Chapter 1: The Day Before

Soleil's eyes snapped open.

Rather than a train, he was back in his now all too familiar dorm room, the small space far cozier than a train car could hope to be. Although he was still wondering just what that even was. A dream? A premonition? Really at this point in his life those kinds of things wouldn't be all that unexpected.

But, for now he felt he could at least put those thoughts to the back of his mind. For now, he could let things be normal and just focus on getting ready for school as usual.

Well… "usual" for the last year or so anyway.

At current, Soleil was a student at a high school called Senba Academy, one of several high schools located within the "Academy City" that was part of the sprawling Far Eastern city of schooling from pre-k all the way to the collegiate level, the Nagazora Academy City, or simply NAC, was one of the city's most standout features, housing dozens of schools and just as many academic research facilities on its massive campus, which housed close to 100,000 residents, most of them making up the student body of the schools.

Nagazora was a city that prided itself on excellence in all ways. The sprawling, technological metropolis boasted even more business and research institutes than it did schools in the Academy City, bringing in the best and brightest in both economics and science to reside within its sprawl. As such, many of the students were resultingly related to these companies in one way or another, be it family who were in high places or who merely got the benefits from being employed by some of them.

Soleil was not one of those students as it happened.

Having transferred into Senba Academy during his first year in high school for some particular reasons, Soleil had been an immediate outlier for more reasons than his status as a foreigner. Most people in the Academy City had connections. And as far as most of his peers and teachers knew, Soleil was some student who had drifted in from North America one day without much else to be said about it.

He wasn't in any clubs, and he'd never specified any intent for which college he'd be moving into on graduating, making him a bit of a campus phantom, only showing up for his mandatory classes before almost vanishing from sight to run off to the main city.

And frankly, he preferred it that way. Because as far as Soleil was aware, he was only in Nagazora because of a whim to begin with.

The words of the one who'd gone and sent him here still stuck in his head even a bit over a year later. And he couldn't help but find them a bit annoying at this point.

"Call it a gut feeling. I've just got a sense that you being there will result in… something. I'm sure it'll make sense… eventually."

Just recalling it made Soleil grumble out some curses as he carried on through his usual morning routine. Running his hands through his hair to loosen it from any tangles the night may have caused, cleaning off his face and such, tossing on his uniform, the usual things.

By the time he was trotting out of his room and leaving the dorm, it was amid the morning bustle of the countless other students departing from the other dorms and onto the main roads leading to the different schools they all attended, meaning it was a sea of different uniform styles the entire way.

From the dorm district of the campus, it would take one right out into a recreational zone. End to end it was filled with restaurants and shops for the students to pass the time at or take care of their needs. Just about everything from school supplies to the latest in game consoles could be bought within the little entertainment spot. Or, if one were as keen on being as quick yet unnoticeable as they could, they could slip into one of the several convenience stops that marked the different segments of the zone.

And such a thing was part of Soleil's usual routine. Ducking into the first convenience store out of the dorm block, grabbing something for breakfast—usually some breakfast styled meat buns—and then making a quick escape to head for the tram station that would take him to the main academy district.

All along the way, the buildings flashed with lights from holo-signs and adverts, streets maintained by civil-care robots flitting about through the crowds of students milling about the pathways. Part of the academy city's design was also the elimination of car-focused roads and paths, using suspended hover-trams to ferry people to parts of the campus that were too distant to reach in a ten-minute walk. This both meant that students and staff were in a much safer place to travel through, but also minimize clutter by allowing the campus to focus its infrastructure on the necessary buildings for it to be run properly and efficiently.

Truly a marvel of modern technology and innovation… so the tag line of the Academy City went.

As Soleil was making his way to boarding the tram, for a moment as it took off, rather than simply drown out the noise around him via his headphones, he at least took a moment as the packed car began to thrum with the sounds of a broadcast. Normal morning news.

"Today's forecast shows that the weather in Nagazora will be pleasant throughout the week. I'm sure those in the Academy City are welcoming this cool weather lately after the scorcher than was last month, wouldn't you say?"

"Oh I'm sure that citywide, this weather is a good sign for everyone. In local news, the investigation into the supposed embezzlement of ME Corporation funds by former CEO Raiden Ryoma is ongoing. To bring our listeners up to speed, just last month—"

Soleil elected to clap his headphones into place the moment the news turned to that. He wasn't one for morning drama… and had heard plenty of it at school anyway, for plenty of reasons and things happened to be. It wasn't anything he didn't know anyway.

