Dorin woke up at 5 the next day and was surprised to find himself alone in bed. He looked for Sebastian and decided he was in the toilet. He left Sebastian's room and went to his own. He looked at the burned bed once again and gave a sigh.
Calling on the wind, he collected the charred remains of the bed, every dust and speck, and turned it into a ball. At first it was the size of a coffee table, then he pushed. He applied pressure and compacted the remains until it was the size of a book. He then separated it to small clumps of coal and pilled it in a corner for later use.
He left his room, taking clean clothes and a towel. Outside, he saw Sebastian coming from the direction of his bedroom. He was wearing the same black cloak he wore when they brought Azra to be registered, and like before, Azra was perched on his shoulder, waiting for him to pull the hood up.
"Good morning," Dorin called to Sebastian, "will you be going to the wake this early?" he asked. Sebastian simply gave him a small nod.
Just then, Johan's door opened and out came the fire mage with Dagon by his side, both rubbing their eyes. "Mownin'..." Johan yawned. "I'll get breakfast ready..." He went straight to the kitchen, took the pot, and got it to boiling with his touch. "Who wants coffee?"
"I'll have one." Dorin looked as Sebastian.
"Me too," Sebastian said in a small cracked voice. His eyes were red and swollen, and Dorin was wondering how he could have slept through his weeping, when somebody suddenly knocked on the door.
"That must be the professor," said Sebastian. He went to the door and opened it. The professor was indeed standing outside wearing a similar black cloak.
"Are you guys ready?" He asked, inviting himself in. "I brought extra cloaks for Dorin and Johan.
"What about kitchen duty..." Johan asked with raised brows.
"Mrs. Cooper will understand," replied Dupont, "Besides, all her regular staff are already back from vacation."
"I'll be ready in a jiffy," said Dorin, hurrying to the bathroom.
"Coffee?" Johan asked the professor.
"Yes, please." Dupont sat on the couch with a sigh. "How are you keeping up?" he asked Sebastian.
[I'll be fine.] Sebastian wrote.
Dupont stared at him, sighed, and took the coffee Johan handed him.
"The Ravantes have just arrived," Dupont told them. "Right now, the faculty are holding a small requiem mass. It will start at 6 am."
They left wearing the cloaks. The chapel wasn't even half full when they arrived, with mourners all wearing cloaks – black for visitors, white for family.
There were only 2 people in white cloaks. One was a very elderly woman with gray hair, the other, a young girl with hair as black as midnight. They sat at the very front. The mourners who paid their last respects, stopped by them as they passed, giving their condolences.
"So, this is a funeral..." Dorin said under his breath. Johan turned to face him.
"You never seen a funeral before?" he asked, trying to keep Dagon from squiggling too much under his hood.
"Nope," Dorin answered. We usually just bury the dead, or leave them on the ground," he said, as a matter of fact.
"We leave them, too, back in the mines," Johan said thoughtfully. "When the caves give in and we can't reach them anymore..." he frowned. "Sometimes we hear them cry."
"Ahem..." Dupont gave a soft cough. "We're going to the front to take a look," he told the two. "Would you like to come?"
The four of them made their way to the front, their hoods over their heads. It was an open casket. There was a little glamour placed on the deceased, making it seem like she was simply sleeping. Her face still flushed, her full lips red, her hair fixed in such a way that the silver half almost covered the black, like the way a real silver mage was supposed to look.
"Goodbye," Dorin heard Sebastian's small voice. "Goodbye," he said again. He touched a cheek with a trembling hand, caressing it ever so lightly like a lover. Dorin looked at Sebastian, but his face was still covered by the thick cloak.
They stopped by the two Ravante's as they left the altar. Prof. Dupont took the old lady's hands and touched his lips to them.
"Mistress Ravante." He said, "My deepest sympathy..."
"Who is this...?" the old lady asked. Dupont raised his hood slightly to show his face.
"It is me, Mother Annabelle," the professor smiled.
"Ah, little Jacob..." said the old lady, "How have you been?"
"Fine, fine..." said Dupont, "And this must be Sarah, your niece."
"Oh yes, she'll be joining the University this year," said Mother Annabelle.
Dupont looked surprised. "Oh, which department would she be joining?" he asked.
"The Sciences..." replied the old Ravante. "I'm afraid she hasn't got a drop of magic in her blood..." she looked at the other 3 hooded figures with the professor.
"Ah, let me introduce you to my companions..." said Dupont, placing his arms around the three young mages. "These are Dorin Silvius, Johan Ignacius, and you already know Sebastian Revious..."
"Sebastian Revious?" The old lady winced at Sebastian, staring at him with distaste. "The child Lady Chantrell took in?"
Sebastian gave a curt nod, lifting his hood slightly. His two companions did the same.
"He really does not look anything like a Ravante," Mother Annabelle huffed. "But at least he got a little magic spilled over, even though he's a mix blood."
Dorin got offended by the remark, but Sebastian didn't seem to mind. He simply nodded and kept his head down, then started to walk away from the old Matron.
He went all the way to the back and sat at the last pew. Dorin and Johan were right behind him, while the professor stayed with the old Ravante lady.
