...
The night was black in the outer edge the Harbor Town that pressed up against the City Wall. The sudden and strangely far reaching fog that had risen up across miles of the city in complete disregard of the walls was already dissipating, leaving only a quiet gloom. This near the wall, some of the canals, sewers, and aqueducts that were destined to return to the chained and splintered Kuang River bubbled up into existence in large dark pools. These waters had spent long hours traversing through the criss-crossing tunnels that carried them through airless paths under the massive city wall and now they rushed upwards propelled by the speed imparted through their compression. Ba Sing Se, as always, was only impenetrable from one direction.
This one particular pool which birthed this particular canal was now behaving a bit strangely. If anyone had been out at this late hour of night they would have been surprised to see the ripples representing the central upwelling of water begin to change and vanish. Then they would have been even more surprised when a single massive bubble lifted up the whole surface in a black hemisphere and then broke, spitting forth a narrow canal boat risen from the depths, populated by two women clinging to both the wooden slat seats and each other while a third stood in the middle with her arms spread open-palmed. The waves of their appearance splashed over the edge of the pool and canal that led off between buildings as the rebounding ripples crashed back and forth.
One of the seated women, dressed in red and gold, stood up so sharply she almost toppled out into the water as she nearly lost her balance.
Mizumi spoke loud and flatly into the night.
"Under two ring walls of Ba Sing Se. Crushed and bashed through dark water-filled tunnels in a bubble of stale air supported only by the magic of a woman who introduced herself by trying to kill me. I am never doing anything like that again."
As soon as it was clear that her boat was not going to capsize Mama Mua collapsed down into a sitting position and sat there breathing heavily.
"It got ya past the gates, didn't it?"
Ayika slotted the canal boat's motive oar into its rear mounting. It seemed that she now had command of this vessel. "Let's get Mua back to her house for now. We can worry about the rest later." Neither of the other women seemed prepared to argue with her right now. Ayika gripped onto the oar and began to dig it into the black water as her arms worked back and forth, guiding them in what she could only hope was the right direction for Mua's dwelling.
Mua was deposited in her house with a minimum amount of fuss. Ayika managed to extract a promise that the woman would stay put until they could coordinate a plan to deal with all the night's developments but Ayika was also pretty sure that Mua would have mumbled agreement for someone to lop off her arms at this point. The woman was exhausted and had come to the end of both her spiritual authority and her quest for vengeance. There was little left to animate her.
Ayika felt drained as well as she ushered Mizumi outside and closed Mua's door behind them. It was difficult to call tonight a victory by any stretch. Erliao was gone, by the hands of the Masks who were apparently now attacking conservatives as well as reformers. Not that Ayika was sure the purple masked thing that had chased them down the tram track was capable of understanding politics. The Masks had been borrowing strength from the spirit world, but now it looked like the spirits were in control once the masks were on. And the Nine-Step-Shadow was still approaching one of the three women. What had Blind Dog Lord said? Someone was casting a ritual of life and death over the city. Right now it felt like it was the city itself that was weaving this spell and Ayika was trying to stand up to the full hostile might of Ba Sing Se. It was all too big.
Ayika looked to her side where Mizumi was regarding her with concern. Mizumi's deep red costume was disheveled and marked with dirt in a few places but somehow that only made her look more beautiful. Ayika had to get her back to the Exclusion safely. That task at least was small enough to concentrate on. They walked together out into the night.
Closer to the center of the town the streets were still crowded with pedestrians but that was not surprising on a festival. What was surprising was the energy that those crowds exuded. This was not the same atmosphere they'd passed through during their departure a few hours ago. Even Mizumi, a foreigner, quickly caught wind of the rush of huddled conversation and suspicious looks. Ayika decided to find out what had occurred during their absence. She chose one woman who was talking much louder than the others about her speculations on the credibility of someone's news.
Ayika caught her attention with a wave. "Hey! Yeah, you! We were in a party but what's going on that apparently everyone else seems to know? Sounds like something happened."
The woman blinked as she turned around to face Ayika. Whatever angry response she was about to belt out got swallowed as she reconsidered. "Who...Um, yeah. Er, apparently there was some big brouhaha over near the assembly yards. Public Safety even showed up but a bunch of buildings were already up in smoke."
