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The throbbing pain in Koushi’s head was growing worse. Koushi clenched his teeth and took deep breaths to help steady himself. Dust clogged his throat, making him cough. He sat up with a wince.
He was on all fours and crawling across a floor. There was a ceiling above him. He was certain that he’d been outside before—when had he come inside? He heard factory machinery operating somewhere nearby. That was right; he’d been in a factory with Kun and Kanata just a moment ago…
A chill went up Koushi’s spine.
“You’re awake,” Kun said.
“Huh?” Koushi looked for Hinako, but he didn’t see her anywhere. There was only Kun. The Spider child sat on the floor close to him, his eyes unfocused and cast downward. He wasn’t looking at Koushi. He was seeing through the eyes of his messenger insects. His expression betrayed tension, though he didn’t sound nervous.
“Kun… What happened?”
Koushi straightened up, using Kun’s shoulder to help push himself upright. Kun was so small that he winced again. Koushi shouldn’t be relying on Kun for support, of all people. “You’re not hurt, are you?” Koushi asked. He remembered Kureha and the others. They’d all been so vacant—spirits wandering without direction or purpose. Kureha had said that she wasn’t human anymore. Had the same thing happened to Hinako?
“Your sister told me to hide here,” Kun said quietly. All the color had drained from his face.
Koushi looked around. Metal tanks stood in rows all around them. Thick iron pipes ran along the ceiling, connecting this room to other parts of the factory. They were in a boiler room. A valve somewhere had been opened; the entire room was filled with steam.
“There’s a fire,” Kun said.
Koushi spotted his glasses on the floor nearby and grabbed them. He was stiff and sore and clumsy, but he needed to move. He felt like a stranger in his own body. All his movements were jerky and uncontrolled. But at least he could see with his glasses.
There was a long, narrow window high up on the wall, letting in a flood of white sunlight. That window served as both a vent and a skylight.
Dawn had come.
A heavy sense of urgency pressed down on him, making his breathing come in gasps. “Fire?” Koushi asked. “Where?” The fire that the Spiders had set should have gone out already.
Koushi stood up painfully. Kun jumped to his feet.
“No, not the Spiders’ fire,” Kun said patiently. “Humans made it.”
“Humans?” But humans couldn’t handle fire—not safely. “That’s impossible.”
There was a loud grinding sound coming from outside. Koushi still carried the bag that had a bottle of lightning fuel in it. Fortunately, the bottle wasn’t broken. His eyes had trouble adjusting to his surroundings. He approached one of the boilers, found an open valve and twisted it closed. The repetitive motion calmed his urge to run.
Koushi staggered away from the boiler toward the nearest door. The heavy iron door was nearly closed, but an old shoe wedged it open a crack. A short staircase ascended beyond the door. Koushi climbed it with Kun, walking hand-in-hand.
It was far brighter outside than inside, though the sky was overcast. The factory machines had stopped operating sometime in the past few minutes. Black smoke billowed into the cloudy sky, polluting the air. Koushi had never seen smoke so dark and thick before. It rose up like a hazy, incorporeal mountain.
It was no longer raining. Roars of lightning fuel explosions and the sounds of battles and skirmishes were distant. Some of the cannons used to shoot out bottles of lightning fuel were still firing. A memory of the red fire Koushi had seen from the rooftop of the agricultural factory returned to him.
The battle wasn’t over. People and Spiders—and Guardian Gods?—were still fighting. Steam from the boiler room below spilled out onto the roof, making the air wet and heavy. There was no one in the maze-like passages between the buildings below. This place was deserted. Only the smoke told him someone else was here.
What now? Koushi thought. Where should we go? He was exhausted and cold. It was hard to plan anything. He could barely focus his eyes.
A person—a human, definitely not a Spider—came running down the street, panting from exertion. Before Koushi could call out to them, their skin turned red and burst into flames.
Spontaneous human combustion.
The burning man looked up at Koushi and Kun. He saw Koushi standing there. He didn’t scream. Maybe he couldn’t.
Koushi opened his mouth to say something, but there were no words. If Koushi moved closer to him, he would also burst into flames.
