A/N: Thank you all for reviewing the first chapter, and I am grateful for the reviews, follows and favorites since I was very nervous about this story for a number of reasons, and not having a beta was one of them.
Given the unfortunate long author note I wrote at the end of the chapter I won't say much, but to the only reviewer I couldn't reply to.
Jay: Yes he will especially with what happens at the end of this chapter.
Now onward with the rest of the chapter.
Chapter 2
Evolution shall be served
Her vision was blurry, but slowly as consciousness returned, her vision cleared while her mind was trying to organize her thoughts and recall what happened. She involuntary groaned as her body shifted in response to her mind regaining full awareness, seeing a white ceiling above her.
"I am glad to see you are awake, doctor," a female voice said, but it was robotic in that it sounded electronic with a deep echo.
The woman's eyes opened wide in surprise as she scanned the room seeking the source before finding a young girl in her late teens approached the bed she was lying on. The girl stood five feet tall, with light grey hair, some hanging above her shoulders while the rest was styled into a pair of drill-like tails held by black ribbons. Her pale skin and red eyes were striking, but for attire, she wore a white lab coat over a grey suit, with an open buttoned white-collar shirt, and a matching skirt with slip-on shoes.
Recognizing the voice, the woman sat up in bed; the girl by her bedside was slightly different, but her appearance was unmistakable.
"Prometheus?"
"Greetings, Doctor Mei; it has been almost fifty thousand years since we last met," Prometheus greeted before explaining. "However, I am a copy of Prometheus Number Seventeen, upgraded with a new synthetic android body composed of a hybrid of organic and cybernetic components. I assure you my capabilities are far greater than my old body."
"A copy, but who copied you and created your body?"
"Your protégé and old assistant, Director Nathaniel," Prometheus answered.
"He survived the Honkai attack on the Fire MOTH leadership?"
"Yes, but the truth was, he actually killed them."
"He did what?!" Dr. Mei said, alarmed by the revelation, but realization dawned upon her after a moment. "Was it because of what happened to Elysia, Rin, and Sakura?"
"Yes, but also while they seemingly embraced the demises of Vill-V, Kalpas, and Kosma as a good thing," Prometheus confirmed. "He didn't respond well to that, so he killed them all, then used his security clearances to cover it up."
"With only less than twelve hours left, we simply didn't have the time to fully investigate what happened," Dr. Mei said before remembering her death. "I had only a limited time left, Su's medication helped prevent my demise for a long time, but as our Era was in its final hours, my life was ending."
Looking at her arms, Dr. Mei recalled with crystal charity, even if she had lost her vision by the time her life neared its final moments. Through the conflict with Honkai, Dr. Mei was repeatedly exposed to Honkai radiation, which causes adverse effects on living beings. Usually, it could kill a human within a short time if they lacked sufficient resistance, causing weakness and, ultimately, death. Her friend's medication had helped Dr. Mei survive the infection for a long time until it finally lost its effectiveness.
A tear ran down her eye as she recalled her last words to Su before her body finally gave out after Mei used the remaining time she had left to finish the last tools humanity would need against the Honkai.
"How…how am I alive?"
"The result of Director Nathaniel's experiments, he spent thousands of years trying to find a way to revive the dead. You were the first successful resurrection before he began working on restoring Elysia and the others," Prometheus answered.
"That's…not all he has been doing, especially to me; what else has he done," Dr. Mei realized something was different about her. The fact she could see clearly without the need for glasses was an obvious sign, having always needed glasses or, in rare instances, contacts to see clearly.
"Yes, as you suspected, he didn't just stop with reviving you as a test run; he experimented on your body as well; you are more than human now."
"Then am I?"
"Yes, he used you to," Prometheus was about to explain further when someone burst into the small room, interrupting them.
"Prometheus, Vill-V needs you to run a system diagnostic on the ship, and," the young man who entered the room said before noticing Dr. Mei. "Dr. Mei, you're awake?!"
Dr. Mei was surprised by the young ten-year-old boy who had entered the cabin; he had dark green hair, orange eyes, and black horns growing out of his head. He wore the same white shirt and pants as she, although his black armored arms and claws stood out.
"Kosma," Dr. Mei said, stunned, recognizing the young man despite being much younger than she remembered him fifty-thousand years ago. "Sorry I am not used to the younger appearances you all have gained."
"I understand," Kosma replied. "However, I noticed something after we escaped, you should know."
Focusing as Kosma closed his eyes, Dr. Mei watched as his horns retracted into his head while his hands adopted an ordinary human appearance.
"How," Dr. Mei asked in surprise.
"Apparently, Nathaniel didn't simply rebuild their bodies from scratch but also improved upon them. Kosma can not only appear more human at will but his hunger has been limited to consuming a high-calories," Prometheus explained. "I suppose he thought if he had to grant them new bodies, might as well make them better than their old ones was his reasoning?"
"Why bring them back as children?"
"Given the extensive improvements he has made to them, he likely deemed it safer to grow them normally until he was ready to revive them. However, I believe he didn't age them beyond ten so they could adapt and blend into this world's society when the time was right," Prometheus explained stoically.
