Robert had always believed that this voyage was for the good of AON. He had been hoping that this would take him to a place where he could fulfill something greater. To leave something behind.

Days passed in the nameless seas. After the trouble in that dead world. That civilization they had traveled for months. Every seven days the fleet of Aon would stop to take a look at the state of the fleet. The Arkshelled Island that carried an entire settlement on its back would welcome its doors to the people of the fleet.

Watford, Lundy, and Woodhurst would be populated. The three ports are aligned and on the ports are businesses that have appeared. Every working kin of the fleet would receive a certain amount of rations. These rations are traded among the three communities.

The coin that the people of the fleet carried remained useful. They use the coin to trade their goods, barter, and process. Most of the citizens of the moving fleet would not use them.

The fleet itself is generous. It was quite something. Even women were being trained to wield weapons. One of them had decided on training women to be weapons in hopes that they could contribute to the fleet. Firearms allowed this freedom and it was easy to train the women when most of the fleet had nothing to do.

The rest who could not wield them. Would result to prostitution in hopes that they could earn more for their children whose father had perished in battle. The weakness of this fleet was always the people. The families who decided to take the risk in hopes that they would be together.

There are only a few women who have turned to such jobs. Most of them have decided to fight instead of letting their dignity be soiled by the death of their husbands and lovers.

Robert was always a man who preferred the fight. He was a soldier. A ranger who scouted the lands with a bow on his hands. But travel batters the mind, spirit, and body. It was because of this that lately he found himself questioning why he even joined this fleet.

He could not forget. How the fleet wasted men to gather resources. There was no certainty in foreign waters. He knows this well. But it doesn’t mean that he didn’t have the right to ask the question.

He wasn’t sure and too many questions would gather the attention of the Inquisition. Robert understood why those men had to die for something. He just wished that he knew the reason for it.

So far the fleet had not let them down. They already made history the moment they broke the back of the Icean Spine. The fleet was ready and with the Elven-kin supporting the back of the Fleet. How could they lose?

For a moment Robert thought they were invincible. Then the Baron of the Interstice came to ruin that impression. They were vulnerable to those who had the same strength as theirs. The Baron’s fleet might be little compared to The Reconnoiter Company. But they compensated with the firepower that they possess. It had been months since that day. Even Robert had started to lose track of time. He didn’t want to think of the time spent on the seas. But sometimes he couldn’t help but ask the scribes, astrologers, and the scholars who are eager to answer his inquiry.

The fleet had not lost its habit to train. Even during calmer days the training drills don’t stop. The maintenance work and the repairs made to everything sometimes take two days to complete.

Most of the time Robert spends his days working for the Doctor of Milostiv. The Doctor of Milostiv worked harder than any healer that he had encountered. He was a man driven to care. To mend wounds more than to cause wounds.

The Doctor does not care about his reputation. Nonetheless, the crew members of the Milostiv truly thought of him fondly. It was very hard to hate a man who cared about his patients. A person who had always wanted nothing more than to heal people and make sure that they are good. He can be overbearing, but it was truly hard to hate someone who cared.

The Doctor does not hide his thoughts. He would speak what is in his mind if needed to. He could be quiet and speak only a few words. He was always eager to help, but he wasn’t that nice when his patients were stubborn.

At first Robert thought of him as a quack. Doctors in AON had a reputation for being unable to heal. It also made an impression on how a Doctor had helped in getting rid of the Tyrant of Aon, ending a bloody dynasty.

If the Doctor wasn’t a surgeon. Robert guessed that there would have been less people who would take kindly to allowing a Doctor patch them up. But the months spent in the seas had changed the minds of the crew members of the Milostiv. Every soldier and a member of the Milostiv have seen how the Doctor acts in battle.

There was a new saying in Milostiv.

“Fight harder. The Doctor will patch you up as long as you breathe!”

The Doctor usually saves them. There are times where the Doctor fails his surgeries and there are times where he’d do them perfectly. But most of the time the wounds were manageable enough for him to save them.

Robert had respect for the Doctor. But mostly that respect came from the softness of the heart that the Doctor would show. That calm, polite, and sometimes fierce tone of his. It was very easy to admire a man who could work so hard without asking much. Perhaps it was what he had seen for months helping the Doctor that made Robert want to learn from him. To suture wounds. What medicine to apply and what he can do to save a man whose heart had stopped beating if it wasn’t too late.

Still, there are days where the Doctor would find himself with a patient that he couldn’t do anything with. Robert was in a cabin room built on Lundy alongside the Doctor. The cabin was near the flowing river that flows from the Elder Spring of the Arkshelled Island.

It was a cabin made by four sons who had brought their family together. These four soldiers didn’t join because they were patriotic or because they felt that this was their calling. They were one of the people who had joined this Fleet to absolve their debts. They were soldiers who had agreed to join this fleet in hopes they could escape from the debt they accumulated.

Robert knew them. He had fought with them and even one of the sons saved him from taking a bullet during the battles in the Icean Spine. The oldest of the siblings was named Yash. They had called the Doctor after noticing that their mother wasn’t doing well.

Their mother named Chaya had been getting weaker. It was only because of their contribution that they were able to move their mother from the Grand-Galleon to Arkshelled Island. The Doctor took the time from his rounds to visit the madam personally. The Doctor was prepared. Bringing his manuals and equipment.

