A/N: Referring to Empyreal Phoenix as Fu Hua from now on, it must have been confusing in the older chapters because Otto called Fu Hua "Jingwei/Phoenix" in the game whereas her friends called her "Fu Hua". The same case was with Kiana Kaslana/K423, I changed that later to both Kiana Kaslana instead of K423.
Chapter 2: Embracing the Past
Along the wreckage of mech ruins and slain corpses of Honkai beasts strewn about haphazardly across the outskirts of Schicksal HQ, there could be seen one lone figure dashing across the battlefield without care for the carnage that lay around her.
A young Valkyrie with grey hair and blue eyes clad in Schicksal's Shadow Knight battle suit, ran towards the Herrscher of the Void without any hesitation as she began to recall the memory leading up to this point. Questioning her own beliefs and ability to make the right choice.
(Thirty minutes ago)
"Sacrifices are inevitable in the Honkai war, showing mercy to the wrong people can have disastrous results, you understand this way more than I do, Major!" Fu Hua could be seen confronting a red-haired woman wielding a greatsword outside of Helheim labs by the headquarters. The red-haired woman along with the scientist behind her was both severely wounded and exhausted after a brutal fight against two of Schicksal's best warriors.
"..You have no idea what sacrifices are inevitable means, Fu Hua." The red-haired woman replied adamantly with a determined glare at the girl before her.
"The tragedy is not how many people have died."
"But how accustomed we've become to the idea that some must die for others to live." She scolded and furrowed her brows at Fu Hua, the disparity in strength between the two sides was night and day, but the woman did not waver.
The seed of doubts had already been planted into Fu Hua's heart at that moment. Or rather, she should say that it finally matured. For years she had always trusted the Overseer, Otto Apocalypse. No, rather, she had questioned his actions but hoped with whatever small part of her heart that under his leadership, she could protect more people.
Honkai, her sworn enemy. The destroyer of her homeland and the murderer of her people, a supernatural entity that has existed since the beginning of humanity and always loomed in the shadow, trying to devour humanity and destroy civilization as a whole, indiscriminately and without the need for reason.
Their only reason is destruction. She had lost friends, family and her chance to live life because of these foul beasts. To protect humanity, she was willing to do anything, for years she had turned a blind eye to the Overseer's irrational and immoral acts. The world needed Schicksal.
For the Overseer, she had betrayed those that she loved and endangered them, believing in his promises. She was once an empty soldier without emotions and only lived to fulfill her duty as a soldier of mankind. But all that was washed away once she arrived at the Saint Freya Institute two years ago.
Her once-empty life that was no more than a machine to fulfill Schicksal's agenda became hers once more, she met wonderful people and enjoyed the simplicity of life for a brief moment until the order arrived. Between being able to spend the rest of her life with her newfound loved ones, or carrying out her original duty to protect mankind, she could never betray her vow as a soldier, she couldn't, for all the comrades she had lost in the war against Honkai, for all of her loved ones, she had to see the day humanity triumph against Honkai.
But what was she now? simply pathetic. She couldn't let go of the people she once loved after all and only now does she realize how insane the Overseer is. He awakened the Herrscher of the Void in her beloved friend, Kiana Kaslana, and lectured her that she would destroy many people if she was left unattended. She believed that if she stopped her friend here and laid her to rest, she could save thousands more.
But he never intended to defeat the Herrscher of the Void in the first place. Now the most dangerous manifestation of the Honkai was roaming freely, hurting everyone, and more importantly, pursuing Theresa, Mei, Bronya and Himeko.
If Schicksal will not stop the Herrscher, then she will. If Otto will not help them, then she will.
Having made up her resolve, Fu Hua glared at the white-haired girl in the distance, Kiana's eyes had turned from the once cheerful blue to a cold, merciless gold that glared down at the little girl she was holding up by the neck.
Theresa struggled to get out of The Herrscher of the Void's hand gripped around her neck as she kicked her legs and flailed vigorously, she was injured from head to toe, with cuts, bruises, dirt and grime covered all over her body.
The violet-haired girl, Mei was prone on the ground, being shielded by Bronya who looked at Theresa with worry.
"Theresa!" She yelled and prepared to fire a blast at the Herrscher as the Herrscher threw the little girl aside like a ragdoll.
