A Funeral for Ten Thousand

[Anonymous]

Skylance absolutely detested this.
The sun was setting over the sky of the Sirantil Valley, painting warm shades of red, orange, and yellow over the one thousand plus angels gathered to mourn in a large clearing in the valley, close to the base of the Kilanthro mountains and ringed by the Valley's lush forests at its edges.
Though the amount of dead to honor numbered over ten thousand, only one thousand coffins were lined up in the clearing for the funeral this day. This would only be the first of many funerals held over the next two weeks to honor all of the Honor Guard soldiers who had recently passed.
The part that Skylance hated the most was that all of the funerals were going to be conducted on Earth, a lowly and unworthy location in his mind. Having once been a part of Hallow's Honor Guard, he knew that it was traditional and symbolic to honor their fallen comrades on Earth, but that did little to curb his negative opinion of the repulsive world of humanity.
Fortunately, all he had left was his speech and then a brief moment in the following send-off before his schedule would be free of this drudgery.
Also on the bright side, after having to listen to many boring eulogies, he was finally next to deliver his part.

The avatar of the High Seraphim Alexiannastraziel stood in the crowd of mourning angels half-circled around the speaker's podium, and she watched as Skylance was about to take the stage to deliver his speech. Her proxy, Virtue, as well as the Archangel, Elial the Splendor, stood to her left and right respectively, each gazing upon the powerful figurehead of Hallow as he took to the podium.
Alexian had thought ceaselessly about the offer he extended to her yesterday in Reajh, and the more she thought about, the more she realized that she just wasn't ready to make a definitive move yet. She still felt too strongly in her beliefs to forgive Norriden, but she wasn't completely convinced about Skylance's true motives either.  Being effectively polarized between Norriden and Skylance to achieve her goal of getting revenge on the Rogue High Seraphim Mother, she was left on middle ground for the time being.
"Can you trust his word?" asked Elial of Skylance, keeping a scrutinizing eye on him as he started his speech.
"He deals in politics, most unfortunately," Alexian answered cynically to her lover. "However, I need only to try and separate the real truth from his version of it."
Elial chuckled. "I wish you luck, my love."

High Commander Sine of the Province Vindication was also present at the funeral proceedings, joined by another citizen of Province as well. The Godsend Kure, who was attending the funeral to say her final goodbye to a friend who served in the Honor Guard and died, had seen Sine and decided to be in her company.
Though, she couldn't help herself from being a bit curious. After all, the tensions from several days ago involving the stand-off between the Godsend and the Vindication had died down by now.
"Director Sine, if you would pardon my asking..." started Kure, somewhat unsurely.
"Go ahead, Godsend Kure," Sine stated stoically, not diverting from Skylance as he continued to give his speech.
Though she was caught slightly by surprise, Kure still inquired, "Um, right. What is your reason for coming here, Director?"
Narrowing her eyes slightly, Sine stated, "Because Skylance still has a lot to answer for."

Sometimes, when Skylance had to attend, and worse yet, speak at one of these terrible events, he had the tendency to detach himself. To not care, and simply recite the words that he memorized, until his extreme boredom could be cured by his timely exit from the ceremonies. This was one such occasion that he gladly detached himself.
All about until the voice spoke in his mind suddenly:
Skylance of Hallow... you cannot keep me imprisoned forever.
And when I escape, you will cease to be.

[Anonymous]

Skylance paused in his oration when he heard the voice of Mother resonating in his ears. Though the intrusion was largely unexpected, he quickly resumed his speech where he left off.
He thought that maybe it was a fluke, a temporary fluxuation in the myriad control systems in place over the High Seraphim until he heard the voice again:
You have made a grave mistake, child. How confident are you in your foolish toys? Are you completely certain that they are without fault?
This wasn't telepathy. Skylance knew that there were multiple inhibitors in Mother's confinement that prevented it. Somehow though she was still able to communicate with him as if she were right next to him, speaking into his ear.
It was a major, unforeseen problem, but for now he wanted to reply to his pet High Seraphim in a way she was sure to hear if she truly was haunting him. His speech was already prepared well in advance, but he always loved a little improvision.
"...and these brave souls had honor that was certainly without fault. They represented the best..."
After a moment, Mother's voice came back, apparently understanding Skylance's subliminal message:
A bold statement, darling... but I have seen what can become of such bold men. How easily they can make a mistake, how easily they can fall. It is merely a matter of time, as is all things. You should cherish your days until then, child.
"...these angels, even in death, have not faltered. Their spirits will live on..."
Falter you will, Skylance of Hallow.
A feminine hand laid down gently on top of Skylance's own, which rested on the podium. He glanced quickly out of the corner of his eye, seeing Mother standing to his right. She gazed upon him with a smile that was both warm and murderous.
Skylance hesitated for a moment, taken aback severely by the sight of the High Seraphim.
Falter you will... Skylance of Hallow...
His eyes focused back on the crowd. They were all looking straight at him, none at Mother.
She had to be an illusion.
A phantom.
He pretended to clear his throat, then finished his speech.


