ANIDESHIIn the greenhouse, I sat in meditation. The Aiken monastery welcomed all people but believed in screening out all who would invade for violence or theft. The belief was called “bonds and boundaries” and was core to their life. The idea was that without boundaries, people wound up exploited or abused, but without bonds they were alone. As a result, the people here were very affectionate but also very guarded. As guests, we were not only allowed, but encouraged to discover our own spiritual and intellectual path. As a result, the town had a record number of singers, poets, artists, and musicians. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    People had all types of relationships, but all were consensual. Typical morality about relationships did not apply, for their culture was based not on conventional rules but on treating people as they wanted to be wanted to be treated and not trespassing on the property of other people. The average resident here was taught how to guard themselves socially, spiritually, and physically against any type of abuse, and taught how to reach out to people without engaging in such behavior themselves. Those who weren''t able to live under the same standards as they treated others were exiled outside the monastery.

    And no, it wasn''t a simple matter to get in or out. Underground, a technique known as “hardening” was used. While the soil itself was soft enough, some alchemic process had been applied to the soil that caused all moisture to flee to the layers above and below. This meant that the soil above was fertile enough to grow crops on, and the layer below was moist and damp, yet the soil itself was almost like a layer of iron itself. This layer was thick enough that most amateur engineers simply gave up before ever reaching the other side. And forget trying to fly or climb over, there were so many warding runes that it just wasn''t a good idea. Even a dragon couldn''t get through easily.

    In this town, people lived rent-free and tax-free, seeing it as an infringement on boundaries to force people to pay to live. On the other hand, most people saw it as rude to build permanent houses to start with. People slept, ate, or had sex anywhere they wanted. But, this wasn''t a commune. There were no peace-and-love moocher types, everyone did their chores for the community, with the understanding that what people put in was what they got out, and how they treated others would be exactly they were treated. It wasn''t a utopia, and they weren''t Christians who turn the other cheek, but it was home.

    We Druids were the closest thing to hippies among the residents and visitors. Even so, we grow crops in the greenhouse, where we live. We set up a Druid grove inside there for gathering natural energy. We gave to the Aiken mystics in exchange for our living under this roof, and occasionally a stipend if we exceeded expectations. I grew turnips.

    My name is Anideshi. My life isn''t what you would call normal. The thing is, I''ve been reincarnated, repeatedly. This wasn''t just a deal where I vaguely remembered something, I had exact memory of everything that happened. There was a rare book in some libraries called the Eternity Epic which tells my life story. My story isn''t just about me, though. I am fated to meet a specific person, the person who I love. But over many lifetimes, this story always ends in tragedy. Sometimes it is an arranged marriage that goes horribly wrong. Sometimes there is a jealous rival. And sometimes there was an age mismatch. There was a curse; no matter what we tried or how much we wanted to be together, we were stuck apart. My lover was lucky. They only knew of strong attraction towards me, while in each form, I had to suffer through each life.

    People do not become dogs or cats when reborn, or at least I never did. I did occasionally become the opposite sex, and I did reincarnate in both my past and future. And I even had a few lives on the original Earth. In fact, sometimes I would be competing with a former version of myself for my love, sometimes I was born as a brother or sister of what should be my love, and the taboo made it impossible to pursue things. Now, we aren''t all the same person reborn over and over. There are new souls, from what I can discover. But we seem to all come from the same source, what we call God. Knowing this didn''t really make me any happier, though. Most of what I did on this world was wait and sleep, to the point where I was constantly bored and lethargic.

    This life felt different somehow. Unlike my past lives, I was not a normal human. This body was born under the sign of the Sage and would one day realize its power. It felt like it might be my last time in the mortal world, so I would make it count. I would find my love, and I would help the Oracle save the land. If only I knew where she was.

    Just then, one of the disciples of the monastery announced, “The Oracle of Tao has come! All is according to the prophecy!” I wanted to go, but it was the job of the Druid Elder instead. I looked to him, but he shook his head, “Go. They need someone young. My power is great, yet I am tied to this grove. If I leave it, I will begin to age again.” Well, okay. I left the greenhouse and searched the grounds for her.

