As night fell on Ichi, the capital city found itself under the ever watchful gaze of its thirteen moons. For many the celestial bodies were considered the crowning jewels of the realm, alongside their famous cherry blossom trees. Their origins were hotly contested as to how such a thing could come about, as the other realms found themselves with only one moon each. But to the people of Ichika, such a mystery was easily answered and known by all. As how Aurum had turned the realm of Vanaheimr its blood red and violent black to suit the needs of the Nephilim, so did it do the same for the people who once hailed from the land of the Jade Empire. Even as they escaped persecution from the empire found in the deep west, their journey to Aurum was not one made out of choice but necessity. In doing so, they found themselves in these new and fabled lands, they brought with them not only their culture and their ways, but the very night sky and the lunar bodies that had guided them. These moons that had experienced so much, that had seen so much, through countless wars and conflicts. All could look up when the sun fell and be reminded that the moons of Ichika watched over them, for no matter their cause no matter the reason for their actions, the moons would love them all the same.

  As Lord Taro Hisakawa gazed at them from cover, hidden between a darkened path. He recalled the many songs and stories his mother would sing to him about them. Truthfully he never quite listened, for one could not blame a boy of a mere six years to see the value in such lessons. Yet now as he looked at each moon slowly rising over the horizon, he could not help but think of his mother and what her stories had meant. Perhaps it was why he found himself so calm despite his pregnant wife missing and his realm on the verge of tearing itself apart. When Lord Hisakawa looked at the thirteen moons of Ichika, all his worries seemed to ease and the voice of his mother became strong and clearer in his ears. The Lunar General was thankful for her lessons and her patience with such an impatient child. He promised himself–he promised the moons that when this farce was brought to its end, he would journey with Fumi back to his family’s castle so he could once again hear the sweet songs of his mother.

  “How long are we going to sit here?” a whisper called out from the shadows behind him.

  Lord Hisakawa turned his attention away from the sky back to his forcibly adopted daughter. Towering she stood, “patience Taka,” he urged the young lady who only grumbled.

  “You said that two hours ago, do we mean to just sit here until King Satori returns?” she folded her arms in protest. “That is still days away, and you said he’s in danger too. And what of my mother?”

  The Lunar General sighed in slight frustration at the barrage of questions. The young girl reminded him a great deal of Lady Yukimura in her older years and he wrestled with whether he was in favor of that or not. If it were the Lunar General’s wish they would simply just sit here until King Satori’s return and hope that all of this was one great misunderstanding. There would be those who would call his actions cowardly, certainly the young woman next to him if she were to know his desires. But to the general their hands were tied and certainly without weapons or allies to assist them, there was very little they could do. Any action they took would be met with a greater force than they could muster. Regardless of their opinions on the matter, Hideyoshi had found himself with quite the advantage.

  However Lord Hisakawa knew that would do practically nothing to stop Taka from taking it upon herself to rescue her mother. He respected that, which is why he had secretly decided to take her as far away from the Imperial Palace as possible. After an entire day of slowly making their way through the alley ways of Ichi, they had found themselves in the outermost section of the city. They were within the Fourth Gate where a vast majority of the people lived, and here they would be far harder for the Kuroi Inu to track them. Not impossible, but close enough that he hoped they would not bother venturing this far out. As their main priority should have been to seize control of the inner gates.

  “Stop ignoring me!” Taka struck him on the arm.

  “I am not ignoring you!” Lord Hisakawa pleaded with her to calm down, “I am just thinking.” While he rubbed where she hit him, for the briefest of moments he regretted the idea of being a potential father. Fumi was always better with children. A skill he did not have as much as he grew up in charge of several of his nieces and nephews.

  “You’ve been saying that for hours,” she was unimpressed. “Is our plan really to do nothing, aren’t you a Lunar General?” she hoped her words would spur him into action. Force him to take command.

  He turned to her, “we do not have a plan.” Once again he glanced over to the near empty street. “But I have one…The early stages of one at least.”

  “May I speak freely Lord Hisakawa?” Taka asked earnestly.

  He gestured for her to do so.

