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

Act 27: Confrontation

XX:XXPM: Second Divine Key

Durandal's fists clenched as she paced around the Divine Key, growling under her breath. "He doesn't deserve to stand beside me? What a load of crap..." Su looked upwards from Perceval's unconscious body, confusion washing over his stern expression. "Charlemagne? What connection does she have with Perceval? How is she interfering in my Trial?" The Valkyrie sat down beside the Pioneer, her expression twisted in fury and a burning feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Perceval has Natural Stigmata on his back, Charlemagne's to be precise. Through that, he's formed a connection with her and has access to her abilities." Su frowned heavily, his scarlet gaze lost in thought. "I don't understand... From both of your experiences, Charlemagne should be an ally. But from her confrontational attitude towards Perceval... She seems hostile now, and I can't think of why..." Durandal stood up and punched the giant tree, shaking the Divine Key furiously and leaving a fist mark in the bark. "It infuriates me! I'm just sitting here and doing nothing while Perceval is fighting a losing battle, he can hold out against her but... Charlemagne's powerful, a King. What can he do against that?"

"Am I really so weak?"

After a moment of silence, a voice rose. 

"No." 

The Valkyrie looked over to Su who stood from his observatory position, the wind beginning to pick up at their feet. The Pioneer shook his head firmly, a smile crawling to his lips. "You are far from weak, Bianka. Even if you lack the smallest portion of physical strength, the power of your heart still remains. Your devotion to Perceval proves that." He opened his hand and revealed a golden leaf, glowing with a gentle hum of Honkai. "You know well of the Universe that sleeps within you, that gives you power beyond belief. Perceval has a similar power, yet it is different, special." 

"Your connection with Perceval is special, you two are so different, yet so compatible."
"That connection, the feelings of love and happiness that come with it gives you even more power." 

Su gazed softly at the Valkyrie across from him, giving gentle reassuring nod. "You aren't weak. You are far from it, Bianka." He took the leaf between two of his fingers and flicked it towards Durandal, as it connected with the surface of the Valkyrie's battlesuit; it splintered into glass-like fragments and absorbed into her body. The Pioneer smiled kindly as Durandal's suit began to glow a bright gold, a swift wind picking up the leaves around her. 

"Allow me to give you a special gift, one fitting of a light in our starless sky." 

MUSIC: Starlit Sanctum - Honkai Impact 3rd OST

Power swirled in Durandal's heart, the Honkai in her body humming with a gentle warmth.

'The people I love, the people they love,'
'and every single being aware of their existence,'
'They are the ones who make me who I am.'

The mantra she took up from the day she became Durandal, those words hung in her mind as the newfound strength began to ripple across her battlesuit. Even still, an emptiness flooded her heart. One that was filled only by one person.

'Yet, my love alone is the one thing that does not belong to Durandal,'
'But to Bianka Ataegina, the woman I long to be.'

"It doesn't matter to me what name you have. Bianka, Durandal or those other names that are known by so many others. To me, you are only one thing: the love of my life."

'Yes... That's right...'

'That's what I always have been...' 

'Every single person, they forged the blade named Durandal.'
'In turn, the blade Durandal forged me: Bianka.' 

Honkai erupted from Durandal's body, peeling away the Bright Knight: Excelsis battlesuit and replacing it with the real crystallisation of her power: the universe itself manifested as her new battlesuit. White boots, white tights that were short on her left leg, a blue top with golden armour outlining her sides and under her chest. Her hair clipped into a ponytail as golden armour manifested from stardust and clipped to her bodysuit alongside a wreathed headband. Durandal touched down on the ground with a small smile crawling to her lips. "Thank you... Su..."