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Temple of the Spirit Dragon ch 14

Lan wasn't sure what he felt the moment he stepped in. He could sense that he was going somewhere, but he felt no physical motion, none of the sudden jerking and tossing that he had grown accustomed to from the few times he had gone through portals. He found his senses fading in and out, sometimes having them assaulted by colors, smells, and sounds that he was pretty certain didn't exist in his world, and sometimes being engulfed by an abyss where he could feel or sense nothing. All this he felt in less than a moment before a world finally took shape in front of him as his mind began to settle on how it wished to percieve the new plane around him.

The first thing he noticed was that it was a world without color. He felt his mind throb briefly as it adjusted to this new experience, eventually settling on shades of gray. He felt a soft crunch underneath his feet as he began to walk on what appeared to him as sand, and he felt a gentle ocean breeze blow past his body, the familiar salty smell filling his nostrils. Finally having oriented himself, he began to look around and take in his surroundings. He was standing on a white sandy beach. Spread out in front of him was a misty gray ocean, its waves rolling in and out at a steady pace. Behind him was a giant stone gate with the carving of a serpentine dragon on it. This gate was embedded in the side of a massive sheer cliff that rose up into the sky, until it was obscured by the dark clouds far above. Looking to his left and right, he saw that the cliff went in both directions as far as the eye could see.

"I guess this is the boundary of our plane" thought Lan. It was then that he suddenly felt new weights in his hand and on his hip. He looked down and saw that there was a large lantern with blue fire in his hand, and a smaller lantern with white fire hanging down at his hip, they seemed to have replaced the beacon uncle Meng had given him and the White Tiger's Eye Magatama and were the only sources of color in this strange place. The larger lantern seemed to be made of a kind of bluish metal, while the white lantern appeared to be made of some kind of white crystal and was shaped somewhat like a tiger's mouth. Both had openings in the front and back where one could access the self-burning flames within. Curious about its affects, he cautiously reached his fingers into the blue flames and found that they did him not harm. The white flames on the other hand, burned him as he expected. Sucking on his tender fingertips, he looked down and for the first time noticed things writhing in the sand at his feet. They were of all shapes and sizes, some similar to worms and insects, some looking like tiny human appendages, and others like things he had never seen before. Some were just wandering aimlessly, while others were making meals of the smaller things around them. Waves would roll in washing away the ones that crawled down to the beach, and would leave new ones that crawled up to the shore. Remembering what Gruncle Meng had said, Lan reached down and picked up a writhing fat lump around the size of his palm, and placed it into the blue flames. It writhed for a short while, but soon broke down into glowing blue light. Carefully taking the glowing orbs out of the flame, Lan lifted them up to his face, inspected them, then popped them into his mouth. He felt something in his mouth briefly, but felt it quickly disappear, and at the same time his mind became a bit clearer than it was before.

"Interesting" he thought, he then turned his gaze towards the waves, and walked forwards until he was right at the edge of where it peaked. He squatted down, staring at the water as it rolled in and out, then slowly, he reached out with his right pointer finger and dipped it into the rolling wave.

All at once, he felt unease wash over him, as the wave pulled away, he pulled his hand up to his face. The part of his finger up to the fist knuckle was gone, the wave had taken it in some way…Or had it? His finger had always been like this right? Two images began fighting in his mind over how his hand truly was, with the current reality slowly winning it over as his mind began to grow more and more hazy.

Alarmed, Lan stumbled back from the sea line and fell onto his rear. He quickly lashed out and grabbed as many of the creatures around him as he could and shoved them into the blue flame, of the lantern. Impatient at the rate the creatures were broken down into existential energy, he also began to shove them into the white lantern. To his surprise, the white lantern vaporized them almost immediately, then shot the existential energy directly into his mouth. With that his mind cleared slightly, and the mental reality of his vanished fingertip began to recede. He then grabbed the wad of existential energy that had finished converting in the blue lantern and shoved it into his mouth, spilling small crumbs of energy around him that the small creatures in the sand greedily gobbled up. His mind gradually stabilized as he sat on the beach, his eyes closed and his knees hugged to his chest, waiting as his memories stabilized and gradually returning to how they originally were. He opened his eyes, then slowly brought his trembling hand up to his face. It had returned to normal.

