Fate's Slave - Shadow Slave X Honkai Star Rail

”...Hey, Lil Gui?”

Guinaifen tilted her head at Sushang’s shaky wordss.

”What’s up?”

Sushang let out a nervous laugh, awkwardly pointing in the darkness with her flashlight.

”Is it just me, or is everything creaking? The floors, the walls, even the ceiling.”

Guinaifen looked up her selfie stick towards the dim glow of her screen, seeing the comments rushing in.

Sthan0s34: ”Bro doesn’t know *skull emoji*”

Kaladin_5651: ”That’s just how abandoned buildings work dawg”

TheStrongestBug: ”Where’s Sunny? I want to see Sunny! Give me Sunny!”

JaneJuliet: ”I’ll donate five doubloons for an armpit shot WITH whip cream”

Guinaifen quickly banned the last commentor from chat for thirty minutes — something she had to quickly get used to. As an Awakened entertainer, it was only natural that she’d get these kinds of viewer, regardless of gender.

Of course, she wouldn’t permanently ban them. Free engagement is free engagement. She made sure to show a winning smile to the camera as she selectively responded to the second comment.

”Yeah, Sushang, nobody has lived here in years! Of course it’s going to be super creaky and creepy.”

Sushang turned towards her, having an unconvinced look on her face.

”Right... so it’s completely normal for a haunted house to be completely silent when we came in, but not a few minutes after we started exploring?”

Guinaifen blinked.

”What?”

”I’m saying that it was completely quiet a while ago!”

Guinaifen shook her head, a pitying smile on her face.

”Relax, nothing’s going to happ— AH!”

She yelped when something latched onto her back. Clutching her selfie stick in one hand and her bo staff in the other, she twisted into a sweeping motion, kicking out at the legs of whatever was holding onto her, before using her staff to push off the ground and throw herself back, skidding on the decrepit wooden boards.

”Ouch...!”

The glow of Sushang’s flashlight shakily shifted to the spot where that sound came from, landing on the unmoving body of a green-haired Foxian, clutching onto the floor as if it were a raft. When the light flashed on her, she jumped up, ghastly tail swaying behind her.

Sushang sent Guinaifen an unimpressed look.

”Real smooth, Lil Gui.”

She nervously scratched the back of her head.

”Haha... sorry?”

TheRedHood: ”Lil Gui might be a fraudulent bum yo”

MisterOtnip: ”Isn’t the fraud the Master who just got one shot lmao”

ShiEgeria: ”This scary af gng...”

karr_knight: ”Hi.”

TheStrongestBug: ”SUUUUUNNNNNYYYYYY”

”TheStrongestBug has been temporarily banned from chat for spam-like behavior.”

Huohuo’s head seemed like a blur as she rapidly looked around, her face growing more and more despairful with each passing moment. A gruff voice resounded from her tail — which was Tail, of course.

”Sorry to say, but it looks like we’re all in danger.”

Guinaifen had a confused look on her face.

”...I thought Heliobi were nonviolent?”

Tail let out a haunting laugh as he separated from Huohuo’s body, floating over her shoulder instead.

”That’s like saying all of you pesky humans don’t strive to kill each other everyday. Sure, most of you aren’t bloodlusted murderers, but isn’t it ignorant to assume the same for every last one of you?”

The foxlike Heliobus had a strange gleam in his eyes.

”Us Heliobi feed on the emotions of humans. Not because we need it to survive, but because we enjoy the taste. That’s why we possess you, to feed on the chemical reactions happening in your nervous system... naturally, we all have different tastes. What do you think would happen if a Heliobus developed a preference for fear and pain, suffering and despair?”

Huohuo, surprisingly, didn’t seem particularly horrified at the moment — well, not any more than usual. Instead, she had a look of apprehensive appreciation on her face as she looked at her shoulder.

”Uh... thanks for explaining for me, Mister Tail. I think I’d have a heart attack if I had to say it myself...”

The glowing ball of ghastly emerald flames, shaped into a semblance of a fox’s head, scowled at her maliciously.

”Nobody did anything for you, you dumb brat! Maybe I should show you what a violent Heliobus looks like...”

”Please don’t...”

An indistinct voice echoed through the hall.

”Please don’t what?”

”Please don’t violently murder me, Mister Tail!”

There was a long pause.

”...Brat?”

Huohuo blinked at Tail’s confused voice.

”W—What is it?”

The Heliobus sent her a strange look.

”That voice... wasn’t mine.”

Huohuo stared blankly for a few moments. Then, she shivered. Sushang flinched, gripping her flashlight a little tighter. As for Guinaifen, her grin widened, wanting to capture some actual ghosts — excluding Tail, of course.

”Sushang, the voice came from behind Huohuo.”

The Foxian in question paled.

”Oh... of course. There’s always something behind me, huh?”

Beads of sweat trickled down Sushang’s face as she slowly turned the flashlight. The darkness was illuminated by the beam of light, slowly revealing more and more of the space behind Huohuo... until the entire hall was scanned.

There was nothing behind her, bringing a look of confusion to Sushang and Guinaifen’s faces.

Huohuo, who had her eyes shut, bit her lips as she helplessly requested:

”Whoever or whatever is behind me, please leave me alone. Ideally, I’d prefer if you went to a different planet. Otherwise, I’ll self-detonate!”

...Nevermind. It was less of a request and more of a threat of mutual Destruction.

Guinaifen let out a sigh of relief. Maybe they were all undergoing a shared hallucination?

Then, a male voice echoed from behind her.

”There’s nothing behind you.”

Guinaifen jumped, dropping her phone stick in the process.

***

Sunny felt a little smug. In a dark environment such as this, Sunny could easily creep up on people and make them feel a little fear.

He had come up behind Huohuo wearing Weaver’s Mask — for the voice effect — then used Shadow Step to get behind Guinaifen while removing the mask. He waited for when she was relaxed, then casually entered the conversation.

He always wanted to be an assassin. Or a spy. This was probably as close as he could get, though...

’...Actually, isn’t there a bit of a gap between a horror movie villain and an assassin?’

...Anyways, seeing Guinaifen still paralyzed, he picked up the selfie stick, seeing his own image reflected off her phone while a column of comments scrolled down beside it.

KaypandeaK: ”wtf? Who’s holding the camera?”

Val0r: ”THE GHOST GOT US CHAT!”

Sunphis: ”oh hell nah”

TheStrongestBug: ”Sunny! Are you reading this? I’m hungry.”

Sunny wore a strange look on his face. Feeling his Flaw act up, he replied to the last commentor.

”I am?

’Nobody asked if you were hungry, weirdo...’

Sunny shook his head, handing the phone stick back to Guinaifen.

”Oh, right. I saw the Heliobus—”

He was cut off when Sushang momentarily blinded him with her flashlight. He tightened his lips into a straight line as she sent him a look of surprise.

”Wha— How come nobody noticed you?!”

Sunny shrugged.

”I’m very good at hiding in dark places. I’ve found the Heliobus, by the way. I think it’s chasing me? Maybe.”

Huohuo made a face.

”Um... actually...”

Everyone present turned towards her — with the sole exception of Tail, who was observing the walls with interest — causing her to flinch. Then, with grit teeth, she forced out:

”The Heliobus... possessed the building itself.”