In Darkness Blooms (Remembering Jesse) [Open]

[Reign]

"I wonder what it would be like to be born a bird."

Words once pondered and tossed to the wind on that very spot. Well, not that spot, but its twin in another time, another Isle, a place long lost to the Nothing, the void that had swallowed it all. A Nothing that Reign had to face once more only hours prior when it had wrested hold of the woman who had once saved her.

A woman few understood and less still liked.

A woman now dead and buried in the mud beneath Reign’s feet.

The procession to the Isle in the wake of Jesse’s death had been one of near silence. A hole dug, a body blessed with tongues of old, bidding safe passage into whatever beyond might await such a being as she. Placed within and gently covered, at least at first, a sprinkle of dirt given by the handful.

And then the shovelful. Turns taken until the recession in the earthen hills high above the Dead Scar was filled and distended with the dirt’s disturbance. It wouldn’t lie flat, no, not with the frail figure laid to rest beneath it all. Reign took care to smooth it as best as she could.

They built a cairn and when the last rock was set, Reign fortified it with a few murmured words to bend the molecular structure of the stones just enough to fuse them. She didn’t linger after that, wasting no time on words or pointed silence save to thank the pair that had been there for her in the alleyway and all its aftermath.

In a world as wide as this, we three were the sole spectators as a brilliant and mad light was snuffed for good.

The little witch was left to rest in the same spot as Reign’s own parents, at least on that other Isle in that other time.

She washed the black blood from her hands in the tainted river that cut through the Scar. What was a little more fell for the fauna, after all?

The lingering undead that populated the Dead Scar’s land left her alone, as if they too could feel the grief and rage rolling off of her in waves. It would have been easy to return to the beach house she was “borrowing” from her older sister. It was close. She could have gone to the Cardinal Inn if she had wanted a short walk from the portal’s exit on the city side.

Instead, three in the morning found her gently leveraging the doorknob of a house on a quiet Kabuki neighborhood side street. A cozy couch in the living room gave her space to finally relax, though no tears came. She wouldn’t let them, not yet anyways. There was too much to do, too much to sort out.

“A lot to unpack,” as someone had once told her.

Sometime just before dawn, she let sleep claim her and hoped her sister and her sister’s partner wouldn’t mind too much that she had broken in to crash on their couch.

”Hey Soti?”

“Yes, child?”

“I think you would make a wonderful bird.”

[Reign]

Against the odds, morning came.

A shower and food helped.

Quietly recounting the night prior to Royal had been less helpful.

The sisters sat in silence for some time until abruptly Reign rose and declared; “I’m going to have one of those stupid… candlelight vigil things.”

“She would have hated that.” Royal remarked quietly, though a small smile tugged at her lips.

“Exactly why I’m doing it. She’s not here to argue.”

Reign hugged Royal, setting a kiss to her older-but-shorter (as Reign liked to reminder her) sister’s forehead in parting before setting off into the early afternoon. Dockside’s chaos had calmed in the wake of Jesse’s removal from her station as Baron of Dockside. Well, as much as chaos in Dockside could calm, the frenetic district ever an epicenter of disorder.

She vacated Dockside after a quick trip to JUSCO, procuring markers, paper, tape, and candles, some conventional, some battery operated.

Hey, you have to work with the stock.

By the end of the day on Tuesday, postings had been placed in common gathering places and quietly advertised in the Rhydin Times print edition.

Candlelight Vigil
In memory of Commander Deathlord Jesse DeAngelo Van Bokkelen
Former Archmage, Keeper, Baron, and holder of BioHazard
Wednesday the 23rd, 8 PM RT
The Tower of Death - Twilight Isle

((Feel free to add any contributions to the vigil here. Wanna collab for it? Hit me up.))

[Mairead Harker]

Maggie was among those gathered for a final farewell to Jesse. Several of her family members were also there to say goodbye and help give Jesse a proper send off. That the teenager knew, the only one that openly claimed the little witch as family was Reign. The little witch, that was what Jesse was when Maggie, a young child at the time, first met her; an eccentric broom riding witch.

Children tend to see things differently than adults. Growing older and, perhaps, wiser, Maggie realized, a while ago, that Jesse was not inherently evil as some people wanted her to believe. Like many of the children that were the teenager’s students, Jesse was a victim of circumstance. It pained her to think of anyone confined to bed and having to claim other bodies to live. That was Jesse’s life. Literally living in someone else’s skin. Despite the bodies having been grown for her in some way, they were not truly hers. It was hard enough to see children being hooked up to machines to make their last days of life comfortable. Maggie’s heart ached for the person Jesse might have been had she truly been able to move about freely and live whatever might have been a normal life.

She’d been told the witch had no soul, but she wasn’t so sure. Maggie could have sworn she felt a familiar presence leaving the mortal plane not long after she’d shepherded her charges onto Charon’s ferry. Perhaps Jesse had joined them.

