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Out of all of the current Honkai Star Rail players in the world, you were among the few that didn’t really like Sunday when he first appeared in the game. You were already hating the bloated dialogue you were getting from Penacony’s current story so when you first saw Sunday introduce himself to your preferred Trailblazer, it irritated you. Story wise, personality wise, literally everything except appearance wise you hated. The only thing that made Sunday just a little less annoying was his gray, softcore angel aesthetic, you had a thing for those kinds of aesthetics and even based your current phone wallpaper off of that since that aesthetic is rare in media.
Anyway, simply put, you thought that Sunday was really fucking annoying. And it didn’t help that he was this ”sad, misguided man” that was plagued by religious trauma and horrible people his whole life excluding Robin since she’s his beloved sister, of course. It was almost like they were purposely trying to reel you in with the broken hearted man trope to make you hate him less. Spoilers for the devs, it wasn’t working.
You skipped him when he first debuted in version 2.7 in the first half of the banner before Fugue debuted and soon after, you skipped his first ever rerun in version 3.4 with the triple harmony rerun banner because you wanted to focus more on getting eidolons and light cones for Saber and Archer with the little resources you had because you liked them more (and also wished Rin and Lancer were in the collab as four stars). So, basically, you didn’t care for him either way. You knew that he’d help you a lot in the current endgame as a universal single target support buffer but when you already have Robin who’s still really good at e0s0, it didn’t really matter to get him at that point. And you didn’t get him — in game, that is.
So, as much as you tried your damned-est to avoid Sunday at all costs, he somehow managed to find you and plague you. But how is that possible if you never pulled for him in all of the time you’ve played Honkai Star Rail? Well, a bit of reality bending made it possible for Sunday to reach you despite the fact that you’d literally never be the same if he did.
The Sunday fangirling thing was for everyone else, not you. So why? Why did he choose you? I honestly don’t know. Actually, let me rephrase that. Xipe was actually the one that chose you. THEY reached out to you via a vision. Simply put, THEY gazed upon you and basically gave Sunday to you, yeeting him into your already tight space and said “take care of the ‘crybaby ex-priest’ for me after he fucked up, took some of the power of Ena the Order briefly to try and ascend to godhood and essentially almost destroy Penacony as a whole”. And that was basically what happened.
After logging out of Honkai Star Rail for the day after finishing to do your dailies, you powered off your phone and lounged on your bed with your Rin Tohsaka cosplay next to you and some music you had saved playing in the background, music specifically from the original Fate/stay night anime adaptation which was the opening that you loved a lot. Your parents weren’t home because of work and you were off from work that day so you decided to chill out for the moment. You turned over on your side to touch the fabric of the shirt you bought for your Rin cosplay and then got off of your bed. You decided to put on the cosplay instead of lay there and look at it and since it’s nice and cool in your room, you wouldn’t have to worry about the cosplay getting all sweaty and whatnot.
So, you slipped off your shirt and pants to put on the iconic red long sleeved Rin shirt along with the skirt and stockings. And for the final touch, you headed into your bathroom and styled the brown wig you got so that it was the same hair style as Rin’s hair in the Fate series with black ribbons.
‘Done,’ you thought proudly as you stared at the wig on the styrofoam head. You took it off of the styrofoam head and placed it on your head carefully after putting the hairnet on first to pull back your natural hair. And there, you were done with your Rin cosplay. You had already done the makeup earlier so you didn’t have to worry about doing that.
You stepped out of your bathroom and looked at yourself in the long mirror you had in your room beside the window, turning around as you began to look at every angle from the mirror. It wasn’t bad for your first Fate related cosplay but you’ll definitely do a glowup for it later in the future when you have enough time to do so. Anyway, enough of that.
You walked over to the TV that was sitting on top of your dresser and turned it on, soon beginning to set up the TV settings so it could capture your Nintendo Switch. After finishing to do that, you sat back down on your bed and connected your controller to the console before loading up Minecraft. As you began playing on one of the save files you had for Minecraft on your switch, the thought of Sunday suddenly popped into your head and made you stop moving your character in game.
What horrible timing, and just when you were forgetting about him and his rerun. That ended up killing the mood for you, so much so that you just stopped playing Minecraft and decided to play Zenless Zone Zero instead since you hadn’t caught up with the current endgame yet plus you hadn’t done your dailies either.
As you played through the current endgame mode that refreshed, you started to feel sleepy. Your body also felt heavy which was strange because just a few minutes ago, you weren’t feeling sleepy at all. And the more time had passed, the sleepier you got. You eventually fell asleep in your Rin cosplay after finishing to get to the next level for the refreshed endgame mode. And while you were asleep, an uninvited guest was also asleep and in your bed.
