3Hey, guys, it's Dragon Lord here this is more family fluff before things hit the fan have fun! Also, sorry for taking so long I hit a case of writer's block.
Chapter 4: Ordinary Days
Stella POV
Stella Kaslana didn't know what to think about her little brother he existed but so far all he did was sleep and eat and sometimes make noises according to her mother he was quite a baby unlike her older sister apparently, she was quite baby too according to her father as well she guess they had that in common.
As Stella looked down at her sleeping brother he woke up with a cry "Wahawaha" he said as the infant awoke from his afternoon nap.
"Sigrud, can you please stop crying?" Stella asked the newly awoken baby if it could understand her but it was more a display of confusion at his existence despite him being almost a year old.
As the infant yelled in its crib the mother of the two walked into the room. "Well that was earlier than I expected," Cecilia said as she looked at her children in the boy's nursery.
"Sorry," Stella said, wondering if she was responsible for her brother waking up earlier than her mother expected.
"No need dear, your brother probably is hungry or a bit thirsty he's not old enough to do much outside of cry when he needs to eat and get his diaper changed Unlike your sister he doesn't freak out when if myself or your father was too far away unlike your sister she was like that for the first few months after I gave birth to her," Cecilia said to her younger daughter as she picked up her son and checked if need to feed or a change of diaper.
"Oh," Stella responded after hearing her mother's explanation.
"Well, it looks like your brother wants his lunch. Do you need your belly filled to my little flower?" Cecilia asked her daughter.
"No I'm fine momma," Stella said back to her mom.
"That is nice how about you find your sister it's not a big house but she disappeared after you two finished your assignments today and your father is out," Cecilia asked her daughter knowing that between the two of them, one of them would find her Kiana both knowing how the eldest of the three siblings like to go on adventures despite what her parents told her.
"Ok," Stella said after which she left the room with her mother.
Thus began her search for her older sister. It didn't take very long. It turned out she was in their father's office the whole time.
"Hi, Stella!," Kiana said, a bit surprised by her sister finding her in their dad's workroom as sat on their father's chair which she was spinning in while in front of his desk
" Hey Kiana, Mom sent me," Stella told her sister easily.
"Huh, why? Does she want something? " Kiana said, stopping the chair as she faced parallel to the desk, a bit surprised mainly because unlike her sister she more often than not faced their mother's wrath.
"I think she just wanted to know she wanted to know where you were, Also she was making Sigurd food," Stella told her sister in a frank matter.
"Mom is making lunch?" Kiana questioned her sister
"Yes, mom is making food because Sigurd woke up and wanted food," Stella said back to her sister, mentioning their little brother.
After that, Kiana hopped out of their father's chair and ran out of the room hoping to eat something that her mother made while Stella just stood there wondering what she was going to do now.
After a while, Kiana had her lunch early with their little brother Stella and had lunch with their father after he came back home.
"So not much today it seems," Siegfried Kaslana said without much interest while in a black shirt and pants with both elbows on the table staring at the food that his wife had made for them
"Well, our son woke up a bit earlier than I was expecting but things were quite normal today" Cecilia as she ate her food.
Meanwhile, Stella just sat in her chair listening to her parents talk mainly because outside of eating and maybe asking to go outside she didn't have anything better to do.
"Can we do something when I'm bored?" Kiana asked.
"I don't think that's possible right now dear," Cecilia said to her eldest.
Kiana then looked at her father for an answer.
He responded as soon as he got the look from his daughter "What your mother said baby doll," Siegfried said without much thought as he continued to eat his food.
Stella wondered how long things would stay like this quiet and uneventful. She didn't mind it more so since her little brother was born but she did wonder.
Meanwhile, her brother was laughing at a funny face her dad had made and Kiana was enjoying it as well and her mother smiled as it happened.
Theresa POV
At the moment Theresa could say she was in a good place; it had been seven years since Second Eruption and Cecilia's death and Kiana's and Siegfried's leave of Schicksal she honestly blamed the latter on her grandfather; he had a needless antagonistic attitude at times. She still loved him but after working with Seigfried for so long she realized her 500-year-old grandfather could tone it down somewhat. Perhaps it was an age thing she thought. 500 years was a long time after all.
Besides that Saint Freya was coming together quite well in a year it would be ready for students she had already planned out the curriculum for the students and was in the process of hiring teachers most of them were going to civilians or A-ranked Knights and Valkyries things were good overall. While Theresa had a lot of guilt over her failures in the Second Honkai War she was at peace with herself that she was able to make one of Cecilia's dreams come true.
"Branch Head!" a member of Schiksal called out to her.
"Yes", Theresa asked wondering what she was being asked.
"We have a problem. There is a dispute that has come up with the island's future taxes due to it being in international waters," The man said to her.
"Isn't that HQ's job?" said a bit annoyed that her pleasant afternoon had ended in such a matter.
