Souls in Teyvat

"Hello there!" a pink-haired woman excitedly smiled, seeing the grey-haired one stand up with a confused expression.

"Uhmm...hello" said a confused Stelle, looking at both people looking at her. "Who are you?"

"I'm March 7th" replied the pink-haired woman with a bright smile. "And he is Dan Heng, even if he doesn't speak much."

"I speak enough to tell my own name, March" retorted the black-haired man with a calm voice.

"March and Dan Heng" said Stelle with a small nod. "And who am I?"

"...." Dan Heng looked at Stelle's confused expression, and sighed.

"Is that some metaphorical question about who we are and what we came to do in this life?" asked March tilting her head to one side.

"I don't think she has the mental energy to ask that March" said Dan Heng tiredly, and looked at Stelle. "As much I would like to reply to you, I have no idea who you are, and we don't have the time either."

"Ah!" said March opening her eyes wide. "That's right! We came to help some people trapped here!"

"I haven't seen anyone" said Stelle, by whose mind the image of a violet-haired woman briefly passed through before disappearing.

"What about him?" asked Dan Heng, pointing at the downed purple-haired man beside Stelle.

"Haven't seen him in my life" said Stelle with a shrug.

"....he was just next to you" tried Dan Heng, but he only received a stare in reply, making him sigh. "Well, looks like CPR will be needed. Ma-"

"You do it" interrupted March. "And do it well."

And an uncomfortable shiver passed through Dan Heng's spine seeing March's eyes, ready to catch every single detail.

"Ngh"

But a small twitch on the man's hand and a grumble told them that maybe, only maybe, CPR wasn't going to be necessary.

"Are you okay?" asked March 7th, crouching near the lying man with concern in her expression, mixed with a bit of... something else. "Do you need help?"

"...I don't know" whispered Keith, struggling to open his eyes. "But what I'm sure of is that my dick is enough, any more it's too much."

"Are you hurt?" asked Dan Heng, always the practical one.

"Yes" grumbled Keith, feeling how his body returned to his control. "I have someone I want to give a beating to, but with every second I'm unable to, I feel my control of my actions slipping due to anger."

"Looks like you need to stay down then" said Dan Heng, but a loud noise nearby made him look outside the room with impatience. "But I guess we need to take you out of here, the Antimatter Legion won't wait."

"What do you need?" asked March, seeing that Keith wasn't moving, and was still face-down.

"I was poisoned" said Keith, making the other 3 raise their eyebrows at him. "I was a hostage, but I guess when the space station was attacked, they chose to leave me behind."

A petty excuse, but in the end, it didn't matter the reason he gave.

Himeko was aware of where he had been and what he had been doing, after all, he had been the one to tell her.

Keith hadn't seen Himeko in 6 years, but he had sent her a lot of letters, and if he wasn't wrong, there wouldn't be any problem re-joining the Astral Express.

If Himeko decided that he was not fit to join....well, he would be able to beat Kafka sooner, even if that would hurt a lot.

"I will carry you" said Dan Heng, approaching Keith.

"I will recover soon, I have a somewhat special body" added Keith, shaking his head slightly. "In around 5 minutes or so, if you keep me safe until then, I will be able to fight too."

"That will help" nodded Dan Heng, turning Keith around.

"Oh" muttered Stelle, looking at Keith's eyes, which for some reason, were extremely familiar to her.

"Your eyes are beautiful" sincerely complimented March.

"I would say the same to you" replied Keith, sending a glare at Merch. "Had you not pushed this guy to CPR me."

March only looked to one side while whistling.

"You are heavy" said Dan Heng, passing Keith's arm over his shoulders.

"Yeah, everyone tells me the same" pointed out Keith.

"Do you usually get carried like this?" asked Dan Heng, signalling to March to leave the room first.

"N-" Keith was about to comment that people said that about his sense of humour, but then remembered the amount of times he had been carried off the training room. "Yes."

"Dan Heng, the coast is clear" shouted March, waving at Dan Heng to hurry up. "And you, how do we call you?"

"U-Uh?" Stelle, who had been fighting against her memories, looked at March. "I am... Stelle."

'At least she didn't forget that' thought Keith, genuinely happy for her still grey-haired companion. 'I lost even my own name.'

"I'm Keith" replied, well, Keith.

He knew that Himeko would recognize him, so giving him a fake name was just useless.

Not that he wanted to, even if he had a deeper reason, he genuinely wanted to be a part of the Astral Express. And he already knew who March 7th and Dan Heng were, after all, Himeko always gushed at what her companions were doing and how proud she was of them.

