Kreide
| NPC | Enemy | Trivia |
Kreide is an NPC in Arknights. He is the deuteragonist of Lingering Echoes and a supporting character in Prelude Suite: Cadenza Virtuosa.
Background
Kreide is one of the Witch King's distant descendants who, like Ebenholz, was kidnapped by the Witch King's Remnants as a child to be used as a subject in their cruel experiments.[1] The Remnants forcefully implanted a fragment of the "Voice of Terra", a musical Arts that possesses the Witch King's consciousness, into his body in the hope of "resurrecting" their majesty. However, the experiment was so brutal that all the other subjects except Kreide and Ebenholz died. Kreide himself almost lost his life and was discarded by the Remnants as little more than a corpse.[1] After the Twin Empresses purged the Remnants' experiment, they assigned a secret agent to keep an eye on Kreide, who was found to be alive. This Infected Feline man would eventually become Kreide's adoptive grandfather for the rest of his life.[2] Due to the passage of time, Ebenholz and Kreide forgot this part of their lives and treated each other as strangers upon their subsequent reunion, with Ebenholz even believing him to be long dead.[3]
Following their arrival at Vyseheim, Kreide and his grandfather decided to settle there for a quiet, peaceful life as they had been wandering around the country due to the social discrimination against their Oripathy. Unfortunately, Kreide's fragment of the "Voice" was not properly sealed within his body and was constantly "leaking out." The power of his Voice not only affects his body by temporarily keeping his Oripathy dormant, but also quietly accelerates the progress of Oripathy in the Infected around him, a phenomenon which he noticed as time passed.[4] To this day, he feels a deep guilt at this "curse" that he brings to others around him.[5]
Story
Lingering Echoes
Kreide auditioned for Czerny's farewell concert under the impression that performing at the concert would provide a large amount of prize money, which he needed to pay for his grandfather's treatment. However, upon learning otherwise, he was devastated. Fortunately, Ebenholz offered to cover for his grandfather's medical expenses on the condition that the two of them perform together. Ebenholz and Kreide decided to audition with "Morgen und Abend", Czerny's composition for piano, flute, and cello.
Kreide and Ebenholz practiced intensely to fulfill Czerny's expectations, but there were still hitches in their cooperation. Ebenholz did not regard Kreide's rhythm, while Kreide was too focused on cooperating with Ebenholz, neglecting to showcase the brilliance of his own piece. However, the two Caprinae developed a friendship as they practiced, and the flaws in their playing also began to disappear. Kreide also defended Hibiscus when she faced threats from locals for being a Sarkaz due to a rumour spread by Lachmann. Unfortunately, Kreide's borrowed cello was damaged in the ensuing scuffle, prompting Ebenholz to purchase a new one for him. Ebenholz also paid for Kreide's performance clothes, as Kreide lacked the funds to afford them.
Things did not go as expected, and Kreide was informed of Gertrude's plans to use the concert to massacre the district's inhabitants, as well as the "Voice of Terra" residing in his body and his past with Ebenholz. When Lachmann unleashed a swarm of Originium Slugs on the city, Kreide played a duet with Ebenholz in order to invoke a resonance between their "Voices of Terra" and drive the slugs away. Inspired by this, Czerny composed a new song, Licht und Schatten, to try and draw out the two youths' "Voices" into himself.
During Czerny's farewell concert, Czerny, Kreide and Ebenholz performed this new piece but Gertrude's interference caused the Voices to destabilize, threatening to consume everyone in the concert hall. In a desperate attempt, Ebenholz decided to sacrifice himself by taking both Voices into himself. But Kreide, drived by his worsening health, self-sacrifical nature and satisfaction from the events leading up to this moment, chose to take both Voices into himself instead.
Despite his body and mind degrading from the unstable Voices, Kreide managed to maintain his sanity until the concert ended. He urged Ebenholz to not let their past misfortunes define them and to instead look fondly at fate's blessings rather than cursing its woes. As Kreide finally asked Ebenholz to stop his impending rampage, he transformed into a towering, monstrous Arts Creation as the Witch King's consciousness fully consumed him, forcing Ebenholz to fulfill Kriede's request and put him out of his misery.
Eventually, Ebenholz managed to defeat Kreide's monstrous form, and Kriede died in his arms despite Ebenholz's frantic denial. As Ebenholz embraced him, the active Originium spikes on Kreide's body pierced Ebenholz's skin, infecting him with Oripathy. However, before his death, Kriede delivered an encouraging speech to Ebenholz, which would change the other Caprinae youth's outlook on the world forever and eventually prevent him from falling into despair and bitterness.
| “ | Live on, Ebenholz, and walk through the long night. Fight injustice, and treat others with generosity and charity. Only by doing so will I live on in your memory. I'll ask you, how did your day go, Ebenholz? And you'll tell me proudly that you had a good and productive day. You'll tell me about the challenges you face while doing good, and complain about how fate is a miser. And it will be okay, because I'll be listening. It's alright to complain a little, when you've worked so hard. Only by doing so will you rise above pain and suffering, and find peace in your heart. Remember that we've fought together against cruel fate and won. When you think of me, laugh. Don't cry. And Ebenholz... I'm sorry. I haven't thought about what token... to give you... | ” |
| —Kreide's last words |