It wasn't the world as one knew it. There were no buildings and no distinguishing features one could call solid. Yet, there were whispers of such as the world faded from darkness into light. A clear blue sky, perhaps. And then, as the sky grew clearer, something resembling green grass grew from beneath the sleeper's perch against waht now was revealed to be a barren tree's trunk.

It was most likely to replicate a clear spring's day, but there were no birds. Only silence. Sweet, golden silence. Far sweeter than the nectar-coloured sphere that hung in the watery air.

Everything was tranquil, void of the troubles of the world.

Such was the scene until a single droplet of black matter fell from the clear sky, hanging in mid-air several metres away from the sleeper.

This dark matter slowly grew lighter and lighter just as the universe had until it glowed bright blue. There was a small humming noise from it as it grew vertically into a single line. The line then slowly grew wider and wider until it was an ethereal door. Blinding light pervaded the area, rousing the sleeper.

When the light faded, upon the grass now stood an angelic blonde male, garbed in a simple black robe. He was youthful in appearance, glowing naturally when a good-natured smile stole his pale lips as his light blue eyes fell upon the man that was previously sleeping.

Holding up a hand, he laughed as he waved and walked toward this man, extending that same hand to help the other up to his feet.

"What? Do I have something on my gorgeous face, Shayaa? Or do I look haggard after so many years? You look pale!"

Shayaateen hadn’t slept in days since his arrival in Esto Gaza and meeting with the strange Raven. He had devoted his days to watching the young Celestial, hiding in the shadows, frequently scaring the inhabitants of the Old City and causing an alarm amongst the city watch. But one evening Shayaateen became lax on his watch. Usually alert, having no need for sleep, he found himself becoming increasingly tired, and so he fell asleep in a secluded garden of one of the local churches in the Old City. And it was there he fell asleep, to his surprise. What felt like hours later, Shayaateen awoke. But he wasn’t in the Old City, in that church garden…he didn’t even think he was in Esto Gaza. For the realm was otherworldly; for a moment he worried that perhaps he might be dead, but something within told him that he wasn’t. Groggy and unable to move, Shayaateen wondered where he was, and what was happening. Only when an ethereal figure appeared before him and helped him to his feet, could he stand, and finally see.

“What? Do I have something on my gorgeous face, Shayaa? Or do I look haggard after so many years? You look pale!”

That voice! Shayaateen looked at the figure before him, attempting to find something that would prove that perhaps this wasn’t real, but nothing could make it seem so. Even if he was somewhere else, he felt awake, alert….that he wasn’t living in a dream. Startled, Shayaateen could only stare blankly at what was his friend.

“Well, we cannot all vanish off the face of Zelpha to preserve our youth… it is good to see you, Raghnall.”

Raghnall's smile grew when Shayaateen acknowledged him. Oh, always so serious! Really, he needed to look on the bright side of matters!

"And you as well, although I'm afraid age has never agreed with you. I will forever claim it was because you weren't as much as a rascal as Graith and I! Really, man, you need to lighten up!" His voice was soft, but there was an echo that came with every word spoken in that ethereal world.

"Now, old man, what have you been up to? I'm afraid I've been away from civilisation for far too long! You have this strange sad look in your eye and I'm not sure why. You perhaps have a question to pose to me, hmm?"

The Raghnall of the present age was never so garrulous, but circumstances seemed to change him. He, after all, was young in the realm and he acted his age completely. It had been years since he showed so much positive energy. But perhaps it could be explained away by the fact that it was the first time in decades since he'd seen his old friend. The only one missing from their party was Graith, although that man had long since been just a fond memory for the both of them.

“In a group of troublemakers, there must always be the voice of reason. I’m afraid I fit that role much better than you and Graith would’ve ever. Imagine where we might be now if either of you had been the consoling voice urging against all sorts of antics? Why, we’d be dead! “

Shayaateen flashed a very rare smile at this. His adventures with Graith and Raghnall had been numerous and exciting, but always fraught with danger. Deadly monsters, exotic locales, it had everything fit for some tawdry adventure novel…except that it had all been real. Graith and Raghnall had been the troublemakers, always keen to break into things and cause chaos, whilst Shayaateen was more secure in trying to hold them back, becoming enraged when they disobeyed his strict orders and suggestions, but in the end having the time of his life…even if it had nearly cost him.

