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 Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 10:19 pm
Keres had only noticed the stray paper near her upon Riley's arrival and deftly plucked it from the ground with her tail before said other girl could stomp all over it in her angered trudge down the isle. The sphinx-girl watched after her, an eyebrow arched in its usual manner, for a second or two. No judgments were passed, though, since Keres knew that if she had been better friends with Harper, or if Melchy was in that coffin instead, she would've acted the exact same way; furious and disrupting.
But since Melchy wasn't in a coffin and his guardian was right next to her, Keres returned her attention back to Katrina and gave a small "Excuse me" before she turned away. The paper clenched in her tail was then brought to her hands where she tried her best to uncrinkle it.
Her eyes roved the black markings on its off-white surface, her mind immediately recognizing the paper as sheet music to some instrument or another. It looked familiar... but then again almost all notes were shared between instruments. She lifted her head and looked around for whoever had dropped the parchment, slowly meandering down the isle as she did so so as to glance at everyone's hands.
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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 6:31 am
It took Antony a moment to respond. It was as if he was coming to the surface of a deep pool of water, slowly becoming conscious of the fact that someone had addressed him. A smile crossed his face, not quite reaching his eyes. "Hello, Casia," he said. Then he turned back to the front, unable to say anything more. He didn't even notice that she had grown.
Pete was at the podium by now, arranging his notes and wondering if he could handle such an impromptu setting. He was actually quite new at being a priest, since he was only thirty, and he had only done a few memorial services, all of which he had had weeks to plan. He took a deep breath and looked around. Was everyone here? Did he need to open the invite to come speak yet?
"If anyone wants to speak of the departed, please come up here," he finally said, looking for the little girl that had wanted to sing.
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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 9:09 am
As she opened her mouth to try and pry a few more words from him, it was then that the priest had spoken. Casia turned and gave a shy wave to him, before looking back to Antony. What more could she say to him? "I... um... 'bye!" she stammered, doing a quick bow and then running to the front, nearly tripping. She gathered her sheet music, counting to make sure all the pages were in order. Wait! There was a page missing, number 3. She set the music down again, searching under the pews, and on top of the steps. Where was it?
"Casia," Anna's voice called, causing the little siren to look up attentively, her curls bouncing slightly. The art student pointed at Keres, who was walking down the aisle next to her. This girl looked as though she was made from extra parts of big, children-eating animals! Though she did have wings, which were quite pretty. But her tail.. it was a snake, and a scary one at that. Casia made a little chirp of fright, before she slowly made her way to her, careful to keep a good distance from her tail.
".. Th.. that's.. u-um.... m-m-mine," she said quietly, pointing at the sheet music. Her eyes were glued to the floor, terrified to make eye contact with her. To be honest, Casia didn't need the sheet music; she'd heard the song plenty of times, and her quirky ability to memorize songs logged the lyrics away in her mind, like an old music store with shelves full of old, dusty records. She'd been hoping someone could at least play the guitar or piano or something, but Anna'd warned her to prepare this, instead of doing it this very second.
She glanced briefly at her guardian, who folded her arms in a "I-told-you-so" manner, before looking back at Keres' feet. "Um, c-canyouplaythepianoorsomething'c-causeIcan'tandIwannasingthissong,s-so--" she blurted, feeling quite nervous now.
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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 6:56 pm
Keres snapped her head to the side. She hadn't noticed the woman moving down the isle next to her until the name "Casia" had been called out. Had she been of the easily-startled type, Keres would've jumped six feet into the air, but since she wasn't, she gave the woman a puzzled look. Why the hell was the woman pointing at her? YES SHE ALREADY REALIZED THAT SHE LOOKED WEIRD, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
The sphinx's brows furrowed into a "V" and her mouth parted to say something, however it closed right-tight when she sensed a body has approached her. Changing her eyebrows into a single arch, Keres slowly turned her head and looked at the golden-haired child in front of her. A moment later the girl's quiet and stuttering voice drifted into her ears and a small 'click' of understanding sounded in Keres' head.
"Ahooh-oh," Keres began lamely. She extended the paper towards the girl and noted how she was looking at the ground rather than at her. She also noted the earthy-toned wings and gave them a stamp of approval, though still thought hers to be much, much prettier...
Her thoughts returned back to the extended sheet-music.
"It was on the floor and almost got -- wait...what?" Keres leaned her head forward slightly, her voice full of confusion even though she had an idea of what the girl has asked her.
