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The day of the funeral had rolled around when Seth was busy preparing himself for it as Ralph, and elderly gray wolf and his butler, was fitting him out for a pitch black funeral suit that Lloyd carefully picked out for him from a local tailor. Standing in the mirror and looking dead, Seth stared deeply into his reflection, his eyes all red and fuzzy from last night's crying session. The young serval dreaded looking in the mirror as all he could see was a monster born of rage and hatred from the cat in purple, Lloyd Balenciaga. Completely numb to Ralph's touch, Seth moved like a robot as the wolf butler pushed his arm down, but bore witness to his shaken frame.

"Is everything alright, master Seth?" He asked, his voice sincere and soft. Seth simply sniffled as his eyes began to produce tears again. The serval didn't want to explain, but it felt good to vent every once and awhile.

He turned his head to look at Ralph directly in the eye and asked, "how would you feel if someone you've been friends with for a long time died at the hands of, say, your mom or your dad?"

Ralph, simply hearing this from the young master, pondered this thought carefully, trying to come up with what to say. Soon enough, he simply answered with, "well I would contact the authorities and have him or her arrested for murder. That is what happened at the open house party, is it not?"

Seth shook his head sadly as he continued to stare in the mirror, keeping his eyes on the shell of his former self. "The police automatically took dad away as they ship him off for questioning. If that's the case, will you drive me to the funeral this afternoon?"

"Of course! I'm your butler, after all!" Ralph playfully chuckled as he put away the ruler and gave the serval a pat on the shoulder. Turning around to leave the room, Seth was alone with his thoughts again. As he sat on the side of his bed to put on his black shoes, all he could think about was what could be awaiting him at the funeral. Since that night, Seth lost his usual hours of sleep over the look of Nikki and Aria's death bodies while also being surprised at his own father for doing something so heinous. Those memories fades in again as his ears folded down backwards in an attempt to forget them.

It was obvious that after all this was over, everyone at school would hate him forever for what his father did, but most importantly, for what he didn't do. Seth knew he should've saved them, he was there watching! Why didn't he move? Was he shocked? Was he paralyzed with fear? All these questions ran through the serval's mind in need of an answer, but he was soon interrupted by the sound of his door creaking and the visage of his uncle Red, a middle-aged Red Panda in the same depressing funeral outfit as he.

Seth looked him in the eye, their souls somehow interacting with each other in ways no one can grasp. Red was looking far less like his usual joyful, happy side and carried the same emotions as Seth--broken, sad, and a tad bit angry. His eyes were also fuzzy and red from crying. As a police officer, it was quite common to see him cry most of the all, but from what the serval could assume, maybe it wasn't just the death of two innocent civilians, but rather from the fact that his little brother Lloyd was getting thrown in jail for it. Before he could say anything, his uncle simply said, "Ralph is waiting for you. Don't dawdle."

As he finished, Red walked off silently like nothing ever happened, leaving his feline nephew to ponder what he meant by that. Seth decided to get up, walk downstairs to the front door, and went out to the front lawn where that elderly gray wolf was carefully stationed in the front seat. Seth opened the door and jumped inside, sitting himself down across from his uncle who still kept his sad expression and was found drinking one of the many wines found inside the limousine's wine cabinets. It was considered rude to drink from just the bottle and not out of a cup, but Seth knew his uncle had been through the same ordeal as he had so he let it slide.

"Master Red, would you like some more bourbon before we go?" Ralph asked as he opened up the glove compartment, pulled out another bottle, and handed it to the red panda. He immediately took it out of the wolf's hands and popped the cork off, chugging it forcefully as tears rolled down his eyes. Seth decided to take his eyes off his uncle for the whole drive over to the funeral and decided to pass the time by pulling out an MP3 player from his pocket, turning it on, plugging his earbuds in, and started to get lost in his own music. He looked off into the back window, stifling a sniffle as he started to envision more of what could be at the church. Would the whole place be filled with people angrily glaring at him for what he did? Would they also judge him for his complacency in the matter?

He hoped none of this would happen, so at the same time, he was thankful his uncle was going to be present as he a police officer after all.

