...

Chouyu's funeral had been held just before noon. Xiaobao helped carry the body to their local house of the dead. Usually it took much longer than this to secure the proper permits but by now even the Kuang Harbor funerary deputy had heard the rumors about spirits out on the streets at night. No one wanted to risk the spiritual backlash from putting off funeral ceremonies and the requisite papers were stamped in a flurry. So Chouyu got his clay disks over his eyes and was lowered into the narrow stone sepulcher. It was for appearances. Later, after everyone was gone, servants would remove his body and begin the process of reducing him down to the bones that would actually receive internment in the damp and overcrowded catacombs.

Not that any of it would help. If Ayika and that shaman woman were right then something was working to prevent the rituals from being effective. The city's dead remaining fractured, spirit and ghost prevented from reuniting and advancing on to the cycle of reincarnation. Everything was chaos and the living were already paying the cost. That was another thing the Masks were responsible for. The list was growing and Xiaobao felt each entry like a lead weight in his gut, replacing the aches of battle that Mua had healed away.

Surprisingly, this little ceremony had been well attended. Chouyu was aging, crude, and often drunk. Xiaobao would have called him a coward without a second thought and the man would have agreed. But that night he stood with the rest of the dockworkers as they faced the spirit-magic of the Masks. This morning, all those men and more had been there, along with Chouyu's equally grey-haired sister who looked like she might have preferred to be the one to do him in but nevertheless provided the appropriate bereaved wailing. However, out on the street outside the squat little brick temple there were other people, people Xiaobao had never seen before. Word had gotten out that a group of normal working men had stood up against the demons who tried to burn down the town. These harbor-dwellers had come to pay their respects.

As Xiaobao and the others exited the little temple he saw many of the people waiting outside nod their heads respectfully. It almost looked like those gestures were directed at him. Of course it could just have been that he was the one tall enough to stand out clearly from the other docks-men. That had to be it.

But that had been hours ago. Now the mourners were crowded into a large but cheap three-walled restaurant that specialized in these sort of occasions for the working-people of the town. They'd been there for quite while and those who were partaking of the bottles were by now getting very expressive in their grief. Xiaobao tried to join in the refreshments to get swept away from the anger growing within him but every sip reminded him of the taste of Chouyu's Islander liqueur that night. He wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone, but still people kept coming up to him.

"It's dreadful what happened. Just dreadful."

Xiaobao didn't know this man but the stranger kept talking all the same. "You guys were out protecting the place and this is what you get, while now the guards are on a flipping rampage! And not against the witches that did this either. Nah, greenies just lashing out at anyone they see on the streets. I guess their superiors just want to see bodies in cells and people like us are a lot easier to catch than evil spirits."

Xiaobao muttered something along the lines of what he'd been saying all day. "We weren't trying to do anything. Just wanted to keep everything safe. Just watch out for our homes."

Somehow these meaningless words seemed to resonate with the man. He smiled, "Right you are. People were saying The Bao was the man and I see they got it right. I'm a harbor man myself and I still remember your father, sure I do. Not the biggest fan of those Islanders but when it comes to this I know where I stand. We all do." With that he turned and walked back out of the restaurant, nodding his head as he did so.

It hadn't just been harbor-dwellers who showed up. There were even some citizens from the Lower Ring who'd come down here to spend a little while in this dingy restaurant on a narrow side street. People across the city were nervous. They were afraid, and the story the Masks was spreading and growing with each telling. Another strange thing was also spreading. Xiaobao had seen quite a few people with black headbands wrapped around their foreheads. The headbands had two holes cut in them like the costume mask he'd been wearing that night during the fight at the train-yard. A lot of the neighborhood watch men were wearing them, but Xiaobao couldn't bring himself to ask about that. Enough people were hiding their faces these days, if some people wanted to make a statement about raised masks then he might as well let them.

The watch now had quite a few more members than it had a few hours ago. Things were happening quickly and no one actually seemed to think it was necessary to refer any of these expansions to their nominal leader. Xiaobao slumped back down at the table just as he saw his brother poke his head through the crowd that still packed the street outside.

