On the way to Gui Ming Palace, Ash and Death Mad remained silent, as if their earlier harmony was just a masquerade ball's performance; now that the masks were off, they naturally returned to their own positions.
They were observers and victims, conspirators and pawns, future hearts and past bodies; perhaps even a king and his steed.
Ash didn't know why he wanted to establish a good relationship with Death Mad. Perhaps it was because Death Mad cared about Sonia, and as Sonia's fan boyfriend, shared interests can close distances invisibly; or perhaps it was because when he, like a piece of floating debris, stepped into Shattered Lake Prison, it was Death Mad who appeared before him, like a blazing sun dispelling his confusion and loneliness.
