Secret Route's keyword: Valkyrie

Apprehending Death

56.

I awaken to the sensation of lying on a bed. It's one uncomfortable bed.

Lifting myself up, I am surprised to find myself occupying an unfamiliar bedroom. This is... This is a bedroom, yes. But, this place is not my room, whether the one in God of Death's Church, Duke Cogent's Mansion, or even the College's dorm.

With only one window with bars high up close to the ceiling, one stell door locked tightly, a bed, a low table, plus an area working as a bathroom... This place looks like a...prison.

How did I end up here???

Why don't I remember...?

The last thing to happen to me was... Suffocation. Oh. Right. I fell to the sea. I almost drowned.

Touching my throat, I try some breathing technique. I also check my body for injuries. I seem to be fine...?

The cloth I am wearing is no longer the College-issued school uniform. All right. It means someone took care of me, right?

But, why am I in prison?

I knock on the steel door, but nobody answers the knock. Trying to run away? Nothing for me to climb up and even if I manage to climb up, I won't be able to get past the bars.

Will I be able to use God of Death's Blessing on the steel bars? Why don't I use it to make a hole in the wall instead? Easier for me to pass through. Still, how did I end up here?

After waiting for a long time, I have toured this small prison six rounds, the steel door makes a sound. It seems like someone is opening the door from outside.

I wait with anticipation, of whether it is an enemy or a friend. They are hardly a friend, for keeping me in this prison, is my opinion.

The door opens slowly, as if the one opening it is being cautious. I wait patiently to see who they are. Have I ever thought of just surprise them and then run away? Yes, of course, I think of that. However, I am uncertain whether I should do that.

There are a lot of what-ifs which are holding me back. What if... What if... What if... Lofty Quartz is also in one of the prisons around here?

I still remember, even though it is hard to recall that moment, how Lofty managed to catch my hand when we were underwater.

Inhaling deeply, I watch attentively for the door to fully open and shows me the person who opens it.

That person is a...soldier. He has a helmet covering his face, so I don't know how he looks like. He is here to deliver my meal.

He is visibly startled to see me watching him. Point being, he drops the tray.

If he brings me lunch, shouldn't he be aware that I am awake? Does having me watching him unnerve him?

Hastily, without saying anything, he closes the door and runs away. I now can understand the clanking I heard is made by his armours.

My meal... They consist of a bowl of soup and a loaf of bread. Plus a cup of water. The liquids are wasted now though. Nevertheless, they are so stingy...

Since I am hungry, without knowing whether they will send me food again, I pick up the bread and tear it in two. I am not eating the surface which touched the floor.

Apparently, I made the right decision. They aren't coming back to give me a new meal. Just a piece of bread is not enough to satiate me... As for thirst, while grimacing, I drink from the tab. I hope the water is clean.

57.

I sleep when the light is dark. There is no additional light in this prison. I wake up to the sound of someone unlocking the door. It's morning...