"What are we going to do?", I wondered aloud, like a child.Chopper was holding Sight who had collapsed, although he was still conscious."What d'ya think?", he said, while helping Sight sit against a rock.I looked back at Deli and Lubbock. Nothing seemed to have changed with them. Grim was intently watching the Void. Lady was just a small figure now from where we were."How is she going to stop it anyway?", I asked, still in a sort of daze."Something that is opposite of a void...or perhaps a void bigger than this void. No, regardless of what it is, we won't know. She won't know either.""Chopper-san, are you really not concerned at all?""What are ya saying, kid?", he chuckled, putting a half burnt cigarette between his lips, "How is that possible?"He'd seated Sight and presently walked back to my side."I've been with her since the start. It's not possible for me to not be concerned. But she's been far weaker than she's ever been stronger. So I'm sure she knows her own limits bet
"Ch...Chopper-san...", my voice drowned in the screams that covered the sky above us.But Chopper didn't even look my way. His eyes were glued to the core of the void that denied any and all light. Only Lady's small figure struggling against it was visible in the sky, which looked like a dark abyss at this point. "Chopper-san!", I grabbed him by his shoulder and shook him.He had a horrified look on his face, as he stared at Lady. Most of us were the same. Grim was the only one who wore a sullen face instead. It looked to me like he'd been expecting something like this but had thought that Lady avoided this outcome. He must have been relieved at the moment because now he looked crushed. "She should just let go", Grim murmured. Despite everything, he was one of us. At the very least, he knew Lady before I did. No, I wasn't even in a position to compare myself to him. I didn't know anything about him or Lady. I wasn't even capable of understanding them. Because I was at fault. At
"When I was little, I once cut my finger. It was just a small cut, just a little skin. I stood with my hand under the running tap for hours. It surprised me that that little bruise managed to continue bleeding for such a long time. I did keep pressing it, though. Perhaps because I didn't want the blood to stop. Still, I thought that it would, even if I did keep pressing it. And so I thought that when that happened, I'd turn the tap the other way and be free. But it never did stop.""What do you mean?""With every little squeeze, my finger was smeared with blood. I thought that if the blood won't stop then maybe someone would come along and tell me to quit. That would give me an incentive to stop what I was doing. So I kept waiting. But no one came. And when it became apparent that I had no incentive to stop the blood, I began wondering if my heart would start beating faster, or if I'd have lost enough blood to make me dizzy. I kept waiting for it to happen. But it didn't. You know why
Under the very distant sky, with her arms sprawled wide, she was lying there all alone. Bled dry and with every bone in her body broken, she had lost all feeling. Her eyes moved though, and traced every depth of the darkened sky above her. The distant sound of someone approaching her was relieving. She vaguely smiled before closing her eyes.The crunching sound of boots over the rubble stopped within inches of her. She opened her eyes."Seraph...", she smiled.I wore no expression on my face. I had passed by Grim without flinching even a bit as he writhed on the ground, with his lower half lying a little way off. He'd missed his chance to go out. All thanks to a certain someone. I paid him no heed. I knew where she was, so I headed straight there.Now that I was looking at her small, fragile body, covered in blood and evidently too broken to support her anymore, I lost my ability to think. And yet she was smiling. Things like this remind you why death is necessary.I crouched down be
~Weep not for roads untraveledWeep not for paths left lone'Cause beyond every bend is a long blinding endIt's the ***** **** ** **** *** *****~The distant words got garbled over the wind. I'm sure they were swimming in my own head but I lost track. It was as if they'd just glitched out of place so I could no longer hear anything but static."Lubbock fawns over every woman, Deli. I hope you aren't getting fooled by him", I was the one that had said this a long time ago, seeing how kind Deli could be with Lubbock.She laughed."That kid doesn't have a clue on how to fool a woman. I'm way beyond his league."That was indeed true. She was barely in anyone's league. "He's never tried anything with June though. I wonder why that is", I said, while idly looking at June typing away her perpetual records.Deli laughed again."That's cause June hates him. Everyone knows that.""She hates him? Why?""She sure does. And she can get vocal about it too. 'What would a machine like you know?', i
~Give up your heart left brokenAnd let that mistake pass on'Cause the love that you lost wasn't worth what it costAnd in time you'll be glad it's gone~I was beginning to nod off with a dream of that little girl in another world playing before my eyes when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I wonder if she existed in this one too. I had just silently been sitting in front of Prophet's nameless grave. Now that I looked up and beyond, dawn was already breaking. I looked over my shoulder to find Chopper, surprisingly haggard. He hadn't slept last night too. "Come on in", he said in a low voice before getting up and leaving.I couldn't feel my limbs. They had fallen asleep even as my head kept rolling the same scenes before my eyes.I pushed myself to get up, almost like a rusty machine. Sparing a last look at Prophet's grave, to whom I had said nothing all night, I headed to Valhalla.Lady was seated in her chair like usual. Chopper stood leaning against the back wall. He had been waitin
