Nocturne

☾ Chapter Forty-Three ~ Nocturne ☽

The march to the gravesite was short, but to Nocturne it felt like it took forever. In truth, having to carry each body over a hundred meters while surrounded by weeping loved one's and professional mourners wasn't the quickest thing ever. But at last, they reached the places each beloved friend and family member went, beyond a Lunar or Solar, and became, simply, an Astral.

This graveyard was a large area, with flowers and hedges and trees strategically placed so one could always find a private spot, but no matter when one was they could always see the great marble and electrum statue of Aster, Guardian of the Stars and the Dead Deity that stood in a great clearing in the very centre of the garden of death.

Nocturne traced the stars in her mind's eye. Each flickering flame was a beacon, a light showing the way beyond for the lost spirits. The words Aurora and Nocturne spoke would carry the souls far into the realms Beyond the Moon and Sun, where stars dripped their light in lakes of pure night and the dead could finally rest after their long journeys in life and dying.

Or at least, so the stories told. But really, could anyone say what lay beyond the veil? It was a land not even Luna and Sol could see, a place no living spirit could go and return with any memory. Not even the Chosen, who's stories paused in their hundred years Beyond.

Aurora and Nocturne finished their blessings and stepped among the bodies, laying wrapped in grey cloth, green herbs and flowers, and dark brown earth. They started at opposite ends of the line. At each still form, they paused, whispered a blessing, calling each person by name and lightly touching the fabric above their foreheads.

Eventually, they reached the last two. A young Solar guard named Norel, and Emmie. Nocturne wondered if they'd known each other, before.

Aurora seemed to sense Nocturne's hesitation and reached out to squeeze Nocturne's hand. Together, they said the last rites for both warriors, both guardians, and watched as each body was covered in the rich dark earth.

When it was over and the body was safe within its cocoon of cloth and earth, it was traditional for friends and family to plant flowers over each gravesite as all the mourners shared a meal. Aurora and Nocturne had known few of the people there, so their role was mostly done at this point, but neither could settle their stomachs enough to wash their hands and eat.

Together, they bought a young gladiolus sprout from a kind old man and crouched over Emmie's grave. Nocturne dug the hole, Aurora placed it in, and together they patted down the earth around the fragile shoot in a snug little blanket. As one, they whispered a wish to the young flower.

Then they stood, and walked away.

The pain of losing Emmie right before their eyes would never truly go away. Aurora would always have days where she would wake up in the middle of the night, panting for breath from the nightmares. Nocturne would always have days were she stared dully up at the stars and wish she had found that something, anything, that she could have done to save her friend.

But they would be okay. They would keep moving forwards. It was all they could do.