Cecilia rubbed her hands against her arms. She let out a breath of mist as she trudged through the biting cold of Siberia. The freezing winds nipped at her exposed skin, leading her to wonder what sort of depraved pervert designed her battlesuit to have so much skin exposed. Of all the times she had to come back, it would have been during a simulation of all times. She pressed a finger to the button on her headband, causing her visor to manifest.
"Come on, you stupid battlesuit. Activate climate control already!" she barked for the tenth time in a row.
[Activating Climate Control]
[Calibrating with exterior environment…]
[Calibration 10%...]
[50%...]
[100%...]
[Calibration complete. Climate Control not needed. Optimal environmental temperature detected in surroundings.]
"AAAAHHHH!" Cecilia screamed into the white as her suit returned with the same message for the tenth time in a row.
She had tried to constantly activate it for minutes on end. Yet, it would perpetually return with the same message. Was it some sort of bug? The last time they were in a data-simulation, her battlesuit activated the climate control just fine.
"Damn it! I'm going to freeze to death in Siberia before I find Aunt Theresa!" Cecilia cursed, kicking the snow. "And where the hell is she? I was right behind her. We should have dropped into the same location."
For once, she was able to recall all of her simulation training. Cecilia sighed, opting to continue moving to keep herself warm. She clutched her biceps, looking off into the distance.
A massive obsidian tower loomed over the surrounding landscape. Its sheer height made it a contender for the largest structure in the area, rivaling even the surrounding Ural Mountains. She could faintly make out plumes of smoke rising from the tower and its surrounding jet-black walls. The longer she looked at it, the longer she felt a sense of dread rising from the pit of her stomach. An alien feeling of familiarity washed over her that she quickly squashed.
Cecilia slapped her hand to her cheeks. "Now's not the time. I need to find Aunt Teri and get the hell out of here. This was such a bad idea," she muttered. "Hey, White Comet. You wouldn't happen to have any signal out here, would you?"
The battlesuit did not answer her question.
"Of course, you can't talk. Fine. Call Theresa Apocalypse."
[Calling Headmaster Theresa Apocalypse…]
The dial tone of the comms began to ring in her ear as she continued to walk down the snow.
However, after one dial tone, the call cut out.
[Call could not be made. Signal required.]
"Signal required? Damn it… I need to go to R&D after this. This battlesuit is glitching out after that fight with Wendy and Cocolia… speaking of which, should we have really left them like that?" Cecilia pondered. She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Not now! First, I need to find Aunt Teri and… find help for Kiana."
Her eyes lost a bit of their light when the name left her mouth. Her older sister was currently in a coma inside of St. Freya's ICU. And from what she remembered, the doctors did not know when exactly she would wake up. Which is why, even if Theresa was here for a completely different reason, Cecilia would find any way to wake her older sister up.
"Or just let her go… she's just waiting for an opportunity to get rid of you. You and I know that very well…"
Cecilia blinked and looked around. Her senses went on high alert. "Who was that!?" she pulled her pistols out and began scanning her surroundings.
Her eyes looked left, right, and center for any sign of a living creature. Cecilia gulped before slowly placing her pistols back into their holsters. She began to walk more cautiously now.
"At least, I found a path… or what looks like one."
It had been approximately 2 hours since she had entered this data space. Two hours of aimlessly walking in a straight line hoping she would see something. By some miracle, Cecilia had yet to freeze to death even though the cold was biting at her skin. Her boots crunched along the haphazardly kept gravel pathway. She noticed tracks running along the path and deemed that she was going in the right way.
"Or the wrong way," she added, keeping the tower in the distance as a landmark reference. A wistful, nostalgic smile spread over her face. "It's like camping all over again with Dad and Sis."
"Dad… Sis… I… I could really use your guys's help right now," she whispered. A tear streaked down her cheek.
Even if she had her friends behind her, without Kiana, Cecilia felt very alone for the first time in a very long time.
"Kiana… I'm sorry, I'm really sorry I didn't listen to you. If only I…"
The sound of snow crunching caught her attention. Her hand flew to her side and her other hand wiped the tears from her eyes. She slowly pulled out a single pistol as she caught sight of what was approaching her.
