Despite of Pandora’s undeniable blandness, it still offered beauty to the eyes of a desperate beholder. One of such was a structure Sef considered his sacred place. A staircase that sat on the edge of the prison wall, built to lead the willing to one of the borders that divided the underworld’s seas.

It had no mysterious inscriptions nor extravagant designs, only a stack of black stone steps that pierced the heavens, sandwiched between two fences that made sure every fall would not be an accident.

“um...” Bel gulped. “are we really...”

“yes” Erze said with a menacing grin. “you’re going to climb this without any rest!”

“don’t believe her” Sef said. “I’ll carry you once you get tired”

“what?!” Erze climbed the first three steps and blocked the path with her stretched hands. “I’m the one you’ll carry, it’s always been that way and it won’t change now!”

Sef whispered to her. “listen, kids are simpletons. If you show them you’re strong, beautiful and kind, they’ll always think you’re strong beautiful and kind”

She blinked. “really?”

Sef nodded.

“listen up kitten!” Erze pointed at Bel with one hand, while placing the other on her chest. “watch me! I’ll show you how a true strong, beautiful and kind lady climb stairs!”

With a passionate nod from the little girl, Erze sped across the stairs as if a pack of hell hounds chased after her. Bel ran as well, but after stepping into a moldy part of the stairs, she ended up riding Sef’s back with a sore knee.

“put me down” she said stubbornly. “I can still climb on my own”

“oh please...” Sef adjusted his hold on the girl’s thighs. “don’t worry about it, I can carry you to the top”

“but your legs, they’re shaking”

Sef looked down and suddenly, the strain on his arms and legs came in full effect. He ignored it at first because of the girl’s petite frame. But now that his body shouted its protest, her unnatural heaviness took his every thought captive.

“you can put me down now” she said.

“are you sure?”

“papa said I shouldn’t be a bother to strangers”

Sef poked her forhead. “first, I’m not a stranger, and second, your injured so you’re going to be a nuisance anyway”

“no!” Bel slammed her fist on his head. “put me down! Put me down!”

Unwilling to take unnecessary brain damage, Sef put the child down and raised an eyebrow at her. “there! Go ahead, prove to me you can walk properly”

The girl pouted and pointed her finger down. “sit!”

Sef flashed an irritated grin. “I’m seven hundredish kid, you need to show me some respect”

“if you want respect, then don’t doubt me! I’ll prove to you I can climb these stairs!”

“then why do I have to sit?”

Bel wiggled her arms in the air. “so I can be like this”

“what’s that?”

The girl’s already flushed cheeks approached tomato-levels of redness. “make me go whoosh like the girl did awhile ago!”

“you want me to release your soul?”

“yes, but only a bit”

Though a part of him hesitated, Sef got down and offered a hand to the girl. “here, hold my hand”

Bel hugged herself and took a step down. “what do you plan to do?”

Sef’s teeth gritted as he grinned. “I can’t make you go whoosh if our souls aren’t harmonized"

After a few seconds of silence and doubt, Bel caved in and accepted the invitation. She walked back to Sef and slid her fingers between his, allowing her soul’s sinister melody to flow inside him.

Anger, hatred, and sorrow battled inside him as he forced his crumpled face to revert back its usual state. Sadly, it was too much, and the girl’s guilty eyes were more than enough to prove it.

“hey” he pinched Bel’s cheek. “don’t give me that look. I won’t absorb all of it, I’ll be fine”

“but---”

Sef covered the girl mouth and uttered the command. “come forth”

Like a squeezed sponge, the melody together with all of its emotions escaped out of him and tainted the air. Bel’s body vanished, but in her place came a glass chain that sprouted out of the steps.

“I’m ready! make me whoosh!” her excited voice rang inside his head.

Sef closed his eyes and visualized their destination. “chain"

No response.

“um, rope?”

Still nothing.

Sef stared at the chain, and as expected, his incomplete harmonization yielded no answer. There was no other way. He held his breath and used a drop of the forbidden authority inside him, forcing nothing to be something, forcing undeserved knowledge to come out of his mouth.

“snare"

Another chain shot out of the steps and flew across the stairs with the speed of a loose arrow. Sef waited anxiously for its other end to appear, only to realize it was already wrapped around his ankle.

“wait! My f---”

In the blink of an eye, Pandora turned into a world of blurred images and raging winds. Sef tore his throat, but was unsure if he screamed or not. All he cared about was to find Erze and take her with him. Who cares if she agreed or not, he needs comfort, and he’ll get it no matter what.

“help me!”

He endured the dizzying blurs and locked his eyes on the girl staring dumbstruck at the chain passing before her. At the exact moment she noticed him, he grabbed on to her and burried his face on her chest.

“what’s this?!” she asked.

“it’s the girl. I released her soul”

“why is your face on my chest?!”

“I’m scared, please hug me back”

Erze smacked his head but obliged nonetheless. “you ancient pervert, I’ll break one of your bones for this”

Sef chuckled. “pray that this won’t do the job first”

As if an invisible power heard his plea, the chain’s acceleration suddenly stopped. The winds calmed, the sinister song died, and the cool breeze of the staircase’s summit kissed Sef’s skin, calming his pounding heart back to its normal pace.

“are we there?” Sef asked.

Erze pulled his head away. “see for yourself”

Sef opened his eyes and found Bel standing at the edge of the flat summit. Before her was a giant road that stretched farther than the eyes could visualize. Surrounded by clouds from all sides, showered by pillars of light that rained down from the gray sky above.