"Okay" he thought, as he let out a sigh of the relief "I guess the ocean is the manifestation of the unknown that I need to stay away from…which means" he got up and looked up at the giant sheer cliff behind him "That must be the universe's boundary...or plane…dimension? I dunno one of those things."

Lan sat in the sand for a little while, adding more creatures to his lanterns and eating the resulting existential energy until he felt strong enough to move on.

"If I just need to make a full loop either way is the same" he thought, as he go up, "well, I guess I'll go left."

Dusting himself off, he began to walk into the misty gloom. The gate soon disappeared behind him as he continued to walk into the unknown, his free hand brushing along the cliff as he went. The cliff felt like smooth sea stone, but was likely far more durable considering what it was encompassing. Strangely, he didn't feel tired at all no matter how much he walked, neither did he feel hunger or thirst. The spray from the sea, however, did seem to wear at him little by little, slowly blurring his mind as they hit him. But this was quickly remedied by the countless swarming creatures that were practically covering the sand. He would gather a large fistful of them and place them in the blue lantern until they became a lump of existential energy. He would then consume a few fragments whenever he felt his mind start to grow too fuzzy. Other than that, his journey continued uneventfully for what felt like the next few hours. It was then when he was wondering how he wasn't getting bored that he noticed something. A dark shape was slowly emerging out of the mist out at sea, all he could see at first was a shapeless blob. But slowly, its form began to grow more and more distinct as the sea grew more and more agitated. Alarmed, Lan quickly looked around him, but there was no place to take cover, and it was unlikely he could cover enough distance to escape it before whatever it was came to bare down upon. Taking a deep breath, he took a combat stance, brandishing the lantern in his hand like a flail.

But it was over before it started. There was a sudden flash of azure light that lit up the colorless world for a brief moment, and the creature disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. Lan stood still for moment, baffled at the turn of events, but somehow knowing that his Gruncle likely had something to do with it. But he would soon become used to such events happening over the course of his journey, with the giant unseen creatures vanishing after a flash of azure, black, vermillion, or white light.

Shaking his head and eating some more existential energy, he continued on his way into the mist. The scene that he had just witnessed had left him with many questions, but he knew that the only way to figure them out would be finish his current task. He continued further, and as he walked began to more and more lose track of the passage of time. Now and again, he would see ancient structures and ruins either embedded in the side of the cliff or floating out in the ocean, which helped break up the monotony of the constant beating of his feet. They intrigued him, almost made him want to go over and study what he could reach, but something told him that he shouldn't do anything that would slow himself down too much. He had tried training here and there as he walked, but after finding that all he really got out of it was an increase in his intake of existential energy, he didn't even get the usual sharpness of clarity one gains as they improved themselves, so he stopped and just focused on walking. As he continued to walk, he kept wondering when the night his grandfather had mentioned would come, and it was in the middle of such a round of such musing that it finally did.

It wasn't the gradual transition through twilight that he was used to, oh no. The world around him just suddenly went dark, the only visible areas illuminated by the azure flame of his lantern.

"Huh" he grunted as he stopped in place. Remembering what his grandfather had said, he decided to set down for the night. If this otherworldly shoreline was anything like the ones back in his world, the darkness could hide a number of unfriendly geographic surprises, and if it ended up with him falling into the ocean, well… it would be better if he just moved when he could see what was ahead. Placing the lamp in front of him, he sat with his back to the cliff behind him.