It took Ayika a moment to understand what had caused this woman to refrain from the traditional insult portion of street conversation. Then she remembered her costume. She was still wearing the dress of purple or blue and the silver disks that showed a clear presence of money and therefor authority. All that on a girl of the Tribes would be confusing but anyone growing up in the city would have learned to show respect for money first and then wonder how they got it.
Now one of the woman's friends wanted to join in. "Yeah, I heard that it was a big old fight. A bunch of the city conservatives got down to that Islander Miohuito guy's metal engine factory and the whole thing is gone."
Behind Ayika, Mizumi breathed in sharply. "Miohuito?"
The first woman broke back in, "Yeah, I think that's the one. That or some other of those foreigners. But the point is that those ring-dweller folks are down here trashing the place and they've got some weapon. Some new bending technique or spirits or something. Even all the guards are scared!"
"Yeah and now the greenies are all at the Bridge of Fire protecting the Exclusion instead of us their own neighbors. I heard a bunch of the people fighting with Public Safety got away. Believe that? Ming said that they were beating the agents bare handed! Wearing masks made of living monsters!"
"That sounds like..." Ayika was not sure what to say. Things were worse than she had thought. The Masks were not hiding their power at all anymore. And they'd specifically been targeting Miohuito property. She looked at Mizumi. If these women were right there was a full and frightened guard detachment between them and her home now, and violent Masks lurking in the streets hunting Islanders.
The gossiping woman continued, "This city's been going downhill for years but this is just too much. The ministers get to live in their fancy rings but they've got a responsibility to make sure we're protected, don't they? Now we've got people out tonight looking to beat up any Islander caught out or anyone who's too friendly with the such. And I'm sure there'll be just as many of the other sort fighting back."
Her friend stamped her foot for emphasis. "Hey now, all this trouble wouldn't be here if it weren't for those damn Islanders trying to drive everyone out of work! They've bought off enough merchants to shovel all their stuff into our shops and now the only jobs are going to be off in the Fire Nation!"
"Oh come on now! That's just for ritzy stuff. Who's going to buy a basket or a spoon from across an ocean? I say that..."
These women were once again involved in their personal debate and had forgotten about Ayika and Mizumi. For her part, Ayika looked over at Mizumi who was unconsciously touching cheeks as if missing her mask. Even after that woman had mentioned the guards at the Bridge of Fire Ayika'd been entertaining the thought of bribing some boatman to sneak them across the Exclusion moat, with some of this costume jewelry as payment if necessary. But if the Masks were now open knowledge then there would be supporters of their supposed ideology who would be emboldened. And tonight they would all be wearing disguising costumes, a boon to the heart of any coward. It was too far to the Exclusion.
Mizumi had obviously been thinking the same things but in her traditional fashion had elected to ignore those worries with bluster and confidence. "All right, there are thugs on the street. Well, it is good that we are already in disguise. And after the other things we have faced tonight no conservative supporter is anything to us, right Ayika! Lead the way, I am...I am a small bit lost on these streets."
Ayika nodded and grabbed her hand, leading Mizumi off the main streets and down a snaking path of back alleys and makeshift paths bolted to the sides of backstreet waterways lit by the shreds of light spilling out back doors and rear windows. However, soon enough even Mizumi noticed that something was wrong.
"Ayika? I...We are not going in the correct direction to arrive at the Exclusion. I know enough to know that this is west not south."
"Right."
"Oh," Mizumi paused to process this answer. "All right then. Is this some secret way to the Exclusion?"
"No."
Ayika did not to look back at Mizumi to recognize the trusting but irritated expression on her face.
"Would you mind terribly telling me where you are taking me then?"
Together they crossed one last makeshift bridge that was in fact just a single brittle board laid across the narrow water-channel that flowed below them, reflecting in its black flow the few stars able to burst through the city's light pollution tonight. Then they squeezed between two houses built of crumbling grey brick and stepped onto a small dirty street that seemed to abruptly vanish into thin air twenty meters in front of them. A sea of distant candlelights gleamed up from the darkness below, while great stone bridges stretched out over the vast, jumble-filled depression. Even in the city of ten thousand gods there were some places that got overlooked, and a great many people too.
