The Conclusion to a Story (Only those mentioned within the thread may participate)

Those invited to the funeral of the albino boy known as Nilo Lockwood would find themselves in a small cemetery. A small gathering consisting of the boy’s mother, his friends, and a few people from the boy’s church. The preacher spoke about the boy’s achievements, his wishes, his dreams. He spoke on how he left us to soon… And how far he had come in life from when his father left him. He was an inspiration to be remembered; a friend to never forget. Though he may have left us in person, he continued living in their hearts.

After the service, Raina, Nilo’s mother, would go up to each of the boy’s friends. A weak smile plastered on and tears falling down her thin face. It was obvious she was a breaking woman… But she’d make it. She was going to live the life her son couldn’t. She was going to try and publish the books he wrote and the poems he created. But now it was time for mourning… And she wanted to speak to each of the people her son grew ever so close to.






The woman would walk up to the two, tears falling down her face. She wiped them away though, smiling weakly to the two. She held out a small box and would put it in Hyacintha’s hands, nodding her head weakly.

“My son loved you, Hyacintha… He wanted you to have this…” she said with a wavering smile, blinking back tears. “Please never forget my son… I know he’ll never forget the two of you.” she said, looking up at Snow with her smile as well.

“You two are always welcome to my house any time… Okay?” she said, her smile still wavering. “I would still love to teach you how to cook, Hyacintha.” she said with a weak nod before going to hug the two tightly and leaving them to speak to the next guest.

Gift:

The woman would walk up to the old attendant, a smile across her face. She knew the odd looking man had grown close to her son. She also knew he was a teacher to her son in many ways. She was glad for his assistance. For his caring and love put towards her now gone son.

“We’ve never met before, Mr. Akumu… I’m Nilo’s mother.” she said in a weak voice, her smile failing slightly. “… My son looked up to you… He saw you as a father in some ways… I thank you for being there with my son… Thank you so, so much.” she said with a weak smile, bowing to the old attendant in a respectful manner before moving on to the next guest.






The woman would walk up to the next guest. A red haired youth she knew her son saw as an older brother. She would go to hug him before talking to him, looking into his eyes. Tears flowed down her face, a weak smile forming on her lips.

“Thank you, Hyde… Thank you so much… You helped my son in ways I’m not sure you could ever fathom… I can’t express my thanks enough…” she said with a nod, going to step back from Hyde and bow to him. “Please… Never forget my son.” she said with one last tear before moving to the next guest.






And so came the final guest… Probably the one most tormented by this event. She walked over to the scruffy haired boy, going to hug him tightly and pull him back after words, looking into his eyes.

“Don’t you dare blame this on yourself, Jack… My son loved you. You where his closest friend… My son wouldn’t want you mourning his death for long… Everything will be okay, Jack…” she said, going to wipe the tears from her eyes and look at Jack with a weak smile. “What you did for my son will never be forgotten… You have my undying thanks… If you need anything, I’m here for you…” she said with one last weak smile before leaving to sit near her son’s tombstone. She would be there a while…






And so the funeral would end on a solemn note… Like they always did… The widow sat at her son’s tombstone and mourned her son, her black veil hiding her face from sight perfectly. Those who came could mourn alongside her or leave to handle their grief in their own ways. But what was known now was that Nilo had completely left the world. A puppet could be seen in the distance, watching from within a tree with a blank look. Its gears rotated inside itself before it moved into the thickest part of the tree, vanishing from sight. It would seem it wished to continue watching over the boy… Even through his death.

Mourning was an odd thing… But it came with life. Now the boy could finally sleep… And eventually, people would grow to accept his absence… That didn’t make it any less hard though… The holes in their hearts could only be filled by one person… And that person was now gone.

Silence that was what came from Hyacintha as she traveled on the train from her home to where the funeral for Nilo Lockwood was being held. Her heart was crushed as she watched the water pass by colorless in her eyes now. She had only seen him a few days ago and now….now he was gone. How had this happened and why was she not around to help him when he needed her most? Things had been going well.

She and he…they could’ve been something, but now…now he was gone. She still couldn’t believe it, but….but….Hyacintha’s head bowed as she looked down at the ground contemplating what was happening. When she got off the train dressed in black, she held onto Snow’s arm letting him do the guiding as she walked in haze to funeral grounds. Once there she stood amongst others that she did not know as words were spoken that was about the bright light that was Nilo. Hyacintha listened to the words dried eyed until the hard part came….facing Nilo’s mother. As the woman came over and spoke, Hyacintha could barely get herself to look up into the woman’s eyes as the other gave her a small box from Nilo.

He…loved her…. That is what she had said.

Hyacintha didn’t know what to say and when Ms. Raina hugged them both, Hyacintha couldn’t hold the tears back anymore. As she held onto the woman she cried silently, her heart breaking into pieces from the touch. She didn’t want things to end this way, but….but it had….and now Ms. Raina and herself was alone ….but….

Hyacitha managed to pull herself away from the woman as she looked at the other with tear stained cheeks.

“We won’t forget and we promise to visit,” Hyacintha said as Snow nodded in agreement with his master words. He honestly didn’t know what to say.

As the woman moved off, Hyacintha held onto Snow for support as she waited the rest of the funeral out.

Snow, on the other hand, remained devoid of emotion as he watched the scene unfold. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling as he looked at the spot that marked where the now deceased boy rested, but he was feeling something within that made him cold and hateful towards something….but what he could not tell. When his ears picked up on the conversation between Raina and a child called Jack, serious eyes would look over at the boy briefly marking down every detail he could before looking away once more.

