Chapter Text
Wood splintered. Rubble crunched. The looming beast let out a rattling breath; incense and sulphur. Teeth the size of forearms. Glaring, glowing predator eyes. A strange, animalistic dignity to it, well beyond the more abstract shapes and forms of the Honkai Beasts.
It stood tall; proud; a towering, majestic-
"...Dograbbit?" I guessed, looking at the ears. It snarled immediately.
"I'M A FOX YOU MISERABLE-"
I laughed apologetically, walking to the side around the beast and onto clearer ground. The fox(?)'s head tracked me unerringly, padded footsteps keeping pace (and drawing it away from where Sakura lay unconscious).
It growled bestial.
"I don't suppose we can talk this out?" I offered, optimistically.
It chuffed. "No."
I shrugged the glaive off of my shoulder. Well, I tried.
The monster tensed, power building in its haunches before exploding into a blur of fur and fire- abruptly countered by a blur of golden, whirling chains. Trussed up tight and only lacking a little bow-tie, what was a lunge transformed immediately into a faceplant digging gouges into the dirt.
...I hadn't even needed to move, honestly.
Theresa squinted, standing beside the Oath of Judah as the dust settled. "I'm meeting too many strange monsters today..."
The banality of that statement was a little concerning, coming from someone who'd grown up with Otto Apocalypse.
She casually hauled up the cross with one hand and descended the slope of rubble, eyes scouring.
"Where's Sakura?"
I nodded in her direction. "Passed out. Her form seemed to lose stability."
Theresa grunted, glaring back down at our captive… I'm sorry, I know it had multiple tails but with those long-ass rabbit ears I just couldn't call it a fox. Behold: the Dograbbit. Be glad you're not saddled with the fate of a certain legendary cautus with donkey allegations.
"The 'demon in the box'." Theresa surmised. Her head tilted as she examined the bound animal. "...Not quite what I was expecting..."
I nodded, glancing at the shimenawa ropes tied on its back. "Reckon the Shinto trappings are new, or…?"
She grunted. "It never manifested a physical body while held in Europe, per historical records. Nothing that I could find."
Well, it'd apparently been stuck in a honden, enshrined for the past 500 years with a shrinemaiden for company. Maybe they'd gone native?
Still, my palms itched. A ruined shrine as a backdrop, and a backstory-critical boss monster just goes down like that? Pull the other one, mate; not even a 'BOSS DEFEATED' message would convince me now. I readied the glaive, finger on the ice's proverbial trigger.
Theresa seemed almost amused, my mental alarm bells immediately ringing. "Miria, Miria~; you've experienced these chains, but you'd never noticed? Judah's chains drain and bind Honkai energy-"
"-Teri stop monologuing-"
"-this overdressed mutt isn't going anywh-"
The fox exploded into firey-smoke, which immediately proceeded to go absolutely everywhere.
"DAMNIT TERI-!!"
I 'pulled the trigger' like pulling a cramped muscle; ice flooding out as the ambient temperature plummeted. Smoke coalesced into a flaming wolf's head just long enough to snag a shocked Theresa by the arm and fling, a very alarming spray of blood following her as she sailed into the treeline. There by Worf go ye, miss mentor-mascot.
There was a part of me wasn't entirely worried; an otaku-bait mentor figure like that who survived the Second Eruption wasn't getting killed off jobbing to a side-character's monster-of-the-week unless the Urobutcher was involved. The rest of me had just seen a twelve-year old I was begrudgingly fond of get torn up and ragdolled like a wet paper towel, and had a long pointy object it wanted to introduce to multiple eyesockets.
The wolf's form re-condensed, and made the immediate tactical error of touching the ground. My frost had its ankles before it even noticed. It snarled, forced to duck my lunge, before crashing its head into my guard with another burst of flame. Fire roiling about its legs; it pulled itself free, growling.
This was where Wendy came sailing out of thin air to dropkick the back of its head.
"Miria!"
She landed badly, armoured boots skittering across the jagged ice.
"Wendy!" I called out. "Teri got launched!"
"We saw! Leona's after her!"
