You may be obliged to wage war, but not to use poison arrows.
Huian bowed to the shivering rabbit. ?This was Miss Koakuma's room before she got married. It has all the amenities, and I've left food for the rest of the day. By then the locks should have faded. Do you need anything else??
Flopsy shook her head. ?N~no, I'll be fine.?
Huian simply smiled and nodded. Acting like the other girl wasn't scared out of her mind was probably the best way of handling her. ?If you're feeling cold there should be a cardigan next to the bed, and the tea should be hot. I'll come get you out as soon as the battle is over so you can get your ears regenerated and return to your training.?
The gatekeeper paused a second to see if the rabbit girl had anything more to say before the door was shut, but the moon rabbit just bowed. ?Um, thank you, Huian.?
?Don't mention it,? Huian said as she shut the door. The magical wards clicked into place and she felt the space between the door and the rest of the mansion become nearly infinite. She then called upon her personal powers and stepped to the main library.
?Ah, please don't disturb the circles,? Patchouli said idly as she finished another chalk line.
Huian started slightly, then remembered to float to avoid scuffing any of the patterns. Fortunately she hadn't appeared on top of any lines.
She then turned to report to her mistress. ?I've put Flopsy to bed. The mansion is ready Lady Flandre.?
Flandre briefly turned towards her to nod her approval. The vampire's cold stare caused Huian to sweat a little. As battle approached Flandre's childishness seemed to have faded. Her bloodlust was starting to take precedence. And everyone who was sane kept their distance during those times.
Huian turned her attention to the crystal ball floating between the residents of the mansion. ?Have we seen any invaders Mistress??
?No,? Flandre said shortly.
Marisa shrugged. ?There's a light show going on over where Yuka occasionally lives, but beyond that nothing so far. It seems everyone who knew this was coming is playing defensively.?
Juri shifted next to her mistress. ?We saw a group come down near the mansion, but they haven't shown themselves. I wonder why??
Koakuma shook her head. ?Um, my question is why can we still see the village? Shouldn't Keine have hidden it??
?Something's gone wrong,? Alice said darkly.
"Ah, I have it." Dinah tapped the ball and the viewpoint shifted. Now some red outlines could be seen standing just inside the treeline next to the mansion. ?There they are. But they're waiting. Are they trying to lure us into a trap??
Patchouli coughed as she floated up to join everyone else. ?I can only hope so. Fighting them in a forest would be almost as advantageous as fighting them in the basement. Better that then some other trick.?
?But how are they planning to lure us out?? Alice asked as she peered into the scrying orb.
As if to answer the question a plume of fire came up from the distant village. Huian grimaced. ?That's not Mokou.?
?The shrine!?
At Marisa's cry, everyone looked towards where the shrine should be in the scrying orb. The hill where the ancient building stood was now topped in flame.
Marisa reached out and summoned her broomstick ?I need to...?
?Go,? Flandre said with a wave of her hand. ?Head out the back.?
Koakuma nodded. ?We'll just trigger the contingency plan early if we need to.?
?I'm going too. We'll need the Grimoire to get back,? Alice said.
?Be careful out there,? Patchouli said, quickly kissing the two. Koakuma followed suit.
Marisa jumped on her broomstick. ?Take care.?
Then they were off.
Huian turned to Dinah. ?It's time to create the maze. The people waiting outside probably won't be heading after Alice and Marisa after they realize those two got past them.?
The demon magician smiled in return. ?Right.? She then placed her hands over Huian's eyes. As darkness enveloped the gatekeeper she relaxed.
Huian had inherited some magical power from Sakuya, in addition to all her other gifts. She'd never gotten around to mastering it, but it was there in her blood, just as much as her chi abilities and her power to manipulate space. She just couldn't access it well.
Dinah's succubus blood however allowed her to manipulate the magical powers of others. And her magical knowledge allowed her to use the power of others in very complex ways.
As Dinah's spell flowed through Huian's body she could feel the basement corridors twisting and bending. Soon it was a massive tangle. A maze that was bound to her will and power.
Dinah pulled her hands away and Huian opened her eyes. ?It's ready Mistress.?
Patchouli nodded. ?Good work.?
Huian's blood froze as Flandre giggled, ?Are the rest of the preparations ready Juri??
?Yes Mistress,? the maid replied.
The vampire reached out her hand as if she was grasping an orb. ?Then let's play.?
---
Mystia's wings twitched involuntarily.
She probably shouldn't be so close to the village, but honestly she wasn't looking for a fight, and the village was the safest place to be close to. When Keine hid the village's history, Keine and Mokou would be the only two still around. Two dangerously powerful beings alone in a massive clearing. Mokou and Keine would draw far more attention then a lone night sparrow.
At least that's how it should have gone.
Mystia was there, she could tell Keine was there, but the village wasn't concealed.
It was burning.
At least sections were. At the north end there was a small flare. Mokou was likely fighting someone. Still the immortal obviously was holding back, since there still was a northern village.
Near her the fight was more intense. And the fire wielder was not holding back.
Mystia shuddered as another explosion ripped through a mansion, sending burning planks across the houses. Then her eyes opened in shock as one of Keine's spells tore through the same area. If the Hakutaku was using those kind of spells in the village she obviously believed that there was nothing she could do that would be less damaging then letting her opponent live. Given how much the Hakutaku loved the village....
The sight of a figure running away from the village towards her drew her attention away from the flikering light of the spell battle. She tensed momentarily before seeing it was a young boy.
She gritted her teeth. A lone boy would have no chance out in the forests at night. She knew a lot of youkai weren't going to be picky about which humans they attacked now that an invasion was on. Most probably still didn't even know an invasion was on.
It wasn't her problem. She was a human eating youkai.
It shouldn't be her problem.
Cursing herself silently she flew towards the boy, making sure to stay near the ground. The child had been looking over his shoulder most of the time so when he finally noticed Mystia swooping towards him she was fairly close. He shrieked and fell to the floor, then rose to his knees when he recognized her. ?Ms Lorelei??
?Idiot kid, don't run to the forest. Run to the farms,? she hissed. The boy just stared at her stupidly. She sighed. ?Where's your family??
?I... I don't know. We were running, and then a building collapsed and separated us. Daddy told me to keep running out of the village...?
Mystia nodded. ?Then check the West gate. That's the closest one. And tell everyone to hide in the farms! There's no youkai or Lunarians there.? The boy just sat there looking at her in shock so she waved her arms at him. ?Get going!? she chirped.
As the boy ran off she looked back at the village. She wondered if his family would actually make it out. She wouldn't really be sad if those old ladies that had tossed fried beans at her went up in smoke. Or any of the perverts that had grabbed her ass. But she remembered that kid's family being nice customers. The daughter had always played with the pinwheels and the father always complimented her on her special sauce.
Keine and her opponent took to the skies then for a brief moment. Mystia looked at the Lunarian in the light of the full moon.
The woman was obviously strong. Quite strong.
But there was no holy power about her. Nothing in her face that made her seem any different from all the other human magicians that had gone on a rampage in the village because of some slight or another.
Mystia's heart began to quicken again. Not with fear, but with excitement.
She knew it was partly the villager's belief. The repeated stories of a 'youkai of justice' were calling to her. She realized not all of the building feelings in her heart was the desire to hunt that was inborn to all true youkai.
But that was okay. In the end, all that mattered was that she was a youkai, born to terrorize humans.
That others thought it was justice instead of petty desire was their own foolishness.
----------
Keine coughed as the smoke burned her lungs. Her muscles ached and strained as she lifted the wall and threw it in front of her. ?Get out of here!? she yelled to the human family huddling behind her.
The wooden wall shuddered and cracked as her enemy's magic crashed into it. Keine's hand flashed out and slapped aside one of the splinters before it could strike her face. The other shards of wood struck her, but couldn't penetrate her skin.
The sound of the family behind her moving helped her keep her focus. She charged forward hoping to catch her foe off guard with her horns.
She'd made it thirty feet before an explosion scorched her front. She rapidly exhaled to keep the flames from searing her lungs, then cried out as the back blast sent her rolling into a flaming support beam.
'Dammit, Mokou, where are you?!' one part of her screamed. But she knew Mokou had to be fighting elsewhere. Nothing else would keep the immortal from her side.
She shook off the impact and stood again, growling as the smug woman who'd started randomly attacking the village floated before her. Keine tried once again to hide the village's history, but her powers failed yet again.
Frustrated and hurt she yelled at the woman, ?What have the villagers done to you!? How can you call this righteousness??
The infuriating Lunarian just shrugged. ?They're impure. But I don't kill them because I hate them. I'm killing them because you're wasting your energy protecting them. And because the rest of you 'guardians' will flock here to save the humans after I finish you off.?
Keine's innards seemed to burn with rage. The heat within her was almost as great as the heat out here. The bitch had killed at least five villagers already just to make her angry!?
The Were-hakutaku stared at the Lunarian in hatred. ?I didn't want to have to use this, but you've forced my hand.?
Keine reached out letting her mind adapt to her powers. Time stood still as years flickered backwards. Days flowed quickly into years then decades. She saw the woman's training and days of leisure on the moon, centuries and centuries of idleness. Then a long childhood, where she wanted for nothing. Then her birth.
And at that moment in history Keine reached out and twisted it. ?It's time you never existed!?
Keine's bold proclamation was met with a moment of silence, then a laugh from the woman. The heat in Keine's body fled her. Her powers had failed again! How?
The woman gave her a mocking smile. ?Allow me to tell you my power. I can bind things. I've bound this village to the land, and I've bound my history to reality. Your powers are worthless against me.?
The woman rose a little further into the air, preparing the spell that would probably kill Keine. As she did Keine saw her. A figure she'd never expected to see in the battle.
Mystia opened her mouth and began to sing a song of hunting.
?What!?? the woman screamed as she looked into the sky, the night blindness already clouding her eyes. ?Another youkai? Where are you?!?
Keine watched in awe as Mystia raised her voice as she glided further into the air so she could swoop down. A youkai on the hunt, as in days long past.
"If love can destroy, can hatred save?"
Mima snarled softly as the impact of her staff against the Lunarian's sword sent them both reeling. She was having a hard time keeping form. It had been over a century since she materialized, and she felt detached, even given the amount of magic that kassha was pouring into her.
She inhaled, her ?breath? allowing her to refocus on her opponent. She saw the woman moving the fingers of her left hand in familiar patterns and felt a spike of disdain. ?Do you think such a weak exorcism can banish me?? She swiftly recited the spell she'd developed so many years ago to counter such magics.
?Evil spirit disperse!? the woman yelled, thrusting her hand forward as she finished her banishing ritual.
Mima blinked so the flash wouldn't blind her. When she opened her eyes she smiled at her opponents dumbfounded expression. She pointed at the ringed orb over her head that was slowly pulsing with corrupted lifeforce ripped from the trees around them. ?Now it's my turn. Orreries Sun!?
A wave of her staff sent four spinning orbs at the woman. As her target jumped back they merged together and exploded in a terrific blast. Deadly splinters of wood from the trees sliced through her form, but mere wood wasn't anything that could hurt her anymore. She did check behind her to make sure her summoner was still alive.
The kassha had grabbed hold of the little shrine maiden and was shielding her, both with magic and her own body. The sight made the knife in her back itch, so she looked away. She had someone to kill after all.
The woman had retreated to the treeline. Mima could smell the blood flowing from her wounds, only matched by the smoke from the burning shrine.
Mima felt odd as she remembered that this was the Hakurei shrine. She looked at her opponent with new feelings of amusement and disgust. ?Did someone finally set up a rival shrine? They kill your youkai lover? Or did you just have a bad fortune??
