As warm sun rays gently caressed his closed eyelids, he began to stir from his slumber and finally woke up. Opening his eyes, he realized that another day had arrived, following yet another dreamless night.

Stretching his limbs and blinking away the remnants of sleep, he rose from his bed and proceeded with his customary morning routine. Absorbing his crown into his arm, he made his way to the bathroom for a refreshing bath. Afterward, he changed into fresh clothes and headed downstairs to join Men'ma's family.

Arriving somewhat late, the Rustler noticed that almost everyone was already seated at their usual places. "Good morning," he greeted, and received warm morning greetings in return. Once again, Men'ma was not present. It seemed that even five days after the ceremony, she still hadn't found the time to come back home. The Rustler didn't dwell on it; he had grown accustomed to her absence. Taking his usual seat, Men'ma's father greeted him with a "Good morning, Rustler," to which the Rustler replied, "Good morning."

"Did you sleep well?" Men'ma's father inquired. The Rustler nodded, and Men'ma's father responded, "Great!" Since their last discussion, the Rustler had grown closer to Men'ma's father, or at least he felt less reserved when it came to simply talking about things, especially about the differences between the two continents. They had developed a sense of camaraderie. Today, however, the Rustler couldn't help but notice something slightly different about Men'ma's father. Curiosity got the better of him, and he asked, "Did something happen?"

Men'ma's father exchanged a glance with his wife before smiling. "I would be lying if I said nothing happened," he began, teasingly. "You remember the night of the ceremony? When I returned, I had a conversation with our daughter about you."

"About me?" the Rustler responded, surprised.

"Yes, don't worry, we didn't talk behind your back," Men'ma's father assured, playfully.

"I wasn't thinking that."

"Anyway, we discussed what to do about your situation because we have to admit our daughter kind of threw you onto us. While it's not a problem for us, we realize it must be quite boring for you with nothing much to do in your day," Men'ma's father explained.

"Well, I can't say that it isn't," the Rustler admitted.

"I talked to Men'ma about it, and while we haven't come to a final solution, she promised to do her best to work out something for your request," Men'ma's father continued.

Request? The Rustler wondered what request he was referring to. Realizing his confusion, Men'ma's father clarified, "You mentioned wanting to be allowed outside, didn't you?" The Rustler nodded in affirmation.

Finally, the Rustler understood what Men'ma's father was talking about. He had assumed that Men'ma had forgotten about it, considering how long it had been since she had given an update. But it seemed she hadn't. "Well, even though it took some time, she managed to negotiate a way for you to do that. Today, Men'ma will be at the fourth stave, waiting for you," Men'ma's father declared.

"After breakfast, I'll accompany you there," he offered.

***

"We’ve finally arrived," Men’ma’s father remarked.

Just as he promised, right after breakfast, Men'ma's father accompanied the Rustler to the fourth stave, located in the southeastern corner of the capital. During their journey, the Rustler once again got to witness from the carriage’s window the enormity of the capital. They had left the residence early in the morning, and it took them until the middle of the afternoon to reach the fourth stave.

The stave that the Rustler arrived at was different from the one they had walked past on the day of their arrival, but visually, it appeared the same—a large, towering golden pillar. Just like the previous stave, there was another property upon which stood an imposing structure situated almost immediately next to it, enclosed within its inner perimeter.

Back then—to the day of their arrival, he hadn't noticed, but now, after seeing the Valkyrie domain of his own eyes, he realized that both the building before him and the one next to the other stave were inspired by it, appearing as minimalistic replicas of the grand domain.

The carriage came to a stop at the side of the road, and as the duo stepped out, they were greeted by the sight of two maiden valkyries. "You're finally here," Men'ma said, walking into her father's arms.

"Yes, sorry if we made you wait too long," he replied.

"Not at all, I just arrived too, so I figured we'd wait for you here," Men'ma reassured. She then turned to the Rustler and greeted him, "Good afternoon, it's been a while."

"Yes, five days. Good afternoon," the Rustler responded, addressing his greeting not only to Men'ma but also to the other valkyrie present.

