The Central Island

The last time Toga remembered flying in an airship like this, he was a child, barely moving on to his teens. He never realized he'd be heading towards central of all places the next time he rode one, but here he was.

The central island was massive in comparison to the other islands. The central city of Talega was almost as big. He looked down below and saw how alive the city was as it was bustling with people trading aplenty. Kids playing joyously and without fear. Everyone was happy with trade and wore lavish clothing.

Seeing them from up here, Toga couldn't help but watch in awe with how much success the sentinels had done to keep the peace. There wasn't any fear he could sense around.

He wondered what the city would look like from above if he'd came at night. From the looks of it, it'd be a spectacle.

He's never been to Talega, but he's heard about how wonderful a place it was. He never dreamed that it'd surpass all his expectations with the sight alone.

The Red Dogs that were shooting flames into the exhaust were starting to lower their temperature output. The ship lowered itself in relative proportion. They landed in the yard of Grand Central. Even in the landing bay of the castle, the place looked decorated. There were ships everywhere in other docking spots where Edicts accompanied by their Bond Guards would disembark.

Toga waited for the step ladder to arrive before he too started disembarking with his guide. The sentinels below pushed one that looked shabby in comparison to the lavish looking one's going towards other ships.

He figured it was because nobody important, or noteworthy was on this ship to begin with. Even with a shining spirit, he didn't yet have the prestige to go with it.

"If you would be so kind as to follow me," Krisco said.

Toga did as instructed, making sure to take in the scenery as much as he could. Part of him didn't believe he'd ever see a place like this again, regardless of if he was a shining spirit. It was all so new, yet it was a bit too… tacky.

That was the correct word for it. Every flower in the flower bed was maintained to perfection. There were gold linings all over the structure of the building. The ceiling was far too high, and the chandeliers glistened and shined off the reflection of the sun. This was truly a place made for royalty… somewhere he felt completely out of place.

Looking around, he saw an assortment of people that were all rolling in pairs of twos. This had to be the place. They were all High Edicts and their Bond Guards. Looking at all the pairs, he saw himself in what he could have been, had he not been a shining spirit… A Bond Guard.

"C'mon. This'll be the first time you meet the council," Krisco said.

The council… Now that he thought about it, what were they going to be like? Every High Edict he's ever met, they were always towering figures of authority who gazed upon him and the rest of the sky citizens with such a superiority complex. He doubted the council amongst them would be any softer in that regard.

"We're here," Krisco said, breaking him from his thought. "This is as far as I can take you. Sorry to say this, but people like you and I don't get a BG here. Just not important enough. Good luck to ya, and watch the council closely,"

Krisco turned around and walked away, but Toga kept his eyes on him. What did he mean by that? He turned back towards the large double doors.

{Well this is a bit much.}

He pushed in the large double doors and entered the audience room. It was a large hall with seven extravagant chairs sitting at the end. All of them had a council member sitting on them, all of them accompanied by their Bond Guard. Toga walked the long hall. His boots echoing with each step along the way. The size of this place was unnecessary and awkward just getting there, but he felt off if he had to run just to make it go quicker.

He finally made it to the end in front of the council members. They stared at him the exact same way as every other Edict he's ever met.

But oddly enough… this was the first time he's met them, in which he didn't feel the fear of death ever present.

Even so, he got on one knee and bowed to them. "I was informed that the council requested my presence,"

He had zero training on addressing the High Edict council members, but this was the best he could come up with on the spot. Hopefully this was enough.

"You may stand child. There's no need for addressing us with such a difference in status, especially now, that your existence itself, is a status that matches our own," It was an old lady who said it.

Toga stood up and surveyed all of them. He hadn't a clue who any of them are. He wasn't prepared to meet them so early.

"I'm Grand council Sharo Falas," She answered. It's as if she sensed exactly what he was thinking.

"Thank you, Grand council Sharo. Forgive me for my lack of preparation. I had not expected to be called upon. Better yet, I'd never thought of being suspect of housing a shining spirit within me," Toga said.

"Toga Dawnheart. You are mistaken. It is not a suspicion that you are in possession of a shining spirit, it is a fact that you own one,"

Toga looked at her with confusion.

"I can see your lost so let me continue. Did you not recently get into battle with a shining spirit?"

Toga's mind went right back to the battle with the White Dragon. He nodded his head.

"In that battle, it was witnessed by several people that you hit him with a fire move, in the shape of Ignatius the Red Dog. It's clear, that your merging is close at hand for you to be the next shining spirit,"

"That doesn't make any sense though. A relatively small group of people even immigrated to the East Island. Why would it reside in me?"

"It doesn't matter how small the group is. You were still born of the dogs and received the blessing to match it. The shining spirit itself is only relegated to one person, of course there would be a chance that person would be among the people we sent off to another island,"

He looked towards the ground.

"Is something wrong, young shining spirit? I would have thought you'd be ecstatic of news such as this. Most people would be thrilled to be chosen," She asked.

Toga hesitated. "It's just… I really wanted to join the sentry and become a Bond Guard. I'm aware of the rule that shining spirits must join the order and is barred from sentinel duties. But why is that the case?"

Shiro glared at him. "You understand why High Edicts, don't get into fights don't you? We don't want to destroy the Skylands, nor do we want Edicts to have unchecked power over other Edicts. Most of our disputes get solved by having our Bond Guards do combat, often to the death if need be. Giving an Edict a Bond Guard with a shining spirit, is basically giving that Edict uncontested power,"

Of course, he didn't think that anything he'd said would change this ruling. He was stuck on the path to joining the Order.

"If I so may ask… was there a reason you wanted to become a Bond Guard?" Sazo asked.

"Nothing more than a career choice," Toga said. "If I'm more efficient in the lower world, then that's where I'll go,"

Sharo smirked. "That's wonderful to hear. There's something we want you to keep in mind while you're down there,"

Toga nodded his head, giving her the ok to finish. "Hunting that monstrosity down will be one of the main priorities that will be expected of you. This isn't normally the case, but with recent developments, hunting the White Dragon is a service that's expected of shining spirits,"

Toga just took that one in stride. That wasn't surprising to him. Most of it partly was pretty expected really.

"More importantly, what we expect from you most of all, is the slaying of the young man known as Ryuma Irgo…"

Toga's heart skipped a beat and his body stiffened. Certainly she didn't say what he thought she said… did she?

"Excuse me. Can you repeat that again?" There was no way that had to be real.

"My apologies if I misspoke in any way. What I said, was that we require the death of the young man known as Ryuma Irgo. There have been witnesses to the young man being abducted by the White Dragon as it fled the East Island. Given that evidence, Ryuma is the highest suspect we believe to be the shining spirit of the White Dragon. And that is a crime… punishable by death,"

"There is no exception… to this rule,"