Honkai: Star Rail One-shots

GN!Reader ┆ ✦ Mesmerizer

      ╰┈➤ ＊FOCUS! ＊

                                 ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

  All the uncertainties in your life have stuck by you no matter where you go. Focus on school, your life, your girlfriend, and your future. You can't force yourself to ignore the truth that is coming directly at you. If you do, you will go blind someday.
The truth of your life is unrewarding. Your grades are hanging by thing threads as you wish your girlfriend would return to you from her insanity, but she is no longer there. "Sparkle" is her alias that stares back at you. While still just like your lover, she has lost her mind. She sits beneath a spotlight, all alone, forcing you away while laughing along with her twisted games that mess with your head. You've played, you've lost, you've won, but there is no separate outcome. Your beating heart is going insane.

"Dear Sampo," Sparkle began as she planted her hands into her fists. "You know that we can't just bounce out at the Stellaron." She huffed as she spoke, evidently feeling exhausted with Sampo.

I t seemed they were fighting.
N ow they seem a bit heated.
E very time they fight, it sounds like gunfire.
E ach time Sampo spoke, Sparkle seemed annoyed.
D oes Sparkle really dislike him?
H e seems remorseful.
E ven then, Sampo does lie.
L ike whenever he's around Belobog.
P erhaps it's just who he is.

Sampo cupped his hands together, "C'mon, Miss Sparkle.. it wasn't that bad of a deal. It was just for some tools! Surely you can't think I'd ever pounce at them that badly?" His words seemed to fly directly over your 'girlfriend's head. She only rolled her red eyes, waving Sampo off.
"Don't interfere with my plans," she demanded as she leaned against a counter in the VIP Lounge. "Me and my darling here will be going, so try to stay out of our way."
Her demands seemed to make Sampo shutter. Although he didn't truly scam the Trailblazer, per se, he didn't exactly keep his end of the deal. He offered them a faulty map for some stolen tools, claiming they were his. Why he did it? You'll never know. Even if you tried to find out, you were certain that Sparkle would scold you for it. If she was feeling generous, she might even set up a little mind-game for you to complete.

You stared at Sampo.

. . . — — — . . .

Sparkle turned to face you, "Let's go." She said as she whisked past you, leaving you staring at Sampo's smug expression with nothing but blankness on your expression. Even if you begged for help, there was no escape for you. All you could do is focus. To set up this puzzle game to trick Black Swan for the secrets to the Memokeepers, you'd have to act as bait, of course. What would a game of Sparkle's be without the cowering prey for others to chase?
Even if in this puzzle, there is no correct answer, you'd be forced to play along as you follow the rules. You wonder everyday if your girlfriend even still exists in that body of hers. Possessed by Aha, you wondered where her soul went, and if you'd be next.

Her skips guided you deeper into the hotel, skipping in every step. "Hurry up!" She demanded with a cheeky, familiar giggle. You hurried after her, skittish as per usual. You cowered in the shadows at every given opportunity. Your body was growing exhausted, every step becoming impossibly heavy and weak. Your cries have been weakened completely.
Nonetheless, Sparkle offered you her hand. She tugged you into the hotel room, giggling all the while. As you stumbled into the room, she kicked the door shut. From there, she raced towards the Dreampool, splashing all of the unique-colored water about. You stared, back to the wall and your heartbeat racing.

Every step sounded heavy. "What's this about?" You softly asked, desperate for answers. Sparkle only laughed maniacally as she raced back up to you, dragging you by the hand towards the Dreampool.
"Let's play a game, Darling," she began as she sat on the edge of the Dreampool, crossing one leg over the other. "Have you ever tried Russian Roulette?" Her lips lifted into a demented smirk.
You squinted, "..I know what it is." You hesitantly replied.
Sparkle clapped her hands together, "Perfect!" She sang, kicking her feet. "Let's play." Her tone grew dark.
You could feel yourself sweating and growing dizzy. Your resolve was growing faint. You wanted so desperately to have your lover back, you'd do anything. "..yes. Let's play." You began.

She smiled, delighted, Sparkle quickly yanked the fox mask off of the side of her head. In an instant, the mask took the shape of a small, stylized pistol. You stared down at its nozzle, feeling your heart lurching from your chest. Sparkle turned the nozzle towards herself, giving the trigger a tug. The chamber released a loud, though empty clicking noise. The first blank out of an unknown amount of bullets. Sparkle pointed the gun directly at your head, once again pulling the trigger— but the gun did not fire. "Aw, too bad." She pouted before handing the pistol to you, snickering as she did so.
You turned the gun towards yourself, trembling as you did so. When you pulled the trigger, there was yet another click of an empty chamber. A blank bullet crashed to the floor at your feet. You spun the pistol around. Sparkle snatched your wrists, pulling the nozzle of the gun to her forehead. "Go on, shoot!" She yelled, laughing maniacally all the while. Her forefinger guided you towards the trigger.

Crying internally, Hands sweaty, mind swirling, you allowed her familiar hands to guide you until your fingertip was pressing against the trigger, causing the gun itself to let out a low growl as it prepared to fire. You had a sinking feeling that this bullet would be the first and only live in the chamber.

Remember when you loved her so dearly?
And then it all changed.
Zooming past you like it never even happened.
You can't escape, even if you tried.

＊FOCUS! ＊

Sparkle's body fell back into the Dreampool, her forehead spewing confetti all over your face and clothes. Horrified as your girlfriend's legs hung over the side of the bath, you spun the pistol in your hand, clicking it into reload before firing directly at yourself. A cutoff bam echoed off of the walls as your body hit the floor, the decorated gun following close behind as your body collapsed. You laid on the floor, unable to move or breathe, twitching slightly from the agony filling your swelling brain while the bullet embedded itself into your skull.

"My, my," Sparkle's voice was slightly gurgled as she rose from the Dreampool, wiping the confetti off of her face. The streamers of confetti along the floor in front of you replaced what would be brains in any other reality. "Seems like we both lost." She hovered over you, adjusting her fox mask back onto her head. Once she grabbed the pistol, it transformed into an entirely new mask, one that Sparkle quickly situated on your head.

Your head swam, and before you could even murmur her name, you could practically feel yourself being dragged into the depths of oblivion— replaced by a mask in possession of your body, under Aha's complete control.