{ORP Closing Ceremony} Hello and Goodbye.

[Zoobey]

((OOC: This is the ORP closing ceremony for Red, though students are free to have private ceremonies/discussions of their own if they wish to do so. Flashback scenes are noted by italics. ))





"Professor Red."

The secretary's sounded purely annoyed as he stared at the figure sitting at his desk. Her muddy, dirty feet were propped up right over his paperwork, and she had clearly spent the time to open up each of his drawers - even the small hidden ones. A couple of empty bottles lay scattered on the desk, and she was in the process of pouring herself another cup from a not-so-empty one. "Oh hey Arel, care to join me? I've got drinks for all."

"Those are my drinks I stashed and -" the secretary stopped, mortified at what Red was reading in one hand. An issue of Hornz, though she had dog-eared a fear of the pages for Jack knows what reason. He spluttered. "Give-give that back."

The magazine literally went splat as it collided with Arel's face. "Fine, it was boring anyway. Though I never knew you were into-"

-"RED!!" Oddly enough, this was the secretary's current skin colour.


*

It was as most days in Halloween were, dusky, slightly dark, and clear. There was no rain or even a chill in the weather, nothing to reflect what had happened in the last few days. The world was oblivious, as always.

A rather surprising amount of students had shown up for the goodbye ceremony. It was hushed, it was quiet. They all sat and gathered in seats, orderly, cleaned, and old fashioned. The secretary got up to the podium, cleared his throat, and then did his best to avoid eye contact.

"As many of you know, Red has retired from Amityville." It was the most he could say, the most he was allowed to say. Two boogiemen were watching close to him, waiting for him to make the wrong moves. He wasn't just nervous, he was terrified. He had already been warned twice, three times and he would also face a sort of 'temporary retirement'. "So th-thank you all for coming to say your goodbyes, we hope Professor Red will enjoy-" he faltered for a second - "Enjoy her retirement."

He closed his eyes for a second, the world spinning.

*

“What are you doing?!” Red could only stare in disbelief as Arel sealed off the room, her arms automatically rising up to shield herself from the force of his Fear. Even with this precaution, she still slid back. Panic lit up her face as she dropped her hands, gesturing towards the door. “Arel! The students – get them out of here! I can’t – why did you do that?! My territory – you – do you know what you have done?!” Red turned away from him, her hands grabbing her desk. “Run,” she whispered, “Run! Run you idiot! You’ve pissed us off!”

Even with the warning, Red shifted quickly. When she turned to face him, it wasn’t her standing there. It looked like Red, but there was nothing familiar in the snarl that lit up her face and lunged at him, the arm jerking to attack. This was no lithe, graceful werewolf. This one was being driven by instinct, forced to act as a puppeteer might do with a puppet on strings.

*

She had already lost control long before the entire Haunted House fiasco, that was what the boogiemen were covering up. That they had collaborated and used her as bait, that it had worked and they did for a fleeting moment fool the Hunters, and that it had backfired horribly. Hellma knew it and refused to interfere, Red knew it and pushed herself further, and Arel knew it and-

- did nothing.

Silence. It was clear the students were still expecting him to say something. His eyes briefly looked at the boogiemen, their jaws were tense, unyielding. The secretary cleared his throat. "All creatures of Halloween come from Fear." Everyone knew this passage, this was the passage that little Scarelings were taught when they were young, the oath that every Halloween member took when they became a citizen of this world. "They are born from Fear, fight with Fear, and return to Fear. As Halloween is Fear, as we are Halloween."

*

"What do you regret most in the world?"

The secretary startled, nearly spilling his drink. "Huh?" It was not unlike Red to get introspective all of a sudden, but judging from her expression, she had had one drink too many already.

"What do you regret most in this world?" She repeated, and took another swig of the alcoholic apple cider, which Arel had personally swindled from Hellma's private stash. Red had taken up residence in the throne of the secretary's desk again, leaving Arel to sit on the ground. Next to the skeleton of what seemed like a gnome.

"I don't know." Arel began very slowly, thinking was hard when one was half-inebriated. "There's a lot of things I regret doing. Not having fought in the last battle, having fought in the last battle. Not being involved in that incident, being involved in this incident. Not having my desk back and some shoddy werewolf drinking up my Cider collection." He paused for a second, grousing. "Anyway, it doesn't matter what happened. As long as you're still here, the best you can do is learn from each incident."

"Mmm... that sounds good." Red leaned further into the desk, half-asleep. "As long as you're still here."

 

[Zoobey]

The actual closing ceremony didn't last long, but the rumour had already been spread and passed: Red was gone. And not just retired, but gone. Some heard it through vague whispers, others through tears and turmoil from first-hand witnesses. However, just as the rumour about Red had started, so had the knowledge about the boogiemen. None of the students wanted to be expelled, and it was only shaming the former professor to bring disgrace to their school by lashing out.

