Chapter Text
The darkness never ended.
The dreams kept coming…
Dreams of falsehood, fantasies and lies…
I didn’t dream of mama…
Instead, I dreamed of the woman who lied to me…
I miss her.
I miss her warm, soothing embrace.
What if I were just an ordinary girl?
Can we live together in happiness and bliss?
The darkness slowly gave way for light. Blurry hues of blue and green faded into sight for my golden eyes.
If I were given another chance… another chance in life...
The world around me was thick, and at the same time very smooth and warm. I had no issue breathing, even as I floated in the warm liquid.
I wish I can hear her say those words again.
Ich liebe dich.
Prologue - Escape
That man is back…
The young girl blinked while she floated in the depths. In the distance, outside of her cage a figure moved. She couldn’t clearly make him out, the glass she was trapped behind and the liquid she was submerged in blurred her vision.
He kept moving between tables, sometimes sitting down to read something, or he just watched her from the other side of the glass. But he never spoke to her, or let her out when she tried to ask him. Could he even hear her? Or was he just pretending like she hadn't said anything in the first place? He would simply exit the room once he was done, leaving the girl alone in darkness.
How long had she been here?
Why wouldn't that man let her out?
Where was mama?
Mama…
Mama…
Ich… Liebe… Dich…
Small hands hit against the thick glass. Help! She tried to cough, but every time she opened her mouth more water rushed into her lungs. Help me! She kept hitting the glass. The outside room was dark. The man wasn’t here this time. Her chest hurt. Tears mixing with the rest of the water.
Help me!
She kept hitting the glass.
Mama…!
She kept hitting the glass.
Save…
The water got thicker, her punches grew weaker, having to fight the thickening liquid.
...me…
The young girl let out a scream, eyes shooting wide open.
What?!
She found herself back in the water.
No! No no no! Let me out!
Bubbles rose from her mouth as she screamed, pushing herself over to the glass wall. She was just about to begin punching the glass when the lights outside switched on.
That man! He’ll save me!
The young girl began hitting the glass to get his attention.
“Let me out!”
But all she got was a cold look.
The blonde man swiped his hand over a section of the glass. Numbers, lines, pictures, and other metrics appeared.
But she was still trapped behind the glass.
“Help me!”
I’m going to drown! Let me out!
The man didn’t even look at her before he turned around, calmly walking away from the tube. K-423 hit the glass again. She was going to die here! She didn’t want to die again! Why wouldn’t the man let her out?!
She hit the glass again. Again. Again. Even when darkness began to take her, and the man walked back up to the glass to watch her, she kept hitting the glass.
Ich liebe dich...
The girl floated in the lower corner of the tube, muttering to herself in the darkness. The man had left her long ago today, but she did not go back to sleep.
Ich liebe dich…
Bubbles rose from her, while her tears were mixing in with the rest of the liquid in the tank.
Ich… liebe dich…
God… Why did you do this to me…?
K-423 slowly wraps her arms around her knees, hugging her legs against her chest.
I want out…
I want to see mama again…
I want to live a normal life...
Ich… liebe… dich…
The man tapped his fingers around on the holographic screen, on the other side of the glass. K-423 silently watched him.
He wont let me out… I can’t get out… Mama’s not here… God isn’t helping me either…
He’s studying her, she guessed. Why? When could she get out? She would be let out at some point, right? When he was done?
Ich… liebe… dich…
Please let me out.
Mama.
Anyone.
The outside world was dark again. Just like it always was half the time she woke up. The other half, the man was outside. Bubbles rose from the girl, having let out a sigh.
“...”
Ich… liebe… dich…
Ich… liebe… dich…
“...”
“.....”
Ich… liebe… dich…
…
“Dad! She looks just like me!”
What…?
“Hush, don’t let the guards find us.”
Two figures were outside in the still dark room. But neither of them was the man from before. For the first time in a while, her eyes began to fill with hope.
Hope of getting out of here.
“-she could be my baby sister after we save her, right?”
Siegfried quietly looked at her, contemplating. His eyes glanced over to the tube, where the trapped girl was looking at the two of them.
He began scanning the room, soon enough looking back at his daughter. “Alright, Kiana. I’m going to go see if I can get that tube open through that console over there,” Kiana leaned to see behind him, looking towards where he was pointing to. “And you go over and make sure she has some company for a little while, okay?”
“Mhm! Okay!” Kiana nodded excitedly before walking up to put her hand on the glass wall, looking at herself. Or, a near perfect mirror of herself. One with rather pretty golden eyes. At least Kiana thought they were pretty.
