-Neith-

I woke up to Dalila brushing her tail against my cheek. It was a few minutes before I usually woke up, but it didn't matter much as I got out of bed and quickly got ready. I put on a simple green dress with sleeves which were tight around my upper arms, flowed from my elbows, and tied my hair into a bun. Dalila followed my every move as she always did when I was tired, she has always been a welcome companion through my chores, only leaving when I'd finished. Sometimes it felt like she was a bit too motherly for a cat, but I also knew that the connection we had was magical somehow.

I didn't expect to see Akuji staring into the fish tank when I arrived in the living room. The blanket which I had given her was nowhere to be seen, and I could smell the soap which we used specifically for the dishes.

"Good morning," I greeted.

She jumped out of her skin and twirled around, her hair sticking to her lips. I was startled to notice that her eyes had become even lighter, even her pupils were lightening. I wouldn't have expected that to happen for at least another month. But I suppose death wasn't patient.

"Good morning," she said with a nod. Her eyes looked me up and down for a few moments before returning to my face. "Your father has gone to work." She fidgeted with her fingers, and her voice was shaky.

I snorted. "Yes, I'm aware. It is a daily occurrence for him. I'm just usually awake when he does." I stretched my arms over my head. "Have you washed up already?"

She shook her head. Her hands were then clasped in front of her and she looked like a doll, not moving besides when she was spoken to. I wondered if this was how she usually acted at home. Maybe the Akuji I met last night was clouded by the panic she felt. "No, but Nairn made me breakfast and I cleaned that up."

Of course it was her. I wouldn't expect my father to clean dishes if his life depended on it. He sometimes joked that it was the only reason he and my mother had me in the first place. "Thank you, but you really don't need to do it." I moved into the kitchen, Akuji following behind me at a distance.

"I wanted to," was her simple answer.

She stood in the doorway and watched as I prepared my breakfast. It was annoying, I felt like I had to put on a sort of show or something. Yet, I didn't complain. There wasn't anything else to do in this house. I would have suggested that she could read some of my father's books, but they were just about within my levels of comprehension, never mind hers. I felt bad for thinking that, but I doubted that she would be able to understand half of the magic the pages discussed.

"Has your memory improved any?" I asked as I smothered my bread in rhubarb jam. I was usually alright with silence, but this was more awkward than even I could handle. "The more truthful you are, the more likely we are to help you."

"No, it hasn't." She looked at me with curiosity in her eyes. It was as though she was holding something back, maybe a question, or perhaps she was hesitant to even consider her past. "It's not that I'm dishonest, I really don't know what would be of use."

"Anything," I answered. "You don't know what happened to you the night of your death, but what happened before that? Tell me about your life, goals, and ambitions. All of that would help."

She inhaled sharply. "Well, I'm engaged to a man called Emir. My parents wanted me out of the house so I moved in with him practically as soon as we got engaged. We've been together for three years, and I study poetry and literature." It was interesting to hear what she thought was important, it sounded like she cared more about Emir's life than her own.

I raised my eyebrow. There was something else which stood out to me. "Seastown has a school for poets?" I questioned as I moved back into the living room.

"Yes, well, no." Akuji joined me, sitting in the seat farthest away. "I have a tutor who I've been studying under for the past eight years. He taught me how to read and write. My parents were quite close with him." Her voice was getting quieter and her words were jumbling together, as though she was falling asleep to her own bedtime story. Her eyes were fixed on a random spot on the wall.

"Are you alright, Akuji?" I asked, and took a bite of my breakfast. "Akuji?" I wanted to ask more about this tutor, but she was worlds away from me.

She hummed and nodded. "Yeah, just thinking."

We sat in an uncomfortable silence until I finished my breakfast and went into the kitchen. She followed me like a shadow. She was silent, but always in the corner of my eye.

"Practising?" I asked as I got the broom out of the very small cupboard.

She furrowed her eyebrows. "For what?"

"For when you're a ghost and have nothing to do but to follow people." I knew that it was a bit harsh and could be jarring, but I wasn't one to sugar-coat things, and I'm not going to start now just because of the circumstances. She had been silent for around fifteen minutes, which could've been used to tell me what she knew so that I could help her.

She stuttered incoherently. Her eyes didn't meet my own and her shoulders slumped.

"Are you bored?" I asked, despite knowing the answer. She wasn't the kind of person who would be able to sit still for long without getting herself worked up or anxious. The way her fingers always seemed to be playing with each other, or twirling her hair, or tapping on the furniture, all of those signs pointed towards that. It could also be the death thing, which is just as likely.

She nodded sheepishly. "I don't want to intrude," she said.

I got the suspicion that she wasn't used to being in other people's houses. "You're not. You can just relax and let us do the work."

She shook her head. "I want to do something," she said with more confidence. "I need to do something, please." She moved a few steps forward.

I resisted the urge to open my mouth and make a noise of understanding. She was bored, she was so bored she'd do anything, even chores. "Well, you can sweep if you'd like?" I held the old broom out to her. "We do it everyday, so it's not too much, but it's a habit we got into."

