Lux had thought himself quite ready for whatever might come at him after what Siberia put him through. The lifestyle there was anything but safe after all. One had to develop all sorts of skills to survive there. Said skills had emboldened him with a good deal of confidence. But Lux was now face with an unforeseen and greatly annoying trial : school.
Was there anything more boring ? Compared to Siberia, school was so agonizingly slow, he felt like sleeping through the whole day. The prospective that je was now forced to waste years of his life here horrified him more than to fight a pack of Honkai Beasts alone.
While he did understand that school was necessary, his was a different case.
'I pick up things too quickly.' That conclusion echoed inside his head as he answered the teacher's questions. No, pick up was the wrong expression. He felt like he had done this countless times before. Lux had deduced that he may recall that due to the CRDRP, but something countered that hypothesis. Writing.
If the CRDRP was indeed giving him memories of his school days, then it was only logical that he should remember writing words, numbers and equations, and such. Yet, that act stood out by how unfamiliar it was to Lux.
'Yet another unsolvable mystery. It's seriously beginning to get old.'
Getting along with his classmates was also proving to be...challenging, for lack of a better word. Lux gradually realized that his mental age was removed from children of his age. That was quite obvious since he found it a hassle to feign a public mask, so it could be said Lux reaped what he sow. Nonetheless, he was enjoying his new life, aside from a few issues.
...
Lux had crafted an elaborated lie to establish a standing with the authorities upon his arrival in Europe.
"My parents tries to escape from Siberia with me but were killed by bandits before making it to England. Someone they paid beforehand led me here."
Okay, maybe not so elaborated. His English was kinda rudimentary too. But they accepted it. Lux knew of course that his papiers weren't enough proof, but that was all they would get their hands on. No traces or any hints as to how he got here existed. Adding on the fact that they had someone that looked like a poor, abandoned child refugee in front of them finished to convince them.
But even though his plans had proven effective, he stumbled upon an unexpected complication.
The society of today expected children that went through his experiences to be deeply scared mentally. Well, they weren't wrong, but Lux wasn't suffering such problems. No to say he was perfectly alright psychologically, but nothing that warranted weekly sessions with a psy. What a pain.
...
His current lifestyle wasn't 'surviving' anymore. It was 'living'. And adapting to that novel notion was...hard. The brutal change was harsh. Maybe this could be called the most important struggle for him.
Lux had problems sleeping well at night. The orphanage's bedrooms had multiple beds, so Lux no longer slept alone. For him who had always close his eyes on his own, relaxing in that situation was a True challenge. To resolve this, he took many tasks during the day, as much as he could to exhaust himself. But even if he did manage to get some shut eye using this method, every time any of his roommates mumbled in their sleep or moved just a little, Lux would wake up. And as if that wasn't enough, people were getting worried he was forcing himself by working so hard.
Lux wasn't being understood. There was no way he could be : The society here was worlds apart from Siberia. This was a new, unexpected suffering that took him completely by surprise.
As he ruminated this while walking in the corridor, a stray thought not connected to anything surface in his mind.
'If only was here. She would understand... '
"Ack !" "Oh!"
Lost in his thoughts, he almost collided with someone in the hallway, Once again, it was something so out of character for him, he almost fell due to his own bewilderment.
Snapping out of it, he then bowed in apology to the girl in front of him. He would probably get an earful from her, but there wasn't much choice. He was at fault too.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going. Are you okay ?"
"It's okay, I didn't pay proper attention to my surroundings either. Please don't feel bothered about it." The girl gave an unexpected perfunctory answer that hardly fitted her young age. Intrigued, Lux took a close look at her.
She wore a...maid outfit ? "There are maid outfits for kids too ?" 'Ah, crap. I thought I fixed that habit.'
The girl only gave a polite chuckle, gracefully covering her mouth with her hand. Her behavior and mannerisms contrasted with her young age, causing Lux to stare at her in wonder. Curious, he asked "You don't look like you're from here. Do you have some business with the orphanage ?"
"Yes, I am here for a small visit. This is quite a lovely orphanage. You must be living pleasant days."
"Yes, this is indeed a comfortable place." His answer made her widen her eyes slightly. Likewise, it wasn't something you'd expect from a child's mouth. 'Shoot. I need to end this discussion.' Luc opened his mouth to excuse himself when-
"Rita ! So that's where you went." The clear, young voice turned both of their heads towards the stairs.
A blonde girl was jumping down the stairs with a nonchalant look on her face. Just like the other girl, she was exceptionally pretty. Lux quickly deduced from how she carried herself that she was someone who had gone through her fair share of battles. There was a non-zero chance that the other girl, Rita, knew how to fight too then. 'What are they doing here ? And who are they ? Maybe I could subtly ask them about it... '
"Ragna and Himeko are done, so they're telling us to regroup."
