Flare

n i n e

A/N: My computer hasn't been letting me access the document that I write Flare on, so I had to write and upload this from my phone, meaning the formatting may be a little weird! Thank you so much for all your support, remember to keep voting and commenting!

"Thank you so much for letting me stay, but I'd best be going now," Flare thanked Eon. The morning was cool and calm, just like the previous morning, with the quiet titter of birds and the slight rustle of leaves. Jinx, Eon, and Flare stood in the small upstairs as they bid their farewells, letting the early morning light shine through the window.
"It's no problem. Are you sure you have to leave so soon? We never got a chance to hear why you were in the area," Eon held Jinx at her side, who rested her head on Eon's shoulder sleepily.
"Yeah, I should really be going. I don't want to interrupt Early's funeral today," Flare responded. Early's funeral was to be held that day - a small, quiet celebration. She was to be cremated, and her ashes were to be scattered among her favorite bed of flowers in the woods a mile away from the village. As much as Flare would've liked to pay her respects to the kind woman whom she had only known for such a short time, she didn't want to intrude on the small service, and the wind was calling her name, telling her she had to find Eternos.
Way back in the aeromancer community when Emperor Zephyr had told Flare about where she could find the necromancers, the person that Emperor Zephyr had told Flare she needed to find was a powerful and dangerous chronomancer called Eternos. So that was what she was setting out to do. Last night, after Jinx had fallen asleep, Flare had crept out of bed and spent hours exploring the books in the basement until she found one that held a map of all the chronomancer territories, with the main one circled in ink. She had ripped the page out and stuffed it in her backpack for future use. If the key really did unlock something in the palace, Eternos would be there. Although the chronomancer was fabled to be very dangerous, as Flare had gotten a taste of on her way to the village, in addition to the fact that she was very nervous, she knew she had to contact him in order to find the necromancers that could help her.
"I'm sure Early would have loved to have you there," Eon offered one last time. Flare was about to politely refuse when she hesitated, realizing how much she truly wanted to stay. She would be able to find Eternos anytime, but this was the only chance she had to attend Early's funeral.
"Okay, I'll stay," Flare finally said.
"I have some nicer clothes you can borrow. Would you prefer a suit or a dress?"
"Preferably a dress, but either's fine," Flare followed Eon to her bedroom in the basement which contained a large closet holding quite a few different options of clothing.
"Pick out something you like. You can keep it, too, I don't wear much of these anymore." As soon as Eon left, Flare ran her hands across the fabrics, letting herself feel every individual texture of the clothes. After sifting through neatly organized piles, she opted for a soft charcoal dress and flats. As she peeled off her old boots, she realized how much wear and tear her shoes had been through, which one could easily tell from the scuffed soles and the fact that her socked feet were just starting to reveal themselves at the toe.
"Eon did say that she didn't wear much of the clothes anymore," Flare mumbled as she selected a new pair of boots and stuffed them in her backpack. Since the opportunity had arisen, she also grabbed two shirts, a pair of shorts, and jeans. It had been forever since Flare had last worn a dress. She stood in front of a mirror and twirled around, having forgotten how nice it felt to let the loose skirt catch on the air and brush against her legs.
"Are you ready?" Flare heard Eon call from upstairs. Hurriedly, she snatched her backpack and ran up to see Eon and Jinx waiting by the door, with Abby laying in a patch of warm sun on the table.
"Yeah," Flare rested her backpack on a chair and rubbed Abby's head before leaving.
A group had gathered in the center of the clearing encircled by the houses. Probably most people in the town were there, sitting on logs that served as benches. Warm morning light washed over the field, illuminating the tree trunk with an urn placed on it that stood in front of the crowd. Flare released a breath she didn't know she was holding in and sat in the back row next to a girl with long hair that the wind pulled about. Eon waited next to the tree trunk with the urn placed on it. Jinx was at her side, clinging to her long black dress and staring at the intimidatingly large crowd with wide eyes. a blond teenaged girl, at least a few years younger than her. The
Chronomancer funerals were laced with meaningful speeches connecting the deceased's life to the fabric of life. Everyone who stood at the urn, Flare noted, spoke of time and how long it has been around, beautifully weaving it into the beautiful quickness of our own small lives. It was one of the first times Flare felt truly comfortable with her small place in the vast universe. Death no longer seemed like something sad, it seemed like a natural event in the order of things. In the beautiful, fleeting cycle of the universe. At the end of the speeches, the procession took a somber walk down a wooded trail with the comforting presence of the tall and protective trees to console them, with their end destination being a bed of flowers. She expected a normal cluster of flowers, but when they arrived, she was stricken with an emotion she couldn't quite describe. Petals of all colors stretched upwards like they were reaching for something just out of their grasp, swaying in the wind. Sunlight shone down through the leaves of the trees, reflecting off each flower. A sublime simplicity, was what Flare finally settled on calling the scene.
Early's ashes were scattered atop the flowers, and the breeze carried her physical remnants away into the earth where she would become a part of the cycle once again.