The man whimpered in the chair he was tied to, his face half deformed and his blood splattered across the floor
Stranger : I'll ask you one last time, where is the artifact?
Middle aged man : Like hell I'll tell you!!
The stranger covered his face with one hand as he sighed, and looked at him. This time however, his eyes turned orange and looked like a cat's.
Stranger : I didn't want to do this, but you're forcing me.
A pistol materialised into the stranger's hand as he pointed it towards the man's forehead. He pulled the flint back...
"NO!!"
The stranger's eyes turned back to normal, hearing a little girl's voice.
Middle aged man : NO! ANNIE RU-MMPRH
Stranger : Shh
Annie slowly walked towards him, sobbing and hugging her doll.
Annie : Please don't hurt my daddy.
Stranger : It's ok Annie. I won't.
He turned around and had a devilish smile on his face, and looked at the man straight in the eye. The man knew exactly what it meant.
Middle aged man : P-please not her. I'll- I'll do it. I'll give you the artifact. Just please leave my girl alone.
He untied the man from his chair and pushed him.
Stranger : Show me
Struggling, the man made his way upstairs, while having a gun pointed to his back.
The man entered his office and typed on a computer. Soon after, the bookshelf moved to the side to reveal a hidden safe. It needed a handprint to unlock it.
Stranger : Open it
The man obeyed and the safe opened. The stranger gently pushed him aside and took the artifact. The poor man hugged his daughter tightly to his chest. The stranger looked at them with a hint of sympathy in his eyes.
Stranger : Thank you.
~~~~~
Rita : Welcome back Master Verhaffen, how was the mission?
Clyde : It was... Successful
He felt disgusted at what he did at the man and his daughter, then again what could he have done? Negotiating would have taken too long
Rita sensed him feeling uneasy and pat him on the head. A gesture that she doesn't do often.
Clyde : Is this how you spoil Bianka?
Rita : No, this is how I spoil you. Master Durandal gets something much better.
Clyde : Gee, I'm jealous.
Clyde pushed her hand away.
Rita : The overseer wants to see you
Clyde : Oh?
~~~~
Overseer Otto : You have been a very valuable asset to me my friend
Clyde : I am not an asset, you don't own me. Nor am I your friend.
Otto frowned at him, unhappy at being interrupted.
Overseer Otto : Nevertheless, I thought paying you in money wouldn't be enough. So I'm willing to give you information.
Clyde raised an eyebrow at him.
Overseer Otto : Trust me, you'll want to hear this.
Otto snapped his finger and a virtual screen appeared in front of them showing a map of Germany.
Overseer Otto : About a week ago, honkai readings at this location spiked. Out of curiosity, I used one of my satellites to send me footage of the place. Through it, I saw a girl.
Clyde : You saw a girl.. ok?
Overseer Otto : Watch this
A video played. So far, there were only honkai beasts. There were some incredibly strong ones too. The field was so green, yet something was odd.
The green grass was slowly... Freezing. Shortly after, a girl came into view. Her arms were extended out in front of her. She seemed oblivious of the frozen grasslands surrounding her.
'She looked so familiar... Could it be?'
Clyde rubbed his temple, trying to stop his headache from getting worse.
Overseer Otto : Does she seem familiar?
Clyde glanced at the screen once more, then walked out of the room. Stopping halfway he looked back at the Overseer.
Clyde : This better not be one of your 'jokes'
Overseer : I will be right here waiting for news of your reunion Clyde...
~~~~ (14 years ago)
Young Clyde : Hey, promise me. Whatever happens, you'll be with me.
His sister's beautiful purple hair fell to her shoulders, and her blue eyes filled with tears looked at him.
Clyde's sister : I promise, we'll make it out of this together. Then we can run in the flower fields again
She held him tight to her chest, praying that someone would come.
Clyde's sister : I love you Clyde
Young Clyde : I love you sis
An eery, hoarse voice spoke.
??? : You girl, you are a promising one...
A blinding light filled the room and the he was alone. All he saw was black mist disappearing into thin air. He sobbed, his cries echoed through the empty room.
...
??? : Oh poor boy, are you alone?
He looked up and saw a nun. She looked at him with same warmth his sister would. She crouched down and placed a hand on his cheek, wiping away his tears.
Nun : Do not feel sad my child, I will aid you. However, I too need help. You see, I am... Different. To live, I need a body. Not mine, but someone else's.
Young Clyde : L-like a hug?
She giggled at him
Nun : Yes, something like a hug. Would you give me a hug?
He nodded and hugged the nun. She was so warm and her presence was comforting.
Nun : Thank you, now follow me.
She took Clyde by the hand and brought him outside the house. The honkai beasts and zombies sorrounding his house noticed them. Slowly the beasts walked towards them. One of them attacked, Clyde closed his eyes in fear. Strangely, there was no bone-crushing blow... He opened his eyes
Young Clyde : What?
The beast disintegrated, leaving ashes. And so they kept walking, until they arrived somewhere safe.
~~~~
Clyde had placed his aircraft somewhere further from the site of the footage, for it's loud engines would have attracted too much attention from the honkai beasts.
'Will she remember me?'
He shook his head, trying not to hope. He had tried to look for his sister before, but he always ended up with more questions or a dead end.
??? : What? A human? Here?