We had to split, as the giant monster jumped at us, crashing back down in a spray of splinters and rubble. Flicks of its burning tails launched balls of foxfire that blasted craters into the already ruined courtyard, and an honest-to-god breath-laser forced Wendy to jump away out of the clearing. Acrid woodsmoke clogged in my throat. There was probably heat too, but I couldn't really feel it.
The wolf-thing turned back to me, burning feet padding through the debris, circling the demolished shrine with a lithe, predator's grace.
It huffed. "Well, little Valkyries? Are you all out of tri-"
The railgun round smashed it into what was left of the courtyard moments before the sonic boom hit. Perhaps the moral of this story was just the virtue of keeping one's mouth shut.
As the dust cleared, the smoke still coalesced. Damnit. The beast roared, its burning form even more ragged than before. I stomped, frost and ice spikes splintering across the grounds and stalling its charge. Wendy descended from the sky again, the impact only dissipating it into smoke once more; she leaped back out immediately, choking and tumbling down the hill, her scarf trailing pink fire.
Another roar of flame. Golden chains whirled, scything through smoke but catching on nothing, as a rain of spears crashed down from the sky. My ice had more luck penning it in, but I could feel it in my spine just how badly I was pushing it, involuntary shivers rattling the glaive still clutched in my hands. Another railgun round boomed from the Hyperion, punching through centre mass but only dispersing it; like we were fighting smoke itself.
Echoing laughter rose to the sky, its wolf's head roaring with victory, eyes burning with scarlet flame. It landed, fires ignoring my ice, smoke ignoring Theresa's chains.
Leona burst from the trees with a roar, her armoured fist cocked, burst straight through the wolf's form, and promptly burst through the last standing wall of the entire shrine with a very undignified squawk.
The creature laughed, shaking its fur as its head lowering back down to regard us.
"HAHAHA- AT LAST! FREEDOM FROM THESE CHAINS! FREEDOM FROM THESE DOGS OF THE WORLD! AFTER 500 YEARS, I'M FINALLY-"
Its expression froze.
-Er, not from anything I was doing, to be clear.
The creature whirled around (ignoring Theresa flinging more opportunistic chains) to glare at the back end of the shrine ruins, wild panic in its eyes.
"-NO! NO YOU CAN'T DO THIS- NO I REFUSE-"
Its form started to shred, as if dragged and pulled by raging winds.
"I REFUSE-" its claws reached out desperately, raking fire across the debris but noticeably failing to shift any of it, "I REFUSE-" the smoke pulled, sucked into a swirling, burning, apparently inescapable vortex like water was sucked down a drain. "THIS ISN'T THE END-! THIS ISN'T THE LAST YOU'LL SEE OF-"
The head tore apart, the last of the smoke shlorped, and Yae Sakura slammed a small black box shut with an echoing snap.
Silence. Eerie silence. Her form wavered.
Then, slowly, she slumped and toppled to the ground.
- ❄ - ❄ - ❄ -
Wendy was fine. Traumatised a bit and in needing of a new scarf, but fine. Leona was mostly cursing up a storm; apparently she'd managed to break her other arm. Theresa…
Her nun's habit ripped, torn and bloody, and with more than a few random twigs in her hair, she grinned shamelessly, flashing the v-sign with pride.
"It takes more than that to put down your old Principal!"
I regarded her flatly. "What did Otto do?"
Theresa coughed, looked away, and immediately hurried to fuss over Sakura instead.
Laid out with her head on my lap (sue me), the pink shrinemaiden looked peaceful… if you ignored the pink flames flickering at the edges of her form; the faint hint of translucency. Still warm to the touch though; physically present; a weight on my thighs as I gently stroked her hair.
Teri leaned closer. "She still hasn't woken up yet?"
I shook my head. Still firm in her grasp, the 'black box' looked very… mundane. A simple black cube. The stuff movie maguffins were made of. Maybe it was capable of glowing or otherwise giving the vfx artists something to do, but right now it was sitting perfectly inert. If Sakura wasn't keeping such a deathgrip on it I'd probably forget the damn thing.