?Shut up ghost, don't bring me down to the level of these humans. I am a Lunarian! I am Uenaga Itaka,? The woman snarled. ?They were in our way so we eliminated them. Just like I'll eliminate you!? Itaka pointed and then the world turned into whiteness and pain.
Mima screamed as the lightning coursed through her undead form.
Fortunately when the power stopped so did the pain. She had no body to wound after all. Gripping her staff she swung it down as hard as she could while teleporting towards the woman. Her hands shuddered with the impact against Itaka's sword.
?I despise you,? Mima hissed in the woman's disgustingly perfect face.
?As if I care about the jealousy of a human ghost,? Itaka managed to grunt before gasping in pain. Mima felt a ripple of sadistic joy as her pressure forced Itaka onto the woman's wounded foot.
?Human? Human?? Mima sneered. ?I smell your blood. I can sense your heartbeat. You're just as human as all the others!? The dark sphere behind her began to pulse faster.
?You humans. You always point at someone and say, 'They're different. I'm the real human. They're just a mistake. They wear the wrong clothes. Say the wrong things. Use the wrong type of magic!'? She slammed her left hand down on her staff and was rewarded with another grunt of pain. ?You think that giving yourself a fancy name and hiding away makes you scum any different!? You are the same as the bastards that murdered me! And you murdered the family of one of the two humans that treated me like I had a right to exist! You humans are trash!?
?Shut up!? Itaka screamed as she pushed herself upright. ?I'm not a filthy human! I- AM- PURE!?
Mima's eyes opened wide in shock as she was slowly pushed back. Then her hatred flowed through her again. ?YOU- ARE- TRASH!?
Mima pushed as hard as she could, but Itaka wouldn't budge. They stood there, fighting each other, whispering spells, counterspells and curses.
Then suddenly the air went cold and Itaka screamed. The Lunarian tumbled backwards as eight gaki ripped into the flesh of her stomach. The sudden loss of opposition made Mima stumble forward.
Itaka yelled out a word of power and the blood she shed exploded into pure energy, banishing the ghosts. But she was open.
Mima pointed at the woman and sent a cascade of stars at her. Most of the barrage slammed into the woman's front, and those that didn't ricocheted into her sides and back. The woman's strained wards collapsed.
Mima hesitated as Itaka slumped. Her foe was down, but something was wrong. She felt that her summoner was distracted. She turned to check on the kassha and the girl.
Just as the the young miko grabbed the bloody knife in her back and slid it free.
There was a short strained cry as Mima whirled around. And then the girl was standing over the body of the Lunarian, her white top stained with the blood pumping out of the fallen woman's jugular.
Mima slowly floated between the young girl and the corpse before removing the knife from the dead bodies throat. She then turned to face the miko who was still staring at the ground.
?I'm sorry. I should have asked before pulling out the knife,? the girl said.
Mima simply shook her head. She wasn't sure how to respond.
Orin walked up behind the girl and pulled her into an embrace again. Mima wanted to yell at the kassha, but the magician realized that the Lunarian's final attack must have dazed the necromancer cat via backlash. There was nothing to be done.
They'd just have to deal with the consequences.
?Hitomi! Kanon!?
Mima looked up to see someone very familiar rush to the back of the shrine, frantically looking about. Then the woman froze. ?Mima??
?Marisa.? The ghost floated back and gestured to the two bodies and the young girl. ?The fight here is over.?
Marisa blanched at the sight of the bodies, then dropped to her knees. ?Dammit.? The magician pounded her fist into the ground. ?Dammit! Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!?
Marisa slammed her fist into the ground again, then slowly rose to her feet.
Orin's ears swept back as she lifted her head. ?I'm sorry sis. I couldn't make it in time. I ran over as soon as I heard. But the elevator is broken these days, and well....?
?No. I should have ignored Hitomi and warded the damn place. I should have dragged her back to the mansion. I... I knew I should have....? Marisa finally looked at the young miko. ?I'm sorry.?
?It wasn't your fault,? Kanon replied in a dead voice.
Orin looked at Marisa, as she smoothed the young girl's hair. ?I'm gonna to take her back home. The girls will keep her safe.? Orin turned Kanon so she could look the young girl in the eyes. ?You're a miko so the Reiuji Shrine will give you shelter, for as long as you need it. Auntie Orin promises, okay?
Kanon stared up at the kassha for long moment, before bursting into tears. Mima could only turn away from the piercing wails of the child. She floated away, as Marisa moved to help comfort the girl.
She stared down at the bloody knife that matched the one that had taken her life so long ago. ?Was I so different when I was human?? she asked quietly. But she couldn't answer that any more.
The knife disintegrated, returning to the fading memories of her long dead grudges.
Sighing she returned to where the living were discussing their fates. Kanon's crying had become simple sniffles now, though Orin was still holding her close. Marisa had turned away. Mima could tell her former apprentice was brooding, something the girl rarely did in public.
?Marisa's gonna go back to the war,? Orin said as she slowly helped Kanon rise to her feet. ?I'll be taking the girl to safety, at least until the war is over.? Orin gave the undead magician a questioning look. ?My summoning is gonna be over soon sis. You okay with me wandering off??
?I'm no second rate spirit. My magic will sustain me until I choose to leave," Mima replied. She looked over towards the fallen forms. "I'll look after the bodies until the Shinigami come."
Orin's eye's turned dark. ?Just the one sis. I'll be taking that one.? The kassha pointed towards the fallen Lunarian.
Mima looked at Marisa, but the living magician didn't move, so she shrugged. ?Safe trip home.?
?Take care sis.? Orin tossed the body into her cart, took Kanon by the hand then headed back into the trees. As they left, Mima floated to stand behind her former student.
Marisa was staring at the fire that was slowly dying as the shrine was consumed. Mima saw the young magician force her fists to unclench.
After a few moments she said, ?Tell me Marisa, how do you feel about these Lunarians??
Marisa was silent.
?Do you hate them??
There was another moment of silence. Then Marisa replied. ?Yes.?
?I want to smash every one of the bastards here on the Earth. If I have to I'll burn their damned Lunar Capitol off the face of the Moon with my Hakkero.? Marisa took another ragged breath.
Mima closed her eyes.
?Why??
Marisa stiffened at the question. A question a young girl who wanted to become a magician had once asked her vengeful ghostly mentor.
A question that had never been answered.
Mima nodded her head mournfully and placed a hand on the young magician's shoulder.
?I have nothing left to teach you, my apprentice.?
Marisa reached up and took her hand. Mima closed her eyes and allowed herself to feel the warmth of her student's emotions. Then she let the cold shroud of death cover her once more.
?Farewell. Marisa.?
?Goodbye. Mima.?
A man cannot sleep under the same sky, that shelters his father's killer.
Lord Roun entered the staircase with great caution.
He knew his targets were in the basement. His power of direction sense was flawless. But the route his senses were telling him to take made no sense.
He was already on edge because of the sudden attack that had hit his group. He'd been waiting for the requisite fifteen minutes to pass before leading his assault, but then the trees had started exploding around him. They'd been forced to rush into the mansion to avoid being peppered with shrapnel.
And the mansion greeted them with heavy silence. The halls were small and claustrophobic, but totally empty. The rooms were vast and open, and also empty. The mansion seemed more like the home of a ghost then a vampire. He was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
?Be wary,? he repeated to his retainers, before turning back to the stairway leading to darkness.
He took his time descending, testing every stair for traps. There were none, but that only increased his worry. He wanted to just fly down the center of the spiraling stairs, but that was sure to be warded.
Finally after what seemed like an eternity he reached the bottom. There before him was the basement door. It seemed to waver and shift in the light. His objective was through there.
As he started inspecting the door for traps, it rippled. Across it's surface letters of blood began to form.
?Through me is the way to people lost
All hope abandon, ye who enter here.?
Roun narrowed his eyes. ?Oh dear. The melodrama.?
Still the threat was something of a relief. What you didn't see was always more fearsome then what was truely there. He began looking to see if there were more dangerous spells on the door, when it suddenly opened.
And then he realized what was wrong.
?You are in a maze of twisting corridors, all alike,? giggled a chilling childlike voice. ?Don't get lost now.?
Roun nodded. Now it all fell into place. ?They've twisted space here. If we get separated it's over. Everyone stay together. I can lead us through.?
?Yes lord,? his bodyguard said. His other retainers nodded in agreement.
That said he turned back towards the maze and carefully entered it.
The voice had been right about one thing, the passages were twisty and all alike. The only features were the wall lights and an occasional carpet. If it weren't for his direction sense he would have been certain he was walking in circles. He imagined most other forces that had reached here would have been heartened by the threats after the long silence and rushed in to the maze, leading to certain doom.
However people who were paying attention and sticking together would be just fine. Now he merely needed to navigate the maze.
The journey was just starting to get boring, when a woman in Chinese garb casually walked out in front of the group.
Roun foolishly hesitated. Fortunately his retainers were much quicker to attack. A blast of raw chi joined a typical fireball and bullet spray as they attacked the devil before them.
The woman's eyes widened in surprise, but she didn't hesitate in holding up her hand in a guard position. His retainers' attacks froze in place, lost in the void of infinite space the woman conjured up. ?She's the source of the spell,? he called out. ?Use attacks that ignore distance!?
In response the woman casually flipped out a knife and tossed it at him. He blinked then jumped back in fright as the knife appeared right in front of him. Roun raised his hands hoping the blade couldn't break his normal defenses.
Then Zhang was standing in front of him, grasping the knife firmly by the flat. Roun sighed in relief. He knew picking the young martial artist as a retainer was a wise choice.
The woman nodded, then yelled out something in a dialect of Chinese Roun had never heard. ?What is she saying?? he asked quickly.
Zhang for the first time ignored Roun's question. Instead he snapped back in the same strange dialect.
The pink haired woman sneered, then ran away down a side corridor. Roun was briefly pleased, but then Zhang took off after her. ?Wait, you fool! If you get separated we'll never be able to meet up again!?
The young man ignored him completely. He just ran down the corridor, then turned to follow the woman.
Roun ran to the corridor's branch himself, but it was too late. The twisting passages had already reformed to separate the two groups.
?My Lord, should we search for him??
Roun shook his head. ?No. He is lost. We'll just have to hurry and hope that our foes waste time killing him while we finish off their allies.?
-------
Huian smiled as she led the fool deeper and deeper into the maze. Technically she should lead the bastard back to where the mistress was. That was the original plan anyway.
But this fight? This fight was personal. The mistress would understand. In fact she'd specifically told Huian to have fun.
And there was nothing as fun as righting an ancient wrong.
Finally she reached her goal. One of the killing grounds. She ran to the other side and prepared for her opponent to arrive. It was a small room, just big enough for her to use her full techniques, while being too small for long ranged attacks to be that effective.
Of course it wouldn't help against this opponent.
The man ran in quickly after her, then stopped when he saw she was no longer fleeing. He quickly assumed a fighting stance, before asking in the ancient dialect of the school, ?You! Are you Meiling, the traitor??
She took her own fighting stance. ?No. I am the last master of the Dim Mak school, Izayoi Huian, daughter of Hong Meiling.?
?I see. So she had a child, in defiance of the masters,? the Lunarian said with scorn. ?She was to pass the teachings down to a rightful heir, not continue her rebellion. Grandfather was correct. Teaching a woman the assassin's arts was a fool's endeavor. She was no match for the Yin forces she was supposed to control.?
?Defiance? Hah,? Huian sneered. ?She followed all of your master's stupid rules. She married only a human who defeated her in combat. She taught me only because she couldn't have a son. And she never revealed to anyone the true power she possessed.?
?That doesn't change the fact that she was overwhelmed by the dark power,? the man pointed at her. ?As your youkai tainted blood shows.?
