All around Jacob were the familiar faces of his family, the Guild members who had treated him with such kindness and compassion even despite the short time he had been a part of their company. The once happy, smiling faces were stained with sorrow. Jacob had lost his pet horse when the poor creature broke it's leg and had to be put down, and he remembered crying for nearly a weak over her. This though, was a hundred times more painful than he could ever imagine. He couldn't even bring himself to shed tears, the idea of people he had once known and been close to no longer being with him was almost comical to him. Like they were just playing a practical joke and that they'd leap right out of those coffins saying 'Gotcha!' and the whole guild would drink and make merry together throughout the night. Victoria wasn't as ignorant. She perfectly understood the sacrifice her guild mates had made, and if she had been in there situation she would no doubt have done the same. She had been with the guild much longer than Jacob had, and yet she could feel that Jacob was taking this a lot harder than she could. She stood next to him, stoic and resolute. She couldn't cry, not when someone so young was no doubt looking to her to console him. Unfortunately, she had no words. When her closest friend, the Silent Monk, had passed, she had the same reaction. Not sadness, but fierce determination. As she had made a promise back then to him, she would do the same here. Except this time, she wasn't alone.

She gently removed the dark hood from Jacob's face, running her slender fingers through his wisps of ginger hair. The sensation brought a smile to his face, and he looked down at her beaming. His lip quivered, but he wasn't about to cry - not when Victoria was remaining so strong. Victoria's gown was exceptional, he'd never seen her wearing anything like it. The black fabric shimmered with every rain drop, and her sleeveless arms were wrapped in a beautiful, ebony lace pattern. The same lace pattern covered her face. Similar to how she had removed his hood, Jacob pulled the lace away to show her lovely, scarlet eyes. Jacob was wearing his usual black and violet robe. Victoria was sure that he would have worn a suit if he owned one, but she knew that he had been having money troubles lately and couldn't afford one. He had declined any and every offer Victoria made to purchase one for him.
"It hurts, doesn't it?" Victoria spoke softly, caressing his head in firm strokes. He pressed his head against her shoulder, letting the tears he'd been trying so hard to suppress roll down onto her beautiful skin. "There's a hole inside you. It keeps getting bigger and bigger. No matter what you do, nothing will fill it." Victoria could feel the warm trickles of Jacob's tear trace her skin, and his quiet sobbing soon turned into short screams of pain.
"How... How do you stand there so resolute? I knew you were close to Gray especially, how are you so strong?" Jacob spoke in between breathes, all attempts at composing himself failing. Victoria held his head close to her heart, his arms wrapping around her - seeking comfort.
"I'm not strong. If I were strong, they'd still be here." Jacob's sobs sobered, and he released Victoria from his grip and stood up straight. Wiping the tears away from his eyes, he firmly raised his hand as the others begun to.
"What do you do about the hole in your heart? Is there anything we can do?" Jacob's voice was quiet, and trembling. When Victoria didn't respond, he knew that she didn't have an answer for that. Firmly speaking over the others, he cried with a broken voice. "I place my vote for Lockheart!"

Victoria nodded in agreement, silently placing her vote for Lockheart along with Jacob. She looked upon the faces of everyone else. The hole in her heart was made even larger by the deaths of her allies. She didn't know of any way to fill it, but she promised there and then that she would make sure that the void would never grow larger in the hearts of her friends anymore.