Honkai Impact: The Serpent's Tale

Chapter 21: The Puppet's Show

Alex and Seele would make their way down the hall dispatching any enemies that came their way.

As he had noticed before, these enemies moved extremely stiff like someone or something was controlling them which wound up being true as when they were defeated, a dark core would emerge on the ground.

The two promptly guessed that this core is what was controlling the mechs and zombies and since the core went down in one hit, it explained why the controlled enemies were a lot more durable and tougher than ordinary ones.

As they battled, Alex noticed how Seele would frequently stop to catch her breathe after every fight concluded.

After wrapping up this last battle, the girl again caught her breathe and attempted to keep going until Alex held his arm out in front of her.

"Hm? Is something wrong?" She asked.

"You okay? You keep running out of air after every fight. If you're tired then I suggest you try and limit yourself. Stay behind me." Said Alex thought Seele simply shook her head no.

"I appreciate the concern but I'm fine. Besides, I need to gather more clues for Dr. Einstein." She said.

"You doing something for Einstein?"

"Yeah."

"I see. Still though, try and limit yourself alright?"

"Yes. I understand."

The two continued their journey and decided to take this down time to stroke a conversation.

"Gotta say, I didn't expect someone like you to wield a scythe." Said Alex.

"O-Oh really?"

"Yeah. You're really skilled though."

"Thank you!"

"Don't mention it."

From there Seele opened up to Alex about all the years she had spent lost in the Sea of Quanta in the aftermath of Cocolia's X-10 Experiment and how despite essentially not existing for so long, she never once gave up nor lost hope on ever finding her way out.

"Damn. Must've been rough having to go through all that. To think that blonde bimbo was actually fine with all that. Makes me sick." Said the boy as Seele winced a bit at his harsh words towards Cocolia.

"Wow. Her certainly mince his words in the slightest." Said the voice inside Seele's head.

"Bronya's told me that you aren't too fond of mother Cocolia." Said Seele as Alex nodded.

"Look, I get if you and Bronya are willing to at least strike a conversation with her every once in a while. She raised all of us from a very young age so that sentimental attachment is there for you two and the twins. Me however, I just can't forgive her for that. No amount of sentiment can blind me from her true intentions."

"It's okay I understand. Um, Bronya told me that you became a mercenary a year ago right? May I ask why? You seem really young to be working such a dangerous job."

"I ran away from Cocolia's Orphanage not too long after the X-10 disaster. I somehow managed to live on my own for two years until I wound up in the abandoned city of Nagazora after the Honkai Eruption that had happened there."

"Is that the one where Mei Raiden became a Herrscher? Bronya told me about it. She had been sent by mother Cocolia to retrieve the gem however she ended up defecting against her."

"Yeah. The city was ravaged and desolate after that. When I was there, another caretaker found me and brought me into her orphanage called The Roost. It was nice living there for a year however when I turned twelve, I wanted to do something with my life and not constantly rely on caretakers. I know that's a pretty weird thought to have at that young of an age but it was just how I felt. I wound up learning that my caretaker was a mercenary so I had asked her that I wanted to be independent and become a merc myself. She thankfully agreed and taught me lots of things. Once I was ready to officially begin work, she got me a place of my own to live in and this sword I have. I owe a lot to her for being so accepting of it." Explained Alex.