[Rafar - Temple of Virja, Funeral Garden]

Like my parents, I inspected the temple walls to distract myself. The walls displayed the story of Virja, our goddess of flowers and passing. Each hallway was shaped in such a way that flower petals could easily flow through them. Only a certain path in the temple was lit with candles so that if our fallen lost Virja’s flowery path then they would still have a chance to find their way back into her embrace.

to not shackle the spirits of our fallen with memories of the technology they had in life, for each deserved their blessed rest after their rough lives on Rafar.

A clergy member had waited for us. Their mechanical eyes were one of the only ways to navigate the darkness of this sacred place. As we followed him from behind in the darkness, I remembered the nightmare. Where we failed in our defense, where the damned souls of our fallen wailed in agony. Where everything was on fire. I won’t let these dreams come to pass.

I solemnly swore in my heart.

As we entered the graveyard where both our young and old lay buried I could see hundreds of growing corpse flower buds nearly ready to bloom. The more devout amongst us refer to them as Virja’s grace. Some saw our ways as barbaric, but they didn’t understand, that by returning our dead back to the earth, we gave a piece of ourselves back to Rafar. This was our penance and way to atone for the deterioration of our home’s ecosystem. It was hard to find places not contaminated even down here beneath the earth. We kept fresh soil from other worlds with which we mixed our Rafarian dirt. That way both our deceased and the planet could move on within the next cycle of life.

Many visitors had come to witness the ceremony. We stood behind the raised podium, each of us had prepared a speech as was expected of us as rulers. My father went first. “I speak for our warriors when I say that it is with a heavy heart that we have gathered here today, to say our final goodbyes to our heroes. Each of them fought brilliantly against our assailants during the most dire of occasions. It is because of their sacrifice that both Rafar’s future and way of life are preserved.” I heard the beautifully chosen words of my father. But I didn’t feel them. My father finished his speech and went back down.

Next up was my mother. “I speak for our civilians who got swept up in the massacre, like our heroes, none of them deserved a fate such as this. And yet despite it all, they too stood by our brothers and sisters as the world around them crumbled. We too will etch their names in the annals of our history, so that we may look back at their sacrifice to inspire us to greatness. May Virja embrace you.” the prayer echoed as hundreds of whispered prayers were let loose.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

As I walked up to the podium I looked around and saw hundreds of our people watch me with batted breath. There was not a single soul on our planet who was not participating in the prayer. Whether they were at home or at church everyone watched and listened to our speech.

Minutes went by until finally, I took out the speech I had prepared with my parents beforehand. And then in the silence of the temple hall, the ripping sounds of the torn papers echoed all around us.

The crowd looked on in bewilderment, which is when I began my speech. “I am tired. Tired of seeing my people lose their loved ones. Tired of having my friends and family subsist on recycled food and water. Tired of seeing our home deteriorate. Tired of being looked down upon by those who would see us crushed under their foot.”

I took a breath. “When outsiders speak of us they say we are nothing but filthy scavengers who only live off the work of others. They are wrong. We are artists. We breathe life into that which they cannot. When faced by foes with superior numbers and firepower it was not they who came on top, it was us!” I slammed my new golden fist onto the podium.

“I will not speak for anyone else here but me.” I looked forward resolutely.

“I am done with playing it safe. I am done playing by the rules created by those who would stop at nothing to prevent our glory from rising beneath the waste. The wastes that they helped create!”

“In the days to come, I want you all to decide for yourselves. Are you content with our current way of life? The path we need to walk for a better future is fraught with sacrifice. It will be hard and lives not unlike those of our comrades lying here will be lost. But I swear to both you and our fallen that our time will come, starting today we will prove our worth to the galaxy and show them that we are more than mere scavengers. For Rafar! For our future!” I roared with my new arm raised high.

“For Rafar!!! For our future!!” the crowd echoed. And seemingly our fallen agreed with us, as the entire room lit up with the blooming light of hundreds of corpse flowers, each displaying their own unique color. Petals swirled around us, and the roars kept going even as I exited from the podium.

My parents watched in shock as I walked up to them. “I understand why you played it safe, but I can no longer follow that path. Rafar needs change and we have long explored the peaceful and pacifist options that were available to us. But they are no longer sufficient, where once they provided growth they now stifle it. Without taking some kind of risk we cannot claim a brighter future than what we have right now. And what we have in the here and now is not enough.”

I faced my father. “You are right, a time may come when they resent and blame me. Lives will be lost and I will be to blame for that. And if a time comes when they drag me out into the streets and butcher me then so be it. But until then I will not sit back and watch our people starve to death. Not when I can do something about it.”

A couple of military escorts led by Belleran came and helped escort me out as we left my parents behind to ponder my words.