Canvas Town, Tseludia Station, Pantheonic Territory, Fifthmonth, 1634 PTS
It was quiet in the funeral hall as Karie entered,the only sound being some whispered conversations off to the sides of the room. The room was large and imposing, with a tall gothic arched roof which held light fixtures resembling skylights. On Canvas, a proper funeral hall would have indeed had windows on the ceiling, but here, the clan had decided to make concessions to practicality. Natural light was simply hard to come by in sufficient quantities this far away from the system’s star.
Karie received a number of odd looks by those present in the chamber, and was somewhat surprised to see less than fifteen individuals altogether. It seemed that her mother had managed to keep the memorial as a private affair. Karie preferred it that way.
She settled off to the side, ignoring the looks. After her attempted murder of Juen, most of the other clan members had turned against her. She did regret her actions, or at least she regretted her failure. If Uncle Wei was alive, she thought, he would have told her that her failing was being too reckless. She saw it more as a calculated risk.
If she was being honest with herself, she would need to admit that these ‘calculated risks’ of hers had been turning out poorly more often than not in recent days. It was the fallacy of the gambler. One wagered their money and lost, and then chose to wager even more just to get back to their starting position. Karie was one such fool who had continued to wager, and it had been a downward spiral for her.
If she had not tried to kill Juen, more likely than not she would have been present at the attack, and perhaps she would have been able to save Wei’s life. It was an idle thought, and one unworthy of any serious consideration, for the past was immutable. Still, she could not help but go over and over scenarios in her head where she might have saved him.
Karie sighed as she stood off to the side, away from any of the other groups standing in the room. Both hands reached behind her to untie and retie the elegant braid that she had placed her hair into. She had always felt better when she had something to do with her hands. Over the years, she had grown so proficient in her mindsplitting technique that it was almost always active, and after becoming a spirit refiner, she had found that such a mode of thinking had become intrinsic to her being. Aside from the obvious utility it provided, she had found that it caused her to become bored more easily if there was nothing to engage her.
Contrary to her expectations, no one confronted her as she waited. She had never been the most popular member of her generation, and would have thought Juen’s and perhaps even Lorelei’s supporters would have come to make trouble for her. But all she received were dark looks and scowls directed at her.
Perhaps it was because nobody wished to disrespect Wei at his memorial, or perhaps it was simply because Karie was no longer seen as a threat. Either way, it was better for Karie to not receive trouble here. Unless she were to withdraw her candidacy, no matter how poor her position, the others would not cease their attacks on her. Despite the indignity, it was probably better that she had been sent out of the headquarters for the time being.
Karie quickly glanced around the room, scanning it for threats. It was mostly just assorted members of the clan’s various generations. The only group that particularly stood out to her was one far to the other side of the room. There stood Ria and Taek Hadal, cousins of Karie’s, and members of the same generation. Ria in particular was quite talented, she thought. If she had access to better extant techniques, Ria might well have the potential to become a spirit refiner. Taek’s talent was not bad himself, but even if he could by chance become a spirit refiner, he would likely never be able to progress through the realm.
The two gave her dark looks across the room, but Karie kept her head held high, not falling for such petty instigation. Nobody who had cared for Wei Hadal would wish to ruin his wake with arguments or brawls. For once, Karie had simply the plans of being honest and quiet. She had been given an exception by her mother that allowed her to return before her time was up, and she did not wish to invite more trouble before that.
It was funny, she thought, ignoring their gazes. Ria and Taek, like most of Wei’s descendants, were part of the neutral faction that supported her mother, but despised Karie regardless. The reason was rather complex, and related to some events that had happened when they all were children.
Karie had never played well with others.
It took another fifteen minutes or so before her mother entered the room, signaling that the service would soon begin. She was flanked by Aven, Wei’s grandson, who it seemed had inherited his position. Karie had no qualms with this. While Aven, like many, did not get along well with her, she knew that he was a hard worker. The sort of person she would have liked as her own aide, if that had been an option.
After entering, her mother quickly scanned the room, and their eyes met. She gave Karie a sad smile that was entirely unlike her usual temperament. As expected, thought Karie, Wei’s death had impacted her mother the most. There remained very few clan members of her generation, and of them, she had been the closest to Wei.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The Matriarch’s presence meant the memorial could begin, and the room’s inhabitants watched as she made her way to the pedestal at the far end of the room which contained the ashes of ‘Windless’ Wei Hadal. Her fingers touched slightly on the urn’s surface as she turned to greet the room’s inhabitants.
