Y/N, THE 14TH MEMBER OF THE FLAMECHASERS: An [Honkai Impact 3rd] Mini-Story

EX. HERO'S MEMORY [4]

Kevin noticed a memory he didn't have within his data.
It was a cold yet precious memory he would never forget.
Even though he didn't want to think of it right now, not at all.
Everything he experienced is all in the past, there was no reason to think of such tragedy within his memories.
Yet there were some he couldn't just let go.

Before a new era became, these were his stepping stones to the road of Deliverance.
It's what saved him numerous of times.
But no matter how many times he wanted different resolutions replaying within his head, the different possibilities that could've prevented the end of the world, the results still remains.
The fact that they still failed to save humanity, their world, and most importantly... their future to come.

As Mei found the Previous Era's hero standing in the war room, as sharp as he was, he noticed her presence.
Without seconds of exchanging words, he hands out an item to her.
It was an alive flame that seemed to have been frozen within the ice's grasps.
It was burning strongly, yet it was kept in its frozen cage.
It was surprising to Mei of how the ice could hold something like this.

Mei: "What's this?" Mei says, politely taking the frozen flame from him.

Kevin: "When the Judgment of Shamash was first unsheathed, I froze some of its residual flames."

Mei: 'Unbelievable...'
Mei: "You can freeze a Divine Key on your own?"

Kevin: "If I couldn't, it wouldn't still be a Divine Key today."

Mei: "Then... what does it mean to you?"

Kevin: "Destruction."

Mei: "..."

As if alive but was preserved for all these years.
This thing was a memory to him.
Now he's handing it to her, having no need of it anymore.
As if it served its purpose to its final moments.

Mei: "And you're handing this to me?"

Kevin: "As a sim, I no longer need it as a reminder."

Mei: "A reminder?"
Mei: "So you have regrets too?"
Mei: "I could never tell."

Kevin: "The unsheathing produced consequences beyond my intentions."
Kevin: "But it's not to remind me of my past mistakes."
Kevin: "To do something only you can do, you have to pay the price only you can pay."
Kevin: "That's what these flames remind me."
Kevin:  "..."

Mei:  '?'
Mei:  'Kevin?'
Mei: "..."

Mei noticed he looked questionable, yet he looked the same and fine.
Thinking she hallucinated just now, Mei reminded of herself what what he said before...

Kevin: "But it requires greater resolve than you've shown so far."

Mei:  'So this is what he meant...'
Mei:  "...And that's the 'greater resolve' you mentioned?"

Kevin:  "..."
Kevin:  "Herrscher, do you still dream?"
Kevin:  "Of people you failed to save, those that died because of you?"

Mei:  "...I do."

...
...
...
...
...
...

Kevin:  "But I don't."
He says, walking away from sight.

Kevin:  "..."

Saying that reminded him of something.
Something he didn't want to remember now.
Of all times he just had to remember 'her' words made him feel more worse.
But he still played it within his memory regardless.

[FLASHBACK]
...
...
...

???: "When will we have peace?"
???: "When will I have peace...?"

???: "Kevin..."
???: "When... will it stop?'

???: "The pain..."
???:  "When is the day it will end?"
[END OF FLASHBACK]

———
———
———

Kevin: '...'
Kevin: 'The pain stops eventually.'
Kevin: 'It might be different to you, Y/n...'
Kevin: 'I... can no longer feel pain anymore.'