The staggering figure on fire twisted his body and tried to run toward Koushi and Kun. Koushi grabbed the bottle of lightning fuel in his bag. Water spurted out from beneath the human-shaped pillar of fire, halting the burning man’s progress. An iron lid that covered an opening to the sewers lifted and blew away as more water poured over the combusting human in a deluge. The red glowing garment of fire disappeared, and the burned body collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. The body smoked and lay still. The awful stench of scorched flesh made Koushi want to vomit.
Koushi held his breath, fearing that his body would burst into flames at any moment. But that didn’t happen. The dead human was too far away to spread the contagion of combustion. Kun’s fingers dug into his tiny palms as his eyes moved in multiple directions at once. His fingers wriggled like worms.
Koushi gripped one of Kun’s hands for reassurance. He wished he knew where Hinako was now. Was she safe? He was sweating buckets from fear, though the air was chilly. He put his back to the wall and searched the area for any Spiders that might be climbing along rooftops or sneaking down side-streets and alleys.
A ray of silver light cut through the cloudy sky directly above. The light engulfed the charred corpse. Koushi’s vision whited out; he covered his eyes so that he wouldn’t go blind.
A childish voice, light and high, reached Koushi and Kun.
“This is a battle between the Guardian Gods and the Spiders. Humans are supporting the Spiders. Ordinary people will turn violent if the conflict continues like this. The Fire Hunters have suffered many casualties and are no longer an effective fighting force. Lightning fuel and ancient fire will destroy us all.”
Koushi couldn’t see—there was no obvious speaker nearby—but the voice was crystal clear. It was like they were speaking directly into his mind. Though the things the voice was saying were abhorrent, they related them in a dispassionate tone.
And then there was an answer: another voice.
“Ridiculous,” the answering voice said. “There aren’t many gods or humans left, and it’s obvious that our world has just gotten a lot smaller. The land will be consumed by the Black Forest. We are obsolete, and will disappear within a few generations.”
Koushi raised his eyes and blinked. He recognized the second voice. It belonged to Dr. Takimi—Hinako’s physician at Okibi Estate.
Koushi was paralyzed. Dr. Takimi was heading his way. His hair was loose and blowing in the wind. His hair and figure shone silvery white under the dark, oppressive gray sky.
“Even so, humans have always tried to move forward. They never see their destruction coming. We, the Guardian Gods, have seen this pattern since ancient times. Waiting for destruction to come is not the best way to proceed. In the past, humans would have devoted all their abilities to finding a solution to their problems, but humans today do not have that luxury. That’s why the Guardian Gods are here to lend a hand.”
Dr. Takimi approached Koushi. Koushi took a step back. He still held his bottle of lightning fuel in one hand. He pulled Kun backwards and away from Dr. Takimi.
Dr. Takimi appeared entirely unruffled and professional, just as he always did when he was reporting on Hinako’s health. A person had burst into flames right in front of him, and he showed no sign of distress.
Koushi wanted to ask why he was here now, but his throat felt too tight for speech. There was probably no point in asking. Dr. Takimi was a liar and an impostor. Koushi had known Dr. Takimi for months, but he hadn’t known the real him at all.
“It was humans who started this fire. If you go near it, you’ll burst into flames.” Dr. Takimi didn’t say this. It was the first voice again.
“The Spiders are promising salvation after death to those who aid them,” Dr. Takimi said. “They are using the ancient ways to kindle fire. Humans and Guardian Gods both struggle against such old ways of destruction.”
The other speaker alighted on the far side of the street. Koushi could see nothing of them but a blob of faint light from this distance. “That is why I say it’s ridiculous,” they said. “The world never changes! Not in any way that matters. There is no meaning or purpose to anything. If we do nothing, destruction will come. If we do all we can, destruction will still come. What is the point? Was it the humans who destroyed the earth, or are the Guardian Gods responsible? Does it matter, when destruction is the only end we can see?”
Dr. Takimi frowned slightly at the approaching figure. “The Millennium Comet… so you have returned.”
The Millennium Comet was a satellite that was set to orbit around the planet in the distant past. The person destined to become the King of the Fire Hunters was supposed to hunt the Millennium Comet.
Kun’s grip on Koushi’s hand loosened slightly as some of the tension went out of his shoulders.
The Millennium Comet. Koushi had seen it return: a falling star trailing silver light. The frail girl coming closer to them now looked nothing like that star. Everything about her was paper-thin. Blue veins snaked beneath her flesh. Her bones protruded from the surface of her skin. If she were a human child, she would have already starved to death.
