Moto Ereshkigal opened her eyes and looked around blurrily. She blinked in confusion. Why is everything in shades of gray? She wondered, and then it all came back to her. A soul, lost to his past deeds and punished for another's crimes. An attempt to make Bayushi Tanaka - that was his name - realize that not all women lie, that not all Unicorn were bad. She swore that she would prove her words with her life, and neither ancestor nor lost soul spoke against the idea. She had made the three cuts successfully, and her second finished the job before she could dishonor herself by crying out in pain. Now she was here. Ereshkigal searched her memories, which were slowly fading into nothingness; this was a gray realm, where people waited to be judged and passed onto the kharmic wheel. This was Meido the realm of waiting. Ereshkigal stood. Ereshkigal waited.

Some indeterminate time later ten figures approached one of the waiting spirits. They were skeletally thin, but decoratively ornamented. "Come with us child. We have much to speak of." The spirit followed willingly enough, having nothing better to do, and followed until they reached a small stream, nearly white against the dark gray grass. "Drink child," one of the figures urged her. "Drink and remember." The spirit did as asked, and the world momentarily surged with color. The figures were not merely skeletally thin, they were skeletons, dressed in purple robes and adorned with shining golden jewelry of all types and shapes. These were the Shi Tien Yen Wang, the Moto Lords of Death. "Child, you have been a devoted follower and priest of us to the mortal world and so it has been given to us to judge you and determine your fate. Are you prepared to stand judgment?"

"Hai." Ereshkigal confirmed with a quick nod. She would have kowtowed, but somehow sensed that such reverence was not currently required. The ten gods arrayed themselves in a half-circle, similar to that in the temples. Ereshkigal stood in the middle of them, and bowed her head in veneration.

"As a child you revered your parents and ancestors. You followed your sensei's advice without fail. You revered us as you were taught." The first began.

"But," the second figure continued "you revered us to a fault, and failed to give proper deference to the other Fortunes of Rokugan. You did not always listen to your ancestors, who sought only to give you guidance and help you progress on the path of enlightenment."

"As a young adult, you held yourself aloof from your fellow samurai, and failed to follow all of the codes of bushido, a standard that Rokugan has held itself to for thousands of years. Yet you did so in part because Rokugan held itself aloof from you. Benten had cursed you, and you managed to overcome this, and gave yourself over to her and her care. For that she forgave you, and lifted her curse. In this, and this alone, Moto Ereshkigal completed her purpose for this cycle of life."

"You blamed a Lion, one Akodo Takahiro, for many of your failures in life. This blame was wrongly placed. In truth you tainted your own soul." The figure paused, expecting some kind of response to this.

Ereshkigal looked confused. "I know of nothing I did to taint my soul. The few times I encountered the Shadowlands, I always made sure to get checked afterwards, and I always came back clean. Will you tell me how I tainted my soul, that I might learn for my next cycle of life?"

"Certainly." One of the figures replied. "Do you remember a Shinjo Akujin? You spent a night with him at the oasis within the Burning Sands during the Unicorn Clans tactical maneuvers."

"I do. It is a night that I am ashamed of. I was unable to hold to my oath of chastity. Did my breaking of that oath taint my soul so?"

"No, although that did not help. Akujin was actually a creature of the Shadowlands. He passed his Taint to you on that night. It was this that interfered in your kharma and restricted you from completing many of the tasks set before you. Still, you were not tainted enough to condemn you to Jikoku and so you came here for judgment instead."

Another figure spoke up "You have been weighed and measured. You have been found fit to return to the celestial cycle, but not immediately. You must spend some time here in the celestial heavens to purify your soul before hand. We will allow you to serve us as a messenger to our priests - your brother for instance, until such time as you are able to return to the wheel."

Ereshkigal bowed deeply, offering her neck to the Lords of Death. "I hear your judgment, o Shi Tien Yen Wang, and I thank you for the opportunity that you offer me. I will gladly serve you as you desire until you determine I am fit to return to the celestial wheel."

The figures nodded and turned, leading the way to their 'home' on Meido, and so Ereshkigal began her second apprenticeship.