Story:

For a moment, Violet had thought the crossing had failed.

Gravel beneath her boots. Stone lanterns. A temple roof beyond a flight of steps. The familiar smell of cedar and incense.

Kicho stumbled into her shoulder. Ai and Mai appeared together a few paces away, still gripping each other’s hands.

But the waterfall was gone. And so was Shiro.

“Shiro?” Ai called. Mai turned toward the steps. “Aunty?”

Violet caught Kicho’s eye. The courtyard resembled Yamato Shrine, but its proportions were wrong. The lanterns stood in different places. Beyond the enclosing wall, something mechanical hummed steadily.

Then a command rang out.

“Remain where you are.”

Women in shrine robes emerged from the covered walkways, spreading across the courtyard with practiced speed. Their weapons were already drawn.

Ai immediately lifted her empty hands.

“We’re miko too! Please—we aren’t here to fight!”

“Identify yourselves,” the leading guard ordered. She carried a runic katana. Vivid tattoos showed along her exposed forearms, their colors shifting as she adjusted her grip.

Violet rose to her full height.

“We have lost a companion during passage. Stand aside, and we shall trouble your courtyard no further.”

The guard’s expression did not soften. “You entered a protected precinct through an unauthorized breach. Stand down and receive our interrogation.”