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Xiu had sat herself a little ways away from the other, kneeling beside the lake with a lotus lantern sitting in her lap. A lit candle was already secured in the center, the small flame flickering as she leaned forward to set the lantern into the water. Rather than pushing it out to join the others, however, she kept her hands around it so that it wouldn't drift away.

Never again. After Red had died, the baku had told herself that they would never let this happen to one of their kind again, and yet...how did this even happen? She knew some of the details now, but nothing about how it started or why this had happened. And Riley...where was she now? Still in quarantine by the bogeymen? The thought made Xiu's heart clench--Riley was one of them. An Amityville student, a peer, a friend. Even if she had turned to stone, even if she might not be able to speak, or see, or hear, she belonged here with them.

Xiu looked over her shoulder at the cupcakes, and then turned back to look at the lantern, her smile growing wry. Riley would have loved those. It had actually been quite fun coming up with all the different flavours. They looked quite nice sitting together in the cupcake tower like that. She only wished that...that they had been able to bake these for Riley's wedding, rather than her memorial.

Her vision was beginning to blur, though she wasn't sure if it was just from the haziness of staring into the candle's flame for too long. Taking a deep breath, the baku finally let go of the lantern, giving it a little push so that it could float out to join the others. The smile on her face grew slightly.

It really was beautiful...wasn't it?

Pushing herself to her feet, she clasped her hands behind her back and moved back towards where the others were.

Hel looked up as she heard another approach, and her expression softened considerably once she laid eyes on Malodore. The reaper’s mouth felt dry, as she wanted to say something, but the lines ‘I am sorry for your loss’ just did not seem appropriate. Hel’s brows furrowed for a moment, and the ghoul stood then, looking up at the Plague Doctor.

She gave it a smile, reaching out to place a hand firmly over one of its own. “Would not miss it for all of Halloween.” Hel replied. “…Ah…if there is anything I can ever do for you, friend, just say the word, ya? No deed is too great or too small, that is a promise.” She paused. “…Would…you like for me to light that for you?” The ghoul questioned softly, gesturing at the lantern.

Jericho stared at Lizzy, slowly taking a step or two away as she gave him a rather pitiful expression. He then quickly finished up his cupcake, glancing towards Malodore briefly, watching as it went over towards the lanterns. He should probably send one away as well.

Crumbling the wrapper of the cupcake, he made his way over to take one of the lotuses. His gaze saddened as he peered down at it before grabbing another cupcake to place on top just as the demon suggested. Once he was sure it was secure, he stuck the candle in and let out a small breath and flame. The candle wick ignited.

The dragon was trying his best to not crush it all right now as several memories flooded him. Shaking his head, he moved towards the water's edge and placed it down.

"Faas los unslaad..." he murmured in draconic. Fear, is eternal.

Roch moved to the gathering silently, his hands in his pockets, a slight frown on his face. It didn't seem like a picnic to him. In fact... yeah, he was pretty sure he knew what this was for. Slowly he looked at those there, hesitating before moving forward to pull to a stop next to Malodore.

"I owe her more than I could ever repay," he said quietly to the plague doctor, although he was looking forward, at the flowers in the water. "Including a favor from a diplomacy game," he added with a tiny twitch of his lips. "If you'll let me, I'll repay you, in her place," he went on, turning to look at Malodore, finally. Strangely, it came off as a vow of loyalty rather than a simple promise.

She was the awkward penguin of a picnic anywhere. So it wasn't really a 'picnic', but at the same time, she was mostly there to socialize, and well.. there were very few people there who would have made upbeat socialization. Which meant it was time to be a pillar of sorts...she guessed.

It was kind of becoming her thing, after all.

Candles. Always candles. It seemed memorials had a thing for fire, and as it was, Shehk had already made due with her own flames for Riley. All of the fire - and a pin that had gone up in flames with her in memory. It seemed suitable, she guessed, but at the same time it didn't really seem right. Perhaps she needed to do it again.

Which required fire, and Shehk was bad with fire.

In fact, all she really was good at lately was just standing by to help Malodore and Jericho with their grief. She wasn't even sure where she stood with her own. She couldn't even drown them in cupcakes either.

Christof had been shut in his room for some time. He hadn't spoken to Barth, had refused to answer the door and had even barricaded it a bit when Calder had tried to approach, and had even ignored any texts from Amrita.

To see him outdoors, dressed properly, and anywhere near a group of people just then was an odd sight.

Even so, he hovered by a tree, as though wary to approach. The old scarf he had used to wear constantly to cover his stitched lips, torn and stained by more than one persons blood, more than one battle, back around his face.

The patches of his coat were mostly black.

Mitsu had been rather hesitant to go to the picnic, she knew the purpose behind it and if anything the lycan didn't do well with goodbyes. Finally she decided that it was disrespectful not to show up but had hesitated in her room a while longer staring at two objects. One was the Riley plushie she had acquired during the student elections. It had once sat with her other plushies on her bed but now sat on its own shelf safely out of reach of her minis along with the bone dragon tile that Mitsu had won during her game of Diplomacy with Riley. One favor she had won and two she had owed.

Mitsu regretted now that she had never been brave enough to seek out a stronger friendship with the ghoul. She barely knew her and yet it still hurt to know she was gone. It was still hard to imagine that one day she had been sitting with Hel, Roch, and Riley playing a game and only a couple of days later the gray had over taken her and she was now a lifeless statue.

It was with one last look at her plushie that she finally left her dorm and headed down to the water front with the others looking over the lake lit up with the soft glow of candle light. The whispers had began to fade that very day, growing quieter even now and all Mitsu could hear was the gentle clang of the wind chimes. Closing her eyes for a moment she let the sound sooth her trying to relax before she opened them again to stare at the tables.

She moved closer, her fingers gently touching the hand made wind chimes before she moved on toward the lanterns. It was easy enough to deduct the purpose her fingers gently grasping the flower as if it were make of fragile glass before taking up a candle and a match. She turned toward the lake then and slowly made her way to the edge sitting down by the water and laying the flower in her lap. The candle was lit and secured but once again Mitsu found that sense of hesitation as she began to place the flower in the water. This was truly saying goodbye and she wasn't really prepared for it.

Once again the sense of regret hit her, she knew Riley as a tutor and had always admired her from afar. She had known her as nothing but kind and looked up to her and now she would never get to truly know her and she really only had herself to blame. Still, she wasn't the only one hurting and she certainly wasn't the one hurting the most. Riley wouldn't want them to dwell on the sad times but would want them to remember how she have lived. Her strong presence, her commanding ability, her fearlessness.

It was then that Mitsu finally set the lit bloom in the water letting it drift away with the others. Her smile was soft as she remembered her few precious memories with Riley and everyone from school. It was there she sat for a while simply watching the lights before she finally rose to her feet and looked around only shortly before she found Shun. Her smile was still soft but warm as she approached one thing this had taught her...of rather reminded her of was the fact that their time could very well be short. Tomorrow none of them might be here and it was better to live out today with no regrets.

As she drew closer she quietly reached out for her reaper's hand, slender fingers intertwining with his. "Aishiteru." She said softly with affection coming up to lean against his side. The lycan truly loved him and couldn't imagine being without him and it was because of that her lips continued to form words before her mind was given the chance to hesitate. "Shun...will you...marry me?" She said softly hoping that only he would hear but who was to say.