Chapter Text
The marble floors gleamed under Seele’s boots as she approached the central checkpoint. It was early morning, and the lobby of the Qlipoth Fort was already buzzing with activity. Suits. Security. Secretaries moving like clockwork.
She kept her hood up.
The guard at the entrance barely looked up. “ID?”
Seele slid her card smoothly onto the reader. She’d done this before. Attending official meetings, representing joint patrol efforts. Never a problem.
But this time, the scanner blinked red.
ACCESS DENIED
ERROR: Residency Permit Expired
Her heart stuttered. She frowned. “This can’t be right.” She tried again, and it blinked red, then locked. The terminal let out a short, mechanical beep.
“Miss Seele, it seems you’re not on the approved clearance list anymore. You’ll need to leave the premises immediately,” the Silvermane guard says.
“I’m here on request,” Seele snapped. “I have a meeting.”
“I’m sorry, but until it’s renewed, you can’t be here. You’ll have to report to the Immigration Office.”
Seele next found herself sitting rigidly on the metal chair, with her folder being examined by the clerk in front of her.
“Are these all your official documents?” The clerk asked as she flipped through the papers. Brows furrowed and eyes squinting as she skimmed the contents.
“Yes.”
“No birth certificate?”
Seele shakes her head no. “Not that I know of. I, uhm, lived in the street until someone took me to the orphanage.”
She does not like sharing her past with others, especially with people who do not care, but she knows she needs to explain why such an important document is missing from her folder.
Her answer seemed to put the first visible crack in the officer’s otherwise impassive expression.
“I’m sorry, but the law is very clear,” the clerk said, her voice tainted with a bit of sympathy. “Residency permits must be renewed before their expiration date. Renewal notices are sent by certified mail or personal delivery to your registered address.”
Seele bit her lip. “I never got the notice. I’ve been away on missions a lot… and mail services in my district are… unreliable.”
The clerk glanced at the file. “According to the system, the notice was sent and signed for.”
“That must be a mistake. I never signed anything.”
“Regardless, once the permit expires, a simple renewal is not possible. You have to reapply completely, and that requires either sponsorship from an Overworld employer or a family member, or a humanitarian appeal. Until then, you cannot legally remain here.”
“How many days left do I still have? 10?”
The clerk nodded. “That’s correct. You still have 10 days left in your grace period.”
Her stomach twisted. Ten days. Not even two weeks to find a solution, to avoid being torn away from everything she started building here.
That’s it. She’s done. She’s had enough. She already did what she could to save her renewal, to save her life in the Overworld.
For the next three days, she tried everything. She waited in lines, filled out endless forms, pleaded her case to indifferent faces behind glass. But the system had already decided. And now, so had she.
Seele would leave.
Not because she wanted to, but because clinging any longer felt like begging. She does not like humiliating herself for scraps of belonging in a place that never truly accepted her.
7 days left. That was all.
If the Overworld didn’t want her, she wouldn’t force it. She’d return to the Underworld with her pride intact. She knew from the start she did not belong here anyway.
With a resolved step, she took off and headed back to her place, not home, in the Overworld to gather her things.
The last of the daylight spilled through the tall windows, casting a fading gold glow over the office. Most of the staff had already gone home. Bronya remained at her desk, reviewing legislative drafts.
A soft knock interrupted the silence.
“Enter,” she said, not looking up.
The door opened, followed by a familiar voice. “Got a minute, Bron?”
Bronya lifted her head. “Serval.” She gestured to the chair across from her, surprised by the unexpected visitor. “What brings you here?”
Serval stepped inside but didn’t sit. Instead, she lingered near the edge of the desk. “I may be making a big deal out of this, but… have you seen Seele lately?”
Brows knit. “Not since last week. She missed the patrol meeting. Why?”
“She dropped by my shop yesterday,” Serval said. “Said she was looking for old registry papers. Asked me if the shop’s a registered organization, and if I was listed as a sponsor.”
Bronya's posture straightened. “Did she say why?”
“She wouldn’t. Just changed the subject. But she looked… exhausted. Stressed, in a way I haven’t seen in a long time. She did not stay for long.”
Rand set her pen down slowly, her full attention now on the mechanic. An unsettling feeling creeping up her system. “She hasn’t been responding to reports. I assumed she was focused on the Underworld routes.”
“That’s what I thought, too,” Serval said, folding her arms. “Gepard mentioned she hasn’t been reporting on his side either.”
A wordless pause settled over them.
Bronya rose to her feet. With a guarded expression, she says, “I’ll look into it.”
“You know her more than I do, Bronya, but I know she’s not the type to make others worry by disappearing without notice.”
Bronya moved through the silence of the corridor and entered the Records Division. As expected, the light at Pela’s desk was still on.
At the sound of the door creaking open, Pela promptly looked up. “Madam Guardian?”
“I need Seele’s activity and residency status confirmed,” Bronya said without any greetings. Her voice was clipped, urgent. “There’s a discrepancy I want to verify.”
“Of course.” Pela nodded, already turning to her computer. “One moment.”
Bronya stood silently behind her, arms crossed tightly. She already knew Seele had been skipping meeting summons and missing their joint patrol briefings. But she hadn’t expected this much silence. And she hadn’t expected the gnawing feeling in her gut when Serval brought it up.