  “You do not exactly inspire the most confidence,” she hoped her words did not come across as inflammatory as it sounded. There was a great deal Taka had heard of Lord Hisakawa from rumor, in the little time she had come to know him. There might have been some truth so a few of them.

  “On that we can both agree, my dear child,” he chuckled as he leaned against the wall. “Now do you see that tavern across the street?”

  Taka leaned over and examined the buildings lined across from them. It was located in between two decently sized structures of similar make. The tavern was old, the wood had splintered in some parts and other parts were replaced with much newer designs. It was an establishment that was not frequented by many, for night had only just set and there was no sign of life to be found. Curious, she thought. Her extensive knowledge of alehouses thanks to her mother’s frequent visits to them, had granted her a deeper understanding and a keen sense to identify popular ones simply by just looking at their exterior. She was sure this tavern was of a lower quality, and had been that way for some time. Despite night obscuring her vision, she was able to make out the drinkery’s logo slowly dancing in the wind. Above it was a cherry blossom painted onto a wooden plank atop the main door. The color had faded considerably and the name carved into the side of it also looked to be quite worn out. To her it was as though this tavern had gone out of its way to be as inconspicuous as possible, and could scarcely imagine it was still an active one. It was better to believe it to be abandoned.

  “I would not call that a tavern, Lord Hisakawa,” she shook her head disappointed. “I do not think that has been a tavern for quite some time.”

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  Taro rolled his eyes, “thank you for your insight. Do you think you can reach-”

  Before he had managed to finish his query. Taka had appeared on the other side of the street by the alehouse. He was quite impressed at her technical skill at using Blink. It was nearly at the level of a Lunar General and she barely disturbed the air around him when she moved across. At just nineteen she was proving to be a worthy successor of her mother’s. Lord Hisakawa thankful that such a person could be counted on as an ally. Taka waved him over eagerly and the Lunar General laughed to himself, before crossing the street.

  He arrived by the young girl's side she looked at him awaiting praise for her efforts, one that he quietly offered before directing her to follow him. They made their way up the stairs and once again scanned around them for any signs of trouble. Lord Hisakawa had purposely taken his time to bring her here, in hopes that the Kuroi Inu would have arrived and thoroughly searched the area before departing. He was right to assume that as he could feel the faint traces of bloodlust in the air that the last of the night's wind carried away. When he was satisfied that all within his range were no threats he lightly knocked thrice on the door. When there was no answer he did so again, upon the second time a light above the tavern came on and shuffling could be heard from within. It was not long before locks on the door gave way and a smaller older man peered through the crack.

  “May I help you? We are closed.”

  “Hello Kentaro,” Taro whispered with a warm smile.

  The old man opened the door completely with a surprise, “Lord Hisakawa? What are you doing here?”

  “May we come in?” he asked softly as he moved out of the way to introduce Taka behind him.

  The tavern keeper was mystified at the sight of a Stygian and quickly regained his senses before letting them both pass. It had been quite some time since Taro had been inside Kentaro Yamada’s tavern. Not since he and Fumi had come here to announce that they were expecting a child. Still in the time hence, not much had changed as the place still looked quite timely even in the dark. The sweet scent of mead in the air clung like sweat to skin and even in the dark the Lunar General allowed memory to guide his way in the dark.

  “Let me get the candles one moment,” Kentaro shuffled his feet.

  “No need, please allow me.” Taro flicked his wrist and embers flew from his fingers whizzing through the air and hitting their mark. He elected to only light enough candles to offer some light, but still leaving much of the room shrouded in darkness. He would not let his guard down.

  “Allow me to introduce Takara Yukimura,” Taro motioned for the young girl who promptly bowed. “This is Lady Yukimura’s daughter. And Taka, this is Kentaro Yamada, Fumi’s father.”

  “It is an honor to meet you sir!” Taka blushed as she bowed several more times.

  Kentaro chuckled, “so you are the famed daughter of the Lunar General? Please Lady Taka, the honor is all mine.” He motioned for them to take a seat at one of the empty tables and they did so.

