Raurie crossed her arms and tilted her head to the side. The light from an orange blown-glass sculpture highlighted the brown skin of her cheeks.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of playing by their rules. They’ll try to put us down no matter what we do, so what choice do we have but to fight back? Teo has the right idea, you know.”

Aina paused, wondering if she should tell Raurie what she and Teo really intended to do once they found Kouta, but decided not to—the less people who knew the full plan, the better.

But she knew that Teo would still want to fight the Steels even after helping her with this job, so Raurie might not be alone in her goals after all.

“I admire you, Raurie,” Aina finally said. “Your parents were killed for their beliefs, yet you’re still faithful to the Mothers, and you’re ready to fight for what you believe in. I’ve always looked after myself first.”

“Well, I still had my aunt and uncle to take care of me, didn’t I?” Raurie asked. “You had no one, so surviving was the only thing you could do. Besides, I’m not really someone to admire. It took Ynes’s death for me to really start thinking bigger than myself. I’m glad my aunt and uncle are in hiding, somewhere they’ll be safe, like I’ve always wanted them to be. Now, I can try to do something my parents would be proud of. I can try to make a difference, and I think we’re on the right path to doing that.”

Aina struggled to think of a reply, slightly unsettled by how easily Raurie voiced her faults and her plans for the future. Maybe her faith helped her see so clearly, and maybe that was something Aina had lost after her parents’ deaths. Was there something wrong with her for not being anywhere near as sure of herself?

She was saved from having to answer when Ryuu and Teo walked over with packs of newly purchased supplies and weapons for all of them. She took hers from Ryuu without meeting his eyes.

They set off toward the south of Kosín under the pouring rain. A half hour later, as the hill began to dip down into the clustered homes of the Stacks, they stepped into an alley. There was a bar next door, packed with people even though it was barely noon. Aina shivered in the cold as Teo bent down next to a storm drain. He used a wrench from his pack to pull up a manhole covering the entrance to the sewers. It lifted, and he went first, descending a ladder into the darkness.

Aina lit her flare before even touching the ladder, unwilling to take her chances in the dark. Covering her mouth to block the wretched scent, she followed Ryuu down the ladder with the flare tucked under her arm.

They walked along a pathway parallel to the central flow of the sewer water, Ryuu leading with Aina’s flare lighting the way. The rushing water was the only sound, apart from their footsteps and the scurries of rats passing by the edge of their vision.