Yawn...
While rubbing her eyes Rin woke.
"Huh did the sun rise early today, why? I want to sleep a little longer."
Morning arrived gently spreading his soothing light through the window, and knocking at face. Spilling across pale stone and warming the air before anyone stirred. Birds called from the inner gardens - unafraid, unhurried —voices that belonged to a place where danger did not roam freely.
Limbo woke up.
Not by voice but by awareness.
He lay still for a moment, eyes open, breathing slow. The bed was comfortable, too comfortable. The kind that invited rest Instead of vigilance. That alone felt strange.
A story surfaced before his eyes from the last night, uninvited.
The shape of it.
A protector that did not belong to day or night.
He's not a human nor belongs to Beast.
He's does not need to act but perform the duty to set an ideal.
If someone calls with faith and heart it will come.
He's beyond eveything but still can be found easily.
Limbo frowned slightly.
Terror of destruction in story still ringing head, but also the promise he fulfilled.
Stories were stories.
Yet the image lingered to fade like ordinary memories.
A concept that didn't fit neatly into any category.
He sat up slowly.
The courtyard outside was already awake. Servants moved with practiced silence,
Their footsteps light, path precise. Water flowed gently through the carved channels which can be seen through the window.
Limbo felt it.
The same quite sensation from the battlefield. From the gate, the moment the system had returned to answer.
Not danger, but an attention.
He leave and stood, stretching once then paused.
For a brief instant, no longer than a blink, he thought he saw movements near the far archway. Not a person.
A shift
Like stone remembering something.
Then it was gone.
Gaja stirred behind him, rolling onto his side with a low groan. "This place still feels wrong," he muttered.
Rin, already awake, sat near the window, fingers loosely wrapped around her cup. "It's not wrong," she said quietly. "It's aware."
Did you even sleep, sleeping late and rising before anyone, don't you ever feel restless.
Somewhere deeper within the palace, a child laughed - bright, unburdened. Sambha's voice carried easily through the open spaces untouched by walls or watchful eyes.
Limbo closed his eyes briefly.
The story return again—not as a warning.
But as a remainder, this land...
...land has its own rules that watched...
And when the rules failed...
A ruler.
Something else watched.
Sambha burst into moments later.
He didn't knock.
He never did.
"Limbo!" he called, skidding to a stop just inside the room. " Come one! There's bread with sweet stuff and —oh—look!"
He tugged at Limbo's sleeve, eyes bright, hair still a message from sleep.
"Slow down," Rin said gently, smiling despite herself.
Sambha grinned back, then froze.
A figure stood just outside the doorway.
Not blocking it.
Not to guarding, simply... present.
The man wore no armor. His clothes were plain, functional, but his posture was straight, deliberate. His eyes moved once—taking in the room, the occupants, the child's
"Sambha," he said calmly."your lesson begin shortly."
Sambha's smile faltered. "Now?"
"Yes."
Sambha glanced back at Limbo, and one by one Rin and Gaja. "But we were going to—"
"Later," the man replied. Not unkindly. "You'll have time, once you finished your tasks."
Sambha hesitated.
Limbo knelt slightly, meeting his eyes. "Go," he said quietly. "We'll still be here."
The seemed to settle him.
Fine! Sambha nodded once, then allowed himself to be led away—though he looked back twice before disappearing down the corridor.
The doors closed softly.
The room felt...emptier again.
Rin exhaled. "That's didn't take long."
Gaja crossed his arms. "So that's how it's starts."
Limbo didn't answer but he noticed something else, the man hadn't looked at him and other as threat.
Nor as a guest.
Breakfast was served shortly after. No summons, no instructions.
Just food appearing, warm and plentiful, set neatly upon the table.
"This is how you know you're being evaluated," gaja muttered, tearing bread in half. "When they stop asking questions."
Rin ripped her drink thoughtfully. "No. When they start watching how you live Instead."
Limbo ate quietly.
We can't blame them, they never mixed with everyone and they have gone through many things after sambha went missing.
"It's natural, if we were in there shoe maybe we also acted like that, don't you agree Rin."
"That hard to swallow, but yeah it's 100% true," Rin agreed.
He could feel the system in back of his mind, idle and aware ,but silent. No prompts. No alerts.
It felt like it was waiting.
After the Breakfast, they went towards the inner gardens. No one escorted them, nor anyone restrict their entry.
They were just allowed.
Paths wounds through stone and greenery, water murmuring softly alongside carved channels. The air here felt denser, not oppressive, but rich like mana flowed freely without resistance.
Rin knelt by a path of unfamiliar flowers, fingers hovering just above the petals. "These aren't only decorative," she murmured. "They're stabilizers."
Gaja raised a brow. "You can tell?"
She nodded. "The ways the mana settled around them. This place isn't just beautiful. It's controlled."
"Then you should collect it's samples to carry with."Limbo suggested ."Great idea!" But will they last that long.
"Then collect the seeds," Gaja Interrupted. "That's simple."
Limbo's gazed drifted upward.
High above, stone walkways connected towers and halls. For a brief moment, he thought he saw movement, a silhouette pausing, then withdrawing.
Not guards.
Observers.
A presence shifted begins him.
The elder stood a short distance away, staff resting against the stone path.
"You are adapting quickly," he said.
Gaja straightened instinctively. Rin inclined her head.
Limbo met the elders gaze calmly. "We don't have much choice."
It's like old one once said.
"When you are in rome be like Romans."
Romans? What's that?
Huh! Is that place or people, but where is it? Gaja asked.
Don't know, it just came to mind, it sounded good so I said it. Limbo confused himself.
"You and your weird talk," Rin said head shaking.
A faint smile tugged at elder's lips. "True."
He gestured towards the far end of the garden, where path led beyond the inner grounds. "You will be permitted to walk further, not alone."
"Did we be under supervision?" Gaja asked.
"Observed, i prefer that" the elder corrected. "There's a difference."
Rin frowned slightly. "And sambha."
The elder softened his expression. "He will remain occupied in safe hands."
And don't forget your still kids, even you have gone through alot. That doesn't change, kids like you need more attention and observation.
Hohoho the elder said laughing.
The elder take his leave, with saying. "Later."
"You may be called upon again. Not today though, but don't be nervous, that i doubt you will!" He said moving forward.
Gaja let out a breath. "That was ...polite."
Rin looked towards the path beyond the gardens. "That was permission."
Limbo nodded slowly.
The sun climbed higher and shine brighter at his peak.
Sambha still haven't returned. It was almost time of the evening...
Brother!
He finally did, he looked tired, but not unhappy, his steps were slower, his excitement level was quiter than usual.
You know what happened today.
They showed me old pictures, he said, curling up beside Limbo again. "And stories."
"Did you like it?" Limbo asked.
Sambha shrugged, "some of it."
Then he leaned closer. "It's easier when you're here." Else mother's and father are too busy with work.
Limbo didn't answer.
He looked past the child, towards the place walls, towards the path thas that led deeper inside.
Tonight would be calm.
Tommorow...would not.
For the first time since entering this place, Limbo understood something clearly.
Being safe did not mean being free.
It meant being seen, and supervision.