Iba Algi played white stones in a game of weiqi against Harlecuin Sols. The rules had been modified. There were no captured pieces, and it was possible to place one stone on top of others if at least two stones touching had different colors. Instead of across the table, Iba Algi, Harlecuin Sols, and Nin sat at the vertices of an equilateral triangle. Mr. Featherpuff perched on Nin's head.
"I see you there, Mr. Sorrow," said Iba Algi.
She pointed straight ahead. Nin, Harlecuin Sols, and Mr. Featherpuff followed her finger.
"Is someone there?" asked Nin. "I don't see anyone. Do you see anyone, Harlecuin Sols?"
"I don't see anyone!" he replied. "Oh my gosh!"
"It's Iba Algi!" gasped Nin.
Iba Algi had moved. Her finger pointed back to where she had been seated. Nin, Harlecuin Sols, and Mr. Featherpuff followed the new direction. It led to the tip of a sword.
"Oh my gosh!" said Nin. "Imojean! Are you alright?"
The blade of the sword had passed through the abdomen of a tall young man with a cascade of curly golden hair. Imojean, the Immaculate Homunculus, gave no indication that having a sword stuck through his body caused discomfort. He turned his face toward Nin and smiled.
"He's so handsome!" the little girl squealed.
"He's so handsome!" Harlecuin Sols agreed.
A man dressed entirely in black held the sword stabbed through Imojean with one hand – and a black umbrella lined with a black veil in the other.
"Mr. Sorrow," said Iba Algi, "you need a little color."
"I think so too!" said Harlecuin Sols.
"Who is this person?" asked Nin.
Mr. Sorrow spun around his center, pulling his sword free from Imojean's body, but the sound of metal hitting stone suggested something had gone wrong. The section of the blade which had emerged from Imojean's back had been cut off. The section inside Imojean's body had vanished completely. All that remained of Mr. Sorrow's legendary weapon was barely more than the hilt.
"What are you going to do now, Mr. Elite Assassin?" asked Iba Algi.
"An assassin?" cried Nin.
Her small hands made quick warding gestures.
"Zut alors!" said Harlecuin Sols.
His small hands clasped the sides of his adorable face.
Mr. Sorrow spun around several more times while stepping backwards. His robes swirled elegantly. The assassin drew his second sword and pointed it at Iba Algi. In that same instant, three copies of him appeared beside the chubby princess. Before they could stab, however, the shadows began to twitch and scream. They had materialized in faint threads of hardened moonlight charged with lighting. Mr. Sorrow spasmed as if feeling the pain of his shadows.
Iba Algi clapped.
"Nin!" she said. "You're so good with ghost wires!"
"I think so too!" said Harlecuin Sols.
"I guess I picked it up back in the mansion," said Nin.
Imojean blurred forward and struck the assassin in the chest with an open palm. Mr. Sorrow flew backwards, impacted one courtyard wall, and fell forward onto tiles.
"Are you one of the Attendants?" he gasped.
"Good guess!" said Iba Algi. "Imojean is the Immaculate Homunculus. Harlecuin Sols created him a thousand years ago. So he is a bit like an Attendant. But you failed, Mr. Sorrow. You shouldn't have tried to kill someone as cute as me."
"That's right!" said Nin.
"I think so too!" said Harlecuin Sols.
Mr. Featherpuff flapped defiantly.
Mr. Sorrow hurled his umbrella into the air. A rain of real and phantasmal daggers shot down from its spinning disk. The little ghosts were in no danger. Neither was Iba Algi. Standing over her, the Immaculate Homunculus used his cape to stop every real knife. As for the phantasmal daggers, Iba Algi waved them away with her own hand.
"Oh my gosh!" said Nin. "When did you get a cape, Imojean?"
"When I needed one," replied Imojean with a smile.
"He's so handsome!" squealed Nin and Harlecuin Sols together.
The spinning disk of Mr. Sorrow's umbrella grew large enough to cover the courtyard with darkness. Dangerous shadows moved inside that darkness. They had teeth.
"Unacceptable!" declared Harlecuin Sols.
He slammed his cute palm on the table. Lances of sunlight burned down through the artificial night. Fanged shadows burst into flame. Mr. Sorrow's spinning umbrella, singed and ragged, drifted slowly to the ground. Mr. Sorrow's body crashed onto the weiqi game, rolled, and landed finally on the floor.
Seized with an urgent desire to flee, he vanished into dark mist.
"Oh no you don't!" said Nin.
She swept her hand through the air. A thin golden chain materialized as part of her motion. The chain extended into the distance – and tightened. Nin held firm, but her little body started moving. Harlecuin Sols grabbed onto her. His little body also started moving. Imojean grabbed the chain. Smiling, he told the children that he would handle it.
"He's so handsome!" the children squealed.
Imojean yanked.
The body of Mr. Sorrow came hurtling back to the courtyard. It slammed into another wall and fell forward. After briefly trying to prop himself up, the assassin collapsed for good. Imojean kicked him onto his back. Mr. Sorrow, once in a race for the rank of four with Jian Peak Abbot and the Grand Preceptor, could only watch helplessly as Iba Algi stood up and walked over to him.
"You're not a real vampire," she told him. "But you pretend to be and so I think your fate in the end should be the same."
"I think so too," said Nin angrily, "you bad man."
Harlecuin Sols nodded emphatically.
Iba Algi reached out her hand and crouched down to cover Mr. Sorrow's eyes. He tried to turn his head away but failed.
"You've stolen power and lives to feed your hunger," said Iba Algi. "Now that hunger only has you to devour. Nothing will remain of the soul you once had. All memories of what you did – and the pain you caused – will fade from the world and be gone forevermore."
Mr. Sorrow screamed, but only briefly. His body crumbled to dust. Then that dust evaporated. With that, he was gone from the world – forevermore.
Iba Algi sniffled sadly.
"What's wrong, Iba Algi?" asked Nin anxiously. "We won!"
Strong hands reached down and picked Iba Algi up. The hands did not belong to Imojean this time, but to Hatshepsut-no-kami Enhedianna – the Empress of Great Yao. Soft fabrics in multiple shades of blue wrapped the regal woman. The Empress carried Iba Algi back to the table and sat down.
The little girl began to cry uncontrollably.
"Why should anybody want to kill me?" she asked. "I'm just trying the best I can to make the world better."
The Empress kissed the top of Iba Algi's head.
"Silly girl," she said. "You made the world better just now."
"That's right, Iba Algi!" said Nin. "That phony vampire needed to go!"
Nin and Harlecuin Sols cuddled with Iba Algi in the Empress's lap.
"I guess that is one way of making the world better," giggled Iba Algi.
Iba Algi's parents appeared with trays of refreshments.
"With Her Majesty here for a visit," said Iba Algi's mother, "I think we have to break out the best cookies and ice cream!"
"I think so too!" said Iba Algi.