HSR AO3 Cross-posted Works

To Be Reborn Means to Die

"Let me bestow upon you... despair!"

Caelus felt his grip around the bat in his hands tighten, as his amber eyes focused on Cocolia, but the next thing he knew he felt himself be impaled.

As he felt his body recoil backward, he felt only the air behind him as he fell.

His amber eyes would flicker to life for a moment, his body falling upside down, the pain he felt was drowned by the regret, the choices he could've made.

Caelus wondered to himself, was this what it felt like to die? His last moments would be to fall towards the ground, his entire body upside down. The descent felt long and endless, the air around him adding to the already cold environment.

His amber eyes moved to the friends he made during his short life, eyes moving from one another.

Then his eyes fell upon Seele, and to his surprise, her violet eyes were staring back into his own. The eye contact was short, less than a second, but it was a moment for the two. To both of them, this was Caelus's last moment.

Caelus closed his eyes as he felt his body draw closer to the ground.

...

"Do you fear death, Caelus?"

Seele asked, her tender gaze meeting Caelus's own.

"..."

Caelus would ponder for a moment, licking his lips briefly before replying.

"If it meant dying for the better, then I will go without fear."

...

Caelus regretted his death for one sole reason, he didn't die for the benefit of others, but he died an unimportant death in the eyes of others. He had tried to fight Cocolia, who would destroy Belobog to "create a new world", but he had failed. To him it wasn't the triumphant attempt that mattered, but the triumphant victory that should've followed.

But to his grace, he would be bestowed another opportunity to provide his triumphant victory to the people of Belobog.

For death had not grasped his soul just yet.

...

Caelus would open his eyes slowly, finding himself surrounded by a strange space. Surrounded by stars and other celestial beings, as his eyes explored the newfound environment around him, he noticed a yellow, glowing rope that led to a strange orange pillar ahead of him.

He would slowly begin to walk forward, though he didn't feel a surface beneath his feet. It was strange, like walking on air itself.

As he got closer, memories began to surround him.

Still images of his life experiences dotted the trail, voices echoing throughout the mysterious space.

"Weren't their coordinates sent out from the space station?"

As Caelus continued to walk, the memories became more recent, from his first to his last.

"So, this little twerp has the Stellaron now? Huh."

"Pelageya Sergeyevna..."

"It is - based on all the signals coming from your sensory organs - a perfect closet."

"Oh-ho? Brothers and sisters, an unexpected turn of events... Two members of the audience have charged into the octagon! It looks like they want to team up with Cold Dragon Young!"

"In the name of the Architects, I shall stick this spear into your nostril!"

Caelus paused and looked at the still image of Bronya before him.