He stared out into the sea as he gathered more creatures into his lamp, and as his eyes adjusted he noticed something strange and new. The waters of the ocean seemed to be filled with stars, nebulas and other astral bodies one would see in the clearest of night skies, being tossed around by the waves as if they were bioluminescent plankton. He looked upwards, half-expecting the water to be reflecting what was above. But all the greeted him was an endless darkness. He turned his eyes back to the ocean, and let his mind drift as he focused on the coming and going of the tide. A night sky spread out in the sea in front of him, it was something both beautiful and mysterious, not to mention absolutely dangerous.

After watching the movement of the waves for what felt like days, he felt certain that there were things beneath the surface, peaking out of the water here and there but disappearing whenever he tried to focus on them. Things that remained beneath waves and kept their distance from the shore. Things that thrived in the unknown instead of being devoured by it. Then, as suddenly as it had come, the night ended.

Shaking his head to help switch gears and shoving some more existential energy in his mouth, he got up and continued onward, acknowledging that he would have many more 'nights' like this. This pattern continued many times, and Lan eventually lost track of all time, no longer sure if days or weeks had passed. But during this time, he began experimenting with the small creatures he picked up. Probing them with his spiritual energy, while also discovering he was currently unable to generate aura likely due to him not currently being in a physical realm, he discovered that each of the creatures had some kind of core idea that they were built around. The majority of them were built around ideas such as survival, hunger, desire, and greed and would go about trying to devour other creatures they came across. Rarely however, he would come across some that had different aspects such as patience, faith, or wisdom at their core. Sadly they would tend to be devoured by other aspects, though there were some rarer cases where they had gotten large enough such that they were able to properly defend themselves from the swarm, Lan tended to leave those alone in the hope that they would grow to be something benevolent after they were swept back into the waves. It was during one of these experiments that something new happened for the first time in a while.

Sensing it before he saw it, Lan threw away the small creature he had been probing with his energy and assumed a fighting stance. A dark outline then appeared further ahead on the beach, eventually revealing itself to be a giant headless humanoid creature holding a giant executioner's cleaver in one hand and clothed in naught but a worn fur loincloth. It stopped a distance away from Lan as if taking stock of the boy, it then sheathed its blade, placed its hand on its chest, and gave a low bow. Lan relaxed a bit and exited his stance, but still kept himself ready just in case. He and the creature then slowly walked forwards, quickly passing each other bye and disappearing from each other's view.

"Huh, must have been some kind of guardian" thought Lan as he picked up and began fiddling with another one of the creatures on the ground. He would meet many more of these creatures on his journey, of many different shapes and sizes, all of them seeming to have been born from nightmares that had been overcome and changed for the better. After many more day and night cycles he reached a new landmark, another giant stone gate embedded in the cliff face with the visage of a giant turtle on it which marked that he had finished the first quarter of his journey.

The gate, however, appeared to be in worse condition than the one that he had originally emerged from. It was visibly burned in many places and had long canine claw marks running down some areas. The gate did have some signs of repair though. Some of the stone looked new in places, and many of the burn marks appeared to be fading.

Walking up to the door, Lan gave it three quick taps, and after checking that it was as un-openable as Gruncle Meng's, he decided to move on. It wasn't until he was far far away that a loud impact came from the other side of it.

Many nights later, Lan sat in the darkness fiddling with a small creature as he greeted another passing guardian in the shape of a writhing fleshy puppet, he noticed something that peeked his interest. Two small creatures at his feet were keeping oddly close together. Usually when they got that close, one or both of them would try to devour the other. But these two seemed to be taking care of and watching out for each other, sometimes teaming up to fight off any other creatures that tried to devour one of them.