But, as he was finishing up his breakfast, he did notice something in the crowd. A swish of dark hair, moving to another part of the train as eyes and mutters shifted their focus. And with it, perhaps unnoticed by almost everyone else, a faint spark of violet following that swish of black.

Out of the many academies that dotted the Academy City, the one Soleil was in attendance of was Senba Academy. It was a classic, sordid tale as it happened. A school that had formerly been all girls, but some years back due to realizing such a constriction was both horribly old fashioned and inefficient, went about opening itself to being a co-ed campus. While the general male student body was still on the smaller side, it was evening out with time.

But aside from that little tidbit it was perhaps as normal of a high school as one could get.

In line with that, Senba's courses were perhaps the most straightforward and average. Not being some specialty academy, its curriculum was aimed much more towards general education for those seeking to specialize at the college level instead.

And right now, Soleil found himself seated in second year history class. Not exactly a dull subject for him. But one where he certainly, at least this day, perhaps wasn't paying the most attention during the instructor's lecture.

"Ahem, Vollerei-kun?" A sharp word from the instructor made Soleil glance away from the window and forward. The teacher shook his head at Soleil's placid look, then gesturing with a hand to the holographic board behind him with the topic and notes scrawled on it, which were summarily reflected on the screens of the classroom desks. "How about it? Can you give us a refresher summary on the first Honkai Impact, hmm? And no checking notes."

Soleil let out a sigh, the teacher's brow cricking.

"Sure," but the boy stood either way, pocketing his hands before he spoke. "Occurring in 1952 in Berlin, the first of what have so far been two massive Honkai catastrophes occurred. Also called an Eruption, the Impact event got its name due to the widespread destruction and chaos caused by the mass explosion of Honkai Energy that occurred there. Said Impact, alongside the damage caused by the Second Impact in 2009, is also the reason why to this day most of Eurasia east of the Berlin Exclusion Zone remains either uninhabitable or home to mercenary groups that operate in the ruins of the nations the Impacts most heavily affected."

"… thank you," the teacher didn't seem that satisfied with Soleil's clearly attentive answer but resumed as the boy sat back down. "To continue from where Vollerei-kun left off, the Impacts are also the cause of why there is a large degree of European diaspora scattered across the world sourced from the refugees who had fled the Impact, primarily in the Americas. Now, as for what this led to in the affected regions for the country's that were not as heavily effected…"

It was around there where Soleil started tuning out. Not out of disinterest, but because, even taking this being a review lesson into account, it was all information he'd long had drilled into his skull.

Their world may have been one of technological progress and beacons of prosperity, but peaceful isn't a word the boy would have elected to use for it. And it could all be traced to a single source: Honkai Energy.

A kind of ambient "force", or in some cases more so a sort of radiation. Whatever it was, this energy was known to be the source of many a thing. From a "spark" that could set off events like catastrophic natural disasters or plagues, or turn animals—and often unsaid, people—into vicious monsters like those out of myths. Or rather, it was those monsters that had inspired the stories to begin with.

It was a constant, unceasing threat in the world, something humanity had long since fought against and adapted to live with. Perhaps not in an easy way, but in a way where some places could at least be regarded as comfortable… for a time at least. There was always that hanging dread, that Sword of Damocles that anywhere could be the next place an Impact occurred in.

But for the average person, this was usually out of their mind enough to not be a concern. After all, the two Impacts everyone knew about had occurred within an over fifty-year gap of each other, and while the effects had certainly been catastrophic… well, for those who lived in the parts of the world that weren't as affected, 54 or 14 years on, most people were moving on from such disasters.

It certainly helped how much technology had been advancing during those times, only getting more advanced and offering more safety with time. But not that it stopped any of the stories and rumors either.

Sometimes things eked out and got abnormal. Animals being far too aggressive, some showing odd mutations due to Honkai corruption. Or perhaps seemingly stable weather patterns took a sudden turn with no forewarning to it. Unpleasant facts for some, wild oddities for others.

But outside of that? Most people could live normal lives devoid of that kind of worry, knowing that some system or another was keeping them shielded from the worst of it. Be it the very city they lived in or something else, most people in the world only had the basic inklings of what Honkai was and its influence in the world's history, but not much more than that.

When he was sure the teacher was too occupied with his lecture to notice, Soleil fiddled with his pocket and sneakily drew his phone out, a character strap he'd tied to the case lightly smacking into his hand as he flipped the device over. With a few flicks, he brought up a certain app, ensuring at the same time he didn't look like he was checking it.

