Three days had passed since the Regal Rider passed away. They said he passed with a smile on his face as he was surrounded by fans, friends, and compatriots in his dying moments. Many would come to mourn the rider at the end of his life. Dragonkin from far and wide would pay their respects to the guardian and keeper of Verderis. The marked hunters, the sorcerous circle, the seven elders, the outriders, and every soul on Verderis visited him at his wake.
Although many only knew him as the Regal Rider, he was a simple man by the name of Ameth. A lone tanner who lived near the outskirts of Verderis; he was quiet, humble, and by all accounts a man of no renown. With his great deeds recognized, the elders passed on his title to his true name, marking his grave as Ameth, the Regal Rider.
The whole village was marked purple in his honor, purple lanterns filled the roads, and a long parade of dragonkin wore purple face paint as they escorted Ameth's funeral. The burliest of hunters carried his casket, sorcerers conjured balls of fire to light the way, and the people sang songs of praise as they walked towards the mountain peaks.
The event was a beautiful sight to behold. All of Verderis was dark except for the bright purple parade that lead up to a mountain, light peaked through the trees like a natural shadow play, and their songs echoed deep into the night. It was a wonderful night for a funeral and it looked even better from the outside. Peering down from a cliff face, high above the village, was Manarams sitting alone in the starry night. The only things kept him company was the howling wind and the warm bonfire.
He watched in silence as his fellow hunters carried the casket of the man he idolized as a hero and while he respected and admire everything Ameth did for his people, he couldn't bring himself to join them at his funeral. He listened to their kind words, he watched their love for him, he heard the songs they sang from his little place of solace but he couldn't be there for the Regal Rider - and why would he.
Manarams watched as the night went on, as the shined bright above his head, as the moon glistened in brilliance, by all accounts it should have been a great night but it wasn't. Manarams was confused, he was angry, but most of all he wanted to be alone. Although try as he might, solitude wasn't in the cards for him. As he pondered on his thoughts he heard a set of loud cracking branches, a thud upon the ground, and a string of expletives from a shrill high-pitched voice.
Manarams sighed, tended to his fire, and tried to ignore the ever meddlesome human he called friend. But, much like his feelings tonight he couldn't.
"Serah," He sighed "can't you see I'm trying to have a moment here?"
"And can't you see," Serah replied while tearing her foot from a tangled vine "That your little hidey-hole is a bit hard to get to!"
Serah yanked her foot off the vines and fell face first onto the ground. The noise she made caused several small woodland creatures to run or fly away.
"I'm okay." she said, giving Manarams a thumbs up.
"What are you even doing here?" Manarams asked.
"Well, I saw my best friend walk away from his hero's funeral" She replied "and I haven't talked to you since the mud drake stuff so I wanted to catch up."
"We've both been really busy huh?" Manarams said sarcastically and if Serah could see his face she would see him roll his eyes.
"I'm really sorry for not being around, okay?" She pleaded "I really was busy."
"With what exactly?" He said, trying to hold back his annoyance. "I don't even see you in Rasze's store!"
"I was exploring the mountains for ingredients! I thought about what happened last time and I don't ever want to repeat that again." She told him part of the truth but she still lied.
Serah had spent the past few days running after Iskadi, tracking the prismatic dragon's every movement throughout the forest. The Great Hunt wouldn't officially start until a week from Ameth's passing, but she wanted to get ahead of the competition while she could.
"Look I'm sorry I haven't been there for you alright?" She continued "But I get the feeling this isn't about me."
Manarams sat quietly in front of the fire, trying to ignore her as best as he could.
"Come on, Mana" Serah pestered as she sat next to him and nudged his shoulder with hers. "Talk to me. What's this all about?"
Manarams tried, he really tried, but he could feel something in his gut was filling up and he needed to vomit out the words.
"Alright fine!" He shouted, threw his hands up in defeat, and crossed his arms. "You win!"
"I don't know how to feel about all of this!" He said as he gestured towards the funeral, "about him!"
"I figured." Serah said as she patted his back "I'm sorry you had to find out about it this way."
"It's just not fair, you know?" Manarams pressed his palms against his eyes as if trying to stop his tears from falling. "He did so much to protect Verderis, to keep us safe. So I can't hate him, I shouldn't."
Serah moved closer, quietly comforting Manarams.
"But he left mom, he left my sisters, he left me!" Manarams shouted. "He put us through hell for abandoning us! I waited for him to come back for years and now I'm supposed to forgive him because he's been keeping us safe in secret?!"
