Boss Alexei was a renowned bigshot in Siberia. Having a fortune and knowing how to take care of it, he was one of the people you needed to avoid crossing if you wanted to survive. He had built his empire by wonders of manipulation and smarts, with a touch of arrogance and sadism in the mix.
So, when his mansion suddenly caught fire with him inside, the people got scared, thinking that some warfare was taking place. But that conclusion was somewhat wrong : it was indeed an attack, but one would find it difficult to qualify this as a great armed battle.
The assailants were numbering to one underage kid after all.
Said intruder had managed to enter incognito into the mansion, kill the guards that got in his way, and lit a great fire inside the house. He then beheaded Boss Alexei, who had already soiled himself by the time his eyes registered the threat visually. Not much of a 'Boss', really. His body was mysteriously found almost intact(Except the head disconnected from the neck), dropped in front of the mansion for all to see.
The cause of such a violent aggression was evident to everyone in the town. Earlier that evening, Alexei, drunk, had proclaimed he got the Golden Hunter in a famous bar. That he sent him on a mission where he would work for him and get stupidly killed in the end for nothing. That he was so smart, his plan had no flaws.
Nobody would dare to tell him he was wrong, but quite a bit of people remembered what happened to the last ones that made a similar claim. Nevertheless, this declaration had his weight behind it, so slowly, doubt spread.
Perhaps he was telling the truth, they doubted. Maybe one legend, one terror of the tundra was gone, they wondered.
But now, people had no longer any doubt on what truly happened. Greed had claimed another victim, his life reaped by a golden blade.
...
Lux felt like this whole mess kept getting even crazier, if that was even possible. As if the events of last night weren't insane enough.
He somehow woke up without a single wound from his 'death' after his fight against that girl -the Herrscher of the Void, that was how the Imaginary Core called her- without anyone around. He remembered feeling his body ripped apart by the hit of the monster and the shot from that woman. The pain had briefly peaked to the highest agony he had ever experienced but vanished almost immediately, his body surely far too damaged for his nerves to work properly. He had fully believed it was his end and somewhat even accepted it. Despite the number of regrets and the frustration he could feel, one precious wish of his had been granted. Yet he woke up.
At first, he thought this was some sort of final mirage : an illusion before the last spark of life in his brain died. But no : he slapped himself, scooped up snow and threw it, testing whether he was really alive, and nothing seemed to indicate he had become some sort of disincarnate phantom haunting the snow-filled plains. Before that realization brought him much deserved tears, he heard noise in the house and jerked his head, not having paid enough attention to the world around him until now. Once that was done, he picked up on the voices of the women from before. Shudders went through his back as he immediately booked it. Moving into Imaginary Space in record time, he ran back to his house as quick as he could, starving for some food and safety. Once he was inside and checked every single last security measure inside, he collapsed, overwhelming gratitude and relief for being alive taking away his legs and making him shed a massive amount of tears.
After the waterworks were over, burning rage took over Lux. It was time to pay back that evil son of a ***** for having thought he could get easy money out of him. Most people would probably consider themselves lucky and would call it a night, but not him.
One could say the CRDRP was working well.
And that led to him having taken away Alexei's fortune and life. Along with the life of whoever came to stop him. Lux rarely lost any sleep over his kills, and that would certainly be the same this time. In a completely unexpected way, there was the ticket out of this country, the necessary funds for the journey.
Fate could work in mysterious ways.
As for last night, Lux simply felt too curious. He had tried digging for information but the Core was just replying with the usual message of corrupted data needing maintenance and examination before being safe for reading. Despite the CRDRP, the Imaginary Core still had too few answers to give him. Maybe another person would have tried to forget everything and take the chance at a life of ignorance. They would have found a life outside Siberia, tried to go on with their life while feeding themselves sweet lies.
Not Lux. The curiosity felt pressing, a desire almost vital. He needed to know, and he was going to know. That impulse, as strong as sudden, would throw the boy into a chaotic yet nostalgic life.
...
Siegfried Kaslana was an idiot.
No, well, it was common knowledge that every single last Kaslana was an idiot and a Herrscher-level disaster in the kitchen, but still, Tesla felt like reaffirming it at this moment.
