Enneagon

Chapter 2: Lilies

*edits were made my b*

Heyo! A sad chapter today, so y'all had better have your hankies ready heheheheeeee

Thank you to all the fabulous people who reviewed:

-Guest

-Runereader of the Nightwings

-Fireclaw88

-5witchblade

-Tigercry

-Hollyfrost666

-DidlyDoink

Thank youuu~

Also, shoutout to Tigercry who worked on this chapter with me! You're the literal best :)

Tigercry: I'm flattered ;D And I'm so excited to work with Azra again in a tag-team collab! No doubt Enneagon is going to be fun!

...

[Cimetière de Loyasse]

[Lyon, France]

[8.14.2065]

The sun was baking ruthlessly down onto the solemn gathering and Jayfeather tugged fruitlessly at the collar of his suit in an attempt to cool off. The sun was going to be the death of him. It was almost offensively warm.

The groups of people gathered around stood in pained silence, gathered quietly on the steps of the cemetery chapel. A dark, glossy casket with a varnished lid sat atop a wooden black table on the chapel steps.

No one missed the fact that the dark lid was pointedly locked shut.

No one mentioned it, either.

An artful arrangement of lilies had been placed softly on top of the lid, and every so often, a gust of wind would pick up a few petals and scatter them across the tiles. This scene, of the graceful vases of flowers standing around the table, the lacquered black casket, and the fragrant white flower arrangement was so peaceful it was disturbing.

Beautiful, yes. But this image of the tastefully arranged funeral in the scenic French countryside was entirely off putting, someone was dead, for Star's sake. Jayfeather knew even without his sight that the least the sky could do was look appropriately gloomy with at least more clouds. Though some cold rain and maybe some thunder couldn't hurt either.

The priest cleared his throat and Jayfeather's head flicked up from where his eyes had unfocusedly been directed at the ground. His blind eyes vaguely focused on the sound's origin. Around him, the other rest of the congregation turned their attention to the priest.

The softest squeaking of metal and plastic nearly made Jayfeather spook and jump before he swiftly reprimanded himself. Briarlight must've been standing beside him and he shouldn't have needed the squeak of her prosthetic leg to be aware of her presence.

He offered her a silent thanks in giving him the little space she had. After all, he had no doubt the runner had intentionally given him some room to think and be alone with his thoughts in the large gathering.

"Receive the Lord's blessing. May the Lord bless you and watch over you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you. May the Lord look kindly on you and give you peace; In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

Neither Jayfeather nor Briarlight was particularly religious, but there was no hesitation when they both joined in on the soft, murmured "Amen" of the rest of the congregation regardless.

Jayfeather closed his sightless eyes as the congregation's words sank into the mourning silence of the congregation.

Across from them, Half Moon's mother let out a poorly concealed sob.

The rush of sympathy Jayfeather felt for the small, shrunken woman must have been extraordinarily powerful, because it showed on his face. Not at all the norm for Jayfeather, the self-imposed anti-social hermit of Hexagon.

Briarlight read the frowning grimace look on his face immediately.

"That poor family", she said softly enough that only Jayfeather heard her. "I still can't believe the forensics lab wouldn't let them bury her."

Jayfeather offered the barest of nods in response, sympathy being replaced with irritation at the lab.

The case of LA's rather insensitive forensics team had been the cause of much angry muttering in Hexagon's circles since March. In the time leading up to the Dark Forest's criminal trial, the forensics unit had stoutly refused to let Half Moon's family take the remains of their daughter.

Their excuse?

"Wanting to analyze the body for as much evidence as possible."

And what a fat lot of good it did. The lengthy criminal trials, which had lasted all the way from March to July, didn't mention any evidence pulled from Half Moon's body even once. All it did was keep Half Moon's body from their grieving family.

Needless to say, Firestar had gotten so fed up that he personally went to Hussar, LA chief of police, and yelled at the man until he was blue in the face.

Within hours, Half Moon had been released, along with a rather bitter note of apology.

Jayfeather didn't say anything, just fixed his sightless blue gaze on the floor.

Jayfeather fixed his sightless blue gaze on the floor. "She's," his voice rasped from disuse, "safe now."

