Famine liked it when people were hungry. He liked when people starved to Death. He enjoyed with the fascination of how quickly children whithered away from hunger and how softly their last breaths of agonizing hunger were. He enjoyed the sound of stomach growling.

However, he must admit coming to Egypt and the regions beyond was disappointing. There was enough food to go around and everyone had become so unified and at peace with each other, he felt more like a blessing on the land than a curse.

When there is Famine War usually follows. Her blade dripping in the blood of those who dared take from the greedy. Not this time. The food was distributed equally and generously. It baffled her greatly.

Pollution follows suit. Bodies pile up fast when Famine and War are in town and the only thing worse for the human spirit is constant remainders of their impending doom. But there weren't any bodies in the street. There was just happy and smiling faces and people getting along. This upset the horseman for she always wants the stench of wastefulness in her path.

Death is a quiet soul. He does not care if people live or die. He is simply a bridge between this world and what is beyond for the living and the damned. However, the situation was nonetheless surprising, to say the least. He did not take joy in it. He was not displeased by it. Just puzzled.

Even more baffling so was when Joseph choose to forgive his brothers. They had shown genuine remorse and had even protected their new youngest brother when Joseph attempted to trap them in the same way they had done to him so very many years ago.

But in the end of the seven years of Famine it was not Famine who won the day. It was not War who stole the final victory. Pollution did not own the hearts of the people. Death had not become a cornerstone or a talking point but rather a lurking presence and a shadow of ineffability.

This was one of the only times in history the four horsemen gathered before the Rapture to discuss the creativity and survival of humanity. They would have to get more creative as the humans evolved their societies and thought processes.

They were looking out for each other. When a neighbor was hungry he was given something to eat. When a woman was thirsty after a long day in the fields she was given something to drink. Out of the kindness and generosity of the human nature's heart. This greatly displeased Famine.

They were talking things out. Rationalization was solving things quicker than fighting ever could. Civilizations were coming together to make trades and unions despite their differences. War was infuriated.

The humans were taking care of the enivironement and their animals. They were respectful and reposnsible to the world around them and only taking what they needed and giving back to the cycle of the ecosystems. Pollution was disgusted.

Death found himself waiting on people for longer periods of time. He found himself not as surrouned by younger souls in need of guidence to the afterlife but more older souls now than ever before. Mothers and babies were dying less by the claws of Famine. Less men died by the blade of War. Less children died from the filthy waters of Pollution. He did not have an opinion. He was neutral as always. He even saw his own end and perdicted it before the horsemen could ever.

Azreal was overjoyed by seeing more people get to live out their lives fuller. She may have been the angel of death but she did not intentionally seek it out or flirt with Death. She is simply beside him at all times waiting until the threads of life are cut. But she does not know what Death knows as she does not know what the Almighty knows. The only two beings in the world to see and know how everything will begin and end.

When Joseph finally reached his last breathe and feel into the arms of Azreal and the shadow of Death Death did something rare and spoke directly to the man:

"The path that you have lead in your life has been one of forgiveness, prophecy, and generosity. You were given a gift and unlike many, before you, you used it to help others and bring the region together for one moment in history. I have seen this many times before and will see it many times after. But I did not expect to see the two of the beings who will be able to stop me for a brief moment when time will seem to stop but it won't end. The snake and the dove who will accomplish this walked among your people all these years."

Joseph replied with:

"Sir my life has reached an end. I understand the bit about my life but for the snake and the dove, I do not understand. I have lived in many places and have seen many living things. Would the snake not eat the dove or the dove outsmart the snake?"

Azreal was confused as well for she could only see the beginnings and ends of those but the end of the entire world was blurry. It was written sure but in her vision unclear.

Death said no more after this for they did not get that the most extraordinary thing about the time of Joseph was not the love between the people for each other but the friendship between two enemies who became friends.