Two funerals take place, but Aurelia barely remembers either of them.

One takes place at the Hall of Justice in Washington. It is a public affair and hails Lumière for her heroic efforts and all that she did for the League. Most of the League is present there, all carrying sullen faces. Lumière had been a treasured member and had been one of the more well-liked heroes alongside Flash and the Green Lanterns. That is the funeral of a hero, but Lumen doesn't attend.

The other one takes place in a small cemetery in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is the same place where Clara's sister (Aurelia's mom) and her husband were buried years ago. Clara's grave is right next to them, made of black marble. It is engraved with thick gold laters, with her full name, her date of birth and her date of death clearly mentioned. Right below it is a small gold drawing of a dagger, Clara's weapon of choice. This is the funeral of a lost family member and this is the funeral Aurelia attends.

Aurelia remembers clearly saying one thing; 'No heroes'. No heroes. No Titans. She is not sure if she is ready to see anyone there. Even Dick falls into that category. Nothing from the hero life...that part of her life has now been tainted completely.

Yet, they come.

Zatanna is there, dressed in a full black version of her outfit. Zatanna's on-again, off-again girlfriend, Indira is there, wearing a black dress. Boston Brand is there with a sorrowful look on his face. And for once, John Constantine isn't wearing his ugly coat or holding a cigar in his mouth. He is dressed in black, his expression surprisingly anguished. They are Clara's closest friends.

Zatanna holds onto a quiet Aurelia as all five of them watch the casket being lowered into the ground.

That is all Aurelia remembers.

Two days after the funeral, she visits the grave again. And she sees him placing a bunch of lily flowers on the gravestone. He looks up. Their eyes meet. For the first time (at least for her), she sees Bruce Wayne with a sorrowful expression, though that changes on seeing her.

Three days pass. Aurelia stays in her room at the old apartment. She doesn't go to college. She does nothing. Later in the day, she visits the grave.

Four days pass. The same routine is followed.

On the fifth day, Aurelia goes to college and pretends she is fine. Her college classmates learn that her aunt has died in the accident and help her to catch up, but leave her alone for the most part. In the evening, she visits the grave.

Six days pass, Same routine. Rinse and repeat.

On the seventh day, she gets a visitor.

The red haired archer is taller than she remembers. He is dressed casually, wearing a zipped up black jacket over dark blue jeans. Roy Harper looks no different than he always does. He acts no different either.

Roy sits next to her, in front of the gravestone. "I heard you quit and left all of Lumière's stuff in the Hall."

"Yeah," Aurelia answers, not meeting his eyes. "It's all there, kept locked away."

"You quit the Titans too?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"It's tainted now, Roy. It's all tainted. The only reason I became a hero was because of her. Now that she is gone, I can't even look at the mask. I am not like you or Wally or Dick. I don't have much of a reason. Besides, with the way I am now, I'm not sure if I can even do some simple magic tricks."

Roy takes her hand and squeezes it gently. "You are powerful; I know you are. I trust you."

"How's Lian? Where did you leave her?" Aurelia asks quietly, barely looking at him. Lian is his daughter, born five months ago out of an unexpected romance with the assassin Cheshire. Roy Harper as a dad was not an image she had ever imagined, but imagined but seeing him with Lian completely changed everything she knew about him. She and Donna had seen him with the baby girl and how gently he seemed to hold her.

"She's doing well; sleeps surprisingly normally," Roy answers. "She's with Dinah today. I think she enjoys that big mansion."

"Are you and Oliver finally talking again?" She feels a little surprised. And she welcomes that, because that distracts her from the grief settling in her heart. "That's news."

"We're trying. After Lian, ya' know," Roy says. "It's gonna take some time."

"Good, good," Aurelia says.

Roy takes in a deep breath and finally says what he came here to say. "Look, you come to Star City and see her. Lian would love that. I know you come here everyday and I know you don't want to stop that. But I think a change of routine will do you some good. Stay with Lian and I. She wouldn't want you to put your life on hold for her and you know that."

A change of routine? As a student of psychology, Aurelia knows Roy is correct. He is correct and he knows that. Dwelling on grief is not healthy. She knows that. But she is afraid. She will begin to forget what her aunt sounds like. She doesn't want that. She wants to keep the sound of her voice alive.

Roy Harper...there is a reason she has gotten along with him better than Wally. While Dick hung out with the speedster, she stuck with the archer. She found..no, finds him cool.

"Everything's going to be different now," Aurelia says, with the most emotion since the funeral. "I don't want it to be different."

"Sometimes, different can make you feel better. Trust me, I know. With Lian, everything's different and I love it. Just believe me." Roy says.

"Will you give me some time to decide?" Aurelia puts her head on his shoulder and he puts his arm around her, pulling her closer.