After the failed rescue operation last time, Siegfried and the cl-Kiana were unreachable. Shicksal and Anti-Entropy searched for them, and from what Siegfried told, Shicksal hit the jackpot faster than them.
Due to that, Siegfried fled and went to find them again. He could have simply fended off Shicksal's pursuit alone, but he wanted to ask them to look after his daughter in the dark. The man had easily deduced that Sirin was after his head. Staying close to Kiana in a situation like this was just asking for trouble to happen. His plan was to entrust Kiana to them and leave her with a reasonable explanation that would quell the numerous questions she would surely have. It would be a lie, a necessary evil.
God, Tesla hated this. The poor little girl had way too much on her shoulders, yet looked so innocent, even in her sleep.
...
Said little girl had barely woken up in the unfamiliar place. Her blurry eyes accustomed to the light as she heard the beeping of several machines on her bed. She lazily propped herself up.
'It's morning already? ...No, wait.' Her muddled mind cleared up enough for her to properly take in her surroundings and realize that they were completely unfamiliar. The room and furniture inside didn't look anything like her home. She didn't even see her father here, only a short red-haired woman in front of her. She began to worry, unease obvious on her face. Her brain chose this moment to have her recall the hazy memories of last night.
The fighting. The fear. The shouts.
Her body began to shake. Did she get caught ? Where was her dad ? Was he alright !?.
She watched as the red-haired woman went out of the room to call someone over before trying to slowly get close to her bed. Her face showed caution but also a kind of worry for her that somewhat calmed Kiana. Said calm wasted no time in disappearing as Kiana got a better look at her.
A mechanical gauntlet. Glasses. A file filled with pages of complex texts and numbers in one of her hands. A damn scientist.
A long shiver ran through Kiana's whole body. Something deep inside her whispered danger. Her breath quickened as the woman came to a stop, noticing that further walking would just make things worse. Her words did that instead though.
"Don't worry, you're safe here."
The small girl froze. While the intent behind that sentence was far from evil, it was really one of the worst things she could have told her in this situation. Like coming from a deep abyss, along the feelings of panic and terror, the unclear recollection obliterated what little control over herself Kiana had left.
"Have no fear. Shicksal takes care of orphans like you."
RUN !
At a surprising speed even for herself, Kiana bolted through the room and rushed into the hallway. She ran at full speed, ignoring the flustered shouts behind her, her heartbeat rate spiking, while breathing in an irregularly fast rhythm. Fueled by panic and fear, eyes wide open, she naturally resorted to doing what kids did when they were alone and scared.
"Dad ?! Mom ! Where are you ?!" She called for her parents. Despite Siegfried saying that her mother was dead not long after her birth, that deep-rooted instinct didn't budge.
More people began chasing after her. Kiana kept taking turns to avoid the ones coming from the front and ended up being forced to barge into a random room to avoid her pursuers. She locked the door and took a breather, legs shaking.
Where was this ? None of this was familiar. She had to get out of here and find her dad ! 'Crap. I didn't check for people in the room.' She whipped around, ready to race anew.
"Kiana ?" Relief flooded her being when she saw and heard her dad. Her legs gave out as tears escaped her eyes. Panic and terror gave way to exhaustion as she dropped on the ground. Her father was here and he looked fine. Everything was going to be alright.
"Are you okay ? You shouldn't be out of bed so soon !" His familiar warmth and the worry in his voice only reaffirmed her safety. She let herself drop against him, pummeling him with her tiny fists devoid of strength.
"Where did you go, you deadbeat dad !? I was alone, and there were those people I didn't know and..." She sobbed, unable to continue. His arms tightened around her. Guilt painted the elder Kaslana's heart as he hugged his daughter. He had seen her face when she burst through here and that was enough for him to know how she felt. He scolded himself for having paid too little mind to Kiana. But he couldn't help it : the news that he had received when making contact with Anti-Entropy again after having gone off the radar were just that shocking. He felt like his world had been turned upside down, even now he couldn't completely bring himself to believe that he wasn't dreaming.
"Sorry baby doll. I'm really sorry. But the people here are not our enemies. I've come to seek their help and they accepted. ...Did something happen to you ?"
"...no, but..."
