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It is dark when Sara is forced into the waking world, chased by the cold talons of a witch. Her back still aches from the bitter frost that struck her down, her heart still burning from the revelations that came before it.
Selfishness? I am but safeguarding the eternity of the Kujou Clan. I'm quite sure the Almighty Shogun would be sympathetic to that, as would the former head of our clan.
Report to the Shogun if you so wish. The Kujou Clan's position is now unshakable, and nothing you can do will change this.
Sara had done her duty as a loyal servant of the Shogun. She had reported the truth, she had raised her blade against the true enemies of Inazuma--
A blast of ice sends her crashing into a wall. Her body aches, her wings coated in frost.
She will never forget the vicious smile on the Harbinger’s face as frigid spears cut her down. She will never forget the pale, empty gaze of the Shogun as she falls.
And by the time she had awakened, it was all over. The Traveler had met the Shogun in combat, forced her to back down, and the Vision Hunt was ended. Or so the healers and doctors told her. She had not left the room or met with a member of any Commission, bound to her bed first by necessity and later by her own weakness.
Yes, she would make a full recovery. Her pinions may ache from time to time, and she may spend weeks reclaiming lost strength, but her body would recover. A sword, ready to be drawn against the enemies of the Shogun.
She stares, unblinking, at the barely-visible wood grain of the ceiling. She traces its path to the edge of her own sight, till her eyes strain, before blinking and starting again.
The war was over, now. The sword sheathed, set aside for more peaceful tools. Her Commission had betrayed the Shogun, and she had failed at even the most basic of reparations.
Still, she was here at Tenshukaku, receiving treatment from the Raiden Shogun’s personal healers. The Shogun herself had no need for such staff, but they were often used for critical members of the Commissions. Which, Sara supposed, included herself.
Perhaps she would be expected to stand trial for her actions, to stand before the Shogun and receive holy judgment.
Sara hears her door slide open as a whisper of wood against waxed wood, barely audible even in the dark, heavy silence. A figure steps in, their shape barely visible from the distant light of a lantern down the hall. She brings her arms back, pushing up on her elbows--
Pain blossoms from her back, sharp and persistent. She bites back a cry; if this is an assassin, weakness could spell her doom.
“If you are here to kill me,” she states, yellow eyes straining against the dark, “You will not find me an easy target.”
Her sword was resting against the bed, well within reach. Pain was inevitable, should she need to stand, but she had survived worse, would survive worse.
The figure hesitates, a wavering shadow at the edges of her vision.
“I do not desire your death, Kujou Sara.” The voice is soft, deep, and feminine, almost dreamlike; resembling something she knew, but not perfectly. “I wish to speak with you, nothing more.”
Sara exhales, but does not release the tension coiled in her frame. “Then speak, madam. I know little of what has happened to the Commissions in my absence.”
“Ah. The Commissions. I have not come here to speak with you about such trivial matters,” the woman says, drawing closer.
Sara watches as she bends over, dragging a stool over the Tatami mat floors towards her. “The Commissions are anything but trivial. Their work is essential to maintaining the Shogun’s order... when they do their job honorably, which the Tenryou Commission has not.”
Her sword is in her grasp, now. Ready to be unsheathed, should she need it, though it was perhaps absurd of her to assume an assassin could enter Tenshukaku unopposed. She would have heard thunder if the Shogun had even a hint of such an agent.
“Did I imply the Commissions were trivial? I did not intend to.” She sits down, close enough that Sara can faintly make out the shape of the woman’s face and neck. Familiar, like the voice, but somehow different from anyone she knew. “They are indeed essential to the Shogun’s order, and I tend to agree with her on such matters.”
The woman pauses, taking a breath. “You would be wondering who I am, unless your night vision is comparable to a Kitsune’s?”
Sara hesitates. “You are... familiar, but I cannot see enough detail to make an identification without creating lightning.”
“Ei. Call me Ei, then.” The woman-- Ei-- decides.
“Ei.” Sara says. A woman named for the shadows, then. A false identity, perhaps? “Why have you come to speak with me, Ei?”
“Perhaps I simply wish to speak with someone the Shogun holds in the highest regard?” Ei remarks lightly. “She does not offer such admiration lightly, Kujou Sara. I would be remiss not to investigate.”