Koushi took another step back. The Millennium Comet noticed his movement and shifted her attention to him. Her eyes were pale and watery. Her pupils narrowed and deep wrinkles formed around her eyes. Her long and silvery hair was the only thing about her that seemed both alive and healthy.
“Was it you who made the evacuation plan? There are few people near here now. The fire did not spread to others. All over the factory, the seeds of natural fire have been planted. Gunpowder would have worked as well, but humans are no longer masters of that art. The Spiders have no reason to use gunpowder. It is too destructive to everything. It would collapse the tunnels they used to enter the city.”
The Millennium Comet appeared to be a child little older than Kun, but her words and her voice were impossibly old. Her small hands and feet were dirty, just like Hinako’s the last time Koushi had seen her.
Koushi pulled Kun behind him and turned his face away from the emaciated child. Doctor Takimi looked his way and smiled slightly. His expression turned Koushi’s stomach.
“What did you do to Hinako?” Koushi asked.
They should run, but where? There was no safe place to run to inside the city. He stepped away from the wall. If he and Kun were stuck here, then it cost nothing to be brave.
“You know that already, don’t you?” Dr. Takimi asked. “I was helping her to get better. A complete recovery from an illness like Hinako’s is impossible. The pain caused by the pollution would get worse and worse over time. She would have died in five years, ten at the most.” His clinical tone was the same as always. He sounded like the doctor Koushi had always known. “Hinako has already overcome that problem.”
“Don’t lie to me!” Koushi’s anger wrenched loose inside his skull. He let go of Kun’s hand and wrapped both hands around the bottle of lightning fuel. If he applied more force, the bottle would break and explode.
Koushi considered his options. Breaking the lightning fuel bottle with it still in his hands wouldn’t help him or Kun. He should throw it at Dr. Takimi. If he aimed for the eyes, he might do some damage. Or the legs? Could Dr. Takimi be immobilized, if only for a short time? It didn’t matter. He was close enough that he could throw the bottle. Any hit he made would do damage. He couldn’t hesitate.
Kun raised his head. “Don’t do that, Koushi. Don’t.”
Koushi barely heard him. Only Dr. Takimi was real. He moved to throw the bottle of lightning fuel…
…and stopped.
A black-robed figure leaped off a rooftop and landed between Koushi and Dr. Takimi. Koushi blinked, and in the next instant, the black-robed figure had grabbed his throwing arm and was holding it immobilized.
Hibari jumped down to the street, laughing brightly and accompanied by more of her spies. She was clad in white and some of her hair had come loose from her two buns, but she appeared far more composed and powerful than the Millennium Comet or Dr. Takimi.
Hibari held up a finger and moved it back and forth. “No violence in front of my sister. That’s rude.”
Koushi narrowed his eyes at Dr. Takimi.
Hibari faced the Guardian God who’d posed as Hinako’s doctor. “What are you doing loafing around here? Go put out some fires and make yourself useful.”
Dr. Takimi did not so much as twitch. His composed expression didn’t shift. “I am doing my duty,” he said. “Though it might be more accurate to say that I am being used for what I can do. There is no point in making me angry.”
Hibari snorted.
Koushi tried to get free of Hibari’s spy, but the spy only held him tighter. The spy would break his arm before they would let him go.
“Those who can act, should act. There’s no point in complaining that you’re being used,” Hibari said.
Dr. Takimi pushed his thin-rimmed glasses up his nose. “You should have seen the Spiders coming. Why didn’t you warn anyone? The Wind Clan is responsible for gathering intelligence. Did you hide signs of suspicious activity?”
Hibari’s face twisted in disgust.
Koushi managed to step forward a bare inch. “Hey! You never told me what you did to Hinako—and not just Hinako! You did that to other people too, didn’t you? What did you do?!”
Koushi’s wrist crunched alarmingly as the spy pulled it tighter, but Koushi didn’t back down.
Dr. Takimi and Hibari turned to look at him.
“Let him go,” the Millennium Comet said. She crossed the distance between her and Koushi in a moment, and then she reached up to the spy’s chest. Her small hand alighted on the spy’s body like the withered stem of a flower, and the spy disappeared with a pop. A paper doll fluttered down and landed on the ground.
