Nightfall finally came. Cairhien was finely decorated in white. People had already set their lamps and were getting ready to march to the river of Cairhien.
Abbey stood in front of the mirror in his room. He looked at the mirror.
"Thank you for letting me use your body and as such I have a surprise for you. I'll paint Bel Tine red and as recompense I'll stay with you forever. Be glad because your useless body has found purpose" He said as he gave a devilish smile.
Tears began dropping from his left eye.
"Ohh, don't cry, I'm just repaying you for your hard work" he said as he wiped the tears off his eyes.
"Your majesty, your father wants to speak to you" A guard informed him.
"I'm on my way" Abbey replied and waited for the guard to leave.
"Oh before I forget, I have to end that old geezer, that'd be a nice present to you" Abbey said as he waved his fan and left.
**†****************
"Dad, here's your lamp" Nathaniel handed two lamps over to Xander.
"Thanks my boy" Xander took the lamps and he wrote on them. On the first he wrote " Carla, the love of my life" and on the other he wrote " Xenox, the other me". He then tied the two lamps together and held them tightly.
"Alright boys, let's head out"
"Yessir" they chorused.
"Please wait for us!!" Chiad beckoned on them to wait for them. He was holding a lamp.
"You're also dropping a lamp, for who?" Nathaniel asked.
"For your father" Lorainne answered. She too was holding a lamp.
On Chiad's lamp he wrote " My Greatest Mentor" and on Lorainne's lamp she wrote " My Love who was far"
"You really did love him" Xander whispered to Lorainne as they walked toward the riverside.
"Yeah, he was my whole world even when I knew he was far from me"
"I never knew my dad was this loved, look at how many of us are sending him off" Nathaniel said.
"He'll definitely get ushered into eternal bliss for sure" Seren said.
"So what did you write?" Seren asked
"The man I would want to be" Nathaniel answered .
"And why is that?"
"I've heard many stories about him and even though I wasn't with him, I'd love to be like him someday" Nathaniel answered.
"That's cool"
"So what did you write for aunt?" Seren asked.
"The phoenix priestess of my life. I always looked at her as the source of my strength to carry on" Seren explained.
"And she'll always be"
"Yeah, that's true"
As they walked they could hear the echoes of the solemn song that resonated in the air.
"Oh oh, it's already starting" Nathaniel said as he dragged Seren along.
"Hey wait up"
"No dad, we're already late, can't you hear the song?"
"Of course I can hear it, why the rush? The feudal lord hasn't performed the dancing ritual" Xander said, not increasing his pace.
"I don't want to miss any part of Bel Tine and being here with you is clearly an obstruction to that goal" Nathaniel said as he dragged Seren along.
"Hey, stop right there!!"
Despite the orders to stop, Nathaniel gave deaf ears.
"You know you'll get it hot from dad later"
"Who cares, as long as I witness Bel Tine in full" Nathaniel shrugged.
"You're always the untamed one"
"Of course, we're twins, you're the reserved one while I'm the carefree one" Nathaniel said as he placed his hand around Seren's shoulders.
They hastened their footsteps until they got to the riverside. They joined in the singing of the song
Note: ( The song was coined from Kahono's song from Black Clover TV series, depicting healing, hope and connection to the deceased and the strength to carry on ).
"Anytime I hear this song, my heart aches" Xander said when they reached the riverside.
"Why is that?" Lorainne asked.
"Because I think back on the people who had passed on. They had left someone behind and no matter how evil or vile they might have been I know for sure at one point in their life they felt love and they too distributed love"
"So that means you're not planning on getting revenge on those that killed your brother"
"Yep, inasmuch as I hate them, I'm not going to fight them for revenge sake. The only reason I'll fight them is when they threaten the peace of Cairhien" Xander replied.
"But you don't know the people that killed Sir Xenox, so how would you know?"
"Of course I know, Kirigan of the BIWA seat" Xander replied.
"H-how did you know? it's supposed to be confidential" Lorainne asked
"I have my ways" Xander replied.
The song came to an end and it was time for the feudal lord to perform the dancing ritual.
"Right, Abbey's gonna perform the dancing ritual" Nathaniel said with disgust written over him.
At the middle of the river stood an altar where the feudal lord would perform the dancing ritual.
"Oh, he has arrived " An old woman standing beside them said as Abbey flew majestically to the altar. He was adorned in white. He had a small pot on his hand and on the other he held his fan.
He began dancing. He danced majestically
"How's he dancing with both his hands occupied and what's that weird creepy pot on his hand" Seren commented.
As he danced, Cairhien began releasing their lamps to the river.
"Let the souls of the deceased be ushered into eternal bliss"
Abbey took the pot and opened it. It was filled with blood.
"Whaat??"
Abbey poured the blood on his plain white apparel, dyeing it red.
"What is he doing?"
"Is that part of the ritual?"
All those questions ran through the night minds of the citizens.
"Abbey what are you doing?" His father asked him.
"Nothing really, just performing the ritual for my upliftment"
Abbey took the royal dagger and cut his wrist, allowing his blood to flow into the river. He started making hand symbols and incantations.
"It can't be!!" His father screamed.
"That's impossible, where did he learn to open the way gate of Cairhien??" Xander thought within himself.
"Abbey stop this instant!!" His father ordered.
"Ohhh, you're being too noisy so I'll have to silence you for good!!" Abbey flew towards his father's direction and thrust the dagger into his chest.
"Oh my!!!!" The people screamed.
"And here's my little secret, I'm not Abbey, I just found his body useful to use" He whispered into his ears before pushing him into the river.
"Let the destruction at Bel Tine begin!!!"
Immediately humanoid monsters swarmed across Cairhien.
"Aah!!"
"What's happening?"
The villagers screamed as they scampered for safety.
"Hahaha, today I'll burn this city to the ground ,alongside the sun deity!!" His screamed echoed loudly.
"What??"
"The sun deity is in Cairhien?'"Lorainne was shocked.
"If so we must secure him" Chiad said as he readied for battle.
"Let the destruction of Bel Tine begin!!"