After centuries of forced existence, there were not much first times left on Sef’s miserable life. From acts as mundane as breathing, to tasks as dangerous as void killing, there was no longer an event, nor a creature that caught him off guard. None until now.

He wanted to hide it, to pretend he was unfazed, but the longer he stared at the girl’s red eyes, the more puzzled he became. Why was someone like her here? Who sent her? Did someone finally found out? There were a lot of questions that circled his head, but only one managed to find its way out.

“who are you?”

“eh?” the girl tilted her head. “Sef forgot already?”

He shook his head. “sorry, but I can’t forget someone I don’t know”

“let me tell you who I am then”

The girl pulled up the ends of her oversized cloak and walked towards him, triggering Erze’s reflex to move on her own and point the spear at the girl’s chest. 

“command me” she said coldly. “command me now, or I’ll use my hands instead”

The girl giggled and touched the spear’s tip. “so it’s true. Erze really is a brute in disguise”

“how did she hear---”

Before Erze could finish her question, she reverted back into her human form and fell face first on the floor. As promised, she got back to her feet and went for the girl’s neck. But the moment her nails dug in, an unseen force pulled her arms back and dragged her down.

“my...” the girl smiled at her. “for immortals, Sef and Erze are very impatient”

“impatient?” Sef said. “if that’s true, your chest should already have a hole right now”

The girl twirled her hair. “stop bluffing, I know why Sef hasn’t attacked me yet. It’s not because he's patient”

A myriad of clever comebacks circled Sef’s head, but none of them made it out of his mouth. As hard it was to admit, the girl was right. He was terrified, not of what monster she maybe, but of how similar their eyes and hairs were.

“why are you here? Who sent you?” he blurted.

“no one sent me. I’m here for my own reason”

Sef gulped. “which is?”

The girl held her cloak like a dress and bowed. “I would like to be Sef and Erze’s final puzzle. Please accept me”

“what?!”

“what?!”

The girl let out a sweet laugh. “is Sef and Erze surprised? Go ahead show your bewilderment!”

“you brat” Erze said. “how did you know about that?”

The girl smirked. “how else? Sef and Erze told me about it”

Erze raised an eyebrow at Sef, but all he could give was a nervous stare. He wanted be calm, to focus more on the melody of her soul, but the evidences in front of him disrupted his mind, forcing him to release the question he didn’t want to ask.

“are you the same as me?”

A wide grin stretched across the girl’s face. “so Sef finally confessed”

“confessed what?” Erze asked.

The girl tucked her head inside the cloak. “I will take a nap for now. Sef is free to summon my daughter once they’re done entertaining the tall guard”

“wait!” Sef rushed at the cloak but ended up clasping for air. The girl, together with all the clothes scattered on the floor vanished like bubbles, leaving the two of immortals more confused than when they entered.

“is something wrong here?” a boy’s voice came from the door.

Sef gathered his scattered brain and spun around as normal as possible. But it was too late. The guard’s thin face already crumpled into a scowl, and his long knobby fingers already scratched the back of his pony tailed head.

“h-hello Marcellus, it’s been a long time”

“right” the young hallower said, bouncing a pair of narrowed blue eyes at them. “are you okay? You don’t look as carefree as usual”

“we’re just...” Erze’s eyes went to the ceiling. “role playing! Yes, just role playing”

Sef shot a conversing glance at her. “don’t lie, you know it’s your fault”

“what?!”

Marcellus reached inside his business suit and threw three glass cubes on the floor. They bounced like marbles and grew big enough to be chairs. A sight that still amazed Sef even after countless demonstrations. “sit, we’ll smooth this out now”

“there’s nothing to smooth out” Sef said.

“I said sit”

Like well-trained puppies, both Sef and Erze obeyed the command against their wills. It was not the best feeling, but as prisoners, it was a bitter pill they had to swallow.

“speak” Marcellus said.

“you’re overreacting” Erze said. “we’re just having a little debate on who will clean outside”

Marcellus blinked. “pardon?”

Erze grinned. “I said, were just debating who’s going to clean the void flower outside"

“you mean... that hell flower...

Sef looked away and flashed the embarrassed face he mastered through the years. “i-it’s not like we cared for those stupid soldiers, we were just bored”

“you guys...” the boy drew a floral napkin and covered his face. “you don’t know how happy I am right now!”

Sef smirked at Erze. “really? It doesn’t look like that just now”

Erze smirked back. “yes, you seem more depressed than usual”

“this is nothing!”

“we already knew you back when you still ate boogers, fool. It’s too late to hide anything from us now”

“Erze’s right. Tell us what’s wrong, we’ll listen”

Marcellus studied their faces. “this won’t get out, got it?”

“I swear on my life” Erze said.

Sef nodded. “I swear on hers too”

“fine” the boy wiped his face and leaned forward. “it’s hard for me to say this, but I think gramps is losing his mind”

“hey, that’s not a good thing to say” Erze said.

“I know, but it’s not just me who thinks that”

“why?” Sef asked. “what’s Aurellius doing?”

“he keeps sending us to the wrong places! He’ll rile us up and make us prepare for a huge encounter, but when we get to the scene, there’s not even a shadow of a void present!”

“have you confronted him yet?” Erze asked.

“a couple of times”

“how did it go?” Sef asked.

Marcellus leered away and scratched his head. “he said he’s never wrong. That we’re just not looking hard enough”

“ugh” Erze massaged her temples. “that’s what old age does. It makes you as annoying as a child, but not as adorable”

“but he’s not even annoying! He’s still the same funny old man as long the sentries don’t sound”

For reasons Sef couldn’t fully grasp, the little girl's face kept returning in his mind. He had an idea as to why, but neither had enough clues nor will to confirm it.

“Sef?” Marcellus blinked at him. “are you alright?”

He stared at his hands to avoid the boy’s gaze. “since when did your grandfather become like this?”

“about a month ago”

“no, I mean where was the first wrong place he sent you to?”

“you know something about this?”

“it depends on your answer”

“wait, let me see...” Marcellus reached again inside his suit and pulled out a black note book. “December nineteen... there! Reona kingom, military grounds”

The hairs on Sef’s neck stood, followed by a resurgence of memories he buried long ago in the depths of his mind. Here it was, the confirmation he waited for, straight out of the boy’s mouth.

“what’s wrong Sef? Answer me!”

Sef raised his gaze and looked the boy in the eye. “you need to go home now. Aurellius needs you”

Fear and confusion mixed on Marcellus’ face. “what do you mean? I don’t understand...”

“go home and ask your grandfather”

“why don’t you just cut the mystique and tell me now?!”

Sef took off his carefree mask and revealled the stern face Marcellus feared since his childhood. “your grandfather is in danger. You need to be with him as soon as possible"