This maiden valkyrie was clearly different from the one they had met that day, but he had noticed her during the ceremony. She was a young woman in her early twenties, with a slender body. Like Men'ma, she was wearing a visor, but her crown was more like a pair of horns rather than a traditional crown. The horns covered only the left side of her face, with one protruding forward and the other pointing in the opposite direction. In addition, she had unique-looking Odo appendages protruding from both palms. The appendages took the form of jewel-like cones embedded in the center of her palms, creating noticeable protrusions.

"Rustler," Men'ma began, gesturing towards the maiden valkyrie, "this is Eh'Rae, a fellow valkyrie of mine. And Eh'Rae, this is the Rustler, the one I told you about." Following the introduction, a silence ensued, during which the Rustler could sense the scrutinizing gaze behind Eh'Rae's visor.

"Get along, you two," Men'ma added, trying to lighten the mood.

"I don't intend to do that," the Maiden valkyrie replied coldly.

"Hey, don't be like that," Men'ma retorted.

"I am going to, nonetheless. I agreed to do this because you got permission from the Eldest. I never agreed to entertain whatever you're up to. Just do your thing and get out of my domain. I have enough problems to deal with, without dealing with yours."

"Ehhhh, you're making it seem like he and I are walking problems," Men'ma commented, to which Eh'Rae responded.

"He might not be but you are. Before we proceed, Men'ma's father, I'm sure you'll be better off waiting for them in my domain," she invited.

Seeking his daughter's approval first through her eyes, Men'ma's father accepted the invitation from Eh'Rae, following her into the domain.

"She didn't want me in her domain, did she?" the Rustler remarked.

"Don't judge her too harshly. It's not that she has anything against you personally. It's just that she has a deep fear of the Eldest, and we both know how the Eldest see you. But deep down, I know she was curious about you," Men'ma explained.

"Hm, I see. In any case, let's not keep her waiting any longer than necessary. Shall we go now?" the Rustler suggested.

"Good idea," Men'ma agreed, and they started walking towards the stave, which was now just a few hundred meters away.

"So..." Men'ma began. "We haven't really had much time to spend together since our arrival, so I wanted to ask how it's been going for you. Are you getting used to life in the capital? Were you behaving in the care of my family?" She even added teasingly.

"Didn’t you already get a report from either your father or mother," he simply retorted.

"I did. I, of course, did but I want to hear it from the man himself. So, how has it been?" She asked, the curiosity in her voice genuine.

The Rustler remained silent before earnestly answering, "Great, I suppose. Your parents are taking good care of me, same thing I could also say about the other members of your family. I eat three a day, some days even four. I sleep almost immediately after dinner and wake up at dawn, to then take my bath before proceeding to my first meal of the day. That’s… I think that’s all. I got nothing else to report."

"That's quite a fulfilling life you're reporting to me," Men'ma chuckled. "But are you sure about that part where you say you have nothing else to report? I heard from my father that you were, and I quote, 'bored to death.'"

"Well, I can't deny that, but that's more of a 'me' problem than anything else," the Rustler replied.

"I don't think it qualifies as just a 'me' problem when everyone in the house is noticing it," Men'ma pointed out.

"Understood. I'll try to appear more amused to make it seem like I'm less bored," the Rustler said.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Don't twist my words. But, well, if I didn't already know how you would react, I might have suggested that you make friends with children your age, like my younger cousins. But... see, it's the reaction you just gave," Men'ma explained, pointing at the Rustler.

"Then why did you bring it up if you already knew my answer?" the Rustler asked.

"Because I wasn't actually going to suggest it to you. I know you're most likely not interested in the things they would be interested in, so it wouldn't work out. And, of course, there's my other younger cousin, but considering your past as a philanderer, I'd rather avoid that," Men'ma explained.

"What are you talking about?" the Rustler asked, confused.

"Nothing, nothing," Men'ma dismissed with two vigorous pats on his back. "I was just trying to find a gentle way to tell you that I don't really have any suggestions for what you could do," she confessed, her voice tinged with a hint of embarrassment.

"It's fine if you don't have any—"

"That's not how it works," Men'ma interrupted. "I feel like I've only delivered half of what I promised. It was me who suggested that you come with me to the capital, and it was me who said that you would find something here that you couldn't find in the central continent: purpose."

A purpose, huh?

"But so far, I haven't seen any sign of that. In fact, from what I've been hearing lately, it's quite the opposite," she sighed. "Sure, I feel like I've fulfilled my main mission of bringing you here, but I don't like the feeling that I've just dumped you onto my family for them to take care of. It's bothering me. But on the other hand, I'm so busy!" she growled, before sighing again, this time in utter resignation.

