Rika peered suspiciously at the faint glow emanating from Yoshika’s core. It had been sitting inert for weeks, and this was the first sign they’d gotten that she might still be alive.

“Are you sure it’s her and not just...I dunno, some kind of residual reaction from the Tear?”

She glanced up at the artifact in question—a surprisingly innocuous looking red crystal hovering just above Yoshika’s iridescent purple core.

Heian nodded vigorously.

“Uh huh! It’s definitely mom—I can sense her aura again.”

“So if she’s alive, then why isn’t she doing anything?”

The little cat spirit furrowed her brows.

“Something’s wrong. Not all of her made it back.”

“Shit. Which ones are missing?”

“What do you mean?”

Rika scratched her head.

“Like...if only some of them made it, who didn’t?”

Heian blinked, then her eyes widened.

“Oh! If that’s what you mean then...um, none of them.”

Rika’s stomach lurched.

“What.”

The spirit stared down at her feet sadly.

“Only a tiny little fragment of her soul is left. She’s like I was when I was first split from the greater Heian.”

She was referring to the huge shadow spirit that once lived on Mount Geumji. Yoshika and the others ran into it back at the academy, and for some reason it had given Jia a small piece of itself that later grew into Heian.

“What does that mean? Can they come back? What happens to their cultivation? Do they have to start over?”

Heian shook her head.

“I don’t know.”

“So after all that, even though she’s back, she’s too weak to actually do anything. Is she even conscious in there?”

“No. Not the way you think of it anyway. Mom is awake, but she can’t sense anything and she can’t think. All that’s left is one really strong emotion trying its hardest to stay alive.”

Rika sighed and flopped down on one of the deceptively comfortable couches in Yoshika’s living room. She was so close to home, and yet so far. Yoshika’s Soul Realm was a perfect replica of Jiaguo, encompassing the entire city and even some of the lands beyond. But Rika wasn’t able to cross over to the physical side despite Heian’s best attempts at teaching her how to spirit walk.

Heian was stuck too. As a spirit, she needed a vessel to anchor herself in the physical world. Normally that was Yoshika, but in her absence Heian could only exist within the spirit world.

“Well, it’s great that she’s still too stubborn to die, but I guess we’re still stuck here a while longer while she recovers. She can recover, right?”

The cat spirit bit her lip and shuffled her feet nervously.

“Maybe...but I don’t think so. Not by herself. Just staying alive is almost more than she can handle right now.”

“Is there anything we can do?”

“I can send you to get help.”

Rika froze, her brows slowly knitting together as she processed what Heian had just said.

“Heian...have you been able to send me home this whole time?”

She shook her head vehemently.

“No! I wouldn’t do that to you, Aunt Rika. But I might be able to now.”

“Explain.”

Heian delicately cupped the faintly glowing core in her hands, smiling down at it sadly.

“Mom’s really sneaky. When she took over the Sovereign’s realm, most of the formations holding it together were too complex for her to maintain. Instead, she made them part of herself and sustained them with the power from the Tear.”

“Okay...that certainly sounds like her. I take it that’s why it transformed into her Soul Realm?”

“Mhm. But that’s not all. In order for his tomb to keep functioning after his death, Sovereign Chou made a special controlling formation which was inhabited by a bit of his essence—like an artificial spirit. Now I live there instead.”

Rika was never great when it came to the high level esoteric stuff. Even inventing her Hundred Mirrors technique had taken years of constant effort and intensive study—and she was still making refinements to it. She’d always envied Yoshika’s ability to just intuitively grasp things so easily, but despite their talent they studied as hard if not harder than anyone else.

All this to say, she was a little bit lost.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to get any of that, so why don’t you just give me the quick and dirty version?”

“Now that Mom’s alive, I can control her Soul Realm again.”

“Oh, okay. Nice! Although, the way you said that kind of makes it sound like she was dead before.”

Heian nodded.

“She was. Human souls can’t survive without vessels, even in the spirit world. Her spirit should have been drawn to the netherworld where it would become just another shade.”

“You mean like the ones we ran into when you transported us to that weird shadow realm?”

Rika shuddered—that had been a harrowing experience.

“Yes. But Mom’s not entirely human anymore. Part of her is something greater, and that part held on. I don’t know where she went or how she found her way back, but as long as she keeps fighting we have to do whatever we can to help.”

Heian looked up into Rika’s eyes with fierce determination. It was hard to believe that she’d once been such a shy little kitten spirit with no understanding of what it meant to be human. Rika chuckled ruefully.

“You know, when you talk like that it’s pretty easy to forget that you’re only seven years old. You even look like a teenager now.”

“My moms raised me well. I’m sure that with your guidance Iseul will catch up in a decade or two.”

Rika snorted.

“Ohhh, I’m gonna tell her you said that.”

Heian crossed her arms defiantly and turned up her nose.

“Do it! I stand by what I said.”

And just like that, she was a child again. Mature for her age, and carrying the incomprehensible wisdom of her ancient spirit progenitor—but still a child.

“Alright, once you send me back, what do I do? Is there a way for us to come back here?”

“When you find someone who can help, bring them back to this place in the real world. I should be able to sense you.”

Rika nodded.

“Got it. Any idea who I should bring?”

Heian scrunched up her face and hummed in thought.

“Mmm, Eunae maybe? She was able to help Zheng Long before. Lin Xiulan might be able to help, but I’m not comfortable bringing her inside.”

“Why not?”

She looked up at the Sovereign’s Tear.

“Mom is weak right now. Even in her current state, the barriers around Jiaguo and their mirrors here in her Soul Realm aren’t easy to break through. But if we let someone in, there’s nothing to stop them from seizing the Tear. If they do that, she’ll die. For good, this time.”