The Shogun , giving words of praise? Ei’s words carry a certainty that rings in her heart, but not in her mind. “Absurd. I am-- was-- but a servant to the Raiden Shogun’s Eternity. A service I will no doubt be dismissed from.”
Ei tilts her head. “Why?”
Sara exhales slowly, gathering herself. “I am sure you know how I came to be in this room, recovering. I failed her, put simply.” The words cling to her throat, barbed and venomous, coming free only when they have left wounds to remember.
Ei hums. A hand reaches out, close enough for Sara to see the faint glint of light off painted nails, close enough to see the Shogun’s seal upon the kimono’s sleeves. It hovers above her shoulder, hesitant, before coming down and patting her twice.
“She told me herself that she wishes for your swift recovery. The Shogunate will be stronger with you as its General.” She pauses. “I see now why she admires you. To see such devotion in a mortal, Youkai or no, is... almost beyond belief. You should not speak so lowly of yourself, Kujou Sara.”
Sara’s heart skips a beat. “I was not aware there was anyone close enough to the Shogun to know her personal feelings on such matters.”
“It is rare for me to... come out, so to speak. I have spent much of my time meditating with the Shogun as my connection to the outside world. The Traveler showed me the error of my seclusion.”
A god or Youkai of some sort, Sara speculates. The Shogun was entitled to her privacy, certainly, but it would be unlike her to associate with a mortal in such a fashion. And yet... something rankles about Ei’s words. They do not sit well in Sara’s heart.
“I am quite grateful to them. I would not have discovered dango milk otherwise.” Ei muses. “I think I shall have some delivered to me with my breakfasts. Would you like one?”
Sara blinks. “I beg your pardon?”
“Would you like a dango milk? I can arrange for one to be brought with your breakfast tomorrow. They are quite delicious.”
“I--” A barbed knot ties itself in Sara’s stomach, constricting with Ei’s every word.
“Or perhaps a tricolor dango? Miko tells me most prefer something to bite into with their breakfast. Perhaps she was just flirting.” Ei’s shoulders rise and fall. Her hand curls, nails pressing against Sara’s skin, before pulling back entirely.
“ Ei .” Sara says, finally. She feels her wings trying to flicker into being, pressing against the bed before she dismisses them once more. “I do not know what your designs are for me. You would not come to me at such a late hour simply to ‘observe my devotion’, and if you wish to trick me into giving away the Shogunate’s secrets, you will fail.”
There is little she can do for the Shogun in her current state, and she will no doubt be dismissed after her recovery. If this absurd woman is trying to take advantage of that...
Violet light sparks, flickering through Ei’s eyes long enough to reveal a hint of pale skin and rich purple hair. The hair on Sara’s arms stands on end, and the acrid scent of lightning fills the room.
“Hmph. I truly have changed, if I am allowing mortals to speak to me with such irreverence.” The woman’s voice is hard, cutting through Sara’s thoughts like tempered steel. It is cold, it is...
No. It cannot be Her Excellency. The Shogun would not toy with her, testing her faith with strange and soft words. The Shogun is Lightning itself, striking with the violent precision only the God of Eternity could wield.
‘Ei’ inhales and exhales, her voice softening. “You are right to suspect me, Kujou Sara. I have not been truly honest with my intentions or my identity.”
“Say your piece, then.” Sara says calmly, fighting her raging heartbeat. “Tell me why you wear Her Excellency’s face.”
Ei laughs. It is deep, joyous, and loosens the coiled tension in Sara’s body.
“So you did see, then.” Violet light crackles to life once more, and Sara meets Ei’s gaze with her own. “It is more accurate to say that the Shogun wears my face, Kujou Sara.”
Sara frowns, but says nothing.
“Your Shogun is... a part of me. A thinking machine, a puppet, forged to serve as the ruler of Inazuma while I meditate within.” Ei sighs. “Yet with my distant guidance, she was led astray by the Fatui, and by the Tenryou Commission.”
“A puppet.” Sara repeats weakly. It’s absurd. Impossible. Her god was no mere puppet.
“The Shogun can think and act of her own volition, if that is your query, albeit limited by rules I imposed upon her creation. She quite likes you, in fact.”
“The Shogun... likes me?” Sara frowns again, flexing her hands. “Ah. I see now. I am dreaming.”
