It was dark night in the capital city of Zaphias, all the other residents had already turned themselves in for the night. No one wanted to be out on the street when night descends on Zaphias, the various robbers and scums that littered Zaphias' street were sure to get you and sometimes you'll be lucky to escape with only a light purse. However pink-haired girl can be seen going towards the Royal Quarters, Estelle had came home from shopping in the Lower Quarters despite objections by the nobles, other knights and most of all Flynn and even Yuri but she was adamant that she would buy some stuff for her personal use. "But I really need to buy these materials" Estelle pleaded.
"Then let one of the knights or servant do it for you Lady Estellise," Flynn said, "Its far too dangerous for you to go outside the Royal Quarters."
"I'll be fine Flynn, I'll be back before sundown."
"But-"
"No buts Flynn, I promise I'll be back."
"Fine, but please be careful."
However while she was going back to the Royal Quarters Estelle saw a boy falling down and she went there to help him then one thing led to another and before she knew it she had surpassed her curfew, "Oh Flynn's going to be so mad at me," Estelle said to herself, "Although Yuri might just laugh it off and give some sarcastic comment but I really do need to hurry." She had nearly reached the entrance to the Royal Quarters when a loud voice said, "You there stop!"
Estelle grinded to a halt as she looked at the speaker, it was a young boy perhaps the same age as her with blonde hair and freckles. He was dressed in a light gray shirt and brown pants and had shoes, "Is there something I can help you with?" Estelle politely asked. The boy nodded and said, "You're a noble right?"
"Yes that's correct," Estelle replied not knowing why the boy wanted to know such information.
"Then you've got money? Lots and lots of money?"
Estelle merely thought that the boy was referring to her total amount of money not the one on person so naturally she said, "Yes I do have large amounts of money."
"Then give them to me," the boy said taking out a small but sharp knife, "Give all of it to me now!"
Estelle dropped her bag and nervously said, "But for that I need to go to my room, here I have some money left in my pocket." She reached down and grabbed what remained of her pocket money and offered it to the boy, the boy looked at it and swatted it away, "Is that all you really have?"
"As I said the rest are in the castle."
"You're lying, give all of it to me now." The boy said edging closer, Estelle looked nervously, perhaps if she screamed that might bring some of the knights to her aid.
"Please…"Estelle pleaded, "That really is all I have left."
"You're lying, you're lying," the boy kept saying, "You nobles always think that anyone outside the Royal Quarters are nothing more than scum."
"That's not tru-" Estelle started but then she felt an overwhelming pain in her stomach, she looked down and saw that the boy had stabbed her then she felt the pain about two more times before she collapsed on the ground. She saw the boy look at her with horror then he dropped the knife before fleeing with the money, her breathing became erratic as every breath brought pain and her vision blurred before going to darkness.
Yuri, Flynn and the other Brave Vesperia members were in the living room waiting for Estelle to come back, "This isn't like her," Flynn muttered, "This isn't like her at all. She always came back on time, she never disobeyed anything I say."
"Calm down Flynn," Yuri said, "She's probably just running a bit late maybe fixing a wound or some sort."
"But Yuri, she's more than running a bit late, it's way past her appointed time of arrival! I'm sending the knights after her."
"Aren't you jumping to the conclusion a bit soon?" Raven said, "Besides Estelle would probably just pout and say that you didn't trust her." Although he did say that he was also worried, Flynn was right, it wasn't like Estelle to be running this late and he could feel that the others Yuri included felt that way.
"What the old man said was right," Rita said, "Just give it an hour then you can rouse all the knights in Zaphias for all I care."
Flynn took five deep breaths, "Okay one hour and after that I'm doing a whole sweep of the town including door-to-door."
