A/N: Omgomg THANK YOU MIJ FOR WRITING SUCH A WONDERFUL ASDFGHJKL-

Btw, the funeral is focused on my character more since Mij said it would be too long to ponder on each death. Besides, mine would have the most impact since the characters did resonate with my character the most n' stuff. Anyway, onto the chapter.

 

!Please keep quiet!

 

(POV: Mij)

Funny how we always take people we care about for granted. We only acknowledge them when they're...

 

A.) Dead.

B.) Dying.

C.) Going through a series of unfortunate events which require physical/emotional intervention.

 

But we never seem to learn, do we? Heh... It's another fact of life we can't seem to get a grasp on... Eh. Whatever. It's fucked up. A painful reality suffered by both mortals and goddesses like me.

 

Shit. I have the gall to joke at a time like this.

 

"Hehe, I'm such a horrible human being..." I whisper to myself with a chuckle.

 

Especially since I was stupid enough to accuse her of being the murderer... I'm such an idiot that way.

 

No POV

It was a bright and sunny day. Not a cloud in sight. Beneath the shade of a large tree, four friends and a priest finished the final funeral rites.

 

"If I may ask... What is the name of the dearly departed?", asked the priest. An apologetic smile graced his kind features.

 

"Angeliz... Angeliz Reyes.", replied Zoe.

 

Escorted by a pair of young policemen, Zoe walked towards them from behind the priest with a dignified air. She wore a loose, hideous, prison jumpsuit. Her hands were cuffed behind her back.

 

"30 minutes, Ms. Zoe.", said police officer #1. Police #2 un-cuffed Zoe.

 

A warm breeze tousled Arissa's black veil. A few strands of hair escaped from her feathered hat. Delicately holding a white rose, tears rolled down her pale cheeks. Arissa sniffed and wiped her eyes with a white handkerchief. Her right arm was protectively draped around Nikki whose shoulders shook with grief. Faintly, she blubbered an apology while crying. Her face was buried in her hands. Mij glared darkly at Zoe. Her grey eyes seemed to storm like a hurricane. Zoe flinched.

 

"What are you doing here?", asked Arissa. The venom in her voice dripped.

 

"I wanted to see Angeliz off. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't?

 

The two police officers backed away out of earshot, but close enough to observe the whole scene. Nikki suddenly looked up; her red-rimmed eyes were full of anger.

 

"Friend!? You are still calling yourself that after all you have been doing to me and everyone?!", she yelled.

 

Her petite body shook with rage as Mij sighed.

 

"Stand down, Nikki.", Mij commanded.

 

Zoe looked up and flinched again when Mij put her hand up. Expecting a sort of slap or punch to the face, Zoe was surprised to feel a comforting hand on her shoulder.

 

"I'm glad you made it, Zoe...", said Mij.

 

The smile on Mij's face was sad, but genuine.

 

"For now, let bygones be bygones... Angeliz wouldn't want to see us fighting, now would she? Especially since this is her final send-off, yeah?

 

Zoe nodded. As soon as Mij took her hand off, her smile disappeared and was replaced with an even darker glare.

 

"... Though I'll never forgive you for killing my friends." she continued with a steely tone.

 

Zoe smirked. The storm in Mij's grey eyes grew darker.

 

"I never expected you to..."

 

Mij eased back to her stone-like emotionless state. The priest cleared his throat.

 

"Now where were we...? Ah, yes... May the soul of Angeliz Reyes be laid to rest in God's arms. May the Lord guide His lost lamb back to the flock..."

 

The priest continued to pray and read verses from the Bible. No one bothered paying attention to him.

 

(POV: Blake)

 

One by one, we all lined up to pay our last respects. The first in line was Zoe. Her tight grip on the rose turned it into a mangled mixture of thorns and blood. The whole service was closed casket. Only Mij and I saw the combined result of getting shot and falling face first into the hard ground... It wasn't pretty.

 

No one had to see Angeliz like that.

 

"Are you sure you can do this, sweetie?", whispered Mij.

 

I nodded; I could feel her heavy gloved hand against my left shoulder. Somehow, it made me feel a little better.

 

Nikki was next, her back was completely rigid, the way she walked in such a dignified manner would've been funny if the circumstances allowed it. Her fingerless lace gloves held a small bouquet of white roses.

