Lights in a Starless Sky - A Honkai Impact 3rd Fanfiction

Act 37: Deserving

Unknown Time: Unknown Location

Perceval's body was cold, his wrists stung with pain. As the Knight opened his eyes, he noticed chains wrapped around his hands; corresponding with the ridiculous amounts of gigantic links that littered the dark crimson landscape he stood in. He looked down to notice his was thigh-deep in a lake of blood, Perceval struggled against the chains and screamed in horror. The lake bubbled in front of him, slowly, Charlemagne rose from the lake and stood to face the Knight. Her normally neat, jet black hair was wild and incredibly long. Her eyes, once a bright silver, were a deep red. The gold crown that sat on her head was now more of a bronze colour and resembled a crown of thorns, her nails were dark grey and stretched from her fingers like claws.

'Perce... val... Per... ceval...'

The Knight could barely stay composed as her head lifted to face him, and her smile revealed hundreds of razor-sharp teeth.

'Pitiful... Pitiful... Soul...'

Perceval screamed as the King moved forward to bite his shoulder, pouring even more blood down to the lake. Charlemagne licked her lips and moved closer to the Knight's face. Perceval struggled against the chains, his wrists chafed and bleeding intensely, he turned his head away from the King as her foul breath his passages. Charlemagne smiled.

'... I'm not... Going to hurt you... Mine... MINE... MINE! MINE! MINE AND MINE ALONE!''

With every fibre in his being, he screamed in absolute fear, his entire soul trembled in absolute terror.

"N-NUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

2AM: Durandal's Room, Shicksal HQ

Perceval sat up, his neck dripping with cold sweat. The scream froze in his throat, so he could only pant viscously. The Knight clutched his left shoulder, he half expected the bite from his nightmare to remain there, but there was no blood and his shoulder was still intact. Perceval slipped the singlet away from his shoulder looked down at it, he noticed a Stigma-like tattoo, like a flame stretching from his shoulder and wrapping down to his back and circled around Charlemagne's Stigma. The colour was the colour of blood, not like the bright red of normal Stigma, it almost looked like it was moving slowly. The pattern slowly weaved in an infinite loop like waves of smoke down to his Stigma, he attempted to touch it. The pattern felt like it burnt his fingers, Perceval pulled his hand away and felt his head aching.

'Viri quasi ignis, sciut regulus venena...'

A voice like Charlemagne's ran through his mind, but more sinister, evil, hateful... It felt like it was almost Wrath incarnate was speaking directly to the Knight. Perceval fell back down to the bed and exhaled shakily. "What... What the fuck is happening to me?" His voice trembled and as he turned to Durandal, his tattoo ached again.

'All life stems from Hatred... From Wrath... All life stems from the salvation of Angra Mainyu...'

Angra Mainyu: Lord of envy, hate and evil in the ancient Zoroastrian religion. Then that wasn't Charlemagne, it was Angra Mainyu. But did that mean that the Charlemagne he knew wasn't Charlemagne at all, but really Angra Mainyu? Or was this some incredibly elaborate scheme that fate had in store for him, because if it was, it was not funny for a single second.

The room was silent as Perceval lay in the bed next to a sleeping Durandal, the Knight brushed some hair from her face. But as his hand drew away, his vision blurred, picturing his hand as the sharp crystal claws he bore as a Herrscher. Perceval thrust his hand back, he looked at his palm, the hand was still normal. He stood from the bed and walked over to the window, he gazed out at the dim moonlit sky. "What... What am I really?" The Knight remembered the voice running through his head as Owl drove Mei's sword through his chest, the voice that sat within his subconscious and grew louder with each passing second.