The Questers: Blazing Requiem

The Questers: Blazing Requiem is a short, one chapter story set following the events of Above the Most Broken Clouds.

Story
Black. Everywhere she looked, black. Black suits and blazers and dresses and ties and cars parked around the gate. The water looked black over the lake, without the sun to give it color. The clouds had overcast the sky, so there wasn't even moonlight or starlight to light the world for any of them, just torches, giving everything an almost Halloween look. It was strangely fitting, the death of the one who wore black all the damn time would be the one to make everyone else don the color. Gods, that's dark... She thought to herself. All the lights were off, as well, and she was left there, staring out the window at the canoe sitting at the docks, only visible because of a torch planted near it. She let out a long sigh and sat down in the kitchen, where a small sheet of paper lay.

He'd left no will or testament behind, but Zack Johnson had proven very particular about one thing. He had extremely specific wishes for his funeral, should he ever die on a mission or a quest. They'd all laughed at the idea when they learned about it, but now, there it was, sitting on the table, an excruciating reminder of his apparent foresight. She picked it up and stared at it, a sad smile coming over her face at the verbatim Zack had elected to use in this miniature will. The smile slowly faded as she realized it wasn't Zack's voice she was hearing in her head, it was her own.

Gods...have I already forgotten what you sounded like? She thought to herself and looked away from it. There was a knock on the door, and she got up and answered it. "Hey Nat..." Kyra said to her.

"Hey." Natalie replied. "Guess we should start."

"Yeah." Kyra sighed, and the two walked in silence over to a setup around a small stage with a podium that would make your voice heard by all in attendance. People were sitting and standing around the stage, some right beside it, others as far back as the front step of their cabin. Natalie had a feeling Zack wouldn't care too much about that, so she didn't get annoyed at them not coming all the way over. As they grew closer, they could hear the boombox that Zack had wanted set up, playing a playlist that he himself had created just in case of his death.

"Damn..." Kyra muttered. "Who'd have thought Slipknot would make me cry..." She said and wiped her eyes. Natalie draped an arm over her shoulders and kept it there until they reached one of the front rows of the attendance, where Annie and Ava sat on chairs, and Michael sat in his wheelchair.

"You sure you want to perform?" Natalie asked.

"Yeah. I'll be fine." Kyra said. "He didn't put it on that list of his but I feel like he'd like it."

"Knock em dead, then." Natalie said and sat down next to Ava, who was staring at the ground. Natalie reached out and entwined her hand around Ava's and gave it a squeeze. Ava squeezed back, but it was such a feeble attempt at a squeeze that Natalie knew she wasn't going to make it through the funeral without breaking down.