Huian couldn't help chuckle at that. ?My blood was hardly tainted. I became a pure youkai when mastering the techniques, just as my mother did before me. Though I have advanced beyond the skills of your masters.?
?So you say,? He moved to a more defensive stance. ?If you truly are a student of the way, then you will surrender to me, first student of the masters. If you do so, then we may show you mercy as a fellow student.?
Huian snorted and casually warped space to steal the boy's own knives. Then she tossed them and called on her power again to have them score his cheeks. ?I owe your masters nothing. My mother served them once, but I serve only the house of Scarlet.? She focused her chi, and a darkness formed around her hands. ?I was born in the year and hour of the dragon, on the day of wood. I am the ultimate assassin. No one has mastered the forces of Yin more then I. I shall defeat you and prove my mother's style superior.?
The man's eyes widened, then he wiped the blood away from his cheeks. ?You talk too much woman. I am Zhang Luchan, grandson of Zhang Sanfeng. I will cleanse the taint of youkai blood from our school.? He sneered. ?Unless you plan to cheat your way to victory with your magic??
Huian returned the sneer. ?I shall let you strike me two times before I kill you. One for each cut.?
?Let my first blow show you the weakness of your style! Let us see your Yin mastery keep up with Yang's range!? Zhang let lose a loud cry to gather his chi, then let loose a powerful rainbow chi blast. One that Huian knew would track her if she tried to dodge.
Instead she called upon her powers, and let the universe flow with them. The Yin energy in her hands acted like a vacuum for the Yang energy in the world around her. The darkness around her hands was surrounded by a rainbow mist that turned into lines of energy as she spun.
Her Rainbow Hurricane sent her opponent's chi blast ricocheting into the walls. Once again they faced each other. ?What was that about weakness?? she asked. He simply frowned in return.
The two martial artists sprang forward and clashed. Huian kept to her word, sticking to blocks and dodges as she tried to find a weak shot of Zhang's to let through.
Fighting like this, between hand to hand masters, was very different from danmaku. A single punch could be followed up by a block, a grab, a break, and a secondary strike, all within seconds. There was no thought of individual strikes or overlying patterns in attack. Only a concept of style.
Her opponent started the match with poking attacks. His blows struck quickly at her pressure points, trying to end the match before it began. She replied by changing her stances repeatedly to avoid his strikes and keeping her arms in tight for quick parries.
In order to force her to make a mistake he started adding piercing attacks. Strong foot stomps, straight punches and elbows all designed to stun her and break her guard so he could strike a deadly point. She began adding foot blocks and more active dodges to her defense, bending away from his attacks, and weakening his stances.
Suddenly he switched two of his attacks mid blow. Huian winced as he struck her. The strikes were shallow, but she was certain he'd targeted some pressure point. And in a moment her thoughts were confirmed. ?I see, that's why you could get away with shallow strikes. You've sealed my magic.?
?Indeed,? the man said. ?Youkai have no honor. If I am to defeat you I need to remove your advantages before you feel threatened.?
?Hmph. Well it will be harder to get back to my mistress after your death, but Dinah's power is maintaining the spell at this point.? She smirked. ?And those were your two hits.?
She sprang into action, jumping up, then bouncing off the ceiling to slam into her foes guard. Zhang retreated against her crushing style; powerful kicks, sweeps and punches that smashed muscles and made bones ring. He tried to switch into the flowing counter style to wield her own energy against her, but she added feints and short range energy strikes to her moves, the mystifying bludgeoning style.
?You can't keep this up forever,? he shouted at her during a brief respite as she set up room for her next jumping kick. ?You will wear out.?
?I'm a youkai. You'll drop first,? she replied before doing a short hop and sweeping. Her opponent was forced to leap over her.
She regained her stance and threw a driving kick at him, but he rushed right past it, clashed his arm into hers and struck her with a headbutt. As she fell back he continued his assault. The driving overrun style. It was denounced by many other schools as being crude and meaningless, since it relied on moving to near grappling range and simply hurting one's foe, but any true fighter knew how to use it properly.
Huian found herself being pushed back. Zhang was too close for her feints and strong blows. She had to rely on a retreating defense and some driving techniques of her own to keep from being overwhelmed.
A mutual headbutt sent them both reeling back. ?I'll heal faster then you,? she said when her head cleared.
?I'm stronger,? he replied. ?And given my mastery of Yang chi, I heal these type of wounds faster. You will fall!? Once again he rushed in.
But this time Huian saw an opening. ?Haaaah!? She dashed forward herself and unleashed a barrage of kicks that slammed into her foes left arm and torso.
Then she felt a finger stab into her right side. She collapsed into a backwards roll, then attempted to assess the damage.
Her foe was standing back with a smug expression on his face. That was bad. ?Hmph. All this talk of being a master of Dim Mak and you forget the basics of pressure points when in a serious fight. How pathetic.?
?My strike has disrupted your chi pathways. If you're lucky the resulting internal damage will destroy your heart and death will be swift. If not your body will slowly collapse, leaving you helpless before my attacks.?
Huian tried to ignore his gloating and figure out which point he'd hit. After a few seconds she nodded, then struck herself on her left thigh, wincing at the pain. As blood trickled out she turned to him and smirked. ?You're a fool. I've already shown you that I can use the innate chi of the universe to balance my own chi. Why did you think I couldn't fix an imbalance created by a wound??
She shrugged and pushed herself to her feet. ?I suggest you learn how to do that yourself. And quickly. Because otherwise you'll die in two minutes.?
?What?? the man stepped back and entered a defensive stance, then winced as the wounds on his arms and torso throbbed. ?Wait, the brain points? But you only did closed fist strikes! How??
?Did you think summoning that Yin energy was just for show?? Huian shook her head sadly. ?With the power of destructive chi I can focus the damage my blows inflict in any way I wish. I've been hitting the pressure points on your arms and legs throughout this fight. That kick to your chest was merely the final blow.?
?Dammit, I won't lose to you!? Zhang jumped forward, his fists moving faster then before. ?I will-? His voice cut out mid yell and his eyes crossed. Then he stumbled, fell and lay still. Huian knew that he'd suffered a massive fatal stroke from her attacks.
?Looks like I miscounted,? she remarked to no one in particular. She considered the body a little longer before moving on. He was dead, and the matter was settled.
Her vengeance complete she turned and headed back into her maze. Without the ability to alter the paths it would take her some time to get back to where Dinah was, but that shouldn't be a problem. After all her foes would be lost in addition to having to deal with the maze.
It is good that war is so terrible, lest we become too fond of it.
The moon shone down brightly on the Misty Lake, creating a pure reflection in the waters.
The reason for that of course was that Chamaka had no intention of letting some fairy sneak up on him and hit him. Sure there was no chance anything a fairy threw at him would hurt, but it would make him look foolish.
And his mission tonight was to spread fear.
He'd already scared the fairies in the Forest of Magic enough such that they didn't dare reveal themselves. Now he'd chased a trio of the smarter ones to this locale and was cleaning up this rat hole.
His eyes caught some more movement. A curious fairy of leaves who apparently had missed the demise of its fellows was floating up from the banks of the lake.
Chamaka put his boredom and annoyance into a set of bullets and fired it at the creature. Unsurprisingly it failed to dodge, probably figuring it would just die and be reborn like usual. The horror that erupted on the little things face when the bullets hit was almost pathetic. The little creature screamed its girlish scream and then disintegrated, leaving only a few dead leaves to float down.
?Hey! What are you doing to my friends!??
Chamaka turned to find a small ice fairy trying to fly at him. Strangely a wind fairy was trying to pull her away. ?Cirno, this guy is too dangerous! We have to run!?
The ice fairy shrugged her companion off. ?No, Daiyousei. This guy's the one messing up the lake. He's been destroying our friends. What would Letty think if I let this go!?? The fairy pointed at him. ?Hey you! I'll never forgive you for hurting us nature spirits! Hold still so I can freeze you!?
Chamaka was surprised. Loyalty wasn't one of these creatures' strong points. Still he wasn't here for research. With a wave of his hand he conjured the concept of extermination into the form of several knives. The smaller fairy let out something that sounded almost like a sob and ran, but the ice fairy stayed put. Chamaka launched his attack. It made no attempt to dodge, it only raised its hands.
And then, seconds before the first blade hit the fairy, a wave of ice reached out from the creature and the blades froze solid. Then they shattered.
Chamaka frowned at that. ?Well. That is novel.?
?Now it's my turn!? the fairy proclaimed, firing off some icicles at him. Fortunately the spread was crudely aimed. He took his time dodging the missiles in order to figure out how to bypass that peculiar defense.
After a moment he decided to try the obvious solution. He concentrated his mind on the light of the sun, and focused it. The fairy would have difficulty freezing this. Holding up his hand he unleashed a laser.
?Wha! That's cheating!? the little creature yelled as it tried to dodge the beam. Unfortunately for it, there was no way to avoid the spell forever.
Suddenly there was a click and a bright flash. His laser fizzled.
?Pure and Honest Reporter, Shameimaru Aya is on scene to report on the invasion! Sir, could you please give your name for the article??
Chamaka dived backwards and tried to aim the laser he was summoning at the voice. His vision cleared just enough to see a tengu standing there winding a camera when another photo shot went off.
This time he had enough presence of mind to blink. When he opened his eyes there were two female tengu flanking the confused ice fairy. The newest arrival seemed to be fiddling with a cell phone. ?Don't worry about being properly quoted. The Kakashi Spirit News is doing this as a joint interview with the Bunbunmaru News. We pride ourselves on only using your own words to make you look like the jackass you are.?
Chamaka reinforced his aegis as he carefully inspected the two tengu. The odds had suddenly shifted. By a great deal. He looked over their devices and nodded. ?I see, so you've managed to create conceptual weaponry as well. Impressive.?
?Huh?? The second tengu and the fairy looked confused at his statement.
Aya on the other hand narrowed her eyes. ?I see, that's how you are able to kill fairies permanently. You can give form to concepts and legends. Since fairies are just personified concepts you can attack their life directly.?
?And your cameras draw upon the legend of photography stealing souls to drain that energy.? Chamaka replied. ?Though it's far from perfect. Still, as Tengu you must possess other skills as well. You seem like opponents worthy of my full attention.?
?Hey! I'm your opponent,? the little fairy called out. The arrival of allies seemed to have emboldened it.
Chamaka ignored the creature for now. The tengu were far more dangerous. He needed to keep them trapped, so their speed couldn't be used against him. He had faith in his aegis, but it was foolish to let your opponents gain an advantage.
He raised his hand and concentrated. Above him in the air a horrific buzzing sound began. The tengu and their fairy companion looked above him just in time to see the swords start forming and circling, like metal vultures.
?These swords represent the hatred and sorrow of every human that failed to reach their goals.? Chamaka felt the blades straining at the leash, but he held off for a few more seconds. ?They are relentless in their pursuit, and their desire to crush the hopes of others knows no bounds.?
He lowered his hand and the blades paused, then began to fall in a rain. ?Let's see if your photography can capture this story.?
------
Aya gritted her teeth and floated just a little forward as the blades rushed towards her. She resisted the urge to try to run through the wall of blades with a well timed camera shot. While that might work, Hatate would be hard pressed to follow her, and Cirno would be doomed.
Finally at the last second she back dashed away and took a snapshot. The wide lens caught the first wave of swords and drained their energy away, quickly drawing the power to her camera. She began winding furiously to set up her next shot. ?Your turn.?
?Right!? Hatate took over, moving forward to take her own picture of the swords raining down. The other woman's camera cleared a slightly smaller swath. It paid for its quick reload time with a smaller frame and no zoom. Aya swore when she saw more distant blades still angling towards them.
