What's my end goal? I thought long and hard about that after my reincarnation.
"I want nothing more than peace. I'll protect that peace along with my sternritter." I'm aware how lofty my goals are. Peace is a troublesome matter as true peace is not possible.
The concept of true peace would be equivalent to a utopia.
Something that any person knows is an impossibility.
"you're a fool. That goal will be the end of you." Despite her saying this, I swore I saw her lip twitch upward before dissipating into nothing.
'I know far better than anyone else... that goal will likely be my demise. But if that means that those like mitsuri are able to live safely... thats fine by me.'
"Walter? Who were you speaking to?" The concern on her face worried me momentarily before I realised.
She couldn't see sujin.
Though that shouldn't suprise me. Sujin herself stated that. Honestly though, mitsuri...
"I'm fine. Actually, now that I think about it, you like to cook, don't you? I think some renovations are necessary."
What's that smell? It... smells so good. Better than any hunt I've ever caught back in the underworld. I moved my covers as I tried to see what was going on. I couldn't so...
I lazily got up from the couch to see the dango woman working in the kitchen. The room was now much bigger than I remember.
Wait... we have a kitchen? Since when?
Why do I know what a kitchen is? Ah... I remember now. When Walter gave me my schrift, I think he was ignorant to the other effects it may have.
No matter how you explain a schrift, it still involves the person imparting a fragment of their own soul on the receiver.
Souls hold everything that make us who we are. Our likes. our hates. Our desires. Our personality. Our very being.
From the moment of formation, our souls are malleable. However, the souls of children are far more malleable as they have nothing. All they have are the basic needs to survive.
Their personality is developed as they are taught by the people around them. Nothing about one's personality is inherited from their parents. It may be mimicked, but not inherited.
Truly a blank slate.
Whereas Walter is far from a blank slate. He is a person who has developed but still, his soul is malleable. As life is always changing.
But imparting a fragment of one's soul does not just grant abilities. Because walters soul is special.
Think of it like his soul is highly capable. If a normal person was to attempt the schrift granting ritual, they would have to sacrifice their entire soul to mimic even a fraction of a schrift.
Walter doesn't just impart his soul, he molds them with the usage of powerful aria's.
Words.
It's in no way a simple process.
When Walter gave me my schrift, I saw it. His past. Not all of it, but I still saw it.
His original life, even the names of two special people in his life.
That's why I know what a kitchen is.
Anyways, back onto that topic, when did we get a kitchen?
"Oh, I just expanded the house a bit." My gaze snapped straight onto Walter who was drinking from a white cup.
"Would you like some tea?" Another cup had appeared in his hand outstretched to me. He was sat on a chair with a tall back between the two tables but a bit further back.
"Sure" for a moment there, I wondered how he not only knew what I was going to say but also how he knew I would accept the tea. But then I remember...
Walter can see the future.
"What's it like, seeing the future?" Without missing a beat, he hummed before speaking.
"It's... messy. There is no linear future as I cannot just see the future. I see every future. I've seen futures where I've... I've..." I held my hand up, I already know where this is going.
"Don't force yourself. It's clear that you don't like to talk about it, so I won't push. Though I do expect you to tell me more about it one day." It wasn't a lie. I wanted to know more. A lot more. Despite my craving for knowledge, I know when I should stop.
The room descended into an... uncomfortable silence.
"No... let... let me... sleep more..." derieri began to mumble in her sleep, breaking the silence. The brawler slowly sat up from her sleeping position, releasing a long, elated yawn.
He and I shared a few glances before looking back to my sister with amusement. My sister in all but blood...
"Why are you staring?" Her quizzical stare almost made me burst out laughing, I kept my composure... barely.
The smell hit me at that moment. This smell... i believe its what Walter would call ramen? He liked it quite a lot.
"Here we have four bowls of ramen! I hope you enjoy!" She smiled as she spoke. That woman looks so innocent, but looks betray expectations quite often.
She's dangerous. Though I have no reason to fear her as we are both under Walter.
I placed my cup of tea down and picked up the bowl. It's my first time eating ramen but i saw Walter do it, so I know how.
I took the chopsticks and split them apart before scooping up some ramen.
I put in my mouth and was surprised. Its a far better make than the one Walter tasted.
"How come you're not eating, Walter?" I looked up to see she spoke the truth. Walter hadn't touched his food. I couldn't understand why, he loved ramen.
"My apologies mitsuri. It's simply that I don't like to eat in the presence of others... I suppose there are always exceptions though." Our leader picked up his chopsticks and calmly ate in front of us.
He doesn't like this. I can tell that at a glance. Yet he's still eating. That man is too kind. He doesn't want to make mitsuri upset through his tendencies.