“Right, I see. And as much as we like Xiulan, infinite power is a hell of a temptation to ask someone politely not to touch.”

“Exactly. No xiantians—no matter how much they might be able to help, it’s not worth the risk.”

Rika took a deep breath before letting it out as a sigh. That was going to severely limit their options, even if she understood Heian’s reasoning. She stood up and dusted herself off.

“Alright, I’ll see what I can do. Ready when you are.”

Heian stepped forward to close the distance between them and surprised Rika with a hug.

“Good luck Aunt Rika. We’re counting on you!”

She knelt down to return the hug, grinning.

“As usual, then. I don’t know what those girls would do without me!”

 

---

 

“Rikaaa! You’re aliiive!”

Ja Yun practically tackled her the second she stepped through the door to their home, sobbing pitifully into her chest. It was adorable.

“Of course I’m alive, Yun. You think I could die when I’ve got such an adorable wife waiting here for me?”

That of course sent Yun into a red-faced blubbering mess, just the way Rika liked her. Eunae appeared from around the corner, the very picture of poise and grace, a slight smile serving as a mask to hide her worry.

“Oh, and what am I, then? Just an optional extra? I didn’t even get the chance to see you before you ran off back to Yamato.”

Rika met her girlfriend with good cheer, dragging Yun over to wrap them both in a group hug.

“Never! I love all my girls the same. If I’d known you were coming I’d have delayed my trip!”

Eunae raised her eyebrows incredulously.

“‘All’ your girls? Are you implying that there’s yet another? I love you dearly, but there’s a limit to how much I’m willing to share.”

Rika chuckled and shook her head. It was cute when Eunae got all jealous like that, especially when Yun realized that a literal princess was jealous of her and started melting into a puddle. And speaking of puddles...

“I wouldn’t do that without talking to you first. I’m referring to my favorite living dew-drop. Iseul, honey, where are you? I know you’re hiding in here.”

At her cue, the little elemental came oozing out from behind Yun’s clothing, rising up to her full height and taking the form of a roughly teenage-looking girl, borrowing many of Yun’s features. Without warning she threw her arms around Rika in a cold, slightly damp hug.

“Oop! That’s a little cold. Hey sweetie, did you miss me?”

Iseul nodded.

“Yes. It’s good to see that you are still alive. Since last we met, I have decided that not all emotions are worth experiencing. I do not enjoy grief. Please don’t inflict it upon me again.”

Rika’s eyes watered a little at that, and she stroked her daughter’s goopy hair gently.

“Aww, I’m sorry honey. I’ll do my best, okay?”

“Your best is insufficient. I demand a guarantee of your continued presence in perpetuity.”

“I don’t think I can do that, Iseul. Isn’t it a bit irrational to demand the impossible out of me?”

Iseul shook her head.

“Humans make impossible demands and unkeepable promises all the time.”

Yun nodded her head against Rika’s chest, her voice muffled as she spoke.

“I’m with her. You gotta promise to stay alive forever.”

Rika looked to Eunae for help, but she just crossed her arms and looked at her expectantly.

“Okay, okay! I promise to live forever. I’ll never leave any of you ever again as long as I can help it.”

Iseul wobbled irritably.

“You have hedged your promise.”

“Give me a break, girls. I just got home! Actually, Eunae, I’m glad you’re here—I think I’m going to need your help.”

Eunae furrowed her brows.

“Come in and sit down, then. We’ve probably got a lot to discuss...”

Rika joined her family inside as they caught each other up on what had been happening while she was trapped in Yoshika’s Soul Realm.

It had been nearly a month, and Jiaguo was just barely holding on. Only a tiny select few were aware that Yoshika had died, and it was being kept as a state secret. Nevertheless, without their High Arbiter around to settle disputes, what little hierarchy existed in the city state was rapidly breaking down.

Yan Yue had taken over most of Yoshika’s responsibilities, but there were those who felt that she was overstepping her authority as Prime Minister, and many councilors were arguing that a fairly elected representative would serve better than an appointee.

There was also a mercifully small minority advocating for Lin Xiulan to seize power, arguing that Yoshika’s absence was a sign of weakness, and that she wasn’t fit to continue ruling. Nevermind the fact that installing the most powerful cultivator around as the leader just because she was powerful was the very antithesis of Jiaguo’s founding principles.

Jin Hu was still in command of the army, and by all accounts was leading the offensive alongside Lord Ienaga quite well. They’d been receiving regular updates through the reflecting pool, but hadn’t been able to inform the army of Yoshika’s fate without also revealing it to their allies.

Eunae finished her tea and sat back with a sigh.

“And that’s about the sum of it. Yoshika’s death is hitting us all quite hard. Yan Yue is taking it particularly poorly—which may be why the popular support has turned against her so swiftly. She’s been a bit...unhinged.”

Rika winced. Yue did have a tendency to fly off the handle when stressed.

“Who all knows about Yoshika, anyway?”

Eunae counted off on her fingers.

“Lin Xiulan discovered it right away, but the only person she relayed it to was Yue. Yue didn’t believe it at first, and was in fact quite upset at Xiulan. She gathered Hyeong Daesung and I together to discuss the possibility that there was some sort of plot at work—that was how we found out.”

“Okay...anyone else?”

Yun and Eunae exchanged uneasy glances before Eunae cleared her throat and continued.

“Well...we were able to confirm Yoshika’s death when it was corroborated by Haeun. Only her and Xiulan were sensitive enough to detect it through the remnants of Yoshika’s domain. We weren’t able to discuss it with her before she’d informed Narae, who told Jung, who told Jiaying...”

Rika wasn’t sure where this was going. Sure the news was bound to have hit her family hard, but they had a right to know.

“...who told her parents.”

Eunae and Yun watched Rika carefully as that revelation sunk in. She glanced between them, confused.

“Who?”