Chapter Text
Void Archives had left the Astral Express a long time ago. There were things he couldn’t do remaining on that train. Asides from that, he didn’t fit in there, and he could feel himself growing distracted. Separating himself from Welt Yang was a necessity. There were things to investigate instead of getting sidetracked by the living ghost of Murata Himeko and traveling through the stars as a Nameless on the Astral Express. However, that didn’t mean that Void Archives didn’t keep tabs on the Astral Express.
So, it didn’t escape his notice when Himeko attempted to reach out to him. He’d never imagined that woman caring much about his departure, unlike his dear Welt. Which was why it was intriguing enough for him to actually answer her call, that she actually sought him out after so many years of the Astral Express making no effort to attempt to track him down in the vast universe of this world.
“Miss Himeko, what do I-” Void Archives didn’t even get to finish his greeting before Himeko cut him off.
Her voice was carefully controlled, but he noticed a tremor of desperation.
“Is Welt with you?” she asked, as if on her last string of hope.
Void Archives paused. What a ridiculous question. But one that raised many, many more questions. He couldn’t imagine that guilt-ridden man parting with the counterpart of his dead former student willingly. He would stay by her side as long as possible to ensure her safety, the selfless self-fashioned hero he was. But it sounded like he wasn’t with her anymore.
“No,” Void Archives answered. “Why would he be with me?” he asked.
There was a shaky breath from the other end of the call. “Welt is missing. We’ve been searching for weeks, but we’ve found nothing. We thought maybe he found his way to you, or you’d have an idea of where he would go,” Himeko said.
Him? “What an absurd notion. We parted ways years ago, what makes you think he’d come to me, or that I would somehow know what plans he’s crafting in that mind of his?” Void Archives scoffed.
“Don’t lie. I know you have a relationship that goes deeper than you’re willing to admit. Just… If you should see him, send me a text,” Himeko said.
“How do you know he didn’t simply leave?” Void Archives questioned. He knew he would never, but Miss Himeko would have no reason to know that, as he highly doubted Welt had informed Himeko of her counterpart’s fate nor his true motivations for coming to this universe much less joining the Astral Express so enthusiastically.
“He wouldn’t have made plans and then left without saying a word,” Himeko said.
That was true.
It was a reasonable concern from that woman. Especially since it implied Welt might be in some manner of trouble, but while there were some unfamiliar variables in this universe, most threats couldn’t do much to threaten a Herrscher in this universe. Even weakened as he was, Void Archives didn’t imagine him being easily overcome.
It took several more months for Void Archives to stumble across Welt. It was admittedly unintentional. A string of conveniences that led Void Archives to some hotel resort on a planet that was known for criminal activity, yet escaping any consequences of the law.
Void Archives, searching this universe, hadn’t found a single lick of Honkai energy aside from himself or Welt. There surely must be some, given the Sky People’s interest in this world. But whatever state it must be in, Void Archives’ investigation hadn’t borne fruit yet. So, when Void Archives noticed traces of it, it was logical to assume that Welt was here.
Void Archives had no idea how he ended up here, lightyears away from the planet he’d gone missing on according to Himeko. Or why, even after over a year of being missing, he’d failed to find his way back to the Astral Express. He scoffed.
However, when he entered the hotel lobby with the intention of asking after Welt, it seemed he was recognized.
That was unexpected.
“Oh hello sir! We weren’t expecting your arrival!” the receptionist exclaimed.
“You shouldn’t have been, I haven’t booked a room, I’m merely making an inquiry after someone…” Void Archives’ body was artificial, but something was making him itch. It felt just the slightest bit maddening.
“We know,” the receptionist replied. “Welt is a bit busy, but you can wait in the room until Welt is finished! Free of charge, we hope you remember this compassion, sir!”
Void Archives wasn’t sure what to make of this sequence of events, narrowing his eyes in suspicion as he accepted the spare key to what he was told was Welt’s room on a higher floor. He didn’t trust the receptionist at all, their words only growing the uneasy feeling settling in his soulium body. Nothing out of the ordinary seemed to happen as he took the elevator up. Nor when he located the room indicated on a tag attached to the key and entered the room. It seemed normal. There was evidence of the hotel room being lived in. Nothing too strange…
Void Archives sat down on the couch. He crossed his leg over the other, his hands laying in his lap as he waited for however long it took for Welt to arrive. He sighed. Ridiculous. Had Welt finally learned what a vacation was and frightened Miss Himeko and those kids he’d heard the Astral Express had recruited to go on one? … Most likely not, but Void Archives didn’t know what else to think.
Then finally he heard footsteps and the door opened.
Void Archives had to admit, his jaw dropped.
