A Guide To Mending Broken Wings

by The Greatest Show

Cross-post of my first Genshin Fic from Ao3. What are those who love a bird to do when their wings are broken and their heart is scarred? What can they do when the bird knows only to push themselves and struggle forwards as they try to flap their mangled wings? Well that is what we are hear to see my friends, for here is a story of healing those broken wings.

4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Step 4: Make Sure That The Birb Has A Safe Environment To Recover In, And That They Are Made As Comfortable As Possible

Author's Note: Hello everyone, we are sorry for the lengthy delay with this chapter, we lost ourselves to several games and life lol. In all seriousness we are sorry for the lengthy delay, we are not the best at punctual updates or even consistent updates or posts in general, we primarily update when the mood and or inspiration for the fic we are working on strikes us.

With all of that said, let the show begin.

It was with the popping of a cork and a truly horrid sharp scent that the Tengu was once more awoken from her slumber, a low cough leaving her lips as she instinctively tried to push away the source of the sharp smell as she sat up once more, soft silken hands gently aiding her in doing so.

For several moments she sat there, a low cough leaving her lips as the same wonderfully soft hands delicately rubbed soothing circles on her back as she caught her breath and expelled the last of the horrid scent of those damnable smelling salts, allowing for the pleasant aroma of sakura petals and ozone to replace it for several moments before she allowed herself to turn to see the Guuji Miko lean back into her seat beside the Shogun, who Sara noted was also leaning back as well.

For the sake of not having to endure the horrid stench of those damn salts again the Tengu tried her best to distract herself from the borderline heretical thoughts that her god and her chief priestess had ordained it a necessity to aid her in sitting up and catching her breath.

As she sat there catching her breath and letting her still somewhat addled mind catch up to the reality of her current situation the young tengu found herself pondering just how long it was that she had been adrift amidst the waves of fevered delirium that had engulfed her and just how much work had been allowed to pile up on her desk as she laid in her bed.

"Your Excellency, just how long have I been asleep?" The young tengu asked as she tried to stand once more, only for her to feel her legs go slack as she found herself falling back down onto the bed she had been resting on as her god answered her.

"Sara…you've been asleep for almost 3 weeks," The Almighty Shogun spoke to her as she gazed at her with concerned violet orbs, the Guuji beside her sharing in her look of concern as they took in the shocked and vaguely horrified expression that had come to engulf the Tengu's face as she allowed for the words that she had just heard to echo within ehr mind as though they were cries echoing amidst a yawning cavern.

'3 weeks.'

'3 weeks?'

'3 WEEKS!?'

For several moment silence held fast an iron grip on the medical room as those present saw the young tengu's face contrast into an expression of sheer dread and horror as she calculated just how munich work had accumulated during her fevered delirium, and just how much trouble she could have caused Her Excellency by allowing for her own weakness to overwhelm her and prevent her from doing her job in service to the Shogunate.

Of course it all made sense ot her now why her Shogun and her Priestess were here, to reprimand her for allowing for herself to be unable to uphold her oath to the Shogun and to more than likely administer a suitable punishment to her for allowing for her own frailty to cause issues to the Shogunate and its people.

With great effort the Tengu managed to rise from her sitting position and fall to her knees in a seiza position before the Shogun and her Guuji, her ears not registering their protests or the doctors scoldings as she pushed her forehead against the cool wooden floor of the medical room, her mind racing with dreadful possibility after possibility as she tried to quell the pounding and racing of her heart long enough for her to be able to speak to her lady and her priestess without stammering.

"I humbly beg your forgiveness for not being able to fulfill my duties as a result of my weakness Almighty Shogun, I will accept any punishment you deem necessary for my failings." Came the still raspy voice of the Tengu, the amount of and severity of her coughs had insured that even with medicine her throat would be sore for some time, and yet the aching pain did nothing to hinder the words that she was quick to speak as she pressed her forehead against the floor with such force she was certain that she would have splinters lodged deep into the flesh were the floor not as well maintained as it was.

For a moment there was silent stillness as the Archon and her priestess looked down at the kneeling general with their eyes as wide as the sun that hung high above the eternal land, though so few of its golden rays were able to warm the land as much of it yet lay covered under roiling gray clouds that had only just begun to part, as they let the words of the general echo in their minds for several moments.

Baizhu could feel the moment that the words finally sunk into the minds of the two women as he felt the hairs on his body begin to rise as static electricity began to fill the room as the few spots where the sun would shine through the clouds were soon devoured by a newly formed wave of stygian clouds as thunder echoed as hellish trumpets from on high as the Electro Archon's eyes began to burn violet with bolts of electro dancing around her iris' as they leapt from her pupils even as her priestess gazed down at the woman before her with an expression that seemed to be a crossbreed of heartbreak and frustrated grief in her own dull violet orbs.

For a moment the pharmacist contemplated flinging himself out the nearby window and leaving Changsheng to endure whatever storm was soon to break loose within the confines of the room alone as payment for how much joy the serpent had found in his misery amidst his stay in Inazuma…and yet a larger part of him told him that he would need the snake to help run the pharmacy once he managed to leave this demented nation and so he reached to grab the snake just as-

The electro archon took from her chair and knelt down to where she was before the general, whose yet weakened frame trembled with effort as she fought to hold herself in position, and gave a sad sigh as she reached out her hand to gently cup the chin of her general as she lifted her head to where their eyes met, the tengu going still as she saw the sadness written in the beautiful violet orbs that stared down at her as the archon stared at her for but a moment longer before she pulled the general into another embrace.

Sara idly wondered if her mind had been reduced to nothing but a puddle of sludge by the intensity of her fever, as she felt the oh so soft caress of the silk that made up the Shogun's attire as her arms, so much smaller and leaner than her own, wrapped themselves around her as she heard the Shogun softly whisper into her ear-

" Sara," and oh how just hearing her name from the lips of her god, so tantalizingly close to her ear, made her wish to fall apart and let the yet lingering traces of exhaustion and the aches of her not quite gone illness bid her collapse into her deity's arms and rest but she knew better than to even consider such a thing, "I am not here to punish you and nor will there be any punishment for you, this I swear on my honor and name as the Archon of Electro," the Goddess of Eternity finished as she leaned back to meet her general's gaze.

It tore at the hearts of both the Archon and her puppet to see a look of such genuine confusion writ in bold within those wondrous golden orbs as the Tengu looked between her and the Guuji who watched them with a sadness present in her violet orbs, a sadness that persisted even when a determination swelled and crested within her brightening violet orbs as she moved to help Ei and Sara up and guide the two of them to sit on the bed, a sharp glance in his direction enough to tell the doctor to vacate the room for the time being so they could speak with their bird in private.

Baizhu would later tell Qiqi that he had never moved as fast as he did then at any previous moment in his life, changsheng nearly being cast from his shoulders and to the ground due to the speed at which the Liyuen pharmacist moved as he bolted out the door.

As the door slammed shut with as much force as a lesser thunderbolt and the rapid fire pitter patter of pharmacist's footsteps faded away into silence, the young tengu found herself wondering just what was to happen to her as her lady sat beside her as the Guuji returned to her seat across from her, though she dragged it closer to her so that she could rest her hands on Sara's own, the tengu jolting slightly at the sensation of the smaller and much more delicate palms being placed against her own calloused and rough ones.

For several moments longer there was silence in the room, the shroud of it so thick that Sara idly wondered if she could cut it with a sharp object, as the Electro Archon and her priestess seemed to take their time in sharing a silent conversation spoken but in glances and body language until there came a light tug on her shoulder that bid her turn to meet the swirling violet orbs of her god once more.