?I've got it!? Cirno said charging forward. Aya felt her tengu pride complain at needing aid from a fairy, but her camera was still winding. The camera's anti danmaku feature took a lot of energy, and while their foe's 'conceptual weaponry' was apparently weak against the feature, it took even more power to banish then normal bullets. She just hoped Cirno had enough energy to clear out a good chunk of them.
Cirno waited until the last second, then used her freezing trick again. The swords surrounding the ice fairy froze with a crack.
Then a wave of frost that was almost faster then a tengu eye could follow ran through the blades, freezing them all solid.
The click of Aya's camera recharging brought her out of her stunned state. Her camera couldn't clean out such a large swath, but it was a kappa tool, one that didn't use her full power. It was possible that a fairy as strong as Cirno could beat its power while going all out.
She turned back towards the Lunarian. She needed to take command of the fight. Unfortunately he seemed like the type who enjoyed gloating and attacking at the same time.
Sure enough he raised his hands, and flames appeared in the sky. ?Extinction class events leave scars in the consciousness of all life.? Aya felt her blood run cold as the meteors above came into focus. ?I don't know if this is really how the dinosaurs were wiped out, but it should be enough to be rid of you!?
?Climb!? Aya cried out as she flew towards the assault. She began plotting a course between the rocks, and she hoped that Cirno and Hatate's danmaku skills would allow them to do the same.
Hatate was beside her seconds later. ?This is insane! How can he be this strong??
Cirno was right behind her. ?Damn, using fire this early is cheating!?
?Stop whining and dodge!? Aya replied to the two. Then she followed her own advice and broke off, preventing the man from targeting all three of them at once.
The first few seconds of the meteor rain was the worst. She had no idea what how fast the rocks were moving, and if her camera could clear them out. The first flaming rock singed her arm as she passed, and then two of the meteors in the second wave collided sending a wave of shrapnel at her. She brought her camera up and snapped a photo, clearing those chunks up and dousing some of the flames.
Now that she'd cleared a little more room Aya took a look around. While the attack was brutally random, it wasn't too hard to dodge most of the time. And all three of the youkai had an escape card they could play. Most importantly, the rocks faded away before hitting the earth. Either the Lunarian couldn't sustain the barrage that long, or he wasn't certain he'd survive the impact. Either way, it was good to know that there were limits to their opponent's power.
Now it was time to counter attack.
Aya zipped between two meteors, dodged some lesser debris and then, with a swipe of her fan fired a massive wind gust at the Lunarian. She smiled as the man's own rockfall got caught up in the attack. ?All right, take this!?
Then she swore as they all shattered on an invisible shield.
The man raised his hand and a mass of bullets formed. ?Clever. But my aegis can withstand any attack. And I can reform it whenever it becomes weak.?
His bullets manifested themselves as the annoying seeking amulets the Hakurei used. Aya quickly ducked behind one of the meteors for protection. ?Cocky bastard, aren't you,? she muttered as she began considering her next plan of attack.
Her plans were interrupted by another wave of amulets. ?Why couldn't you be completely arrogant and try to passively kill me?? Aya swore as she began weaving her way into the heart of the meteor attack, doing her best to skim just out of the flames reach of the larger meteors so they could provide her some cover.
A small fast rock smashed open one of the meteors in front of her, causing her to flinch. She instinctively took a picture of the deadly rain coming at her then swore again when she realized she had a lot of winding to do. She quickly retreated to where Hatate and Cirno were making their stand.
?I'm starting to change my mind about active interviews,? Hatate grumbled as her camera went off again. ?Any bright ideas? I'm getting frozen and roasted here.?
?Yeah all this fire sucks! I want to freeze all the rocks!? Cirno complained.
?That's nice. I want to not die!? Aya snarled. ?And if we want that we'll need to find some way to get an advantage.?
?It seems that simply dropping rocks is a mistake.? Their annoying foe called out. ?Let's try something more direct. Weapons tend to leave strong imprints on people's minds. For example Gungnir, the All Father's spear that never misses seems to have lingering power even after humanity's fall. Even in your minds.?
?Oh great, we're going to be killed because Remilia was pretentious about spell card names.? Aya sighed. At least her camera was wound. ?We'll have to hope our cameras can stop it, Hatate.?
Hatate pulled her phone out. ?You go first. Yours has a zoom after all.?
?What about me?? Cirno protested. The two tengu ignored her.
A brilliant flash of steel was the only warning Aya got of the spear's approach. However years of photography training hadn't gone to waste. She'd taken a snapshot of the weapon before she realized that their familiarity with Remilia's version of the Gungir had made the point crimson. That strangely made her feel better. Perhaps it was because she could beat Remilia.
Her camera shot visibly slowed the weapon. It looked less like certain death, and more like the spear it was. Hatate raised her camera phone and snapped her own picture. The deadly aura faded more.
But the ancient god spear that was the core of the weapon kept hurtling straight towards Hatate's chest.
A streak of blue intercepted the spear. The weapon slowed as it froze, then dropped out of the sky into Cirno's hand, where it shattered into pieces.
Aya was so shocked she barely remembered to dodge the meteors still raining down. Hatate just let herself fall down about forty feet.
?Alright! I'm all charged up now!? Cirno declared. ?Let's freeze everything! Perfect Freeze!?
A wave of bitter cold washed over Aya, setting her teeth to chattering. Even more startling the flames around the meteors died down, then faded away as the rocks slowly froze.
For a moment everything was still.
Then the Lunarian's meteor rain shattered as one, the tiny harmless fragments of the once mighty storm falling down to the lake below.
?I'm the strongest!? Cirno said with pride.
Hatate was first to break the silence. ?Holy shit.?
Aya had to agree.
?I don't have a clue how the hell you did that. But I've decided to actively try to kill you as well,? the Lunarian said to the fairy. ?I'd like to see an ice fairy try to shatter Excalibur.?
A glowing golden sword, more perfect then any blade Aya had seen before, materialized beside the Lunarian, then flew directly at the little fairy.
There was no way Cirno could handle that solo. The two tengu both rushed forward to add their camera skills to the fray.
This time Hatate was first to get the shot. Aya finished winding and fired off her own photo seconds later. The golden glow around the weapon vanished, to once again be replaced by Cirno's frost.
The dream of the sword of promised victory shattered before the incarnation of ice.
Out of the corner of her eye Aya saw the Lunarian casting. That had just been a diversion! ?Dive!? She yelled. The three youkai swooped down towards the lake, pursued by a massive laser of focused 'sunlight'.
As they reached the lake's surface Aya saw another laser sweeping towards them from the other direction. There was no way all three of them could dodge both lasers if their foe had any competence. She only had one trick left, and it was based on hearsay.
Still it was better then nothing.
She turned and fired a barrage of dense but slow danmaku bullets between the Lunarian and the ice fairy. ?Cirno, freeze these!?
?Okay!? Cirno, being Cirno, didn't hesitate. Her power turned the danmaku into a hemisphere of ice.
Ice that disrupted and scattered the focused light that struck it.
?Hah!? That interview with Marisa had been good information. She'd been betting a lot on it.
?Tonbo-giri.?
Aya's eye's snapped up at the Lunarian's words. He'd had another attack waiting! Aya pulled up her camera to clear away the legendary spear, but there was only a whir when she pressed the button. No charge!
Then it, like the other weapons that had come before it, turned blue and shattered.
?H~How?? She asked in awe. There was no way Cirno should be able to continuously freeze things like that.
?W~w~what's up~p wi~wi~with that~t?? Hatate asked as the two tengu shivered.
Wait, why were they shivering? Aya looked around, then yelped and flew about a hundred feet away from the fight. Hatate was beside her in seconds. ?Why are we running?? the younger tengu asked.
?Look at the lake,? came Aya's reply.
All of the combatants looked down towards the waters of the lake to see the surface slowly freezing, inch by inch, in a ragged circle around the icy fairy.
?That's impossible!? the Lunarian whispered. ?You can't gain power from canceling attacks.?
Then Aya fully understood.
?Reisen was right.?
Aya raised her voice to carry across the lake. ?You can't destroy energy. It has to go somewhere. So where does the energy Cirno removes when she freezes things go??
?It has to go inside of her.?
Aya looked the Lunarian in the eye as she continued. ?Normally that doesn't mean much. If it were heat energy Cirno would overheat and have to waste power cooling herself. But your constructs don't use heat. They're made entirely of conceptual energy, the same as fairies are made of.?
?Which means every attack she's frozen has made her stronger.?
?Just as you are the perfect enemy to fairies, fairies are the perfect enemy for you. And what's worse, now that you know she can absorb your power, you can't help but unconsciously feed her with your fear.? Aya stated.
?Nonsense!? the Lunarian retorted. But the frozen circle around Cirno continued to expand.
Cirno looked up at the Lunarian. ?You've killed a lot of my friends. You Lunarians destroyed a lot of trees, and birds, and flowers, and even humans. You've all hurt nature a lot.? Cirno's voice was deadly serious. ?I'm not the smartest fairy. I know that. But I also know we fairies are part of nature.?
?I don't know what purpose fairies serve. But I'm going to protect this place. I'm not going to let you hurt anything else!?
Aya stared at the fairy. Was this a hidden depth that she'd never seen before during their occasional games? Perhaps it had something to do with the massive power flowing through the fairy? Or maybe Cirno had absorbed more then just the energy of the concepts that had been thrown about.
?Brave words.? Power swirled around the Lunarian again. ?Let me show you the cost of courage. Death of the Light Brigade.?
The Lake seemed to explode with sound and fire.
From all sides cannonballs flew in at Cirno as their invisible launchers roared. Aya thought she saw smaller bullets as well, but the gunpowder smoke obscured everything. Cirno disappeared in the barrage, then there was a flash of blue as the fairy once again froze and absorbed the attack. But the guns didn't stop. Once again the tiny fairy vanished.
Aya was wondering if she'd made a mistake holding back when a rush of freezing wind once again swept over the battlefield. She called upon her tengu strength to shrug off the cold. Hatate gasped beside her. ?She's frozen the whole lake!?
Sure enough the entire misty lake was covered in a light frost. As were Aya's geta.
?Got anything else!?? Cirno called up to the Lunarian.
The man finally lost his cool. His fancy outfit was covered in frost, and his breath was misting in the air. ?Enough of this foolishness! I can't be beaten by a simple ice fairy! Let's see if you can handle the very concept of fire itself!?
?Attack now! When his guard is weakened!?
Aya nodded and rushed towards the man. She took a quick snapshot as she flew in, weakening his shield, and Hatate did the same. She slammed into the remaining shield and bounced off, but Hatate's kick actually broke the thing. Aya was about to cheer when she saw Hatate falling back, her momentum expended.
Then a green haired fairy appeared behind the shocked man and buried a shard of ice in his back.
The Lunarian gasped, but he kept charging his spell despite the lethal wound. Aya swept her fan and sent a gust of wind to shatter the ice shard inside his body at the same time three icicles from Cirno sunk into the man's chest. Somehow he kept his spell forming until Hatate righted herself and crushed his throat with a roundhouse kick.
The man's spell fizzled away and he plummeted through the sky to crash on the ice on the lack, sending cracks through its surface. Aya nodded to herself when she saw the crack through the reflection of the moon. Their part of the prophecy was complete.
?I thought you ran away, Daiyousei,? Cirno said to her fairy friend. There was no condemnation in her tone, just confusion.
?Well, you know I'm not that good in a straight fight,? Daiyousei replied. The little fairy hugged her friend. ?I'm so glad you're safe though!?
Cirno allowed herself to be hugged for a while before drawing away. ?Daiyousei, I gotta help our other friends. These Lunarians are bad people. Someone's gotta stop them.?
Daiyousei looked worried, but the fairy simply nodded and fluttered her wings. ?You're really brave Cirno. Just be careful, okay??
