Chapter Seven: Preparation

Coron was almost done his training. Argent had him going through every form, kata, and technique known to man for the past fifteen years. Argent wanted to be sure that this eight year old could fend for himself once he left the spirit world. Coron had tried before to get Argent to teach him how to leave, but Argent just deflected the question and got Coron training again. Argent couldn't seem to realize that Coron had been there fifteen years and had matured over that time. True, he hadn't grown an inch, but he had found his communal animal. It turned out, much to Argent's dismay, to be a badger mole. This made it almost impossible to check on Coron's body. The first time they tried, the badger mole had dug up half the cemetery trying to find Coron's body. That had led to the undertaker driving spikes all through the ground to try and stop him. They now had to go deep underground and work their way up until they found Coron's body. Once they had they kept a weekly tab on the graveyard to make sure nothing happened to it. It was also thanks to the badger mole that they discovered something very drastic about Coron. Although Coron could use the body of the badger mole, he couldn't go to the mortal plane as it. This led Argent into a long series of rambling which could be simplified as this: Coron was no longer the avatar which meant that the avatar spirit shared the body of whoever became the avatar.

Coron had just gotten through the last of his training for the day, though he couldn't be sure, (It was always hard to tell when it was night time here) when a question popped into his head, "Hey Argent? Will my body have aged in the grave?"

Argent's face took on a surprised look before he answered, "I don't know. With what we found out about the avatar spirit it might still be an eight year olds body because you're not in it anymore. On the other hand it might have aged dramatically because nothing is inside of it anymore."

"You mean I could come back as a creaky old man without a hair on his head!?"

"It is quite possible. On the other hand, those are the two extremes. Anything in between them could have happened. It might have even aged exactly as it would have had you been alive for all we know. You might not even be able to enter it again you've been out so long."

"And whose fault is that?" Coron growled.

"Hey, don't be ungrateful! If I taught you how to go back quickly you wouldn't have even be able to get out of the grave!"

"But you taught me that nearly a decade ago!"

"You never finished school either, you couldn't go get a job, and you wouldn't be able to get food or get a place to sleep."

"One, I've been sleeping on a rock for the past decade and a half. Two, you taught me what plants are good to eat, which are bad, and hundreds of other properties. Third, we decided the third year I was here that I'd go to find the new avatar and help him out with his training."

"We did? Guess my memory isn't as good as it used to be. Age does that to you!"

"You don't age here!" Coron was yelling as loudly as he could which didn't seem to faze Argent at all, "And don't deflect what I've been trying to tell you for years: I need to go back!"

Argent heaved a sigh, "All right. The only reason I haven't taught you how to go back is for you own protection. Without a spirit guide or the avatar spirit the only thing that can lend you the power to go 

back is Nersh Ming, the spirit of life. She might try to take your spirit since he has been extremely weak for some time. No one here can figure out why though. The current theory is that it's just the population of the world is growing and that it's finally getting to her."

"You know, you could have told me what you were doing. If we were just waiting for that spirit to get weaker I wouldn't have kept asking you."

"Yeah, that's exactly what I was doing." Although Argent just blew his cover and told Coron that wasn't his actual reason, Coron didn't press him. It had become obvious to Coron some time ago that what he thought of Argent was the ageless man's whole world. This was the main reason that Coron had continued to play dumb in some situations so Argent wouldn't feel bad by how much Coron outstripped in some areas.

Over the past fifteen years Argent had distracted Coron with all the training so he could find a way for him to go back. As far as he knew, the only two ways you could go into the spirit world and leave were impossible for Coron so he had spent all that time looking for a third way. He initially had started to find ways to magnify Coron's spirit and gave up after a few years into it because it was too risky. It was about a year ago that the idea had hit Argent to use some of the actual spirit's power. There were only two which might have the authority to do this though and that was the spirit of Life or of Death. After a little research it became blatantly clear they would have to ask Nersh Ming because anyone who asked Syh Shen (death, just for the record) paid a terrible price. Nersh Ming had been far more caring in the past, but that didn't mean you could drop your guard. The weaker she got, the more desperate she became for the little fragments she gave to make a mortal life. Argent had been gauging for a long time when it would be best to try and send Coron back and he thought now would be the best chance they got.

Argent decided to tell Coron how to get to Nersh Ming a few hours after the argument, "Okay, you're sure you want to leave?"

"YesI'msure!" Coron blurted out, a smile cracking the mask of concentration he was wearing second before.

"Okay, I'm going to help you find the opening back into the swamp first."

"Wait, you mean I was that close to a way back when I first came here!"

"Yes, but I hadn't thought of it then. After that we'll have to call Gredeer so she can show you to the right way out."

"Wait, aren't you going to help me get back?"

"The area where Nersh Ming lives is very close to the mortal world. The closer I get to it, the more I feel the pain of my body. You'll be able to tell when you're getting close because you'll begin to feel what made you go here in the first place."

"You mean I have to taste that agni damned medicine again!" Normally Coron would watch what he said around Argent, but in all the years he had spent here the taste of that vile medicine had never fully left his mouth. The mere thought of having to taste it again made Coron wondered if staying here was so bad. His mind was set though and he followed Argent, ignoring the disproving looks he gave him for his language.

Coron quickly lost himself to the monotony of the walk and almost banged his head on the edge of the tunnel as the ceiling came lower and lower. When they came out Coron didn't raise his head up fast enough and crawled into the back of Argent's legs, knocking him over. Coron muttered an apology which never made out of his throat. Where the swamp used to be there was nothing. The once clear 

water was black sludge, the trees had withered and died and the stones were covered with a putrid slime that tainted the air with a noxious smell, and there amidst it all was Gredeer pinned to a tree with a sword through her.