The Awakener has trouble seeing Asch's eyes as they are once again obscured by her hat; her tension seems to be lowered. "Of course a timeless being would think that time is all that's needed to heal wounds," is all she says in response.

She then turns to Alexis and says, "Oh believe me, Alexis, I intend to find whoever it is," responding to what Alexis had been saying before Serpico decided to have some fun.

Harmony, who up to this point has been quiet, looks into Ryuusei's blank eyes as she speaks quietly. "You speak as if you blame him for this - as if, somehow, he is responsible for erasing his own mind. This was not his choice. That was taken away from him, by whoever planted that powerful Rune in his mind. I'm sure that Ryuseii, himself, would have preferred your method as well, Asch. Yet..."

She pauses, looking thoughtful. "In truth, I think this, of all things, was the best result that he could have hoped for. Either he was taken away, tried, and sealed away for all of eternity... or what he is - what he was - died. He was too far gone, in his madness, for anything else to be allowed. At least this way..." she gets a sad look in her eyes. "He has a chance to atone for his sins, though he may never know them. He should never know them. He'll still bear the scars, from this, after all. Though he may never remember... somewhere, in the deepest, darkest depths of his soul, the scars will always be there."

###############

[The frog in the well was happy.
It wasn't interested what was outside the well.

The frog in the well was happy.
It was recluse to anything that happened outside the well.

And you were happy.
Because you didn't know what occurred outside the well.]

/What was that?/

[Just something that a young woman I met once said.]

###############

She turns to Magus. "This is a case that should never have been handed to us. It should have gone to a better, more experienced Arbiter, rather than a group of trainees. The Arbiters should have been made aware of the exact nature of the problem on this world." Her voice now is cold with anger. "Due to your meddling and secretiveness, this planet could have erupted into war at any moment. It was bad enough with Ryuusei here. It didn't need someone like Senkoumaru stirring things up even further, pulling things even further out of balance. That was what he was doing, right? The so-called 'Smokey Bandit', causing more and more disturbances, bringing the races closer and closer to war. Stirring up trouble so the Arbiters would HAVE to investigate. All of those deaths that might have occurred had the war begun, if we hadn't come here... and all of them would have been on the two of your heads, as much as Ryuusei's."

Harmony is now right up in Magus' face.

"But I forgot. You don't particularly care about mortals, do you? You or Senkoumaru. You're fine with using them if they meet your needs, but if all of them die, I doubt you'd even care. Just so long as you get to continue your precious research, or your precious mission."

She points over toward Ryuusei.

"Even as crazy as he was, there was one thing that Ryuusei did right. He cared for his people. His world. His planet. He cared enough that he didn't just try to care for his own people - he used this world as a school to teach other Gods humility, and to learn responsibility when caring for their own races. Through him, and his training, he ensured that the Gods of other worlds would treat their races - their creations, their responsibility - seriously. If anything, his only great sin... was that he cared too much. That was what led to his downfall."

She lets her arm drop down, before saying softly: "So, tell me this Magus. Who is taking responsibility for this planet? Who will be continuing Ryuusei's legacy? Who will keep this Training World going?"

Serpico doesn't seem the least bit upset or surprised by Asch's reaction. "Heh. You never change, do you, Ms. Detective? So wonderfully predictable after all. " There is a touch of slightly less sarcastic amusement in it all, but if so, it is gone in a flash.

Asch is silent for a moment at Serpico's statement... and then her cheeks raise just the slightest amount in to a slight smile. "Well look who thinks he's a poet." Is all she says.

She then notes Harmony berating Magus, and she walks up to join the conversation.

"I would imagine they did not know they were dealing with a full-fledged demon. Investigation is fine work for trainee demon hunters, as is demon prevention. One could easily imagine such a mission being fine for a fresh team of arbiters as well. That being said... Magus. I find it hard to accept that you didn't notice the indicators, when Senkoumaru knew full well that memory manipulation was going on. This whole setup seems very convoluted for an investigation."

Magus watches quietly as Asch freaks out and mentions nothing about the transformation, but gives her a meaningful look none the less. When 'Asch' asks about the library, Magus smiles, "That was a big hint; the Mortals here we're allowed to make any written word - the memory rune disallowed it, because ancient texts could easily contradict what Ryuseii was doing. I'll see to it that they get every book they will ever need."

