One week had passed since Floor 10.

James spent most of that time at home while recovering from injuries that were physical at first but became mental afterward. He had not entered another floor since returning because his head was not in the right place for it. His body had healed enough to move normally again, but emotionally he was still carrying Floor 10 with him everywhere he went.

The hatchling girl had been staying with James and his mother during that week. His mother had slowly started taking care of her like family while feeding her, watching her, and trying to understand her small habits. The girl still spoke very little and stayed close to James when he was around, but she had started trusting his mother too.

James received the funeral details from Finn through a text message that morning.

The message was short because there was nothing else to say. Elliot’s funeral was being held that morning at a church in Dublin. James dressed in dark clothes while his mother watched him from the doorway.

She did not ask too many questions because she saw his mood and understood where he was going. "Come back safely."

James nodded before leaving the girl at home with his mother because the child did not fully understand death or funerals yet and he did not want to bring her into that grief.

-----

The funeral took place in a modest church that was not grand but was crowded enough to show Elliot mattered to people.

His parents sat in the front row while relatives filled the seats around them. Schoolmates stood near the back. Old friends gathered in small groups. TRB representatives stood in the background wearing formal suits while observing quietly.

Team Zero attended together, but the group felt broken when James saw them waiting outside before the service. Finn, Aria, and Kael were physically near each other, but emotionally separated by guilt and grief.

They entered the church together and sat near the middle because sitting too close to the front felt wrong.

The service began with a speaker talking about Elliot while standing near the coffin at the front of the church. The words sounded clean and heroic when the speaker said Elliot died helping his team clear Floor 10 and that his sacrifice contributed to saving the world from a disaster-class threat.

People throughout the church nodded while some wiped their eyes because the words made Elliot’s death sound meaningful and necessary.

James listened to those words while remembering what really happened.

Elliot had not gotten a heroic final speech or a dramatic last stand. The reality was uglier and faster than the speaker described.

That was the truth, but the speaker at the front made it sound cleaner than it was because funerals required that kind of language to make death bearable for the people left behind who needed to believe their loved one died for something important.

James watched Elliot’s mother sitting in the front row while barely able to stand properly even while sitting down. Her face was pale like she had not eaten in days. Her hands shook when she tried to hold them still. Someone beside her kept a hand on her shoulder to keep her from collapsing.

Elliot’s father sat next to her while looking hollow as if he had not slept since the TRB call a week ago. His eyes stared forward at the coffin, but they did not seem to see anything because his mind was somewhere else entirely.

Finn sat beside James with his jaw tight and his hands gripped together in his lap hard enough that his knuckles turned white. He could not look at Elliot’s parents for long before his eyes moved away because he felt responsible for pushing the team into Floor 10 when they might not have been ready for Hell-difficulty.

James could see the guilt on Finn’s face even though Finn kept his expression controlled from the outside while trying to look steady for everyone watching.

The service continued with more words about bravery and sacrifice while James kept thinking about Elliot saving the others because that was the image that mattered most to him.

Aria sat on the other side of the row while crying quietly into her hands when the speaker talked about how young Elliot was and how much life he had ahead of him before the Tower took it away. She was not loud or dramatic about it, but James noticed she could not hold herself together anymore when those words were said.

The coffin sat at the front of the church while closed because Elliot’s body had been damaged too badly during the fight for an open casket service.

James did not know what to say to Aria or Finn or anyone else, so he said nothing while the service continued and people throughout the church cried or prayed or sat in silence.

-----

After the burial, people gathered outside the church in small groups while talking quietly.

Some classmates talked about Elliot and about how young he was before mentioning how dangerous the Tower really was. Some looked at Team Zero with awe because they had cleared Floor 10 and become famous, but others looked at them with discomfort because one of them died doing it.

The atmosphere felt awkward when a few people started to approach Team Zero as if they wanted to congratulate them on the clear before stopping themselves when they remembered where they were.

Finn shut down anyone who tried to mention the Floor 10 achievement by walking away or ignoring them completely because this was not the place for fame.

Elliot’s parents stood near the church entrance while accepting condolences from relatives and friends. James watched them from a distance before Finn started walking toward them.

James followed because he did not want Finn to face them alone.

Elliot’s father noticed them approaching and his expression changed slightly when he recognized Finn from news coverage about Team Zero clearing Floor 10.

Finn stopped a few steps away while his voice came out quiet. "I’m sorry for your loss."

Elliot’s father stared at him for a long moment before nodding without saying anything.

The silence felt heavy enough that Finn felt the blame anyway even though no one said it out loud.

James spoke before the silence became unbearable. "Elliot saved us. The snake was about to crush two of our teammates, and Elliot acted when no one else could. Because of him, they survived."

It was not a heroic exaggeration because that was what happened. Elliot acted when the snake’s coils were about to kill Finn and Aria, and because of that choice, the others made it out alive.

Elliot’s mother looked at James with red eyes. "Thank you for telling us that."

Her voice was so quiet James barely heard it.

Finn tried to say something else, but the words would not come out properly because grief did not give clean forgiveness on command and apologies felt meaningless when someone’s son was dead.

Elliot’s father looked at Finn again. "He wanted to climb the Tower. We couldn’t stop him."

That was all he said before turning away to accept condolences from another group of relatives.

Finn and James walked away from the conversation while Finn looked worse than before because hearing that Elliot chose this path himself did not make the guilt disappear.

-----

After the funeral crowd started thinning, Aria approached James, Finn, and Kael near the church parking area.

Her face was still red from crying, but her voice was steady when she spoke. "I need to tell you something."

Finn looked at her while waiting.

"I’m done climbing the Tower."