Across from him and Briarlight, four men from Half Moon's family took the casket by the handles and lifted it gingerly off of the black table. Then, with the congregation flanking the casket like an entourage of bodyguards, the casket was slowly and solemnly carried out across the cemetery.

The casket, with its beautiful white flowers in full bloom, was set gently into its grave.

As per tradition, every close friend and family member took a handful of soil and threw it carefully on top of the casket. Jayfeather, too, held a handful, feeling the cool crumble of the dirt under his fingers. He walked up to the graveside.

The deceased has returned to her origin. Man was born from the earth, and one day, he must return to it no matter the circumstances.

Perhaps he could've protected her more. Why the hell hadn't he stayed close to her when it became clear what the danger was? Half Moon, who was from France and had never so much as felt a tremor in her life. Of course the feeling of the building collapsing would have terrified her. He should have known better.

Briarlight gave him a nudge with one shoulder, no doubt frowning at him. "There was nothing anyone could have done", she murmured. "And blaming yourself for something you had no control over won't bring her back. I don't blame you. The others don't blame you. And I'm sure Half Moon wouldn't either."

"Okay, I'll try," Jayfeather told her quietly. He knew damn well that was a promise he wouldn't be able to keep.

Briarlight's leg brushed his ankle as she crouched down beside the edge of the grave of her best friend. Jayfeather's sightless gaze drifted toward her.

"We're always with you Half Moon," Briarlight murmured softly and gently sprinkled some of the dirt in her hands over the coffin. "You're still and always will be my best friend."

He let his handful fall.

And the pale lily petals disappeared from view.

...

[Los Angeles, CA]

[9.3.2065]

"Do you have everything?", Rain asked fretfully, eyeing the group with concern. "Clothes? Toiletries? Textbooks?"

Somehow, Briarlight had a sneaking suspicion that the valet's concern had been directed at Hazeltail. The story of how an entire luggage trolley had been left sitting in the hallway had become infamous at this point. She had been too busy shoving someone off of her and her seat a hundred times to be aware of what was happening at the time, but it had definitely been a highlight of the trip.

"Yes, Rain", Lionblaze said exasperatedly. "We have everything. Now can you please leave? Security won't activate the launchpad until all bystanders have left."

One of the security gorillas grunted, as if on cue. Then two other uniformed men took Rain by each of her arms and began walking her out of the room. "Are you quite certain?", Rain called over one of the thick sleeved arms. "I would be more than happy to-"

"Miss, security protocol states that all bystanders must leave the room, so if you could just-"

"Don't you tell me what to do", Rain interrupted, then called, "Be safe! Text me when you get there! And don't forget t-"

The door slammed.

"I thought she was your valet, not your mom", Foxleap remarked, amused. "Even our parents don't put up that much of a fuss." He nudged his sister, who snorted.

"You're just saying that because Rain is outside and can't hear you," Icecloud said with a dig at her brother.

Foxleap gaped at her. "What do you think I am, suicidal? She'd skin me alive."

"Wouldn't we love to see it."

"Forget Rain, the security chief looks like she's about to murder everyone in here", Briarlight snorted with an incline of her head toward the security chief. The chief, a towering woman with a pixie cut and muscles the size of bowling balls was indeed fixing them with a stink eye intense enough to rival Blackstar.

"You do realize that there are people after you?", the chief snapped. "Your babysitter already wasted about ten minutes, now if you'd be so kind as to pay attention."

"Yikes", Icecloud mumbled. "Blackstar and Rain might have some competition."

The chief snorted but said nothing else, waving one of her massive hands to usher them toward a touchscreen in the wall. The bluish screen, otherwise blank, read out "Please place index finger here". One after the other, the group did as the screen commanded, placing their fingertips over the cool glass surface. Briarlight clunked forward awkwardly on her leg and carefully pressed her hand against the chilly glass of the touchscreen, only experience kept her from giving a light flinch at the temperature.

Next to it, a loading bar slowly filled, pinging loudly when complete. Then her information started filling up the screen. Her name, birthday, age, height, and nationality ran across the screen in long strings of letters, accompanied by a picture of her face.

The chief, who had been standing over her shoulder and scrutinizing the screen, gave a short nod and gestured for her to join the others by the launchpad. Then, once the last person had completed the identity verification process, the pad sprang to life as if it had a mind of its own.

