Ad Astra

[[ part two to this post! ]]

Audrey lays back on the futon as the linkpearl rolls out of her hand. She can’t wipe the smirk from her face. She cannot resist the urge to laugh.

She was sure people had good reason to be afraid of Tsai Xiu, but she couldn’t find one just yet, if she could be so easily disarmed by words and requests said with puppy dog eyes. It’s almost better than a high. It feels familiar. It feels right. This was her, this was Audrey, no, Cherry - manipulating the people that couldn’t be manipulated, dismantling the people that couldn’t get shaken.

Finally, she does laugh, her head tilting back into the futon. 

It wasn’t a selfish request. It was for Cato. But hells. Fucking hells, it felt good. Better than any drug.

Being a miserable piece of existence tasted sweet. It felt sweet. If she had to be the bad guy for a good outcome, so be it. For the Benes family, she could always play the bad guy. She could risk it all. She would risk it all. If she went to this Jade Palace and was eaten alive for trying, that would be okay.

The urge to laugh fades. She stares at the ceiling, timing the sound of her breathing, listening to the water running in Caius’ shower. 

What had been the crackle? The explosion? The scream? 

Had the priestess been right about Hana? Was she just always… there? Cato had never said anything. He would, right, if he had been able to see her? Maybe her presence in the mortal plane wasn’t as strong as his, but–…

Wait. Wait just a damn minute.

Audrey pushes herself to her feet and grabs her jacket that she’d tossed onto the kotatsu, jamming her feet into the first pair of shoes she found.

“I’ll be right back!” she shouts to Caius. “I need to talk to Arashi!” 

There’s a cold drizzle as she stomps outside to their private courtyard. The shrine to Arashi here is smaller than it is at the main wing of the house, but it is, Audrey knows, where he’s more commonly found - because he can never stay out of her business, clearly.

“Arashi!” she yells, kneeling despite the enormous amount of disrespect she was feeling and carefully adjusting the incense from earlier. “You giant, smelly lizard, you better come out and talk to me now–”

With a quiet ‘pop!’, the smaller version of the lizard appears on the stone of the shrine, slowly blinking his yellow eyes up at the glaring girl. 

“What did I do?” he asks, his voice as deep and as big as if he was an actual man and not a tiny reptile.

“The priestess said Hana’s ghost is around me–”

“Ah,” Arashi noises, sagely and almost comically nodding. “You know, I’ve been meaning to mention that since you first were able to see me…”

Audrey’s eyes widen, and she thrusts her hands out in disbelief.

“What do you mean? What do you mean by that?”

“She’s not with you all the time,” he explains, like he was discussing the weather. “And she’s not solid at all. Not like our Cato. She’s much weaker, but… Sometimes. Sometimes she visits you. Most of her time is spent elsewhere.”

“Elsewhere,” Audrey echoes, narrowing her eyes now. “And where is that?”

“Mm… No spoilers. Not yet,” Arashi yawns, and Audrey lets out an indignant shout when he starts to disappear. Her hands reach out to throttle, only to fall on the wet stone, and she screams her frustration once more, slapping at the shrine in her outrage. 

“Fucking little worm– doesn’t even come to me in his full size–” There are plenty of choice words and angry words that come out of Audrey’s mouth as she stomps up to her feet, but in truth, her head is swimming. 

Sometimes? Where else did Hana go? No spoilers? What did that mean? Why was everything so cryptic? Why was he like this? Always? Sure, she supposed she was supposed to live without a god telling her the answers to everything, but still–

“It is frustrating.” Arashi pops up by her shoulder, and Audrey actually stumbles back a little in shock at the sudden return of his voice. There’s a clap of thunder in the distance, a streak of lightning, as she glares, and the little lizard kami raises his eyes to Audrey and spreads his little lizard hands in apology.

“What? That you won’t answer my question?”

“No, not at all. That you will be granted such easy access to the Jade Palace, where its kami barred me from entry - very rudely and aggressively, might I add. He has positively no manners,” Arashi grumbles. “A pompous, vain, full of himself…”

“Wait– the Jade Palace has a kami, too?” Audrey asks, faintly.

“Two. But their story is… complicated. I would advise much caution, Yuna. That place is dangerous - especially for pretty young women–…”

Xiu’s linkpearl is ringing. It shouldn’t be ringing. The hour was late, Jun was away doing his monthly duties, and as far as she knew, she hadn’t angered the oyabun enough to warrant a call. All in all, Xiu had been on her best behavior. The Jade Palace was never uneventful, but it was quieter in recent days. Of course, Xiu knew better than to trust too much quiet. 

It was usually hiding something.

With a soft groan, she pushes herself up on her elbows and reaches for the little jade-hued device, laced with gold paint. It was a newer device, this one. It was for secure calls - to her brother, to the prince, to the servant girls if they needed her and she was not within close proximity. 

It’s not a voice she recognizes chiming in from the other end. 

“This is Tsai Xiu, isn’t it? I hope this isn’t a bad time.”

A pause. A heartbeat, a skip. The Doman is good, but it isn’t perfect. Accented. Not a familiar voice. A feminine voice, but not one she knows. And it’s someone using her… almost real name.

What in the seven hells?

“Who is this?” Xiu asks, eyeing up the walls and the doors, and she can hear the other voice smiling when it replies.

“Oh, silly me. It’s Audrey Matsuda– or Yuna Matsuda, I guess, you may know me better by? Sorry. Still getting used to it. This is probably a big surprise! I’m sorry about that, but I got the contact information from…”

There’s another pause, and Xiu has to wonder why she’s still entertaining this call and why she hasn’t hung up yet.

Yuna. Yuna Matsuda.

Hana’s baby sister.

Hells. Fucking hells.