    AMBROSIA

    “Are we being followed?” I asked Nevras. He shrugged, “Well, there does seem to be a very large cloud of mist following us, but I''m sure it''s nothing.” I completely shut it out of my mind, even though it followed us when we went from place to place. We first met with the people farming and raising animals. There was a couple, a guy with blue hair like me and linen farming outfit and a girl with golden blond hair who appeared to be pregnant. I imagined their child would have green hair, but then, I don''t understand genetics. I asked them, “Tell me about this place. Why is it that you have such high defenses when all that seems to be here is a farm and a shrine? Do you have some powerful weapon or magic?” Aqorm added, “Or loads or money we should definitely know about?” They shook their heads. “We have only the money we carry, or decide to give to help others who live among us. We have weapons only to defend ourselves from those who may attack us. Only our lives are valuable. We grow these crops in case of a siege and for health. Good boundaries mean to love ourselves, just as good bonds means we love others,” finishing each other''s sentences, shortly before making out, in front of us. Nevras gasped, as he had been raised among polite society. I didn''t care that much.

    We next looked at those engaging in martial arts. As they explained, this was not actually a martial art (though they claimed it could be) so much as a spiritual art, useful for understanding the universe. The form roughly resembled tai chi, but it was built around five elements (fire, water, earth, wood, and wind) as well as light and dark. Each of these had a particular hand sign, and a particular movement or pattern. They showed us only the main five of them as a sort of martial arts dance thingy (Elias explains this is called kata). They explained that studying this was part of their religious ritual, as it not only taught them to defend themselves, but those who could use prayers learned how to properly understand how their prayers were divided into elemental parts. To say nothing of how knowing these affected their understanding of competing and complementing forces in the universe.

    I have been known to be impulsive. Just a smidge. So while they talked, I wanted to test how good their martial arts were. Against my (and everyone else''s) better judgement, I whipped out a knife and charged at them. “Let''s see you try to block this,” was not much of a battle cry, but whatever. The nearest one, a tall bald man with a yellow uniform was the one I picked. I later learned that rather than a belt system, they were ranked by the color of their uniform, from white as a novice to yellow, then orange, green, brown, red, and finally black. It looked like there were a couple of ranks beyond black though. After black, they were awarded a symbol on their vest that resembled a broken heart, and from what I could tell by frequency, the ranking worked in opposite order, with a black uniform and white heart being the absolute best. This guy seemed to be in the second to worst rank then.

    As I rushed forward, I decided to use the flat of the blade so as to not hurt him too badly. What I didn''t expect to happen was for the man to effortlessly push my hand away with an earth style inside block, knocking the knife out of my hand, then using a water style throw to lay me on my back. I imagine if they had been high rank, they might have been able to do so in such a way that I would never have seen it happen. I apologized, and thanked him for the demonstration, then decided it was time to climb the temple.

    The temple, it turned out, was much taller and much larger than it seemed from the outside. When we entered, there appeared to be a staircase to a basement level. But alas, it was guarded by a man that said it would be very dangerous to enter the area. Darn. Each room in the tower was decorated as its occupants wished but the stone walls, winding stairs, and half-moon windows were the same. Every few floors also had a small restroom with an incinerator toilet, which looked like it was taken out for fertilizer on a regular basis. As for the occupants, I found that it ran the gamut.

    On floor 16, an instructor was showing the method using a straw dummy for making heads explode using pressure points, while the instructor encouraged the pupils to scream at it, “お前はもう 生きていない!” I can''t imagine how that move would ever be useful, short of making people nearby completely freak out. On the 25th floor, there were a group of people apparently holding some kind of rally, and the man talked about securing borders and “Make Aiken a Great Monastery Again.” Nevras asked, “MAGMA???” We were on a holy quest though, and didn''t have time for their politics. Then a woman on floor 64 offered to teach us about the Aiken religion, but it seemed to me at the time that they were just hateful racists with no concept of the outside world. Although I was intrigued by the whole deal with bonds and boundaries, I couldn''t imagine excluding people from my life just because we didn''t agree.

    The tower, as I say, was impossibly high. From the outside, it looked like I could still see the top. Inside, it was clear that was some sort of illusion, because the windows viewing outside moved from ground level, to a very high view of the monastery grounds, to seeing nearby countries, moving into view of the clouds, to moving to steadily thinning air, and I could view the entire northern hemisphere of the New Earth when we reached the top of the tower.

