Broken Wings
N.W. 942
Ritual in the Rain
It was raining.
Oddly fitting, he knew. Richter had always loved the rain. And though Lloyd didn't understand the mechanics of rain in a pocket dimension like the Ginnungagap... well.
It didn't make it any less fitting.
This was a rather odd funeral already, if he was being honest with himself. Something just this side of the traditional dwarven funerals, which wouldn't have made sense, except for the fact that Richter refused to answer to any government of humans... or elves. And though he'd never had the chance to see one of the dwarven cities, he'd spent years digging every bit of knowledge he could out of Lloyd.
Knowledge that Lloyd had given, happily.
And so it was that Richter would be buried in ceremonial armor, within a casket of willow, which would be covered with earth and a small, marble gravestone inlaid with aquamarine. All of which Lloyd had so painstakingly crafted over the last two weeks since the half-elf's body had given in to the ravages of time.
It hadn't been an expected order, but Ratatosk had sent it via Aqua, and once Lloyd had calmed the Centurion of Water back down, he'd understood.
Richter, like Lloyd, followed the dwarven customs more than anything else... and as the dwarves were returned to the earth encased in that which they took from it to sustain their livelihoods, so too would Richter be returned.
His sight shifted to Ratatosk and Aqua, off to the side. Aqua was draped over her Lord's shoulders just as she had so often done with Richter, and Ratatosk stood tall, aged but a few years from the youthful façade he had worn when Lloyd had first met him. Red hair fell wildly about his head, darker red eyes tired and filled with regret as Richter's coffin was slowly covered.
Time, friends, and Richter's companionship had changed the Spirit in ways that Lloyd couldn't hope to comprehend. And even as Solum stepped back from his work and turned to Lloyd, a silent indication that it was time for the headstone to be placed, Lloyd felt the gaping hole of Ratatosk's impending absence.
Still, he stepped forward quietly, footfalls sure and steady over the ground that Solum had just finished returning to its place, his power causing the very earth to wrap around Richter in an eternal embrace that the dwarves would have been envious of. And as Lloyd placed the marker, fingertips brushing over the runes around the edges that he had painstakingly practiced and yet could not read, he uttered a soft prayer in the mother tongue of the dwarves.
"I bid your final journey be swift, Richter Abend, Knight of Ratatosk and Sentinel of the Space Between Worlds. May your soul find its home in the great halls of the Eldan, and be welcomed of the Masters to their tables, for yours has not been an easy journey. Rest, revel, and return to this world the energy you have borrowed to protect it. Farewell, my friend..."
"The prayer of the Eldan," Ratatosk whispered.
Lloyd kept his head bowed as he stepped back, eyes still caught on the runes Ratatosk had asked him to carve upon the stone. "I thought it fitting. He would have been warmly welcomed in Vraelheim had he had the chance to visit. And it's quite likely Dad'll know my handiwork... His armor was crafted by my hand and magic just as Richter's."
"I wonder if Aster will find them..."
Lloyd glanced over at Ratatosk, and finally recognized the pain he saw in the redhead's eyes. "The runes you asked me to carve... What do they say?" he asked, though he had a feeling he already knew.
"The kana reads, 'Nemuri, aishi, anata no tamashī no kyōdai o motome nasai. Watashitachi ga tsugi no jinsei de futatabi au koto o yurushite moraitai...'" Ratatosk murmured, and though Lloyd recognized the ancient language of the people of Mizuho, he did not understand it. The spirit at his side took a deep breath, swallowed, and then spoke again. "Sleep, love, and seek the brother of your soul. May the fates grant we meet again in the next life."
Lloyd smiled, though the expression was tainted by the heavy atmosphere.
He'd been right. Ratatosk had, indeed, fallen in love with the half-elf whom had once wanted him dead.
But it wouldn't be long now before he followed his last Knight, and even as Lloyd watched, Solum abandoned his human form, curled up next to the headstone Lloyd had carved centuries ago for Decus, and began to simply fade out of existence.
Aqua would be following him soon. And then... Then it would just be Ratatosk, and Tenebrae, for however long the two had left.
"Lloyd... You... will return... won't you?" Ratatosk asked, hesitant and somewhat fearful. And Lloyd could make no response, save for a single, firm nod of the head. Whatever Ratatosk saw in that movement, it seemed to appease him, and it was as if a great weight had been removed from his shoulders. "One year from today, if you would. I made Richter a promise, and I intend to keep it... though likely not in the manner he'd have expected me to..."
Lloyd placed a hand on his shoulder, and red eyes once again rose to meet russet. "I'll be here. I promise."
A faint, tired smile graced the spirit's lips.
"Thank you... Lloyd."
The Japanese was Google Translated. I take no responsibility for any horrible mistakes in grammar/word choice.