei of his opinion was by revealing what he knew about Kaguya and that was a very risky gamble.

"I-" He slammed his mouth shut. He had decided long ago to protect Kaguya no matter the cost, only, the cost was proving to be far greater than he had anticipated.

The boy spoke after a momentary pause, "Fine. I won't get in the way of your experiments."

"Thank you. I don't like it any more than you do but it has to be done." Mei attempted to lessen the blow of his decision at least by a small increment.

The boy grunted in response as he once again slammed the door shut as he left.

Releasing her held breath, the girl sat back down in her chair. She hadn't even realized that she had gotten up but assumed that it had happened towards the end of their conversation.

The monitor lit up after a few moments had passed, the face of Yasuhiro present on its surface.

"Well, that went about as well as it could have."

Mei's response was somewhat lethargic as she spoke, "I just hope that we don't push him over the ledge with any future stunts." Crossing Einar was not something the genius wished to do.

Yasuhiro grimaced, "Yes, at least he seemed to see the merits of your plan, even if he still seemed to hold reservations on it. You did well professor Raiden."

"Thank you sir."

The man continued, "Take the rest of the day off, we can't have you working if you're not at your best now can we?"

While Mei wanted to take her mind off of recent events she understood her superiors point, "Very well sir."

Yasuhiro smiled, "Good, I'll be expecting great things from you in the future." With those words the screen cut to black and the man disappeared from the screen.

With an entire day now to herself, Mei mulled over the effects of her recent actions on her relationship with Einar.

The two were quite friendly given the amount of time that they spent together completing various tests, but the girl felt that he always maintained a certain distance that made him feel...detached.

The boy never shared anything about himself. Normally that would seem strange, but he was always such a vibrant presence that she never put much thought into it, but when she tried she couldn't label anything about the boy other than his character. Although it seemed she wasn't too experienced with the latter either, if today's events proved anything.

He reminded her of Kevin in that regard.

Neither were very fond of revealing much about themselves and kept other at a distance. When she and Kevin were back in school she always heard the girls talking about what they thought the white haired teen's tastes in various foods or activities were.

Due to no act of her own she found that she knew the answers to many of those questions, if only because Kevin told them to her many times. It made her wonder if Einar had someone similar to what she was to Kevin, whatever their relationship could be called.

Before Mei could think any more on the topic, however, a knock came from the door of the room.

"You may enter." Was the scientist's reply.

'Speak of the devil and he shall appear' I guess, Mei thought as Kevin walked through the door.

The boy took one look at her before commenting, "Rough day I'm guessing?"

"That's certainly one way to put it."

"I saw Einar leaving looking like he was going to paint the town red. You have anything to do with that?" Kevin inquired.

If it was anyone else, Mei would think that they were accusing her of something with the phrasing her friend used. Her time with Kevin and the concerned look plastered on his face suggested genuine worry and perhaps a bit of curiosity more than anything else.

She answered the teen with a small sigh, "I had to inform him of the merits of the procedure Himeko underwent and why I sought to accomplish such a task. He simply was none too fond of my argument but at least he seemed to accept it."

Kevin raised an eyebrow, "If that's what you call acceptance, then I would hate to see what a denial would look like."

Mei's lips curved upwards into a barely perceivable smile, "I suppose I should be thankful that I didn't see that huh?"

"That you should." He stated before changing the conversation, "Are you busy right now?" His intentions were obvious to everyone in the room as he asked his question.

The girl thought for a moment, normally she would reject an offer like this, but she was ordered to take the day off.

"Alright." Was her curt response, which was not as cold as she intended it to be due to the slight reddening of her cheeks.

Kevin gained a large grin, "Then let's go!"

The boy grabbed the girl's hand and led her out of the room. Though easy to forget, the two were still teenagers and should be able to enjoy themselves rather than focus on a war with humanity on the line.

These relatively peaceful days would near their end one day, so it was best to enjoy them while they lasted.

Meanwhile, after Einar had left the debriefing room.

The boy was angry.

That was a horribly inadequate word to describe the anger that he felt but it would have to do.

He wasn't angry at Mei, at least not too much. She was only doing her job after all and to be angry at her for trying to stack the deck in humanities favor was an admirable goal.

No, he was angry at his own inadequacy.

It was childish and clichéd, but he couldn't help it. He had more power than any other human and he was still unable to protect a single girl.

If he couldn't protect Himeko from herself, then how could he hope to defend Kaguya from anything.

While he was deep in thought he ended passing by a door that opened as he passed. Out of it popped Hua who seemed startled at his sudden appearance.

She grabbed Einar, who was still confused by her emergence, and pulled him into the room she had just left and closed the door. The boy only thought about leaving for a moment before he saw Hua's face, it seemed to say, try and leave, see what happens.

Any retort that Einar would have said died in his throat as he accepted his fate. He turned around to see what was contained within the room, already half-expecting what he would see.

Himeko was seen on a white hospital like bed with both a confused and amused expression on her face.

All the anger drained from Einar as soon as he saw the woman on the bed.

"That certainly wasn't what I was expecting." She stated with a small chuckle.

The boy sighed, "I forgot how scary women can be." He shuddered as he remembered the times he made girls angry. It was certainly the hard way to learn a lesson.

The crimson haired woman laughed, "Fu Hua can be quite pushy when she needs to be, that's for sure."

"You're telling me." Einar said with a small smile. "Anyway, you look rather comfortable."

Himeko scowled, "Don't remind me. I keep telling them I'm fine, but they insisted that I have to stay in bed for the rest of the day!"

The boy laughed at the anger that his captain expressed at her situation.

"Don't laugh at me! I'll give you toilet cleaning duty for a month!"