“Wei was my best friend,” she began, “a brother to me.” The Matriarch’s voice was as steady as ever, but the harsh cast of her eyes wavered slightly, an indication of her state of mind. Throughout her speech, Karie kept a firm eye on her mother’s facial expressions. She had never seen her mother this emotional before, and it felt strange to see her in this state. There was little that could shake the great Sirena Hadal, but it seemed the loss of her oldest friend was one such exception. Karie idly wondered if she would ever develop such a firm relationship, herself. It did not strike her as likely, given her current situation.
The ceremony was fairly lengthy, as it largely consisted of Wei’s friends and loved ones speaking on his behalf. Most people in the room spoke up, sharing small stories of Wei’s heroism, of his kindness, his love, and all the other virtues that had been present within the man. Even her mother had spoken at length about various events that occurred so long ago only the eldest of the clan members had even been alive at the time. According to the Ceirrans, if he was sufficiently virtuous, he would be taken in by the goddess to live for eternity within the Sunlit Lands.
Karie found it amusing to think that the Ceirrans actually believed such obvious tripe. Regardless, even if it were true, everyone present knew that Wei would not have been chosen. While he outwardly claimed to be Ceirran, everyone present knew well that his loyalty was to the clan alone. While he was not pious, he was a devoted man.
During the memorial, Karie passed on the opportunity to speak. It was not only concerns of angering those around her, but also the fact that she found herself unsure what to say. Nothing she could say would do justice to the meaning Wei had for her life, so she chose to remain silent.
Wei was not going to heaven regardless, so there was nothing compelling her to speak in any case.
The time passed slowly, and Karie listened to all the stories about her uncle. Many of them were things she had never known, and she slowly came to a better understanding of him. Wei Hadal had been a good man, and he had been a warrior. He had given his everything to the clan, to his family, and to his Matriarch, no matter the personal sacrifices.
He was a very different person than Karie was, and she admired his path, though she had no interest in walking it herself. She had little interest in self sacrifice and devotion to others. But she did admire his dedication to doing whatever it took to achieve those goals. He was a man of great morals, but even those became flexible when it came to matters of his family’s prosperity.
Eventually, the ceremony ended, and Wei’s two remaining sons jointly lifted the pale green urn from its pedestal, and began walking to the exit. A procession slowly formed behind them, one which would continue until they reached the nearest airlock, so that the ashes might be poured into space. Her mother quietly joined in behind them, but she paused as she stepped past Karie to give her a deep look that seemed to pierce into her soul.
“A birthright is unearned unless you take it for yourself, Karie. If you cannot grasp it, then you are undeserving.” Having said that, she turned to move onward, but hesitated, looking back towards Karie with a slight hint of warm concern on her expression. “Be more careful to pay attention to those around you. Loyalty is never born from dominance alone.”
Without giving her daughter the opportunity to respond, she turned her head and continued to walk, still flanked by Aven, who gave Karie a look of disdain. Karie did not care, for she couldn’t get rid of the wide smile on her face, her previously dour and self-recriminatory mood almost forgotten.
While she knew her mother would do little if anything to assist, Karie knew that she still hoped for Karie to succeed. She had even given advice. If her mother still believed in her, Karie thought, then the path forward must truly exist.
She would not let those expectations down. No matter what she needed to do, she would do it. Karie would become the heir, would send her name spiraling to the lips of the millions of Seiyal in the station, and she would make her mother proud.
They called her the Twinjade Demon, and that was a name that Karie could live up to.
As she stepped back out of the wide red doors that led into the clan, Karie could not help but glance back to see them close behind her. The ceremony had somehow made her feel slightly better, her emotions having returned to their normal state once it had ended. She still felt guilty, but guilt would not restrain her. She had been putting this matter off for long enough, and finally she felt emotionally free for what came next. Wei had been her last direct supporter inside the clan, but Karie was not absent of opportunities. She would simply have to create her own.
Having left the building, Karie furtively glanced in both ways, and scurried to mix in with the evening foot traffic. Her outlaw status had yet to be lifted, and she could not be certain that none of her relatives had provided the Justice Office with a convenient tip off of her location. Given her status, she had few worries of being sent to a prison moon, but the fee of bribing a judge would certainly end her candidacy for heir.
In the crowd, however, she was just another sei, while the Staiven of the Justice Office would stick out like a sore thumb. So long as she was not careless, the risk was low.
Outlaw Status in the Pantheonic Territory: [The Justice Office is not known for its careful policing of the alien population. Deaths are only investigated if corpses are found, and disappearances are ignored entirely unless ‘funding’ for the investigation appears. An outlaw, however, is someone whose death would not be prosecuted, and who the office at least claims to be actively searching for. This designation is reserved for criminals whose actions have either impacted the government’s image, or who have threatened it. Outlaws are generally sent to labor camps on the prison moons, but in some cases they might be directly executed by the office, something that does not occur for ordinary criminals unless they resist arrest. It is not uncommon however, for this designation to be appealed and revoked in court.]