"Now it's just you and me left, are you ready to accept your fate?" The Herrscher asked with a mocking sneer as she threw Theresa to the ground.
The Herrscher then paused briefly as her senses alerted her of danger coming above.
"Tch, another annoying gnat." The Herrscher clicked her tongue as she dodged out of the way of Fu Hua's landing.
"Class.. monitor?" The little girl with grey twin-hair drills asked as she looked at the figure standing between her and the Herrscher of the Void.
"Bronya, get Mei and Theresa out of them, do not look back." Fu Hua immediately ordered as she raised her guard against the Herrscher and prepared for a brutal fight.
"You cannot defeat this enemy." Fu Hua explained. It was obvious to anyone that the freshly trained B-Rank Valkyries of Saint Freya could not fight against the Herrscher of the Void, who could only be matched by Durandal, the S-Rank Valkyrie of Schicksal. However, Otto made it clear that he would not dispatch Durandal.
The Saint Freya girls would suffer insurmountable losses should they not retreat.
".Affirmative.." Bronya replied in a calm and composed manner. She knew that they would only hold Fu Hua back. There was no covering it up, the disparity between them and the Herrscher was night and day.
"The Bronya thanks the class monitor, for also bringing her out of the dreamscape." She replied and hurried away with the injured Mei and Theresa.
"Hah, you humans are like maggots, kill one and another one takes its place." The Herrscher mocked as she watched the three girls run away before turning her sights back to the Valkyrie before her.
"Isn't it considered rude to be intruding upon someone's party? you've spoiled the great moment." The Herrscher groaned with fury as she scolded Fu Hua.
"Enough words." Fu Hua retorted with a venomous tone filled with anger and hatred. Both at herself and the monster before her that allowed her loved ones to be hurt.
"Hmph, such insolence warrants your death." The Herrscher yelled with fury as she opened a Void portal and launched several white subspace lances at Fu Hua.
Immediately, Fu Hua dodged the attack as the sharp edges of the spears flew past her hair, cutting a part of it. Getting hit by even one would be fatal.
Fu Hua weaved through the flurry of the subspace lances as she closed in the distance between herself and the Herrscher and threw a powerful fist towards her, powered up by both her powers and the Shadow Knight battlesuit. To her surprise, it was blocked by an Imaginary barrier from the Void authority.
The Herrscher retaliated by kicking Fu Hua, causing her to fly through the air before landing roughly several feet away.
Fu Hua quickly got back up and dodged the next wave of subspace lances thrown towards her as she tried to come up with a way to breach the Herrscher's defences.
There was no other weapon she had. Fu Hua concentrated her mind and focused as she tapped into the Fenghuang Down, for a brief moment, she trapped the Herrscher into an illusion. It was all she needed for an opening. She had to deal the decisive blow here.
Fu Hua gripped her fist with all her strength and focused all her powers and unleashed a flurry of blows toward the Herrscher who had just now regained her consciousness.
The Herrscher of the Void attempted to block the incoming blows and her shield held up strong and blocked most of the attack.
But no matter how sturdy a shield is, it cannot hold up every point. One of the strikes breached through the shield of the Herrscher and dealt a devastating blow to her abdomen.
As a part of the shield faltered, the rest crumbled as well as the Herrscher was immediately hit with a flurry of strikes that she had to block with her bare hands.
Fu Hua kept up the pressure and continued to corner the Herrscher with all her strength when fatigue slowly set in, but no matter. The Herrscher should fall soon. She would die with the Herrscher if it was necessary.
To her surprise, her strikes were abruptly halted as the Herrscher blocked her attack, disrupting her momentum and retaliated with a lance that swung around in an arc, hitting her side as it sent her reeling across the field. Fu Hua felt her arm weaken, immobilized as she struggled to stand up.
The Herrscher hovered over with an annoyed glare as she looked down at the weak warrior with mockery and contempt.
She stomped down on Fu Hua's head brutally with her heels to vent out her frustration before she leaned down and picked up the girl by her hair. "You. This despicable face, I remember you. You were the one who had caused me a great deal of grief all those years ago." She said with hatred and fury in her voice as she looked at Fu Hua's face, contorted in pain, bruised and bleeding. The girl nonetheless had a determined gaze with one weak eye left opened, glaring down the Herrscher, her spirit to fight still intact.