Cirno looked over at Hatate and Aya. ?Are you two coming??
Hatate shivered and shook her head. ?I think you might do better on your own. We'll stay in reserve if you need us.?
?Yeah,? Aya agreed. She didn't want to test if Cirno could accidentally freeze a tengu.
Cirno shrugged. ?Alright.? She flew off towards the shore opposite the forest of magic. ?I better find Star so she can help me search!?
Aya rubbed her hands together to return the warmth to them. She planned on following the fairy, just in case. But at a much safer distance this time.
?Hey, Daiyousei, was it?? Hatate asked while turning towards the green haired fairy. ?Why did you tell us to attack the guy?? Aya started when she realized the voice telling them to attack hadn't been Hatate's. ?Did you think Cirno couldn't handle it??
?Fairies aren't supposed to be powerful. Nature can be strong yes, but fairies like us aren't nature's strength. We're nature's beauty and presence. We're supposed to be weak and simple." The fairy looked away. "There are a few exceptions here and there. Bent rules. But no fairy is supposed to have the power Cirno now has.? Daiyousei shook her head sadly. ?You've seen already how she's changed.?
The little fairy looked directly at both the tengu. ?I wasn't afraid she'd fail.?
?I was afraid she'd succeed.?
Aya shook her head to clear it. She didn't have to understand it, she just had to write it.
She looked up at the moon, then down again at its broken and bloody reflection.
?Eh, served the jerk right,? she muttered to herself.
?Yeah,? Hatate said. Then she punched something into her cellphone camera. ?Well we'd better hurry up if we actually are giving Cirno backup. At least then we'll have an excuse for letting her take the guy out.?
Aya smiled at that. ?Yep! 'Lunarian defeated by fairies! A joint investigation!'?
?Now let's go make sure people will be around to read it.?
"It is the living that cry for vengeance".
Renko squeezed Maribel's hand as they flew through the night. She wanted to stop and talk to Mary about what had happened, but there was no time. Every second brought their pursuers closer, so he forced her gaze to the sky like Ran had told her to.
Still she could try to get in a few words. ?Is your head still hurting??
?Not much,? Mary replied. There was a pause. ?I don't feel good though.?
Renko looked back. Maribel didn't look like she was in pain, but her expression was still haunted. Renko lightly squeezed her hand. ?This isn't your fault Mary. Don't let it eat at you.?
?I know it isn't my fault, but I shouldn't want to kill them either right? People aren't supposed to want to kill others, right?? Maribel's voice trembled. ?It's wrong to think that he should have suffered more for what he did, right??
?Mary, snap out of it!? Renko sighed in relief as her friend snapped back to reality. ?You shouldn't feel guilty for being angry. Just don't let it control your actions, okay?? Renko gave her friend's hand another squeeze before turning back towards the sky. ?You did everything you could and then some to protect yourself. And me. You didn't do anything wrong.?
Renko heard Maribel give a ragged sigh from behind her. ?I... I guess. I just wish there was some boundary I could manipulate to find the answers to this madness. I don't know where I am anymore....? The strain in Mary's voice tore at Renko's heart.
?I'm here with you, so don't worry,? Renko replied. ?I promise that I'll-?
The attack came from nowhere. Renko barely had time to shield Mary with her body before it hit. Fortunately the blow was glancing, so all she'd get was a bruise from it. She heard Ran call out ?Princess Tenko!? and the sky brightened behind her. The kitsune must have been using a flashy spell to give them time to recover.
Maribel's eyes were unfocused, seeming simply to stare into space. ?Are you alright Mary?? Renko asked as she gave her friend a shake. Maybe the impact had stunned her friend.
Mary seemed to recover a bit. ?I'm fine.? Maribel took a deep breath and then slowly faded, becoming more and more transparent. Renko panicked as Mary slipped through her hands but a weak chuckle from her friend helped mollify her a bit. ?There, I'll be safe. I don't know how much I can help though. Sorry.?
Renko nodded. ?Don't worry Mary. I'll handle it.? She moved to kiss Mary on the forhead, then stopped as she realized the fading trick would make that impossible. She settled for simply stating ?I'll be back soon.?
Renko turned and launched herself into the air at an angle to draw fire away from her friend. There were three Lunarians in this group, all female. Two were being tied up by Ran, one turned to stop her from interfering. Hopefully this woman was the weakest of the three.
?Well let's see if Marisa was right about 'sturm und drang',? Renko said as she pulled out the mini hakkero. ?Stardust Memory!?
Renko's first giant star bullet was ludicrous looking, which worked in her favor as the Lunarian foolishly tried to absorb the blast with her shields. Renko didn't break the woman's ward, but the impact sent the Lunarian tumbling and allowed Renko to follow up with a blast of smaller bullets.
The Lunarian scrambled out of the way then fired back a simple blast of raw energy. Renko had no trouble dodging while continuing her barrage. Her target jumped to the sky to try to get some maneuverability, and Renko followed.
The next few minutes of dogfighting seemed to blur together. Renko quickly realized she was a superior combatant. The woman mostly stuck to single blasts of energy and quick binding spells, attacks that were sure to break Renko's shield, but which were incredibly easy to dodge. Renko on the other hand found herself easily outmaneuvering her foe and laying down patterns that relentlessly chewed at the woman's shields. Her teachers had drilled into her that powerful attacks were a great way to finish things fast, but once a real battle had started it was best to use consistent fire.
Unfortunately it was becoming obvious that her opponent was vastly more powerful. The long haired woman could weather a sustained barrage from Renko for long enough to toss out a focused blast that forced Renko to take cover, then dodge for a little while to regain most of her strength. Renko was fairly certain that the Lunarian would tire first, but the battle would take a long while.
Renko's thoughts were interrupted by the world doing dark. She immediately cast the spell that allowed her eyes to see in infrared, thanking her lucky stars that she'd spent a lot of time working on vision related spells because of her eyes' innate powers. As her vision shifted she saw the Lunarian weaving a complex trap spell and she rapidly dashed past the woman while tossing up a counter spell. The Lunarian swore and they returned to the dog fight.
Still Renko was now worried. Her opponent probably knew more spells then she did. If Renko kept trying to wear the woman down, eventually her foe might get lucky and find a trick Renko couldn't counter. Renko needed to find a way to pop that shield and strike her foe directly. Fast.
The thought stuck in Renko's mind. 'Pop the shield.'
A vision of Flandre Scarlet's fist closing and a table 'popping' flashed through her mind.
Renko fired off another ludicrous star bullet to buy herself some time. As the Lunarian dodged the attack Renko turned her energy inward, focusing on her mind, and the optic nerves that connected them.
Everything had a center. A point that connected all the parts, all the cells, every atom that bound the object together. To find an object's center was a simple spell, because everything tied back to it. All Renko had to do was make her mind understand that so she could see it. And that would take just a little magical manipulation.
Renko closed her eyes as a stab of pain shot through her head. This was normal. She was changing her brain, of course it would hurt. The spell completed and the pain turned into a constant throb instead of a stabbing agony. That was a good sign. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes.
She could see the points. They were everywhere, on everything. The point of tension. The part where everything was in balance, what everything was pulling at. It would be easy to destroy that point and watch everything pull apart.
A near miss from a cloud of deadly gas brought Renko back to reality. She did her best to ignore the headache, and to focus on the battle. She dodged and weaved through the Lunarian's attack, while trying to think of a way to use the trick she'd just figured out.
Flandre could draw the point of tension to her hand in order to attack it. That was the real strength of her power. Renko didn't have that ability, which meant to take advantage of the points she'd need to target the point directly with her magic. Of course that was impossible. The entire point of magical shield was to prevent people from just summoning knives in your lungs. She needed a way to bypass that first.
Her hand found the knife that Ran had given her. That might get her through the shield, if the enchantment was still working. All she needed to do was close the distance then. And she had the perfect spell for that.
Renko pointed the Hakerro behind her. ?Blazing Star!?
The magical blast wasn't anything compared to Marisa's, but it was still enough to send Renko flying towards the Lunarian. The woman's green eyes widened and she dove to the side to avoid the charge. Renko desperately reached towards her foe with the knife, and was rewarded with a tug that nearly ripped the weapon from her hands.
She skidded to a stop and looked carefully at the blade. It was difficult to see in the light, but the very tip of the blade was coated lightly with blood.
The Lunarian raised a hand to summon some magical attack against Renko, but the young magician of the outside world ignored it. Instead she focused on the blood, calling upon one of the most basic tricks in a witch's arsenal.
Fetishes like blood or hair allowed a magic to affect a target any distance away, even through many wards and defenses. The downside was that the links were weak, especially if there wasn't an elaborate ritual used in the gathering, or the items weren't freely given. Blood was one of the stronger fetishes, but even a master magician like Alice would be hard pressed to do more then give someone the magical equivalent of a slap. Renko would be lucky to be able to muster up more then a pinprick.
But Renko was targeting something that was already at it's limit.
Renko's altered eyes could see the tiny magical bullet she conjured strike the point of tension. The Lunarian didn't even notice at first, as the point seemed to grow and expand. Then the woman screamed as the hole that Renko had put in the dot became visable. It expanded, faster and faster, as the woman's body tried and failed to regain equilibrium over the tensions pulling it apart.
There was a final mournful wail, then a stomach churning splatter. Renko snapped her eyes shut and dispelled the enchantments she'd placed on her eyes. That was a mistake, as the white hot relief snapping through her brain almost caused her to pass out.
She recovered only to find herself face down in a sticky coppery pool. Her stomach twisted and churned and barely had time to push herself off the ground before she vomited.
She felt strong hands pulling her up. ?Here,? said Ran as the kitsune wiped the blood and viscera off her face. Renko shuddered but didn't resist.
When Ran was done cleaning she tossed the rag she'd used away. ?I got one myself,? she said pointing to bloodstains on her sleeve, ?but one got away. Do you think you can keep moving??
Renko blinked at the question. She knew she'd killed someone, somewhere in her mind, but it seemed distant, unreal. She nodded at Ran's question. ?I'll be okay for now. Mary's got it worse.? She turned and ran towards where her friend had been taking cover. Hopefully, Maribel had been spared watching that scene. And hopefully Renko could shake her out of her depression.
---
I wish there was some boundary of knowledge I could twist to understand what was happening. And what we need to do.
Maribel's vision swam in a sea of shadows.
?Ha! Do you think a youkai such as myself would bow before you!??
?I did good on my History test, so can we go to Disneyworld??
?The plan will come to fruition, even if it costs me my life.?
?How about we form our own club Renko? One that looks for the true world.?
?I will have my vengeance on you! On all of you!?
?Why? Why did you do this??
?Why did you have to die??
?Who am I??
Maribel looked to the sky and saw them there. The watcher and the dragon.
And she understood. The bargain, and the price.
?Maribel are you okay?? Maribel looked up as Renko ran over. The other woman was covered in blood, but Merry could see no signs of injury.
?I'm okay.? Maribel stood up. ?Hey Renko, what do your eyes see??
Renko frowned then looked up. ?It's 11:37. Why are you asking, Mary??
Maribel just chuckled. ?No reason.? It didn't really matter if Renko couldn't see it. It didn't really matter at all. She hugged her lover close.
Then she surrendered to the pull of fate.
?We need to go this way, Ran. Renko.? She looked towards where her enemy was hiding.
?Soon we'll finish this.?
Have faith in God, but keep your powder dry.
Eirin leaped away from the missile. The tiny mote of flame exploded among the bamboo she'd been hiding among. She grunted in pain as shrapnel from the blast hit her back. She hadn't been able to recover her wards since they'd last been dispelled.