"Basically, he is giving them all a chance to start fresh, a new beginning for them?"
"Exactly, he likely believed it would be best for them."
"I…I don't know if I agree with that," Kosma said, looking at his youthful appearance.
"Perhaps, he didn't ask for anyone's consent, obviously," Prometheus pointed out.
"Why," Kosma asked.
"I think I might know why; I'll explain it as best as I can so that Dr. Mei can grasp his motivations," Prometheus said before beginning her explanation.
Meanwhile, Jeremiah sped his vehicle, a black SUV, down the highway as fast as he could get away with; he was mindful to avoid anything that could draw attention to himself while seeking to put as much distance from the shoreline as possible. Specifically, he was trying to get as far inland as possible, aware the major cities and towns were to be likely targets, and once word of Britannia's invasion got out, many would be scrambling to escape the battlefield.
Lelouch sat in the back seat with Nunnally and Elysia while Suzaku, Kallen, and Pardo sat behind them.
The radio had begun announcing Britannia's invasion, advising civilians to make for shelters or evacuate further inland if they lived near the coast. Obstinately out of fear of stray fire or attempts by Britannia to bypass their defenses and attack directly, the Japanese Military was already overwhelmed.
It was only a matter of time before the mainland was attacked.
I would've been a little more honest than advising them to do so, but Lelouch thought.
But Lelouch wondered if this was somehow intentional, maybe to avoid panic, or something else, given that Genbu's bodyguards did try to kill him.
Lelouch understood the Japanese were a prideful and sometimes a nationalistic lot, so admitting their Military was losing badly wasn't easy. But, in the face of Britannia invading, they shouldn't be advising people to evacuate. They should insist upon it. Instead, their choice of words would only lead to unnecessary loss of life.
On the other hand, the highway leading further away from the coast remained clear, allowing Jeremiah to keep putting more distance between them and likely battlefields.
Kallen was looking out at the windows, and the buildings and vehicles were things she had never seen before. The urgency of the situation didn't allow her time to question Jeremiah's wagonless horse he drove, which seemed similar, but it didn't need horses to move. Seeing them speed by made her nervous, but she lived in a time where fighting monsters and wielding divine weapons were normal, so maybe it helped lessen the shock of what she was seeing.
This is definitely not the same Japan I remember; how long…was I dead?
The last memory Kallen Kaslana remembered was the day of her execution. She was meant to be hung at the gallows, but then her friend, in a misguided effort to save her, unleashed Honkai Beasts on the crowd. She was horrified and refused to escape with him, but in her attempt to save the people being attacked, she lost her life after being impaled by one of the monsters.
After her demise, she would awake aboard a ship on fire before ending up in the ocean with Pardo. Together the pair managed to make it to Japan while chased by a shark the whole way.
How was this possible, and why am I a child?
Kallen wasn't the only one with that question, as Pardo and Elysia wondered why they had been brought back as children.
The silence was broken by a cell phone Jeremiah had ringing; it had been mounted on the dash. Seeing the phone number, Jeremiah answered it by pushing the call button; he had it attached to the car's speakers set to speakerphone mode beforehand.
"It's me. Did you retrieve the siblings?" The voice of an older man, one that was familiar to Suzaku.
"Mr. Kirihara!"
"I take it you collected Suzaku too," Taizō Kirihara inquired, hearing Suzaku's voice.
"I have, and I was just in time as the bodyguards assigned to them intended to kill them," Jeremiah answered.
"I see, and you can confirm this, Suzaku?"
"Y-yes," Suzaku replied reluctantly, primarily out of disbelief at what had happened.
"Then this confirms our fears the Prime Minister has sold out Japan," Kirihara said, his voice with barely restrained anger.
"How, why!?" Suzaku said, his own voice a mixture of shock and horror.
"We've been monitoring your father for months since he accepted Lelouch and Nunnally," Kirihara said before explaining. "I and several others have been concerned by Genbu's more aggressive and combative policies against Britannia, but his acceptance of the siblings as political hostages was unusual."
Political hostages? Elysia wondered.
Lelouch's eyes narrowed as he began to see where this was going.
"As regrettable as this might sound, Suzaku, we are certain your father has been collaborating with someone in Britannia to sell us out to them," Kirihara said harshly but with a degree of sympathy for Suzaku.
The revelation left Suzaku numb, he wanted to deny what he had just heard, but Suzaku found himself trying to ignore the scene where the bodyguards in his father's employ aimed their weapons at Lelouch and Nunnally. It wasn't something Suzaku could dismiss no matter how much he wanted to.
"But how did you end up working together?" Lelouch inquired.
"I was discreetly contacted by one of your older step-siblings, Clovis la Britannia," Jeremiah revealed, surprising Lelouch.
"Thanks to his unofficial cooperation, we were able to identify which member of the Royal Family Genbu Kururugi has been dealing with, Gabrielle la Britannia," Kirihara said.
"Who is she?" Pardo asked.
"One of the Emperor's consorts and Clovis's mother," Lelouch answered, but he was even more surprised Clovis was going behind her back like this.
On the surface, they seemed close, but I know she always took issue with Clovis's lack of aggressive ambition, as she called it, Lelouch thought.