Intrigued, Lan tossed the creature he had been holding into his lantern, then reached out and grabbed the two small creatures whom struggled in his grasp. After probing them with his spiritual energy, he quickly discovered that both of them possessed loyalty as the very core of their being, and somehow they had ended up bonding with each other. Curious about them and having finally grown bored over the countless monotonous days he had gone through, he reached into his lantern, pulled out a clump of existential energy, and then held it up to the two struggling creatures. They paused briefly, then began to quickly suck the energy up, splitting it roughly evenly between the two. After finishing, the two relaxed in his grip, so Lan opened his palm to examine them. They were two greyish blobs rolling around in his palm, one appeared to be shaped kind of like a pill while the other was something of a cylindrical pyramid. They were no longer trying to escape, but were instead staying stock still. Strangely, Lan sometimes felt that the two creatures in his palm were weightless, and sometimes weighed about as much as he expected. From this, combined with the fact that the creatures didn't dissolve in the sea of the unknown as he does, he hypothesized that the creatures somehow existed on the border of existence and non-existence and by taking the existential energy of other creatures, they were attempting to move towards existence. Lan then spent the rest of that night feeding the little ones existential energy, and by the time morning came they had grown a little bit more and gained more defined shaped. The one that had looked like a pill had gain what appeared to be flippers on its mid and lower areas, making it look kind of like a seal or a penguin, the other had grown four tiny little nubs on its bottom side and a bump on one of its sides making it look kind of like a turtle. Smiling, Lan pocketed the two small creatures and continued on his way.

Nothing eventful happened for countless day and night cycles after that, but the creatures that Lan had picked up slowly grew larger and developed more defined features as he fed them day after day. He had also began to learn more about how his spiritual abilities could probe and affect them. He had learned how to make them respond to emotions that he infused into the spiritual energy he probed them with, so he began to familiarize the creatures with emotions such as joy, excitement, and affection, to name only a few. He also begun to notice changes in their behavior as they grew. The one with fins seemed to be developing something of a reserved and inquisitive personality, while the turtle-like one had developed something of a happy and mild personality. Loyalty, still remained at their core though, and this had led them to become loyal to him as a master they adored.

By the time he reached another major landmark, they had grown as tall as his ankles. It seems as though the creatures were somewhat being influenced by what he thought about him, because the seal-penguin creature, which he had named Eko, had gained the face of a seal but was bipedal like a penguin. The turtle like creature, which he had named Bahamut, had of course taken on the stumpy four legged limbs of a turtle and the hard upper shell. Its head, on the other hand, Lan felt looked more like a whale's than a turtle's and was certain his perception would continue to affect the creatures development.

"Huh" were the first word Lan had said in a long time as he stared up at the gate in front of him, which was emblazoned with the carving of a ferocious white tiger. "This must be grandpa's door."

Suddenly having an idea, Lan grabbed the white lantern hanging at his waist and held it up. The eyes of the white tiger carving began to glow for a moment, but a then a familiar voice rang up across the sea.

"Nuh uh, you go on your way now boy. We can check this out the next time we head to the valley."

Smiling at the sound of his grandfather's voice, Lan nodded then continued on his way as instructed. A few night cycles later, Eko and Bahamut had grown large enough to trail after Lan on their own, and would nuzzle themselves against his shin whenever they wanted to munch on some existential energy, or if they just wanted some attention. It was during one such event that something new happened. After petting them, and having their heads nuzzle his palms, he noticed the sea near him begin to bubble a bit. He quickly stiffened and adopted an offensive stance. Eko and Bahamut merely stared up at Lan, confused. They had yet to learn concepts such as wariness and preparation, which Lan made a mental note to teach them later if possible.

A moment later what appeared to be an elderly lady emerged from the water and walked onto the beach. She was holding what appeared to be a giant head that looked to be a strange cross between an insect and a fish. She turned towards Lan, and gave him an unnerving smile.

"Excuse me child, is this Earth?" she said with a raspy voice.

"…No this is Remnant" said Lan as he regarded her with caution.

"Ah, I see. I must have made a wrong turn somewhere." She said. She then turned her gaze down at the head. "Don't worry master" she said as she caressed and rubbed the head against her cheek "We will return home no matter what."