    The fog had continued to follow us for quite some time, despite it being extremely suspicious. The mist receded when the air thinned, revealing a suddenly anxious woman in a loose green karate outfit which unlike the others had a crude evergreen tree embroidered on it, with medium-length brown hair. She had a very weird face, it was not ugly but very symmetrical, but there was something strange about her eyes. They were normal width apart but they were roughly between the size of a Margaret Keane kid and that of an average anime character. Her eyes were intense and focused, and they had a sad and soulful look to them of someone who had seen entirely too much pain. Looking at her, I immediately wanted to cry. But I was a strong and independent woman and there was no way that I... Nevras blurted out the obvious, “Ambrosia, you''re...” I cut him off, “Another word and you die,” like the strong and independent woman that I was. Finally, I asked, “Who are you, and why have you been following us?” The girl in the green outfit introduced herself as Anideshi, but I was careful to point out, “No you aren’t. I’ve decided that Anideshi is too hard to say, and Zoe suits you better anyway. Also her name is Azrael, and I want you guys to match!”

    UMMM ZOE

    I had no idea what this girl was talking about, and her friends seemed just as confused as me, but this girl continued to tell me less and less desirable names as I refused, and eventually I caved. It seemed as though I should know the name Azrael despite having no reason to do so, and I kept wondered if this might be the girl that I dreamed about.

    AMBROSIA

    Zoe continued, “I''m sorry for stalking you guys! I just wanted to be sure you were the Oracle of Tao, and I didn''t want to alert you guys to my presence until I was sure. But, now I''m sure, you have to be the Oracle of Tao.” She advanced to shake Aqorm''s hand. “Hey, ummm over here, I''m the Oracle,” I said. “At least, I don''t think it''s really Aqorm.” She blushed, “Oh my! Well, I''m not as sure about you, but okay.” Nevras asked, “I don''t get it. If you didn''t want to get seen, why didn''t you just turn invisible? I mean, it was really easy to notice a big cloud shadowing us.” She bowed, and apologized, “I can''t turn invisible because I''m a Druid, and my power doesn''t work that way. I could try my Camouflage, but I''d need to stay near the walls all the time. And turning into an insect just means I get squished. I don''t want to be squished. Anyway, you''re probably not the Oracle, so I guess I''ll head back...” I don''t know if this was reverse psychology, but I flatly refused, “Uhh uhh, you''re coming with us!” We dragged her up with us while she cried, until finally she stopped resisting and agreed to follow us willingly. Victory! We had a new member in our group, one with elemental magic, from the looks of it.

    We continued to wander up the tower. On the 97th floor there were creepy guys in black hoods chanting over someone who was tied up while candles were burning on the floor. Death Sect groupies, followers of Thanatos. “You okay? Do you need to be saved?” The bound man shook his head, “No way! I volunteered for this. Do you not know that with my sacrifice, a new save circle will be built?” The Death Sect members nodded, “It''s true! We would not be allowed into this monastery if we were not hired to do this.” I gasped. Save circles came... from that? Elias frowned, but nodded, “Yes, save circles come from human sacrifices. This is why they are extremely common in dungeons. Just think how many times a part member offers to fend the creatures off while the others escape. But they don''t have to be a life sacrifice, strictly speaking. Sacrifice of worldly goods, sacrifice of a portion of mystic power, any of these things will create a save point.” I didn''t understand though, why would anyone give their own life to save others?

    On the 98th floor were beds for guests to rest from their long trip. We all took advantage of these, then walked down a floor to save ourselves. I wish there was something we could have done for him. But no, he had been determined to die for us, even though we were pretty flawed people. I mean, c''mon, look at Aqorm. Ow! I was only kidding. We walked to the 99th floor.