A zombie? What kind of data space is this that there are zombies here? she wondered.
The zombie lumbered toward her until it completely locked its gaze onto her. It let out a screech before sprinting in her direction.
At least, it's just a regular one. With one quick flourish, Cecilia aimed her gun and shot the lunging undead. Her bullet pierced its skull, shattering it and sending gray matter and blood spraying all over the white snow.
She lowered her arm slightly, extending her senses to see if there were more. After determining that there were none in her area, she walked up to it and inspected its corpse. "Weird. It looks real. I wonder… if Aunt Teri pulled up a memory file instead of a data file."
She straightened herself and dusted any errant snow off her body. "Welp! Now that I know there's Honkai in this space. Might as well keep an eye out. Where there's Honkai, there's probably Aunt Theresa. If anything, she might be at that tower already… but, how did she get there before me with her stubby little legs?"
Cecilia stared off into the distance before she shook her head. She was already going insane. Talking to herself like that. Those were things her older sister did when she had to prepare things.
"Hah," she sighed, continuing down the path.
After a few minutes, Cecilia spotted an aged truss bridge in the distance. She placed a hand on her head and squinted.
"One… two… three… four…" she counted. "Ten. Ten zombies. No Honkai beasts though. But there is a Vigiles and a Ranger there…"
Cecilia looked around for a good vantage point and saw a small outcrop to her left. Without even hesitating, Cecilia dashed toward it and scaled it in a matter of seconds. After getting to the top, she knelt in the snow in order to better gauge her situation.
"Hmm. There's… more than ten. That's like twelve," she muttered. "Welp. I can keep fighting. Let's hope my ribs don't do me in." she winced when she felt a dull pain throb in her side.
Cecilia pulled out her pistols and slid down the outcrop. With one kick-off, Cecilia took off in a mad sprint toward the nearest zombie.
The zombie groaned and turned to see the orange sole of a boot filling its vision. The zombie flew a considerable distance, slamming into an abandoned, snow-covered vehicle. The sound of the crash attracted the attention of the other zombies.
Cecilia frowned and looked around, seeing the zombies beginning to come for her.
She pulled her pistols out and twirled them in her hands. Her body flickered and she vanished from their sight.
"Up here!" Cecilia called out, reappearing above them. Her blue eyes glinted in the light of the Siberian Sun as she pressed the trigger, unleashing a volley of gunfire onto them.
The bullet pierced through a few of them, putting them down.
Cecilia landed on the ground, almost slipping on the cold metal.
Her eyes looked up and saw a zombie attempting to swipe at her with its hand. She blocked the attack before countering with a kick to the side. The zombie was knocked down and slid violently across the concrete.
Another zombie tried to grab her from behind but she ducked underneath the attempted grab and took out its legs, causing it to fall over. She quickly got up and slammed her boot on its chest before executing it with a headshot.
"Hmm?" Cecilia reacted quickly, dashing to the side.
An arrow narrowly missed her by the breadth of a hair and pierced into the bridge's metal support beam.
"Right, I forgot you were also there," she said, turning to face the approaching Vigiles and the Ranger that was providing cover fire. "Gotta take you out first."
She twisted her foot out to the side a little before rushing forward into the swarm.
[Increased Heart Rate detected…]
"No shit!" Cecilia said, flipping over the Vigiles. She landed on its shoulder and pressed the barrels of her pistols atop its skull.
A loud bang resounded through the bridge and the Vigiles dropped dead.
The remaining Ranger aimed its bow at her, having her head trained within its line of sight. Or it thought it did.
Cecilia was not just some random girl thrown into fate. She was born into it. The girl grew up, having been broken down and built back up, refined by monsters she called family. Her eyes began to glow slightly as she disappeared in a burst of speed, reappearing next to the Ranger's head.
She delivered a devastating roundhouse kick. A crunching sound echoed through the Siberian wasteland as it dropped down.
Its body shook, struggling to get back up. However, the sound of a gun firing ended its struggle.
Cecilia landed with the grace of a gymnast, sliding slightly due to the ice on the bridge. She dusted herself off and stared at the corpses of the honkai zombies in front of her. Something had been bothering her ever since she had seen the first one. Her hand flew to her chin in deep contemplation.
