A week went by, every second agonizingly slow. Sara never came back. Nobody did.

The Shogun lay splayed out on her bed, staring up at the ceiling, her vision blurring from idleness. She didn't move much. Even when she had been the lord of all Inazuma, she just sort of stood there most of the time. But that had been before her malfunction; before Ei had taken it upon herself to rewire her neural code.

She couldn't pinpoint when exactly she started to feel things- really feel them, instead of simply observing them. All her memories hovered at the edges of her mind, partially veiled behind a fog, as if she had experienced her entire life through a dream. Ei's memories, her memories, and her programming all blurred together, leaving behind a tangled, garbled mess.

She tried not the think about it.

But experiencing life instead of neutrally observing it left more challenges than benefits. Time dragged on, leaving a sting of melancholy in its wake. Which, ironically enough, made each second an eternity.

Whatever dark magic Ei had used to create her puppet of flesh had been efficient. Her body required no upkeep. She didn't need food, water, exercise, or sleep. This might've been enviable, but it left her with a significant lack of sensation- sensation that she now craved.

The Shogun shivered, wrapping her arms around her chest. It was cold in her room. Cold. Ei remembered what it felt like to be cold, so she had a frame of reference for it. But experiencing it herself was like being taken to an entirely different world. Not an entirely good world, either; the uncomfortable chill on her skin wasn't something she enjoyed, but a bitter soldier had stolen all her blankets. They probably knew someone who died in Ei's war. Her war.

"You're such a gloomy mess." Ei said. She appeared beside the Shogun, cross-legged on the bed. Her lips were pursed in disappointment. "Really, Shogun. Can you not, I don't know, keep it down a bit? Your lamenting is interrupting my eternal mediation."

The Shogun didn't look away from the ceiling. "Why did you wake me?"

Ei shrugged. "It's not like I mean to keep giving my creepy puppets sentience. It hasn't really worked out for me either time. Which is my fault, I suppose. They warned me about creating you, an infinity ago. Something about dark magic always backfiring, artificial life is always evil, blah blah blah. But even then, I knew my pursuit of Eternity was worth the risk of a puppet coming to life." The archon patted her on the shoulder. "You should be grateful. Life is a beautiful thing. That's what my Eternity is- preserving that beauty forever."

"I'm a fake. A replacement for a replacement. You were nothing but your sister's spear, her personal killer. And you made me yours. What do I have to be grateful for?"

"Be depressed and useless all you want." Ei's voice was normally livelier than the Shogun's- that being the only discernable difference between the two- but it had gone quiet. "But you don't get to speak about her. Do you understand?"

"If you say so, ghost."

Ei leaned over the Shogun, blocking her view of the ceiling and replacing it with her face. Her eyes were wide and glinting with fever. "You would be wise to remember that this ghost can control your body, puppet."

The Shogun shuddered, closing her eyes. She hated looking into Ei's face- a twisted mirror image of her own. "Your threat is empty. What are you going to do, dress me up in an embarrassing outfit? Make me do a goofy dance in the town square?"

Ei laughed, lively as spring rain and dry as bleached bone. "You're funny, for a malfunctioning program. But if you think that individual mortal lives hold a candle to the Eternity I seek, you are very, very wrong. I could easily make you my killer again. Who will the Grasscutter cull, I wonder? Perhaps I'll slaughter the traitors. The rebels, the soldiers, the kitchen staff, the morons who mull around the marketplace, acting as if I'm not still sovereign over this nation. Or perhaps I'll put an end to a certain failed general-"

"No!" The Shogun shot upright. She struck Ei's face and passed straight through it, dispelling her image.

For a moment she only there, stunned at her own aggression. The thought of Ei being able to take her body at any time was a horrifying one, surely. And the thought of being used to slaughter her own people was a horrifying one as well. Those thoughts didn't elicit a physical reaction, though.

Her chest still hammered from Ei's threat to kill Sara.

Her loyalty was admirable. Her bravery was admirable. Her passion was admirable. But she was also the only person in the entirety of Inazuma who had come to see her. The only one who cared enough to see how the fallen deity fared. The only one she wished would come back.

The door swung open. The Shogun's heart soared.

A petite blonde skipped into the room, wearing a pristinely white outfit that looked like it had been designed by a fairy godmother. She had a sleepy, catlike smile.

"You." The Shogun said, deflating. She couldn't remember the girl's real name. Lemon? Lumi? Lux? Whatever.

The Traveler took a deep bow, rolling her wrist dramatically. "M'lord Shogun. You look well, for a deposed, psychopathic robot. Is that a new eyeliner?"

"Why are you here? I'm in exile."

"I'm here to cheer you up." The Traveler said as she flitted around the room, poking around at the various furnishings scattered around. Her golden hair bobbed as she moved. "Your room is pretty dreary, Baals. It's so empty. What's that picture on the wall over there? 'Generic Landscape Number Three'? Don't despots have interior designers?"