"I must admit, to have caused me this much headache, you are different from the rest, but in the end, you're just a pathetic, weak human." The Herrscher praised with mockery.
"But I find it odd, you have two Divine keys, yet you refuse to use the Second one, why is that?" The Herrscher questioned, her gold eyes looking into Fu Hua's pair of blues, trying to figure out the secrets within them.
"Maybe you don't know how? ..or it's unusable?" The Herrscher theorized with a gleeful tone as she mocked Fu Hua's strength with a condescending tone.
"No matter, it's all over for you."
"Go and meet your maker!" The Herrscher grinned and gripped Fu Hua's head tightly, preparing to end the girl's life for good.
Clap, clap, clap. A strange sound disrupted the Herrscher as she glanced in the direction of her uninvited guest and saw a blonde-haired man with green eyes, who had a nonchalant, empty, fake smile made to sweet-talk others spread across his face. He looked at her with a calm and composed gaze, as if she was just another being in front of him.
"A most exciting battle. You are indeed the Queen of Honkai. Your form and beauty are simply sublime." The man praised with a kind and polite tone, but the Herrscher did not think so.
"You... I know you, you are the human who awakened me, the one who aspires to the power of God." The Herrscher replied with skepticism and hostility.
"It's an honour to be remembered by the Queen, If I may be so insolent, I humbly request that you let go of that one in exchange for my offering in reviving you." The man replied with a light smile as he pointed to Fu Hua who was being held by the Herrscher.
At the same time, a crimson-like fluid came out of the man's body and flew upwards along the man's right arm.
The fluid then congregated into numerous spines, all pointed at the Herrscher and poised for launch.
"She is a friend, and I hope you won't hurt my friend." the man explained pleadingly, he looked reluctant to fight the Herrscher and made himself look weak and friendly.
But the Herrscher did not think so. Something about this man felt extremely odd. The blood spines were one thing, but the feeling in her chest was another. It was a feeling she was not used to. The feeling of not being able to understand. The feeling of being less. Being smaller. It was an annoying feeling she had never experienced before.
Was it because of the blood spines? They seemed familiar, yet alien at the same time.
No.
His aura was similar to hers, and his eyes reflected an aura of dedication and focus, rather, it was the only thing inside of him. Reflecting the hellish world it had once walked... the eyes of someone who saw death in its truest form. Someone who was on the path to hell and without the care for where they were headed.
Would she fight this fool?
"...Killing her will soil my hands, I will leave her to your care." The Herrscher eventually resigned, masking a rising sense of uneasiness in her voice.
"I am most appreciative of your mercy, as expected of the greatest threat to humanity sixteen years ago in the Second Eruption. You wield great power and have the wisdom to see your plans through." The man's expression turned brighter as he praised the queen humbly like a servant.
"Boring flattery, I have no care for you, I am only interested in the girls." The Herrscher retorted, she knew to not fall for this fool's sweet talks.
"But to think that you are humanity's leader, they are truly pitiable I must say." The Herrscher then mocked with a sneer as she dropped Fu Hua to the floor and opened up a Void portal as she walked through it, disappearing into the air.
Fu Hua gritted her teeth as she heard the conversation between Otto and the Herrscher. As if it wasn't enough that he did not dispatch Durandal nor any of the Valkyries to help the Hyperion and Saint Freya. He had just let the Herrrscher go without a care in the world even though she clearly stated her purpose. It angered Fu Hua to no end.
She lay on the floor in a pathetic state, unable to get up as she heard the steps of the Overseer approach her.
"What a gruesome fight, the last time I saw you with such injuries was at Heaven's pinnacle five hundred years ago," Otto recalled with a nonchalant voice.
His reminder of five hundred years ago briefly brought her back to the past, reminding her of the reason why she joined Otto in the first place. At that time, she was badly injured after a cruel fight that left her incapacitated, it was only thanks to Otto that she was able to make a hasty recovery.
He had done a lot of favours for her in the past, but the number of crimes he had committed could no longer be condoned. Neither will she turn a blind eye to them anymore.
"I'll get you treated, anyways, that makes it the end of Phase 1," Otto announced with a casual voice as he crossed his arms.
"Why.. why did you let her leave?" Fu Hua asked angrily with a frustrated tone. She still hoped that he had some sort of answer that could be justifiable.