Ayika gestured out at the buildings below them. "You can't go home right now. Not safely. So you're going to my home instead. Mizumi, welcome to the Bed."
...
Nia Mua collapsed onto a stool in the rear corner of her house where she could lean back against a wall for support. The stool was actually a little too far away from that wall for comfort but she wasn't prepared with the mental fortitude to scoot it back right now. All she really wanted to do at the moment was to fall into her bed and perhaps never wake again. But she still needed to clean her scrapes and cuts so she had a pot of water boiling over the fire she'd clumsily coaxed back into life. Now she was just waiting. Luckily, she'd managed to find a rough brown bottle of some high-proof drink within reach of her blindly searching hand. The liquid burning in her mouth and throat at least gave her something to focus on and the promise of better things to come.
There wasn't much else that could do so now. The possessed man, those Masks, they'd taken everything she had left; her vengeance, her absolution, her last bit of hard-earned spiritual power. And if Chao Erliao had been targeted by the Masks that meant that that he hadn't arranged for them to murder Chen after all. The spirit omens had been wrong, he wasn't connected. She'd attacked him for nothing; just another betrayal. It had all been pointless.
As the bottle touched her lips Nia shuddered in a laugh, almost choking on the alcohol which splashed back into her mouth. She rested her head back against the wall with a dull thud as a bitter and tired smile played across her lips.
"I'm sorry, Chen. I really tried. Ah guess that Ayika girl was right. Of course she was, ya knew she was smart when she worked for ya. You always could choose right, except when it came to me."
She closed her eyes to the dark room lit only by the glow of the low fire under the kettle. The neck of the brown bottle was still clenched in her fist.
"For me, Ah've got nothin more. Ah stayed away from you for too long and now...If your soul's stuck on the border between worlds Ah'll quiet your ghost if Ah can but...Ah can't fight those things, those Masks. Ya can't ask that of me. It's too much. Please, just let me fail."
Three sharp wooden knocks rang out. Nia opened her eyes to look at the front door. She couldn't bring herself to be surprised or afraid. That could be the guards, although such a response time would be remarkable. It could be Public Safety but she didn't think they would knock. Nia leaned forward to rise up off her seat with a great grunt of exertion. As soon as she stood, her palm spread open into a waterbending stance out of pure reflex. Then she closed that hand. With what little energy she had left she had as much chance of fighting off anyone with bending as she did parting the broad ocean itself.
She walked over to open the door.
A young woman of the Kingdoms in an elaborate green costume was in the process of knocking once more when the door suddenly swung back and Nia was revealed in front of her. Behind the girl, two men were standing on each side of an older third man as if skeptical of his ability to continue remaining upright unaided.
The fancy girl piped up in a rapid Middle Ring accent. "Mama Mua? The healer? I understand that it is very late and a holiday as well but we have a man here who was attacked by some people who were...What happened to you?"
The Middle Ring girl had noticed Nia's scrapes and bruises. She appeared ready to launch into another flurry of questions but Nia held up a hand and just turned to walk back inside, leaving the front door wide open.
There was a brief moment of hushed and hurried conversation behind her.
"Are you sure we can trust her?"
"I think Ayika and Mizumi do. But the question is do we tell her it was the Masks?"
"Shush! What are you...Oh wait, Ma'er, mister, um if you...Well, I guess he made that decision."
Nia looked up to examine the injured man who'd just walked into her house and had only spared the briefest flicker of inspection for the clattering multitude of wooden spirit charms that hung from the ceiling. He was over forty and rather grizzled from his greying hair to the faint scars on his jaw around the mouth. He held himself well but Nia's professional eye determined that he felt even worse than she did right now. The other three were just kids, if a strange mix of one rich girl with two harbor boys. Well, they knew Ayika and the Fire Nation girl. That could explain a lot of strangeness.
Nia cast her eyes up at the dark ceiling hidden behind the faintly clunking spirit charms hanging from the beams. Was this some message from Chen, or was it just another random collision in this massive living city? Did it even matter?
The kettle was almost boiling.
She turned to her new customers. "All right, you in the dark green who looks like ya lost a fight with a brick wall, show me where you're hurt. The rest of ya, sit down and keep out of ma way. And someone close the damn front door!"
