video;

[closerift]

[ If you've ever encountered Cecily before, then this may be the worst she's looked in a long time. There's clear evidence of a lack of sleep, along with a number of tears and general angst. ]

This is Inquisitor Trevelyan. [ She doesn't bother apologizing, as she usually does, for accidentally using the now-irrelevant title. ] With Sharon - Sharon Da Silva gone, I will be stepping in to take her place in tending the Memorial Garden. I trust this won't be an issue with anyone.

[ As if to say: "I dare you to try and stop me." ]

I'll need to add- [ "her to the memorial," she starts to say, but her throat closes. Cecily struggles for a moment, then swallows and doesn't finish the thought. ]

... There aren't many of us left. From the beginning. [ Maybe this is a sign: the beginning of the end of their time here.

She ends the feed without a goodbye. ]

Comments

「video」

[puzzlingly]

「Oh... oh hey, he knows her, well, no, it's the first time he sees her, but Cole told him about her. All good things by the way.」

Memorial garden...?

「It's more than obvious this guy is new, she of all people should notice. It must be so tiring, so many new faces coming and going and the ones that matter just fading away, but here we are.」

「video」

[closerift]

[ She wouldn't be surprised to hear that Cole was talking about her, but most of what she feels now is just 'hollow,' so she tries not to look too dead inside when she responds: ]

Yes. Sharon and Glacius - the latter of which is still here - started it so that we could remember all those we've lost. [ A list that keeps getting longer. ] There are... small markers, along with their names, and people can leave other things.

[ Mementos, letters, what have you. ]

「video」

[puzzlingly]

I see.

「He can also see she's hurting. Sorry, just a bit longer...」

Have you been here from the beginning?

「video」

[closerift]

Yes. A few others, too... Sharon was one of them.

[ One of us. And she may come back, but Cecily... has a hard time believing it. ]

Should I assume you've recently arrived?

text.

[dedikated]

Need a hand?

( It still feels surreal to consider that Sharon won't be around, after all the time she's been part of this cave. )

text.

[closerift]

[ Kate knows how things are here. She's lost people, too.

Cecily sighs deeply. Takes a moment to respond. ]

Please.

text.

[dedikated]

( After all this time, how could they not? Never getting easier, especially when it's someone like Sharon who's been here longer than Kate herself has. Impossible to imagine the city without her, but it seems they'll have to. )

Let me know when you're going.

text.

[closerift]

Soon. I need something to keep myself occupied.

You can come whenever you'd like.

[voice]

[circumitus]

[Oh no why.]

If you need anything -- or just, um. Someone to drink with. You know where to go.

[Since Rey doesn't really know what else to do. She might have had her disagreement with Sharon that one time, but she was still someone who had been there since Rey first arrived. Cecily as well, for that matter.

[Feels bad.]

[voice]

[closerift]

Thank you. [ Oddly, she doesn't feel like drinking. She doesn't feel like much. ] I do know where to go.

[ Maybe she'll just go for the company. That seems like the most appealing thing right now: to be reminded that she still isn't alone here. ]

[voice]

[circumitus]

All right.

We're open pretty much twenty-four/seven, though Firo looks after the place when no one else is there. So... just give a heads up.

[voice]

[closerift]

Of course. [ beat ] Are you there now?

video

[unknowable]

I didn't think she'd ever go. This feels... wrong.

[He's been here since then, too, and somehow it had come to feel like they were all permanent fixtures, while others came and went.]

video

[closerift]

I know.

[ It feels wrong because they've been around for so long. It feels wrong because Sharon was her best friend. It feels wrong because it is wrong. ]

... She may come back, but...

video

[unknowable]

Maybe it's selfish, but I can't help hoping that she does.

[Adam has few enough close friends here that the loss of one hits hard. It's comforting, in a strange way, to know that he isn't the only one affected that way.]

But if she doesn't, at least we can carry on her projects for her.

video

[closerift]

I know. Or... Maker. If not that, then I hope she's at least returned to something better.

[ Sharon deserves no less. ]

In the meantime - yes. The garden, and... she had a few other things, too. The caches, and the murals... not that I have any artistic ability...

video;

[weedbgon]

[ Oh, his ye olde community watch boss. Merle still vaguely remembers that that whole thing happened. ]

Well, I don't know Sharon, but I'm kinda in the nature business. Lemme know if you need a hand with any plants.

video;

[closerift]

I... would appreciate it. I know nothing about plants.

[ She's no herbalist, anyway. ]

Sharon was one of my closest friends here.

video;

[weedbgon]

Ohhh, I see. Yeah, it's always a little rough when you get left to, uh. To finish out. Y'know, your friends or your family, or both! They could be both.

It's good to keep yourself goin', too. Pick up and carry on, water the plants, watch over whatever they didn't finish. And hey, who knows? Maybe she'll get back around to finish it up! I've seen crazier stuff happen.

[so_dark_a_road]

I will miss Sharon as well, though I did not know her as well as others did. She was an amazing person, and I liked her very much. And by the way, she used her special skills to help put out the recent fires, gave of her energy unstintingly. And I agree with Adam. Her leaving like this feels wrong to me.

But I am glad you will be taking over her Memorial Garden project. The garden is not far from the forge where my son and I work, between the river and the edge of the forest. We do carpentry as well as metal work, and I am also a stone mason. If you ever need anything, feel free to call me or stop by.

[closerift]

[ Cecily listens, reflects briefly on how so many other people have been touched by Sharon's actions in her time in Hadriel.

Finally, she nods curtly. ]

Thank you. And... if there's anything I can do-... well, I don't have any masonry abilities, but, still. Let me know.

[ All they have is each other, right? ]

Sharon was a very good person, though you'd never hear her admit it.

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Sharon seems to have touched many people. Curufin nods back. ]

We will help each other. [ He smiles. ]

She was a good person, but indeed she would never admit it! She put up a tough front to keep people from seeing her kinder aspect. [ But he respected her toughness, too. ]

[Video]

[dragonsgrasp]

Sharon is gone? That's too bad.

I wasn't very close to her, but she did something very important for me, not long after I arrived. It's a shame she's gone, but on the other hand... perhaps she finally escaped this place.

[Video]

[closerift]

I hope she returned to her family.

[ To her father and mother, who miss and love her. Cecily sighs shortly. ]

She was - is - that kind of person. She helps people who need it without thinking of herself.

[Video]

[dragonsgrasp]

That's the most we can all hope for. It's good to hear that she had a family to return to.

[Since not everyone does.]

She seemed to be. I'm still grateful for what she did for me. This place could use more people like her.