"Take all the time you need," He says.

They sit like that for a while, till it comes time for Roy to go and Aurelia to return home. She is grateful for him; that a person like him is an older brother for her. It is Roy's presence here and now and the bond they share that keeps her close to the surface, rather than letting her drown.

Aurelia doesn't want to drown. Not now. Not after what happened to Clara. She has to stay afloat. She has to stay in control. 'In control of what exactly? The magic I can no longer feel?'

That is a problem for later. She will deal with it. Somehow. It will work out.

Let it work out.

"What do you mean you can't feel your magic? That's not possible. At all."

Indira's exclamation is painful to hear. The fellow Homo Magi is different from Aurelia. Though magic runs through her veins and she can use normal spells, it manifested in Indira in a way that gave her the ability to talk those souls still stuck in the Land of Living. At her strongest, Indira could temporarily travel to the small plain that existed between the dead and those who lived. She was understandably, a freakishly outstanding sorcerer, magician. No, she was a necromancer technically. She also happens to be highly intelligent and knowledgeable.

"I know, that's why I asked you to come here," Aurelia says from her position on the sofa. Taking the meeting in her own home is the only way she can keep herself calm. "I can only perform two spells at the same level of energy as earlier; the others I can't even start the incantation of."

"So what do you want me to do?" Indira asks, leaning back onto the couch. "Talk to some ghosts or something?"

"Yeah, please. Talk to some of your ghosts," Aurelia replies.

"There are no ghosts in this place," Indira says solemnly, but there is a double meaning to her words. Because, of course, there will be no ghosts here.

There is no way Clara would even think about staying back. She would have long since moved on. She is...she was the kind of person to welcome death with open arms.

"Let me see your magic signature," Indira stands up and proceeds to shift right next to Indira. "Maybe that can help us figure out what is wrong."

She places her fingers on Aurelia's palm. On contact, their hands glowed gold. It was no spell. It was a way devised centuries ago by certain ancient sorcerers as a way to check for tricksters in disguise. Since magical signatures, like fingerprints, were unique, it was effective in weeding out liars and traitors and masters of illusion. To hide this signature, strong spells have to be used and few will waste precious magical energy on that.

Indira removes her hand and the golden light fades. "Well, your magical signature is intact so I don't think you lost your magic. Plus the power of the Phoenix is still there."

"So what's the problem then?" Aurelia stares at her with a questioning look.

With her index finger, Indira taps Aurelia's chest, right where her heart is positioned. "It's this."

"My heart? What does that mean?"

"It means you went through something no one should go through. You saw Clara di...pass. It is cutting deep into you. Right now, instead of magic, it is grief that has spread through your soul. You are grieving and you will grieve for a long time. Trust me, I know. But in the end, your magic is there for you to use."

"So what now? I get over the death of my aunt, I can use magic normally?" Aurelia says sarcastically, feeling angry at that statement. There is no way things can return normally that easy. She's studied cases like these in college; now, she's become one of them.

"Oh hell no. Grieving never stops," Indira answers with a wry smile. "A part of you will always mourn for what you lost."

"You talk from experience," Aurelia notes.

"Yeah, I do. When you get a little older, you'll understand," Indira squeezes her hand. "But one thing's for sure, kiddo. Things are going to change now. You may have temporarily lost magic. But you are a girl that holds immense power. Don't lose sight of that. And don't lose sight of yourself."

"It will be hard. But I think I'll be okay. I hope so."

"That's good. Just let that hope remain alive."

"I'll try."

Later, after Indira has left, Aurelia sits on the couch once more. There is only one more thing left to do. A welcome distraction that awaits her. She takes out her phone from her jacket pocket, quickly pressing on a contact. After three rings, he picks up.

"Hello, Roy? I decided. I'm coming to Star City."

AND THAT'S THE END OF PART ONE.

Yes, I included Roy and Lian in the Titansverse, because I wanted to. Eventually, I'll write a Roy Harper fic that is just pure fluff because he deserves that. Also, I didn't mention this in the previous chapters, but I have decided to make Cosmic (my Hal Jordan fic) a part of this series, so my OC, Alex will be making appearances in books of this series and some characters might appear in her fic. As to who Indira is? She's the revamped version of my old titans!Jason Todd OC who will now be Zatanna's love interest. That fic is still in planning stages, but hopefully, you'll see it in August or September.

Thank you so much for supporting this story so far! I can't wait for you all to read what all I've got planned for the second part! 

IMPORTANT NOTE: I've been saying the same thing across all my recent updates, but please take a look at issuesintheworld.carrd.co and currentinfo.carrd.co. both of them are regularly updated with issues that take place around the world. please sign petitions, spread awareness and do what you can. Links to these carrds will be in the comments.