Lines of data scrolled across the screen. Then Pela’s fingers faltered above the keyboard.
“That’s… odd.”
Bronya leaned forward slightly, also scanning what was on the screen. “What is it?”
“I’m seeing partial traces of her file. Patrol submissions, meeting attendance from earlier this cycle… but her residency status is—” Pela blinked and typed again. “It was set to inactive.”
Bronya’s eyes narrowed, the confirmation sinking in. “When?”
“A week ago. Her ID authorization lapsed, and the system lists her as deregistered. She’s not currently associated with Overworld.”
“How did this not reach me?”
“There were some activity flags,” Pela said, tone careful now. She can almost hear the frustration in the Supreme Guardian’s voice. “It looks like she attempted a renewal through a standard request. But the application was rejected. I don’t have the reason, not without deeper clearance.”
“Get it,” Bronya said immediately. “Trace everything related to that rejection. Department, personnel, documentation—I want it all.”
Pela gave a firm nod. “Understood.”
Rand turned toward the exit, already moving. “Send what you find to my private line. I’ll handle the rest.”
Bronya stood outside the apartment door, gloved hand hovering mid-air after knocking again. No answer. No sound. She frowned.
She keyed in the override code, her clearance granting her access to most civilian housing, particularly during enforcement or emergency review. The door clicked open with a mechanical hiss.
The room inside was still.
Bronya stepped in. Boots soft against the scuffed flooring. The lights didn’t flicker on. Seele’s apartment had never been particularly well-lit, but now it felt… empty.
She fishes out her phone from her pocket, clicking the call button once more. Eyes scanning the room while it rang.
There was no food on the counter, no gear laid out on the worn-out couch near the door like usual. Her patrol jacket, which was usually draped on the dining chair, was gone. Drawers hung slightly open, as if someone had left in a hurry.
She exhaled. Low. Controlled.
Still no response.
Bronya opened her contact logs. Five unanswered calls. No replies to her messages. She already knew what this meant.
Seele had left.
Voluntarily. Without telling her.
Bronya moved slowly to the window, looking out at the skyline of Qlipoth Fort. Her reflection in the glass looked sharper than she felt. She tapped into the new messages from Pela.
It only took her a few minutes to briefly scan the document and reach a clear conclusion. The system was still unjust toward Underworlders. And Seele was among those affected.
Bronya rubbed her temple, forcing herself to focus. She couldn’t just let this happen.
Thankfully, she knew Seele well enough. If Seele had nowhere else to turn, she’d return to the one place that would take her without hesitation.
Without wasting a second more, Bronya stepped out of the apartment.
The Underworld was always loud. Steam vents hissing, metal clanking in the distance, cheers from the arena echoing in cramped streets. But here, in this dimly lit park of the orphanage, it was quiet.
Her hunch was right.
Bronya stood still for a second before moving closer. The figure ahead turned fast at the sound of footsteps.
Seele’s eyes locked on Bronya, and for a heartbeat, she stood frozen.
“…Bronya?”
“You didn’t answer my calls.”
“I didn’t think you’d—” Seele cut herself off, her gaze drifting away as she leaned against the railings. Her back facing the other woman. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It does,” Rand said firmly. “You vanished, as if you had no one looking for you back there."
“I had no choice!” Seele snapped, frustration evident in her voice. “They told me my ID had expired after I tried to get through security. No notice. No warning. Suddenly, I’m flagged. Like I’m some intruder in the city I was protecting!”
“You could’ve come to me. You know that.”
Seele didn’t answer. Her eyes stayed fixed on the street below, the one she had known her whole life. Before she was convinced to give the Overworld a chance to live in.
When the silence between them passed longer than she wanted, Bronya spoke again.
“There isn’t much time left, Seele.” Bronya continued. “I know you appealed. I know they denied you. Because the system is broken. Slow. Biased. But if you still want to fight this… let me help.”
She took a breath. “It won’t be easy. And you probably won’t like what I’m about to suggest. But I’m not going to stand by and let them erase you.”
“What are you suggesting then?”
Bronya hesitated, but only for a moment.
She had already thought about this. On the way here, in the silence of Seele’s apartment, in the cold corridor outside Pela’s office. The idea had taken root before she even saw her. And now, standing here, looking at Seele again, it no longer felt hypothetical.
Her voice was clear.
“Marry me.”
The silence afterward was deafening.
Seele blinked, stunned. She looked over her shoulder, confusion written all over her face. “What?”
“It’ll grant you immediate revalidation,” Bronya said. “Spousal status grants clearance. It bypasses the current ID expiration penalty. If another problem arises, I’ll handle it myself. As the Supreme Guardian.”
Seele stared at her for a long moment, searching her expression for anything insincere. But there was none.
No pity. Just... intent.
Just Bronya.
And if she stared a little longer, maybe she might see that Bronya was silently begging.
Finally, Seele let out a shaky breath, more like a scoff of disbelief, and looked away. “You’re insane.”
With a sigh of relief, Bronya closed the distance between them, coming to stand beside Seele.
Not just to be near, but to be with her. It was more than a gesture. It was a declaration.
“If that’s what I have to be to keep you, then maybe I am.”