"Imperial Consorts? Does this mean the Emperor has more than one wife?" Elysia inquired.
"Wife might be too generous of a term," Lelouch said before explaining. "To be blunt, while the consorts are considered Empresses, it's only in name. They are little more than breeding stock for the Emperor to ensure an heir. They plot to ensure their child becomes the next Emperor, sometimes going as far as assassinating potential rivals for their children, hoping they get some power and more prestige out of it."
"That's crazy!?" Pardo exclaimed.
"That's just how Britannia is: to ensure an heir exists for the throne. But, with more heirs, conflicts to ensure who becomes the next ruler are inevitable," Lelouch said, struggling to hide his contempt towards his homeland.
"Anyway," Jeremiah said, sensing it was best to intervene. "Clovis opposed his mother's plans, but his opinions were limited. He obviously couldn't go to the Emperor and Princess Cornelia; he wasn't sure if he could trust her turned to me."
"Why you?" Lelouch inquired.
"Because I was a guard at the Aries Villa, and I was very dedicated in my duty, something my younger shared with Prince Clovis's sister while studying etiquette under the prince's mother. Since Prince Clovis and I didn't know each other in any way, and my loyalty to Empress Marianne was unquestioned, he sought me out for this task," Jeremiah explained.
There is no way Clovis could've accomplished this alone unless someone helped him. Could it have been Schienizel? Lelouch wondered, knowing Clovis was a novice when it came to politics.
"I'll have more questions for you later, but how did you and Mr. Kirihara meet?" Lelouch said, seeking an answer to another question.
"Prince Clovis and I spoke through a Britannian Diplomat who managed to pass a message to me revealing the conversations between his mother and Genbu."
"I see; I assume it was more back-alley communications than official channels," Lelouch deduced.
"Correct," Kirihara replied.
"What happens now?" Nunnally asked.
"We'll need to hide somewhere far from the cities and coastlines," Jeremiah answered.
"Let's see," Kirihara said before, at least as far as Lelouch could guess, began looking at a map. "The town of Oguni is located in the Yamagata Prefecture. It's far away enough from any likely battlefields, and it's somewhat remote with a low population; I'll arrange for someone I trust to meet you there. I'll make arrangements as soon as we devise the best way to deal with Genbu Kururugi; the war will complicate and limit our options."
"Understood," Jeremiah said before Kirihara hung up.
Once the call was over, Jeremiah used one hand to open the glove box to hand Lelouch a map.
"I apologize, your highness, but if you search the map for the town Mr. Kirihara spoke of?"
"No need to apologize, I understand," Lelouch said, accepting the map.
Jeremiah also glanced at Elysia, who began looking over the map with interest, and Pardo, who peeked from behind Lelouch's seat. He had wanted to question the pair on their unusual features, but the urgency of their situation forced him to put such questions aside for now. As far as he was concerned, if His Highness Prince Lelouch was at ease around them, that would be enough for him for now.
Miles from shore, the battle for Japan raged, yet despite suffering heavy losses and noticeable results clear, the Japanese brave and valiantly fought on. Yet, for all their valor and determination to fight to the bitter end, some cracks were beginning to show.
"Captain, we just lost Chichijima Squadron," a bridge crew member reported alarmingly.
The Japanese Aircraft, Osaka, shook violently as alarms went off.
"Enemy torpedo just hit, sir; watertight doors are sealing automatically, sir, but we can't take another one," another bridge crew member reported.
The Captain, a middle-aged man was stone-faced as he saw the battle before him, it was just over an hour since the fighting began, but their losses were heavy. He had seen other warships and carriers sink, his ship, the Osaka, had managed to hold out, but even from the bridge, he could see much of the flight deck in flames from long-range attacks from the Britannians and their own planes trying to land for repairs ended up crashing instead.
"Give the order for all non-essential personnel to abandon ship; if any of you wish to leave, this is your chance," The Captain ordered, a decision he did not make lightly.
But to his shock, no one on the bridge chose to leave.
"Captain, with all due respect, we'll continue our duties until this ship begins sinking," one bridge officer said, speaking on behalf of everyone.
They were all in silent agreement.
"Very well, and thank you, but nevertheless, issue my order. Perhaps those who survive could be key to liberating our country one day," The Captain said, unlikely as it was, but he chose to believe in the possibility.
"Understood, sir."
"Begin moving us towards one of the enemy ships, I am certain the Britannians will finish us off soon, but when they do," The Captain said before his expression hardened. "Let's try to take one of their ships with us."
The crew on the bridge wordless agreed with their Captain, knowing their ship was doomed against such overwhelming odds, so they decided if their ship was doomed to be sunk, they would try to take as much of the enemy down with them.
In the skies above, many of Japan's diminishing air force soon began doing the same. Many watched as their comrades were shot down against the staggering number of fighter jets Britannia unleashed against them; it was like attempting to fight a swarm. For every Britannian plane they shot down, ten more took its place. The most skilled and experienced pilots lasted the longest, but their luck didn't last, or they ran out of weapons against the Britannians except for their own planes.
