never said that victory came without casualties | axel's funeral

They had suffered many losses in the rebellion, but there had been little time for ceremony or style. They'd honored their dead, as one is required to, but at the end of the day they had put them in the ground or burned them when there was no time; there was no individualized honor or ceremony, as is typically the case in war. He supposed they had mourned Prometheus on his own, as they should, but he felt that there had been something missing there. It hadn't quite felt right.

Much as he may have disagreed with Axel's politics, he was still their leader once, still a part of their family. Cain would show him the respect that he deserved, King or not; the Blackfallen did not abandoned their own, even in death. He stood on the docks in the darkness, the torches lit all around him and casting a gentle glow across the water. They had been told to join him here accordingly, and soon, they started to join him slowly, gradually, casting solemn glances towards the small paddle boat floating in the water beneath him.

"Blackfall," he started, voice low and even, "Tonight we bid farewell to one of our own. Axel cared for the militia, in his own way, and he upheld the values that we claimed the day we went into rebellion. He was good man, even with his crown, and we will remember him as one of the first leaders and first to fight for Blackfall. With honor, we send him off to the heavens; with honor, we give him back to the ashes that we rose from."

He lifted the torch he'd been holding, briefly, and then knelt to set the boat alight. As he rose, he pushed the boat off with his foot, and it drifted slowly through the pier, flames rising high into the sky. "As he has fallen, we shall rise and continue on in his memory. For Blackfall, for the end of tyranny, and for the people."

[b][color=#414a4c]✴ ✴ ✴

Amren cared not for funerals. They were nothing save a mortal construct and she most certainly wasn't a mortal... spiritually anyways. The body she currently occupied was as mortal (and as tiny, much to her chagrin) as it got and she despised the fragile form with every fiber of her being. She could barely tolerate it, her only consoling factor being that this was a far better alternative than that prison she had resided in. The former Death Angel might have been confined to this sack of flesh and blood, but she figured that that was much better than rotting in that jail cell with nothing to do and nobody to sweet-talk. Not to mention the fact that her original dimension hadn't produced gemstones as big and beautiful as the ones this dimension did. A minute detail but something she appreciated nonetheless.

Oh, but the funeral. Yes, she had completely forgotten about that for a moment.

She had joined the masses just before Cain had begun to speak, elbowing her way to the front not because she cared but because she absolutely hated simply staring at backs. She was striking and beautiful, if she did say so herself, but her height certainly was where she almost quite literally fell flat. Maybe one day, Amren would abandon this body in search of one even prettier and much, much taller. Though, despite her general dislike of this one, it had grown on her.

Because she kept getting distracted by, well, herself, the little spitfire opted to remain silent. To her, it was one of those 'if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all' things. She didn't know Axel. She thought funerals were pointless. And she hated being so close to so many of her fellow Blackfallen. This obviously was important to Cain though, and no matter how vain and conceited Amren might have been, she knew she shouldn't take that away from him.

So she watched.

Watched as that tiny boat caught fire and began its final voyage into the ocean that bordered their home. The flames reflected in her stark silver eyes, dancing there before fading more and more as the boat moved away from them. Cain would be a good leader, Amren decided in that moment, stealing a glance at the man. She hated to say it, but she halfway liked their new commander.