Fate’s Slave - Shadow Slave X Honkai Star Rail

"...That object was pretty important to you, right? Are you sure you're okay just giving it to Eric like that?"

Directing the question towards Bronya, it was obvious to Sunny that Seele couldn't comprehend why she had given her medallion to Eric.

The Silvermane Guard shrugged, seemingly unbothered with the loss of such a precious artifact.

"If it will make him change his ways, it's more than worth it."

Seele snorted, openly showing her disbelief in that possibility.

"And what if he doesn't?"

Bronya paused for a few moments before replying.

"From a young age, my mother taught me to be forgiving and to preserve the goodwill in people's hearts... Even if I am but a small glimmer of light in this world, I must try my best to shine brightly for others. I must give him a chance, Seele, because other people can't."

'…How pretentious.'

Sunny found it laughable that she would be willing to go so far for others despite acknowledging that people wouldn't do the same for her. All because of a sense of duty.

Seele stared at her for a long moment, before sighing.

"I don't really get what you just said. Anyway, we should get moving. Eric said that we need to take the shopping street to go any further. I think I still remember where it is... this way."

Glancing over at the purple-haired girl, Sunny found something off with her behavior. It wasn't something he could place, but he was certain that it was there.

Seele turned, heading in the direction of the hill — along with the lone house that stood atop it. Sunny was keeping a shadow up there in order to see if there was any threats, but he didn't find anything despite the unease he felt. Frowning, he followed after Seele, with Bronya not long after.

As they got closer to the hill, Sunny found that Bronya had been frantically looking around. Worried that there was something hiding, he asked:

"Is something wrong?"

Contrary to his expectations, her words didn't imply any hidden threats.

"…No, nothing's wrong. It's just… everything here looks familiar."

…Is she trying to say that everywhere in the Underworld looked the same? That's quite an insult to the one's who designed the infrastructure of the lower portion of Belobog.

The three of them walked up the stairs that led to the crest of the hill. With each passing step, Sunny only grew more uncomfortable. The same could be said for Seele and Bronya, but it seemed to be for different reasons. The former looked like she was sick, while the latter observed the area in confusion.

Once they reached the top of the hill, Sunny immediately swept his gaze across the area in alarm.

What stood in front of him was an orphanage — one that could no longer function as one. The roof sagged in places, its shingles warped and brittle, many torn away by the years. Rusted gutters hung crookedly, their edges worn thin, threatening to fall at any moment. Broken windows stared out from the upper floors, some shattered entirely, their frames hollow and empty. A few stubborn remnants of glass glinted in the dim light, sharp shards that seemed to catch every passing breeze. The air around the orphanage felt still, untouched by the outside world, as if the building had been forgotten by time itself.

The surrounding ground had been overtaken by weeds and wild grass, growing unchecked in the absence of care. The playground was rusted, the chains on the swings seeming especially brittle. Sunny doubted that it wouldn't snap if a child were to sit on it.

He felt a strange chill rush down his spine. Turning to Seele, he found her already approaching one of the boxes to look for supplies. She seemed to be in a hurry, her eyes glued to the ground as if she found the orphanage to be unsightly.

She went through the boxes one after another, her face growing more and more distraught as she searched every nook and cranny within the crates.

"No... No... Empty... How are they all empty? Who could've—"

Sunny tuned out her words, his eyes suddenly glued to a dark, red patch of dirt. He walked towards it.

Step.

Step.

Step.

The dirt was stained with dried blood. By his own guess, Sunny assumed that it must have been here for at least half a decade. Normally, something like this wouldn't bother him too much, but considering how unnerved he was, even the smallest of signs would cause him to be paranoid.

The worst part was that he hadn't seen any bloodstains anywhere else in Rivet Town. Sunny wasn't optimistic enough to say that there weren't any casualties when the Fragmentum corroded the area, but the death toll must have not been high. There wasn't any wind to blow away any traces of blood, so it was natural for any stains to last for a few years.

