Lost but Not Forgotten

[Liam Gelt]

Circe's text came sooner than expected. Liam has just enough time to press out his suit and scribble out a few words to say over the remains of the deceased. The Giant was still glad they were able to save Carlos' body, but there was still an odd feeling about having a funeral for someone he didn't know. Had Carlos been a saint or a monster before the Hedge took his life? And then there was the matter of the Goblin Fruit they'd found glooped around him.

But the important thing to Liam was that he was one of the Lost, just like the rest of them. He'd earned a more dignified passing than as Hob droppings.

And so Liam finds himself standing at the entrance of the tunnels under Funderland. There had been some talk about using the larger caverns for a gathering space or emergency bunker. As of now, Liam thought it to be a suitable place for the ashen dead to rest. A place where the Lost could be remembered quietly and safely. He's dressed in a grey suit and pants and carries a shovel; while his backpack jostles with candles, matches, and a small shovel. It was time to put Carlos to rest...
Circe ; Sonnie Wu

[Sonnie Wu]

Sonnie might have been a tad unclear on what was happening. She just showed up in her usual street clothes. Not that Beasts were terribly formal most of the time, anyway.

She just... wandered in, almost as if she had forgotten why she was there. The Steepscrambler blinked at Liam in his fancy clothes. "Lookin' sharp, Ent Man! What's the occasion?" As if to put an exclamation point of her casual attitude, Sonnie was munching on an apple.

Wait for it...

Almost there...

Ding!

"Oh, wait, we're doing something, right? Uhhh..." Another moment of thought, before she snapped her fingers. "You're getting married! Congratulations!"

Was the Beast getting dumber? WTF?

[Circe]

Circe has one of her standard suits as she has a lot of them. Getting it covered in something wouldn't be much of a problem for her. It is somewhat offset by the military backpack with entrenching tool, though the urn under her left arm is more interesting.


The urn was a tasteful piece Circe acquired to hold Carlos' metallic ashes. The Fairest sighs as she walks up behind Sonja Wu and pats her on the head and will try to ruffle Sonja's hair, "No. Stop smoking up strange things, we got enough ashes to handle right now."


Circe was irreverent herself, but it was intentional. She was a bitch, thank you very much.

She holds up the urn to show to Liam, "Our silvery friend is ready ta attend his final social event."

[Liam Gelt]

Liam chuckles in response to Sonnie's question. "Glad to see you're in high spirits, as always." ​Wait...does she really not know? Maybe the Giant had forgotten to fill her in on the details. "No, but thanks for the vote of confidence, Sonnie. We're here for..."

Then Circe arrives, and Liam hopes that's all the point that has to be made. No need to belabor the loss, no matter how peripheral it might be. "Wow! You really went all out with the urn, Circe. Thanks." It meant a lot that the Summer Queen was willing to put so much effort into a dignified burial. "Follow me..." The Giant picks up a large flashlight he's set nearby and turns it on, leading the pair down the tunnels.

The "Under-Funderland" has been well-explored by Liam, Circe, and Sera; Prohibition-era tunnels once used by bootleggers offered few perils but many mysteries. As they approach the makeshift bridge constructed during their first outing (or was it 'undering'?) there's the briefest sound of scurrying paws as the rats nesting in the makeshift moat scuttle into their nests. Liam has spent several months building a rapport with these critters, and he briefly smiles to Sonnie. ​"These little guys have been fun to get to know. Thanks for getting me started on those Fang Contracts a while back."

Eventually the Lost find themselves in a large common room area where piles of debris accumulated over the centuries has been shifted to various piles. Liam moves off towards an alcove to the right; little more than earth molded by time and erosion. He looks to his compatriots. "I figured we could bury him here. Someplace safe, and maybe..." God forbid "...if we need any more space than we can expand this part of the cavern." There's a bit of a quiver in his voice as the Giant fearfully contemplates losing any of the Lost he's REALLY gotten to know and care about. "I'd prepared a few words to say, but I'll let you both go first if you'd like." ​He defers to the Spring Claviger and Summer Queen; his friends in arms. He wasn't really sure of what the tradition was here, but he figures it would be best to let the ranked Lost speak before him.

