He's been here before, but nevertheless it doesn't hurt any less. The pain of losing people will always be the hardest thing in his mind. To him it would mean that you will never see this person again until you go to heaven.

He had hoped to never be here again. To never go through this again. Losing people he cares about is something he had hoped to never get have to get used to these things. But he has been here for so many times.

Charles turns to Max, who hasn't said a word to anyone since the whole ordeal of losing his wolf and a good friend of his. He had been at a void of emotions, not once had Max shed a tear over this. He did nothing but work and rule his country. Max had even been using hawks as eyes for more Reykvikians but none had been spotted.

Charles had asked Sophie if Max was even sad about this or if it even bothered him in the first place. She had smiled at Charles and told the Monaque that Max had been this way since a rather young age. That he had never shown emotions anymore but that it didn't mean that it didn't hurt him less.

Charles had seen what it had done to Pierre, the once happy man was now nothing more then a mere shell of the happiness that he had held. It anything, it had broken Pierre the most out of all people. He had been the closest to Anthoine, he had been with him from a young age before they moved here together.

"It's time." Sophie breaks the silence as everyone had been seated in the feasting hall.

Max gets up from his seat and so does everyone else. Charles doesn't know how funerals work here in Holland. All he knows is that they gather at the beach. Another thing that he didn't know was that they all would be wearing the colour of white. Another thing that Charles doesn't understand is why they are carrying a bow and two black arrows in their hand.

Charles walks next to Max, who doesn't say anything while they leave the feasting hall. Pierre and Esteban behind them. Tears hadn't stopped falling from his cheeks since it had happened. Ange was running behind the two men. The little wolf had been really sad that Dakota isn't here anymore.

Not a single person hadn't looked miserable since the two had passed away. Max had been very distant if Charles has to be honest. He would disappear a lot and Charles wouldn't see him much, his little brother had been sad himself. He felt bad for them.

Lorenzo had sailed back to Holland after an attack on Monaque. His parents had send him back since it wasn't safe at all. There turned out to be many Reykvikians running around. Jos had welcomed Lorenzo quickly back and told him where Max and Charles were before he found out that Haarlem had been attacked.

The docks had been decorated entirely with white lilies everywhere. The people all walk onto the beach as Charles is the first with Max to step onto the beach. Two wooden boats, one bigger then the other. Both decorated in white lilies, a white blanket pulled over them.

It had been a difficult couple of days for all of them. Charles had always hated these like these. He looks back as the crowd is gathering on the beach, all of them wearing white. He has been wondering why it has to be white since it's in his culture something you wear for a wedding.

"Why do we wear white?" Charles finally voices his words.

Max turns to him. "Because it's a symbol of helping the souls of our loved ones make it to Valhalla. It's helping them make it there safely and paying our respects to their love and life. We mourn in white, we wed in white. It's our way." Max says before looking back at the starry night.

A torch gets placed in front of him and Max. He can only look at the dancing flames of the torch. Are they gonna burn the dead? Why? Isn't it suppose to be burying them?

"Do you guys burn the dead?" Charles asks confused.

"Yes, another way of us guiding them to Valhalla. We put them in boats, send them on the water before we shoot burning arrows and guide them to Valhalla." Max says with a shaky voice.

Once everyone is ready, Max steps forwards. He turns to the crowd. All emotions voided from his face as he clears his throat. Charles could only wish to know what Max was thinking or feeling. He doesn't understand what it could feel like to lose another wolf and yet Jos told him it could happen. That he had lost three wolves before he decided that he didn't want one anymore.

"Dear friends, family and wolves. We gather here, today, to mourn and say goodbye for one last time to the lost of a loving son, a brother, a friend and mostly a good person that was there for us all. When anyone needed a helping hand, a listening ear or even a person to sit in silence with, he was there. He will be loved and missed for all entirety until we will meet him again, in Valhalla. We will never know what could be and never know how he would have led his life from this point on. But I'm sure that he will have a nice spot in Valhalla over looking us. May the spirits and the gods be with you, rest in peace, Anthoine." Max says about Anthoine.

The ceremony for Anthoine begins, Max grabs on arrow. He dips it in the flaming torch for a moment before putting it to his bow. A group of men push the boat onto the water. Charles had been offered to shoot an arrow himself but declined since he is incapable of using a bow and arrow. Once it's far enough, Max pulls back the string.

His fingers let of of the string, the flaming arrow shoots through the air before hitting the boat in the middle. Pierre and Esteban are after that before Max's family follow with Daniel, Carlos and Alex after that.

They watch for a while how the boat goes up in flames. The sparkles drizzle up in the air, getting carried off by the wind up to the stars. Charles looks up at the stars and speaks a couple of words in Monaque. Letting the lost boy know that he will never forgotten. Only terribly missed.

Max turns back to the crowd for the second ceremony. He looks tired and empty to Charles. All that the Monaque boy can see is sleeplessness and emptiness in the boy's face. Like he is too tired to feel anything and yet it hurts to much to do at the same time too.

