Without the sun blazing overhead, the city of Eden had finally begun to cool. The residential area was calm and quiet, with most people having returned to the comfort of their homes after a long day in the heat. Pale stars began twinkling in the dusky sky, heralding in a clear, cold night in the desert. At the very least all was calm and quiet in the district, with the only sounds the chattering of some women out to get water from a well and the gentle babbling of water as it flowed through the canals.

Kazu lived in the nicer part of the residential district, where the houses had sprawling estates and gardens instead of lawns. The exterior of his manor was well cared for, with nothing out of place. The stone walkways had just been replaced, the garden freshly watered, the flowers were perky and colorful--even the night blooming flowers were out in full force tonight, as if they knew their master had a very important meeting tonight. The pale stone that the manor was cut from seemed blue in the shadows, and the lights from indoors cast yellow beams to break apart the shadows.

The front porch was wide and sprawling, with chairs and tables seated outside for relaxing in the shade during midday. Columns lined the porch, giving the entire place a very open feel, and allowing the view of the fountain at the front of the garden to be unobstructed. Kazu rather liked it that way. It was stately and elegant, and he'd had a lot of time to devote to getting his estate just right, from each placement of the columns to the sphinx statues at the bottom of the stairs, guarding his home from ill intent. Even his front doors were grand--double doors with beautiful glass work and bronze knockers the had been cast in the shape of an eagle's head.

However, past these doors the manor was not kept so neatly.

It was grand, of course, with an open layout and more rooms than one man could possibly ever need, but this had also provided Kazu with more than enough room to store things from his travels. And store them he did. Some of the rooms lay stuffed with books, scrolls, and knickknacks that had gone untouched for centuries, while other rooms were clearly more lived in, with their contents spread out on table after table and piled up on top of each other. After an avalanche of books nearly crushed him, Kazu had decided it was high time for some help, and this brought him to what was perhaps one of the most important nights of his entire life.

He waited in the foyer, pacing on the polished marble floor, for his guest to arrive. He'd brought out all manner of foods for snacking, and even brought a fine bottle of wine up from the cellar for the occasion, but it still did little to soothe his nerves. Other candidates had come and gone, but the man found them unimpressive, to say the least. And he was beginning to lose faith that he would ever find someone capable of meeting his unique requirements.