"Oh? you can still talk?" Otto asked with surprise.
"You should know what she's trying to do!" Fu Hua yelled in fury and angst, her worry for her loved ones could not be concealed any further. She would not deny them any further, she cared for the girls, and if this fool is the reason she loses them, then she might as well just kill him now.
"I know, she's after Theresa and the Hyperion, she'll catch up to them soon, and no one will get in their way this time," Otto replied calmly as if he just said the most natural thing there was to say.
"What...?" Fu Hua questioned in disbelief, if she could raise her head to look at the man right now and see what kind of face he was making, she would.
"I suppose I never explained it to you, don't worry. It's good news." Otto replied assuringly.
Fu Hua clenched her fists against the hard ground.
"K423 is still alive, It would be troublesome for me if she died." Otto began to explain.
"You see, in that body now houses two consciousness. There is K423, who you refer to as Kiana Kaslana and Sirin, whom you refer to as the Herrscher of the Void."
"After absorbing the Gem of Serenity and a highly concentrated amount of Honkai energy, Sirin's consciousness which was dormant inside Kiana Kaslana began to stir awake and took over Kiana, becoming the Herrscher of the Void."
"But this is not the ending I want, we would call this Phase 1," Otto explained.
For a brief moment, Fu Hua felt hopeful as it was good news enough that the man didn't intend to revive the Herrscher just because he was bored, something she would not even doubt at this point.
"Despite Sirin's takeover, Kiana is very much alive, she is only sleeping. Now the question is, what would happen if Kiana were to overpower Sirin?" Otto asked with a curious and playful tone like he was questioning a little kid.
"The answer is simple, we will end up with a human with Herrscher powers. This has been proven with the third Herrscher and the fourth Herrscher."
"Suppressing the Herrscher will not deprive the vessel of the powers. It's far easier to control a human instead of a Herrscher." Otto explained.
The moment Otto uttered the word 'control'. A feeling of hatred, fear and disbelief started to swell up in Fu Hua. Was this all that it was about? For him to gain control over a Herrscher? What a joke.. what an utter joke.
"It's not easy to help Kiana retake her body, but it's not impossible either..." Otto began to explain, trailing off as if he expected Fu Hua to answer the next part.
"You don't mean...?!" Fu Hua asked with shock, knowing this person for five centuries. He wasn't going to say something ingenious... It would be a devious plan full of deceit and manipulation.
"You are totally correct! we have to use emotions." Otto replied gleefully as he confirmed Fu Hua's worst fear.
"I believe that relationships between people can bring about the greatest of miracles. Kiana has quite a few years in Saint Freya, she has built unbreakable bonds with her classmates and made many happy and warm memories."
"Such memories will empower Kiana and allow her to defeat the loveless Sirin," Otto concluded.
"But, but their lives are-!" Fu Hua protested in fear but she was immediately cut off by Otto.
"I understand, there is a great disparity between their strengths. But I cannot offer them any assistance, I will not allow anyone to interfere in this holy struggle." Otto retorted cruelly.
"It is in desperation that humanity burns the brightest."
"According to my calculations, Kiana will retake her body once a Valkyrie is brave enough to sacrifice herself,"
"I believe in Theresa and her students. Together, they will kill the Herrscher with love, only they can achieve this great endeavour!" Otto concluded, mercilessly concluding the life of Fu Hua's dear friend without a single care.
Fu Hua, still shocked by the revelation, began to cackle, overwhelmed with the feeling of anger, guilt, shame, concern, shock and disbelief could not even utter a single word.
Five hundred years, for this?
What was she doing?
This man has gone mad,
No, he was already mad, to begin with.
For how many years had she served him without question?
For how many years had she bottled up her doubts and performed her duty as a perfect soldier?
In the end, she had betrayed her own people.
This man will kill her friend, control them and destroy their lives.
And she played a part in it.
Is this what her life amounted to? All of her friend's sacrifices for her to continue their will, all of the people who depended on her for protection, all so she could fulfill his agenda for his sick, twisted motive.
Otto, who have noticed Fu Hua's insane chuckle, looked at her solemnly and asked her a simple question.
"My friend, I told you this because you are out of control, do you plan to continue to oppose me?" Otto asked with a polite smile.