She happily took the broom from me. The coolness of her skin made me shiver, even though we didn't make physical contact. I'd need to keep an eye on her. My father worked with a lot of dead things, but he had left me alone to work this out. We could make her go back to some degree of normality, just with the addition of blue eyes. But there would always be something not completely right with her. There is also the fact that there is a murderer and necromancer somewhere near the village, which I'm certain my father would want to investigate before we took any drastic measures.

"Thank you," Akuji said and started to inspect the floor.

I stepped around her and stood near the back door, opening it for Dalila. "I'm going to work in the garden, but I'll keep the door open."

"Okay," she responded and started to sweep towards the rug which we kept by the door. She almost immediately started to hum a song which I recognised as a sailor's lullaby. It could be adapted to suit the beat of the water as it rocked the ships. Or at least, that's what my father had told me.

I watered and fed the plants which we kept in our large garden, occasionally looking back to Akuji. After a while, I couldn't see her. I assumed that she had finished sweeping the kitchen and had moved into the living room.

It annoyed me that I couldn't see her. She was experiencing one of the most peculiar magical treatments that I had ever laid my eyes on. I felt like my father, as the need for knowledge started to fill my body and possess my thoughts. It got to a point where I had to take a break and go inside. I would typically be done by now, but my thoughts weren't exactly on the plants I was tending to.

I took my shoes off at the door and placed them on the rug. The humming which I heard earlier was still present, but it was coming from upstairs. As I followed it, I noticed that she hadn't just sweeped the floor, but she'd also cleaned the glass, and dusted some of the tables and shelves. Akuji's light attire stood out amongst the dark walls, making her extremely easy to spot.

"I wouldn't go into my father's room," I said, causing her to jump and spin around.

"Neith, you scared me," she said and held a hand to her chest. Her grip on the broom looked as though she was ready to snap it in half or throw it at me. "Why?" she asked after a while.

"There's some sensitive things in there. I really should've told you sooner." I met her in the middle of the hallway and stared at the unassuming door. "It's to repel intruders, and stop them from taking anything from the rest of the house. Only my father and I can enter." That was needed after a particularly bad day when I was a toddler, along with a rather insane woman who had lived here for years. She owned a small cottage in the middle of the forest, but I hadn't heard from her since she tried to sneak in here. I believe her name was Sidero, or something like that.

"I didn't know that things like that existed," she stated in astonishment. Her eyes were wide and her fingers twitched.

"I'm gathering that." I met her in the middle of the hall and took the broom out of her hands. "You go and wash up, father will be having a break soon. We can have a snack and then see if anything has come up."

"What could-" she began to ask, but she stopped herself. "Okay, I suppose I'll find out then." She walked around me and into the bathroom, looking back at me once before entering and closing the door behind her.

I sighed and shook my head, continuing to sweep.

"I'm home!" my father exclaimed as soon as he entered the house. The air had been still and silent, so the sudden noise made Akuji squeal and leap back from the counter.

I reached over and made sure the chopping board stayed where it was. "Careful," I scolded.

My father strode towards us, his straw hat, which was a questionable fashion choice along with his robes and bright blue hair, clutched close to his chest. "How are you two getting along?" He wiggled his eyebrows.

I narrowed my eyes at him. He knew just how to word things so that there's double meanings. "We're doing alright," I answered for the both of us. "We're trying a new recipe out."

"Oh?" My father's eyebrows raised. "That's something unheard of." He was being sarcastic, trying new things was the only way one could stay sane in this town. It wasn't too burdensome, but the similar surroundings could be maddening.

"It was Akuji's idea," I said. The sand-timer on the windowsill which indicated five minutes ran out, so I turned it again.

"Really?" my father asked Akujji, who simply nodded. "Well, this is certainly a change. You see, we don't often get a lot of guests here and we have tasted all the inhabitants of the town's food many times over. I look forward to trying them."

When my father had left the kitchen, Akuji turned to me and whispered, "your father is terrifying."

I snorted and dusted my hands off on my apron. "Not really. He's just awkward and over-excited." But I could see how she could perceive him as terrifying, he was loud and could sometimes behave like he was a few inches away from snapping. He wasn't a violent or mean person though. It was a common conversation which I would overhear people in the town having, and it took all my might not to retort.

Akuji finished chopping strawberries and put them in the pan which was on the stove. "That's what makes him terrifying."

"Where do you get most of this stuff?" Akuji asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. She was pointing towards the mass amount of jars that we had in the kitchen. There were more jars in the kitchen than there was counter space. There was just enough room for a chopping board. The rest of the counter was full of various herbs, spices, and general baking ingredients.

"The farm here is pretty big," I informed. "It goes further than the actual village. There's plants stretching for miles. When I was younger, we used to go on trips to pick herbs and flowers and bring them back to give to the alchemist or the tavern." Or we would use them in our own spells and baking, cutting out the extra charges.

"You guys really have an alchemist and a tavern?" Akujis' eyebrows furrowed. "I hadn't even heard of this place, yet it feels so big."

"It's not," I denied. Another five minutes was up, which meant it was time to bring the scones out of the oven. I put a towel around my hands and opened the door, inhaling the sweet and buttery smell which usually came with newly-baked goods. "I'll take you around town at some point, when we figure out what's going on."