Said guest was gently placed in your bed through the force of air holding them, as if they were blessed by the heavens above. You were unconscious at the time so it was way later when you saw who was sleeping in your bed. When you finally woke up, you saw that the person in question was none other than the one character you hated the most in Honkai Star Rail — Sunday.
That crybaby ex-priest, the guy who gets way too philosophical and talks way too much, the guy that everyone but you simped for. And the one person that made Penacony a chore to get through because of his absurdly long monologues and conversations he’d have with others or to himself.
He had his back turned away from you and man, did he look realistic. It was actually really uncanny seeing the details in his head wings and every feather, the details in every strand in his bluish-gray hair, the shimmer of his golden halo and how realistic his face looked from this angle. Overall, this would be a Sunday fangirl’s wet dream but you aren’t a Sunday fangirl, thus it didn’t make you react in any way besides feeling annoyed by the mere thought of him being in your bed. But, since he’s in your room now, you can’t just kick him out or ignore him. If it’s like those reverse isekai fan fictions you kept seeing then Sunday won’t be returning to his universe’s cosmos anytime soon which was unfortunate for you. Just the thought of it bummed you out and made you sigh with exasperation.
“Just great,” you mumbled as you crawled out from under the blankets of your bed. “My luck is considered the best luck for everyone else but me and at the worst possible time too. I swear Xipe must be making fun of me ‘cause there’s no way.” You glanced down to look at Sunday’s sleeping face then looked away but once you saw one of his head wings twitch absentmindedly, you threw your eyes back onto him to watch his every move and see if he was beginning to wake up or not. As if your instincts were right, he was starting to wake up which wasn’t good for you at all. As Sunday’s eyes began to flutter open, Xipe brought THEIR gaze down upon you once again through yet another vision. This time, it was clearer than before since you briefly saw Xipe and your thoughts were clouded.
You knew those various shades of purple and blue from anywhere. THEY didn’t say a word to you, just like earlier. THEY simply covered Sunday with THEIR sweeping force and shouldered him since he was one of THEIR most devoted followers at the time. But, you could tell, Xipe wanted for you to keep Sunday and take care of him because it was obvious that his life was and is still fucked. You watched THEIR smile grow wider as THEY disappeared into nothingness.
Your gut was telling you that there was more to just taking care of Sunday. There had to be because there was no way Xipe only wanted you to babysit this fucker. By the way, why was an Aeon making you babysit a grown ass man you’d rather not look at? Anyway, you tried to figure out what else Xipe wanted you to do but before you could come up with possible answers, Sunday stirred awake from his sleep. Oh great, what perfect timing.
You watched Sunday’s golden eyes wander around your room curiously and from where he sat, he took in his surroundings. “Where…” You looked away from Sunday without hesitation and crossed your arms, going back to cooking up possible answers for what Xipe also would’ve wanted you to do in silence. You begrudgingly answered him before going deep into thought.
“You’re in my room. Your little Aeon dropped you off at my place like I’m some goddamn babysitter,” You sighed yet again and walked over to your bedroom door, soon grabbing the door knob to leave the room. Through a whisper, you mumbled something that he couldn’t hear which left him even more confused than he already was. “… and to annoy me, it seems.” And with that, Sunday was left alone in your room.
You leaned against your door and resumed thinking of possibilities for Xipe keeping Sunday in your place. You eventually thought of something. Though, if it was true, you’d be super pissed at Xipe despite that Aeon being a “nice” Aeon. You believed that Xipe wanted entertainment so that’s why THEY gave Sunday to you which was strange in it of itself. Just the idea of Xipe wanting to troll you made you even angrier than you already were considering who you’re dealing with.
Meanwhile, from Sunday’s point of view, he was very confused by what was happening. Here, he could see a lady whom he didn’t know essentially slam the door on him. And from the looks of it, she sounded angry. Was she angry with him? Or was she angry at herself? He didn’t know, and he was afraid to ask since he was unfamiliar with his current surroundings.
Sunday looked down at your bed sheets and your blanket before crawling out of your bed. He saw that his grimoire was still with him, thank goodness. And without needing to call out, his nymphs were summoned into the room and floated around him. Good to know the little ones were here as well. Wordlessly, he sent off his nymphs and grabbed his grimoire. He held it close to his chest and approached the door. He placed his hand on the door knob and was about to turn it when you decided to come back into your room. The door opened right then and there, startling him.
You just walked past him without saying a word. “Xipe gazed down on me two times today,” you begin with a hint of irritation in your voice. “I’m not sure what’s so special about me that THEY need to look at me this many times but THEY did. And I have a feeling that THEY’RE trolling me, that’s why THEY dropped you into my place without saying anything.”