The professors paying their respects looked grim, even as the boogiemen ushered them all away from the ceremony.

As the first of the students filed out from the small ceremony, they couldn't help but notice a strange rock, protruded from the ground, a little ways away from where the boogiemen were currently standing and glowering at the professors. In fact, it seemed too polished to be just conveniently there, and the colour was a strange, flat black. Engraved on the rock was the simplest design: a crescent moon facing sideways.

There was nothing else special or out of the way about it, but some of the students knew.

This was Red's pin.

OOC

- Students can choose to linger behind and pay their respects, but lingering too long might attract the attention of the boogiemen
- If any students would like any sort of follow up RP with any of the NPCS/staff, simply send the GM a pm detailing what they would like.
- This RP takes place two days after the field trip, one day after the tent ORP.

 

[Bittiface]

It was the least he could do. While Mot was not nearly feeling any better, he had to go. He hadn't slept a wink since the field trip. He was groggy, ill and wearing the biggest pair of sunglasses he could buy at the local 1 Seed shop; To hide the burns from the offending light of the Pumpkin Sun.

Mot had been on the ill fated field trip, He'd fought Red on the field, fought the hunters, or at least tried; and watched Red die on a screen. He's left his pin by the remains of her beastly abomination of a skull.

The speech given by the secretary did not surprise the grim reaper. He'd heard something about it in the purple tent a day before. It still made his skin crawl. Why were they lying? Mot wished maybe he could be a little quicker. Maybe there were puzzle pieces that fit together, but he was too thick to see it.

Thankfully, the ceremony was brief. Mot did not plan to stay long, but the strange monument with a pin caught his attention for a long while.  

[Nio Love]

She was there. Of course she was there. Riley sat in the seat directly in front of the podium, watching. Every facial tick, every shuffle of movement was recorded, but really it took no special skills to see that Arel was being coerced. The boogeymen that stood there like stalkers told their own story quite easily. Red's death was being covered up - which made the idea that she was actually dead more and more obvious. Their actions spoke louder than Arel's words.

Riley lingered in her seat after the ceremony had ended, just watching the professors and their.. visiting boogeymen as they left.  

[Blade Kuroda]

Jericho was there as well, as he sat up by Riley, taking in everything. He was there when the boogeymen mentioned to keep things under wraps. So this was... their cover story then. The dragon wasn't sure what to make of all of this. It bothered him. That much could be said.

And there they were as well watching over the whole event. Were they here to honor Red as well or were they just here to make sure Arel didn't spew his guts out over what really happened?

Quietly, he sat through the ceremony, thinking about all of this. Every now and then he glanced over to Riley but didn't really say anything.

When the whole thing ending, he looked over at the stone, frowning at the sight of it.  

[Kaiyumi]

No, they couldn't really be doing this.

Xiu stared at Arel, unable to believe just what the secretary was saying. Red had retired? They...they had to be joking. Retirement wasn't the right word to use here--Red was gone. She was dead, and yet to casually brush off her death as if she had simply left...

She knew that it probably wasn't Arel's choice--his pauses and glances towards the boogiemen were evidence of that--but it still made her sick to her stomach. She thought that this memorial would be a way to pay respect to Red, to the fact that in the end, she had died saving her students. Xiu had even brought the piece of Red's back plate with her, thinking that maybe--just maybe--they would get a chance to bury Red's remains as a school. Xiu had brought a piece of Red here--home--for that reason.

But maybe it didn't matter that the boogiemen were covering up the truth. As she looked around at her fellow students, she realized that most, if not all, of them knew what had happened. And for those students who were still in the dark, Xiu was certain that the word would spread until the whole school knew of Red's death.

Her shoulders relaxed as the ceremony ended, students filtering out around her. Spotting Mot, she rose from her seat and headed over towards the cowboil, her gaze focused on the engraved rock as she stopped beside him. "Even if they try to hide it, everyone knows." She murmured. Her gaze lingered on the monument a moment longer, and then she turned her attention to him, her voice soft. "Do you think we can go up to the rock?" with the boogiemen there, it was hard to say, but it felt wrong to leave without paying respect to their professor.  

[Bittiface]

Mot turned his head downward to regard Xiu as she approached. It was good to see her safe and sound as well. Even in his groggy and fatigued state, he still worried about his friends' well being.

His hidden gaze returned to the statue with the pin. It must be Red's, he figured. Who's else could it be?

"You're right." He murmured softly. Everyone knew. Everyone would know no matter how much the Boogeymen watched and shadowed. Texts would fly, whispers would float. There was no hiding this hard fact. But why they even tried to cover it at all bothered the reaper.
"I don't know.. I'm a little hesitant to try." Mot looked toward the boogies with disdain. Before the trip, he had held them in such high regard. He almost wanted to be one himself. But now.. his feelings were mixed. There had to be something he didn't understand, something he had missed.