"Sorry madam Theresa HQ passed this to the Far East branch due to the island's small size," The man said to the world's cutest Valkyrie.
"I see," Theresa said to the man but internally she somewhat resented her grandfather's seeming laziness. "Poor Amber," she said to herself "She must be the real Overseer at this point" she finished her thought to herself.
After that, she headed to the offices at Saint Freya with the hope that she could get this done in under a day. The paperwork was difficult mainly due to its location in the Yellow Sea being between Korea and China was a bit annoying mainly due to the fact due to the fall USSR the latter had tried to fill the gap it left in the world order but the United States still dominated despite Schicksal all of its resources and influence had been kicked out of the Western Hemisphere due to the North America branch breaking off since then her Grand Father had wisely kept themselves out of politics outside of Honkai related matters. It was still annoying, she thought to herself but she managed to finish it in about two hours.
Sometime later Theresa was in her office relaxing, drinking a glass of her favorite bitter melon juice as her computer was off and she was relaxing in her chair when she got a call.
"Hello, Principal Theresa Apocalypse speaking?" She said into her phone as HQ called her.
"Hello Theresa," said a slightly monotone voice belonging to one Amber Apocalypse.
"Hi, Amber, what does HQ need of me and the Far East division?" Theresa said in a cheery tone that sounded like her physical age while talking to her sister.
"Due to minor Honkai eruptions over the past few years, the Overseer has decided to increase funding to the Far East division to accelerate Saint Freya's construction and development," Amber said in her usual monotone.
For a second Theresa paused on her phone with a bit of surprise but took the good news well "Really, wow that is great give my thanks to Grandpa, Amber" Theresa said over the phone to her fellow clone slash sister.
"I will give the Overseer your thanks Lady Theresa," Amber said over the phone and hung up.
After that Theresa was once again alone in her room she thought to herself she wondered how Cecilia would think about her progress or what she thought about Siegfried leaving and then falling off the map with Kiana. She had a long sigh after that. She had been thinking about these thoughts for years; nothing was going to change thinking about them at this point.
Welt POV
In Salt Lake City America Welt had a pretty average day he honestly felt more like a CEO than the leader of humanity's fight against the Honkai he had been recovering and training to regain the strength he lost after fighting the Herrscher of the Void several years ago he had gotten most of it back by now but honestly it was days like this that made him forget he did mostly paperwork and budgets.
With that Welt's peaceful day ended as Einstein entered the room with papers in hand. "Good afternoon Welt" the blue-haired scientist had said to the leader of Anti Entropy.
"Good afternoon" Welt had responded. Wondering why she had come in and away from her projects.
Like she was reading his mind she answered his question "Tesla just told me Congress has some demands" Einstein said in a stoic voice tinged with annoyance.
"What kind of demands?" Welt asked, hoping it wasn't what he was thinking.
"According to Tesla in her very annoyed words they're demanding more of our RND work on government projects due to the reduction in Honkai Eruptions in the last few years," the doctor said briefly.
"That doesn't sound like Congress," Welt said with a bit of humor the jokes that the corporations ran Congress due to things like lobbying were common in America mainly due to it not being far from the truth but the ending of the Cold War over a decade earlier and AE's and Schiskal's shadow war had made the USA a bit more flexible when it came to big business.
"They also offered a large sum of money," Einstein added.
"That sounds right," Welt said with a chuckle. "Just leave it here, I'll look at the proposal later" Welt had told his friend in a relaxed tone.
Einstein left the documents on Welt's desk but right before she left Welt said something. "Perhaps one of us should speak to the bigwigs in D.C. next time Tesla seems to get madder every time she goes" Welt finished as she was about to leave the room.
"Maybe but I'd prefer Tesla's mind be irritated by the screaming chickens in government than let my work be held back by that nonsense," the scientist said with a small smirk as left.
After that Welt got back to his work looking over the new documents he was glad that it wasn't too extreme this time before looking at one of the other papers that he had been looking at as it showed AE's video game division had beaten out Schicksal's again in sales and ratings for the fourth year in a row.
Otto POV
At Schickal HQ on the floating islands over the Mediterranean Sea, the Overseer was drinking quite a fine vintage of wine as he looked at numerous screens on his various projects. As he looked on he was satisfied with a majority of the results.
"Amber, how goes the search for the Second Divine Key?" he asked his sectary rhetorically.
"Within your expected parameters lord Overseer, we determined it is somewhere in Europe", Amber said.
Otto had another sip of his aged wine he was a bit surprised he was able to narrow it down to Europe of all things he was a bit surprised his forbearers hadn't found it yet if was in Europe compared it the other divine keys outside of remains of the ninth which belonged to Anti Entropy his good ancestors had found all the keys beside the third, fifth, fourth and thirteenth as well of those in the care of his old friend Jingwei Fua Hua had long been a part of Schicksal by this point so didn't matter as much and with that the tenth and eighth keys as well.
