Thirty years' worth of overgrown vegetation and abandoned Pokémon dens defined the trail leading to the old community center. While the Alolan government had no issues maintaining most of the islands' roads, these few so far removed from civilization were a hassle to upkeep, and enough endangered plant and Pokémon species made their homes here that they had ultimately decided to keep the general population out of the vicinity. Like Verdant Cavern, a sizable percentage of Melemele's north side had been declared a protected area; and also like Verdant Cavern, it was a pain in the behind to traverse.

  None of this served the rescue party in any way.

  Travel by Pokémon would be more feasible than travel by vehicle, the professors decided. Kukui's Braviary was the fastest transport they had, but even its massive wingspan would only be able to saddle three or four at most. Five, if the two children climbed on for the ride.

  A long discussion had been had about whether Hau and Astelia should be permitted to accompany the party. The verdict: well, no, it certainly wasn't reasonable, per se...

  "But I did far more dangerous things when I was their age," Kukui said. "We need all the help we can get, and it'll garner them valuable experience."

  As much as Burnet loved her husband, at times like this she felt his habit of living vicariously through the younger Trainers he encountered could be more of a hurdle than a boon. Sure, it had inspired him to draw up the League plans, an endeavor she found quite admirable. But Hau and Astelia didn't need experience right now. They needed to be safe.

  Hala had managed to recruit a reasonably-sized cluster of Iki Town's residents to accompany them on their mission. Many of his closest friends were pushing eighty and were thus unsuited for tense encounters such as these, but Iki had its own share of skilled Trainers as well, for to nurture Pokémon to their fullest potential was the most honorable gift one could give to Tapu Koko. Additionally, very few had a positive or even a neutral view of the Children, and most of them were relieved a person in a position of power had finally voiced the thought that had been lurking in the back of all their minds.

  And that cult had snatched a child, too. Unforgivable.

  Those with Pokémon large enough to ride on pitched in their services; those without shared one, or, when there was no space left, rode a rental Tauros sourced from Melemele's fleet, with Hala's blessing. Hala himself rode alongside Ilima, as Burnet would not permit the Trial Captain to sit alone, and she found herself amused at the prospect of an awkward conversation between the two. As for herself, she, Kukui, the two kids, and an Iki resident named Jennifer had taken Braviary. She had a motive for inviting Jennifer: as a former police offer, Jennifer was the closest the rescue party had to the law on their side. Involving the current Hau'oli police force would likely alert the government and Edwin Ma'amau, and if Ma'amau was willing to misuse his power to create a false stability, who knew what he would do to those who threatened that stability.

  Of course, Burnet understood the whole act was largely useless: Ilima had likely already alerted his father before the rescue party had even been gathered. But Ma'amau would be wise to avoid angering the Alolan public, seeing as he was up for re-election this coming year...

  By the time the party arrived at the compound, the sun's bottom edge had dipped under the horizon, winking at them from on high. Braviary arrived first, with Hala and their fleet of land Pokémon close behind. They descended on the steel double doors at the front entrance: a swift round of jabs from Hala's Crabominable knocked them apart, sending them swinging inside with a headache-inducing clang. Burnet stepped past them, peering into the deserted lobby and weighing her options.

  She didn't fear rushing in blindly, necessarily: doing so would have the same outcome as taking a more "cautious" approach, she thought. There would be no hiding the thirty-odd people on their side, no matter how oblivious their opponents might be: because, ultimately, those cultists were little more than hollowed-out clockwork dolls, weren't they? By choice.

  By choice. As reprehensible as Burnet found Tenshiro's unconditional pursuit of control over people, she could at least understand what had driven him to form the cult. But to voluntarily choose to give up one's possessions and personality, and receive seemingly nothing in return... the mere idea sent a chill down her spine. She couldn't even receive any satisfaction from the fact every suspicion she'd ever had about the Children had been proven correct.

  She steeled herself: an act she'd had to do quite often these days, it seemed.

  "Let's go. Keep behind me."

  And Burnet almost had to laugh at the absurdity of this: she barely qualified as a Trainer on an average day, and much less now when Munchie, her sole Pokémon, was still too ill to join them here. Yet she fancied herself this party's leader.

