Will of a Prince

As both of them awoke, Doc fed them as much food as he could bring them. He explained what had happened to their comrades that didn’t make the journey. Luna seemed to be more heartbroken than Gabriel. If anything, Gabriel looked angrier hearing the news. However, he still thanked Doc and continued eating his food in peace next to Luna.

"Another one of us. Just how many more are we going to lose?"

Luna stared wistfully into the distance, trying to clear her head.

"We never wanted to lose anyone to begin with. I didn’t know... none of us really expected anyone to die. Does anyone ever? Who’s to say we aren’t next?"

Gabriel slammed his fist into the ground and slowly stood up. His legs shook as he balanced himself against the trunk of the tree.

"I’ll be damned if I’m next."

Luna looked up at Gabriel. His eyes seemed to turn a strange shade of red as they leaked determination.

"Then I think you should rest for now until you are fully healed."

Instead of listening to her, Gabriel offered her a hand up.

"Sorry, but there’s no way I can allow myself to rest right now. I’m going to see what the others need help with."

Gabriel stumbled his way towards his friends, asking them if they needed help with any preparations for the road. Meanwhile, Luna stayed sat against the tree. Her silver hair laid in front of her thin face as she bent her head downward, staring at the ground in sorrow. She had lost her husband, her friends, and she was in an unfamiliar land. Despair slowly grasped her heart.

"What am I even living for?"

As she whispered these words, Doc walked over to her and sat beside her. He ran his hands through his thin, grey hair before sighing deeply.

"Struggling?"

Luna didn’t respond. She kept looking at the ground, hugging her knees.

"I see. It’s normal to feel empty when losing a loved one. But in times like these, I find it easier to focus on the things you still have, because they aren’t eternal either."

"I think I just need to grieve a little longer. Sydney doesn’t seem that affected hearing her father’s passing. I don’t know how she does it."

"She’s putting on a strong face for you. I can tell just from one look. However, it’s slowly getting harder for her to continue the act. You need to be ready to catch her when she falls. That responsibility comes with the job with being a parent. Do you think you can do that?"

Luna appeared to gain a little respite remembering her daughter.

"I will do what I must."

Doc smiled and patted her shoulder.

"Good. Stay here and conserve your energy. Everyone is getting ready to hit the road really soon."

As Doc walked away from the tree, hammering sounds echoed into the sky. Slimo appeared to be commanding Lucy and Bart on where to place hardened nails in a structure he was making.

"Make them just a little smaller. With Abby and Bart’s power, we don’t need to worry about them breaking. And Lee, could you make these wheels a bit denser? The terrain can get rough sometimes. How’s the carriage team doing? What the- THAT’S NOT HOW YOU CUT WOOD STEEL!"

"What is it you are making, Slimo?"

Slimo turned around and looked down at Doc proudly.

"I’m making more carts! I should’ve thought about doing this much earlier! With these powers though, these babies will last us a lifetime!"

"Interesting. I can’t believe you know how to make these. It’s a very good idea. Who will be carrying the carts and how many will we have?"

"Me and Lidia already signed up for the role as carriers. We finished one cart; we just need to complete this second one. Maybe I’ll give you a turn as carrier one of these days to give you a good old-fashioned workout!"

Slimo slapped Doc’s back while laughing. His face suddenly dropped looking back at the nobles.

"HEY! STEEL! WHAT DID I JUST SAY?!"

Slimo ran over towards the group of people cutting the massive base for the second cart. Three hours had passed before the construction was finally finished. The carts were not aesthetic, but they completed their purpose wonderfully. Lidia and Squabee were loading up each cart with massive amounts of berries, fruits, and meats. Lucy did the honors of creating everyone else a thin suit of armor for their travels that provided them with a good amount of protection. Even though most of them still had their armor from the previous battle, Lucy decided to make them fresh ones that were less damaged and much more flexible. Maria’s eyes glistened seeing her armor made for her. She stopped Lucy before she finished.

"Can you add a cool design on the shoulder of mine?"

"A design? I’m not really an artist."

"Just do a triangle or something then. I just want to mark my armor, so I don’t get it confused with others."

"Fair enough."

Lucy followed her instructions and engraved a small triangle on both shoulders and a large one on the back. Surprisingly, the simple design made the armor much more aesthetic. Lucy seemed to be out of breath when she finished. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"If you all want weapons, it may be a short while. I just need to rest for a moment."

Maria wore her armor proudly. Her mood seemed to jump by leaps and bounds as the sun glistened off the polished iron. She walked over to Jacob and did a small twirl.

"How do I look?"

Jacob smiled, embraced her, and kissed her gently on the lips. He held her face in his hands.

"Strong. Beautifully strong."

Maria smirked.

"Oh? So, I don’t just look beautiful?"

"You know what I mean."

Slimo shouted to everyone in the group with his booming voice.

"Alright everyone! Paria is only a day and a half trip before we enter their territory! It is important to know that this empire is comprised of multiple kingdoms, presumably like yours! If we can’t find the information we need in one kingdom, we move to the next and repeat. We’ll only go to the main kingdom if we absolutely need to since I am wanted! Sound like a plan?"

Steel raised his hand.

"And no, we will NOT be cutting anything for a while!"

Steel slowly lowered his hand. Before everyone was about leave, Jacob shouted to the crowd.

"Wait."

They all looked at him a bit lost. Jacob slowly walked over to Emma’s grave and knelt down. After seeing what he was doing, everyone else followed him and surrounded her gave as well. Jacob led a short speech as he paid his respects to his fallen comrades.

"I know I didn’t know you well, but you’ve made a great impact on all of our lives. We couldn’t have escaped that hellish wasteland without your help. You can rest easy knowing that you will never be forgotten for as long as we all live."

Everyone around him remained silent and bowed their heads. A few had tears well in their eyes, others simply sniffled their sorrows back. Jacob slowly stood up and looked at Lucy.

"Do you mind making me a small blade?"

Lucy nodded and forged one in his hand. Jacob walked over to the small rock in front of him and carved Emma’s name on to it. Then, he slowly walked over to tree and engraved three more names on to it: Bryce, Jack, and Caleb. After three more moments of silence, he turned around and led the group back towards the wagons. They all piled in the carts with their stacks of food. Slimo gave Lidia a small hug before walking in front of his respective cart. With that, the group started moving in silence towards the lands of Paria Empire.