The boy raised an eyebrow as he answered amusedly, "I don't think you have that kind of power."

"I should be able to get away with it if I ask Mei." She answered smugly.

"Uh huh, let me know how that works out for you." He responded with a chuckle.

The conversation proceeded to fall into an awkward silence. Einar held a blank look as he stared off into space and Himeko seemed to be thinking hard about something.

Finally, Himeko broke the stretch of silence with a question, "So, should we address the elephant in the room now?" She spoke with a seriousness that was rather uncharacteristic but still held a sense of caution and concern in her tone of voice.

"I suppose now is as good a time as any." The boy responded with a small grimace. As much as he would rather pretend the problem didn't exist, he knew he would have to talk with her about it at some point.

The scarlet haired woman spoke first, "Where do you want me to start?"

"Start and end with why you chose to do this. I know why the choice is logically the best bet we have against the Honkai, but I want to know why you did it." He spoke with no trace of anger in his voice, just genuine curiosity.

Smiling bittersweetly, Himeko answered the boy, "Before you get your hopes up, it wasn't because of the death of a family member or I just thought that my life is insignificant compare to the entirety of humanities. No, it was because of you guys; you, Hua, Kevin, and Mei that is."

"Us?" Einar clenched his fists as he heard that.

"Not how you're thinking. I mean that I don't want you guys to have to fight this war at all. You guys are just children, you shouldn't have to bear the weight of the world before you can drink a beer."

The boy pondered for a moment before speaking, "I'm not a child captain. I've already failed the world once and I don't plan on doing it again."

"What do you mean by that?" Himeko asked with confusion strewn across her face.

Deciding not to dodge the question, Einar answered honestly, "That's...not something that I'm willing to talk about just yet, just...know that I can handle anything you need me to. Don't be afraid to relax a bit more."

"And what if you need someone to take the weight from your shoulders?" She questioned.

The boy seemed conflicted as he answered, "I can handle it. I don't want you to bite off more than you can chew."

"You seem to know far more than you're telling me, Einar."

"I do but trust me when I say that this is my fight. You don't need to get involved in my problems." Einar spoke with a confidence that took Himeko slightly aback, as she had not heard him speak with such an emotion until now.

The woman recovered quickly, however, and spoke, "Well as your captain, your problems are mine too, so you'll just have to deal with that."

The boy opened his mouth to retort but closed it upon seeing her face. She was smiling with a confidence and cheerfulness that shocked Einar. Her face expressed her intentions to help the boy quite clearly and almost dared him to oppose her.

"I-" He stuttered out. "Fine, just don't do something like this without at least telling me first. I'd rather not find out that you passed out for 'classified reasons' again."

Himeko laughed, a bright noise that instantly lightened the mood of the room. "That's what they told you? Well in that case your anger makes a bit more sense."

"I didn't find it so funny at the time!" Despite trying to sound angry, the boy had a small smile plastered on his face as he spoke.

"You're right, you're right, next time I'll tell you, deal?" Himeko held up her hands in surrender before reaching one out to the boy across from her.

The boy sighed, "I guess that's the best I'm gonna get." He responded by taking his captain's hand to signify his agreement.

Himeko gained a mischievous smirk as she held Einar's hand. Suddenly she pulled him closer for bone shattering hug as the boy squirmed in her grasp.

"W-wh-what are you doing?" The boy reddened as the woman smiled in amusement.

She didn't respond as she leaned closer, "Just remember that you have someone to rely on as well." As soon as she said those words, she released her grasp on the boy and leaned back into her position on the bed.

"Now shoo! I'm going to spend my day off lazing about in bed and I don't need any more sappy crap today!" She continued.

Einar chuckled, he supposed that their discussion could fall under that label.

"Okay, captain." He chuckled out. "Don't get too bored here and don't drink anything either!"

With those words he left closing the door behind him.

Himeko's smile dropped shortly after he left gaining a somber aesthetic. She thought about the small bits of Einar's past she had managed to pull out of him.

"I don't know what you're hiding Einar, but I hope it doesn't kill you."

The sound of her voice died upon reached the walls of the small room.

Unbeknownst to her, the plans of one girl had just been improved by the crimson woman's actions.

Only time would tell of their effects.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world pillars of ice could be seen growing from the once bustling streets of a large city.

A chilled wind blew throw the otherwise lush green scenery and not a soul could be seen.

No one would find this scene until three weeks later.

By that time, the preparator was already gone.

Like a snowflake that drifts in the wind, the Honkai advanced.

Let's see where this story leads, shall we?

Author's notes: This took far too long. My excuse is that finals suck and so do I but that's just excuses. So, I humbly apologize for the time it took for this chapter to come out. Although after next week I have Christmas break so that means I can spend more time writing, yay!

On that note I do want to say that this will be a rather long author's note so buckle up. Remember when I said in the first chapter that not all chapter would have author's notes? Look how that turned out.

Anyway, What I tried to accomplish in this chapter is a progression of development in the realm of Honkai based technologies and the moral quandaries that come with it. With the little we have seen of the Mei of the old era I don't believe that she would be completely for some of the biological experiments without at least a little hesitation. I also realized the Mei has only appeared in the laboratory so far and tried to fix that issue.

On a completely different note, the new post Honkai game mode looks awesome! I will not be adding that story into this fanfic as the end of the Honkai will end the story. I'll let you try and guess when that will be.

And to wrap things up, thank all of you guys so much for reading! It might not seem like a lot of support to you guys as readers but to me it's a huge amount. I never expected you guys to like this story really at all so the support has been amazing. And as a random shout out, I'm glad you like my story enough to want me to update Mr. Guest!

Thanks again.

Sayonara,

The Slow White Guy