Estelle woke up feeling groggy; she tried to get up but the pain in her stomach made her lie down again. She looked at herself and realized that she was bleeding feely from her wounds, she tried to use her healing artes to heal herself but it was no use she simply didn't have the strength to do it. Estelle knew that if she stayed there she was definitely going to die, she slowly rose and stumbled to a nearby pillar she then started the slow process of walking to the castle; every step took a great deal of effort and every step dealt pain to her stomach, she clutched it in an effort to stem the blood flow. Several times she fell down and she had to will herself not to fall asleep, which she knew was an invitation for death. The trip was like a blur in her memory, all she knew was that she suddenly found herself at the entrance to the castle and strangely enough none of the knights were found at their posts, probably doing a patrol in some other area. She went to the first door she could see, which coincidently was the living room where Yuri and the others were. Seeing salvation near her Estelle's leg's nearly buckled but she managed to stabilize herself and she was getting worse, her vision was nearly blacked out and she could hardly hear herself breathe and she hardly had any strength to even move. She grabbed the handle tightly as though it was her only hope and pushed the door open…
Yuri and Flynn heard the creak of the door, Flynn, who was about to go search for her, stood up and said, "Lady Este-" he said then what he saw will haunt him for the rest of his life, instead of a smiling Lady Estellise that he was used to he saw a tired, muddy Estelle but what brought his attention was the three gaping wounds on her body, still bleeding and slathering her body and the floor with her blood, Estelle weakly smiled, "Hi Flynn…sorry…I'm..so…" she said before collapsing. Flynn simply stood there, he didn't hear the clatter of weapons as Yuri and the others, looking at her in pure horror, dropped their weapons; he didn't hear as screams of horror came from Rita, Estelle's best friend, and he didn't hear as the commotion brought knights, servants and finally the healers toward the fallen princess. All he could do was slowly walk to her as though he was in a nightmare, a nightmare that he could never wake from; he simply stood there…and did nothing.
Yuri was immediately beside Estelle, "ESTELLE!" he screamed, "Come on Estelle, stay with us." He was beside her the whole time just like she had been when he was injured or down, he couldn't lose her now…his most precious, precious friend other than Flynn. He could see Raven trying to restrain Rita from hindering the healer's efforts and Judith was doing the same with Karol, "Damn it what's taking so long!" he said to the healer.
"I'm doing the best I can," the healer said, "But the bleeding is too extensive, I'm afraid that…no, wait yes there's a reaction. Yes, yes there's a reaction the gels are working" the healer then took one look at Estelle's body a smile beginning to widen as he inspected her, "Yes she's stable now. Let's get her to the infirmary now." The other healers immediately jumped and laid Estelle on a stretcher but then Flynn placed his hand on her, as though to comfort her before she was out of his reach. "Flynn?" Yuri said approaching his best friend.
Flynn looked down to his bloodstained hands and the internal argument that was going inside his head:
"You failed her…"
"No…I didn't…she insisted."
"But yet you could've done something, perhaps set a guard or two."
"The guards were stretched to the limits…I couldn't spare even one."
"Then why not volunteer Sodia, Yuri or even…yourself?"
"I…I…I don't know."
"Well…if she does die then…its on your head not Yuri's, not Sodia's but yours and yours alone…" it ended with a maniacal laughter
Finally unable to take it anymore Flynn let out a powerful scream that made everyone in the room jumped before ramming his head into the wall, everyone screamed in terror; Raven grabbed Sodia and pulled her into the room before slamming the door shut and locking it. "FLYNN!" Yuri called out to his friend attempting to restrain him, "FLYNN SNAP OUT OF IT!" although Flynn was easily the strongest of the two his desire to stop his friend created an adrenaline rush that easily made Yuri stronger than Flynn. After a few minutes of struggling Flynn simply collapsed in a heap and fainted, Yuri laid there breathing hard, he couldn't believe what he had just saw; Sodia was standing there in utter shock, "What…what happened?"
Raven approached Flynn with a sad face as Karol applied some gel to Flynn's wound, "Kid must've been in shock, he'll live but I don't think he's ever going to be the same again."
Flynn woke up with a pounding pain to his head he looked around him and saw that he was back in his room, he thought of how he could've made it there without him remembering but then he remembered what had happened last night and he sobbed as he remembered how he had failed the one person he was supposed to protect. His hand flew to his head and he could feel bandages and the remnants of gels on it, someone must've applied some gels to his wound when he…lost control of himself. He slowly got up so as to not get nauseous then he got dressed and placed his armor, it felt cold like always but today it felt even colder than usual he looked himself in the mirror and realized that he looked like someone who had just woken up from a nightmare: his eyes were bloodshot, his hair messy and caked with blood and his was pale, he looked at his hand and saw that it was still caked with blood. He looked again in the mirror as a wave of self-guilt and shame coursed through his mind and body, "I'm the one," he muttered to himself, "I'm the one to blame. I didn't protect Lady Estellise. I'm to blame. I'm sorry."