  Even more absurd: they'd accepted her as one.

  "Stop there at once! Trespassers!"

  The security guard who'd spoken boasted a loud yellow vest similar to a construction worker's, and his auburn hair had been buzzed close to his scalp. He didn't wait for them to react before bolting off into some backroom; a few heartbeats more, and an alarm began to blare in their ears. Many of the party, Hau and Astelia included, flinched and covered their ears; Kukui and Burnet exchanged glances.

  "Well, um, I guess it's best that we get on with finding him, yeah..."

  A violent shake of Burnet's head sent her white hair into her eyes. She brushed it aside and cleared her throat.

  "Everyone! We can't lose hope now. They may have numbers, but we have power on our side. Spread out and hold them off, and keep your eyes peeled for Sun."

  The doors to the former gymnasium burst open, and a flurry of cultists erupted from it, darting this way, that way, down the halls, or charging straight towards the party. Some of them lacked Pokemon, and held their balled fists above their heads - really? Hand-to-hand combat, in this day and age? How barbaric.

  But her side had no option but to engage, and they rallied, taking on their opponents with a zeal beyond any Burnet could have dreamed of. All around her, her fellow Trainers put up their hands, issued orders fast enough it made her head spin, and covered for those weaker than themselves. Someone's Gengar slunk across the floor in a puddle of shadow and materialized in front of a cultist's Petilil; Kukui's Braviary grappled with a trio of Golbats. Burnet herself took off down the hall, calling, Sun, Sun, Sun, aching for a response, thinking, maybe the faster she ran, the sooner she'd see him again.

  Anything to silence the voice in the back of her mind saying: you've lost him for good.

  Sun had no reason to be cowed. None at all.

  When Mizuki had initially begun her tirade, his first instinct had been to bolt: if he could work his way back to the storage shed and retrieve Lillie, the two of them could flee into the woods. Truth be told, the idea of the police finding him only exacerbated the nausea curling in his abdomen: he wore the Children's uniform, and had abandoned his dirty plainclothes back in the shed, so what was to inform them he wasn't a cultist? Even if he protested his innocence, he doubted they'd believe him. Would they burst in here, armed to the teeth with Arcanine and Gumshoos, and take him into custody on sight?

  But he had bigger problems at the moment: his former charge didn't waste any time in going on the offensive. While Frostfire may have lost the sleekness and agility of his previous form, his bulky frame and rippling muscles made him far more acclimated to tanking repeated hits. Harmony's hydrant glands could only produce and contain so much water, and if the battle drew on long enough, he risked dehydration.

  Physical attacks won't do much here. Disarming Voice won't do much here. It's not likely Harmony could do anything to toy with him psychologically, because Frostfire already almost beat him while in a weaker form...

  Hand signals wouldn't be an option for Sun while he held Mirai, and he wasn't sure of the correct way to handle a baby. Would it be okay to put her down on the floor beside him? Before he could decide whether or not he should, she cooed and reached out towards the battling Pokémon, mumbling her gibberish.

  And at once, an idea formed.

  "Yeah?" Sun bounced her, eliciting a laugh. "Yeah? You want to see Harmony splashy? You want to see HARMONY SPLASHY?"

  To his relief, Harmony caught his hint, and sent another trio of successive jets in Frostfire's direction. The Torracat darted out of the path of the first two, but stumbled on his paws, leaving the third to graze his ear. His expression twisted into an ugly grimace, and he released a histrionic yowl.

  Keep it down, drama queen. If you can't handle that, Harmony's going to have a field day with you.

  Frostfire shook himself out, baring his fangs. Sun kept his eyes on Mizuki's hands, but saw her give no signal. To think Frostfire had developed enough independence already in such a short while...

  You could have been truly great, Mizuki. You could have been a prodigy. Instead, you're here.

  "And now," Sun said aloud, "you want to see Harmony DANCE?"

  Harmony weaved through Frostfire's retaliatory slashes with grace. Sun cocked his head, motioning for him to back towards the edge of the stage. The Popplio shot him a puzzled glance, but ultimately obeyed the order.

