chicago ♔ weep not for the memories

[romanticidal]

♬ Back on Earth - Ozzy Osbourne

WHO || Buffy, Spike, Finnick, Myri, Dawn, Archer, Elena, Kat, Gar, Mark, Burt, Des, Rafael, Violet, Francesca, Luthir. [closed]
WHAT || Eterna Jade's funeral service
WHERE || Temple of Corellon, Chicago
WHEN || July 8th, 2013
HOW || Actionspam

[ While there is no temple to Sehanine located in the city limits, there is a large church erected to the elven god Corellon, and it's there that the funeral service itself is to be held, before Jade's body is taken to be laid to rest. The temple itself is a magnificent sight, made to appear as if it's been carved out of a large tree. High above them, the ceiling is made to replicate the night sky in vivid, magically reproduced detail, even in the middle of the day: not a painting, but a maintained illusory spell. A full moon hangs there, surrounded by the stars, an appropriate setting for remembering the life of the daughter of the sacred elven moon goddess.

Violet, using Burt's funds, has taken care of everything, arranging for the priest here to conduct an authentic elven funeral service, and also taking the liberty of being in charge of all decorations of the temple for the occasion. The temple is literally swimming in flowers: jasmine, lilies, white violas and moonflowers - absolutely all of them pristine and white, with the exception of some sunflowers set for accent.

Jade's body is laid among more of these flowers, in a casket on a raised dais, also clothed in white silk. Even in death, she possesses an uncanny beauty that's difficult to look away from. Quiet, ethereal, mournful music fills the room, creating a very otherwordly, sanctified atmosphere.

Except, of course, as the guests arrive and begin to seat themselves in the carved wooden pews, it's impossible to miss Burt buzzing around, helping a camera crew set up in the back of the church. This tends to detract a little from the overall effect, just a bit. ]

Comments

[shootfirst]

[ well, vi, congrats, you pushed a ton of people over the feels brink there. gar can't take it anymore, and the tears come out, and EVEN KAT OF THE IRON HEART gets all crumple-faced despite her best efforts to keep it together. watching her squire get all broken up is just too much.

mark wipes some tears away, and luthir looks stricken as she returns that way, watching her with evident concern and sympathy. ]

[romanticidal]

[ italia, at least, gets it together somehow during all that, and gets up as she comes down. as he passes buffy, he absently reaches out a hand to find hers and squeeze it - not to give her comfort, but because he clearly needs it. ]

[65]

[whether it's a brave face or he doesn't know her well enough to relate to what's being said in all the eulogies, he keeps a strong manly face on for the most part. you know, except for a few manly tears. (will save 11) as myri leans against him, he leans in response, his hand searching for and then grasping hers.]

[slay]

[ will save 14, buffy's heart is a pit in her stomach that aches simply from each speech hammering in that jade's honestly gone, just like that. there are some regrets that begin to surface now that it's too impossible to shut them out, chief among them is the realization that she can't reach out and try to befriend her again - and maybe she should have taken more time while she had it. done more with her, said something more.

rafael's hand jerks her back to reality, out of her thoughts, and she looks over at him through eyes dark with anguish. she squeezes his hand back, drawing up a sad smile to offer him what little strength she has left. she reaches her free hand up, and pats his arm, leaning in to kiss his cheek, mirroring the action he'd taken with her. ]

Go.

[ her voice is low and private, her reassurance and faith reserved for him alone. ]

[romanticidal]

[ ♬ I Will Remember You - Sarah McLachlan

he holds buffy's gaze for a long moment, and beneath his clearly heavy heart breaks a note of gratitude in his eyes, before he draws away and makes his slow ascent up to the podium.

he takes a long moment to just stare at the casket where jade's body rests, his tears very gracefully contained now, brow furrowed, but no quaver in his voice when he finally looks down at the podium again and speaks. ]

There are no words that can speak to the loss of someone like Eterna. I know this well, because this is not the first time I have searched for them.

I lost her, once before, and spent many fruitless hours trying to turn the pain into the only language we both felt could encompass such emotions: music. To find the notes that could hold the loss of her smile, the melody that could express the pain of never again hearing her voice or her laugh.

I was never satisfied. Because these things are inexpressible, these holes her absence leaves in those who knew her. You need only listen to the words others have spoken, who met her only on a few occasions, or for a short time, to grasp how much of an impact she left on those she encountered. She was larger than this world, and perhaps that is why it was never fit to hold her.

