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Touko walked in eerie darkness, surrounded by four women. Ominous clouds filled the sky, but there was no wind at all.
“W-where are we going?” Touko asked. Her own voice sounded distant to her ears. No one turned to look at her.
“We’re going to the Okibi Estate,” one of the women said. “You saw Koushi at the factory, didn’t you? Is he all right?”
Touko missed a step. “I… I don’t know. He went to one of the other factories. I lost track of him.”
It was a stormy spring evening. Touko thought that she should try to talk louder so that she could be heard more easily, but she lacked the strength to attempt that. The air all around her was cold, reminding her of winter.
One of the women settled her hands over Touko’s shoulders as if she were scared that Touko would run away. “Tell Miss Kira what you remember,” she said. “It will help put her mind at ease.”
“Miss Kira?” Touko had met Kira Okibi once. She was a friend of Koushi’s. Why would she ask Touko anything? Did she know so little about what was going on in the city? Touko understood being worried about a friend. She wished she had more information to give, but she didn’t know more than anyone else did.
There were row houses to either side of them now. People peeked outside through windows, making furtive glances at the storm clouds. The crowd that Touko was traveling in kept growing as she walked down the brightly lit street. People were following the street lamps.
Voices called out to others or spoke in agitated whispers. Most of the people in the crowd were afraid. Small children being carried by their parents or siblings gazed out at the world with confused expressions.
Suddenly, a shriek cut sharply through the tangle of voices.
“The Spiders have come! The Spiders have come with the fire of truth to save humanity! They are here!”
People in the crowd frowned at this and tried to block the frenzied words out as they kept walking.
“It is a purifying fire, not the filthy flames of the Fire Fiends. The Spiders have made it. They will grant us salvation after we die. We do not need to crawl at the feet of the Guardian Gods any longer! The Spiders have come to save us! You all saw the star fall from the sky. The Spiders are our liberators! They will free humans from the drudgery and toil of factory work and usher in a new age!”
Touko listened to this diatribe without understanding it. The fearful murmurs of many people filled the air.
“Clear the way!” a policeman or a guard in a black uniform shouted. He used his baton to physically move people when necessary. Several other uniformed men flanked him. They marched in lockstep through the crowd. All of them were gripping their batons threateningly—and they weren’t afraid to use the batons, either. Shrieks of pain accompanied distressed murmuring all around Touko.
“Don’t look,” the woman behind Touko said. “Just keep walking straight ahead. Don’t draw attention to yourself.”
Touko obeyed. If she turned here and went down the hill, she would return to the house where Shouzou and Kaho were… but she didn’t turn. She followed meekly along, following the woman’s instructions.
Someone should tell Shouzou and Kaho what was going on, though. Akira and Kun had left the house. She might be the only person who could tell them what was happening now.
Touko clutched her few remaining pieces of blessed paper in her pocket, being careful not to crumple or damage them. Akira’s clumsily written letters were mixed in with the paper. Touko had found a new letter there when she’d regained consciousness.
Touko, stay safe, Akira had written. I want you to stay safe and go home. Don’t get in any trouble and run away from danger. Promise me.
The words were like a prayer.
If I mess up—if I don’t come back—give this letter to Roroku. It contains my last will and testament and a copy of my petition to the Guardian Gods. At least Temari will be taken care of, and my petition will be heard… one way or another. Be safe, Touko.
Touko hadn’t been able to read anything after that. There were more letters written, but they were illegible.
A flash of lightning and the nearby rumble of thunder startled the crowd. Bright light flashed through the streets like the precursor of fire. The women accompanying Touko went pale and faltered in their steps.
“When we arrive, I’ll make something for us to eat and prepare a place for us all to rest,” the woman behind Touko said. “Miss Kira will help us as best she can.”
Touko didn’t like being fussed over. She didn’t need to rest and she wasn’t hungry. But she felt like saying all that would be rude, so she remained silent. As she walked, she felt her own weariness creep up on her and realized that she didn’t want to rest, even though she really should. There was so much to do and no time to do it all. The memory of Kira’s friendly face kept her moving at a steady pace toward Okibi Estate.