It… If Void Archives didn’t intimately know the power of a Herrscher (and Welt was the only one in this universe!) even one with faded power, Void Archives wasn’t confident he would’ve recognized the person standing in front of him as Welt Yang.
First of all, the clothes being worn were absolutely ridiculous. A blouse that dipped far too low in the neck area, a skirt that was far too short, a small bow ornament kept the bangs tucked to the side, and heels?! Void Archives wouldn’t have imagined Welt ever consenting to wearing such an outfit. But then there were the subtle changes. Like the fact that the person in front of Void Archives very much looked more… Feminine. Softer features, having lost multiple inches of height, and shaved legs… There was also the fact that the ‘girl’ in front of him looked younger. That strip of grey in Welt’s hair was gone, only soft brown locks like in Welt’s youth remained. Void Archives also thought the iris color looked a bit more tinted orange.
What bothered Void Archives the most was the utter lack of recognition in his eyes and the shy smile on Welt’s face.
“It’s not often I do it in my room,” Welt said, blushing as she tucked a lock of hair not bound by their hairclip behind their ear.
She closed the door behind them and Void Archives slowly closed their mouth.
It took just a moment more for Void Archives to feel heated rage begin to boil under their artificial skin.
“Welt,” Void Archives snapped. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Welt flinched. “I-I’m sorry, sir, I’ll hurry up,” he said, though Void Archives had absolutely no idea what in the world Welt was referring to. Hurry what up?!
Though, he quickly got his answer, as Welt tried to get down on their knees and open Void Archives’ pants. Void Archives grabbed their arm in an almost bruising grip. Welt stared at him with wide eyes, their lip wobbling.
“I said… What do you think you’re doing?” Void Archives hissed.
“I-I- Sir-” Welt’s voice was absolutely pathetic. It rang with weakness and pleading that sounded so unlike Welt that Void Archives wondered if he made a mistake. But he knew he didn’t. He doesn’t make mistakes. He doesn’t miscalculate. Against all odds, the trembling girl who just tried to pull his dick out of his pants in front of him is Welt Yang, ex-Sovereign of Anti-Entropy, the Herrscher of Reason, hero of humanity.
Except it made no sense.
The girl that was supposed to be Welt looked down. “I-I’m sorry for trying to touch you without permission! Please forgive me!”
What was wrong with him?
“Do you know who I am?” Void Archives said sharply.
“S-Sir?” It looked like trying to remember was a genuine effort on Welt’s part. “Um… A-Are you not a client?”
Client?
Client?!
“Are you saying you… Service men here?” Void Archives questioned.
“O-Oh not just men…. The hotel accepts all sorts of clientele…” Welt replied, seemingly calming down a bit from looking like she were about to cry, which was something Void Archives would very much like to avoid.
Void Archives could not believe it. He couldn’t imagine Welt willingly doing anything like this. Given the fact that Welt didn’t seem to recognize him or his face at all was extremely alarming. Void Archives twitched. How long had Welt been here? Had he been here for the entire year? Was that how long it took to turn that selfless Herrscher into a submissive, tearful girl?
“Do you remember how you got here?” Void Archives needed to know.
“Um…. I don’t really remember much before the hotel no…” Welt shook their head. “I-I’m really sorry, sir!”
Void Archives growled. Welt flinched ever so slightly.
“I’m getting you out of here,” Void Archives, still holding onto Welt’s arm, started to stand up.
“O-Oh, okay- S-So we’re going on a date, sir?” Welt sounded unsure.
Void Archives glanced at Welt. If they were keeping Welt here and Welt was this subservient… If Welt figured out Void Archives intended to take them away from this hotel for good, she might become more difficult.
It took only a moment of thought to manifest a feather of Fenghuang Down. Immediately, Welt’s eyes glazed over and she slumped into Void Archives.
Void Archives had no mind for mercy or compassion. Welt stayed asleep as Void Archives tore the hotel resort apart. This place deserved to be razed to the ground. With the place left in ashes, Void Archives took Welt away.
After taking Welt somewhere safe, he texted Himeko to let her know he found Welt. He’d take Welt back to the Astral Express as soon as possible. He was aware humans relied heavily on their social relationships after facing adversity. Void Archives didn’t particularly care for it, but he wasn’t equipped at all to fix…
He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do with Welt now.
Eyeing Welt’s clothes with disgust, first of all, Void Archives should get them new clothes. Certainly not let them continue to run around in the outfit she’d been given by that hotel that broke his Welt.
At least, Void Archives planned to try and interrogate them some more, to try and get a clearer idea of how badly Welt’s mind was damaged. Were their memories gone? She didn’t recognize Void Archives, so she clearly didn’t even remember the original owner of this face. Not even showing an iota of response to Otto Apocalypse seemed particularly bad.
Void Archives waited for Welt to awaken.