Now that I think of it. I was asked something not so long ago.

What will I choose to become?

What will become my purpose?

That's two questions he didn't have answers for.

"I'm not sure if that's going to ease your itching, but I genuinely believe that it's something I alone have to figure out," the Rustler expressed.

Men'ma remained silent for a moment before speaking up, "Are you trying to take a burden off my shoulders?"

"I wasn't," the Rustler promptly replied.

"Just admit it," Men'ma insisted.

"No."

"So you're denying it, which means you actually were," Men'ma countered.

"How does that even make sense?" the Rustler questioned.

"It doesn't," Men'ma smiled. "But I guess you're right. It's something you need to find on your own. Anyway, here we are," she declared as they reached the base of the stave, which, while not as gigantic as the Odo tree, still remained colossal in size.

Men'ma said, "The boundary is just up ahead." The Rustler nodded, not immediately rushing past the stave, but instead, he looked down at his hand, at the golden sigil.

Men'ma turned around to look at the Rustler and declared, "I leave the honors to you to go first." The Rustler nodded and took hundreds of steps, walking past the stave. And in that moment, he felt it.

"So, what does it feel like being outside?" Men'ma asked, having followed him past the stave. "Does it feel less lonely?"

"It might," the Rustler replied absentmindedly, his gaze fixed on what was up ahead.

"I see. Good, because all I'm feeling is like I've forgotten something back in..." Men'ma continued, but the Rustler couldn't hear her. His attention was completely focused on the girl taking shape in front of them, much to Men'ma's obliviousness.

It began with just a vague outline, but slowly, bit by bit, a fully formed figure took shape before him, seemingly struggling to reveal its face. But soon enough she was there, staring at him.

"Good evening."

Good evening.

"Missed me?"

…Of course.

"Oi!" the Rustler heard. "Were you even listening to me? Of course, you weren’t, I was asking—"

"Sorry Men’ma," The Rustler cut, "I would like some privacy."

"Some privacy… you want me to return back in?

"Yes, and I would like to be somewhere out of view," he added, his gaze panning over a nearby woodland.

Men'ma seemed hesitant to give the Rustler an answer, prompting him to add, "I can feel my powers coming back. I just need some time alone to sort that out."

"Hmm," Men'ma mumbled.

"I'm not planning to run away, if that's what you're worried about."

"You better not be. And don't make it sound like we're holding you prisoner or anything. It's just that I've been asked to keep a close eye on you as long as you're in the capital. But since you technically aren't in the capital right now, it should be okay. Ah, damn, here I go again, interpreting the Eldest's words to fit what I want to hear. She's going to kill me if she finds out."

"There's no one around. She's not going to hear that unless you tell her yourself," the Rustler reassured.

Looking at the Rustler, Men'ma sighed. "You know what, just do it. I'll wait for you here."

"Thank you," the Rustler promptly replied before immediately taking his leave. But just as he did, Men'ma called out to him.

"Rustler," she called.

"Hmm?" he turned around.

After a moment of strange silence, Men'ma declared, "Never mind, don't take too long. I'll come looking for you if you get eaten by a monster or something like that."

He replied with a simple nod and continued on his way, closely followed by the figure visible only to him and him alone.

***

He snapped his fingers, and lightning crackled in the air. Satisfied with the display and the feeling he experienced, he held out his other hand, and a swirling gust formed on his golden palm.

Although I am not very skilled at using both elementals, I feel like I have already recovered from all my prana.

It truly appeared that rather than his prana being depleted to nothing, the staves had the effect of having it suppressed to absolute non-existence.

Just like he said, he mumbled to himself, crushing the swirling gust of wind in his grasp. "And still!" He looked at that very same hand, in his palm the mark remained.

"At least that’s clear now."

Next he raised his gaze meeting with that of the girl, he wanted to say but a ball formed in his throat stopping him from doing so.

"Why the silence?" she asked, tilting her head slightly to the side. "Don't you want to hear me speak?"

He walked over to a tree and leaned against it, taking a deep breath before replying, "I think it's because... I've spent too much time inside those staves. Now that I'm back here, I realize how strange everything was in there."

Inside, I needed food to sustain myself.