***
The street leveled out and street lamps became more common. Touko had run down this road before when she’d first arrived in the city. This road led to Kanata’s family. She’d found Koushi at Okibi Estate by following this road.
A large, well-oiled gate loomed into view. It was well-made and very large. Touko looked for places where the gate would have had to be welded or glued together and found none. It was like the gates had been cast as one solid piece. She was surprised when a crack appeared in the middle and the gates opened.
A woman carrying a small lantern passed through the gate. She ushered Touko and the others to a small wooden door to the far side of the gate that was usually used by guards and servants.
Touko stepped inside the grand mansion with the other women in a daze. The walls and floors were so clean they sparkled. All the smells were unfamiliar. Touko felt like she’d just stepped into someone else’s life. For a split second, she thought she smelled Kanata, but she couldn’t be sure.
“Come this way,” the woman who’d come to greet them with a lantern called out. “You’re all filthy! This is the way to the baths. Come along, now.”
The women all around Touko moved in the direction indicated. They blended into the environment, casting moving shadows on the wall. Touko heard hushed conversations, but she couldn’t make out any words.
A man’s deep voice cut through the chatter. Touko turned and saw a tall, rotund man stalking down the corridor and barking orders at people. A ripple of fear moved through the women.
The man appeared determined and imperious. A white-haired woman leaning on a cane walked behind him a bit more slowly. The older woman was accompanied by servants wearing gray uniforms that Touko recognized. The women who’d led her here wore the same uniforms. The servants were attentive to the old woman, but several of them exchanged furtive or confused glances.
“Who is the woman with the cane?” Touko asked.
No one answered her question. One woman put her hand on her hip and looked Touko up and down. “You’re from the Ibushi factories, right? Don’t ask pointless questions. You shouldn’t even be here.”
Several women, all servants, moved to conceal Touko from view so that she wouldn’t draw even more unkind attention.
“You shouldn’t go,” the old woman said from the far end of the corridor. “The Guardian Gods and the Spiders aren’t the only ones fighting. There’s something else out there, and it’s even more dangerous.” Her querulous voice echoed; she had pitched her voice to carry. Everyone could hear her.
The large man paid no attention to the woman’s words. He kept walking and issuing orders to servants, ignoring the old woman’s existence completely.
After a few moments, the large man seemed to get sick of the old woman’s badgering and said, “Please escort the good lady back to her rooms in the estate.” His tone was polite, but distant.
As servants led the old woman away, the large man muttered “coward” under his breath.
“Master, it is dangerous to go to the factories now,” a servant said to the large man. “At least take someone along with you.”
“I need no escort,” the large man said. “I know where I need to go, and I can find a safe path. Your concern is misplaced. Things are dangerous now, but imagine how much worse things would get out there if I didn’t go.”
“But, sir…”
“I am going. Do not seek to detain me. I will punish meddlers later, when I return.” The large man spoke calmly, but his tone was barbed.
“Sir, wouldn’t it be better for you to be safe, even if something terrible happens at the factories?” a servant asked.
One of the other servants shushed her.
The large man opened the door of the entryway and stepped outside without more words. The door clicked closed behind him.
The old woman managed to break free of the servants escorting her down the hall for a few moments. She rushed toward the door as fast as she could, using her cane as both a support and a bludgeon to get people out of her way. But she was too late to do anything. The large man was already gone.
The women surrounding Touko backed her into a wall. They moved together as a group, hiding Touko as they walked down the hallway to the baths. A woman pushed her shoulder to hurry Touko up because she was walking too slow.
“Wash your hands and your face and get dressed in clean clothes,” a servant said to Touko.
Touko nodded, then moved to obey. She finished washing herself and dressing and went out into the hallway again. It wasn’t quite as crowded anymore. Touko didn’t see anyone she recognized at a glance.