[Circe]

"Ya'd be amazed how much quality people put inta burying their pets," Circe assures Liam on the quality, "Seriously, I've seen cheaper at peop;e funeral parlors."


Circe lingers a little behind, checking the fencing on the other path. Lock intact and no large holes. Plenty of rat sized ditches beneath the fencing, but that was expected. She doesn't even need to jog to catch back up. So, Sonja is why Liam is the Pied Piper. Neat. She does eyeball the timber of the bridge. The lacquer seems to have worked to keep it safe and deter the rats from eating it too much.


Circe nods in approval at his planning. Summer she was, she knew the risks. That and they may find others in the Hedge to bury. It'd speak well for them to have an we honor all that fall in our turf policy. "I don't know," she holds up the urn, "This guy from Adam. He could have been a sinner or a saint, and whilst the money spent will make me give a complaint, respect is something the Lost rarely get at the end." Abandon the dead out of necessity. She was familiar with that. Lack of loyalty too. "It may be a waste of what we have to honor a dead stranger, but it firmly says good things about our Freehold that we are doing so. Hopefully Carlos here has peace now. And he got ta high five Saint Peter on the way up."

[Sonnie Wu]

"No problemo! Glad you made some new friends!" she said to Liam, while glancing towards the squeaky rat sounds. She wondered what the rodents had to say. Probably something to do with cheese or the black plague.

Sonnie bit into her apple as they entered the... burial chamber? "Archeologists gonna find this place in a thousand years and think it was a royal tomb or something."

The Beast smirked and shook her head at the offer, "You don't want me giving a eulogy. I'll just listen." The half-eaten apple was stuffed into a pocket.

[Liam Gelt]

Liam can't help but chuckle at Sonnie's idea. "Maybe they will, Sonnie. Thought let's help we don't give them too many examples to find." It's strange to think of death for the Spring-minded Ogre. Springs were all about celebrating life and all of its joys and complexities. But he's seen death before in Arcadia as a long-lived treant; seen whole ecosystems grow and wither and grow again in that timeless hell. It just felt a lot more poignant here in the mundane world where he was getting to know flesh and blood and hangout for coffee people.

Liam nods appreciatively at Circe's words; succinct, informal, yet full of powerful intent. Just like her. It's what made Liam appreciate the Summer Queen all the more. Accepting Sonnie's wish to be a spectator at this impromptu funeral, Liam takes a deep breath and begins to speak...

"Like Circe, said. We don't know anything of who Carlos was in life. Just a name. But that name means that Carlos, like all of us, found a way out of Arcadia and away from Them. He'd won that precious little victory that has made all of our little victories possible. " ​He looks around the cavern where the three of them are gathered. "And now this place where his ashes will rest will be a reminder that every little victory counts. Every joy, no matter how trivial it might seem, is a gift and an opportunity to be remembered. Even in passing."

He takes his shovel and taps it against the dirt floor of the alcove. "That's all the ceremony I'd planned. Though I'll come down at some point to set a marker." Liam will take a moment to dig a hole just deep enough for the jar to go in snugly, then step back for Circe to place Carlos' ashes to rest.

[Circe]

When Liam gets ready to dig, Circe gets out the entrenching tool in pick mode, hoping to help to cut out the hole. It isn't needed. With a shrug, she tosses it aside and retrieves the urn.


She kneels down to place it inside as Liam moves back, getting it in snuggly into his hole. She stands up and steps back, "Good ta fill in. But Liam," she looks to him, "Definitely mark it. I'll make a improv," she points to the debris, "Beacuse if folks decide ta build up down here, we don't want a post driven down through the urn. That'd be a dick move."


Informal yet respectful was something the Summer could do it seems. Circe moves over to the trash to do exactly as she said. It takes her a few minutes to make an ad-hoc tripod to put over the grave. Ugly by a lot, but effective it will be in marking the location.

[Saber Sloth]

ten days left!

[Sonnie Wu]

Sonnie, true to her word, had nothing to say here.

Instead, she just placed Carlos' broken phone on his grave... after she'd wiped her fingerprints off of it.