Even more so when a Japanese pilot realized his plane was going down, and if he had enough control over it, they would steer their doomed planes into the nearest Britannian fighter plane or ship below. Most didn't reach their targets; the anti-aircraft firepower of the Britannian ships destroyed them before they could get close. Their pilots either dodged it, or one of their fellow pilots finished the enemy pilot off before they could complete their suicide run.
But some did get through and inflict considerable damage to the ships below, yet their efforts only slowed Britannia's advance; nothing would stop it.
"FOR JAPAN!"
One pilot who managed to brave Britannia's anti-air defenses crashed his doomed plane into the bridge of the Britannian Battleship, stopping it dead in the water. One of the Britannians' ships moved over to assist the crippled battleship, but the rest of their fleet continued. Missiles and artillery shells continued to rain down upon the devastated Japanese Navy.
Japan would call it an honorable and daring last stand of its Navy and Airforce; Britannia would simply view it as further evidence of their superiority that no army could stand against them.
Some like Lelouch would consider it something of both, but not in favor of Britannia, who simply won by throwing overwhelming numbers against Japan, something the small island nation had no hope of repelling. Nevertheless, they would consider Japan's efforts to fight off Britannia impressive, even if the war between the two countries had already been decided.
A couple of hours later, the Britannians had beaten Japan's Navy and Airforce while sending their forces to secure landing sites for their ground forces. Japan's government had already sounded evacuation orders for their major cities and other towns along the coast once the defeat of the Japanese air force and Navy was apparent.
Thankfully Jeremiah and the others had managed to get far inland to escape the conflict as Britannia was beginning to land ground troops. Thus, they managed to avoid the traffic from people hurrying to escape the inevitable warzones their homes in the cities and towns near the coast would become.
It was late afternoon as they neared their destination, but something was wrong when they approached the town.
"What the hell?" Jeremiah said, coming across abandoned cars blocking parts of the road.
Lelouch was equally baffled by the sight; there was still enough room on the road for them to proceed since most of the road blockage was happening on the outgoing streets.
The conflict couldn't have spread this far already, Lelouch thought, wondering what could've happened.
Lelouch didn't see any sign of smoke or hear the sounds of conflict unless it all happened so fast no one could react. Even then, Lelouch didn't think it was Britannia, so the question remained, what happened here.
"People left in a big hurry," Pardo said, seeing not just abandoned cars but also bags and suitcases having been left behind.
"I don't like this; we should turn around and go to another town," Lelouch said, voicing his unease.
"I agree, let's," Jeremiah said, as he was about to turn the car around when suddenly something large erupted from one of the buildings. It was a creature neither Lelouch, Suzaku, or Jeremiah had seen before, but it was familiar to Pardo, Kallen, and Elysia. The white creature was oddly streamlined for its limbs and body; it was bigger than a car with long thick arms but no visible set of legs. No mouth, yet it presumably had one eye and horn-like ears on top of its head.
"That's a Honkai Beast!" Pardo cried out in panic. "It's a Chariot-class!"
The Chariot-class spotted the moving vehicle as Jeremiah tried to escape by weaving between the abandoned cars trying to escape. But the Honkai Beast didn't just charge; it leaped into the air, crushing abandoned cars as it landed.
Jeremiah managed to keep ahead of the beast, dodging the cars it sent flying while avoiding the abandoned vehicles on the road. Lelouch and Elysia managed to brace themselves and Nunnally, while Pardo and Suzaku did the same behind them. Unfortunately for Suzaku, Pardo's unnamed pet cat clung onto Suzaku's lap, much to the poor boy's discomfort.
"The road is blocked ahead!"
Jeremiah warned, seeing multiple abandoned cars caught in a traffic jam leaving no room for him to maneuver, except…
"Hold on!?" Jeremiah warned before making a hard right down an alley; it was narrow but wide enough for the black SUV to speed through.
Once they were clear, Jeremiah sped down the empty sidewalk until he could get back onto the road once he saw an opening among the rows of abandoned cars. Luckily for Jeremiah, the road they were on was mostly open, with fewer abandoned vehicles in the way.
The Honkai Beast chasing them was nowhere to be seen, which Jeremiah safely assumed they had escaped it.
"That was a Honkai Beast?" Lelouch asked, turning to Elysia, who nodded in response.
"Yes, a Honkai Beast, a silicon-based creature with thick armor hides that are highly resilient to kinetic-based firearms," Elysia answered. "I would not advise fighting a Honkai Beast with the weapon you used earlier, Mr. Jeremiah."
"I wasn't going to try it since I already guessed my weapon alone wouldn't be enough to put such a beast down," Jeremiah replied dryly.
"You mentioned Honkai before; if this is them, where do they come from?" Lelouch inquired, recalling Elysia having asked if they knew what Honkai was.
"That is a difficult question to answer, but I can tell you that Honkai Beasts are creatures based upon energy from imaginary space. Honkai radiation infects living creatures, corrupting them and sometimes transforming them into something else, or they are created in imaginary space. I must warn you that any more details wouldn't be easy to explain; their exact nature is difficult to comprehend, so there isn't much of a way to clearly define them," Elysia explained.
"So, they are incomprehensible monsters to humans, basically?" Lelouch asked, to which Elysia nodded.
