FHC B3 Chapter 60: Grimm Funeral Part 3

I watched and so did the rest of the Grimms. Alice parted ways from Kimms and Arthur, who had sought Alice out before Garret’s arrival.

Garret ignored her, but he eventually stopped. His eyes never left the lump, even as Alice moved to his side.

I was too far away to hear them properly, but she said something that grabbed his attention. He looked angry, hurt. His eyes flashed red but his posture and face didn’t show the rage I expected. Instead, Garret looked defeated, and he slowly turned away from the lump to face Alice.

Better move in closer. I don’t think he’ll do anything stupid, but better to be safe.

Without wanting to seem too suspicious, I moved toward Astra but kept my distance and veered toward the table with food.

As I positioned myself near the edge, I caught the end of Garret’s sentence.

“-I am sorry.”

He’s apologizing?

“I accept and understand. Have you parting words for my brother?”

I glanced at Garret and saw the hurt on his face. He looked genuinely disturbed but what Alice said and shut his eyes.

No red. He had sobered himself up, just like he said.

“I do,” he said shakily.

“I’m ready to hear them.”

Garret straightened but kept his eyes closed. When he spoke, his voice was firm, if not steady. The pain was still there, but whatever raw emotion that had overtaken him was channeled into his fist, where I could see his nails draw blood from his palm.

“From one heart to another, I mourn your death and live in anger,” he started. Garret breathed, then continued. “From pack, from friends, from companion. Partners of the hunt for which we intertwined. Continue your hunt, Elias, and one day, I’ll join you again in chasing our prey; tail to tail, shoulder to shoulder.”

He opened his eyes and nodded tersely. Alice touched his arm and repeated the motion before he pulled away. As he turned, he caught me staring and stopped, but only for a moment. No outrage or fury–he simply left and went to his own corner of the room.

His words were not what I expected. They sounded formal with a touch of intimacy, which shouldn’t have been surprising, but they felt… Distant. Then again, what he said to Alice was to be repeated out loud. Whatever he truly had to say was probably kept between him and Elias.

Alice moved closer and dropped her voice to a whisper. “The last one is Devon.”

I winced. “You sure?”

“He was as much of a friend as anyone else. More, but not the same as Garret.”

Seems that way.

“Do you need backup?”

She shook her head. “I’ll be fine. Whatever he has to say, he’ll say it and be done.”

As if on cue, Devon separated from his conversation and approached the table. He stopped several meters away but kept his gaze solely on Alice.

“Your parting words?” Alice asked.

He nodded. “Are you ready?”

“What you say will be spoken. The words you have for the pack will be repeated and etched into our memories. May they reach our kin and provide them closure as they continue the hunt. Speak now, Devon.”

His stiff posture remained, along with his dead expression. But a spark of life animated his eyes. Devon blinked and cleared his throat.

“Brothers. Friend. Partner in our duties. Your presence will be missed and the pack feels your absence. But we will continue.”

Devon nodded and walked away.

Alice watched him leave, and I felt the brief graze of cold air tickle my fingers.

“That’s it?” I whispered.

“He has said what he wanted to say. I’ve taken his words and will repeat them during the rite,” she explained, voice neutral.

It took a moment, but Alice relaxed and her mana retreated.

“Let’s go to Astra. It’s time to start the rite.”

She waved Astra down, and the older Grimm excused herself and rushed over.

“Alice?”

“I’m ready to begin.”

“You’ve taken everyone’s words?”

“I have.”

Astra sighed. Her chains slithered around her dress and squeezed while her face showed a complicated expression.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

The chains stopped their movements and she slowly relaxed.

“Yes,” she sighed. “Then let us begin.”

But as she turned toward Elias’ body. There was a sound that drew the attention of the room. I watched the door slam shut and tensed.

Grim…

The Prime wasn’t alone. Beside him, Quinn carried another lump matching the one in Grim’s arms.

Astra moved to approach, but he strode forward and smiled.

“Apologies for the delay,” he said, sounding sincere. He examined the room and stopped upon seeing the lump. There was a similar pause when he glanced over Alice and finally stopped on me. His eyes narrowed but he continued walking past the table. “Once we’ve laid our kin, we will begin if there are no objections.”

What are you doing here?

He stomped and the ground rumbled. The stone rose like liquid, moving to form two slabs that joined Elias on both sides. Grim gently placed his load onto the left slab and motioned for Quinn to do the same.

She looked as stone-faced as Devon. But with the same gentleness, she lowered the body onto the third slab and retreated to a few steps behind Grim.

Grim stared at the corpses, his eyes burning a dim orange that subtly shifted to red. He said something that tickled my ears, but it was too low to make out. As he finished speaking, the air around him distorted like heat wisps off a flame.

There was no mana, not as far as I could see. And when the distortion stopped, he clapped his hands and turned around.

“Does anyone else have something to say? Or prepare?” he asked.

Kimms and Arthur kept their heads down. Garret continued to stare at Elias’ corpse but shook his head. Devon remained silent and stiff.

“No?” Grim moved his gaze to Alice. “Have you received the parting words for our fallen?”

“I have, Prime,” Alice responded.

Grim smiled. It didn’t reach his eyes and the expression rang hollow. He whispered something to Quinn and she stepped to the side. She raised her hand and pointed to the ceiling before mana started to glow in my sight.

It manifested as a ball of silver that rotated as it separated from her palm. Beneath her, the ground lit up with lines of a rune cracking the stone and surrounding her inside a spell circle.

Her eyes took on the same silver glow and she opened her mouth.

No words came out. The mana stopped as if frozen in time. As the last of the spell circle formed and connected, enclosing her in it pulsed and she breathed out a mist of blue dust.

The orb of silver mana sucked it in and rocketed into the ceiling, past the hole beyond into the dark void above. It zipped away, becoming smaller and smaller till it was barely a dot.

Then it exploded and a thousand stars streaked through the sky as the moon appeared. Moonlight bathed the room, filling it with a silver light similar to the mana from before. It touched my skin and I breathed in.

The air was sweet and cold.

Quin stumbled, and Grim steadied her.

“It is done, Prime,” she coughed.

“Thank you, Quinn,” he said.

Grim released her and clapped his hands.

“Let’s begin.”