A sudden knock brought him back to reality he straightened himself and opened the door. His second-in-command Sodia was waiting outside, "Good morning Commandant," she said with a forced smile, "Are you feeling better this morning?" Flynn shook his head, "No, I still feel…bad."
Sodia looked concerned, "Do you want to take the day off?"
"No, I got work to do," Flynn said in a monotone tone, "Is breakfast still available?"
"Of course the dining hall is packed with knights."
"Send some food up to my office, I don't feel like eating at the dining hall today." In truth Flynn didn't want to face the accusatory glances and staring of his men, no doubt they would've seen his loss of control last night and would've wondered if he was up to the job of being commandant. But most of all he didn't want to face the fact that he failed to protect Lady Estellise despite his oath and vow to protect her, his men knew that he had not only failed as a knight but he had broken his oath to her and that was worse than failing as a knight.
Sodia nodded, "I understand Commandant," she then started to walk away before saying, "His Highness Ioder wants to see you as soon as you are available."
"I understand tell him I'll be there around noon if not sooner." Flynn then went straight to his office where paperwork and reports were sitting there unread, he sat down and began signing and reading the paperwork without even bothering to properly read and understand them. He had to fill his mind with something even if it was monotonous and routine, soon Sodia arrived with some breakfast; toasted bread and bacon with a pitcher of water, "Thank you Sodia you may leave now." Sodia saluted and went towards the door when he asked, "How is Lady Estellise?"
Sodia turned around and reported, "Lady Estellise suffered extensive stab wounds to her body however with the help of the healers she has stabilized and is expected to recover today," when Flynn didn't answer back she added in a sad almost pitying voice, "It wasn't your fault Commandant, you couldn't have known. I'm sure that Lady Estellise wouldn't blame you" when he still didn't respond Sodia simply saluted and left.
Flynn thought about what Sodia had said; did Lady Estellise really don't blame him for what happened to her? Would she hate him for what he didn't do? The Lady Estellise he knew would've said that she didn't blame him and he shouldn't blame himself but what was she really thinking inside? Would she in fact blame him for what happened to her but was simply far too polite to say it to his face? A thousand questions swamped his mind and he found it hard to concentrate on his work then with frustration he swept everything off his desk, smashing ink bottles and papers crashing onto the floor, he put his head on his hand and silently sobbed again as the self-guilt began to circulate once more. He looked up to a mirror that was always available and what he saw wasn't Flynn Scifo, Imperial Commandant and protector of the Empire; no who he saw was Flynn Scifo, traitor to the Empire, he sadly sighed and went towards the throne room intending to get whatever Ioder wanted to say or do over and done with.
He entered the throne room just as Ioder was reading his daily report, "Sir Scifo," Ioder said surprised at such an early arrival, "What can I do for you?"
"You wanted to see me sire?" Flynn said kneeling respectfully.
"Ah yes," Ioder said as he put down his report, "I heard that Lady Estellise was…injured last night."
"Unfortunately so," Flynn said his head bowing, "She was attacked as she was making her way home to the castle."
"And she had no guard am I correct?"
"Yes sire, Lady Estellise insisted that no one came with her, she promised to be back by sundown."
"And yet she came home after sundown, when the robbers and bandits are most active. Why were the knights not sent?"
"I…I did thought of sending the knights but Yuri and his friends thought that she was just a bit late."
"And after that?"
"I kept putting it off as a mark of respect that Lady Estellise would show up soon, that was a lapse in my own judgment and I have no excuse for what I did."
Ioder stayed silent for a moment as an uneasy silence echoed in the room, "I do not need to tell you how disappointed I am in you Sir Scifo," Ioder finally said his voice cold and unsympathising, "As Commandant it is your duty to protect the royal family and Lady Estellise is a Princess. Now you and I know how Lady Estellise can sometimes be…a handful when it comes to trust but surely you must've thought that such an endeavor was far too dangerous."
"Yes sire but-"
"No Sir Scifo there is no but, you either barred Lady Estellise from going and sent your own knight or one of the servants to collect whatever material she required or you sent a guard with her; that could've easily been arranged."
"The knights were spread thin your highness, we couldn't even spare one without letting a breach in the castle's defenses." Flynn said as he recalled the internal dialogue that played out in his head last night.