As currently stood he had all the keys save for Seventh which Siegfried had taken with him, the remains of the Ninth belonged to Anti Entropy, and then there was the fifth key the divine Key of Ice made from the Herrscher of Ice from the previous era he truly had no idea were that had ended up same with the Third key of thunder he as the Fu Hua about it she told him that the Kaslana founder had hidden it somewhere. Then there was the thirteenth which remained a complete mystery.
It was truly an annoying situation, more so since the best source of the previous era he had was currently lost to him due to the rampage of the Herrscher of the Void. On the bright side, he now had a clear path to Kallen's revival all he needed was the power of the void which is why he was looking for the Cosmic Juggernaut the Second Divine Key is was probably easier to bend to his goals than a Herrscher even if it was one he made. On the other hand, it was always prudent to have a backup.
"Amber," he said out loud "How does young Catherine's training go?" he asked rhetorically to his other "granddaughter" and personal secretary.
"She currently has passed a majority of tests we have given her with the highest possible or perfect scores. She will be ready for deployment in about a year's time lord Overseer" Amber reported from her desk in the room as looked over various reports and files from across the world to HQ.
"Good it seems we've outdone ourselves once again," Otto said contently as took another sip of his wine. "Now back to more important matters, has Captain Lothbrok completed her preparations?" Otto asked Amber.
"Yes, Lord Overseer Captain Ragna Lothbrok has her squad ready," Amber told Otto Apocalypse in a clear and formal tone.
"Good Good now all that is left is to find our dear K-423 and C-001 we can't have Anti Entropy having almost all of the gems of second Herrscher to themselves can we?" Otto said in a smug matter as he soon awaited the next phase in his plans.
Cecilia POV
Cecilia laid her and Siegfried's bed in their room as she waited for her husband to join her in bed. She turned on her side and looked at him sitting on the edge of it.
"Siegfried" she paused. " Are you coming to be or are you going to sit there for the next eight hours" she sarcastically playfully asked her husband.
" Don't worry I'm coming I'm just a bit sore" Siegfried said as he reached his hand on his shoulder rubbing it like it could dull the pain.
"Siegfried is the inflection you gained from activating "that" during the last Honkai Eruption acting up again?" Cecilia asked now sitting up on their bed
"Just a bit Welt and Co says they're looking into it. I should be fine unless I have to use that form again" Siegfried said in a relaxed manner to his wife.
"Based on what Tesla and Einstein told me what you did when we faced Sirin all those years ago was what amounts to hot wiring your Sigmata to tap into its true power but doing so disabling anything that was supposed to protect you from the negative side effects," Cecilia said, chastising him in the tone of her speech.
"I get it, I did something reckless to save the world and now you all have to worry about my health" Siegfried replied to his wife, slightly annoyed.
"Yes you did now will you come and get some rest you know rubbing it will not help in the end and you have quite a bit of work tomorrow," Cecilia said to him as she went back to lying down on the bed
"True, but I guess I can't help myself" Siegfried responded before joining his wife and joining her on the bed. Then he spoke again "In other news things have been pretty good haven't they?" he asked her.
" I guess they have" Cecilia answered back agreeing with him but wondering in her heart how long things were going to last.
Stella POV
In the middle of the night, Stella Kaslana was sleeping in her bed unaware of the snow that fell outside their cabin in the Siberian tundra. She dreamed of a past that was both not hers but was hers.
Stella walked across a cold lab looking for her family "Mama, Papa, Kiana, Sigurd '' the girl said loudly as her voice echoed throughout the dark halls.
"Where am I?" Stella said to herself.
"Don't you remember what they did to us here?" a voice in the darkness said.
"Did to us?" She then spoke again to say her next question "Who are you".
"You don't remember don't you," the voice said once more.
"No," Stella said, a bit more sacred.
"Oh, then I'll remind you this is where we were truly born where they tore into and cut us and filled our lives with pain and slowly killed our friends until we were the only ones left" the voice in the dark explained.
"I don't remember any of that but if that happened I should have. It sounds not very nice but I understand why I wouldn't remember. I don't want to think about these scary things," Stella said, now more fearful of the voice.
"No No No you shouldn't be scared, you should be angry that everyone is lying to you about everything about your truth and the real reason you were born," the voice in the dark said.
"Angry?" Stella said, confused by the voice's words, still fearful of who they belonged to.
"As for who I am, I am you, your other half, the part you are missing, I am the Void," The voice said, revealing herself at last to Stella.
After that, someone appeared right in front of Stella like she was always there if no one had noticed her existence her appearance was identical to her if she had a twin with the only difference being hateful golden eyes and a vile smirk across her face as looked stratified at her first successful meeting with her other self.
With that Stella Kaslana awoke from her long dream in the middle of the night wondering if what she had seen was real.
Well everyone that is a wrap unfortunately the next chapter will be for another while sorry in advance for the slow updates. Also next chapter things are going to get hectic.