Fate’s Slave - Shadow Slave X Honkai Star Rail

"Nat! We're back."

Sunny, Bronya, and Seele returned to the clinic, which was filled with injured miners and Wilfire personnel. Now that he got a good look at them, their injuries didn't seem that horrible.

If they were any worse, then they might have died before they returned. He was prepared to blame Seele in that case.

Natasha acknowledged them with her eyes as she tended to a patient. After finishing up, she pulled down the facemask she was wearing, revealing a grateful smile that made Sunny's heart flutter.

'…Wait, my heart doesn't beat.'

She turned to Seele, who had called out to her.

"Hehe, that's our Seele. Nothing if not punctual. So, did you find any usable supplies?"

'Huh? No compliment for me? All she did was use her nose in a way that only a dog could!'

The purple-haired girl simply handed the three bags over, allowing Natasha to look through them.

"Let me see... metal plates, gauze bandages, painkillers, rubbing alcohol... Perfect, that's everything I needed."

She paused, seeing the difference in volume between the painkillers and the rest of the supplies.

"Huh... It's just, there are less painkillers than I'd expected. Did someone break into the storage room?"

Sunny's golden eyes glimmered. This was his chance to make himself look good! Without hesitation, he said:

"We… I shared some with Clara!"

He ignored the dubious and confused looks that came from Seele and Bronya.

Natasha blinked.

"…Clara?"

***

After Clara explained the situation to Seele and Bronya, the former asked:

"...Why are you helping the vagrants look for medicine? If they're so great, how could they make a little girl go around running errands for them?"

At her suspecting words, the white-haired girl spoke a little louder than usual.

"N—No, it's not like that. I wasn't made to do anything... It's just that, the living conditions for the vagrants aren't great. There's not even a clinic in their camp. So, I wanted to help them out."

She paused, returning to her usual tone.

"Also, not all of them are bad people... everyone just wants to survive."

Seele stayed silent, having nothing more to say. Sunny was quite astonished by how easily Clara shut her down. Who would have known that innocence was her weakness?

'…I should take note.'

Clara suddenly tensed up at Sunny's analytical eye, fidgeting with the bag she carried. Her eyes were drawn to it for a moment, before she asked a question.

"Miss Seele, did this medicine belong to Miss Natasha? Then... can you give me some? The vagrants' injuries are quite serious."

Seele paused for a long moment, seemingly deep in thought. Somehow, Sunny felt like she was only pretending to be thinking.

She sighed.

"I see. Let's split these painkillers then."

Sunny frowned. Wasn't he the one who had split them with Clara? Why was she acting like she did it in his place?

The young girl perked up.

"R—Really? We don't need to ask Miss Natasha first?"

Seele shrugged.

"If I know Nat, she won't mind. Although this will make it more difficult for us... she'll understand. She always does."

Clara's face brightened up, making Sunny want to shield his face from her radiance.

"Great, thank you, Miss Seele..."

Bronya shifted suddenly, realizing something. She looked between Clara and Perkins, before saying:

"Are you leaving? This old town is too dangerous. We'll accompany you part of the way."

The white-haired girl shook her head, smiling.

"I—It's fine, I have Perkins for company. And... I have some more things I need to look for here first."

There was an almost imperceptible twitch on Bronya's face, one that Sunny noticed.

"Understood. Be careful, though."

Blinking, Sunny decided to ask Bronya what that was about later.

***

After listening to Sunny's amazing rendition of previous events, Natasha nodded.

"If she was there too then... I understand. She wants to look after the injured vagrants, right? Clara's always been a kind-hearted girl... I think you made the right decision. Still, it means I'm going to have to draw up a detailed dosage plan."

Seele stepped forward, sending a glare towards Sunny.

'What did I do?'

"Hey, don't worry. I'll help you."

He narrowed his eyes. Was she attempting to stand in his way?

Natasha's eyes flickered between Sunny and Seele, a concerned expression on her face.

"Um, no need. I'll handle the clinic. I assume you three have more important things to be getting on with, right? Oleg will be waiting, not to mention your two companions."

He blinked, realizing that he never said anything to March and Dan Heng before he left. They had been gone for almost ten hours. Two hours to walk to and from Rivet Town, three hours when Sunny was in the Dream Realm, and another three hours when they were looking for medicine and fighting the Fallen Terror.

"I'd nearly forgotten about those two."

Bronya frowned.

"So you guys aren't that close after all? I thought you were sworn friends."

Natasha tittered at her accusation.

"Haha, you're adorable, Bronya. Sunny was obviously joking~"

Meanwhile, the boy in question gulped. Due to Bronya's question, his Flaw was starting to pressure him into answering.

'Uh… how do I say this? Sadly? Nonchalantly? What wouldn't ruin the image Natasha has of me?'