"Why didn't White Comet pick them up? It has a sensor on it… Even if it is a simulation, Aunt Teri's Virtual Cabin was able to generate enemies that can be detected by the suit. Is this place different?" she said to herself.
"No, it's different. It's like my suit's not registering a change in environment at all," she said, looking around at the snow. "Mmm, what would Kiana say at a time like this?"
Cecilia closed her eyes and furrowed her brow. "Mmmmm… 'Stay calm and look at the situation with a sharp mind.', or something like that," she said, trying to mimic her older sister's voice.
"Whatever. I don't have time to think. I have to find Aunt Teri before I freeze to death in the school basement," Cecilia said.
"The sooner we find her, the sooner I can go home to everyone… so wait for me, Sis. I'll definitely find a way to help you," she said with firm resolve in her voice.
Cecilia took a step forward and tripped on the corpse of a zombie. She fell face-first in the snow. With a groan of exasperation, she picked herself up and brushed the snow off herself. "Or maybe die trying…" she muttered pessimistically.
All of a sudden, the sound of static crackled through her commlink. Her eyes lit up in hope and excitement as her hand flew to her star headband. "Is this…"
Static crackled through, slowly transforming into incomprehensible gibberish, and finally, something came through. The voice she heard almost made her cry in joy. She didn't know how long she had been here but Cecilia finally found a sign of intelligent life after a long time of searching.
But what she heard was not what she expected to hear at all.
"Failed to intercept the target…" a breathy voice came through.
Aunt… Teri?
"I've sustained heavy injuries in my attempt to immobilize her. Target is currently heading toward Babylon Labs. All Valkyries! Mobilize to intercept her at once!"
"Aunt Teri is injured? Tch! Come on, Cecilia! What are you doing? You need to move!" Cecilia took off down the snowy path. "White Comet, trace the signal!"
[Tracing… Error Recalibrating… Resuming Trace…]
Huh? Error?
Cecilia slowed down to a jog. "Hmm?" She reached to remove her headband, however, a fog enveloped her mind and she was filled with a sense of urgency.
Cecilia blinked a few times, shaking her head loose from the sudden fog that had enveloped her. "Mmm? White Comet? The signal?"
[Signal tracing complete. Target is located approximately 200 meters north of your current location.]
"That's not that far. Hang on, Aunt Teri! I'm coming over!" Cecilia said, sprinting in the direction that her battlesuit AI had pointed.
"Project HUD Minimap with marker of the location pinned."
In the corner of her visor, a small orange map with the terrain appeared. A beeping red dot at the edge of the map flashed. Cecilia took a deep breath and increased her speed. Every second she wasted was a second longer than her aunt would be in trouble. And this time, Cecilia vowed that she would not lose anyone.
[Honkai readings detected.]
"Now you tell me?" Cecilia said in exasperation.
True to her suit's warning, a large Chariot lumbered in her way. It turned its head and spotted her. It let loose a deep rumbling roar and its lone eye at the center of its head glowed brightly. With deceptively high speed, it leaped from its spot.
In almost an instant, it came down on Cecilia's location, slamming its full weight into the ground. The ground exploded, sending chunks of dirt and snow across the path.
However, Cecilia was not pinned underneath its heavy silicone paw. Instead, Cecilia appeared above it. She flipped and raised her leg.
"Neko Charm!"
She brought her leg down.
A large cat's paw slammed down on it, flattening it into the ground. Dust and snow exploded, sending chunks of earth into the air. The Chariot lay underneath the paw, groaning and struggling against the force of the blow and on the cracked earth beneath.
Cecilia finished it off with two shots to the head, killing it instantly. She kept her guard up as her battlesuit detected several more hostile signatures. Out of the woodwork as if on cue for the next wave, a few zombies lumbered out, followed by three Cassiel.
"Damn, I don't have time for your stupid games," Cecilia said.
She swiped her arm, sending a massive cat's paw to slice the zombies on her left to pieces.
A Cassiel swiped its wing, attempting to cut into her back.
However, Cecilia jumped, activating her Time Fracture. The world slowed around her as she let loose a volley of bullets into its carapace. As the slowed time continued, she dashed past the remaining zombies, firing into their unprotected flesh as she did.