Touko walked down the hall toward the entrance. She passed the door that the large man had used to leave and turned down another hallway.
“Touko? Touko, is that you?” Kira asked from above.
Touko turned around and saw Kira leaning on the banister of a grand staircase. Kira’s light hair was loose and flowing around her shoulders. Her dress was elegant, not gaudy, but clearly very expensive. She was accompanied by four women servants in uniform.
“Miss Kira?” Touko asked.
Kira and Touko had met once before. Touko hadn’t been nearly as scruffy-looking then, but Kira could still pick her out of a crowd.
Before her servants could stop her, Kira rushed down the stairs to Touko, her layers of skirts swishing as she moved.
Kira rested a soft hand on Touko’s shoulder and leaned closer. She was much thinner and paler than the last time that she and Touko had met. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying and her cheeks were sunken in.
“Are you all right?” Kira asked. “There’s blood in your hair. Are you hurt? Why did you come here?”
Kira smelled sweet like the candy that she had given Touko at their last meeting. Her grip was stronger than Touko felt. It was as if Kira was trying to share her own strength with Touko through her hands.
“We found her with some other people evacuating from the factories,” one of the servants who’d guided Touko here said. “Koushi was there as well, but we got separated. Fortunately we were nearby and managed to guide several wounded people here.”
The servant spoke politely to Kira, of course. Her voice sounded much different when she was being polite. She hadn’t talked to Touko or her friends like that at all.
Kira inhaled sharply. Her palms slid cautiously over Touko’s shoulders and face, taking in Touko’s injuries.
Touko squirmed away. She didn’t want Kira’s hands to get dirty from touching her.
“Did my father leave by himself?” Kira asked the servant.
The servant nodded.
Kira sighed. “Thank you for guiding the wounded here.” To Touko, she said, “Please come up to my chambers and rest. I’ll get you some better clothes and send for supper from the kitchen. You must be hungry.” She turned back to her servants. “After you bring up dinner for us, you’re dismissed for the evening. Thank you for everything,” she said.
The servants bowed slightly in response.
Touko was a little surprised to see the much younger Kira ordering the older servants around, but she’d never had her own servant before. No one in her village did. She was worried that Kira looked so pale and helped support her as they went upstairs together.
***
Kira told Touko a little about the women who’d guided her here. All of them were servants at the Okibi Estate.
Supper came promptly. Other servants carried in clean clothes for Touko to wear. Kira knelt on the floor and washed Touko’s face with a damp towel. After Touko’s face was clean, Kira washed Touko’s bitten shin with another clean towel. Touko’s shin still stung a little whenever she took a step. The Fire Fiend’s claws had gone in deeper than she’d thought.
Touko had many other scrapes and scratches that she hadn’t noticed before. Kira spread medicinal ointment over them with special care.
“Please put this on as fast as you can,” Kira said, pressing an outfit into Touko’s hands. “We have to hurry.”
Touko turned her back and dressed herself. The room was full of books and papers piled up on every available surface. There were even books sitting on top of the bed. Touko had never seen so many books in one place before. She didn’t think the servants would leave a room so untidy unless Kira had commanded them to.
“What’s going on?” Kira asked. “Where did you come from, really? And where is everyone now?”
Touko’s hands were clumsy; she couldn’t get her clothes off. Kira gave her something to drink that was smooth and sweet going down. It warmed her from within, making her instantly drowsy.
If only Touko could fall asleep, right here and now, and only wake up after all her wounds were healed.
Only Kira’s expression kept her awake. Kira was tense and worried and doing nothing to hide it. Her fingers clenched and unclenched in her skirts over and over again.
“We were in the factory area,” Touko said. “The servant told you the truth.” As Touko filled in the details of what was happening in the city, she realized that Kira was lacking a lot of context. She summarized her journey to the capital from her village and explained what little she knew about the Spiders’ plans and their conflict with the Guardian Gods. She told Kira about the massacre of Fire Hunters in the bay and meeting Kun in the forest. She also told Kira about meeting the Millennium Comet, though she had many questions about that experience herself.