Alexian didn't bother to pay attention to Skylance's artificial speech. She found herself becoming lost in contemplative thought as she waited for him to finish.
The one thing that bothered her the most was ultimately her own indecisiveness. Her choices were not easy ones to make, and none of them seemed to be the clear and distinct right way to go.
She craved vengeance. Mother murdered her daughter and her lover, and there simply was no forgiving that, just as there was no forgiving the fact that Alexian simply let it happen and did not intervene. She wanted to do something about it now, avenge them in full, but doing so would mean that Elial would perish again.
And she did so love Elial, even after the hard times they had been through. As much as she wanted revenge against Mother, she also did not want to be alone either. With Mother's death would come Elial's own, one from which he would not return. Though Elial was completely committed to exacting revenge from Mother, Alexian herself was not entirely sure that she was with him.
And thus, her dilemma. Her indecisiveness.
"Alexian," said Elial, bringing her back to reality. "It's time."

Skylance descended down the stairs of the platform that the podium rested on. With his speech concluded, the send-off commenced. The mourning angels were paying their final respects, and the Miracleworkers were sending the coffins of the fallen warriors to Heaven once they were done.
The whole thing was terribly boring to Skylance, but necessary nonetheless to maintain his image. Their deaths were all part of a larger plan, whether they knew it in their last moments or not, and Skylance got his prize from their service.
Even if that prize was currently trying to haunt him.
Visage soon caught up to him as he walked among the angelic crowd, but so did a few others.
"Skylance, may I have a word with you?" said Alexian.
"Skylance. We need to talk. Now," said Sine.
The two looked at one another, and Skylance couldn't help but to crack a smile. "Please, one at a time. I believe I have enough time to address of both your concerns."
Elial, now getting a closer look of Skylance's face, started to recognize it. He had heard of Skylance of Hallow, but he had never seen him before.
Not until Skylance looked directly into the face of Mother, and Elial, through his persistant connection to the rogue High Seraphim, saw that face too.

[Anonymous]

"How does it feel...? To be beaten... by a mere... Angel?"
Those were the exact words that the man, whom now Elial indentified as the Skylance of Hallow, had spoken to Mother shortly after her blackout. For a time, Elial, despite the obvious evidence against it, could only assume that Mother had perished, but after having seen the vision of Skylance from her eyes, knew that it was something else.
Possibly even something worse.
As Sine demanded explanations and Skylance attempted to simmer her temper with excuses, alibis, and smooth talking, Elial turned away, prompting Alexian to do so as well.
"What troubles you?" she asked.
He shook his head for a moment, as if the motion would help him solidify his thoughts into words.
"I know him."
Alexian blinked. "I most certainly expect that you would-"
"No," interjected Elial, softly enough not to draw attention. "I saw him, the angel Skylance, in one of my visions. One of Mother's visions, rather. He gazed directly into her eyes, boasted, and walked away."
Virtue, upon this revelation, grew a bit more apprehensive, a reflection of Alexian herself. The High Seraphim was slack-jawed for a moment, unsure and puzzled.
Until the puzzle started to piece itself together in her mind.
She remembered the first thing Skylance did when he caught up with her and Mother in Reajh: Placed his hand on Mother's shoulder. She remembered Elial relating to her his last visions through Mother's perspective: Of an army, massive in size, that was invading her realm. And now this piece made it all clear.
Skylance, through some means, found the location of Mother's realm, mustered his forces, and captured her instead of slayed her. Elial must have known it too.
Captured her.
Everything that Skylance had said to her earlier was just another lie.
"And yes, my dear friend Alexian," said Skylance as he turned then to face her and Elial. Sine was stomping off in the other direction away from them, looking angrier than before she even started talking to Skylance. "You wished to have a word with me?"
"Of course," replied Alexian with a curt smile. "I merely wanted to say hello."
Skylance, nearly as confused as Elial that Alexian wasn't pursuing a conversation about the rogue High Seraphim, could only reply with, "Well... hello."
"And pay my respects," she said as she tapped Elial on the arm and started walking past Skylance. "These were all fine angels. I pray that their deaths were not in vain."
As Alexian, Elial, and Virtue all passed by Skylance, his facial expression dropped its formal geniality.
It seems there were some loose ends to be tied off.

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