Days after Garrett's death had passed. Gabriel and his group had found themselves back in Failin. Back in that one hotel where they were all those weeks ago.
And, as if it was by some freak accident, Claire had been allocated the same room, just like that one in her last stay. Not that it helped her grieving in any way.
If anything, it promoted more memories to seep into her mind. It reminded her of everything back then, back when Gabriel got drunk. Back then when she opened up that bit more to him... Back then, when Garrett was still alive.
"Back then...". Her words were carried by a mere mutter as a lump found its way to form in her throat. She hated the fact that tears welled in her eyes, she had been crying for hours.
She wanted to stop, she wanted to let go of all the sadness that weighed on her, she was tired of it all. But she felt as if she needed much more energy to do so. The extra energy which she lacked.
So, Claire rolled onto her side before allowing a tear to roll down her face. 'I won't even be able to attend my own brother's funeral...'.
She damned herself for thinking of such a thought. She clenched her jaw as she tried to stop the tears from further accumulating in her eyes. But moments that followed proved to her that such an attempt was futile. She managed to keep herself together until it all got too much. And when it did, she broke down into tears.
Turning around, Claire grabbed and wrapped her arms around the pillow on which she had her head and sobbed into it. 'I still can't believe you are really gone, Garrett...'.
After a few minutes, Claire felt herself calm down bit by bit. She felt the warmth on her cheeks from the tears she had cried, but also from her pillow which she held tightly against her face.
She hitched a breath before letting go of the pillow in her hands and sitting up. Wiping all the wetness off her face from her tears, she proceeded on taking a deep breath. 'Whenever I breakdown like this, I must remind myself that he's in a better place now. A place much safer than here.'.
Then, all of a sudden, a knock was heard, catching Claire off guard. She paused as she directed her gaze to the door. 'Who could it be?.
A moment later, the knocks were heard again.
"Coming!!" Claire called out as she rose to her feet. Reaching the door, she unlocked it before opening it. There stood Lieutenant Doyle.
Immediately, Claire straightened her posture. "L-Lieutenant??".
"Good evening, Claire..." he began. And though he saw the redness on her face and how puffy her eyes were, he proceeded on asking, "How are you doing?".
To his question, she gave him a sheepish smile, but it very soon turned to a smile of pure sadness as tears once again welled in her eyes.
Shorty noticed this almost immediately, he hitched a breath before speaking up once again. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked...". A pause followed. "I can't imagine what you must be feeling...".
Claire nodded to his words, closing her eyes as she let a tear or two fall down her face. "I can't believe that he's really gone, you know?... It'll take me some time to accept such a thing.".
Shorty nodded to her words, nodding his head in an understanding manner. "No one can believe that he's gone... not even I. Seargent Emerson was quite a soldier. Capable of doing any task he was given," he responded.
"Yes..." Claire's voice drifted off. "Sounds just like him...". A brief pause occurred. "Even back at home, when we'd help our
father, he'd do any job father gave him to do...".
To her words, Shorty let out a gentle, saddened sigh. He looked down at the ground, but after a moment, his gaze rose up to Claire. Silence descended amongst them both, he saw the way Claire's gaze was pointed elsewhere, not meeting his.
Gently taking in a breath, he began, "I have to get going now. Although I wish I can stay longer, I can see that you're still hurting...".
Claire shook her head to his words. "Please don't, don't let me be something that will turn you away from completing your errands.". A pause. "Yes, I am still hurting, but... but it's all just a part of life, we'll lose those who we love, and we have to find one way or another to accept that...". She took a deep breath. "It's just a shame that I lost him so early in life...". Then, through the tears - that once again managed to find their way to her eyes - she let a small smile form on her lips. "He'll be with me tho... just like he said, he'll look over me. I can feel it right now even. That sense of security, safety. The exact same feeling that he gave me whenever I was to have embraced him...".