    As promised, the Seer/Truthteller lady was there. She had only promised to meet us near the top, but I didn''t see any stairs up. “Hey there! I''m Gwendolyn.” she said. What kind of fortuneteller addressed people with those words? “Ummm hi,” I said back, “I''ve been meaning to ask, can you actually see what we look like?” She responded, “Sort of. I see my own past and I see the most likely future, but I can''t see things in the world of the present. I mean, I know what you look like from meeting you, and I saw that you would be there in this room ahead of time. But if you suddenly held up your fingers in front of me, I couldn''t see it. There is a five minute window between the past and the future, which I am completely blind.” That cleared up a few things, but it got me thinking, “So wait, if you know what I''m gonna do, does this mean that I have no options? That everything is set in stone?” Gwen giggled a bit, “I''m actually glad you asked that question! So many people trying to meet the Oracle up top never make any realizations of the future, and automatically assume this to be true. I have to send them back down, because they aren''t teachable. But you... I see potential in your eyes. I see the past as it is, usually fixed and permanent, short of a time travel event. Which rarely happens anymore, though I noticed a ripple awhile back. Tried to fight someone for their yacht, did you?” I frowned. She continued, “As I say though, the past is usually set in stone. And the present is completely beyond my sight, though my Truthteller powers help. But the future? It''s usually a hopeless mess.” Now I was confused, “What do you mean?” Gwendolyn elaborated, “Let''s say you hold up your fingers. I would see different branches of the future, each with you holding different numbers, five minutes into the future. I would see nothing if you acted immediately, before five minutes. It would only be if you fixed on a specific number that things would narrow to a specific path.” After a second, I blurted out, “But what if I lied?” She shook her head, “It wouldn''t change anything. I''m a Truthteller, remember? Seeing yourself pick ''five'' but deciding to pick ''two'' would still mean I would know you would pick two. Destiny is not about a single path, it''s about our decisions. In order to see the future, both the idea that there is a future to be seen and that one can change it must be true, or there is no point in telling anyone the future. Like... that staircase over there.” I stared blankly because there was no staircase, only a wall and a ceiling. “That staircase is there, but you don''t see it yet, because someone hasn''t decided in the past to build it. There now, see?” I still didn''t see a staircase, but suddenly, I saw a hole in the ceiling, and then stone blocks laying themselves quickly before my eyes. After only a few moments there was indeed a staircase winding its way to the top of the tower. I now had a headache. “Thank you Gwen!” we said as we climbed away. “Remember, you make your destiny!” she called after us.

    We reached the top of the tower, and then I saw him. With his feathered cap and wind-swept silver hair, he looked like some kind of bard. “So you''ve come. And doubtless, you wish to know about the Crest.” I nodded. This was it, I would finally get handed the power of the Crest. With no effort on my part at all! I responded, “Of course! That''s why we''re here! Can you help us or not?” Then it happened. He actually smirked. I knew it. He''s a spoony bard. “Still so impatient, are we? Well, time to test you. We can''t have unworthy people go around and use our Crests, can we? That''s just wouldn''t be right,” he said. Still? What does he mean still? How does he know me? Not another battle... I thought. As soon as this thought popped into my head, the Oracle spoke, “No, no, it''s not like you think, I won''t make you battle. I simply want to ask you a few questions.” All of the tension went out of my body. Whew, I thought. Hey wait, did he just read my mind there?!? and then it was back again. He asked point blank, “Why do you want to be an Oracle of Tao?”

    That really was the question, wasn''t it? I said, “I''m doing it because God asked me to save the world, why else?” I mean, duh, isn''t that what all heroes did? He made a stopping motion with his hand, “Wait, hold up, there. You''re doing it because someone else asked you to? What are your reasons for wanting this? Evil will come to oppose your quest, and when it does, ''God told me'' just won''t cut it. Try again please.” I thought to myself, I knew that answer was too easy! Truth is, I don''t know!  Instead, I said, “Ummmmm....I''ve been on the street my whole life, and this will help me succeed, and find my place in the world.” It was true, from a certain point of view. I could claim that this would help me belong, as an outcast. But honestly, I wasn''t that interested in success. He scoffed, “These reasons, or should I say, excuses lack conviction. That won''t work either as a reason.” Heaven and Earth, this guy was tough! I snapped at him, “Gimme a break! Nobody even told me what my job entailed before they gave to me! Why won''t you accept this answer?” He explained, “It''s simple. Success is as meaningless as failure, since when you die, nothing will change. And fitting in? Why would you waste your life seeking the approval of others? Be yourself.” I was grasping at straws, so I came up with something, “Sigh... I guess I wanna make a difference in the world. I want to do the right thing.” He shook his head, “The world doesn''t need to be changed. Thousands of years have passed since the demon last came, and society has recovered nicely. There is worldwide peace, and kingdoms keep out of each other''s territory by law. What is there to fix? You said you want to do the right thing, but... even villains and tyrants claim to be doing the right thing, while they bully others and meddle in world affairs. In their greed for power, they constantly tell themselves, and others, that what they do is for the good of all. Then they doom their countries. If that is your argument, tell me. Are they right? Or are you wrong?” Nevras sighed, as though he knew about that.