But what Robert found in the newly built cabin was an old woman. A Madam who was sleeping on the cot that her son built for her. The cabin was so decorated that it made Robert wonder if the sons of Madam Chaya had done this.

Doctor Gabrio proceeded to examine the Madam. She was breathing. Her eyes however were close. The Doctor tried to wake the Madam up, but she was not responding.

The Doctor took out his pocket book. Then searched for these symptoms. But as minutes passed the Doctor became too quiet. The Doctor placed the pocket book and barked orders for Yasha and his siblings to bring him water.

Still, even after the treatment, the mother of the siblings did not wake up. Seeing their panicked faces. Doctor Gabrio placed the towel away and wiped Mrs. Chaya’s face carefully.

“What is wrong with mother?”

“She’s old, Yasha,” the doctor said calmly. “She has reached the end of her life… that’s all.”

“She’s breathing.”

“You told me that she was getting weaker by the day and from the looks of it. Madam has been living for ninety years. It was going to happen one day and sadly this is simply her last day in this world.”

“That can’t be right.”

The siblings bite their lips. The youngest of them punched the walls of the cabin. The second covered his face while Yasha glared hard at the Doctor.

“Are you really sure, Doctor?”

“I am. What my teacher has written here details that her nervous system simply failed to work properly. She must have suffered an entire breakdown while sleeping and can no longer wake up. She might be able to heal you and I’m not going to lie here. She might be suffering.”

“What are you trying to say, Doctor?”

Doctor Gabrio shot a look at the siblings. He fished out something from his bag. It was a syringe with bottles accompanying it. Robert knew what was in them.

“I can give you the choice. It is a simple one. Let your mother continue this suffering or I can end it for her peacefully without pain.”

“You want us to choose?”

“Yes. You are her sons. I think that you should have the right to decide.”

“That’s cruel of you, Doctor.”

“It is mercy. A cruel one. I will not pretend that I understand. I have told you what I know. I do not dare to wash blood off my hands by letting you three do this, but nonetheless I am giving you three a choice. I have said my piece.”

Yasha glared at the Doctor. The room became deathly quiet. Yasha kneeled on the ground and wiped the forehead of his mother.

“Is there anything that you can do, Doctor?”

“Nothing… she simply was old, Yasha. Your mother simply has run out of time.”

“Is she really in pain?”

“If I’m correct, then she must be conscious. She must be conscious.”

“I see. Mama, can you hear me?”

Robert felt uncomfortable hearing Yasha like this. Yasha was a tall and muscular man. And yet in front of his mother. Yasha looked and sounded weak. As if the strong man that had saved his life was not around. In front of Robert was a man who was going to lose his mother.

“If you are in pain. The Doctor will make you sleep. I don’t know if this is right or not, but if you can truly hear me… then please rest already mama.”

Doctor Gabrio took a step aside. He watched three tough men say their goodbyes to their mother. The Doctor remained quiet. There was no emotion on his face. The one that stood next to Robert was the Doctor of Milostiv, not Gabrio of Fort Rava.

The siblings said their goodbyes and went outside. Gabrio prepared his syringe and the concoction.

“She was a loud and energetic one,” Doctor Gabrio said. “I had thought that Madam Chaya would last more years, but I guess her body couldn’t keep up with her spirit. It gave up before she did.”

“You think they’d be okay?”

“No. It’ll hurt their hearts. But they are made of stronger stuff. Madam Chaya is somewhat fortunate to go out like this. Some are not so lucky. Still, I don’t intend to pretend that this is okay. Losing people is never easy.”

Doctor Gabrio injected Madam Chaya with the concoction. Minutes later the Madam slowly stopped breathing. Her face somewhat loosened and was no longer as stiff.

Doctor Gabrio retrieved his syringe and personally informed the siblings. He got out of the cabin and asked Robert to inform the constables to take care of the procedures.

After talking to the Constables. They took Madam Chaya’s body to be processed and properly handled. The siblings talked to the Doctor before they left. Doctor Gabrio stared at the siblings. He walked near the flowing river and sat cross-legged on the side.

The Doctor looked in the distance. Robert stood next to the Doctor.

“You okay, Doc?”

“I am. Not my first time putting a person to rest. Doesn’t make it easy.”

“I see. Doc, was I naïve for thinking that we would only lose people when battle happens?

“Somewhat, but this is how life is, Robert. People pass on whether there is battle or not. It’s how things are. This adventure doesn’t mean that we are somewhat immune to the world we live in.”

Robert sat down. “Maybe all of this has started to make me believe, Doc. That we are the chosen people who’d helped the heroes reach their goals. Makes me feel like we’re just bystanders whose opinions aren’t even counted anymore. Letting good men die… for what? For a bunch of metal.”

“They have their own reasons, I’m sure. I hope they do. We have roles to play and I hope that they do it well. That’s all we can do. Hah, what else can we do? It’s not something we can control. No, we have some, but not complete control over. We work as we should. That’s how we somewhat thrive under all of this. I mean, it’s not like everyday you’d find yourself on top of a puppeteered giant with a giant tree in the middle. We don’t have to play other roles, Robert. They can save the world and we can help our brothers and sisters. That’s what we do.”

“I guess so.”

Robert agreed. He hated to, but what else can he do other than trust the people he was fighting with? He didn’t have to be part of their crew to make a difference to others.