Asriel

I am perched on a rock outcrop on the southern continent of Sandaria on a mountain side in the kingdom of Sandoria. I'm thinking hard about my companion along on this trip down to Pangaea, and not my companion Yami or the boy Joseph but the passenger on this trip Kazimoto.

I try not to look at him every other second but if I thought he was a monster before I don't even know what league to place him in now that I have expanded senses aware of souls.

I feel absolutely nothing from where Kazimoto is, no aura, no chakra, no physical presence, no scent, no sound, nothing. The man is like a figment of my imagination the only sense that even perceives him being my sight even that is suspect sometimes when I look at him. He could disappear at this moment and I wouldn't be sure of whether he was really here or not without confirming with Yami.

Yami himself is very unhappy and keeping well away from the uncanny presence of our tag along on the way down south. Kazimoto apparently has never travelled before outside of the exodus of his people from their underworld lands up to the surface and the Hidden Valleys. I was surprised when he first requested to travel with us and I honestly saw no reason to object to an extra sword arm in case of trouble but now I'm not so sure we should be travelling with him.

Kazimoto disappears for hours or days at a time in this silent way he does that leaves no trace of his presence even on freshly wet soil. Yami started grumbling the second day out of the Hito settlement about not being able to scent my 'friend', a phenomenon that gives the beastman the creeps to no end.

When we reached the Tundra and Paradisum we were met with diplomatic meetings and messages from Hara Harare to take down to the Conclave. Messages not urgent enough to warrant magical dispatch but also too sensitive to be sent using a courier or a spirit-familiar. We decided it would be best if I kept the kid Joseph with me and after a few days of rest were he kept nicely sedate and Kazimoto made his second long disappearance. As we left we eventually realized Kazimoto was traveling with us again and Yami's grumblings started all over, I didn't even know Monkeys ever complained about anything.

When we travel we spar and we train and so Yami and I train together for something like 10 hours every night with the staff, sometimes involving the kid other times not, Kazimoto never fails to harshly critic us. It was especially frustrating to Yami who is a grandmaster leveled staff wielder to be taking criticism from a human who wasn't even carrying a weapon around. There ensued a friendly sparing match between a staff wielding Yami and an unarmed Kazimoto.

Its wasn't a long matchup, and once Yami regained consciousness and set his broken jaw he wanted to go again and this time had his arm broken by a chop. Yami got the message after that and took the critic with less gnashing of his teeth.

Kazimoto eventually even started teaching Joseph some unarmed combat moves, admonishing him on his dependence on the one weapon to face all foes, his spirit possessed arm. Joseph is a very quiet kid these days but ever watchful and his ears are wide opened. He was amazed by the sight of the city of Paradisum, it still amazes me too when I see it especially knowing it wasn't there some 9 years ago but he was amazed more by seeing fae in such abundance sharing a settlement with humans.

The dwarves are very quick builders and with the amount of manpower they had and the magics of the fae and their city design plans, Paradisum was always going to be a city to rival some of the most beautiful cities on Gaia and it does. The city is built in so many different types of designs yet everything matches and compliments each other in a way that's aesthetically pleasing.

The diversity of the population adds to the otherworldly feel of the city with it's oneness with nature and ethereal feel. Almost every single brick layed down throughout the entire city is individually warded and enchanted for strength, protection and self-repair.

I steal a glance at Kazimoto out on a cliff further up and to the left. I'm not used to being unable to feel someone with a passive spatial awareness that's always questing about. The little insights the Beautiful Madman keeps giving during training are very helpful and my connection to my beautifully crafted celestial material toya is becoming second nature.

I sometimes have trouble believing the soul within my toya is part of my own. My toya just seems so old and accomplished, so sure of itself and content in its existence, so much wiser than I am. A part of nature. Definitely took the best parts of my soul for sure, not even sure that's how soul forging works but thinking that makes me feel better.

I have never had such a hard time keeping track of a person, I wish that enigmatic man Gorr was at Paradisum when I passed there so he could have a good look at Kazimoto and maybe tell me what he sees. I wonder what the sidhe in the city made of him, he is obviously very powerful so they definitely felt him and he felt them when he entered the city. Maybe that's where he disappeared off to when we got to the city, doing the equivalent of the powerful sniffing each others ass' as they made sure no one started anything. Or maybe I'm vastly overestimating him because I don't understand his abilities, one never knows till it's too late usually.

Kazimoto is also different from when I knew him while I was at the Hidden Village of Honshu, he seems more composed now and I haven't even seen him eat anything let alone take a drink. He only speaks mind to mind these days, I don't even remember what his voice sounds like. He seems sane, content, happy, and it creeps me out a little bit not having that sulllan drunkard I'm more used to seeing around. His soul must be complete I suspect, that must be why he is as complete as he seems, he must be a complete being again as my toya and I are healing towards completeness. I wonder what his zanpakutō looks like.

I stand and signal that I'd like to go down to the city far in the distance below, I've never really had a chance to explore the Sandorian kingdom and we have some time.

I've already made a report about what Joseph said and our progress with the Tribes and the Hito that Hara as the official ambassador to the Tribes magically sent on ahead. Kazimoto nods and fades where he is only to start appearing already walking in stride before he is even completely gone from his previous position.

We stalk down the mountain and into the woods at a respectable pace. The boy Joseph the only thing keeping us from increasing the pace and racing around the woods in our travel. Kazimoto looks like a happy kid when he runs, letting his clothes billow in the wind like the flattering of birds. Unlike the three of us who swing our arms when we run he just bends forward and holds his arms out at his sides like he expects to fly off at any moment, I probably wouldn't be surprised if he could fly.

