The walk back was quicker and easier, and the girls found the men at the top of their stairs. With friends. A lot of friends. Aji flicked her eyes over them, and said in their private language, "Three to one. Do we charge, or surround?"

"Leave them a way out," Ashi answered in that same language. "We'll attack in turns, no weapons. No need to kill them that I can see."

The big man, the one who'd led the ones who'd marked their door, frowned. "Talk real talk! You do not get to disrespect me like that, you mine!"

"No," Aki said. "We belong to our Lord Father. We will give you one chance, and only one, to remove your mark and withdraw." She saw no need to add threats of consequences.

"Yeah, right," he said. "We got you outnumbered, an' out-armed. You wanna be dead, or spread?" He almost laughed at their baffled looks, then the one with the peaked hair exploded into a dark blur, with a gut punch, a left side kick, then a leg sweep and elbow drop. Three quick heartbeats, three downed fighters, and Aki stepped into Ashi's place as the men pulled out knives and chains.

She kicked one in the shin with an audible crack, drove a spear-hand into the solar plexus of the second, then spun to box the last one's ears, all so quickly even her sisters could barely follow her actions. The other men, and a few women, dropped their weapons. "You may tend your wounded," she said, but made no move to stand down. One of the gangers took out his phone and called for an ambulance; others went to the downed men to administer what first aid they could.

Ashi addressed the crowd. "By tomorrow night, you will remove your marks from our building." She did not give them options, and the girls continued to watch the gang until the injured were taken away and the gang dispersed. By then it was close to sunset, and the girls went into their apartment to perform their devotions, then they to the dome for another series of monkey bars matches.

That night, after their final devotions for the day, the girl lay close to each other, actually touching, upon the tatami they'd snapped together, and under the light coverlet they shared. Heads upon the pillows, no light save the slight glow from the red window, they spoke softly.

"She's… not what I expected," Aki said softly. "Composed, honest, faithful. I want to like her, but…"

Avi picked it up. "But Mother said that to turn away from the Temple was to turn away from Aku. Yet she has her own shrine, and she's trying to raise her daughter in the faith. I don't know. Can we trust her?"

Adi spoke slowly, thoughtfully. "She is of the faith. Her faith is weak, she said it herself, and Akane's is weaker. But she has a shrine, she remembers the prayers, the pledges. And the only thing she asked is that we not hurt Akane. I want to like her, too."

Ashi considered the others' words, and said into the darkness, "We will call her our ally. At least for now."

.oO()Oo.

The next morning, they performed their devotions before breakfast, then ate and took turns in the bathroom. Then sparring, on the floor, the walls, even the ceiling. Their only rule was "don't hurt each other;" beyond that, all tactics were fair. That done, they cleaned their faces once more, and went out to explore the town, this time as a group. The weather, they noticed, was turning colder as the Long Night drew near. They might soon need something beyond their darksuits to stay warm outside, a thing to ask Ayami about. For now, they were content to wander, look at the things the greater world offered, and make note of things to ask Ayami about. And there were so many of those things! Some, they could work out from context: they'd never heard of "sushi" but the illustrations showed them that sushi was a dish based on small white things stuck together, with other things on top of them, or on rolls of the little things with other things in the middle of them. Others were utter mysteries, such as the curiously flimsy garments they saw in some store windows, or many of the store names. More than once, they fled to the rooftops to calm themselves and get rest from the excess of the city, and by the time they reached Ayami's apartment, their heads were throbbing.

.oO()Oo.

Ayami, in a loose, deep red dress, smiled faintly to them. "Welcome, Blessed Daughters," and bowed. Akane, dressed now in loose brown pants and a cream shirt, also bowed. "Come, gather around the table. I will show you a ceremony that might help you calm and centre yourselves," She stepped into the kitchen, and after turning on a seacoast soundtrack, Akane took a seat at the table, as did the Daughters. She emerged shortly thereafter, with a tray containing various implements the Daughters didn't recognize, but she named for them, explaining their purpose and uses in the cha-no-yu ritual. She smiled to see their eyes grow wide and their mouths purse in delight at their first taste of higashi; hers were shaped like deer, rabbits and other game animals. "Your lives are hard, and strict, I know and understand that," she said after the ritual was complete, "for I too was and remain a Daughter of Aku. But you needn't exclude all pleasures; our Lord Father made all things, including the delightful ones."

The girls looked to each other, and spoke in their private language, then looked to Ayami. "Then why did Mother forbid us to go beyond the Temple?" Ashi asked.

Ayami sighed. "The High Priestess is… was… very zealous, determined that you should learn only the things she felt you needed for your mission. So I can only guess she kept you confined so you would have less to ask about. Time spent answering questions was time lost from your training."

Ashi winced slightly at that. "What of Akane's training? Have you attended to that?"

Akane smiled. "Mommy's taught me very well!" she said in a bright tone, at which Aki flicked a higashi at her, hitting her right between the eyes. She yelped, and rubbed the impact spot with the heel of her right hand, which she'd failed to bring up in time to block.