She then turned her back on Lan and walked back into the waves. Waiting until her presence finally disappeared, Lan let out a sigh of relief and lowered his guard, pitying whatever world Earth was for having drawn the attention of something like that. He felt something nuzzle his hands, and he looked down to see Eko and Bahamut looking up with him with concern. He gave them a smile and reassuring pats on the head before continuing on his way.

Lan's understanding and ability to affect the existential energy in the cores of the nascent creatures of existence that littered the beach grew more and more during this time, becoming able to bend and shape them to an extent as he used his own spiritual energies to affect their barely existent particles. And by the time he had reached the next gate, which had what looked like a phoenix carved into it, he had become able to extract some of the existential energy from the nascent creatures without the use of one of the lanterns, but since he didn't believe in wasting he used the lanterns to completely convert what was left. After that, countless nights later, the original gate he came through finally came into view.

"Hey, take a look guys" said Lan for the first time in a while, forgetting that Eko and Bahamut were unable to understand speech "Your new home is coming u—"

Before he could finish, he sensed something wrong. He noticed it the moment it appeared, slipping out of the waves as silent as a grave a bit further ahead, and then turning to face him. It appeared to be something like an ammonite, but was significantly larger and had multiple black eyes covering its face. Lan tensed himself, with Eko and Bahamut following suit. Before he could make a move, the ammonite in front of them let out an unearthly screech and began to quickly writhe towards them. Forcing the little ones back, Lan dashed forwards and quickly landed 2 quick essence blows on the creature. It reeled back in pain for a brief moment, but it quickly lashed out with the tentacles on its face, wrapping around Lan's arms and waste. Its body was covered with sea water and as a result corroded Lan the longer it was in contact with him. Gritting his teeth, Lan grabbed the creature's face in retaliation, and began to force his spiritual energy into it, attempting to deconstruct it like he did the nascent creatures of existence. But he found that it was far more solid and defined than the small creatures littering the beach, its existence significantly more resistant to being torn apart and broken down.

"Come on" muttered Lan, as his mind began to grow foggier, "break down!"

A roar and a squeak sounded behind him. A small sphere of glowing energy shot past Lan's face and smacked into the creature's eyes just before Bahamut barreled into the melee and bit down on a bunch of the creature's tentacles. Screeching in pain, its grip loosened on Lan, allowing the boy to quickly free one of his hands and reach into the blue lantern hanging at his waist to grab some existential energy he had kept there and stuffing it into his mouth. However, during that time the hand he had kept on the creatures head had continued to pull at its essence, building up tension like a stretching rubber band. An idea quickly popped into Lan's head. Planting his feet he grabbed the largest tentacle around his waist and followed Bahamut's example, swiftly chomping down on the tentacle nearest him. Feeling the creature loosen its grip in pain, Lan released the pull of spiritual energy in his left hand. Like a pellet fired from a slingshot, the creature was launched backwards as Lan ripped himself free of the tentacles holding on to him. Both Lan and the creature quickly found their bearings however, and were soon back to staring each other down. However, they would never finish their duel.

Feeling a something hot down by his leg, Lan looked down and saw that the flame in the white lantern had begun writhing more violently than ever before, and before he knew it a column of white fire erupted from it and engulfed the ammonite. It screamed in pain and attempted to writhe into the sea in order to put the flames out, but instead any water that came near the flames evaporated almost instantly. The ground then began to shake as Lan felt something approach, and a moment later, a giant headless creature, which Lan recognized as the first guardian he had even seen, rushed out of the mist. It leapt into the air and brought its cleaver smashing down on the ammonite's burning shell. The creature screamed as the headless giant brought its cleaver down again and again, pulling it back onto the shore, until the ammonite-like creature eventually ceased moving. The headless giant, however, didn't stop butchering the creature until the white flames had completely gone out, leaving a charred formless lump on the beach. It slowly got up, then turned to Lan and gave the boy a short bow.