When the app he'd opened finished running, it read such:

[Rise in ambient Honkai radiation detected. Levels remain at safe degrees for human populations. No danger at current.]

"Probably nothing…" Soleil kept his mutter as quiet as possible, pocketing his phone just in time to avoid being spotted by the teacher.

Barely.

For most students, classes concluding meant it was time for clubs or other sorts of after-school activities. Some did sports, others did various kinds of study topics, the usual activities.

For Soleil? Well, he'd mark himself a proud member of the Going Home Club. As a part of his whole "phantom student" bit, he made extra sure he was out of school as quickly as he was in it. Not that he could really "escape" what with living in the dorms and all, such was life in the academy city.

But that afternoon, an urge had come around. Something about that rise in ambient Honkai readings was sticking with him, even after he'd left the campus and stopped at one of the strip malls multiple fast food chain restaurants to get something to eat.

While he was absentmindedly picking at a container of French fries, scrolling through news articles on his phone to see what recent things could be on the mark. And when he eyed a particular link, Soleil's brow knit together.

"Those nutjobs again? It's a wonder they end up in the news at all."

Making sure his headphones were secure, Soleil pressed the link, his screen sliding over to another app and playing the video. It's title, "Head of the Church of Finality delivers address on the anniversary of the Second Impact."

On the video, it displayed a man taking a central podium, flanked by lavish decorations done in grand purples and whites, the man garbed in robes bearing the same colors. The man was about middle aged, a solid face just starting to lose the last traces of youth from it, with sterling white hair and violet eyes that were a downright unsettling shade of the color. But most striking was the marks on his otherwise pale skin. A bright purple color, shaped as lines rising from his neck and up across his face.

The marks of a body afflicted by Honkai radiation.

"Welcome, all you listening both in person or through other means," the man spoke in an all too gentle manner, his speech measured in its cadence. A man who carefully chose his words. "To those just joining us, I am the leader of our fair flock, a follower of the Finality like all of you. I am known simply as the Cardinal. I address you all today on the anniversary of the end of the Second Impact. 14 years ago, our world was once again struck by the full brunt of the phenomenon known as Honkai. And while it is true this event brought much destruction, so did it pave the way for the society we have built in its wake! It is thanks to Honkai that we even have such a—"

Soleil closed the video as an unimpressed grimace crossed his face.

"Paved the way my ass. Saying that shit when almost half the world is still reeling from what happened," Soleil ground his teeth as he took a large bite out of the burger he'd ordered. "Freaking nutcase."

The Church of Finality was an… interesting group, from Soleil's perspective. A religious sect that had sprung up after the First Impact, it taught its followers that while the Honkai was a destructive force, that this destruction was simply "natural" and "in due course" with the order of the world. Corruption by Honkai was seen as the world enacting that which was a matter of course, striking against mankind as "response" to their "sins and folly."

Resultingly, adherents also had a bit of a habit of viewing falling ill from Honkai radiation as a "blessing" of some form, no matter the adverse effects that came with it. Ironically though it meant the Church of Finality had become a driving force in advances in stabilizing – though not outright curing – the effects of Honkai radiation on the human body. A field many thought that only the enigmatic Schicksal could manage in terms of technology and research.

But it didn't mean the Church was some powerhouse of their own. The scars of the Second Impact were still fresh enough in many people's minds to dismiss their preaching as utter nonsense, more of a cult than a proper church really. But still they had a following anyway. Borne of those disenfranchises by the ruin Honkai brought with it, or those looking for some explanation to the supposed madness of it all.

What was puzzling to Soleil was where in the world the Church got its funding.

Soleil decided those things were better put to the side for now. Finishing up his food and making his way out, as he was proceeding through the crowd, there was something that brought the teenager to stop for just a moment.

A brief glimpse of silvery-white, drawing his eyes through the crowd only to fail to find the source of that color. And yet, from that color alone, something did pop into his head.

A name.

"Kiana…"

And as that name left his tongue, the briefest of flashes ran through his mind. Of a girl departing on a train, a final, wistful smile as her hand trailed from what felt like his own.

When that flash ended, Soleil felt a slight warmth on his face, bringing a hand to his cheek, finding the trips of his fingers coming back wet. And that same feeling still at his eyes.

"I'm… crying? Why…?"

The next day, things proceeded the way they always had for the past year. Despite the feeling in the back of his head that something could happen, Soleil was going about his morning routine without any interruption.