Fu Hua stopped chuckling as she gathered up all of her resentment, frustration and anger toward the person she had once called a comrade for five centuries.
"Friend? I sense no sympathy or decency in your words... barbaric... vicious, vile, wicked, incomprehensible, insane, cruel, merciless, conceited and utterly selfish... I can't find another word to describe how evil you are.." Fu Hua snapped at Otto as she glared at him, a feeling of deep frustration rose within her chest as she could feel tears well up.
"You trample on emotions and toy with the lives of others, you don't even care how evil you are..."
"Otto Apocalypse.. the only thing you have made me realize, is how much I hate you... you utterly despicable man..." Fu Hua concluded as she held back tears. She felt an unfathomable amount of betrayal for all the trust she put in him, for how long she held faith in his orders.
A momentary silence filled the air, the only sound was the blowing of the wind as Otto stood there silently and Fu Hua awaited his reaction... a small part of her hoped that she could at least appeal for him to help... but perhaps that was a far-fetched dream.
In the next moment, she watched as Otto raised his hand and golden light rays condensed into his palm, before manifesting into a golden gun. It was none other than the Divine Key of Destruction, the Judgement of Shamash, aimed at her prone figure.
She knew what was going to happen next as she looked up at him with shock and disbelief... surely he wouldn't.
For a moment, she could see a hint of sorrow and regret in his eyes as he replied.
"Phoenix, I did not lie," Otto replied as the sound of Shamash fired, it was the last thing Fu Hua heard before she blacked out.
"So you went ahead and did it anyways." Void Archives commented.
"Is it out of my character to do so?" Otto replied with a slight chuckle.
"Not really... I just thought you might have had a change of heart considering you cared about your men enough to send your two best Valkyries to protect them instead of serving your agendas." Void Archives replied.
"Or perhaps you've become cocky now that you have that thing?"
"If you can't tell me what it is then no need for you to mention it," Otto replied with a mocking tone as he walked past the figure of Fu Hua.
"Amber, send some Valkyries to fetch Fu Hua, please hurry as she is hurt, I will send the coordinates," Otto ordered as a holographic screen appeared before him.
"I understand Overseer, I will immediately dispatch first aid and Valkyries to Master Fu Hua's location," Amber replied as the screen turned off.
"Now then, time to get ready for the main show..." Otto then muttered to himself as he rubbed his chin in preparation for the grand finale of this stage, he stood over the Floating Isles and watched closely as the battle raged on the Hyperion below.
In the meanwhile... in a strange space... bookshelves that stretched as high as a skyscraper were placed orderly throughout the entire area, in a corner of the infinite library, there was the figure of a little kid sitting on a couch, reading a book.
"I wonder if it's time yet." He muttered to himself as he put down the book and stood up from the couch, he was wearing an oversized white coat as he walked towards a section of the library, It was one of the few sections with a large window that looked out into a black sky dotted by shining stars and various other comics entities.
A/N: Finally finished chapter 2, 4k words, that's roughly all of the previous chapters combined to 3k words. I managed to write double the amount of the story in one day, sheesh... is this what being an author feels like? Though most of it is copied and pasted from the game so I do apologize for that, this chapter was mostly meant to still introduce new readers to the universe of Honkai Impact 3rd such as what Honkai is, what Herrscher is, Fu Hua and her past and finally how much of an ass Otto Apocalypse is.
The first few chapters will be fairly boring as it tries to establish the base foundation of the world before we delve into the new. I promise you the new twists and plots will not disappoint. And no, Otto won't be an ass forever, there will be a reason why he still chose to shoot Fu Hua which was explored in the last chapter but also opened up a room for development.
I did state in the last chapter that I would have gone to Otto's decision in this chapter on whether he wanted to keep Himeko and Fu Hua alive, but I decided to go with Fu Hua's perspective instead as it perfectly gave a reason to explain the context of the story, further explained his relationship with him and keep Otto's motives and actions a secret so you all can keep guessing what he's going to do when it comes to Himeko.
Who knows, maybe it won't be him? who is that kid? what was that creature from Chapter 1? Maybe the fight between Himeko and HoV won't even happen at all.
Stay tuned for updates and if you can, make sure to leave reviews, a certain overview by my friend has left me feeling anxious... make sure to voice your complaints so I can fix things and clarify others.