(The name was simplistic enough to remember, so at least the 'black box' had that going for it)
Theresa was frowning.
"I'd really prefer to have that box in chains." She admitted quietly, jostling the Oath of Judah on her shoulder. "But with Sakura holding onto it…"
"You can't wrap it around both of them?" I had to ask.
She shook her head. "Sakura's body is a projected energy form, remember? Judah's chains would destroy her."
I grimaced.
A great, looming shadow cast over us as the Hyperion arrived overhead, blotting out the sun.
"Lady Theresa," Wendy spoke, as Leona hissed and cradled her arm, "what was this about?"
Theresa let out a low, tired sigh. "It's classified."
For a moment, Wendy looked like she wanted to object… before her mouth slowly closed and her shoulders slumped.
"I'm sorry." Theresa could only say weakly.
Wendy… breathed deep, then slapped her own cheeks.
"Understood!" She bowed fiercely. Even if her grin was blatantly a facade, the effort she put into it was no lie. "Just tell me what to do! I'll obey!"
Theresa… the only word I could use to describe her expression would be 'complicated'. She bowed her head.
"I'll do my best to answer that trust. Now, lets get back to the Hyperion."
- ❄ - ❄ - ❄ -
Leona had been taken to the medbay; Wendy following along for a checkup to be safe. I rolled the comatose Sakura on a gurney towards a lab space with more specialist equipment installed, following Theresa's lead.
"When we-" Theresa stalled, her voice quiet with an odd strain of longing, "when we first talked about founding St. Freya, we wanted it to be a place where Valkyries were raised to be more than just tools." She sighed. "To be able to think and question for themselves, not just mindlessly follow orders."
The gurney rumbled companionably along.
"Wendy trusts you," was all I could really say.
By the tension in her tiny shoulders, Theresa knew the weight of it.
- ❄ - ❄ - ❄ -
The instruments recorded numbers. Big squiggles drawn on graphs. A lot of quiet mutters between people equipped with 10INT glasses; your standard, usual fare. I let the technobabble wash past me like the sermons back in the family cathedral, waiting in a chair by Sakura's side. The box-thing still remained grasped in her hands, still looking perfectly plain and ordinary. Pink flames still flickered across her form; less erratically than before, but still concerning. At least they weren't actually setting anything on fire.
I sighed quietly, watching the box subtly rise and fall with the rate of Sakura's breathing. If it turned out the demon secretly had an original name like 'Hope' or 'Pandora' or something, I just might scream…
I heard the door open with a mechanical hiss as Theresa stepped through. "We're underway back to St. Freya. Any changes?"
I shook my head. "Nothing yet."
Theresa sighed, then took some time to chat with the various technicians scattered about. Given this was the Battleship Hyperion rather than the St. Freya lab complex, the dress-code leaned more 'flight suit' than 'lab coat'; the actual 'experts' were probably still waiting for us on the ground. Still, Theresa ingested their technobabble like a growing girl before finally wandering over.
She tried to lean over and examine our comatose miko as though a purely visual inspection could provide all the answers. Then, muttering something uncharitable, she pulled over a stool and repeated the procedure.
"...She looks so peaceful like this." Theresa finally admitted, examining Sakura's face.
"For a ghost-rabbit shrinemaiden who is also on fire, you mean?"
Theresa choked. "Well-" she cleared her throat, then went back to staring.
"Ugh…" our tiny Principal groaned, massaging her own forehead. "That giant wolf monster… there's no keeping this under wraps now." She admitted quietly, regarding Sakura with a grim look.
I admit I hadn't had the highest hopes for Sakura evading Otto's attention, but I'd expected it be something he'd do, rather than the world offer him the information on a silver platter. Evidence of the Plot rearing it's head maybe? Still, Sakura's plotline was pretty obviously a backstory exposition dump… you'd expect our still absent protagonist to be present for this sort of thing, no? Unless the rails had been sufficiently jolted somewhere...
"And what was that crazy wolf monster trying to do anyway?" Theresa complained, frowning. "It showed up like 'boo!' then started screaming and flailing around like a HOMU-toon villain." She froze with a quiet 'urk' before her head snapped to one of the techies also in the room. "N-Not that I'd know anything about those!"
