"Erika…" Toga clicked his tongue spitefully and turned away. "What are you doing here?"
Erika walked closer towards him, her heels clicking with each step. "You should know well what I'm doing here silly. I came to check up on you,"
"Tchh… yeah right," He said.
He heard the shing sound of a blade being partially pulled. "You may be a shining spirit, but you're still a greenhorn. Talk to my master like that again and I will cut you down," This time, it was her bond guard who spoke up.
Toga was irritated enough, this just seemed like mockery to him.
"Enough of that Tsubaki," Erika ordered.
She let the sword fall gracefully into its sheath. "Forgive me my edict Noya. I did not mean to offend,"
"No offense taken,"
She turned her attention back to Toga. He refused to look her in the eye, feeling like the biggest failure he could have ever been.
"You used to tell me everything. Now you're silent when I want to know? C'mon, what's eating you?" She asked.
"This whole shining spirit thing. It's been nothing but a curse restricting all my freedoms. I couldn't become your bond guard, and now I can't even help my best friend in his biggest time of need. What good is all this power if you can't even use it?" Toga said.
"Ain't that the truth…" She muttered.
"I don't even get what difference does this whole shining spirt thing is anyways. I don't feel any more powerful than I am,"
"I wouldn't worry about that part. Change usually starts in about a month in from the initial merging," Toga raised his eyebrows at her. "It's what I heard,"
"It doesn't matter any ways. I could get a thousand times more powerful, and I still wouldn't get a say over where my life goes,"
"Ooohhh, I don't know about that," Erika turned and started walking down the corridor, prompting her bond guard to follow immediately behind.
This caught Toga's attention. He rushed towards her side. "Wait, what do you mean by that?"
"If you look at the other two shining spirits, they seem to go where they please," Erika said.
"Well of course they do. Who would tell them what to do? The amount of merits they have…" Toga stopped there. The stern look Erika shot him was the hint he needed. "You're saying that I should do some missions for the Red Dogs,"
"Not just do some missions. Become the existence more than just the title. Do that, and nobody will question your actions. You will be free to come and go as you please,"
Toga seen the point in that, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that such a roundabout way of accomplishing that would take too long. By the time he's gained his freedom, God knows what would've happened to Ryuma by then.
"I see what you're saying, but I need to help Ryuma now,"
Erika swiftly turned his direction. This time the stare was glaring and direct. It was a stare that froze Toga from moving. He hated when she gave him that stare. There was always a lecture to come with it.
"I don't know who this Ryuma is, but you need to forget about him,"
"Erika… you know I can't do that,"
"You need to forget about him!" This time it was said with a tone of finality. "Toga, your friend has been branded a traitor to the Skylands and has been given the highest bounty that hasn't been seen in centuries. You really think the edicts are going to want him alive?"
"Ryuma's innocent!" Toga argued.
"So what? I never said he was guilty, and I don't care if he is. The point is the edicts have it out for him," Erika folded her arms. "Whether he saw the wrong thing, at the wrong time, or whether he was just born under an unlucky star. We must face reality that our options with Ryuma are extremely limited. Even I'm at a crosshair as of what to do.
If Erika was saying all that with zero hesitation, then it was because she knew there was no recourse of action they could take.
"So abandoning him is my only option,"
"Don't look at it that way. It's not as if he weren't a fugitive, he'd be safe. Being a priest in the Order in itself is dangerous. Just look at it as you two deviating in your paths in life,"
"You're kidding me, right?"
Erika looked at him and smiled. She flipped her fan in front of her face, hiding her lips from him. "If it really bothers you that much, I'll head towards Rebble and make sure he's safe. How does that sound?"
Toga's eyes lit up. He gave her such a cheesy grin and bear hugged her. "Oh my god Erika, thank you so much! This is why you're the best!"
"Ughh… yeah…" Her face flushed tomato red.