Kira listened. She was dispassionate at first, but the longer Touko spoke, the more her expression shifted toward sadness. “I see,” she said. “So Hinako and Kanata might still be in the factory area. And Koushi, too.” She pulled herself closer to the room’s lamp, which bathed her face and hair in a golden glow. The white-yellow pages of the open books all around them felt like eyes to Touko—judgmental, wide-open eyes.
Kira covered her face with her hands and wept. “I have been so ignorant,” she said through gasps. “Kept in the dark for all this time.”
Touko swallowed heavily. The looming threat of the people who’d shouted for deliverance from the Spiders cast a shadow over her mind. The world was much more dangerous than she’d ever dreamed. It seemed that Kira was experiencing a similar realization.
Feeling suddenly very small and alone, Touko folded her arms around her knees. Her own story sounded unbelievable to her. She hadn’t chosen to be separated from Kaho, Kun, Shouzou, Akira, Kun and Kanata. They were all in danger now, and she didn’t know how to reach them or help them.
“A big, tall man left earlier,” Touko said. “People didn’t want him to go. I think he was the head of the house or something.”
Kira raised her head from her hands. Touko had never seen her look so forlorn. This house had every material comfort—Kira lived far better than any child in Touko’s village—but all of that seemed insignificant in the face of Kira’s overwhelming fear and despair.
“That was my father,” Kira said softly. “He must have gone to the factories. I know he’s been planning for something terrible to go wrong. Koushi was helping him, though no one knew exactly what they were doing. I should have asked him more questions. I think Hinako is involved, too, but I have no idea how. I wish I could have helped them. I should have saved them from this. If only I’d been more persistent while I had the chance…”
Touko was at a loss for words. She didn’t think that she could say anything that would make Kira feel even the tiniest bit better. She sat with Kira as she wept and let herself be swept away by the intensity of Kira’s feelings.
“So many people will die,” Kira said. “Natural fire will kill us all. This is the end of the Guardian Gods’ rule. When did all this start? Was there any way to stop it?”
Touko’s heart beat faster. She and Kira couldn’t do or learn anything here. Could they go to the factories? Just the two of them?
The moment this idea surfaced, Touko punched it down. She was injured. Kira was sick and exhausted. They would only hinder the Fire Hunters and all the others who were engaged in battle with the Spiders. They’d be putting themselves in danger for no purpose if they went to the factories now.
The open books all around them were like eyes keeping watch.
“Miss Kira.” Touko paused.
Before she could think of something else to say, the door to the room slid open on oiled, well-maintained runners. A beautiful woman in a flame-colored house gown entered and then slid the door closed. Her eyes shone with a cold light.
“Kira,” the woman said, “you know this is not acceptable. You are unwell. You cannot invite guests into your room without permission.”
Kira’s shoulders shook. The woman stood imperiously in the doorframe, waiting. What did she expect Kira to do? Kick Touko out?
“Mother,” Kira said, bowing her head slightly.
The woman inclined her head. There was a servant behind her in a gray uniform, standing straight-backed and silent.
“Let’s hurry up and get you properly bathed and changed,” the woman said to Touko. “Have your injuries been treated? Have you eaten? What you need now is a chance to bathe and rest. You must have had a terrible day.” She focused her attention on her daughter. “Bringing an injured guest into such a messy room is poor hospitality, Kira.”
Kira winced.
Kira’s mother moved through the room, picking up books and clothes and arranging them neatly on Kira’s desk and on end tables. Her red robe caught the light of the lamps, making her look like a living flame as she straightened up the room with ruthless efficiency.
Kira paled and looked down. “I’m sorry, mother. I am ashamed.”
Kira’s mother nodded gracefully, seeming satisfied. “To think that you’d be spending your time with your head in a book at a time like this! You should be recovering, daughter.” She slammed an open book shut. The sound made Kira jump.