Xinfei was irritated after shoving through who knew how many mourners. "Gah, what are all you people doing here? Come on! Yes, Maolin Bao's my brother, what of it? I work with these people so just...let...me!"

With a last grunt of exertion Xinfei managed to enter the restaurant and spot his brother.

Xiaobao looked up and said, "You missed the funeral."

"I know, and I'm sorry." Xinfei was still turning around to look back at the crowd outside the restaurant as if he expected someone else to appear. "I was supposed to be back before it started but...well, something came up."

Xiaobao lowered his brow. "I'd have thought better of you. Chouyu knew you your whole damn life. You know he was friends with dad. What could have...?" He broke off suddenly as he recognized the two young men who had just forced their way through the crowd to find a spot behind Xinfei. They looked very nervous and Xiaobao's fist tightened involuntarily to prove those instinct scorrect. These were two of the student nationalists; direct allies of the Masks.

"What are those-?!"

"Woah, hold on." Xinfei put a hand down on Xiaobao's arm. "Believe it or not, I don't think you're going to want to do that." He gestured over to the plainclothes students, for once not wearing their black and white uniform robes. "Lili sent them. That's what held me up. There's been a bit of a change of heart."

Zhangyi stepped forward and bowed his head slightly to Xiaobao. "We heard about..." He looked around and took time to carefully compose his words. "Miss Gaoli convinced us about who was really behind the...the political actions. We've been dissatisfied for a while so this betrayal actually..." He broke off again as he looked very uncomfortable. "Actually, could we move to a less dangerous location? This crowd looks one step away from an uprising. I haven't seen those black headbands before but I can recognize hostile symbology when I see it."

Xiaobao pushed himself up to his feet in anger. He growled, "Hostile? Dangerous? Where do you get off saying that? With what you've been behind?" All the frustration that had been building up in his chest was boiling forth. He looked down on Zhangyi and his friend.

He spoke in a low muffled tone but his voice rose with every word. "So, it's 'political action' when citizens do it, but when us down here have had enough with the city ignoring us and ring-dwellers tearing up everything, then it's hostile? We normal people want to protect ourselves and it's dangerous? Well, too bad. That 'glorious past' you and your friends are so keen on protecting didn't have us in it!" Xiaobao knew that this speech was muddled and confused. He had never been a great speaker, but these words were in his heart and somehow some of the meaning got out past his clumsy tongue.

Many of those wearing the black bands were watching the little group now. Xiaobao frowned and tried to reign in his anger again. Under it all he knew the university boys were right to be worried about coming here. Things would go badly if this crowd found out half of who they were. Xiaobao breathed out and said, "Sure, let's go somewhere else to talk." But before he moved his feet he turned to his friend sitting at the table. "Li, get me one of those headbands. I seem to have misplaced mine."

It was just a gesture driven by useless anger, but as Xiaobao yanked tight the knot on that black band a low cheer rose up somewhere within the crowd in the narrow street. It didn't quite catch on but neither did it die, and the quiet acclimation spread out down the crowded alleys like ripples.

Xiaobao led the way and let Xinfei bring the two rich boys along behind as they made their way to a less crowded street. The only sound was the occasional squelching splash as Zhangyi or Jiang showed their inexperience in navigating these ill-drained streets. Xiaobao was still fuming and he thought the students sensed this as they were at least not trying to speak with him right now. They crossed a small, arching stone bridge over a thin brown water channel clogged with canal boats and pushed past a precarious stack of woven reed baskets in front of a tiny shopfront. However, just as Xiaobao was giving the rich-boys credit for a small bit of silent wisdom Zhangyi pulled up to match his pace and said, "You know, we are...were trying to protect the people too."

There was a soft smack of Xinfei's hand meeting his forehead as Xiaobao turned around to face Zhangyi. Xiaobao spoke through clenched teeth. "Speaking of that, where are your fancy spirit masks? According to Xinfei you should have a bunch of them handed over by that Islander you work for. Hasn't that been your plan? Hand them out, cause a lot of random destruction?"