Aki smiled. "Your reactions are excellent, Akane," and the girl went from pouty to smiles almost instantly.

"The Daughters were trained to operate on the level of the Samurai," her mother said, and Akane's jaw dropped. "There's no shame in Aki besting you." Akane just stared at the older girls, her eyes drifting slowly between them.

Ashi nodded. "Our purpose is life is to kill the Samurai. Perhaps after that, we can think about reestablishing the Temple. I don't know if we can, or how. But for now, Ayami, please, keep yourself and Akane safe. You're the best hope for our future."

Ayami shook her head. "No, Blessed Daughters," she said, and her daughter grew almost unnaturally still at her mother's chill tone. "We cannot stay safe; the Last Battle is soon. All the signs are present: the man of many lands, the rising of the people against our Lord and Master, the sword that cuts the spirit. Even you, Blessed Daughters, are named in the Book of Aku: the dark stars, the shadowed sisters."

The girls' jaws dropped, in shock and in bafflement. "What do you mean?" Aji asked.

Ayami sighed heavily. "There is a… a group of… did the High Priestess tell you of stars?" They confirmed that she had. "Good. There is a group called the Seven Sisters. One of the signs of the Last Battle's approach is the appearance of the dark stars, the shadow sisters. You are those stars. Think about it: you are seven, seven sisters, sheathed in darkness, raised in darkness."

Ashi turned pale. "And we are called the Dark Stars… oh no, oh no… you must be wrong, this can't be right. The Last Battle that will end the world? No, no, no…" and her sisters looked just as horrified, just as stricken.

Ayami looked down at her hands. "The Revelation to Akiko is… ambiguous. It says that the sword that cuts the spirit will be lost and find its true wielder, that the wielder will enter into Aku's realm and a great battle will occur, and that when the battle is lost and won, the old Law will be gone, and new Law in place, and it will be good. The book nowhere says who will win, or who the sword's true wielder is, or even what the new Law will be."

The girls looked to each other, and to Ayami. "That's… scary," Adi finally said. "That our Lord Father could lose the Last Battle, and it would be a good thing?" She hugged herself and shuddered, and Ami put an arm around her shoulder; Adi hesitated, then returned the gesture. Ashi looked at this, not sure how to feel about that. It was true, they'd always supported each other, but not that way and certainly not in the open. Was the greater world making them weak?

"We have a question for you, one that we hope is less disturbing. We've noticed that things are getting colder, and thinking we might need something more than our darksuits. Can you tell us about that?"

Ayami relaxed a bit. "It's called winter. There are four broad times of the year: Spring, the time of warmth and much rain - you do know about rain, don't you?"

Ashi nodded. "The night in the dwelling, there was rain. We heard it and saw it."

Ayami smiled. "Good. This is the very end of autumn, the season of cold and of rain. Soon will be winter, the time of great cold and a thing called snow. Then spring, a time of warming and of rain, then summer, a time of heat and sun. Brief Night is at the middle of summer, Long Night at the middle of winter, and Night's Rise and Night's Ebb mark the start and end of winter. Winter is the time of Aku, when the darkness is greatest and the shadows longest. The others are needed so that life can gain the strength to survive Aku's closeness to the world." And the sisters nodded. "You will likely need warmer coverings, snow suits and boots and gloves. And you might want to buy what are called umbrellas. Akane, get your umbrella to show them."

The girl rose, and went to her room to fetch an odd, vaguely jo-like object. "This is an umbrella. You take this snap," and she showed it to them, "open it, and push this button." The object unfolded itself into a vaguely shield-like disc on a stick. "Then you hold it like this, and it helps keep the rain off you," and she showed how to use it.

Ayami nodded to that. "There are different sorts. Simple ones that don't fold up and you open by hand, ones that don't invert in heavy wind, even ones you can use as weapons or shields, but those are very expensive and not really very useful. I'd suggest you spend the winter here in the city, stay inside as much as you can. Save up your money, and in spring, buy equipment and vehicles and modern weapons and training in their use. If you're to have any chance against the Samurai, you'll need that." Her expression grew solemn and sad. "You might want to… I'm sorry to say this. You should excavate the Temple, salvage the Book of Aku. So far as I know, it's the only copy in the world, and we can't rebuild without it."

They nodded reluctantly. "When spring comes," Ashi agreed.

.oO()Oo.

Ayami prepared a dinner for the girls, a meal deliberately chosen to feature the most exotic (to them) foods she could think of: peanut butter and honey tea sandwiches for appetizers, halibut and chips with coleslaw on the side for the main course, and for dessert, miniature cinnamon rolls, with green tea for a drink and light lemon sorbet to cleanse the palate between courses, and when they arrived, greeted them with a polite bow and invitation to enter. They accepted, and took their places at the table. Akane put on a seashore soundtrack while her mother brought out the sandwiches and the tea, and set them in place. Adi led the prayer to Aku, invoking His blessing to strengthen them to get the most good from His generous gifts, then they began to eat. The sisters' eyes opened wide at the taste of the sandwiches, and though they ate delicately, they also ate with clear delight. Ayami smiled a bit, and Akane almost repressed a giggle.