Time resumed and the enemies were engulfed in streaks of yellow light as the time-slowed bullets were permitted to travel at their normal speed once more.
The swarm that had confronted her had been reduced to nothing more than bullet-ridden piles of flesh and carapace.
"Haaah!" she wiped the sweat off her forehead. Her chest heaved up and down slightly as she took in deep breaths. Every time she inhaled, she winced slightly, feeling her ribs beginning to act up. Any more strenuous motions and she would be in the hospital bed right next to her older sister.
"Right, Aunt Teri!" Cecilia said.
Theresa panted heavily as she stumbled quickly through the snow. She needed to warn the others. This thing. The Second Herrscher. It had become abnormally powerful in such a short period of time. She gripped her arm or lack thereof. Blood dripped freely into the snow, leaving a fresh trail and staining the pristine white Siberian snow crimson. Sweat trickled down her forehead and one of her eyes was half-lidded as she struggled to remain conscious.
"Damn, I need to… warn the others. I never thought that the Second Herrscher could grow so strong in such a short amount of time. Did she absorb all the Honkai Energy in Babylon Labs' fusion reactors?" she wondered to herself.
Theresa took another step and fell to one knee. A sudden wave of nausea overcame her and she vomited into the fresh snow. Her head was beginning to become dizzy. The last time she had been overtaken this badly by blood loss was during the trials that her Grandfather made her go through.
Her eyes shut tightly, wanting to shut out the memories.
"The Second Herrscher, I have to destroy it… before Grandpa dispatches Cecilia. Come on body, finish the somatic regeneration already!" Theresa urged.
Her left arm was glowing with a slight golden color. Golden mist wafted off her arm as the glowing red liquid began to slowly clump together. She winced as she felt the bones in her arm creak and snap as bone forcefully rebuilt itself along with every cell, tissue, muscle, and vein in her arm.
It was only thanks to the fact that her body was used to such pain that she could endure this. Any normal person would have passed out the minute their nervous system began to grow back and was lit on fire by the amount of stimuli it was exposed to thanks to her growing arm's lack of flesh.
"Siegfried, don't do anything stupid," Theresa said.
"Aunt Theresa?"
Her eyes widened and she turned around, not even sensing that someone was approaching her from behind. Her eyes narrowed and she held her right hand out, manifesting one of Judah's spears in her grip.
"Aunt Theresa!" the white-haired girl ran over to her and slid to a stop in the snow. She was caught off-guard by the girl's sudden motion as she felt her regenerating arm being grabbed.
"Who did this to you!?" Cecilia asked, watching her aunt's arm slowly grow back.
She had to admit that she had never seen anything like this from her aunt before. Cecilia had, of course, seen Theresa regenerate many wounds in a matter of seconds but never an entire arm.
Theresa tilted her head, her pain forgotten, for all but a few seconds. Auntie? I don't have any nieces this old… unless Amber did it with someone that I don't know? Theresa thought to herself as she looked the girl up and down.
"Um, who are you?" Theresa asked.
Cecilia froze. Her eyes widened slightly before returning to their usual joking look. "Aw, come on, don't be like that, Auntie. You know who I am," she said.
"Auntie? Why are you calling me that? And… seriously, kid. Who are you?" Theresa asked, pulling her almost regrown arm back.
Cecilia stood up, taking a step closer out of concern. "Eh? Aunt Theresa? Did you hurt your head coming in here? We were only apart by a few minutes. It's me… Cecilia? Cecilia Kaslana? I'm your niece! My sister is Kiana! Kiana Kaslana!"
Niece? Kaslana? Kiana's… sister?
Theresa stared at the girl with a scrutinizing gaze. The gears in her head began to turn. There was only one possible answer for such a phenomenon happening before her very eyes.
A crooked smile graced her usual graceful features. "Keh. Hehehe, nice try, Second Herrscher. Do you think such a basic trick can work on me? Don't make me laugh."
"A- Auntie?" Cecilia asked, reaching out toward her. A sudden invisible force blasted her back and she was sent sliding across the snow. Cecilia raised her arms and shielded her face from the sudden blast of wind that swept across the area.
