The Funeral

Captain, dressed impecably in his navy blues, along with Commander (also dressed impecably, and with a bugle) are waiting at the grave sites. There are three open graves, with plain wooden coffins on belts over each one. Subtle mind suggestions about getting back to work had cleared the local area of all other sleepers.

(Leftenant and Ensign HATE funerals.)

"Zilker is probably going to want me defeaned for the Ceremony." Commander says, a sigh escaping from his lips. "And I can't stop him. I'm sorry. I'll delay it as long as possible." Then Captain sheds his first tear of the ceremony. "I'm going to get you there. I haven't forgotten. I will find a way." The two men hug, Commander patting Captain on the back, as the guests start to arrive.


Supernal Vision

Captain composes himself, and waits to see who arrives.

Theo biked into the graveyard in his funeral dress. Simple black dress shoes (which were uncomfortable), thin black socks, black slacks with the right leg rolled up so it wouldn't catch on the bike chain, the black shirt he wore was long sleeved with the sleeves rolled up for the weather, and a monochomatic black tie held in place by a silver clip with a trumpeting angel on it.
He "parked" the bike, leaving his helmet on the handel and unrolling his pants. He's suprised he's the first to arrive after Captain and Commander. He didn't see Leftenant and Ensign. Walking across the green grass (graveyards always kept their lawns well he thought), he goes to offer sympathy to Captain.

Captain smiled when Theo arrived, a bright, day warming smile.

"Theo, good to see you." He extends his hand to shake it. "thanks for coming."

Theo returns the shake with two hands, being supportive. He also holds his hand out to Commander.
"It was no problem. How are you two doing?"

Commander shakes as well. "Good seeing you theo." He says.
"We are doing OK. Things have been rather rough. What about you?"

"Not too bad." It wasn't exactly true. The day mapping ley lines had been exhausting and worrying but this didn't seem the time to bring up his problems.
He stood a little awkwardly for a couple seconds not knowing what else to say. "Will Ensign and Leftenant be here?"

Commander shakes his head. "Ensign doesn't go to funerals. Leftenant doesn't like leaving Ensign alone. They went to see the new star trek movie."

Falx shows up dressed in the darkest things he owned. A decent black t-shirt and some black jeans pants. He doesn't approach to close but is close enough for it to be seen that his head is down in mourning for his fellow awakened.

Ollie arrives at the cemetery wearing black button-down shirt, pants, and sunglasses, his usually messy hair is gelled and styled. He takes a place where he can see everything and stands facing the three coffins. He's not sure how many people will come, he didn't really know any of Ghoster's or Logos' other friends, or much anything else about them really. Guy hadn't even gotten the chance to figure out who he was.

Part of him didn't want to be here at all. It urged him to get the fuck out of here and go do something less depressing. Ollie shut that impulse out of his mind. It was his responsibility to be here. He had gotten them all into this, more or less, after all.

Captain walks over to the newcomers.

"Captain, Free Council." He offers his hand out.

An older man, wearing a tie-dye Grateful Dead concert T-Shirt, black shorts and sandals, walks slowly toward the funeral. A solid white button is prominent above his heart.

As he approaches, his steps take on a deliberate pace, and his bleary eyes are laser-focused on Ollie.

"You are Ollie. I saw you at the park." His breath smells faintly of vodka. "I mean, when I postcogged it. My name is Finn. Ghoster is...was...my apprentice. I saw what happened. I saw you try to save him." Suddenly, he's hugging Ollie...but he's only closing the gap so he can whisper his condemnation.

"But you are a fool, as well as a coward. You could have saved him, if you had been smarter. The other young one is on your head as well. It is only by Fate's hand that Valkyrie survived. I would strike you, but I can sense how much you need the catharsis, and I won't give it to you. Now prove what a coward you truly are, and run away. He lets go of Ollie and looks challengingly at him- he has no true malice, but if the boy were to stay for this, he needs to show he has learned some backbone from the ordeal.

Falx shakes Captain's hand. "Falx, Arrow. I heard that a fellow arrow died, I came to pay my respects to a fallen brother. As well as to the others."

Tug walks up beside his brother and shakes Captain's hand also. "Hi, Captain. My name is Tug, I'm also with the Arrows. If there's anything we can do..."

Valkyrie arrives in the taxi, alone and wearing a simple black suit. She comes from a different direction than the rest of the visitors, stopping by the caskets and just looking at them in silence.

She had thought her life had changed when she Awakened. Now she knew that wasn't as true as she had thought. The night in the park is when things really started changing.

She rested a hand on one of the caskets. "So. Here we are."

Animus enters the cemetery, dressed in a dark polo shirt and black jeans. He didn't know Ghoster and had heard little about the happenings in the park, but he would pay his respects to the dead.

Orphan had to go out and purchase appropriate clothing and suit for the funeral. He didn't know Ghoster or the other deceased. In fact, he wasn't entirely certain he'd heard the names of the others who had lost their lives that night. He knew Val, though, and was there to show support for her and sympathy for her loss, as well as to honor fallen mages.

