A Funeral for Two

A funeral was held for two of the three third generation Fier daughters. Cora and Chelsea, both named after the sea and both born and raised in Sulani, had lived long and well.

Everyone wore the traditional black, expect for Chelsea’s daughter, Shawna, who sparkled in lilac and wanted to honor her mother’s passing by giving a eulogy highlighting the good and celebrating their happiest memories.

Asher also spoke. It was difficult for him to talk about his children after their deaths, and his speech wasn’t particularly good, but he had wanted to say something about his daughters. He had cared for them and he missed them.

The thought of doing this again for each of the three of his currently young and very mortal daughters watching him, and continuing on for an eternity without seeing them … it bothered him. Asher was grateful for his four children who had inherited his immortality and weren’t destined to leave (even though he normally wasn’t grateful for anything). But even with that, if for the majority of his life he was only going to be left with memories for most of his children, it already felt a bit “too much”.

Dysis noticed that the family portraits on the walls in the Fiers’ second home still featured only vampires, but she felt less bothered by it, because it was clear that her father was struggling and that he cared for all of his children. Did he still favor her vampire siblings? Maybe, but he loved her too. Dysis also knew that Asher came from a patriarchal family with very strict rules that he was supposed to uphold, but she didn’t know what they were or the extent to which he was upholding them. “Rules” and Asher’s traditions were something the family never discussed, and she was smart enough to know that was likely intentional as these rules couldn’t be good.

Asher noticed Dysis lingering behind the others in the ceremonial room and stayed as well. Admittedly, he was not the best father or even one of the best fathers (not that he wasn’t trying to be or that he would actually admit that he wasn’t), but being a good father was in the realm of possibilities for him. He’d always had the basics down: he liked his kids and, specifically regarding Dysis, he was so incredibly proud of her. She was young and only human; yet, she’d accomplished so much academically, socially… – she was accomplished in basically everything except the arts. Dysis inspired him to push his youngest child, Elmire.

He told her as much, but also reiterated what he’d told before: she was human, life was short, and as such, it was most important that she lived her life as she saw fit. BUT, of course, there was nothing wrong with piling on the accomplishments to let everyone know how sublimely talented the Fiers were.