“Wow.” Carl just sat back and took in all the information, “That’s just… huh.”

“Yeah.” Cecily twiddled her thumbs uncomfortably, “I told you it wasn’t really as smooth sailing as you might’ve thought.”

“Hey, is it really alright for your girl to be so close?” Carl whispered back to me while pointing at her, “I mean, talking about cheating on her mom is pretty heavy stuff for such a little girl. I imagine her entire world would be shattered if she heard you right now.”

“Don’t worry, she knows already.” I answered back in a whisper as well, “Then again, she’s so focused on looking around your boat that I’m sure she isn’t even paying attention to us at all.”

“Hey dad!” Nelly called out, “Is this ship really safe to go on? It’s way smaller than the one we got on before.”

“See?” I smugly turned around to face Carl, “So now that you know the situation, what are your thoughts?”

“My thoughts?” He tilted his head, “What do you want from me? My blessings? I’m not your dad, kid.”

“True, but with your age, you might as well be.” I teased him a little, only to get clobbered for my insolence, “Ow! You may not be my father, but you’ve sure got his strength! Where’d that come from, man?!”

“Sorry, my age is a touchy topic.” He cracked his knuckles menacingly, “Now, Cecily was it?”

“Yes?”

“Are you really fine with it?” He asked, “I mean, if Lune’s really asking for my thoughts on you two, then I just have to ask how could anyone forgive their partner for doing such a thing? Oh, no offense, Lune.”

None taken. It’s really a scummy thing to do, and I know that as well, but the reality of the matter is that I was indecisive in a very sensitive period in my life. I don’t even know what the logic behind my actions was, I just remember not really caring about the repercussions anymore because I was posing as Sol Pandora. That sort of skewed line of thought kind of answered a lot of inner conflicts for me, but I’m sure it only caused a ton for Cecily. I never intended to hurt her by doing this, I just wanted a way to make sense of things. That being said, it really is an important question, so I’d like to hear her thoughts on this as well.

“Hm…” She thought long and hard on how to answer the question, “Well, of course I was mad. I was mad, and I cried a lot when Ed first told me about it, not to mention I even thought to get back at him by returning the favor with another man.”

“You what?” I jolted in my seat, “T-That’s a joke, right? I mean, it’s the only logical way to return the favor, but I don’t remember you ever having mentioned this before?”

“You’re one to talk.” Carl glared at me judgmentally, “Let her speak. She said nothing wrong, and has all the rights to say what she said.”

“Thank you Carl, but there’s really no need to get so defensive about me.” She chuckled, “Well, I never actually went ahead with it, for multiple reasons. First was that I didn’t know that many people who I could imagine losing myself in. No matter how hard I tried to think up people I knew, I just knew that it would always result in me somehow only making things worse that way.”

“Obviously.” Carl agreed with her, “In doing so, you might get your petty revenge, but in the long term, you’d lose that friend you’d do it with, and that might lead to you losing even more people in your life, all because of a selfish and impulsive revenge plan. I know it may sound a bit rude of me to say, but you did the smart thing.”

This compliment that he gave her also held a double meaning as a direct insult to me. Calling what she did a smart move could only mean that, in comparison, he was also calling what I did dumb. Not that I disagree with him or anything, I’m just sort of mentioning that little detail I picked up.

“Just for curiosity’s sake…” I couldn’t help but muster up the courage to ask her anxiously, “Who was the top contender? Like, you said you imagined asking all sorts of people, but who was it exactly that first came to mind?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” She donned a devious smirk as Carl burst out laughing, “Well, if it means anything, just know that my imagination was way more fun than our actual first time together.”

“You were the one that pinned me down!” I shouted before realizing the outrageous thing I did, “A-Ah, Nelly, don’t listen. We’re holding a grown-up’s conversation.”

“Pin down?” She tilted her head naively, “Were you and mom playing?”

“Uh, yeah!” I hastily agreed just to get her to forget the topic.

“Was it fun, mom?” Nelly turned to her bright red mother, “Playing with dad?”

As Carl couldn’t help but laugh at our daughter’s attentiveness, Cecily could only look away and mutter, “I-It was fun…”

“Oh.” Nelly looked down at the wooden boards of the ship before muttering something herself, “Note to self – pin Uncle Meil down one day.”

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“Hey! Those aren’t the types of mental notes you should be making!” I yelled out as I fell from my chair.

***

“Well, I see you three get along well enough.” Carl smiled back, “I’m sorry for asking such a difficult question.”

“No no, it helped put things into perspective.” I replied, “Really, I’m surprised you didn’t follow through with it, Cecily. I mean, if I was in your shoes, I’d definitely do so.”

“Then be glad I’m not like you.” She retorted harshly, “The past is the past and all that, but don’t think I still fully forgive you.”

Right, makes sense she wouldn’t. But wait, then why did she push me down back in that barn if she was still mad? Hmm, maybe she too was just looking for a way to make sense of things…

“That reminds me, Carl.” I turned to him, “If you’ve been delivering the food to the guys on the island all this time, then how come no one’s told you about us? Heck, Marina’s even laid to rest there.”

“She is?” He winced, “Yikes, that’s gonna make Cecily uncomfortable as hell, y’know that? But to answer your question, it’s because I really didn’t want to get involved, even if that sounds kind of bad.”