Jiang broke in, speaking up in his own defense. "Hey, we never trusted those artifacts much from the beginning. We just wanted to show people of how the government ministers were making policies against the citizenry's best interest. And now it's..." He changed what he was going to say. "Chonglong took those masks, but something's happened to him. I wonder if that's what the Trade Representative..."

"Figures." Xiaobao tried to sound merciless, but in his heart he felt a twinge of pity. He remembered meeting Chonglong. The young man had been big and full of bluster, but Xiaobao remembered the inhuman voices of the Masks who attacked the Miohuito factory. Could he really blame someone for what they did in that state, even if they willingly put the mask on their face? Xiaobao felt his anger draining away. Now he just felt tired again.

"Xinfei, why are they here?"

His brother opened his mouth to speak but Zhangyi interjected. "We're here because we still want to help the people. That Fire Nation... The leadership of our former organization was compromised against our knowledge, but we would still like to make amends. We have always wanted to help the people who are being victimized. Now we see there's a more immediate concern to be rectified before we focus on the industrial competition issue. Tailang's plot must be exposed but until it's uprooted many people are at risk. A grass-roots organization for coordinated citizen action is powerful but could always benefit from expertise in the methodology of civil protest."

Xiaobao blinked. He'd missed at least half of that. "Grass? We're not..."

Xinfei finally got his words in. "He means they've read a lot of books on how to do this sort of neighborhood watch political stuff without ending up in a Public Safety cell. Not that their record's very stellar there." He raised an eyebrow at the two students.

"You know better than any that the student committee was set up." Jiang said, snapping back at him. "Right now the only way we have a chance of helping those guys who were arrested is to expose what Trade Representative Tailang has been doing. That is what you're planning to do? You are working for Gaoli's, right?"

Xiaobao reluctantly knew that they were at least a little sensible. He didn't know what he was doing down here. It was only a matter of time until the guards noticed all these people wearing black headbands and the government had never looked too kindly on the common people organizing in the streets. He nodded gruffly.

Xinfei took advantage of that moment of silence. "Keeping people organized on the street so they don't tear each other apart is one thing, bringing down the top foreign official in the country is another. We need to meet with Lili and Ayika. And Mizumi too, I guess. And that witch Ayika's been working with if we have to. We all need to have a serious talk."

...

They were a motley group who met in Mama Mua's now rather cramped main room. Under the clunking reefs of wooden charms hanging from the rafters they joined to plan their move. On one side of Ayika were the two rich girls, surrounded on each side by the Bao brothers and the university boys, all of them facing the two benders, Nia Mua and Duoli Ma'er. That mismatched pair were looking oddly comfortable together, even though both were covered with still healing bruises and cuts from their fights with the Masks. There must be some brotherhood among those who could kill you with a single gesture. With everyone else looking hesitant to leap into this jumble of uncertain loyalties, Ayika elected to take control.

"All right, so according to Mizumi's Fire Sage, this spiritual crisis isn't going to get any better on its own. Ma'er's assistant Tian's still got Naruhama's burial mask which is powering all this, and even Ma'er doesn't know where that boy is. With it still out there the masks are just going to keep getting stronger" She found herself rubbing a finger against her temple. "But f we can't take away the Masks' power then we have to hit the leadership. The boys can testify that they heard Tailang admit to leading the Masks, and Lili can back up that all it happened. The guards'd have to hand on him over accusations of treason from three good Middle Ring families. If they arrested those other students on basically nothing then they'll certainly want to get a lockup for the master of the Masks. Look, it's crazy but that's the only chance I can see."

Mizumi was even less confidant. "Yes, but your city's enforcement personnel cannot enter the Exclusion, and Representative Tailang has shown no sign of being willing to exit it recently. How is he going to be arrested?"

