The next morning, after a simple breakfast of water and nuts, the girls stepped out, and found a strange mark on their door. It was quite obvious who was responsible, and they quickly spread out, Ashi with Avi, Adi with Ari, and Aji and Ami with Aki. It was the second team found the men from the previous night, and as they passed a burning stick between them, a kunai struck it from the thin man's hand. "You marked our door," Ari said flatly.

The man smirked. "Yeah, we mark all our stuff. Your place, your stuff, you girls, you belong ta us, dig?"

Adi shot up to him, looking almost straight up. "We belong to our Lord Father, not to you," she snarled. "Remove the mark."

The man with the metal tooth laughed. "No way, girlie. This our patch, we say what happen here, not a coupla' rubbersluts."

"Last night," Ari reminded him, "we threw you up the staircase. We were being gentle."

He looked down at the tiny girl. "Yeah, last night there five more of you and you had weapons." He and the other two pulled small knives. "You got no weapons, no backup, no chance," he said, and lunged. In less time that it took to breathe deeply once, the three were on the ground again, groaning in pain.

Voice flat and cold, Ari squatted before the three. "You will remove the mark from our door. You have until tonight." Then she nicked their necks lightly, vanished her kunai, and the sisters left. Back at the apartment, they told the others what had happened, and the group moved out, walking briskly toward the agent's office.

At the base of the building, the girls halted, and spoke in their private language. "Only one of us should go in," Aki said. "All of us together are too obvious. The agent will tell her about us, she'll know who and what we are, and flee." The others nodded to that.

"You go to the agent. We'll wait in the entry," Ashi said, and they entered, finding places to sit. The benches felt very strange, but they could endure the weird angles their legs made. It just felt wrong, to seat themselves so.

Aki went to the building directory, hoping to get some idea of how to actually reach the agent. Hmm. The names had numbers beside them, perhaps that would tell her something? She looked and walked around the odd, squared-off ring. There, above the metal doors, numbers. Yes, the number at the front of the address matched the numbers above the door. But it didn't feel right, going into a room she didn't know how to get out of, especially since she didn't know how to open the doors. So she turned to the doors she did know how to open, and found one with stairs beyond it, up and down. She went up, and found numbers going up, and opened the door with the number that matched her memory. Then she opened another door that matched the numbers she remembered, and stepped in. The room beyond was small, with a two seat bench, a counter with a pale, yellow-haired woman behind it, one who looked as if she could be a Daughter of Aku if she were taller. Her covering, of a shade of blue for which Aki had no name, deeper than the sky with the sun high, but lighter than the sky near sunset, covered only her neck, torso, and upper thighs.

The receptionist glanced up to the new arrival, and immediately slotted her into the category of "eccentric artist." She smiled professionally, "Good afternoon. May I have your name and what sort of artwork you produce?"

The girl hesitated. "I'm not looking for an agent, I'm looking for an artist." The receptionist shifted her into the category of "intense fan, possibly loony." Well, not her problem.

"So, do you know the artist you're looking for?" she asked, and the girl shook her head.

"She produces paintings of a temple to Aku and the women who lives and worship there," the girl said.

The receptionist nodded. "I know her. I can give you her phone number, if you like."

The girl shook her head. "I don't have a… phone." Whatever that was.

The receptionist sighed. What kind of weirdo didn't have a phone? Well, she could deal with that. She quickly printed out a copy of the artist's card, and handed it to the new arrival. "Here's her address." The girl bowed, and departed after thanking her.

.oO()Oo.

Back in the lobby, Aki's sisters had begun to spar with each other to keep themselves occupied and alert, and the occasional person passing in or out of the building gave them wide, careful berth, though they watched with great interest. They soon lost track of time, aware of their surrounding without being aware of that awareness, and when she returned, Aki joined the sparring smoothly. Then they bowed to each other, and left the buildings while they spoke in their own language.

"I have her address," Aki said, her voice brighter than their mother would likely have approved. "Now we need to find it and… and then what?"

"What is it?" Ashi asked and was told. "We'll see when we get here," and they turned into a store that sold furniture, where they opened their map, and with some time and effort, and a few shooings-away of salespeople, managed to find the route they'd need.

.oO()Oo.

After a number of wrong turns, the girls finally managed to find the address they wanted. They'd also learned that building numbers didn't always go in order: their desired building was #2008 on its street, but it hadn't been beside 2007 or 2006; it had been between 2004 and 2007 and that just made no sense, especially since it was down a short, narrow still they proceeded down that lane, each with a hand behind her back should weapons be needed. In this narrow space, there would be no room to swing, but what matter that to fighting women trained in narrow tunnels and twisty passages? The gate before the building was no greater obstacle; they merely leapt it. But now they faced a deeper problem: how to enter. To break in would be simple, yet they wished to be quiet and discreet, so far as that was possible. Aji and Ari looked at the panel near the door with the many names and numbers upon it, and the white circles beside.

