Lilith tore her gaze away from a line of meiko wobbling through the crowd that celebrated the new night’s revelry with rice wine and precariously waved lanterns. She smiled weakly, forgetting what she was here for. Though she no longer appeared Akashiman, her heart sung true whenever she walked the streets of Capitol City or traversed the Comb Mountains. No matter how many times she changed her face, this was her home.

“I will convene with the Senate to see their approval for the emissary. It will not take long, but soliciting the services of an ona-san, a house mistress, will take much more effort.” She pointed at the meiko. “A disguise will be our only hope of getting you two into the haven.”

“We get make-up?” Shinsou frowned. Philomel smiled.

“What about you Lilith?” The faun twitched her ears with excitement.

“Lye knew my face, but recent events have worked in our favour. He won’t know it’s me until the tanto is in his heart.” It was a vain hope, given the man they were dealing with and his proclivity for masterminding chaos. “I also need to speak to the Spirit-Warder Consul. We can’t take too many citizens, if it goes awry, the only blood to be spilled will be of those willing to fight.”

“Won’t a small procession raise suspicion?” Shinsou showed his doubts on his furrowed brow.

Lilith smirked. “Oh, don’t worry. It won’t be small. I shall meet you both at the Outlander’s Post in the Okiya district. Do you remember where I showed you the cherry blossoms around the lake?” She lingered just long enough to seek their mutual acknowledgement, then darted away into the crowd at the tail of the meiko’s delicate weaving through the festival.

With every step, a smell or sound or snippet of Akashiman brought back memories. Since she had sung the Last Song with her siblings, the trappings of her former lives threatened to overwhelm her. She longed to be someone she was no longer. Everyone knew who she was, and those who forgot would only need to lay eyes on the tanto at her waists to recall what she had done to save Akashima. She cleared the procession and broke into a cluttered street of moss and shattered wine vats. Her clunky boots echoed footsteps in her wake.

“You’re late.”

Lilith froze. Crab and Spider appeared in her hands, the flaps on her trapper hat wobbling side to side as she took to a defensive stance. Her eyes pierced the gloom to seek out her stalker.

“You’re supposed to be laying low.” She eased off and sheathed her blades. “Did you speak to the Consul?”

A nekojin, with whom Lilith had a relation closer to a brother than a disciple appeared out of the gloom. The blackened armour on his limbs danced with moonlight, and his tail flicked eagerly behind him. He bowed, and Lilith returned the custom with a kanji of greeting. It burnt momentarily, then fizzled into embers.

“They will hear your plea as soon as you have taken tea with Madam Tsuko.”

“Shit. Is she the only one who would consider our requisition?”

“Oh. She was paid off the other okiya’s to have you all to herself.” Neko smiled a toothy grin.

With a sour expression the assassin forged on, the spirit-warder hot on her heels as they wove through the bac alleys and came quickly to the northern okiya. Walled houses and tiled roofs veiled in swirls of smoke painted a picture of young girls sold and stolen away into the tradition of a Geisha. When she turned eight, her father sold her to an okiya in this very district. She had been unruly, as many were, and kicked out onto the streets of Capitol City. Only by good fortune’s grace had she been taken in by a visiting Scara Braen family and taken away to her home from home. Forever torn between two worlds, Lilith thought it ironic to have come full circle.

“Here we are. Are you going to join me?” Lilith slowed down beneath a pair of cherry blossoms tied together and grown into an arch before the grandest okiya in the district. Inside she pictured the sour expression of the very woman who had been unable to tame her centuries ago. Waiting. Gleefully, to put Kazumi in her place.

Neko scoffed. “Good god, no. I’d rather duel to the death with Lord Johan.”

“I didn’t think you would. Still…I will join you at the Consul when I am done.” She skipped up the stepping stones and took off her geta before knocking on the door. A light flickered on behind the paper panels and a chorus of commands in Akashiman foretold of a cold welcome.

Neko watched his teacher disappear inside and smiled. He waited just long enough to ensure a riot hadn’t broken out before he leapt up into the trees and took a nekojin’s path to the Shogun’s Palace. Before dawn, there was much to be done, and he was all too glad that a modern Akashima never slept.