╔═════*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*═════╗

there is nowhere you could
go, that i would not be
with you 

──● gramma tala
MOANA

╚═════*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*═════╝

 ✦

Benjiro Morrigan passed away at 9:32 A.M., September 21st, surrounded by the people he loved, and the people who loved him. Their grandfather, on his deathbed, gripping his son's hand like it had been the only thing tethering him to this world was proclaimed dead. And the world, along with some of the last of the Morrigan name, flickered out.

The only remaining kin of that very name, was Dai Morrigan, and his twelve, beautiful children. Children that Benjiro had cherished and spoiled until his very last moments. Children who mourned and cried over their lost grandfather, and those very children who were to attend the funeral later today.

Currently however, they were up in the Morrigan estate, going about their buissness to prepare for the funeral. Held on the 23rd of September, at approximately one in the afternoon. 

It was noon now, and in roughly fifteen minutes, he'd gather up his children in the house, and they'd head off to the funeral. Dai ran a hand through his hair, stealing a glance at the clock before returning to the paperwork in front of him. So much to do, so much to just look over, and he couldn't manage to focus.

He supposed it was probably understandable, his father had just passed away, and even if they had seen it coming over two years ago, it didn't make it any less damaging. Death was always damaging, hell, loss was always damaging.

The last time he really felt like this was when his last wife had died.

A grimace formed over his mouth at the thought. Dai leaned back into his chair, looking up at the ceiling for a moment. Was he really so unlucky that it was impossibly to form a relationship, and be able to keep it for more than a couple years? 

There was a knock at his office door, as if being summoned by the thought, and who but Jady pushed open the door hesitantly. "Hey, dad, are we gonna head out soon?"

Warmth wormed into his abdomen, and a smile formed on his face, quickly replacing the grimace that had been there only moments before. His youngest daughter, the baby of the family, and the namesake of his mother. He'd raised her since she was just a newborn. That night had been dreadful, but he'd gained a new daughter that day, and it was enough to carry him foreward in his life.

"Ah, yes, just let me get a few more things settled." He shooed away the lingering thoughts, returning to the paperwork in front of him. The very same work he hadn't been able to focus on for the past two hours. The letters were in place, and everything seemed perfectly legible, and yet Dai couldn't calm his mind enough to register the words written in front of him. Sighing, he flipped the ledger closed, standing. "Never mind, we'll just go."

"If, if you need more time, I can go with Kasumi or Yume, they're just leaving now. I just figured you might want company on the ride there, and Elliot and I were gonna stay to do that." She smiled, just a little, peaking her head through the office door, and Dai raised his hand, shaking his head. 

"No, we should probably get a move on, i'll be right down."

Jady gave him a short nod, then fell silent, unmoving against the door for a period of time. "Are, are you alright, Dad?"

Dai thought on that for a moment. Alright. That was such an odd feeling. Content, was a good synonym for it. Although based on his daughter's context, he assumed she was asking if he was doing okay with the death of his father. It was difficult, it certainly wasn't going to be easy. He was upset, of course he was, but Dai had also experienced a lot of death of his loved ones in his life. Especially those impossibly close to him. He had his children still, of course. He loved them very much, but nothing could replace the ache that had sunk into his heart since his first wife left him. Not that his children didn't bring him the joy he searched for desperately in life, but still, he couldn't help but long for someone his age, a partner of some kind. A friend. Now that his father was gone, he'd have no choice but to search for someone else to talk to.

"Dad?"

Dai blinked, realizing he'd just been staring off in thought, and offered a warm smile instead. "Yes, I'm alright, thank you Jady." He pushed off his desk, picking up the ledger and stepped outside the office, motioning her to follow. She did exactly that, pattering after him as he crossed down the hallway.

"You know, it's okay to not be alright. That's what Keitaro says - or well, he says it much more dramatically, but I think Yume agrees with him." She paused, still following her father down the hallway, to the grand staircase of the lobby. "Jasiri says it a lot too, but she doesn't say it much anymore, especially since Calvin left for France for the semester."

Dai's smile shifted, into something more genuine as he listened to her speak, running his hand against the dark spiraled wood of the staircase, freshly cleaned. Jady trotted after him, down to the Lobby where Elliot was waiting, flowers in hand. 

Jady snorted, scrunching up her nose at her brother as she reached the hand-woven rug that lined the front lobby. "Who are those from, your girlfriend?"

Elliot's scoffed, just barely, using a free hand to swat at her. "Daphne, is a lesbian, thank you very much. She doesn't even like men."

"I can't say that I blame her, men are stupid." She paused, looking back at Dai, "No offense, dad." 

He laughed, sincerely, reaching over to ruffle her curled hair. "None taken, come on then, get in the car."

Jady just hummed, cheerfully walking after him as Dai opened the door, ushering them out. "Could I drive?"

Elliot rolled his eyes, "Do you want our siblings to be planning three other funerals?"

"Elliot!"

"I'm just saying-"

Dai just cleared his throat, motioning to the gleaming car in front of them, sleek from it's fresh cleaning. Jady and Elliot, exchanging looks, fell silent with their arguing, stepped into the doors of the car. He stepped in them after that, in the back of the elongated escort. Their driver, Dexter, looked into the back mirror, smiling politely as he usually did.

"You all set, Boss?"

"Dexter, we're friends, for the last time, you don't have to call me Boss."

"Ah - but it's much more fun, it feels much more proffessional." He lifted his sunglasses, winking at Elliot and Jady, who snickered as if they were some part of the inside joke. "Besides, if I disrespected you in front of your children, what kind of friend would I be?"

