Suzume stood with her hands on her hips glowering at the young priest bowing in front of her. His bald head gleamed in the afternoon light. His hands trembled.  The man dared not speak. He had delivered the remaining temple leader’s decree and silence had fallen afterword.  Five minutes had passed since. Kaito stood at Suzume’s shoulder.  She could feel his smirk and she knew Akira was smiling with her red lips pulled back reveal straight white teeth. Only Rin seemed to understand the implications of their eviction, because that was what it was; the priests wanted them off the temple grounds, the sooner the better.

“Where are we supposed to go?” Suzume said at last. “Do you think that creature that destroyed over half of your temple won’t come back for more?” Of course, Suzume could not be certain they would stay away if she and her companions remained either. It appeared they had drawn Hisato here and he was not done with Suzume, not by a long shot.

She straightened her shoulders to look more imposing. If she looked confident, maybe inspiration would strike because she had not the slightest idea where to go next. The truth was, none of them knew where or what to do next. The trail, so to speak, had run cold. They needed answers, but as they had all concluded the night before, there was no one to turn to. Kazue took her secrets to her grave it seemed.  

“We are unable to host you any longer,” the young acolyte said and his voice cracked. He did not invoke a lot of respect, and Suzume suspected he must have been at the bottom of the pecking order to be stuck with telling the dangerous visitors to skedaddle. He reminded her of one of her younger brothers. He had a round dumpling face with rosy cheeks and thick lips. There was not even a hint of stubble on his face. Suzume’s fiery gaze slid over to him. The boy checked himself for a moment and visibly swallowed past a lump in his throat. He had made a mistake in incurring her wrath.

Suzume had been in a foul mood since the night before. Kaito’s fumbled attempt at a kiss had left her with a burning sensation, she felt on edge, and the slightest movement had her jumping out of her skin. Kaito is playing games with me because he wants to disarm me, she thought. She frowned and the boy mistook her lack of response for an invitation to continue speaking.

“You and your—“ the boy fumbled with the right words, “—friends, have brought evil to this place. Whatever possessed the Head priest killed him. It left nothing behind, how will he reach the next life now if his soul has been destroyed by some monster?”

Kaito snorted. The boy’s eyes flickered in his direction and he licked his presumably dry lips. “You have to go.” He said more firmly.

She had to give him credit --it took a lot of guts to stand up to a dragon but maybe this boy was more ignorant than anything it was hard to tell.

“We’ll leave then, but do not seek us if disaster returns to this place.” She turned on her heel, huffing with discontent.

Akira glided alongside Suzume smiling to herself, as Suzume knew she would be.

 “What is amusing about this situation?” Suzume snapped.

“You, priestess; I think those priests were more afraid of you than they are of the Dragon,” Akira laughed her throaty laugh. 

“Well they should be; I am the emperor’s daughter.” It felt strange to say that aloud. It seemed a life time ago she had been wandering the palace with nothing better to do than flirt and gossip.

“That’s not why they fear you.”

Suzume glared at the other woman from the corner of her eye. “Then why else would they be afraid?”

“Maybe they have heard the rumors about your past life.”

Suzume stopped in her tracks. Rin and Kaito had been trailing a few steps behind Suzume and Akir and  Kaito nearly ran into the back of Suzume when she stopped unexpectedly. He caught Suzume around the waist and for a moment, he held her close. She felt the beating of his heart against her back for a moment before the spark of her power fought him off. It was subdued for once and instead of the electric feeling, it was more like glowing warmth, wrapping itself around the two of them. She hated to admit it, but his arms holding her felt nice. She could not remember the last time she had been in a man’s arms. A real man, not a monster or a dragon. A normal life would be wonderful. I would give up my eternal soul for one regular lifetime, since it seems I’ve never had that luxury before.

The others were looking at her. Rin quirked an eyebrow and Akira was smiling smugly. Suzume pushed away from Kaito and twirled to face him.

“Don’t touch me!” She snarled.

He smirked in his infuriating way. “I wouldn’t if you really didn’t want me to.”