"We're getting you out of there." She gave the girl in the tube a smile. Her golden eyes filled with light, responding to Kiana with a nod. She began floating downwards. Kiana’s smile grew as the poor girl put her own hand against Kiana’s, only the glass between them.
"Papa's going to open the tank for you!"
"Thank you…!"
...
“... Damn it.”
Kiana turned around. “Dad?”
“It’s locked, and I can’t guess the password.”
“What?!” She spun back to the girl, then looked back at her father, “But we can’t leave her here!”
Remaining silent behind the console, Siegfried watched his daughter begin to comfort her clone. Because it was clearly a clone, disregarding the fact they looked identical - the little info on the display had ‘K-423’ on it.
K-423… Kiana number four hundred and twenty three… What in the world were you trying to do, Otto?
Looking back up, the clone in the tube must have been different from the rest of the clones he’d seen on his way in. He was leading Kiana through a different path, not wanting to go through that room with his little baby doll, but this one? Room entirely to her own.
Siegfried grabbed the pistol of Shamash he had put down.
The least he could do was throw a wrench in Otto’s plans.
“Kiana.” walking up and bending down on one knee he put a hand on her shoulder.
“Dad! We can’t-”
“I know.” His words got caught in his throat as he looked up. Her eyes… The clone’s eyes were the exact same as-
“I’m going to shoot a hole in the glass.” Kiana gasped, and K-423 looked on in shock as Siegfried stood up. “It’s most definitely going to set off some alarms, so be ready to run. Got it?”
His daughter nodded. The clone nodded after a moment.
“Alright. Kiana, stand back. And you,” he paused for a moment, looking at the clone. “Sorry if any glass shards hurt you.”
She nodded again, moving down closer to the bottom. Siegfried took aim above her, before pulling the trigger on Shamash.
…!
He thought there would have been some loud, blaring alarms. But there was nothing while he quietly watched the liquid gushing out onto the floor, Shamash having blown a hole clear through the tube before impacting on the wall behind it. Kiana gasped and backed away, almost getting her feet wet.
It took a second or two before K-423 surfaced above the remaining liquid, gasping. Siegfried closed the gap between them to lift her up from the now broken tube.
Kiana walked over to them as he carefully put the girl down on dry floor, away from the tube. She wasn’t really wet, instead her hair and clothes - practically identical to what he had found Kiana in - was only damp. Siegfried let go of the clone when Kiana bound her into a hug instead.
“You okay?”
“Y- Yes… Thank you.”
It was hard not to smile, having just saved someone innocent. Even if it was one clone of many. But then their situation came back to him, and his face got serious again. “Girl, can you walk?”
Kiana and K-423 both looked up at him.
“I… I think so.”
Siegfried gave a quick nod. “We need to move. No doubt they know we’re here now.”
“Alright…”
“Don’t worry, papa, I’ll protect her!”
Kiana held onto the clone, who quickly got the hang of walking. Siegfried moved up in front of them, taking point at the door before opening it. Finally, Kiana seemed to get back into being quiet, hearing the girls whispering behind him.
“Hey, what’s your name?”
He only came here for his daughter, but Siegfried knew that he would have never been able to have a good night's rest again if they had left that innocent clone in that tube.
“Si… Sirin.”
"That's a pretty name. I'm Kiana."
"... Hello, Kiana."
"Hi, Sirin."
…
He hoped they had rescued an innocent girl.
“Lord Otto, Theresa has been brought in.”
“Good. What about K-423?”
“The ambush failed, Siegfried escaped with subject K-423 and Kiana Kaslana.”
“...”
Leaving your ally behind? You’ve changed, Siegfried.
With nothing else to report, Amber patiently waited for her master’s response.
“Amber.”
“Yes, lord Otto?”
“I wish to put together an elite squad of Valkyries that is capable of dealing with Herrschers, I need Valkyries that can fill the gap Cecilia left. Make sure preparations are in place.”
“Understood, lord Otto. What about Siegfried?”
A wry smile crept up the blonde man’s lips. “Find them, but don’t send Valkyries after them, I only wish to know where my little project is.”
“Lord Otto?”
“We shall leave that loose canon alone for now. He’ll think we are actively trying to find him, and keep a low profile. Let him believe that is the case.”
“... Understood, lord Otto.”
You’re a fool, Siegfried, if you think this… delay, will deter me from my plans.
The door quietly closed behind him.
Until then, do take care of K-423 for me.