Despite letting her go, he couldn't drop the cheesy grin he had on his face. It was then an epiphany came to him. "Erika… did you come all the way here to tell me that?"
"Get real! How could I miss my friends spirit coronation?" She proudly said. There was an awkward silence. Her face became even redder upon realization of what she just admitted.
Toga blinked in bewilderment. "I really do love it when you show this side of you sometimes Erika," Erika touched her heart. She stared at him unblinking. "C'mon. Let's have some fun while you're here,"
He pulled her towards the party, forcing her to be dragged continuously. "Wait! Toga hold on!"
"Edict Noya. Is it ok to be frolicking amongst the priests?" Tsubaki asked as she followed them.
The festivities continued. Toga was in a much better mood then in comparison to before. Not only will Ryuma be getting some form of protection, but it was also the backing of an edict. If he managed to stay safe and hide himself until she got there, that would help him immensely. Besides, it was an edict he trusted beyond anyone he's ever met, Ryuma included.
He just wished she'd loosen up from time to time.
The two spent time dancing in the festivities, enjoying the food banquet, and toiling around with all the edicts that decided to show up and congratulate him.
He was the next Red Dog. Amongst the Edicts, the Red Dog was the most popular of the three. Its unbound loyalty and devotion to the Skylands making it a favorite in Central.
As the next Red Dog, he hadn't a choice but to get on friendly terms with the edicts, but he could sense Erika was getting further frustrated with each edict that kept trying to ingratiate themselves with him.
It was all Skyland politics as usual. Something Toga never got a thing for, but he was thankful for Erika's presence in that regard. With her constantly at his side, there was little room for them to wiggle themselves in for too long.
As the food dwindled, people started to call it in early. Toga and Erika sat at the table discussing what life was like these past few years.
The pastor looked at the two of them smiling. He got up and started tapping his glass, getting everyone's attention. "Excuse me, if I may!"
The rest of the party stopped what they were doing to listen.
"Now as you very well know! One must be talented, to be the bearer of the most coveted shining spirit the Skylands have to offer!" The pastor gestured his cup towards Toga. The people clapped in response causing him to look away and blush himself.
"Now while our wary friend was here taking his well-deserved nap…" Some in the party found the flat joke funny enough to give it some curtesy chuckle. "I've been doing a bit of digging," The smile that had adorned Toga's face, had instantly faded. Wherever he was going with this, Toga had bad vibes.
"It would seem that our shining spirit this time around, has come to be under some very unusual circumstances. For one, being that he is the first shining spirit to not have been on the origin island when chosen,"
It was dead silent when the pastor said this. Toga couldn't tell if the man was trying to hurt him, or help.
"But if that wasn't enough, this was the first time a shining spirit, was in direct combat with another shining spirit, before either of them had merged," This drew audible gasp from the crowd. Some started to whisper amongst themselves.
"Now you may be wondering, the Yellow Monkey and the Blue Pheasant haven't died. But I am of course not talking about either of these shining spirits. I am talking about Aeragis, the White Dragon!"
There was an even louder gasp than before. The entire mood of the party shifted. People were starting to look anxious and worried.
"But fear not! Ryuma Irgo, the shining spirit chosen by the White Dragon. My sources says that he has managed to mercilessly beat every one of his peers. Red Dogs and White Dragons alike. He beat them all… all, but one! That my honored guest, is the young man you see before you! Toga Dawnheart!"
All at once, the tense atmosphere the pastor created, evaporated in an instant. Everyone in the party began clapping like trained seals. Smiling and gearing, whistling, and jaunting. There was an abundance of congratulations and pats on the back.
Toga stared downwards. Suddenly, he felt the need to want to throw up. Does the pastor not know the story? Or did he omit the fact that they just barely scraped by with a win.
Better yet, even if he did know the story, there's no way to know that Ryuma took a dive at the last second.
His fist clenched. He wanted to tell them the truth, but bad at politics he may be, even he knew, that he could never do that under these circumstances.