"Shut up! Stop following me!", he yelled and ran off towards the forest.Naturally, she followed without a second thought. She didn't call out his name, because she knew how it annoyed him. And even though she wasn't used to the terrain in the forest, she couldn't just leave him alone.Of course, he was faster. Before she knew it, he had disappeared in the forest. Even if she called out his name now, he wouldn't answer. So she kept searching on her own. Stumbling, falling and bruising her legs countless times, she always got up and went back to looking for him.But soon, the sky darkened and she could smell the rain in the air. That scared her. She knew it would be dark soon. And she didn't know the forest well enough to return by herself anyway. Not that she was going to leave without him.On the other hand, he was already sure she'd left. She would never be able to find him, he thought. Sitting in the the hollow tree trunk, he knew he'd be alright come rain or hail."It's not like t
~Weep not for roads untraveledWeep not for sights unseen~ It was windy as always on the mound. The sun unusually shone on Valhalla. A strange sadness permeated everything, the kind of sadness you get when rain water dries up. I was certain now, more so than ever, that it was all over. Now there was nothing I could look back on. Because in this current world, I had learned something which I never knew before. I had moved past the point of returning. As I was, even if I redid everything, I wouldn't be able to trace back to the original reality. I had been rewriting this world for far too long. "Power of negation", Lady had said later on, when it was just Chopper, her and me, "We began to think it was that when you negated Deli's knowledge of her children dying." "How'd you know it was that?", I asked, without a ripple in my expression. "We checked her mind. Her magical wavelengths weren't showing anything strange. So why would she not have heard her old man when all of us did? It
I would like to think to myself that this isn't the end. But seeing as her story went back to where it all started, I realized that my role wasn't saving her at all. I just made sure she'd continue to exist, eternally.In eternal suffering and forgetfulness and new encounters and the last times, in every world, she'll continue to exist.As for me, I couldn't bear to live in a world knowing she was somewhere out there, helpless and torn, just as she'd been when I first found her.When did I first find her?Who can say? I had always been talking about how I wished I'd met her sooner. In fact, I had always known her. Our existences were intertwined so much that I don't think either of us could just pull away and be happy all on our own without thinking of the other.After I'd returned Lady's power to her, I floated away in an empty space for an eternity. I was foolish enough to think that the sorrow would fade away one day. But no matter how long and far I floated away, the memory and th
It was the coldest I'd felt in ages, and there was an aching heaviness in my head that I simply couldn't seem to shake off no matter how much I walked. I don't know when, how, or why I was walking through the snow towards the top of some hill I didn't even know.For that matter, I didn't remember who I was, how I'd gotten there, or where I was going.And just like that, before I knew it, I had collapsed in a den of wolves. Luckily, it looked abandoned, so I didn't get eaten off right away. I figured it'd be a long, slow death. I found the idea of such a gentle death appealing, despite the fact that I was walking mindlessly just seconds ago.I must have passed out, for when I came to, I was stiff as a rock. And yet, I wasn't that cold anymore. I lifted my head to find myself covered in a bear pelt. Someone had been so kind as to cover me up. And yet, the pelt was rather old and shoddy. Who cared as long as it could keep me warm?I stood up, looking around, getting accustomed to my surr
"I didn't imagine we'd ever come to a crossroads such as this", I let out a puff of smoke, standing opposite her."But, as a matter of fact, I always had a feeling we would", Lady answered with her signature smirk."Sure, you did", I said sarcastically.It was surprising at first. But things made sense soon enough. Lady had sent all of us away on a mission. She'd isolated herself at Valhalla. Chopper had left of his own accord. She'd sent Sight to look for him. Deli had gone to see her children. And she bid Lubbock and June farewell. She'd even given her fur coat to June. Grim was on a mission, too. And I was looking for Jean V. to deliver her letter.It was all exactly as it had been back then. When I'd return from meeting Jean V., Lady would already be beyond saving. Back then, all I knew was that the person who sent her that blank letter was the one who came to kill her. I never ventured to find out much else.It all made sense now as I stood be