It isn't long before we sense people within the forest and slow down to a walk again. There is a town up ahead a few kilometers away and as such there are large squat cabin homes out here in the middle of the forest scattered around. We pass some very big estates, some of the homes with interesting designs depicting modest wealth, guards visible out front, these Sandies are an interesting bunch indeed.

Kazimoto also seems to think so because he walks up to the door of one such cabin while we watch and knocks on the door without explanation. There is a silent exchange with whomever opened the door before he is let further into the home.

"Don't wait for me I'll catch up." He projects to our minds and we shrug and continue walking. The aura coming from the house is quite pleasant, homey with a hearth blessing or something.

We continue on and eventually reach the quiet town, a town without a wall or a palisade to further indicate how much more peaceful this continent is than Pangaea. Though it helps that this province is more in the middle of Sandoria and far from any front lines or foreign attack. The economy on this continent is very stable and circular, loops in a way as it has very little influx from foreign coinage. They have everything they need to sustain themselves.

They provide and pay for everything here in a loop that keeps everything stable, trading with the Maori and the elves of this land but having very little to do with the Highlanders and the Tribes. Travel has been opened for the Sandies to visit the Tundra and the Tribes to visit Sandoria but the Tundra is too far away for most citizens to travel to with any reasonable expectation of mundane people surviving alone, and tribesmen that travel down here are mostly looked upon with suspension, scorn, fear and hatred.

The few merchants that have managed to establish trade between the exotic north and the rest of Sandoria are already making bucket loads of silver and gold marking up products found in Paradisum in bulk. We get a few stares as we walk through the street but it's mostly people looking and kids pointing at Yami. I guess Monkeys are not a common sight here.

We don't even get to the center of town before being approached by a slave asking that we be guests in his Master's house.

We graciously accept and follow the half naked man with beautiful tanned skin around the town for a while, a town that is larger than it seemed from out on the cliffs most of it well hidden in the forest.

We walk into the woods and through a quiet area before reaching another one of the many luxury cabins just outside town. There are no yard markers or gates at any of these houses so we just walk up on the front lawn and the slave opens the door with a bow.

"I'll be, I didn't expect to see a tribesman here. How have you been doing Damage?" I ask as we clasp forearms and I introduce him to my companions. "This is Yami, we are colleagues and this is Joseph a troublesome kid I want to set back on the right path."

"Nice to meet you all, come have a seat in the living room and join us for a smoke. Artemis please prepare a meal for our guests and have Susi prepare the guest rooms." Damage says to the slave who bows and disappears down the passage.

We sit and as I look around the place, the house is warded against spirits and fire. Now that I've been trained into being more familiar with such things its easy to pickup on if it isn't being masked.

"So you have slaves now, and a cabin in the woods at the Central Province of your most recent enemy?" I ask as another slave, a pretty but old woman brings in tea and little sandwiches.

"Yes well, needs must." Divina says from the doorway as she walks in and introductions are repeated.

"Congratulations on the baby, when are you expecting to give birth?" I ask the aura around her is clearly that of an expecting mother.

"Soon, but I plan on giving birth back home. This was very much a surprise for both Damage and I, and you. What brings the mighty Asriel out here in this part of the world, finally making an ally of the Sandie's?" She asks as she sits at Damage's sofa's armrest and cuddles up next to him.

"Not yet, but we are still watching them as I assume you are as well. I didn't know the Tribes where this well versed in subterfuge though, Damage, you look like any upstanding senior guard should and Divina my dear what would Sachi say if he saw you? You look absolutely divine in that dress and your Sandersonian accent is impeccable." I say as I sip on my tea.

"Yes well, some of our allies have been helpful in helping us establish a Security Of The Exterior department which is basically a bunch of people pretending to be something they're not in order to keep a close eye on what our neighbours are doing without giving the game away." Divina says with a little smile.

"And I see you're enjoying this role you're playing, but otherwise how has it been going?" I ask curious about the progress the Tribes are making and a little saddened by their lost innocence.

"The Sandie's actually already know about this place so we still have a lot to learn in order to be on par with them. Their own spy network is very well trained and not reliant on magic as much which is probably how we were found out. All these wards against spying and eaves dropping we curves into the house when we put it up." Damage says caressing his mates tummy intimately.

"Do you know who lives in a cabin on the North side of the town with a red and yellow front door?" Yami asks leaning forward.

"Mhmm... That could be Lady Rhaena," Divina says with a slight frown, "we've actually had her over for a meal once. Very beautiful and very strange woman, completely white skin with red eyes and shimmering white silver hair. Why do you ask?"

"One of our traveling companions stopped at her door is all, just wondering why since he's never been to this side of the continent."

Yami says with a grin, eating a banana from his spacial ring to keep his mouth busy. He does that when he doesn't want to respond to anything else.

"She's probably one of the unpigmented, a rare living bloodline that descended from the original vampires and behemoths, or so the legends go." I say trying to decipher why Kazimoto would go visit one of them. Well the Hito and vampires do have a history, they probably know each other.

"Well we haven't been posted here long so we don't really know everyone that well yet, and many of the locals like to keep to themselves here at Central. Its a very beautiful and prosperous place but the Mages here get away with almost anything and everyone just turns a blind eye." Damage says.

"Yes well it's still better here than it is on Pangaea, the excess there and the things the powerful get away with are repulsive." Joseph speaks for the first time.

"Things like what?" Divina asks him directly and he hlooks at me, I give him a nod and he leans forward and starts telling more horror stories about the Circle and specifically about a member of the circle named Fat Albert.