I forgot what day it was, my week is all messed up. Sorry.

A long chapter to make up for not posting on Wednesday.

Thank you for the reviews.

Thank you for reading.

I don't own the works, merely borrowing for creative release. Artwork belongs to Abby Diamond, I'll get her link posted up in my profile in a bit.

I'm excited for the next chapter, there will be a huge event. Any guesses?

Enjoy! I'll edit this in a few days, so forgive the few typos.

Chapter 14

"Yowch!" She hissed, turning to face her attacker, rubbing her rib. They were lost in the hall of bodies.

This had been going on for days. It had been years since she had experienced this kind of pettiness. She had received more knuckles and elbows into her rib cage in these past few days than she had in years. What surprised her more was that most of the hate came from the younger girls.

They just barely listened to her commands, though they hadn't yet taken to vocally refusing.

She didn't know what the problem was, but she tried not to feed into it.

Instead, she focused on how she was going to reach Haku.

Any simple attempts she had made over the last few days had ended in nothing more than a good nights sleep.

She had eleven more days before they headed to see the Council.

Eleven days and she had no idea how to reach Haku.

She spent countless hours during work wondering if she wanted to see him. What would she say to him?

'Hey Haku, did you kill Kōsen's daughter out of spite?'

Or better yet,

'Oh, good news Haku, I know someone who wants to kill you, and he might use me to do it.'

That would go over real well.

But she still wanted to see him, to ask him what had happened.

Surely Kōsen had to be biased, how could he have known?!

She bit her lip.

Or maybe, maybe he was lying out right.

A shiver raced up her spine.

A dark side of her wanted him to be lying, wanted him to be completely delusional.

She didn't want it to be true, she didn't want to believe Haku would do such a thing.

The House had been quiet for some hours.

She couldn't sleep, couldn't close her eyes. She sat on the balcony floor, watching the last of the night sky fade.

The sun would be up soon.

She lounged out, enjoying the cooler weather.

She didn't know what to do, didn't know what her next step was.

With a sigh, she rubbed a hand across her face.

She wished Kate was here to give her advice; Emi was a good friend, but she wasn't great at giving advice.

Emi was the one she went to when things needed to be done.

Needed to sneak out of the House?

Emi could manage.

Needed to set up a staff party?

Emi could get it done.

Needed to get some stiffer libations into the House?

Emi knew someone for that too.

Kate was the planner.

She saw ahead, and was ready for pretty much anything.

Did you sneak out of the House and not figure out a way back in?

Kate was sure to keep a side door unlatched.

The staff party you set up get a bit too wild?

Kate managed to convince the floor manager that it was a guest idea.

Unable to hold your liquor?

Kate was there with a cool cloth and some foul tasting medicine.

And now there was just Emi and her.

This was why Emi and Kate argued so often, they were always at odds, with Suzume smack dab in the middle.

What would they do without Kate to balance them out?

She found Emi on that balcony a few times, staring down into that pond.

Never would she admit to anyone that she was there to see if it could put her under the trance again.

Her head clunked against the wood as she turned to look past the balcony at the dimming lights of the city.

'You need to do something Suzume.'

She sighed again.

The breeze was more fantastic than she could say. It smelled like rain, sweet and earthy.

A sudden pounding in her chest had her jolting upright.

She grasped at her breast, trying to find why her heart was suddenly thudding away.

Her blood pounded in her head.

The feeling faded, but the sweat on her brow told her she hadn't imagined it.

She grabbed at her skin, massaging it, trying to find reason for the sudden shock to her body, but nothing stood out.

Sleep would not come easy tonight.

Restlessness burned through her, flowed in the same path as her blood. It electrified her body.

Pushing to her feet, she quietly made her way through her room, the halls, the stairs. The elevator would be too loud, she might wake someone.

Before long, she stood before the entrance.

It had been closed up for the remainder of the night, the lamps darkened.

She reached out for the door, and wasn't surprised to find it closed tight. It would not budge under her slight touch. She gripped it tighter, trying to force it open.

The whole frame tremored under her fingertips, the glance panes rattling.

She gritted her teeth and shoved her weight into it, willing the door to open.

It's shaking grew more violent the harder she tried, and with a huff she let it go.

She stood there staring at the piece of wood and glass hatefully.

The panes were too small to see much through, especially with the darkness pressing in from both sides.

She almost thought she could see the No-Face hovering on the edge of the property, but with a shake of her head, the image was gone.

Her hairs stood on end as a shiver raced up her spine.

Her body told her to run.

Don't look, just run.

The room to the left had two additional doors leading further into the House, one led right to a small stairwell.

If she could just get there fast enough-

No.

She refused to run.

Nothing in this House would scare her anymore.

She mentally berated herself for wanting to always run.

That didn't mean she wasn't able to turn around.