22 Nov 2022

Maggie was wandering in the Keeper's Garden. She had a bundle of lavender spider lily bulbs cradled on one arm. Jesse had expressed a fondness for the flowers.

Rachael Blackthorne, the scarred woman in black, red and gold headed toward Maggie in the Garden. She was followed by a little yellow tabby kitten and a yellow tabby Cat.

"Where should we plant these, May?" Maggie tipped her head to look at the kitten. She hadn't missed the duel between Sal and Ambrosia going on, nearby, but right now, the flower bulbs were a priority.

Mayflower went into Downward Kitten Pose to think. Then she looked up at Maggie. “Over heres pleases." The Garden Warden Kitten trotted over to a section of the Memorys Gardeny and pointed with a paw.

Maggie crouched where Mayflower pointed. She murmured something and one arm became a massive paw. She dug in the earth with the paw and claws.

Mayflower began to sing in Kittish, the tune most definitely Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, while Maggie worked.

Maggie used the heavy paw to smooth the dirt and set a small marble bar near the flowers. It depicted a doll and a witch's broom. The inscription was scripted simply, In memory of Jesse; friend, dollmaker, and unique being.

The Fire Keeper bowed her raven haired head and murmured a prayer in Latin.

"I will takes care of the pretty flowerys, pretty Maggie," Mayflower declared.

The paw was now a hand again as Maggie set down a sapling, a very young pine tree. "Thank you, May," Maggie murmured as she reached to scritch the kitten's head. "You have a space for this?"

Mayflower nodnodnodded and purred with the scritches. "Over theres pleases." Her paw pointed to another area of the Memory Garden.

Maggie stood and lifted the baby tree. It was planted with care as the spider lilies had been. She fished in her pocket for something. The model of the ferry boat was near the newly planted tree. Set on the deck of the miniature was a sculpture of Cerberus. "Guard them well," Maggie almost whispered.

Mayflower gave the little pine tree a nuzzle before she trotted to Maggie and offered a head butt to her hand.

After reaching to give Moneypenny some scritches, she was crouched and leaned to lightly headbutt Mayflower in return. "Pines are your favorite, aren't they, May?"

Moneypenny purred with the scritches. Mayflower nodnodnodded. "Piney trees are bestest trees."

It seemed Autumn and Spring were not the only seasons represented. In the Memory Garden, Winter made its presence known when Maggie's gardening clothes were replaced with a formal ice blue gown to reflect the solemnity of this duty. A tiny silver trinket with blue stones was set near where the spider lilies would soon grow. "You were as unique as a snowflake, Jesse. Maybe, maybe I'll see you on the other side some day."

Mayflower began to sing in Kittish, the tune recognizable as Amazing Grace. A ghostly bagpiper joined Mayflower in her song.

Maggie folded her hands together and bowed her head. She offered prayers in silence.

Rachael bowed her raven haired head and murmured prayers in both Latin and Welsh.

"Rachael?" Maggie broke the silence. "Shall we honor her memory with a duel?"

"Oui, very well. Sorcellerie, then."

"Yes, of course." She smiled and offered more scritches to Moneypenny and Mayflower before heading toward the rings. Mayflower and Moneypenny purred with the scritches.

Rachael followed Maggie to the rings.

The soft fabric of the ice blue gown rustled as Maggie joined Rachael in the ring. She bowed. "Skill and honor, Keeper."

"Competence et honneur."

A curtain of snow fell between Rachael and Maggie as the duel began.

Morning of 23 November

Maggie made an appearance at Cardinal Inn to leave a message for Reign. The sealed envelope contained a bank card from First Goblin Bank of Rhy'Din and a list of restaurants, cafes, etc. The note read,

Reign,

Please use this to cover expenses for food and drinks for the people at the vigil for Jesse.

Maggie

The wee hours of 24 November

Maggie found a few quiet moments near the cairn that was now Jesse’s resting place in the Dead Scar. 3PO stood in silence as he watched her praying. The silence was broken suddenly, as she said quietly, “Keep a lookout, 3PO.”

“My Lady, is this wise?”

“3PO …” She didn’t finish answering him until after the transformation was complete. In the Dead Scar stood a woman of six feet in height and begowned in blue and silver. “Concobhar,” she addressed him then with his proper name in Irish, “for one that is well-versed in the art of battle, you seem to know little of its aftermath.”

“I have never dealt with … body disposal. This is true.”

“They are the mortal remains of what once were living, breathing people.” She studied him for a moment. “Remember that in future and treat them with respect.” She made a backhanded shooing gesture. “Kindly leave me in peace. I’ll find you shortly.”

“My Lady, it is my duty as the Knight of the …”

“Go, now, that’s an order, Captain.”