"Thanks" said Lan, who gave it an awkward smile. The creature gave him a thumbs up, then sat down and began to shove the burnt remains of the creature down its neck hole. Lan looked down at the little ones by his side and plopped down as he gave them both a pat on the head. Too tired to talk, he instead communicated directly with their nascent minds using his spiritual energy, he told Bahamut how proud he was about how tough and strong it had gotten, and told Eko how impressive it was that the little seal creature had actually learned to use spiritual energy in a projectile attack. Both creatures happily cuddled up against Lan in response. The three of them sat on that spot, taking in existential energy and resting up for a while, and little while after the headless giant had eaten the last of the ammonite creature and had walked away the three of them got up and made their way over to the stone gateway. Lan held up the blue lantern, and the eyes of the dragon in the gate lit up. The gateway slid open and a glowing azure portal revealed itself.

"Congratulations Lan" came his Gruncle Meng's voice, "Step through"

Lan nodded then turned to Eko and Bahamut, "Come on little buddies" he said.

"Wait" came Meng's voice "Those two will be unable to pass."

"Why?" asked Lan.

"They are creatures born from the boundary of existence and non-existence. They cannot survive within our world, at least not as they are now."

"Then how can they?"

"They must grow on their own for now, and in time they may gain the strength to pass through, if they were to attempt to enter now, they would quickly be crushed under the weight of our world and fade into non-existence."

Lan let out a sigh, he felt like arguing, but from his own experience probing their energies, he knew that his uncle was probably right.

"You may leave them here for now, and I will come check on them now and again" said Meng "But you must return now, it is time for you to continue to live your own life."

Lan nodded sadly. he looked down towards his two newest friends and communicated to them what his uncle had said. They whined and squeaked in protest, but Lan could sense that they would follow his judgement no matter what. He thought for a moment then raised his head.

"Could I leave them this" he asked, holding up the blue lantern.

"Very well" said Meng, "It would help me locate them easier anyways."

Lan knelt down and pushed the lantern towards Eko and Bahamut, doing his best to properly communicate to them on how to properly use it. To demonstrate its understanding Eko tossed some small creatures into the flames, and after they had completely broken down quickly snatched them out of the flames before it would have burnt its fin.

"Smart guy" said Lan, he then paused for a moment and smiled. "Here's a little something to remember me buy.

He took off his upper robe, tearing off pieces until it was the right size and slung it over Eko's shoulders, looking like a kind of ragged rain jacket on the small seal. As for Bahamut, he fashioned the last few pieces into a kind of bandana scarf and tied it around its neck.

"Great" said Lan, who pulled the two of them into a hug after taking a good look at them "I promise I'll come back and see you two again someday."

He then got up, walked to the edge of the portal, then turned nodded at the two of them, hoping that someday they would be able to walk through it with him. The two of them waved goodbye, having had that knowledge implanted into them during their trip with their master.

Lan then walked through the portal which disappeared behind him, the stone doors then slid shut and it was quiet once more save for the sound of the waves breaking on the shore. Eko and Bahamut huddled around the lantern, staring into the azure flames. Their relationship with Lan was honestly a strange one, close but not too close, but distant like someone you met for the first time in a dream. There was sadness, but of a kind that didn't really feel like it was there. But to them, that was all they ever knew, and here they would grow and wait for their master to return even if it took the rest of eternity.

Lan felt like he was floating for a while, it was a familiar feeling, something he had felt many times before but had forgotten what it was. He heard something off in the distance, it was slowly growing louder and closer but he couldn't make it out. Something about it bothered him however, almost as if something dangerous was coming.

"Wait a minute" thought Lan, "I know this feeling, I've felt this before when…I was half asleep!"

Finally realizing his predicament Lan's eyes shot open, but too late. A long, rough, hairy, slimy something was shoved into his ear, sending violent shivers throughout his whole body.