"Was anyone mean ? Or looked scary ?"
"I wouldn't run just because someone looked scary ! It's...just that..." The small Kaslana stopped, leaving her mouth half open, dumbfounded. After having calmed down properly, she began to realize how oddly fast she had jumped to panic. Indeed, the context of this situation did justify fear, suspicion and wariness, but that feeling of utter urgency was...unfounded. It came from inside of her, but she couldn't track what caused it. Despite being certain she needed to get out of here ASAP just moments earlier, that certainty was nowhere to be found, and she was drawing a blank for what to say to her father. So, Kiana did the first thing that came to her mind.
"Nothing ! I guess I just had a bad dream and panicked ! So where is this anyway ? These people are your friends ? You never told me about that !" Giving her signature smile, Kiana loudly and pathetically tried to change the subject. The look her father sent clearly told her about his thoughts on this, but out of care or pity for her, he didn't pursue.
"Yes, you see this is..."
...
Things were progressing into a most unwelcome direction. At least, that was what Sirin surmised. Not only did her grand return fail, but her lie was also now dangerously close to being discovered.
The 1st Herrscher was here. That traitor. If he took a look inside her host with his powers and found out that the Void Core was still active, she was done for. He was getting closer slowly, she could feel him a few rooms away. Sirin had to make a quick decision. Trying to overpower him with her current body was out of the question. Getting out of here using a portal didn't sound bad, but they would relentlessly track her. If more dangerous people ('like that accursed Overseer') knew her whereabouts and situation, she would be hunted on all sides and there would no time to recover in order to make a comeback later. So, there was really only one option left : hibernation. She had to force the Void Core into a sleeping state and shut down her consciousness. At the very least, this was just a step away from the worst-case scenario. A voluntary hibernation and an unvoluntary one was very different.
If the Void Core was shut down by an external force, then Sirin would have no choice but to wait from some outside influence to rouse her from sleep. However, with this plan, Sirin would reawaken discreetly sometime later. The bad news was that "sometime later" could be months if she was lucky, or more likely years. Sirin had no control on how long her slumber would last, which was infuriating her to no end. They would all pay dearly that affront.
But that was for later. Now...it was time to redirect her attention to her host. Kiana Kaslana.
'K-423. Where did her consciousness come from ?' pondered Sirin as the Void Core began shutting down. 'It didn't come from the labs of those pests : they created over 422 failures that didn't even open their eyes, so it is clear that Shicksal -or humanity in general- didn't know how to create true human consciousness. But the powers of the Void Core don't include giving birth to a new consciousness. Maybe the Gem of Serenity could do that. The power of immortality could probably cause a new self to emerge where there is nothing, but I don't have it.' Sirin train of thought went on until only one possibility was left : this origins of this other sentience had to be the same as hers.
This conclusion explained many things : why two souls now existed where there was only one before, why the memories inside the Core and the touch of this other soul felt so familiar. The previous her had wished, desired, longed for a new life amidst the flow of hatred and resentment. A new, peaceful breath of life where she could be an ordinary girl basking in love. These two contrasting desires had sprouted them both : The Herrscher of the Void and Kiana. She had thought she was the only one left at first, but this was wrong. The fact that the Void Core had been in a bad shape after the Second Eruption probably helped with the fragmentation.
'So, what if that's the case ?'
It didn't matter. The reason she came to this world was to wash it away, to get the perfect result by entirely wiping out humanity. The hatred and rage that animated her weren't mistaken, and they would be fulfilled no matter what. Learning the truth about all of this wouldn't change her.
"Don't die...with so much *cough, cough*...regrets, idiot."
No, she wouldn't die, and certainly no regrets were to be had here. This was her choice and her wish. This was her will. There was nothing else left for her after all. This other Sirin was not going to convince her of fighting for this utterly disgusting world.
And just like that, the Herrscher of the Void settled on the path of destruction and blood.
...Or she would have, if Kiana had not looked at her left suddenly, curious about the looks his father kept sending to the bed at her left as he explained the situation. There was quite a bit of medical tech for only one patient surrounding her bed, but Kiana stretched her neck and managed to catch a glimpse of the face of the patient.