"Sara, why do you believe I would punish my most loyal general for falling ill because of her clan's incompetence?" The Almighty Shogun asked her, her lips practically spitting out the word 'clan' as though it was a curse so foul that the mere intonation of a single syllable of it made her mouth fill with the foul taste of acrid bile.

For a moment Sara simply blinked as she looked into those burning and wondrous violet orbs as she allowed the words that her Shogun had just spoken to echo in her head, after several moments of simply staring into those hauntingly beautiful orbs that were oh so close to her she saw the Shogun tilt her head, a look of concern etching itself across her face as she turned to look at the Guuji as she asked her-

"Miko, did I say something wrong?" And the look of confusion writ across the face of her goddess was just so adorable to her that the tengu felt a faint heat begin to rise to her cheeks even as she cursed herself for allowing her control of herself to slip so much that she would dare to show such a reaction before the almighty one that she was sworn to serve.

The kitsune, who had thus far been silent, could not have stopped the smile that began to form on her face if she had wished to, her lips curling as a feeling of mirth brought a much needed relief to the weight that had been curled across her shoulders like a great serpent when she had seen how the Tengu before her had reacted to seeing the two of them when she had awoken, and though the weight did not fade completely it did deteriorate such that she could bring herself to smile as she responded to the question that the her ever dense lover had asked of her.

" I don't know Ei, why don't you try leaning in closer and asking her again?" The kitsune said, her smile only growing when she heard a startled squawk leave the lips of the Tengu as she turned to shoot her a brief glare before she managed to at last choke out a response to the question that her god had asked of her.

"I apologize your excellency," Sara said as she fought to calm the stampeding of her heart in her chest, giving a light cough and swallowing slightly as she tried to combat the hoarseness of her throat enough so that she could speak above a hoarse whisper, from the corner of her eye she spots the Guuji pouring another glass of water before she holds it out to her.

With a thankful nod and grateful eyes sent towards the Guuji her response, Sara reaches out and takes the cold glas, her fingers softly brushing against the Guuji's own digits as she takes the glass and brings it to her lips, the coolness brining a welcome relief to her aching throat, enough so that she could speak up with only minor soreness making her voice slightly hoarse.

"Apologies, again your excellency," Sara says as she takes a breath before she asks the Shogun, "What did you say again your excellency, I was not completely paying attention at the time" Shame tinged the general's voice as she hastily averted her gaze from her god's blazing violet orbs lest she catch sight of judgment and wrath enveloping them as she realized how unattentive her subordinate had be-.

She felt a smooth hand cup her cheek, the cool silken skin of her Shogun's fingers lightly brushing against her cheeks before a palm smooth and soft, yet somewhat rigid with the calluses that one would expect of a warrior of the Raiden Shogun's caliber lightly cup her now flushing cheek.

A low gasp leaves her lips as her eyes dart towards the face of her Shogun once again, yellow orbs catching sight of one of the irises coming alight with burning violet, arcs of lightning dancing along the pupil to the rim of the iris as though a lightning storm rages in the eye, to show that the Shogun now stared through the orb while the other remained a bright, yet not glowing, violet to show that it was the archon herself who stared at her through it.

The tengu fought a gasp at the sight as she saw the shogun's lips quirk into a small smile as she leaned forward, tilting her head up so that her lips could lightly brush against Sara's ear as she decided to humor her familiar's earlier advice, a glance out of the corner of her eye catching a shocked expression crossing her familiar's face for a moment before a beaming smile cross Miko's face as she saw Ei lean in close to the general.

Maybe there was hope for her airheaded friend after all.

"I asked why you assume that I would punish my most loyal general for falling ill," came the soft voice of the Shogun, each word caressing the ears of the tengu who had gone a red as the blood that had seeped from her open wounds as she felt the divine breath of her Shogun so close to her.

For a moment her mind once again turned into nothing but a mass of sludge that seemed fit to seep from her ears and leave her as nothing more than a mindless puppet as she registered the warmth of her god's words, the softness of the silk of her dress, and the smoothness of her skin as it lightly brushed against her own.

Yet, by a sheer force of will born of the desire to not make a mockery of herself before her Shogun and the Guuji yet again the general was able to reign in herself and listen to the words her excellency had spoken into her ear, her mind processing them as a frown game to rest on her face as she offered up what she assumed to be the obvious answer to her ladies question.

"It was standard practice for my clan to discipline me if I ever fell ill as it caused them to have to waste time and resources on healing me in addition to me being unable to be trained or on the field for the duration of-" Her words died on her lips as the entire room blazed with light from the windows for a brief moment as lightning struck from on high and she heard and felt an almighty crack of thunder echo across the land with such force that she feared that Narukami island itself had been torn into pieces by the blinding flash of lightning brought about by her excellencies anger.

Of course it was not just her lady who felt malice swell within her at the Tengu's words, as the snarl that echoed within the room, though having been partially drowned out by the thunder, yet loudly echoed in her ears as she could faintly see the eyes of the Guuji glowing with electro energy that burned and blazed a radiant pink as she leaned in to place her smooth palms on the general's arm as she took deep breaths to calm herself.

For several moments there was not but the startled and confused gaze of the Tengu flickering between the two women as she tried to piece together just what had brought about such a reaction from them, her ears idly registering the Shogun mumbling something under her breath that faintly sounded like the words "Drawn and Quartered", and yet she could not be full certain of them as she soon found the Shogun leaning back to look into her eyes, her gaze rooting the tengu's own to the pair of violet orbs that burned with electro energy as they gazed into her startled amber orbs.

"That will not happen again," Ei said, a soft hand gently cupping the tengu's cheek, "you will not be disciplined for falling ill due to your clan's ineptitude in regards to their treatment of you my dear general." The Shogun said, her words bringing a flush to the general's cheeks as she looked at her Shogun with wide eyes, confusion beginning to filter into the amber orb as she looked at her god.

"Your excellency," the tengu began, swallowing slightly as she gave voice to the question that had been swirling within her mind since she saw her god and her priestess in the medical room she was being treated within, "If I am not to be punished for my fail-being ill," her words changed at the stern look her Shogun gave her, "then why is it that you and Guuji Yae have taken time from your duties to be here? Surely there are more important things to attend to then-"

A low growl came from the Guuji at her words, keen amber eyes detecting the drooping of vulpine ears and the glint of sadness that infected those brilliant violet orbs like a tumor as the Guujiu leaned in, her hands tightening their grip on the general's arm as she leaned in to where her burning violet orbs filled one side of Sara's vision while the shogun leaned in so that her own blazing violet orbs filled the other side of her view.

"No/No." The two women said at the same time, the single word causing the tengu to feel her heartbeat become far more erratic then it had already been, the thundering of it echoing within her chest and ears with such force that she was certain the two women before her could hear it as well as they looked at her with those wondrously burning violet orbs of theirs for several moments longer before they leaned back so that the tengu could take in a breath and steady herself.

Idly she wondered why she wished they had moved closer instead of further back.

"There is nothing as important to us as your health Sara," came the petal soft voice of the Guuji, and for once in her life Sara felt certain in saying that there was no teasing lilt to the kitsune's words nor hidden meaning or intention behind her words as the woman looked at her with those sad eyes of her as she held to her arm like a lifeline.

