Harold was pushing a wheelchair in which Jackal sat, while Wendy and Gabriel walked casually towards the house. Hansel and Maverick Dale, the two brothers were also walking with them, casually chatting amongst themselves.
They, too, had been drafted during the war, though predictably, they were not sent to the ruins. Instead, they were sent to an incredibly secure facility where they spent all day and night manufacturing their aether cards.
The two brothers had passive aether absorption, one passively absorbing from the air while the other passively absorbing from objects. The utility of their innate abilities practically made them national treasures, though Nero knew that they wanted something else. They wanted to see combat, and fight on the front lines with honour.
Unfortunately for them, their destiny was such that the military would never allow that.
The production of their innate cards could contribute more to the army than any difference their individual combat skills could make.
Notably, Silas and Vanessa were missing from the group.
"I can't believe they just let him go," Maverick said, still wearing a somewhat troubled expression as he recalled the events of the last few days. "When he was accused of fratricide, word reached us on base. Everyone was really pissed. They painted Nero in really negative light, making him look like a traitor. If I hadn't known Nero personally, I would have believed it too."
"For a few days, everyone hated him, and then when the news of the corrupt judge framing him came out, Nero was made out to be a hero. You can't trust these newspapers. They flip the story whichever way they're told to."
Everyone chatted amongst themselves, but Gabriel said nothing, remaining silent and leading the way. When they reached, he stepped forward and knocked on the door. The yelling from inside the house suddenly stopped, and a few moments later Edward opened the door.
"Ah look at that. We have war heroes gracing us today. Come in, I'll make more breakfast," he said, looking at the kids.
"Thanks, Mr. Ed," said Wendy. "By the way, my dad told me to let you know that he's got his hands on a special hunting permit if you want to join."
"I don't think I'll be able to join this time, but do send my regards."
Of everyone, even more than Gabriel, Wendy was familiar with Nero's home and his family. Not only had they been class fellows for many years, making it so both the kids had attended each other's birthdays countless times, they also lived in the same neighbourhood, making it so that their families knew each other well.
The rest entered one by one, each greeting Edward as they did. Nero, who had informed Gabriel of his return and was expecting a visit, was extremely grateful for the interruption, but his grinning expression froze when he laid eyes on Jackal.
Unlike them, Jackal was not a draftee, but someone who had been retained from the military from birth. Even so, fighting beside one another had built a bond of camaraderie between them which is why Nero was extremely surprised to see him in a wheelchair!
"Jackal! What happened to you?" he asked very seriously, with deep concern in his voice. He tried to recall Jackal's condition when he had been left behind in the ruins, but the intensity of the situation as well as his general exhausted and sleep deprived state back then made it hard for him to recall Jackal had been so seriously wounded. He would have remembered if it had been so bad.
"It was during the evacuation from the ruins," he said, his voice incredibly even, as if he was telling a story of something that happened to someone else. "The truck that I was in was attacked by a curse, and suffered an accident. I was thrown out, as well as the few other patients with me.
I immediately lost consciousness so I don't know what happened, but apparently it took quite a while for us to be rescued. I suffered injuries to my spine. I can't feel anything below the waist, except for an itchy sensation sometimes."
Nero had no words. Jackal had fought bravely throughout the ruins, and survived against incredible odds, only to be paralyzed due to a car accident later.
"You do not need to feel sorry for me," Jackal said, meeting Nero's gaze. "The injury is treated as a wartime wound. I'm on a list, and soon enough I'll be visiting Lorilem to see a Mystic to see if my injuries can be healed. The army's taking care of it."
"Good luck," Nero said, nodding to Jackal. Even if the army didn't take care of it, he knew that Jackal would be fine. After all, he was a military asset nurtured by the Carver family. But since there was no Profession specifically geared towards medicine and healing, dealing with wounds was a tricky situation. His mother was a prime example of that.
"There's an ongoing service in school for teachers who passed during the war," Gabriel said, informing Nero. "We were waiting for you to come before we went."
He handed Nero a list which Nero grabbed and quickly went through. He almost expected to see Footers name on the list, but it wasn't there. The name he did end up seeing, though, surprised him.
"Mrs. Aedile," Nero said softly, as he recalled the very serious lunch lady with the scar running down her face. What was a lunch lady doing in a military draft? She was a wounded veteran, as far as he knew. Why would she go back?
But these questions had no answer. Nero did not know her much outside of the fact that she always treated him well, even though she never liked to show it. For a moment he paused, recalling all the times she changed the school menu just to make something he liked. Now who would look out for him in school?
Then he remembered that he would no longer be attending school, going for military service instead.
He continued going through the list, and saw the name of various teachers he had had across the years. The school was going to be understaffed for the next few months.
But greater than the list of dead teachers… was the list of dead Neophytes who had been taken into the draft.
"I'll get changed," he said simply, and rushed up to the room. He put on his old black suit and black tie, but discovered that the clothes were tight on him. It wasn't to the extent that he couldn't wear them anymore, but they were difficult to move in, and very uncomfortable. It seemed like he had grown.
He hesitated, then went into Patricks room and wore his suit instead. Everyone had an identical black suit. Of course they did. That's what they all wore to funerals, and growing up, they had gone to a lot of funerals, even though most people were cremated, not buried.
Patricks suit, which had once been too loose on him, now fit perfectly, as if it was made to order. While putting it on, Nero discovered in the coat's inner pocket a small chit of paper. When he opened it, he saw a picture of a teddy bear blowing a flying kiss. It was… it was no doubt something Irene had probably given Patrick once.
He put the chit back in his pocket, and accompanied his friends as they walked to the nearby bus station to get picked up for school.
His parents only telling him that they'd pick him up in the afternoon.
Nero finally understood why, even though they were on such a tight time limit, Edward had taken out a day for him to head back to school.
Despite the fact that they were about to go pay respects to the fallen in their school, none of them seemed sombre. That was not because they felt no dark emotions, but because everyone was all too used to death growing up in this world.
"I didn't go through the whole list," Nero said as they waited for a bus. "Anyone from our class? Someone we know?"
"Malissa," said Hansel, his voice normal, and devoid of any strong emotion. It was as if he was not telling Nero that his girlfriend had died. But considering his usual jovial and energetic self, the lack of emotion in his voice was abnormal enough.
"She wasn't in the draft, but with the war going on, security in the city was at an all time low. Some insect corpses got cursed and, well, you can guess from there."
"Also Shelby," said Maverick. "No idea what happened to her. No one knows. Her name is just on the list of the dead. No one has heard from her family either."
The others took a few more names, evoking memories of kids Nero had grown up with. Most of them were actually quite close to Nero. Now, he would never see them again.
"What about Silas and Vanessa? I don't see them around."
"I heard Silas moved cities, but I don't know the details. His family is gone, so obviously he had to go with them. Vanessa was a foreign exchange student, so she probably went back. At least I haven't heard about her dying, so that's probably a good thing."
"I hope it is," Nero muttered as he spotted the bus coming from a distance. His eyes couldn't help but wander to all the shadows around him.