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Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 8:48 am
Manuela seemed a bit put off by the young child's display, and as she stood it looked as if she may walk out. But instead she withdrew a clutch of ashy branches from her waist and set them on the altar, whispering, "Padre nuestro, que estás en el cielo. Santificado sea tu nombre. Venga tu reino. Hágase tu voluntad en la tierra como en el cielo. Danos hoy nuestro pan de cada día. Perdona nuestras ofensas, como también nosotros perdonamos a los que nos ofenden. No nos dejes caer en tentación y líbranos del mal." Seeming oblivious to the rest as her eyes sank glazed over in her face, she lightly kissed Harper's coffin and moved to the side wall of the church, waiting for her turn to speak.
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Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 6:54 pm
"C-can you play the p-p-piano?" she asked again, a bit louder this time. "I, u-uh... I was... well I was hoping to sing a song, but th-there's no guitars or anything, j-just a piano and an organ." The siren shuffled her feet awkwardly; this girl seemed to be pretty confident in herself, while Casia, practically a natural-born entertainer, was fighting to overcome her shyness.
Her eyes lit up, and she suddenly ran back to the pew, gathering and shuffling the papers again. She flipped through them, before practically shoving them in Keres' face. "See? The main guitar's notes could be played by a piano, since they're almost following the melody," she chirped over the sheet music, assuming the girl knew how to read it. But suppose she didn't? Oh dear, that might be difficult, seeing as a guitar and a piano differ in playing styles. "U-um, if you c-can't play it, I could always sing another song, which might be easier to accompany." Her voice seemed to soften as she spoke, feeling a bit ashamed she hadn't planned this out earlier.
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Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 3:35 am
There was one last group to arrive, at least, as Meilin accompanied her twin and their charge into the cathedral. Eden was too young by far to understand, and truthfully none of the three had known the boy personally, but he had been from the same place as Eden, and that was all they needed to know to arrive for the service. That was the agreed consensus between the Chang girls, at least, so here they all were, dressed in simple black, more for respect than being directly tied to the mourners, besides, knowing their taste it's doubtful if they would have chosen anything else. Tony wore a dress, Meilin a three piece suit with an ankle length skirt. They arrived with Eden in Tony's arms, moving to sit somewhere towards the back but not too far in, wanting to leave seats closer to the front for those that had known the boy and the family.
All that continued running through Tony's mind was the tragedy of it, and how horrible it was to lose one so young, let alone an entire family, and it was a terrible way to die, she just couldn't shake the heavy feeling weighing down on her heart, and seemed particularly concerned to keep Eden in her lap, lest the girl disappear from her arms. Truthfully, this hit her close to home, too close, but she was doing her absolute best not to let her thoughts wander selfishly at a time like this. Still, memories of Alex couldn't really be helped. He'd nearly died fighting fires to prevent situations just like this, and though he'd been spared, he'd been lost to Tony in the end.
Eden, held in her arms, despite not understanding why they were here, did seem to be aware that the mood called for her best behavior. One young fist was clutched simply in her mother's dress, and she leaned almost tiredly against Tony, sensing the other's need for comfort. Her eyes glanced to Meilin, who simply looked back at the baby, and in a rare show of affection reached out to smooth some of Eden's hair tenderly. There was a look of soft sorrow in her eyes that even Eden couldn't miss, but that's how Eden seemed to -know- it was serious, because her aunt was never so easily read like that, not in public. After the gesture Meilin's attention turned back ahead to where the services were beginning.
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Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 6:10 pm
Melchy looked over at Chris, swallowed hard, and managed a weak smile. “Yeah,” he murmured. “Thanks, but I have one.” And, true to his word, he produced a handkerchief from his sleeve and cast around at all the faces, some of which he had never seen, but all undoubtedly cabbage children, and almost all faces he had seen before. Shaking his head, he closed his eyes, exhaled shakily, and glanced at Katrina. Keres was there with her. Putting his ears back, he looked apologetically at Chris and slipped away as discreetly as he could, making his way to the back of the church. But by the time he had gotten there, Keres was at the front with Casia. Melchy hissed unhappily and slunk forward, to where Keres and Casia were already. Brow furrowed, ears back, he looked at the pair.
“Um, I.......c’n I do ‘nythin?” He mumbled. “Wanna help, ‘f I can...”
Katrina, who had patted Keres' head mildly, watched her boy with something like interest, though she was mostly preoccupied. The death of a child weighed heavily on her soul, and she didn't like the idea. But it was beautiful, those children who had come out to pay their respects. Harper was loved, certainly.
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Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 7:00 pm
Keres was suddenly a flurry of hand movements as she tried to grasp onto all the papers that had been suddenly thrust upon her. For a second, her face held a bewildered expression, but after a moment of regaining herself, she lifted an eyebrow... again.