  Taro wrestled with coming here but he could think of no better place to seek protection than Fumi’s family alehouse. The thought had come to him the moment he had realized the full extent of Hideyoshi’s plot. However, to come here was to invite trouble for Fumi’s family and that was unacceptable no matter the circumstance. The depths of his shame knew no bounds and he would find a way to answer for all of this.

  “Kentaro…I apologize for coming here, I have failed you and…”The Lunar General lowered his head. “Fumi has…” He struggled to admit the truth for the first time acknowledging that his wife had been taken from him.

  Kentaro placed a hand on his shoulder calming him. Truth be told, when his daughter had told him that she would wed the future head of the Hisakawa clan he had thought her poor attempt at a joke to be endearing. House Hisakawa were famed allies of the Imperial Palace and had served House Sugawara for multiple centuries. Those who belonged to such noble blood existed in a different world than that which they knew. For him to even know of their existence was bewildering, he was sure that the man who captured his daughter’s heart had only done so to have his way with her and nothing more. Fumi was beautiful and naive, just as her mother was but she was no noble. Such a man would have gotten bored of her quite quickly.

  However the day she had brought Taro to their little tavern was the day he felt the greatest shame of all. To have doubted his daughter and who she had chosen to spend the rest of her life with was unbecoming of him. From the first time he had seen how the man had looked at Fumi all stress on the matter had eased completely off him. Taro loved his daughter greatly, there was no question of the matter. He was sure those of the Hisakawa clan would have protested mightily, and he was right to believe so. He had been confronted by vassals of the great house with an exuberant amount of money more than any one man should have ever been allowed to see, to convince his daughter to leave the heir to Castle Hisakawa. That moment had inadvertently done even more to convince him to bless their union, a decision he hoped his late wife would have agreed to. So to see the near hopelessness on the face of a man who he categorized as more carefree than the very clouds themselves left him more worried than he cared to admit.

  “It is alright young man, I know you are not responsible for this.” Kentaro offered a warm smile. “Prince Hideyoshi and those he follows are to blame.”

  Taro relaxed slightly, he always knew Kentaro to be far more understanding than most people. He felt ashamed to find comfort in the words of this man as he was supposed to be the one to ease all their worries. With a smile he said, “Thank you.” He paused for a moment and reflexively looked at Taka who held the same expression as him. Both of them turned to Kentaro, “how do you know what Hideyoshi has done? No word has escaped the inner gates.”

  Fumi’s father rubbed his bald spot while a mischievous grin crossed his face. Surprised it took them quite a while to catch on, “you are not the first to come here.” He turned towards a closed door that lead deeper into his home. “It is alright, you can come out. It is as you said, he would come here.”

  Taro and Taka turned their attention to the door as the Eighth Lunar Blossom General, Masako Mochizuki appeared with a terrible scowl on her face. Lord Hisakawa quickly rose, matching the same expression that his fellow Lunar General had. The woman before him was often categorized as being one of the most dangerous of the Lunar General’s, granted that such a claim could easily be applied to any of them under the right circumstances. However with Masako the claim was far more tangible as both Lady Yukimura and Lady Huli Jing shared in them as well. By many circles it was believed that Lady Masako was destined to be the next Thirteenth Lunar General, one day taking the title from Lady Inari. The once scarlet haired giantess was strong, unbelievably so. Taro had done well through the years to stay clear of this woman, at every opportunity. He would be the first to admit that he often shunned his duties, electing to spend time with his wife, pestering his old friend Lord Nishimura or just generally laying about in his barracks.

  However the woman in front of him simply just refused to do her duties unless specifically asked to by the king himself. Among all the Lunar Generals she was the greatest enigma and a wild card. To have her here of all places was dangerous, many questions passed through his head, most importantly of all was whether he could trust her or not. A question he believed answered simply by it being asked. His senses were on the highest alert, the curse placed on him by Lady Yukimura coursed through his body and his priority had switched to the protection of the young girl by his side. He was unsure why Lady Masako was here but he did not care, a great threat had appeared in front of him, her eyes blazing a fiery red. Taro prepared for a hotly contested battle between two Lunar Generals.