"Then why didn't you volunteer Lieutenant Sodia, your friend Yuri or even yourself Sir Scifo? Why did you simply let Lady Estellise be left alone and unguarded?"
Flynn struggled to find the words to defend himself anything to justify why he couldn't send anyone to protect her but all he said was, "I…I…I don't know your highness, I have nothing to say."
Ioder leaned forward, "It is lucky that Lady Estellise has recovered and have already woken up. You are dismissed Sir Scifo, count yourself lucky that I did not strip you of your rank as Commandant and exiled you out of knighthood, never ever let this happen again do I make myself clear?"
An icy hand touched Flynn's heart as he heard those words as he found himself agreeing to Ioder's comment, it hurt him to hear it as it meant that he had failed as Commandant and that would be a blemish on his otherwise perfect record as a dutiful knight. He left the throne room and went straight to the infirmary hoping to make amends with Lady Estellise, to apologize for what had happened and to vow never to let her be hurt again he entered the infirmary where Estelle was surrounded by Yuri and her friends he hoped no he wanted Estelle would see him with a smile and with a big hug but instead the moment she saw him her eyes went wide and she let out a piercing scream.
Yuri grabbed her by the shoulders and shouted, "Estelle! Estelle that's not the guy who attacked you, that's Flynn, Estelle!" However Estelle simply shook her head and screamed, "Keep him away from me! I never want to see him again! I hate him!"
Flynn went shell-shocked as those words hit him he felt the same icy hand touch him but instead of touching his heart, it touched his soul. Those words hurt even more than Ioder's words did it was as though Estelle was rejecting him, blaming him for what had happened to her and inside he knew that she would never ever forgive him no matter how many times he apologized, "I'm sorry…I've upset Lady Estellise, I'll go now" he said and left the infirmary, the scream died as soon as he closed the door. He walked to his office but he could hear the infirmary door opening and Yuri's voice for him to stop, "Flynn Estelle didn't mean that, she was just confused by what had happened. Please Flynn don't do this."
"Do what?" Flynn said but he knew the answer to that question.
"Don't blame yourself for what happened to Estelle, she still loves you. That outburst was just her mind still adjusting to what had happened, she'll be the same old Estelle in a few days time."
"Yuri," Flynn said, "Am I…am I a terrible Commandant?" Yuri looked shocked at this remark and stood there gaping at him, "I see…" Flynn said turning away, "I am a terrible Commandant."
"No wait Flynn," Yuri said turning Flynn around again, "What are you saying? You're the best Commandant that anyone had ever seen."
"If I'm the best Commandant then why do I fail in every thing I do? The nobles still have command over Zaphias, the system haven't changed and now…now I've failed Lady Estellise…why do I even bother trying?"
"Damn it stop it Flynn," Yuri said poising himself to punch Flynn, "Don't go down that path. You're the most terrific Commandant that the empire have seen since its creation, you're a good friend to Estelle. Do not make me punch you to realize that."
Flynn nearly said that punching him wouldn't make him realize that but instead he forced a smile and said, "Yes you're right Yuri. I'm sorry I didn't realize what I was saying, please give my regards to Lady Estellise tell her I'll be visiting her soon." Yuri nodded and went back inside the infirmary; Flynn went back to his office where everything was cleared up no doubt thanks to Sodia who must've seen the mess. For the rest of the day he was simply like a machine, he read the reports and signed the paperwork, when he wanted to relieve himself he did, when he was hungry he would go to the kitchen to get some food finally he finished the whole batch of paperwork in a single day that would've taken at least a week and a half.
He then went outside and out to the training area where it was empty as all the knights were out either on patrol around the castle or stationed at the various towns, he took out his sword and did some practice swings but then buried it inside one of the dummies and glanced over to the table full of daggers, he ran his hand over each of them, he wondered to himself, 'What if those daggers found themselves to my throat, it wouldn't hurt. It'll be a simple as stabbing a steak it wouldn't hurt at all, I could simply lie down and sleep never waking up' but then he snapped out of it and sheathing his sword he went back to his room, he sat down as he hyperventilated, 'What the hell am I thinking? Have I gone this far down that path?' he thought to himself he tried to get rid of those murderous thought but they kept cropping up like a cockroach that wouldn't die no matter how many times you've hit it finally part in frustration part in anger he punched the mirror and shattered it. He could see his reflection, shattered and in pieces just like his heart and he wondered how long it would take to piece them together. He took off his armor and went straight to sleep not even bothering to take dinner as he had no appetite, perhaps tomorrow would bring a better outcome than today, he quickly slept but was then assailed by nightmares, nightmares that involved Lady Estellise dying out in the Lower Quarters, as her precious blood flowed out of her and finally her accusatory lifeless eyes and her words, "You failed me Flynn for that I shall forever curse your name and hate you. I shall forever haunt your dreams and I shall forever haunt you till the day you die." Then she turned into a Reaper and laughing manically she flew straight towards him and was poised with her scythe to strike him dead.