Touko frowned. There was something about this scene that was very wrong, but she was lacking the context to understand what that was. She knew that Kira shouldn’t be so afraid of her mother.
“Listen to me carefully,” Kira’s mother said. “I will say this only once. Koushi and his sister were brought into this house to suit your father’s purposes. They were not our house guests or your adopted siblings or anything of the sort. And now that your father’s fears about the Spiders have come to pass, they are serving their purpose. This moping and crying you do is pointless.”
Touko looked back and forth between Kira and her mother. Kira’s mother ignored her existence completely. Her eyes passed over Touko as if she were a hole in the world. Only Kira was real to her.
Kira’s mother knelt down to her level and set her hands on Kira’s shoulders. Red gold earrings dangled from her ears. “This vendetta you have against your father’s people and his orders must cease,” she said.
“What?” Kira asked. She blinked rapidly.
Kira’s mother gestured for the servant she’d brought to attend her.
Reverberations from distant explosions shook the ground as the servant came over to Kira’s mother. The windows rattled in their panes. Touko covered her ears. Once or twice, she thought the explosions would stop, but they kept going for at least a minute.
The corners of Kira’s eyes twitched in irritation.
Touko clutched her bag to her chest protectively, trying to anchor herself. The explosions weren’t here. They were far away. Here was safe, for now.
Kira said something to her mother, but her voice was drowned out by the explosions. She bit her lip and sprinted out into the hallway.
“Kira!” Kira’s mother called out. “Wait! Someone stop her!”
Touko ran after Kira, ignoring the angry voice of Kira’s mother.
Kira kept running all the way down the stairs and pushed heavy outer doors open. Touko slipped by the frazzled servants and followed Kira outside.
The sky threatened rain. Black clouds billowed over the city like an encroaching monster. Explosions and their aftermath sent shock waves through the air and the ground.
Touko kept running in the dark, hoping that she wouldn’t be swallowed up by the terrifying clouds and the shadows they cast. Lightning flashed ahead of her, burning through the clouds.
Touko had never felt so terrified in her life.
“Miss Kira!” Touko gasped out. “Wait!”
The bite wound on her shin throbbed as Touko pushed herself forward.
Kira staggered from step to step, but she kept moving at a steady pace. How long could she keep this up? She was ill and hurt and might collapse at any moment.
The street ended at a grove of scraggly trees that grew beyond an ornate gate. Touko caught up to Kira at the dead end. The scent of wet earth was strong in the grove.
Kira took in great lungfuls of air and sat down on a stump.
As Touko approached Kira, she realized that this grove wasn’t a dead end at all. She saw a strip of the old road through the trees. The old road was deserted right now, but she’d walked on that road with Akira and the others. She knew what she was looking at.
Kira didn’t say a word to Touko. She got up off the stump and kept walking through the grove toward the old road.
Streetlamps didn’t reach this area. If Kira lost her footing on the old road, she could easily tumble over the cliff to her death. Touko ran through the spiky undergrowth after Kira. She had to find her and warn her about the cliff. A large insect jumped out of some tall grass and landed on Touko’s bandaged shin.
Kira looked up at the clouds hovering above the old road. They twisted and swirled like a tornado, capturing the moisture and air currents of the vast sky. Streaks of golden sunlight broke through the cloud cover in place. The distant roar of thunder sent vibrations through the air. Touko felt her hair stand on end as static electricity passed over her.
When Touko finally caught up to Kira, she took her hand so that Kira wouldn’t be able to run off so easily again. Kira’s fingers were cold and numb.
“Kira, it’s dangerous to be here,” Touko said. “That way leads to the cliff.”
It started raining again. Kira’s face jerked upward in a painful movement, her eyes fixed on the sky. She shook her head at Touko’s words. “I have to go. I… have to go… Everyone is over there, right, beyond this road? I have to get there.”
