He feels like he has bent the rules.
Wrynn had told him it wasn’t possible, wasn’t right to mess with the walls separating the living and dead. They have their own world; their heels belong firmly entrenched in the sand of that Other Beach. It had bothered him then, but he had begrudgingly agreed. He had hated leaving Gail as an anchor. They had moved her, yes, but not far enough. She was still stuck, though this time, she had traded the company of the clanking langoliers for her own memories. Maybe it was an improvement she could live with. Ramiel doubted it, though. They had failed Carnage, but he didn’t really care about the dark god – he wanted the black mare back for her own sake.
So at first, he left the matter alone. His father and the Dale had needed him in a way that he had known was coming all along. Responsibilities at home had weighed him down, but all the while, he thought of that other place. He remembered the hazy shapes of the dead, remembered the way the salt air tasted just like it had in Beqanna proper. He remembered his grandmother’s disbelief at her own state of not being alive; his grandfather’s soft but sure voice as he consoled her. He thought of Gail still waiting, an ever-patient shadow on the shoreline. Eventually, he could no longer stand his pressing thoughts.
The young king had slipped into his new pale skin. It was so easy now, so simple to be alive one moment and dead the next. The ghost moved through the cliffs that had given him safe passageway the first time. He emerged onto the beach, saw the walking dead and heard the spatter of the sea against the sand. It was possible to return, but could he make the trip in reverse with another at his side? Ramiel had found Gail and the girl, Graveling (the one who was not quite as transparent as the others; she was somewhat warmer, more vibrant – he knew she wasn’t meant for the place). The black woman who had been their holy grail regretfully parted with Graveling, sending her back to the land of the living. To Ramiel’s shock, she hadn’t tried to come with them. It had worked – Graveling was now (mostly) alive – but it made him wonder about the others, too.
Who else can he give another chance to? And why not Gail?
She had told him about the full moon rendezvous, at least. Perhaps the others would have the answers he was unable to learn just yet. He watched the sky every night as the moon grew, his golden gaze trained to the heavens. When it floated over the Dalean hills as a complete orb (like the single eye of some omniscient god) he made his way to the meadow.
He moves now, invisible, as he weaves his way through the few bodies present this late in the night. The air is chilly but not cold – he shivers anyway. They’ve all survived so much in their short lives (a curiosity that they had been so young, as if their new blood had been advantageous – or even required - on their quest). Ramiel wonders how they’ve dealt with the fallout. He spots the boy’s (man’s, now) glowing blue eyes first, remembering the way they darted around in hopes of spotting a deceased relative on the beach. Once he was steps away from them, the grey came back to visibility slowly and not all the way. Knowing the extent of his abilities as a ghost, he found himself almost more comfortable as one these days.
“Hello,” he says to the brown man and the red woman. He smiles because it’s a simple greeting – too simple, when they can bypass it for more meaty conversation. There’s a bond that he feels towards the other four, and though they hadn’t really spoken along Carnage’s mad journey, he already feels closer to them than most. He thinks Kellyn must not feel the same by her question. That, or she’s hesitant to admit it. He waits for Nihlus to answer her (because they might be bonded, but that doesn’t explain the exact purpose of this meeting, if there is one) and the others to show up before adding to the conversation. If it’s only a meeting of the minds, he will share whatever knowledge he can with them. “ I brought Gail’s daughter back. It’s possible to,” he says, vaguely knowing they will understand what he means. He wishes she was here with them now. The former dead girl would have more insight than any of them, surely.
r a m i e l
what a day to begin again