"I uhhhh.." she dragged out the stupid-word under her breath as she darted her eyes around the church. There was no Anya to yank her away to leave; she was on her own.
She twitched a golden wing and shifted her weight on her paws. Her eyes moved down to look at the sheet music in her arms and she almost jumped (again) when a voice suddenly sounded from next to her. Sweet JESUS, did everyone always just pop up when you were in a church?!
Keres sharply turned her head to look at the culprit, but her posture and expression softened when she noticed who it was. A small, real smile was offered to her rival, and friend, before sh looked back at the blond-haired girl.
"Yes," she said, almost forcibly, "I can play it for you." Could she really? Hell, she didn't know. She'd try, though.
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Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 10:26 pm
Casia's face brightened to Keres' affirmation, when she noticed Melchy walk towards them. She blinked a few times in curiosity, before the siren's face softened, as well. Even if it was a sad occasion, she seemed to like him more for asking to help out.
"E-ehm, Melchidezkek, e-er, Melchizedek," she started, stumbling over her words a bit carelessly. Her mind was thinking about what he could do to help out. He'd be quite good at getting everyone to focus on Casia, but the girl still had a reoccuring case of stage fright. Unless by some freak coincidence he or Katrina had a guitar (or any instrument, really), she couldn't think of anything useful, unfortunately. "If we had a guitar or s-something, perhaps you could play it, if you know how?" Her face brightened a bit with hope, the girl standing on her tip-toes a bit. She then turned to Keres, staring at her for a moment in thought, before she closed her eyes half-way and smiled, looking down at the ground now. "We can play the other song, it's simpler and softer, anyway. And Melchy," She cast a quick glance at the cat-boy to see if he'd take any notice of her using his nickname. "can turn the music pages, or maybe play alongside you. I-is that okay?"
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Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 7:46 am
As the musicians were getting their things together Christian stood, dropping down from the pew and heading to the front, where he sat down next to the podium and hesitated for a moment before speaking.
For those that didn't know him, his appearance might have been startling, but his duel voices were probably shocking. He ignored that fact, taking the mic that Pete handed him reluctantly and wiping at a tear with one large hand.
"Harper was my friend," he said softly. "We was gonna make a band. Maybe," he admitted. "He was fun. And--and I'm gonna miss him." It was a childish speech, made by a baby, but he meant every word of it, and the mournful quality in his two voices was striking. "Father Pete say he not coming back so... so I hope he have a good band wherever he went to. I sorry I couldn't be in it."
He sniffled again, then handed the mic back to Pete and headed back to his pew.
"This is the part where you go up there," Shade whispered to his son.
Antony's expressionless face changed slightly as a bittersweet smile pulled at his lips. "Trust me, father, that is the last thing you want me to do right now."
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Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:44 pm
"What ever is fine," Keres stated rapidly after a moment of silence. She flicked her eyes over Casia's head as Chris took to the front of the church. "Shhh," she hissed softly and went backwards, moving towards the piano off to the far side. She gave a hand gesture reminiscent of "Come over here" so that they wouldn't be in others' views.
(( D: crappy little post ))
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Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2008 11:21 am
Shiori and Kisala stood near the back. The girl wasn't really sure what to say. She wasn't really even sure what was going on. She didn't know Harper well enough to say anything, and she certainly wasn't going to disturb others' memories of him by trying.
Still, it was a sweet picture, all these people gathered to say goodbye. She wondered if there'd be a similar gathering for her one day long in the future? She hoped she'd never have to worry about it.
"Mom, do we gotta say something?" she whispered softly. The woman shook her head,
"I don't think so, Kisala."
She watched the others closely. She'd never been to a memorial like this on Gaia, and she wanted to be sure she understood proper procedure in case it was called for again. It was sad knowing such young people died, though, even here. Harper hadn't been much more than a child, and his parents were still quite young as well.
People died young in her own world mostly because of the Darkness, but she hadn't seen It here. Still, a fire...Gaia had its problems too.
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Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2008 9:17 pm
The siren shuffled quietly after Keres, beginning to fiddle with the sheet music, when Chris' words stopped her. What was Casia doing? She was more focused on music and singing and what instruments to use rather than the death of her first friend. She sat down on the stool in front of the piano, hands now tightly clutching the papers. At first, she looked emotionless, but from where Keres was, one could see little tears forming in her eyes.
"I'm a bad f-friend," she choked quietly to herself, though loud enough for the sphinx-girl to hear. "I've ignored Harper instead of thinking about him."
(Crappy post from me, as well. xD; )
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