Theresa grinned, standing atop a golden cross. A golden aura emanated from her and the cross, creating a small continuous gust of wind that swept across the field. Chains erupted from the cross, snaking their way and preparing to strike Cecilia like a venomous snake.
"Do you think a little illusion can fool me, Second Herrscher? How gullible do you think I am? Kiana is only one year old and… Kiana has no siblings!" Theresa said, twirling her spear.
"W- What?" Her words struck Cecilia to her very core.
Sis… has no siblings. No, that's wrong. Something must be wrong with the simulation, she thought as she readied herself.
"Mmmm, it seems I was right. That old hag is prepared to kill you. She didn't even acknowledge you as part of the family. How sad is that?"
Cecilia felt a pressure building up within her head. Her eyes blearily looked up to see Theresa menacingly walking toward her with one of Judah's spears in hand.
"Prepare to die, Illusion." Theresa's eyes glinted in the light of the Siberian sun.
"Khhh…" Her eyes flickered to a different color for a split second. Too fast for Theresa to have noticed that difference in Cecilia's eyes.
Cecilia shook her head, washing away the mist. All in time for her to dodge a spear thrust from Theresa.
The spear came close to her face, nicking her in the cheek. "W- Woah!" she exclaimed as she darted to the side.
"Did you think you could escape, illusion?" Theresa said, turning on her feet. Her body vanished.
W- What? Where…. That speed! She's even faster than Kiana! Is this… Aunt Teri in her prime?
"Gahk!?" Cecilia cried out in pain when she felt an extremely fast and heavy force slam into her from behind.
Cecilia flew across the field, skidding and sliding across the fresh snow until she slammed into the tree. Her body ached in pain. She felt her ribs screaming for her to stay down. However, Cecilia ignored the pain. She bit her cheek and forced herself to stand.
"Jee, Aunt Teri. You hit like a truck," she said, pulling her pistols out. "I guess I just have to make you see me."
A bloody grin appeared on Cecilia's face. If I remember correctly, from the one thing Sis taught me that stuck… the Space-Time Fracture System was invented from studying the Second Herrscher. If the simulation's date is 2000, then…
Cecilia dashed forward, straight toward the waiting Theresa in a mad dash.
"Mmm?" Theresa was confused for a split second. With tremendous speed and force, Theresa swung the spear, creating a sweeping arc in front of her. However, before the blow could connect, Cecilia clicked a button on her belt.
Theresa's eyes grew wide when she watched Cecilia vanish.
Her blow traveled across the snow, displacing the dirt and snow and toppling a few trees.
"W- What? She vanished?" Theresa's eyes darted around the field. She turned on her feet slowly, keeping Judah within reach.
There… here… no wait…
Theresa suddenly turned, feeling a presence suddenly appear behind her. She turned quickly and thrust her spear in a downward diagonal direction.
Cecilia, who had come out from Time Fracture, was surprised by the sudden attack in her direction. She flipped, landing on the tip of the spear before dashing forward, nailing her aunt in the back of her skull.
She flipped, using the top of Theresa's head as a vault, and launched herself into the air.
She aimed her USP-40s, aiming their sight toward Theresa.
"Tch! So illusions can hit me? Either that or the Second Herrscher sent someone who's actually competent this time?" Theresa mocked, rubbing the back of her head.
Cecilia fired both guns at once.
Theresa narrowed her gaze, seeing the oncoming hail of bullets. She spun the spear of Judah, deflecting all of the shots.
Cecilia landed on the ground with the grace of a cat before springing forward.
Theresa swung her spear, blocking every pistol whip, jab, kick, and attack that Cecilia had thrown at her. She parried the next attack before jumping back to avoid being squashed by a giant cat's paw.
Honkai energy constructs? Kaslana Gun Kata? Who is this girl?
Theresa rushed toward her and intercepted the next cat's paw, catching it with one hand. The force of the two blows colliding shook the ground slightly and kicked up a large amount of snow into the air.
Cecilia pushed, trying with all her might to fight against her Aunt's monstrous strength. She had seen it firsthand. Theresa had thrown her spear with enough force to penetrate a highly advanced Anti-Entropy mecha with one throw.
How strong is she? Cecilia thought.
As she continued pushing, she watched in silent horror as cracks began to appear on her cat's paw construct.