It makes everything that came before much more sensible. Seeing a secret, warm side of her Shogun, and hearing that the Shogun liked her... perhaps she desired it, deep down. But such fantasies could only occur in a dream, where the Shogun was not a cold, distant god that saw prosperity in a way Sara could barely comprehend.
“Dreaming?” Ei hums. “I see. Would you believe me if I returned in the morning, with dango to share?”
“The Shogun would never do such a thing.” Sara states. “She prefers sugary egg rolls for breakfast, and her preferred desert is sakura mochi, not dango.”
“She does? Hmm. I shall buy her some, then. I will see you in the morning, Kujou Sara.” The woman wearing the Shogun’s face smiles, patting Sara on the shoulder one last time.
She rises silently, walking back towards the door. “Rest well. Your service is greatly missed by myself and the Shogun, and I wish you a speedy recovery.”
And Sara is left in silence once more, staring at the wood grain above her bed.
“At least it isn’t a nightmare.” Sara remarks to herself.
Sara wakes with the sun that morning, dragging herself up into a sitting position with the help of several pillows. She rubs her eyes, spreads her wings wide, winces at the ache in her back, and...
“What a strange dream,” Sara frowns, stroking her chin. She recalled Shinobu telling her that dreams could indicate some sort of desire, but what desire would having a doppelganger of the Shogun represent?
Her wings twitch at the thought. Sara flushes, pushing it to the deepest, darkest corners of her mind.
The door to her room slides open, carrying with it a scented breeze: lightning, egg, and sugar . Lots and lots of sugar.
Dread pools in her stomach. It takes all her will to turn her head towards the door, praying it is a mere coincidence. Whatever the case may be, she hides her wings once more so she can lay back on the pillows.
Yellow eyes meet sparkling violet. There is a smiling joy in those violet eyes, and as Sara’s eyes trail downwards, she sees half a dango sticking out of the woman’s mouth. A delicate hand reaches up, pushing the dango until it is entirely concealed behind the woman’s beautifully painted lips.
“Good morning, Kujou Sara,” says the woman who is not the Shogun, “I brought dango.”
“G-good morning, Your Excellency.” Sara replies faintly, doing her best impression of a bow from her bed. “You have my deepest apologies for my behavior last night. There are no excuses for how I--”
“It is nothing. I came to a nervous soldier in the dead of night, I should not have expected anything else.” Her Excellency waves it away, striding up towards the bed. She’s holding three sticks of dango between her fingers, and balancing a plate of egg rolls on the other hand. “The kitchen was most accommodating this morning. Would you like dango first, or the egg?”
“Egg, please.” Sara says automatically. “Does this mean I am in your service now, Your Excellency?”
“ Ei . Raiden Ei, if you must.” Raiden Ei stresses, pursing her lips. Crow’s feet form, faint but present, at the corners of her eyes. “The Shogun shall remain in charge of Inazuma. There are adjustments to be made, so she is not so easily fooled, but you shall see both of us.”
She places the plate on Sara’s lap, pressing chopsticks into Sara’s hand. “You seem to be taking this well.”
“I am not, I assure you.” Sara nods, taking a bite of the egg roll. Sweet, but not as sweet as the Shogun prefers it. “I believe this is called ‘shock’. I expect I will faint soon enough.”
“I shall eat the rest of your dango if that is the case. It shall not go unappreciated, this I swear.” Raiden Ei takes a bite out of a new stick of dango, chewing thoughtfully. “Yes. The Shogun wishes for you to remain in our service, and I agree. Perhaps I shall add a new duty for you.”
“Anything for the Shogun.” Sara replies instantly, feeling her cheeks flush a deep red. “It will be as you desire, Your Excellency.”
Raiden Ei arches an eyebrow. Sara’s heart skips a beat, and she looks away. “You will join me for breakfast every day. I quite like you.”
“You... quite like me.” Sara repeats. She puts another bite of egg roll in her mouth before she can say anything else.
“Yes. Miko did say I should be honest with you.” Raiden Ei nods. “Your new duty shall begin when you are able to comfortably get out of bed.”
“Ei?”
“Hmm?” Ei looks at her, looks into her with those piercing eyes. Sara can’t look away anymore.
“I think I will faint now.”
“More dango for me, then,” Ei beams , sending jolts of lightning up Sara’s spine.
She does, in fact, faint.