...
Mizumi followed Ayika as she threaded her way past the last houses on the edge of old riverbank of the Kuang and over the lip of the street onto a set of stone steps that looked like they must have led down to water level in some long distant past. There were rounded granite knobs set into the stones that centuries ago had been used to tie up boats. Mizumi accidentally kicked one of these knobs slightly as she edged away from the drop that lay beyond. A bit of gravel slid over the edge and down into the dark. The water was long gone and the river had left a sloping half-paved bank that led down to the uneven waves of ramshackle houses built from splintered wood, cracked tile and crumbling brick that was the Bed. Ayika easily danced down the makeshift stairs which continued down along the rest of bank as a haphazard assemblage of different materials. From time to time she turned back to reassure Mizumi along in the descent. Mizumi smiled back, she didn't want to admit that she was recoiling from the smell rising up from below so she hurried on.
When they reached the bottom of the old riverbed their route struck out from the bank on a very narrow twisting path between rough, cramped buildings. This winding string of brick and planks was barely wide enough for three people to walk abreast and in places hardly had room for two. Then Mizumi noticed that they had not reached the bottom of the old river after all. These houses were built up on pilings or crude elevated foundations and all around and under them was a floor of dark and fetid water. They were in a riverbed after-all. Mizumi prided herself on bravery but as she threaded her way through these narrow uncertain alleys she could not help thinking that this was the kind of place in a foreign port where her father had assured her she would be murdered the instant she entered. And she was here wearing a gold headdress and silk.
She and Ayika were not the only people still out in the Bed tonight and others had noticed the finery the two girls were wearing. Mizumi pulled closer to Ayika as she felt the eyes on her from open doorways and crude balconies of the narrow houses and stacked apartments they passed.
One of the locals was the first to speak their mind. A woman with a dark skin tone, probably a tribal like Ayika, leaned her shoulder against a doorframe and called out, "Hey, you sure y'all in the right place with that metal?"
Mizumi's instinct was to ignore this jab and press on to whatever their destination was but Ayika stopped dead in the narrow street and planted her feet. She turned to look up at the woman and pointed firmly at the silver disk pendant laying above her own chest. This drew looks from the other alley-dwellers who squinted in their direction. Then Ayika burst into laughter.
"This?" She pointed straight at the silver pendant. "Ha! Did you actually think this is real? Woman, I've never see this much steel to own and you think I'm walking around here wearing silver? Well, at least that's a compliment to my costuming and I'll be sure to tell the paint-seller he's got a good product."
Ayika's voice had changed again. The faint accent she usually repressed was out in full force now and she sounded as broad as any of the boatmen Mizumi had heard calling out across the Exclusion moat. The woman in the doorway looked embarrassed and irritated. Now that the target had revealed herself to be another resident of the Bed the other street-dwellers eagerly reversed the focus of their ridicule. However, Ayika was not about to let something like this go. Seizing on a strategy of camouflage by way of attention she grabbed onto Mizumi and yelled out at the woman again as she gestured to the gold headdress.
"Hey, this look like gold too? My friend here's been freaking out that she messed up her painting and that's why none of the boys would dance with her up at the Dazhan square thing. Hey, come on, don't be like that! Come back!"
The woman who had called them out had now retreated back into her house as several men down the narrow street were starting to laugh. Behind her sparkly silver mask Ayika theatrically rolled her eyes with such force that her whole head followed their arc. She sauntered up to the laughing men with Mizumi pressing as close to her back as she could manage. It was a bit of a struggle while stepping over the uneven transitions of the path from stones to wood to, in one place, just a gap down to black water that they stepped over.
One of the men clicked his tongue approvingly at Ayika's display and she just snorted dismissively in response. Then she gestured her head vaguely and said:
"So, Hasook's thing still going? There's something going on up in the town that's got guards shutting down all the festival parties we knew of."
The man smiled, showcasing teeth that were yellowed but strong. "Yeah, Hasook's should still be going if you're from those parts. You girls were up partying with the townies? What, hoping to snag yourself a citizen?"
"Ha! Well, we sure didn't dress up like this for you lot. Come on, Yaki. Let's get moving."