Derieri stared at the bowl.
"How do I eat this?" Walter paused and put his bowl down alongside his chopsticks.
"Observe." Walter picked up her chopsticks and simply pulled them apart. He then proceeded to scoop some ramen up with the chopsticks.
"Then you eat." Derieri took the chopsticks and scooped up some ramen.
Derieri bit the ramen.
He sighed.
"Don't bite through ramen. It's much more like slurping." A sly smile made its way across my face as derieri followed orders.
"This is... really good." Her surprised face made it quite clear as to how much she liked the food. Its funny, she's like a child who discovered something new.
I looked out the window and frowned. Why was it snowing so heavily?
"Sorry to sour the mood, but why is it snowing so heavily?" I voiced my thoughts to the group. Walters face went blank and I saw his pupils splinter.
He quickly stood up.
"It seems we'll be having a visitor. Strange considering the frozen forest isn't a place that one can just... enter. Even if on accident." I froze up.
If something has entered the frozen forest, a separate dimension of Walter's own creation, then that creature must be strong. I readied my shadows, they swirled around me, ready for a fight.
Derieri stood up next to me and got into a boxing stance. Mitsuri held her palm on the bottom of the blade handle.
The man who saved me grasped the door handle. He pulled the door open, unleashing a blast of cold air at all of us.
I saw a girl, she wore some strange attire before falling against walters chest. Unconscious as far as I could tell.
"Anomaly in time." The flat and emotionless tone drew all of our attentions. There stood ophis, calmly strolling over to Walter.
A woman in a pilots attire who is also an anomaly in time. Well, that sounds awfully familiar.
It's a shame I can't remember who they are.
For now, I've lay her on the couch after cleaning all the snow off of her.
"Lena Oxton. A woman from your memories." Ophis whispered into my ear. Huh, that name rings a bell... ah, I remember now!
Tracer. From overwatch. Wait... how... how did ophis get my memories? That's a question for another time.
"Uh... my... my head... everything's so muddled. Bloody hell... last I remember was being stuck in that awful snow." Her British accent was all to familiar to him.
He was British after all.
"Correct. Then you stumbled through the snow until you reached this cabin. Where you fell into my arms. You did surprise me, despite my abilities."
Her head snapped straight at me but instead of seeing fear or confusion in her eyes, all I saw was resignation. Resigned to the fact that she would disappear in a few moments.
"How did you end up here?" Lena's face only became more downcast.
"I was testing a new plane for a group called overwatch. It was able to teleport. During the first test flight, the bloody thing malfunctioned. Leaving me with a condition called chronal disassociation. I can disappear for hours or even days at a time. Reappearing somewhere new each time. It's one awful mess alright."
"I can fix it." Her eyes turned hopeful for a moment.
"Really? But all those scientists said that it was impossible!" Walter only chuckled and pointed to the floating melascula who was lay on her shadow.
"As you can see, there are more things in the world than just magic. Though I do forsee one possible issue. That being, you will be stuck back in this time period as I do not when to send you back, nor the possible consequences for messing with time." Her eyes were still filled with pure joy.
"That's fine! I had no family left back home! Just... please... free me from this curse..." tracer had buried her head into the mans chest.
This power had tormented her for far longer than anyone realised. It would be one thing to be isolated alone for eternity, but this ailment was worse.
It send her to periods where she had a chance to be normal again... only to rip it away from her.
But this... this is a chance to be normal again. Lena didn't care what time period she would be stuck in.
She just wanted to be stuck SOMEWHERE in time.
"It's already done." Huh? Lena didn't feel any different.
"What I've done is given you control over your own flow of time." Tears rolled down her face, she was finally free. No longer tormented by the slipstreams power.
Lena closed her eyes. Finally... free...
Walter softly smiled as she fell asleep. Truly, a nice sight to see a person so content.
"I honestly expected some powerful opponent to charge through the door where we'd struggle against it. Not... a girl who travels through time without any control of the ability." Mel said as she lazily floated through the air.
"It's good. As much as I enjoy fighting, savoring peaceful moments like these is an enjoyable luxury. Speaking of which, would you like to play some video games?" Melascula lit up at the thought of playing the video games she'd saw so much about.
Derieri seemed intrigued. As did ophis.
Mitsuri... she was on the fence. On one hand, shouldn't they be out saving people? But on the other, isn't it all right to relax a bit.
"Relax mitsuri. Tomorrow, we'll go speak to the biblical god and establish ourselves as a peacekeepers for hire. For now, we relax." Mitsuri smiled.
Peacekeepers? That sounds like a fine job for the love hashira.
Walter lay lena down on the couch before flipping the switch.
Just another day in the life of Walter Newgate.