"Understood, Bianka-sama."
It took all of Lux's hard-earned nerve to stay stoic in the face of those words. 'The hell ?! They are here ?! Dammit, of all places why here !?... No, cool down. I must keep a level head.' His brain kicked into a higher gear as Lux focused on how to get out of this dire situation.
"Well, I've still got work to do and you look like you've got some here to go too, so see you."
'First, I need to get away from them. That other girl came from the stairs : based on what they said, they were probably searching for something separately ? Anyway, that means up should be relatively safer.'
"Yes, let us see each other again if fate wills it. Let us be on our way, Bianka-sama."
"Let's go already. They'll nag us if we're late." While Rita told him goodbye with a very maid-like bow, the blonde girl, Bianka, kept ignoring him. 'But that's good : The less people remember me, the better.'
Rita's gaze followed him right until she was out of sight.
...
While all of this happened, Murata Himeko and Ragna Lothbrok sat on a bench close to the orphanage, sharing their thoughts about this most unusual mission.
"HQ seems dead set on giving us the most 'unique' missions around, Cap." grumbled a bored Himeko.
This time however, there wasn't much to discuss : 'check out the weird energy signatures we've been getting from that location'. That was that, the whole mission was this one sentence.
"I'm starting to agree with your whining, which indeed proves that this is all getting weird."
"Hey !"
Not only that, but they also found nothing. This was just a random orphanage. As far as they could tell, of course...
"Ragna, Himeko ! Did you find anything ?"
'There comes the problematic child.' A thoroughly bored Bianka and an ever-smiling Rita emerged from the entrance, spotting the adults easily enough.
"No, sugar, nothing. But you know Bianka, you're supposed to report your findings first." chided the red-haired Valkyrie.
"There wasn't anything to report anyway, so why bother ?"
"Bianka." Ragna gave the young girl a stern look.
Grimacing, she pouted. "Oh, fine. We didn't find anything . Happy now ?"
The three could only sigh at this display of stubbornness. Her bratty attitude showed no sign of abating, even out of HQ. Rita shared an apologetic smile that Ragna promptly waved off.
"Then I guess that's that. Alright, everyone's let's- !"
*CRASH*
Taken completely by surprise, the Valkyries all looked up as someone was thrown through a window and crashed on the ground. Their eyes followed the figure, dumbfounded, until they heard something coming from the orphanage's blasted window. It jumped and showed itself, clearly the culprit behind the destruction.
Himeko and Ragna gasped. The newcomer was an acquaintance of theirs recently made in the snow-filled tundra : an Imaginary Construct.
'What the hell is this thing doing here ?! And it's attacking a kid !' Both shared a quick look, understanding each other without the need for words. Ragna turned to order the stunned girls to arm themselves as Himeko began running forward. The red Valkyrie doubted she would make it in time but she had to try. It was inacceptable to just let someone die in front of her without doing nothing.
Her dash came to a quick halt as the boy showed he was more than capable of fending for himself too.
A bolt hit the attacker squarely in the chest, killing the Imaginary Construct in one go. It's core shined as it attempted to restore itself, but a swift golden flash ran through the core, ending it. After having made short work of the monster that shouldn't have been here, the boy got up, his face screaming incredulity.
"Какого черта ?! I, it... " The shock was so great, he had lost all of his composure. What he just experienced was that much beyond his understanding. Rocked to the core, he only processed the shell-shocked people in front of him once Ragna muttered "But he was..."
His body reflexively took a combat stance as he finally registered them. They were just a few steps from each other now, but now one dared to cross that distance. The two sides eyed each other, the gears in their brain turning.
'I've got to get out of here. No ! I' ve got an idea of the reach of the organization behind them now. If I run now, I'll get endlessly chased. From the reaction of these girls, they clearly thought I was dead and didn't give any information about me to their organization. But after this, they will.'
"Hey, you. Are you...are you the same person than back then ?" Ragna spoke up, breaking the silence.
Lux waited for a moment before answering. "If I said I wasn't, would you believe me ?"
Her silence was as good as an answer. He considered lying, but this late, after having shown this much, he seriously doubted they would buy it, much less leave him alone. A plan took shape into his mind. It was shaky, but it could work, with a bit of luck.
Suppressing a sigh, he then set his gaze onto the blonde-haired girl.
"Wait... This is what's been giving out those strange readings ? A kid ? What are you being so careful about then ?"
Lux internally smiled. 'Idiot. You just made things easier for me.'
"Hey, what do you mean kid ? You're a brat too."
"Huh-"
"Also, you ask what they are being careful about, but with you with them, I'd rather ask why they wouldn't be." A mocking smile, calculated to rile her up, adorned his features.
Frustration and anger showed on her face. His words were working, he just needed one more push.
