Author's pov:

Everyone all around Mars gathered together for highly protected and honored funerals. After the Plutarkian elite forces attack, the citizens had barely managed to escape thanks to Rimfire and Rhea who had prepared some escape hatches to the underground of the arena with General Stoker during the preparations. Those tunnels lead back to the safe areas, including the underground hospital, but they exploded after nearly everyone had gotten away, to make sure the enemy couldn't follow them. And of course it made Dominic T. Stilton devastated after hearing that some of the enemy had managed to escape. That made his will for revenge only grow..

"How can this be safe if the party wasn't and it was promised to be as well as these funerals.." Someone asked with a bit of panic in their voice while walking to the sanctuary that was decorated with rare flowers that were blooming all over the place. It looked like a normal cave from outside, but inside it looked very much different. There was no Martian electricity at all, meaning that all the light inside came from Martian Blue Horn Ox's flowers which had got its name after the creature that lived no more on the planet. All the flowers and plants there were nearly extinct or they had been thought to be already because during the war, visiting the sanctuary was much harder for the place to stay hidden from the enemy. Its location was hidden in the desert which belonged to both Brimstone and Blue Valley since it was on both sides of them. Also as well as in the party which had been decorated with some of the belongings from the fallen that symbolized them, they all had been brought to the sanctuary too as part of the decoration.

"We cannot be absolutely sure, but they never found our holy sanctuary even during the war, and this is much more highly protected than any other place on Mars.. I'm not actually sure which one is more secure, this or the Queen's home!" Someone answered, but then a third voice talked while catching up with the two others. "Actually this.." The Voice sighed while they checked their clothing looked the best as possible. Martian funerals were taken very seriously. They were holy and spiritual events that everyone took a part in, depending on who had passed away. And since now it was for everyone who had passed away during the war, the whole planet or the Martians that were still left attended, even the Queen was there with her royal guards. But the last deceased had been most surprising for all of them. Everyone from young children, to monks and to the forces were heavily devastated and mourning.

They all were waiting in the main room, the cave looking like a space that was on the ground, when a couple of monks came to tell that everything was ready now to start. Everyone had their best clothes on them, meaning that the army wore their uniforms and the Freedom Fighters wore their own, to show respect for those who had fallen for their planet. And with the uniforms, each of them had at least one flower to carry on with them. Their titles told how many flowers they had to bring with them, meaning that no-one brought there more flowers than her majesty. No-one either handed the flowers before the Queen, who was holding a rather big bunch of flowers that were raised in her royal palace. The Bunch was wrapped with a golden ribbon that had the royal symbols on it, along with the Martian Blue Horn Ox and Sweet Angel Parakeet which was the Martian holy bird kind of creature. The Legend of it told that it would be shown only for the one who would do something truly remarkable and selfless.

"Brother Bayawo informs, Father Mahawaq has got everything ready and the ceremony shall start. Please form three lines and follow the brothers to get to the sanctuary" One of the Monks said calmly while looking at another one who didn't talk by speech, but with his tail as a Martian sign language. Then they both nodded and a third one joined them to lead the citizens to get ready to move downstairs where the main spaces of the sanctuary was, under the ground of course.

They all followed the monks silently, while forming the line where the higher titles were first since the Queen had got to the sanctuary a bit earlier with her guards. They all greeted her by bowing formally when they got inside the huge cave under the ground. She just nodded back at her citizens while looking very serious. She was wearing an all silver dress with her crown where there was a veil attached to it to cover her face, so she could mourn more peacefully and privately, and also without her own permission it wasn't acceptable to look straight towards her face, especially to make eye contact. The Loss was heavy for the whole planet, meaning that the planet's leader had to carry a very big weight on her shoulders. The Queen was the highest on Mars, meaning that no generals, no government or any other like that stepped on her feet. Her words were highly respected and she was rarely seen, especially during the wars since the royal family got the highest protection from them all. The Legend told that their family lines were connected to the Goddess herself, even if every citizen on Mars were her children, meaning that they were the straight line from her, and related by blood and soul.

Only a couple Martians stood along with the Queen that weren't her guards, meaning that they were part of the Royal family, which always weren't the most obvious and clear who were part of it and who not. But everyone was well respected in that family, wasn't they?

"Shall the funeral begin.. For all who have joined the Goddess too early. To protect and save our planet, our home. From the great and dangerous enemy who attacked Mars just to have our home to themselves. To have greater glory for selfish reasons. But the Goddess has shown us, the ones who aren't here anymore with us, are not suffering anymore. They are in her arms, somewhere in there living with her now" The Father Mahawaq started the ceremony by speech, while two monks stood quietly on his left side, while three nuns stood quietly on his right side. From both nuns and monks, three were dancing an ancient Martian dance, while two from both of them had incense in their hands to move them as the part of an ancient ceremony.