[ he takes in a long breath before plunging on: ] When I lost her the first time, I held onto the words she had left with me, made them a litany upon my heart, built everything upon them. She had told me to never let go, and I thought I understood exactly what that meant. To hold onto what we had had, to hope of finding a way to be together once more in spite of the oceans of obstacles that lay between us. To let nothing shake that faith, and to pursue it at all costs.

[ his eyes involuntarily seek out des and buffy, lingering on the latter, and holding there as he says: ] I was wrong. About a great many things, but mostly about how I interpreted her words. What I chose to see in them.

I thought she was asking me to never let go of our love, but she was telling me to never let go of life. Of hope. To not close my eyes to the world, even when all it seemed to offer was despair.

[ he looks up again, across the audience, and then to the casket ] That is who Eterna Jade was. That is the woman I loved. And I have been a fool to lose sight of that, in the face of my own desperation. I have made choices she would think ill of me for, given in to the side of myself she thought I could rise above.

But I know that she would never give up on me for them. She would never let go of her faith in me and for this, I see a reason to press on.

I could speak at length of the kind of woman she was, of the moments we had together, of the things she brought to my life, but I can think of nothing she would wish to hear more than to know that I believe I finally understand what she tried so many times to tell me. And that I only wish it had not come too late, and at such a price. [ and now a few tears come, and he thumbs them away ] It will not be easy, to try to embrace this message, but Eterna was never about what was easy. As Violet said, she was a woman who would fight for what she wanted - and so I can only honor her by doing the same. Fighting.

[ a moment of hesitation, and then he leans forward to the mic to say: ] Goodbye, dolcezza. [ and he turns and walks to the casket's edge to place a hand on top of her still folded ones for a lingering moment, before he turns and walks back towards his seat, eyes scraping the floor.

after a pause, the priest steps up to say: "Rafael would like to perform a song in Eterna's honor... however, before he does this, are there any others who wish to speak?" ]

[nothingsodivine]

[DES CRIT FAILED HIS WILL SAVE.

So somewhere halfway through Rafael's speech, he grits his teeth, bows his head, and starts full-on quiet ugly crying, and by the time the priest steps up, he's excused himself from the proceedings and made a complete beeline for the back door.

He needs a moment, okay.]

[divinehealer]

[ guess who's standing to the side of the doors, quietly here in the back. go on, guess.

he doesn't say anything to des, but he does watch him come, tears in his own eyes. and steps aside wordlessly. ]

[rationalizes]

[ yeah gar has now officially LOST IT over here, crying her eyes out, while kat ... pulls it together because gar's crying is super awkward. she sure doesn't want to be that guy. ]

[notaroundme]

[Elena's apparently being strong for everyone else now (will save 22) and has dry eyes, even if her heart feels like it's collapsing.

She sees Des up and walk out though (spot nat 20...), so she's going to go after him because someone should check on him, apologizing to those she's leaving in the process.]

Excuse me.

[And then she moves to the door and follows Des outside.]

[witchwoman]

[The moment Rafael walks up to speak, she knows that it's coming. And she can only imagine the effect his words will have on everyone she cares about, so she turns her gaze downward, focusing on her hand in Finnick's and she braces herself for it. It works, but she is definitely not looking up for awhile, for fear of breaking her safe little bubble (will 21).]

[slay]

[ buffy collapses into sobs as rafael finishes (will save 10), and she gets up to excuse her when des does, but realizes ... des is doing the same thing and stops, and stands there awkwardly because you don't really get crying privacy when you go with your bff. ummm. she glances back towards him and catches a glimpse of orlando bloom, though, which seems to clear up her tears (spot nat 20). she lowers her hand from her mouth, confusion setting in, and finds herself calmly staring back at him. ]

[graveflowers]

[With her will save of 25, Vi has turned into a cold hearted bastard -- or more accurately, she is just really used to crying by now that she can multitask. Including watching Buffy stand and Des go with worry. She is about to go after him but Elena beats her to it, so she stays seated, wondering how long they have to wait before the priest accepts silence and moves on to save them all from turning into emotional pits of despair or someone else speaks up. It's not like they were the only people who knew Jade.]

Buffy... are you okay?

[bigbad]

[Spike wonders if funerals feel this awkward to all vampires, or if he's just special. Not that most vampires attend that many funerals, most likely. It's just that he knows he's supposed to be dead, and would be, if all had gone right in the world. That burning itch of holiness is enough to remind him of that far too clearly. It all leads to him feeling antsy and uncomfortable during all the speeches. Not that it keeps them from hurting. But it certainly is distracting enough to keep him from crying (will 24). Like having to go to the bathroom during something important.