“Ahahaha! Still running? How many more arrows do you even have Eirin?” Eirin ignored Suri's taunting and began looking for a rock to use as cover. “Surely you don't think you have enough to disable me? I haven't even worked through half of my painkillers yet.”
Eirin tossed a mine behind her and slowed her running just enough to get a weak shield up. Then she drew another arrow and waited for her foe. As soon as the woman came into view Eirin let loose.
Suri causally burned the arrow out of the air. “Really?” Suri smiled then frowned and looked down at the ground. “A mine? Why would you even bother with these?”
Eirin closed her eyes. “Because they're flash bangs.” She used a quick spell to release the radio wave that triggered the mine. As Suri screamed in rage she fired four arrows in rapid succession into the Lunarian. She spun to flee to her next ambush point, then froze. Before her was a line of magical explosives, Suri's own minefield. “I guess my luck's run out,” she muttered. She turned back to her foe, drawing another arrow.
Erin's shot was true, but the other Lunarian batted it aside with a snarl. Suri pointed and Eirin felt her shield collapse again. Then static electricity started to build around her and she realized she was in deeper trouble. Lightning was difficult to dodge for someone with human reflexes. Resigned to her fate Eirin drew another arrow.
“Master Spark.”
Eirin closed her eyes and hit the ground, the natural reaction for anyone in Gensoukyo who heard those words unexpectedly.
Even with her eyes closed the flash was impressive. Apparently Marisa had been increasing her power even without Gensoukyo's constant battles. Eirin made a mental note to reconsider her contingencies for a conflict with the Scarlet Devil Mansion if she survived this.
When the roar of the spell stopped Eirin jumped to her feet and began looking for Suri. She couldn't find her foe anywhere, but Marisa had stepped into the clearing her blast had formed. The magician looked different then Eirin remembered, and not just because she was carrying several deadly magical weapons and a sword. There was a deadly air around the woman.
“Never expected you to get in a bind like that,” Marisa said causally. “How'd that bitch get past your normal tricks?”
“She's not dead,” Eirin replied. “She drank a Hourai elixir prototype. She can't be killed, only knocked out. And she can unweave spells instantly.”
“Like this,” spat Suri as she crashed out of the bamboo. Her clothes were smoldering and charred, but the pistol she fired worked just fine. Marisa pointed her hakkero at Suri, but nothing happened. Eirin could only curse in impotent frustration as the beam cut towards Marisa.
Then it shattered against a light blue shield that appeared out of nowhere. All three of the women paused in surprise, as a helpful voice from one of the devices on Marisa's belt said “Automatic defense screen has activated.”
Eirin looked up at Marisa, relief tugging her mouth upward into a smile. “So you stole the prototype. I'd been wondering about that.”
Marisa just shrugged and smirked. The good humor faded away when she looked back at the Lunarian. “That's an impressive power you have there. But you can't cancel this spell.” Marisa drew the old sword with her off hand, then pointed her hakkero at Suri. “I designed this to take out someone who'd taken the Hourai elixir. You'll be a good test case.”
“Ha!” Suri's face twisted into a sneer. “Try any spell you want human! There's no magic that can resist my power.”
Marisa nodded then twisted her hand on the hakkero, The octagonal device clicked, then flipped open and a swirling ball of flame flew out. Eirin's eyes opened in shock as she realized what Marisa was doing. “Of course....”
Suri barked out another laugh and raised her hand to cancel the fireball. The flames seemed to disappear. She raised her hand to counterattack, then screamed as the invisible wind currents slammed into her and caught her in a spinning vortex of air. Her screams grew louder as the flames that had vanished reformed, then expanded to consume her. Eirin winced as the cries reached a fever pitch, before dying down to nothingness.
Eirin shouldered her bow and began resetting her defenses as the conflagration that had been Suri started shrinking under the control of the wind. “Very impressive Marisa, using the Kusanagi blade to control the winds that bind the eternal flame of the hakkero.” The flames slowly formed into a tiny ball, then the winds drew it back into Marisa's mini-hakkero. “You do realize though that she'll technically be alive for the rest of her normal lifespan while in there.”
“Sucks to be her,” Marisa said coldly as she shut the artifact with a click.
Eirin didn't press the matter.
Marisa resheathed her blade. “I don't suppose you know where the general leading this bullshit invasion is, Eirin?”
“Actually I do. He was rather lax about hiding his arrival.” Eirin didn't mention that no youkai would have the technology needed to pull off such a feat anyway. “I was going to pay him a visit when Suri interrupted me. Should I take you there as well.”
Marisa's eyes narrowed. “Yeah. I got something to say to him.”
The two began recasting their defensive spells. They needed to be ready for their next battle.
-----
Shou's heart sank as she flew towards where she knew Ran was. Every now and then she saw a flash of light from another battle, or worse saw the bodies left behind. Once she saw the robes that indicated a Lunarian had fallen there, but it was mostly the corpses of youkai that littered the ground. Most youkai were on the level of Nazrin or Kyouko at best. They just didn't have enough power to face a Lunarian head on.
She wanted to stop and hunt down those responsible for this destruction, but she knew that she could save more people by taking out the head of this invasion. And Ran, hopefully, was leading her there. The kitsune wasn't really faithful at all, but her desire for backup was enough that a god like Bishamonten, like Shou, could follow it easily.
Suddenly there was a flash from just in front of her. Shou hesitated for a second, then flew down towards the disturbance. She couldn't spend time hunting down Lunarians, but she wouldn't let them commit murder right in front of her. She sent a bolt of lightning from the sky to announce her displeasure then swooped in.
As she dropped into the clearing she heard the youkai she was saving rush into the bushes, but her attention was mainly on the man in front of her. She peered at his soul before proclaiming, “Xiang-Tsu, I Vaiśravana demand you cease this random cruelty and submit to judgment.”
The man looked up at her in stunned incomprehension for a moment before suddenly smiling. “Oh, a youkai worthy of my abilities. Let's see how long you keep up your illusions of grandeur after I steal your abilities.”
Shou's reply was cut off by a horrible wrenching sensation. The world suddenly felt wrong, like the blood had rushed from her head. The man laughed triumphantly as she tried to shake off the dizziness. “Ha! You really are powerful! Or at least, were powerful.” He raised his hand to the sky. “Let's see why you dared call yourself a god.”
Shou sighed. “Great, Nazrin's never going to let me down for this. A week in and I get half my god powers stolen.” Still, she had both faith and the accoutrements of her station. And she knew the powers that her foe now held better then any other.
She slammed her spear into the ground and jumped back. The divine lightning slammed into the spear and dissipated into the ether. Shou growled at the man. “You may have stolen my godly strength, but I still have all my youkai powers.”
The man looked down at her dismissively. “So? You claim I have the power of a god. How can one little Earth creature stand against that power?”
“Two.”
There was a rustling of leaves as Mokou stepped into the clearing. “Two little Earth creatures.”
Shou smiled and planted her spear in the ground before cracking her knuckles. “It seems the tables have turned.”
“Not for long!” Xiang pointed at Mokou, and a thunderbolt slammed into the woman. Shou ignored the attack and rushed in towards the Lunarian. He turned and tried to summon up an attack to blow her away, only to be sent reeling from a fire-blast from Mokou. “You? I killed you!”
“Blame Eirin for leaving your toys around,” Mokou said as she threw another fire bolt. The man managed to bat the attack away, but Shou had closed the distance. With a roar she pounced the final ten yards and brought her clawed hands down. They stuck for a second on an invisible shield, then rended the man's magical wards.
Xiang frantically swung at Shou sending the tiger youkai sprawling. Apparently he'd gotten some of her physical strength as well. Still it wasn't enough to seriously harm her.
Mokou rushed in again as he tried to recreate his defenses. He punched the woman in the ribs hard enough to audibly crack bones. Mokou just ignored the blow and gave him a headbutt that she had to have learned from Keine. Xiang pushed Mokou away and stumbled backwards.
Shou moved in to take advantage of his weakness. With a simple grab she caught his wrist then locked his arm with her other hand while forcing him down into her knee. Whatever spells he was trying to make shattered, though Shou noted with annoyance he'd stolen some of her heartiness as well. She kneed him again, then knocked him half upright with a uppercut. “Here, Mokou.” she said as she finished off with a side thrust kick.
Mokou smiled. “Right!” She caught the man in a clothesline rush as she flew towards her from the kick. Then she grabbed him by the shirt, and threw him over her shoulder again. As he sailed through the air she flew forward and kicked him into the sky. “Let's end this farce.”
Shou simply concentrated into the pagoda. At her command the forces within turned into eight streams of light. Light that could bend and twist at her command. She flung the lasers up into the sky where they circled the man, then struck in sequence. As each laser struck it knocked him further into the air, until all eight were aligned around him. Then they struck as one. The man choked and coughed up blood as the final strike hit him.
Then the area exploded as Mokou slammed into him with a flying jump kick.
Smoke obscured the figure that crashed from the sky, but the sudden return of Shou's powers left no doubt as to who the victor was. Shou moved to check on the man, but stopped worrying about the matter when she saw the smoldering figure had a broken neck. The Yamaxandu would teach him now. “Still,” she muttered, “you shouldn't have underestimated my power.”
Mokou landed behind her and dusted herself off. “The power to attract treasure? How did that help you? And didn't it not work when you were trying to free Byakuren? I mean the terrible trio and the Mouse found the items for you.”
Shou smiled. “It worked just fine. The items came to me then went where I wanted them to. As for how it helped in this battle....” Shou plucked her spear from the ground then offered Mokou her hand. “A strong ally is the greatest treasure one can hope for on the battlefield, no?”
Mokou blinked in surprise, then laughed and shook Shou's hand. “Right!” Then her face turned grim again. “Now, if you'd be so kind, this treasure would like to be pointed towards where Ran and those two kids are going to be fighting. I have a grudge against those Lunarians.”
Shou frowned but nodded. It was not her place to question Mokou's road of vengeance. Especially not tonight. She had far greater evils to combat.
The best laid schemes of mice and men...
Tenshou forced himself not to pull out his clock and check it again. He knew what time it was, and he knew when the event was supposed to occur. Fussing with his timepiece would only distract him. He needed to be in control when the moment arrived.
He allowed himself to look over the preparations instead. Nashina had set up her technomagical devices, while the other members of his guard appeared to have their wards ready. The more advanced devices were also warmed up. While Lunarians disliked purely robotic servants, their technology was advanced enough to make them. And in this case it was better then worrying about the loyalty of rabbits, or wasting precious manpower.
He was somewhat worried that only two of his scouts had survived the fights needed to draw his target in. Still he had planned for them to be expendable. He'd consulted his power several times to find out exactly who he needed to have in order to kill Yukari Yakumo. And then he made sure to add some guards on top of that. It had cost him a bit of attack power in other battle fields, but it was worth it.
Anything to destroy that woman's existence.
A mental chime range three times, and Tenshou smiled. He turned towards where the 'sound' had come from. They had arrived.
Tenshou's smile froze as another chime sounded twice. Then two more times. He hadn't been expecting this.
He took a deep breath and held up a hand to steady his followers. ?Don't worry. This was accounted for by my abilities. We have enough people.? Which was true. His ability prepared him for what was going to happen. Not what he expected to happen.
Sadly his heart wasn't completely mollified. He did his best to stand so he could view all the approaching enemies.
The first three were the host body and the servant, along with the host's companion. Ran Yakumo was alert and ready for battle, but the other two looked like they were barely able to fly. Excellent. He forced himself to wait for the other two groups to arrive before giving his speech.
To his surprise the host spoke first. ?You. You're the murder. The one who murdered a world.?
He sniffed. He was expecting something better from her host. ?As if the life of a human means anything,? Nashina replied.