Suzume stumbled over her retort, could he read her thoughts. Then it hit her. It wasn’t her thoughts he was reading but the change in her powers, when she didn’t find him a threat but welcome him their powers melded together. His smile was borderline crude. He was obviously drawing the wrong conclusions about her welcoming his touch. She cheeks were awash with heat. She turned away and shouted. “As if I would want my past life’s leavings.”

Her heart was thumping in her chest as she climbed up the steps to the dormitory where her few possessions were housed. She had left the staff behind while she was talking with the priest, though her first impulse had been to bring it along. Akira had taught her how to make a barrier as to prevent anyone from tampering with it while they were away. It was flimsy at best, but it would keep out most average humans. She had hoped if she came unarmed, and without the temple’s sacred item, the priests might be more willing to let them stay. That had been a bust; there was no way to change the priest’s minds now. Leaving the staff behind made her anxious and she hurried back to it.

She slid open the door to her chamber. The doorway shimmered where the barrier had been erected. If she had more practice it would have been invisible to the naked eye but seeing as she could only fully control her powers in times of danger, a visible barrier was better than none. She stepped through and it was like walking into a waterfall of freezing water. She shivered as the barrier broke with her passage. The staff was propped against the far wall, unharmed. She let out a breath she had been holding. I’d been half expecting to find it missing or some other vile creature holding onto it wanting me to solve a riddle to get it back.  

She knelt down on her futon and rested the staff across her knees. There had been little enough time to study the staff, but she figured the priests could wait a few more minutes while she got ready.  She traced her fingers across the archaic markings, the faded polish. I wonder what it means. I’ve never seen writing like this before.  

“I wish you could tell me what I am supposed to do,” Suzume sighed.

“You could ask her, yourself,” Suzume jumped up into a defensive position. She bent her knees and cross the staff in front of her. The action felt as natural as breathing. Kaito leaned against the back wall of her chamber. She had not even heard him come in. He moves without making a sound, I wonder if I could learn to do that.  She did not lower her defenses for a moment. If he was in her room alone, it was never good news.

“What are you doing here?” she pointed the staff at him.

“I thought you would need some help packing,” he laughed. He knew as well as she did that she had little more than the clothes on her back and the staff in her hand. “You don’t look like you slept very well last night.” he pushed off the wall and walked over to her tangled futon. He kicked aside the blankets then smirked at her with a cocked eyebrow. “Were you up all night thinking about me?”

Suzume made a retching sound. “You’re much too full of yourself. What are you doing here, really?” She asked.

He shrugged. “Would you believe me if I said I’m concerned for your welfare?” He stepped very close to her. The stream of power was set aflame by his very proximity. It churned her stomach like an angry storm, burning through her veins and threatening to burst out of her. When he looks at me he sees Kazue. She didn’t want him to touch her and think she was his dead lover.  He reached out to touch her face. He brushed back a stray hair that had fallen over her eyes. Red sparks followed his fingers up her cheek.

The touch of his skin along her ignited her senses. The powers warred, hot and cold, fighting for dominance each reaching out and repelled by the other. Is this what he felt when he touched Kazue, this heat?

He was searching her face, his expression inscrutable. For a wild moment, she thought he would attempt to kiss her and then he took a step back.

He shook his head. “I know you think you’re her, but I find it difficult to believe. You look nothing like her for one thing, your eyes especially. They’re too different.”

Suzume should have been pleased to hear this but it sent a knife in her gut instead. “Well according to Akira, I’m the genuine article.”

He watched her as if she were a poorly contained wild animal bound to attack at the slightest provocation. Maybe she was. It was a tempting prospect. It would be better to fight than for him to keep giving her that kicked puppy expression.

She couldn’t stand the silence a moment longer and said, “I guess you’ll just have to take my word for it.”

“Yeah, I suppose I will.” He was watching her, his eyes searching her face. Probably trying to find Kazue somewhere buried inside me.  

She couldn’t stand the prospect on a strained silence so she kept talking. “Where do we go now, you’ve been the one with an agenda this whole time.”

