Athenatos

The spirit Athenatos is a quiet soul, even when ferrying others to the ever after. It was quite a surprise when, one day, he failed to return, for he is a dutiful and punctual sort.

Still, his fellow ferrymen are not worried. The sea of stars is so vast that some take years to bring souls to their final resting place, and it is not so unusual for one to spend much time on a single soul. All things fall to time, and so, there is no rush to get there.

Perhaps he is simply ferrying a particularly stubborn soul.
The spirit before him stood defiantly in her rotting body. Imperials were always a pest to deliver; their unnatural beginnings led to even more unnatural endings, and some ferrymen spent decades untangling the mess of body and soul. Even more so, this tendency for a difficult departure led some to deal fate more complicated hands.

Marion was a lovely woman, Athenatos was sure... at least, during her lifetime. The body before him was tangled with her soul, in the same way as the trio of spirits roaming through the Emperor's Wake. Most lost their sense of self when the edges of their souls met another's, but this Marionette was purely individual.

"I refuse," She insisted, turning her skull to the skies. The thick smoke of her incense surrounded her whole body, the scent clinging deep to her skin. Whatever colour she had once had had been lost, but the vibrancy and determination of her soul was something far more brilliant. "I am not done. I am still alive."

This was, of course, categorically untrue. Perhaps her soul still wandered the world in a physical shell, but only the loosest of definitions would concede that she lived. Her fellows were gone; she lived alone in a world that had carried on, changed by the unflinching march of time.

Still, though, Athenatos had never seen someone like this before. Where other Imperials had been frozen by fear, fleeing from others of their own breed, this Marionette had devised another solution by accelerating her own curse.

It would take him the work of a moment to untangle the knot which kept her soul and her body united. He could surely take his time to convince her to let him bring her to her final destination afterwards.

Still... was there any rush? Time would march on regardless, no matter how long he took to convince the fascinating soul.

"Very well." He mused, noting the simple novelty of her surprise at a ferryman unbothered by ferrying. "Then I shall wait with you until that day comes."

"...Oh." Marionette flicked her tail, turning away thoughtfully. A quiver wracked her frame. "...fine. I suppose you can do that..."

It was a lonely way to live again, being one of the feared. He doubted any had spoken to her since she had emerged anew, perhaps too terrified of the undead to realize her soul was solid and unshaken.

Athenatos was nothing if not patient. If all it took to finish his duty was spending a lifetime or two with a lonely and desperate soul, then he was happy to. He could spend a moment longer without unbinding her from her phylactery.

After all, he had all the time in the world to do so.