Mua grunted. "That's showin' sense, for him. If he disrupted a burial ceremony like that sun priest says then Tailang shines like a target to all the spirits crossin' over these days. The disruption centers around the ghost mask but all spirits will be drawn to him, and they'll be angry. He'll be stayin' close to some place he's got warded up tight." A pause stretched as the rest of them considered exactly what they were facing.

A moment late the silence was broken. "There is one opportunity." Lili said from over in the corner. "Several days ago Tailang was very insistent in inviting my father and I to come to a special opera that's being hosted in a Kuang Harbor playhouse. Apparently, he's a big fan of theater. I guess that's how he could put on accents like he did to disguise himself and trick you boys, but anyway he should be leaving the Exclusion for that performance. He's invited so many Ba Sing Se personages that he has to show up or else it will be a significant sign of weakness, not to mention bad manners."

Zhangyi was instantly caught this excitement. He joined in, saying, "Yes. At the Silver Snake Theater? That's actually perfect. I've heard the Portmaster and other government officials are going to be there so there will be plenty of city guards on hand. In fact, with all the tension lately, there will probably also be a Public Safety agent or two hidden nearby. The Trade Representative will not have any chance to escape back to his refuge in the Exclusion."

The others turned to look at Ma'er, their perpetually glaring statue in the corner. He reluctantly nodded in agreement. "That may be the best opportunity. But a public confrontation like that is risky. A man's most dangerous when he thinks he's been cornered and those spirit masks are compact enough to sneak in almost anywhere. He could try to break containment." A small gesture set off twinges from his remaining bruises, souvenirs of his last fight. Mua glared at him, daring him to undo what her healing had patched.

"The spirits'll only get more powerful with each passin' night. And Ah've got no more favors to cash in to knock those possessed out of that. But sure, I'll be there at your play to do whatever I can. If Tailang killed Erliao for me then Ah'd be willin' to return the favor."

Xinfei held up his hands as he noticed how they'd suddenly jumped topics to murder. "Woah, woah, hold on. Look, it'd probably be smart to have you two benders stationed outside just in case, but this is all insanely dangerous. If the leader of the masks is venturing out of his hidey hole for a night of opera then why exactly do you think he'll be on his own? This could go south really quickly."

In the corner, Xiaobao had been silent but now he spoke up in his usual thoughtful and distant way. Under his new black headband this tone was now inflected with an ephemeral sense of power and significance. "Those Masks didn't look in control of themselves last time. The Initiated might be hesitant to use their masks now that they've noticed they're getting possessed, but if they end up where they've got no choice then the town could be at risk. The best I can do is try to make sure the guys set some people up outside the playhouse to keep an eye on things, and make sure that any chaos doesn't get the guards turning on the normal people in the confusion. We don't want a riot."

Jiang said, "Right. The gathering the black headbands is a good idea. Even if everything goes perfectly, such a major political arrest could send things spilling out of control. Do you really think the Fire Nation government is going to automatically believe this story?"

Mizumi shook her head, "They will not. At least not at first. But once Representative Tailang is in Earth Kingdom custody then Fire Safe Huitzlan will be able to safely tell what he knows of the conspiracy and that will begin to convince people. However, that first night will be dangerous. The arrest might even be seen an act of war."

Ayika nodded, "This whole idea's risky. There's a thousand moving parts but that's why there'll be five of us inside the playhouse. I'll go with Mizumi as her lady's-maid, Lili will bring Zhangyi and Jiang along with her."

Zhangyi started to say something to the effect that propriety would indicate the man escorting the woman but he caught sight of Ayika's expression quickly enough.

She continued. "Right, so it sounds like a lot of important people are going to be out for this play; means we'll have plenty of witnesses all ready. Three citizens pressing charges against a foreigner should be enough for an arrest. Though I'm worried about the guards being able to keep hold of Tailang if he gets scared enough to put on a mask, if he has one with him."

Ma'er stood up. "You're right to worry. But I...have contacts. I will send a message that will ensure the Public Safety Agency has a presence at this performance."

