Lights in a Starless Sky - A Honkai Impact 3rd Fanfiction

Act 44: Awakening

10AM: Seed of Sumeru, Second Divine Key
ONE-HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIVE HOURS REMAINING UNTIL THE STARLESS NIGHT

The young blonde girl had her hands reaching upwards, holding her parents' hands. The father was a tall man with side swept blonde hair and deep chocolate hazel eyes, the mother had long blonde hair that draped down her right shoulder; a white ribbon tied in her hair highlighting her sapphire eyes. "Mom, Dad, will you promise to play when we get home?" The young girl asked, a kind smile plastered on her face. "Dad was busy yesterday, but you're not busy today, right?" 

Replying with a chuckle, the father looked down to his daughter with a sorry smile. "Sorry, Bianka. Work kept me busy. But when we get home, your mother and I will play with you as much as you want."

Nodding in agreement, the mother gently squeezed Bianka's hand and turned her gaze down to her precious daughter. "That's right, Bianka." She spoke gently, with the kindness of an angel. "Mommy will play as long as you want. Right, Alexander?" 

"Quite right, Alice." 

Bianka's smile only grew bigger. She giggled happily, skipping along with her parents. "You're the best!" The girl proclaimed as if it was a well known fact, which only caused her parents to giggle. "I love you Mom and Dad!" 

"We love you too, our precious Bianka." 

Durandal and the apparition of her younger self followed behind, watching the scene that appeared in their mind with washed out colour. The Valkyrie held a sad frown as she looked on, the faces of her parents blurry and invisible save for their mouths. "This is the life I had..." She started to ask. "Before I was Durandal...?" 

Bianka nodded firmly, her hands sitting crossed over her chest as she looked glumly ahead with a blank stare. "That's right." She said almost dryly, yet sadly. "It's the childhood you don't remember. Or rather, the one you never got. Since he stole you away..."

Like an ink painting, the image before them faded and swirled into a beige, plain canvas which they were surrounded by. Bianka lead Durandal to the end of the canvas, a door appearing in a splash of brown colour: ornate with a decorative golden handle. The young girl gestured to the door, her stern frown returning as a worry welled up in the Valkyrie's stomach. "Go on." She said. "I'll meet you on the other side."

Hesitantly, the blonde Valkyrie reached her hand out to the doorknob: feeling the ice cold metal in her grasp as her pulse pounded in her fingertips. Swinging open the door, a scene exploded in an eruption of colour: crowded streets, cars held up in traffic while skyscrapers towered overhead threatening to pierce the sky above. And yet, like every other scene she had scene, the colour wasn't quite perfect. Ahead in the crowd, Durandal saw herself: the same age as she was now, walking through the crowd with her parents beside her. 

"Bianka, dear. When are you going to introduce us?"

The voice was her father's, filled with genuine curiosity. Alice, standing on the other side of Bianka, rolled her eyes heavily. "Alexander, Bianka will introduce us when she is ready." She said, slightly annoyed, but still very tolerant. "Don't you think you're pushing our daughter a bit hard?" 

Alexander heartily laughed, patting his thigh with his hand by his side; rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Come on, Alice, dear." He assured with a confident voice. "Aren't you excited to meet this lad? A teacher! What a noble profession like our little doctor!" 

"Father..." 

Bianka covered her cheeks with her hand, just barely hiding the rosy pink blush that adorned her face. The girl, wishing to shrink into the crowd from embarrassment, lowered her sapphire gaze to the pavement. "You'll be meeting him today. That's why I brought you both out here." She spoke, albeit shakily. "Please just tone it down a notch..."