Koushi’s arm was free.
The Millennium Comet gazed up at Koushi with sorrowful eyes.
“We, the Water Clan, thought to keep humans alive. That is what our powers are for,” Dr. Takimi said.
Koushi scowled at her. She’d been pretending to be a doctor all this time. She’d dosed Hibana with asafuyou. That had put Kira in danger, at least indirectly. Kira would never have been poisoned if there’d been no asafuyou in the house.
“Humans today cannot live without the protection of the Guardian Gods. They rely on Fire Hunters and can have no light or industry without fire fuel. Natural fire will kill humans, yet they still require fire in some form to live. Isn’t that a frustrating state of affairs? Unlike the other clans who were content to wait for the Millennium Comet, we tried a different method. If people could live without needing light or heat, then this world could still continue to exist without peril to us or humans. At the very least, we could extend the time we have left.”
Koushi was confused. The plans and the politics of the Guardian Gods were not something he’d ever made a study of.
“We failed many times in reconstructing the body. But thanks to a few excellent test subjects, the medicine we have has been perfected. We succeeded in creating a new breed of humans who can see in the dark and efficiently digest food that does not require fire to prepare.”
Koushi remembered the hopeless anguish on Kureha’s face. Kureha had risked so much to give him the letter from his mother. Kira had been her friend… and she had been transformed against her will, just like Hinako. And not just them. There had been a whole group of people with Kureha—all lost souls who were no longer human.
“Unfortunately, our perfected experiment was needed for the war against the Spiders before we could roll out the improvements to everyone,” Dr. Takimi said. “It’s such a waste. If all our successful experiments die while fighting the Spiders, it will be that much more difficult to improve society as a whole later.”
Koushi shuddered. In giving Hinako into a doctor’s care, he had unwittingly handed her over to be experimented on. He’d been afraid of what Yuoshichi would ask of him and Hinako from the start, but he’d never anticipated that he was falling into the Guardian Gods’ hands by going to Okibi Estate.
Did Kira know? Had she found out about all this somehow? How much did Hinako understand about what had happened to her?
“Have I answered you?” Dr. Takimi asked Koushi. His hand clasped Koushi’s shoulder briefly and then pulled away.
Koushi understood what had happened, but he couldn’t accept it.
Dr. Takimi faced him squarely with a cruel smile on his lips. But this wasn’t the compassionate Dr. Takimi that he knew. He had lied to him all this time. Koushi was still angry, but most of what he felt was helplessness. Hinako and Kureha hadn’t been able to do anything to prevent what had happened to them. If the Guardian Gods wanted to fundamentally alter human existence, they could do it. They could do it at any time.
“To toy with people like that—why? Why do you care so much about keeping us alive?” Koushi asked. Even his questions felt futile and hopeless. The Guardian Gods didn’t have to answer him. They had no obligation to tell him the truth.
“It is for the future,” Dr. Takimi said. “Sacrifices made now will serve a benefit later.”
Koushi looked down and fell silent.
“Yururuhi, you don’t intend to take over for Princess Teyuri, do you?” Dr. Takimi asked, turning to the Millennium Comet. “You are the only one who can. Don’t you feel sorry for her? There is no one else among the Guardian Gods who is powerful enough to accept the role.”
“Would I become like her?” the Millennium Comet asked.
“If you do, at least one of the problems the shrine faces will be resolved.”
Hibari’s brows furrowed.
“If I take her place, what will happen to Teyuri?” The Millennium Comet’s voice trembled with pain.
Dr. Takimi didn’t answer that question.
“Soon, you won’t be able to fly about freely anymore. The Earth Clan has chosen a girl from among the humans to become a priestess for you. If you do not go to the shrine willingly, the other Guardian Gods will summon you into that girl’s body by force. I do not approve of such barbarism, but I cannot stop them alone.” He shrugged.
“They’re going to make that child a vessel, aren’t they? My vessel. That won’t work,” the Millennium Comet said. “It can’t.”
“Sister, you don’t need to listen to this,” Hibari said to the Millennium Comet. “Get back to work at once,” she instructed the Guardian God posing as Dr. Takimi.
The Guardian God that Koushi had only ever known as Dr. Takimi walked away slowly, frowning. Koushi watched him go. He couldn’t make himself look away.
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