"Aghhhh!" shouted Lan, sprang up and began shaking his head violently as he began clawing at his moist ear. The act had quickly shocked him back to reality, and had torn away much of the dull dreamlike feeling that his journey had left with him.

"Glad to see you're up my beautiful grandson" said Byakko, who smiled and waved him, the pinky finger of the hand he was waiving covered in saliva and a trickle of drool at the old man's lip.

"…You awakened your grandson by inserting a finger covered with saliva into his ear" said Meng, who was standing next to a wall with his usual poker face. "Really?"

"Yep!" said Byakko, as he wiped his lip with his hairy wrist "it's called a wet willie!"

"And it almost made me pee myself!" shouted Lan, who finally stopped trembling as he wiped his ear with his sleeve. "But anyway, I'm ready now, let's just get down to business."

"Very well" continued Meng, "Lan, you have proven yourself capable of navigating the boundary of existence and non-existence, and as a result are now privy to new esoteric knowledge if you so wish it…but I must warn you now that accessing that knowledge will also cause you to be bound by many of the rules that bind your grandfather and I."

"I suspected as much" said Lan as he finally finished drying his ears. "What are the rules?"

"Many of them are linked to the knowledge that would bind you to them, so I cannot reveal them without you agreeing to accept them, ironically" said Meng, as Lan rolled his eyes "But some of ones that I can reveal to you now include: you being unable to directly interfere in the conflict between Ozma and Salem, not being allowed to reveal your true nature to anyone with any amount of political power or ability to disseminate information, and not attempting to alter any of the laws or fundamental forces that this world is built upon."

"Uhhh, how would I be able to do the third one?" asked Lan.

"With the knowledge you would gain, it would definitely be possible." Said Meng, "And if you accept, please don't try to see how far you can go before you accidently break any of those rules. Your grandfather has already tried on numerous occasions with disastrous results."

"And that why Vacuo's got all that desert and dangerous wildlife!" said Byakko as he scratched his beard with his foot.

"I tried to mitigate the damage by crating that oasis and other things, but from what history tells us, I also made a mistake there." Said Meng, who sighed and rubbed his eyes.

Lan turned his gaze and began thinking, if he accepted he would be able to assist with any cosmic and/or otherworldly anomalies that would threaten Remnant, but would be unable to properly protect it from any threats that originated from within. Also, from what he could tell Grandpa and his friends already had that covered pretty well, I mean it looked like things would still slip in here and there, but they weren't anything they couldn't handle. And there was always that…that…what was he thinking about again?

He could hear some voices in the distance but he couldn't quite focus on them.

"WAKE UP!" came a powerful and commanding voice that tore through his consciousness. Startled, he shook his head and focused on what was in front of him. Meng Zhang stood in front on him, his brow furrowed in a piercing gaze. With a swift movement, he seized Lan by the chin and tilted up the boy's face up to stare him in the eyes. His eyes flashed briefly. He then released Lan and walked back to his wall.

"It seems you have spent too long exposed to the unknown" said Meng "Young as you are, your connection to this world wasn't very strong to begin with, and your journey seems to have weakened it to almost dangerous levels."

"So, uh, what's that mean?" asked Lan.

"It means that you are currently not ready to receive the esoteric knowledge." Said Meng "In your current state, some of it may well destroy you."

"So wait, I can't learn it anymore?" asked Lan, who felt sick. "But I guess I did stay there for a while, and get splashed with the ocean quite a few times—"

"So it appeared as an ocean to you, interesting" mumbled Meng

"And considering how long I was there, I'd be surprised if it didn't affect me at all." Continued Lan, who didn't notice what his uncle mumbled.

"Tell me boy" said Byakko, who gave him a trollish grin, "How long do you think you were over there?"

"Oh, well if I had to estimate…probably a couple months at least, possibly even a year." Said Lan, who scratched his chin.

"You were gone 15 minutes" said Meng.

"WHAT?!"

"It seems that you will need to strengthen your connection to this world before you will be able to make your final decision on this matter" said Meng.