Although the spectacle might have fascinated Briarlight the year before, she had seen the I-M doing its job often enough by now that it failed to impress the way it had. The beam, azure blue and blindingly bright, rose out of the pad and ascended out of the open roof and into the sky. At the other end, Hexagon's launchpad would be sending out its own I-M, seeking to connect itself with the one coming from Earth.

It took only seconds. The blinking lights at the base of the launchpad suddenly went traffic-light green, indicating that the connection had successfully formed.

Over Briarlight's shoulder, the security chief yawned and waved them boredly into the beam.

"Do you want me to take your stuff?", Jayfeather's voice quietly rasped from Briarlight's right shoulder. She couldn't help but laugh a bit. Her "stuff" consisted of a single backpack. As per protocol, her main luggage had been sent up to the school the day before.

But Jayfeather was trying so hard to be the gentleman, she would have felt like an ass refusing.

"Sure," Briarlight shrugged off the bag and handed it to Jayfeather who silently swung it over his shoulder.

Then he was just standing there, his scarred-over eyes fixed on the I-M with unmistakable dubiosity. Briarlight, recalling the disaster with Firestar weeks before, silently reached for his hand. She gave a small smile, fully aware that he couldn't see it. "Come on, everyone's waiting for us."

Jayfeather didn't react but Briarlight hadn't expected him to. Instead she took the lead and walked into the I-M with her hand in his.

…

Mistystar was exhausted.

That wasn't new. Mistystar, who apparently ran entirely off of cortisol and disgusting lukewarm coffee, didn't seem to sleep. Ever.

So when Briarlight came stumbling clumsily out of the I-M with Jayfeather, she didn't so much as look up from her paperwork. She had simply been here for so long admitting students into the school that their identities just blurred together. "Name", she said flatly, wetting a finger and crisply turning a page.

Jayfeather merely smiled the faintest of smiles while Briarlight awkwardly tried to regain her balance. Prosthetics really weren't designed to go in I-Ms.

"Hi, Mistystar."

She jerked up as if stunned, then when the duo registered fully in her mind, her face split into a broad smile. "Jayfeather! Briarlight!"

Then, abandoning all professionalism, Mistystar practically leaped out from behind her desk and rushed over to give the pair of them something close to a hug. "How have you been holding up?", she asked urgently, pressing a hand on each of their shoulders. "After the trial, I mean…"

The trial. A dark but relieving memory for everyone that had been involved in the chaos of last year. Where Dovewing, Tigerstar, and Mapleshade had each been sentenced to life in the Aesta Maximum Security Correctional Facility in West Briox. Along with them went scores of other Elites, which had been given somewhat milder sentences.

Bluestar had been sentenced to a minimum of fifteen years in a mental health institution, much to everyone's relief.

The trial, where each of them had testified before the jury, numbly recounting the events of Monday, March 9th, 2065.

Briarlight felt her stomach sour at the memory.

She remembered it, the feeling of standing in a very bright spotlight on the witness stand as defense lawyer drilled her with questions.

She also remembered her own shaky, stumbling, and half-numbed, half-completely lost responses and the stone-faced jury. That same stone-faced jury had turned out to be on their side in the end, where the jury leader had stood before them and read out the verdict they all needed to hear.

"Guilty."

She remembered the look of pure, unbridled fury on Dovewing's face, with her platinum hair bundled up in a greasy knot. She had been walked out of the courthouse with handcuffs on her wrists wearing a fluorescent orange jumpsuit, leering at Ivypool with an expression that promised revenge.

While Ivypool had all but glanced in her direction.

Mistystar's face was sad as she handed each of them their new dorm assignments.

"My condolences", she whispered softly, and let their shoulders go.

End Chapter 2

A more Briar and Jay centric chapter this time!

Fun fact: cortisol is one of the key hormones involved in the body's stress response. I just imagine Mistystar being so stressed all the time that that's all she functions on.

Stress is bad, kids (seriously though, chronic stress is actually really bad for you. Poor Mistystar)

Tigercry: Yes, remember that breaks are just as important as being productive and keeping on top of things!

Comments are loved :)

Azra out!

Tigercry: Later guys!