Seeing Valkyrie at the coffins, he leaves her to her thoughts and goes over where he sees Tug and Falx talking to a man in a military uniform. He approaches the three and extends his hand to the fellow in uniform, who he had heard referred to as the Captain. He'd have thought a military man more likely to be an Arrow, a Ladder or perhaps a Guardian than a Libertine, but that was the rumor. He extends his hand. "I'm sorry for your loss, Sir. I'm Orphan."

He turns to Falx. "Did I hear you say one of the deceased was an Arrow?" This was the first Orphan had heard of this. He realized that Val might not even have known, and from what he could tell, the other two were less well-known than Ghoster. Val had said one of them was another of Ollie's students. It was hard for him to not turn and glare in Ollie's direction, but he'd told Val he would back off of the guy.

Falx shrugs. His voice sad. "I think so ya."

"Thank you Tug. I appreciate that." Captain shakes Orphan's hand. "Captain, Libertine. Thank you for coming. I think he would be pleased by how many came to see him off."

Theo positioned himself so he was standing over closer to the caskets.
Death wasn't an easy concept for him to wrap around. From his time as Asleep, Theo had been taught many things. Some mages would say it was indoctrination, in a way he supposed it was. In any case he had kept many of them since Awakening. He suspected many willworkers did the same for their life experinces, even if they weren't inclined to admit it.
Some of his beliefs had been affirmed through his experince in reaching a Watchtower. He understood the vibrancy of Life, the creative urges of the Prime material, the universal flow of Forces.
Other aspects came into conflict with how the world should work. So much so he wasn't always sure they could ever be reconciled. It was no wonder he ahd awoken to the Realm where the Arcanum that represented the aspects of decay and destruction was so far removed from his Tower's purview.
Theo stood looking at the caskets of polished wood and metal, thinking on death and eternal life.

Ollie's gaze hardens upon the man in front of him. "Peeking back in time reveals some but not all. I should know. When my male companion fell I came under the influence of a curse set upon me by a master of Fate. My intentions to heal Ghoster were shattered then and there. If I hadn't run I would have likely been killed as well."

"I told Ghoster not to go into the park without me. I told him I'd call him. I didn't know him as well as you did but I don't think Ghoster would have wanted more people dead trying to save him from his own mistakes. I say that with respect to a courageous and determined man whom I considered my friend. My condolences, man. Excuse me."

Ollie pushes past the man, to pace for a little while before the service starts.

Finn said nothing more to Ollie, but smiled slightly as he walked past. Good. That's the way, boy. He briefly considers whether the end of his apprentice's Destiny could have pulled the surviving mages into Fate's web.

Finn isn't ready to look at the body yet, and looks around at how many people have showed up. He spies Valkyrie, but resists the urge to speak to her yet. He really needs to speak with Captain, who has made these arrangements, first. He walks up and nods to him.

"Captain? I'm Finn. We spoke on the phone. Thank you for taking care of all of this. The Badges are more than willing to handle the expenses." He offers Captain a handshake.

Captain clasps the hand in a firm grip. "That's quite alright, the free Council regretably budgets for this sort of thing. There was one matter of protocol I wished to discuss with you though." He takes finn aside.
"As I understand it, Ghoster was in the millitary, for at least a brief time. Commander is a decent enough buggler, but as you are the closest thing to next of kin, its your call whether he plays or not."

Orphan is stunned by this news. The fact that an Arrow had died didn't make things worse than the simple fact that mages were dead, but it did bring things a bit more close to home for Orphan. "I didn't know that. I don't think I even know the names of the others who fell besides Ghoster." He looks at Falx, Tug and the Captain. "Do you know the others' names, and which one was of the Arrow?"

Captain nods "its in my office, I'll make sure it gets to you after the service." He then heads over to Commander and whispers in his ear. Commander nods, then whispers back. Captain nods.

Captain goes over to Animus.
"Thank you for coming." He say.s

Animus nods to Captain. "I didn't know any of them, but the fallen deserve their respect. If there is anything I can do to help, let me know."

Valkyrie was not crying, and if was not totally inappropriate she would have kicked anybody that had suggested otherwise. "I apologize. Things have been busy." Truthfully, there had been more than a little avoidance in her decision not to call Finn.

Funny that, a necromancer trying to avoid the death issue. Funny in a not-funny-at-all kind of way at least. "I didn't really know him, but I know that I would have appreciated it if someone that I shared the Master-Apprentice relationship with had shown up to my funeral."

Theo returned Joshua's acknowledgement but didn't go over just yet, since he and Animus were going over to talk to Captain.
He stayed where he was by the gravesides. Finn's touch was moving. This man obviously knew Ghoster fairly well for such an intimate act. Theo remembered touching his grandmother's hand during her viewing. Back then it had been cool, papery, and somehow comforting, though he couldn't explain why.

"Thanks Animus." Captain pats the man on the back. "Good to see you Theo."

He then clears his throat, and heads over to Ghoster's grave. His coughs into his hand, and begins speaking loudly. It doesn't take more than a few words before everyone is listening to him.

