Many people gathered by a front gate to the monastery, its width enough for fourteen people to stand beside each other, with space left to move around. All the pupils and young monks stood outside with their eyes turned toward the gate. The crowd stretched for nearly a mile from the entrance, leaving only the space for the single path leading to the gate. The people standing closest to the path had lanterns in their hands, lighting the whole road as the sun was slowly setting in the background.
At the gates, there were flowers stretching from the bottom to the top and over the gate. Many different colors merged together into a trap for everyone's eyes. Closest to the gates stood Dragons and Eternals, and right in front of them, the people closest to the fallen. Along Navia and Hwuan stood a young boy, Taizen’s young cousin, who decided to train in the monastery.
In the gate stood all the elders, fourteen of them in total, except for Hwuan, who was standing in front of them. The man in the center barely had any hair left on his head, but the ones remaining were long and grey. With his cane, he stepped forward and spoke loudly, “Like flowers, we grow alongside others on the same soil, under the same sun. We bloom and admire our brothers and sisters who do the same. Like the whole of nature we grow and wither… What makes us different is that we feel the sorrow for a fallen brother, Taizen Silckthron.”
The elder swallowed hard before continuing his speech and began with a light cough to prepare his throat. “His journey was long… But not as long as it was supposed to be.” Right at that moment, the lanterns halfway to the gate had been extinguished. “He was our brother, mentor, and a great warrior. We won’t be the only ones to remember, as he saved countless lives. May his soul rest, fulfilled with this life of a hero.” The lanterns slowly went away as the elder continued his speech until a single one was left right in front of the elders.
“What was his last moment? The last memory?” The elders asked, shouting toward the crowd so the person who last saw him could speak.
Master Taro was standing right behind Navia, seeing as she was going to step forward, he feared what might happen, but he stopped, sensing a sudden shift in Hwuan’s gaze. It was enough of a message for him to understand. “Don't. Let her soul grief out.”
Navia turned around to face thousands of people; it wasn’t her first time doing it, but unlike in the order, this felt much more stressful. It wasn’t a gaze of someone with hope, quite the contrary. All the eyes were in sorrow, which could break into a stream of tears at any given moment.
“The man who passed away was my husband…” Navia began speaking a bit awkwardly, not entirely sure what to say, as there was a veil on her mind. Barely recollecting the things that had happened before Liberin City. Whenever she looked at Hwuan, she could see the things hidden by the veil, barely visible, but they were there. “The last thing I remember was his shock when he looked at my wound. A gaping hole in my chest… What he first experienced was deep sadness, thinking I was going to die. What I imagined next was his anger at the thing which killed me.” Navia spoke with no hindrance, as if nothing was tying her to the earth and its mixture of feelings.
The old man Taro looked confused at Elder Hwuan. He knew nothing of his gates or how he became an elder. What he was sure of was that the elder used his gate to soothe Navia’s emotions. One would say that he was helping Navia at this hard moment, but Taro had a much different thought. It almost felt like an interrogation.
“When I woke up, I wandered around the fallen city. Trying to figure out what had happened… All I found around me was ruins, what was left of his battle with the monster, and his… dead body…” Navia’s eyes flinched as she remembered her husband's body, or at least the bits left of it.
One of the Dragons was ready to swear an oath to find that creature and kill it. It was both for the sake of a fallen brother as well as to raise his status as a Dragon. His dream was cut short when Navia continued her story. “Before I came here, to the Monastery, I was able to face this monster and slay it. This was not an easy task, but at least I was able to avenge my husband…”
Because of the reason they came here, many people barely realized that Navia mentioned having a hole in her chest and being killed. All they saw were the wounds on Navia’s body left after the fight with Anglerfish. The only person who had realized the truth was Elder Hwuan, who was partially inside her head, and then Master Taro, who put bits of the story together along with Hwuan’s reaction.