  Mizuki crossed her arms, her face mirroring Frostfire's own annoyance. "I can see what you're doing, you know. Do you think I'm stupid?"

  Sun tutted, patting the delighted Mirai on the head. "Alright. If you say so, then I won't give away any more. After all, it's almost time for our GRAND FINALE."

  "The fight just started, you moron," Mizuki grumbled. She made an odd, jerky motion with her arms and shoulders, as if miming a breaststroke, and Frostfire took several cautious steps backwards before tensing his muscles and thrashing his tail once more. Sun couldn't contain his smile.

  Don't tell me...

  Frostfire leapt upwards, sailing through the air and raising his paws to ready a swift aerial strike. But he missed his quarry - Harmony whipped himself out of the way and watched in gleeful triumph as Frostfire launched himself over the edge of the stage. While he did land on his paws, there was no grace to the act, and a few moments passed with him heaving for breath, shaken by the impact, before he craned his neck to leer at Harmony.

  ...they fell for it!

  Mizuki rushed to Harmony's side, staring down at her Pokémon. "Frostfire, dang it! What happened to your depth perception?"

  Time was of the essence - despite Mizuki's distraction, Frostfire was already regaining his bearings - and, breathless with exhilaration, Sun leaned down to Mirai and code-switched. "Hey. There's something special Harmony can do, okay? Pay close attention, because he's only going to do it once."

  Mirai giggled and poked Sun's cheek, but the touch didn't derail his focus. The subtle curvature of Harmony's expanded hydrant gland was visible at the bottom of his neck, and, gradually, a bubble blew upwards out of his snout. His eyes narrowed in concentration as he manipulated its shape, its form, its potential trajectory...

  "Now!"

  Harmony dipped his head and flung the bubble at Frostfire. It didn't head straight at him, but rather a ways above him - his yellow eyes trailed its path, and his white fur bristled, as if reacting to his own potential energy - but it was never released. The bubble burst and sent an artificial rain down at him, and he shrieked and turned tail. When the water hit his fur, puffs of steam hissed and rose up from him. While the stairs were only a few feet away, his attempt to rush to them was thwarted: a stampede of incoming cultists and Pokémon, trailed by a hulking Bewear, dashed up the steps and past Mizuki into the wings. A figure pushed past them and burst out onto the stage, one Sun recognized.

  Ilima Ma'amau huffed and puffed as he hopped down the steps two at a time, stopping at the bottom to catch his breath. Perspiration had made his pink hair gross and oily, and he ran his fingers through it and stared empty-eyed at the battling Trainers. The Bewear, which may or may not have lacked object permanence, took out its anger on the nearest wall, its punches sending shockwaves through the entire gymnasium.

  Mizuki snapped to attention. "Are they winning out there? Are they losing? Where's - GET OFF HIM, YOU GLORIFIED BUBBLE MACHINE!"

  Harmony had taken flight. Another bubble, this one the size of his entire body, protruded from his snout, holding him suspended in the air above Frostfire. The Torracat stared in awe, and looked to Mizuki for an order he wouldn't get: the bubble popped, and Harmony dropped down onto Frostfire's back, sending Pound after Pound after Pound to his spine, ears, tail... even one hit square between the eyes.

  But Frostfire didn't need to do anything before Harmony lost his grip and tumbled to the floor, leaving his underside exposed. The belly and chest area was a no-go in Pokémon battles - but this was Frostfire they were talking about. Those sharp claws, those amber eyes full of bloodlust...

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  Harmony's "savior" came in an unexpected form: Tenshiro's old Lucario, back from its errand, punted Harmony against the gym floor, and he slid, letting out a cry from a guaranteed friction-burn. Frostfire snapped to attention, jaws wide in shock.

  "Lucario," Mizuki said, "this is our battle to fight! Leave us alone!"

  If she meant it as an order, Frostfire understood. His leap towards Lucario earned him his own retribution, and he flew through the air, going even further than Harmony. Mizuki worked her jaw, gripping the sides of her head.

  "He's your Pokémon now, isn't he," Sun said. "Maybe not officially, but he seems to have accepted you as the Children's leader, or whatever. But you aren't competent enough in battle for him, it seems."