Inside, I needed to sleep eight hours a day just to rest.

Inside, you weren't there to speak with me.

"Are you sure it's that?"

"No, it's not. It's not that. Everything in there isn't strange. It's me who is abnormal, which makes me feel like everything in there is." Chuckling self-derisively at himself, he asked himself. “Could it be that after all those years, in that short amount of time, I am finally getting self aware.”

“That might be. But then wouldn’t the question be "can you still bear looking at me?””

He looked at the girl, up and down, and the sight made him bite his lips and clench his fist, “I still can, but…”

“But?”

"I'm ashamed of myself," he explained. "While Men'mma believed I came here because she promised to find purpose, she is wrong. I came here because I told myself that's what I had to do after failing to bring you to the land where all the Odoe came from. But now, here I am, and I can't even take you in there because the stave's property won't allow me. So that's a huge failure I can't hide from. Every gaze, every glance your way is a reminder of that failure—one that I can't undo."

"You know what's worse? The fact that I knew it was going to be this way. I knew from the moment I was given the offer to come to the capital by Men'ma that if I were to make it past what protected the capital, I would be stripped of my powers and therefore so would you. Yet, I still came. Not because I was confident in finding a way to fix that mistake I knew I would be making. I was not. I knew I would be screwed upon reaching this place, yet I kept going because I was hopeful. Hopeful that something would happen. But in the end nothing did," he fumed, bitterness palpable in his voice.

In his anger, his left hand curled into a fist and he slammed it against the tree he had been leaning against. The force of the impact caused the trunk to splinter, and the tree fell down with a loud thud.

“Hey, did I fail you so much that you no longer care even if I were to throw myself into the lions’ den?”

The girl didn’t answer, for she knew the question was not for her.

“You know what, it might be so, but I’m not the only one who has disappointed the other. Do you know what I felt when I was left on my own—with no purpose or whatsoever to live for? Do you know how I felt when I saw the ocean for the first time? Do you know how I felt when I heard that story about the serpent in the ocean?”

"Let me answer those questions for you. I felt lost. Then I was reminded of all that you promised, all that I did, all the heinous things I did: adventure and discovery. That's all I wanted. But to get that, I had to do things that I didn't like, yet I did them anyway. I never felt regret for what I did—proof of that was the fact that I never stopped, until I was. I did all those things because I believed there were things out there—things that you claimed to be waiting for us to see together—things for you to show me."

"When I heard the story about the serpent, I was intrigued. Knowing how I was with that one game, I would have loved this story. But you never told me about it, perhaps because it isn't true, because there is no great serpent sealed beneath the sea, or perhaps simply because you didn't feel like sharing that story with me. Who knows? Because you're not even here.” He cast a sidelong glance at the girl who remained silent throughout his long rant. “I'm talking alone, as I always am."

"You're gone without showing me any of those things you promised. I might have betrayed you first, but you—you chose to betray me back." Upon ranting out these words he fell silent, knowing that no one was to answer him yet he added. “When you left, how did you see me? Was I like your Lords of Old? Just—another traitor? Another obstacle for your next champion to overcome?”

A surge of anger, bitterness and sadness washed over his heart, and a single streak of tears fell from his eyes. He quickly wiped away the tear with the sleeve of his shirt upon noticing someone approaching.

“Rustler?”

It was Men’ma.

“What happened here?” she asked, noticing the large tree that fell down. “I noticed a loud commotion so I came to check out. Is everything okay?”

"Everything is alright. I was just testing my pranakinesis, and I accidentally knocked that tree down," he, on the spot, made up.

"I see..." Men'ma gave the fallen tree another glance, a doubtful frown appearing on her forehead. She asked again, "Are you sure everything is alright?"

"Yes," he confirmed once more, his eyes bluer than ever as they locked with Men'ma's. Feeling that he’d convinced her of his words or at least convinced to drop insisting on asking, he turned around and walked in the direction of the stave, “I’m going back,” he declared.

“Where to?” Men’ma asked, frowning.

“In the capital.”

“Already?”

"You've barely been out here for thirty minutes."

He paused and looked back at the girl he knew would leave if he were to walk past the stave. Nonetheless, he declared, turning around, "I've done what I came here to do.”

“Hey, wait for me, I’m coming with you. I’ve been allowed to finally come home."