Chapter 177 Obligation VS Choice

"Thank you for inviting me." Connor said as he walked alongside Clay.

"Thank you for coming. I'm sure you noticed but my mother loves to have guests over for dinner, she always goes all out on preparing food."Clay replied.

"I think your mother fed me enough food to last the rest of the week." Connor said while rubbing his stomach.

"Hahaha...yeah, that's how every guest who's ever eaten in my house has felt." Clay said, wiping a tear from his eye as he laughed.

The sun disappeared behind the horizon as they walked through the city, the glow of crystals that were set up along the street lighting the way.

With Clay in the lead, the two of them rounded the final corner, entering the street their destination was located.

"Don't you think it's a bit late, the sun has already gone down..." Connor asked.

"They always stay up for at least an hour after the sun goes down, usually longer. We won't be disturbing their sleep, so don't worry about that." Clay replied.

Clay finally stopped in front of a house that was only slightly less luxurious looking than the one his family was placed in. It's garden was a bit smaller and so was the house but otherwise it was mostly the same.

Clay stood at the end of the path and just stared at the house without moving. Connor could see it in Clay's eyes and facial expressions, he didn't want to do this...

"You don't have to do this." Connor said.

"I might not be obligated to do it but I still need to..." Clay said as he walked along the path to the house.

~Knock~ ~Knock~ ~Knock~

Clay lifted his hand, delivering three lackluster knocks on the door. Once again, Connor could feel a reluctance in Clay's actions just from the way he knocked.

The door opened slowly and a young woman in her early 20s was standing on the other side. Her eyes were a dark blue colour and her blonde hair stopped at shoulder length.

She peaked her head around the half opened door in a sheepish manner, trying to see who was outside before opening it completely. "Clay... It's been a while." She said, gaining some confidence and opening the door completely.

She was around 1.7 meters tall, making her slightly above average height compared to most woman in the kingdom.

"Hey Kaitlyn, I know it's getting late but I was hoping I could speak with your mother... You know, about Cain..." Clay said.

He was doing his best to maintain his usual image but Connor could hear his voice shaking slightly.

"She's... She's up in her room but I don't know if she'll want to talk to you right now." Kaitlyn replied.

"Take me to her, please. I have to try."

Kaitlyn looked from Clay to Connor, seemingly debating with herself about what to do. In the end, she stepped aside and gestured for the two men to enter.

She closed the door behind them then lead the way to her mother's room on the second floor of the house.

"Mom, are you awake? Clay is here, he wants to talk to you about Cain..." Kaitlyn said as she slowly opened the door and peaked into the room.

There was no reply but when the door was halfway open, a woman could be seen sitting in a chair near the window. She was fiddling with something in her hands and looking out at the city.

There was no light in the room except that which came in through the window from the crystals outside. Her face was visible but the rest of her was in darkness.

She appeared to be around mid 40s in age and had grey hair that stopped just before her shoulders. She looked exhausted and had this far away look in her eyes.

Kaitlyn walked into the room with the men following behind her. She stopped behind her mother and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Mom... Can you hear me?" Kaitlyn asked with a soft and gentle voice but there was no reply.

"Angela... It's me, Clay. I wanted to talk about Cain if you're up for it." Angela stopped fiddling and turned to look at Clay.

"Clay...where have you been... Did you find my son?" Angela asked with a dry and weary voice.

"I'm still looking for him, I've never stopped. There isn't any news about him yet but I wanted to check on you myself." Clay said in a soft and gentle tone.

"How do you still have the strength to go on. How do you still have hope that you can find him... Why wouldn't they have just...just..." Angela's eyes filled with tears.

Clay reached out and placed his hand on hers "I know he's alive, there's no doubt. While his squad was killed, they chose to capture him. That means they need him to be alive.

I know it's hard, you must be worried each day. I promise you I will find him and bring him back." Clay said with a confident and heartfelt tone.

"Thank you... If anyone could find him, it's you." Angela said. She squeezed Clay's hand and then let go of it while turned to look out the window again.

The far away look returned to her eyes and she started fiddling with the object in her hands. Kaitlyn stepped away from her mother and placed a hand on Clay's shoulder.

"Come on, she needs her rest."

Before he left the room, he glanced at Angelas hands to see what she was fiddling with. It was a small piece of clothing, something a child would wear.

Clay immediately realized that it must have been something Cain wore as a child. He left the room with a huge weight hanging over him, tears threatening to escape his eyes.

Kaitlyn lead the ttwo of them back to the front door and out of the house. As they began walking away, Kaitlyn called out to them.

"Clay! If it turns out my brother is dead then I want you to change your promise. I want you to promise that if that happens, you'll hunt the ones responsible and kill them..."

"I promise." Clay said before he walked away with Connor beside him.

"Are you okay?" Connor asked as they turned into a different street.

Clay stopped walking "No, I'm not. I won't be okay until I get Cain back..."

"You two must be really close."

"Yeah. I've known him my whole life. You, Leo, Rene, even Nila and Leonard, I consider all of you my friends. But Cain is more than that, he's like a brother. If he dies... I don't think I'll be able to recover from that." Clay said as a tear streaked down his cheek.

He turned away from Connor and lifted his hand to wipe away the tears." Im going to head back to my parents house and spend the night there. I'll see you around." He immediately started walking away, not giving Connor a chance to respond.

'I didn't realize they were that close...' Connor thought as he started heading towards the barracks.

'I wonder how the others are handling this. Does Leo feel even half as strongly about finding Cain? The people who are closest to Cain are the ones with the most power in Infernum, if they all lose their focus at once then we might lose the war. We need to find him, for all our sakes.'

Connors thoughts about this matter continued as he made his to the barracks. As he reached the entrance however, he was stopped by a soldier standing guard.

"Captain, the Supreme Commander has requested your presence." The soldier said.

"Right now?"

"Yes Sir."

~Sigh~ 'I really wanted to go to sleep.' Connor thought as he changed his destination. It only took a few minutes to reach the Supreme Commanders office.

~Knock~ ~Knock~

"Enter."

He walked into the office but was surprised to see that there was a man he didn't recognize already seated and speaking with the Supreme Commander.

"You called for me, Sir." Connor said as he walked closer.

"Yes. Please take a seat." The Supreme Commander said while gesturing to the open seat. Connor took a seat next to the stranger as he was instructed.

'His clothes are expensive, he must be a noble.' Connor thought as he inspected the stranger.

"I can tell you're curious about the man beside you. This is Duke Wesley, General Snythe Wesley's father and brother in law to King Randall." The Supreme Commander said nonchalantly.

"I-It's a pleasure to meet you..." Connor awkwardly said. He was surprised to be meeting such an important figure all of a sudden.

"Duke Wesley has just returned from Zoren. There is an issue that needs resolving and General Rune is involved. You have been selected for this mission as well. A mission to re-take Zoren city from the cultists."