Epilogue

This time they were given a proper funeral.

Strangely it brought a sense of peace.

Yet Meru still couldn't believe it. Rose died to appease the dearth lord's deal. She still half-believed that Rose would sit up and laugh at them, to smirk at them.

But she knew that death was irrevocable.

Rose had never come back to life. It was a momentary resurrection, a temporary release so that she could say goodbye the right way. And now she was gone.

But at least she had gone the way she wanted. A quick painless death, with debts paid and sins forgiven, with an adoring husband that would love her through to eternal death.

And Darius looked just as beautiful in death as he did in life. His white-gold hair glinted in the twilight, and the skin remained smooth even after what happened. If one didn't look closely, one could not see the wound in his chest. It was a quick death, deserving.

Zieg had told them that the hidden cove at the Midlake was Rose's favorite place, so now they were here for the funeral.

The strange thing was that even though the trip and preparations took a total of eight days, neither body settled into rigor mortis. Both bodies looked as if they were merely asleep, which made this so much harder.

But as Kongol called on his magic, and a deep grave with perfectly flat sides appeared, Dart flinched and lightly swatted the giant's arm, making Kongol pause in confusion. The hole closed completely.

"Don't do that," Dart croaked out in a voice that was rough with weariness. "She was…" he took a deep breath, sighed with part of it. "Rose is afraid of the dark. She won't like it if we put her body in darkness. She herself told me this."

Haschel frowned. "When?"

"Two weeks before her res—her reappearance."

"If we do not bury her, what would she like us to do?" Miranda asked quietly. It was among the few times that she was quiet, afraid. She clutched her Dragoon Spirit tightly, avoided looking at the bodies.

Dart paused. "Cremate her. I think she would like that. A blaze of passion."

"Yeah." Zieg chuckled mirthlessly. "She always wanted to go out with a bang. She was dramatic."

"I'm not sure if that's such a good idea." Albert said nervously. "What if she comes back? If she defeats the guardians, and wants to come back? She'll have no body to return in."

Dart looked at him sadly. "No. She's dead. She's not coming back. She knows that she would thin the barrier between worlds. She wouldn't anyway. She's said goodbye and her sins have been forgiven. She's with her husband now and there is no more discontent in her heart. There is no more reason for her to come back. Besides," he looked wistfully at the body on the pile of wood. "I don't believe that this is Rose. This is merely her body. So I've no regrets."

"Can—" Meru's voice broke, and she cleared her throat. "Can I pay tribute to her?"

Dart hesitated, but Shana did not. She enveloped Meru in a warm hug, so that her tears fell onto the petite dancer's platinum hair. "Of course you can."

Meru slipped away and stood in front of the funeral pyres. "I always admired Rose's fluidness in battle, and the strength that she had, like a raging river. And for the tears she was afraid to shed, I give her this." She clapped her hands, and her magic had never responded as quickly. Water, shimmering and beautiful, collected into the shape of a woman. The woman's upper half was normal; the lower half was a heavy mist in a vague mermaid tail. Meru's water creation drifted over to Rose's body, running the tips of her fingers over the dark-haired woman's forehead as if in sympathy before Meru made it disappear.

"I too, wish to honor our friend." Albert bowed his head. "Rose was mysterious as a breath of wind, here one second, gone the next. She held as many secrets and knowledge as the wind does." His green magic raised a gentle breeze that caressed the hair on Rose's head. "She helped save my family." He gasped before stepping back.

"Rose was always fast and swift and demanding to be focused upon, like lighting and thunder." Meru watched in awe as Haschel's magic made soft lightning in various colors dance around the pyres. Thunder boomed like a timpani drum and faded, like life.

"Rose taught me how to swim. Strong and always there. I'll miss her support." Kongol bowed his head in reverence and the earth began to shift. Cracks appeared, miniscule spiderwebs across the earth. From the cracks, flowers grew at hi-speed until the area was surrounded by roses and jasmine, the fragrance sweet and overwhelming. "Friend Darius said that these were Rose's favorite."

"She was always saying how she had so much darkness within her, but we were one and the same." Miranda's voice cracked and Meru could have sworn that if it wasn't Miranda, the woman was crying. She had always believed the woman incapable of tears, but the blonde was leaking water from her eyes. "I was always mean to her, but we have the same light and darkness. I called her a witch because witches enchant, and that's what Rose did. She enchanted us all with her own self. I won't forget her." Miranda waved her arms and a phoenix burst from between them, made of pure light, soft and sweet, and circled once around the pyre before disappearing.

Zieg moved forward silently, without words. He kissed Rose's forehead and moved back.

"I've no magic to present to her as tribute." Shana said. "But I can say honestly that I will miss her." Her hands rested where her unborn child was. "Rose, you were always so strong. I promise that if this child is a daughter, I will name her Rose."

Meru nudged at Guaraha, and the Wingly male could only shrug and look awkward. "I didn't know her very well, but she was always there to take care of the others. Strong, like Shana said. I spoke to Darius, though, and he's a good man. They deserve each other. Darius was strong too, and honorable."

Dart grazed his thumb over Rose's lips. "You always said that you admired my passion. But you have passion that could match my own. I'll miss you forever. For your love and friendship…" He clutched his Dragoon Spirit and the fire flared up high.

Meru screamed then, unable to watch as the bodies would turn to ashes. She ran, hid, scared, until it was over and the rest of them dispersed. They had spilled the ashes into the crystal Midlake, so that the two lovers could stay in pristine paradise forever.

"Wait." She said to Guaraha as he tried to lead her away.

She walked to the edge of the lake. "Sissy, I'll miss you. And I'll keep your lessons of life in my mind. And Darius, you had better take care of her!" She put her hands on her hips as if talking to a true person and then sighed. "I want you to remember me too."

She touched the ground, and the water snaked up to her wrist. She flicked it and it coalesced into the shape of a rose.

"Take care, Sissy. Don't forget us."

She walked back, and her tears were not unnoticed.

Neither was the bottle of rose-and-jasmine perfume that had somehow found its way into her hands.