After a split-second, Sunny latched on to the fact that she thought he was joking. He use an obviously exaggerated tone, which inflicted mental damage to use. However, he couldn't ruin his reputation!

"Those guys? My friends? No way! If anything, I'm simply the one who was chosen to be their leader. Actually, they are closer to subordinates than anything else."

He glanced at Seele — who was looking at him in disbelief — secretly signaling for her to not say anything. Fortunately, it seemed that she at least respected him enough to comply.

"What an asshole…"

…Although, she didn't respect him enough to not mutter insults under her breath.

Bronya innocently tilted her head.

"You're their leader? But out of three of you, aren't you the…"

She trailed off, an embarrassed look on her face.

Seele smirked.

"Shortest?"

***

Having left the clinic, Sunny stepped on Seele's foot. She scowled, immediately kicking his leg.

"What's your problem?!"

He sighed.

"Didn't anyone tell you to mince your words? Now, Natasha's attention is drawn to my… lacking stature. Don't you know that big things come in small packages?"

He shook his head in disappointment.

"Veliona is so much nicer to me, you know? She understands how to truly appreciate my worth, even if she is a little… unhinged."

She raised a brow.

"She'd probably say that you have the ideal height for a clean decapitation."

"It's a matter of intent!"

Bronya, who had watched the whole scene in silence, asked:

"Who's Veliona?"

The two of them paused their small scuffle, looking at Bronya for a moment. Then, Sunny turned towards Seele with a provoking grin on his face.

"Well? Why don't we introduce her? I just have to call her out, right?"

Seele grimaced. How could somebody be so petty?

He looked around for a moment, before saying:

"Veliona? If you take over Seele's body, I'll let you do whatever you want to me… uh, within reason, of course. Maybe I should make a list of things that are off-limits…"

…Nothing happened.

Seele frowned as Bronya stared in confusion. Even if Veliona didn't decide to take over, she would have at least said something to her. Instead, there was nothing but silence.

'Veliona?'

A pit appeared in her stomach when she didn't receive a response. She made sure that a panicked expression didn't appear on her face, but she couldn't help it when her voice got stuck in her throat.

"She—"

Bronya only seemed more confused, while Sunny narrowed his eyes. After a few moments, he said:

"…Something happened to her, right?"

Seele inhaled.

"…I don't know."

He nodded, seemingly aware of something she didn't know.

"Well? Go check."

She slowly nodded, sitting on the steps leading up to the clinic as she dove into her Soul Sea.

Whenever one of them took over — Seele or Veliona — the other would be stuck within their Soul Sea. However, if the one in control were to enter it, both of them would appear in the sea of flowers.

Opening her eyes, Seele immediately took notice of the luminescent light from the two moons in the sky — one a violent shade of crimson, the other a gentle hue of azure. An ever-expanding flower field was in front of her, filled with a vivid collection of petals. Butterflies were the only insects here, fluttering from one spot to another. A few landed on her, unbothered as she treaded through the lush garden in her soul.

Despite the surreal beauty of her Soul Sea, there was something missing. Or rather, someone.

Frantically searching, Seele's legs quickened as she shouted for her Flaw.

"Veliona! Stop hiding!"

'Right… this is just a prank.'

No matter where she looked, the annoying figure that had accompanied her for almost a year was completely absent. It was a strange feeling of dread, one that was the complete inverse of the feeling of bliss she had felt when the Fallen Terror at the orphanage died.

Now that she thought about it, that was… strange. She expected to feel relieved, assured, or something similar after finally defeating that troublesome wraith — the one that stole her previous home, attempting to take her life along with it.

An icicle had grazed her abdomen, tearing it open despite the fact that it was an indirect hit. Her intestines had spilled out back then, creating a trail of guts along the floor near the orphanage.

In fact, there was still bloodstains there, frozen by the cold.

Natasha had taken her injured body away as the two of them escaped from the horror, healing her with her crafted Memories along the way. According to her, it was a miracle that Seele was still alive, as her Memories weren't powerful enough to save her after getting her guts torn out.

Supposedly, she had been clinically dead for eleven minutes and six seconds. Something that shouldn't have been physically possible for anyone — much less a malnourished child.

Besides her, none of the other orphans survived.

She used to have a massive scar on her left side, a gruesome reminder of that day. It disappeared after her First Nightmare, leaving her skin completely ridden of blemishes. She hated it, having always wore oversized shirts so that nobody would see it.

And yet, the feeling she had now was uglier than any scar.

At some point, she started to sprint. Her gaze pivoted from side to side, attempting to catch a glimpse of anything.

Then, she tripped.

Seele rolled across the ground, flattening the flowers before they magically sprang back up again. She heaved a few times, temporarily drawn out of her panic.

Standing back up, she walked over to what she had tripped over. Her breath hitched.

Seele found Veliona.