Kira’s gaze shifted from the sky to the factory area. This part of the old road was at a higher elevation than Touko remembered. They were much farther up than Akira and Hibari’s spies had been when they’d fought on the road. The Guardian Gods’ shrine was so close that Touko felt like she might be able to reach out and touch it. The shrine was still lit, though many of the other buildings around it were dark.
“Kira.” Words stuck in Touko’s throat. She wanted to ask Kira if they could go to the shrine together, but she was too afraid. She needed to know what had happened to Shouzou and his family and Kaho. She had to find out if Akira and Koushi and Kun were safe.
Before Touko could take her next step, she saw disaster coming on the horizon and froze.
Rainbow light that concentrated into reds and golds streaked through the rain. Lightning wouldn’t cause that. It wasn’t the same color that Fire Fiends burned, either, nor was it like the light provided by fire fuel.
Touko and Kira leaned on each other without words. Kira saw the same thing as Touko and understood it better. She was already well acquainted with despair.
Mind and feet frozen, Touko tried to remember what Akira had told her about her mission to the Guardian Gods’ shrine. The terrible fire—natural fire!—she was seeing was concentrated around the shrine. As dangerous as it was to be here, Akira was in even worse trouble.
Touko gasped and covered her mouth. Her eyes were recovered enough for her to see, but she couldn’t make out the kind of detail she wanted from this distance. Buildings blocked a full view of the shrine. She had to hope that the fire she was seeing was not natural fire, but something else. Anything else.
Kira dropped down, hugging her knees to her chest. Her fine clothing spread out over the muddy ground like white waves. She sighed, sounding relieved and not terrified. She, too, was hoping that the red-gold light was not a sign of natural fire. She reached out for the shrine with one shaking hand.
“Kira!” Kira’s mother cried out. Her voice was getting closer, but she was still a ways off. “Kira!”
Touko remembered the river in winter—her mother calling her name, her parents’ hands pulling her from the frozen water. She’d been just seven years old then. Her parents had been so angry at her.
Kira’s mother and two house servants broke through the underbrush. One of the servants was carrying a lantern. The other rushed forward and wrapped a thick blanket around Kira’s shoulders.
The servants took in the shrine and the fire around it and let out low cries of fear.
Kira’s mother came forward, her hands rubbing her upper arms. Her beautiful red house gown was torn in several places. “Fire,” she said. “Natural fire…” She shook her head. “It’s as I feared. We should never have tied our yoke to the Guardian Gods. They’ve never respected humans as a species. They’ve always considered us to be inferior.”
Kira’s mother didn’t direct these words to anyone. She was soliloquizing to herself. She turned away from the shrine and bent down to her daughter on the ground. “Kira, it’s time to go home,” she said. “We’re going back to the estate now.”
“No,” Kira said. “Mother, we can’t.”
Kira’s mother frowned. “We can. You are too important to lose. Think what would happen to me and your father if you were to die out here.” Her tone was compassionate and much more measured than before, but Kira didn’t even seem to hear her.
Kira kept staring at the fire in the factory area around the shrine. She didn’t look away for a moment.
“We have to help them,” Kira said in a whisper like the rustle of an insect’s wings.
“It’s impossible for us to help them now. Be sensible. Come home,” Kira’s mother said.
“We can’t just abandon people who need help!”
“It’s too late for them.”
“What about my father?” Kira asked.
Kira’s mother clicked her tongue in irritation. She said something that was drowned out by another boom of thunder. Her movements made Kira wince and move away from her. Kira’s mother gave up on trying to make Kira understand her and gestured to the servants.
As the servants moved to take Kira, a man emerged from the underbrush on the side of the road, panting. He stepped forward.
“Professor Kohachi?” a servant asked. “Why have you come?”
Professor Kohachi kept walking toward Kira at a measured pace. Instead of his usual cap and robes, he wore clothes cut in a fashionable style. They were made of a costly fabric the color of leaves that only Guardian Gods wore. A short black cap covered his balding head.
The servants were the first to react, fleeing in terror from the sight of the Guardian God walking among them.