It took her a full minute, maybe an hour, it certainly felt that long, before she had the guts.

She wanted to heave a sigh of relief at seeing Emi standing there in her work clothes, but it was not Emi. Even though the person was cast in darkness, and at first glance, looked to be Emi's silhouette, it most assuredly was not her friend.

"What are you doing out of bed?" She managed to squeak out. Not very commanding for a floor manager, but she wasn't in the right mind anyway.

The girl didn't move, her arms hanging limply by her sides.

Suzume turned her head slightly, noticing something gripped tightly in a closed fist.

A lump formed in her throat.

"Get back to your room!" She was able to bark, trying to contain her fear, trying to hide her fear.

The girl didn't move.

Taking a step backwards, she watched intently.

Again, the girl made no motion to follow.

It was painfully slow, seeming to take forever to get into the next room, having managed to not bump into anything.

She swiftly closed the door between them, placing the bar down to lock it.

With numb hands, and feet, she climbed the steps on all fours, unable to keep herself upright.

She saw no sight of the girl again in the floors between.

Locked away safely in her room, she growled at herself for being so foolish.

Maybe the worker had been sleep walking?

Maybe she had come to investigate what the noise was at the door.

Maybe she was ill?

She then felt terrible for having left, what if the girl had needed help, she just left her there. She hadn't even asked who it was, she could have lit a lamp!

Huddling down in her blanket, the screens closed firmly, her eyes clenched shut, she fought off the foreboding feeling of something going wrong.

Something was happening, but she didn't know what.

She was especially watchful of the girls, her sharp eyes looking for one that looked excessively tired. Nothing stood out.

Rubbing her face, she was convinced she was losing her mind.

She grimaced when someone passed by, stomping hard on her foot.

A slew of curse words readied themselves on the tip of her tongue, but she bit it hard, tasting blood. She grabbed the girl by the back of her bright red kimono.

A dancing girl.

The girl was more shocked than she expected her to be.

"Did you think I would not confront you?" She hissed out at the pretty spirit. A young girl, with wide set pink eyes, a flat nose and scarlet lips. Her skin was a tawny color, her dark hair pulled into a tight bun.

She was pretty, until she opened her mouth.

A gummy hiss that sent spittle flying.

"Ssso sssorry Misstressss Sssuzume." The girl lisped with a sneer. She grimaced, letting her clothes go.

"Don't let it happen again." She replied gruffly, waving the girl off. The girl thing treated her to a scathing glare, and before Suzume could say anything about it, had darted off down the hall, joining with a few of the other young girls.

This time she rubbed her temples, trying to reign in her temper.

Ten days.

She bowed lightly to a lesser known forest god. He was trying to make it to the Bath House, his old body worn from all his trees being cut down. She held his arm lightly as she helped him into the elevator. He grinned lightly at her, the deep rivets in his face crackling at the motion. She felt like her energy was being sapped from her.

She pulled her hand away, eying him wearily.

He frowned, but not for long, giving her a nod of the head.

"You must understand, I need to get to the Bath House, and I haven't the energy myself. Forgive me." His voice was wispy, and raw.

She frowned but nodded.

Maybe it would help her sleep.

As the elevator lurched into motion, she leaned against a wall.

Nine days.

She couldn't believe it came to this.

She peered around the hall, making sure no one could see her, there was no Kōsen sneaking up on her, and no shadow workers lingered.

Her knock was crisp and loud.

She immediately wanted to leave, go back to the heat of the kitchen, or business of the main dining room. She could feel the thunder of talk and laughter below her feet.

The door opened though and there was no turning back.

One of the maids (they all looked the same, did they even have names?) answered, the door not even opening all the way.

She struggled with her words, not sure what she wanted to say.

"Uh, I've come, I need to speak with your mistress, um Lady Sa-me that is..." She trailed off miserably. The maid watched her with her black eyes before closing the door in her face.

She blinked, not realizing she was staring at the coarse grains of the wood, not the weird little worker.

With a roll of her eyes, she began to walk away, when the door opened again.

This time there was more than one maid.

Infact, she was sure she could count nearly 15 heads, they all stared at her.

She felt uneasy, trying to quell a nervous jump when she felt the tell-tale presence in her head.

"Calm girls, I am here." Instantly the maids' heads fell to stare at the floor in perfect unison. It was impressive in fact, watching them file back into the room, lining themselves up along the wall.

Lady Sa-me was leaning against the door into her bedroom, a plain fan of purple fanning her face gently.

She motioned for Suzume to come in.

In halted steps, she found herself into the room, staring dazedly at the table.

"Please. Sit." As if commanded, her knees buckled, and she plopped unceremoniously on to the small cushion.

Her back end protested the rough treatment.

"Tell me, what brings you here?"

Did she even know?

Yes, of course she knew.