“Could you explain?”

“Lune, a war is happening in our home country.” He replied, “I’m ashamed to say it, but I’m a coward. Even though I’ve known Ed and Anna for a long time now, helping Arthur’s brand go global with all my might, I still fear that, one day, I’ll get there and find everyone’s been killed by some Carmen soldiers.”

“…”

“I know it’s a morbid thought, but it’s got a scarily realistic chance of happening.” He uttered, his voice growing more and more shaken, “Ever since those monsters attacked Stringwood on day one, everything’s turned completely upside down. I even heard from some immigrant part-timers I hired that they kill civilians of all ages and genders. From the youngest of boys, to the oldest of grannies, they genuinely just wish to exterminate the good people of Trivis Numerica.”

Holy crap… Hearing about it from someone I knew for a long time like Carl is really making the weight of the situation set in. I could feel myself getting a bit queasy after he finished his sentence, and even gagged a bit after he only continued to list off all the horrible war crimes the soldiers have committed.

“Hey girlie.” Carl addressed Nelly with a tired smile, “Let’s play a game. Plug up your ears as hard as you can and count to a hundred. When you get to ninety though, make sure to announce it proudly, okay?”

“Okay!” She did as she was told and started muttering to herself.

Almost immediately, Carl started explaining what all the soldiers did in vivid detail to us, not even taking the time to blink. “They once killed an entire school of children and their teacher. The poor parents sent their kids off to school on that fateful day, and never heard back from them.”

“Oh God…” Cecily teared up as she put her hand on her stomach, “The kids… The parents… How could those people do such a thing?”

“Tons of families were separated.” Carl didn’t skip a beat before continuing, “Every man from the age of 17 and onward was drafted into the rebellion war, and the woman and children were sent off to neighboring countries in the hopes of seeking refuge. However, the world isn’t exactly as kind as one would think, as most of the people who would accept the refugees asked for all sorts of favors in return.”

“Stop. You don’t mean…?” I furrowed my brows.

“Sexual favors.” He shook his head, “The women were practically forced to cheat on their husbands, who were so desperately fighting for their lives just on the other side of the borders. Heck, just the other day I even saw a little girl just a tad bit older than your daughter beckoning me to have some fun with her. I couldn’t believe what the world had devolved into.”

“The children as well?!” Cecily cried out, “I-I think I’m gonna be sick…”

“Mister! Hey, Mister!” Nelly piped up, “I made it to ninety! What now?”

“Great job! Now continue counting to 100 before doing it all over again.” He smiled back, albeit hiding the tears in his eyes, “And remember, when you get to ninety…”

“I announce it proudly!” She finished off his sentence before continuing to mutter, “Ninety one, ninety two…”

“Lune, I hate to admit it, but those women and children that got to be refugees are lucky.” Carl then explained, “Because God forbid you’re one of the poor souls that couldn’t flee the country in time and had to try your best to survive and hide away in the rubbles of the houses you once knew.”

“What do you mean?”

“What I’m saying is – if a girl got caught, she’d get brutally beaten, raped, then killed before those monsters mangle and dismember their bodies. One little girl that came by our shop one day was all but a bag of bones with how malnourished she was. After we fed her as much as we could, she explained that her mother had told her to hide under the bed while the soldiers broke in and did all of the aforementioned things to her. The poor girl had to sit through and listen to each and every moment of it, all just so she herself could survive and continue to live.”

“This is madness…” I got dizzy.

“Yeah, makes you turn to everyone’s old friend, doesn’t it?” Carl laughed pathetically as he lifted the bottle of alcohol in his hands, “You guys want a sip? It’s easier to listen to if you’re drunk.”

“Carl…” Cecily sounded sorry for him.

“No thanks, man.” I shook my hand in denial, “I appreciate the offer, but I promised on my wedding day never to touch alcohol for the rest of my life.”

“Is that so?” He shrugged as he took a swig of his bottle, “Suit yourself. I’d rather think I threw up because of the ale than the story personally, but I guess you’re stronger than me in that regard. Heh, seriously, who do I think I am? I haven’t even been there myself, only ever heard telltales, and yet I still get this depressed over it? Pathetic…”

“You’re not pathetic, Mister!” Nelly yelled out, “Those guys are!”

“W-Whoa! Girlie, didn’t I tell you to warn me before counting to a hundred?!”

“I stopped after thirty just to listen to what you were saying.” She approached us, “I don’t know many of the words in that story, but please don’t be sad! Dad and mom said they’ll go there and kick the bad guys’ butts!”

“Did they now?” He chuckled and turned to the two of us, “I sure hope so. I really do. But just a word of advice, you two – Don’t trust a single one of them.”

“Isn’t that obvious?” Cecily raised a point.

“I don’t care how obvious it is. Just don’t do it.” He got serious as he explained, “I hate to admit it, but they’re still humans. Humans capable of lying to get you to trust them. We’ve always lived in a treacherous world, it’s just that this war opened our eyes to the truth. I don’t care if one of the Gods themselves comes and tells you to have trust them, just don’t do it. If that happens, become an atheist, I don’t care!”

“Right.” I agreed, “No matter what, we won’t trust a single one of those Carmen scum.”