"Then, Stelle and Keith, let's go!" said March excitedly, as if the invasion by the Antimatter Legion was just a dream.

"March!" shouted Dan Heng, seeing 2 members of the Antimatter Legion approaching from the other end of the corridor.

BANG!

March, Dan Heng and Keith looked with shock at the source of such a sound.

"Oh, I like this a lot" mused Stelle, feeling the bat in her hands.

'Oh no' thought a pale Keith. 'She also remembers that'.

"Where the hell did you pick that?" asked Keith with desperation, knowing that the Galactic Batter's adventures would continue.

"It was laying there" said Stelle, pointing with her new bat towards a glass display case.

And Keith refused to think any more.

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"I can run now" said Keith, tapping Dan Heng's shoulder. "Thank you."

"No need" replied Dan Heng, picking up his spear. "We need all the help we can get, there might still be people in need of help."

"Do you know how to use that?" asked March curiously, looking at the simple sword on Keith's back.

"I can defend myself, but I'm still green" admitted Keith, knwoing he was a far cry from being as strong as Blade. "But I'm strong, even if I'm not an Expert swordsman I can probably take care of some random mobs."

"That's a cool sword" commented Stelle, looking at Keith's weapon.

"It's a completely normal and absolutely ordinary steel sword" deadpanned Keith.

"And yet, it's cool, it's the first time I've seen a sword" repeated Stelle, looking curiously at the weapon. "But unfortunately for you, my bat is better."

"Of course it is" said Keith with a sigh. "Bats are the best, for hitting either enemies or baseballs."

"Oh, I see you know your stuff" said Stelle, finding Keith's words very, very accurate.

"If you can defend yourself, it's enough to thin their numbers" said Dan Heng, stepping ahead.

2 new members of the Antimatter Legion appeared in front of him, but with a quick thrust of his spear and lightning-fast swipe, the black-haired man quickly took care of them.

"Why would you need me when you are that strong?" asked Keith with a sigh.

He was strong, at least he thought so, but he had only fought against Blade so he had no idea of how he compared to anyone else.

But what he knew was that Dan Heng was VERY strong, based on the masterful footwork he displayed and how accurate his movements were.

"Dan Heng is super strong" nodded March knowingly, but then had a mischievous grin. "But I'm better."

"Are you?" asked Stelle, looking at the thin girl with evident disbelief.

"Of course she is" nodded Keith, making March look at him with surprise. "Look at that majestic figure, those unyielding eyes, that glorious aura around her! There is little to doubt here, March is the most powerful one out of all of us, and maybe even in the whole Spatial Station"

"Hehehe" March laughed bashfully, scratching the back of her neck in embarrassment.

"Leave that for later, we need to keep moving" said Dan Heng, peeking through a corner.

But soon, they were completely red, as the alarms illuminated everything inside the corridor with a red colour that surprised those who hadn't seen it before.

'The doors to the floors 1A and 2A will close soon. To every host, worker or experimental subject of the Space Station, please move towards the elevator.'

"That was Miss Asta" said March. "We need to help those people!"

"March" sighed Dan Heng, while his brain rushed to find the best path. "We are on floor 1A."

"....oh" muttered March, her brain trying to dodge the shame she was starting to feel.

"Looks like the strongest person is not the smartest one" commented Stelle without any mockery in her voice, making March pout.

CLANG!

But suddenly, the door a few dozen meters behind them closed violently.

Too violently.

'That door can bisect even me' thought Keith, not remembering the Space Station to be a lethal trap able to slash him like a pig in a slaughterhouse.

"Run!" shouted Dan Heng, and the reason was clear.

CLANG!

Another door closed, and this one was way closer.

And so, the group started running.

"But why are they closing the doors this soon!" shouted March, running for her life.

CLANG!

"I don't know" replied Dan Heng, who was ahead and paving the way. "We received a signal from there, they should know we are here."

'...shit' thought Keith, who knew who might have sent the signal.

"And if they don't know you are here?" asked Stelle, forcing her legs to move faster.

CLANG!

"Then they would seal off this floor so the Antimatter Legion wouldn't attack the rest of the station" replied Dan Heng.

CLANG!

"They are catching us!" shouted March, seeing how the doors were getting closer to them.

"Then run faster!" replied Stelle. "It looks like the strongest person is not the fastest one too!"

"Hey!" shouted March, but indeed, she was not the fastest one.

CLANG!

And Keith saw no other way.

