We all looked up. I squinted a little to get my eyes adjusted to the daylight-bright lights, and it took a moment to process what I saw. I lowered the handkerchief from the cut on my nose.

Firstly, this room was enormous. When I peeked past the alcove we were in it, the room went further than I could see. Strangely low ceilings, though. Hm. Secondly, it was full of trash. Piles upon piles of old junk sprawled along the far side of the room. I spotted everything, from broken furniture to discarded toys to rotting food. Thirdly, there did, strangely enough, appear to some sort of organizational system: everything was sorted by category. All the food and perishable things appeared to on the right side of the room, furniture was all sorted by type in the middle, and there was a pile of toys, and then household goods…

We were all standing on a dingy train of carpets of varying colors and patterns, clearly intended to mimic the long carpet that typically leads up to a throne. There was, as matter of fact, something that was intended to be a throne: a large wooden chair that probably had once had a life as a stately seat in a noble’s dining room was perched rather precariously in the garbage heap at the end of the carpet. Lounging upon it was a hairy, pot-bellied demon creature with cherry red skin, wearing only a loincloth and a crown that appeared to be made of banana leaves that had been rather sloppily painted gold, then pasted to a cloth headband. To be frank, as soon as I set eyes upon this fellow, I strongly wished for him to be wearing more clothing. Anything. Please. He was doing his best version of an imperious glare, but unfortunately, it made him look a bit like a constipated pug. Behind him, a number of smaller chairs were nestled in the mound of trash. They were all occupied by other tsukigami, who were all endeavoring to pull off similar imperious glares, but given some of them didn’t have noses, they were having similar success.

It was fair to say we were all a bit stunned.

“Well?!” The red beast in the chair squawked. “I asked you fools a question! Aren’t you going to answer me?!”

Nadrire blinked, then I saw her features shift, composing herself as she went into ambassador mode. “My sincerest apologies, Your Majesty.”

She bowed low. With the hand behind her back, she made a small gesture for us to follow suit.

We all did, curtsying and bowing as appropriate. Shei bowed their head, bending slightly at the waist. Hallya’s curtsy was surprisingly graceful. Ella wobbled slightly during hers.

“I am sorry for our lack of immediate respectful action, Your Majesty,” Nadrire continued, her voice cool and smooth, like river water over rocks, as the charisma magic flowed through it. “We were… a bit overwhelmed by your greatness and the splendor of your domain.”

Ella raised her hand. “Also, it’s really bright in here, and the hallway’s really dark, so… my sensors had trouble adjusting-”

Nadrire gave her a look.

Ella visibly shrank a little. “Although it was mostly your majesticness. Honest. Your Majesty.”

“Your Majesty,” one of the tsukigami who was clearly a guard spoke up, voice shrill. “Aren’t we supposed to attack and destroy any people who come here on sight?”

The king was preening from the praise, but he stopped to give the guard a look. “Well, yes, but they are being so polite. Give it a moment, and then we’ll decide.”

He then tried his best to look stern. “You did not answer my question: why are you in my throne room?”

Nadrire cleared her throat. “We are here on behalf of two people. First, we are here to atone for a Mister Suzuki Jun, airship merchant in Sollainyi’s Grand Market District. He forgot to set his dues out before leaving on a visit to his sister.”

The king held up a hand, then beckoned another tsukigami forward. It looked kind of like one of those paper lanterns I’d seen hanging outside the houses above ground… if said lantern had been procured by an extraordinarily bored five year old child for an impromptu craft project. It had been largely disassembled, with the ribs of the lantern poking out of random spots. Additionally, extra limbs made of paper, along two comically large eyes and a mouth, had been affixed to it. It was holding a large scroll.

It cleared its throat. “A-heh-hem. Suzuki Jun. Merchant. Market District. Store 902-16-B. Merchandise type: airship parts and paraphernalia. Unpaid dues from… beginning of last week to current.”

Nadrire nodded. “We are here to resolve that issue.”

She drew a piece of chalk from her sleeve and bent down. The chalk made a soft skrrt as she began to draw a perfect circle, then another inside the other circle.

The king watched, clearly fascinated, as Nadrire switched from drawing circles to drawing runes. “What are you doing?”

“Transcribing a magic circle. A translocation circle, to be precise. Mr. Suzuki’s offering is in a very large chest, which is incredibly impractical to carry with you, if especially when you have to fight Alsuzhar to get here.”

She finished the circle, then laid her palm on the ground, just outside the chalk. The runes began to glow. It quickly became too bright to look at. When the glowing subsided, the chalk circle was gone. In its place was a large wooden chest, easily large enough to fit me inside.

Or at least, this is what I knew would happen. I’d seen Nadrire make translocation circles before. By the time the flash happened, I had turned incorporeal and phased through the door.

I looked at the maze beyond. Those walls are rather thick. By that logic… I should be able to walk in them and not be seen. Only one way to find out.

Still incorporeal, I walked down a little ways, took a deep breath, and stepped into the wall.

I was right. I could stand in the middle of the wall and not have any of my limbs poke out, but it was thin enough that I could hear what was going on. However, I was going to need more than my hearing to find the kaichigo, and I was going to need to breath at some point. Perhaps I should go into the ceiling. People are unlikely to notice a ghostly face there.