"When we found you…" The Guuji did not finish her statement, as she instead moved from the chair she had been seated in to sit beside her, the tengu jolting slightly as she felt soft arms wind themselves around her as the Kitsune pressed herself against her back, the warmth of her body making the tengu tense for a moment before she began to unconsciously relax into the warmth of the Guuji.

"I-I apologize for-" again she was cut off, this time by her god as she gave her a look of sterness that the tengu was certain even a vishap would have quelled under it, as she gently placed a finger against her lips to prevent her from continuing her statement as her god took a breath before she spoke to her.

"There is nothing for you to apologize for Sara, it is your clan that owes each of us a great deal for the incompetence they have demonstrated…a great deal that I intend for them to pay in full." The Shogun said, her words prompting a faint shiver to run down the general's spine as she took in the once more blazing orbs of her god as thunder rumbled once more as lightning again lit up the room.

Sara fought the urge to gulp as she nodded at her Shogun, a mixture of fear and another sensation that she could not truly name coursing through her, a sensation that made her cheeks flush as she looked into the radiant eyes of her god and imagined how-

'No, stop that!' Sara thought to herself as she shook her head for a moment to center her thoughts once more, before she opened her mouth to once more speak to her Shogun, a question had begun to build in her mind as she processed the words her Shogun and her Guuji had said in regards to her clan's treatment of her and just why it was that she was present within the Tenshukaku instead of her clan compound.

"Your excellency," Sara felt the urge to lick her lips as apprehension began to build in her, "What will happen to the Kujou Clan now?" The tengu asked, unease settling in her chest as she considered the second part of her question, "And what will become of…me?" The tengu finished as she looked into the eyes of the Shogun.

Faintly she registered the Guuji shifting behind her, soft arms wrapping around her and oh so achingly soft tails freed themselves from whatever spell hid them and draped around her as well, and it said a great deal that the tengu relished the sensation as much as she did as she saw the Shogun close her eyes for a moment before she answered the questions her beloved general had asked of her.

"Several members of the Kujou Clan have already faced tribunals for their actions, both in regards to their treatment of you and for their neglect in informing myself and Miko about how your health had deteriorated." For a moment Ei saw the soldiers that had dared try and block her way, and the one who had guarded the door of the room her general had languished within lay sprawled across the floor of the Tenshukaku, brought to their knees in agony as electro arched and danced through their bodies, their muscles and nerves contracting and spasming with such intensity that their bodies had to be carried out of the throne room by their comrades as they were taken to the dungeons to writhe in agony in the darkness like her general had been left to.

She could faintly recall the looks of terror that were written across the faces of those who had gathered within the throne room for the trial, the wya their eyes had been wide as the moon and their gaping mouths werte hidden behind their hands as they beheld an intimate glimpse of the cruelty that their god and Shogun was willing to visit upon those who had dared to wrong Her general.

She truly hoped the lesson remained with them for the rest of their mortal days, such that she would not have to worry about them making the same error that the Kujou clan members had done.

She had chosen to ignore the way that Miko had giggled when she had brought up that hopeful idea, the Kitsune mocking her for believing that the shock of the experience would overwhelm the natural stupidity that was inherent within the human species.

That the Shogun had agreed with a laugh of her own truly did make Ei worry about just how many times she may have to resort to such demonstrations before the message sunk into the minds of her people.

Idly she wondered whether or not the soldiers would leave the dungeon below her palace before their bodies succumbed to illness and wounds wrought both by her in the throne room, and by her Guuji in the shadows of the dungeons, where the walls were too thick to hear their cries for help as illusions snared their minds and made the scratch and claw and bite and tear at their own skin as their nightmares were made manifest afore them.

The Shogun may or may not have decided to give the kitsune a head pat and to praise her before withdrawing to take her shift watching over their tengu and the doctor who they had brought to heal her.

The sight of a flustered Miko gaping at the doorway that the Shogun had walked through with a blush on her cheeks was enough to allow for Ei to forgive Miko for going behind her back in exacting her own justice on the prisoners.

Ei shook her head leaving her reminiscing, her violet orbs alighting on her general, smiling comfortingly as she leaned in to take her hands into her own, softly tracing her fingers over the calloused palms of her general as she looked into those wondrous golden orbs, a calming smile being directed at the young general as she prepared to drop one of the pieces of information that she and Miko knew would cause their beloved general no small amount of shock.

Faintly she noted Miko tightening her grip on the general, her tails shifting to wrap her tighter in their own fluffy shielding embrace as the kitsune nuzzled into her neck, the general flushing scarlet at the act even as she unconsciously leaned into the Kitsune's embrace, her head lightly resting against Miko's own as she subconsciously nuzzled into the pink hair of the kitsune, the sight bringing a much wider smile to Ei's face, the sight even prompting the Shogun to let out a low coo within their mental space as well.

Ei decided to grant herself this brief silent moment of reprieve as she seared the image into her own mind before she cleared her throat, unable to hold back a light chuckle as she saw the way both kitsune and tengu jolted at the sound, violet and gold orbs turning towards her, the confusion in those orbs making her have to struggle to hold back another giggle at the scene before she resumed answering Sara's question.

"As for the rest of the clan, they will be placed under investigation while their antics in regards to both their treatment of you and any other potential schemes they may have decided to concoct as a result of their arrogant conception of being above my laws due to their place as one of the Tri-Commission's chief clans, a position that I promise you they will hold no longer if the results of the investigation displease me more than the current findings already have." Ei said, her words making the tengu's eyes open wide as the words echoed in her head, her mouth parting open as she registered the extent of the fate that may yet await her clan.

While she could not bring herself to say that she held any degree of true emotional attachment to them, she still felt indebted to them for having been kind enough to not only take her in but to aid in domesticating her to be able to live among humans as opposed to being nothing but a wild tengu.

She pointedly ignored the way old scars ached at the memory of their domestication training as she opened her mouth to try and speak on the clan's behalf before the Shogun, to try and assure her that the clan would surely not have made the mistakes that her fath-master Takayuki had…surely they hadn't been that foolish…

Right?

So why did the idea of the shogun turning her full gaze and the full investigative powers of the shogunate upon them fill her with such unease and dread?

Why did she feel a shiver run down her spine as she imagined the Shoguns tearing down the walls of the Kujou clan to lay bare their secrets before her all mighty gaze?

And why…why did some small part of her feel joy at the thought of it happening even as she attempted to ruthlessly stomp it into the dirt and filth where she was certain it belonged?

The unease and dread that the tengu felt must have been visible as she soon found the Guuji, whose tight embrace she was most certainly ignoring as she did not want to focus on the pleasant heat of the embrace, or the gentle softness of her arms, or the soft mounds pressing against her-

She shook herself from her thoughts before her face could imitate one of the braziers of the fortress-palace within which she currently resided as she felt the Guuji nuzzle into her neck, the velvet like softness of her lips lightly brushing against her skin for but a moment as the Guuji nuzzled into her neck and let out a low pur as she tried to comfort the worried bird encircled in her embrace.

Idly the kitsune thought of lending her own skills to the investigation into the clan, a way of making up for several of her many mistakes in regards to the woman in her arms, and a way of paying the Kujou Clan back for their impudence in regards to how they had deigned it necessary to treat both of those she had come to love, her verdict was still out on Raiden but she was starting to enjoy the puppet's company so perhaps…she would have to think on the matter more before she made up her mind.

But those were thoughts for a future that may be near or far, and not the present where within one of those she loved seemed to be nearing the edge of a drop into a fit of panic and anxiety, and so she stowed away those thoughts as she resumed her attempts at comforting the bird she held so close, smiling to herself as she felt her begin to relax in her arms.