"Three of our own are in the ground today. A few of us know them well, far more don't know them at all. But we all know what they stood for. They stood up
against Evil. They gave their lives against it. They fought for Freedom. They fought for all of our Orders, pitting their strength against one who would destroy us. We now know that there
is a foe that we all must fight, one who has taken our most precious
posession from us. It is not our knowledge. It is not our homes. It is our friends, our companions, our brothers. And we will make that foe pay dearly for our loss." Every time he uses the plural he gestures to the audeince, the fire and passion in his voice, temporarily at least, uniting them all.

He gives a few seconds to let that sink in. "I would like to introduce now Finn, Ghoster's mentor, to say a few words."

After Finn speaks, Valkyrie stands and addresses he assembled.

Her voice is solemn, but it carries. "I did not know Ghoster, Guy or Logos. I.. had only met them the once, on the same day they were killed. I don't, and can't have anything more to say about them than has already been said, except..."

Valkyrie exhales before continuing. "At the end, Ghoster tried to get me to save myself by leaving him. He put the safety of others at a higher priority over his own. I believe that that needed to be known by every one here." She watches Ollie as she says this. "Every one of us needs to understand that he wanted us to survive, even if it cost him his life." She hoped that he understood what she was trying to say.

"I don't see how I can just turn around and not do the same thing now." Then Valkyrie moved to sit back down.

Ollie stands after Valkyrie and moves to stand before the coffins to say something.

He's silent for a moment, looking down at the coffins, then begins. "These men were three of the bravest guys I'll ever meet."

"As soon as Ghoster heard about my investigations in the park he took it upon himself to help. Nothing was in it for him. It didn't involve him in any way. He simply heard that innocent lives were threatened and he dedicated himself to do something about it."

He places a hand on Ghoster's coffin, saying something barely audible. "Sorry I got you into that shit, bro..."

He moves over to Logos' coffin "As many of you know I don't pledge allegiance to any of the Orders. Maybe I don't know many Arrows, or much about them. I can only imagine that Logos should be honored for selflessly giving his life for people he'd only just met. I dunno though. I know I'll never forget him."

Finally he walks over and touches Guy's coffin. "Guy Park. Named after what he was and the place that we found him, and the place he would sacrifice himself trying to save someone he'd never met and people he'd only known for a few hours."

He looks down at Guy's coffin as he speaks. "He didn't even know who he was. He didn't remember anything about himself. I know who he was, though. He was selfless and courageous. He was a hero. He died to save another life, despite ever having any memory of having a life of his own. He was a greater man than me."

He turns and faces those in attendance. His eyes shielded behind his sunglasses. "They all were. Each one of them. Greater men. I know this because in my moment of truth I faltered. I can only hope to learn from these men, and continue on my path to see it through that they didn't die in vain. They'll be avenged, even if it kills me."

He returns to his seat.

Tears are openly running down Captain's cheeks. He is making no effort to hide them. He isn't sobbing though. He will listen and watch.

Orphan watches and listens as Finn, Val and Ollie speak.

As he listens to Finn and to Valkyrie, and sees their reactions to Ollie, he wonders "If they can forgive him, why am I having a hard time of it, when I wasn't even there?"

Then he heard Ollie's words. He heard in Ollie's voice and could see in his body language, despite the sunglasses, that he was contrite about what happened. Orphan didn't think that made it okay, but it was a good start.

And then Ollie ended his statement with a pledge. Orphan found the words impressive, but wondered if Ollie had what it would take to put them into action, and to commit to doing so.


"Everyone deserves a chance at redemption, but I wonder if he's willing to put more into his promise than words."

Orphan decided to talk with Ollie later and see about that.

Captain gets back up. "Does anyone else have anything they want to say?"

During the service a black Lexus pulls up to the cemetery. A skinny, spectacle-wearing young man in a suit gets out of the drivers seat and walks around to the trunk, pulling out an opulent wreath of flowers. Meanwhile Eclipse climbs out of the back seat dressed in a black suit and tie. He's accompanied by a stunning young black haired woman.

They discreetly arrive to the service. The young man with the glasses walks up between speakers and places the wreath among any other flowers left. During the eulogies they stand quietly to the side, heads bowed during the service.

Mirage accompanies Eclipse, dressed in a short black dress. She has her perfectly straight black hair down, it just barely touches her shoulders. In her arms she carries one white flower for each of the caskets. She goes to each of them laying down a flower then returns to Eclipse's side and quietly listens to the service.

Captain just looked at Zero. The same way one looks at a deranged animal stuck behind a fence. Its a mix of confusion, a touch of fear, and a great deal of pity.
"Does he not understand? Or is he covering up his own emotions?" Captain thinks to himself, before allowing his face to return to the stoic look of before.

Falx looks over at Zero when he hears the word "fuck" at a funeral. His eyes narrow as he watches the man leave. ~Isn't that the guy who did horribly vulgar shit at the dance club?~ he wonders to himself.

Ollie glances over noticing the ridiculously dressed Zero leave, apparently flustered for some reason. He can't imagine what the fuck his issue is. Whatever. LSD is a hell of a drug.