 

"It shouldn't have been Angeliz, you know..." I said to Mij.

 

A dark shadow suddenly crossed her features.

 

"... It should've been Nikki... ", she replied.

Despite the warm sunshine, the air suddenly grew cold.

 

"I guess it's my turn. Wish me luck."

 

My feet suddenly turned to lead when I caught sight of the white coffin. A rare photo of her smiling face was encased in a glossy, black, frame sat atop the lid... I still remembered how she nearly beat me to a pulp when I stole that shot. And I remember how she strangled me after I printed several copies to give away.

 

"Is that really you, Angel?", I asked.

 

Gently, I put my hand over the top of the casket's lid. It always did piss her off when people call her that...

 

My throat knotted tightly as soon as I went back to my original spot next to Nikki. Mij's turn, she was also the last.

 

"Damn, Angeliz... In the end you really did become an angel...", she said with a bitter chuckle.

 

"See 'ya in heaven, I guess?", she continued.

 

Solemnly, she grabbed the picture frame and walked back to original place next to me. Her eyes were misty, but the look in them were cold...

 

"Here... You deserve to keep this..."

 

Mij handed me the frame. Hesitantly, I took it from her. And without even noticing it, I started shaking. I bit my lower lip hard and let the dead object in my arms hang loosely. I didn't wanna cry. Not yet. Zoe was eventually escorted away silently. Without so much as a sideways glance, she left. Nikki resumed whimpering into her right hand, Arissa held on to her left one.

 

 

"Fuck you, Anglais...", whispered Mij.

 

"...J-just fuck you!", she hissed.

 

This time, she was also shaking as they gradually lowered the white casket into the ground. At that point, I completely lost it.

 

 

No POV

Blake uttered a strangled sob, his face twisted in pure agony as he threw the picture frame at the ground.

 

"Why...?", he sobbed.

 

"Why her of all people?!", he yelled.

 

Mij patted his back awkwardly as he buried his face into his hands. Without warning, Nikki tackled both of them in such a way that forced the three of them to huddle. Nonetheless, despite the sudden assault, the three held onto each other tightly. As if they'd never let go... As if they were the only people left in the world.

 

-STOP! Angeliz time- (In other words, that ends Mij’s amazing writing.)

 

After everything that had happened, the group decided on eating out for a while so that they could finally put all of this to rest and move on. They leave the cemetery with small smiles on their faces, trying to forget the horrible tragedy that had happened to them.

 

“I’m such an idiot…” Nikki mumbles to herself, trying to stop the tears as they were walking towards the car. She had just cried, she shouldn’t start a fuss again. Everything that had happened finally sunk in to her. This was her fault, the death of her friends and the man she loved… Nevertheless, she knows that they wouldn’t want to see her sad like this, so she forced herself to cheer up. The other three laughed at her, noticing how stupid she looked giving herself some sort of pep talk.

 

(POV: Bianca)

 

I try to be as quiet as possible as I watch them leave. I enter the cemetery and decide to visit the graves of my friends. I couldn’t bring myself to go with them earlier, I was afraid of what they would do, how they would act. I don’t think I’ll ever talk nor see them again. I’m left all alone now, and it’s all because of my own actions. I deserve this.

 

I stand before all of their graves and fall to my knees. I try not to look at their gravestones, each time I do, I’m reminded by how they died. None of them deserved this at all. I think as I sob.

 

“I’m sorry…”

 

Hours pass, I don’t even know how long I knelt and cried my heart out. But I move out of my place because it had begun to rain. I leave in silence. I didn’t even anticipate the rain so I walk down the pavement as quickly as I could so I wouldn’t get sick. The atmosphere feels very heavy and cold; I can’t take it. I just want to break into some sort of musical and sing my heart out so that I could forget it all. Even if I don’t have the talent, I feel like some sort of Eponine at the moment.

 

I can’t focus on anything right… I cross the street and decide that today would be a good day not to look both ways while crossing. I realize that today really wasn’t a good day as I feel something sharp hit my legs. The impact is strong and I fall sideways to the ground. I don’t even have the strength to stand up… Perhaps it’s finally my time to take my-

 

“Oh my gosh! Bianca!”