Emily’s head felt full as her eyes fluttered open. The hospital lights were too bright. She groaned and closed them again.
“She’s awake,” a voice called out. It was a clan doctor.
“Thank the heavens,” another voice replied. It felt familiar.
Emily felt the light’s heat fade and opened her eyes. Serena was standing over her, her face a mix of relief, concern, and sorrow.
“Mom…” Emily spoke, her voice small. Serena hugged her.
“I was so worried,” Serena whispered. “You were unconscious for a week. The doctor was trying everything, but…you flatlined twice, Emily. I thought you…”
“I’m not going to die, Mom,” Emily mumbled into Serena’s chest.
Serena didn’t seem to believe her assurances and squeezed her tighter. Emily thought to mention she couldn’t breathe, but then the enormity of what happened fell on her.
In the span of one night, she had lost her birthright and the clan had been embarrassed. In one night, the fruits of her labor had been taken from her, to potentially never be seen again.
What would happen to the clan, now that the mask was taken? Who had paid Ichbin to steal the mask and what did they want with the clan?
What was going to happen to them? How far would the clan’s loyalty hold or before their ambition became unrestrained? Would they find the mask before that time, or, if it was ever found, would it find itself on someone else, with her family's corpses under their feet?
It was too much, and Emily began to cry, silent tears staining her mom’s robe. Serena paid it no mind, and as Emily’s hands wrapped around her, mother and daughter shared a moment of reassurance and the comforting lie: regardless of what happened, nothing would change.
Eventually, they broke apart. “Does she need to stay in bed?” Serena asked the doctor.
“She can move around,” came the reply, “But she needs to stay on her IV for about a week.”
“About a week?”
“Truthfully, between her constitution and my healing, she should be fine in around 4 days, but if you want her to be 100 percent as fast as possible, my recommendation is a week.”
“That’s alright, doctor,” Serena nodded. “But I must ask you to fetch my maid and give her the order to deliver a robe for Emily.”
The doctor nodded and left.
“Mom?” Emily asked an unspoken question.
Serena nodded. “You may have been robbed of your birthright, but as of that moment, you became the leader of the Sakura clan. It’s time for you to start taking those responsibilities.”
One Hour Later
The IV insertion itched as Emily stood in front of the door.
She knew that on the other side, there would be familiar faces: old teachers and friends who had prepped her for that ruined moment. Nothing would be different, save for the ultimate deference to her decision.
And yet…there was still a niggling twinge of uncertainty. A whisper that instead of familiar faces, all she would see, all she should see, were sharks in the water.
Emily closed her eyes and exhaled. Her thoughts were becoming more paranoid than a victim of Poppy’s signature interrogation blend. Nothing would change, at least right now.
She had a bad experience - traumatic, even - and it made sense that she would feel a little insecure about what she should expect from longstanding relationships. It was almost pragmatic, truly: that event was, for better or for worse, a defining moment in history for the clan. Whether it was her fault or not, it happened under her tenure, and they may look at her differently after a catastrophe like this.
But that would only happen if the situation spiraled or it became unmanageable. Right now, they would mainly focus on the well-being of the clan. In the later months…well. Her personality was fairly firm, and she’d missed the clan mask resonance, so she was due for her Mask anyway. She wouldn’t be helpless forever, and certainly not for long.
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But for now, everything was the same. Nothing had changed. And regardless of what happened, should this be resolved, nothing would change.
“Emily?” Serena asked, bringing her to the real world. She’d opted to stay as her advisor.
“I’m alright,” Emily responded. She was alright, as they would be because, for now at least, nothing would change.
With that assurance in mind, Emily opened her eyes and slid the door open. Background conversation quieted as she walked towards the head of the table and sat down, Serena beside her.
Emily looked down, feeling the elder's gaze burn into her. She steadied herself, exhaling silently as she looked up.
“Emily,” High Elder Sunflower started. “No-Lord Blossom. My condolences for the fiasco that occurred. If I had-“
“It’s alright, High Elder,” Emily said, slightly shaking her head. “Your abilities would have been more dangerous to us than anything. For now, we need to figure out our next move.”
The former mentor’s eyes widened slightly before he nodded. “Agreed. For starters, we must know how exactly Ichbin could have broken in and found the headquarters in the first place.”
“Is his ability not to give himself abilities?” Elder Saguaro asked. “He simply had omniscience at the time he was planning, then teleported to us.“
Sunflower shook his head, the petals of his mask going with the motion. “The clan house is covered in cloaking technology from top to bottom. Even barring that, it’s not even in the real world half the time, switching between random pocket dimensions every ten minutes or so, and thirty seconds in case of intrusion. You’d need to have an intrinsic link with the house to enter as casually as he did…and the only way to obtain it would be to have been granted one with our authority or higher.”