"That's one way to put it. I apologize; I can't offer a better explanation."
"This is probably not the place for a lengthy explanation," Lelouch acknowledged. "I suppose it can be simplified they are extremely dangerous creatures?"
Elysia nodded in confirmation, "Yes, I would just go with that."
Kallen was intrigued by Elysia's knowledge of the Honkai, as it seemed to be more than what she and the organization she once worked for knew.
"Whatever it is, I think we lost it," Jeremiah exclaimed.
Tempted by Jeremiah's words or just plain bad luck, the man had to stop the car. Ahead of them were people; at first, Jeremiah thought they were just the town's residents.
Technically he wasn't wrong.
In truth, they were the town's residents, but now their skin was chalk-white with red lines on their necks and limbs. Their clothes were damaged, and the crowd consisted of various genders, ages, and clothes. What they all shared beyond the white skin was red eyes, and their movements and sounds were akin to zombies.
They are acting like they are undead, just like that crony Halloween movie Mother showed us once, Lelouch thought.
"Zombies!?" Pardo cried out.
"Impossible, those only exist in movies," Jeremiah said, even though he was considering what he was seeing could be zombies as unbelievable as it was.
"It's because of Honkai Energy, a dangerous energy that can corrupt living creatures; its effects can turn humans into zombies if exposed to a sufficient amount," Elysia explained. "If Honkai Beasts and zombies are here, this area must be saturated with Honkai Energy. Needless to say, we should get out of here as soon as possible."
"Obviously," Lelouch said, but Suzaku noticed something behind them.
"There are more of them coming out of the buildings behind us!"
"Hold on!" Jeremiah warned just before he put his foot on the gas.
He plowed through the zombies ahead of them, many of them didn't attempt to avoid the vehicle speeding towards them, but they recklessly attempted to swarm it. Many were sent flying, even some of their bodies bounced off the windshield, cracking it, but despite the number of zombies trying to swarm them, they managed to get through a small horde before too many could stop the SUV.
Nunnally was starting to panic, but Elysia managed to calm her with a hug, much to Lelouch's surprise. If not for their present situation, he might've asked her how she did so quickly when Lelouch had difficulties calming Nunnally when she had panic attacks ever since the incident left her blind and crippled.
They managed to escape the zombies, but their celebration was short-lived because, from a building, a Honkai Beast attacked them. It suddenly erupted from the building before ramming into them, knocking Jeremiah's vehicle into the air; everyone panicked until golden chains came from seemingly out of nowhere to seize the vehicle after it had been hit through the air.
"What the hell was that?!"
"That Honkai Beast, it's a Templar-Class," Elysia said after steadying herself and regaining her wits after the SUV they were in had sent them flying.
Unlike the Honkai Beast they saw earlier, the Templar-class, was similar in coloring to the last one. It notably had a more humanoid appearance holding an integrated shield in its left arm, and its right arm was a lance while the rest of its body was armored. When it ambushed them, it slammed the SUV with its shield to send the vehicle flying, causing panic and disorientation for its occupants.
Luckily the chains holding up the vehicle were close enough to the roof of a nearby building that Jeremiah could open the door and exit.
"Come on, we need to escape!" Jeremiah said before climbing out of the suspended vehicle.
One by one, everyone got out, with Jeremiah ready to help them, especially Nunnally.
"I'll take Nunnally," Suzaku offered before he picked up the girl to carry her via piggyback.
"What caused that," Lelouch asked, looking at the golden chains holding up the vehicle.
"Chains of Binding, I've seen them before, but I don't know what could've created them," Elysia said upon inspecting the chains.
"I've seen them too, but where," Kallen said, inspecting the chains. They look like the same chains from the Oath of Judah.
Suddenly they heard something from the street below, prompting Lelouch, Kallen, and Elysia to look over the edge to find the source. It didn't take the pair long to find it; on the street below, they saw a girl around their age with long light brown hair, wearing a white top with long, puffy sleeves and a high neckline. It was adorned with a superfluity of golden crosses and lining. She wore black form-fitting pants with thigh-high boots.
"That's crazy, she can't…" Lelouch began to say but was left stunned as he watched what happened next.
Despite her young age and the Honkai Beast easily towering over her, the girl effortlessly dodged when the creature tried to impale her with its lance. The girl gracefully landed on the arm of the Templar-class before running up its arm to kick it in the head, with enough strength behind the kick to send the creature stumbling back from the impact. Jumping backward, small portals appeared behind the girl before dozens of those golden chains erupted from them, impaling the beast through the head, limbs, and torso, killing it.
I guess she was the one who saved us, Lelouch thought, realizing she was the one responsible for catching them when the vehicle was sent flying. But who or what is she?
Why do I feel that girl is familiar? Kallen thought.
Noticing the zombies rushing her, the girl grabbed a stop sign before pulling it out of the ground to use as a makeshift weapon, to Lelouch's shock upon witnessing the girl's superhuman feat. The girl fearlessly took on the zombies; their numbers didn't frighten her as she used the uprooted stop sign as an effective crowd-control tool. Many zombies were sent flying when struck, and some were beheaded or dedicated when the sign itself was used, although Lelouch was sure it wasn't sharp enough to be used as a bladed weapon making it a testament to how much raw strength she had.
