“By the way,” I felt it appropriate to ask, “What’s your name, sir?”

“Oh, now that you mention it, I never told you.” He replied, “It’s Pierre. Nice to meet you.”

“Right, I’m sure you already know since you saw my passport, but my name’s Lune. Likewise, pleasure to meet your acquaintance.”

I really messed up here, didn’t I? Pierre here seems nice enough, but the thing is he has two very different personalities between which he switches through repeatedly, and both of them are somehow toxic. Either he’s the cunning lawyer-like sharp tongued snake, or the whiny crybaby little brother who just wants to die. I don’t like being under someone’s command in general, so if it’s this guy, that only doubles my worries.

“Right, what do you do here?” I asked as he was completing the paperwork for my enlistment.

“What do I do here?” He furrowed his brows as he glanced up at me, “You mean like my rank? I’m a drill sergeant, think of it like your personal trainer in building your stamina.”

“So you don’t do anything in the actual frontlines?”

“Idiot!” He hissed, “Of course I do! If I’m not training my soldiers, then how are they gonna survive the harsh battlefield? In any case, even I started as a rookie once.”

“I somehow can’t imagine you wielding a gun…”

At this, he bonked me on the forehead with the pen he was using to do my paperwork, which hurt in an annoying sort of way.

“You’re not using your head, rookie! AFPs are a new thing, invented only a couple years ago by the Famed Inventor. Actually, the only reason we’re still alive and kicking is because of his invention, but that doesn’t mean we always had them on us.”

“Wow, sounds like a pretty cool guy.” I said with a deadpanned expression.

“Of course! He’s our hero! Sadly, I heard no one knows where he went after he got hitched, which is a shame since I really wanted to meet him. Goes to show that you should never get a girl!”

“Oh?” I heard something that ticked me off, “You’re saying the reason the Famed Inventor disappeared is because of his wife? What’s wrong with having a lover in your life?”

“Of course you wouldn’t understand, and here I thought we could see eye to eye.” He rolled his eyes, “Listen, facts are facts. Sol Pandora went to his honeymoon and immediately disappeared with her. If he never wedded her, surely he’d still…!”

“If she never came into his life, he wouldn’t even be considered worthy enough to be called a bum on the street!” I snapped, “Women are the reason we as men do what we do! Grow the fuck up and stop playing around with weapons and instead get yourself a fine woman, you dolt!”

“…” He couldn’t say anything to retort.

“…Ugh, get yourself a woman, sir?” I corrected myself.

“Pfft! Hahahaha!” He jumped up from his seat as he handed me my passport, “You’re alright, Lune! You know your place in the orchestra, that’s for sure!”

“Sorry about getting a bit too ahead of myself there, sir. I just don’t like people badmouthing women, since you’re essentially dissing my wife as well.”

“Well, it’s nice to see that you care so much about her then. I apologize too, I’ll try not to say anything when you’re around.”

So you won’t stop badmouthing women indefinitely then? That’s lame! You’re a lame man, sergeant!

“Oh, speaking of, you never did tell me what my wife and daughter will be doing while I’m training.” I recalled our previous talks as soon as we stepped out of the room and I saw them in the hallways.

“Training what, Lune?” Cecily asked upon overhearing me.

“Ah, heheh, you see…”

***

“You enlisted in the army, you goddamned peabrain?!” Cecily chewed me out, ”Why the hell did you do that if you knew that we have no business here?!”

“Ow ow ow! Stop hitting me, that’s domestic violence!” I tried shielding myself from her flurry of attacks, “Listen, I had no other choice! I needed to prove to Pierre here that we aren’t Meior spies somehow, right?!”

Cecily’s attacks gradually became more and more weak, and by the end of my explanation they had completely ceased. She was looking down at the ground while still pounding on my chest with a somewhat weak thud to it. I had only just noticed, but she began crying right in that moment.

“You…” She fought through the tears, “There you go again with the excuses! Of course you had a choice, and that choice was to talk it over with us! If you really want us to be a family, then act like we are, dammit! Stop hiding your feelings from us and tell me honestly what’s going on! Surely we could’ve thought of another alternative together!”

“I…!” I bit my tongue, “I’m sorry, I’ll do better from now on. I keep saying you guys are my family, but I haven’t really been doing anything a proper husband and father should be doing.”

“When we began dating,” She spoke, “I knew full well of the consequences of being with a guy like you. Unreliable, unpredictable, willing to do anything just to avoid being bored, that’s who you are, Lune.”

“…”

“But even with that I still decided to hold your hand. I still walked the world just to see you even after what happened in Cardina, because I heard from Ed that you were alive. Back then, I was sort of hoping that you had maybe changed…”

“Changed?” I repeated.