  "You can't fight your own team members, idiot," Mizuki spat, ignoring Sun. "Haven't you ever fought in a battle before? I know you have, so..."

  Another wave of cultists ran up the steps. Ilima reached out to grab one, a gray-haired woman, by the sleeve, and she whirled around, tears in her eyes.

  Flora!

  Ilima moved back and let go of her wrist, expression grave. "Where is Tenshiro?"

  "Mr. Kazakami's not one of us anymore," said Flora. "He deceived us..."

  Ilima froze. "Deceived you? About..."

  "About his daughter," Flora said. "His daughter's his granddaughter and he didn't want any of us to know. Mirai, poor baby, she's..."

  Ilima relaxed, and a gracious smile came over him. "Oh. Ah, I see. Thank you for letting me know. But it really is imperative I speak with him."

  "Sir, you didn't let me finish - "

  Ilima brushed her off, and she scrambled up the steps, harried and pained, and gave a slight nod to Sun he pretended not to notice before slinking off into the wings. Ilima turned to face Mizuki, but she pre-empted any interaction from him:

  "Get out of here, idiot! Can't you see I'm kind of in the middle of something?!"

  With both Harmony and Frostfire neutralized, Lucario had taken to the Bewear. He pummeled it in its plush stomach several times, but Bewear showed little sign of injury, and retaliated with a roundhouse kick to his lower leg before gripping him in a headlock.

  "I can indeed," Ilima said, "but I fail to see why it matters at this precise moment. Have you not noticed the - "

  "HAVE I NOTICED THE RAID??? HAVE I NOTICED THE FREAKING RAID??? NO, ILIMA, I HAVEN'T NOTICED THE RAID! THANK YOU FOR POINTING IT OUT TO ME!!!!"

  "Please quit yelling," Sun requested, but the clash occurring on the other side of the room drowned him out. With his free hand, he took out his Poke Ball to recall Harmony - the Popplio hadn't moved since Lucario's kick, and wouldn't be doing any more damage no matter what - and limped down the steps at the other end of the stage. Mizuki recalled Frostfire as well, then motioned towards the wings.

  "Let's," she said, "get the hell out of here. Before the freaking ceiling falls on us. You want to see my dad, don't you?"

  The carousel of stimuli around Sun, the battle, his ankle, the dust showering on him from above, the baby gibbering in his arms, the burning bag on his shoulder, the gross musk of the gym and the current of terror rippling through him - dammed his words, and it took him a few seconds to choke out, "I want to see Lillie."

  Mizuki responded with a cry that could shatter glass. "WELL, WHAT DOES IT MATTER?! THEY'RE BOTH IN THE SAME FRIGGIN PLACE, AREN'T THEY?!?!?!?"

  "Embarrassing," Ilima scoffed. "Throwing tantrums - and you call yourself a leader?"

  "I don't call myself a leader," Mizuki proclaimed. "I AM a leader. The Children have accepted me as one, and if you have an issue with that, take it up with them."

  As soon as she finished her sentence, she stepped aside to avoid Lucario flying in her direction. Bewear had snatched him by the scruff and flung him onto the stage, but before he could make contact with the ground, Lucario activated his psychic abilities and stopped a few inches above it. He skated on air back to Bewear, and summoned a bone spear, diving at it and attempting to drive it through its skull.

  "As I said," Mizuki said, "I think we're done here. Now get behind me, you idiots."

  The carnage in the lobby was unfathomable.

  Sun didn't waste his time ogling it. The Bewear, whom he only now realized was supposed to be on his side, had been just a taste of what the battles in the lobby and residential wing had to offer. The raiders had no regard for the structural integrity of the building, it seemed: all bets were off. He kept his head down and considered himself fortunate there wasn't much distance between the gym and the so-called janitor's closet.

  When the trio entered the east wing, the first thing they found was a sniveling boy lying on the cold linoleum, curled into the fetal position. His jet-black hair fell into his eyes and past his shoulders, not dissimilar to Sun's own, but more unkempt. Sun squinted at the green box lying parallel to his body, and twitched in surprise when it awoke and turned to reveal a pair of sharp yellow tusks and a vertical mandible.

