The Ice Warrior

Chapter 61

It took Silv a moment to gather her thoughts since she was overwhelmed with relief. Relief that Rose would finally receive the farewell that she deserved instead of being kept on ice. Though she wasn't sure how much better it was to put her in the cold ground.

"Alright, let's get a move on it," Silv said with a burst of confidence that she failed to feel in her heart.

"Joe, you should take care of the newly deceased. Arthur will help you with that," Silv added.

"Yes, Miss Silv," Arthur immediately said.

"Jamie, you can check and organize who wants to go to the funeral and make sure that everything runs smoothly," Silv said.

"Justin and I will take care of that," Jamie said without a moment's hesitation.

Silv was relieved to hear that as she hoped that Justin would be there when they put Rose to rest. Not only did she need his support, but she also knew that Rose cared a lot about them all.

"Should we check if Jack would like to go to the funeral, or would that be too much for him?" Silv asked, thinking that her grandma would've liked for Jack to be a part of her final goodbye as well.

"Are you kidding me? He wouldn't miss it for the world. He's already been complaining that we've been treating him like a child," Jamie said.

"But he is a child, isn't he?" Silv said.

"Maybe, physically, he is still young, but he has been through so much that emotionally he is an adult," Joe said with affection.

"Still, we've been trying to keep him away from the serious fighting as much as we can, and he resents us for it," Jamie said.

From his tone, it was clear that he cared about his brother immensely. However, that he was also exasperated by his tenacity.

"Okay, now that's settled, Wir Eis and I will go and take care of grandma. We'll meet you all at the transport bay," Silv said, trying to find the courage to do what had to be done.

"Yes, that sounds good, and don't forget to bring your unfreeze thingy," Jamie said jokingly.

Silv just nodded her head in agreement since she wasn't in the mood for the guy's weird sense of humor.

"Oh, and Joe, don't forget the digging equipment," Silv added as she was preparing to ask for teleportation.

"No worries. It's all ready. I'll just need a few able people for the digging, and we'll be good," Joe said, eyeing his grandson.

"Oh, very well, manual labor it is," Jamie said.

He tried to make his voice sound annoyed, but Silv could tell that he didn't mind as much as he pretended that he did. After all, he cared for Rose and the others enough that hard work and a bit of sweat wouldn't stop him from helping out.

"Evanescence, take Wir Eis and me to Rose," Silv said.

Moments later, they were in the quarters with Rose's body, and Silv wondered how she was ever supposed to let go of her grandma. How do you say goodbye to someone forever? How do you imagine the world without the person you care about in it?

"Silv okay?" Wir Eis asked when Silv continued to stand, doing nothing.

"I'm fine. I just don't know how to do this," Silv said.

"What?" Wir Eis asked.

"Say my final goodbyes," Silv said.

"My people, no goodbye. Dead with us. Always," Wir Eis said, putting the palm of his hand to his chest.

"In your heart?" Silv asked since she was unsure about the alien anatomy.

"In every part. They us. We they," Wir Eis said.

Though his words were a bit confusing, Silv thought that she understood what he meant.

They were a family, which meant they were forever connected by the spirit that was a part of their constitution.

In a way, as long as Silv lived, so would her grandmother, and that was a somewhat comforting thought.

"Thank you, Wir Eis," Silv said.

"For?" Wir Eis asked.

"For saying that and for everything you have done for me despite all the horrible things my people did to you," Silv said.

"Welcome. Wir Eis know Silv different," Wir Eis said.

Then they proceeded to put Rose on the hovering gurney and lead her out of the room towards the docking bay.

Silv assumed that they could teleport Rose there, but she felt it would be more respectful if they went on foot, with Wir Eis and herself as her escort.

Once they reached the docking bay, Silv was shocked to see how many people were gathered there since she knew that there weren't many casualties in the last fight. It stood to reason that many of those people were there to show respect to her grandma.

"Justin!" Silv couldn't help but exclaim as she saw him approaching.

"How are you holding up?" Justin asked, coming to stand by her side.

"I'm okay," Silv said.

Justin raised one of his eyebrows questioningly, the same way his grandfather often did, and Silv felt the need to elaborate.

"I'm as well as one can be under the circumstance, though a bit exhausted. When anger was powering me on, I was at least strong enough to push the pain aside, but now I feel so empty," Silv admitted.

Instead of saying anything, Justin squeezed her hand encouragingly, showing her that he was there for her.

"Is everything ready?" Silv asked Joe to distract herself from her dark thoughts.

"Yes, we can move out," Joe said.

"Very well. Evanescence, open the bay door," Silv said.

As the doors opened, the procession of the somber-faced humans passed through and continued down the snow-covered path toward the cave entrance they still couldn't see.

The progress was slow, and they trudged through the snow. However, Silv thought it was better that way. If she were to use the melter that Evanescence gave her, it would point the arrow to where they were to the Government soldiers. Thus, she reserved its usage for inside the tunnels.

Once they were in the cave, it became clear that inside it was barely any warmer than in the frigid cold they came from. However, as the procession went deeper into the mountain, the temperature difference became more perceptible.

"What is the best place for us to bury them?" Silv asked Joe.

"This tunnel is the most secluded from the others. It's not deep enough to be livable, but it's deep enough for a cemetery," Joe said, pointing at the small tunnel on the left.

"What is a cemetery?" Jack asked, running up to his grandfather.

It was the first time Silv saw the little guy in a while, but he didn't seem significantly changed by all the terrible events which transpired. Silv wished she was as resilient as children could be.

"It's a place where people used to bury their dead," Joe said.

"Why?" Jack asked.

"So that they can visit them whenever they want," Joe said.

"That sounds nice," Jack said.

"It does, doesn't it?" Joe said.

"Perhaps the people of the past had more things right than we would like to admit," Joe added.

"Perhaps," Silv said quietly.

"Alright, everyone, let's get started," Justin said, snapping everyone out of their gloomy thoughts.