From the citizens, some stood there in the back while the highest title sat with the eldest citizens. Also as a new tradition, all the females sat too, especially if they were pregnant, they sat in the front with the highest titled Martians. Since nowadays females were much less than males, they were even higher respected even if they were already before the devastating amount of lost Martians, meaning that if they lost even more females, the Martian mice population would be seriously endangered. It was already now, but still could be saved.

"When new life is born on Mars. The Goddess has already decided who the newborn will be and what life will bring to them. But the Goddess has also the power to take life away when it's time to leave. It might feel too early for us, who still continue to live here, but it also means that we haven't yet fulfilled Her plans for us. She takes away those whose time has come, to get back to Her loving and caring arms. To sit right next to Her, to see us who still continue our journey here on Mars. She loves, She knows, She saves, but She also takes away. She takes away who we got to know when we were young. Those who we learnt to love, to take care. Those who we loved and appreciated from the bottom of our hearts. She takes them away to show them Her love, but also to show us the amount of love through the suffering. All the mourning will take time. Healing process is slow, but She has meant it to be that way" The Father Mahawaq said while looking at each of the citizens of Mars. Some of them just listened silently while some cried quietly or loudly. Either way was fine but no-one talked. They all just followed the ceremony and the harmonic ancient dance that was called the Dance with the Wind, which means spiritual moving and that the soul once got inside a body, but had now left from it to get back to the Goddess.

"We are still here to learn. The Goddess might not tell us when it's our time to get back to Her, but She'll show the signs. As well as She helps us to get forward from our loss. She decides everything we go through, but She'll also guide us. To help us survive. Like this terrific war between two different planets. But are we after all so different from each other? Plutarkians and Martians, who are different species but live in their own environments in their own ways. We might not be much different from each other after all, but the day we understand that, is not here yet" He said, causing some growling to be heard from the soldiers when they heard a comparison between them and the enemy, but it ended soon when he lifted his right palm up and forward. But this time the Queen had specially announced that those females who were expecting, could stay sitting when she got up from her seat, but neither of them had done that to show their true honor and love towards her majesty. Even if saying or doing against the Royal's words was also forbidden, she understood that very well and honored the expecting females more than anyone else since they carried the future of Mars inside of them. The Next Generation would be now the best news for them after those tragic losses and happenings.

"She sees your, our, pain. She'll heal it, but it'll take time. One day we'll all understand the meaning of all of this, but that day will be the last day here. For some of them it might not be even close yet, but for some it has already come. And today we are here to honor those who have fallen to give us a better life. To live safely on Mars. To respect those who gave us more time here. She chose them instead of us, now it was their time to leave, but we shall honor it and miss them. Every feeling is all right to feel, and no-one blames you for feeling negative feelings. The Goddess has allowed us to feel that way, to help us grow and learn" The Father Mahawaq said while one of the nuns handed him an incense, which he lifted up in the air while all of the monks started humming and the nuns started singing beautifully in Martian language. During the singing, humming and the dance that was close to the end, the Father turned to the Queen before nodding formally.

"While the fallen have gone to the higher wisdom and the past life, we have our Highest, Her Majesty here today with us. According to the Legend, the Royal family is more closely related to the Goddess than us, by blood, to lead us for the better good. For now, Her Majesty, the Queen!" Father Mahawaq bowed to the Queen while showing the way with his palm to the Queen to the place where she was supposed to place her bunch of flowers first. When she stood up from her personal seat, the Father nodded to everyone who was also sitting to stand up too. In Martian culture, no-one sat before the Queen or stayed sitting if she stood up. As well as speaking bad about the Queen or anyone of the Royal family, it was badly forbidden and at worst punishable.

"You have faced a terrific loss, your Highness.. The Goddess is with us today, we'll all pray for you and the whole Royal family as well as the whole planet of Mars. She sees our pain and will make everything better when it's time she sees to be right" He continued while gently lifting his hands on the Queen's palms that were covered with silver gloves that were made from Martian silk of the cocoons of the Martian Silver Hawk Moth which grows only along in the same territory with the Martian Big-Ear Mini Fox that has two tails and horns like Earthen deer.

"Thank you, Father Mahawaq, about your kind and caring words" The Queen said while the Father nodded her formally before she walked to the front of the shrine, where behind had placed every single one of the fallen, already cremated, in beautifully and very specifically detailed urns along with the sea of fire that symbolized each of the fallen as well the belongings that symbolized them too. No weaponry was allowed to be brought in the sanctuary, meaning the military stuff had to be something else than a weapon, for example like the title symbols or uniforms, whatever was left to tell their story. In the front of them was the one who had fallen last, from whose urn had some golden details all around it.

The Queen said the Martian memory phrase that wished the best afterlife to have while being sincerely missed and loved here by those who still stayed here. Normally the phrase wasn't quite long, but still very meaningful, but the Queen as well as all the Royals, had rights for their own very much the same phrase to say which was very rare for the other citizens even to hear it. It was like a holy song that everyone knew to be real, but nobody else actually heard or knew what it really carried inside. It was also longer than the normal phrase, meaning that the Queen spoke quietly alone there for a while before placing the flowers of Light Blue Angel Roses, wrapped with the golden ribbon that had the royal symbols on it, along with the Martian Blue Horn Ox and Sweet Angel Parakeet.