  Mizuki put her hand on her hip. "You. What do you think you're doing here? You're old enough to fight, aren't you?"

  "I'm sorry," the boy sobbed. "I'm sorry. I just didn't want to be in the way..."

  Mizuki muttered an expletive under her breath and stomped past him, motioning for Sun and Ilima to follow. Sun almost gave the boy a sympathetic nod until he remembered where he was, and who this was, and the unnameable emotion simmering inside him compelled him to instead avert his eyes.

  "A hidden section of the compound," Ilima marveled. Sun side-eyed him: he didn't already know about this? He'd been under the impression Ilima and his family were deeply entrenched within the Children. Was that not true?

  "Only the righteous get to know about it," Mizuki said curtly. "And Sun too, I guess. And Mirai."

  Sun narrowed his eyes. "You don't think Mirai is 'righteous'?"

  "She's just a baby," Mizuki said.

  "And?"

  "And what?"

  "Well, I doubt that's the whole reason you'd say something like that," Sun replied, surprised by the intensity of the ire pricking his heart. "Is it because she's a bastard child?"

  Mizuki whipped around to face him, her eyes aglow with malice. "Does it matter? Do you want me to say it again? Didn't you hear it all the first time?"

  Ilima looked back and forth between them, noticeably tempering his speed - and considering the way Sun hobbled and struggled to keep pace, that was no small feat. Both kids saw no reason for him to make a run for it back down the hall when his destination was this way, so neither one kept a close eye on him.

  "I did hear it," Sun said. "You're ashamed of her."

  "I'm not ashamed of her! I'm ashamed of what Mizune did. Those are two completely different things."

  "And what good does it do you to be ashamed of something someone else did? And to project that shame onto a baby?"

  Mizuki crossed her arms. "Is there a reason you're interrogating me over this?"

  Sun absently glanced over his shoulder to find Ilima several yards behind them. His eyes looked sunken in and dead in the nauseating light of the east wing, and he was dragging his feet. Because of the kids' squabble, or because he dreaded an incoming rebuke from Tenshiro?

  "Look at me when I ask you a question," Mizuki barked.

  Poor Ilima, Sun thought. Slumped over, marching as if with shoes of lead. To think only a little over a week ago he had been the one with Sun's fate in his hands. Yes, poor, poor, Ilima.

  "I said look at me, you little - !"

  Sun sighed, focused on the contour of her curled lip. "I, I mean, I'm a bastard too, I guess, so, um..."

  "And what does that have to do with anything?"

  Sun grit his teeth and suppressed a you know exactly what it has to do with this. Instead he said, "if you guys treat her the way you are now for the rest of her life, you're going to make her miserable. In fact, I think the right thing to do would be to take her far, far away from you."

  "I wish I'd never met you," Mizuki said. "I wish we'd never become friends at all. I wish this cruel world wouldn't push us towards this and I wish you didn't have to give it what it wants. Now, is that enough of a reason for you? Do you get it now?"

  Sun glued his eyes to the endlessly repeating tiles beneath his feet and held the oblivious Mirai tighter to his chest. Mizuki prattled on about how she wasn't anything like him, she was the righteous one, the chosen one, and Sun wished he could revert to his own prehistory, when the world was whole and new and perfect like a ripe Custap Berry ready to be devoured. Another voice whispered to him, a few moments more and we won't have to worry about her. You think your suffering will never end until the second it does. Hold your breath until nothing hurts anymore, until this all comes to pass you by...

  The downdrafts from over the hills beat at the palm trees, forcing their broad leaves against the shed's roof. Mizuki paused at the front door, pressed her eye to the rectangular slit of window embedded in it, and turned to her companions.

  "Come on. This is what you guys asked for, isn't it?"

  Met with silence, she scoffed and swung the door open - and was immediately beset by her father. The chamber had no temperature control, and the humid air had made Tenshiro's hair go puffy and disheveled. Despite this, he hadn't removed his ceremonial garb, although his crimson face and askew collar made it evident the heat was not his ally.

  "Kazakami Mizuki." A string of rapid-fire Japanese phrases followed the invocation, and Mizuki pulled her lips tight and shut her eyes. She stepped back, loitering in the doorway and breathing unusually heavily, before moving aside to let Sun and Ilima through.