With one motion, Theresa crushed the construct and thrust the butt of her spear into Cecilia's side.
Cecilia's face twisted and contorted in intense pain as she felt her ribs straining and cracking once more.
She was thrown across the field and violently slammed through a thick pine tree, slamming into the one behind it. Both trees were toppled from the sheer force of the impact.
"F- Fuck… Aunt… Teri, what in the actual hell?" Cecilia groaned, finding her will to stand.
She needed to get some breathing room. Room to use her Space-Time Fracture system. This version of her aunt was not the decrepit old lady in her office. This version was Theresa Apocalypse, one of Schicksal's S-Rank Valkyries and a veteran of the Second Honkai Eruption.
Cecilia spun her pistols in a manner similar to her father and sister and prepared herself.
Theresa's eyes narrowed. Oh… that manner of gun drawing is similar to Siegfried? Could she really be…? She shifted her heel and took off toward Cecilia.
Cecilia pointed her pistols at Theresa but did not fire. At the very last second, Cecilia jumped back, kicking snow into her aunt's face in the process.
Theresa's eyes widened, having been caught off guard by such a move. She came to a stop, raising her arm to wipe the snow off her face. Her honed instincts reacted and she bent backward, avoiding an aerial leg sweep from Cecilia.
She rounded back and slammed the butt of her spear into Cecilia's ribs, sending the girl to the ground once more.
Cecilia groaned and shakily tried to stand when she felt the tip of Judah's blade on the back of her neck. She froze and did not dare look into the cold murderous eyes of her aunt.
"So… just now, you were using the gun kata of House Kaslana, right?"
She felt the blade move from her skin and she looked up to see the piercing, analytical gaze of Theresa's blue eyes.
"Y- Yeah," Cecilia said.
"Mmmmm… who taught you?" Theresa kept her grip on Judah tight, knowing the answer that would come out of the mysterious girl's mouth.
"M- My father," Cecilia stuttered out.
"Your… Dad?" she tilted her head.
"Yeah! Siegfried! Siegfried Kaslana?" Cecilia said.
"How odd… you say you're Kiana's sister but Kiana just celebrated her 1st birthday and as far as I know… Kiana doesn't have any siblings unless…" Theresa narrowed her eyes at the mere thought.
1st birthday? Oh! Right, the system time read February 7th, 2000. Sis must have just turned 1 a few months ago but… what did she mean by Sis has no siblings? Cecilia thought.
If she really is the Theresa from 2000, it's no wonder she didn't recognize me at first. I ran into the wrong Aunt Theresa. That much is obvious now that I look at her closely. She has fewer wrinkles than Aunt Theresa, she continued.
Theresa shot Cecilia a look, having felt offended for no reason.
"I finally figured it out…," Theresa said, catching Cecilia's attention. "There's one possible explanation."
"Huh?" Cecilia slowly got to her feet and looked down at the diminutive woman.
"You must be Siegfried's ill-begotten bastard daughter from before he met Cecilia!" Theresa proclaimed.
Eh? Cecilia's eyes went as wide as dinner plates at her aunt's conclusion.
"I knew it. I just knew it! I told Cecilia that he was a walking red flag but nooo, she didn't listen to me. What can she do? Fix him? Look at you! You've gotten so big already!" Theresa said, gesturing to the entirety of her body.
"Um…" Cecilia felt extremely uncomfortable at the words coming out of her aunt's mouth.
"I mean, no wonder you're calling me aunt," she continued.
"Hey! Stop calling me a bastard!" Cecilia protested.
Theresa's face twisted into one of pity. "Poor child, it's not your fault. I know it's hard having a deadbeat dad who only goes out and plays around with women. But this is your dad's fault… that evil perverted asshole," she cursed.
Um… never mind, Auntie's too stupid to understand what I'm saying. I guess I'll just admit to what she's saying so she can at least get me out of here until I find the real Theresa, Cecilia thought. She sighed.
"That's right! That evil scumbag abandoned me and my mom 4 years ago! And then, Mom died afterward," Cecilia said.
It was a half-truth. Her mother and namesake did die but it was during the Second Eruption. And… she felt a little bad. Her father died 6 years ago. Sorry, Dad, Cecilia apologized inwardly.