“Yes, Lune, I was hoping you had gotten a bit more mature.” She said as Nelly reached as high as her little legs allowed her to in order to hug her mother, “It’s a terrible thing to say, but I wished that Marina’s death would’ve made you question what you were doing.”

Only then did I truly see the expression on her face. It was that of ecstasy, pure euphoria, presumably after she recalled that Marina was no more. That made me sad, to think that Cecily really did hate her that much despite never meeting her, but I could also understand where she was coming from. At the end of the day, you really can’t ever grow to like the person your spouse cheated on you with, so seeing Nelly hugging her like that as if she too wasn’t happy with my actions made me almost collapse to the ground crying.

“Marina was…” I spoke out, picking my words very carefully, “A good woman. Not in any way better than you, and neither any worse. You two aren’t something I ever felt appropriate to compare. I only wished to see both of you happy, and if that meant to marry her along with you, I was willing to see it through till the end. I love her, and I love you, so yeah, if you really want me to be honest with my feelings with you, then there you have it.”

Cecily stood there with a deathly silence to her. I didn’t at all like the atmosphere that was looming over me in that moment, and Nelly’s stare only reminded me of that dream I had back in the infirmary. I’m right now in the process of atoning for my wrongdoings, but there’s only so much I can do at a time.

“Pssht!” Pierre joked as he nudged my arm, “Women, am I right?”

That was probably the first time I was ever glad to have someone dumber than me around, since now all of Cecily’s wrath she was stockpiling for me went to his face instead, knocking him back at least 10 meters. I could’ve sworn I heard a bone or two break, but sure enough he got up, brushed the dirt off his uniform, and walked back up to us.

“What?!” Cecily was at a loss for words at his resistance, “You actually survived that without any injuries?!”

“Heh, see why regular training is good for you now, Lune?” He chuckled, “But really, I now at least know what to do with your girls while you’re in the army.”

“And that is?” I asked, holding my breath.

“To have your wifey enroll with us as well!” He pointed his finger at her, “After that punch just now, I’m definitely sure that my hunch was correct! You’ve got a fighter’s spirit, woman, and it works out if you two wanna be together so bad! It’s two birds with one stone, I tell ya! I’m a goddamned genius!”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me…” I facepalmed, expecting Cecily to wind up for another punch, but weirdly enough she actually did something surprising herself.

“Oh, that’s actually a pretty good deal! If this training of yours really boosts your defense this much, then surely I’ll stand to benefit from it as well. Not to mention I need to keep an eye on this guy as much as possible!” She pointed her thumb at me with a smug look.

“Oi, what the hell are you doing?!” I whispered to her, “War isn’t something you should be getting yourself involved with! Please think about this!”

“Hmm, how about no?” She retorted, “First of all, if you can enlist, then surely so can I. Not to mention you never talked about your enlistment with us, so why should I talk about mine with you?”

“Hrmm…!” I tried desperately to find a flaw in her logic, but to no avail.

“Hooway!” A childish voice suddenly appeared from under our noses, “Now mom and dad don’t have to fight anymowe! We can all get along, alwight?”

“Oh, but that still leaves Nelly alone.” Cecily raised her concerns, “Where’s she gonna stay, serge?”

“Hey, call me sergeant!” He corrected her, “And not to worry, your daughter will be staying at my quarters for the duration of the training.”

“Hell no!” We both objected in unison, “Do that and we’ll kill you!”

“…Man, I can never understand couples. You guys were just fighting a minute ago, and suddenly you’re so in sync that you’re speaking at the same time? Almost harmonic, in a way…”

“Nelly will be sleeping with us in the soldier’s sleeping quarters. I don’t yet trust you enough, Pierre.”

“The hell am I gonna do to her?” He asked angrily, “I just wanted to be a good sergeant and babysit your kid is all.”

“Hey!” Nelly kicked him in the shin, “I’m not a baby! I’m a big giwl!”

“Yeah, yeah, and I’m Auros’ Descendant.” He fended off her attacks, “Listen here, kid, if you sleep with your mom and dad in the sleeping quarters reserved for soldiers, the other rookies will bully you. I’m only saying this out of my own kindness here.”

“If that happens, I’ll clock them so hard they won’t be able to tell what’s forward and what’s backward!” Cecily shot back proudly, “If anything, you should be babysitting those soldiers of yours and teaching them not to do that, serge! That’s your job isn’t it?!”

At her outburst just now, Pierre had no way to retort. I mean, I’d say something similar, but it looks like Pierre doesn’t handle getting yelled at by a girl as good as he would a guy. I sincerely hope he gets that fixed.

“I, well…!” He finally caved and said, “Sigh, yeah, I’ll do my job. Sheesh, you two really are an unusual pair.”

“And don’t call us a pair!” Cecily blushed.

With that, we had both officially become soldiers on the Lis side of the war. There's so many things that are out of whack with this relationship, but this one is by far the most out of place...