"It sank beneath the sand hundreds of years ago," Road said, sounding, for a moment, less childish. "Now it's accessible only by a door in the Zertinan Caverns, unless you have an airship."

She sat up again, and pushed herself off the Hollow's head to land on her feet in a jump. Her skirt flew up as she did, but she landed lightly, and turned towards the Hollow, which stopped obediently.

She could kill it. The temptation was certainly there. She could get rid of it while it was unable to resist and spend a few minutes enjoying it.

But that would be a waste of a good Hollow.

"It's not far from here," she said, to Tyki. There was magic in the air, here. Someone had a few local creatures in their thrall, and probably kept them as guards. "But unless we want to upset everyone, this is as close as an Akuma can get."

It might be fun to test their defences sometime. Although being where it was, it probably didn't need many from its inhabitants anyway.