    I thought about my own thoughts only an hour ago. How I had supposed these people paranoid or racist, just for wanting to be able to shut out other people who might want to hurt of control them. Then I thought about how nations in the past had insisted on heavy immigration even when their citizens hated it, because it was for the “greater good.” I thought of how if I became some kind of super-powerful hero, kings and countries might realistically ask me to help fight in their wars. Even if I vowed to stay neutral and only fought creatures, some of these might cause political advantage. And how could I be sure that destroying a demon was the right thing to do? ...Okay, maybe that last one was an easy call. I stammered, “But... then what about the world... All those people? Everyone will die if I do nothing.” This Oracle giggled at the suggestion, as though I had said something incredibly ignorant. I hated this guy. He coldly stated, “Did any of them lift a finger to help you off the streets? Human lives enter a cycle of rebirth anyway, until they attain purity and head for higher planes. Worlds get made by God all the time, why is it your job to shed a tear over that which can be replaced in a heartbeat? Why should you care?” I was suddenly filled with a sense of hopelessness. I was working to make a difference in this world, yet everyone in this insular community had things figured out, meanwhile my world was a mess. My life was constant travel, and there were ridiculous events happening all the time. Nevras was the only thing in my life that made any sense. But no, I couldn''t. If I didn''t save the world, Nevras would be gone and so would I... but if what he said were true, was all of this a waste? I questioned him, “But then, is there nothing I can do?” There must be some path that he knew of as a great guru. He was just keeping it from me until the time was right. Without hesitation, he spoke, “Yes. Give up the Oracle title, and return to your original state, and people around this world will prosper. It will be better if you return to being a beggar, and leave this quest.” So it was true then. All my effort was a waste of time. Nobody needed me here, and I was a simple peasant girl. I had no business fighting massive demons or other things.

    I had already become involved in the affair of the mayor, what if they just kept asking more of me, until one day I couldn''t deliver? If I quit now, my entire life will have been a waste, but what can I do?!? I thought. As sadness and despair crept up on me, my body reacted the best way it knew how, by suddenly shutting down. I just wanted to sleep and never wake up. While the latter part wasn''t certain, the former was quickly granted. “Ambrosia! Are you all right?” I heard Nevras call as consciousness began to fade out...

    THE WORLD

    While it might be tempting to focus all of our attention on Ambrosia, other events were transpiring in this New Earth. As was possibly mentioned earlier, upon the foundation of the New Earth, those who were imported from the original world remembered what a mess life became, and legitimately wanted to build a better one. Besides which, this girl after awakening is currently in a state of deep depression, feeling her only sense of purpose in this life stripped away. She will not leave her bed right now, even to eat. And so, we discuss events from an overhead view of the world. It is I, God doing the narrating, but I will instead take a mortal form as the Narrator. Refer to me as such from now on.

    In a small island to the south of Ghobli, events were taking place of a decidedly political nature. The New Earth had poles in its eastern and western areas rather than north and south. It is for this reason that southwest of Ghobli, there was a frozen island where a dragon lived, while this island was temperate. The island was a mass of concentric mountain slopes starting from a very rocky beach. On the peak of the island, was a large building for gathering to discuss world events. In the center of the building there stood a large table. Every so often, usually six months if no major emergency came up, the leaders of each major town gathered to discuss world events and in some cases to engage in trade. In addition to high mountains, the island had guards and various physical and mystical fortifications against unauthorized entry.

    This was the Anti-Government Council, the height of government hypocrisy, an organization dedicated towards maintaining peace through suppression of big government, through world government intervention. These people kept all towns from reaching too big, kept kings from ruling more than one town, and kept certain technologies from being developed. They were why there were no credit cards (people used checks, Gold, or ATM cards instead), there was no mass immigration, there were no stock markets, there were no guns, radiation, genetic modification, power plants, or international trade companies. It also meant outside town, you had to set up everything.

