The dreamy glade was made of grass soft as silk, the air feeling like it kissed Kenji's face and the temperature was just right for a quick nap. The glade was edged by thick walls of wood and vine, providing a much appreciated sense of security. Above the sun shines golden and glorious, the leaves that should have blocked the sky having been enchanted to become translucent.

So pleasant was the glade, Kenji hadn't properly sat down before his exhaustion pulled him into a deep and pleasant slumber. Waking up with his arse in the air and earth in his mouth, Kenji peered around to find Tenko and Violet softly chatting while the faun guides hid in far away pushes.

"Hey, you two should have woken me up," Kenji said as he rubbed his eyes and yawned. Finding his forms regenerated, Kenji turned into Arthur and stretched.

"You seemed dead tired Kenji. And the news isn't that good either," Violet said, standing up to come sit down beside him. Tenko scurried over and threw herself on his face, "wakie-wakie!"

Laughing, Kenji fell back and enjoyed the moment. Violet lay down beside him in the soft grass, while Tenko jumped from Kenji's belly to Violet's while shouting, "the floor is lava!"

"You guys really took a liking to those new kids then, right?" Kenji smiled as they both started talking at once, Kenji waving his hands to calm then down.

"One person speak at a time! I can't understand you otherwise."

"Gold bean is REALLY funny! He can talk like Tenko, he can talk like Violet - he can talk like anyone!"

Peering at Violet , Kenji caught her sigh.

"What Tenko is trying to say is that Almanac the second can replicate voices. Well, alot of things, he can basically replicate anything he sees happen. Not magic mind you, not without at least having the right mana and Understanding how the spell works."

"Really..." Kenji grinned, "so do you think he could forge a signature for instance?"

Violet frowned, but nodded.

"I guess. What would you want with that?"

"Oh nothing. What about the other girl Tenko, Grey?"

"Grey is cool!" Tenko said as her tail wagged really fast. "Not only is she really old, but she's really good at fighting and SUPER smart!"

"Wasn't she a teenager?" Kenji laughed.

"Honestly she came off like a grandma, always talking about her books and that library of hers. She is smart though, and good at fighting too. She killed a Frost Monkey by whacking it in the head with a book she has hidden beneath all that grey cloth."

"Wait, wait, wait - a book?" Kenji fell into a fit of laughter, "how does that even work?"

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"she claims she infuses her mana into the book to make it strong as steel. Apparently she can do so with all kinds of writing,book and library related stuff," Violet said while trying to stifle her own giggles, Tenko laughing as loudly as she could for no apparent reason behind them.

Once they finally calmed down, and their anxiety had been long forgotten, Kenji sighed.

"You said there had been news?"

Tenko's ears perked up, and Violet closed her eyes.

"Common, tell me. Please?

Sighing, Violet rolled onto her side and stared right into Arthur's golden eyes. No...it was strange, but Kenji didn't feel any remnant of Arthur anymore. It felt as if he had felt accomplished with rejecting his god and helping put several true evils into the ground. Having ceased to exist, these golden eyes now felt...

well, like Kenji's.

"The inquisiton is still following us Kenji," Violet said, staring dreamily into his golden orbs. "Why are you crying? I'm sure we can outrun them, no matter how they're managed to keep following us."

Wiping his eyes, Kenji smiled wide and bright.

"They're...not sad tears. It's just with Arthur, um, it's hard to explain really. But it feels good."

Wrapping an arm around him, Violet hugged him tight. "Ok then, but you would let me know if you were feeling sad...right? You wouldn't hide it, and try to solve everything yourself again, right?"

Kenji's mind fluttered back to seeing the indifference of Jack. It had been foolish confronting him, in revealing himself just to scare Jack a little. But he had had to know who he was dealing with, and now he knew, this Templar could be worked with.

Kenji hated the man, but he didn't seem a zealot nor one who hungered for power. Instead he had seemed lost, and confused how these terrible things he was causing contributed towards some goal the Warden could no longer understand.

At least that's what Kenji's gut said.

"You. Come. We. Go.Now," one of the Fauns said timidly, before scuttling away and pulling aside a branch that hid the start to a thin trail bordered with shimmering bushes and paved with flowers.

The bushes shifted constantly, and if he stared they devolved into a blurred mass of colour. The enchanted trail then.

"You two ready? I want to introduce myself to these new friends of yours, but first we have our work to do."

They got up slowly, but neither complained.

As beautiful as the glade had been, it was only a small breathe of calm before the storm that was to come.