"Won't that spook Tailang and the other Islanders into not coming?"

Ma'er leveled a dark look at her. "Agents will not be seen. They will only reveal themselves once affairs threaten to slip out of control."

"Well that's pretty damn certain to happen." Mua muttered half to herself, half to the group at large. She turned towards Ayika. "Haven't ya felt it? The spirits are already creepin' out through every crack, messin' with all the minds they can reach out to touch. Our world affects the spirit world and their world pushes us just the same. The harbor, the Lower Ring, it's all out of whack. So sure, get your dockyard buddies, whisper to all your king-men buddies. But be ready anyway. Don't expect people to be actin' normal."

...

The Silver Snake playhouse sat in Kuang Harbor south of the hulking, green-roofed customs building that marked the tram line terminus. Though near that neighborhood of varied and aged government funded architecture on Temple Street, the playhouse was home to a different type of worship. In the dark after sunset the structure appeared to have burst up from the buildings around it, large, square, and gleaming with ten thousand lamps shining off brilliant decorations of silver and green paint. This was the exuberance of new money, loud and garish in the night. City guards were stationed out front watching the endless chain of carriages waiting to drop off passengers. The guards also spared a few nervous glances at the murmuring crowds of harbor-dwellers who'd been gathering at nearby cross-streets in every direction. Those black headbands were worrying.

The silk swathed theatergoers who stepped down from their foreign-made carriages were not residents of the harbor. They'd been drawn from the culturally disparate sources of the distant Middle Ring, the nearby Exclusion, and everywhere in between that might be home to lots of money. There were even a scant few noble aficionados who'd chanced the long ride out from the Inner Ring to see this theater troop from that newly named United Republic. Such disreputable outsiders were banned from performing within the city proper, so the draw of the exotic was irresistible. After all, with the current political climate it was impossible to say when another foreign acting troop would arrive. As the patrons swept into the theater's shining grand entranceway they shared excited murmurs about the fright they'd experienced seeing all those banded ruffians out in the street. Organized poor people were always so scary.

Tetzamatl Miohuito entered the building one step ahead of his daughter. Mizumi had tried to gain his permission to attend the performance with only a servant chaperone but after all the disruptions that were sweeping the city her father had listened to precisely none of her arguments. Still, it was evidence of his love for her that he agreed to take her to the play himself, and that he'd hurried to hire her the lady's maid she had selected as said chaperone and second set of watchful eyes.

It was under that auspice that Ayika stepped into the carpeted mezzanine lit by a hundred glass housed lamps. Despite her best efforts she still felt very conspicuous in this new blue dress. It was unadorned and so dark it was nearly black, as benefiting a servant, but still far finer than any uniform she'd worn before. It was also cut in the Fire Nation influenced styles of the day's high fashion and that emphasized certain parts of Ayika that she felt could have done without without the focus. The top incorporated a very short vest-like cape that was artfully cut to show off her bust and then at her hips there was another superfluous bit of cloth like a half skirt that flared in the back. The clothes were necessary of course, it would have been suspicious to see Mizumi Miohuito's companion dressed any less well. Not that Ayika imagined anyone would be looking at her tonight. At home in the Exclusion, Mizumi might prefer to wear the loose silk trousers and military cut tops that so many of the Islander women chose, but for an event out in the Kingdom she'd ordered something special.

In light of their mission tonight, Mizumi had evidently chosen for her outfit to make a statement of solidarity with the local population. What she wore could possibly be considered a traditional golden brocade qipao of the Kingdoms' fashion, though Ayika had to imagine that any traditional Kingdoms lady who saw this might have fainted on the spot. The collar fastened high on Mizumi's neck but then split for quite a while before it rejoined just above her chest. The rest hugged tightly to her skin, and though the lower hem reached down to her ankles it seemed a rather futile effort since the walking slits extended up six centimeters above her knees. Her arms were bare to the shoulder, save for Islander-style armbands around her forearms which were studded with enough gold plated ornaments and thick enough to disguise that something sharp might be hidden under them.

