Honkai Impact: The Serpent's Tale

Chapter 28: A Raven's Tale

This was easily the last thing Alex and Mei had expected to come across amongst all these illegal weapons and medications.

That and considering the state Adam was in with heavily bruised wrists, ankles, and being marked by a Stigma, it was clear that this impostor group was gonna use him for something.

"Y-You two...................aren't here to buy me........?" Asked the child.

"No." Said Mei.

"These people, what'd they do to you Adam?" Asked Alex.

The kid naturally took a moment to respond as he regained his breathe before speaking.

"T-They caught me and....................were going to sell me. They mentioned something called.................t-the snake...."

Adam's eyes went wide as he seemingly was about to have a panic attack.

"Ah........y-you.........you're not-!"

Mei immediately shushed Adam and patted his head to calm him down.

"Ssshh. Calm down." She said.

"We're not your buyers and we don't plan on taking you. These kidnappers of yours are gonna get their skulls caved in." Said Alex.

"Go now. We'll take care of things here."

Though Mei gave the kid the green light to leave, the young Adam was confused.

"G-Go............where.....?"

"Anywhere you wanna go. You're free now. The bad people can't get to you anymore." Said Mei.

"I've.......................got no where to go.........."

"Shouldn't your family be out looking for you though?" Asked Alex as Adam somberly shook his head no.

"My mom and dad were gone before I could speak and my uncle thought I was a jinx. A curse. I wasn't wanted so I ran away I've been on my own all these years." He explained.

Alex and Mei kept quiet as the girl looked at Alex, seeing a lot of similarities between the two which Alex himself also realized.

'Young boy ran away from home huh? Sounds a lot like myself. Especially after the Siberian War, this easily could've been me.' He thought as he felt immensely sorry for the boy.

"I was caught because someone had sent me to steal something, but they sold me right away."

"You got any friends? Anyone you can trust?" Asked Mei as Adam shook his head no to both questions.

Mei sighed as she pulled Alex aside so the two could discuss.

"From what we've gathered, the kid's homeless, has no family or friends, and carries a stigma. The Honkai's affected his life quite badly." Said Alex.

"He's also a male stigma carrier which is extremely rare. If we take him back to Serpent Quarters, he'll just end up as Jackal's next test subject." Added Mei.

"What should we do then? If we leave him here he'll just be kidnapped again."

"Well, he's definitely here by accident. Neither Jackal nor Gray Serpent should be aware of his presence............."