She hitched a breath before wiping an odd tear or two that managed to escape her eyes. From there, she looked up at Shorty. She saw the way he has his head down, the way his brows trembled along with his lips. He took a deep inhale, looking up at Claire, only for her to notice his teary eyes.
"I-I'm sorry..." he began, taking in a deep breath. "Y-your words... your words, they hit...". Then with his hand, he pointed to his chest, "They hit very close to home for me...".
A slight frown appeared on Claire's lips. "Did you also lose someone close to you in the war?".
His eyes remained on Claire before he bit his lower lip. He shook his head, "No... no, it wasn't in the war..." Shorty replied. "He... he was, uhh...". She stopped himself for a mere second to recollect himself. "He was sick..." it was all he managed to mutter out before he broke into gentle sobs. "I-I'm s-sorry..." he stuttered through his tears. He took a deep breath to try and calm himself. "I-I guess t-this wasn't what you wanted to see...". He chuckled to himself to try and cheer himself up, even if it was by a bit.
Once more, Claire shook her head at his words. "No..." she began. "Never apologise... never say sorry when you let others see something as human as emotions.". A mere pause followed. "You lost your father, someone who is very close to you... I can understand why you're crying. Believe me, I really do...". She tried to swallow down the lump in her throat. "I-I'm sorry for your loss..." Claire added moments later, breaking the silence.
He nodded to her words. She understood, she felt the feeling that he did. The feelings of loss, pain. The yearning to see their loved ones, who had passed, again.
From there, silence descended amongst them both right before Shorty broke it. "I-I'll be off now, Claire... I hope you don't mind.".
She furrowed her brows, "not at all, as I said, don't let me be a factor that will deviate you from finishing your errands.".
Shorty turned around and was about to walk away when he turned back around. Once again, he faced Claire. "By the way, I almost forgot to mention, Gabriel asked for you to meet him, he wants to talk to you.".
"To talk to me? When?...".
"I don't know... but I'd reckon for you to go up now," Lieutenant Doyle replied.
---
When Lieutenant Doyle had left, Claire went up to Gabriel's room. His room was the same one as the last time. She saw his door and furthermore approached it.
She placed her hand on the door handle and was about to open the door when she realised that it was already open, but just slightly. And then a voice boomed from the inside.
"Oh, and before I go, have you heard from the General?" she heard Mason's voice.
"Yes, I have," Gabriel replied. "And... I'm afraid it's not all good news. This will be our final battle. The prognosis is that it's going to be a brutal one. Especially with how our force is now...".
Claire furrowed her brows to his words.
"We can always call back up from the allies," Mason suggested.
"We can... but we're running out of men. Our allies are running out of men," Gabriel began. "The talks are meant to begin tomorrow to try and de-escalate this whole situation.".
"Will this turn into another futile talk? Just like the other few attempts they did?" Mason responded.
"Lieutenant, please..." Gabriel began.
"I-... I'm sorry, Captain..." Mason responded.
After a few seconds, Gabriel released a sigh. "W-we'll take on more men...". A break. "And hope that this time around, shit will work itself out. Either way, after this battle one side will have to raise their white flag. But... in any way, Lieutenant, you're free to go now.".
"Yes, Captain," Mason replied.
"Oh, actually, Lieutenant... before you go," Gabriel began, gritting his teeth ever so slightly. "There's something else that has come to mind," he stopped Mason in his tracks.
"Yes? Is everything okay, Captain?".
"From here on out, Lieutenant, things will get a whole lot more unpredictable..." he pauses for a moment. "It... it's very much likely that something will happen to me out there. And if anything does happen, please promise me that you'll take her back home, to where she'll be safe...".
Mason widened his eyes at Gabriel's words. He couldn't believe what he just heard. "Don't say such a thing, Gabriel! You are one of the most skilled Captains I have ever had the honour of getting to know.". A pause. "And at the end of the day, we are buddies. I don't want to think about losing a buddy now...".
