Tap. Tap.

Alex was never into funerals. The last one he had been to was for his grandmother, and aside from the cold feeling in his gut, he had barely been able to focus on it. He had been like a machine, everything on autopilot while he was completely unfocused on the inside. At least that one hadn't been his fault.

He grimaced and held Mari's hand a little tighter. The entire crew sat along the row on stone benches, and every one of them looked like they had been chowed up and spat out by wolves. Well, except Mari. The android looked perfectly fine, her red hood up to cover her from the light rain as she watched the elegy below.

Sayed was covered with nicks and scrapes, all of them nearly healed with grayish, white skin. Wen had a distant, almost calculating look to her eyes, and seemed miles away. Jean was as cold as a grave, his face set in stone as he watched his hands. Erin, who held Mari's other hand, was pink.

Tap. Tap.

Water ran from his brow as a blue and silver robed figure talked down below at the center of the amphitheater. Behind the speaker rested two pyres, covered from the rain and stacked below with wood. Two figures rested on those pyres, ready to be burned. Artur to the right and King Lopold to the left. Two funerals in one with all of Grim Aegis watching, either by aether broadcast or in the amphitheater itself.

Alex didn't know what to do, and he couldn't focus on the figure's words. He kept repeating his conversation with Harut in the back of his head.

Tap. Tap.

"What happened?"

The moment they were alone, the questions started, and Alex did his best to explain the fight. He talked about how Miss Malone had jumped into the portal, how he and the captains had gone after her. He told them about their plan to fight Miss Malone, and how Miss Malone had ambushed them. Harut's face fell when Alex explained how Artur had died, and Alex's voice shook as he finished.

"He escaped?" Harut clenched his fists as Alex finished.

"There's no other way off that island, but we couldn't search for him," Alex said. "His curse allows him to negate any aether-based abilities, including the Path of Will."

"Hmph." Harut nodded, releasing his fingers and standing up a little straighter. "Once I have gone through the pact, I can send a cadre of knights to scour the island. We will have him, mark my words."

"I hope so." Alex nodded. "I can't say how sorry I am that I brought him with us."

Harut looked him in the eye, and Alex saw a brimming anger behind those eyes. However, he took a deep breath, and released the tension in his shoulders. Alex watched the anger flood out of his body, so that he just ended up looking tired.

"You couldn't have known in advance," Harut said. "You're not some seer. None of us are. That you were willing to risk so much to save my nephew says all I need to know. If you had been born in Grim Aegis, you would have been an excellent knight."

"I don't think I could handle the authority above me." Alex snorted. "But thank you."

Alex turned, looking out the stone cutout window in the castle's side. In the distance, the Military Police slipships were retreating. Drake and Grayson would be with them, and they would handle Miss Malone. Alex wished her the worst.

"What will you do now?" Harut asked.

"We're going to head for the Core," Alex said, fingering the trinket that had gained him a path back. "That's everyone's goal."

It was only good for one trip, but he had to assume there were more of them, or that it might be recharged. Right then, it was cold in his hand, completely bereft of the power that had opened a way back to Grim Aegis.

"You're going to stay for the funeral," Harut said, not as a suggestion or request. "Artur would want you all to be here, I think."

Alex turned to him, raising one eyebrow.

"You must anyway, because I will not complete the pact until after my brother and nephew have been laid to rest." Harut smiled a little. "It will take me at least one week to be ready to form the pact, and Grim Aegis will be in mourning until then."

"In mourning, huh," Alex said, looking out the window again. "I met a guy named Matthias back there, and he said that everyone in Grim Aegis had a story about Artur being a hero."

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

"They do." Harut smiled. "Artur is known as the prince and a knight to all of my people. That is how he was introduced to them when he finally came of age. They don't know all of his past, and much we have kept a secret."

"Isn't that going to make this more difficult?"

Harut pursed his lips, like he was dealing with the problem for the first time. To the people of Grim Aegis, it would be like they were learning about the prince for the first time. They knew him as a man, a prince, and a knight. They didn't know about the princess he had been.

It was a difficult idea to address, even in a modern world. Looking around the stone walls, with the pageantry of nobility with kings and knights, Alex didn't want to imagine the position that Harut was in.

"The question is who we are," Harut said. "Who are we known to people as, and who are we in other ways?"

Alex nodded.

"Are you 'Tin Man' Ortega, the outlaw who burned down August and killed thousands of people there, or are you Alex, the man who just fought past a bunch of rogues and saved Grim Aegis? Are you a brigand, or a hero who brought my nephew home?"