"As for yourself," Ei began, her voice soft and gentle as she looked into those worried golden orbs, the unease that burned within them making her own heart clench as she offered a comforting smile as she waited for the tengu to relax further into Miko's embrace before continuing with the second piece of information she knew would cause her general some unease."You will remain in the Tenshukaku under myself and Miko's protection while you recover, during this time you will be on medical leave from your duties as a general and be regularly dropping in for check ups with the doctor we had the traveler convince to come here to tend to you until such a time as he confirms that you are fully healed."

The words of the Raiden Shogun echoed within the still chamber, and within the confines of the tengu's own mind for several moments, her heart ceasing to beat for several moments as she registered that she would not be able to be of use to the Shogun while she recovered in the palace's walls, her mind racing as she tried to think of a way to convince her excellency that this was all truly not necessary, that she could still be useful to her she just needed-

The protests died within her before they could ever be truly given life as she saw the glint of lightning of edged steel in the Shogun's eyes and knew well that there would be no quarter given in this matter, her sinking heart felt as though the only reason it had not plummeted into a deeper pit of despair at the thought of being so useless afore the Shogun was the knowledge that she would at least be permitted to remain at her lady's side as she rested.

Although the idea of Guuji Yae being trusted to look after someone and not wind up making their condition worse was something that the tengu found quite debatable as she was fairly certain that it was most certainly not outside of the kitsune's nature to cause such mischief that the one she is supposed be watching over would but fall more ill, yet in this matter she would do as she had always done and hold fast and firm her faith in the Shogun's words.

And it was at that moment that another part of what the Shogun had said echoed in her mind, that she would be remaining in the palace with both the Shogun and the Guuji while she recovered.

Faintly Sara registered a low sound begin to build up in her throat even as her mind was suddenly flooded with a torrent of thoughts, the contents of which invariably lead to her face turning as crimson as the blood that ran through her veins before her world went dark once more.

Miko and Ei waited for their general to respond to them after Ei broke the news to her for several moments, but there was nothing but silence as the tengu fully absorbed the words that she had just been told, a silence that was only broken when a low sound, akin to a faint whine, began to emit from the tengu's lips as her previously pale cheeks began to turn a dark shade of crimson.

Ei watched in dumbfounded shock as her general, dauntless and courageous to a fault, let out a sound like a ruptured balloon before she went completely slack in Miko's grip, the kitsune withdrawing her face from where it had been nuzzled into the general's neck to look at her in confusion for several moments before she turned to Ei and said-

"Well, I think we just broke her again." Miko's had barely uttered these words before Ei had shot up from where she had been sitting as she bolted towards the doors and wrenched them open with a scream of-

"DOCTOR!"

Leaving her lips with such force that Miko swore she felt the room shake, the worlds heralding the arrival of a thunderclap that echoed from outside, the sparse rays of sunlight once more swallowed up by the sky as a light downpour began once more as those outside boiled for cover as the already flooded lands of Inazuma received yet more rain courtesy of their Archon's worries.

As he heard the shout echo through the halls with such force that it seemed to be nothing but a moving wall of sound and pressure Baizhu once more vowed under his breath that he would find someone who sold firewater and then purchase their entire stock of it.

He felt he deserved that much at least as he allowed his feet to once more guide him towards the medical wing of the palace.

-Line Break—-

If she was asked how long she had been unconscious for after she had fainted and just what had happened after the doctor had returned and awoken her with the smelling salts, whose smell she was coming to truly revile at this point, and after she had come close to fainting yet again when the Shogun had embraced her like she would disappear if she let go of her as the Miko watched on with mirthful eyes before she found herself being whisked from the medical wing to a wing of the palace she had never seen before, then she would only be able to tell them that it was all but a blur to her.

She could recall snippets of the events that had occurred as she was guided through the halls of the palace, her excellency leading them as she took one of the tengu's hands as the Guuji held fast to her other arm not relinquishing her grip on it even as it came to lay engulfed between two achingly soft-

The tengu had to force her mind onto other topics or else she feared she would be subjected to those gods damned smelling salts once more, and so she allowed her mind to wander through the possibilities of convincer her excellency to at least allow for her to be of moderate use by allowing for her subordinates to deliver her paperwork to do or perhaps she would lenient enough to allow for her to revise some of her old strategies or even-

Her thoughts were cut off by her excellency at last relinquishing her hand from her grasp as they came to stand before a large set of doors, the dark lacquered wood emblazoned with the violet sigil of the mitsudomoe surrounded in gold and silver looming over them as though it were the gateway to another realm as opposed to another room of the palace.

Faintly Sara thought she heard her excellency mumble something under her breath in regards to a hope that the servants had indeed cleaned the room before she paused as though remembering something and turned to address Sara.

"I went ahead and ordered the servants to retrieve your belongings from the Kujou Clan Compound and have them brought here, please let me know if they missed something and I will have them go and retrieve it." Her shogun said these words with a gentle smile, her words making Sara feel a slight weight lift from her shoulders, if the soldiers had indeed retrieved all there belongings then there should be some folders she could look thr-

As though reading her mind one of the shogun's eyes blazed violet as Sara heard the ever so calm voice of Raiden leave the Shogun's lips, her words dashing Sara's hopes and eliciting a chuckle from the Kitsune who yet held fast to her arm.

"And before you start looking for the folders that were in your home," Raiden spat the word 'home' as though it was the foulest substance she could ever taste", I had the soldiers deliver any and all paperwork that was in your room to our office so I could take care of them my general." Sara swore she saw something that looked so achingly similar to the look of exasperated fondness she oft saw couples give each other when they did something foolish for them in the streets.

She shook her head, surely she must have just been seeing things as a result of all that she had been through up to this point.

Faintly Sara thought she heard her excellency turn to face the door and rifle through her dress as she searched for something, confused murmurs leaving her lips as she checked her sleeves, her sash, in between her-

Sara jerked her head to the side with a face that felt as though it were aflame with how flushed it was, said flush and her actions bringing forth a round of giggles from the kitsune, her laughter only growing as she saw her lover open a portal to her Plane of Euthymia to begin searching through her internal plane, the Shogun's voice yelling out that it wasn't there only serving to make her giggling turn into full and hearty laughter.

Sara's lips quirked up into a slight smile at the melodious sound even as she fought the urge to join in with chuckles of her own at the sight of her god taking off her sandals to insure that she had not put wherever it was that she was looking for in them.

Her restrained laughter soon turned into a startled squawk as she saw her excellency begin to move her hands into her pants, and for a moment the poor tengu was certain her heart was about to give out as she saw her excellency begin to move as though she were about to undress then and there to locate the object of her search.

The laughter of the Kitsune grew to a point where it stopped the Shogun in the middle of her actions, forcing her to turn to address the source of it, her eyes quickly alighting on the form of her lover clinging onto her general for stability as she howled with delighted laughter, and though the sight did much to fill her heart with joy it also filled her with a feeling she has long come to associate with her lover.

The feeling that she had just been had by said lover.

Ei heard Raiden bring her palm to her face as she mumbled under her breath about how she should have figured 'that damn sly vixen' had something to do with their inability to find the keys to the room before them.

Heaving a sigh Ei turned to look at the kitsune, who was clutching at her stomach as she tried to stifle her laughter at her lover's antics and the reaction their tengu had to said antics, and outstretched her hand with a stern glare entering her gaze as she looked at her priestess.