Magus turns to Alexis as he heals the remaining injuries on everyone; you can all feel your wounds vanishing and your energy quickly returning. "I haven't any idea... but judging from the records on this world and Ryuseii's apparent age in those... interesting visions you conjured Asch I would say he learned it around 5000 years ago. Senkoumaru didn't pick up anything about it - you all delved deeper into reading his memories than he did." He shakes his head Awakener, "I doubt there's anything to save, but Elder Viata will try."

"As for the Mortals..." Magus smiles, "I think you all have given them a lot to think on. The meeting we will have tonight will determine where they go from here, but my hopes are high. There's a common bond between all three races now... and while I am sure there will be tension and hate that remains, I am confident we can work it all out. If everything goes well? They'll prosper like they never have before." He finishes as Chandi flies off and his eyes follow her. A few moments later he acknowledges, "It seems Chandi has left, I suggest you all join her soon."

----------------------------

Chandi finds the familiar world-bending bubble vision ending in a flash of light that deposits her in her old classroom, right next to her desk.

"Welcome back." Athena sits on her own teachers desk, legs hanging off the end crossed. "Let's wait for the others before I debrief you, but for the moment you look pale. How are you faring after all that dear?" Athena holds a crystal ball in her hands... Chandi can see the others back on Ryuseii's world speaking with Magus; she can hear them too.

----------------------------

Magus watches quietly as the remaining group converse about Ryuseii's fate. When they are finished he answers Serpico, "Quite frankly... I did not think Cyrus, Draconis or Elda could be saved... in fact Senkoumaru and I had meant to cull them and thier direct followers to root out the corruption. The fact that you supressed the Memory Rune so strongly, something even I could not do, has spared them and given them a second chance." He smiles again, "My hopes are high."

It's at this point Harmony goes off on Magus... he doesn't flinch, he doesn't back down, he weathers her storm inches from her face with a stern look on his face. When she's finished he looks her dead in the eyes for a long time before answering, "If I had been able to confirm Ryuseii was a fully fledged Demon, you would have never been brought here. The fact of the matter is, I objected to this world being a test for you all at first but your teacher pressed me into it. She trusted I would keep you safe if things went wrong."

He crosses his arms, "Senkoumaru served a purpose - to root out those who were corrupted and bring them into the light. Yes - I would have killed them and reincarnated them to clear them of Ryuseii's influence, yes I ran the risk of open war but I would not have let it get any steam." At her comment about not caring about the Mortals, he loses his cool, "Oh! Yes! I don't give a damn about them right?! It's not like I risked my entire mission to see to it that Casey's child was given a safe place to develop or anything! It's not like when you cleared that Memory rune I protected them or anything - oh wait! Yes I bloody well did! In case you haven't noticed there hasn't been a single Mortal death in this entire ordeal!" He's fuming by now, stalking towards her and pressing his forehead against hers if she doesn't back down, "Little girl you've got a lot to learn about the world of the Gods! This isn't all sunshine and rainbows! You are not going to be able to save everyone all of the time, Mortals and Gods alike are going to die in front of you or even by your hand - what will you do? What will you do when you are confronted with a choice to protect your own soul or kill Mortals!? HUH?!"

Black electricity begins to crackle around Magus, "I pray you never have to make that choice... but this is not an easy life. If you think it is, you'd better just quit now - this is the real world girl, you can't save everyone! YOU CAN'T EVEN SAVE THE PERSON YOU LOVE!!" Magus catches himself for a moment, takes a deep breath, and backs down. "This planet is no longer going to be a Training World. It's going to be a normal world, with people having a normal life - they deserve that much. I will be staying here long enough to get it stable, after that the Elders will choose a new God to watch over the Mortals - if they wish to have a religion. If not, then they will life and die and be lead into new lives by any God that wants the job. There's no shortage of them - most likely one of the Gods in Training will take it over.

He turns and walks away from Harmony, answering Asch as he goes, "We knew the indicators... Athena pushed you through, she trusted in you. She believed you could do this... and you proved her right." He turns towards the rest of the team, "You need to be aware of something... you've now not only defeated Athena in battle, but before you even graduated you've taken out a Demon... it normally takes at least a century of battle before you'd be allowed to face one. Your names are going to be know and you are going to be watched... and that's not necessarily a good thing... your allies will press harder missions on you, and your enemies will know your names long before you meet them."

He spreads his fingers and shoots black lightning at the recall runes, activating them - before the teleport goes active, however, he gives one last piece of advice, "Just remember... no matter what you ever hear about her... trust Athena."

And thus the Arbiters depart.

--------------------

The remaining six arrive next to Chandi to find Athena still sitting on her desk, "So!" She smiles brightly, "What did you all think of my Teacher?"