Kira’s mother wrapped her arms around her daughter and tried tugging her back toward the thicket at the edge of the road, but Kira wouldn’t budge.
“Why are you here?” Kira’s mother asked.
The Guardian God shook his head. “I understand that this is a bit of a shock, madam, but that’s no excuse to speak to me with disrespect.” He smiled, and it wasn’t unkind.
Kira’s mother clutched Kira to her protectively. The Guardian God simply shook his head, and Kira was in his arms. Kira’s mother held nothing but a large clod of earth.
Kira looked up at her old professor in a daze, her hair blowing in the wind. She didn’t resist being held, but there was fear in her eyes. Perhaps she couldn’t resist this even if she wanted to.
The screams of the servants who’d fled were drowned out by the rain and the explosions that were rocking the city to its very foundations.
The Guardian God who had posed as Professor Kohachi smiled down at Kira and said, “You’ll be coming with me, miss. The Millennium Comet requires a new body. She has no desire to take on the responsibilities of our ruling Guardian Goddess. It has been decided that a priestess for her would be chosen from among the humans. I believe that you will serve as a good priestess for her, Lady Kira.”
Touko had no trouble hearing the Guardian God’s voice despite the thunder and the fighting going on inside the city. It was like a needle piercing her ear, sharp and impossible to ignore. He was so different from Hibari, the Guardian God who controlled wind and spies and illusions, but his power was no less compulsory.
“Let my daughter go!” Kira’s mother screamed over a boom of thunder.
The Guardian God holding Kira swelled in size, becoming menacingly large.
“Y-you were a spy, weren’t you? Pretending to be human, infiltrating our house… Monster!” Kira’s mother yelled.
The Guardian God kept smiling. “I believe that Lady Kira would be happier to serve as a pillar of support to the city than she would be if she were stuck inside that terrible estate forever.”
Kira’s expression distorted in a frown. She said nothing, but Touko thought that Kira was worried about her mother.
The earth loosened around the Guardian God, swallowing the old man’s feet. Kira’s hair billowed upward toward the sky.
Kira’s mother ran at the Guardian God, screaming wordlessly.
A servant seized her from behind, pinning her arms.
Touko thought that both servants had fled in fear, but apparently that had been a ruse.
Kira’s mother struggled, but she couldn’t get free from the servant’s grasp.
The black, rich earth had already engulfed the old man up to his belly. The ground swallowed Kira’s legs and back as she sank down with the Guardian God. Touko tried to rush to Kira—to save her before she was swallowed whole.
Kira’s wide, terrified eyes stared past Touko, over her shoulder. There was something behind her, beyond even her mother and the servant.
Kira’s head was buried in the earth, followed by the old man’s head. His black cap vanished underground with a popping sound.
Kira’s mother wailed in grief. The servant hadn’t let her go yet.
A man approached from behind the servant. He was much younger than the Guardian God who’d snatched Kira and dressed in capital-style clothing. Touko would swear that he hadn’t been there a moment ago. He looked vaguely familiar.
The young man jabbed the servant pinning Kira’s mother’s arms in the neck with a needle. A droplet of lightning fuel entered the servant’s veins. Then the young man yanked the needle out and stuck it through the lid of a jar of lightning fuel.
“The Okibi family has been chosen by the Guardian Gods. Your sacrifice will prevent the world of humans from coming to an untimely end. You should feel honored,” the young man said in a clear, cool voice.
The young man wore glasses and clean clothes. He could have passed for human if his expression weren’t so stiff and cold. He’d appeared without any warning, just like the Guardian God that had abducted Kira.
Touko took a few steps closer to the Guardian God and gasped.
It was Enji. Enji, the kind man from the black carts who’d spoken to her on the day she’d left her village.
“You…” Touko had thought that Enji was a human for all this time.
Kira’s mother collapsed to the ground with tears streaming down her face. The servant holding her had fallen, motionless. Touko couldn’t tell if he was alive or dead.