Tenshou's blood cooled when he heard the next voice. ?Even before Maribel here changed the rules a humans life still had some small meaning,? Eirin Yagokoro said calmly as she strode into the clearing. The woman beside her frowned deeply, but Tenshou could see the hate in her eyes was directed at him and his followers.
The first group seemed heartened by their allies' arrival. Tenshou thought now was the time to speak. ?But when weighed against a Lunarian's life it is still nothing. If mankind must die so that our people can live, that is the proper way of the universe.?
The blond woman opened her mouth to retort, but a peal of thunder ripped the words into nothingness as it slammed through the clearing. Tenshou felt fear spike through him as the youkai who claimed to be a goddess and the damned immortal strode into the clearing opposite Eirin's group. The tiger woman's voice sounded like an echo of the thunder. ?Then you should bear no ill will if beings greater then Lunarians must destroy your society to live then.?
For a moment Tenshou hesitated. This wasn't just beyond his expectations, this should be impossible. Eirin slipping past his army was reasonable. She was Eirin. But the immortal should have been sealed away! And there was no way this fake goddess should have been able to get here from her temple so quickly. Had he made a mistake somewhere?
He consulted his power once again. Who needed to be where to make certain Yukari Yakumo would be destroyed forever?
He sighed in relief as the answer returned to him. He had all the forces he needed and more. A smile slowly slipped onto his face. ?Well. This is unexpected, but in the end it might be better this way. You all can be witnesses to the final death of Yukari Yakumo.?
The black haired girl next to the host glared up at him. ?You crazy son of a bitch! Maribel isn't Yukari! Your whole stupid invasion has been over nothing!?
The host looked down. ?Right. I'm... not Yukari.... ??
Her friend hesitated. ?Mary??
Tenshou felt the atmosphere change as everyone turned towards the host. His fists clenched. Now was the time!
?You are the host that will lead Yukari back to this world. Her soul, her memories are locked within you. When midnight arrives she will have the power to shunt aside your pathetic will, and return to life.? The woman shuddered at his words.
?Bullshit,? the immortal yelled. ?Yukari was a bitch, but she never would have created a personality just to destroy it later. She'd have just come back as herself, not strung poor Mary along with a fake life! You're just making more lies to justify your crimes.?
He smiled at the immortals words. ?Hah. Perhaps there was some semblance of morality in that murderous bitch. Perhaps this was a self fulfilling prophecy, and only her host's immanent demise summoned the youkai hag from her slumber. But that doesn't matter to me. All I desire is her death!?
He turned to the host. ?But perhaps you'd like to explain the matter yourself Yukari Yakumo? Shall we chat before I kill you??
?You want to chat with Yukari?? The blonde woman's voice cut through the clearing like a knife. ?Fine.? She looked up, her eyes blazing with golden light. ?We'll talk.?
Even though he'd predicted it perfectly, Tenshou found he could only stare as Yukari Yakumo stood before him again.
?Mary?? her human companion asked as she tentatively stepped backwards. Beside the human Ran shivered and tried to shrink away at the sound of her old master's voice. From his side he heard one of the magicians swear in astonishment.
Yukari ignored them all. ?So... it's been a long time. How have you been? I've been really busy being dead. You know, since you murdered me.? Tenshou's rage flared as she giggled. She was treating this like a joke again! ?Look. We've both said a lot of things you're going to regret. But I think-?
?Enough of your games!? he snapped. He pointed at his hated enemy. ?Once again you've fallen into my trap! I predicted your movements perfectly, my allies have sealed your powers, and while there are a few obstacles I didn't predict,? he waved his hand dismissively at the traitor Eirin and the youkai that accompanied her, ?You know as well as I, that I must have the forces to defeat them! My plans have worked flawlessly!?
Yukari sighed. ?I know. That's what makes it all so pathetically sad.? She pointed towards the sky. ?Now watch as my master plan finally unfolds.?
---
The great watcher Acala, leaned forward. Perhaps wishing to see what the youkai sage's plans were, perhaps wondering if that truly was the youkai sage. Truthfully, it didn't matter why.
The dragon finally struck.
Acala started at the sudden attack, but it was too late. His mighty fangs sunk into the watcher's neck and latched on. The mighty god struck at the dragon's flanks to try to push the beast off, but he wrapped around the god's body and started clawing at the divine spirit.
Acala tumbled from his perch, searching for a way to break free and the stars trembled as they wrestled.
---
Tenshou stared in horror as the Big Dipper moved from it's place in the sky to strike the North Star. He heard Ran whimpering in fear and awe, while his allies alternatively gasped cursed and prayed. Eirin was simply muttering, ?I should have seen it...? over and over.
A harsh laugh from Yukari cut through everyone's thoughts. ?Behold, the age of humanity is over! The celestial dragon is killing Acala, the god that suppresses the dark powers of the youkai! And with his presence gone, we are no longer slaves to human thought. The age of youkai has begun!?
?Damn you!? Tenshou turned his gaze back to the hateful youkai. ?I can still kill you here! Nashina's machines have sealed away your powers, and-?
?Ahahahaha,? Yukari waved her hand dismissively. ?Do you think anything that happens here matters now? Even if you kill me, the youkai that are still alive will be stronger then ever.?
?But I want to tell you boy. The Watatsukis almost beat me.? Her smile widened. ?I figured a massive war involving youkai would be required to draw the attention of a god, but it needed to take place on Earth. Which is why I worked so hard to make sure the Lunar war was unfinished. But those two never pressed the matter. If the moon had remained peaceful all my plans would have come to naught.?
Tenshou was trembling. She couldn't be insinuating....
?That's right. I started a war with the moon, wiped out half the youkai in existence, assassinated your father, arranged my own death, and set the stage for this bloody, terrible war that's already killed billions. And it was all just a diversion!?
Tenshou's face twisted in horror and shock at how badly they'd all been used. ?You monster.?
There was a peal of thunder, as the fury of the god's battle struck the earth. Yukari raised her hands to the skies and laughed wildly.
And the heavens began to rain blood.
----
Kanon winced as the first drops of rain hit her. For some reason the liquid burned. Orin must have noticed something too, because the kassha froze in place, sniffing the air.
She tried to brush the rain off her hands, then froze when she touched the warm sticky liquid. She looked down. Her hands were streaked with crimson.
Kanon screamed.
There was another drop. Then another. Her hands were becoming stained crimson again. Just like when she'd killed murdered that bad woman.
She'd been cursed.
Orin slammed her to the ground and pulled the wheelbarrow over them. She was yelling something about staying out of the rain. But that wouldn't help would it. She'd murdered someone and they'd cursed her.
The ground seemed to waver and shimmer before her. She felt hot, like she had a fever. What was the spell to break a curse? Did she need a gohei for that, or was it the sacred wood? She tried to remember what her mother had taught her about curses, but when she thought about her mother all she could see was the burning shrine, and the blood, all the blood, rivers of blood reaching for her, trying to get into her soul. Slowly seeping under the wheelbarrow's edge, calling to her, calling for vengeance....
She screamed in fear again then felt Orin pull her closer. The kitty that had played with her all those years. Her only companion other then mother. The woman who had saved her when her world had gone up in flames. She spun around and clung to the kassha for protection. From the blood. From the fear. From the pain and the loss.
Her senses seemed to dim again. Orin was the only thing she could sense in the world.
She wondered if she was succumbing to the curse. If she was going to die.
That wasn't fair though! The woman had killed her mother! Why should she be punished?
She wished she could be like the kassha. Like Aunt Ran. Strong, so strong that no curse could touch her. Strong enough so that she could live. Live on for the sake of her mother.
Her body felt very hot again, then it cooled. She could see Orin holding her tight, as well as feel it. Her ears twitched as she heard the blood banging against the cart they were hiding beneath. She felt Orin's hot breath as the woman gasped in surprise. Kanon's tails twitched as she saw the kassha's gaze cycle through shock, despair, guilt, then determination.
Orin leaned back and gently petted her as the rain continued. ?Oh little kitten, I hope you knew what you were doing....? The mother kassha hugged Kanon's new cat body again. ?But I swear to you, Auntie Orin will look after you, no matter what. I promise you. And I've never broken a promise.?
Kanon mewed in assent, and let herself fall asleep in the older woman's embrace.
----
Keine was glad she'd had the foresight to hide the farmlands as well as the village. The crimson rain pouring down was awakening and enhancing the power of any youkai it touched, and it was granting youkai powers to those that didn't possess them. If the villagers hadn't been hidden away, almost everyone outside would have been turned into youkai.
Of course, she could probably have fixed that mistake even if she hadn't been as thorough earlier.
Her gaze flickered between the massive scrolls that circled around her. In truth she didn't need to read the words. The blood raining from the sky was more potent then even the moon's light. With that power flowing through her she merely needed to concentrate on an event to see it unfold before her.
And with the flick of a brush she could change it.
It was easy really. A left instead of a right brought a certain kassha to the surface just a little bit faster. A single breath of air kept an inugami from being surprised. She guided a firefly youkai to aid a struggling earth spider, and sent a flicker of pride that caused a woman to foolishly challenge a messenger of the Dragon Palace. Little changes that cascaded into bigger ones. A barrel of lost nails, that turned an advantageous position into a one sided rout.
But there were still so many she couldn't save.
Her eyes flickered down to Mystia's body. She could save her at least, make her accept the offer. It wouldn't be a big change.
But Keine couldn't do that to her. Mystia had chosen her own path. And now that her own youkai blood was boiling with power, Keine understood the night sparrow's choice a little.
And perhaps, in this new era, youkai would need heroes as well.
---
*Thud-thump* *Thud-thump* The beat throbbed through her skull. *Thud-thump* *Thud-thump*
Each beat of her heart brought purest agony to Renko's mind. She couldn't see anything other then a crimson-black haze that pulsed in time with the pain. Her ears recognized other sounds, but none of them were as immediate as the sound of her blood.
?Why do you resist, human??
Renko's mind reached out towards the voice, the only thing that wasn't a source of pain. Then she forced herself to stop. ?Who are you??
?I am the blood within you. The blood that has mixed with yours. You have been covered in the blood of a god, and it is making you into a greater being.? The voice seemed to wrap around her, muting the pounding of her heart. ?Rather, it has made you into a greater being. You are the one hurting yourself fighting it. Let us become one, and you shall have all the power you need to save your friend.?
?Mary?? Renko's mind tried to pull away from the voice's embrace only to be met with another pulse of agony. But she remembered the last few moments before she'd been suffused in the rain of blood. ?Mary! What happened to her? I have to help her before she hurts herself.?
The voice seemed to whisper directly into her ear, ?You will be fighting the Youkai sage herself to do that. You will need power equal to a youkai's to have any chance. Accept me, and I can give you that power.?
?And what do you ask in return?? Renko asked. ?What price do you demand??
?I ask no price. Why should I make demands of myself? All that I ask is you accept that you are a true magician now.?
Renko frowned. ?So you want my humanity.?
?I cannot take your humanity,? the voice replied apologetically. ?You bathed in the blood of a god. You can't remain a pure human after that. All you can do is accept your fate.?
Renko hesitated, then cringed as the pain returned. The voice sighed. ?I have told you no lies. You must accept this truth, or you will die.?
?Told me no lies....? Pain surged through Renko's head again, but she pushed through it. ?But you've been dodging the truth too haven't you!?
The voice fell silent, but the pain faded as well.
?We humans were formed from the blood and tears of the gods. A little more or less shouldn't change anything.? The red haze in front of Renko's eyes parted, revealing her hidden tempter. ?It's the dragon's blood that's trying to transform me! Isn't it??
The shadow of the dragon occupying her mind nodded. ?Yes. Still, I have said no lies. In the end you must choose my path, or the path of death.?
?I choose the path that all humans must face,? Renko replied evenly.
