Chapter 870 Night Before The War
"Tomorrow's the big day."
Clark's deep voice resonated within the room where he and the new friends he had made in this short while occupied.
"Are you guys ready?" He smiled at them, his confident expression masking the slight nervousness that was slowly beginning to creep in on him.
He already expected some big counterattack from the Dragons at some point, but he had hoped it would only come once the rest of the Otherworlders had assembled.
'We're still missing a lot of people. Justin and Belle would really come in helpful right now.' He sighed internally. 'Then there's Rey and Lucielle… our top guns.'
By 'top gun', he was mainly referring to Rey.
However, other than all of these very obvious options, there was one more person that he missed very dearly—someone he wished was on their side right now, more than anyone else he had just thought about.
"Eric…" He whispered under his breath, low enough that no one around him heard the words he uttered.
Despite getting much closer to the troops, and even getting to know his classmates better—particularly Trisha—he couldn't get over his deceased friend. Every now and then, he would think about him. Sometimes, Eric even appeared in his dreams, and they would have long conversations about random stuff.
'I miss you, man…' There was someone else that Clark missed, but that wasn't due to him being dead. Rather, it was more out of curiosity and slight annoyance.
'Where the hell are you, Adonis?' This world needed its Hero now, more than ever, yet the man was nowhere to be seen.
It frustrated Clark to no end—especially since he knew the kind of person Adonis was.
'Or was I wrong about him?'
In the end, despite starting out with nearly thirty students who were meant to save this world, there were less than ten of them who were left.
'Can we still do it?' Clark wondered now, just as he thought to himself every day. However, as always, he told himself not to be overly concerned with such details.
He just had to do what he could do.
That was all.
***************
"Are you good? You seemed a little shaken up " Trisha nudged Alicia as she approached her.
The latter was standing at the edge of one of the great walls of the fortress when she was joined by her well-meaning friend..
Before the both of them was the battlefield—a darkened land that had been worn and torn due to the decade-long war that didn't seem to be ending anytime soon.
This land spread out for miles, with no end or border in sight.
Anyone looking at it for the first time would be forced to believe that the place had always been like this, but those who had lived long before the war reached such a height could testify that there was a time when the place flourished with sild greeneries and the wonderful colors of nature.
Apparently, not too far from this place was a river that bustled with a constant stream of fresh water.
Now, none of those could be seen.
The irreversible damage of war had marred everything in sight… turning it into a terribly huge scar. One that Alicia now fed to her eyes.
"I just… the plan involves the sacrifice of too many people." Alicia muttered. "We're talking almost a hundred thousand."
"Yeah. That does sound like a lot." Trisha responded.
"I even offered to heal them, but Lucy kept emphasizing how they're a lost cause and my efforts would best be put to providing support for the ones who really need it."
"Mhm…"
"I mean, how can you place such a biased value on human life?" Alicia scoffed. "I… I could never do that."
"Which is why you're not the Admiral… or the Strategist." Upon hearing Trisha's retort, Alicia gave her a slight scowl, forcing the former to quickly apologize while smiling knowingly.
"Look, I understand what you're saying, Alicia." "You do?"
"Yeah. It's messed up that we have to choose who lives and who dies… but this is war." Trisha sighed. "In an ideal world, everyone would be at home doing whatever they liked. We would still be on Earth, probably studying for our Exams or something."
"Midterms actually. Based on the Academic Calendar, we should be studying for Midterms right about now."
"You've been keeping track, huh?"
"Every single day." Alicia gave a sad smile. "I really… miss home."
"Yeah, me too." Trisha smiled back. "Back home, we wouldn't have to make such messed up decisions. Our biggest problems back then suddenly seem so trivial here."
"Yeah…"
The two girls remained silent for a while, each not saying a word to the other as they enjoyed the solitude of the night.
But, not long after, Trisha broke the silence.
"Are you okay with leaving Rey behind?" "W-what?" Alicia, clearly surprised by the question, turned to Trisha while responding with a stutter.
"I know you have feelings for him, and he also has feelings for you." Trisha chuckled. "It's so obvious."
Alicia looked away, slight hues of pink on her cheeks.
"I also had feelings for Rey. A part of me still does, but I recognize that he isn't mine, so I've been getting over him."
The look of surprise on Alicia's face as she looked at Trisha joking about her feelings only made the latter laugh even harder.
"Relax. I'm not pained or anything." She shrugged. "It hurt at first, but it's fine now… mostly."
"Trisha…"
"The point is… I think you must have thought about what leaving this place will mean; for you and him."
They were probably never going to see each other again.
Even if they did, they would be living such different lives that it wouldn't be right to hold onto the feelings they had for each other.
"If you're returning to Earth, you must be ready to abandon those feelings for Rey." Trisha tapped Alicia on her shoulder.
"You'll be happier that way."
Alicia sighed and nodded. She had been pushing aside those thoughts for a while now, and the intensity of the battlefield definitely helped her in that effort.
But, with Trisha bringing it up again, she couldn't help but introspect.
'Am I really prepared to say goodbye to Rey?'
The answer seemed obvious and simple, but even now Alicia didn't know the right answer.
"Rey will be able to move on, even without m—"
"This isn't about Rey and what he wants." Trisha stopped her before she could finish. "It's about you."
"...."
"What do you want?"
"I want to go back home… but I also…"
"Yes…?"
"I also want to be with Rey." She sighed, her shoulders drooped.
"You can't have both."
"Yeah. He probably wouldn't agree to come back to Earth with me." She muttered. "He's too much in love with this world."
"More in love with it than you?" As Trisha's question wafted in the air, she couldn't help but ask herself the same thing.
"I think so…"
Upon making that realization, Alicia knew she couldn't have him to herself even if she wanted to. Rey belonged here, and she didn't.
'I guess… I really should let him go.'
After this, neither of the girls brought up the topic ever again. They simply stared into the darkened sky and appreciated the embrace of night.
Turbulent times were fast approaching, and the current topic was unsuited for it.