Sunday raised his eyebrows and felt his eyes widen slightly, baffled by what he was hearing. But, he was also confused by the terms he was hearing as well. “Xipe is… trolling you? Um,” Wait, what is trolling? Oh, he knows that Stelle and Caelus know that word! They say it all the time while he was on the Astral Express. But, what did it mean exactly? “Forgive me but may I ask what trolling is? I’ve heard the word used before but I seem to have forgotten..”
You placed your cheeks in your hands and looked at the carpet. “It’s when someone plays or is playing pranks on you. Like if someone poured water on your head without you knowing and later told you it was a prank, that’s trolling.” For a brief moment, Sunday didn’t say anything. He clutched his grimoire just a little tighter and looked down at his feet, frowning a little bit after your brief explanation.
“..Xipe could never do such a thing! Ah… Sorry about that. Please forgive me. I didn’t mean to raise my voice at you. It’s just- I find it hard for me to believe..”
“It’s not a bad thing. I just hate the fact that THEY’RE doing it to me of all people.”
You turned your attention over to Sunday and it seems that he’s misunderstanding what trolling really is. Eh, whatever. You didn’t feel like explaining it twice to him. You stood up and looked at Sunday’s direction, firmly staring him down. He, in turn, looked at you attentively and watched what you were going to do next, seeing that you’re still a stranger to him. “Did you get looked at by Xipe before you became unconscious? Like the usual ‘having a vision’ stuff?”
“I…” Sunday opened his mouth to speak but the words wouldn’t come out. He couldn’t remember anything before and after he blacked out since it was all a blur to him. He soon closed his mouth after muttering a quiet reply. “..I don’t remember. It all happened very quickly that I can’t seem to recall what happened.”
Great, that’s even better. Xipe must’ve not gazed down on him. But now he has slight memory loss. Well, what matters to you is that you were somewhat able to understand a little more on why Xipe did what THEY did. This whole thing was becoming more and more of a hassle than it already is.
You let out another exasperated sigh which again startled Sunday because it seems him being sensitive is also something you need to deal with. Not that men can’t be sensitive, you just hated when it was him. ‘Wimpy son of a bitch,’ you thought with a huff. You turned around and sat back on your bed, eventually grabbing your phone to turn it back on and go back to playing Zenless Zone Zero.
You were at a standstill right now in terms of what to do now so you decided to just chill out for now and calm down. While you quietly finished up the refreshed endgame levels that you were able to clear, Sunday just stood there nervously. He made small glances at you while you essentially ignored him for the time being.
It wasn’t until you were feeling thirsty when you decided to acknowledge Sunday but only to ask him if he wanted water because even though you hated him, you were kind enough to still give him the things he might’ve needed. You walked over to your bedroom door with your phone in hand and before you opened the door, you looked over at Sunday and he looked at you. “Do you want any water?”
“…Yes please,” Sunday blinked at you when he heard your question. ‘How thoughtful,’ he eventually thought after a while. But to you, it was just doing what you were taught to do which was essentially the right thing. You nodded your head and stepped out of the room for a second to grab him and yourself some water. While you went outside to get water, he decided to journal how he was feeling at the moment.
Sunday described you as a strange yet kind lady who was very thorough with your explanations. Though, he was still unfamiliar with this world so it was kind of worrying that he woke up in a stranger’s room. Overall, despite your kind gestures, he was still very scared and also very confused. He could only pray to Xipe to guide him through this without fail.
You eventually came back and when you did, you walked in at what seemed to be a bad time. Sunday was praying to who you assumed was Xipe naturally. And his little book was open. Seems like he’s writing in his book regarding what’s happening between you and him.
You just put his water bottle next to his feet and opened your water bottle, taking a few sips from it before sitting down on your bed once again. After hearing you sit down, Sunday opened his eyes and turned to look at you. You reluctantly spared him a look and when you did, you immediately regretted it. He smiled at you and thanked you for the water. You just looked away and went back to playing Zenless Zone Zero.
There was a very long pause afterwards and you just did your dailies. Sunday, on the other hand, took small sips from his water bottle and surprisingly drank a lot more than he expected since his throat was so parched. He turned the cap back on the bottle, placed it beside his feet and then gazed at the rays of sunlight peeking from your curtains from outside your window. He wondered if the outside was just as beautiful as it looked from where he sat. He wanted to go and see but knowing how he was still in a stranger’s home, he wasn’t sure if he should ask that question right now.
He turned around and asked you where exactly he was specifically which made you pause doing your dailies for a second. You stared at Sunday and then wrote down where he was. You wrote down your address, the country you lived in and finished it off by seeing he was on Planet Earth. You gave it to Sunday and in turn, he took it from your hands and read it for a few seconds.