He got ready the same way, took the same route to get breakfast and reach the train. The news report on the train only mentioned how it seemed there was some rain clouds rolling in despite the consistent weather beforehand.

And as he was going along the path from the tram station to make his way to Senba, simply drifting along through the crowd of students going about their normal routines alongside him, and even made it all the way to morning classes with no occurrences.

By the time the afternoon was rolling around, Soleil almost thought that gut feeling from the other day was perhaps going nowhere.

"Oh please, your gut feelings tend not to lie. You don't think you're going to get off that easily, do you?"

Soleil could only sigh. It was a voice only he heard, his very own despite his silence. But that voice was more sardonic, dryly mocking in the way it spoke. And with that voice lingering in his mind, Soleil tugged at his shirt's collar a bit, just enough to expose his right collarbone. Around there, near the base of his neck were traces of some kind of mark. Faded out and almost indistinct, but not something that could be regarded as some birthmark.

And said mark was slowly taking more solid shape, looking like a stylized, narrow flame with each passing moment.

"You know what that means, right?"

"Yeah… it means the Honkai around here is getting stronger. Too strong."

And then there was thunder.

Dark clouds overhead suddenly split open with flashes of lightning, the air booming as the wind began to pick up to a howling gale. All around there was a sudden panic from this change in the air, as if something had just washed over everybody in that very moment. People rushed from their desks and to the windows to view the sudden storm.

Instead of joining the students guffawing at the sudden storm, Soleil stood and quietly left the classroom, making his way to a quieter spot at the stair well. Drawing his phone, even as he drew it out, the screen had already changed, blaring red with an alert flashing across it.

[Large scale Honkai outbreak detected. Estimated odds of survival 0.000000001%.]

As he stepped out from the stairwell and proceeded down the hall, Soleil took note of how the sudden panic from earlier had vanished. Now the halls of the school were abruptly silent from all but the booming thunder outside. Making his way down to the ground floor, Soleil remained undisturbed.

"May not even need to use that escape route I had planned out just in case. Depends on how bad of an outbreak it is. Let's assume it covers the Academy City's general area. Should focus on getting to Nagazora to see if it's gone further…"

Muttering to himself the while, it was as Soleil was swapping his indoor shoes for his personal sneakers at the lockers that his attention was drawn to a noise besides the booming thunder. Moving back to the hallway, the sound was a rattling door, bulging a bit as something repeatedly slammed into it from within.

With a slight sigh, a small grimace came to Soleil's face. He turned away as the door continued to rattle and slam, intent to make his way to the front door even as it looked like the door was about to buckle inwards.

And then with a loud bang, the door was blown off of its frame, the hallway now rumbling with the sounds of low groaning. Soleil sighed again as he stopped, sliding his headphones down to his shoulders. Reaching into a back pocket, Soleil withdrew a pair of plated fingerless gloves, sliding the well worn articles onto his hands, flexing his fingers as he put the clasps into place.

And right as a groaning sound got all too close, he wheeled around. Light sparked at his palm, turning into a flash that formed into a technological baseball bat, which quickly burst with blue sparks of flames as Soleil swung it, hard. The ignited bat went smashing into the head of the figure that was lunging for him, slamming the figure to the ground.

As the ground was left coated in blood that was turning from red to a sickly purple, beneath Soleil's bat were the remains of another student. And yet, the body had gone chalk white, covered in the lines showing severe Honkai corruption throughout.

"Sorry… but you're already dead. Best I can do is put your body out of its misery. This is just what happens to people who can't adapt," Soleil raised the bat to his shoulder with a quick spin, looking back to see the front door was starting to be mobbed by people who were in a similar state to the corpse at his feet. And even more were shuffling out from the classrooms into the hallways.

And as the crowd gathered, Soleil went from a solemn expression to a self-assured smirk.

"Always did want a chance to break some school rules. Hehe… alright then. Can't be merciful if I wanna get outta here, but at least I can do my classmates a final favor. Haaa… really shoulda swiped a gun from Tesla alongside this bat. Whatever, I'll make do."

The next of the corrupted dead lunged, and Soleil's bat was quick to meet it, in time to another clap of thunder as the bat ignited again.

That afternoon was when it began: The event that would eventually be known as the Third Honkai Impact. The day Nagazora City was destroyed.

And it would be in that city, amid ruin and destruction, that fates would cross. Fates that perhaps would one day decide the fate of the world itself.

Perhaps that was what Soleil's dream had warned him about.