"After that, I came here to look for him," she said.
Theresa's hand flew to her mouth as she fought to suppress tears of pity. "Poor girl. Don't worry!" she reached up and grabbed Cecilia's hand, gripping it tightly. She looked at her with stars in her eyes. "Your auntie will help you exact justice!"
"Once everything is over, I'll have your Dad arrested for child endangerment and teach him a lesson!" she said.
"Eh? W- Wait, we don't have to go that far-"
"Come on! Let's go see Siegfried. That dumbass is probably still at base camp," she said, dragging Cecilia along the snow like she was made of rope.
The two continued to walk. Walking was a rather crude description, however. It was more like Theresa was dragging her niece across the snow-covered battlefield of Siberia like a sack of potatoes.
"Hey, Theresa?" Cecilia said.
"Mmm?" Theresa did not glance over her shoulder. "What is it?"
"Is… Is Cecilia Schariac on this mission by any chance?" she asked.
"Mmm, I forgot you had the same name as her. I'll call you, Ceci, to make things easier but to answer your question, she's not supposed to be. She's been on maternity leave for a while now ever since she gave birth to her daughter. I suppose if this mission goes on, then, she might be dispatched here. She is Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie after all. Stronger than me and maybe even your old man," Theresa said.
There was a lot of gray area in that regard. Siegfried was the strongest Kaslana born within generations, surpassing even his twin sister, Kriemhilde Kaslana. Though, Theresa did not feel the need to inform her bastard niece of that.
"I want to finish this so Cecilia doesn't get sent here," she said.
"I see…"
"Ah! We're here!" Theresa said, interrupting her.
The two broke through the treeline. She felt Theresa let go of her arm, allowing her to stand properly.
"Yo, Theresa! You finally made it!"
That voice…
Cecilia froze when she saw him. She was younger than she remembered but she recognized that peach fuzz on his chin and the long scruffy white hair that gave him a roguish appearance. He wore that ever-familiar dirty brown zip-up jacket underneath his trademark dark blue trench coat. Every detail was the same down to the black combat boots and silver pauldrons.
He made a two-finger salute at her.
D- Da…
"I heard you ran into the Second Herrscher so I got worried for a bit," he said, smirking.
"Aww, that's very sweet of you, Pervert," Theresa said.
"By the way, who's this cute girl next to you?" he asked.
That crude way of flirting. It was just like how she remembered him attempting to teach her and Kiana.
"You know, after all this is over, I can buy you a few drinks," he winked at her.
"Hey! Stop messing around and tell me what's going on-" Theresa was caught off-guard when Cecilia sprinted past her and nearly tackled Siegfried to the ground.
Siegfried's eyes widened when he felt her full weight slam into him. He managed to maintain his balance and looked down. As he was about to ask why she did that, he felt a wet stain growing on his jacket. "Um… Miss?"
He heard her light sobs and felt her body trembling.
"Dad! Dad!" Cecilia began to cry loudly into his jacket.
Dad? HUH! WHAT! WAIT WHAT!?
Siegfried looked down at the girl who had just suddenly called him father.
Oh god, how am I going to explain this to Cecilia? He thought in a panic as he felt a sense of impending doom wash over him.
So Honkai Star Rail just recently released and I did get Himeko but not Bronya or Seele. I have to be honest, I love the Trailblazer, March 7th, and Danheng. They radiate very big dumb sibling energy and the Trailblazer actually talks... sort of. It's more that we get to hear their thoughts... which is more than I can say for Aether/Lumine. But enough about that...
I had fun writing Theresa's dialogue in this chapter and also had fun writing Cecilia fighting her very strong midget aunt. I also understand that there will be a bit of... confusion with Cecilia and Cecilia Schariac once she appears so, for this arc's sake, our K-423 Cecilia will be referred to by her nickname once Cecilia Schariac actually appears so don't be confused once I start calling her Ceci. I think the best part of this arc will be slowly writing HoV to have more and more influence over Cecilia as she begins to whittle her mental barriers down inside this space. I don't think HoV had any lines in this chapter aside from the illusion of Sirin fighting the others. Anyway, the next chapter will refocus on Kiana and her "dream" and see you all later in the next chapter.