    There were no guns, not because the people couldn''t be trusted to hold them, but the other way around. Guns were not easy to make without help, unlike bows or swords, which a simple crafter could produce. All the moving parts, the chemical makeup of gunpowder and so on, meant they were tools of the elite, and thus tools of the State. The government did manage to take away all guns, but did so by emptying all gunpowder into the making of bombs, and using the metal to forge simple yet sturdy weapons or tools. Thus, rather than disarming the population, people were simply armed with more accessible weapons. There was no credit for the same reason. When people borrowed from others, the State had convinced them that they owed taxes. It was a tool that created poverty. Instead, a debt-free economy emerged, and people suddenly bought or rented only what they needed.

    Power plants and gene modification were also abolished. No explanation for banning gene modification was ever given, but I know they had a good reason. Now only wicked sorcerers attempted this. And power plants? That was quaint. There was basically no need to be tied to a big fuel source, because all magic was self-contained. A light bulb, for instance, no longer ran by relying on wires sending energy from some building outside town. Theoretically any wonder-worker that knew Illuminate could enchant glass to produce light on command (the problem, of course, was mass-production).

    This was why the average citizen instead used magic, a source which was heavily limited by human endurance, and alchemy, a science-like system which had its own bizarre limits. To the Council''s merit, for thousands of years, they had managed to completely prevent wars (aside from minor skirmishes), pollution, and government oppression. The State had been kept from returning.

    Today, they met not only as part of their six month schedule but as part of the anniversary of the Council''s founding; there was no reason to suspect that anything was amiss. But while Ambrosia lay in her bed depressed, the Council was about to decline.

    Each member of the Council was part of a land that was majority human, as these were the most common governed people. For this reason, Hell was not a member of Council, since aside from its extreme antipathy toward the Council''s principles it had mainly demons, nor was Heaven as it had humans but they were mostly the dead. A young woman with long white hair, and a blue/white striped headband in a pale blue nightgown rose first. While she appeared as a young girl, this was Hinata''s elder, and a powerful leader despite her town being a vacation spot in the middle of nowhere. She was leader of the Council. In actual terms of assertiveness, well... not so much. She believed in being fair and impartial and listening to other voices within the Council... That said, she tended to listen far better than she managed to speak up. Her fellow town leaders, kings, and mayors on the other hand, tended to be extroverted, narcissistic, and antagonistic towards dissent. She announced, “I call to order the anniversary meeting of the Anti-Government Council. Please state your concerns.” The mayor of Ghobli, a far cry from the kindly yet imposing mayor of Zuran, was a short portly balding man with a mustache that a villain from a melodrama would envy. Although the Aiken monastery lived close to both Zuran and Ghobli, only Zuran had earned the keys to the area for visit. This guy was selfish, ruthless, and obsessed with money. Despite a relatively low income of leaders given the taxation restrictions of the Council, he made sure that he added a fair amount of sales taxes. This man was not even the worst person here, though, that honor rested with King Yama, a conniving and war-seeking control freak.

    Ghobli''s mayor simply wanted wealth, as became immediately apparent when he announced, “I would like a trade agreement with Kirin. Doing so would allow access to greater number of goods for our merchants to sell.” The elder''s face relaxed. She had worried once again when she saw him raise his hand, as was the custom to prevent outright interruption, that he would once again make the request to restore the practice of income taxes. After a brief consideration, she said, “There is no apparent political connection due to the distance between the two towns, so there is little danger of colonization or an empire. Any objections?” There were none, as was obvious since all points were correct. Kirin was difficult for Ghobli to access, since something always prevented sailors from sailing directly west to Kirin despite maps showing them nearby on the map; the alternative was a long circuitous route to the east. Any goods from Kirin would fetch a high price, yet it was sufficiently distant to prevent this from becoming out of hand. And there was definitely no danger of a colony. The land of Kirin was such that no sane person would want to live there, being a land of perpetual snow and ice. Kirin''s exports were exotic snowbirds and seafood, furs and firs, and products made from ice elementals. The land of Kirin would become enriched by the influx of fruits and vegetables without the need of much money, while the mayor of Ghobli would become rich from importation of rare goods. She nodded, “Okay, then. In that case, the motion is passed. Any other issues?”

