He thinks about all of them, always.
The final acolytes on Carnage’s mission – the other five of them – have permanently affixed themselves to the folds of his brain. He remembers their faces as clear as the day he first saw them. He remembers how young most of them were, how aged they had looked after it was all over. Not so much in their bodies, perhaps, but in their eyes. In the murky, blackened corners of each of their gazes where they had watched ghosts passing by. In the bright spot on their irises normally made by the sun, now lit instead by the knowledge of universes and the end of the world.
The last six are wiser and worldly, but they are also a frustratingly silent bunch. He’d run into most of them only once since their shared ordeal. It had been a quiet and succinct affair in the meadow on a full-moon night. Nothing of worth had come of the gathering, save for the temporary appeasement of Ramiel’s worry for them. Those who had answered the call had been mostly whole and outwardly content – what more could he hope for? After, they had all gone their separate ways into their separate lives. He should have been glad to have even seen them once again, but of course, wasn’t enough for the grey stallion.
Maybe he is stupid and sentimental to continue to worry for them, but he does.
There is a connection that lingers, silk-thin but as strong, between the finalists. Maybe they don’t feel it like he does (often, he’s wondered if they feel it at all – if it’s all in his head, even). Maybe he’s simply tethered to the Afterlife (and Gail, their guiding light at the end) more permanently than the rest. He’s brought back a daughter of Death, after all. Graveling is proof enough of his forays into places he is physically able to go but possibly shouldn’t. And if a repeat journey into the land of the dead can yield such powerful results from one acolyte, what can they all accomplish together?
He thinks about it a lot. But as the king of a land far removed and rather before the sandy stretch of the afterlife, Ramiel can only spend so many hours of the day lost in such thoughts. He moves on as best he can. War looms like plague across the land, taking and entrapping each of the kingdoms until nearly all are boiling with its heat. It simmers just below the skins of the horses, stirring them into frenzied preparations he’s not sure will be enough.
As the spring sun rises, the charcoal stallion edges closer towards the borders. It is prudent to watch them these days, and it is a task that allows him ample time to think as he completes it. It isn’t long before a commotion just ahead catches his attention. A flock of various songbirds still lean from their journey northward rises into the air, disturbed from their perches in the trees. Ramiel’s golden gaze narrows in on the small gathering that has caused all the fuss. Three females, one smaller and trailing the other two, linger just within the borders. “Hello,” he calls out, his voice rich and even. Perhaps he should be more concerned about three strangers at their gate. But as he draws nearer, he is surprised to recognize the strawberry-colored mare.
“Kellyn?” It’s been years since he last saw his fellow quester, years since she ventured into the Dale and promptly ventured back out. She hadn’t had a reason for visiting last time, but now, he thinks he understands why she’s come. The little one (purple and rotting – he’s reminded of Graveling at once) stands behind her. A daughter? He smiles warmly at the pair before turning to the other woman, the curiosity not diminishing in his gaze. “Hello, I’m Ramiel.” The ghost-man hadn’t heard the conversation before he had come upon the group. He doesn’t know they are looking for him, but feeling the same connection he’s always felt with Kellyn and the others, he’s glad to have found them. He turns to her now. “Have you come to stay longer this time? You are always welcome, you know.” Ramiel looks between the three of them then, especially the magenta one. “And who are your friends?”
ooc: I'm so sorry for the wait! The holidays were absolutely insane this year