Chapter 54

Grandline, Paradise, Skypea

Up in the sky Robin and Chopper were rushing back into the ruins of Shandora after Robin had found him in the nearby still sleeping camp of the party group. When Chopper had seen the slightly panic-stricken face of Robin he immediately knew something was wrong and after she told him what had happened with Azul a few minutes ago his brain was already working on conclusions to the origin of said mans condition, all the while rushing back into Shandora. Though as they arrived at the city a shockwave had smacked straight into them, taking them off their feet in the process.

After they had climed back onto their feet all that remained in the city was an eery silence. Not even the occasional animal or gust of wind made a sound. Just silence.

Not bothering with their thoughts any longer they rushed up the giant stairs of the temple at the end of the city and soon came upon the slumbed over body of Azul. Checking him over in a practised fashion Chopper soon discovered that Azul was only unconcious but couldn't figure out why. The only thing that caused him to worry a little was the thin string of blood that was leaking from the corner of Azuls mouth but after checking this as well, didn't find any injuries inside his mouth so he came to the conclusion that it must be internal. Nothing he could do at this very moment, so with Robins help they laid him down with a jacket under his head for comfort and waited, as that was the only thing they could do at this very moment.

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???, ???, ???

After going through all the pain and then finally succ.u.mbing to darkness, Azul opened his eyes groggily. Though what greeted him was even more darkness, contrary to what he had expected.

Looking down at himself he was gobsmacked to find that his own body was ethereal, though still seemed to be standing on the darkness as if it was solid.

Arriving at the only conclusion that seemed logical to him at the moment Azul formed the thesis that this was his soul, so he mused that he was either in his mind, inside his own soul or somewhere he didn't know of.

Finishing his musings, Azul began to walk with careful steps further into the darkness, since he couldn't see where a pathway was or not but soon discovered that it didn't really matter, surprisingly.

He kept on walking, further and further and began to think that exploring the darkness wasn't the reason why he came to this place and maybe he should start meditating or something instead to find out the reason for the shaking of his soul previously, when a slight shimmer of ethereal light appeared in the distance. Happy that he finally had found a clue on what to do in this seemingly endless darkness, Azul walked towards the faint light, only to be shaken to his core by what he found.

A staircase made of ghostly vapor that ascended further upwards and what greeted him there wasn't a thing. No. It was a person. One that looked very familiar and he thought he would never see again. His own master stood before him, though he seemed a lot younger than what he could remember.

"W-What is this? A dream?" Azul croaked out with a shaky voice, not sure what he was seeing at this very moment.

"No, young one. This is not a dream. But before I tell you more let me introduce myself. My name is Lee Mu Bai, last known member of the Sanga, but deriving from the fact that you are here it stands to reason that you are a member of the Sanga as well." The younger version of Mu Bai spoke with a happy smile after discovering that the Sanga hadn't ended with him after all.

"B-But how are you here? You died! Am I dead as well?" Azul asked, voice riddled with emotions after meeting his master after such a long time once again.

"Dead? I assume then that you know me?" Mu Bai asked with a serene but contemplating expression on his smooth ethereal face.

"You don't recognise me? It's me, Azul. Your disciple!" Azul croaked out, slowly reigning his emotions back in and taking a long deep breath to calm down a little. Surprisingly he could still do so, even in soulform. But on the other hand it wasn't much of a surprise at all since he was a practitioner of the breathing forms which were connected with the soul directly.

"Ahhh, I apologize, Azul. You see, what you see before you is but an early memory of the one that later seems to have become your master and this memory simply did not yet know of you, so I could not recognize you. But I am happy that I could find a disciple in the future to pass the legacy of the Sanga on to." Mu Bai spoke with a happy expression while walking over to Azul and lead him further along the pathway by putting one of his hands behind Azuls back as if in comfort.

"So I died hmm? Did I die while fighting at least?" Mu Bai spoke, curious what happened to him in his later years.

"Yes. You fought the CP-agents while sending me away and died in the process..." Azul spoke in a reminiscent voice, emotions choking him up.

"I see..." Mu Bai said, while casting an observant eye over Azul, his face contemplating.

"From what I can see, your soul is surprisingly strong for someone of your age though you struggle with emotional control as it seems. Here, in this realm, emotions are a lot harder to control since you are in your soulform and thus feel them alot clearer due to them not being muffled by the barrier that is your body. May I ask what breathing form you chose when you became a journeyman?" Mu Bai asked while casting his eyes back onto the pathway ahead of them, submerged in his own thoughts.

"Fire. It always has been the most natural for me." Azul answered, now observing his teacher as well. Contrary to Azuls body that was not only shimmering but also pulsing as if by a heartbeat, Mu Bais body was serene like a lake that wasn't ruffled by the wind and slept in peaceful bliss.

Furthermore he seemed alot more solid than Azul did. Why that was, Azul did not know.

"Oh? Fire? We haven't had one of those practitioners in millenia, though the time is hard to gauge in this realm so I'm not all too sure. Though I've never met another one since I haven't been here all that long anyways, hahaha" Mu Bai spoke while laughing in a carefree manner, making Azul smile alongside his old master.

"Soo, what exactly is this place? Guessing from the fact that you are here and not just a piece of my imagination I assume this is not my soul we are currently in?" Azul spoke, his mind coming to the only conclusion he thought possible.

"Indeed, this is not your soul. Though I can understand why you would believe so. No. This place is a seperate plain of existence, created to conserve memories and served to help the members of the Sanga to train their soul and control over their emotions to prepare them for the threshold into the realm of the master. Though not every member of the Sanga was able to enter this plain so early on in their journey. It was a condition for those who could enter here to have fused so far that the soul can hear the voices of the past clear enough so those voices could guide you here in turn.

You see, all over the grandline are many islands that possess the poneglyphs but only a few of them were made with the purpose of a training ground, while others only preserved wisdom or history for those in the present time. Unfortunately, the world government managed to purge the knowledge on how to understand or read the poneglyphs from the world. So we here thought that the Sanga had been purged completely but it seems we were wrong." Mu Bai lectured in a similar tone he had used in his older years as Azuls master, making Azul grin and chuckle a little.

"Did I say something funny?" Mu Bai asked in a confused voice. After all he had only explained this place a little bit.

"Apologies master. I was just taken aback how you already seem to have possessed your lecturing voice in your younger years, though sounding a little less blunt hehehe" Azul answered, making Mu Bai grin as well. And why wouldn't he? He had always been awesome like that.

"Well, now that you are here it falls to me to teach you the next step so you may soon enter the stage of the master. Follow me. Your training won't be easy so prepare yourself!" Mu Bai spoke, all mirth disappearing from his face once he spoke of the following training regime, and quickened his pace, leading Azul into a gigantic temple that, just like the rest of this place, shimmered in a ghost like milky light, surrounded by hundreds of ghosts that looked upon Azul with faces that betrayed no emotions, so Azul could only steel his mind and prepare himself for the days to come...