Gabriel nodded to his words. "I-I understand. But it's inevitable, Lieutenant. For all I know, a second's worth of a delay can send the whole thing to hell.". Another pause followed as Gabriel sighed ever so slightly. "Y-you must understand this... for myself, I'm not scared, but... but for her, I am terrified. She deserved none of this whatsoever!". Gabriel halted for a mere moment before clearing his throat. "I can't help but blame myself for her being here right now... But, I've managed to get something organised.".
"I-... I understand, Captain..." Mason responded.
Claire's brows quivered ever so slightly as her gaze descended to the ground.
Gabriel looked at Mason. "So, will you please do that for me?".
At first, Mason replied by looking back at Gabriel. A small smile appeared on his lips. "I hope you know by now that I'd never let you down, Captain.".
"Thank you, Lieutenant. I knew I can count on you. I apologise for keeping you for so long. You're free to go now.".
"Yes, Captain.". With that, Mason turned on his heels and began his way towards the door.
Upon the realisation that the Lieutenant was approaching the door, Claire widened her eyes. Without a second thought, she took a step back and away from the door.
Seconds passed before Mason opened the door and walked out. Looking to his right, his eyes landed on Claire.
"Claire?".
Upon hearing her name, Gabriel widened his eyes in surprise, then, pulling out his clock and checking the time, he tensed his jaw, "Shit...". Then, looking at the door, he thought to himself, 'Did she hear anything?'.
"What brings you here at this time of night," Mason inquired, his gaze softening ever so slightly. "Is everything okay?".
Claire nodded her head. "Yes. I was called up by the Captain. He wanted to talk to me.".
"Oh, I see..." Mason began before he smiled at Claire. "In that case, I won't waste any more of your time. I'll see you tomorrow. Good night.".
"Good night, Lieutenant," Claire replied.
With the nod of his head, sort of like his sign of bye, he walked off, past Claire.
"Claire?..." Gabriel's voice boomed from his room.
In response to her being called, she stood right by the door frame. "Yes, Captain?".
"You can enter my room now," he began. "I hope you didn't wait for too long.".
Claire didn't reply. Instead, she did as she was told. She walked into his room before closing the door behind her.
Her gaze was pointed down at the ground as she took a few more steps toward Gabriel. She stopped after her fourth step before looking up at Gabriel, her gaze meeting his worrisome one.
"Is this final battle really going to be that bad?" She asked.
Instantly, Gabriel let out a slight chuckle. "So you heard...".
"The door was slightly open..." Claire replied. "But that's aside from the point...".
Gabriel nodded his head to her words before he paused, thinking over his words, feeling his sense of hesitance building up. But before he managed to utter a word, Claire beat him to it.
"And please... be honest with me, Gabriel.".
He let out a gentle sigh. "Well... to put it very bluntly, yes. The battle tomorrow will be really bad. Mainly because of the number of guys we lost. Once again, I lost more than half of my force. So far, I can safely say that we have been lucky, Claire...".
"Lucky?... W-what do you mean lucky??".
"I don't think you're aware of the sheer magnitude of this battle tomorrow, Claire..." Gabriel replied.
"What will be so different about tomorrow's fight, unlike the previous fights we've been through?" Claire inquired.
"Well... you see, this area in which we'll be fighting - Veursir - there's a huge rivalry in which Iwa and Agut will try to take this land from Veursau. But Veursau isn't budging," Gabriel started. "Since Agut, Iwa and Lailin are all allies, they will now try their best - despite Verusau not giving in - to take the land and make it theirs. So I can expect a shit ton of action, a shit ton of bombs being dropped and some gruesome sights, Claire.".
Claire nodded to his words. "I-I see...". She directed her gaze to the ground. 'Gina was right... The fight is over Veursau...'.
"Claire... for tomorrow, I will need you to stay as close to me as you can, even while we're on the battlefront. I will ensure that nothing happens to you..." Gabriel said. "Because straight after, whether it's with myself or with Lieutenant Mason, you'll be flown back to Arittoria.".
"B-back to Arittoria?" Claire questioned.
"I'm sending you back home, Claire.".