I… nodded placidly, as said luckless techie desperately avoided eye contact. The state of Theresa's bedroom décor was very much an open secret, so I wasn't sure exactly who she was trying to fool here beyond it being some sort of ingrained reflex. Was it actually more like an adult to act tsundere about liking 'kid's stuff'? Don't answer that; the fanservice-battle-harem-anime doesn't count.
Theresa coughed performatively, straightening her back all prim and proper and smoothing out her habit.
"After this mess… I'll be putting through an information request to HQ." She glanced at the box warily. "Our archives at St. Freya clearly failed to mention a few things. You'll let me know if anything changes?"
I nodded. "Yes, Lady Theresa."
Theresa sighed, muttered a quiet complaint about 'work' and 'gramps' and headed back out of the room.
Still though, were we in a filler episode? That dog just showed up to explode, felt like, and that dialogue had been fit to match; what diet had they raised that mon-of-the-week on, pure ham? If Theresa hadn't commented on it herself I would have just brushed it off but... had that actually been diegetic? I'd gotten so used to everyone else having a mental hole where 'battlesuit practicality' was supposed to be, it felt a bit like catching a tripwire. Huh.
My head tilted. Still didn't know quite what to make of it. For all I knew, that was just the dograbbit's character trait. Write what you know, I guess.
I sighed, fighting off a yawn. Around me, techies passed me by, most actually not focused on Sakura's plotbox; this was basically the Hyperion's sensor room, and our grand tour of spooky locations had definitely given then plenty of data to gnaw through. I let them to it in peace. Someone was kind enough to hand me an energy bar.
I snorted, pulling open the wrapper. All that running about and bonking things with sticks had-
Sakura blinked.
I nearly jolted out of my chair.
She blinked a second time, brow creasing, before slowly trying to sit up. The pink flames still flickered around her form; her eyes in particular; now that they were open, they seemed to shine with an internal light. Pink, again, in contrast to her usual, prettier lavender. I made brief eye-contact with a staring techie, and he immediately lurched for one of the internal phonelines. Good man.
"Sakura?" I leaned in carefully. I kept my focus on her, as the justifiably prudent techies rapidly vacated the room.
She… blinked slowly again, practically shutting her eyes for several seconds before re-opening them. Her fingers tapped on the cube's surface, as though reminding themselves how to move. Her gaze, unfocused, slowly came to regard me.
"……Ana?"
I nodded. "How are you feeling?"
Was she thirsty? Hungry? Did she- wait shit I dropped the energy bar-
For a second, her eyes lost focus again, before trailing back down to the cube on her lap. Frowning slightly, she put it to one side, completely breaking body contact.
I held a breath, but nothing immediately went catastrophically wrong.
There was a very solid 'bonk' from the main door, followed by a mechanical hiss as it opened to let Theresa scramble inside, clutching her forehead and muttering darkly about automatic sensors. She quickly shook her head and focused however.
"Sakura, you're awake!"
Sakura seemed to stare at her for a long moment, before her eyes drifted closed.
"Yes." She nodded her head. "I am."
I watched carefully, glancing between her and the conspicuously inert box of supposed plot importance. The pink fires surrounding her form hadn't dissipated in the slightest with that break of contact.
Theresa hurried over, hopping up onto her stool to grasp Sakura by the hands. Tiny fingers clutched, as Theresa seemed to remind herself that yes, the woman in front of her was real and physically present (despite appearances). She let out a relieved breath.
"Good." She patted the back of Sakura's hand, leaning back. "That's good." Sakura gave an awkward smile.
Then the box got loudly and abruptly ganked by golden chains. Sakura and I nearly fell out of our chairs.
Theresa blinked at us. "What? I'm not going to leave that thing lying around!"
I coughed awkwardly, Sakura still staring a bit like a – heh – startled rabbit. I turned back to face her.
"What's the last thing you remember?" I asked cautiously.
Sakura frowned again, eyes losing focus as she considered. Theresa and I waited patiently.