Eventually, Welt stirred, and Void Archives spoke.
“Get rid of your current clothes. Put on those,” Void Archives said, pointing to the clothes he laid on the bed next to Welt’s sleeping body. It was just a simple shirt and trousers. Then Void Archives turned around because he wasn’t going to watch Welt strip.
Void Archives heard the sounds of sniffling behind him, but when he thought he heard enough sounds to suggest Welt had changed as asked, Void Archives looked back. Welt’s messy bangs hung in their face without the clip, she kept having to sweep them to the side. With their new clothes, it hid their altered figure better. Though, Welt didn’t seem particularly happy about it, but she didn’t say a word.
Void Archives collected Welt’s former outfit with the intention of burning those clothes later.
“Don’t go anywhere,” Void Archives warned Welt, Welt only nodded in reply through eyes beginning to glisten with tears. Then he left the room.
Despite destroying the people who were at fault for this, Void Archives’ body still thrummed with energy. Energy that demanded he tear more things apart. Killing everyone who touched Welt and was complicit in their trauma wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough. Because his Welt was still nowhere to be seen. In his place, was a girl that shook like a leaf.
Void Archives covered his eyes with a hand. He would make an attempt to explain to Himeko before he dropped Welt off with her. He could not think of anything more disastrous than simply handing over Welt with no explanation given. The looks Welt was giving him now made Void Archives very uncomfortable.
Void Archives went to find food. Without the proper amount of Honkai energy to sustain Welt’s core, their human body required things like food and sleep.
When Void Archives returned, he nearly dropped the bag of takeout he had procured. On the bed, Welt had shoved down their pants, and she had gotten a dildo from somewhere. Their back hole was spread by a fat dildo as the toy was shoved nearly all the way in. Meanwhile, Welt was using their fingers to spread their pussy lips, dripping sexual fluids onto the bedsheets with a look of lust on their face. Unfortunately, the room Void Archives had found for them was not large and Welt had positioned themself so Void Archives getting an eyeful of the pussy that Void Archives was absolutely certain that Welt did not have before was inevitable.
“Stop that!” Void Archives hissed.
Welt whined.
Void Archives put the takeout on the floor for now, before he quickly went over to where Welt was, and he yanked the dildo out of Welt’s ass. Welt let out a loud cry, as it was ripped out all at once. Void Archives was disgusted and morbidly amazed. The dildo had been a lot bigger than he thought… Also for some reason it was knotted at the bottom.
Void Archives threw it in the trash.
He then made Welt put their pants back on, which for some reason made Welt start crying.
Then Void Archives handed them dinner.
Welt sniffled, wiping away their snot and tears with the back of their hand. “H-Hah? T-Thank you M-Master, I-I’m not worthy,” she took the box of takeout and started eating it with their hands.
Void Archives could only assume that Welt had been degraded for a very long time to end up like this. But first….
“Why are you calling me Master?” Void Archives hadn’t liked being called sir but it was better than being called master.
“H-Hah? Y-You stole me… Didn’t you? I-I think that makes you my new master? I think? I’m sorry… I’m not very smart, master…. I-I don’t know how to answer your questions,” Welt sniffled as she ate their dinner.
What kind of twisted logic was Welt viewing the world through? It almost made Void Archives miss having to deal with an obsessive megalomaniac. Somehow, in comparison it made much more sense than whatever nonsense was spewing out of Welt’s mouth now.
“Why were you… Doing that when I came in?” Void Archives needed answers.
“I-I wanted to show you I could be good…” Welt sniffled. “I-I can be good! I promise! I’ll be good I’ll do everything you tell me- Please-” Welt started sobbing into the takeout box.
That made even less sense. Void Archives growled and it made Welt squeak and quiet down their cries.
Void Archives did sometimes rest these days, but he didn’t feel comfortable doing it near Welt right now. To think, one time he thought of Welt Yang as a drug, to lull him into letting his guard down. A risk of getting too comfortable, of forgetting his mission… Now, Welt made his skin crawl and he just couldn’t trust that Welt wouldn’t try to pull out his dick again.
Maybe one he wondered how Welt’s mouth would feel like around his cock.
But now Void Archives couldn’t think of anything he wanted less.
After Welt finished his dinner, Void Archives told him to sleep. But Welt wasn’t finished making Void Archives want to scream, because apparently she remembered how to make objects still. But for some reason she tried to make more sex toys.
“I-I always sleep with my holes filled-!” Welt had tried to explain.
“Do it without,” Void Archives said harshly.
Welt meekly went along with it. But Void Archives could tell Welt for some reason couldn’t relax. He really… Didn’t know what to do with Welt. Welt kept whining and begging throughout the night… Eventually, Void Archives took pity and knocked them out with Fenghuang Down again.