Chapter 194 – The Slipping Lives

Ramiel felt especially drained. His life was slowly diminishing. In the Inn, he felt like he lost control over his limbs for a while. Making him wake up in the evening, extremely tired. Unable to sleep Ramiel grabs his things and went to the harbor where the wind was good. In the harbor, he opened his gourd filled with wine. He drank the wine, the liquid going down his throat, warming his stomach.

Ramiel felt like drinking under the moon. And somehow the place was quite lovely to him. In the night, the City of Sardis is still bright as ever. The people of the city rarely sleep, not to mention Ramiel saw a bazaar at the Far East corner of the city. He quite wanted to go there but somehow he got lax and just sat on the harbor sipping on a gourd filled with wine. The ocean wind was quite cold. Because of that Ramiel used his Shemagh as a scarf. He like drinking under the moon, the silver light and the faint red glow of the sky make for a quite a lovely image, Ramiel like how it reflects on the water, and the waves slowly hushing makes it rather cozy.

Ramiel stared endlessly. He watched the Galleons sail towards the horizons. And various fishing boats that are fishing near the shores. He could see the lamps on the fishing boats and how they are throwing nets. Though it is odd that even with those nets they brought fishing poles and cigars along with them, quite a strange thing but Ramiel felt like he understood them.

He continued drinking. Not caring for anything. He doesn’t feel asleep. And with how his life is ticking away. He wanted to spend his time slowly. The gentle moons sway. The hum of the wind, Ramiel partake of them, embedding them deeply into his mind His cheeks loosened up. A burp happened, as he took a whiff of the fresh air.

Up above the sky, silver dots covered the heavens. Ramiel stared at the numerous stars, admiring them. He took a sip of his gourd. While remembering the days he spent in this world. A hundred years, he lived for quite a while. And mostly those days were painful. There were some parts that were fun. But mostly, they were painful. Ramiel felt like he had it bad. But as he stares above the skies he would never see in his past world. He felt like, maybe he had it good. Even though his life is slowly fading, Ramiel believes it true that he really had it good. After all, a new world, although cruel as it may be, not everyone can experience such event. So despite the cruel days, Ramiel felt blessed.

He finished his wine. He stood up. Walked away from the harbor, and scanned the streets. There was a bazaar on the Far East side of the city. Curious, Ramiel went to the bazaar.

...

Ramiel arrived on the bazaar. Various stalls and people were present. Foreigners and natives of the land browse the stalls. Ramiel covered himself up with a Shemagh. The Bazaar was located on the Far East cliff. So since it was cold he covered his face. The bazaar was quite crowded. The people were busy checking on the stalls. Ramiel could see that there are various items. Looking around he thought of finding some ‘miracle’ solution that would keep him alive. But obviously, such miracle drug wasn’t there. Ramiel wasn’t disappointed, not at all.

Ramiel went on a food stall. In that stall, he experienced the taste of the dishes of the far northern countries. It was great, he bought at least four of the dishes and ear them heartily until he was full. After eating, he sat on one of the free spots near the edges of the cliff. The spot has pagoda-like lanterns so it was quite bright.

Ramiel sat still admiring the lights on the bazaar. While sitting, he saw a robed person, covered from head to toe looking for a spot to sit. Ramiel’s spot was quite huge so this robed person sat near Ramiel. He didn’t talk to the robed person; he merely stayed silent and watched the lively bazaar.

“Quite lovely isn’t it?”

“Indeed.”

Ramiel said while muffled by his Shemagh. The person’s voice was quite masked too, probably because of the robe she was wearing.

“This bazaar has been going on for fifty good years now. After the harbor was built, people from different countries have been coming in a drove. Quite a lovely sight isn’t it?”

“Yes, I like the food.”

“I see...”

The person on the robe was quite happy to talk more to the bazaar. Ramiel listened for a while, entertaining the robed person. But as time passes, Ramiel felt tired. Tomorrow he would have to leave. So Ramiel decided to bid goodbye to the robed person.

“Thank you for telling me that. Have a nice night.”

“You too, my friend. Have a good night.”

Ramiel walked back to the bazaar. He bought some food and took the path back to the Inn.

...

A long eared girl carried a bunch of foods towards the spot near the cliff’s edge. Looking for someone, this long eared girl scanned the spots. Finally, she saw the robed person sitting idly on the spot.

“Grandma!”

“Oh, Nell, have you got the usual stuff?”

“Yes, Grandma, I have the usual food!”

With the food on her hands, the long eared girl sat near her grandma.

“Did you got bored grandma?”

“No, I was particularly kept company by a person.”

‘Eh...was it a date?”

“Dear me, of course, not, I am already too old for that.”

“Really, so what kind of person was this man?”

“I couldn’t tell because of the Shemagh he was wearing, but he was soothing and melancholic in a way. I think he was enduring this poor me’s babbling.”

“A Shemagh, and melancholic sounds like the guy I met during the morning?”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, when I was walking around I bumped into this Shemagh wearing guy and drop my fizzy juice. Because of that, I had him buy, and honestly, he was generous, buying me another one.”

“He seems to be a nice person.”

“Yeah, he looks decent, he was tall, has a quite carved face, and had vacant eyes. Without his Shemagh, he probably would let his long white hair sway around.”

“I see...did you get his name and thank him?”

“Of course I did, his name was Ramiel.”

“His name is what?”

Nell got surprised by her grandma’s shocked reaction

“Ramiel, that what’s he call himself. Despite how young he is, he was quite old too, one hundred years or so he says.”

“That can’t be...”

“What you mean Grandma?”

“He's supposed to be dead...there is no way.

At this lively bazaar, the robed person, cloaked in order to hide her fame missed a person she knew, merely by strange guises.