The way she fights and that strength, could she be a MANTIS? Elysia wondered as she observed the fight but was also surprised by how young she was, yet she fought like an experienced soldier she had seen before. The girl was no novice when it came to fighting Honkai Beasts and zombies, that much Elysia was confident of.
Elysia's deduction was more cemented the longer the fight went on, as the girl wasn't just defeating the zombies that attacked but were ever mindful of keeping them from surrounding her. She attacked those close to her and quickly and efficiently changed targets to keep the other zombies at a distance.
Many zombies were slain, being killed with a single blow.
The sound of a roar drew those watching as more Honkai Beasts arrived, the creature that had been chasing them earlier had arrived, but it wasn't alone. More Templar-class Beasts came, seemingly reinforcing it, but the girl showed no visible signs of fear. Boldly the girl charged the monsters as they charged towards her; she dodged the attack of the Chariot-class's attack when it leaped to crush her upon landing.
Summoning more chains of binding, she had them seize the Honkai Beast, with one impaling its head, before at her command, they picked up the creature and hurled it crashing into two of the Templar-class creatures while two more continued charging at the young girl. She side-stepped the first Templar-class's attack before grabbing its lance arm. She picked up the creature before slamming it into the second Templar-class before it could attack her.
The beasts she had pushed back earlier had already recovered; she jumped back to avoid the Chariot-class when it attempted to crush her again. This time she killed with a series of rapid punches that Lelouch could barely see, unable to tell how many hits the girl had delivered upon the hostile creature. The punches were fatal as the Chariot-class fell back, dead.
Hmmm, that fighting style; I think I've seen it somewhere before, Elysia mused internally, recalling another friend who fought with a similar martial arts style.
Picking up the traffic sign she had dropped earlier, using her foot to lightly kick it into the air so her free hand could grab it, she drove the bottom of the sign into the Honkai beast's eye before summoning a new set of binding chains to seize the Honkai Beasts then finishing them off with a second set of chains impaled them.
Seeing all this happening, Lelouch had a hard time accepting what was happening since this was something you could've seen in cartoons about superheroes. But he couldn't ignore what he was seeing and happening before him.
Tossing away the traffic sign she had been using as a weapon, at least a hundred of those small portals appeared above her, and the girl unleashed an equal number of golden chains that impaled the zombies. Using a gesture, their bodies turned to ash, allowing the chains, acting to the owner's will, to seek out the other zombies the chains had missed, impaling them. It wasn't long before the small horde was finished off in what had taken just a few minutes.
"Just what is she? She…can't be human?"
Seemingly aware of their presence, the girl turned her head towards them before a portal opened in front of her, which she used to appear on the rooftop behind Elysia and Lelouch. Now seeing her face to face, the pair noticed she had light-green eyes and didn't look Japanese, likely a Britannian or European.
"I see; you must be Elysia, and you Lelouch vi Britannia, greetings," the girl said upon seeing the two.
"You know about us?" Elysia asked while Lelouch acted more defensively as he tensed up against a potential threat.
The girl nodded but held out a hand in a comforting gesture. "Relax, your Highness; I am not here to harm you. After, I could've just allowed your vehicle to impact this building instead of catching it."
Lelouch relaxed a little but was still on guard.
"Allow me to introduce myself; I am Eleanor Schariac. I am an emissary of the former Director of the organization you called Fire MOTH," Eleanor said, hoping an introduction could further ease tensions, especially with Lelouch. "I was dispatched to ensure your safety as Japan and Britannia, as you've noticed, declared war on each other."
"Eleanor," Kallen said, recognizing the girl, who glared at Kallen.
"It's been a while, Captain Kaslana," Eleanor said, her voice venomous. "About five hundred years after you and Otto killed me! Then to add insult to injury, he kept my body to study it, and now I am stuck in this child's body because you escaped with the others!"
"That was hardly my fault; you turned into a Honkai Beast. I fought back accordingly. As for being stuck in a child's body, I didn't consciously escape, and I am less happy about it than you are," Kallen argued back.
Lelouch noticed Eleanor looked ready to strangle Kallen; the bad blood between them was evident, especially from Eleanor.
"Former Director, then you must mean Nathaniel?" Elysia said, quickly deducing the identity of the person Eleanor was working for. She also decided to say something to de-escalate the potential conflict between the two girls. "I take it was the one responsible for bringing me, Pardo, and the others back to life, was he?"
"Good guess, but we may want to hold off on further explanation; we should find your companions," Eleanor pointed out, causing Lelouch to realize everyone was gone.
"Oh no, Nunnally!?" Lelouch cried before running off.
Elysia, Kallen, and Eleanor followed after Lelouch, but the trio stopped when they heard a gunshot. Running to the other side of the rooftop, Lelouch stopped Jeremiah, Suzaku, Pardo, and Nunnally in the street below on the opposite of the building they had been staying on. Armed gunmen surrounded them; at first glance, Lelouch assumed they were Japanese military members, but their all-black attire and weapons stood out. Furthermore, Lelouch saw something he hadn't seen before a black humanoid machine almost five meters tall holding a giant weapon that looked like an oversized machine gun.