  "Speak words everyone here can understand, you coward," she said, voice low. "Show everyone exactly what kind of father you really are."

  Tenshiro narrowed his eyes, and his tongue flicked in and out of the corner of his mouth, producing a foul slurping sound. "I thought you were 'no longer the daughter of Tenshiro Kazakami'. Or have you truly decided to come crawling back to me after that display?"

  Mizuki clenched both of her fists and bent her knees - was she daft? Tenshiro may no longer have been in the prime of his life, but he was still an adult male, and they all knew there was no scenario in which Mizuki would be able to beat him in a physical confrontation. Not to mention he was already agitated, and, if Mizuki’s tale was true, had a history of violence -

  Sun grabbed Mizuki's shoulder and yanked her towards him, and the both of them ricocheted into the padded wall. She flinched as she crashed into him, but made a swift recovery, whirling around and returning to her prior stance.

  “This doesn’t involve you, idiot. Don’t you dare put your mitts on me!”

  “If you didn’t want me here, you shouldn’t have kidnapped me,” Sun said.

  Mizuki scowled and made a rude gesture at him. Out of the corner of his eye, Sun saw Tenshiro bite his lip, as if repressing the fatherly urge to tell her off. The man looked down beside him to the splayed out bodies of Yūra and Lillie, who both lay in the blissful ignorance of sleep. For a fraction of a second, Sun thought he saw Lillie's eyes flutter open; he ascribed it to a trick of the light.

  "Mr. Kazakami, sir," Ilima said, "Mr. Kazakami. I'm in contact with my papa, and he says he'll be here as soon as he possibly can. I don't know how long it will take him, but he'll transport you to a secure location until further notice. You have no need to worry..."

  Mizuki perked up again, and put her hand on her hip. "Oh, that reminds me! I need your dad to swear his allegiance to me. But there's no rush! We can wait until the crisis is over."

  "I find it highly unlikely he would ever stoop as low as to fall in line behind a prepubescent girl, no matter how precocious," Ilima retorted. "For that matter, I find it highly unbelievable you'll be able to keep this empire together for more than a few days.

  "Kyew-kyew...?"

  EMPIRE. SUN, YOU UNDERSTAND, DON’T YOU?

  Sun's attention snapped to the bag on his shoulder. Its wall had started to protrude and wriggle slightly, and the skin on the underside of his arm had gone rose-pink with its radiant heat. Mirai stared at it, her eyes alight with a silent but brilliant wonder.

  Do I understand what?

  To their collective surprise, Mizuki purred and clasped her hands together, even twirling in glee.

  "Aw, you think I’m precious? I think that’s the kindest thing you've ever said to me, Ilima."

  "Kyew. Pew, pew - "

  THE MACHINATIONS OF HUMAN -

  As if now was an appropriate time to rant about the human condition. Tuning out a voice piped directly into his brain was as difficult as one might think, and Sun resorted to lip reading to make out the ongoing quarrel. Mizuki’s ears were full of cotton, allegedly, and she had tried to harm the daughter Tenshiro adored, but Tenshiro wouldn’t know love if it kicked him in the balls…

  Finally, the murmurs died down, leaving Sun to the equally unenviable task of listening to Mizuki and Tenshiro argue.

  "I heard you lie about the auras," Tenshiro said. "So you finally figured it out. Saves me the trouble of telling you, I suppose."

  "Figured what out?"

  Mizuki, Sun thought, Mizuki, don't play dumb, don't play dumb, just admit the truth to yourself.

  Ilima crossed his arms. "Oh, please. At this rate, you're going to get us all sent to the loony bin. If you earnestly believe your religion's dogma, then..."

  THEN SHE'S MORE OF A THREAT THAN TENSHIRO HAS EVER BEEN.

  Sun froze.

  "Finish that sentence, Ilima," Mizuki growled. "I dare you."

  AND NOW, THERE'S ONLY ONE THING LEFT FOR ME TO DO...

  "Wait," Sun managed to get out. "Wait, I don't understand, what do you mean?"

  Mizuki shot him a dirty look. "What you mean, what do I mean? It's pretty self-explanatory, isn't it?"

