Chapter 75: Chapter Seventy-Two: Loss
An explosion was heard from the communications on Lucilia's ship, and afterwards there was nothing but silence.
Lucilia, hearing this, put her hand to her heart in fear "Please...please don't let anyone die...please don't be Ren..."
It was then that a call came in from Ren's squad.
"Lucilia...it's Ren..."
Lucilia jumped with relief upon hearing Ren's voice. "Ren, you're okay!?"
Silence was met with this question. "We're returning to the ship...with a casualty."
Lucilia's previous excitement was now replaced with despair.
"Who?"
*A couple minutes earlier*
"DAMN YOU!" Ren yelled after seeing one of his squadmates die in front of him. He charged at Zaiga's knight with all of his might with his sword; he cut into Zaiga's mech on the chest, causing it to spark and catch fire.
Ren kept his anger and charged at Zaiga, full of anger, nearly blinded by it if it wasn't for Scarlet.
"Ren! We have to go!" Scarlet yelled out on the comms.
Trying to control his anger, Ren gripped and then released the handles of his knight before saying "Let's get out of here...Scarlet if you would."
"I got it, Ren." Scarlet replied, knowing exactly what Ren was going to ask.
The assault teams returned to the ship, leaving Zaiga in a mech in critical condition in space alone.
"Dammit...AGAIN? HOW DID I LOSE AGAIN!." Zaiga said, punching his mech from the inside in anger.
Zaiga reached over to his comms before calling on the radio "This is Zaiga... I need a pickup as soon as possible. Sending my coordinates."
*Once Ren and the others arrive at the ship*
Ren left his knight and ran over to the destroyed mech. Once he arrived, a crowd of engineers and other knight pilots gathered witnessing what was happening. Scarlet opened up the cockpit of the knight, and out came a bloody body. The body of a girl in her early 20s.
"I'm so sorry..." Ren said, seeing the sight, that tears were in her eyes.
Silili, the young girl who Ren had served next to since he had met Lucilia, now lay dead in front of him. Other Knight pilots also started to cry as the medical team came down to stretcher her away from the crowd.
Lucilia, who had arrived late to the hangar, saw Silili being carried out and knew immediately that Silili no longer had life in her eyes.
"Silili..." Lucilia was shocked, but quickly gathered her thoughts together and approached the crowd of pilots and ship crew.
Everyone's eyes turned to her, and Ren, who knew that while her face was strong and showing strength, her eyes showed weakness and fear, quickly walked up next to her and grabbed her hand to reinsure her for what she was about to do.
Lucilia cleared her throat and began her speech to everyone in the crowd "I know we just lost one of our own, someone each of us cared about. We will grieve, I promise you we will, but we have an objective that we need to complete, and right now that takes priority. Silili wouldn't have wanted her life to be lost in vain should we fail this mission. So each of you, I ask you to bury down your feelings, your sadness, and your anger and see this mission through. Afterwards, we will grieve, and each of you will be given time to grieve in your own way, but right now, please, let's get this done."
Ren, seeing Lucilia struggle through her speech, grabbed her hand even tighter, showing that he was right now next to her, supporting her.
With the combination of Lucilia's speech and seeing Ren, who had tears in his eyes, also trying to be strong, not only for them but also for Lucilia, the crew all agreed to listen to what Lucilia had asked of them. They buried their feelings for now and focused on the job at hand. The crew each returned to their stations, some still with tears in their eyes but also determination in their hearts. They knew that Lucilia was right; they couldn't let Silili's life be lost for nothing if they failed this mission. They would see it through.
Later in the day, the medical team, who had now prepared Silili to be preserved cryogenically until they returned to Volaria, allowed those close to her to visit her and say their goodbyes before the ceremony that would be held on Volaria with her family.
Ren and Lucilia were the first ones allowed to see her.
Lucilia had tears roll down her cheeks at the sight of Silili's body laid down on a slab and quickly dropped to her knees.
