"Let us stand in silence to pay our respects." Said the priest firmly as the funeral was coming to an end.
With dry leaves falling, making the world seemed covered in gold; and the cold yet comforting wind brushing past the trees creating a euphoric sound similar to that of a whistle, there stood August, far from the crowd that was present there for the same reason as him, to attend the funeral of late Edwin Valenzuela
As August stood in front of Edwin's now lifeless body, he thought to himself, "Why am I not crying...?" He shifted his gaze to those around him, with just one glance around the place his thought drastically changed from confusion to anger, "and why are they crying!!?"
It was a funeral, a funeral with no grief... August calmly placed a few carnations and orchids near Elio and made one last bow to his best friend, he could feel the eyes of family, relatives and neighbors piercing through.
With the final goodbye to his friend now done August went to a quite corner and stood all by himself, "Why did I even came here?"
"Look! that's that guy. Apparently, he was best friends with Edwin." whispers among the crowd being audible even from a distance was deliberate, yet August was indifferent to it all.
"Best friend my foot! he didn't even cry when he heard the news."
"I don't think he as even saw him as a friend because…you know, that!"
Whispers that were meant to be heard among just few individuals were now THE conversation; everyone had their eyes on August; and his lack of grief turned the atmosphere into a raging storm.
"I can't believe Edwin called that guy his best friend."
"He looks pretty unaffected to me, as if nothing had happened."
Still in a corner with his eyes rolled down looking at the ground, August stood in silence ignoring every word uttered by the people gathered there.
"Hey, are you alright?" a hand landed on August's should, "I can understand what you must be going through but you shouldn't isolate yourself." August was familiar with that voice, "Mr. Valenzuela…" August still with a straight face with no sign of grief continued, "I'm sorry for making you worry." As soon as he finished, he bowed before Mr. Valenzuela and left
Witnessing this, shifted the topic of conversation among the crowd.
"Mr. Valenzuela is such a great guy."
"Showing kindness while bearing such a pain."
"I hope he finds his happiness and stay well."
"Even Ms. Valenzuela is looking out for everyone making sure everyone is fine."
"Such a kind couple."
August was quietly passing through the crowd hearing about Mr. and Ms. Valenzuela and their kindness.
"Should I just… leave.?" The thought crossed August's mind.
Thud!
A stranger ran into August; it was nothing much other than the shoulders of the two colliding while passing each other yet the stranger looked as if he was about to burst into tears.
'Well, we are at a funeral afterall' August Thought to himself trying to come up with an explanation for that person to be in that state and proceeded to apologize, "I'm sorry" As he was about to go on, he felt his sleeve being pulled, stopping him in his tracks, "Are you Augustus Vane?" asked the boy holding back his tears.
"Yes?" August replied hesitating for a second
"Can I talk to you for a second"
"Sure, go on…"
"Not here!"
The Sun was trying to slip through the clouds hoping to join in, the wind had quite downed and passed the spot light to the crickets who were now singing with all their might, the grass was lightly dancing to the tune as the leaves were falling filling in the role of confetti. At the audience side there stood a bus stop where people can sit and experience it all.
"Here you go…" August hands over a bottle of orange juice to the boy, he gently took it and drank with both hands holding the bottle as August sat next to him.
There was brief silence between the two.
"Are you from…?"
"From the frontlines." Said the boy instantly while wiping off his mouth with a handkerchief
"A magician, I see… Did you come with someone?"
"No, due to restrictions, it's just me."
August had a rough idea about what the boy actually wanted to talk about because it was something that shocked everyone "about the thing you want to talk about…"
"Yeah- well, do you happen to know how Edwin… passed away?"
"…" August leaned back on the seat shifting his gaze towards the clouds that were still blocking the sun.
"It's alright if you do not wish to talk about it, I won't ask!"
"We don't know."
"Huh?"
"He was found dead in his room with no injuries, no scars, no marks, nothing."
"…"
"After doing autopsy we were sure to find something but even that failed to identify the cause of death."
"What?"
"It is almost as if his body just… "
August couldn't complete the sentence; he was still young having no previous experience of losing someone close to him. His eyes finally had a hint of moisture in them as he explained what had happened to Edwin, his voice gradually shifted from monotone to a meek cry struggling to get the words out "We had a talked that night, he- he seemed totally fine to me, he even ask me to – to help him out with- with his wo- work."
The boy raised his hand and placed it on August's shoulder. They both sat there looking at the clouds drifting through the vast sky, no words were exchanged between two for a while and yet the silence was not uncomfortable
…
"I'm sorry for- "August broke the silence after few clouds passed by
"No, it's fine." The boy replied before August finished his sentence
"Edwin was pretty lucky to have you as a comrade I guess."
"Ah, I don't know about that, I always used to mess up and create more work for Edwin."
"Still, from what I've heard from him, he sure enjoyed a lot with you guys."
"I'm sure the others would love to hear that."
"At least you were able to attend the funeral on everyone's behalf, I heard it's quite difficult for magicians to get off frontlines."
"…" the boy still holding on to the empty bottle started fidgeting with it while lowering his gaze
August felt the shift in atmosphere as the boy uttered, "I am currently on duty here to relay a message."
The boy who was about to burst in tears was no where to be found, August was lost for words.
The sun finally managed to get past the clouds and brought dazzling light on to the stage as the boy stood up bathing in that light and announced, "I am Sven Blight, the commander of Nightingale house, here to give you the message that you are invited to join the frontlines and become a magician of house Nightingale as per the recommendation of late Commander Edwin Valenzuela"