Watching the sky go dark, the leading Elder thanked Navia for the last memory of Taizen Silckthron and slowly finished the ceremony. “Taizen won’t be alone in his next step of life. He will join the rest of the fallen above the skies, in a place where we cannot see them, which couldn’t be said the same for us. All of the fallen are looking at us, joining us at this dark night.” The Elder slowly approached the young monk with the remaining lantern and gently took it from his hands. “Let his soul join the rest in the sea above. The flame will show the way, and the smoke shall make the path.”
Using the fire from the lantern, he lit the flowers, and the flames quickly spread across the gate. The petals of the flowers flew up into the sky, pushed by heat. They burned in the skies, looking almost like fireworks, except they were as silent as the dead.
Everyone looked at the dark sky, which slowly revealed countless stars swimming in it. Each one of them looks like an eye that is looking at them. Somewhere among them, Taizen was looking at them and at his funeral.
Many people approached Elder Hwuan to give him condolences. Slowly building up a massive crowd. While a few slightly familiar faces approached Navia. Among them was one person she didn’t know personally, the elder who led the ceremony.
“I might not know him personally, but I heard many things about your husband. I just wanted to thank both you and Taizen for helping my nephew… I don’t know if you were aware of that, but back at Brimwon, some people gathered a few ships at the side of the island. Because of your bravery, five of those ships were able to escape the fate of the island. Among them was my nephew, who was eager to discover the world.” The man suddenly broke into tears. “Thanks to you, his youth didn’t stop… And so I will try my best to repay this kindness however I can.” The Elder bowed, even lower than his back let him, showing just how much he appreciated the Order and what they were doing.
“I was just doing my job… I wasn’t even aware of those ships… But I am glad there are more survivors than just the two of us…” Navia was flattered, but she didn’t feel like accepting any kind of favor from the Elder.
“No matter what you say, I am in your debt.” The Elder wasn’t about to let it go just because Navia didn’t accept it.
She was going to continue refusing, but a gentle hand on her shoulder stopped her from arguing. Looking back, she saw Elder Hwuan with a light smirk on his face. “No matter what you say, the Elder in front of you will never back away from his word. After all, he is a legendary Golden Soul.”
Even with a hazy memory, Navia was quick to remember this title. She heard many tales of this monk, as he was an example of pure kindness and stubbornness. While he was on a great journey, the young Elder stumbled upon a small village. Seeking shelter and food, he knocked on each door in the village. Everyone refused to let him in, looking more like a beggar. Except for one person. The young man let him stay and gave him food.
This very young man was the only capable fighter who was known as this village's defender. Thus, he never left the village except for that one time of the year when he went to visit his family's grave. Golden Soul let him know that he is in his debt, but the man refused. Hearing that the young man was going on a long journey, leaving the village defenseless, the Elder sat by the entrance to the village for a whole week and waited.
The villagers called him crazy as he sat in the rain and under a cold moon. They never helped him nor approached him, but when the young man came back running, he fell on his knees, thanking the elder.
“My debt has been repaid.” The Golden Soul said as he left the village, walking past the corpses of monsters and wolves, which villagers never saw, as they didn’t venture far away from the village. The monk protected the village from those creatures without them even knowing.
“You are Mariun, the Golden Soul? I loved listening to the stories about you…” Navia was so shocked and touched to meet a legend like him. The short time she spent in the Monastery, she often sat with children, listening to the stories told to them, and most of them were Tales Of The Golden Soul.
“Glad to be a good example for the youth. Hopefully, I will be able to listen to the tales about you before I die.” The Elder opened his eyes widely, seeing something only he could see in Navia. “I am sure you will accomplish much more than I ever could.”
Both Navia and Hwuan tried to understand what the High Elder meant, unsure of how to respond to him. That’s when Mariun saw a good opportunity to leave them be, smiling as he went away.
People slowly came back to the Monastery after the ceremony had ended, Navia was hypnotized by the burning flowers in the dark sky that she barely noticed everyone had left.
Elder Hwuan stepped beside her, looking in the same direction as her. “It was a long day… We’ll begin with your recovery tomorrow morning. See you at sunrise. Goodnight.”