BoyBandsDramatisPersonae/ATpt2

Asaimizu's Tale, Part 2

The day of Lord Hodexh's funeral came, and Asaimizu stood with his fellow dancers around the bier where the nobleman was lying in state. Their stark black- and bone-colored masks stood out from the seas of red and gray. They were professional mourners, after all, the whorls and sigils across the blank shells of their masks identifying them as the most sought-after mourning troupe in Sijan. Tradition dictated that his hair was braided in the funeral plait, left side over right, then wrapped once around the neck and held in a covered topknot by a white cloth and his two favorite paintbrushes. He checked his mask to ensure that the spirit gum held it tight to his face, and brushed out a few wrinkles in the flowing black robes his coworker modeled after the style in the Hodexh barony.

A single note from a drum reverberated across the gathering place, and the dancers stepped forward with their right feet, their toes pointed outward. With the next drumbeat, they slid out to their positions marking the sun and moon, the cycle of day to night. The drummers opened up into a furious beat, and the dancers spun to the rhythm as the troupe's chanters called out to placate the spirit of the deceased and his ancestors. Asaimizu was busy concentrating on his steps as was everyone else, but he started thinking to himself "It's a good thing I wore an extra layer under my trousers today. This dance could really chafe. I'd feel less dignificent if that happened."

As Asaimizu went into the second movement of the dance, the mourners started to sway with him, following him as best as they could. This was not part of the dance, as funerals aren't designed to have audience participation.

A tiny voice whispered into Asaimzu's ear. Bring out the beauty of the world, and share it with all. With the last rays of My light, show the world the beauty of life before the night hides it. Asaimizu, dance to remind those that as My light fades, it shall return upon the dawn. Dance, and remind the world of my promise.

As the words left his mind, Asaimizu's anima flared to life. Mirrors that reflected the beauty of Creation spun all around him, and his castemark burned bright enough to shine through the eyeholes in his mask. He still danced as the Hodexh family wished, and there was less wailing and sniffling. For a small point in time, the family was consoled by the dance, reminded that Lord Hodexh was at peace.

As the funeral chants subsided, the dancers slowed and stopped. They then returned to their positions and bore Lord Hodexh's casket to the mausoleum where his body would be laid to rest.

After the funeral, a masked figure walked up to Asaimizu, one of the mourners. "You dance as a god..."

"Oh, no," Asaimizu said "I just dance really well."

"You dance as Anathema returned," the figure spoke. "You would do well to dance at all Hodexh funerals if you wish to avoid the Hunt."

Asaimizu tried to remain as impassive as the mask on his face. "I see. You'll have to put the entire troupe on retainer, you know."

"Oh no," the figure said in its raspy voice. "Just you. No need for other dancers."

"I can't do the entire performance alone!" Asaimizu sputtered. "It wouldn't appease the gods in their dignificence!"

"Dig-wha?" the masked form said in confusion.

"Dignificence, that which pleases the god Dignif."

"Okay, not only must you dance, but you must never speak to anyone in the Hodexh family. Otherwise, the Hunt will find you."

"Uhm, ok," Asaimizu agreed.

Somewhere in Yu-Shan, the Unconquered Sun was holding his head in two of his hands. What did he just unleash on the world?

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