Burying the Dead 2

The silence that settled in the place was unbearable for Rachel, pacing up and down the mansion, seeing for the first time places that had been there all along. Inquisitors were going out to see their families or they were in the dorms, sleeping, having nothing better to do. Others to were out, seeing the families of the deceased, something she had refused to do. And others were just out, doing whatever they wanted to do.

But that wasn't what surprised her. For the first time, Brandon, the guy who always livened up the mood, was down. He'd been that way ever since they left Nigeria. Blake too, apparently their side too went bad.

Kanon had told her about being heartless, but it just wasn't in her. Was this the way she was, unmoved in the face of death? Only caring about her fate rather than that of others? Was that even a good thing or a bad thing? 

As she was lost in her thoughts, she noticed Brandon slip into the forest, 

Brandon had only been to the graveyard once, that was when Barry died. He was here again, led by his grief yet again. The graves had increased in number, with the ground fresh with dirt. There were a few others here, some of them family members of the deceased, others from the other branches. He finally reached Barry's grave, standing in front of it for a while. His eyes rested on the tombstone but his vision was blurred, his mind clouded with grief.

"What do I do now, Barry?" Brandon asked.

"You talk to yourself too?"

"Whoa!!" Brandon exclaimed, turning around immediately. Frank grinned, his shovel leaning on his shoulder.

"Don't do that."

"You should have seen your face. Sadly this reaction isn't as good as Leticia's."

"I thought...you were...you know..."

"A head? Yeah, Prime Kael fixed me up. Not a good experience by the way."

Frank continued on his way, stopping by a fertile patch of plotted soil and shoving his shovel into the ground. He continued to unearth the soil, creating a large pit.

"Hey um...Frank?"

"What?"

"Would it have made any difference if I was stronger?"

Frank stopped digging his hole, but didn't turn to face him. He only stood still, watching the glow of the sun seep through the trees.

"Truthfully, it would." Frank said, "Sure, James might be still alive, a ton of other Inquisitors like Ricardo would still be alive if we were all strong. But there's nothing we can do save to move on, lad. Everyone's got something that we wish could have been different. Its these mistakes that made us who we are today."

"Even if these mistakes happen over and over again?"

"Yes." Frank said, "We are not pawns of fate, but it will take a lot of strife to break free from it. What happened, may or may not be your fault but regardless, even in tragedy, there are things that must be learnt from it."

Frank resumed his digging, the soil being unearthed become more black in color. From afar the voice of someone calling could be heard. It was Rachel.

"You still have people worth living for. Rather than beating yourself about 'mistakes', go and live with the people you love."

Brandon watched the gravestone for a while before going. 

"Thanks Frank."

"Oh I wasn't advising for free. I need help with the coffin."

"...oh."