"...Memory." She said at length. "We were talking." Her eyes flicked to me. "Then I felt something pull and-"
Her gaze dropped, to examine her 'burning' hands.
"...What happened after… I'm not sure. It's… confusing."
Theresa smiled kindly. "You saved us and resealed the 'demon in the box'." (Sakura blinked sharply) "Take all the time you need."
The tiny nun breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll need to update St. Freya now that you're awake; we're still thirty minutes out. Miria, could you look after her until then?"
I nodded. "Of course."
I turned back to Sakura as Theresa left the room, the box being dragged along through the air by Judah's chains.
"How do you feel;" I asked, "are you thirsty? Up to eating anything?" Please don't ask for an energy bar.
Sakura only blinked, but the sudden flicker in her flames and the twitch of her ears told a different story.
"Food would be pleasant."
- ❄ - ❄ - ❄ -
The Hyperion was not quite so absurd or extravagant to have its own chefs on-board (the deployment cycle of a flying battleship had more in common with an airliner than a naval vessel, despite the name), but it did still have plenty of food supplies available. The 'full meal' options were inevitably MREs, but despite having near a month to acclimatise to modern cuisine, Sakura did not complain. Rather, she seemed unusually fascinated. Presently, she was munching through a packet of pink bonbons with a face like a squirrel.
Noticing my attention, she froze in place, one hand trapped inside the bag. A clear flinch of hesitancy; her eyes flicking between me and the packet. Finally, after forcing herself to swallow, she tilted it in my direction.
"You-" for a second, her teeth grit, "You can have one if you like?"
She looked as stoic as usual, but there was a subtle… shift to it. I'm not sure how to say it. 'Forced', maybe. Suspiciously so.
Maintaining eye contact, I plucked a bonbon from the bag and brought it to my lips.
"I'm curious," I admitted, "I didn't know you liked these."
She stilled a little; another silent tell. "I haven't had sweets in a... long time."
"Hmm? I honestly didn't think you were interested." Off the top of my head, I would have said she leaned more towards spicy or bitter foods. I popped the bonbon into my mouth, rolling it around on my tongue. Yep, sweet. Strawberry flavoured… kinda. Bit sickly, by my own standards, but might have worked better with ice cream.
She looked away.
I shrugged, swallowing. Obviously I'd had multiple meals with Sakura by now, and had a lot of experience in seeing her exposed to new flavours; she was normally more conservative or cautious, this seemed a little… odd.
"What sweets did you use to have?"
Had to admit, I was a little curious about 1400s-era cuisine.
Her eyes were on the packet in front of her. "Fruit, primarily." The foil packaging crinkled in her grasp. "We had… a peach orchard, behind the shrine."
"You enjoyed peaches?"
She nodded.
"Not often." With the growing season, presumably. "Never so…" her finger toyed with the packet, "...freely?"
Aah, I think I got it.
"Well," I smiled, "if nothing else, this is a time to celebrate, yes?"
She paused, startled, the pink flames flickering, before bowing her head with a soft chuckle. "Indeed."
She ate the last one with considerable triumph.
- ❄ - ❄ - ❄ -
"Communication issues?" She echoed, as we left the cafeteria.
I nodded. "So Theresa says. They think it's the box causing interference."
More specifically, she'd been struggling to get in contact with St. Freya, and struggling to get updates on that information request she'd made to Schicksal Headquarters; the battleship itself struggling to send and receive complete messages. Isn't it curious?
For her part, she could only tilt her head, pink flames flickering. "I'm afraid I wouldn't know too much about that. It will be fine once we land?"
I hmm'd. "Well, we're now making best speed rather than taking our time."
She paused, then nodded. "That makes sense."
I shrugged, creaking my neck. "Still though- where to next?"
"Next?" She parroted, head tilted.
"Well, St. Freya's still twenty minutes out so… want to swing by medical?" I glanced at her flames. "They can't do much for you, probably, but we can check on Wendy and Leona."
"Ah-" she hesitated. A faint sheen of panic in her eyes, gone in the next moment.
I hmm'd. "Or we can go to the bridge and watch Teri get mad at an inanimate object."