Said outstretched hand remained empty for several more moments as the kitsune reigned in her cackles to the point where she was at least able to take in several deep breaths to regain her ability to speak, the gleam of wicked humor in her eyes telling Ei that the kitsune still had one last trick up her sleeve and Ei could already tell that this one was going to be a doozy.

She just hoped it didn't end with Sara fainting again, it could not be healthy for her to have passed out as many times as she had.

"Miko, the keys please." Ei said, impatiently tapping her foot on the ground as she kept her hand outstretched in Miko's direction her eyes narrowing further as she saw the way the Kitsune smiled at her with taunting smugness in her gaze as she relinquished her grip on Sara's arm and began to reach into her dress between her-

'Oh dear,' was the shared thought between Ei and Raiden as Miko began to root around in her dress for several moments before pulling out the key to the room in front of them, her teasing smile growing wider as she turned to look at Sara with a teasing smile for a moment before redirecting her gaze to Ei, mischief alight even brighter than before in her violet eyes.

"Oh dear, I think it's a little stuck," Raiden immediately called bullshit as her face rested in her palm, Ei only barely resisting the urge to join her as she saw Sara's face begin to turn a darker shade of red than was supposed to be possible at the Kitsune's antics, the poor girl was probably going to have a permanent flush to her face if this kept up.

The next words of the kitsune only served to make the tengu flush brighter before she quickly hid her face in her palms, the sight of the tall woman hiding her face in her palms as she flushed was such a sight that it made Ei and Raiden both have to withhold letting out coos at the sight of it, though the kitsune's words served to make their coos turn into sighs, " Care to help me out dear?"

And with that line Ei and Raiden both waited for the Tengu to faint, only to be surprised when she managed to hold fast to her consciousness, the sound of her taking deep and steadying breaths filling the hallway along with the anticipatory hum of the kitsune as she kept her chest jutted out towards them.

"Sara, please keep your eyes closed," Raiden briefly took over to say with a sigh as she stepped forward, a stern glare in her eyes that promised retribution for this stunt being leveled at the kitsune although the look seemed to only serve to make said vixen smile wider as Raiden seized Miko's clothes by the collar and then reached her hand into the valley between her breasts to pull out the key.

Soon enough Raiden's eyes narrowed once again as she rooted around in the kitsune's dress, her hand not feeling anything that resembled a key as she did so, idly she registered Sara letting out another squawk as she peaked between her fingers for but an instant before she turned to face the wall, Ei sighing within their mental space at the sight of their tengu trying to calm herself by counting the lines in the wood of the wall before her as opposed to watching this latest stunt of Miko's.

A low growl soon left the Shogun's lips as Raiden removed her hand from Miko's chest, her eyes narrowed into a glare of blazing violet orbs that were alight with electro as she opened her mouth to demand the kitsune tell her where the damned key was already so they could get Sara into her-

A jingling sound caused her words to die on her lips as she turned her eyes to Miko's hand, and saw the key she had been looking for in it.

"Oh dear, it seems like I forgot it was in my pocket, silly me." The kitsune's words and accompanying sly smirk made both Ei and Raiden let out twin groans of frustration as they reached to seize the key, their ear drawing close enough to Miko's lips that they could hear the impossibly soft whisper that left them as their fingers closed around the metal of the key.

"Do you think that got Sara's mind off of her worries?" The words of the kitsune made Ei and Raiden pause for a moment before a soft chuckle left their lips as they shook their head at the kitsune's words.

"You sly vixen", both Ei and Raiden said at the same time, their twin voices leaving their bodies lips as they pressed a slight kiss to the kitsune's cheek, the action making her eyes widen for a moment before the Shogun leaned back with the key in her hand, another chuckle leaving their lips as they turned to look at the tengu…who was still focusing on the wall.

A sigh leaving her lips, Ei took control once more as she moved over to place a hand on Sara;s shoulder, the rudeness of the contact making her jump slightly as she whirled around to face her lady with wide eyes, and a rather fetching flush still alight across her face.

A smile crossing her face Ei gently turned Sara around as she took her hand and began to guide her towards the large doorway once again, Miko trailing behind them with a soft smile on her face as she quickly placed herself against Sara' side once again, the contact making the young woman's fading blush return in full for a few moments more before she managed to suppress it.

"Sorry about that mess Sara," Ei said with a small smile on her face as she saw her tengu look at her shock for a moment at the apology, the sight of her general looking at her with such a look on her face for something as minor as an apology pulled at the Shogun's heart and made her fight down the urge to pull her general into an embrace with as much fury as she had fought with Orobashi all those long centuries ago.

"Ah, it is no problem your excellency, you don't have to apologize to me for anything." The tengu general was quick to say, giving a brief bow as she did so, the bow blocking the frowns that crossed Ei and Miko's faces for a moment before they managed to regain their pleasant expression.

"Oh little bird, we have so much work to do with you don't we?" Came the voice of Miko as she nuzzled against the side of her neck for a moment once again, before she pulled her head back, a look of sadness shining in her eyes as bright as any bolt of electro that Ei could have ever summoned or commanded for but a moment before it faded away, leaving not but the thunder of the Guuji's own internal grief to show that it had once been present.

Sara blinked in confusion as she turned to look at the Guuji, her questions dying on her lips before she could even give voice to them as the sounds of Ei inserting the key into the metal lock and turning it prompts her to turn to see her god begin to open the large doors, the Shogun turning to smile at her as she beckons her to follow her into the room she has just opened.

As soon as her foot crosses the threshold of the room Sara finds herself catching her breath as it leaves her in a sharp gasp at the sight before her, her heart temporarily ceasing it's beating at the scene before her.

For a moment Sara is convinced that her excellency and the Guuji had guided her to the Shogun's own chambers, though a closer examination of the room before her makes her quickly dismiss that thought.

The room before them was large, vastly larger than her small home at the Kujou Clan Compound to the point where the young woman was certain it could probably hold at least 4 of her small homes within it and yet still have adequate enough space for decorations to be inlaid upon the dark wooden walls.

Unconsciously she followed her excellency further into the room and allowed for her gaze to sweep across the vast expanse of it in full, her eyes alighting on the large maple bookshelves that line the walls, each of them fit to burst with scrolls and books alight, and upon the large Kotatsu that rests in the center of the room with several soft pillows resting beside it, further encircled by a set of low bookshelves which were broken from completely encircling it but by four spaces for people to enter and leave through without having to resort to stepping over the bookshelves though ti could be done quite easily given their heights and spacing from the kotatsu benign great enough that one would not have to worry about knocking into it or another as they left or reached for a book to read.

Her gaze is drawn further still to the sight of Shogunate Samurai armors resting upon stands, their gauntlet hands gripping tightly to twin spears as though the empty suits of armor were standing guard beside a set of sliding panel doors which lay directly across from them, separated but by the kotatsu and the small bookshelves which surround it.

The low and steady ticking of a clock prompted her to turn her gaze to a large dark wooden clock which lay beside a dark maple desk and chair that rested before a closed window, a pair of dark violet curtains hiding it from view.

Spaced intermittently across the room lay many candles that burned and filled the room with a soothing aroma that faintly reminded the young tengu of lavender and sakura petals alike, though their low glow was drowned out by a much brighter light which came from a large ceiling light above the center of the room.

Another step into the room and Sara's gaze fell on the wall to the far right of the room, her gaze alighting on another pair of sliding doors which were slightly ajar, revealing what she thought was the beginning of a set of stairs, although she could not accurately say in which direction they went.