Flynn woke up with a start sweating and hyperventilating he looked around him and he grabbed for his sword as he thought he saw the Reaper but then found out that it was only his cloak, positioned so that it looked like a Reaper. He calmed himself down and found that it was dawn, he looked at the mirror, still shattered and in pieces he dressed himself and went out and straight to his office telling the kitchen on the way to send some food to his office he then encountered Lady Estellise with her friend Rita, she was walking slowly and clumsily, a side-effect of the attack Flynn tried to force a smile for her sake, "Good morning Lady Estellise. How are you?"
Estelle looked at Flynn and almost screamed stopping at the last second by a hand to her mouth, "Good morning Flynn," she said bowing, "I feel wonderful thank you Flynn."
"Lady Estellise," Flynn said touching her arm lightly Estelle flinched and drew her arm away before uttering an apology, "It's fine Lady Estellise my apology. I just wanted to say I'm sorry for sending you into danger I have no excuse for what I did."
"That's fine Flynn it was my mistake for staying out so late" Estelle said but her eyes said otherwise, it shone not with its usual joy but it was filled with hatred and loathing, Flynn was taken aback by this and it confirmed what he feared: Estelle hated him and she would never forgive him despite what she said, although it wasn't like Estelle to be like that he knew that unconsciously she hated him and despised him for what he had not done. Estelle then bowed and left Flynn alone with his thoughts, he looked back to see Estelle looking back at him not with happiness but with fear it took all the self-control he had to not break down in tears he then proceeded to his office where his breakfast awaited him as well as a mountain of paperwork and reports.
It was 2pm in the afternoon when Sodia and Raven entered his office, Flynn was looking at the window his back to them and he wasn't surprised to see both of them since he sent for them to meet him at this appointed time, "Did you want to see us Commandant?" Sodia asked in her usual officer tone.
Flynn didn't look at them but simply said, "Please have a seat" when both of them were seated he took his own seat he then took out an official document and handed it to Raven.
Raven looked at it and said in confusion, "What is this Flynn?"
Flynn didn't bother with the 'you know what it is' conversation he simply stated, "It's a document that states that should anything happen to me I authorize you, Raven, to be the next Commandant until a suitable or more competent person takes over. Sodia I still want you to be his second-in-command."
Both of them looked at Flynn in abject horror, even at the worse of time Flynn never acted like this, Raven lightly laughed, "Flynn, this is a joke right? If it is it's a really good one. You got me there for a second" he then laughed like it was funny,
"You know that it's not" Flynn said.
"But what could happen to you Commandant? It's not like we're in a war," Sodia interjected, "What could possibly happen to warrant this?"
"You know how the world is there's monsters running loose and without the blastias it's going to be much harder to defend the towns. We can defend them for now but sooner or later I'll have to personally go out there and slay some monsters and sometimes life takes a sudden turn and I may not…survive that encounter" and Flynn was right he was fighting a monster and he was losing, losing the fight against the monster that is guilt, "and besides it's probably time I got a contingency plan in effect in case of situations like those I just said."
"NO!" Sodia said standing up, "I refuse to accept that you would be defeated by a mere monster I won't stand in as Raven's second-in-command."
"Then I'll ask Leblanc to stand in your place," Flynn said, "It's no big deal."
"I agree with the girl on this one," Raven said also standing up, "I'm no longer a knight remember?"
"I already asked Ioder and he said that he would grant you your old rank back if should something happen to me." Although he never did such a thing he knew that Ioder only trusts Flynn, Sodia and Brave Vesperia and Raven had already been a captain before so a Commandant position shouldn't be too hard.
