"So, what made you join?" Gina asked Claire, both of them sitting on Gina's bed. "I know from all the different people I've met, they aren't here for the purpose of the war itself. Most of them are here to find their father, brother... mother, sister...". When she finished speaking, she looked at Claire who was fidgeting with her fingers.
"Well... don't be surprised when I say that I am here to find my brother," Claire replied. "Though, you can say that I am also here to fight the war, yes. So why not hit two birds with one stone, you know?". She paused for a brief second. "If I manage to find him, that is...".
Gina let a sheepish smile grow on her lips as she listened to Claire's words. "I'm sure you will. Have hope, that's what I have learned over the years. I'd had faith in what I wanted to happen the most. And I remember, at times, it cost me patience...". A brief break. "But nonetheless, I believe that you are going to meet him again, you will find him," Gine spoke. "Have hope," she repeated.
Gina's words left a strange effect on Claire. She felt like if anyone else was to have told her what Gina just did, Claire would have called them out on their bullshit. She, herself, knew that the chances of meeting Garrett were very slim, and she didn't need someone else feeding her false hope of how they 'believe' that she will see him again. Or at least, that's what she thought.
Gina's words felt... different. In a way, a way totally new to her, Gina's words held a type of sincerity that Claire was unfamiliar with.
Her words showed that she knew what she was talking about.
Claire couldn't help but let her words soothe her worries about Garrett.
"I just want to know that he is okay..." Claire spoke quietly, but it was loud enough for Gina to hear what she said.
"I understand..." Gina replied. "Did your brother sign up just like the two of us?".
"No, he is an actual soldier.".
"Was he long in his force?" Gina proposed another question.
"Well... I mean, he is 25 years of age now... so about 7 years now. He joined a month or two after he turned 18," Claire responded.
Gina nodded understandingly.
"But tell me, why did you join, Gina? You didn't mention to me your reason why," Claire questioned.
She looked at Gina as her face straightened. She can tell Gina was thinking of what to say. A few moments later, she opened her mouth to speak. "Would you mind if I kept my reason blunt?".
"By all means..." Claire replied, preparing herself for what Gina's answer was going to be.
"You know how you're here to find your brother?".
"Yeah...".
"Well..." Gina started. "Me finding a lost relative is not why I am here. I am here to actually prove my father wrong...".
Claire paused for a second, comprehending the words she was just told. "What do you mean by that?".
Claire noticed the way Gina's gaze fell off of Claire's body and down to the ground. It seemed as if the reason was something personal.
And it was.
"My father..." Gina began. "He was a soldier. That was until he got injured and was sent back home for good. I had no job back home, so he was always on my back, groaning and shouting at how lazy I was. At how I won't be a good housewife and all of that bullshit. Don't know how working would define me as a good housewife. I thought that you know, cooking, taking care of everything around the house and all that stuff would make a housewife. My point is that it is a job in itself. Either way, his words made me feel shit about myself.". A brief pause followed. "So... when I heard about this war... you know, I thought to myself 'why not'. And when I told my parents... to say the least, they weren't all that pleased. My father went on a rant about how women should only stay at home, about how their place wasn't out on the battlefield. He told me that I should have found a better job, something downtown. 'A shopkeeper would have been wonderful... more than sufficient...' those words of his still linger in my head. Even to this very moment, I still remember the tone in his voice and the emotion.".
She took a brief moment to give herself a breather. "But that's aside from the point...". Gina cleared her throat before she continued, "I want to prove him wrong by showing him that I am more than capable of being in the army. And the way that I will prove myself is by making it back home, alive.". A break followed as Gina felt her eyes fill with tears. "That's all I need to do to prove to him that... that I can do this...".
"But you already did..." Claire said. "In my eyes, you already proved yourself to him. The sheer fact that you have survived this long in the war. That you are here right now on this boat. It means that you are more than capable of being in the military.". Muteness spread amongst them both as Claire stopped talking. Instead, she looked up at Gina. She looked at how her eyes filled with tears. "You are dauntless, Gina... I can also see that you are confident. And showing yourself like that to others, you won't only change one person's opinion, but you'll change the world's.".
Claire's words only caused Gina's eyes to well with even more tears. Her words left a huge impact on Gina. Claire even felt the effect of her words, they too caused her to tear up ever so slightly.
And so, without saying anything more, Gina pulled Claire in for a hug. She caught Claire off guard. "You know..." Gina began, she kept her voice low. The lump that formed in her throat forced her to speak so lowly. "You are the first person that has ever told me such a thing. But what hit me the most was that we have just met...".
And to those words, through tears in both Claire's and Gina's eyes, they let out a chuckle or two.
"Thank you..." Gina spoke to Claire. "Thank you because I really needed to hear those words.".
With that, the two women took a second to calm themselves down. And just as Gina was drying her eyes, she asked Claire, "Do you know where your brother's current position is? Where he was deployed? Or... is that kinda stupid of me to ask?".
