The Last of Lady

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 beside her.

"I swallowed the void", she said, smiling with a hint of pride.

I monotonously watched her, without a single shift in my expressions. Whatever victory this was, ended up being too costly.

"You've figured it out, haven't you? That's why you were able to leave the void."

"Yeah. I have", I replied shortly.

"Even I didn't plan it to go this way. But its all good if you are safe."

"I thought we were same, Lady", I said, "Powerless...and weak. I thought that's what made us special."

"Not at all. We are nothing alike, Seraph. I wasn't born with any ability. A mage granted my request...but it came at the cost of never getting to die."

"I see", I answered in a low voice, matching her own.

"What is my ability, Lady? What power was I born with?", I asked after a pause.

"You are asking me? Don't you have the answer to that?"

"I want you to say it. I beg you, Lady", I said, without the slightest change in my tone.

"Your ability...is to reject reality. Negation."

"I see. So that is what you believe?"

She was a bit surprised.

"So it isn't? I'll admit it took a lot of effort to find even that out. When you deny something from existence, it means it gets erased from memory too. So we never had a way to find out. Chopper and I tried our best. Even Lubbock put all his resources into watching you. But I admit, this was just a conjecture we drew after many confusions."

"I see."

To erase reality. If so, I wasn't much different from a void. If Lady was right, I would have been an abyss incarnate. But I wasn't. I thought of something similar at first, but I realized it wasn't the case at all.

"What would you have me do, Lady? If I told you what my ability really is...what would you have me do?"

"Why do you think I would have you do anything at all? I had one purpose and that was to make sure, you lived. I think I've fulfilled that."

"That's true. You've done well protecting me. That was a good job."

"That makes me happy to hear", and truly, her cheeks flushed, despite the deathly pallor.

"But you are wrong Lady. I cannot erase reality. It's the opposite really. I can write out a reality."

"Ah...so that's...", she was lost for words, "That sound much more plausible...indeed. But...does it mean you can replace reality?"

"Yes", I said in a grave voice.

"I see...", she sighed, smiling weakly.

There was no wind or sound. It was just me and Lady, and her heavy breathing that seemed to be getting weaker and weaker.

"Then...write a reality where there would be no need for Valhalla or the Valkyries", she said with a lasting glimmer in her eyes.

She always believed that there was a 'need' for Valhalla. The world, humanity, Mercae...all of them couldn't survive without the Valkyries. I wouldn't have agreed to that notion at one point but now I believed in the idea, firmly. No one could deny the significance we held.

"I'm sorry but I can't rewrite that far back yet."

"Is that right?"

"I'll rewrite what happened here today. Chopper-san...Deli, Sight and Lubbock...they can't die yet."

"I see...everyone died...well, of course", she seemed to be telling herself, as her heart felt heavy.

But she couldn't procure any tears, nor scream in her current condition. So she just stared at the sky, pursing her lips.

"I'm sorry that I'll be leaving you behind here", I said, as I took her cold hand in mine.

"No...don't be. I'm glad that you lived. I'm glad, Seraph", she looked at me with a smile again.

"I'll write a perfect reality someday...a reality where we're all justified."

"That sounds great. Write one where all our wishes come true. Even Grim's."

"If you hadn't swallowed the void, his wish really would have come true."

"Yeah, I thought about it but I couldn't do it if you were here. As long as you existed in this world, I couldn't let it get destroyed", she replied.

"Is that so? In that case, you've done well. In some other reality, when I'm able to create a reality separate from this one...when I'm not just rewriting it but creating a whole new one from scratch...when that happens, I'll grant Grim's wish too."

"I'm glad to hear that. Create a reality for all of us, Seraph. A reality where Chopper would be free from his ghosts and agony. A reality where Deli would have a family and love. A world where Sight wouldn't be closed up in his own world, where there won't be need for any barriers, where he won't have to keep his eyes closed anymore. A world where Lubbock won't hate himself, where he'd be a human and able to forgive. A world where June won't hide away anymore. And...a world where I'll be able to return to the snowy mountains...create every reality. You are the only one who can...so you see, I'm...I'm glad you lived."

She said that, knowing it was a pipe dream. Her reality ended with this barren world. When I rewrite the current reality, she wouldn't exist anymore in my world. There would be a Lady but it won't be her. Even if there won't be any difference, the true Lady...the Lady whose hand I was holding as she was broken in million pieces, wouldn't exist in the reality that I would create.

"So I see that...we won't be there...in your new reality", she knew what I was thinking just from my silence, "But remember what I've told you. If a fake is as good as the real, it is superior to the real. If a fake is better than the real, it is inferior. And if a fake doesn't know that its a fake, then its as real as real itself."

"Knowing that won't change a thing. In the end, the original you...the one I knew....I'll be leaving you behind, Lady", I answered.

"It all rests on your perspective. But you'll still replace this reality, won't you? Even if the original us get erased in the process..."

"I'm sorry...", I didn't know what else to say. I was holding her hand with both of mine, hanging my head down, unable to meet her eyes.

"No...you'll find out more things. Many things...I'm sure you will. This isn't the end for you. And I'm able to be happy now, even if its the end. So if you can find the perfect reality then I'm sure, all of us would be happy."

It was about time. Lady's suffering was surely unbearable. But even if her hand got colder and colder, I still wanted to continue holding it.

"I'm sorry that I...that I didn't meet you sooner...that I didn't understand you better...that I didn't get to stay more with you...that I didn't get to live by your side more...and that I didn't get to die by your side too."

Even though my expression was as dead and cold as ice, an uncontrollable flood of tears washed down on her hand that I was holding. And as it washed off the blood and mud from off her skin, I felt myself drowning in the overwhelming sorrow that ensued. Lady said nothing.

I didn't look up to see what kind of expression she was wearing as she heard me say this. But I had a feeling that she was smiling.