Anger and sadness lingered in the air… and the loss. Weirdly, their hearts were beating. Luca was desperate and remembered all moments with Deiba. He couldn't accept that. His heart was heavy and he just wanted to scream. He was seated in the same position he was in when Deiba vanished away. He was in the same position for 1 hour. He just couldn't get up—he didn't want to get up. He was crying, his hands were on his face, and he was on his knees. His knees were screaming from pain, but he refused to get up, because right now he could only feel the pain of loss. The air was getting cold, then after a few minutes of silence, finally Ming stepped forward and put his hand on Luca's shoulder and said with a calm, quiet, but a bit sad voice, "Luca, we should move from here, we have to… we should move from HQ." Ming's voice was calm and quiet, but there was concern in his voice. Then Rin also stepped forward and stood in front of Luca and said with a bit sad but firm voice, "Luca, get up, we can't just stay here. Don't let your emotions become your weakness. Don't let your emotions control you. Control your emotions. Now get up." Rin's voice was holding a command. A few minutes of silence passed; neither Ming nor Rin moved their eyes away from Luca, nor did Luca respond. Then finally Luca took a breath and started to get up, but because he was on his knees for the past one hour, his knees were hurting and his legs were trembling. Luca, Ming, and Rin quickly supported him before he could fall.
Three of them looked at each other, then nodded, and took their bags and swords. The sun also started rising, and they started their journey again toward HQ.
On the other side in HQ—
Old Lady, Amaya, and Hikari were in the medical room that they used for emergencies only. Old Lady was lying on the bed unconscious, lying there, and Amaya was trying to stop her from bleeding, trying to treat her. Amaya was trained for that kind of situation, that's why she was handling that situation also. She was trying—she was trying hard. She tried all ways to treat her. Hikari was there watching worriedly, and meanwhile, others were outside the room just hoping that the Old Lady would be fine. Soru was still in shock, sad, and desperate. He couldn't understand anything. Sofia wanted to comfort him, but she didn't dare to move a muscle. She didn't know what to do and watched him from a distance from inside, blaming herself for everything.
Soru was desperately walking around, then finally he sat down on the floor. He held his head and muttered, "Damn it… damn… damn it." Sofia just watched him sadly. She couldn't bear to see him like this. Nor could she watch Old Lady like that, especially when she thinks it's her fault. She wanted to go to him, but she also couldn't comfort Soru, because she didn't know how to do these kinds of things. She didn't know how to comfort anyone.
Then Akiko, who was there, standing outside the medical room, waiting for Amaya and Hikari patiently, also noticed Soru's condition. She stepped forward and sat next to him and then hesitantly held his hand in her hand and said, "She will be fine."
Soru nodded and said, "I know, she will be fine, she has to be alright. But seeing her like this… it hurts." His voice was trembling, broken, desperate, urgent.
Akiko watched him for a second before tightening her grip on his hand as silent support. And from distance, Sofia was still watching. She never wanted to hurt anyone, but right now, she felt she already hurt everyone. And it was breaking her from inside.
She looked away, crying silently, quietly, when suddenly… she felt a warm, small arm around her leg, and when she looked down, it was Ash. Ash hugged her leg. She was surprised, but then crouched down and hugged him back. All these things, from distance, Daisuke, Fubuki, and Shito were watching, and the other soldier members were also watching, but stayed silent and just waited. A few minutes of silence… sadness and fear of losing someone. Then, a few minutes later, suddenly, unexpectedly, someone placed a hand on Soru's shoulder. When Akiko and Soru looked up, it was Kenzo. And then Kenzo also sat next to Soru on the floor. He said, "Everything will be alright." His voice was filled with… concern? As he looked at Soru with concern. Soru looked back at him, then nodded and looked down at the floor again sadly. But… Kenzo's concern caught the attention of Sofia, who had not stopped crying but was still hugging Ash. Kenzo's sudden change in behavior made her feel weird and suspicious. The same Kenzo who was acting indifferently from past weeks, who didn't help them during the fight… now suddenly showing concern? Others didn't pay much attention, but Sofia did. It made her feel wrong and suspicious toward Kenzo but she decided to say nothing because that situation was not for talking about it.
Every minute was like hours for them, every second was killing them from inside, especially Soru.
[Inside the room]
Amaya was trying hard to save Old Lady and Hikari was there watching impatiently.
After a few minutes of trying desperately, they failed because of loss of blood. Because of a lot of blood loss and a deep cut, Old Lady couldn't survive. She stopped breathing. Amaya quickly held her wrist to check her pulse but when she realized… she let go of the lady's wrist from shock and sadness. Hikari, who was watching from across the bed, watched Amaya's expression, and by the sadness on her face, by the reaction of her face, it didn't take even a second for him to understand… to understand everything. Everything stopped like time stopped still. They even forgot to breathe. Then Hikari… he held himself and said, "Amaya, hold yourself, and call everyone here." He said it with a firm, commanding voice.
And finally, Amaya snapped out of her shock and sadness. She wiped her tears, took a breath, and nodded. "Okay, Commander." Then she walked toward the door, and just as she opened the door, everyone quickly turned toward her. Soru quickly got up and stepped forward, and others followed as well, and stepped forward. Everyone was holding their breath, waiting for her to say anything. But she couldn't find a voice or a word to say anything. She just shook her head and looked down. And then, like suddenly thundering stars in the morning in clear weather, the earth was shaking, like someone slid the land—earth—from Soru's feet. Others were also shocked. Then Amaya said, "Everyone, come inside." Then she walked inside, and others followed her. Soru's world was shaking. He didn't cry, he just watched Old Lady's body as he entered. A single tear rolled down from his eyes, from his cheek. That's it. Some were crying, some were holding their breath, and some were still shocked, but Soru didn't know what to feel or how to feel anymore.
1—3 hours later, everyone was at the graveyard of HQ, in front of Old Lady's grave. Sofia was there behind Soru, Akiko, and Kenzo, and she was still blaming herself. No one noticed her distress except the little boy Ash, who held her hand with concern. Then the gate opened, and Luca, Ming, and Rin entered, defeatedly, sadly. Their faces were defeated from those losses. As they entered, they saw no one around except the guard who opened the gate for them. They looked around but no one was there. Then the guard silently gestured for them to follow him. Ming, Luca, and Rin exchanged glances and then silently followed the guard, and they arrived at the graveyard. Their eyes widened from shock as they understood that someone died.
When others noticed the three of them, they felt a bit of relief, but didn't react much to their arrival because of the circumstances. Then Commander Hikari stepped forward as he noticed them and said quietly, firmly, "Welcome back." Then Rin asked urgently, "What happened here?" Hikari looked at them, sighed, and said, "See yourself." Three of them exchanged glances and walked forward. Others moved away from their way. Every step was becoming heavy for them. When finally they stopped in front of the grave, they hesitantly looked up and read the name board of the grave, "Old Lady Marla Venn."
End of Chapter 30.
End of Volume one.