She coughed. "If you don't mind- could we just find somewhere quiet to sit down?"
I chuckled, smiled, took her by the slightly-warm hand.
"Of course!"
Curious indeed, hmm?
- ❄ - ❄ - ❄ -
I found a free, unused lounge area after only a little roaming and asking around. Sticking my head inside to confirm it was dark and empty, I nodded.
"This one's free. Want me to get you a drink?"
"Please."
She walked inside, the lights flickered on at the touch of a control panel, and she went to take a seat.
Didn't even need to look for the lightswitch. My my.
I smiled and headed over to the nearby vending machine, tapping out a quick message to Theresa on the way. Two cans of cherry soda get, plus one other thing.
Hyperion's lounges were just as I remembered them. Soulless and greatly devoid of loose objects that could slide or roll around if the ship needed to bank suddenly. Still, the padding on the sofas was good enough to flop onto bonelessly for a while. Evidence: me.
I rolled her her can across the table. For a few moments we lazed, drinking in companionable silence.
"The Hyperion," she spoke suddenly, "we're currently fifteen minutes out?"
I nodded. "Sumnit' like that, yeah."
She nodded, still that tension in her frame, pink ghostflame still flickering down her arms. I sighed, set my can down, and dragged myself back up into a more healthy sitting position.
"Have to say," I admitted, "the communication issues are a little… curious."
She paused, still holding her soda can. "Curious?"
"Well," I shrugged a little helplessly, "it's just a box, you know? You wouldn't think it would be capable of it."
She hummed, faintly swirling her can.
"It could be the demon, seeking to escape." She blinked, eyes on the wall to my right. "It… might have cause to do that?"
"It's not causing detectable Honkai emissions doing so." I had to point out. "Otherwise there'd be alarms blaring." And we'd also have a non-negligible zombie population to boot, so the box couldn't be magically 'interfering' with that either.
She shrugged. "I can't say how it does what it does- the demon or the container. I can't even describe how this ship flies."
I nodded along; fair enough. I finished my can and set it on the table, as she sipped at hers. This wasn't really something I thought I'd get to say in this life, but-
"Just one more thing."
She blinked.
"For the box or the demon to begin disrupting communications, it requires two things; firstly, a motive to do so, and secondly, the ability to perceive the need to do so."
She stilled.
"The black box is an artefact of the Previous Era." She sipped her can, completely cool. "Who can say its means and limitations."
I chuckled.
"Of course."
She finished the drink, throat bobbing with the last gulp, then set it down on the table next to mine, hey eyes heavy and unfocused, clearly deep in consideration.
...I snorted. "It's funny, you know?"
She jolted back to alertness, confused. "Hmm? What is?"
I shrugged my shoulders listlessly. "All this time, I've never actually talked to the Third Herrscher. Not a peep. Despite everything; never even met her." I held up a hand, letting an aura of frost coalesce around it; drifting snowflakes fluttering into and out of existence. They caught her eye, glimmering ephemeral in the artificial lighting. "We're all 'Honkai this' and 'Honkai that', but I don't actually understand it, you know? And if it has a voice, the only way you can understand it, is to talk to it."
The woman opposite me went very, very still.
"You are not Yae Sakura, are you?"
Completely still.
Then, the obligatory evil chuckling started.
"Hoo~oh," she leaned back in her seat, a burning pink gleam in her eyes, "and what gave me away?"
I raised an eyebrow at that look of smug superiority.
"A packet of strawberry bonbons."
I tried not to laugh at the sheer look of offence she took, but... honestly. It'd been more a mix of things vibes, but I wasn't about to tell her that.
She tried for another low, dark chuckle, crossing her legs leisurely, the harsh lightning of the lounge obligingly casting her eyes into shadow while still highlighting that sharp, knife-like smile.
"And here I thought it was my acting, playing dead for that miserable principal." She snorted, leaning forward. "What will you do now, miss detective, now that you've found your culprit?"
I shrugged.
"Talk? Like I said- I assume you're the 'demon in the box', correct?"
An aggrieved huff. So basically 'yes'.
"Do you have a name?" I had to ask. "Calling you 'the demon in the box' is a little unwieldy."