The Next she bowed formally to the fallen, before the Father Mahawaq handed her an incense which she lifted up along with the nuns and monks who were carrying incense too. The Father turned to the citizens to lift his hand up a bit, giving them a sign for them to lift their flowers up in the air too. When the Queen started humming along with the nuns, the Father joined too with the monks and the citizens before they all started singing right after the Queen had started first. They all sang in Martian language closely the same phrase that was normally said when someone has passed away, to wish the good afterlife, but also to ask them some guidance and help to survive from mourning, to heal from the loss, since the deceased were now next the Goddess.

During that, all of the citizens held the flowers up in the air before lifting them close to their hearts. The Smells of incense filled the air, also to help everyone to calm down, but also for spiritual connection to help the Goddess to be around them, to feel her appearance and to help the deceased to get to the afterlife. The Smell reminded of Earthen lavender but was made from the Martians species of Light Blue Angel Roses and White Moon Thorns along with the Red Berry's flowers which must have been picked two and half days before blooming, during the night when the Moon of Phobos was full and the Moon Deimos was covering the Sun during the previous day which both at that short period of time happened once in a decade. That exact night was also magical for the couples to get either engaged or married to wish all the best for their future and to have the blessing from the Goddess herself. That night also was said to have some magical effects for those who were seriously sick.

After the song and a few of speech that were held by the Queen and a couple of others who stood right next to her along with the royal guards, it was the citizens turns to bring their flowers to the shrine, under the small leveled where the Queen had placed her bunch on the top and under her were the next in the line of titles. The Order was clear who brought their flowers and when, the highest ranked first. As well as the order and the amount was clear who brought what and when, the title also told what kind of flower was supposed to be brought to the funeral ceremony and what kind of ribbons and details the flowers had to have on them. It was even more important than the dressing code and that the ones who wore uniforms, had also worn every single patch and medal they had got during their career. And if there was a family member fallen, the closest to the deceased wore their badges too, meaning their own on the right side, and the deceased patches and medals on the left side close to their heart.

When all of the flowers had been carried to the shrine, they all got back to their places and prayed along with the Father, the nuns and the monks. The Whole ceremony in the sanctuary lasted at least a couple of hours, but when it was close to its end, the Queen had another speech, closely the same meaning that the Commander in Chief had had in the party a couple of days earlier. The Last speech was to thank everyone who fought in the war and defended their planet. A Few special thanks included and a few medals and honored patches given to those who the Queen found doing the most meaningful job for Mars. It made the whole day even more special, since normally those wouldn't be given at funerals but their own ceremonies. But these times were different and more dangerous, meaning the Queen was shown publicly very rarely and she was highly protected. Also during that time, the Father announced with the Queen that when the war was confirmed to be over, they would bury all of the fallen to the new cemetery that would be for the memory of the war, but so far the urns would be kept hidden and safe in the sanctuary to be sure the cemetery wouldn't get destroyed too.

"What a day.." Someone said in the evening while the ceremonies had ended and one group had left from there together. Some of them were still crying heavily while some of them were sobbing and a couple had calmed down at least a bit. When all the citizens had left the sanctuary, this exact group had stayed near it, hidden in another cave to be sure the location of the Martians holy place didn't get exposed to the possible enemy.

"Can't imagine what some are going through.." One sighed deeply while leaning against the cave's wall a couple of meters away from the entrance while the others were deeper inside of it. "Yea.. But the hard times have just begun.." Another one added before the fourth one talked. "Healing process will take time.." They said, making the others sigh and nod while some of them hugged each other at the same time still crying or sobbing. Then they heard someone walking near the cave's entrance, making them get prepared if there was an enemy, even if they hadn't any weaponry with them.

"Oh it's you.." Said a voice when they noticed the comer who was still crying heavily while heading straight to one's open arms. They hugged tightly while they couldn't stop crying at all. "It's alright.." They sighed, but the other one just shook their head. "No it's not! I can't believe they are gone!! Nothing will bring them back!" The Martian cried while being in another one's arms. "I know.. I know.. I'm sorry.." They sighed while looking at each other, ears dropped down.

"Take your time.. We'll all be here with you.. To support one another!" One said, making them nod while they tried to calm down, but the one who had just come, couldn't stop crying. When their crying had turned to sobbing, it didn't take long before it turned back to heavy crying. "They all will be remembered.." They said while nodding for all of them to start to leave from the cave where they had stayed to wait for the last one from their group.

"Especially.." One started but then stopped before ending it, but the others knew who they had just meant. They all nodded while they started to head back to the closest hidden entrance that led back to the underground hospital and evacuation center, with heavy hearts.. Many of their friends and family had passed away, but one of the deceased had been so important that it'll take more time to heal from that than they could even expect. How would they go on for now..