funeral

Araziel was already wasted. He’d spent the previous five nights just drinking non-stop. Vodka, rum, wine, vodka, whisky, vodka… He even blacked out at one point just to wake up again with his head in the communion wine. His poor lilgrim and wulven struggled to pull his head out of the tank after he fell asleep again and almost drowned in the wine… that would have not been good for the flavor. At last, his wulven gave up and ran to get Mercy while his lilgrim nearly fell into the barrel and drowned itself in its feeble attempts to rescue Araziel’s fatass. 

Mercy finally appeared at the door looking rather pissed despite crying nonstop for the last couple of nights. Her eyes were red from crying but her cheeks shone red from anger. She sniffed as she stormed over. Her footsteps rang throughout the room despite her small frame. She grabbed Araziel by the collar and dragged him onto the door and slapped him across the face. She yelled, “Pull yourself together you unsightly drunk! How dare you present yourself like this on Oleander’s funeral? Do you not feel any shame?!” 

Araziel’s wulven and lilgrim backed away in fear but Araizel was too wasted to comprehend what was happening around him. He started muttering, but then suddenly felt like throwing up… right into the barrel of communion wine. Araziel laid like that for a few more minutes before he wiped his mouth and attempted to stand up only to fall over again. 

The clock on the wall read 4am, enough time for Araziel to sleep it off before the funeral started at 10am. He would wake on time… probably. He started thinking of all the memories he shared with Oleander before dozing off.

He eventually woke up to his lilgrim and wulven making a racket and nipping at his arms. He swatted at them. “Give me five more minutes,” he muttered. His wulven gave up on the usual methods and bit him right on the nose. Araziel finally woke up with a scream. He looked over to the clock. It read 11:23am. Fuck.

Araziel half jogged over to the funeral hall. His headache was killing him. He wanted to lay down and die right there honestly. Everyone he passed by gave him a disgusted look. His clothes were unsightly. His hair resembled an Avia’s nest with strands flying each and every direction. His white shirt was stained with red wine and missing a few buttons. He lost his jacket and belt 2 days ago, so his pants kept dropping too. The worst thing about him right now was probably his scent. He smelled like rotten grapes and sweat. His lilgrim and wulven caught him every time he was about to fall over. By the time he arrived at the funeral hall, it was well into noon. 

He finally went up to the funeral home and slammed open the doors. Mercy was in the middle of a speech. She looked at him from the front, shocked and disgusted at him. Every other bun was staring at him too. “Find a seat and stop disturbing the funeral proceedings,” she shouted at Araziel. Araziel rolled his eyes and sat down. 

He ended up sitting next to Dove and Jackal. Dove looked at him with concern while Jackal mouthed, “Get a grip.” He rolled his eyes at them. 

He finally took a good look around the funeral hall. The entire hall was covered in red and white rose bouquets and elegant gold ribbons. There was an orchestra at the front playing a melodic and calming tune. Araziel squinted and he swore that he saw some panties right next to Oleander’s casket. The invitations also specifically said to NOT wear black and white, so everyone showed up in bright colors. Despite everything, everyone was solemn at Oleander’s funeral. Araziel had tuned out Mercy at this point. He hated everything. His lilgrim and wulven tried to comfort him. Jackal and Dove looked at each other then at Araziel. Jackal started speaking, “You were close to Oleander?” Araziel huffed, “What makes you think that? I hated that sleazy bitch.” 

Now it was Jackal’s turn to roll her eyes. “You've always worried about him ever since I’ve met you. And now that he’s dead, you can’t seem to stay sober for even one minute.”

Dove whispered, “She’s right… Please take care of yourself.” Dove handed Araziel a bottle of water. Araziel quickly drank the water. It helped with his massive hangover, but not enough. He still felt like death. Araziel wanted to nap right here and now. He didn’t care that people were still giving their speeches about Oleander. Their voices hurt his head. He closed his eyes for a moment before he felt someone’s hand on his shoulders. It was Mercy. She angrily looked at him as she got him to scoot over and make space. 