"So, was that Lady Chantrell's mother?" Dorin asked after a while.
"Rude old woman..." Johan mumbled.
"That was Lady Chantrell's grandniece from her youngest sister," answered Sebastian, to the surprise of his two companions.
"Huh? But that hag looked so old!" Johan tried to keep his voice down, but some mourners looked back to hush them.
"She was born without magic, as well as her niece Sarah who was born to a 3rd cousin who died shortly after childbirth," Sebastian answered. "Lady Chantrell... She has no child."
"Oh..." said Dorin thoughtfully. "And her niece has no magic either?"
"Correct."
"Wait, so Lady Chantrell looks younger because she can do magic?" Johan asked.
"Ravante mages can live for a very long time. Sometimes, even centuries." Sebastian explained.
"Then, what did she die of?" Johan asked once more.
Sebastian went silent.
"When a Ravante falls in love," he told his two companions, "they give their life to the person they share their heart with. Of all the Ravantes in almost 600 years, she was the first born with half of her hair the same silver as the Ravantes of old. With it came some of the power of a Silver Tongue, and also, the same curse." Sebastian paused, looking at the altar where more people have come to pay their last respects.
"She lived a good 185 years," continued Sebastian. "But then, 24 years ago, she met a man and fell in love. She gave him everything, but still, he left her, and that abandonment was equivalent to her death."
"So... she died of a broken heart..." Johan whispered.
Sebastian looked at him and laughed bitterly. "For such a crass person, you seem to be quite the romantic at times," he whispered.
"What's a crass?" Johan asked.
"It means you're unrefined and insensitive," said Dorin, giving the fire mage an acceptable definition.
"Well, excuse me for being crass," Johan huffed. "My granny used to tell me lots of tales when I was younger!" he said proudly. "I am no stranger to broken hearts."
"Someone's coming," Dorin whispered. They all fell silent as they heard footfalls from behind them.
A hand went around Sebastian. They turned around and saw Sebastian's sister Samantha donning the same black cloak.
"Sebby..." she cried, "I'm so sorry..."
"Sister..." Sebastian touched her hand. "The mass will begin soon. Sit beside me?"
They stayed `till the requiem mass was over. The poll bearers then closed the coffin and took it away. Sebastian's sister, Sam, left with them.
"Are they going to burry her now?" Dorin asked Prof. Dupont who had joined them at the start of the mass.
"They are going to take her to the Ravante Estate in the capital," the professor answered. "They will hold the official wake there. Interment will take place 3 days from now. She will then be placed in her final resting place, together with the other Ravantes of old."
Once outside, most of the mourners took off their hoods and greeted each other.
"Dorin!"
Dorin and his companions turned to the sound of a voice. They saw Margarette with professor Althea and Major General Muller by her side.
"Margarette! Au- Prof. Althea," Dorin called back.
"Is Sebastian with you?" Margarette asked with concern as she looked at the hooded figures with Dorin.
One person approached her, leaning his head on her shoulder.
"Are you okay?" Margarette placed her arms around the frail body and was surprised to hear a chirp. She pulled down the hood to reveal a red-eyed Sebastian and a white bird with a golden ring on its head.
"Is this the rumored caladrius?" Althea asked Sebastian who slowly nodded. Prof. Dupont pulled his cloak off as well.
"Our deepest sympathies," said major General Marcus Muller as he came over, holding his cap in his hands. He clasped Sebastian at the back and harrumphed. "A sad day, but life must go on."
"Hey keep still..." They heard Johan grumble from behind.
The fire mage still haven't taken his hood off, and for some reason, it was moving on its own.
"Johan?" Gen. Muller called the young mage. The hood started to smoke and suddenly bursts into flames, much to everyone's surprise!
Professors Dupont and Althea quickly called a spell to put the fire out, resulting in a drenched Johan struggling with a very feisty little dragon.
Everybody gasped.
"Dagon, shame on you!" Dorin called to the baby dragon.
The onlookers stared as the little dragon took off in the air and huffed a cloud of smoke at Dorin's face before it flew into the sky.
"Dragon, get back!" Johan called, but it kept flying towards the rising sun.
Sebastian lifted Azra in her arm and sent her after Dagon. The two flew to the sky until they were out of sight.
"That brat..." Johan began, when he suddenly noticed everyone looking at him. Some onlookers even had their phones out, and had taken pictures of the caladrius and the dragon whelp.
"You okay?" Dorin asked him, inspecting his friend's burnt clothes.
"That was a dragon young man!" Gen. Muller exclaimed. "Where did that dragon come from?!?" His gaze fell on the black tunic under Johan's burnt clothes and pointed at it. "Is that what I think that is?!" he gasped.
"W-what?!" Johan stammered.
"May I suggest," Prof. Dupont came to his aid, "That we go to a more appropriate venue before we discuss things?" he asked.
The group looked at their surroundings. All the bystanders had their eyes on them, half of them still with their hoods on. Johan looked at Sebastian who was staring daggers at him.
"I know a place near by where we can go..." said professor Dupont. "Follow me."