Later On, When This Fire Is An Ember [Open]

[legallygreen]

Characters: Anyone and Everyone
Time: 11:00 am
Location: 12th Street Beach on Northerly Park Island
Content: A funeral for a lost soul.
Format: Poster's choice
Warnings: Fire and sadness?

Comments

[theblackstaff]

He hadn't known the poor soul they'd found in Millennium Park, but Ebenezar knew that dark powers had used him, had ripped the life from him and burned that life in some profane way. And that was enough reason for the old wizard to attend.

His staff thumped with dull, solid sounds as he approached the site with its flickering torchlight and pyre. He didn't approach, not yet, but simply stood along the periphery, watching, and saying his own prayers, his own respects.

[hiptobe_eraqus]

Eraqus also didn't know the man who had died, but hearing of death in this place, especially one at the hands of darkness, struck him in an odd way. Perhaps it was just because it served as yet another reminder of a seemingly unavoidable future. But for once he arrived at this gathering of his own accord, and not with the expectation of meeting his apprentices here.

He approached the funeral pyre but didn't proceed all the way, stopping next to an old man leaning against a staff. For the time being, he didn't say anything, he just absorbed the scene and tried to sort out his thoughts.

[theblackstaff]

There was something about funerals, something that touched someone that had seen as much death as Ebenezar McCoy. They carried about them their own quiet, an uncomfortable reminder of one's morality, that yearned for companionship, a reminder that though death came to all, it had not come yet.

Which was why Ebenezar finally spoke, breaking the empty silence, as he nodded acknowledgment of the man who stopped beside him. "Damned shame. Damned terrible way to die for a young 'un."

[hiptobe_eraqus]

Eraqus himself was not used to funerals, although he was aware of them. You never really believed that a person was gone when they died; Kingdom Hearts had a way of taking deceased hearts in only to give them new life in a different place and time. Not to mention the fact that often in his line of work, there was no body left behind. But this...felt so final.

He turned as the other finally broke the silence. "Yes..." he agreed, his voice low and thoughtful. "It's a terribly sobering thought. Did you know him?"

[theblackstaff]

"No, but he was one of us." Ebenezar's hand tightened on the thick oak for a moment. He'd come to Chicago voluntarily, had come to keep those the fools brought here safe until the day,but even he hadn't expected the ritual.

"Seemed only right to see him off."

[hiptobe_eraqus]

That seemed appropriate enough. Whether an actual fighter or someone to be defended, they had all been pulled onto this world together. It wasn't fair for anyone to have to pay such a high price for circumstances beyond their control.

He wasn't sure how much he wanted to explain his feelings on his own mortality to this stranger, so he instead focused mostly on the pyre before them. "Indeed. Hopefully there are kinder worlds waiting for him ahead."

[theblackstaff]

He nodded, but said nothing in response to the other man's well wishes. Despite all his centuries, all the knowledge the White Council could bring to bear, what laid beyond Death was still a mystery. In his more sentimental moments, Ebenezar thought that a world in which literal Fallen angels resided must mean that Heaven existed. In his more morose moments, he reminded himself that Hell would surely also exist if angels did.

But then there were Fae and old god like Odin. So who knows what that did to the afterlife.

"Aye. Can't wish for much more than that," he said finally, then turned towards the man and gave him a polite nod of greeting. "McCoy. Shame it takes a thing like this to bring folks together."

[hiptobe_eraqus]

Eraqus himself was not sure what lay ahead, and believing in things such as heaven and hell wasn't popular among Keyblade Masters. Worrying too much about the worlds beyond could lead to the sort of thinking Xehanort had, of a focus on the possibilities beyond death to the detriment of those living now. What really mattered was the World they lived in now.

Although, he hoped for his own sake that whatever was after death was light and happiness.

Eraqus nodded back in reply. "Eraqus. Yes, although I must admit I have my own reasons for attending. I am not at all used to seeing funerals." How deep he wanted to go into those reasons, he didn't know.

[theblackstaff]

Ebenezar nodded in acceptance, though his surprise at the idea showed clearly on his face. Death and funerals were things far too often seen in his position, though he tried to remind himself that his was a special case.

"It ain't always like this," he said, gesturing to the pyre and the distraught Jennifer. "Folks ain't much for pyres anymore, not round these parts. But it's fittin'. Fire cleanses."

[hiptobe_eraqus]

Ebenezar seemed surprised at the idea, which seemed both strange and sad. Were funerals so common where he was from? What a sobering thought.

With fire being one of his magical affinities, he could agree with that. "Yes, it seems fitting." Of course, that led to another question. "If not pyres, then what is it usually like?" Perhaps this world had some similarities to what he was used to, although he doubted it.

[theblackstaff]

The old wizard looked thoughtful at the question. "We bury them mostly, nowadays," he said slowly. "Leave the body in the ground, let them go back to the soil, grow new life. Some folks spread their ashes to the winds. Others leave monuments to themselves. It depends on how they lived, mostly."

Ebenezar tried not to think about how his own life likely meant he would leave a monument of destruction with his death. Just because he'd made his peace with his office didn't mean he sometimes didn't feel regret.

[hiptobe_eraqus]

He nodded as he listened to the various methods of honoring the deceased that Ebenezar described. While he had heard of most of them on one occasion or another, he had never actually seen such things performed...or at least not at all in that way. Burial was a big part of Halloween Town, but that was because it was the world's culture, and was much more about fun or frights than mourning.

"I suppose a monument or marker could help keep memories of those departed...but it seems to bring with it an air of morbidity." He couldn't help thinking of the Keyblade Graveyard.

[theblackstaff]

That got a faint smile from Ebenezar. "'S why not all folks do it. But then folks fear death, and many of 'em don't like talkin' about it. Can't blame the lot, really." He paused and nodded towards Neal's pyre. "Like that. Doubt he ever said what he wanted, but now he's gone and the ones that's left have to decide what to do. And in grief it's easy to cling to what's left, build monuments and such."

He sounded tired, as he said it, experienced.

[hiptobe_eraqus]

"Yes, and perhaps it's better for it not to be something one dwells on." Although he should really have been taking his own advice.

Even though Eraqus could understand the idea of those left behind wanting to hold onto what they could of the departed, the idea of a monument or marker still seemed strange. You always had memories in your heart...weren't those better as a reminder of life rather than a reminder of death?

He turned to Ebenezar. "You sound as if you have encountered all this before with some frequency."

[theblackstaff]

Ebenezar nodded at Eraqus' statement. There was no point in denying it. He shifted his weight, leaning heavily on the oak staff. "It happens in war. See a lot of things that you never want to see again, that you wouldn't wish on some other fool. Death's one of the more benign."

[hiptobe_eraqus]

It was funny...he certainly also considered himself a warrior, and yet had a completely opposite experience with funerals. The sort of war he was used to was against the forces of darkness...against monsters and faceless creatures that were not a problem to destroy. And even then, their human victims never left anything behind.

"Often such battles have to be fought in some capacity, however. Better to leave it to those that are prepared."