He shrugged again. “I’m not sure. I don’t know much about Hisato, and there isn’t much we can find out about him.”

“Is there any way we can find Kazue’s descendants? Maybe she left instructions somewhere?”

“You mean my child?” the air grew positively chilly with his question.

In fact, the room froze over. The breath escaping Suzume’s mouth came out in clouds. “I take it you don’t want a reunion with your long lost offspring?”

“No,” he growled.

Suzume was thoughtful for a moment. She had never been the idea person before, so it took a great bit of effort to come up with something. If she were going to leave a message with someone, where would it be? She looked down at the staff; it was Kazue’s one remaining possession.

“What about the staff? Do you think this might hold some kind of key to unlocking Kazue’s task? She did leave it to be guarded by Akira and Tsuki.”

Kaito was thoughtful for a moment. “True, perhaps we should ask Akira about it.”

“Ask me about what?” Akira said as she glided into the room, Rin following close behind.

“Please come in, I don’t mind,” Suzume said her tone dripping with sarcasm.

“Thanks,” Rin chirped as she took a seat on Suzume’s rumpled futon.

“This staff,” Kaito said answering Akira’s question. “Why did Kazue ask you to guard it?”

Akira shrugged her shoulders, “I could not say. Kazue did not deign to explain why when she chained me and my brother to it.”

“Then you’re bound to the staff, not the temple?”  Suzume asked.

“We are the guardians, until her task is complete, we must remain with the staff or who wields it,” Akira smiled at Suzume. The predatory smile was starting to get on Suzume’s nerves. You would think she wouldn’t have anything to smile about seeing as she’s been trapped with her brother for over a century. Unless there’s something she knows and she’s not telling us.  Suzume shuddered. There was something about the knowing way Akira smiled at her that made her think that was exactly the case.

“There’s markings here; I don’t recognize them do they mean anything to you?” Suzume asked.

Akira slid closer and examined the markings. She tilted her head and Suzume watched her wondering if she could really decipher the markings or if was all for show.

“It’s written in an archaic language which hasn’t been used in over a century,” Akira said after a few moments of examination.

“Great, what does it mean?” Suzume asked.

Akira shrugged, “I don’t know. I can’t read it.”

“What?” Suzume shouted.

Akira held up her hand to halt Suzume’s tirade. “But, I can find someone who can. There’s a man who lives up in the hills beyond the temple. He used to be a priest here but he left the priesthood some years back.”

“Are you sure he’s still alive?” Tsuki asked his sister.

“How long ago was it?” Kaito asked.

“Maybe one hundred years? I lost track of time, this place can be deadly boring,” Akira replied. She fanned out her hand examining her nails.

“Wonderful. So we may or may not have instructions from Kazue herself written on the staff but there’s no way of knowing without finding this man who is mostly likely dead,” Suzume summarized. She could not hide her bitterness over the subject. Nothing about this task Kazue left undone is simple, is it?

“Exactly.” Tsuki said. Akira had shifted into Tsuki as Suzume was summarizing their predicament. Tsuki was grinning from ear to ear. At least someone is having a good time.  

Suzume threw up her hands. This all seems like a wild goose chase to me, this is like a quest without end.

“I think we should try. What could it hurt?” Kaito said to the group at large. Suzume glared at him, she wasn’t sure why he even cared. Kazue was the one who had sealed him. What happened to vengeance? Now he’s on board with trying to finish Kazue’s dirty work? I don’t understand these immortals.

Suzume could think of several things that could go wrong but kept her mouth shut. It would be easier to follow them on the off chance something might go right but she really doubted it.

***A/N***

 *attempts to slink away quietly* Oh hey, guys... 

Well I've said it before but I cannot believe I went over two months without updating. But if it makes anyone feel better the next chapter is written completely and I'll be posting it here in the next week or so after my dear friend @carolinac does her editing magic. So any thoughts on their current predicament. Is anyone having second thoughts about Akira and Tsuki? Let me know, I love hearing from you. ;)