"Don't struggle, Miss Powerhouse" he picked the shocked March on his shoulder, and started running, passing both Dan Heng and Stelle, who looked in surprise at the tall man who could run faster than them even while carrying dead weight.

"I'm not dead weight!" shouted March, hanging on Keith's shoulder like a sack of potatoes, glaring at both Stelle and Dan Heng.

'No one called you that' thought Stelle, but chased Keith.

CLANG!

But now that March was not weighing them down, Dan Heng and Stelle both accelerated, and they finally arrived at the empty elevator.

CLANG!!

With a deafening noise, the last door closed, but the group left the corridor with some leeway.

"Looks like we are the last in this floor" commented Dan Heng, approaching the panel next to the elevator while Keith put March down. "Or they wouldn't have closed all the doors."

"Can you call the elevator?" asked Stelle, while Keith looked around, wondering if Silverwolf could help them, or if both Stellaron Hunters had already left.

"I can- can't" said Dan Heng with a serious expression. "It's blocked."

"If they didn't think anyone was on this floor, it makes sense they would also block the elevator" pointed out Keith, wondering if his bad luck would accompany him in this new period of his life too.

"What do we do now?" asked an uneasy March. "We will be surrounded by the Antimatter Legion if we don't-"

"You had to jinx it" complained Stelle with a small frown.

Because a giant portal, at least 3 meters tall, appeared in front of them.

"Well Miss Powerful, why don't you deal with that?" asked Keith, holding his sword in a stance that made Dan Heng open his eyes in shock.

A powerful-looking ember of the Antimatter Legion, a tall beast with the lower part of a horse, stood before them with a bow charged and ready to fire.

"Uhmmmm" March looked at the gigantic bow in the hands of the monster, and then at her small bow.

"Indeed, size matters" nodded Stelle sagely.

"And you would know" scoffed Keith. "My sword is bigger than your bat, and you still consider your bat stronger."

"It's a bat" replied Stelle, as if it was obvious.

"Yeah, my bad" conceded Keith with a small nod, while his eyes narrowed looking at the already moving foe. "Now move!"

Keith jumped back, grabbing the scruff of Stelle's coat and pushing her back, just before the space above them opened and a projectile hit the ground under them, creating a small crater.

Dan Heng jumped forward and trusted forward with his spear, but the member of the Antimatter Legion deflected the hit with a single arm, and the air above the black-haired man opened, making him jump back to avoid the attack.

"Behind!" shouted Keith, seeing another portal appear behind Dan Heng, but by the time Dan Heng touched the ground, the projectile was already flying towards him.

CLANG

But a translucent white shield appeared between Dan Heng and the projectile, deflecting it and making it impact on the floor next to Dan Heng.

"Hehe, I told you" smiled a proud March 7th, who quickly donned a confident but concentrated grin.

'We should be able to defeat this quite easily' thought Keith, inspecting their foes.

"I can block some attacks" he said, making Dan Heng nod. "If you or Stelle can deal enough damage, we should be able to win."

And receiving 2 nods, Keith lunged forward.

Sidestepping a few arrows sent his way, he quickly reached the monster, as there was nothing around him to hinder his movements, and swung his sword.

CLANG

The member of the Antimatter Legion used its enormous bow to block, successfully stopping the attack.

And yet, one thought passed through Keith's head.

'Weak' he mused.

He felt that his sword had been stopped, but he also felt the arm of the horse-like creature trembling with the effort.

His body had felt weird since the shenanigans with the Stellaron happened, but he was still quite strong.

What Keith didn't know was that he was comparing himself against Blade, who was by no means a common person.

So while Keith wasn't the strongest by any means, he also wasn't weak, and if only pure strength was considered, he was probably one of the strongest people in the Stellaron Hunters, only losing against SAM, Firefly's armour, that could probably beat anyone but Blade.

Nothing could beat Blade, he was immortal after all.

Dan Heng quickly saw the opportunity, and jumped forward with Stelle.

The monster tried to push Keith away, but the steel sword didn't budge.

Dan Heng's sharp attack failed to completely pierce through the tough armour, but caused the monster to scream, and yet, Stelle's attack had a different effect.

With a sound resembling an explosion, Stelle's bat collided with the beast, instantly obliterating the armour around the area of impact and sending the monster flying 10 meters through the air like a bullet.

But what called Keith's attention was that the moment Stelle's bat touched the monster, before it could feel the impact, the red light that he thought were its eyes had disappeared for a single instant.

"...." Dan Heng looked in shock at Stelle, who only grinned and expertly twirled the bat in her hands.

"Told you" she said, looking at Keith with a proud smirk. "Bats are the best."