Walter nodded. "It was the same for you. A tool for something 'greater'. I don't know how...different it was for you. But I can see how it was similar." They understood. Both in what it was like, and how they couldn't relate to the differences; Manaka having her own powers and knowing the truth despite those around her pushing and pushing her forward. But Walter was just grateful that she understood what she did; others could relate to his experiences in the Orphanage and in the Order. Nobody else understood what it was like to be...to be divine, when the divine was something bloody and visceral.

"People seem to think that because we're here, it's over. Like we're not...what we were. But they're wrong. I know Valtiel will find me. I'll..forget what is me, and what is him. And when we go back, nothing will have changed." Even if he retained his memories, it wouldn't matter. Walter knew that his fate had been sealed a long, long time ago.