"When we were at mall," Aji said, "we saw people touch circles like these, and make things happen, didn't we?"

Ari nodded. "We did. And you think that if we press the circle by her name, perhaps she will hear it?"

"Perhaps. This place is filled with wonders: heat without flame, light from smooth stone, water with no well, even images that move and change, and machines that fly and carry things. Is it so much stranger to think that we could talk to someone beyond hearing?"

"No," she answered slowly. "It is not," and she glanced to her peaked-haired sister, who nodded.

"Aki," Ashi said, "go and try it." And Aki did, pressing the button twice, briefly, as she had seen done with the machines that held small foods.

A distorted voice came from the panel. "Yes? Who is it?"

"I have seen your work," Aki said, fairly loudly, "and your agent said I could find you here. May I come in?"

The voice came again. "I'll buzz you in."

The girls looked to each other, puzzled by that turn of phrase. Then a strange buzzing sound came from the door, and Aji quickly pulled upon the handle. It opened and they filed in. Then up the stairs to the floor and the room, where Aki knocked.

.oO()Oo.

in the apartment, Ayami put on a kettle for tea, and straightened things up a little. It was taking the person a long time to get up, unless of course it had been some sort of silly prank, so she took out her sketch pad, and started refining a new concept. Eventually, a knock came, and she put aside her pad and pencil, rose, and walked to the door. She peered through the peephole, and spun on her heel. "Akane, run!" she yelled as she sprinted for the balcony. Better to die of the fall than what the Temple would do.

Aki kicked the door open and the seven raced her to the room's exits, three of them blocking her off, the others going into the rooms off the main. "We're not here to hurt you. Or to take you back. We want to talk, nothing more," she said quickly.

The woman looked around, eyes wide and trembling. Every way out, blocked. She couldn't even get to the kitchen to try to open her… She tried to bite open her wrists, only to find her arms pinned by the one with the pageboy. She slumped, and broke down sobbing. "Please… please, leave my daughter alone. She has nothing to do with this," she begged, voice thick with despair.

Ashi walked up to her. "We can't leave her alone," she said, voice gentle and soft. "This is about her as well. But we swear to you, we mean you no harm."

She looked up. "Swear by what?" she asked suspiciously.

Ashi smiled. "I swear by…" and trailed off. "I swear it upon our idol of Aku," she finally answered, and the woman straightened up.

"Will you swear it upon my idol?" she asked, voice tense and thin, and Ashi nodded. At that, Ayami straightened up, and some of the tension left her. "Please, come with me." She crossed the hardwood floor, and at the wall with three doors, opened the one nearest the door to the hallway. Before the door, she shed her loose black pants and white shirt, her soft shoes and white underthings, calmly and with neither haste nor dawdling, then from a compartment beside the door took what the girls thought of as proper attire: black bodysuit, black robe, headdress and mask, then donned it.

Just as she put on her mask, Avi came out of the second bedroom, a girl not far from earliest womanhood holding her hand. "Mommy? Is it time for prayers already?" the ponytailed girl asked, eyes wide and head tilted slightly.

Ayami turned to her. "It is time for a special ceremony. You may watch if you like," she said in a cold, distant tone, so like their mother's the girls shivered slightly.

Akane nodded. "Yes, Mommy. I'll get changed."

.oO()Oo.

Akane heard her mother's shout, then the crack of splitting wood, and dashed to her closet, grabbing up her emergency coat and her bag. Before she could reach the door, a shadow solidified around her, hand over her mouth. "We're not here to hurt you. Unless we have to. Don't yell, and we won't have to. Agreed?" the shadow asked, and Akane nodded. She could hear talking, but couldn't make it out. "Take my hand, and don't try to run, and I'll take you to your mother," the shadow said, and when Akane nodded, they walked out of her bedroom.

She saw six girls dressed the way she normally dressed for prayers, and looked up to see the shadow was another girl like that. And they were all so pretty, with such beautiful faces. And her mother was dressed for prayers, but why? It wasn't sunset or sunrise or midnight. "Mommy? Is it time for prayers already?" she asked.

Her mother turned to her, back ramrod straight, mask facing straight ahead. "It is time for a special ceremony. You may watch if you like," she said in a cold, distant tone, the tone that meant "this is very serious."

Akane nodded. "Yes, Mommy. I'll get changed." Oh, this was getting scary. She drew from the little closet her prayer suit, and very quickly changed from her regular clothes. Then she followed the others into the little shrine room. Her mother lit the little oil sconces and the large oil bowl before the idol. She and the girls offered the basic prayer to Aku, in which Akane joined, asking Aku's attention and offering their respect and devotion.