Ayika still raised her eyebrows from time to time at in amazement that Mizumi's father was this permissive. His bland acceptance of this outfit only raised questions as to what exactly was normal dress over in the Fire Nation. In the back of her mind, Ayika thought that those islands might be a nice place to visit.

The Miohuito party just had come from the Exclusion but even so Lili managed to arrive before them. Ayika spotted her across the theatre lobby, wearing a shimmering pale green dress and having an exaggeratedly normal conversation with Zhangyi and Jiang who both looked unusually well-outfitted. Lili must have taken it upon herself to provide them with costumes for the mission since they couldn't wear their black and white university uniforms here. The two boys looked uncomfortable in their own skin. Of course, they were about to accuse a powerful foreign dignitary of murder, sabotage, and spiritual atrocities so it was possible they weren't just worried about the new jackets.

Lili had been watching the theater's main door and so quickly called out when she saw the others enter, "Oh, Mizumi Miohuito! How good to see you! I haven't seen you at the school in weeks!"

Mizumi gave a quick look up at her father who frowned but nodded his head. As Mizumi stepped away Mister Miohuito met Ayika's eyes with a commanding stare to which Ayika nodded in response. She was here to protect Mizumi, in that they were in perfect agreement. Then she hurried off to the others.

"All right," Lili said as the conspirators joined together, Ayika standing slightly behind Mizumi and with lowered eyes as benefited an employee. "Tailang hasn't arrived yet but the place is crawling with city guards. There are also one or two particularly dour looking men among the guests who might be Public Safety but of course there'd be no way to know. One little thing. Unfortunately, for our little confrontation plan to work we need to know exactly where the Representative will be sitting and none of the servants seem knowing or willing to tell me. Zhangyi and Jiang will be caught for sure if they go wandering around the halls to burst into random viewing boxes."

The two boys had been hanging back together but now Zhangyi finally acceded to Lili's rapid gestures and joined her and Mizumi. As he came up he spoke seriously despite keeping a wide smile on his face for appearances. "Jiang and I can't remain out here in the front. Tailang's met us. He'd recognize our faces in an instant. Even if he does not think we know that he's behind the Initiated he might guess that something is up. We need to already be in position before he arrives."

Jiang was keeping track of the bigger picture involved in their scheme tonight. He looked over at Ayika. "Are your friends, Xiaobao's people, stationed outside in case things start getting out of hand? Or in case we need to make a run for it?"

She nodded. "Xiaobao's guys are there and Xinfei's with the two benders." Actually the number of black headband wearers Xiaobao had been able to gather on such short notice and little explanation was slightly alarming. Somehow the headbands had made it all seem more dangerous. Like the harbor was arming itself for war. But Ayika didn't mention these worries. No reason to give the university boys yet another reason to distrust the poor.

Mizumi murmured in approval. "That is good. And as for finding Representative Tailang's location..." She looked around the lobby. "Lili, by any chance do you know where the entrance to the behind stage is?"

When met with a circle of raised eyebrows, she elaborated. "The Representative is to be the most highly ranked personage in attendance, correct? I believe that in such cases theatre performers know in advance which location will hold the most important viewer so that they may direct their acting towards that spot. The actors will know, and they generally have less concern for rules of privacy than the staff out in the front might. At least, that is how it is in the Nation."

Lili frowned. "And how do you know that?"

Mizumi looked slightly guilty. "Er, truthfully? I read all of that in a novel."

Still, it was the best idea they had. Ayika nodded, "Right. Lili? Stash the boys. We can't risk them being seen before we make our move. Mizumi and I'll find out the seating info and then get it back to you to tell these two. All right? Let's go."

What she declined to mention was the incredible sense of trepidation that had settled down in her stomach. She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end and she could only hope that it was just fear. Mua was right about feeling the spirits touching this world. The spiritual crisis was getting worse and they would only have one chance to get this right. Everything was coming to a head. Tonight the conspiracy would fall.

It had to.

...