But did she have the heart to speak it?

She licked her lips, focusing on the painted face of the woman.

Her robes were especially ornate despite her fan being rather plain.

The woman shrugged, as if reading her thoughts.

"I was not expecting company." Suzume shrugged in return. Made sense to her.

Her tongue felt too big for her mouth.

Her head ached.

"I hear you were at my door a few nights ago, what happened?" Lady Sa-me asked not unkindly.

The answer to this came quickly, and without much thought.

"I lost my nerve." She said. Lady Sa-me treated her to what could be considered a pitiful look.

"And now?"

Suzume gazed off at the wall behind the woman, trying to focus on something.

"And now... I'm trying to find it again." She cleared her throat. "I'm trying to find him." She said slowly, as if testing each word before she spoke.

Lady Sa-me blinked a few times before she tilted her head slightly, her long hair falling over one delicate shoulder.

"And you think I could help?"

Suzume nodded absently, crushing her fingers together in nervousness.

"I need magic, to put me to sleep. That's the only way I can see him, and, and, I need to see him, to speak with him, it's important!" She rushed, trying to get her whole story on the table.

Lady Sa-me leaned back into the wall, her eyes drilling into Suzume.

"What makes you think I would help?" The woman fanned herself, flashing frightening teeth every now and then.

Suzume gaped like a landed fish.

That wasn't the answer she expected.

"So, you won't help me?" She wheezed. What if Lady Sa-me went to Kōsen? She didn't know what he'd do to her.

The room was silent.

She waited for the answer on baited breath.

Lady Sa-me's eyes glanced away, staring at the maids against the wall before drifting back to her.

"No. Find another way to start your war, I'll not put myself in the middle." The breathy sigh rattled around in her head.

She didn't know what she expected, but a flat out rejection was not something that had even entered her mind.

She felt stupid. This woman was not her friend, was more likely an enemy, and here she was, practically begging to be magicked into oblivion.

She stood suddenly, walking out the door without so much as a perfunctory bow.

Eight days.

She was losing her mind. This was fact.

She couldn't sleep, kept seeing workers hiding in the shadows, and now, she was striding through the bright sunshine in the gardens about to do something stupid.

Lady Sa-me had passed her in the hall earlier, hinting that if she truly wanted to dig her own grave, she didn't need magic to do it.

That got her thinking.

She didn't need magic to put her to sleep, she needed to get her brain to allow her to dream.

So here she was, about to do something so dangerously stupid, it should be written in some type of record book.

Garden workers were not the brightest group, but they were loyal to each other. She had grown to know a few of them though she wouldn't consider any of them true 'friends'. But from these acquaintances, she had learned some valuable information on others, how to handle them, more importantly, how not to offend them.

Or in this case, offend them as much as she could.

She found the man she was looking for, a lanky thing standing well above her stature. He was digging some type of hole, most likely for the tree that lay ready to be planted.

He saw her coming, stopping his work.

With a silent apology, she opened her mouth and spewed forth the most hateful words she had ever spoken.

It didn't take but a few minutes of him yelling at her to shut her damn mouth, and her yelling louder, for him to stalk closer, his hands gripping his shovel tightly.

His knuckles were white.

She watched him approach, her breath coming in short gasps, unbelieving of what she was about to let happen.

Once he was in striking distance, he seemed to hesitate, unsure of why she wasn't running.

With a growl to bolster her fading confidence, she spit at him.

That was all it took.

His dirty finger nails were the last thing she saw, closing her eyes quickly as the shovel swung at her face.

She felt the metal make impact with the side of her head, felt the explosion in her brain, felt her knees buckle.

She tasted the dirt as she breathed it in, panting as wave after wave of pain and nausea burst through her body.

The heady smell of blood painted the air.

She felt the man kneeling by her, shaking her shoulder, telling her to get up.

She could hear the voices of other workers, someone was screaming at them to get back inside.

She could see nothing.

She could move nothing.

After what felt like forever lying in that terrible place, her pain dulled. Warmth spread across her body, starting in her head, radiating downward.

When she felt it reach her toes, she sighed gently, glad to be rid of it.

Her mind finally succumbed to the inky blackness of unconsciousness.

Seven days.

Her face had definitely seen better days.

It swelling had only gotten worse, and the bruising had migrated all the way across the bridge of her nose.

When she had awoken, to a ripe roaring headache might she add, she was in Kōsen's office. She'd been too miserable to remember if she had dreamed at all, and hadn't been able to clearly answer any questions demanded of her.

The healer had determined a concussion, and bed rest.

Kōsen had determined her mad, and she hadn't yet seen Emi, but from what she understood, the staff thought she was dead.

She choked down another dose of the sticky red medicine the healer had given her, then pulled the covers over her head.

Four days.