The thunder stopped. Touko couldn’t hear it anymore. It was the middle of the night, cold and dark. Morning was far off.
Touko wanted to call for Kanata, but she knew that he was nowhere nearby. What would he do if he were here? He would be brave. Could she be brave like the dog?
“That poor girl,” Enji said, his lip curling. “The child you took in was sickened by the pollution made by your husband’s factories. There have been thousands like her who suffered because of your cruelty.”
Touko tilted her head, confused. Was Enji talking about Hinako?
“But thanks to that single test subject, we’ve progressed. Take a look at this servant, here.” He kicked the servant on the ground. “I just injected her with the drug. It’s taking effect. She’s adapting. She’s becoming a new kind of human—one who has no need to fear fire.”
“Give me back my daughter! Give her back!” Kira’s mother cried out.
Enji sighed. “I didn’t agree to use your daughter as a vessel for the Millennium Comet. Our votes are rarely unanimous. But there is no time for us to use finer methods. Please understand. Your daughter has been taken from you for the sake of the greater good.”
Nothing the Guardian God said made any sense.
Touko turned her back on Kira’s mother and sprinted away along the old road. Kira had been whisked away by a Guardian God, so she was probably at the shrine. Touko would reach the shrine soon if she kept running.
The smile on the Guardian God’s face flashed off. He turned toward the fleeing Touko.
Kira’s mother used the Guardian God’s distraction to lunge at him, but she missed and fell again.
The Guardian God ran forward to cut off Touko’s escape. Just as Touko was about to cry out, dazzling light blinded her. She shut her eyes and put her hands over them to block out the intensity of the light.
An explosion.
The light dispersed into fine particles that tickled Touko’s skin. She opened her eyes cautiously and looked around.
The Guardian God’s eyes widened behind his glasses. Touko saw a body falling from the cliff close to him. The hem of a deep crimson robe fluttered in the wind.
Kira’s mother was falling from the cliff. She had a needle in her neck—the same needle that the Guardian God had used on the servant, maybe. She reached her arms upward, seeking help, but she made no sound.
Kira would be so sad. She’d seemed frightened of her mother, but even so, Touko thought that she would grieve when she found out that her mother was dead.
But Kira’s mother wasn’t dead yet. Touko stuck her arm out over the cliff, hoping that she could still reach Kira’s mother. Touko didn’t have a mother anymore. Kira should keep hers for as long as she could.
A black-winged butterfly flew along the edge of the cliff and landed for a few moments. Then it flew away.
Touko was weak and Kira’s mother had already fallen out of her reach. The soil beneath her feet crumbled; Touko nearly went tumbling off the cliff herself. Her insides lurched. Light flickered before her eyes.
Her grandmother, or maybe her aunt, had told her that people would sometimes see beautiful visions before they died. Touko wasn’t sure if that was true or not. It sounded like something someone would say to comfort others.
But maybe it was true. Waves of silvery moonlight enveloped Touko’s body, flickering and moving as if they were alive.
Bare legs as thin as sticks rose out of the ground behind Touko, followed by the rest of a child’s body. The child glowed faintly white in the dark. Touko had seen this child before.
“Warashi?”
Warashi was her village’s Guardian God. Her hair and eyelashes were long and pure white. She gazed past Touko at the burning horizon.
This was not Warashi. Warashi had short hair. But the whiteness of the Guardian God’s hair was like Warashi’s. It was also the same white as the dragon’s scales—the dragon that had been driven insane so that it would attack the black carts.
The Millennium Comet streaked across the sky like a shooting star.
“This way,” the long-haired Guardian God said. “I’ll take you to where the dogs are.” Her voice was as clear as a bell.
The wind picked up, scattering the blessed paper that Touko carried. The paper surrounded her, obscuring Touko’s field of vision. Touko didn’t think she was carrying so much paper around. Before she could find out where so much extra blessed paper had come from, the paper overlapped over her eyes and skin, trapping her in a world of darkness.
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