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Ialo stood up carefully. The dizziness was gone, and he felt... better. Better than he had in a long time. He looked at his father (who was looking back at him and smiling softly) and grinned sheepishly as he left the room and followed Kai.

"You're right. The Ancients took her for a reason, and they won't allow harm to come to her as long as she... works for them." He wasn't quite sure why he paused there, but he did. "I'd love to meet your family, Kai. Something happy to cheer us all up."

He caught a glimpse of himself in a reflection off a window. Ialo studied himself carefully for a moment. "On second thought, given the gravity of the situation, I think I'll go as I am. Mostly." He muttered a common and low level spell. The torn and burn rags he was wearing were replaced by a black suit. No one could call Ialo out on poor taste. The suit was truly black, not a cheap dark gray or blue, as were his shoes. His shirt was clean and pressed and perfectly white, and his tie was dark teal silk.

"I frikkin' love this spell," he murmured to Kai. "I know now's not a good time to indulge in vanity, but between what I'm wearing and the mess my face is right now, I'm going to scare the kids into respect." Lined with bruises and pale skin and white hair stained by blood (presumably his own, preferably not) Ialo certainly looked frighteningly stern and sinister.

"C'mon!" This time, Ialo was in the lead as he beckoned Kai to quickly follow him outside. The funeral had begun, and Ialo had a record to keep.

Just as Ialo was coming out, Cook stepped up, replacing Sly, and those who knew him shifted a bit where they stood. Many had learned quickly to respect Cook, who ruled his kitchens with a heavy hand and a booming voice. So when he stepped forward, there was utter silence so that his grief-roughened voice echoed throughout the area.

"For those of ya who don't know, I'm...Cook. By all rights, I'm this girl's second father. I know what most of ya said about my Danni while she was alive. Ya feared her, were scared of her because of what she could do, what she made sure ya knew she would do. For that reason, a lot of ya went out of yer way in turn to make sure she knew she was hated, resented...Now I'll let y'all in on somethin' none of ya knew." He paused a moment, studied the faces before him.

"My girl never planned on hurtin' none of ya, or even of scaring you. She wasn't proud of the fact that people would sooner run from her than give her the time of day. She was amused by it, let me tell you, but there was no real, true darkness inside that heart of hers. A lot of people who didn't understand her enjoyed insultin' her when she wasn't around, glaring at her when she was. But no one seems to realize just what she did for all of you, every day and every once in a while. Every morning she was up before the sun, cooking the food all of you would eat, and she did that every afternoon, every night as well. When this school was half destroyed, she was up and about making things right with everyone else. She took self control classes so she wouldn't be a danger to anyone, though she despised them something fierce. And she...since the day she turned four, she's been fighting a battle bigger than anything you could've imagined, without saying a word, without complaining. And in the end, that silence...was what led to her death. So instead of staring at my girl in fear, in caution...Just once, now, when we're laying her to finally rest, shouldn't y'all look on in respect, in thanks? But that's just my opinion, and I'm just the school cook." He left it at that, his words daring anyone to disagree with him.

Lin had heard how Danni had died when she was in the crowd. Suicide. And from what the speeches sounded like, suicide seemed to be accurate. Lin would have suggested to Ambrose that Professor Akakio could bring Danni back, but if Danni had killed herself, her soul would not want to come back to her body. It wouldn't work.

So she merely continued to hug Ambrose closely. She reached up one of her hands to smooth her hand through Ambrose's soft hair, though she had to reach up quite high to reach his head.

"Of course, Ambrose. There is no need to thank me."

Kai smirked as Ialo lightened the mood and took the lead. "

hey just do what I do muscle bound, swing a six foot sword with one hand, and get your eye slashed in a war. no one ever messes with you and it drives the girls crazy ... well at least the ones that fight for ..." He cut himself off as they exited the house and made their way into the dreary crowd of mourners.

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Night ran out of the school in his normal black apparel, which was convenient since he didn't own any other clothes to change into. He stopped at the outside edge of the crowd and could only catch small glimpses of what was happening at the center.

"damn it screw this" he muttered taking a few steps back before dashing forward his body turning a translucent purple as he hit the crowd he passed through the crowd as if they weren't even there eventually only stopping once he hit the center of the ring where the translucency faded and he became normal again.

with a smirk he looked at where the speeches were held. "maybe I should head up there..."

Lin shook her head and muttered softly, "I came here for you, Ambrose. You are my friend and I wanted to be here for you, help in any way I can. That does not require a 'thanks' from you. But don't worry over such things right now."

She turned her head and rested the side of her face against Ambrose's chest. She had no idea what kind of pain he was going through. She still had all of her siblings.

When she heard this individual named 'Cook', whom she had never even seen before, give the opportunity to anyone who wanted to speak, Lin stood back from Ambrose. She squeezed his hand gently and smiled softly up at him. She had stepped back because she assumed that he would want to go up and say something.

Ialo naturally sobered up as he slowly walked to the center of the funeral, waiting for his turn to say something. When Cook was done, Ialo let his last words settle in for a moment. They were perfect place to begin this speech.

Cook has stepped aside as well, and the Headmaster took his place at the foot of Danni's grave. Only God knew where Ialo had summoned a perfect white lily to drop down into the dark foreboding hole. It was all his worst nightmares come to replay themselves.

"You are not," he corrected Cook. "Just the school cook. You never were. Just as Danni has never been just a tomboy, just a dark magic user, just a daughter, just a sister, just a student. Everyone here is more than what they think they are. You are my family."

Something inside his heart tightened, but he didn't care. He continued. He didn't even realize that his eyes were glowing softly, two more somber lights to the scene, or that his pupils had slitted. He didn't notice that his horns were visible through his hair, or that a blue mark on his forehead that denoted him as a Sky dragon was visible. It was all for the best though. Ialo was speaking from his heart, and he had a dragon's heart.

"Danni is gone, because of me. I ignored her, because I did not know how to my job. Being the Headmaster isn't about signing detention slips, or raising the money to replace that one desk that always gets broken during Spellcasting. Being the Headmaster is about being there for everyone. It's about holding this school together. And... I didn't realize that. And I wasn't there. And now... now someone in my family is dead."

"It's not just my family though. We're all here for each other. You may not know the name of whomever is standing next to you, but you're still a family. We are all bonded in ways that we cannot possibly comprehend." He wasn't lecturing, just... saying what he really felt.

"I could have helped. I could have been here. The blame for Danni's death is all mine. I accept it. And I will never let this happen again. I love you all for reasons beyond simply being Headmaster. I love the students, the teachers, the school..." Ialo was shaking now, tears in the corners of his eyes. "... and all its history, good and bad."

He looked down into the grave. "Danni, I love you and i never let you know. But the least I can do now is make sure there will never be another funeral on the grounds of MFHS."