"Oi...", the man came into my blurry vision, as the dust and smoke settled on my face, "Did you just grow...skin?"Now that I was seeing him clearer than before, he looked familiar, although I'm sure I'd never met the man before."Seraph, that's some regeneration you got.""Can you...", I was almost surprised to hear my own voice, "Can you tell me who you are? How do you know me and...what are you doing here?""Huh? Lose your bolts?", he sighed, "Well, I'll be damned. Just get up for now, you look plenty healthy."I cradled Nasty's remains in my arms and sat up. He was like a deflated balloon. I lay him down on a nearby rock and stood up."Hey Deli! Aren't you done there, dammit?!", he hollered to the lady who had arrived with him."Shut up, this piece of crack needs a piece of my brain!"I looked over at her. She was holding Prophet by his head, raising him above the ground. She was rather humongous herself, Prophet flailed like a ragdoll in her hand."Lucy...", I murmured. I had to
"~I can't be reached...I've only had one call, dragged underneath...separate from you all...~" "Seraph!" "Huh?", I broke out of my thoughts, "Yeah?" "Where's your head?", Deli asked. We were on our way back. It was rather windy today, we had left Wenus early in the morning. Valentine offered us a ride home but Chopper flatly rejected him. The four of us were now walking all the way back. We were crossing through a forest, it was high noon, but there was no sun. The sky was rather bland today. Or perhaps I felt that way after having become used to the crimson skies of that little hell. Prophet was back to normal. He looked really pale and weakened but otherwise he was fine. He couldn't properly talk to Chopper and Deli but I'm glad he wasn't nervous with me. "Are you sure you aren't angry with me, Seraph?", he had asked. "I was. It certainly wasn't uneventful down there but I guess...since we're out here now, that's all that matters", I looked his way as we walked side by side, f
"None of us are strong enough to control whatever is inside him. For now, he's in control thanks to the restraints Deli put on him. You can tell just by looking at him even from here, he can't be salvaged, Seraph.""I don't get it at all. What are you even-""Oi!", Chopper interfered, "Don't be a chicken about it, you brat. This is on you-""Chopper!", Lady stopped him."Just tell him the truth, hag. He ain't a kid", he seemed annoyed."Get things going. Call Sight and Grim, we don't have much time. Tell Deli to bring him around the back. We can't let him in when he's like that", she instructed Chopper after which he left.I stood watching them, utterly confused. After Chopper was gone, Lady looked at me and sighed."We always knew...that a time like this would come. But I had believed when I sent you...that you'd be coming back alone. Still, I should have known better...it was you, after all."She turned her back to me and looked emptily into the distance, perhaps formulating her tho
"Do you feel sorry for him?""...""Or do you feel remorse on being unable to protect your ideal world?""...""Say Seraph, are you...angry?""...""Why aren't you saying anything?...Do you hate me?""Cut it out already.""Well...that's better, ain't it?", she grinned.Indeed, I hated her guts, goofing around like that. This isn't what I was here for. I gritted my teeth, suppressing myself with every shred of constraint in my body. I bet it was visible enough, though she seemed to be enjoying this."Prophet isn't the one you should be feeling this way for, you know", she whispered.I guess that did it for me. I grabbed her by the collar, lifting her off the ground easily, as tiny as she was. I really meant to hit her really bad. I wonder what stopped me right there. I could feel the hungry eyes of Chopper on me, he was ready to rip my head off but Lady forbade him from interfering. He was standing at a distance, keeping an eye on me. "Its not a good view from here, Seraph", she final
"~I'm so tired...sheep are counting me~"I stood, staring at them wide-eyed."You've got to be joking", I muttered.But of course, they didn't look like they were. I had to wonder why I was the one who had to do it. This wasn't making any sense."This isn't the matter of whether someone else will or not. They simply can't. Besides, this is Prophet's choice. He is the one that picked you, wouldn't let him down now, would you?"That wasn't even an adequate excuse. Chopper looked right at me."You need a hand, kid?", his look made me go cold. I looked down, all the strength in me left me. The sun was racing down, I felt my spirit leaving along with it. My feet were heavy when I turned back and took a step towards Prophet.The sound every muscle in my body made as I walked over to him, the ground pressing beneath my feet, the air passing through my hair, drops of sweat on my forehead, the coldness of shivers running down my spine, my tongue running over my dry lips, my eyes struggling to
Another chapter of my life had come to a close. I must admit, I didn't get out of this one unscathed. In fact, I was brutally trodden upon from all sides. I yearned for rest, there really wasn't anything I could have asked for back then. But Valhalla was always in a turmoil.I had limited myself to my chamber most of the time, other times I rigorously trained. These honing sessions weren't short of torture but no one dared interfere and say anything to me. In fact, I rarely spoke a word at all to anyone. To me it seemed, no one else conversed either. Through my small circular window, I could view Lady standing at Prophet's grave everyday. She'd be emptily staring at the sky.The sky hadn't been very bright for such a long time, at first it was a terribly dull gray but now it had found a hint of crimson which seemed to be contaminating the gray exceedingly with every passing day. No one knew what was causing such a red sky and many people conjectured it to be the end of the world. I co
I lifted my foot which had just pulverized some burnt wood into the ground. The smell of that town was magnificent, like cooking hotpot on a rainy winter day. This piece of wood too, had once been a part of one of these vacant houses which harbored such hotpots. I remembered the last town Azag had run dry, this one reminded me of the same thing. We were likely to find some skeletons or similar remains here too. However, unlike last time, the sight didn't unsettle me one bit. There weren't a lot of things that moved me like that anymore. I was following Chopper's lead, who didn't seem to bat an eye on small things like that. I figured he'd already seen what was there to see here. Instead, he looked rather concerned about something else entirely. He turned to look at me more than once, as if searching for something. But when he wouldn't find it, he'd assume an annoyed look and look away. He never made any effort to hide his agitation. He was perhaps too preoccupied to try to conceal a
The wind that silently blew between us was teeming with ash and a dry smell of rain. It was screaming of emptiness, the most gray it had ever been.I, on the other hand, had about had enough of real and fake. I was quick to turn Chopper's claim down. He claimed that this was different from before, but I was just about ready to up and leave if he went on with that any longer."This seems real enough to me", I answered in a low voice.He looked about, concerned, perhaps seeking some thread to grab. I, seeing the opportunity at hand, went in for a jab right in his face. He managed to not just dodge it, but landed a clip round my ear instead. I almost saw heavens for a minute, but at least I remained standing."Doesn't seem like a dream, sir", I affirmed my theory.Chopper then slapped me across the face, owing partly to my not taking him seriously when he was so certain of the impending danger, and partly, because--at least in my opinion--he was feeling violent today."Look up, kid", he