While he wasn’t sure how Jack was involved in Nilo’s death, the fact that Ms. Raina was telling the other not to blame himself suggested that maybe he was the reason the child was dead now. An unfortunate thing for Snow to hear this for the boy. Snow marked him down to hunt and in time kill if he was guilty of playing any part in Nilo’s… Jack had just been marked by the shadow.


Akumu had taken note when he had entered his own corner of the Velvet Room, that there was a strange sight of ink all over his work desk. A bit perplexed as to what had happened, the attendanat had gone over to the desk only to find himself quite shocked at the horrible scene he saw. There was a doll in the room that represented Lady Death. On normal days the doll was still and watchful of the world, but today it looked like she had gotten into a scuffle with the Devil doll and unfortunately had lost.

While broken dolls were not uncommon in Akumu’s area, it was uncommon for the victor to stand with a small dripping head in its hand. The head and body of Lady Death was what was leaking ink all over, a peculiar thing considering Lady Death was made of sand…so what was connected to death and ink…and why had the Devil attacked?

Akumu pondered the strangeness of it all before reaching out towards the Devil Doll that simply flicked its tail before flapping its wings to land on his hand. As soon as the doll touched him, the attendant pulled back his hand as a quick flash of a familiar person shattering came to mind.

But…that couldn’t be….

With the Devil chuckling, Akumu had left the room, not caring for once about the rules of the Velvet Room. He needed to confirm something now. If what he saw was true…..that would be very bad indeed…..

And very bad indeed was truly what this was. Staying as far away from the other humans as possible, Akumu had managed to hunt down the source of his vision. After tracking auras, he found himself not too far away from what humans called a funeral. Typically, the affair was something he did not pay any mind too, but this particular funeral involved his guest…..his guest that was now dead. And why was he dead?

Akumu balled the hand the Devil had touched lightly, the small mark that it had left a clear sign of what had gotten to Nilo….it was one of those strange beings the girl had announced as friends. The strange angels that they were investigating. Some way Nilo had managed to encounter something similar to them on the other side….and had paid for it with his life…..

The facts…hurt, but why that was Akumu could not say. It was just something within him that felt some sort of frustration and anger towards the situation…like he should’ve been there to aid the boy in his time of need, but wasn’t…..The feeling the clashing emotions left were sickening and yet the awful feeling was something the attendant would not forget.

When the human that was the child's mother approached him and spoke to him, the old attendant was not surprised that she knew his name or what he had done for Nilo. The child was close to the ones he loved. He probably had told her about him, but to learn that the child had so much respect for him just made the strange feeling within him deepen as he bowed his head.

“If I had a been a better teacher, he would still be hear today. Forgive me for my failure to protect him,” he would tell the woman his words heavy under the strange pressure.

From there he would return the bow to her and let her pass. Akumu would stay on the funeral grounds watching as each guest left until finally it was only himself and the mother by the grave. While there were no words he could say to comfort the grieving woman, he stayed by her and the grave because even if that odd feeling was eating at him…this was the right thing to do at the moment.

This doesn’t make any sense…..” The phone call from Nilo’s mother left a few emotions after her informing Hyde about Nilo’s passing. They were just hanging out together, why did this have to happen? ’I don’t understand….” Hyde was sad, angry, and confused. One of his most precious friends was taken from him and there were so many things that were eating at him. One by one, the puzzling events that led to  Nilo’s passing, Hyde didn’t even know the cause of death.” ……..” Hyde attended the small funeral in a black suit, something he was supposed to wear for Shun’s formal ball. However, he never knew that he would be attending a funeral.

Hyde saw the tombstone and immediately broke down. He was practically on his knees until Nilo’s mom came over. “…………………… I’m so sorry…” He got up and wiped his eyes. “ He was my brother….. I never had a family of my own…but he was definitely my brother. And if you need anything at all, I’ll be there….”  Hyde looked around in confusion as Nilo’s mom went over to Jack.   He walked over to the nearest garbage can and started throwing up. Hyde felt sick and he was delusional as he started crying again, staring at the tombstone. “That’s my brother! Th-“ he didn’t know to do, he didn’t know anything at all.

“Whose responsible for this? Or what? What happened?! “ Hyde calmly walked over to Nilo’s mom. His eyes were red , trying to hold back his frustration. “ I’m sorry to…bother you again. If you can tell me… how did he….what happened? OR…who found him? Or who was he with? Anything?”

Nilo...

Jack would not cry... He would be strong... He had shed his tears and would not shed any more. The service was beautiful.... nothing else would have honored the memory of Jack's closest friend. Once the memorial was over he was approached by Nilo's mother... she seemed so... broken... Yet somehow, hopeful. This was a woman who had been through more then any one person should. Yet she still had a flame in her heart. As she left him... he felt a need to not go... not quite yet...

"Hyde... that's enough...." Jack slowly approached the hysteric man and stood beside him at Nilo's Tombstone. "Nilo....I will explain later... but now is not the time." Slowly Jack would move to sit with Nilo's mother. Gently he would put a hand on her shoulder as tears once again began to fall, "He was brave... He gave me the strength I needed to carry on... He was my brother in arms... and in friendship.... I will be sure... to live for the both of us. To carry on for him... I know you offered this to me but... if you ever need anything... anything at all... I will be happy to help. I'm sure he's up there right now...  Crying his little eyes out for making you sad..." Jack's eyes settled on Nilo's name on his tombstone. "Don't worry Nilo... I will protect them... the people you loved so much... I will protect them all. Like I should have protected you..."