It took Mizumi a brief moment to recognize that her name was now Yaki but she caught on quickly enough and hurried after Ayika. Once they were away she whispered:
"That was clever but why did we not just remove and hide the jewelry before we came down here if it was going to cause this much trouble?"
Ayika looked at her with a smile and half a laugh. "In the dark these things might be painted tin. But if we weren't wearing this lot then they'd be looking closer at the clothes and I've got no explanation there. You can't paint cotton into silk. Now stick close to me, if an outsider like you got lost here I'm not sure I'd ever be able find you again."
Mizumi saw the truth in that. No more devious maze had ever been devised than the winding alleys of the Bed. She also suspected that tonight made things even more complicated. The Festival of the Veils was a very different affair down in the Bed from what Mizumi had seen in the city above the waterline. The elaborate costumes were missing, and in fact many people didn't even bother with the strips of colored cloth or paper that she'd seen the poorer native residents wearing up above. Now that she thought of it, Mizumi might have expected a community of immigrants to completely disregard a holiday native to this city but it seemed that the Bed was not about to let any opportunity for celebration pass them by. Mizumi had to grin at this attitude.
Down here in this neighborhood what passed for city squares were barely the width of small streets above but tonight they were packed with residents celebrating with greater abandon than anywhere Mizumi ever had seen. The smells from the foul pools below were masked by the aromas of grilling meat and splashed remnants of of cheap liquor. As the girls passed one gathering, a hand snaked out of the press to grab Ayika's arm and tug her into the swirling ring of a dance. Ayika joined in happily.
There was a moment of anxiety as Mizumi lost track of Ayika among the dancers and realized to her own surprise that she had before this on some level been relying on Ayika's skin color to spot her in a crowd. But down here in this section of the Bed half the population were tribals. Mizumi even saw one or two faces that looked like they had come straight out of the Fire Nation. All the stray bits of the world seemed to flow down to collect here in this wild assemblage of a neighborhood.
Small drums were beating and their rhythm was infectious. Mizumi found herself clapping along as she watched Ayika twirl and spin in the middle of the dancing circle. Her guide had torn off her silver mask but none the confidence and commanding presence she had assumed behind it followed that disappearance. This was Ayika truly at home. She gestured over at Mizumi to join her in but Mizumi vigorously shook her head while laughing, sure that she could not match whatever heavy stepping, hip gyrating motions Ayika was joining the other Water Tribe women in.
When they broke free of this particular celebration a few moments later Ayika threw her arms around Mizumi's shoulders, laughing as the stress of the night had been forgotten even for a moment. Mizumi had to ask:
"What gods are you honoring down here?"
"Heh, the Bed doesn't have any gods. At least none we know of. By the standards of the City this place is positively new, only a few centuries. I guess sometimes people mockingly give thanks to the Kuang River for suffering imprisonment for our sake. But the River temples are all closed and these people left behind the spirits they knew in whatever homeland they came from." Now Ayika glanced up and caught sight of the corner of a vaulted aqueduct above the roofs ahead. Apparently, that was a landmark to her. "Come on, we're almost to my place!"
Ayika's home was at the very end of the Bed, at the edge of a half-moon pool of murky water that pressed against the foot of the river wall. Overhead in every direction Mizumi could see the supported pillars of canals and sewers that had been haphazardly extended to chase the departing river and now all converged above them towards the dam wall that marked the Kuang's reforming. There was less commotion here but there were still people out in the streets, sharing snacks and conversation with their neighbors in lieu of some of the more raucous parties. Now Ayika did remove her silver bangles and helped Mizumi with her own pricy ornaments, muttering something about her family believing some stories more easily than others.
As they stepped onto the shaky walkway in front of those low buildings seemingly built half of brick and half of ship timbers Ayika abruptly slowed. Mizumi didn't see her face but she could sense that Ayika was seized with sudden embarrassment for the poverty all around her. Miuzmi wanted to say something that would tell her friend that none of this bothered her, but before she could open her mouth a darker voice in the back of her mind whispered that it really did. There was a sharp line dividing their life experiences, one that would not allow its self to be ignored.
