Something's Missing SOLO FINISHED

Roleplaying as approved Ilvermorny iNPC Cyrus Darsel.
CWs for death of a family member.
Backdated to May 2022.

Cyrus got the owl while at school.

He had been walking around the grounds, aimlessly casting Bullarem Immortalem at various trees. Some trees looked better surrounded by bubbles than others did. Cyrus giggled as he cast the spell. It was a spell that made him forget any sadness he had, like his lack of close friend or his wanting to be home with his aunt and uncle.

Perhaps it was a good thing he had been happy when he went back to the school and received an owl.

It read:

May 15, 2022

Cy,

As you know, your Uncle Eric has been suffering from pancreatic cancer for some time now. Although his doctor expected for him to live longer, I regret to inform you that, last week, his condition deteriorated rapidly, and last night, he died.

I wish you could have been here to say goodbye. He loved you a great deal, Cyrus, and while he wouldn't have wanted you to see his illness, he would have wanted to see you again. Enclosed are two photographs─you should recognise both of them.

I love you, Cyrus, and if you need anything, don't hesitate to reach out.

I'll see you this summer.

With love,

Aunt Teresa

Cyrus didn't feel much as he set the letter aside. All of his prior happiness had drained out of his body, and he stood in the halls, his expression, for once, devoid of emotion. His gaze would seem exhausted, and he no longer fidgeted with restless energy.

His uncle. He'd seen him just last month for holidays, and he'd seemed fine, perhaps even better than Cyrus. Cyrus hadn't expected this at all.

He glanced at the photos his aunt had sent him. They were still, and if his magical friends saw them, they might have been surprised. But he didn't intend to show his friends these pictures.

One of them was a family photograph of Cyrus, his aunt and his uncle. He stared at it, the photo pinched between his thumb and his index finger, and he fought back a sob that he hadn't realised was building. It came from somewhere deep inside his stomach, and he scurried back outside, anywhere away from people who could see him cry.

He found a tree and sat with his back against its trunk, and nearly the second he sat down, the tears came in earnest. Cyrus couldn't remember the last time he had cried. He simply wasn't a crier─he usually found ways to distract himself from any sadness he was struck by, and he was rarely sad in the first place. But this was something worse, something big. Something irreversable.

The other photo was one of his uncle by himself. His scruffy blond hair was askew, and he wore his beard slightly straggly. Cyrus could almost smell his uncle's telltale scent of coffee and cologne.

He missed him already, and his tears forced their ways out of his tearducts as he thought about Uncle Eric. That was the man who had thought of him as a son when his parents weren't bothered to. Uncle Eric was his father more than his dad was.

And now he was gone. Poof. Cyrus would never see him again. Cyrus couldn't even go to his funeral.

He blinked his tears out of his eyes and used his hand to rub them away. He stared at the photos, those precious photos. He would keep them safe. He would keep his uncle's memory.

He glanced up at the sky to try and stop crying, and, as if his uncle could hear, he whispered, 'I love you.'

And he missed him. And he wanted him back. But he couldn't go back in time. He could only go forward. So sitting underneath the tree, he decided he would be the best possible version of himself from this moment forward. He would make his uncle proud.

That was the way to honour him.