  Without warning, Ilima backed against the wall, his hand flying to his chest. His legs buckled and his mouth gaped open in a silent scream. The three conscious ones watched him fall, watched him twitch on the ground, gasping for air his lungs couldn't hold -

  Mizuki glanced around, looked to Sun, looked to Tenshiro. "Um...? Ilima?"

  No answer met her. The blood drained from Ilima's tan face, fading it to an awful gray-blue color; the light in his eyes went out -

  "Hey!" Somehow, miraculously, Mizuki found the strength to trudge through this molasses air, run to his side, and press two fingers to his neck. "Ilima! Are you okay? Ilima, oh my god, what - why..."

  Mirai kicked in Sun's arms and wailed, and his heart ached for her - and, for a reason he could not comprehend, ached for Ilima, too. His feet stood still, but his lips issued an awkward order: "Do, like, chest compressions or something."

  "I don't know CPR," Mizuki said. Her voice had gone up an octave, and she rocked back and forth on her knees, eyes wild with fury and fright. "You do it!"

  Sun pressed Mirai to his chest and ran his hand down her back, lowering his voice. "Aren't you supposed to be the genius one here? If I could do it, I wouldn't be asking you!"

  "And - and are you sure Harmony doesn't know any healing moves?" At Sun's silence, Mizuki shut her eyes and worked her thumbs into Ilima's shirt. "I know Frostfire for sure doesn't, but... agh, what's wrong with him?"

  The two's gazes snapped to the stock-still Tenshiro. Any animosity the man may have had before had passed into obvious terror; any pleading Sun could have done with him, he knew then, would be moot with his despondency. A tortured cry erupted from Ilima's throat, and Sun looked to Yūra, and wondered how powerful this drug could be if it could keep her fast asleep despite all this racket; and Lillie, too -

  Mizuki hadn't drugged Lillie.

  "He's dead," Mizuki wailed. "This has to be a nightmare, I have to be dreaming..."

  A thump from behind them prompted Sun and Mizuki to whirl around. Tenshiro had collapsed as well, and his hand was pressed to his own heart -

  "Dad!"

  Mizuki clambered over to his side on her hands and knees, and prodded his shoulder. A spray of spittle flew from Tenshiro's lips, and his gray eyes rolled back into his head, revealing the complex tangle of red and blue veins shimmering in his sclera. An unwanted wave of nostalgia floated over Sun - playing mancala with Hau and Mizuki after school, and who'd have guessed a freshly dead person's eyes looked so much like a couple of marbles in a divot -

  "Wait! Wait, Dad, Dad, I didn't mean... I didn't want him to... I just wanted to talk, I don't - !"

  Mizuki's cry died in her throat, and for a moment Sun worried she would suffer the same fate as the other two. Her mouth hung wide open; her arms trembled, then gave out; and she slid down to lie prone on the padded floor.

  “No, no, no, no, no…"

  And it wasn't that Sun didn’t care - one part of him wanted to scream and scream until the sac of dread in his chest deflated entirely - but all the words he could ever think of to comfort her, condemn her, condemn Ishmael, were all empty, and he was sure he himself wasn't breathing, he was sure his own heart wasn't beating, and he thought, would it really be so bad if he joined them in hell -

  And he thought of Yūra awakening to find her husband’s stiff body; the aftermath, he couldn't picture -

  "I… you have to bring them back, somehow, some way! Bring them both back, they didn’t…"

  - and he thought of walking down that old trail through the woods, wading through its sea of ochre leaves, and hearing them give that satisfying crunch under the heels of his shoes, and feeling his little hand in his father’s big one -

  Heavy breathing and stifled giggles.

  Lillie rose to her feet, towering over the fallen Mizuki. Her green eyes flicked over her and the two corpses, and her mouth cut into a grin. Mizuki gasped, scrambled back upright, and gave a weak kick in her direction; when her foot brushed her father's body, she cringed and covered her tear-stained face.

  With her left hand, Lillie crossed her heart; she raised her right.

  "Praise be to Kazakami Mizuki, arbiter of divine justice," she said, "and in her glorious name we pray. Amen."