75. The Longest Night
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Chapter 75: The Longest Night

 

In a tent, was Klauna lying on top of a crudely made bed. She was wide awake and was looking to the roof of her dark tent. It was the night of the eighth day since the siege, and things were rather quiet— so quiet she could hear loud ringing in her ear.

Klauna had been awake for several days already, never taking the time to rest. It was why when Harbin forcefully forced Klauna to take one, she was rather distressed about it. Distressed about the things that would happen when she wasn't around, about how things will go without her. What if they needed an immediate decision and she was asleep?

When one is a soldier, any chance to sleep should be taken and utilized to the fullest— especially during sieges and after periods of intense moments. For as strong as a person can be, they could not afford to stay awake for too long at a time, lest they lose focus and fall prey to sleep deprivation.

Unless of course, one is some sort of creature that doesn't need sleep. It was unfortunate that Klauna wasn't such a creature. She was like any other and would eventually fall to exhaustion. She knew she needed to rest. Even so, she found herself unable to sleep.

Though in all honesty, who could in this situation? They were so close to getting out of there alive. She could sleep later when all is done. It was only a matter of hours at this point.

Being bored out of her mind, Klauna decided to go for a walk. The soft cold breeze of the sea caressed her skin as she moved out of her tent. She didn't have a destination, so she decided that she would take her usual patrol around the city.

Her first destination was the immediate surroundings. The encampment of the Seventh Army. Being in the middle of the night, it was pitch black so she couldn't really see anything. Only things she could see were a few lit up lamps. Although it was dark, the camp wasn't a little bit quiet. A lot of Ak'hims could be seen loitering around or making idle conversation in the area.

Across her field of vision, Klauna could see several Ak'hims chatting by the campfire, most of them were the Ak’hims that Harbin recruited in Prashyufa. Klauna found it a little bit funny knowing that the event happened so long ago and yet they are still called recruits even now, more than a year after the fall of Prashyufa. Around the campfire was Aki, Sladar and Pringgar. They looked rather hopeful and were talking to each as they normally have.

Aki was the known leader among them, Sladar was the best friend who got dragged along and Priggar was the one who had to keep Aki in check.

A little while back, Klauna had told everyone that a third of the army would die. She let out a small smile after seeing the three recruits. She was glad that none of the three died as per her predictions— that they could continue their journey with each other after this war. Though, she cannot say the same to the rest of the recruits that died along the way. 

Taking one last look at them, Klauna then proceeded to leave the area. Her next destination would be the walls of Divinatus. Although on the way there, Klauna had spotted a peculiar group walking towards the castle.

It was Yuupiecca, Poi, the triplets Yuuka, Yuuko, Yuuki, Lina, Medica and Cera. Each one of them carried a box full of parts. They could be seen walking fast, but not really in a state of hurry. The group, or more particularly, the triplets and Poi, converse with each other about one thing in particular, teasing Lina about her crush on Yuupiecca. 

They do it in such a way that Yuupiecca won't find out, but there was no sparing for Lina whom Poi showed no mercy for, constantly calling her 'future big sister'. Lina could be seen blushing as they made their way to the castle. 

The triplets were the few of the one hundred and fifty Analysts that still remained alive to this day. Almost half of them have been killed by now. Thinking about it, this pair of triplets have been rather lucky. They've been in the thick of things across all battles, oftentimes getting caught in the middle of enemy lines. Yet they still managed to come out alive as siblings no less. They were definitely top contenders of being the luckiest individual in the military.

Triplets who wished to show everyone that the true potential of the Analysts crest, that they aren't useless or weak. As far as Klauna was concerned, they accomplished that a long time ago. Klauna could not be more grateful for all their contributions. Their skills as engineers, as bombardment squads and most grateful for their loyalty. They were there for her from the very beginning, after all. Though she wished Yuuko would learn to aim better.

Klauna then brought her eyes to Cera and Medica. The two somehow become quick friends with each other ever since the events at Fort Kron. They were Harbin's best friends as well

— Harbin who was not there with them. They were both young but already had such a burden upon them. Yet, they did not sink into despair and did their duties to the best of their abilities. Klauna has no doubts that the two alongside Harbin have a great future to look forward to.

Then, there was Lina and Yuupiecca. There was nothing to say much about the two. Yuupiecca is probably the best man Klauna has ever known. That's no small feat when one is over eight thousand years old.