That earned her a suspicious look from Ami, but the look didn't earn Ami an explanation, and her look shifted to baffled. She remembered being Akane's age, but she couldn't honestly recall a single time she'd made that that sound, and she looked to Ayami, her expression still baffled. Ayami looked to the her daughter, face stern. "Akane, you should know better than to laugh at your guests. They grew up in the Temple of the Daughters of Aku, our foods are completely new to them."

And the little girl looked down, cheeks red. "I'm sorry, Mommy. I'm sorry, girls."

Ashi smiled slightly to her. "Thank you, Akane," and at Ayami's direction took a bit of tea, then some of the lemon sorbet. This time, Akane managed to suppress her giggles at the sisters' astonished look. As Ayami brought out the main course, Ashi spoke briefly to her sisters in their private language. "We'll ask our questions after the meal, agreed?" and they agreed.

Ayami looked between them at that little exchange. She didn't recall learning or even hearing that language during her time in the Temple, had the High Priestess had a revelation? She watched the girls follow her lead in the use of the implements, pleased and a little surprised at the quickness with which they mastered the new skill, though their concentration on her actions and care in matching them was a bit unsettling, as if they were expecting a beating if they got it wrong. Granted, Ayami had taken her share of beatings growing up, and so had Akane, even if she'd had far fewer, but never for simply not mastering something on the first try.

What in the world is this? Aji wondered. The coating was utterly unlike anything she'd had before, and though the filling was clearly meat, meat from what? The taste and texture were drastically unlike anything she'd had before, and the odd sticks of… whatever it was that Ayami called "chips" were even stranger, and the sweet, red sauce. She could tell the "coleslaw" was some kind of shredded vegetable, but what was the white stuff? The tea was becoming familiar, but the "lemon sorbet" wasn't even close. Akane removed their plates and utensils, then brought in a plate full of tiny bits of that "bread" stuff, wrapped into little spirals and with something white and hard-looking on the top.

Ayami gestured gracefully to the plate. "Cinnamon mini-rolls, you eat them with your fingers like this," and popped one in her mouth. Oh, this was a good batch, and still just a little warm. Akane sighed a little in delight at the treat, and the girls' eyes went wide in amazement. It didn't take long for the dessert to disappear entirely. Ayami smiled to her guests. "I'd imagine you have some questions."

"We do," Ari said. "First, what was that meat we had? What is the cold food called, and what is the flavour of it? And the little bits of bread, what were the stuffs between them?"

Ayami stared at the first question. "You don't know about fish? How were you raised!?" She shook her head sharply, and Akane was staring at them as if they'd sprouted extra appendages.

"Ah… we grew up entirely within the Temple, why?" Avi answered. "Only Ashi ever even looked outside, and she was beaten for it. We all were, when we tried to help her against Rika." Though she did her best, a hint of sadness and pain seeped out, and Ayami's heart ached again.

She pulled herself together. "Normally, we had fish fairly often. They're the animals that live in water, and there were many in the river that runs through the forest." The girls nodded to that. "I'm surprised you've never had fish before. Very surprised. Unless… the river is still there, isn't it?" Ashi told her it was. "Well, that river is one place you'd find fish. The fish we had tonight is a fish from the ocean." And at their baffled look, she sighed in dejection. "You've seen the great water beyond the city, haven't you?" They nodded. "Good. That's the ocean, it's a vast body of water with salt in it, and many sorts of creatures live in it, even thinking beings." She nodded at their questioning looks. "The Manaquas, for example: when the oceans of Manaqua were taken from that world, Aku allowed them to settle in our seas, on condition that they pay him tribute in the form of a great statue raised to him. Each month, they have done this, and if you travel far to the east, across the greatest stretch of ocean, you will find these statues. I know this to be true, for I have seen the Manaquas raising one of their tribute statues."

The girls looked to each other. How wise was their Lord Father, and how generous! "It is a pleasant taste," Ashi said. "Is the outside its cooked skin, or some other new thing?"

"That," she answered, "is called 'batter,' a food of the greater world. You can learn to make it, I'm sure. Now… the very cold food is called lemon sorbet. It's made from water, a sweet stuff called honey, and the juice of a fruit called lemon." She knew full well they'd never had fruit juice; the Daughters of Aku drank only water, though she hadn't been able to maintain their extremely austere diet in the greater world. "The little bits of bread… between them is honey, and… all right. You've had nuts, I know that. If you take a nut and grind it very, very fine, you get a stuff called nut butter. That butter was made from a nut called peanut."

The girls nodded, and thanked her for the meal and the information. "Where do you and Akane train? There's clearly no space here." Aji asked.

"We go to a gym!" Akane said. "We do all kinds of fighting, you should see it!"

"I'd like that," Ashi said. "Tomorrow perhaps? We have to go to our apartment and then the Dome. We're doing something different tonight, but we don't know what." Their hosts accepted that, and after a few pleasantries, the girls departed.