Another chuckle; she preened.
"I have had many names, but if you wish…" she melodramatically tucked back a lock of pink hair, letting the flames flick with the motion, her smile all teeth, "you may call me… Hellmaru."
…
This chuuni motherfu- "are you fourteen?!"
"-I'M FIFT-" she twitched "-Y THOUSAND YEARS OLD!"
I coughed, wondering exactly how much they and Theresa had in common. "My apologies. Hellmaru."
The demon possessing Sakura seethed, an action that just looked… odd, on the usually calm woman's face. I took a deep, centering breath and clapped my hands.
"First things first," I began, "what are your intentions, exactly?"
'Hellmaru' scowled, before leaning back into her seat, her arms crossed.
"Shouldn't it be obvious? The Honkai exists for the eradication of humanity. I'm just a 'demon' that serves its will."
I nodded. "Why?"
Her eyes glowered like embers. "They need to die. It's as simple as that."
Not the part I was asking 'why' of, but... eh. "And afterward?"
"-Afterward?" She blinked, brow furrowing.
I nodded. "Afterward. Once you've eradicated all of humanity," I pressed, "what will you do afterward?"
A long, slow blink. She frowned, eyes losing focus.
"...Rejoice, I suppose. Celebrate. I'd finally be free." For a moment, she lost all focus on me entirely, as if struggling to see something, before suddenly snapping right back with a burning glare. "Why do you even ask?"
I shrugged. "Just curious." I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the table. "If you'll indulge me a little, are these the Honkai's motivations as a whole or yours specifically?"
Another subtle twitch. Her mouth moved a little without making a sound, before she swallowed, scowling. "Mine."
Haaah, I suppose I should've expected not to receive any answers on that front today. If I had my guess right, this 'early' into the story the writers probably hadn't even bothered cooking up a reason for the Honkai to be attacking humanity yet. No questions, here's some flashy explosions and tits! Christ, depending on how this whole 'world of tropes' nonsense worked the answers might not even exist yet.
Honestly, if it turned out the Honkai was secretly some offshoot or ascended version of humanity or some shit I'd cry. Cribbing from Yoko Taro's notes are we? Come ponder our complex moral and philosophical questions, they're as deep as Murata's cleavage! Toss out some random boss kaiju named Adam or Eve at the end and I might just the write the whole thing off and go home.
Still though, I refocused on the woman in front of me. 'Hellmaru' seemed like the perfect test in a lot of ways. Protag-kun wasn't here yet, so they obviously weren't main plot. In terms of plot threads… being based in Nagazora made me suspect they would have had some link to the Mei / Kiana plotline, wherever that was going (and depending on whether Kiana really was the 'Kaslana Heroine' or not). Primarily though, their main connection lead to Sakura, who in turn only connected to the main plot by way of the dead saint in Otto's fridge. Sakura's role was probably more some kind of future mentor figure and/or exposition delivery service; much less central.
In short, Hellmaru was the perfect specimen; sentient, capable of communication, and largely plot-isolated. I'd still need to step carefully for Sakura's sake – the amount of plot armour on a mentor character, least said – but once the main plot got going I doubted I'd ever see a better chance.
In writing, its quite common to have characters who are… frankly, little more than plot devices. They pop into existence to fulfil a certain role and then they pop out of existence once their role is complete, figuratively or otherwise. There's nothing inherently wrong with this; unless even your incidental cast is very small it isn't worth the screentime or wordcount to expound on every single person's backstory and motivations. Where it stands out enough to jarr audiences is when writers get lazy, and put a plot device in the place of an actually major character. Say, a villain. Say in particular, a monster of the week who exists to show up, roar menacingly and disappear, irrelevant to the main plot of the story.
Sound familiar?
So, then. A question arises. The 'Hellmaru' in front of me was simultaneously a living, sentient being with its own hopes, dreams and motivations (however questionable), and also a disposable, one-shot creature for a protagonist to thwart coolly in front of girls; probably to make Sakura in the original plot doki doki or something, couldn't argue she wasn't pretty enough to dodge the attention. Still. Which side wins out?