"I'd say I'm both," Alex said. "It just depends on how you know me."

"Precisely," Harut said. "My nephew was both knight and princess to me, because I knew him as both. However, I feel I must respect who he became, and who he was to the people. To them, he was their knight and their prince."

"Funerals are for the living." Alex grinned.

Tap. Tap.

The rain was picking up. Alex raised his free hand to cover his head a little and let the water drip off his arm. Other people in the crowd pulled up hoods or raised pieces of cloth over their heads. Wen had her hat, but Jean and Sayed were as exposed to the elements as he was. He didn't even have his jacket.

"It's Harut," Mari whispered beside him as the robed figure stepped off the stage and Harut replaced him.

Harut stepped out from the front row, taking the place of the robed figure from before. He wore silver and blue, the colors of the Lopolds, and water streamed down his head as he took the stage. Alex's ears perked up as Harut cleared his throat. He could pay attention for Harut. He owned the man that much.

"We have gathered here today to mourn the passing of a king and his child. King Lopold and Prince Artur were taken from us far too soon, and they will be dearly missed."

All whispering, all other noises ceased when he started speaking. Even the rain gave way. Alex squinted and leaned forward as Harut opened his arms to the entire crowd.

"I do know that they would be proud that so many showed up to mourn their passing. My brother was a great king, and my nephew was beloved by all."

His eyes seemed to lock with Alex's own, though he was too far away to pick Alex out. Well, should have been too far away. The rest of the crew tended to stand out in a crowd, especially one like the people of Grim Aegis.

It was his first day at an American college all over again, in that regard.

"I told an acquaintance the other day what made our family so special when it came to rulers. We are remembered not for who we are, but for the stories people remember us by. Not a person here is without a story about Prince Artur, and how he has come to their aid, time and time again. Not one of us has ill words to speak of King Lopold in his passing."

Alex had to wonder about that, technically with both, though less with Artur. Were there truly no people in Grim Aegis who could speak ill of a king? Were there none of them willing to revolt and fight if the People's Revolution came knocking? He knew a little too much about politics to buy that. Even Artur might have been a target in the eyes of some people.

But that wasn't the point of the speech, and he knew it. It was to provide comfort to the people coming to mourn. Him picking it apart was pointless.

"Here now we lay them both to rest, and the flames of Lord Halogi will bring them back to ash. As we are all born as ash by the flames of life, we are all laid to rest as ashes whence we came."

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust," Alex whispered.

"What?" Erin asked.

"Just a saying from my world," Alex said. "I shouldn't be surprised that they're similar."

They both quieted down after that. Alex hadn't been able to talk to anyone much after coming back, so the words were a start. However, he didn't think his crew would be back to normal for a while. He wouldn't be the back to who he was for a while either.

Almost all of them had nearly died in their fights. Erin had been burned by Drake's flame. Sayed had nearly fallen to a group of Hell Knights. Wen had been hurt by her own curse again. Even Jean wore marks across his bones that he tried to hide, though he wouldn't talk about what happened.

They had won, but only he had walked away relatively unscathed.

He needed to get them together a moment alone and talk with all of them. However, the thought of just gathering everyone in a circle and talking their last few days out felt a little artificial. He knew that it was a common practice in psych wards, but doing it didn't seem like the right option.

Granted, keeping it all bound up inside wasn't healthy either, and he liked his crew. Aside form Erin, who would leave soon under orders from the People's Revolution, he wanted to keep them all together as long as he could. Sure, their interests might make them part ways, but right now, they almost all wanted to go to the Dark Meridian.

If he could, he'd even ask Erin to say, though he knew he couldn't do that.

"Bring out the flames!"

Alex sucked in further thoughts of what to do about his crew as two torches were brought out by robed figures. The rain had faded, and they had no fear of the lights going out. Bright orange flames came from the two sides of the stage and met up at the two pyres.

They set both alight, and cries went out among the audience.

"Your story carries on, brother," Sayed whispered, clasping his hands together.

Erin wrapped her arms around Mari beside him, though Mari hadn't moved or spoken during the entire ceremony. Alex held onto Mari's hand and kept his eyes on the pyres. Flames licked up through the wood and over Artur's and King Lopold's bodies. Harut stood between them both, his hands held in front of himself and his head bowed.

"He will be a king now," Jean said, his eyes finally raising from his hands. "That will be his new fate."

"Hope he'll be a good one." Alex nodded as their friend's body burned.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.