Far south, in an old castle, an old man entered the throne room. “My lord, the expedition we’ve sent in Dacaea has been wiped out.”

“What? How is that possible? The wards were perfect.” Answered a decrepit figure sitting on a smaller chair besides the throne.

“We do not know how or why, but the lord is taking step to patrol and exorcise the numerous haunts on his territory.”

“Why now of all time?” It was too little, too late, and worse it was interfering with his plans. The former lord of life territory had a lot of haunts suiting their needs due to its long-standing association with the army of light, not as much as the former fire and death territories, but still incomparably more than the other three. “Our comrades are too few and too precious to lose, we’ll have to abandon all our operation in Aether kingdom for the time being.”

“Won’t it delay our great design?” He had worked all his life towards this single goal, it was selfish of him but he wanted to see it with his own eyes.

“I, more than anyone, understand your anguish, but it’s because we’re nearing completion that we must be more careful than ever. Remember, a rash decision is what got us here in the first place!”

“You are right, my lord, I won’t let myself be blinded by my desire again.”

“I wish I had your patience back then.” Murmured the figure.

“It wasn’t your fault my lord, you were carrying the hopes of all.”

“Then, let us hope I’ve learned from my mistakes.” Answered the figure in an inaudible voice.

Thanatopia could be seen from the coach’s windows. Soon they’d have to buy horses if they wanted to continue on their way, a task Ignis wasn’t looking forward to it: Azrael had never ridden a horse before and Thracian was… well, a ghost.

As the coach draw near the city, the mage got the foreboding feeling that something terrible was waiting for them, and then all the hair on his body stood up. You couldn’t call this a city anymore; it was more akin to a giant haunt. “What the hell with this place? How could they let it become like that?”

“Fear.” Whispered the child. “Fear and stupidity. Sir Janardan said they’d rather live amongst ghosts and curses than let a single necromancer walk free.”

“It looks like they’ve got their wish.” Answered the mage in the same voice. Getting blamed for everything that got wrong was an everyday thing for those bearing the death attribute but there’s a limit to stupidity.”

“It gets slightly better south, not by a whole lot, there are still a lot of fools convinced that everything will get better once they’ve eradicated the death attribute.”

“These are also Janardan words, I presume?”

“Yes, sir. Many see him as this country’s savior, but a lot more as the source of its corruption.”

The giant in armor leaned over the kid to scold him. “Use your own words, kid. Trying to talk like an adult makes you sound like a parrot.”

“Sorry, sir. I won’t do it again.”

Ignis didn’t like this exchange on bit as he blurred the line of who was supposed to be the master. Even so, despite thinking he understood the child’s distress, he had to admit even Dacaea looked like a paradise compared to this place. It was really no wonder he saw the damn ghost as the hope of his country.

The coach stopped, and the passengers got out. As expected, there was a horse seller only a step away although the price seemed to be on the higher side. Before Ignis could say anything, Thracian walked to the merchant and pointed at three horses. “I want them, how much.”

“You don’t get to choose tin-can!” Raged the mage.

“Well, someone has too and I’ve forgotten more about horse than you’ll ever know!”

“In that case…”

“I remember the names of every single of my two hundred and seventeen horses!”

“But you can’t remember the names of any of your children.”

“Why should I? There were hundreds of them, all equally worthless!”

“You…” Ignis stopped there. There was no point discussing with that thing, it only made him angrier. “How much for the horses?”

“Do you wish to rent or buy?” Asked the merchant.

“Buy.” He had a terrible experience renting an animal before: he ended having to buy the mount while also paying the full rent.

“That’d be twenty Marks, sir.”

“Come on, they’re used horse, you can’t charge me the same as a freshly trained one.” Denied the mage.

“…” Started the seller but a booming voice stopped him in his track.

“Brat, stop embarrassing yourself and pay the man.”

“There’s no way I’m going to accept the mark up! Go do your job… whatever that is, tin-can.”

“…” Tried once again the merchant, only to have his voice covered by the same booming voice.

“Ts, and here I was trying to protect whatever little credibility you have. These lovelies are wonderfully trained to accept about any rider independently from their skills and other particularities. They might as well be warhorses!”

“…” Started again the merchant with a smile before being interrupted once again by the man in armor who had jumped on the back of one of the mounts in the meantime.

“See, this beauty listens to everything I say… you should learn from her, brat. No pay the man, will you.”

Ignis relented, he had more than enough money and if the animal didn’t mind the ghost, then they could use it right away without training. Even so, he didn’t like it and upon seeing Azrael look at him with a rare smile, he told the kid harshly. “What? You got something to add?”