Further still she strode into the room, beckoned ever further within by the hand of her Shogun and by the Guuji's own gently pushes until at last she stood firmly in the room, her foot idly tapping against the side of one of the small bookshelves as she turned to fully inspect the room, faintly registering that two more sets of armor rested beside the doorway they had just come through, though these ones clasped tight gleaming katana's that looked as though they had left the blacksmith's forge but earlier that day.

The young tengu then noticed the murals and paintings which laid upon the wall, some depicting such mundane scenes as the sight of sakura trees in bloom near rivers, and yet other depicting scenes of battles that had surely occurred oh so very long ago, and yet more depicted scenes that were beyond common and mundane in their wondrous nature such as one which depicted what seemed to be a pair of kitsune's teaching a group of bake danuki how to shapeshift, with each of the paintings and scrolls being done so masterfully as to make the scenes appear vividly realistic.

Sara turned to her shogun and saw her looking at her with a warm smile as she outstretched her arms in a wide gesture that beckoned her to look upon all that the room surrounding them had within it to offer to them.

"Well, what do you think, Sara?" Her Shogun asked with a smile on her face, her eyes alight with an almost childlike sense of glee and joyous wonder as she waited for her general's response.

"I-it looks wonderful your grace, although-" Sara found herself being cut off by the sound of an overly joyous squeal leaving her god's lips before said deity took her by the hand and began to guide her to the set of sliding doors across from them, faintly Sara heard the Guuji sigh behind them as she followed after the two of them.

For a moment Sara feared that her arm would be pulled from it's socket by the speed and force with which her archon had guided her to the door before them, only for her fear of her arms safety to turn into fear for the stability of the building as the Shogun threw open the sliding doors with such force that the sound of their impact against the walls seemed fit to shake the glass of the windows.

Faintly Sara heard the Guuji sigh once more as she laid her face in her palm, muttering under her breath about her god being more excitable than a child…and having about as much self control as one.

Sara was tempted to rebuke the Guuji for her comment, only for her words to die on her lips and be replaced by another startled squawk as Ei resumed pulling her into the room that lay before them, the tengu's own eyes widening at the scene before her.

The room was laid out in a similar design to the bedroom of her excellency, with a large bed and vanity sat near an equally large wardrobe, another sliding door which seemed to lead to a bathroom of some kind if what was visible through it's half-open frame was anything to go by, resting closeby to allow for one to quickly reach it after leaving the bath.

A desk rested across from the foot of the bed with a calligraphy set resting upon it, and a large window laying before it, once again shrouded by thick violet curtains which permitted only the most minute of light to pierce through them, the room instead illuminated by a light fixture resting on the ceiling.

Although, despite all of these similarities to the room of the Shogun, there were also equally as many differences between the two that made the tengu feel somewhat intrigued as she looked upon them.

The first was that the bed was shaped in an almost perfect circular form, kept from being a perfect circle by a an opening in the round head board of dark maple which enveloped it, styled like a thundering sky with silver and violet lightning bolts striking a landscape that seemed to mirror the island beyond the room, emblazoned across the dark wood, the shape and structure of the board seemingly being made to allow for pillows to be laid all around it's edges without the risk of falling off unless one were to move their feet as they slept, though given the size of the bed Sara doubted that was much of a concern.

Sara idly noted that there seemed to be far more pillows then there would normally be on a bed present, enough so that they almost reached over the headboard and almost concealed the deep violet sheets which lay across the bed.

The tengu found her mind plagued with thoughts she thought she had been trained to bury and forget long ago as she wondered just how nice it would feel to make a nest out of the bed, to surround herself in the pillows and sheets and let her wings drape across the velveteen expanse of-

She closed her eyes and shook her head as she forcefully banished those thoughts. She was a warrior, a soldier in service to her excellency the Almighty Narukami Ogosho, not some form of base beast which needed such things to make herself feel comfortable.

At least that is what she told herself.

Her gaze left the bed/nest and traveled to a portion of the room where another set of double doors lay, the faintest hint of light shining through them revealing that they led towards a balcony that seemed to have been made to allow for one to stretch their legs and bask in the sunlight and wind as they took in the view of the city that would stretch out beyond the railing.

Again the Tengu found herself shaking her head as she reigned in the desire to open the door and let her wings feel the caress of the wind as she basked in the sunlight, her knuckles turning white as she drove her nails into her palm to shake herself from her thoughts.

Further still did her gaze travel to a sight that made her breath leave her lungs in a sharp gasp, for where there lay on a small table near the corner of the room, a pair of incense holders laying on either side of them, a quintet of statuettes of the Shogun rested with a faint gleam to them making them look to have been freshly shined.

Sara found herself moving over to the small shrine, her feet carrying her towards the statuettes unconsciously as she kept her gaze fixated on them, a sense of calmness washing over her as she stood before them and began to lightly brush her fingers over the smooth surface of them.

Idly she felt a sense of great relief surge through her that she had not damaged them during her prayer sessions as she fought against chills and coughs.

It was only when that the thought raced through her mind that Sara snapped back into reality, and felt her heart begin to hammer in her chest as her face began to burn, quickly she whirled around to face her Shogun and her Guuji, a thousand different excuses for why she possessed the statuettes forming on her lips only to die an ignominious death when she saw the sad smiles that graced both women's faces as they looked at her reaction.

For a moment there was only sepulchral silence, broken only by the soft ticking of a clock and the gentle hum of wind, until there came at last a time for Sara to wet her lips with her tongue and open her mouth to ask the question that had seized hold of her in a vice grip when she had first been lead to this room, and that had only grown since.

"Your Excellency," She began, fighting the urge to fidget in place with as much effort as she had clashed with The Balladeer, though slight trembles were still visible in her stance, leading in turn to Miko sighing sadly as she moved to wrap the young tengu in her arms once more, her tails forming and wrapping around the young woman to help calm her down.

It said a great deal about just how much unease had begun to claw and seize at her that she did not make even the slightest of motions to dislodge the kitsune from her side, and to break the embrace that the Guuji had wrapped her in, if anything the normally touch adverse tengu had begun to lean into the older woman's touch as a means of grounding herself against whatever answer the Shogun might give to her impending question.

"Yes Sara," Ei said, calmly moving to stand before the tengu, her violet orbs meeting the tengu's own golden amber orbs with a gentle reassurance that she could ask of her whatever it was she wished, her hand rising of its own accord to gently lay on the younger woman's shoulder in a show of support.

Sara swore that the hammering of her heart must be audible ot the two women, for surely mere walls of flesh and bone and sinew and muscle could not inhibit much of the thundering pounding resonating within her chest, especially to two beings as old and powerful as those that were oh so precariously near to her.

The young woman took a deep breath and closed her eyes for several moments as she fought to reign in her fraying nerves, for all of this was simply far too much for her to process in far too short a span of time, and yet still she endured, for she could not bear to do anything that would bring further shame upon herself as her illness had, and so it was after but a few more moments she opened her eyes and met her god's concerned gaze.

"Why…why did you bring me here?" The tengu asked, feeling as though a weight had begun to lift from her shoulders when she gave voice to the question that had been engulfing her in an ever expanding blaze of unease and uncertainty.

For a moment there was silence as Ei's eyes widened and Miko sighed at the young woman's question, Raiden giving a sigh of her own within Euthymia as she saw the scene unfold through Ei's eyes, and then Ei did something that startled Sara to no small degree.