Then some people sitting on benches up ahead spotted them and Ayika transitioned into yet another personality. There were Ayika's parents and this was now Ayika-with-family. A strong looking man, his skin tanned far darker than Ayika's, called out cheerfully to his daughter in a rather thick accent Mizumi assumed was that of the North.
"You're back already!"
Ayika's mother looked up from where she had been fiddling with something on the ground near the wall of the apartment. "Ayika, who's this? And where'd you get those clothes?"
Ayika said, "Yeah, this is Yaki, she works in the back of the laundry. Her folks are from the United Republic. Yaki, my parents: Kadat son of Makon, and Maekayae."
Miuzmi began to reflexively bow, catching herself as she transferred into the style of of the Kingdoms instead of the Nation's forms. A young boy began to giggle before receiving a sharp look from his father. Mizumi focused on hiding her accent as she said, "It is very nice to meet you."
Maekayae made a sound of unidentifiable meaning. Then she nodded and looked back at her daughter. "And where exactly'd these fancy things come from? You're not snagging are you?"
"Mom! No! Anyakya's gets lots of fancy customers too and those folks are so picky. Things get a wine stain or a candle burn and they're all ready to throw them away. Boss let us girls have a pick of the discards they turned out so we could wear them tonight before she parts them out into normal clothes tomorrow. A little perk."
To Mizumi this story sounded very reasonable, but Maekayae had known Ayika much longer and only replied with a long, low "Hmmmm" of provisional acceptance.
Ayika hurriedly moved past that subject. "So what you all doing back here? Oakas get tired?"
Oakas piped up, "I'm not...!"
Maekayae gently but forcibly interrupted. "Hush, you are and you're going to bed soon enough. But right now we're doing the offerings for Grandma Aka. She always said the dead come closer on this night here. City land, city rules."
Ayika was surprised. "What? You were going to do that without me?"
"You were the one who was out who knows where. We weren't going to keep Oakas up till whenever you decided to come back."
"Hey! I said I was-"
Ayika's father Kadat broke in between the bickering mother and daughter. "Come on, Ayika's got a friend here. Let's not keep ol' mum waiting."
Mizumi stood awkwardly back a pace as the family moved in together to what Mizumi saw was a tiny little wooden shrine that had been set on the front stoop of the apartment. It held several strange carved figures and the shortest clipped incense sticks that Mizumi had ever seen. She supposed the sellers might charge by length. Maekayae set down a little plate of dried fish on the alter and then let Ayika perform the lighting, a peace offering of sorts. Ayika performed the little ceremony, saying something brief in the language of the Water Tribe.
When Ayika looked up Mizumi noticed her glance around briefly, as if searching for something. Then Ayika had a look of sadness pass across her face. But she turned back to her family and the expression was gone as if it had never been. There was a sense of comfort around them all. It was a simple, unobtrusive ritual, but it had power because they believed it did. Then it was over and the family returned to their drinks and snacks, chatting, joking, and chiding. Mizumi never knew Ayika's grandmother, but she was pretty sure any departed soul would have liked this.
Kadat made an effort to welcome Mizumi, under the name of Yaki, to join them in what remaining celebration there was. Mizumi tried to gracefully accept but Ayika had other ideas and instead drew Mizumi with her as they drifted off to the side, making an excuse of having already danced a lot. The little brother mimed drinking a bottle of something with a devious grin, which earned him another light tap from his father.
After a moment Mizumi saw Ayika gesture to her as she disappeared around the corner of the little apartment that bordered her family's. Mizumi followed to see Ayika climbing up some unevenly protruding boards that stuck out of the wall, taking care to direct her feet around the hem of her costume dress. Well, Mizumi was not about to let Ayika get away from her that easily. She followed Ayika up, hand over hand until she could lift herself up onto the roof. Mizumi saw Ayika casually walking across the battered and patched roof of tiles and planks.
Mizumi gestured down below their feet. "Are the people who live in this space beneath us going to appreciate us on this roof?"
Ayika laughed and her voice was soft and sweet.
"Nah, I saw them all down at the dance. And I used to come up here all the time when I was a little girl." She spun and sat down heavily as she leaned against a small plank propped up on the short chimney. She patted beside her and Mizumi picked her way across the roof to join her.
