Chapter 203: A red funeral (1) |
Felix dusted his hands as he disappeared from the underground location where Sindora's altar previously was.
He felt as if a boulder had been taken off his shoulders, now that the connection between Jack and her was severed, along with her death. He also knew that Lindo will be very happy to hear about her demise.
Felix decided to go back to the tribe immediately to inform Lindo, so he could finally be at peace with Manitola's death.
Felix's silhouette started to flicker through space as he arrived above Lindo's house and dropped down near his door.
He could hear from the backyard that Lindo had joined Marshallo's training along with Jack, so he just detoured around the house to get to the backyard.
Seeing that Felix had come to visit made Marshallo stop his training as the father-son duo arced their heads towards him.
Felix waved towards them as he got closer and said with a big smile on his face:
"I have some great news, everybody."
Lindo was cleaning his sweat with a towel and asked:
Felix got a little bit closer to him as he looked into his eyes and put a hand on his shoulder, making Lindo cock his head to the side. What was so serious that Felix had to act like this?
"The goddess of charm and illusion, Sindora, I had killed her!"
Lindo's eyes widened as much as they could as he almost dropped to the ground and started clutching his chest around his heart.
Tears slowly started to drip from his eyes, which made both Jack and Marshallo puzzled. Jack came a bit closer to his father and hugged him while asking:
"Why are you crying, dad?"
Lindo's trembling body reciprocated the gesture as he told his son:
"Son, you see... your mother had died out of natural causes, but that death could have been prevented. You remember the connection that Marshallo had you cut off?"
Jack nodded, he had that connection to him since he had been born, but Marshallo found out that it was a one-way forced contract after he analyzed his soul and made him break it.
"You see... the person that was connected to you was formerly connected to your mother..."
He started to explain to Jack his past. He hadn't done it up till now due to the sensitivity of the subject and the fact that he would get extremely angry and irrational if he remembered the events clearly.
But after Lindo heard about the death of the traitorous goddess, his mind mellowed out along with his anger and regret. He thought that Manitola could finally rest easy now.
"You see, son, that's how you came to be and how Manitola, your mother, had died."
Jack couldn't stifle his crying as tears started to drop down his face, Marshallo looked at everything that was happening with disinterest. He thought that such emotions were rather useless as he heard the story as well, and he thought that Manitola's death wasn't in vain. They shouldn't be crying for her, but be happy that she lead a good and fulfilling life until her last moments.
Felix let them empty their sadness batteries after they finished crying their eyes out, Lindo got up and looked at Felix before asking:
"Can you tell me how she died?"
Felix nodded and told him what he sensed through their faltering connection when he was dying.
Lindo almost laughed as he heard about the event and he suddenly hugged Felix as he said:
"Thank you... brother."
Felix reciprocated the gesture as he gave Lindo another smile then looked at Marshallo:
"You train them well, understood?"
Marshallo saluted and gave an affirmative response:
"I shall do my best to make them both worthy warriors, master Felix!"
Felix nodded and decided to leave them to their own devices.
He had used one more day to kill Sindora, so now he had 2 more days until he had to go to the events hosted by the human federation.
....
Felix was sunbathing at the top of the inn, like he usually was, after a while, he finally got up and stretched as he looked towards the direction of the human federation:
"I guess it's time to attend those..."
Felix's body spun for a second as he now wore a dark suit which was more appropriate for the occasion. The president had told him what to wear when he would come to the events.
He needed something formal for both the party and the funeral services.
So he created his own suit according to the description that the president gave him.
Felix checked if the suit was looking good on him before disappearing.
Felix's silhouette appeared above the presidential tower as he dropped down on it and entered using the roof's door.
The president was just finishing his preparations as he looked back and saw Felix entering. He smiled at Felix, then he adjusted his tie before saying:
"Glad you could come. These are two very important events for our society as a whole. We need to pacify the civilians showing that our sacrifices weren't in vain and that we will grow stronger in the future."
Felix nodded as he didn't really care much about the events. He only did it because the humans did help him to achieve his current strength, so he felt that he owed them a bit.
Vangar's sacrifice was also the thing that made him accept participating in these two events.
He was also quite wary of the humans as he remembered Vangar's warning, but with his current strength, he knew there was no chance they would be able to do anything to him even if they decided to betray him.
Felix sighed as he followed the president, they were now going to the party.
They left the president's office as they went down the tower until they reached the bottom of it and left through the main doors.
The party was going to be hosted in front of the tower, and even civilians were allowed to participate depending on who came first as they had limited space to work with.
Felix and the president stood at the furthermost chairs at the top of the very long table as the party started. In the beginning, the president got up from his chair and tapped a spoon on his drinking glass.
"Friends and coworkers, the invasion of the space four-armed race had been very taxing on our army and the wellbeing of our civilians. Thus I have decided to host this party so I can say a few things."
"First and foremost, we will host a funeral service after this party, and I want to say that my sympathies go to all of the families that are here with us today who lost a husband, a mother a friend, a sibling."
"Secondly, all I can say that we will compensate all of those that have been affected by this crisis and that we hope that in the future you will get better and put this crisis behind us."
"Lastly, I and a few others will give rewards to the survivors who had contributed the most so we can have the current peace."
Then the president sat back in his chair as everyone started to eat, drink, and chat.
Felix stood there as he occasionally ate some of the food at the table and looked around. Most people looked at him with admiration as they knew that he was the one who did the most work to push back the invasion.
Felix continued to eat until the party was over, and after that, they all got up from the table.
The president said in a solid voice that traveled through the whole city:
"We shall go to the newly raised hero's monument now!"
The president took the lead as they walked through the city to the cemetery which was slightly behind it. They were basically a funeral parade, as everyone walked slowly with their heads down, wearing mostly black or grey.
They reached the monument after 10 minutes of walking straight through the city.
The hero's monument was a gigantic metallic pillar that had inscribed countless names of the people that had died in battle.
It was stretching in the sky for around 100 meters, and it was 20 meters wide. Showing that the losses they had weren't small at all.
The president already had a podium prepared as he walked up to it and tapped the microphone on it once. Making sure it was turned on before saying:
"We have all gathered here today to honor the fallen heroes that did everything they could to protect us, to protect our freedom!"
A small tear slipped out of the president's lone eye as he used a handkerchief to clear it away before continuing his speech:
"Our heroes, our people, the ones that we had watched growing in what they currently were are no longer with us, but they are in a better place now. Their lives had been fulfilling until the last moment as they fought for their friends, family, and planet!"
"There are countless things that I want to say, but there are other people that are more deserving to talk about these people, the number one warrior and survivor of the war. Everyone, please welcome Felix from the cat tribe!"
Thunderous applause was heard as the president left the podium and walked near Felix patting him on his shoulder before saying:
"They are all yours now. Just say what you think from the heart to pacify their worries."