He knew that Planet Earth was where Mr. Yang was from originally before he boarded the Astral Express and called it his home. So, he’s on Planet Earth? If he’s on Planet Earth then does this mean the Astral Express is no more? Or is it still on the path of the Trailblaze and he’s just not on it?
There were so many questions that rolled around in Sunday’s head and from what you could tell, he was even more confused. Again, you didn’t feel like explaining shit to him so you just resumed doing your dailies. Well, you were about to when Sunday gently tapped your shoulder to grab your attention and ask you another question.
“Oh my god, what is it now, dude? You’re on Planet Earth so I’m not an alien. I told you where we are specifically. What’s next, are you gonna ask what date it is?”
”..I’m sorry for asking so much. I just… want to know as much as possible. This place is unfamiliar to me so I just want to be aware of where I am.”
Of course, but to be fair, he didn’t really know anything. He only knew Planet Earth through Welt and he’s not that reliable. He was also born in Penacony only. Well whatever, you might as well. You told him the exact date and time according to your time zone which further helped him to understand a little bit about his situation right now. There was one thing he wanted to ask you and that was concerning why he was in your home in the first place. But, he knew that you probably wouldn’t know the answer yourself since you’re just as confused as he was.
Xipe eventually gazed upon you for the third time today and THEY gazed upon Sunday as well. THEY manifested a physical form but because of how big of an Aeon THEY were, you and Sunday could only see THEIR head and upper body. The sounds of harmony rang in and out of your ears as THEY casted THEIR arms out in a lovingly, warm and familiar way. Almost motherly if you could call it that.
Anyway, it seems that Xipe was in rather a great mood to gaze at you three times in a row. It was brief but you blacked out for just a second. You noticed that Sunday did as well at that moment. After Xipe gazed upon you and Sunday, you suddenly knew exactly what THEY wanted you to do with Sunday. As for Sunday, he was kept in the dark about that because it would probably just make him even more confused. After that, Xipe disappeared from your vision and that whole ordeal further confirmed what you were originally thinking which soured your mood even more.
A lingering feeling of Xipe’s harmonious warmth continued to cover Sunday along with a slight headache. That feeling was already gone for you and when he eventually felt better, you quickly finished the rest of your dailies before sitting up straight. The look in your eyes… You were serious now. That caught Sunday’s attention and made him look at you with his undivided attention.
“I’m only gonna tell you this once,” you begin. From that point on, you explained what Xipe told you as briefly yet clearly as possible. And as he listened to every word, Sunday grew more and more shocked by this revelation. “Xipe told me that THEY want me and you to entertain THEM which only confirmed what I was thinking earlier. Why? I don’t know. But our job is to think of how to entertain Xipe. There is no punishment but if we don’t do it, we’ll make Xipe sad apparently.”
“But… I don’t understand.” You watched Sunday look into his lap, furrow his eyebrows slightly and entangle his hands together with an even deeper frown on his face. “Xipe asked us to entertain THEM? This is a request that sounds like something Aha would ask THEIR followers instead. It’s such a strange request, and to hear it coming from Xipe as well. It’s honestly kind of unsettling.”
“It does sound like something Aha would ask but it’s Xipe who’s asking. I don’t know everything about what the Aeons are thinking but it’s THEIR choice whether or not THEY choose to ask THEIR ordinary people who happened to be gazed by THEM and/or THEIR followers these weird requests. Neither one of us can change what THEY say, that’s certain.”
“I guess that is true since Aeons are the highest beings that humanity has ever known, with some even existing before humanity came to be. If anyone has a say, it’s the Aeons THEMSELVES.”
Exactly, that’s why you don’t see a reason in refusing. As much as you wanted to, this was an Aeon you were talking about. Refusing THEM is like refusing a god. And since Sunday’s one of THEIR most devoted followers, there’s no way he’d reject Xipe’s wishes. So, reluctantly, Sunday agreed to help entertain Xipe.
And just as he did, a random portal opened up almost immediately after. And without being able to get a word in, you and Sunday were sucked into this portal and dragged into another world unconscious.
You weren’t ready for what you were going to deal with along the way and especially not with him being with you. This was shaping up to be the worst experience you were about to have. And unfortunately, it was only going to get worse from here on out.
When you woke up from being unconscious for so long, you were floating in a sea of nothingness. You and Sunday both, you were both floating in nothing. Neither of you could move, you were both very still for hours. After a while, you both blacked out again and fell back asleep.
Somewhere else, precisely in another world different from yours, there was a problem arising. But, it was only brewing.
(wip)
It weirded you out for sure but honestly, there was nothing you could do about it. Xipe wanted entertainment, therefore, you had to give it to THEM otherwise things wouldn’t go well for you in the long run despite the fact that you’re dealing with one of the nicer Aeons according to lore. (wip)