Who was the one that froze first ? Sirin ? Kiana ? Or both ? None of them knew. With both minds being completely blank, a mysterious urge forced the still girl to take a trembling step. Seeing this, Siegfried backed away, noting how surprisingly shocked Kiana was to see her. Her father preciously kept pictures of her after her 'death' but she looked older and different. Also, he hadn't realized how much his daughter would be touched by this impromptu reunion. Not like he had any room to talk though.
His wife that he thought deceased, Cecilia Schariac, was lying on this hospital bed, after all.
...
Memories bubbled up to the surface of her subconscious just to pop instantly, leaving misty feelings to the small girl. Echoes of a distant past where a certain woman dressed her, complimented her, protected her from glass shards brought tears to her eyes, trembling to her limbs and warmth to her body. She slowly touched her warm hands and whispered softly trough her tightened throat.
"...Mo...m"
How was this...? So, they found her, after all. She...Her moth- Cecilia was alive. Ah, was this relief ? No, what was this emotion ?
"Gah !" Kiana clutched her head in her hands as she collapsed. "Wha...What t-the...?"
Pain was out of the question since she possessed no body, but Sirin felt confused and bewildered at what just happened. For a small moment, upon seeing who was on the bed, Kiana and her memories resonated, causing Kiana to skim over the Core and...do what ? She had no way of describing what transpired.
In fact, she wasn't even sure who had been thinking earlier. 'Was it Kiana ? Me ? Or... both ?'
Sirin's mind began to slow down as the Void Core did. She was horribly conflicted. The traitor was coming, but she didn't want things to end like this, with no answers to her questions. Cecilia being alive was shocking, but she was certain something important had just gone down between her and Kiana. Something definitive. Yet, her hesitation led her into indecision. And with so much emotion in her heart, unable to make a decision, Sirin went back to her dreams.
...
"She appeared from a void portal a few seconds before the Honkai missile's landing. While she was still alive when we found her, her blood loss almost destroyed her brain. We didn't inform you that she had survived immediately because we weren't sure she would make it. Ad with how our last meeting happened, we weren't sure we should tell you of what happened to her at the time. I do apologize for that. With our best healing technology, she managed to survive and we saved her brain cells from total destruction due to lack of oxygen, but she's fallen into a coma. There is only one thing that could heal the current her : the healing power of the Abyss Flower. But Shicksal managed to get it back before we could take it, and we determined unwise to inform them that Cecilia Schariac was still alive."
Welt stopped speaking, allowing his words to sink in the ears of the two. While Kiana was struggling to understand, Siegfried had already calmed down a great deal due to having his questions answered. He still felt discontent about how late he had been informed, but he could get over that. Now he needed to explain everything to his confused baby doll.
Looking down at her, he took his daughter into his arms and grinned. The reality of things was just starting to sink in : Cecilia was still alive, these were formidable news. She wouldn't wake up anytime soon, but still. It pained to think he wouldn't be able to always stay by her side, but this was good enough for him.
"...Dad ?"
"Mm ? What is it, baby doll ?"
"Why are you crying ?" She pointed out his cheeks flowing with tears. Siegfried, dumbfounded, touched his moist face with his free hand. And then, he laughed.
"That, Kiana, is because I'm happy and sad at the same time."
...
...
5 days later
Identification papers were such a massive pain to deal with. No one told Lux they had to contain so much information. He could just make the majority of the necessary info however : Being in a land full of people willing to do a lot of things as long as you had enough money was handy. But he had unfortunately hit a little snag : the family name. He had absolutely no idea what to write. He had always been only Lux, but suddenly he needed to become more than that, so of course he was lost.
He paced around an abandoned building where quite the shady dealings took place. The border was close and he was ready to begin his new life. But he had to ponder carefully on what to choose here : this choice would follow him for life. 'Something that defines me, that would always stick with me...'
He looked at the ends of his hair, and remembered his weapons. Would gold be a good family name ? No, it was too...pretentious. He didn't like it. But the idea was good. Was there some other way to say 'gold' ? An ancient word that meant gold could work, right ?
'Aidum. That's another name for gold. I...used to say that word. I think.' The frustrating nostalgia caused him to stop his steps in the snow. He looked up in direction of the border and mouthed his new name.
