Chapter 27: Reunited
She looked smaller somehow. Her dark hair was tied to a short bun behind her, but two strands fell to the sides of her face, framing the soft expression she had and the shadow under her eyes.
"You," Jethro muttered, like he’d seen an angel. "I mean... you’re okay."
Padva’s lips formed a frown as she looked at her feet. "Yeah. I was barely hurt anyway." Then she looked at him. "But you don’t look at all like you did hours ago."
Jethro managed a weak snort. "High praise. Though I’m surprised it’s only been hours, my spine swears it’s been longer."
The attempt at humor fell flat in the quiet hall. Padva looked away and Jethro frowned, watching her. The shared horror of the Darc Throne Depths hung thick between them, a suffocating blanket.
Jethro waited a bit before asking. "So, how did you make it out? When Decterion went after you, I thought you were dead for sure."
Padva opened her palms, staring at them like she was too scared to look at Jethro’s face."I only survived because of Shadow’s teleporting abilities," she whispered. "When the Conqueror came after us, he kept warping until we were outside the Rift."
Jethro lifted a brow. "Shadow? That’s your Doomsday Panther, right?"
She nodded.
’If it warped outside of the Rift, does that mean it can teleport through the Dimension Wall?’ he thought to himself, gazing at her as she remained head low.
"Hey? You’re not blaming yourself for any of this, are you?"