a/n: guys i have so much written! i have to restrain myself from publishing it all right away lol

"This is my daughter?" Thane asked, his eyes wide with shock.
"Yeah. She's ours," Eon said with an amused smile.
"What's her name?"
"Lilith."
"She's a necromancer," Thane stated quietly.
"Yep."
"That's amazing!" He exclaimed, glancing at Flare. "This means there could be more necromancers when she grows up and has kids! How do you know for sure?"
"Trust me," Eon rolled her eyes. "She's a necromancer."
"Can I... hold her?"
"Go for it," Eon shrugged, passing Lilith into Thane's arms. He held her gently, with the same kind of softness with which he maneuvered through life. Flare marveled at their similarity, especially in their striking blue eyes. Lilith rested her head on Thane's shoulder, and Flare heard the boy audibly inhale.
"I love her," he whispered.
"You can't care for her," Eon reminded him.
"I know," he said, closing his eyes and burying his face in his daughter's shoulder.
"Do you want a moment alone with her?" She asked, more gently this time.
"Yeah."
"Rosemary Vinca?" Eon asked, holding the pipe out to Flare once they were outside. Flare accepted it, awkwardly adjusting it around her thin fingers.
"How often do you use this stuff?"
"Not often," Eon sighed. "Although I guess it seems like the opposite, seeing as both times you've come here I've been smoking."
"Yeah," Flare laughed a bit, taking a puff of smoke. "And I guess today is a pretty good day to use it. How do you feel about Thane coming?"
"Fine. Lilith and I have managed perfectly well without him. For Lilith's sake, it would be nice to have him around, but I couldn't ask him to do that. Besides, I don't love him."
"That makes sense. He seems to really love her, though," Flare said, absentmindedly watching the smoke drift away into the brisk wind.
"Well, of course. If you have children, you'll get it. You love them more than anything in the world."
"How'd you find out she's a necromancer?"
"You just kind of know, you know? She was staring at this bug on our windowsill with such intent one day, and when she touched it, with the softest, gentlest touch, it just died," Eon shuddered. "It was a bit scary to witness, but I'm glad there could be more necromancers. Thane, his dad, and Lilith are the last of them, right?"
Flare nodded. "Oh, by the way. Do you think... could I visit Early's resting place before we get going?"
"Sure. You remember the way?"
"I think I do," Flare nodded.

***

Sublime simplicity, found in a small clearing decorated with firecracker flowers, and a river downwind, trickling with the sounds of water nymphs. Despite the hateful circumstances surrounding Early's death, Flare believes that love still lives in the chronomancy town - in Eon's melodious smile, in Thane's soft gasp as Lilith rested her head on his shoulder, and in the places that Flare had left lush in her absence, leaving her footprints as she traipses through once again.
Something about an untamed forest, fresh like fire, and a grove of trees colored with bittersweet birdsong could've lulled Flare into sitting there forever, watching the wind play with the petals where Early's remains rested. The old woman would live in eternal euphoria, life without end, in someplace where the forest cycle took her to get her rose-dusted angel wings.