"For years I thought he hated us, Serah." He turned to her as he explained while on the verge of tears. "I thought he was just some no good drunk of a father who would rather leave us so we didn't have to deal with his baggage! I thought he was some worthless hack who couldn't even hold his tannery together! I spent so many days crying in bed, wondering if I was a mistake! I hate him so much Serah, but it's different now."
"I'd be confused too." Serah said as she held his hand. "I'm sorry Mana. If I wasn't there that day, you would have been there to get some closure with him, you could have talked to him."
"It's fine, it wouldn't have mattered anyway." He scoffed "I heard he didn't even ask to see any of us."
"Don't you think that's funny?" He laughed, fighting back the tears. "He asked to see all his friends one last time but he couldn't even spare a second for us."
"And yet he even tricked me into idolizing him" A tear fell down across his cheek "The Regal Rider was my hero, I grew up wanting to be like him, to help people like he did. I had dreams of fighting along side him and stand next to him like an equal. He did so much for us without even asking for thanks, and I hate it. I hate that I feel this way."
The pair sat in silence. Manarams had more to say, his mind was flowing with thoughts, but his mouth couldn't form the words. Meanwhile, Serah sat there, bearing the weight of his woes. She had known Manarams for most her life, he had spoken of his father a few times, and never in a positive light. Often times the subject wouldn't have even come up. His father was as irrelevant to his life as wings on pigs. He never mattered and yet here he was, tormenting her friend, even in death. Serah was mad for him, she was fuming with anger, so she stood up fast, and shouted as hard as she could.
"Fuck that guy!" She said before shouting another war cry into the night "What an asshole!"
"Serah!" Manarams said, trying to pull her down, as if worried someone might see her. "Don't say that!"
"What? I'm just telling the truth." Serah yanked her hand away and shouted again "Ameth is a right old deadbeat bastard who can't be a father!"
"Serah he dedicated his life to protecting the village!" Manarams shouted back "He was a hero!"
"Mana, he chose this village over you!" She shouted back "You have every right to be angry, he left you and your family. Fuck. That. Guy!"
Manarams was stunned silent. He should stop her, he should tell her off for running her mouth like this, but why was he smiling? Manarams watched her shout her frustrations into the sky and couldn't help but feel thankful, proud even.
He then placed a hand on her shoulder, moved her away from the cliff face, and moved forward. Manarams clasped his hands over his mouth and took a deep breath.
"Ameth, you are a terrible father! I hate you!" Manarams shouted, with each breath he felt relieved, with each swear word he felt liberated. "Fuck you! I'm glad you're dead!"
"That's the spirit!" Serah cheered him on.
The pair shouted as hard as the could into the night. Could the wind carry their curses to the funeral? Maybe. Did they care? Of course not. Ameth was a hero, he sacrificed his private life for all of Verderis, and he was a friend of dragons. But this wasn't about him, this was about Mana.
Over at the funeral Ameth's body was brought to the top of a mountain opposite of Manarams' hiding place. From where they stood, Manarams and Serah could see two purple dragons fly down towards the peak and waited patiently for the casket to be placed onto the altar. The hunters then placed the body on the altar, the sorcerers used their magic to light the altar ablaze, and the elder recited the rites of passage for Ameth. As the ceremony ended, the two dragons blew their fire at his body. The fire burst forth from the mountain peak and up towards the sky, scorching Ameth's body into ash, reuniting him with the sky one last time.
"See you never you deadbeat!" Manarams shouted as his father's corpse burned.
"Yeah, fuck off!" Serah added "You loser!"
With all their words exhausted, the two of them sat back down near the roaring fire, and stared at the night sky. They were tired, their voices cracked, and they were panting - but they were also laughing.
"You are a horrible friend, Serah. Do you know that?" Manarams said jokingly.
"I know." She turned to him and smiled.
"Not only did you curse at a beloved guardian of Verderis," he said as he turned to face her "you also got me to curse him with you."
"You're welcome" She replied as she poked his snout.
"Dad's memory is going to haunt me forever." He pondered "Maybe one day I'll be able to forgive him, but I don't think I'll ever do, not really."
"Then don't." She said proudly and Manarams laughed. "He can get bent."
"You know, I wanted to be alone to night, Serah." He replied, looking back at the stars. "Thanks for ruining it."
"No problem, buddy." She said while giving him a light tap on the shoulder with her fist. "We can be alone together."