"Lux Aidum."
He loved the sound of it.
...
Once he finally crossed the border, Lux immediately went to a nearby airport. All of his actions had been carefully planned beforehand. Including the issue of a 13-year-old kid boarding a plane alone. As it happens, most people would find that weird. So, Lux devised a plan :
- First, to get in the airport without being seen by anyone. That step was relatively easy, he had worked his way around tighter securities after all.
- Second, to get into the hold of a specific airplane and deliver a very special luggage. He had done his research and found out that one of the airplanes was headed for Europe that night. This information had been hacked out by Lux of the airport's network a few hours earlier, so he had full confidence in its authenticity. As for delivering the luggage, it was child's play.
The plane had all of its passengers in, and the final check was being performed right now. It was now or never.
There was just one problem. While it was indeed in the middle of the night, the airport was still brightly lit to make the pilot's life easier. 'Deplorable conditions for the plan, indeed. Sorry, but I'm going to need those annoying lights off for a bit.' Lux smirked as he waited for the activation of his little mischief. It shouldn't be long now.
The two guards checking the hold soon emitted cries of surprise as all the lights around them suddenly turned off, plunging them and the airplane into darkness.
That 'mischief' was also due to the hacking performed earlier this day. He had sneaked in a small program that would turn off specific lights at a specific time in the airport's network. But he had to act fast : to make sure that the airport wouldn't panic thinking they had been hacked, he made it look like some kind of bug. Meaning the lights wouldn't be out for long.
Overall Augmentation. Lifting power restrictions up to level 1.
He bolted from his hiding place between two buildings. He weaved stealthily and quickly through the dark, avoiding the flashlights of the guards who had stepped out of the hold to get a better reading at the situation. It was essential that they did not understand that someone had caused this, or walked into the hold : if they checked the contents after his little delivery, the plan would fail.
He got into the hold and began moving the various luggage inside. He had less than a minute before the lights came back on. He then made a place for the box he was carrying on his back in the middle of the luggage, put it there, and started to rearrange everything so that it looked like no one had touched anything. He had to hurry, there was more packages than expected...Done ! Now, he had to hide !
He silently made his way back to his hiding place mere seconds before the lights went back on and sighed in relief. Alright, so far so good. Now, it was time for the moment of truth.
The two guards took orders and reported in their walkie-talkies. I nervously waited. Would they choose to check one more time just to be sure ?
One of them went into the hold. Lux's heart skipped a beat. He came back rather fast and... the hold closed ! 'Yes ! They didn't notice. The plan worked !' thought Lux with triumph.
Inside of the box was a small Imaginary Construct that he had control over. It served as his beacon : now, he could get into the hold by moving into Imaginary Space and moving back into reality. Just to be safe, he waited for the plane to take off before doing so.
The travel wasn't that great though. It was rather boring for the boy, stuck in the hold with not much to do. When the airplane finally landed, Lux moved to Imaginary Space (it was slightly harder to do so here, maybe the space in Europe was different ?) and tossed the box there. He then chose random coordinates and materialized in a forest not far from the airport.
He had done it. He was out of Siberia.
That did not mean Lux was expecting a paradise to exist outside. His objective remained to live a better life, but he did not fool himself with illusions about what he could find outside.
Still, the scent that was permeating the air sure felt good. And so, Lux Aidum re-learned the scent of freedom and began stubbornly and happily walking forward.
Author's note :
AND DONE ! Here is another chapter of my second Honkai Impact 3rd Fic ! Enjoy !
I decided to name the Herrscher of the Void 'Sirin' to make my life easier because calling her the Herrscher of the Void every time is a pain. In the game, we see that Sirin thinks that Cecilia's actions and emotions couldn't overcome hatred. Kiana described the original Sirin's happy memories with Ceclia as painful for her. So, I decided on something different to kickstart her changes : Kiana. Rather than staying completely closed to each other for years, I decided to have these two begin to interact and feel each other in deeper ways than just words or emotions. I think this could be what Sirin needs to accept Kiana's path as her own, unlike in the original game.
Tell me what you think of this idea in the comments. As always, leave a fav/ comment if you liked the chapter, thanks for reading and I'll see you later.