The Shogun could only stare at the girl, her gaze slowly narrowing as she talked. "My name isn't 'balls'. It's not even pronounced like 'ball'. It's pronounced, Ba'ehl. Besides, that's not my name. It's the name of a dead god's even deader sister. So I would very much appreciate it if you didn't call me that."

The Traveler shrugged. "Ok, Balls."

"Can you leave? Please? I can't survive both you and Ei in a single day."

"Ah. Dead dogs still bite, yeah?"

"Yeah." The Shogun said, looking down at her hands. She ran a thumb over her palm idly, wondering if her skin was real. She wasn't sure which answer was more disturbing.

"Well, I swear I'm not here to make fun of you. Too much. Ayaka told me that Sara asked her about you and Ei and then Thoma's dog's barber's second-cousin-in-law heard from-"

"Ok, ok. I get the joke. There's a long line of gossip. Next sentence, please."

The Traveler's grin didn't waver. "Yes ma'am. So anyway, Sara apparently took the truth pretty hard. You know. It can't be easy to find out you were practically worshipping a robot."

"I see." The Shogun said, sincerely hoping that the Traveler hadn't noticed the shaking in her voice. She couldn't blame Sara for hating her. She had signed up for the all-powerful God of Lightning, not her broken puppet.

"Bro. I can see the self-hatred swirling in your head right now. Calm down for a second and let me finish the story." She cleared her throat. "As I was saying, she took it pretty hard. But, after a bit of thinking, she's come around to acceptance. She wants to talk with you, but she's also terrified of you. Because you're a murder-bot with a crazy god whispering in your head. Obviously."

"Yes." The Shogun said through gritted teeth. "Thank you for that."

"Hey, no problem. Anyway, Aya had this great idea to-"

The Shogun coughed out a laugh. "Aya? Is that how it is with you two?"

The Traveler hid her hands behind her back, scuffing the carpeting with her foot with an exaggerated sheepishness that couldn't have been real. "Well… she did this whole 'dance in the moonlight' thing for me, but apparently that was to say we couldn't date. It's a rich people thing, I guess. But we hang out all the time, and sometimes during Hotpot Night we get a little too close, and Thoma's always egging me on because he's a disgusting shipper-"

"Alright, enough. I'm extremely sorry I asked."

"But you did ask. That's progress, I think."

The Shogun scoffed. "Ok. What are you here for, again?"

"Did you not hear what I said? Sara wants to see you, dumbass." The Traveler crossed her arms. "Get it? Time for sulking is over. You need to be the big, powerful Shogun and go comfort your only friend. She's lonely and purposeless."

"Why do you care what I do? We're enemies."

"Uh, because I'm also a disgusting shipper? Duh?"

The Shogun's face burned. "I-I'm not sure I'm comfortable with your implication."

"But…?"

"But I will go see Sara. Only because she asked for me. Not so that you can fulfill your perverted fantasies. Understand?"

The Traveler clapped her hands, the crack resounding through the room. "That's my little dictator! Now get to standing. You look like you haven't moved in three years."

With a groan, the Shogun slid off the bed, her knees crackling worryingly as she stood up. She moved closer to the Traveler, rubbing at her head. "Ugh. Standing makes my head feel fuzzy."

The Traveler's eyes widened. "Oh, damn. I forgot how tall you are. Is your height like, historically accurate? To Ei?"

"No. Ei was average. She made me extraordinarily tall because she had a power complex and my height had to match her ego." She gestured down at herself. "I have to have all my clothes specially made. That's why I only have this one outfit."

"What about, um…" The Traveler cupped her hands over her own chest, raising her eyebrows. "Your 'bazoongas'. Did she exaggerate those too? Because damn."

The Shogun wanted nothing more than to crawl back in bed. "I'm not answering that."

"I don't blame her. I mean, she sucks, but I would do the same thing."

"Can we go? Please?"

"Sure thing, bouncing betty." The Traveler said. She spun on a heel and opened the door, bowing. "Deities first."

A purple guard stood in the hallway, leaning against the wall, picking at his nails. His spear was leaning beside him. At her appearance, his jaw dropped. He scrambled for his spear, knocking it over in his haste. It clattered to the floor.

"You! Back in the room!" He said, his voice taut and shrieky. "Back, I say!"

"Quiet." She said, raising a hand. Sparks crackled from her fingertips, dancing along in the air before striking the guard in the forehead. He let out a short yelp before his eyes rolled back in his head and he crumpled to the floor in a heap.

"Yo?!" The Traveler said, rushing out ahead of her. "Did you just kill that guy?"

The Shogun considered her hand, still thrumming with energy. She hadn't used her powers in an eternity. It felt better than she remembered. "No. I don't think so. I should've simply short-circuited his brain. He'll be asleep for a while, and perhaps experience a minor brain bleed."

The Traveler gave her an incredulous look. "A minor brain bleed? You don't think so?"

"Hm. Well, yes. There's always the possibility that I killed him instantly. Electricity doesn't play nicely with the human brain."

"Damn, sister." The Traveler said, pondering the fallen guard, her brows furrowed. "You are one scary bitch."

The guard twitched, amethyst sparks flickering around his body. She smiled. "Yes. I suppose I am."