Ayika tilted her head back and looked at the few stars visible through the pervasive orange glow of the city. Mizumi sat beside her, shoulder to shoulder, trying to think of something clever to say. But then Ayika broke the silence herself.
"The Festival of Veils is a Kingdoms holiday. But holidays have power where they're believed in. The spirit world echoes that belief. I guess we saw that tonight. My grandma always said that when the line between this world and the spirit world is thin sometimes the dead can come back. I..." She turned her head away from Mizumi. "After everything we saw tonight, I guess in the corner of my mind I thought that when we got back I'd see her somewhere in the shadows. That this shaman ability would actually do me some good. I didn't even notice I was expecting that until I was disappointed."
Suddenly she forced a laugh, breaking the quiet wistfulness of her voice. "Ha! I know it was stupid. I had some ridiculous idea that she'd have met up with Lizhen and fetched him to come tell me how to stop the Masks and...everything else. She was the one who knew about spirits and such. But that's not how dying works, and dreaming that I could somehow put this city right is what put us in all this danger. Like I said, stupid. Thanks for coming up here with me Mizumi, I-"
Ayika suddenly broke off as Mizumi put her hand down firmly on Ayika's thigh, twisting to look her straight in the face. In the yellow light that filtered up from around the edges of the roof Ayika could see her earnestness.
"Do not say that you are stupid! Ayika, you are...You are more brave, more determined than anyone I have ever met. The person responsible for all these horrible things will be caught and when that happens you will have done more than anyone! More than I ever believed was possible to..."
Mizumi found herself rapidly losing track of the motivational speech as she was leaning very close to Ayika's face. She imagined she felt the other girl's pulse beating in the thigh beneath her hand and she was suddenly very glad they had removed those stupid masks. Ayika was looking back at her with the same expression of mingled fear, excitement, and disbelief.
Mizumi mumbled, "You have done so much that I..."
Neither of them moved. The distant parties in the tiny neighborhood squares of the Bed were by now dying down to the quiet of long delayed sleep and still neither of them moved.
Then a loud crack of an explosion rang across the sky with a flash of green light. Both girls jerked in sudden surprise and Mizumi's hand slipped down off Ayika's leg, causing her to slide sideways and fall, her shoulder slamming into Ayika's stomach as her head clipped Ayika's jaw. Ayika burst out into mixed peals of hysterical laughter and pained groans as Mizumi pulled herself up growling all the curses she had ever learned in any language to cover the overwhelming embarrassment. Then they both looked up as a second resounding crack announced the blooming of another brilliant flower of light in the sky.
"Fireworks," said Ayika amid the red and yellow flashes. "But Public Safety shut down the celebrations in Kuang Harbor. Who's shooting off fireworks?"
Mizumi groaned with sudden realization. "Trade Representative Tailang. He was sponsoring a display in the Exclusion and I suppose flaunting his superiority to local rules would simply be an additional bonus to him."
She returned to her position leaning against the chimney with Ayika, slamming her back into the board there with so much frustration that it almost bounced Ayika off. This set Ayika laughing again though she tried to hold it in. After a moment of stifled giggling Mizumi found herself joining in against her own will. They sat, each leaning against the other, as they watched the fireworks explode into life high above them.
...
Ayika didn't returned Mizumi to the Exclusion until very late that night, after even the most disruptive elements of the town had started to retreat to their beds out of exhaustion. After a good deal of searching down dark waterways, she had managed to wrangle up a canal-boatman who for an exorbitant fee would transport Mizumi all of the five hundred meters from his boat moor over to the Exclusion. It was possible that Mizumi's grandfather had given them up and her father was waiting to lock her up in a tower the moment she arrived at her mansion but at least she would be home and she would be safe. Ayika watched the boat row its slow way down the canal toward the red spikes of the still illuminated foreign towers that glowed out of an orange shadowed haze. Mizumi was holding the wrapped bundle of Ayika's costume in her lap and she twisted her mouth as if she was almost about to say something but then decided against it. Then they vanished around a turning on the water channel and Ayika abruptly felt all the weariness that she had been putting off come crashing down onto her heart.
