The Rise

Ceremony

The people of the Valley prepared themselves the best they could, once they heard of Bia's passing. It was tough for everyone even though they were periodically imformed of what was happening outside. Still the news of their leader's death hit them all very hard. "Is everything prepared? They should be arriving soon." Ela asked Dana as she watched the girl wipe down her instrument. "Yes, everything is ready." Dana replied before looking to the left. "They are here." Ela nodded and left the platform. According to their tradition, death ceremonies are greeted with music and dance. There are people who 'guard' the body by doing a sword dance that clears the way for them, all the way to their resting place. Music accompanies the person to their resting place as well. Normally, it's drums but for Bia, Dana is playing for her personally.

Dana took a deep breath in before she moved her fingers along the strings. The sound echoed through the forest, letting every living creature know that it had begun. It took an hour before the group could be seen at the valley entrance. Reina led the group of guards. All of them were barefeet, their clothes were minimal and they had no accessories on their body. Rekka followed behind her in his original form, pulling an open cart behind him. In the air above the cart, Opia and Opal were flying as escorts. Those in the Valley stood to the sides and knelt as Bia's body passed them. Walking directly behind the open cart was Erebus, the children and Elder Ronin.

A little further back were Elder Haclin and the others. Once Bia's body passed by, those in the valley, Rekka stopped moving. The ropes on his body dropped and he returned to his human form. Opal and Opal did the same as well. One by one, everyone held onto the large floral bed and lifted it. In this last part of the tradition, all of the person's loved ones would lift the bed and carry it to their resting place. In this case, those in the Valley besides the pregnant women and fairly young children, all lifted Bia's bed. The tradition for funerals was so elaborate mainly because they were not much deaths in the valley. On the very rare occasion that someone died, this was a way to honor them. It took a while before they reached the other side of the mountain where Bia's house was.

Once they put the bed down, they stepped back and the music stopped. Silence filled the air as everyone dropped to their knees once again. "Thank you for your blessings, my Queen." Ela spoke. "Thank you for your guidance, protection, love, warmth..." She trailed off as tears dropped from her eyes into the dirt. Hands touched her back. Ela sighed, "Thank you for your smile and laughter. Thank you for your kind words and consideration." Ela bowed her head. "Be at peace, my Queen." Everyone bowed their head until their foreheads touched the dirt. The ground suddenly started to shake, making everyone look around in confusion. Erebus took a few steps forward but was stopped by Rekka. Vines suddenly started to emerge from the ground and wrap around Bia's bed.

"Truly like mother like daughter." Elder Ronin said as he bowed his head. "She's invoked nature's blessing." Elder Haclin knew what Elder Ronin meant but the other's didn't. He didn't bother to explain it either. He didn't want to get his hopes up along with theirs as well. The vines created layers upon layers and eventually, no one could see Bia's body any longer. "Master." Ela approached Erebus and bowed her head. In her hand, she held letters. "Mistress sent these to me, she wanted me to give them to you when the ceremony was over. This one is for you and the reminder are for the children." Erebus received the letters and Ela bowed before she turned. "Ah, before I forget. Bia wanted her funeral to be overflowing with wine and meat as she enjoyed it, so we encourage you to join us." She smiled and walked away.

Erebus looked down at the letters and turned to face them. "Your Mother left a letter for each of you." He handed them to Niro who gave out the letters. Erebus didn't want to open his, so he waited for the children to open theirs. Surprisingly, Niro was the first to start crying when he opened his letter. Erebus walked away once he saw this, not sure what to say to comfort them. He walked towards Bia's house and entered it. He looked around the house, her things were put in a neat way now but he knew that if she was doing something, it would be a bit messy. Erebus sat on the bed and ran his hand over the pillow with a small smile. He could imagine her laying there, taking a nap. Erebus looked at the letter in his hand and sighed.

'I know it took you a while to open this letter. If I'm correct, you are in my cottage in the valley, right? I'm writing this a few days after giving birth to our children. Beautiful twins. I've named the boy Diablo, he's the oldest and I've named our daughter Aceso. Truthfully, I wrote another letter for you before giving birth to them because I was sure I was going to die, but I burnt it and wrote this one instead. The real reason why I came to the little realm is because the energy here could help me stabilize the curse so that the children wouldn't get any of it.... We never spent much time together as mates and it's mostly my fault. I will not be with you for very long, but things that I want to say to you can be summed up in a few short sentences. I'm sorry. I love you very much. Take care of the children.'