At the roof of the Chieftain’s residence, Ragna leaned over the balcony’s handle. Her pigtails were blowing in the breeze. A half-moon glowed in the sky, its light reverberating on the Orichalcum facade, while Cicada chirped in the distance. Remnants of the summer that was long gone filled the night with its sound.

Ragna tapped her fingers against the metal rod.

They had lost two months. Quin had given them a brief recap of what had occurred in the world since they had entered the tower. As the trials happened in another plane of existence, the time synchronizer that kept Utgard adjacent to the outside world didn’t work. The world had mourned Altera and stopped caring about herself or her father, who was still missing. At least, Quin had confirmed that her father was still in Avalon.

The door opened, and Ragna turned around. Altera entered the balcony.

“Is something?” Ragna turned back and looked down on the streets.

No one walked around. Rows of lamp posts created the image of an entrance hall that forced visitors to anticipate their audience with the Chieftain.

“I just wanted to talk with you .” Altera walked to her. She raised her head and let the autumn’s cold refresh her.

“Shouldn't you be talking with Eric?”

“Eric’s down goofing around with Nephthys.”

Ragna snickered. “Yeah, Eric’s got foible for people who can give him a headache.”

Eric must have thought that he should leave Altera and her some privacy. Though, it seemed he was avoiding Altera.

“True. The two have gotten close. Eric seems to like him a lot.”

“Him?” Ragna arched an eyebrow. “Didn’t know Nephy’s trans.”

“He isn’t. He’s a cross-dresser.”

“Is it okay to just blurt that out?”

Altera smiled. “It’s fine. Nephthys never hid it or anything like that. He just likes women’s clothes and men. As long as you don’t discriminate or harass him, it’s fine. And he likes you too.”

“I can’t imagine Nephy hating anyone. But you aren't here to talk about him, are you?”

“I wanted to apologize.” Altera leaned over the roof’s handle, and like Ragna, she stared into the night.

“You already did.”

Altera shook her head. “I’m talking about our promise. I never stopped looking down on you. I always thought of myself better than you. Basically, I treated you like a child I had to protect. I’m no better than my brother.”

“Why should you apologize?” Ragna shrugged her shoulders. “It’s not like I'm better. I never realized, but I can be quite a bitch, and not everyone can shrug it off. There’s no beating around the bush. You’ll always think that you’re better than me. Why shouldn't you? You are better. And I’ll always tease you because I like that.”

“Is that it?” Altera frowned. “Who says we won’t repeat the same mistake and drive us away?”

“You think after everything we went through, we can still hate each other?” Ragna leaned backwards and faced Altera. Her hand, she held in front of her chest. “This journey messed me up. It messed all of us up, but it also strengthened our bonds. I promise there’s nothing that’ll drive us apart.”

Altera’s shoulders dropped, and she looked down on the streets. “I know that, and I like you. A lot."

For a moment, Ragna’s heart skipped a beat. She gulped and stared at Altera, frozen.

“And I don’t want to lose you,” Altera continued. “I’m constantly afraid if whatever I said or did would ruin our friendship. These thoughts, I can’t turn them off no matter how hard I try.”

“No. I get it. I really do.”

Altera looked up.

“I don’t know if it's clinical or because of what happened to you, but these thoughts are there. It’s easy to say to just shrug it off when you never had to deal with it.”

“And now what?”

“We continue. Remember? We’re too different not to have fights, and we’re going to butt heads in the future. That’s how we are, and it’s part of our friendship. If you think I’m too mean to you, or I think you’re treating me like a child, then we’ll call the other out and talk things out. That’s how we roll, and that’s how we’ll continue.”

“Continue.” Altera smiled. “Do you think we will succeed in our journey?”

Ragna exhaled, and her breath mixed with the night breeze. “Who knows? When I escaped from prison, I thought I was fighting for good or justice. And my enemies were evil. But I’m not so sure anymore. Your brother opposed us, and he had no issues with killing me, but he did it all for you.”

“So, you like him now?”

“Pfft. Ha. He’s still a piece of shit, a wet dream away from becoming a tyrant. But I get him. He wanted to protect you and did what he thought was best. And the others too. Jareth wanted justice and fought me. Everyone fought for what they believed was right or to achieve their dreams. Are we any better? This journey’s not really for justice, actually. We both want to be happy and achieve our dreams. But that’s it. You want to be a Valkyrie, and I want my life back.”

“So, you don’t want to be a Valkyrie anymore?”

“I don’t even know.” Ragna shrugged. In her words was no sadness. Instead, finality had left her lips. Whether she would achieve the rank of Valkyrie, she had grown tired of the question and the doubts. “But I’ll make sure that you’ll succeed. You deserve it, Alti.”

“Alti?”

“Your nickname. Isn’t it the cutest?”

Altera nodded. “But I wonder if I still can become a Valkyrie. I’m not going to give up, but hypothetically, if we both fail, what then?”

Ragna snickered. “We can always set up an Onlynorse account.”

“Would that really work out?”

“See it this way. Two beauties like us, and we aren’t exactly unknown. The horndogs on the internet would love to see two failed Valkyries. We could earn millions just by selling used bathwater.”

“Sorry, I should be clearer.” Altera smirked. “I meant, why should people be watching you when they have me? I’m prettier". She pointed at herself. "And I’ve breasts.”

“You bitch.” Ragna’s lips formed a grin. She leaned forwards to Altera and spread out her arms towards her ribs. “You’ve gotten feisty. Take this.”

Ragna started to tickle Altera and Altera to laugh.

“Stop it…Please…I’m…” Tears built on the corner of Altera’s eyes as she couldn’t stop laughing. She tried to push Ragna’s fingers away from her but lost her footing.

Altera let out a shriek. She fell to the ground and Ragna on top of her.

Both women looked at each other. Millimeters separated their faces, and for a moment, neither said a word. Time seemed to fly past, and the world to stop to exist. And then, they started to laugh again.