Of Love and Death.

The Present Chapter 13: Appropriate Chapter Number Pt. 4

Valt became aware of the hard ground underneath him. As he slowly came to, he picked up on a few more things. Instead of being on his back, he was laying on his chest, splayed out all over the place. Like a puppy trying to figure out how to sleep, but just ending up in an awkward position.

Although Valt had this pressing feeling in the back of his mind that something was really, really wrong, he didn't feel like he was in any immediate danger. As a matter of fact, the opposite was true. The mind-reader felt safe lying where he was. It was like he was surrounded by the most familiar thing in the world. As weird as it felt to say it, Valt felt like he was surrounded by himself. A strange feeling, but a good one.

Some time passed with Valt just lying there. Like waking up on a Saturday and staying in bed for another hour and fifteen minutes. Although the blader was fairly certain that he didn't remain on the ground for quite that long. It was strange too. The position that he was in should have been horrifically uncomfortable. But it wasn't. Maybe it had something to do with where he was.

Yet all good things must come to an end. Valt eventually realized that maybe lying on the ground wasn't the best way to deal with that notion that something bad had happened. As he came to that conclusion, it suddenly all came crashing back to him. Exactly what had happened. He and Shu had been out on what could be considered a date? Maybe? But then she had shown up.

Cold.

Valt felt physically ill at the thought of the inhuman monster. The mind-reader wanted to throw up. The way she'd just attacked them in broad daylight, without any fear. Her ice had surrounded him and Spryzen. And that knife she'd used to trap Shu. 

And that rose. The rose that Cold had offered Valt. Whatever that had been about, he hated it. He hated it with a burning passion. Seeing that shatter into a thousand pieces had been one of the most vindicating moments of his life. Not best, as that had a good connotation to it. Nothing to do with an ice rose could ever be associated with good to Valt. It was sick and twisted.

Unable to take it anymore, Valt bolted up from where he was. Bouncing up on his feet, he looked around for something, anything, to distract him from his encounter with Cold. Seriously, just thinking her name made him feel sick. Unfortunately, the number one blader's eyes didn't immediately land on something that would help him out.

The world around Valt was black. Almost entirely black. There were two spots of color. One of which was Valtryek. The bey was standing there, as regal and stoic as always. Her cape swayed in the unfeelable wind that blew through this strange realm. And her eyes were locked on Valt from behind her helmet. Even as she made eye contact, she didn't stay anything. Instead she remained silent, holding her sword and shield in hand.

The other spot of color was the door. The strange and mysterious thing that had appeared in Valt's head yesterday. It still looked the same as before. Blue and black, decorated in punctuation marks and smoke. Things that, to Valt, invoked images of mystery, intelligence, and thoughts. Things that went with the mind, at least in his opinion.

In Valt's head, there was no way that was a coincidence. He could read minds, and sense people's minds. Use telepathy. Then, in this strange space that clearly had something to do with him, there was a door decorated with mind imagery? This door was significant, and he knew who had the answers.

Actually, there was a third source of color. Valt himself. He hadn't registered it the last time he was in this place, but he was pretty sure that his hand was blue. Which was a bit...unexpected. And strange. Last time Valt had checked, he hadn't been blue.

"What's going on, Valtryek?" Valt asked. No, he didn't ask. He begged for the answer. Pleaded that his partner, someone who was basically his other half, help him out. Not that he'd expected to sound so broken. The words were just exhausted, tired, and desperate. He needed to know what was going on. It wasn't even a choice anymore. Cold had threatened to end him and Shu, and he knew she was capable of it. It was a matter of life and death that he knew what was going on.