.oO()Oo.

Aji watched the little girl from the corner of her eye, and smiled very slightly. She certainly knew her prayers and forms. Out of courtesy, Ashi had allowed the woman to lead the prayer, and Aji simply watched quietly. They rose, and the woman and Ashi faced each other. "I swear before the image of our Lord Father Aku, and through that image Aku himself, that I and my sisters mean no harm to you or your daughter," she said, left hand upon the idol and right hand raised.

The woman responded by placing her right hand upon the idol and raising her left. "I accept your word, and swear that neither I nor my daughter mean any harm to you or your sisters." Then the two stepped away, and the woman led the prayer to Aku, thanking Him for witnessing their vows. Then the woman rose, and covered the sconces, then the bowl. The little girl opened the door, and the woman changed on the spot; the girl withdrew to her room and came out in a simple garment, a tube of thick, dark yellow fabric with arm coverings.

.oO()Oo.

The nine gathered in the main room, a simple space with a wooden floor, decorative hangings of dense woodlands, a few stands with decorative stone carvings, a weapons rack in one corner, the Daughters noticed with approval. and a large, low, square wooden table, big enough to seat twelve. Ayami went over to a model of an ancient bamboo hut, tilted back the roof, and started up an ambient sound track of forest sounds; the Daughters first looked around in shock and startlement, then slowly relaxed, smiling a bit, accepting the sound from nowhere as another wonder of the greater world.

Once her mother sat beside her once more, Akane looked over to her. "Mommy, why are these girls dressed for prayer?"

Her mother opened her mouth, then closed it. "No. I'll let them tell you. if you would," she said, looking across the table to Ashi, Aji and Ari. Aki and Avi sat to her right, Ami and Adi to the left, and Ashi answered.

"Our Lord and Master Aku is one with the Darkness; he was born from it, and it fills him with infinite power. To best serve Him, our mother made us one with the darkness as well. When we were only little children, she pushed us, one by one, into a pit in the Temple, in which lies a sort of living darkness, drawn from Aku's realm. The darkness was very hot, and hurt very much," and the Daughters' faces grew tight with remembered pain. "But it bonded to us, and through it, we have access to a tiny fraction of the power of Darkness that fills our Lord. These darksuits are not merely clothing; they are marks of honour, and signs of distinction. And that is why we do not cover them."

Ayami nodded. "I witnessed the ceremony, and I knew I could not be part of their raising. My heart is too weak for that, and so during the temple's rest time, I went to the chamber where the Daughters slept…"

Ami cut her off, "And tried to steal us! You turned against the Daughters of Aku, His most favoured servants, then fled like a coward!"

Ayami sighed heavily, head down, hands in her lap. "No. I didn't try to steal you. It would have been impossible even if I had wanted to; I only picked you up carefully, held you close, and kissed your foreheads softly, one by one. That was when your mother found me, and accused me of trying to steal you. And, yes… I was afraid. I fled the Temple rather than face judgement, and managed to reach this city. Every night, I cried for the pain I knew the Daughters were putting you through."

The sisters looked to each other, confused. Cried for their pain? How could a Daughter of Aku be so weak as that?

Ayami looked down again. "I need to ask: if you're not here to kill me, or take me back, why are you here? Whatever it is, please, please don't hurt my daughter. She wasn't party to my actions."

Ashi smiled slightly. "We won't hurt her, and we're not here to return you to the Temple." Her eyes teared up, to Ayami's astonishment. "There is no Temple left. It came under attack, Mother had us sortie against the attackers, and when they drew us off, we don't know what they did, but there was a great thud and when we got back, the entrances were choked by rubble and the Temple silent."

"And you came here for Mommy's help?" Akane asked, eyes bright.

"Well, yes," Ashi admitted. "We didn't want to, to turn to a kidnapper and an apostate, but you were the only one we could think of who could give us the help we need. And… you're not an apostate at all, are you?" she asked, softly.

Ayami raised her face, and shook her head slightly. "I never was. I admit, my faith is little more than tatters now, and Akane's only a few threads, I fear, but I never turned from Aku."

Ashi smiled a little to her. "We will help. Our dwelling holds an idol, and soon, we will consecrate it as a temple. You will be welcome there, and your daughter, and we will help you to regain your faith, and strengthen your daughter's."

Ayami teared up. "Oh, thank you! I'll be glad to help you however I can; what have you learned about surviving outside the temple?" And the sisters began to tell their tale.

.oO()Oo.

By the time they were done with the tale-telling, Ayami was looking down, face drawn down in sadness. "I've been where you are. You need to get back to your apartment, then to the dome. Come tomorrow, the same time, and we'll be waiting here for you," she said. "And I'll have something special for you, something I think you'll like," she added with a faint smile.