When Des passes him by, he turns his head to watch, something to focus on besides all the sadness, and sees... Orlando Bloom.]

What's he doing here?

[The words are murmured to Francesca, who... probably can't see him. Oh well.]

[socialgraces]

[ Francesca quickly turns her head towards where Spike is looking, already on high alert. But she sees... Des leaving and Elena following, and isn't quite sure what to make of his outburst. Maybe he's just being weirdly emotional or something. She whispers back: ] Who are you referring to?

[bigbad]

You can't see him.

[He stands up and starts moving towards Orlando Bloom, quietly but purposefully. Sorry, Francesca, he's an awful date. But he'll explain later. Probably.]

[slay]

It's Gray. One of them's here.

[ buffy shoots a look across the temple to spike, as if searching for some indication of action out of him. but what action? they'd been clear; anything they learn about the grays gives more power to the baddies. he's here, based on her assessment at the concert and the hospital, because he cared about jade - for whatever reason. her hands loosen from fists she hadn't realized she'd made, and she reaches up to wipe makeup from under her eyes. she looks at the others, then slowly draws herself back into her seat to stop making a disruption of the service. ]

[socialgraces]

[ well she doesn't know what that means spike, but she does think its very unwise to make a spectacle of yourself at such a public funeral that may or may still be being televised. So she's grabs for him before he can get too far, forgetting he can't be seen by the cameras (touch attack 28) and tries to pull him back just enough to get his attention, quietly hissing: ] This really isn't the time to pick a fight, Spike.

[romanticidal]

[ somehow rafael misses buffy's words just before he has a seat again, meeting her gaze, something in his eyes that's almost asking for her approval of what he had to say, and what it reflected about the words they'd shared on the bridge. but he doesn't say anything, and looks back up at the priest, who is still patiently giving them a minute to volunteer. ]

[divinehealer]

[ and as everyone quietly avoids eye contact or whatnot, orlando bloom actually just turns and walks out the doors calmly. into the lobby. where des does not see him emerge... ]

[romanticidal]

[ when no one approaches the stand, the priest gestures across to where a piano is situated, and rafael rises once more, crossing towards it with a look almost like dread, as if he's not sure he can do this. he seats himself on the bench and takes a long moment staring at the keys, and then squeezing his eyes closed, before he finally launches into the song. it's a moving melody that would actually be familiar to the couple members of failboat present who heard hi singing it late one night in his palazzo one year ago... but there's a renewed conviction in his words that's terribly striking, the emotion warm and resounding off the ceilings of the church.(piano 28, singing ... nat 20. for a total of 38.)

♬ To Where You Are - Rafael Giovanni ]

Who can say for certain?
Maybe you're still here
I feel you all around me
Your memory's so clear

Deep in the stillness
I can hear you speak
You're still an inspiration
Can it be
That you are mine
Forever love
And you are watching over me from up above

Fly me up to where you are
Beyond the distant star
I wish upon tonight
To see you smile
If only for awhile to know you're there
A breath away's not far
To where you are

Are you gently sleeping
Here inside my dream?
And isn't faith believing
All power can't be seen

As my heart holds you
Just one beat away
I cherish all you gave me everyday
'Cause you are my
Forever love
Watching me from up above

And I believe
That angels breathe
And that love will live on and never leave

Fly me up
To where you are
Beyond the distant star
I wish upon tonight
To see you smile
If only for awhile
To know you're there
A breath away's not far
To where you are

I know you're there
A breath away's not far
To where you are

[witchwoman]

[Shortest lived safe bubble ever. Halfway through Rafael's song, tears start to form. They don't fall, but she is cracking. (will 15)]

[graveflowers]

[Well, someone crit failed. And dissolved into a messy pile of sobs. Surely it is very unexpected. Things that are currently not okay? Everything. She doesn't get up and flee though, mostly because she doesn't have the wherewithal to move at the moment, so she just sort of crumbles inward, stifling sobs behind her hand.]

[luthir]

[ luthir slips his hand out of hers so that he can slide his arm around her, since he is... completely atoic about all this SO SURPRISING. but he whispers something in elvish that she doesn't understand, but it's pretty clear that he's inviting her to cry into his shoulder all she needs. ]

[65]

[will save 7. he's out. TIME FOR BITCH TEARS. which he tries to hide by bowing his head. such a valiant effort.]

[nothingsodivine]

[Des returns, because his will save was a 19 and he's not bawling anymore and he's curious to see the end of the service. He was curious, but he ends up just standing in the back, leaning on the wall with his arms crossed, all... stoic and shit.]