She chuckled.

It was a sad, miserable sound, the kind one would make when they had to force their body to laugh so as to avoid breaking down in sobs, a sound that tore at the heartstrings of all of those present to hear as the Goddess of Eternity reached her hand up to wipe away the beginnings of tears from her eyes before she took a deep breath to steady herself, as her general had done but moments ago, and then met Sara's gaze with her own as she lifted her hand to softly brush her thumb over the tengu's cheek as she spoke.

"Huh, I suppose this is all too much for you at the moment isn't it Sara?" Ei began, a tone of sadness hanging heavy in her words as she took another moment to steady herself before she continued in a much firmer and more controlled voice.

"I had hopes to ease you into the idea of this one day, but this recent proof of the Kujou Clan's seemingly never ending stupidity in regards to how they handled your situation has lead me to having little other choice," Here Ei's composure broke for but a moment, her eyes growing distant and pained, a light sheen of moisture covering them as a fog of grief began to envelop the vibrant violet orbs of the god.

"I have already lost far too much…far…far too many…" Ei trailed off, her eyes distant and unfocused on the two women before her, violet eyes unseeing of the shared looks of sorrow the two women were sending her as her mind traveled back into the past…back to-

Sasayuri.

Seigou.

Chiho.

Makoto.

For a moment Ei felt herself begin to slip beneath the waves of grief that she was kept above but by the grace of the presence of her ever loving and loyal kitsune, and yet it was not said Kitsune who reached below the waves to pull her into the light of dawn once more, but rather-

"Your Excellency?" A gentle, worried voice echoed in her ears as rough palms were laid upon her shoulders, a sense of comfort and safety spreading from the areas they laid upon that soon came to spread rapidly throughout her body as a soft pink tail draped itself around her waist and pulled her close enough for her head to fall forward and rest against the shoulder of the taller woman whose touch gave her such a comforting warmth.

A startled squawk left the lips of the woman whose warmth offered her much needed comfort and relief from the seas of grief and fear that yet swirled and churned within the stygian corners of her mind, rising in grand and terrible tsunami waves to engulf her when she let herself dwell too deeply on the past and all that she had lost within those bygone days.

Sara felt as though a bolt of electro had torn free from the heavens and through her body as she felt her goddess push herself against her, violet tresses all that was visible as the woman buried her face against her shoulder, her frame that seemed so indomitable bearing slight trembles as grief and guilt and pain came to pull her below their frigid waves for but a moment.

Though she was soon broken from her stupor as she felt the kitsune that had been particularly clingy to her gently lean in to whisper lightly into her ear, words that made her face once more flush scarlet and yet at the same time instilled in her a resolve whose likeness she had felt whenever she readied herself to commit any action in the name of her Shogun.

Those whispered words having been-

"Please, hold her…even just a little bit…she needs it…just like you do"

And so Sara swallowed down the unease and bid still the trembling of her own frame at the suddenness of the close proximity of her goddess as she slowly lifted her arms, Miko leaning back enough for her to lift the arm she had been clinging to, and gently draped them around the woman before her.

Idly, Sara thought of just how pleasant the sensation of holding the somewhat smaller and oddly softer body of her goddess against her own was, and yet she soon forced the thought below the murky waters of the depths of her mind as she told herself that this was merely her duty as a servant of the divinity she now held close.

'Yes, this is just my duty as a servant to her excellency.' Sara assured herself within the confines of her mind, and yet for some reason the words felt oddly hollow to the woman as she fought down the urge to card her fingers through the violet locks splayed before her and see if they were as silken as they looked, thoughts she quickly banished as she waited for her lady to calm down.

For a moment Ei merely savored the comforting sensation of the warmth of the woman before her and the comforting sensation of the powerful arms that had come to hesitantly wrap around her as she regained her composure, a weary sigh leaving her lips as she pulled her head back from where it had been resting against the muscled shoulder of her general, though not breaking the fragile embrace just yet.

"Are you…are you alright your excellen-" Sara began to say, her words being cut off as Ei gently lifted a hand and laid a finger against the tengu's lips, the weary look in her eyes growing slightly as she heard the tengu begin to address her by her title after holding her but a moment ago.

"Ei…please just call me Ei, Sara." Ei said with a slight smile on her face, her words prompting a return of the deep blush that had previously rested on her beloved general's face for a moment as she began to nervously stammer out a response, although to the ears of all those present it sounded more like a bizarre mixture of squawking and random half garbled vowels and consonants than anything approaching intelligible words.

Eventually, after Miko had stopped chuckling at the scene before her and Ei had managed to reign in her own combination of exasperation and mild humor, the Shogun once more leaned in and placed her finger against her general's lips, the contact making the tengu halt in place as though she had been pulled from the depths of the Snezhnayan permafrost.

"Sara, please…for me?" And in that moment, with her god sending her such a pitiful look of wide and wet eyes, with the yet lingering shadows of the dark past swirling at the corners of said violet orbs, and with the look of sheer desperation on her face, Sara at last felt her shoulders drop as she licked her suddenly dry lips and swallowed to wet her dry throat as she spoke up-

"E-Ei?" And oh how the word seared and scalded her throat as she tensed in anticipation of retaliation for daring to speak aloud the name of the goddess that even now looked at her with the beginnings of a truly wondrous smile on her face as she leaned in to embrace her once again before she pulled back with a giddy smile on her face.

"Yes Sara?" There was again that tone of joy and almost childlike glee as she heard her beloved general speak her given name, Miko silently vowing to get the tengu to call her by her own first name as soon as possible simply due to the fact that she knew Ei would be insufferably smug until she did so.

"Regarding my…my previous question," Sara croaked out as she cast her gaze around the room once more, her gaze lightning not just upon the small shrine that dominated the corner, but also upon the oh so achingly familiar bow that rested upon a weapon's rack on the wall near to what seemed to be a cabinet full of maintenance supplies for weapons, and then her gaze alighted upon one last thing which made her both anticipate and dread her Shogun's answer to her question.

That final item having been the small top that rested in an open maple box that laid upon a dresser apart from the bed, the wood of it freshly polished to a near mirror sheen as it rested within the box, her own gaze, filled with confusion and a mixture of anticipation and dread reflected back at her in the polished sheen of the small 'Solo".

Ei seemed to register her unease as she gave her a comforting smile as she laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder and gave her the answer to her question of as to why she had been brought to this room, and as to why her belongings were present within said room.

"In truth myself, Raiden, and Miko have been hoping to convince you to move into the Tenshukaku for sometime, especially given your clan's seemingly limitless displays of stupidity," Again Ei spat the word 'clan' as though it were the singular most fetid concoction she had ever had the displeasure of imbibing.

"And the tension that has been present between them and the rest of the populace of Inazuma had only made it more clear that we needed to get you out of there before someone decided to take their anger against your clan out upon you." The Shogun continued, her words making Sara's mind recall the numerous attempts people had made at both vandalizing the clan compound and at attacking the clan's soldiers in the aftermath of the war and Takayuki's treason, the anger and hate of the people were nothing new to her in truth, if anything she had come to anticipate glares and scowls and harsh words more than civil greetings, but to see such wroth on open display against the entirety of her clan was unnerving to her.

Truthfully she did agree with the Shogun in the regards that it was likely that someone would more than likely have made an attempt on her life, if anything she was surprised that there had not been one made against her since the war ended, and yet she could still not bring herself to understand how the idea of someone making an attempt upon her life had lead to the Shogun both creating such a room within the palace she called home and wishing for her to remain with her within said palace.

