Welcome to Gaia! ::

She'd gotten there after taking a few twists and turns to make sure no one was following her. Donning the red cloak she adjusted the hood and tried to hide her tail the best she could, which was sort of hard considering and paused with slight fright when she saw the mass number of students there.

This was one of those times she bit her lower lip and sucked it up trying to just think of everyone like statutes or something. It was for Red after all, she couldn't let her nerves get the best of her. The teacher had accepted her to the school after all this was the least she could do.

She'd heard the familiar voice in her mind and knew what had been entailed (remarkably). Finding herself obligated to act on this call, the ghoul did indeed head to the weeping forest where five figures stood with boxes of red cloaks.

They weren't to be known in what they were doing? She supposed with what had been said by Arel that day... something was definitely amiss about what had happened to the professor. Respects were to be payed, and she would join in the rituals that would be had. Putting on a robe, the ghoul followed with the sea of other red cloaks.

Some figures could be recognized, but the ghoul knew just enough not to call out to them given the secrecy they were to keep. This was for Red; she wiped at the front of her cloned Red pin with a thumb, remembering.

A small cloaked figure did not move with the congregation, pulling apart from the crowd just enough. Just a couple of tiny steps, enough, hood pulled fully down, to gaze into the box. They dropped nothing: no flowers, pins, or even pieces of the skull - the mere skeleton of what Red had been. 

Red, like cloaks all congregating together, secret and yet obvious at the same time. Red, like a force that fought against their allies, enemies, and themselves. Red, ironically, the colour that was not left behind in the wake of destruction. There was no body to bury. Just a box, student mementos, and a thick lingering memory.  

All the colour red. 

He had come simply because he had heard and then, because perhaps a small part of him worried and wanted to protect. No, there was noone else here but the students. This was also their ceremony, this was their fight, as it always had been. As Red had wished it to be. 

Quietly, he slipped away, leaving the cloak behind. In his domain, in his office, there was no red.  

Curious eyes scanned each and every face before they disappeared in the shadows of the cloaks they were told to wear, hugging the urn against her chest and resting her head on top of it. So many students, some familiar some not. She sniffled a bit but kept quiet otherwise. She wasn't..as sad anymore; she was still sad but not as she had been. Making the cloaks had helped somehow, it had been almost therapeutic in a way. Seeing the red cloaks day after day, watching them increase in number in a week, it was empowering. Red had died, but she wasn't gone. She couldn't be, she wouldn't be. The students would remember her of that she was certain, and she would hope none of them would just let her sacrifice have been in vain.

Riley spoke out and she smiled, nodding and making her way into the clearing now to stand near the box. Whether the students had thought to bring anything or not was fine either way. It hadn't been a requirement and this had certainly been mostly short notice for them. All that mattered was that they were here honoring Red's memory.

A cloak fluttered to the ground and her eyes widened, almost panicked until she saw the tiny figure leaving the circle. "Arel.." She said quietly enough that probably only the other student council members could hear, her gaze set on the school secretary as he left the clearing. He could have stayed...no one would have been opposed. And if they had been? They would be shut down, probably. "Should we...?" A wary look was given to the others, a small frown on her hidden face.

She had arrived only after watching a dainty figure leave the circle of red, pausing on the outskirts with her hands still resting on the hood of her cloak from having only just drawn it up to cover her head. She watched him depart, and there was only sorrow in glowing eyes as she joined the rest of the students. She had seem the subtle exchange between He and their nurse in the tent, and she didn't think he'd turn them in. He'd been just as upset over the cover up as they had.

The sea of red fabric around her was almost overwhelming, and she stared wide eyed at the numerous hooded figures, seeking something familiar from the whole of them. The cloaks did their job, and though she could recognize the student council standing before them and a tiny few others, the rest were lost to anonymity.

One lingering on the outer edge caught her eye, and she tilted her head to watch them before moving closer. Neck craning so she could peek within the shadowed hood at the surly features within. Him she knew, and it was him she would linger by, comforted by his familiar presence. If he'd bothered to return her searching look he'd have seen the tears streaming down dark cheeks. Despite her claim over water, she couldn't seem to will them to stop.

He knows that. Her thought was private, only the other student council heard her voice. She placed a hand on Junko, gently, affectionately. He did not want to stay, but he knows he was welcome here. It was clear when I invited him. Don't worry.

She hadn't told a soul she'd trusted the secretary, and she hadn't assumed he would heed her call, but he had, and she wouldn't forget it.

He was late to heed the call, but he did come. If only for a short moment. He felt it was the least he could do. Red deserved more than what the school had done.

He had no intention of staying longer than he needed to.

He found his way to the box for Red. He stared at it a long while, wondering whether or not to add his gift to the contents. He'd spent the time since the call was heeded writing her something, something she would never be able to read. No one's eyes would ever find themselves upon it.

Hesitantly, he laid down an envelope. Inside, a letter for the dead.



After he'd done this task, he left the scene.

When one of the hooded figures stood in front of the black and red box she directed her attention to them. The speech echoed everything she had been feeling. That this was unfair, even so that they had to mourn in private. Still, it was nice to be given a different view of Red. Something to remember her by. She was a Professor, a leader, a protector. In their time of need she had been there and had tried to help them the only way she knew how. The words she heard seemed to echo those she had heard in her mind that day in the canyon. Had it only been a week? It seemed like so long ago.

Lifting her head she nodded in agreement echoing the speaker's words. "We are Halloween and Halloween cannot die." Thank you Red, for saving us.