When she returned to the Bed her brother Oakas was long since asleep, his confident declarations that he would stay up till sunrise having given way as they did each year. Ayika's parents were still awake, sitting near the black iron stove as it gave off its last residue of heat and they continued some quiet conversation. They must have been waiting for Ayika for as soon as she slunk through the door her mother picked up a single candle to light before they blew out the lamp in the main room. In the corner of her mind Ayika noted that her father seemed like he wanted to say something to her, but her mother just said they should all get to bed. Her mother was looking at her with some new expression of pity and attempted understanding that in her present state Ayika didn't have the energy to focus on now. Whatever it was she was sure that she would hear about it at great length the next morning.
But she didn't. In fact she managed to race off early towards Mama Mua's without hearing more than a few words from her parents. That was strange but Ayika was willing to take her victories where she could find them. Out of the Bed, on busy streets of the Harbor Town proper, Ayika heard a great many jumbled accounts of the events of last night. She heard that the Islanders had snuck into the Inner Ring and murdered a Minister of the King. She heard that Public Safety had summoned evil spirits to burn Kuang Harbor to the ground. She even heard some versions that sounded remarkably close to the truth, at least as she understood it.
Ayika was risking getting fired by going directly to Mua's instead of to her job at Anyakya's laundry. The night after a costume holiday would have to be a very profitable day for a cleaning business. However, Ayika couldn't risk Mua doing anything foolish that might get them all arrested, or rather anything else foolish. So she would just have to put her faith in the city's collective hangover to protect her late arrival at work.
Once she reached the little square dominated by the lone tree under the looming City Wall, Ayika saw that Mua's blue and white front door was intact which was at least a good sign that Public Safety hadn't arrived to drag the woman away for attempted murder. This only made it more surprising when she pushed open the shaman's door and saw an earthbending Dai Li agent sipping a cup of tea by the fire-pit.
Ayika froze as she stared at Ma'er. "What are you doing here?"
From across the dim room Mama Mua spoke up. "This's still ma house, right? I'm afraid Ah don't see where ya get to ask that question of my guests." She was clearly still exhausted but she looked better than Ayika had left her last night. The fiery personality that had drained away after the dramatic events was back, or at least a portion of it.
Mua's objection was valid but still Ayika felt she had to mention her own issue with with the man.
"He threatened to kill me twice, you know."
"Ha! He did? I knew Ah liked him for some reason. And for the last time, come all the way in and close the door. I swear, you and your friends are the worst about that."
Ayika complied but something about the way Mua had said that caught her attention. "Friends?"
"Yeah, another one of your rich girl palls and a couple wharf-rats. Brought this lunk in last night after he was apparently a lot worse at fightin' those possessed than we were."
Ma'er growled from his seat. "There were eight of them. And according to your own account you were almost beat to death by a single one."
Mua carelessly waved her hand. "Excuses."
A voice from the other end of the room spoke up. "Um, hi Ayika."
She whipped around, "Xiaobao?"
The large young man was indeed there, sitting in the corner away from the front door and looking as battered as Mua. He gave Ayika a worried look. "You aren't hurt are you? This woman wouldn't tell me what went down with you and her but it sounded like those Masks were involved too."
"Me hurt?! You look like you fell off a building! What happened? Wait, Masks 'too'? Why were you fighting the Masks? Where's Xinfei?"
Xiaobao vaguely gestured in reassurance. "Xinfei's fine. He went out really early this morning to escort Lili Gaoli back to her place. I'd have been out of here too if this one would let me." He pointed over a Mua.
"Shut ya whining. It's for your own good ya damn fool. The whole city is up in arms. The spirit world comin' this close is messing with everyone's head, even if they don't notice it. And Ah still want to give ya another healing session so ya don't go undoin' all of it again the first time ya sneeze or wipe your rear." Mua then whipped her head back around to glare at Ma'er. "And don't let me hear any of that from you!"
Ma'er had been completely silent but somehow Mua had still heard some amusement coming from him. Actually, as Ayika looked in the scarred man's eyes she might have seen a distant twinkle.
Then she turned back to Xiaobao. "Wait, why was Xinfei even out with Lili? What were they doing?"
Xiaobao's face darkened. "They discovered something, something you and your friend Mizumi should probably hear."
...