Before the others could stop or warn her, Lux delivered the coup de grâce." Do you perhaps want to say something ? Sorry, but it's kinda hard to hear you when you're cowering behind your friends."
That was it. Bianka burst out from their formation, shaking off the arms that tried to stop her and planted her feet in front of him, her face reddened with rage.
'Just as expected.'
Overall Augmentation. Lifting power restrictions up to level 2.
Faster than she could react, his now armored hand reached for her neck. Her eyes widened as she felt it's grasp. While everyone was busy processing this sudden development, he threw her with all his strength at Rita, which threw her off balance. Himeko diverted her attention to the girls out of her worry, and neglected Lux.
That was a mistake.
In an instant, he was beside her, swinging his unique blade at her. She managed to summon her great sword in extremis to parry the hit. The force behind it launched her unprepared body through the air, colliding against a nearby tree. The violent shock sent her reeling as an Imaginary Construct began to appear in front of her.
Ragna was busy as well. The second she tried to go to Himeko's aid, another Imaginary Construct materialized and attacked the girls. Unprepared, unbalanced and disoriented, they would have been skewered by the monster. Ragna's greats word intercepted the blow, but she wasn't able to shake it off. Grimacing, she mustered her strength. 'Damn, those two are strong ! Was he just biding his time in order to summon them ?!'
In the span of a few seconds, the whole battlefield changed. The Golden Ghost wouldn't miss this chance. His target was where he wanted her, how he wanted her.
The mouth of his canon began facing towards Ragna. This was logical. When you' re fighting a group of enemy, taking out the leader or the strongest is the priority. With the temporary chaos that would ensue, it would be easy to wipe out the rest of the squad.
Rita and Bianka would be killed by the Imaginary Construct once he killed Ragna. As for that Himeko, he was confident she wouldn't last long in that state against him and the Imaginary Constructs. They wouldn't let her catch her breath. Once they were all dead, he could think about how to avoid situations like this in the future. At least for now, his secret would be safe.
That was who Lux Aidum was. Some would say that this way of thinking was completely wrong and crazy, but that was how he survived Siberia. Engraved inside of him, these long years told him he couldn't afford mercy in this situation. The peaceful life he craved may be beyond him forever if he let them go now. So, he would kill them all.
Even though, one day, that way of life might rob him of something precious.
Ragna's eyes widened as the slender canon lit up. Himeko opened her mouth. Lux eyes betrayed no emotion.
Don't make such a scary face, Lulu.
-!
Soothing, warm hands. A soft voice, giving away a boundless affection.
Lux hands instantly went to his face, desperate to catch those precious hands. But they found nothing. The hazy memory wore away, leaving behind only a feeling of emptiness and disappointment.
"What ?"
"The heck ?"
Both women felt like reality was messing with them. The situation had once again undergone an absurd change : the Imaginary Constructs had stopped moving. Even though the death of the four was imminent just a second ago, all feeling of danger vanished.
Lux jolted as he felt his Imaginary Constructs meeting up with oblivion. Snapped out of his stupor, he looked at the enemies before him. 'No way the same plan is going to work now.' Putting aside that moment, the situation was now in their favor. Their eyes shone with wariness : they knew what he was capable of.
It was a mistake to stop, his head told him. But a small voice affirmed him that this was maybe not the right choice, but definitely a good one.
But what should he do now ? The tension in the air was thick : the fight could restart any second. 'I'm not sure I can even properly fight right now.' Despite the volatile nature of that moment, he found himself wishing to see it again. Lux felt like some part of him had deeply changed without his knowledge.
Taking a deep breath, Lux pried his mouth open...and cast his gaze behind him.
Barely a second later, Honkai Energy came into being a few kilometers from the town. An Outbreak, now of all times. What a day.
"Command ! Yes, this is the situation..."
'So, they managed to contact someone. That's it for my cover, I guess. I that case, I see only one choice left.'
Lux began walking towards them, his mind made up. A smile naturally came to his lips. Was this familiarity ?
They eyed him with mor or less hostility but he didn't stop.
"Help isn't coming, right ?" His words were solely directed to her. "But you guys can't save this town by yourselves."
After a moment of hesitation, she nodded. Ragna saw no point in trying to hide it.
"In that case, I've got a proposition for you. But I spared your lives and I'm going to help you deal with this, so I want something in exchange."
"Oh ? And what would that be ?" Ragna made a face of disbelief at those words
Lux Aidum looked at each of the women in front of him before answering. This was a point of no return. Yet, it was not a reason to stop now.
"Make me your subordinate."
Author's note :
There, done! This was so long to write!
So our Lux is now in one weird mess, believe me. Just wait until you understand what happened with that Imaginary Construct. Is Ragna going to accept? What will happen to him if he goes to Schicksal? If you want to know, you'll have to wait. :)
As always, leave a fav/comment if you liked the chapter, thanks for reading and I'll see you later.