She paced the halls feeling like a caged animal. Kōsen had been on her like a hawk, and she didn't know how much more she could take before she snapped. Her face and head were healing nicely, although she got terrible headaches nearly every day.

She nearly slammed right into Lady Sa-me as the woman turned a corner gracefully. She held her head as she stopped suddenly, trying to ignore the pounding.

Lady Sa-me gave a slight head bow. Suzume didn't return it, just glared, but even that hurt her head.

"Watch your manners girl." Oddly enough, the tinkling voice didn't hurt her head any. She had braced for explosions and was gratefully let down.

Suzume covered her eyes briefly, trying to block out some of the senses.

"It didn't work." She murmured.

She felt the woman breeze past her, her laughter echoing in Suzume's head.

"No, I did not think it would."

Suzume wanted to growl at her, but the woman was already down the hall.

She held her hands to her head and made for Kōsen's office.

She needed some sleep, and perhaps some more drugs.

Two days.

She blinked wearily at the figure of Kōsen.

He was dressed in ornate robes that flowed around him. Burning hues of gold and red emblazoned with the seal of the House.

His hair was ruffled, standing on end, and his boots were much too contrasting of a black. All her attention was drawn to his feet.

Maybe that's the affect he was aiming for?

She was dressed in her cream work clothes with a small brown satchel containing the vial of medicine to ease her headaches, the cream for her hands if they ached, and the pouch of coins she had been given so many years ago.

She spent what little pocket change she got so frugally, she'd probably be able to buy her own train ticket at this point.

She was startled when Kōsen whisked a dark brown cloak over his shoulders. She frowned, what was the point of dressing in such ostentatious colors if you were going to hide it all with a heavy cloak?

He beckoned to her.

"We must go, or we shall miss our hearing time." His voice was quiet. He had thankfully made the effort to not destroy what brain cells she had left and keep his voice low the past few days. She had been reduced to sobbing heaps whenever he got shrill.

She was sure he'd been putting off interrogating her for answers until her head healed fully.

She prayed to the gods her head healed fully, and quickly.

She closed her eyes, clenching her teeth as he pulled her close, whether from his proximity, from fear of his flames, or from the spinning the world did around them, she couldn't say.

Probably a bit of each.

When she was able to finally open her eyes after her feet felt firmly planted on the ground, she gasped, both in pain and awe.

The city was so bright, so alive! It made her head hurt, but she couldn't close her eyes. She whirled around, trying to look at everything.

An overly warm hand settled on her shoulder, guiding her along.

"Welcome to Civitas Aurum." He murmured.

She shivered at his closeness, but was too unsure of the spirits around her to shy far from his protection.

With hurried steps, he ushered them into a tall building surrounded by huge pillars of marble.

"We must hurry." He urged, never stopping to ask where it is they were supposed to be.

At last, he slowed, idling by a pair of doors larger than she had ever seen before. A great story was carved out on each one, but she couldn't say what it was telling. The mighty doors never opened, it would take far too long to close them each time. They stood four times her height, and dwarfed her nine or ten times.

Instead, a small ante-door was used for coming and going people. It opened swiftly and without assistance.

She was startled to find Kōsen had left her side and she hadn't even noticed until he appeared next to her once more.

No one paid them any attention, spirits just went about their busy lives, ignoring the girl blocking up the massive hall.

He grabbed her by the elbow.

"Sit, we have some time before we will be called."

He forcefully guided her to a stiff wooden bench, pushing her to sit.

She didn't feel the urge to fight him.

She was lost to the business of the place, to the grandeur. Never had she seen such splendor.

She closed her eyes, trying to calm herself.

An image of an old cottage flickered before her.

It was nestled in a damp forest, some fields cleared for planting but holding nothing.

A bouncing light made her dizzy.

This place felt warm, comforting. It was dim and homely, no bright colors to assault her eyes, no flurry of spirits to bang into her.

She settled into this image, knowing it wasn't real.

It was a memory.

Of what, she did not know, but she'd take comfort in knowing she had memories, even if they were fleeting.

Even this one now, it slipped from her mind like water.

But she let it go knowing she wouldn't be able to hold on to it.

If she tried to recall it, she wouldn't be able to give but a vague description.

So she sat quietly until Kōsen told her to stand.

He brought them before the smaller door, tucked his hand against her back, the other resting on the sword sheathed at his waist.

She faced forward, not knowing what would be on the other side of the door, but not a single drop of fear entered her mind.

Instead, she felt incredibly empty.

Had she been successful, Haku might have been here. She might have gotten some answers to her questions.

But she couldn't focus on that right now.

She had to pay attention to what was happening at present.

She was ready to meet the Naga head on, ready to defend herself. The mark on her shoulder hadn't faded much at all and she would prove that she was no push over.

Taking a deep breath, she exhaled slowly.

The door swung open on its own, and they entered.

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