---

The church was packed to the brim with patrons as well as the relatives of Nikki and Aria Welker, all lined up and stationed at their seats. They were all dressed in a wide array of dresses and outfits, but the generic black funeral outfit was mostly common here in this crowd. As they were busy sharing condolences with the family and chatting, some took notice of the limo pulling up in the driveway of the church, causing some people to give it angry glares.

"Hey, look," Mr. Whitlock, the rooster from last night, said to his wife, "it's that lavender charlatan and his mentally disturbed son. He's probably here because he feels guilty." The rooster snorted and then laughed afterwards, which then resulted in a hard nudge on the wing by his wife.

"Yeah, maybe he does feel that way, but that doesn't give you the right to be a sourpuss, Melman!" Selma snapped, "we've all done things we're not proud of, so why should Lloyd be any different!?"

"Because he _never _regrets his actions! I can guarantee that his son will be the same way." As the two birds were left to bicker amongst themselves in the crowd of patrons, Ralph stepped out from the driver's seat and opened the door for both Red and Seth respectively. Upon walking out onto the entryway of the church, Seth was immediately surrounded by onlookers and bystanders asking his red panda uncle incessant questions in regards to his foster father, Lloyd.

"Officer Red, is it true that your little brother killed these two girls?" A tall Coyote asked, his voice quivering in fear.

"As an officer of the law, how would you rate this case?"

"We need to know about your brother's current condition under your watch! He committed a crime and one that he won't get away from!"

"Do you defend his actions, by any chance?"

Being bombarded with such questions made Red even more irritated than before as he pushes past the crowd while holding his nephew's hand. As he entered through the doorway to the church, everyone in their seats turned their heads to the two, casting angry scowls. Even though some could be directed at Red for his silence on the matter, their pissed off glares were most likely meant for Seth. They were deserves, he thought as he and his uncle took up an empty spot on one of the benches. The glares continued until the pastor cleared his throat. Looking up attentively, the young serval dreaded seeing the caskets of two innocent lives that had been taken too soon as well as two large picture frames.

Those picture frames depicted the smiling face of both his friend Nikki and Mrs. Welker, two whose souls may allegedly be tormenting the little serval through the smiles they wore as the pictures were taken. They depicted two innocent people who were killed at the hands of the notorious Lloyd Balenciaga and two souls whose lovely smiles and friendly nature will never again bless this world. Seth cupped his hands together and bit his tongue to keep himself from crying, much to Red's dismay. Taking notice of his nephew's hidden emotions, the red panda officer gently placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Seth, it's okay to cry," he cooed, "this is a funeral, after all."

"I know, uncle Red..." Seth answered, his voice cracking with tears. Soon enough, he allowed them to fall freely as he looked down at his knees, hiding his shame. The border collie pastor up at the front cleared his throat once more as he witnessed a few more patrons taking their seats.

"We are gathered here today to mourn for the loss of two individuals who have blessed our hearts and our local schools. These two people were taken from us too soon on the night of Bloodstone Junior High's open house celebration, succumbing to the fatal blow from a 50-foot drop caused by..." The pastor stopped as he gulped a knot down his throat and wiped at some beads of sweat on his forehead with a napkin as he looked over where Seth and Red were seated. He looked back at the crowd again.

"...Caused by Lloyd Balenciaga in a fit of rage. Now, before we go on with services, I would like to preface this by saying that this is no one else's fault--"

"Yes, it was!" Melman interrupted from the back, pointing an accusatory feathered finger at the serval. "It was _his _fault!! He watched as his crazy father killed these two girls! He should be locked up for being an accessory to murder!"

Red stood straight up from his seat and started glaring daggers at the rooster, making everyone in the church turn their heads to catch wind of the ongoing spectacle. "Excuse me, but that is my nephew you're talking about!" He shot back. "He had nothing to do with this!"

"Yeah, exactly! He made absolutely _no effort _to help them. If anything, he watched idly by as your crazy brother threw them off that balcony last night! As an officer of the law, it's your duty to condemn people like Lloyd and Seth, one for murder and the other for being an accessory and taking part."