“Are you implying-“
“I’m not implying anything, Saguaro,” the high elder cut off, mask beginning to glow an otherworldly aura even as he began to be wreathed in light. The gravity of his ego began unspooling, making Emily’s head spin, centuries of life smothering her in all he was-
“That’s enough, High Elder.”
Emily’s head cleared up again, the weight of Sunflower’s centuries of memories alleviated from her psyche. Looking up, she saw her mom’s own mask glow, her nails arching into claws as she let out a low growl while her form began rippling, doubles primed to be released. The warmth of her ego was healing, a blanket of reassurance that helped her keep firm against Sunflower’s unchecked irritation. Saguaro was also expressing his ego, spikes beginning to emerge from his body as the bud on his mask began to swell.
“You would do well to heed that not all of us have had the chance to form a developed ego as yet, or lived as long as you have, for that matter,” Serena - no, Emily realized, the former Lord Blossom - demanded with a calm certainty that meant the matter was rested, the gravelly delivery promising violence if refused, catastrophe be damned.
Sunflower seemed relatively unphased, and for a moment his ego continued leaking before it eventually faded and he sighed, showing his age and betraying exhaustion.
“Apologies. The situation is…unprecedented.”
“No one blames you for showing passion, High Elder,” Serena nodded. “We are in catastrophic times.”
“That we are,” Sunflower agreed. “ I want to highlight that this is not an accusation of anyone…at least, for now. Ichbin has no known limit on the creation of his abilities, except he cannot keep them once his mask deactivates. It is nearly, or perhaps almost certainly, that he fooled someone into getting him this clearance.
“However,” Serena continued, “This is also not his usual M.O. Famed as he is, Ichbin has never done anything as brazen or sacrilegious as this so far.”
“That's technically not-”
“We’re not dealing in rumors, Saguaro,” Emily cut off. “Stop interrupting.”
Saguaro turned his head in surprise, before looking at Emily again. Emily saw the reevaluation of herself in his eyes before his posture shifted ever so slightly alert. A small smile reached her lips.
“Carrying on,” Serena continued, “Apart from rumors, this would be the first type of theft he has done that was catastrophic to a particular clan. Because it’s so irregular, we can assume that this was a personal request from someone. Finding out that person may lead us to the mask itself and also the contractor…who we can then make an example of to show the world we have arrived.”
Emily had to squash the silent awe before it became too distracting for her to contribute to the conversation. “I agree. Elder Nightshade, feel free to utilize all our available contacts in the Underworld for anyone that may have a grudge against the clan, those with the will to do so, and those who have the means to do so. Kill them if you must, but the primary directive is capture. The process if you kill them is more trouble than worth, for all of us.”
Nightshade nodded, and the rest of the meeting continued relatively benignly. A new mask would be discreetly ordered from one of their private contractors - Ego Sum Inc. Depending on when it happened, Emily would have the ceremony rescheduled until she unlocked her own personal mask - ill-advised, considering her ego would be stretched, but certainly doable, as she was selected instead of her brother because of her naturally expansive strength of self.
But while this happened, the weight of Sunflower’s ego was all Emily could really think about. And as she saw the faceless visage of Sunflower’s center, the barely restrained rage he'd had, she couldn’t shake the feeling that his anger would never change.
----------------------------------------
As the elders filed out, Emily looked on, waiting till the last one left before allowing herself to wilt into her mother, who lowered to hug her from behind the back.
“You handled it better than I thought you would,” She replied as she lay her head on her daughter’s collar.
“Easy to do so, when there’s only one issue on the docket. You’ll probably get to see my newness after a few weeks when the ambition starts to set in,” Emily groaned, feeling exhausted just from the experience.
“It won't get to that point," her mother reassured. "Even if it does, you’ll always have an ally in Sunflower, as long as he believes you’re doing right for the clan.”
“He seems to think that my existence right now is hurting the clan,” Emily sighed, snuggling further into her mother as she closed her eyes. Serena began to put her fingers through Emily’s braids and scratch her scalp.
“That’s more anger at the situation than anything. This has never happened before in the millennia he has lived, and for it to happen now, to this clan, to one man, is mortifying on levels we probably can’t comprehend. Prove yourself, and it will pass.”
“I don’t know. There’s so much I simply don’t know.”
“Well, that’s why I’m here, right?” Serena said with a smile, looping her arms around her daughter’s neck in a hug. “You’re still so young, you know. Hardly 18. I’m looking forward to retirement, but till then, it’ll be you and me until we solve this. My little girl.”
“You’re never gonna let me go, are you?” Emily said, a smile reaching her lips.
“Are you still ticklish?” Serena responded, suddenly attacking her daughter’s sides. As surprised protests of being too old for this faded into hysterical laughter and childish glee, they felt certain they would always be together, and nothing would change that.