His anger not satisfied, Amatsukunitama said: "And I shall poison her words, as her words did poison my son's heart." To which the deity Omoikane said: "Tsukuyomi has use for even poisoned words. I cannot deny thee." Thus Amatsukunitama sent for poison of wolfsbane, and pufferfish, and lily of the valley, and vipers, and eight hundred plants and animals, and with them painted the tongue of Amenosagume, so that truth might flee from her lips and her labors might never be fruitful.


Sagume hurried down the hall, with one finger crooked in front of her lips to hide her expression. This corridor, in one of the royal manors, was normally one of the most secure locations on the moon. More recently, it had been serving as a temporary prison, and the guard rotations were doubled beyond that. They wouldn't dare to stop her. As she approached each rabbit guard, they stepped aside, wordlessly opening doors and bowing as she passed.

She'd never been in this wing before, but she knew the layout. One last pair of guards stood in front of the final door, with the subtle insignias to indicate that they'd been assigned by Tsukuyomi himself. These took longer, but Sagume held her ground until they agreed to open the door for her.

Sagume stepped into the private quarters of Kaguya Houraisan.

It was dark inside, and her eyes took a moment to adjust. The far wall was a single expansive window, which showed a vista of the capital below. This late at night, even the massive crowd that had shown up for the executions had dissipated. It let just enough light into the room for her to make out Eirin sitting alongside the bed, looking over the sleeping princess.

It was funny, in a way. Sagume's work for the past several years had revolved around this princess, and this was the closest they'd ever been to one another.

Eirin didn't look up when she entered. Several seconds of silence followed before Sagume broke it.

"Can we speak?" she asked, barely above a whisper.

"Being executed and resurrected a half-dozen times takes a lot out of her," Eirin answered, at a more normal volume. "I don't think you'll wake her."

Sagume nodded, and settled her gaze onto the sleeping princess. She knew what she'd come here to say, but finding the right words for it was even harder than usual. "I've finished cleaning your laboratory."

"I see." Eirin did not sound particularly interested.

"I destroyed your notes on the Hourai Elixir." She couldn't risk speaking the followup to that, but was sure Eirin knew it: The other sages would be satisfied now. It left nothing that might aid somebody else in making the elixir, and with Kaguya soon to be banished to Earth, a key ingredient would be unavailable anyway.

"Thank you."

"Are you... still considering joining her on Earth?"

"Are you asking as my friend, or are you asking as an administrator?"

"I'm asking as your friend. Of course."

Eirin finally looked up from Kaguya and met Sagume's gaze. She looked tired and harried. It was enough to make Sagume pause. In all the millennia they'd known each other, she'd never seen Eirin look overwhelmed. Even she still failed now and then, but usually she rose to it by planning a dozen new contingencies.

"I think I will, eventually. It will be years before I'm convinced that my successors can handle themselves. After that... I would like to, yes."

A million responses gushed up into Sagume's heart. She gritted her teeth and filtered them down to a single sentence: "You're a fool."

"Am I?"

"You built this society. Now you want to abandon it because of a single girl?"

"I told you, very long ago, that lunar society couldn't continue for all time. Do you remember?"

"... I do."

"I had wanted to build a society of thinkers and artists, to allow them to create beauty until the sun burns out, without the risk of death looming over their heads. Instead, I got complacency. They've become so concerned with preserving the status quo that nobody bothers to ask if it's still worthwhile. … you can't call an unchanging eternity 'eternal life.' It's only stasis."

"And what's your alternative? Introducing life would bring death too. We wouldn't even have eternity left."

"Maybe we would be better off for it."

A shudder of disgust ran through Sagume, as Eirin so casually suggested letting every denizen of the moon suffer and die. Her memories of life on Earth were a blur at this point, gods and men and animals killing one another until it felt like the ground should be soggy with blood. She wanted no part of that. Not anymore.

Better to change the subject. "I found something," Sagume said, once a few seconds had passed in silence. "In your lab."

Eirin looked to her, her expression kept neutral. Sagume wordlessly reached inside of her pocket to pull it out.

It was nothing special. A small green jar like a dozen others in Eirin's lab, with a broad cap that was screwed on tightly. Sagume hadn't even dared to try peeking at the contents. There was just something about it. The air around the jar seemed too still and calm, and it filled Sagume with a terrible nostalgia for something she couldn't even name. Just by handling it, she'd known what she was holding.

Sagume offered the last remaining dose of the Hourai Elixir over.

"You're giving it to me?" Eirin said.

"I wouldn't know how to dispose of it."

Eirin reached over and took the jar, clasping it in her hands like a fragile gem. "I'm impressed," she said. "There aren't many who could resist the allure of immortality like that."

"There aren't. You were careless to leave it sitting out."

"It wasn't an accident. It was an invitation. A test, to see whether you would choose your life on the moon, or eternal life on Earth with us." Eirin glanced over, giving her a very bitter smile. "If I'd been paying attention, I would have already known the answer."

Sagume froze in disbelief. It hadn't even occurred to her to drink the elixir. She had considered ways to talk Eirin into staying on the moon, of course, but the idea of going down to the Earth, to live among death and decay and change...

"If you're going... I could reconsider. I could come with you."

"You don't mean that," Eirin said softly.

Sagume couldn't find it in herself to disagree. After several seconds, Eirin tucked the jar away. "I'll send this down to Earth with the princess. It won't cause you any more trouble, I'm sure." Eirin turned away from her, her gaze settling onto the sleeping princess again. "I have to say, you've become a model Lunarian over the years."

"... Eirin... I..."

Sagume barely coaxed the few syllables out of her throat to begin with, and they were cut off as soon as Eirin looked back to her. "Thank you for your assistance, Administrator Kishin. Will there be anything else?"

Sagume wilted under her gaze for just a moment before looking away. She managed a curt shake of her head before turning to hurry out of the room, tears streaming from her eyes for the first time in millennia.