    The queen of Aquamundo raised her hand and spoke, “The fishing offshore is limiting our food supplies. Could it be restricted?” Aquamundo''s queen was merfolk, yet was among the few of her kind, had only a few indicators of her race. She had long since shed her tail so she stood upright, and her gills were barely visible, but she did have light blue skin, and blue-green hair. She sat in a green cocktail dress, and was admired by many of the male members of the Council. “While this motion has benefits to Aquamundo, it obviously depletes the total food of those dwelling near the regions of Galaxia. Therefore, I must ask that there are additional votes. Do any of you second this motion?” asked the elder of Hinata. Surprisingly, the mayor of Zuran rose to his full stature and told her, “I second this motion.” Normally, the motion would then go to a vote, but since someone with no apparent vested interest agreed, Galaxia didn''t protest, and since this man was so big as to be imposing, Hinata''s elder simply said, “Motion is passed.”

    The leader of Kirin, its chief, raised her hand next. She was a young woman with blonde hair dressed in furs. Possibly since the climate was so much colder there, it was fairer to say that she was currently wearing only fur lingerie. She requested, “I would like to increase the game hunting in Kirin area for the purposes of the fur trade. Our people are freezing in our climate!” Hinata''s elder spoke, “Hmmm, the country does need the product for its survival. And it could be an export to other towns. I approve this. Any other issues?”

    The King Yama of Kushiyama stood, a man who appeared in his eighties yet no less ambitious over the years. He did not bother to raise his hand to speak, “I would like to increase our allocation of military.” The elder raised her eyebrow, “What does the Council believe?” The daimyo of Gruumi, a samurai warrior in full lamellar armor, agreed, “I second this. Military buildup is key to enforcing the sovereignty of each town. Please allow this.” Hinata''s elder looked around the room. The Galaxia king looked like a traditional aging royal and had no major objections from the looks of this. The guru of Shoten was largely a figurehead, a young red-haired man who looked more like a teen idol than a political leader. Then there was the chief exorcist of Goji, a woman in her thirties decked out in a ceremonial gown. None of these appeared to have any strong objections, yet to the side, the king and queen of Phoenix, King Charis and Queen Victoria mumbled. Queen Victoria had a countenance with all the wild intensity of a flame, and she would likely use a broadsword to cut anyone who crossed her into pieces. Of course, given that many leaders expected a king to be authoritative and the queen to follow his lead, in public she had to make a big show of making subtle ''suggestions''. She began whispering to him, but the rest of the audience didn''t appear to notice, as the Hinata elder proceeded, “If there are no objections, the movement is...”

    King Charis stood up, and interrupted, not even bothering to raise his hand, “I object! Kushiyama already has the centralized government to become a small empire, something forbidden by the Council at its conception. To appease its government more would open the opportunity for invasion of other countries!” Kirin''s chief raised her hand and blurted out, “I second this objection, having been a nearby town to Kushiyama. They might invade our thriving winter town, and possess our land.” No one wanted Kirin. But these outbursts caused a great deal of turmoil. There was arguing back and forth about the merits and flaws of this plan. It appeared as if order would never return, as Hinata''s elder, Lajila, struggled to speak, “Guys could you please... I''m trying to speak. Hey c''mon, you know it''s hard for me. Please, stop talking. QUIET!!! Quiet, please.” Lajila spoke again, “It appears we cannot agree on this issue. I suggest that we reconvene later.” Hinata''s elder Lajila seemed shaken by these events as she walked out of the building.

    In another island, also covered in mountains, a man with a long billowing brown robe prayed and chanted to a large earthenware fermentation pot. The urn was covered with a clay top and the entire thing was chained closed, with several paper bindings fastening it shut. This wretch was Yazim Jianne, and the urn of course contained the demon Belial. It was a great relief that Belial was not formally summoned outside the urn, or he may be able to see me, the Narrator. Belial boasted, “Mwahahaha! Let us unleash order among this world! No longer will the world by ruled by those who refuse to rule over it! The power of the Realm of Void will control it!”

    It was clear from this, that Belial had a direct hand in tempting the king to his ambition. Yazim Jianne chuckled maniacally and nodded, “Good, good. And as your authority grows, you will gain the power to raise the dead. She will return before the next full moon, as promised.” Belial responded almost dismissively, “Patience, my servant. I have promised, after all.”