There was no greater mercy than death. At least, that is what legends tell you. To die as a hero allows one to ascend to a higher purpose, to leave a legacy long lasting in your wake. For Lilith Kazumi, however, there is another path to greatness. To serve one’s country so long as it still draws a collective breath, as its people fight to protect it. For centuries, Akashima had lain beneath the boot of the Komodo – a Greater Oni crueller than any other villain. Though Akashima’s greatest heroes had risen, and fallen beneath his fiery wrath, only one brave enough to say no defeated him. With allies of stern heart and sterner determination than she, the Greater Oni were slain, and their souls bound in the self-same blades which forged the country’s independence long ago.

Rather than let their enemy succeed in destroying all, Lilith took the souls into her own. A conflicted creature bowed beneath the weight of their ruination gifted freedom to her people. The Crab, the Crane, the Dragon, and the Spider are now entombed in her own fiery soul; interred in a paragon of everything Akashima stands for. In the wake of their war, Akashima has taken slowly to a new way of life. It has risen to the challenges of a new way of thinking, free of the yolk of slavery to a self-named Shogun. Taking the mantle of a senator, Lilith has guided the reconstruction efforts for three decades. Only now, on the eve of the thirty first year since the fall of the Four have the Senate’s efforts come to fruition. Tomorrow, on the first day of a new year, she intends to hand over the control of the Senate to the elected officials who have served under her guidance.

“This is such a crock of shit.”

Ruby blinked.

“I’m sorry Lilith?”

Seated at a low black table, the sisters continued their annual reunion tea in awkward silence. Their words resonated in the air like stark reminders of their differences.

“I’ve not seen you in a year and your first news is that?” The senator pursed her lips and hovered her teacup near her lips, the well-rehearsed ‘resting bitch face’ of the teahouses.

“You’ve not been easy to find; never mind the fact I’ve had my own melodrama to deal with.” Ruby pouted.

“Don’t throw that in my face, not today.”

“I am pleased for your successes, very much so. But I can’t in good faith let you make life changing decisions without all the facts.”

“How does this upstart Thayne making another tedious come back impact my life here?”

Ruby took a deep breath and set her cup down on the table. She found fleeting strength in devouring another steamed dumpling and let it digest before resuming.

“The implications for what we are, for who we are is obvious. You have a right to know what will happen when this plan is carried out.” Ruby had tried to be subtle, kind, and sisterly. Now she could see Lilith’s duties had steeled her resolve to their once trite ways. “I can see you have…transgressed your mortal limits in other ways.”