Claire couldn't help but laugh at Gina's last sentence. "It's not stupid at all... I actually know where he was. But I am not too sure if he is still in this place.". An unintentional break in between her words followed as Claire took a deep breath. "He was in Agluf, is he still there? Well, I can only hope because then I will know where I'll be able to find him.".
"Agluf?" Gina asked.
"Yeah. Do you know where it is?".
"Yeah... I know where Agluf is," Gina responded, immediately causing Claire's heart to drop.
"Y-you do?" Claire inquired.
To that, Gina replied with a nod. "My father was deployed there three years ago, that's what he told us. There was always conflict in that area there from what he said. And I am not surprised.".
"Why do you say so?" Claire inquired.
"Well... Agluf is located in the north of Leilesse, right by the border with Lailin. Both Leilesse and Lailin aren't on the best of terms. They've been enemies ever since 'The Split'.".
'The Split...' Claire thought to herself. She remembered learning about 'The Split' in school. How the Kingdom of Veursau went from 4 countries, down to consisting of 9. Every country, except for the country of Veursau, had undergone a split. This is the main reason why Verusau is still the biggest country in the kingdom. But the enemy forces what to change this, they want to split up Verusau.
"If they try anything with Veursau and if they succeed in what they want to do, it will only cause more tension in the kingdom. In turn, leading to wars like this happening at a higher frequency," Gina spoke Claire out of her trance.
Claire was about to respond when a knock interrupted their conversation. The opening of their door revealed Gabriel.
"Good evening," he greeted the two women. "Claire? Can I talk to you for a few minutes?".
At first, both Claire and Gina exchanged looks, wondering what might have happened. And then, Claire rose to her feet before she made her way towards the door where Gabriel was. Before exiting the room, Claire gave Gine one final look.
"I need to talk to you about something..." Gabriel said.
"Did I do something wrong, Captain?".
"No, not at all. It's about your brother, I found where is Agluf," Gabriel spoke as he lead Claire.
A minute later, Gabriel walked over to a door before he unlocked it and opened it. His office. Entering his workplace, he let Claire in straight after. Behind her, she closed the door shut.
From there, she stood by the door as she observed Gabriel walk around to his table. She noticed the huge map that was spread across the desk.
Noticing that Claire was no longer behind him, he looked up only to see her by the door. "Come here, Claire. I want to show you this.".
For some reason, she felt surprised when she heard his words. But nonetheless, she followed his instruction.
She walked over and stood beside him.
As if waiting for her arrival to get down to navigating his way around, he then leaned onto his hands as he looked at the map. "Here...". Gabriel pointed his finger at the map. "Agluf is right here.". North of Leilesse, just as Gina said.
"It's pure luck that the town is just outside of the boundaries of the battlezone in Leilesse..." Gabriel said. Claire sensed some sort of relief in his voice. "On top of that, it's about a half an hour drive from where we are meant to stay.".
It was those words of his that caused Claire to pause for a second.
'I would be able to bring you to him, to let you see him if you wished of me to do so...' Gabriel thought to himself, as his orbs moved to look at Claire.
He saw the way she looked at the map before her gaze went up to him. She looked into his eyes.
With that, she let a smile develop on her lips. To that, Gabriel replied with a smile.
"So that means that he'll be okay..." Claire spoke under her breath. But it wasn't what Gabriel expected her to say.
"I-I certainly hope so," Gabriel responded, slightly put off guard as he too kept his tone just as quiet.
Then, something caught his eye. The chain of the necklace he bought her by her collarbone. The smile on his face developed even more. Under his breath, he whispered, "You are still wearing it...".
Claire looked down at herself before she replied with a "Yeah...".
With that, she picked the necklace into the palm of her hands before she looked at all the diamonds her necklace contained.
Her smile only grew.
"You know... you really didn't have to buy me this...". A pause followed as her eyes were glued to the beautiful piece of jewellery. "It's absolutely magnificent.".
"I know I didn't have to, but I wanted to buy it for you," he replied. "I am very glad that you like it...".
"I don't like it. I love it, Gabriel. I-I love it so much..." she exclaimed through her smile.
He couldn't help but chuckle at seeing such a reaction. 'You don't know how much it makes me happy to see you smile, Claire...'.
She once again looked down at her necklace. She gazed at it as it reminded her of the night when she went out to the market in Verusau. The memories all caused the smile on her face to slowly begin to recede. 'I shouldn't allow myself to think of things as sad as that. I am here, Gabriel is here. We have both survived...'.
But then, as she looked at her necklace, she remembered something.
Instantly, her eyes went back to Gabriel. "Gabriel?".
He hummed, looking back her way as he sat on the corner of his desk, indicating that he was listening to whatever it was she had to say.
"Remember that night when you bought me this necklace?".
He nodded before smiling at her words. "I do.".
"You brought me over to that place then. I can still picture the beautiful view on the other side of the railing...". A pause followed. "And then... right before that attack... there was something you wanted to tell me...".
It took Gabriel a mere moment to think back to what Claire was saying. And when he remembered what it was that Claire was talking about, his eyes widened ever so slightly, in both slight surprise and fear.
"What was it that you wanted to tell me?".