Came the morning, Jack made use of the shower, and after dressing found himself leading the Daughters, who had chosen to produce their shoes and ordinary clothes, down to the hotel's dining room, where they could enjoy a good, satisfying breakfast. Jack noticed that the girls took very little of any one thing, instead loading their plates with small amounts of as many different things as they could.
Aji held up a curled, tapered bit of white meat she didn't recognize at all. "Jack, what is this?"
"That is called a prawn. Or at least it is something like one," he told them. "It is a type of sea creature, very popular."
She popped it into her mouth, eating it slowly. "Very tasty," she pronounced it, and her sisters ate theirs, then returned to eating bits of various things. Not long after, her eyes grew wide, as did theirs. "You… you… you're blue!" she stammered out.
They looked to each other. "We all are!" Ashi shrieked, and panicked babble soon filled the air, drawing a staffer's attention; Jack had held silent, not wanting to make things worse.
"Can I help you," the man asked.
Aki looked to him, eyes wide. "Why are we blue?" she nearly screamed.
He smiled a bit. "You're fine, it's a normal reaction to eating rainbow shrimp, perfectly harmless. Actually, you're starting to turn yellow. You'll change colour a few more times, then it will fade. A lot of people think it's fun."
They all looked at him, Jack included, as if he'd lost his mind. "Fun? This isn't fun, it's a nightmare!" Ami wailed. "Food shouldn't do this!"
"I'm sorry you're distressed, miss. Is there anything we can do to make it up to you?" he asked with professional solicitousness. They shook their heads and waved him off, then returned to their meals, though with notable reluctance.
Jack spoke up quickly. "Are there any other dishes with similar effects on humans?"
The staffer assured him there were not. "If it helps, such foods are very unusual. You can safely enjoy anything in the breakfast buffet." And he departed to tend to other customers.
The girls kept glancing into reflective surfaces, wanting to keep track of the changes and to know the moment they ended. Once the meal was done, they hurried outside, seeking out a grove of trees where they concealed themselves among the branches.
They finally returned to normal, and to the ground, and to Jack. They were still hyperventilating, and Jack asked of Aki, "What is wrong?"
Her eyes welled up with tears she would not shed. "Our faces turned black. Like… like… like his!" she wailed, and buried her face in her hands.
Jack beckoned the others over, and with gentle touches, encouraged them into physical contact with each other. "You need not feel ashamed. You all had the same experience. Now, help each other as seems best."
The girls accepted his words, and slowly began to hold each other more closely, ending with the seven on the ground in a pile, gently touching and caressing each other, their breathing slowly returning to normal. After a time, they disentangled themselves, and stood. "Thank you, Jack," they chorussed.
Well, that set his mind at ease on one subject: they were no longer worshippers of Aku. The girls who had first come after him would have been delighted to more nearly resemble their lord. Though watching their display had brought him to an important realization.
"We should explore," Ashi said to her sisters. "Each take a a different direction." She faced directly away from Jack. "Outer circle," and the others made a seven-faced diagram. "Go!" and they dashed away to explore the new city, leaving Jack with a puzzled look. Well, why not? And he walked out to explore.