"I believe people cannot stand the idea of not being noticed. They don't realize so often that the race is over. Seraph, have you ever walked in the middle of the road in bright daylight?"
"Eh?...No..."
"That's instinct. Even if you were left blindfolded on a road, you would instinctively walk towards a side. That's what's drilled into us. But real freedom is in the middle, where you are exposed and vulnerable. On all sides, there's a world, unknown to you but also fully known by you. It's beautiful, don't you agree Seraph?"
"Lady...isn't it lonely, though, on this road to freedom?"
******************
I have been going around the capital a lot these days. Sight does many chores around town, all on Lady's orders of course and he asked me if I wanted to tag along. I think he'd been wanting to take my mind off of Chopper. Every time I train with his blade, I can't help but wonder what he's up to now.
Deli had been helping me train. She said she wasn't too big on weapons, especially blades, she calls them "very noble". It's easy to get along with her, she's got a very motherly aura to her. Still, she isn't something you could imagine as a mother figure.
It's not hard to admit that she's the single most beautiful woman I've ever seen. Indeed, she is the definition of the word "woman". Though I find her more on the muscular side, I heard she used to be quite a big eater and a sloth to boot. I can't believe that when I look at her now. She is insanely perfect in her proportions, voluptuous where concerned and carved otherwise. She has a violet set of eyes and silver-grey silks for hair. Her hair is extremely short, like a loose bob cut, a fringe covering one of her eyes.
"Seraph", she called me teasingly, "I can't help but be bothered with you getting distracted again."
I used to get distracted by her a lot more in the beginning but I had been fine lately. Today, I had something on my mind that I couldn't quite pin down.
"What's bothering your little head? You aren't trying to get out of your training, are you?", Deli began to walk towards me.
I hadn't yet answered her as I stood catching my breath, sweat running down my now chiseled abdominals. My mind was blank as I watched her approach me before sending a flying kick toward my head.
I managed to block and she continued to attack. I blocked and dodged all her attacks as I continued to be pushed around by her.
"C'mon, you are doing great!", she was encouraging me in the middle of her barrage but that was just a ruse.
She had at some point, hooked her right foot behind my right shin and as she brought her other leg towards my face, I dodged her, leaning backward before she quickly pulled her right foot in, unbalancing me before I slammed to the ground.
"Watch out, Seraph, your head may split if you hit a rock", she smirked, leaning over me from a side.
My voice was stuck somewhere in there from the shock.
"Ms. Deli, that was perfect! You are unbeatable!"
"Oh, Lubbock...and Lady! Yo! Good to see your ever so gloomy face, my dear Lady!", Deli ignored Lubbock's fawning who watched her with stars in his eyes.
"How's he coming along?", I noticed that Lady did in fact look slightly out of it.
"He learns fast. And he's looking more like a man now, nothing like our Chopper but he's something", I hadn't heard Chopper's name in a while from anyone, not even Sight.
I got up from the ground, having regained much of my composure, and dusted off my pants before looking straight at Lady. She was rather short, so standing up, I could only look at her when she was looking down. I can't tell you what kind of expressions she had on her face but she grabbed Deli's shoulder which was about as tall as me, perhaps even taller.
"Deli...something arrived for you", Lady then took a baffled Deli inside and I stayed outside perplexed and drying off my sweat. I picked up my shirt and put it on.
When I went inside, the air around Deli had changed entirely. I don't think she was thinking straight anymore. She looked too...happy.
"Lady...what should I do now? I have to go...see them."
"Deli-"
"He can't be wrong!", Deli shoved a letter in Lady's hands, "If Chopper says it...then it's true!"
"..."
"Chopper has never been wrong, you know! His predictions are always on point! He is the ultimate genius, the one who knows ev-"
"That's enough", Lady interrupted her, "Even if he's never been wrong before, your decision is what would decide the rest. Do you know what is right?"
Lady looked Deli straight in the eye as she asked this.
"I know...Lady, I have to go. I have been waiting; they must be waiting for me. You have to let me go", I wondered if she had begun crying, but she hadn't.
The letter she was flailing around, which I assumed was from Chopper was now on the ground and I wanted to access it by all means. No one else would tell me anything about him.
"There's nothing beyond the horizon", Lady spoke, "Even if you manage to see it, you'll be left with emptiness because there's nothing beyond it. Are you still going, Deli?"
"Yeah, because I don't need anything to be there beyond the horizon that I'm looking at", Deli smiled and turned around. She looked at me once and then walked out of the room.
"Seraph, don't leave her alone. This time, you might die."
I didn't wait for another second to hear from Lady after that, I rushed after Deli. The letter remained behind and I forgot about Chopper.