Your brother had died.
Well... Not your brother, but this you's brother. Your mother was distraught, and you couldn't see your father anywhere. You wondered if he was dead too. Murmurs surrounded you, whispers of how your brother had died somewhat sickening you.
You didn't know why, it wasn't like you even knew him. Perhaps it was just how disrespectful it felt to be speaking of the dead in such a manner. Saying he was a crook, that he'd been taking down the family's legacy anyways.
Dying a war hero was not enough to all of those prying eyes. But dying at all seemed to be treated as... Honorable. "It's better this way, he'll redeem himself in death," one voice muttered.
The funeral hadn't even begun yet. These were just people in your home. People supposed to be close to your family. You hugged your mother tight, let her cry into your chest. And you wondered just what type of world you'd landed in this time.
"Restless as he was in life, may he find peace within the land of our ancestors."
Stood before you now was a man with cocoa skin and hair as white as clouds. His eyes were closed and he was bowed to you, his clothes not matching the Mediterranean style you'd seen. Rather, it seemed more like traditional Chinese funeral wear. He had these white tattoos as well— and they glowed as clouds passed over and dimmed the sky.
"Who... Are you again?" You whispered, clutching onto the skirt of your dress as you stared ahead at him. You'd come out to greet him when some servants said a guest had arrived. However he seemed so peculiar in comparison to everybody else who'd shown up thus far.
The man rose his head and opened his eyes, which were a pure white as well. He smiled so warmly it could've been the rising dawn itself. "Huíshēng Wáng, my lady. I am the shaman." He introduced himself, tilting his head to the side briefly.
It was the first time you'd seen someone smile since Hàoyú had departed from your side. "Oh," you breathed, and he nodded.
"These times may seem sad now, but do not fret over him. You'll see him again, in another life. And he'll be at peace, I promise. Death is nothing to fear."
His words hit close to home, and you felt tears well up in your eyes. You didn't know why, you hadn't known the man who died, but Huíshēng's words made your heart ache.
"Would you like a hug?"
You nodded without fully thinking it through. Huíshēng brought you close, his arms surrounding you. "Do not cry for the dead, smile for them. As they rest below, they'll rise again like the dawn in due time. You will see them again, one day in your next life."
"You're strange," you laughed airily.
"I get that quite often." Huíshēng nodded. "I hail from Thazia, the land of the rising dawn. But I have made my home here in Ephohan, the land of the unwavering depths."
"Unwavering depths?"
"A polite way to say 'dead', no?" Huíshēng pulled away and looked at you with polite curiosity.
"Oh," you breathed again. The land of the dead... What nation would ever identify itself as such?