Lina, on the other hand, started off rough. She was... Not the best of people. Though she turned out fine in the end. She had earned quite a reputation for herself as the Wingless Succour. She showed that a Succour is more than just their wings. How Ironic it is to Klauna, that Lina did the best when she regained her wings — her blood wings, though Klauna just let that thought slide.

Klauna has nothing but respect for all the people there. 

Taking one last look at them, she let out a satisfied nod and before moving away.




The walls were filled to the brim with Soldiers, at least a few thousand, just standing by and keeping watch. Leading them were three figures standing over the edge of the wall, overlooking into the darkness that was outside Divinatus. A small trickle of light from the Alliance's encampment entered their eyes. The three said nothing to each other, just standing still there and basking in the atmosphere. 

Unlike the others, Samiyadare, Aberanis and Parahs chose to spend the night in silence. These last few moments they have, could very well be their last one yet; but they have nothing to say to each other, only standing still and taking comfort in each other's presence.

As weird as it may sound, Klauna felt like there was a person that should be there— a person that was missing. Looking closer, Klauna could see a small gap in between the three. A space for a certain someone.

'Liliel…' the nickname she gave to Leida rang out in her mind. The cocky yet reasonable half-dragon will never be able to fill that gap ever again.

Klauna's relationship with the First, Second and Third army was iffy, to say the least. It was only because of Leida that they were able to get this far. The person who Klauna admired for her unnatural way to persuade others. Klauna and Leida were two very off combinations, but it worked like a charm in battles and in meetings.

Klauna would be lying if she said that Leida's death didn't affect her. Sure they have only met for a short time, but there was a special bond between the two. She was someone whom Klauna could comfortably call a friend. It was as Leida said to her, that if given the time; that if they were to meet earlier, both of them could have been very best friends.

But for as much pain as Klauna felt when she died,  the three in front her must have felt even more. Klauna only hoped that they could one day recover from the pain. Nodding towards them in respect, she then left them alone.

….
….
….
….

Having satisfied herself by travelling all over the city, Klauna decided to just climb the tallest tower in the area and just sat near the edge, looking over the other parts of the city.

Divinatus had an inbuilt port within the city. A port which can connect and disconnect from the ocean via a smart application of the walls and floodgates. Said port was now cut from all contact from the outside. Perhaps one day the port will open again and the Ak'hims can build their boats and sail out, but it's not going to be that way anytime soon.

Within the calm waters of the port were Queen Saladis and the merpeople. It was where they set up camp. Fish belonged in water after all.

They had chosen to follow the Ak'hims to wherever the voyage will take them. The revelation from Saladis surprised Klauna at first. She thought the merpeople would leave once their duties to the Kingdom were fulfilled— a debt of existence has been repaid after all. There was no reason for them to stay and be treated as second class citizens again.

Apparently, it was the people themselves that choose that decision. That the merpeople felt that they were stronger when together with the Ak'hims. Saladis merely followed the will of her people. 

When asked about the relation between her people and the Ak'hims, Saladis merely replied in such a way. "For such a thing. I will entrust that matter with the future Demon Lord."

Klauna didn't know what she meant by that statement. There was no guarantee that the next Demon Lord will be a kind one, or even a reasonable one for that matter. She found it weird that Saladis would entrust such an important matter to a random person. Though, Klauna respected her decision and left the matter at that. 

Moving her eyes towards the park near the port was the encampment of the two other races within the Northern Demon Kingdom. The Minotaurs and the Lamias. Vargus, Shieska and their soldiers were working hard on the recently made farms.

Klauna must admit, she didn't know them as well as she could have. There simply weren’t many opportunities for them to interact outside of war councils. Though she could tell that they were honest and hardworking soldiers. At first, their reason to help Klauna was because she saved them at the Plains of Fate. They owe her a debt of life, after all.

However, after a while, it stopped being about their debt and more about what's at stake: The survival of their people and their country. Throughout the war, the Kingdom called upon them and they delivered. They did their duties well.

Like the Merpeople, they are often treated like second class citizens. But as far as Klauna was concerned, they carried more nobility than the fools who brought this war in the first place. Nobler than the so-called Familias of the kingdom.

"Lord Klauna? Is that you?" 

Klauna could hear Harbin's voice from behind her, disrupting her entire thought process.

"Maybe?" Klauna tried to be dodgy about the matter.

Harbin only let out a sigh before moving closer to Klauna. "I thought I told you to rest," she said in annoyance as she sat next to Klauna at the edge of the tower.