Afterall, she was but a single general, an arrow in the quiver of the Shogunate army, and a sword in service to the Shogun, surely it would be far easier for her to simply allow for her to be eliminated by someone and then replace her with a soldier not burdened with cursed blood and weakness like her.

And so Sara opened her mouth and, after taking a deep breath, gave voice to the thoughts that had been swirling within her mind as she beheld the extent to which the Shogun and her Guuji had gone for her.

"Your Excellency, Lady Guuji," Sara added as she sent a nod in Miko's direction, a smile crossing the kitsune's face as she returned the gesture from her place on the general's arm, "While I greatly appreciate this I have to question why you are going this far for someone like me." She finished, her words making the two women look at her with confusion written in bold across their faces, before a look of grief and sorrow began to replace it.

A pair of sad smiles formed on their faces, the beginning of tears forming in the eyes of the Guuji as she looked at the young woman before her, as the two women moved to place comforting hands on either of her shoulders as they sent her comforting smiles, though their eyes were yet wet with tears.

"Sara," Began the Guuji Yae, her normally coy and sly voice instead choked with a mixture of grief and guilt as she looked into the tengu's golden orbs with her own wet violet orbs, "we are doing this for you because you are…so so very important to us."

The Guuji finished with a sad smile on her face as she gently nuzzled into Sara's neck with a low whimper leaving her lips as she did so, the action making Sara flush slightly as she unconsciously leaned her head against the kitsune's own, the sight making Ei smile widen as Raiden gave a soft smile of her own as she took partial control of their shared body.

" Miko is right Sara," came the split voice of the Shogun as both Raiden and Ei spoke at once through their shared mouth, a comforting warmth emanating from where their hand rested on the tengu's shoulder as they gave her a gentle smile as they continued.

"You are very important to us and we wish to make sure you are safe and happy," finished the Raiden shogun in their split voice as they laid their own forehead against her shoulder for a moment before they pulled back, the Guuji doing the samething a moment later, although she did it with a said smile on her face at the loss of contact with the general.

A sentiment that Sara shared, although she took great care to not allow for the feeling of sorrow at the missing contact to manifest on her face, although it would have been quite easily masked by the dark crimson blush that had risen unto her face as she heard the words of her goddess and her priestess.

Her, a simple general, a simple beast part of her mind hissed at her in a suspiciously familiar voice, important to the almighty ruler of the land of eternity and her chief servant, it was such an absurd notion that it would have made her laugh had she not heard it from the lips of her goddess in person.

Instead, all she found herself able to do was gape in shock for a moment before she managed to compose herself, something which she noted was becoming increasingly more difficult as the stress of the day and all that had occurred over it began to wear down upon her like the eroding waves of some nameless stygian sea.

The look of ever growing stress must have become visible to the two women as they once more gave her their sad smiles before they began to move once more.

Ei, although one of her eyes yet blazed violet to show that raiden was still watching through it, once more took her hand and guided her back into what she assumed to be the reception room for this suite, the Shogun calmly gesturing towards the doorway that she had seen lead to a stairway.

"If you need anything Sara, those stairs lead directly to a room attached to my own," the Shogun said as she let go of Sara's hand to walk over to the doors and throw them open, the light cast by the candles and fixtures in the room now illuminating the beginning of a set of dark maple stairs that indeed lead up to the floor above the room Sara was to reside within, a floor that had but a single pair of occupants in the form of the Shogun and her Guuji.

Again Sara felt her face begin to flush as she registered the words of her goddess and attempted to process just how long it was that her excellency and the Guuji had been preparing this for her, although there did linger within her the question that she could not bring herself to ask of them just yet.

The question of just why it was that she was so important to the two of them that they felt that said importance necessitated all of this.

Was she that useful as a soldier and commander? She doubted it as she was certain that there was no shortage of individuals who could replace her should the need arise in both regards.

Was she valuable due to the cursed blood that ran through her veins? Surely that could not be it either as all it had ever seemed to do was illicit anger and fearful hate in those who came to learn of it.

So why was it that they felt that she was so achingly important as to warrant such extremes as they had demonstrated themselves willing to go to?

Despite this question surging within her mind, Sara found that she could not give voice to it, she was already beginning to feel the stress of the day and its many shocking revelations bear down upon her and she was certain that if she asked said question she would not be able to hander the answer that she would be given.

So for now Sara chose to hold fast to herself that query as she felt Ei gently cup her cheek with one smooth hand, tilting her head in such a way that their eyes met once more.

"You look exhausted Sara," The Shogun began, her voice once more split to show that it was both Ei and Raiden speaking in unison once again, a gentle look crossed their shared features as Miko moved to stand beside them, a smile and lingering caress upon her arm being sent her way as the Guuji did so.

"Why don't you get settled into your room, Miko and us will come get you when it is time for dinner, unless you want it to be delivered to you room?" The Two-in-one woman finished with a question at the end, although the twin violet orbs shared the same hopeful look that helped the tengu give her reply.

"Al-alright your gr-Ei…Raiden," Sara cut herself off as she saw a frown begin to form as she began to address them by their shared title, only for said frown to become a smile when they heard her use their names instead. "I think I will join you and Guuji Yae-" Here Sara found herself cut off as Miko cleared her throat and leaned in as she gave her an expectant look.

A slight sigh left Sara's lips as she decided to not encourage the kitsune to take any drastic measures to get what she wanted.

Besides, she felt it was the least she could do for the woman who had been helping kep her grounded throughout this entire mess of a day.

"I think that I will join you and Miko," She took care to emphasis the Guuji's name as a way of appeasing her, which seemed to work quite well if the smile she was given by said Guuji was anything to go by, "For dinner later on."

Not only did it seem to be what her lady wished to hear, if the look of almost childlike glee on her face was anything to go by, but it would also allow for her to gather information from them over just what had been occurring in the time she had been indisposed of.

And so it was that Ei and Miko gave her one last shared embrace, and a promise to fetch her before dinner, before they took the stairway up to the Shogun's quarters, with Miko looking over her shoulder and, with a sly smile on her face, calling out to her-

"Make sure you get some rest before our date Little Bird," The kitsune said with a glint in her eyes before she turned and followed Ei up the stairs with chuckles leaving her lips as she committed the absolutely blinding blush that had engulfed the tengu's face to her memory.

Sara waited until she could no longer hear the patter of the two women's feet upon the stairs before she buried her face into her palm and let out a muffled sound that was an equal parts mixture of scream and squeal as she shakily turned to head towards what she assumed was the bathroom of the suite, her mind racing with a new question that so thoroughly usurped the one that had previously held it's place that Sara could not even recall it in the moment.

'Just what have I gotten into this time?'

Fin of Chapter 4.

Author's Note: Hello everyone, we are so sorry for the delay with this chapter, our muse decided to bounce between this idea and a couple of ideas for tumblr and several games and was then stolen away by procrastination and a lack of inspiration, but in the end we managed to recover it and create this merry mess of a chapter.

In all seriousness we are not that fond of the ending of this chapter, we feel that we rushed it in many areas, but we will leave that up for all of you who are still following this trainwreck of a fic to critique.

With that said, we hope all of you stay safe and have a great day.

Ah! Also please let us know how you feel about us posting some of our tumblr ideas on this site, they are Sagau, or Self Aware Genshin Alternate Universe, ideas and headcanons that we have come up with and we are torn between crossposting them here or not.