"For Lloyd, maybe, but not for my nephew!" Red barked back. "You are literally talking about locking an innocent child away for a crime he didn't commit. What does that say about you, his English teacher?!"

As the two adults bickered nonstop, pastor Cattle slammed a Bible down on the stand and let out an ear-piercing bark. Finally regaining everyone's attention again, Cattle gently set the Bible aside and gave both the red panda and the rooster a look of disappointment. "We're here to mourn the loss of two civilians, not to bicker about the rights and wrongs of others. If you wish to do that, you can leave now and go straight to a courtroom for that, but don't bring it here. Thank you." Red sat back down beside Seth and snorted while Melman murmured obscenities under his breath and plopped himself down.

The border collie pastor spoke once more. "Now, as I was saying, this is no one's fault. These things happen and it's out of our hands, so we will be respectful to each other about how and why it happened. But first we would like to honor their lives. Mrs. Aria Welker, a science teacher at Bloodstone Junior High, was a bright and lovely soul. She would always help her students when they were in a scrape as well as give out free advice to her fellow staff. She knew how to practice quantum theory and was well proud of it as she demonstrated it at the annual science fair that was held last year. Her life may have been cut short, but the memories will always remain."

Soon enough, the church turned into a chorus of collective gasps as they witnessed the pastor starting to cry and sob as he moved onto Nikki, the antelope girl that Seth would never get to see again. Pastor Cattle's hand shook as he motioned it over to Nikki's casket. Having watched him cry, it was evident to the serval that the pastor was not very fond of addressing a dead child. Biting back at his emotions, Cattle continued.

"We would also like to share this moment with her only daughter, Nikki, a girl whose... whose beautiful laughs will never again enrich this world. Having grown up with a supportive mom, Nikki chased her dream of becoming an actress and... and... and even earned the role as _Rosie _in last year's school play. She was also a dear friend of Seth, the son of... Lloyd Balenciaga. She took may be gone, but memories of her will always remain."

In a fit of shame, Seth started to feel even more quieter than before as his ears fold back and he hung his head low. Just by hearing his own father's name, the serval couldn't help but feel just a tad bit responsible for this whole thing, especially since he remembered just standing there and doing nothing as that lavender lunatic took two lives from this world. He gripped tighter at the legs of his pants as the pastor continued his speech, which wasn't very long. "Now, if you would all be so kind as to come up and speak your condolences, now would be the time."

In perfect unison, every single Pantheran in the church stood up from their seats and all lined up near the caskets with Red and Seth following up last. Looking and taking note of how tall these people were, Seth felt small compared to them. Thankfully, uncle Red kept his hand firmly held as they stayed together. After all, as his uncle, it was his duty to make sure the little serval was safe.

That wouldn't be too difficult had it not been for the red panda feeling a slight poke on his back, making him jolt up in surprise and turn around to see that bastard rooster again. Mr. Melman Whitlock, wrinkling his beak in disgust, gave Red a soulless glare. "Y'know, this isn't over, officer Red," he sneered. "For your complacency on the matter and being an enabler, I actually could have you fired for Lloyd's crimes."

"You are in no power to do anything to me," Red shot back, "only the chief of police can make that decision on rather to keep me or not, you do not. You're just an angry civilian trying to prove a point by pointing fingers instead of doing some digging for yourself."

"I bet all that gratuitous violence you expose Seth to made him desensitized or something."

"Leave my nephew out of this. I will not arrest him because he didn't do it. End of discussion." Red reluctantly turned his head back forward as he watched the line shrink. As Seth took part in this, he could almost feel his English teacher whisper to his wife about him. Of course none of this affected him, but if a teacher thought of otherwise, it was a very big deal because Melman Whitlock was in a position of both power and authority, and everything they say goes. Deciding to ignore him altogether, Seth kept his gaze to the line, but not without feeling Melman's beak against his ear and whispering, "I look forward in getting you a new seat in class tomorrow, and that seat being up front where I could keep my eye on you."