Raven then whispered something into Sodia's ear and she slowly nodded, "Alright Commandant, I'll accept but I still think that this document is useless," she said as she signed the document with Raven following suit Flynn the rolled the document and stored it in a drawer to be used when it was appropriate. Both of them then left the room but not before Sodia gave an angry glare at her idol then he went back to staring out the window contemplating the document. It was an hour later when Estelle entered the room, she whispered something to Rita who nodded and stood outside the door.
"Lady Estellise," Flynn said surprised that she would even enter in the same room as him, "What can I do for you?"
"I just wanted to apologize for my behavior this morning," Estelle said, "It was rude of me to flinch at your touch but it seems I still can't get over it."
"No it should be me who should be apologizing, I sent you into danger when I could've easily prevented it. I'm sorry for my actions I still don't know why I didn't send anyone with you while you went shopping."
"It's okay Flynn it was partly my fault for not going home on time, I got distracted by other people" Estelle said laughing while rubbing the back of her head.
"Estelle," Flynn said looking into her eyes, "Do you hate me?"
Estelle's eyes widened before she said, "Of course not Flynn."
"Your words say no but your eyes say yes," Flynn said solemnly, "Just tell me what is in your heart and what you truly feel about me."
"I…I" Estelle said as she struggled to find the right words, "I don't hate you Flynn how could you even think that?"
"Don't lie the fact that you're flinching isn't just because I look like your attacker, for one I'm way bigger than him and for another I don't have freckles. It's because you despise me for not protecting you isn't it? Isn't it?" Flynn stated from the report that the healers said.
Estelle then suddenly stood up and shouted, "Yes I do hate you Flynn! I hate you for being so protective of me, if you've allowed me to go in the first place then I wouldn't be in this position in the first place. If you've accompanied me then I wouldn't be in this position in the first place. I hate you Flynn I hate you and I wish I never have to see you again!" Estelle was then aware of what she had just said and tears formed in her eyes as she flew out of the room Rita running after her. Flynn simply stood there as Estelle's words finally hit home. What he had feared was confirmed and Estelle herself had spoken those very same words all Flynn could do was say, "I'm sorry I won't be in your way soon."
For the rest of the week Flynn followed the same routine job day after day while avoiding Estelle who had tried to approach him to apologize for her words but he didn't want to hear them they would just hurt him more than she already has. Finally Sodia was the one who had to speak in her place, "Lady Estellise wants to apologize to your for her disgraceful words and actions, she didn't really mean any of them," when Flynn simply nodded her expression took one of disgust and she shouted, "Commandant I've been keeping these emotions for the last week because I respected you but this has gone far enough you need to wake up to yourself and pull yourself out of that self-wallowing that you're in right now." Suddenly Flynn smacked Sodia so hard that she stumbled to the wall and before she could stand up he drove his sword into the wall only inches from her head she stared at Flynn with shock and Flynn growled in a voice that she had never even heard of, "You do not understand me, you do not understand the pain that I've been feeling for the past 2 weeks!" then in a softer and almost weak voice, "I won't be a burden to you soon Sodia."
He then left to his room with Sodia and several shocked knights simply standing there as their Commandant lost the self-control that he was known for Sodia stood there before slumping to the ground in shock. Flynn arrived in his room and locked it he then threw off the constricting part of his armor and then he paced around the room, he knew what he had done was a breach of protocol and he would no doubt be hearing from Ioder by the end of the day. He slumped to the floor and as tears began to fall from his face he resigned himself to the fate that would soon claim him he then promptly fell asleep he was then awoken by a loud knock. He was jolted awake and put on his armor before opening the door, a knight was there who told him that Ioder wanted to see him Flynn went to the throne room and kneeled for the second time in a week, Ioder looked furious, "Sir Scifo explain what happened this morning," Flynn then narrated what he did to Sodia and he ended with the same excuse he gave Ioder prompting Ioder to angrily yell, "That is no excuse for what you did, you attacked your own second-in-command in front of several knights! That by itself is a serious breach in protocol and could easily earn you a month in the dungeons, just what are you trying to do Sir Scifo?"