"Must you leave without fulfilling my wish, Seraph?"He had some guts to ask. I looked up at the red sky. There was nothing but barren, burnt land all around us."What else could you ask for?", I looked back at him."You look so old, Seraph", he chuckled, "What exactly did you give the others?"I looked behind me without answering his question. There was no one and nothing."What? It's a long story", I answered without looking at him."We've got time to kill", he grinned."I don't", I said, but went on to answer him anyway, "I gave everyone what they wanted.""Really?"I glared at him, "Yes, really, Grim. I took a fee, of course."He laughed."And what will you take from me?", he asked, grinning.I looked around and then rested my eyes on him."There's really nothing."He seemed to agree."So how'd you manage?""Well, Grim, you could almost call it travelling back through time. Though, it really isn't that. I split the worlds to create new ones. Time doesn't exist for me anymore. Ever
"I will take death in any way and form it comes to me, anywhere and anytime."That had to be the most brazen statement I'd heard. It took me a bit to take that statement in."You really have no special requests? If I can, I'd like to make it up to you", I sat down and stared at his bloodied face.He shook his head."Make up for what?", he asked.He didn't know me yet to call me "boy" but I suppose that's the way it had to be.I had become better at rewriting the reality. I could write quite far back in certain cases. For example, in Sight's case, I made it so he never met Lady and Chopper on the night he killed the prima donna, Czarna Dalia.Before meeting them he didn't know anything about what he'd been doing. He didn't know what an outcast was, even though he himself was an outcast. Ignorance is indeed the greatest of all blisses. And I thought for Sight, it had to be the biggest saving.Lady was right. People who see things differently are the most dangerous of all. Especially tho
"This isn't what I asked for, Seraph", she complained, fixing her glasses on her tiny nose."I don't get what the hell it is that you want exactly, June", I was beginning to get tired."You don't understand at all", she folded her arms."You're damn right, I don't. What kind of crazy a-""One thing.", she looked at me sternly, "One thing I'm asking for is a place to be happy. Not a mother, not a wife, not a hero, not any of the other things you're trying to come up with.""What'll make you happy, exactly?", I folded my arms and leaned against the wall of Valhalla.Everyone else was off to fend the red sky off. June had been left behind in a protective barrier.She fell silent."How about Lady? Isn't she your favorite?""I could care less about her", she answered, bluntly, "I hate her.""Huh?", I wasn't sure I'd her heard her right."She does everything on a whim. She claims to understand everything when rea
"They are waiting for you, Monsieur Lubbock", a dark woman poked her head into the dressing room, "It's almost time for the show."The bajillion young ladies that were powdering his nose scattered away.His face was pink with heat and he wore a long fancy coat. It almost looked odd on his somewhat small figure."I'll be right there", he answered, gussying up in the mirror."Aww, you're leaving already, Monsieur?", some of the girls came up to him.He chuckled modestly."What can I say? The life of the greatest singer in the world isn't so relaxing, my dears.""You might be the greatest singer, but Monsieur is also the life of all women's hearts", one of the cheekier ones commented.Lubbock laughed. He didn't try to hide how much he loved being pampered like this."I'm sorry, girls. My audience awaits!"Saying so, he shot out of the room and hurried towards the stage. Backstage was always heated just before his shows. He was the one star that every theater wanted to have. But he was a
"Do you blame me for mother's death, father?", she asked, placing the empty cup of tea on the little side table.Her father wasn't facing her. He was still locked up in his study, reclining on his chair and looking out of the window at some distance lands.She sat straight, with her back erect. The weight of her gown was enough to tire her but she was made up, as befitting of a noble. She had to look all the more perfect since she was visiting her home for the first time since her marriage."Blame you?", the lord of the house spoke in his grave voice after a while, "I simply don't think you were worth her death. Esme was a wise woman. A level headed, understanding, noble woman."Faye looked at her lap."You refuse to carry out the will of the house of Vlad. You'll go as far as to commit a heinous crime to that end. I'm disappointed beyond measure."Faye pursed her lips. No one but she herself had been hurt the most by what she'd done."Vlad was born to you twice. And yet, you ungratef
"Tell you what, Seraph, this one time, I met a girl and she had these enormous scars all over her arms and legs. I couldn't help noticing her, of course. When she told me she did it herself, I couldn't help it. I killed her then and there", he chuckled to himself, "I didn't want to do it, of course. Something just came over me. It wasn't that she told me she did it herself. It was how she said it. She was smiling.""I'm sure she wasn't smiling because she was happy", I answered, with a solemn look on my face."I'm sure of that too. I was sure of it back then too. That's probably why I killed her. But do you know how many people I've saved?"He looked at my face. I stayed silent."I've saved more people than I've killed. I've been counting since the beginning. I know, for sure, that my atonement is over. At least, it ought to be. But does it look like I'm still repenting?", he asked, smiling vaguely, knowing my answer."You do.""That's because I am. No matter how many I save...the ato