“Where were you this morning,” asked Mercy. Araziel ignored her. “Do you know how difficult it was to prepare for this with one less helper,” hissed Mercy. Her eyes were still red and she looked tired too, like she also hasn’t slept much for days. Araziel brushed his hand across her shoulder, “I am sorry…” Araziel has been a mess. 

His wulven jumped into his lap and Araziel started petting his beloved imp. His wulven was only a recent addition to his household, but it already held a dear place in his heart. The imp was always super attentive and understanding despite Araziel’s flaws. 

His lilgrim was in Dove’s lap. Dove was not doing well themselves judging by how tightly they gripped Jackal’s hand. Dove was visibly shaky and red-eyed while Jackal was a bit more calm, but he can tell from the look on Jackal’s face that she wasn’t doing well either. She was just trying to hide it. His lilgrim did an unexpected flip, which caused Dove to finally grin and giggle a bit, which seemed to soften Jackal’s face just a hint. Araziel was proud of how mature both his imps were. He just wished that he was the same. 

His wulven had moved into Mercy’s lap. Mercy had been holding back tears the whole time. She did not want to embarrass herself in front of Oleander even if he was dead. Mercy started stroking the wulven and it gave her a few kisses. She seemed to calm down after a while. Everyone was stressed and sad, but they can get through this. 

By the time 2:00pm rolled around, it was almost time to wrap up the funeral. Everyone went up and gave their final goodbyes to Oleander. Araziel watched as Dove and Jackal went up to the closed, mahogany casket and said a few words. Araziel looked at them a bit suspicious. Dove and Jackal seemed to be investigating rather than saying their last goodbyes. Was there something they knew that he did not? Silver and Satin also joined them and moved suspiciously around the coffin. Mercy huffed, “You see it too right? Those jerks have been investigating Oleander since he died.” Araziel looked at her for elaboration, but she never went on. 

One after another, buns went up to the coffin and left the building. Araizel wanted to go up too to say something but he wasn’t quite sure what to say. At the very end, it was only him and Mercy left. Mercy whispered to him, “Take your time.” She slowly walked up the steps and said a few words to Oleander before she started sobbing loudly. She fell down by the coffin. Araziel and his imps saw, so they immediately ran up to her. Araziel put a hand on Mercy’s back to comfort her before wiping her tears with his wine-soaked sleeve. After a few more minutes, Mercy finally composed herself. She stood up slowly, then turned to Araziel. She took a deep breath and finally spoke, “I miss him a lot. He…” She started sobbing uncontrollably again. She whispered, “Please give me some space,” before running out of the room. 

Araziel was the only one left now. He turned to look at Oleander’s coffin. Araziel was painfully sober now and everything hurt too much. He could see how red the coffin’s wood looked and it was so beautiful it was almost unreal. Gold trimming and ruby inlays decorated the coffin. He touched the wood softly. The wood was hard and cool. If only he can steal some of the rubies for himself to buy more alcohol. 

Araziel really wished that he could see Oleander one last time. He missed him so much too. There was so much he never got to say.His wulven and lilgrim were solemn and quiet too with their eyes closed. Araziel sat down by the coffin and started crying. It was probably already evening by the time he left. 

He went straight to a bar. The bar was not as rowdy as it usually was. Today, everyone was quiet. Hops approached him and he ordered. He got a shot of his favorite whiskey and another and another and another and another. He tried ordering another one, but Hops finally cut him off. “You’ve had too many. I’m not serving you anymore,” Hops explained. Araziel sighed and got a pineapple juice instead. He shared some with his lilgrim and wulven. When the bar closed, he started stumbling home. His wulven started growling at something in the alley. He saw a glimpse of a giant pink braid retreating into the shadows. Araziel’s heart quickened. It looked so much like Oleander’s hair. It couldn’t be.