The king’s voice drifted over to me. “Why did Mr. Suzuki not come to resolve his debts himself?”

I began to float. Floating through stone was a bit like swimming through pudding, but I managed. When I neared the ceiling, I poked my face out to breathe.

Nadrire had her arms folded. “He had an urgent meeting with some city officials.”

“Could he not adjust the time?”

“No. He contacted them, and they were insistent that the meeting was to proceed as scheduled. I’m certain you know how that goes.” Nadrire’s voice was silken, the charisma magic running through it like a river.

The king pursed his lips. “I certainly do.”

All this time, I was floating in the ceiling, searching for where the kaichigo could be. He’s… rather small, so I’m unlikely to spot him from up here. Kieyah did say he liked games, so perhaps I should try near the toys...

Slowly, carefully, I began gliding my way over towards the toys.

“It is understandable why we have brought his dues, then,” Nadrire gestured to the chest. “Mr. Suzuki has enclosed in the chest not only the trash from the week he missed, but also gifts of atonement and gifts for trading. In exchange for the last set of items, he would like his merchandise back.”

The king stroked his chin. “I would like to inspect the items prior to making the trade.”

I took a deep breath and pulled my face back into the wall, slowly sinking my way downward until I was in the back wall, behind the pile of toys. Thankfully, this area appeared to be mostly without tsukigami.

There was a click from where my friends were, then a great deal of shuffling and clanking. I could feel the tension radiating from the door as I shifted from the smoky form of a person to the smoky form of a large dog. This way, I was lower to the ground, and my hearing was even better.

“This gift is sufficient,” I heard the king say. “The exchange can be made. Tōrō, find the items confiscated from Mr. Suzuki and send a steward to fetch them.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Paper crinkled, and I heard quiet chatter in a language I did not understand. I continued searching the toy aisle. Nothing here. At least, not yet.

It was when I had just came across a section entirely dedicated to games when I heard movement. I froze. If I’m caught back here, we’ll get kicked out for sure.

Thankfully, the sound of tiny feet scrabbling across the piles of junk seemed to be moving away from me… at least for now. I prowled slowly forward, now doubly cautious.

There. By some miracle of the Divine, I spotted him. Settled in his little box, he was atop a most-intact chessboard (it had lost a corner, and there was a suspicious red stain on one side). In front of him was a game piece of some sort: a disc made of blue stone, too large to be a checker but about that shape. Around him, as if they were friends gathered round a table for a drink, were chess pieces from a number of different sets. Atop the disc were a number of tiny baubles, laid out in front of each piece. The kaichigo was quietly talking to himself in his own tongue, clearly in the midst of playing pretend.

I padded silently towards the kaichigo. He did not look up. Slowly, I shifted back into person form and went solid. Now, he noticed. He the did the worst thing he could have done: he screamed.

I quickly pressed a gloved fingertip to his tiny mouth so only a tiny bit of sound leaked out. “Shh! Please don’t yell! I’m not going to hurt you, I promise!”

We looked at each other for a moment. A second passed. I blinked.

“I’ll take my finger off if you promise not to scream, okay?”

Another second. Then, the kaichigo nodded his head.

“You aren’t supposed to be here.” He was wide eyed as he stared up at me.

“I know,” I whispered back. “But I have a letter from your friend Aoi and I simply had to come find you.”

“What?” All the fear in his face had been replaced with joy. “You do? Show me! Show me!”

“I do.” I drew Kieyah’s notebook from my pocket and flipped it open.

On the page was a note written in a childish scrawl. It was complete with a shaky drawing of a girl holding hands with a tiny creature in a box, along with several flowers and a sun wearing glasses.

The kaichigo was momentarily enraptured as he read the note. I glanced furtively around. The sound of scrabbling had changed directions. It was now coming towards us.

“She misses me,” he gasped. “She wants me to come home.”

“Yes. She does.”

He began to cry. “I miss her… I miss her so much.”

I glanced around again, ready to dive. “Shhhh… Please don’t cry. I can take you to her. If you want me to, and only if you want me to.”

“Really?” He hiccuped, thankfully pausing in his tears.

“Yes. That’s what I’m here for.”

“YAAAAAY!”

“Shhh, shhh- Hey, I know. Let’s play a game.” They’re so close.

The kaichigo lit up. “A game?”

“Yes, a game. Have you ever heard of the quiet game?”

“Yessss! I love that game!”

“Okay, we’re going to start playing when I say go. I’m going to go incorporeal and it might feel really weird, okay?”

“You’re going to do what?”.

“Go.” I picked up the kaichigo, turned incorporeal, and dove into the pile of games.

The footsteps slowed behind me. There was chatter in a language I didn’t understand. The kaichigo in my hand was mercifully quiet. I felt guilt settle on my chest. I should have told him what I was going to do. I had found a hollow pocket of air in the pile, and I held the kaichigo so he could breathe, too. I slowed my breathing, and waited.

The resulting silence was like a badly knitted sweater: uncomfortable, prickly, and prone to causing sweat. There was scuffling, and more chatter, and then more footsteps. Footsteps that slowly became more distant. I waited still, ears straining. Breathe in. Breathe out. In. Out. In. Out.

The footsteps continued walking away.