Why Him?

"I don't get it though. Why do you want me to kill Ryuma? He hasn't done anything wrong. In fact, he saved my life from the Dragon," Toga said. It was the first time he ever questioned an Edict directly.

"I understand the boy was a former classmate. From the sound of your protest, he may have been somewhat of a friend… regardless, the situation has changed now. He's an enemy,"

"He doesn't have to be. Let me talk to him first. This could all be a big misunderstanding,"

"It could be, but are you willing to risk the Skylands over a possible misunderstanding?"

Toga froze. Of course he wouldn't risk that; it was a no brainer. "I don't understand what you mean by that,"

"It's as I said. That Dragons ultimate goal is to destroy the Skylands. The lands in which we and our ancestors lived for a millennium. Would you risk that?"

"It doesn't matter what the dragon wants. You said it's going to merge with Ryuma anyway. It's not like shining spirits possess us, right? Doesn't that mean Ryuma will have the final say in what his goals are?"

"It is ill advised to underestimate the persuasive power of Aeragis. That Dragon will do anything to convince Ryuma of directing his ire towards the Skylands. It'll only be a matter of time," Sazo said.

"But destroying the Skylands is the same as taking countless lives. I know Ryuma, he'd never do that. His sense of morality is abnormal even for your average priest. There's no way he'd do that with people still up here,"

"Then he'd do it if the people up here were removed. Either way, he's likely to conclude that the Skylands need to go. The lands itself is an important set of landmasses that protects human life. If he's to come to a wicked conclusion like that, could you, do it?"

"I…" A lump got caught in Toga's throat. That was a good question. Could he, do it?

Right then, the large set of doors at the end opened again, and in walked two other people. It was two people Toga for sure has never met. One of them was an attractive girl with tan skin and blonde hair. She looked like she was in her mid-twenties. She had a ditzy looking expression that didn't at all take the setting seriously.

The other one looked like a gruff man in his late thirties. He had graying-blue hair, a bit of stubble on his chin, and he looked haggard, possibly bored where he was. His demeanor reminded him of how Clara normally was.

It was awkward waiting for them to walk down the long hall.

"So this is the new shining spirit," The man said soon as he got close. "Damn! I guess with Digaro's death, that now makes me the most senior shining spirit. Please don't look at me to guide you or anything,"

Toga knew these people at least by name. Hamo Trize, the shining spirit of the Blue Pheasant Nautero and Gliss Feren, the shining spirit for the Yellow Monkey Ethiques.

"Aww don't be like that Hamo. I think being the senior is a wonderful thing. I can't wait until I'm the senior of the shining spirit groups," Gliss said with a cheery expression.

Hamo raised an eyebrow. "Gliss, did you just say you couldn't wait until I die?"

Gliss put her finger to her lips and looked up in confusion. "Really? Did I say that? I mean logically speaking, it's going to be my turn anyway, right?"

Hamo smacked his own forehead. "Gliss, that's not how this works. You know you and carrot top can still die before me, right?"

Gliss stared at him with unblinking eyes. She then summoned a giant hammer, one far bigger than what even Toga would think he could lift. She held it above her head and focused her gaze at Hamo.

"ARE YOU GOING TO KILL ME!?" He shouted.

"Would you two knock it off. We have the Red Dog's new spirit here, and we're dealing with the awakening of the White Dragons spirit,"

The two at the end stopped their quarreling and got serious. The fact that she could even hold that thing not even having to use both hands, Toga knew that the girl was physically powerful, more so than he was.

"So it's time… ain't this a bitch? Why did it have to be during my generation?" Hamo complained.

"You should know what this means. All three of you are in danger. We don't know when Aeragis will be coming, but we know his goal is to take down the Skylands. If you were to ever engage with him alone, except for Hamo, you are to make sure that you are to request reinforcements immediately,"

No matter the warning, Toga couldn't see Ryuma being that dangerous. Even if the boy did have the incentive to kill them, he would only have the skill to do so against himself. Gliss already had some experience in comparison to Ryuma, and Hamo was on a whole other level. Not only were both Priest of the order, but they also know what it was like to battle with a shining spirit and against one as well.

Whatever the Edict council was afraid of, this was obviously overkill. Why did they fear Aeragis this much? The damn dragon was powerful, that was for sure, but if it was merged with a beginner…

Toga stopped his train of thought. Did he really want to be in a position to where he could kill Ryuma?

No… it was too early to decide right now. He wasn't even sure if Ryuma was the shining spirit. The Dragon was the one that killed his brother, not him.

"For the time being, we'll be sending as much of the order as we can to find him. Once he surrenders, we'll give him a sham trial then execute him accordingly. Fortunately for us, Aeragis chooses not to reincarnate for prolonged periods of time, so we won't need to worry about him at least in this generation,"

{So there's nothing Ryuma could do for leniency. His fate was sealed the moment that Dragon picked him up.}

"Furthermore, his merging will keep him out of commission for a week. While I'd like to take that time to launch an immediate search of the area the Dragon left in, much damage has been made to Rubble and we need to recall the ones that are deployed. The same should apply to you as well young Toga Dawnheart. I suggest you head back towards the Western Island for your week of merging,"

Toga nodded his head. "If that is all, then may I go?"

"You may go. We need to speak with these two anyway,"

Toga turned around and began walking back. He stopped and turned back towards them. "Oh yes. I'm looking for an Edict name Erika Noya. Anybody know where I might find her?"

"Erika Noya…" Sharo looked at him with a scrunched and annoyed expression. "What could you possibly want with that girl?"

"It's nothing really. You could say I owe her a favor,"

Sharo looked to contemplate his motive before finally sighing and relenting to his request. "You can find her in the West wing right about now. Where she is exactly, you'll have to figure out all on your own, but that's about as much as I can give you,"

"No… thank you for the response," He bowed and took his leave.

Hamo grabbed his shoulder just as he was passing him. "You're filling Digero's shoes right now. Take care to not do anything stupid,"

The two stared directly in the eye of the other. "Tchh… Too much of a vague command to follow. Not like I can tell what's smart these days,"

He continued walking down the hall until he was out of the auditorium.

Toga asked around for directions until someone pointed him the right way. He made sure the people that he asked were all sentinels, and none of the Edicts, or their Bond Guards. Shining spirit or not, he just didn't know how they were going to take it and didn't want to deal with the hassle. From the looks of things, it seems as if there were no official announcements yet to the public.

After finding the west wing, Toga asked everybody he came across if they knew an Edict named Erika Noya. They all gave the same face Sharo gave him before pointing him in the direction he was supposed to go.

He was getting closer to his destination, but he noticed that a lot of the people he came across were younger than himself. Neither was there any Bond Guards in sight.

{Were they young sentinels in training?"}

"Oh… you're looking for Queen," One of the teenagers said.

"Queen?"

"That's what we all call her. She's so bossy and domineering, that's the nickname we've given her,"

"Erika?" Toga asked.

That wasn't how she was when he last saw her. He recoiled at the thought picturing her having become a sadist. Nahh… he really couldn't picture it.

"I'm sure there's a misunderstanding somewhere,"

The young boy nodded and guided him to the room she was staying in. "If anything, this was the door in which she was in. Toga sucked in his breath and pushed forward.