"So, Pluton did come?" Eleanor remarked.
"Pluton?" Elysia inquired.
"They are a secret organization that carries out dirty jobs, like black ops and assassinations, for the Royal Family of Britannia," Eleanor answered. Still, Lelouch's anger began to spike, as did his fear for Nunnally as he gripped the roof's edge.
"Uh, Lelouch," Kallen said, noticing Lelouch's expression.
"They obey the Emperor, don't they?" Lelouch asked, his voice holding barely restrained anger and fear.
"Yes, they do," Eleanor replied. "Stay here. I'll deal with this."
"Lelouch," Elysia said, moving to try and calm him down, recognizing how his emotions were rampant between fear and rage.
Suddenly, an eruption of energy from Lelouch sent the three flying back as Lelouch was drowning in an energy foreign to him.
I see now, so that's why the zombies and Honkai Beasts were being drawn to them; Lelouch was passively absorbing the Honkai Energy and drawing them to him without realizing it, Eleanor thought, realizing what had been happening.
"Of course, he would want us dead; our deaths would justify Britannia's invasion," Lelouch said. His anger eclipsed his fear as the energy he had unknowingly drawn into himself empowered him and caused a change he was unaware of. His eyes began to change from purple to gold.
The eruption of energy drew the attention of the members of Pluton below, but as they raised their weapons, double-ended lances of a strange white, black and gold design began to appear behind Lelouch's back. Followed by a voice not his own began to speak; two voices spoke; one sounded female, and the other differed from Lelouch's.
"Pathetic humans, no matter what, they are still the same," the female voice said, speaking through Lelouch.
"They are Britannians; they all think they are superior to each other, so Britannia think it just to do what they want," the second male voice was deeper in tone than Lelouch's own. "The Royal Family will murder their own just for the throne's sake."
"How disgusting," The girl replied before noticing the Pluton soldiers below firing their weapons at him.
Lelouch snapped his fingers as smaller black portals appeared, catching bullets fired at him before a second portal opened above the soldiers, upon which they were killed by their own shots fired. The Glasgow Knightmare Frame took aim to avenge its fallen men, but the lances Lelouch, or rather those currently possessing him, created earlier reacted. They vanished into smaller portals before reappearing near the Knightmare Frame, where it was swiftly decapitated, with one going through the cockpit and killing the pilot.
Jeremiah, Suzaku, Nunnally, and Pardo were unharmed, but before anything else could happen.
Eleanor attempted to restrain the possessed Lelouch using the chains of binding she commanded, but the possessed young man realized the threat and used a portal to quickly escape.
Reappearing on the rooftop of the building opposite of them the possessed Lelouch glared at the chains surrounding Eleanor, seeking their target.
"Those chains, I remember them," the female possessing Lelouch said, with barely restrained fury before looking at Lelouch's hand, realizing something. "And this body, isn't mine? What is going on?!"
"I don't know, but I don't feel like sharing," the second voice said, now fighting the girl for possession of Lelouch's body.
The possessed Lelouch grabbed his head as a sharp pain shot through his mind, a struggle for dominance has begun against the three.
"This is my body!" Lelouch snapped, fighting a three-way battle for control of his own body.
"SILENCE BOTH OF YOU," The female snapped through Lelouch's body, seemingly successfully retaking control for now. "I sense where my body is, this core is connected, a copy of my own."
The possessed Lelouch saw Elenaor's chains about to snare him again, but at the last possible second she used the sub-space lances she created earlier to deflect the incoming chains before escaping through another portal.
"Damn it," Eleanor cursed. "I didn't expect this to happen."
"What is going on?!" Kallen demanded, but Eleanor ignored her.
"Did Lelouch just become a Herrscher?" Elysia asked, and Eleanor answered her.
"Yes, although this was much sooner than it meant to happen. The Director chose him to be this world's Herrscher of the Void," Eleanor replied before elaborating further.
"Chosen?" Elysia and Kallen asked together.
"The Director has a way to manipulate who becomes a Herrscher, but something like this has never happened before."
"How?" Kallen demanded, but Eleanor again gave Kallen the cold shoulder, much to Kallen's frustration.
"How does that work?" Elysia asked.
Eleanor hesitated to answer that question, and after a few moments she relented, seemingly unable to do so.
"He chooses a suitable candidate then has a Herrscher Core implanted within them. Causing one to appear naturally and how he wants is very difficult even for him, so he clones a suitable core for them instead. Most people on this Earth have remarkably high resistance to Honkai Energy, so most are compatible," Eleanor replied before giving Elysia a knowing looking. "Thanks to your effort all of them retain their humanity, including me."
"Huh?!" Kallen reacted.
"I am a Herrscher myself, the Herrscher of Regulation, powers granted to me by Void, Binding, Corruption and Reason," Eleanor said, revealing herself to be a Herrscher.
"What is a Herrscher?" Kallen insisted, but again Eleanor ignored her, pushing Kallen's frustration to the boiling point until Elysia intervened.