So… Sunny was confident that something particularly chilling had been up here, wreaking havoc to the orphanage. He noticed that some of the openings in the building's walls didn't seem like a natural cause of disuse.

…Was it getting colder?

His shadows searched the corridors of the orphanage, the roof, and everywhere in between. Sunny couldn't find anything, which only made him even more paranoid.

This reminded him of a certain Nightmare Creature he had found in the Vessel of Remembrance, one that was able to evade his shadow sense through the usage of elemental darkness — the natural enemy of shadows.

But that wasn't the problem currently. There wasn't anywhere that Sunny's gaze wasn't able to penetrate, which meant that a creature of darkness shouldn't be the culprit — assuming there really was one. It was almost like there wasn't anything there at all…

He took a few steps back, getting closer to the other two who were still looking through the crates — without any luck in finding anything. Sunny kept his eyes and shadows out, keeping one present in order to watch his back as the other two searched the entirety of the hill.

Of course, this meant that Sunny was the first to notice.

An icy mist started to manifest around the hill falling to the bottom as it started to build up. The frozen haze slowly crawled up the hill, starting from the bottom as it reached for the crest. Cold air falls while warm air rises, which is why the strange mist had to stack on top of itself.

Obviously, this wasn't a mundane phenomena brought upon by Belobog's frigid climate.

"There's… there's something here."

Sunny was convinced that a Fragmentum monster was behind this — or maybe it was something even more horrid. Either way, this was obviously a means to attack the three of them. Not knowing where the enemy was, Sunny was half-tempted to use Shadow Step to escape the approaching fog.

However, he couldn't sense the shadows outside of the haze.

Somehow, the elusive foe had managed to cut off the reach of his shadow sense, depriving him of his ability to instantaneously move to the shadows outside. And unless it specifically affected shadows, Sunny wouldn't think it was far-fetched to say that they were completely cut off from the rest of the world.

Maybe they weren't, but he wasn't going to attempt to run through the mist. Who knew what would happen.

'What Rank is this thing? What even is it?!'

Was it a creature that commanded the fog? Was it the mass of cold air itself? If it was the latter, how were they supposed to kill it?

Although they heard Sunny's warning, both Seele and Bronya couldn't see the threat that was approaching. The mist hadn't reached the crest of the hill yet, so they weren't sure what the problem was.

"A strange fog appeared, and it's trying to cover the entire hill!"

And so, the three of them immediately summoned their Memories. Donned in the Puppeteer's Shroud, Sunny wasted no time calling his shadows back to augment him. He didn't risk summoning Saint, as she might end up becoming destroyed if something unexpected happened.

They waited. Minutes passed the eerie fog inched closer and closer, threatening to consume everything in it's chilling embrace.

***

A new dawn began.

It was just another extremely average day aboard this giant ship. The markets have just opened and the morning dew was still fresh, but the young man crossing the street had never seen such a sight. Before he managed to notice all the differences between the actual city and it's descriptions in books, he is immersed in savoring the warmth of the sun on the back of his neck.

It was his first time seeing his own body clearly. This body belonged to him. It belonged to this current name.

When he arrived at the port, the escorting soldier removed the last of his shackles. He walked forward without looking back. He can feel, ever so faintly, several pairs of eyes gazing at him from within the city. Eyes filled with hatred.

It wasn't until the spaceship took off that he turned his head and took one final look at this place. It really was a magnificent and grand spaceship — just like the books said.

He only glanced at it once, then turned his head away to where the stars shimmer dimly and an uncertain future lies.

He looks out in silence.

***

March sneezed, drawing a strange look from Dan Heng. She agreed that it was quite strange for an Awakened to actually sneeze…

'Those were Dan Heng's memories, huh…'

She pondered about why her friend was put in cuffs — he was a goody two-shoes! There was no way he would get up to delinquent-like behavior.

She was then distracted by the fact that both Sunny and Bronya weren't here. They should have been sleeping in the hotel as well, yet their rooms were completely empty.

'Could it be…'

March's face flushed crimson.

'A secret rendezvous!'

It was just like in the movies!