I felt the dry wind stinging my cheek. It felt like it might erode away at my dried up figure. I thought there must be a sandstorm brewing somewhere. And before me, that same vision I'd held hands with back then.

I wondered if this is what eternity felt like. If so, I thought I'd never really get out of it.

"If I hadn't met you..."

The possibilities after that sentence seemed infinite to me. But I knew in my heart, even if I could do it all again, I would invariably choose to meet her every single time.

Despite everything, I still believed in ridiculous things like fate and destiny. And in my head, I was fated to meet her.

*******************

It had been about a month since our return. And I had recuperated enough to continue my sparring sessions with Deli once again. I noticed she was entirely different from what I remembered. I no longer felt I could beat her in a fair battle. But then again, I was clueless about the extent of my own power.

I figured since Deli had had to drink blood during the Skyfall incident, she must have awakened for real. So much had happened since then and I hadn't let myself reflect on it anymore.

I could see the road my head would take if I dwelled on it much longer. So I'd just been riding the wave without slowing down.

"Good morning, Seraph", Grim greeted me in the hall.

It was rare of him to be awake and greeting me. I was naturally taken aback. But then the explanation for this anomaly soon came forward.

"You selfish old hag!", Chopper was thundering, as Lady sat back in her chair, her arms folded and her head hanging low.

"You just do what you want. Have you even considered the consequences?!"

Lady might have tried to explain herself before but she had given up at this point. Seeing as he wasn't gonna get her to change her mind, Chopper knocked his fist into the table in front of her.

"Fine then", he declared, "This'll be the last we'll see of each other."

That was shocking. It was unlike Chopper to be saying something like that. He didn't believe in emotional manipulation. But I think he meant it literally this time.

Saying those harsh words to her, he stormed out.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

I wondered if someone was going to go after him but no one moved. I could tell from Deli's face that she agreed with Chopper. She would have done the same if she wasn't so devoted to Lady.

"What's going on?", I asked Grim.

"It's the letter you brought in yesterday", he replied, grinning like usual.

"A letter?"

Then I remembered that I indeed had brought a letter in yesterday. I had just returned from sparring with Deli and as I was bewildered and drenched in a sea of sweat, I was rather out of my senses. And Deli had banged my head in a wall quite hard right at the end, so that made me dizzy. I'd seen someone at the door of Valhalla. I didn't quite remember what the man looked like but I thought they must be someone from the military, here to speak with Lady.

Our rations were due any day now and we'd been expecting someone. I had thought it was a messenger about the rations. Now, I'd already made a mistake of bringing an outsider inside once, right after I joined Valhalla. That misstep had almost had me killed. Outsiders weren't allowed inside Valhalla.

"June can't stand outsiders", Deli had told me later.

So yesterday, as I knew June was working, I knew letting the man in would be trouble. And I knew he'd be killed if he accidentally ventured inside.

"Hold on, I'll call someone", I patted his shoulder lightly and told him, making my way inside.

Lady took care of all these dealings herself. And I was the last person that was allowed to speak with military officials. So I needed to get someone to take care of the man.

"No need, please deliver it to her", the man grabbed my shoulder just before I disappeared behind the huge gate of Valhalla.

He handed me a folded paper and went off. I didn't quite take much note of him. I went in and handed the letter to Lady.

Lady wasn't expecting a letter. It was more of a note, without any envelope or name on it whatsoever.

She opened it and I saw her face going blank.

"Who delivered this note, Seraph?", she asked.

"Eh? Well, I'm not sure. Just someone. Probably a delivery boy."

She stared at the letter for a solid five minutes. I thought it was odd.

"What's it say, Lady?"

She sighed, handing me the letter.

To my surprise, it was utterly blank. I wondered what the big deal was. But I suddenly couldn't care about anything but taking a shower. I still needed to think of a plan to exact my revenge on Deli for banging my head in the wall.

"It's about that letter?", I asked Grim, remembering the day gone by.

He nodded.

"But it was blank. You sure?"

"Blank?", Grim laughed, "Well, the most important things in the world don't really need to be said, do they?"

Rather poetic, I thought, but perhaps true. But Chopper hated those kinds of things. It was understandable why he'd left.

"So what's really going on?", I asked.

"I wonder. Well, it's time for me to leave."

"Leave? Where are you going?", I asked.

"On a mission", he replied shortly, fixing his entirely black attire.

"You? On a mission?", I couldn't believe it.

He grinned at me and waved before walking off. He spared Lady a last grin before leaving through the door.

"Must be hard on that shut-in god. Sun's out and all. It's quite bright outside. He'll be blinded in no time", Deli said, plainly.

I stood by her, wondering if things were so dire that he had to leave.

I didn't get any explanation that day. Lady said she just had work she needed Grim to look after. She didn't talk about her argument with Chopper. I didn't mention the letter to her either. Later, Lady left and went to the forest. For the first time in Valhalla, we all ate separately that morning.