The first thing she noticed when she entered the penitentiary was that Godot's eyes were covered in bandages, his mask nowhere to be seen.
"Iris, huh?" he said, leaning forward, his chin resting on one hand; the other was gripping the handle of a rather large coffee mug. His face was pointed directly at her, almost as if he could see her. "Long time no see. Never wrote me like you said you would."
"I, um…" She shook her head. "Um, what happened to your eyes?"
"Ah, this." He shrugged. "Ever since Miss Sugar and Spite poisoned my coffee, you know they've been acting up."
Phoenix told her they'd started bleeding in the courtroom.
"Like the inevitability of a sine or cosine graph, my highs and lows endlessly continue," Godot said. "I'm currently in a 'low,' so to speak. At least prison has doctors and coffee on hand." He took a sip. "Ah, yes. Bitterness and sweetness, mixed together in a very special blend, like the Hawthorne twins. So… what's new with the Good Twin?"
"Nothing much," she said. "I've gone back to the temple. It's very quiet there. I like it."
Godot took another sip, smacked his lips, then said, "Out of sight and out of mind, huh? That ought to be your life motto."
"When you have secrets, isn't it best? So they can't hurt anyone."
"What secrets, doll?" Godot grinned. It was eerie against his bandages; his white teeth complemented them very well. "Pretty sure they're all part of the court record now."
"B-but—" She swallowed. "It's home."
"That's better. Honesty is so liberating. Start with being honest with yourself. It does wonders, lightening the soul the way the perfect cappuccino can. Or…" His grin widened. "Do Shinto nuns not drink coffee?"
She laughed. "You've known me so long and never bothered to ask?"
He shrugged. "It didn't quite worm its way into the conversations."
Well, of course not. All they'd really talked about was how to stop Dahlia.
"How much time do you have left?" she blurted out.
Godot put down his cup of coffee and held up seven fingers. "Give or take a bit. There's a possibility of parole if I behave myself. I'm sure they'll be glad to kick me out as soon as they can and let me figure out my doctor bills for myself. Until then, I've got to bleed them dry. Money and coffee, Iris, make the world go 'round." He leaned in closer. "Have I made you roll your eyes yet?"
"Only one person's ever made me roll my eyes, Godot," she said. "You'll have to try harder than that."
She cut through a dog park on the way to the connecting bus, and sat down against a bench to eat lunch.
It was rather empty today; the cloudy skies and threat of lightning and thunder had probably urged most owners to stay home. There was still a boy trying to teach an ancient-looking hound how to fetch, however, and… Iris rubbed her eyes. No, she wasn't seeing things—a young girl really was leading a cat along on a leash.
"Pearl?" Iris exclaimed.
Pearl Fey turned, eyes widened. A smile split her cherubic face, and a moment later, she jogged up to Iris, the tabby cat meowing in annoyance at being rushed. "Sister Iris!" she said. "Fancy seeing you here. Shoe and I were just going for a walk."
"You got a cat?"
"I had him ages ago," Pearl pouted. "He was the Copper Samurai's, but after Matt Engarde went to jail, I brought him to Kurain. I thought he'd like to see downtown a bit, though, so when Mystic Maya and I went to visit Nick, I…" She gasped, putting one delicate hand over her mouth. "That's right! Nick!" Suddenly, she glared. "Now, look here. Nick is Mystic Maya's 'special person,' so don't try to go fanning any flames of romance or anything!"
"I haven't seen Phoenix in two years," Iris said. "I don't even know where his agency is."
"So you don't know?" Pearl looked down. "He doesn't have one anymore. It's, um, a talent place. Because he plays piano, and his daughter is a magician."
Iris stiffened. "A t-two-year-old?"
"No, she's ten," Pearl said. "Adopted. Um, because Nick isn't a lawyer anymore."
"Why not?"
"He broke the law," Pearl said. "Like you. Only not as serious because they didn't send him to jail." Pearl gasped again. "That sounded bad. Sorry! I didn't mean it like that. I know you and Mr. Godot were only trying to save Mystic Maya."
"That's okay, Pearl. How is Mystic Maya?"
"Training," Pearl quipped. "Me too. We went up to Hazakura about a year ago for the Extreme Course under the waterfall. We had to start over three times because Mystic Maya lost count of her chants somewhere around 5,000. It took a while."
Iris winced. "How did you not get hypothermia?"
"Burgers and chicken soup," Pearl said, as if that was enough to explain it away. "We'll probably sign up for another course soon… maybe we'll see you then?"
"Of course. You're always welcome at Hazakura," Iris said.
Pearl nodded. "Thanks. I, um, have to get going. I don't want to be late for dinner."
"Wait, Pearl." Iris took a deep breath. "Who are you staying with right now? Mystic Maya? Since, you know, Mother is…"
"Don't worry about me." Pearl smiled brightly. "Mystic Maya and I have it all figured out. You should come visit us sometime, Cousin Iris!"
Iris nodded and smiled, but disbelief twitched in her veins. So they hadn't told her. Pearl thought Iris wasn't just Maya's cousin, but her own as well, instead of…
Sisters.
Dahlia flashed in front of her memory.
This time, we should dye your hair red, and I'll wash mine off, and we should switch places and see how long it'll take stupid Father or that fat idiot to notice. What do you think?
We're sisters, not the same person. It'll be less than an hour.
Really? Wanna bet? Never mind. There's no point betting anything with someone who barely has a penny to her name…
"Yes," Iris said. "I'd like to visit, Pearl. And talk with Mystic Maya. It seems it was long overdue."
Pearl, Nick, Maya, Godot, and Dahlia whirled in her mind as she stepped off the bus near the suspension bridge. Lightning and thunder and crackled for a large part of the journey, and rain pelted her, droplets so thick and fast they hurt. She wished she'd brought an umbrella, but she didn't like to carry them. When she did, she looked too much like Dahlia.
Iris paused after she'd taken only three steps. Was that… smoke?
Oh, please no. But with all this lightning...
She burst into a shambling sprint, one arm over her eyes like a visor, though it did little to keep rain out of her eyes and improve visibility. Mud splashed over her robes and squelched beneath her feet. She lost a shoe at one point, but didn't stop until the mud road turned to painful gravel, and she bent over, panting, looking up at Hazakura Temple.
As she'd expected, it was burning.