"Dear Dakota, I'm sorry I couldn't protect you when you needed me to. I hope you make it safely to Valhalla and that you will be happy there with Fenrir. I wish you weren't take this early from us but life does what it wants and we got no say in when we go. I feel lucky that I had the pleasure of being your companion and that you wrre mine. You will be dearly missed." Max says softly.

He grabs his last arrow, dipping it again in the flaming torch. Charles can see his chest heaving for a moment before releasing a big breath. He puts it to the string and pulls it back. Max says something in Hollandian before releasing the arrow.

It flies through the air, it hits the boat which the group of men had pushed onto the water while Max gave his last goodbye. It starts burning immediately before the rest goes to shoot their arrows too. Just like Anthoine's boat, this one burns away quickly too, the sparkles flying up in the direction pf the stars and Valhalla.

Charles steps next to Max before taking his hand in his. He feels Max squeeze it before looking down at the shorter boy. Charles tries to understand what goes through Max's mind as his eyes hold no emotions yet all of it at once too.

"It's okay to cry." Charles tells Max before the Hollandian viking nods and looks back at the stars.

For a while everyone stands there, mourning the loses of the attack in Haarlem. Before they all head down to the feasting hall to drink and feast on the lives of Anthoine and Dakota. Everyone leave but Max and Charles. Charles would like to join the others in celebrating the amazing person that Anthoine was and the sweet wolf. But Max doesn't seem to want to leave.

"I failed as a chief." Max says to Charles when everyone is gone. "I'm suppose to protect my people and yet I was too late in doing so. I had this impenetrable country and yet they made it in my domain. How could I let this happen to my people? How?! I will kill them for doing this, they won't get away, even if I have to burn down that entire country to make them understand not to mess with a viking and their loved ones." Max says before turning around and walking away.

Charles quickly follows Max up the streets and through the houses before going up the trail to his house. Charles tries to stop max from doing something crazy or maybe hurting himself. But it's useless, the man goes up to his house. He angrily opens the door and sits on the floor by the fire pit that they had left on.

"You're angry, Max. Let it rest, they will only come back if you get revenge. Revenge causes more revenge into an endless loop." Charles tells Max. But the Hollandian doesn't seem to be listening.

"No, I dealt with these people before. They will never stop until you have the upper hand. I have been to cocky to not see that my country was getting vulnerable. I need to change that, I had hoped that we wouldn't have to come back to the old ways." Max says before standing back up and leaning on the table.

Charles knows the old ways of these vikings, raiding and killing every ship they come across. He gulps and looks frightened at Max. The viking doesn't seem to notice the look on Charles his face. But the viking doesn't seem to care about anything at this point.

"The old ways? That's gonna cause friction with the other kingdoms." Charles says as he looks at the angry eyes of Max.

"Who says I'm applying them to all kingdoms, Reykvik wants war then war they shall get. I need to get this war planned out and thought through. We'll get back to that in the morning." Max says as he moves back to the fire pit and takes out a couple of furs.

"But I don't understand, Max. Why do you show no emotions with anyone? What has happened for you to be this way?" Charles suddenly asks Max annoyed.

The viking had not shown any type of emotions for days and now of all moments he gets angry? How does that work? How is that fair to Charles? It feels injustice to him, like Max is all of the sudden pointing and releasing that anger on him. What could Max have gone through to make him this way?

"You don't know, do you?" Max asks, stopping with setting up his bed.

"Know what?" Charles asks, looking confused at Max. He doesn't understand what is going on.

"You don't have a single clue what those Reykvikains are like. What they do to people and how bad they are. You don't know what they had done to me, so you?" Max says before turning back to the furs.

Charles doesn't know what Max is talking about, is there something he should know? Did someone tell him something that he didn't listen to? Or was he suppose to learn something that no one has taught him? A story that he hadn't been told as a child? He has no idea.

"I don't, I think." Charles says looking at the ground.

"When I was ten, those Reykvikians had taken me from the boat ride I was taking with my mother and grandfather. When they attacked, they killed my grandfather before they took me and let my mom live, only to send a message to my father. I was taken to their capital, I saw what they did to woman and men. The abuse and torture, bot only did I see it, I endured it. I was beaten, kicked, whipped, cut, raped to the point that I couldn't do anything against it. If it wasn't for the fact that I got furious that I escaped that hell hole at fifteen and walked my way back home through mountains, blizzards, packs of wolves and bears. I know what they're alike, I know what pain means Charles. I learned to shut it out and devoid myself of emotions because crying was useless! There was no point in crying because no one would come to safe me but me!" Max says before angrily walking out of the door.

Charles hears the door slam closed, all those paintings in the caves made sense now. The torture and the abuse, what Max meant when he asked if he had sex. Max had been through so much and all Charles ever did was ask why he never cared or didn't show emotions. But he does now and feels so guilty for asking.