Flynn remained silent as he got up and left the throne room leaving a speechless Ioder and several knights, he could hear Ioder spluttering for him to return but it fell on deaf ears; he had enough the last 2 weeks have been nothing but a constant nightmare he could hope that it could get better but he knew that it would never get better only worse soon he'll do something he'll regret he made his way to the tower, the highest point in the castle, he went outside the battlements where the sun was just starting to set, "It's a good sunset," he muttered to himself he then climbed onto the edge of the walls it was at least a good 20 meters between him and the ground he looked down and contemplated whether or not he wanted to go with it but he played out a thousand scenarios of what could happen for the next 2 weeks and it was all the same outcome: total hatred from Estelle, dissapointment from Ioder, disgust from Sodia and anger from the other Brave Vesperia members, no matter what he did he would only hurt them more. So he took the final step and as the ground reached him he could only think of two words…'I'm sorry.'
…
…
…
…
2 weeks later
Sodia got the day off and went to the graveyard outside Zaphias, it had been two weeks since the Commandant- no Flynn's- suicide, when Flynn's body was found it was a total nightmare. Most of the knights could only stand there in utter shock Sodia among them, she couldn't believe that the one person who she thought could bounce off his guilt would do this; Yuri was next to find him his face one of utter shock and horror he looked away from his friend's body as he repeatedly punched the wall in frustration and anger; Raven was next to see the body he shook his head in confusion and kept telling himself that it was a joke, that Flynn would just pop out of the bush and laugh, but it wasn't a joke it was real Flynn was dead; Ioder was next when he heard the commotion despite protests from the knights he insisted on seeing what was going on he came out with Karol who he was talking to at the time he took one look at Flynn's broken body and vomited in a corner Karol was a bit stronger but he also soon vomited at the sight of Flynn's body. However it was Lady Estellise who was the worst affected she had come over to see what the commotion about Sodia saw her and tried to shield her unsuccesfully, she took one glimpse at the body and completely broke down and had to be led to her room by Rita who was trying hard not to vomit either. A knight had covered Flynn's body respectfully while healers lifted him and placed him in the morgue, the news of Flynn's death soon spread all over the empire like wildfire some had said that Flynn was murdered by a jealous knight while others say that they saw him arguing with another knight and then was beaten to death but only those within the castle knew the truth of the matter.
The funeral was 3 days later, everyone in the knights and Brave Vesperia attended it even Ioder did though he looked pale and the healers said that he had been suffering from nightmares, it was a sombre mood even the priest looked shock when he saw who the funeral was for. There were very little of anyone saying anything other than how he was a great knight and a even greater friend it was too evident of what he was, the casket was then lowered and everyone left; however the real challenged lay after the funeral. Ioder's attention was brought to the document that Sodia and Raven signed, he read it and sobbed before saying he would allow it and reinstated Raven back as a knight and the next Commandant though the words rang hollow in everyone present and Sodia heard that Ioder blamed himself for causing Flynn's death and was considering abidacting the throne in Lady Estellise' favor though it was only rumours and nothing more.
Yuri remained in his home in the Lower Quarters barely visiting the castle anymore, he simply sat there in a constant state of denial and his visits to Darnghest and the guild were becoming more frequent but what worried Sodia were words that Karol and Yuri had started to argue more and more sometimes with heated words and threats of disbanding Brave Vesperia. She wondered if that were true, it certainly would be a logical sequence of events to occur especially at a traumatic event such as Flynn's death but who was she to think if that was logical that was the mage, Rita Mordio's job to be the logical thinker.
However it was Lady Estellise that was the most affected, she continually blamed herself for causing Flynn's death thinking her harsh words pushed him over the edge. Twice within the two weeks she had tried to commit suicide, the first by trying to jump off the same wall Flynn jumped from, she was stopped thanks to Rita's magic and the second was just 2 days ago when she was found bleeding in her room, her wrists slit and she had taken almost a bottle of pills designed to relieve pain. She was now in a permanent 24 hour suicide watch until the healers deem her of a sound mind although Sodia doubted that Lady Estellise would recover any time soon if ever.
Soon she arrived at the graveyard, Flynn's tombstone had been elaborate with a full statue of a knight guarding over it Sodia kneeled and brushed off a few vines that had started to grow, "Flynn," she muttered, "Everyone misses you, they're all suffering because of what you did. Why did you leave us?" When all she received was the sound of the howling wind she began to cry uncontrollably, "You're gone… you're gone for real now" as the wind howled even louder she could only cry for her idol, the fallen knight that was once Flynn Scifo.