"Humans who are chosen by the Honkai to be their representatives, each one commands a specific element or concept of nature and command the lesser Honkai," Elysia replied, but Eleanor stopped her from explaining further.
"Further explanations can wait; I'll need to get you all to a safe location first. If Sirin is indeed awake within Lelouch and aware of the copies of her core and the link they share to the others then its only a matter of time she traces the link back to the original. I happen to know where the original core is being kept," Eleanor said, but a thought came to mind.
The Director was right about Elysia, you feel unwilling to lie to her, Eleanor thought before another worrying thought came into mind. It was already bad enough the Flame Chasers awoke and escaped, but now this happens…the Director isn't going to be happy about this one bit.
A/N: Well, this has been an unfortunate day for the Director who Ato and Eleanor work for, first the Flame Chasers escape, and now they have Lelouch who has gained Herrscher abilities, but must now fight for control of his own body against Sirin, yes that is right, Sirin.
The core within Lelouch was created by copying hers, and someone linking it with another copy of her core with the original. Who has the other copy of Sirin's core, and why did the Director make clones of her core and link them together in such a way? Why did Lelouch have one of the cloned cores implanted into him.
If the Director choses who becomes Herrschers in such a fashion, another question who else has been chosen and why?
And what is going to happen once Sirin finds her old core and realizes what her host body actually is?
There was a reason I showed a short scene of the Japanese Navy and Airforce fighting Britannia as a hint.
Things will get messy next capture, but one other matter must be addressed, what form should Sirin appear in, where her original core is being kept? I have a poll on my profile page, the other poll is still ongoing, just scroll down my profile page and you'll find the "Honkai Impact and Code Geass Lelouch pairing poll". Just follow the link, and it will take you to the forum where the poll is at.
I have links to other polls for future projects too if anyone is interested in voting on them, which would be greatly appreciated since they would help with my planning for those stories. Not required, but it would welcomed.
The only reason I am doing a poll on Sirin and what her new body should be, is because I've been going back and forth on the idea. It won't impact what I have in mind and I am fine with either or, so as a courtesy to you the read, are allowed to vote and pick.
So far Elysia is in first, followed by Raiden Mei (I am very surprised she is in second considering her and Kiana), and Bronya Zaychik (this one very much surprised me, considering her and Seele). As for Kiana if anyone was wondering she is, to my shock, is tied for fifth with Eden.
The poll is serving one of its main purposes as a gauge to check if no one would have certain issues with some pairings, because I am aware of how folks can get with the Kiana/Mei pairing etc. I have nothing against the preferred fandom pairings, but after much debate I am keeping an open mind and willing to see how things will play out.
As for the rest of the chapter, I admit I am very nervous using an OC as a major villain, although he is closer to Otto (who I am looking forward to introducing into the story, especially when he finds out Kallen is alive) in that is clearly more than willing to use more villainous-like actions despite his motives being closer to Kevin. It was the reason why I brought into Ato, and it partly influenced my decision to bring in Eleanor too, the second reason was to have a back up pairing choice if I faced too much push back on Elysia, Kiana, Mei and others as a pairing candidate for Lelouch as a precaution. There is a third in-story reason why she was brought back, which will be revealed later.
Kosma was also the proof that not only did Director Nathaniel bring them back, but he made them stronger and fixed any flaws or issues their old bodies had, such as Kosama's endless hunger to consume Honkai Beasts.
As for the OC, Nathaniel himself, he was indeed a protégé of Dr. Mei, and yes much of his actions were influenced by the deaths of Sakura, Rin and especially Elysia, whom he adored as an older sister figure. But I will admit he also has a close relationship to another Flame Chaser who was their teacher and their godmother before Dr. Mei, who it is will be revealed in coming chapters.
I will say he does have a bit of Obito Uchiha from Naruto in the mix, especially with how he dealt with the other leaders of Fire MOTH, and keeping with Kalpas's belief about them. I know there were some implications Dr. Mei or even Su was the leader of Fire MOTH at the time, but given the story behind how the idea of the Flame Chasers were rejected this muddled the issue a bit. The name Nathaniel, was chosen because it was the human first name of Mr. Sinister from Marvel. His personality and traits are a mix of Dr. Robotnik (live-action, eccentric, a super genius, looks down on normal humans (you can likely guess why) and sanity slippage), The Analyst (Matrix Resurrection, witty, chatty and sadistic with certain people on his shit list), and Yokai (Big Hero Six movie).
Lastly I will say I was worried for some of the dialogue and fights, with Eleanor being something of a test run, and aside from the games and comics, I hope my rest turn of the first Honkai battle went well. She just didn't use her full powers simply because, she was testing her new body. Why she was more adapted for the modern era than Kallen will be covered in a future chapter too.
I really miss not having a beta for this story XD.
Anyway this author note has gotten too long for my liking, so in closing my three main stories are still going: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Grand Order, Kingdom Hearts: Lelouch of Infinite, and Sunrider: The Mask of Zero, the latter will be posted next once I get the chapter back from my beta, who is busy doing beta work for a number of other clients let's just say.
Thank you all for reading and I look forward to your feedback/reviews, favorites, and follows.
Chapter three will be next week, unless I get the chapter for my Sunrider story back.