"And how do I do that?" asked Lan.

"Simple, just go out there and live your life" said Meng "Experience all the world has to offer and watch it from the perspective of a mortal, just as you always have. Then in the future, when your connection has been strengthened enough, you can choose whether or not you wish to learn our secrets."

"Oh! Oh, well that works out just great then" said Lan, who let out a relieved sigh "that's actually what I think I would have decided on anyways. I don't think I'm really ready to commit to something like that, especially if it means I won't be able to help with things down in Remnant! Well, the normal non-inter-planer parts of Remnant. Maybe in the future, but I really don't think I'm ready for that now. Besides I really don't feel like I'd be ready for those secrets anyways. Heck I don't even really know the difference between spiritual energy and aura"

"They are distinct energies and each power different abilities, also spiritual energy can be converted to aura, but not vice-versa" said Meng, "But other than that, I think your decision is fair. You are welcome to come back when you feel like you are ready, and I will assess whether or not you are."

"Huh?" said Lan, confused "Come back? You mean I need to leave now?!"

"Yes, sadly the temple is too close, metaphysically speaking, to the boundary and as a result it would be far too difficult for your reestablish your connection to Remnant if you stayed here."

"Aw come on, I've only been here a few weeks, and I was able to learn a bunch of awesome new stuff in just that amount of time. Just imagine what I could do if I spent a few months here!" moaned Lan.

"True, but do not worry" said Meng "I'll have a few scrolls, and I mean actual paper scrolls and not that technology you people are using these days, prepared as well as some other teaching aids and items that could assist you. You'll have to learn on your own for the most part, but I'd say you've grasped the basics well enough to do so."

"Well…if you say so" said Lan.

"And best of all you'll be traveling with your old grand pappy again!" shouted Byakko, who vanished, reappeared behind Lan, and gave him a violent shaking hug that just about strangled him. "And here's a little something to help ground yourself!"

Before Lan could react, he saw his grandfather's leg flicker with great acceleration after which he felt a sudden crushing impact erupt upwards, his testes being the ground zero of the devastation. His face contorted with pain, as tears rolled down from his eyes, before he collapsed onto his kneecaps while covering his injured testicles to prevent further blunt damage from being done to them.

"Pain!" shouted Byakko, with his manic sadistic grin "Nothing quite like pain to help ground someone. On that note, how's the pain resistance coming along?"

"Well" squeaked Lan, who gave a thumbs up with his free hand. "That hurt slightly less than the past hundreds of times you've done that."

"Excellent!" shouted Byakko "Your manliness is growing! It is only a matter of time before the pervert within you awakens! I shall enjoy the day when I can introduce you to the world's more positive vices!"

"And I will fight it with all my might" said Lan, who managed to get back on his feet. Despite the pain, that act actually made Lan feel more at home as it brought the memories of his training days flying back.

"Say, where's Veritas?" said Lan who had finally grown accustomed to the lingering pain.

"Armpit" said Byakko, he then turned to his sweat gland and yelled "have you inhaled enough of my fumes in order to give me that description?"

"Never!" came Veritas's voice.

"Then inside the jungle of my pits you shall stay!" shouted Byakko while pointing a shaking finger theatrically at his armpit.

"And it would be best for all of us to leave immediately" said Meng, "this area is especially close to the boundary and seems to be negatively affecting Lan's cognitive functions."

"Huh?" said Lan who snapped out a daze.

"Exactly" said Meng.

"Reconnect with the world huh?" said Byakko, with his usual grin plastered on his face. "I know just where we'll be heading next then."

Well, that's the end of that arc. This was a possible ending point for the story, but I still have other things planned. Although, the other story arcs I have in my head aren't as strong as I'd like, at least up until the climax. Spent yesterday and my birthday the day before writing it and proof reading it. Also, if any CRWBY are reading this, I'd appreciate a shout out or any kind of constructive criticism you might have.