"If you really want to, I'll go with you."  

[Kaiyumi]

She smiled faintly at the offer. That was good ol' Mot for you, always there to support someone even if it seemed like he needed support himself. "...It's alright," She shook her head, keeping her voice low, "This ceremony...it's nothing like I imagined. I want to pay my respects, but I'd rather do it in an environment where everything is out in the open. No secrets, no lies."

There was a pause as she raised a hand to touch her obi, the spot where the back plate fragment was tucked away. "...Do you think we could bury her somewhere?" A private ceremony, maybe? She wasn't sure if such a thing would be allowed, but even if she had to sneak around the boogiemen to do it...  

[Getsurae]

The ceremony was so brief, and yet she knew it was all that could be done. Part of her was offended that the tragedy was covered up, but she knew that the boogiemen would never allow the truth to come out. It was something she was barely able to stomach, and she was sure that she wasn't the only one who felt this way. How could she be?

Well, one thing Whisper was damn happy about was that they could never take away her memories. She'd remember this everyday, she would make it a point to never forget. If for anything other then love for the deceased, it would also be in spite of the boogiemen. The strange thing was, Whisper still wanted to be one. But in her mind, she would do better. She wouldn't seem so...corrupt. Everyone would be so proud of her, such a wonderful representative of the academy. She would have made Red proud.

A few tears slipped out as she left the ceremony, tears she made sure to conceal so she didn't draw attention to herself. Good bye sweet teacher, rest in peace.

 

[Bittiface]

Xiu had a good point. One he respected. It also meant he didn't have to risk the attention of the boogeymen.

"Bury?" He murmured curiously. Her body had been much too big. Had they moved it? "What do you mean?" The cowboil had been one of the few who didn't take a piece with him.  

[Miliardo Kason]

Sammy sat behind Jericho and Riley, though most of the ceremony her head was rested against her clasped hands, one still wrapped in bandages, the other still black and burned. She couldn't stand to look at Arel, she had heard them in the purple tent and knew every word was a lie that the poor secretary was forced to speak. She couldn't bare to see what pain might linger in Arel's face as he lied to the students under the eyes of the boogiemen.

Even after it was done she continued to remain in the pose. Eventually she looked up at the back's of her friends resting her chin on her hands now. "I can't believe they would make him do this..."  

[Nio Love]

Riley stood as soon as Sammy spoke, as if her words were what she had been waiting for. She held out her hand for Jericho, waiting for him to rise before gesturing for Sammy to follow. Then she walked down to the aisle, heading out towards the rock.

No monster is made to do that which he is not made for. Riley grumbled low, with just a hint of anger in her voice. It doesn't matter. Arel is keeping us safe. He knows we're not the type to stand for something like this. And we won't.

She strolled down the aisle, Jericho in hand, and when they reached the stone, her eyes flickered to Mot and Xiu for a moment, before returning to the rock. While others had tears and pain in her eyes, Riley's were very clearly filled with nothing but cold determination.

If they were so determined to cover this up, then it meant Red truly had died. And one did not treat a warrior's death this way. It was disgraceful.  

[Miliardo Kason]

She rose in turn stuffing her hands into her jacket as she followed behind Riley and Jericho, eyes focusing on the ground, where Riley was determined Sammy was torn between depression and a blind rage. It had been like that since the moment she got back. On one hand she wanted to scream at the top of her lungs the truth, to punch someone, something in the face, and the moment she was alone? She wanted to cry and mourn the death of Red.

"Right. Safe." Her tone had much more to say about that then her words. Yes it might keep the students calm for now, but did lying make them safer from the reality that one can truly die? Safe from the hunters that had attacked them during the trip?

It did not, it did nothing of the sort and that caused her to clench all the harder on the small, now glass, vial of Red's ashes tucked in her jackets pocket.  

[Blade Kuroda]

Glancing back as he also heard Sammy speak, Jericho let out a sigh before Riley stood on up. Since she had his hand, he walked along with her down the aisle towards the stone. There, he paused to look down at it, grimacing as he shared the sentiment his best friend had.

This was a rather poor way to honor Red as far as he was concerned. To cover it up like it was some disgraceful thing. Sent off to retirement.. Yeah right.  

[Bittiface]

Mot's head turned, his oversize sunglasses hiding any emotion he might have had. There was Riley and Jericho. Sammy as well, whom he'd run into a number of times now. He gave them all a slow nod. Riley seemed irate. She must know. No doubt she did.

His attention turned back to the pin on the stone. Xiu had yet to answer him.