The Pyre Gathering
It was customary for the people of the city to carry the dead outside of the city walls, with the exception of the royal family, and the priesthood, and burn them in makeshift pyres, leaving it to the well-being of the family to give certain rights to the deceased. Very rarely did anyone make proper ceremony of such an event, but on the 12th day of the 3rd month, a solemn ceremony, kept in secret was making it's way towards the outskirts beyond the city walls. Among the common mourners, a number of officials hid themselves in secret.
It was also true of the times, that men down on their luck would hang about beneath the parapets and wait for such funerals to take place and ransack the ceremony to steal the deceased's trinkets and dishonor their remains. In the dead of night, two such persons were waiting patiently for the secretive funeral to take place. It wasn't so uncommon, as word of their misdeeds had spread, for people to hold their mourning ceremonies in secret at night, so the renegades paid no special heed to the gathering at first...
Pargon: I see in the dark, a light! They thought to keep us uninformed, but it would seem that we've caught on well enough.
Jun: Stay a moment longer Pargon. There's something suspicious about this gathering.
Pargon: Your eyes have never failed to spot a discrepancy. I wish I could notice as much in the shadow of night.
Jun: Aye, I'll lend you a glass. But even so, I see two woman who are ceremoniously dressed. However, their insignia is beyond my eyesight.
Pargon: Do you recognize any face?
Jun: The wind blows against us friend. I wouldn't touch this ceremony for ten fold our charge.
Pargon: Ah, that is well enough I suppose. But my curiosity is budding.
Jun: We might sell this off to some other fools, and hear about it later.
Pargon: Fair is fair! Let's make a hasty withdrawal.
* * *
So Pargon and Jun, the lowlife renegades, have backed away from their prize, with the fear that something more was going on at this particular pyre burning. Just as well, the proceedings went on. While most of the women present were dressed in black, and sobbing quietly, two joyous faces stand among the crowd, dressed in white and blue robes; a sign of their order etched on their short capes: a solitary bird perched atop an anchor.
Tae: Poor Delores can't believe her son is dead.
Vae: Even so, life goes on, the air itself is laughing.
Tae: Only you could say such dubious things.
Vae: What could I ever do? Life goes on, and you are smiling too.
Tae: And to what end?
Vae: You wouldn't divine your own truth?
Tae: He's passed, but what I feel is rather strange.
Vae: Indeed, but let's keep our voices low. We give our respects quietly, to lessen the offense.
Delores: My son, my son...
Jared: What idiocy...I give my respect, but understand, gods, I am irritated!
Delores: How dare you! At your son's funeral...
Jared: How dare the spinner of fate! I did my part to give him life, if someone took it away without asking, by all rights, I am irritated.
Delores: Then give your respects earnestly, so they may give him back in fortune...
Ursula: He'd want you to say, never come back! He was miserable in common clothes.
Tae: Goodness Ursula, you speak so wisely. But it is so; what he wants is more important than what we want of him.
Fren: And he said that he was tired. May you sleep well brother.
Delores: Oh... I can barely stand it.
Tae: He uttered many other things.
Vae: Dare I say it? He never lived honestly. But more importantly...
Fren: What could you be speaking off back here among yourselves?
Vae: A vision of the future, this spirit yearns to return, and eagerly so.
Fren: My brother's soul?
Vae: Nay, good sir, the soul of an orphan girl. Was your brother intimate with anyone?
Fren: Not that I could say. He lived and died a virgin. By that, shouldn't he be taken to heaven?
Tae: So that strange feeling...
Vae: Indeed!
Fren: Am I not worthy of your coded speech?
Vae: No, it just might be a hard pill to swallow.
Fren: I care not.
Tae: Don't scald my tongue!
Vae: He was just an automaton.
Fren: A what? He was idle in his last days I admit, but what you say is irresponsible unless you knew him better.
Vae: It is the truth good sir. His name shouldn't be honored. But we've come to respect the nature of the girl's soul.
Jared: We're returning shortly Fren, the corpse is nearly ash.
Fren: Aye father, I'll come a bit shortly. So what of this?
Tae: My dear companion has no sense to soften the blow...
Vae: But your bother is just a mannequin, in our practice, one's spirit holds more worth.
Fren: I will still honor him.
Ursula: Only a priest can send someone to heaven.
Tae: Are you bitter, Ursula? You've got sour words, but a content smile.
Ursula: I too, have come to love this spirit girl.
Fren: Are all you witches sent to dishonor a noble funeral?
Vae: If it were noble, we'd be in court. But we've come to this ceremony to see what would become of her.
Tae: My good sir, he never took a girl for his own, or dabbled in the savage world of such young men. His idleness is what a fool priest would call a temperate possession.
Fren: In short, you make him out to be a woman?
Vae: Not in body, no! But in rare cases, a strong spirit overtakes a weak mind.
Ursula: The ashes are nearly blown away, and the girl has drifted off. I'm going home to rest.
Fren: You've given me much to think upon. What makes us what we are, in our souls? Am I too a woman in disguise?
Tae: Rest easy good sir! What our souls are, is what they were when originally wrought. You'll soon find the truth once you part.
Vae: And away we shall go, to see what strange course she will take. I want to find her least Ursula takes all the spoils.
Fren: Well now, if I know anything, I am glad. Like a cage that's opened for a entrapped bird. I take my leave, giving you my respect as well. Freedom is something we all strive to obtain.
Fren: A what? He was idle in his last days I admit, but what you say is irresponsible unless you knew him better.
Vae: It is the truth good sir. His name shouldn't be honored. But we've come to respect the nature of the girl's soul.
Jared: We're returning shortly Fren, the corpse is nearly ash.
Fren: Aye father, I'll come a bit shortly. So what of this?
Tae: My dear companion has no sense to soften the blow...
Vae: But your bother is just a mannequin, in our practice, one's spirit holds more worth.
Fren: I will still honor him.
Ursula: Only a priest can send someone to heaven.
Tae: Are you bitter, Ursula? You've got sour words, but a content smile.
Ursula: I too, have come to love this spirit girl.
Fren: Are all you witches sent to dishonor a noble funeral?
Vae: If it were noble, we'd be in court. But we've come to this ceremony to see what would become of her.
Tae: My good sir, he never took a girl for his own, or dabbled in the savage world of such young men. His idleness is what a fool priest would call a temperate possession.
Fren: In short, you make him out to be a woman?
Vae: Not in body, no! But in rare cases, a strong spirit overtakes a weak mind.
Ursula: The ashes are nearly blown away, and the girl has drifted off. I'm going home to rest.
Fren: You've given me much to think upon. What makes us what we are, in our souls? Am I too a woman in disguise?
Tae: Rest easy good sir! What our souls are, is what they were when originally wrought. You'll soon find the truth once you part.
Vae: And away we shall go, to see what strange course she will take. I want to find her least Ursula takes all the spoils.
Fren: Well now, if I know anything, I am glad. Like a cage that's opened for a entrapped bird. I take my leave, giving you my respect as well. Freedom is something we all strive to obtain.
* * *
And so the pyre burns down to mere ash, blowing away on an evening wind. What transpired in these moments would open much greater doors in a near and distant future.