The woman before him had just pulled rank six ways from Sunday. He bowed and left her as she asked. More silent prayers were offered as a sprinkling of snowflakes very briefly decorated the ground surrounding the cairn. The Winter Queen captured some of the snow in a transparent globe. She set it down near the gravesite and murmured, “Unique as a snowflake.” Within the globe was a hologram of the Celestial Tower with a witch flying her broomstick. “Wherever you are, Jesse, I hope you’re happy and at peace.”

By the time she rejoined 3PO, she had returned to the form people were used to seeing. Elsewhere on the Isle, the Spider Lilies had begun to poke out of the earth.


((Notes:
Spider Lilies


The trinket left near the memorial stone.


The miniature of Charon’s Ferry



The second gown is from Elie Saab


Pronunciation of the Irish name, Concobhar: https://forvo.com/word/concobhar/

Many thanks to:
Rachael’s player for the scene in the Memory Garden.
Jesse’s player for having created and played one of the most memorable characters I have encountered. ))

[Beau Austin]

“Stop right there, you’re not taking my son.” John announced as he burst in from the back porch.

“Relax man, this isn’t a kidnapping. I’m taking him to his mother’s vigil,” I informed him as I picked up the four year old from his (my) bed. Looking down into a set of eyes that were my own was a little off-putting, and I was probably doing stuff that would get me yelled at for messing with timey wimey things, but I held my younger self in one arm and turned to look at my father desperately trying to prop himself upright against the doorframe.

“That one wasn’t even his real mom,” his words were slurred.

Big shock, you’re drunk, I thought to myself and rolled my eyes.

“Yeah, well she was more of a mother to him than you ever were a father!” I shouted before shaking my head, nearly pitying him. “Look at you now, you can’t even stand up straight. How about you just go right back to that bottle of bourbon on the porch? You’ll blink and we’ll both be back and never realized that we even left.”

I wasn’t in the mood to argue, I was going to be late. Turning for the front of the single room guest house, I kept half an eye on him as I made for the front door to exit. When my Dad lurched out from the door frame for me (and pointedly younger me), my free hand shot out with a burst of fel magic that forced him back to topple onto the small couch.

I stopped long enough to see his shocked and horrified expression, then continued on out the door.

“We’ll be back in a couple hours. I actually keep my promises. Something I didn’t learn from you.”

[Sae Kataoka]

Sae, often absent from the city and the Isle for long stretches was one of those that gathered for the farewell vigil, wearing a black cloak with the hood mostly concealing her features. The garment served to also carry the small fiendish black cat that was riding along in an interior pocket, with green eyes peering out at the surroundings. She spoke quietly, standing off to herself, holding one battery powered candle in hand.

"We had a duel once at the rings. It had been fun. I guess now we won't get a chance to have another. Meant to come for another magic lesson one of these days, and one of these days ended up being too late. Anyway, this one is on the house"

After her brief private words, the roaming delinquent left a single loaf of bread as tribute, wrapped in a furoshiki of pure funeral white with laurel leaved knotted in.

[Serenity Silverhand]

.

[Sadie Knight]

In the months after Jesse's passing, correspondence and meetings occurred, checks signed, and an endowment quietly established. Copied to the Governor's Office, though lacking an education minister they may have been, a citywide scholarship was created in Jesse's name. During the summer prior to the new school year, it was sent to school counselors and opened for applications. Offering a full ride scholarship to a local school of choice, with priority given to attendees of Ragnarok Studium, Sadie had pondered a name for the fund for some time before finally settling on the most simplistic: The Jesse Memorial Scholarship, a name that needed few explanations because if you knew, you knew.

In a world where she was so painfully mortal, she hadn't expected to lose her seemingly deathless friend, strange as the woman had been. The godmother of her oldest child had been quite literally the picture of Rhydinian eccentricity, in Sadie's mind, and a Rhydin without Jesse was a colder place, more akin to the Earth she spent so little time on these days.

After all was said and done, Sadie hiked up to the little witch's resting place with only AJ in tow so that together the woman and her daughter could pay their respects. AJ helped her mother dig a small spot at the head of the cairn in which to plant a thin sapling just far enough away that it may offering the resting place shade once it grew. Sadie helped cover it properly, building up the dirt around it to support it and the stake that kept it upright. With dirt beneath their nails, they held hands as they prayed over the fused stones, offering quiet requests to a God that often seemed so very quiet Himself for those in this faraway place.

Before departing, she left a small wallet sized picture wedged between two rocks. In it, Sadie and Jesse, sitting on a bench, smiled at the camera, albeit awkwardly for Jesse. They both were dressed in their Sunday best, the moment having been captured after Sunday service at Rhydin Baptist. It was taken before AJ had been born and likely before she had married Sam even. There was no date on it though, so she could never be sure. A decade here hadn't quite slowed the passing of time unfortunately. The two took their leave soon after amidst a quiet chat in 5-year-old terms as to just what "death" meant and why AJ had to say goodbye to her godmother one last time.