<div class="floatright">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/5/5e/Clarisse_by_bilopsis-d5xgb49.png)</div><div align="center"><strong><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: georgia;">Aelys Wimpenny (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=159096)</span></span></strong></div><br/>She looks mildly insulted by their lack of fear, her brow furrowing as she attempts to look even more glowerful and frightening, but the sudden arrival and assistance from the priest smooths her forehead and jerks her brows up in surprise.  Her gaze shifts from the peasants to the vaguely creepy...man?...in the robes, a smile once more alighting on her lips and brightening her gaze.  "Thank you, sir!  I think perhaps my attempt to set them straight on the professor went over their provincial heads, or something.  I'm glad you arrived to make them understand the error of their ways."  She nods and walks with the others, as the procession continues unimpeded, her arm growing tired of holding her end of the coffin.<br/><br/>Glancing at Timo, she shakes her head a touch, lips curling into a sly sort of smile.  "No, of course not...yet.  But, they didn't know that, did they?  Or...maybe they did, and that's why they laughed at me?  Hmm."  She looks somewhat better about the situation, pleased at the idea that it wasn't a fundamental lack of gravitas on her part, but that somehow the peasants knew she was lying and thought she was making a strange joke.  Her thoughts focus back on the funeral and she slipps back into sorrow, her brief reprieve from the reality of her lost friend over.  Folding her hands before her, she clears her throat and steps forward, gazing down at the coffin and speaking with a dreamy wistfulness.<br/><br/>"The professor loved uncovering mysteries, and finding the answers to difficult questions.  The most ephemeral and impossible truth that we long to know is what lies beyond.  Well, I like to think that the professor is busy on the other side, doing just what he'd done here, what he loved to do.  He's uncovered the mystery of what lies beyond, and now he has a whole new plane of existence to explore and learn about, and an eternity to devote to that effort.  I hope that when I die, I can find him over there and we can keep going on adventures, and sharing stories of the time we've spent apart."<br/><br/>Having spoken, she steps back once more and finally lets her misty gaze flick to the man who'd joined them late, looking him over curiously.  Even her genuine sadness over the loss of her friend couldn't suppress her inquisitive nature.  But, then, the professor would have understood.