Dai sighed, shaking his head slightly, despite the comfort that began settling into him. It was nice, he wasn't going to lie. If he was thinking about it, Dexter was probably his only real friend that felt close enough that he'd be able to trust him with his kid's life. Of course, there was also Raine, their cook, who was the personification of sunshine, and Dexter's wife. Both of them were good friends of Dai Morrigan, but it was still different, still slightly strange. Pushing the thoughts away once again, he gave his friend a sarcastic glance, something that Dex seemed to intepret immediately.

"Sure thing, right away." He sent another annoyingly charming smile through the mirror, then they were off, rumbling down the long driveway and towards the Morrigan Mauloseum, where his younger sister was buried, alongside his mother and further extended family lines, and now his father. Dai turned to his two children, who'd fallen silent, staring out their respective windows to watch the autumn leaves fall. 

Autumn was such a beautiful season, it was personally one of his favorites. The most lovely weather. It had also been his last wife's favorite season, Elijah's biological mother, Emilia Parkinson. She'd loved sweaters, and all of the warm things that went with the season. It was a fond memory -- of course, Dai had found memories of all his partners, even if Emilia's was the most recent.

The last family funeral he'd been to had been hers. He'd gone to others since then, of course. Other people's lost loved one's, but it hadn't been his own, and here he was yet again. 

Dai was startled once again from his distracting thoughts as the car rolled to a stop, signaling  their arrival to the mauloseum. He could see his other children lingering by their cars, waiting for his arrival. For a moment, he was tempted to stay inside for another moment, for fear that the loss of his father might truly hit him when the tombstone was placed at the gravesite. His body was elsewhere - almost none of the Morrigan bloodline was actually buried, they peffered to use their body for other things. His sister, for instance, wanted her ashes to be used to replenish coral reefs. His father was a little more traditional, he wanted to be creamated, same as his wife, and spread on Easter Island, where they had met on a tour. 

So there were tombstone's here, to mark and remember, not neccessarily to locate. There were a few actual burials here, but other than his uncle, a religous man, none that he'd known personally. 

Elliot got out of the car first, with Jady following behind, and Dai pushed his own door open. In an instant, another of his daughter's, Reysa, was there. The second to last to be adopted into his family. She'd been older when she had been adopted, but that didn't make her any less of his daughter. She was there, taking his arm in some offer of comfort and began walking towards the rest of their family together. Reysa didn't say anything at all, and somehow it made the lump in Dai's throat begin to grow. 

Rey had lost her parents, not in the same way, but she'd been old enough to certainly remember it. It had infuriated him, that her parents could abandon their daughter in such a way, as if she had never existed at all. 

She guided him to the rest of his children, who were patiently waiting for him, not one word flittering between them all. Although Jady, who shifted on her feet, had leaned over, pulling Junpei's arm and whispering something to him. He looked nervous for a moment, then shrugged, shaking his head.

Dai pretended not to notice the motion, feeling Reysa's arm gently let go of his own as he faced them all. Clearing his throat, he nodded to them slightly. "Thank you for all making it." He felt awkward suddenly, this was ridiculous - he was talking to them as if he hadn't raised them himself. Like they were strangers. He sighed, an attempt to clear his head, but Delaney's hand found his, squeezing.

"It's alright, father, let's just go." There was a quiet pause as he met her eyes, and she smiled. Kasumi fidgeted with her hands, holding her notepad, but only nodded with Delaney as she continued. "You can take your time."

Dammit, Dai Morrigan was not going to cry in front of his kids. 

Instead, he offered a nod, clearing his throat once again as Merlene silently looped her arm into his, pulling him gently over to the layout of the mauloseum where his tombstone would be placed. The stoneworker was already there. It had been a decade since he retired, but after hearing of Benjiro's death, he'd called and offered to do the tombstone, same as he did for Dai's mother. Merlene gently patted his hand, pulling him to a stop before the marked sight. The stoneworker, Mark, if Dai remembered correctly had a white sheet covering the hand-carved tomb that now sat upright against freshworked dirt. 

It was silent for a moment, and he felt a hand on his back, and the softest voice. "Dad. You have to tell them to uncover it." It was Akiho, soft-spoken, but tone as firm as it ever had been. His eyes felt stuck on the tomb, running over it again and again.

His father, his last parent, was dead. And there was nothing he could do to bring him back. 

Death is so horrible. It's so unacceptable. The entire idea of it. Because it hurts, it hurts so bad. Sometimes it doesn't need to be a person you knew personally, sometimes it's enough to just know that they had children, they had a life, they had people who would miss them, and that in itself is enough to send you into a rapidly declining spiral of absolute agony. Sometimes its the circumstances, sometimes it's seeing the people in the front pews of some church shatter over an open coffin, sometimes it doesn't hit you until months later, and sometimes it hits you right when you hear the update. Death is so horrible, because it's inevitable. It's something you are powerless to stop. Regardelss of money, or power, or intelligence, death is simply not something that can be tamed.

His father used to tell him, the reason death is so hard, is because of the love that they managed to have.

That, has never been more true, than in this moment. Staring at his father's make-shift grave, and feeling the presence of his children behind him. They eyes of the stoneworker, full of sympathy, waiting for the nod of confirmation.

Dai almost didn't want to do it, because if he did it, then it would be real. His father was gone, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. 

But he had his children, and he loved them more than any pain he'd ever experienced. He loved them more than life and death and everything in between. 

He loved them more than his fear of losing them.

So Dai sucked in a breath, raising his eyes to the stonecutter, and simply nodded.

✦ 

✦ OPHELIA ✦

- hope you enjoyed the
first chapter <33

- if you could answer the
questions below in every
chapter , that'd be great !
these help me with immediate
information that i need 
regarding your character !

- i have decided to make
the opinions optional
or more like you can do
them when you have the
time - I would still love
for you to do them !!

- ily all ! have a good day !

how was their relationship with
their grandfather , Benjiro ?

──● answers