Ren, who was trying to stay strong for Lucilia, bent down behind her and put his arm around her, which was quickly followed by Lucilia turning around and burying her head into Ren's chest. It was almost as if all the strength that Lucilia showed the crew during her speech had evaporated; all that was left was someone grieving the loss of someone they considered family.
"Ren...how...how do I tell her mother and little sister..." Lucilia said, crying into Ren's chest and gripping on his shirt.
"We tell her the truth; I'll be there right next to you to tell them. Her death is not yours to burden, but mine." Ren said.
"Ren..." Lucilia said before quickly being interrupted.
"If I had just killed Zaiga, then he wouldn't have had a chance to deliver that last blow...if I had just approached the fight differently, then maybe-" Ren was rambling before Lucilia stopped him by putting a finger on his lips.
"It's not your fault, Ren...everyone of us knows the risk of going into battle. Anything can happen, and we have to be prepared for it. Silili was no different. She knew the risks of going to battle; she knew exactly what could've happened. She was a true warrior. So don't shoulder this burden, Ren. Instead of thinking about what you could've done to change things, we have to accept how things are now. She's gone, and now we have to accept that fact and deal with everything that follows..." Lucilia said before standing up and wiping her eyes of tears, "Firstly, we have to deliver Rin and Rei to Tsukiko; afterwards, on Volaria, we will hold a ceremony for her. One we shall all attend."
Ren nodded before standing up with her and putting an arm around her. "We should give Aleyda, Ceti, and the others time to grieve."
"You're right...just give me a second." Lucilia said before walking over to Silili's body and holding her hand. "Thank you for not just being a servant that worked for me and my family, but also a dear friend. I will hold all of the memories we had together growing up and keep them close to my heart and thoughts. Goodbye Silili."
After both Ren and Lucilia left the room, many more other knight pilots and ship crew members entered the room one by one, each giving their goodbyes to Silili, and after leaving the room, resuming their duties that they normally had.
Once Ren and Lucilia returned to their room, they both sat down on the bed and sighed. Without saying a word, the two got closer together and held each other in each other's arms. The two shared in each other's embrace for a few minutes before both of them realized that there were things that they had to do.
Lucilia headed to the bridge and made sure they were still on the path to meeting Tsukiko at the right time. Meanwhile, Ren just wandered the ship and met with some of the people he knew before going to the bridge to see how things were going there before being stopped by two fox girls.
"Hello there, Ren!" Rei said upon seeing him.
"Hey." Rin said, standing next to her sister.
"Hey you two, what's up?" Ren asked.
"We were just wondering if you'd be willing to go get dinner with us?" Rei proposed.
"Uh, sure, why not?" Ren said, following the two to the cafeteria.
*Meanwhile on Volaria*
Octavia was walking in her home next to her sister Sienna, who had stopped by like she did frequently. Sienna liked being with her sister as it was a way to escape the politics of being in the imperial palace, as well as her father, who was now trying to find a husband for her, much like Lucilia. The Emperor, who was enraged by Ren now being Lucilia's rightful husband, now pushed for his other daughters to be married; however, Octavia straight up refused her father, and when he tried to force her to marry a man named Dracon, the heir to one of the richest families on Volaria, she beat him in a duel within a minute and a half and ruined Dracon's reputation and that of his family so badly that he lost his place as the heir of his family to his younger brother Tiran. Afterwards, Octavia was left alone in her house, which Sienna found refuge in.
Octavia looked to her sister and asked, "So, are you still bethrothed to marry Oren?"
"Thankfully, no, I may've leaked some information about his...personal interests." Sienna said with a smile.
"Oh, well, that's it for his reputation." Octavia said smiling.
"Yup, so I should be in the clear for at least a few weeks." Sienna said.
Octavia then had a curious look "So, why are you hiding out here?"
"I'm not hiding...but I do have a question for you." Sienna said.
"What kind of question?" Octavia asked with a knowing smile.
"Can Ren and Lucilia truly change our world?"
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