“I am well…as well as one such as myself can be. You know how I am.; I can only live amongst the mortals for so long before I become bored and must seek out new adventures. This look? Certainly you can’t ignore such a large gap, Raghnall. You’ve been gone for twenty-three years! Gone! Without a trace! We—Drake and I, had given up all hope of ever seeing you again…Drake coped better than I, but his mind was also concerned with other matters. I haven’t been able to forget so easy. I thought I had, but all I had really done was bury myself in work. And when all my work was complete, the fact you were gone hit me. But…you aren’t gone, are you? Raven… he’s you.”

Raghnall's smile faded at the mention of the suffering he'd caused. He didn't mean to, all of it was impromptu, there was no way he could've controlled what happened. Despite being one of the oldest beings on Zelpha, in the end, despite all the power and wisdom he'd accrued through the ages, he was still faillable and mortal. It was a depressing thought.

"But…you aren’t gone, are you? Raven… he’s you." Raghnall looked sharply at his friend's face. There was a glimmer of befuddlement in those clear blue eyes.

"Raven?" he parroted, not quite registering who that was. Yet, that name stuck all the same, moreso than Shayaateen's claim that he wasn't gone completely.

"I don't know who Raven is, but I assure you, Shayaa, I will never be gone. Even if my mortal body ceases to function, I will always be with all of my friends and enemies as memories." His smile grew sad at the mention of death and he took a few steps away from his friend.

"Life on Zelpha no longer pleases me, Shayaa. I'm bored of it, I'm ready for another adventure, an adventure I won't know the result of. Surely you understand?"

“I do… of course I do.”

Shayaateen looked at Raghnall with a deep sense of remorse. So Raven wasn’t Raghnall, not even slightly. All those ideas, the identical appearance, and flickering of energy…it meant nothing. Perhaps Shayaateen so desperately wanted to believe his Celestial friend was alive that he imagined that faint energy, glowing within that Raven boy. Perhaps Raven also did not resemble Raghnall as keenly as he had thought. It would be all too easy to assume they looked identical, and not dig into the details. At this, Shayaateen gave a forlorn sigh, his optimistic hopes crushed by the sprit of Raghnall before him, beseeching him to accept that he was gone for the mortal realm.

“But… I am nearly as old as you. And I am still here, on Zelpha. Can you honestly say there is nothing left for you here? What about your friends? Graith is gone, but I am still here… are you leaving me as the sole remaining member of that legendary trio? And what of Drake, and so many other people? Garn, even… you will forget all of them, and move on to the heavenly realm for good?”

Raghnall gave his friend a sad smile, understanding all too well what he meant about death and the death of friends. Of course, he thought Shayaa's whole speech was a little selfish, but he understood that as well.

"Few things ever change, Shayaa. I should be glad for a change. Besides, I find that going to the other side merely means I will see the people I have missed for centuries again! In that sense, I left the new for the old." It was supposed to be encouraging, but then the Celestial noticed somethng and quickly took the other by the hand.

"That is not to say, however, Shayaa, that you should speed up your death! You fare well in life and you can't even contemplate death until you're my age, you hear that? I need you on Zelpha to watch over Drake and to watch over my wayward brother." There was a touch of tenderness in his voice, especially when he spoke of the latter. This tenderness translated into a bit of regret in his eyes.

"Do find my brother and tell him I'm sorry, Shayaa. The poor lad has had so much to deal with!" It was uncharacteristic for Raghnall to speak well of his brother in any light, but one surely could understand this oddity at that time, right? After all, even enemies spoke tenderly of their foes when all is done with.

“…I will.”

Shayaateen was slightly shocked at Raghnall’s desire to repent, especially to apologize to Garn. Even if he was his own brother… the man had been a Dark Lord, causing trouble and ruin across Zelpha. Shayaateen felt that Raghnall had no need to apologize to Garn, for nothing he had done had been his fault. But it was his oldest friends’ last wish; it would be rude of Shayaateen to refuse them. It was difficult to accept, but slowly Shayaateen felt able to close that chapter in his life, that he would finally be able to stop running.

“It is liberating, actually, to finally see you. To know that you really are gone… I don’t have to run anymore. No more spelunking in dark caves, pouring over tomes and artifacts, searching for any little spell, incantation, or legendary item that might revive you. To know that you are truly dead, and have accepted it… it makes me happy. For nothing better suits the end of your life, so long-lived, than a death that is accepted, and perhaps even… desired?”

The old man laughed at this.

“I feel like a fool, all those years wasted, wondering and worrying of your fate. It will be nice to tell Drake that you have moved on, and have not suffered in all these years. I can travel freely, again… who knows; I may meet some new friends, and find new adventures on Zelpha. But be rest assured, Raghnall that I will always cherish the adventures we had together. We will meet again, someday, but hopefully that won’t be for awhile!”