A/N: Sorry I haven't updated Obsidian in a few months (again)! I've been working on requests. I have another to upload after this one, then one more to write, then I'll write the next chapter of Obsidian.

"Ah, Serena. You've arrived."

"That I have!" The young man leaned against the doorway, grinning at Invel. "Any particular reason you called me here, Ice Queen? Or did you just wish to gaze upon my glorious face?"

Invel completely ignored Serena's words, pushing a small stack of papers toward him. "Take these to the emperor."

Serena gasped. "Such an insignificant task for a being as great as myself? Oh - but rest assured, Ice Queen, your papers shall be delivered!" He swiped the papers from the desk. "For even such a lowly task is - "

"Serena?"

"Hm?"

"Just go.

Serena took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air as he strolled through the gardens - the shortest route to the emperor's office from Invel's. A faint breeze drifted by, rustling the leaves. Only the distant sounds of the city disturbed the peace.

...Was it his imagination, or was the city a bit louder than usual?

Serena froze. Of course! Today was the day of the nearest clothing store's ten-minute sale - the day he had planned to get that expensive coat he'd been staring at in the store window all week!

But he couldn't just leave the papers here, nor could he take them into the store. Frantically, he looked around for somewhere to put them. The bench? No, they would blow away.

His eyes settled on Neinhart's flower bed, right by the palace wall.

Inspiration struck immediately. He could surely make it to the sale on time, if he was quick enough...

Serena hummed to himself, grinning from ear to ear as he headed back toward the palace. From one hand swung a plastic bag with the name of the clothing store printed across it in bold letters.

He had been knocked down, trampled, kicked, and punched. One of his teeth was missing, and he had a black eye. But he finally had his coat.

Serena stopped dead in his tracks as an ear-splitting shriek rang from beyond the palace wall.

"My flowers!"

His eyes widened. Immediately, he broke into a run, dashing past the wall to find Neinhart crouching by a flower bed.

"Who would do this to my flowers?" Neinhart sobbed. "This one dies within minutes if it's uprooted! It's gone now..."

Serena knelt down to awkwardly pat him on the shoulder. "Don't you worry, Neinhart! I'm sure you'll be able to get another."

"Serena!" Neinhart turned toward him. "Do you know who did this?"

"Why, me, of course." Silence fell for several long moments before Serena realized what he had just said. He began waving his arms uncontrollably, his words coming out in one long rush. "I needed somewhere to put those papers while I went shopping! I couldn't miss that sale, Neinhart! You must understand!"

A ten-dollar bill was pressed into the palm of his hand. Serena stared at Neinhart in confusion.

Neinhart glared at him. "Well, if you're so intent on shopping, you can go buy me more seeds."

After several trips to the nearby garden centre, Serena wondered why Neinhart didn't just go himself.

He dumped the newest packet into Neinhart's open palm. "Is this the right one?"

Neinhart glanced down at the packet and smiled. "Yes! Thank you, Serena."

"You are welcome! Now I must deliver these papers!" He hurried off in the other direction.

A short moment later, he paused and ran back to Neinhart.

"Do you know where the papers are now?"

"I left them on the bench over there." Not looking up from the flower bed, Neinhart gestured vaguely over his shoulder.

"There's nothing there."

"What?" Neinhart turned around. "I swear I left them there!"

"They must have blown away." Serena frowned and wandered across the garden, scanning the entire area for the papers. "But where did they go?"

"I have no idea." Neinhart shrugged. "But they can't have gone far. They're probably still in the gardens somewhere."

After several minutes of searching for the papers, Serena spotted a figure standing by a nearby tree.

"Brandish!"

His fellow Spriggan didn't seem to notice him, keeping her gaze fixed on the high branches of the tree. "Dumb birds..."

"Birds?" Serena tried to peer up into the tree. "What birds? What are they doing?"

"Look. It's trying to feed an entire sheet of paper to its chick." Brandish pointed toward a nest almost-hidden among the leaves. "It's so... stupid."

Serena squinted up at the bird, holding a sheet of paper in its beak. He had to admit, the sight was quite amusing -

Wait... paper?

Brandish turned her stare to Serena as he suddenly rushed forward and slammed against the tree trunk, wrapping himself around it and beginning to inch upward.

"What are you doing?"

"Paper! The papers I was supposed to take to the emperor!"

"...Why would anyone entrust you with something like that?"

"Because I'm amazing!"

Brandish rolled her eyes. "If you're so amazing, how did you lose the papers in the first place?"

"...Long story!"

Serena continued his painfully slow journey up the trunk. The branches were just a few feet away - a foot - half a foot -

"Yes!" He cried out as he finally managed to grasp a sturdy branch. From here, his journey would be much easier.

Hopefully.

He climbed onto the branch and glanced downward. Far below, Brandish stood with her arms folded, watching him with a mixture of pity and disinterest.

He looked upwards. There was the bird's nest, just a meter or so out of his reach.

Gritting his teeth, Serena continued the climb. He drew close to the nest; he could see the paper from here, and the nearby pile. A few crumpled and torn bits of paper lay around, caught on the branches. He collected them as he travelled up.

A smirk spread across his face. He had reached the cluster of thin branches holding the nest in place. Just a few more inches and he'd -

Snap.

Twigs snagged his hair as he tumbled toward the ground in a mass of foliage, grasping at thin air in an attempt to regain the papers. The bird fluttered away from her nest in a fit of panic.

He hit the ground hard. It took him several long moments to catch his breath. Next to him lay the half-destroyed nest, the chicks still inside looking vaguely confused.

"...The papers!" He began to feel about frantically, trying to collect every sheet of paper. How many had he been given again? Twenty? Twenty-one?

He managed to find and collect eighteen. By now, they were muddy, torn, and crinkled. But he had to complete his task.

From here, he could see the window of the emperor's office. Brightening up, he stood and continued his trek.

The doors creaked open. From here, it was only a short journey down the hallway to reach the office.

Serena grinned from ear to ear, hurrying toward the oak door. He pushed it open and stepped inside.

"Emperor! Invel asked me to deliver these to you!"

Zeref looked up from whatever he was working on. Slowly, his gaze travelled from Serena's messy hair, to his black eye and broken tooth, to the pile of dirty, crumpled papers in his hands.

"...Show me the papers."

Serena shuffled over to show him the papers.

Zeref squinted and shook his head. "I can't read those. Go get Invel to make another copy."

"But Your Majesty, I - "

"Unreadable!" Zeref turned back to his book. "Go and get another copy. A clean one."

"...Okay." Serena trudged out of the room, across the gardens, and back to Invel's office.

Invel glared up at him. "You did what?"

"I got distracted by a sale and buried them in Neinhart's flower garden so they wouldn't blow away. Then Neinhart made me buy more seeds for him - "

"No need to repeat the entire thing!" Invel rubbed his temples. "...I'll make you another copy. Just don't mess this one up. Okay?"

He tapped a sequence of keys on the keyboard before him. On the other side of the room, the printer started up.

Over the sound of the papers being printed out, he just barely heard Serena whisper:

"The jacket was worth it."