A soft voice spoke beyond the bushes in front of him. He pushed the bush aside to reveal the girl, surrounded by honkai beasts and a zombie.
Strangely, the beasts didn't attack her, instead they allowed her to pet them. The zombie groaned at her. She giggled as if she could understand it.
Then they all looked at him.
Clyde : Easy now...
He walked out of the cover of the forest with his hands up. He had to make sure these beasts knew he wasn't a threat. Would these things even understand that?
Clyde : Cayla it's me, Clyde. Do you remember me?
Cayla : I- forgive me. I do not recall ever meeting you. Who are you?
Clyde : I'm... Your brother
Cayla wore a sad expression.
Cayla : I'm terribly sorry... If you really are my brother, then I have no memory of you. The only thing I know is my name...
Cayla became quiet as the zombie next to her walked to Clyde. She seemed wary of him, but she put a hand on his shoulder and pushed him towards Cayla.
Zombie : *groan*
Cayla giggled
Cayla : She says that we should get to know each other more. Please sit
Clyde would have loved to sit with his sister and talk to her, if it weren't for the dozens of honkai beasts surrounding him. The zombie pushed him down and groaned again, which could have only meant her telling him to sit.
Cayla : Tell me what kind of a family were we? Did we have other siblings? What are our parents like?
Clyde : Well... We only had our dad... Mom passed away giving birth to me. To make things worse, dad was an alcoholic. Beat us up if he lost a gamble, or if we got the slightest thing wrong. You always took the beatings for me...
Clyde shuddered at the memory, it wasn't a good one. How he and his sister lived in fear whenever they were around their father.
Clyde : We only had each other... No one else. I- I wish... I just wish that I was stronger back then...
Cayla put her hand on his
Cayla : We're both here now. That's what matters.
The zombie groaned at her.
Cayla : Oh? Clyde, would you mind if Tamaya hugged you?
Clyde : Who?
Pomf
Clyde looked beside him and found the zombie hugging him, her cold hands wrapping around his waist. Again, his sister giggled.
Cayla : I'm sorry, but Tamaya can't resist if you're warm.
'Tamaya huh... Guess even zombies have names'
As he awkwardly pat the zombie, another aircraft landed a few hundred meters away from them. It's cockpit opened to reveal 3 girls who seemed to be younger than him.
The girl with the katana spoke first
Purple haired girl : Kiana hold fire! Bronya be ready!
Kiana : Agh, I was getting all pumped for nothing!
Bronya : Understood, Subject Mei
Mei looked at Clyde and his sister
Mei : You two, please run straight to us as fast as you can! We'll help you!
Clyde stood up and glared at them.
Clyde : We don't need help, leave now.
One of the beasts roared and charged at Mei. The girl dashed through the beast and sliced it at an incredibly high speed. The beast let out a low growl and collapsed
Cayla : No!
Tall pillars of ice rose from the ground, trapping the girls in an ice cage. Cayla took this opportunity and ran to the injured beast and put her hands over it's wounds. Her hands were glowing... She was healing it!
Bronya : Impressive power coming from you, how are you not affected by it?
The floating robot behind Bronya started to punch one of the ice pillars.
Clyde : Cayla, we have to leave now!
Cayla : No I cannot, I will not leave this place unguarded.
Clyde cursed under his breath, his sister cared more about the beasts more than herself. For some reason, this place is important to her.
Clyde : That's it! Come at me!
2 guns materialised into Clyde's hands and he fired warning shots at Kiana. She dodged them with ease and fired back at him. His hands burst into flames and held them in front of him, melting the bullets before they hit him.
Clyde : Tch, up close and personal it is...
In the blink of an eye, Clyde appeared in front of Kiana ready to punch her. However, he saw a big metallic fist in front of him. He had no choice but to dodge it and fall back.
Bronya : The Bronya will not allow you to harm her friends
She wore the same expressionless face as her robot charged it's cannon.
Mei : What are you doing!? We're here to help!
Mei held her sword in front of her, she looked confused.
Clyde : That is my sister, and these beasts aren't hostile.
Kiana : Then what about the one who attacked Mei?!
Clyde : You seemed like a threat to them, you had your weapons out. Of course it tried to attack you!
Kiana : What about you trying to attack us??
Clyde : That's a good question! I-I mean...
He cleared his throat and sighed
Clyde : Look, I just want to get my sister out of this place. As it turns out, these beasts aren't hostile and they're friendly. I think...
Mei looked at her teammates, as if they had telepathy, they nodded in unison.
*Shick*
*Clack*
*Robot noises lmao*
Mei sheathed her sword and Kiana enabled the safety on her guns. Bronya's robot stopped charging up it's cannon.
Clyde : So I assume you all trust me?
Kiana : Not all of us
Kiana glared at him. Tamaya (The zombie) slowly walked to Clyde. She held his arm and groaned defiantly and the 3 girls. Clyde thought it was something very human to do... and somewhat adorable.
Clyde : I-I guess this is proof. *Points at Tamaya*
Mei : Let's... Talk about this, tell us more about you and your uh..
She looked at the honkai beasts staring at them.
Mei : ...Honkai friends?
(Hallo, Mr. Author here. Soooo, I am a terrible writer and my vocab isn't great. I have trouble explaining fighting scenes and describing things. Anyway, I hope this is a good start to the novel. I am a slow writer so please bear with me if you're waiting for the next chapter. Adiós :D)