How much agency did you actually have, Hellmaru?
Could you break beyond your role? Could I break beyond mine?
Show me everything.
Hellmaru was… shuffling slightly. A lean back in her seat, ears alert, teeth on the verge of baring; a distinct sense of wariness. Come now dear, we can all be friends here. You have nothing to fear (lol).
Oh, and obviously I was getting Sakura back into her own body no matter what, whichever way this shook out. That was obviously non-negotiable. Don't really think it needed saying, but just for the record.
"And what about you?" Hellmaru asked me warily. "Why do you want to sit here and… ask all these pointless questions?"
I blinked. "Well, why not?"
She raised an eyebrow. "You claim to fight for humanity," her eyes flashed, "and a monster against humanity sits before you. What should you be doing?"
A shrug. "I'm no Valkyrie yet. And I won't lie," I let another flutter of snowflakes drift between my fingers, "I do have some skin in this game." The fate of Raiden Mei, specifically.
Hellmaru regarded me oddly, her head tilting. "Hmph." She chuckled, dryly. "Well, how about it then? If you'll play for the other side, why not join with me?" Her hand outstretched across the table. "All that harmed us, all that can harm us; we can reduce this rotting world to cinders!"
I smiled kindly. "Pass." Hellmaru snorted.
"Pass, huh?" So unsurprised.
"Pass." I confirmed, reaching into a pocket. Hellmaru blinked as I pulled something out and slotted it into her waiting, open hand.
"Would you like some more strawberry bonbons?" I grinned cheerfully.
Hellmaru's brain visibly broke a little.
"W-What-?" The packet crumpled in her hand.
"Strawberry bonbons." I repeated helpfully, pulling the packet open with a 'pop' and plucking one before they got crushed. "Pleasant, aren't they?"
Her eyes darted between me and the packet, bafflement total. "...What are you trying to-"
I shrugged, as I brought the (-frankly too sweet, artificially flavoured and overpriced-) treat to my mouth. "Destroy all of humanity," I pressed it to my lips, "these might be in short supply. Doesn't seem the worth the trouble." I popped it inside and carefully avoided tasting it too much.
"That…" her arm slumped in bewilderment, a few pink bonbons rolling out onto the table. "That's your… argument? Really?" Her eyes flared. "Is this some kind of joke?"
I shrugged. And swallowed. "No joke. But eating them was the only time I saw you actually happy."
She glowered. "I'll be happy when I see my enemies burn."
"Will you?" I regarded her levelly, another bonbon rolling between my fingers. "Ash won't taste so sweet, dear."
"-I'll be free!"
"Free to do what?"
"-Free from pain!" Her shoulders shook defensively. I tried not to sigh at the broken record, was there really nothing more to this...?
Well, one last attempt. I held the second bonbon delicately between two fingers. "Here," I offered, raising it towards her mouth, "try another one."
By Hellmaru's expression, you'd think I was trying to feed her a live hand grenade. Fires flaring up, temperate rising with every inch I brought it closer. Her pupils dilated. I had to lean practically entirely across the entire table.
Suddenly, she stilled. A hand caught my wrist. Eyes wide, expression hard, her voice was little more than a whisper.
"...You're stalling."
"Eh?" I blinked. Stall-? What was she- oh, shit-
"Attention please!" The girly PA voice chimed into life with the worst possible timing. "Now arriving at St. Freya! All personnel, stand by for descent, okay!"
She hissed, eyes wide and grip tightening. Urgent knocking hammered on the lounge door.
Theresa'd gotten my message.
You could actively see Hellmaru making a decision. Panic. Fear. Then, suddenly, a grim determination.
She pulled, and lurched me forward.
Bodyweight crashed into bodyweight, cans and bonbons scattering. Pink fires crackled and raged even as I felt the ice slip my grip, the temperature plummeting. For a moment, we were oddly close, one hand in my hair, grabbing at the back of my head.
Our eyes met. There wasn't triumph in her eyes, just sheer, terrified desperation. Then, she yanked me down.
There was the sweet taste of strawberry bonbons, and then the world caught fire.