Akuji didn't reply, nor did we talk until we went into the living room with trays in our hands. Akuji held the scones which we had made, now smothered in jam and cream, whilst I carried cups of tea.

"Delightful," my father exclaimed and sat up in his seat. He had previously been lounging on the armchair with his hood covering most of his face and holding a book in hand. He put his hood down to reveal his blue hair in a similar condition to a bird's nest. "Do you bake a lot, Akuji?" He took a plate and a cup and immediately dug into the baked good.

"No, well, yes," she stammered. "I don't really have a lot more to do at home, so baking takes up a lot of my day." She sat on the other armchair with her back straight and held the plate like an elegant lady. "Things which you enjoy, seem to take less time."

I sat in the middle of the settee and crossed my legs, resting my plate on my right knee. "I can agree with that." I nodded, biting into my scone. The texture was crumbly, and the flavour of the scone itself was subtle. The jam and cream made up for it though, as the clashing flavours somehow worked well. "Really good though," I said with some food still in my mouth.

My father reached over and slapped my knee with the book he had once been holding. "Don't talk with your mouth full," he scolded, also with a mouth full of food. "Especially when we have guests over."

I rolled my eyes and grumbled, focusing on the scone until it was finished. "So, did you find anything?" I asked and held my cup of tea in both hands.

"Actually, I did." My father placed his plate on top of mine and held his cup in a similar fashion. "There was a ruckus last night apparently. Along with the banging on our door." He looked pointedly towards Akuji.

I had the feeling that if she could, Akuji would be blushing scarlet. "Sorry," she muttered and looked towards her hands. "Did you tell them it was me?"

My father made a very impolite noise and waved his hand. "Of course not. I don't want anybody knocking on my door demanding to see the walking dead which turned up at my door at three in the morning."

Akuji visibly swallowed and nodded.

"Our horses were disturbed and the stableboy had a big task trying to calm them down," my father continued to explain. "They're not very quiet when intruders come, as a defence mechanism, so we probably had strangers passing through the village."

"Well, yeah," I said with furrowed brows. "Akuji's not from here."

My father shook his head. "It's more to do with the intentions that people have coming here. Those horses were specially trained to sniff out any negative intentions."

Akuji's eyes were wide and her lips were set in a small frown. My father's words were making sense, but to an outsider, it would be a feat which was impossible.

"Someone must've come to the village with the intention to do something bad, but were stopped by something." My father sighed and sunk into the chair. "Unless their only mission was to plant you here, like a little seed." He held up a hand, pinching his thumb and index finger together to show how small the seed would be.

"What about the guards?" I asked. "If anyone came in or out of the village, they would've had to pass at least one guard." Anxiety was crawling under my skin. The guards were there for protection, but they were hardly necessary. The guards were our best fighters and would fight off any danger. Yet, who would want to hurt the inhabitants of a village so small and so unknown?

"That's another thing. There weren't any guards on duty last night."

My mouth dropped open and my eyebrows furrowed. "That can't be right."

"Why can't it be right?" Akuji asked. Her light eyes were darting between my face and my father's. "They were just taking a break from patrol?"

"No, we don't do that," my father told her. "The guards only have one job. That means that they don't really mind doing it. They sleep during the day, so they'll be wide awake at night. Sure, they make a bit of noise when they hang out together, but taking a day off has never been a thing for them."

Akuji sat back in her seat and raised a hand to her lips. "A village so small needs permanent guards?" she asked herself.

"We didn't used to," I told her. I felt like I was spilling some sort of gigantic secret. "But then we kept having people causing trouble. Random visitors were barging in with weapons for a reason nobody really knows."

"There are a few tales surrounding it, but no conclusions were drawn," my father spoke with a sigh before standing up.

"They just didn't turn up?" I asked. I was pretty good friends with one of the guards, or at least acquaintances. He was new to the job and wanted to make an extremely good impression. I highly doubted that he would just not turn up for duty.

"No, they went to work. They were found fast asleep at the edge of the forest," my father explained as though it was an everyday occurrence. "I should get back to work. It was lovely having tea with you." He bowed to us before leaving the house.

"Does he usually leave so suddenly?" Akuji asked as she stretched her neck to look out of the window.

"Usually when he's frustrated about something. Or a good point was made." I sipped my tea. "Let's hope that it's the second one."

Akuji looked like she wanted to ask something else, her mouth opening and closing as she kept moving forward.

I raised an eyebrow at her and gestured for her to hurry up. "Say what you want."

"Don't you think it's all a bit strange?" she asked. "It's obviously connected. But what could make the guards fall asleep? What advantage would anyone have by me being here?"

I rested my hand on my palm, staring into space. "I don't really know. Apart from increasing suspicion, nothing much has happened." I narrowed my eyes at her. "Unless you're bugged or giving information about us to someone. In which case, that's extremely rude."

Akuji's mouth dropped open and she wildly shook her head. "I'm not talking to anyone, I don't know anything about this."

I hummed in acknowledgement. The thought of her working for someone still floated around in my mind. It would be a shame, I was beginning to like her. That fact was even more suspicious.