Never

Chapter Ten

A week later...

"Are you OK Jesse?" Lukas asked me kindly. I turned to him and smiled sadly

"Yeah..." I replied. "Just..." I paused. I didn't know how to explain how I felt... Down? Sad? Upset? Distraught? Broken? So many words, but none seemed to fit my mood... Lukas placed his hand on my shoulder and gave me a patient, comforting smile. I smiled back, though sadness still stirred inside of me ever so slightly. Today was the day of Hadrian's funeral and it was certainly... Unique. The people Otto and Harper hired commit to the funeral services in a much different way... The first was placing the incense, candles and lilies around the table by Hadrian's bed, and now the ceremony being held today, where we light candles and place flowers by Hadrian's grave as if we're 'giving his spirit our love and sincere farewells' they explained. They would also give their own short speech on Hadrian instead of his friends or family which may appear, all which will take place just outside of Beacon Town where his grave is placed. Usually, we would place all graves in the graveyard, but not only is the ceremony large and long, I decided that The Order and I would build a small home for Mevia to live in outside of Beacon Town near her husband's grave, which the funeral people also thought was a nice idea. While the funeral itself is certainly... Unique, it's different but very heart-warming and a perfect way to send our friend off, at least to me it was

As all this stirred in my head, I had almost forgotten Lukas was right beside me. I shook my head and looked over to him, to only see his smile had stayed there as he patiently waited for me

"Are you ready?" He asked me, still as kind and gentle as he always was. I smiled and nodded, prompting him to take his hand in mine, before we walked out of the room. In the main room stood the rest of the Order and Radar, all dressed for the funeral. For some odd reason, we were all asked to where black to the ceremony, which we all obliged to. Olivia was in a knee-length black, slightly frilled dress with black flats, her hair neatly tied up in a bun. Petra was wearing a similar dress, except not as frilled out. She also wore tights, small onyx earrings and her hair was down, though wasn't as messy as it usually was. Radar, Axel and Lukas all wore the same type of suit with minor differences between them, though were barely noticeable. And then there was me; Knee length dress, small heeled shoes and my hair tied up with a purple ribbon, Hadrian's favourite colour. I smiled sadly as Lukas and I approached the group. I was glad they had all decided to attend. I knew Olivia and Radar wanted to come from the start, Lukas was coming to comfort me, and to my surprise, it took little convincing to get Axel and Petra to attend. I was glad they were all coming, whether it was actually to send Hadrian off or not

"Is everyone here?" Lukas asked the group as we walked up to them

"E-Everyone is h-here" Radar stammered, both nervous for the funeral and in our presence. "Ivor and his group are waiting at the location, s-so we should start heading there"

"Right" I said. "Thank you Radar. Everyone, let's go" Everyone nodded, and in almost complete silence, we made our way out of the temple and through the town. The citizens were already aware of the funeral taking place, so none were phased or concerned as we walked through. However, it was nice to see some people had placed flowers outside their homes as their own gift for Hadrian's passing, which everyone appreciated. As we exited town, I looked up to see grey clouds in the distance. Hopefully, it didn't end up raining on us all...

We all walked in silence as we reached the location, only a small detour from the main path. Ivor, Otto, Harper and Mevia were already there, along with the people running the service. Otto and Ivor were both wearing black suits like the rest of the males, however Harper and Mevia's dresses were longer than our own. Harper's stopped at her ankles and curled almost like a rose. She wore high heels and a silver charm necklace with a redstone and custom made charm to look like a small robot (Presumably PAMA) in between another charm which said her name in lovely stylised writing. Her hair was also down, though I swear her hair was sparkling like someone had put glitter through it. And then there was Mevia; her dress was more shaped like a large gown, covering her feet, though from the height differences, I assumed she was also wearing high heels. She wore long black gloves, her wedding ring shining in the now beaming sun, along with a black collared necklace with a gold heart locket in the middle. Her hair was down and lightly tussled with, making it flow over her shoulders. She looked gorgeous, but also miserable... Her eyes were red and cheeks were stained from tears, constant crying, even when she went to stay with Harper and Ivor for close comfort. I couldn't help but tear up at the sight of her grief, as plain as an open wound bleeding out. She didn't hold anything back; no tears, no sobs, nothing. She only mourned for her husband every day and would most likely continue this for a long time...