The line had finally shrunken and the party of two walked up to each casket and said their condolences. While Red finished up by gently tapping his hand on Aria's casket two times, Seth was still staring at Nikki's, his eyes blurry with tears again. He rubbed a single hand against the surface, recounting and recollecting on all the fond memories he had of her. Some were alright while others were a tad bit awful, but he wouldn't have it any other way. Kneeling down, he whispered, "I love you, Nikki..."

As Seth padded up to his uncle, he kept looking down and reduced any eye contact he could with the red panda. As the service dragged on, Seth couldn't help but grab on tight to Red's arm and hug it for dear life, catching him by surprise. Red looked down and noticed his nephew's arms wrapped around his. "Is everything alright, kid?" He asked, his voice low and gentle.

"Uncle Red..." The serval looked up with pity in his eyes. "Are you really going to throw me in jail for not helping out? I... I stood by and watched as those two girls were mercilessly killed."

Stopping for a minute, Red began to ponder his thoughts carefully as he kept the boy by his side. He looked down at his nephew and let out a disgruntled sigh before kneeling down before him. "No, Seth. I cannot do that. By law I can't because we would actually have to put you on trial before a decision can be made. For now, let's just go home. That sound good to you?"

Seth nodded. That was all he could do at this point. Walking out onto the church's entryway and going out to the driveway, they spotted the limousine and Ralph sleeping soundly inside. The presence of his employer's relatives alerted the wolf butler as he had woken up suddenly and started the vehicle. Seth stepped into the back with Red going in after him, strapped on his seatbelt, and rested himself in his seat. Red, however, was looking at his nephew with concern in his eyes, wondering what else could've happened differently has Lloyd not do those things.

"So, how was the service, master Red?" Ralph asked, calm as usual. Red simply grimaced.

"It was alright," he answered dryly, "that is if you don't think that a teacher at your nephew's school is making wild claims about him partaking in a murder. I mean, can you believe him? The nerve of that cock..."

"Indeed, sir." As they had driven off back home, Seth held himself and kept quiet for the rest of the ride home, silence settling over him and his uncle. He couldn't stop thinking about what Mr. Whitlock has said to him and the sheer thought of sitting at the front of the class was already scary enough. But it didn't look good since them person in power was a fowl who made extremely wild claims about him out in public. At this point, Seth might as well wait it out and see what will be in store for him tomorrow.

---

As they had gotten home back to the mansion, Red kept his hand held firmly with Seth's and guided him to his bedroom, where the red panda would at least take this as an opportunity to talk to his young nephew. As they entered and sat down on the serval's bed, Red looked down and noticed that Seth was feeling all tired and burnt out from the events of today. Grimacing, Red gently patted him on the head and whispered in his ear, "don't worry about a thing, little one. Mr. Whitlock was just... He was just upset, that's all..."

As the silence dragged on, Seth hung his head low and started to cry silently, his tail fluffing up in sadness. He shook his head rapidly as he allowed tears to fall from his eyes and down to his snout. "N-No, uncle Red. Maybe he's right... I am responsible for all this. If I had done something or at least stood up to dad, Nikki and Mrs. Welker would still be alive..."

The middle-aged police officer gently strokes Seth's cheek and wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulder. "Look, remember what pastor Cattle said: it's no one's fault. That means you shouldn't blame yourself for what your batshit crazy dad did. Lloyd was the one who decided to act a fool that night. Doesn't mean you will too." Darting his eyes downward at the floor, Seth chuckled slightly as his uncle's words, quite aware of the fact that he knew what type of person Lloyd was. At least someone understands. Soon enough, Red got up from his perch on the bed and said, "Ralph is preparing some dinner for us. Would you like to wash up or nap beforehand?"

The serval boy stood up, walked up to his closet, and opened it. He took out some comfortable looking clothes and began to strip off his funeral outfit. "I think I'll just take a nap." Red simply smiled at his nephew and nuzzled his cheek, eliciting a giggle.

"Alright, I'll come and get you when food is done," the red panda added as he turned around and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him and leaving the little serval in the dark with only his sun shaped nightlight casting a warm golden glow. Seth took this time to tuck himself in and fall asleep, his eyes closing peacefully and entering a state of slumber. Hopefully, this nap would help cleanse the boy of all horrible, intrusive thoughts...

...Or so he thought.