"I did. Then I woke up and I can't go back to sleep. I thought I could kill time by walking around."

"I see," Harbin replied. She then looked at the area around her. "Why here? It's such a weird place to be."

"I can see the ocean from here," Klauna replied, never taking off her eyes from the ocean.

Harbin let out a small frown at hearing the reply. "No you can't."

It was true. All they could see was darkness in the moonless night. There were no stars either. It was a very cloudy night. The best they could see was the dull grey shade of the ocean at most.

"Forget about that. Why are you here? This is an even weirder place for you to be in." Klauna diverted the question back to Harbin.

Harbin could be seen rather flabbergasted at the question. "I… I just wanted to…" Harbin shied away from answering.

Though Klauna didn't let up. "Wanted to?"

Letting out a sigh, Harbin gave up and answered back. "You know… how the city is always rocking back and forth with the wave? I just wanted to train myself for seasickness… This tower is the worst spot after all."

'Now that she mentions it.' Klauna thought to herself. If the city rocked back and forth, then this tower would be the most affected by it. Nodding in understanding, Klauna went back to staring into the abyss. 

The two stayed quiet for minutes with Harbin not knowing what to do. She tried to be like Klauna and stared at the ocean, but found herself bored out of her mind as she did so. 

The fragile silence was broken when she spoke. "Hey, Lord Klauna."

"Hmm?"

"...tell me more about yourself and your past," Harbin said as she clutched the grimoire within her hands.

"My...past?" 

"Yeah, your past. Remember back at that camp? That you said that I don't know anything about you? Well, I want to know more," Harbin looked at Klauna in the eyes, a hint of curiosity within her own.

"...my past… isn't really that interesting you know. I did waste almost eight thousand years doing nothing…" Klauna said as she searched her mind for anything interesting that happened in her life, only a few came to mind.

"It's alright. Just let me know! I just want to know more about your past. Anything will do!"

"...well if you put it that way... I wonder where do I even start,"

"Why not start with this Shia person?"

"Senior Shia?" Klauna could be seen rather surprised at the sudden mention of Shia.

"I'm interested… you call everyone by their name. Without honorifics. But you call that person Senior. I want to know who he is."

Klauna gave Harbin a short pause before telling her the truth. "Senior Shia is a human. A female one."

"Eh?! Human? Female?" Harbin covered her mouth as she heard the revelation.

Klauna rolled her eyes at her reaction, this wasn’t the first time she had seen such a reaction. Harbin saw this before scratching the back of her head and let out a sheepish laugh.

"Believe it or not, there was a time where Ak'hims and humans interacted. My adopted father was one as well. She was my mentor… I guess. A good friend of my father."

Harbin perked up her ears, interested in knowing more. "Mentor," she murmured.

"She was the person who taught me how to read. She was the person that taught me the importance of learning. She was the person who taught me how to learn. She was also the person that I have never beaten once. But to be honest, I was nothing but a small child at that time."

Harbin let out a voice of amazement. "She sounds like a great person."

"I don't know. It happened so long ago that I don't know what to feel about her. Even her face seemed a little blurry in my memories. The only thing that remains within me is her teachings and her words."

"I see…"

Then two fell back into silence. Seeing as the topic of Shia was something that Klauna didn't want to talk about, Harbin changed the topic.

"How did you become so strong? Who taught you how to fight?" 

"Oh, that? I learn how to use the spear from a book. I had to hunt for my own food for a while. I somehow kept practising at it, till I got good at it. The same with all the spells that I used. I've either made them from scratch or learn them from books. I have no teacher. Well, I guess I do. But he wasn't a living being and can be quite mean at times."

Harbin let out another look of shock, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "No way! There's no way that you self taught yourself everything!" 

"Harbin."

"Yeah…?"

"I have eight thousand years to waste. I was in pain and I didn't want to think about anything. At times where I can't find liquor, I would just drown myself in learning and practising. That's all there is to it. Do the same thing for thousands of years and you'll eventually be good at it."

"I-I see…"

"So what else do you want to know?" Klauna asked, giving out a small smile towards Harbin. She was rather enjoying the action of telling stories to her and watching her reaction.

"Well, what about your father? He was human too? You said something about being adopted?" Harbin asked more questions.

'Starting with the big one, huh…' Klauna thought to herself as she searched her mind on how to explain to Harbin further.

The two kept like that till dawn, with Harbin asking questions about Klauna's past and her responding back.

 

Thanks for reading. Next chapter will be on Thursday 4th of June.

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