The dragon stood silently, then laughed. ?Well fought human.? It coiled in upon itself slowly shrinking as it spun around and around. ?I honor your willpower. Your path is once again fully your own to decide. I even grant you a tiny fraction of my power, to use as you like.? The dragon shrank and shrank, until it finally vanished.
As Renko's eyes cleared she heard the dragon's soft voice say, ?If you ever need the rest, you know how to contact me, magician.?
Well... Yukari is definitely the best troll in existence.
I find it amusing how Portal 2 references were included. :3
Whew, finally caught up on all this. I'm no literary critic, so I can't really put into words why I enjoy this so much, so just know that I enjoy this quite a bit. It'll be interesting to see how the Mishaguji and the Tengu army affect the outcome of the battle.
I also enjoyed the Portal 2 reference.
A massive explosion rang through Renko's ears. She quickly tossed up an umbrella spell and wiped the blood from her eyes. The sticky fluid was hard to get off, but fortunately it hadn't had time to dry. She opened her eyes, and was stunned by the chaos.
Space was rent open throughout the clearing, as dozens of Maribel's strange gaps hung randomly about. Throughout them Lunarians and youkai - and Lunarians turned youkai - swooped and danced, each firing off deadly spells. She watched Marisa chase a Lunarian who had spouted angelic wings through a portal and end up crashing into Shou, while her angel winged foe found herself flying out a different portal into a crossfire between Eirin and some Lunarian defense system.
And right in front of her was Maribel, laughing madly at the chaos in a voice that wasn't her own, while the Lunarian leader stared down in fear and hatred.
“Oh 'Lord' Tenshou, just so you know, you were right about this being a self fulfilling prophecy. I'd have never returned if you hadn't attacked the humans.” Maribel sidestepped an errant bolt from the melee before continuing. “Oh and another thing I should thank you for. Now that humanity's civilization is mostly gone it'll be much easier to set up the youkai nation. If you hadn't killed so many people needlessly we youkai would have had to integrate with society slowly. That would have been quite difficult.”
“Shut up!” The man's composure finally snapped and he drew some kind of gun. “Shut up, shut up, shut up!” he yelled as he fired.
Maribel hopped lightly out of the way of the attacks. “What are you so mad about? It's not like your petty obsession with revenge led you to destroy your nation, your world and your race, while empowering everything you hate. Oh wait. Sorry that is exactly what happened, isn't it?”
Something was wrong with Mary. Something was dreadfully wrong. But Renko couldn't deal with it until the battle was won. She had to finish this quickly.
First she tossed up an umbrella spell over where Maribel was. Mary had been using some boundary trick to dodge the rain, but Renko didn't want to know what would happen if she stopped. Then she flipped out her Hakkero and fired a laser right at Tenshou.
The shot reflected off his shield into space. Renko swore. She didn't have enough power to defend and attack at the same time.
A feeling of danger made Renko leap forward. The ground behind her exploded with a sharp crack as several ice bolts impacted behind her. The transformed Lunarian with angel wings fired a few more blasts at Renko, forcing her to jump away.
The woman turned her attention to the main fight. “My Lord! The devices are still partially working. I can still help you!” The desperation in the woman's voice tore Renko's heart up. The disdain that covered Tenshou's face at the sight of his transformed friend only made it more pathetic.
Ran spun out of nowhere and slammed into the woman. The two tumbled to the side in a mad grapple. Tenshou didn't even spare them a glance before firing at Maribel again. This time Maribel just held out her hand and a octagonal border blocked the attack. Renko started to feel like she was totally outclassed in this fight.
“You're rather quick to abandon your allies aren't you?” Mary taunted again. “Did you care about any of the people you've sent to their deaths? Do you care about any of the people here? Or are they just pawns for your advancement?”
Tenshou started charging a magical shot. “Shut up beast! You don't seem to give a damn about your minion either!”
“Ran can take care of herself.”
Renko could see Tenshou was about to release his magical attack. She called upon her training and reached out. The magic was odd, mixing magical lines and binary. But with her limited coding experience from college and Patchouli's training she understood enough of it. She wormed past the binary and ripped the heart out of the spell.
The magic fizzled as he threw it.
Her reward was a wave of exhaustion. Renko forced herself to start moving, but Tenshou managed to snap off three shots at her. She started to reform her wards when a tombstone fell out of nowhere and absorbed the blasts. Renko made a mental note to thank Mary and hid behind the gravestone's cover. From there she surveyed the battlefield.
The main fight was pure chaos. Shou and her opponent were only visible as blurs of light that occasionally clashed. One of the robots was letting out blinding fireworks and electrical shorts as it slowly died. Eirin was on the ground with a small smoking hole in her chest. Marisa was leaning over Eirin and casting some sort of spell on her, but the magician was missing a foot. Chen and another girl were fighting another Lunarian and – wait, when the hell did they get here?
The only thing that made any sense was Ran's battle, where the kitsune was slowly crushing the woman she'd intercepted to death. Renko had wondered why the analytical youkai used such a brutal style. Now she understood. Ran was simply eliminating all the unnecessary variables from the fight.
Renko glanced back at Maribel. Her friend was easily dodging the Lunarian's attacks, though Tenshou looked like he was recovering from his blind rage. Renko needed to find some way to tip the scales. Then she recalled the Lunarian woman's words before Ran took her down.
Looking back at the battle she saw them. Three machines that weren't contributing to the fight. Renko lined up a shot at one and tossed her biggest star bullet at it.
The machine exploded. Then a lance of energy flew out and blew the tombstone Renko was hiding behind to pieces. The impact sent Renko tumbling as her wards tried to compensate. As she picked herself off the ground she wondered if Eirin had tried something similar and gotten caught by the trap.
Well hopefully the trap was stupid. Renko summoned up a magical familiar and sent it off. The magical circle skittered through the air between the two towers, then exploded into a stream of bullets that attacked one of them. In a flash the machine retaliated and struck the other tower. The resulting string of counterattacks turned both of them into rubble.
Renko started as a wave of power rolled over her. She turned back to Maribel's fight.
Tenshou unleashed another futile barrage into the octagonal barrier Mary had somehow managed to conjure. Maribel's expression twisted into an alien smirk as the attack ended. “It's amusing. You actually had a chance you know. Even after all your stupid leaps of logic and poor decisions, you still had a chance. If Renko hadn't thought to shatter those devices that were chaining my full abilities one of your allies might have been able to get a lucky shot in. If you hadn't doubted your own powers those extra forces of yours might have stopped one of my allies from interrupting our battle.”
Mary pointed at the man. “But the time for what ifs has passed. Die.”
Gaps opened above and below Lord Tenshou and immediately began vacuuming up everything in the area. The suction dragged Renko three feet before she got a good grip on the ground. Debris started flying as the forming whirlwind started to howl.
And Tenshou's screams were sucked into the void as the winds started pulling him apart.
“Mary!” Renko called out to her friend, but the wind swallowed her words.
As Tenshou spasmed Maribel continued. “Oh right. I'm not sure which gap your soul will be sucked into, but don't worry. It's far far away from where the Shinigami can reach, so you won't have to spend your afterlife with any impure souls. Your own private hell, to rule over by yourself. Won't that be nice?”
The Lunarian didn't seem to respond at all. From the way his eyes had rolled Renko was certain he was unconscious or dead.
Renko forced herself step by step through the winds towards her friend. A stray rock hit her and made her stumble, but she pulled herself to her feet and continued on. Finally she managed to reach Maribel and get a hand on her shoulder. “Mary!” she screamed over the wind. “You need to stop! He's dead! It's over!”
Maribel turned towards her, eyes blazing gold. “I'm sorry Renko, but I'm Yukari now. And it's not over until he pays for his insolence.”
The words stabbed into Renko like a knife. Mary was gone? No....
Renko shook her head, then hugged her friend close. Maribel stiffened at the embrace, but Renko didn't pull back.
Renko took a deep breath. “Mary. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't see how much this was hurting you. How the hatred was eating at you. I'm sorry I couldn't help you move past that.” Renko squeezed Mary a little tighter before continuing, “But you can't run from this Mary. I know that it hurts. I know you don't like the part of yourself that hates, that kills, that burns for revenge.”
“But I love you Mary. All of you. Even the parts of you that get angry, or even the parts that hate. Those aren't the parts that make you a monster. Those are the parts that make you human.”
“I...” A shudder ran through Renko's arms. “I told you Renko. Your friend Mary is no more. I am the youkai sage.”
Renko shook her head. “Even without my eyes, I can see the truth Mary. I know that's still you.”
Maribel froze in Renko's arms, her eyes glazing over. The winds died and the gaps faded away. Renko closed her eyes and whispered, “Please, Mary. Come back to me.”
----
Mary opened her eyes.
Around her the space was dark, just like the gaps that she had come to call her own. Still, it took her a while to realize where she was. The boundary of consciousness.
Before her was a woman. Their blond hair matched, as did their violet dresses, but the other woman was older. More regal and composed. She had all of Maribel's physical qualities, except she was inhumanly perfect.
Maribel knew who she was immediately.
Yukari seemed oblivious to Maribel's arrival. She simply stood in the mindspace, reading a book with no title.
“You!” Maribel winced as the shout echoed loudly, then forced herself to continue. “Who the hell do you think you are?!”
Yukari looked up from her book. “Me? I'm just a distant memory. One that should have faded away long ago.”
The words stopped Maribel in place. This... wasn't what she was expecting. She fought off the confusion. “I want my body back.”
“Good.” Yukari smiled softly and closed her book. “This is your life. I'm glad to see you taking control again.”
Maribel gaped at the spirit. “That's... it?”
The woman nodded her head. “You seem to think I'm Yukari. I'm not. I'm just fragmented memories, combined with what you think Yukari should be like. A shadow of the youkai sage, who you gave control to because you didn't want to become a monster.”
“But,” Maribel looked at the floor. Her eyes began to swim with tears. “But... I... I don't want to be a killer. I don't want to hate... to hate this much. I... I....”
“Sh....” A gentle hand patted her on the head. “I understand. It's hard for you. You aren't the type of person who can accept the need to kill.” The woman sighed. “And I gave you problems too. These memories that compose me confused you. Made you question what was real.”
Maribel sniffed and wiped her eyes. “I... Renko is right isn't she. You're right aren't you.” She looked up at the woman. “I'm sorry for trying to make you a scapegoat for my anger.”
Yukari's shadow shook her head. “It's alright. I'm part of you after all.”
“Mhm,” Maribel nodded weakly. She sighed, then managed a weak smile. “I made you act like a total bitch didn't I? Half of that stuff was made up too. All just because I wanted to hurt him.”
“Like I said, it's all right.” The woman winked. “And well, you should remember by now Yukari didn't care about looking like a total bitch.”
“I suppose not.” Maribel bowed to the woman. “I'm ready to accept myself now. Thank you kindly for acting on my behalf.”
The woman bowed in return. “It was my pleasure.” As she began to fade into the darkness she stepped forward. “Oh and Mary?”
“Eh?” Maribel blinked in surprise.
The woman placed her hat on Maribel's head. “Please watch over Gensoukyo for me.”
And then she was gone.
----
Maribel opened her eyes to find herself in Renko's embrace. She sighed in relief then hugged the other girl in return. “Renko....”
“Mary?” Renko pulled away just enough to look Maribel in the eyes. Then the woman let out something between a laugh and a relieved sob. “Mary! You're back!”
Mary's eyes teared up again. “Yeah. I'm back.” She smiled. Then then she started sobbing. She was alive! Renko was alive! It was all over, and they were both alive! There was so much she wanted to say, to do, to explain. But all that came out were sobs.
She clung to Renko for dear life as the emotions she'd tried to bottle up poured out. Renko just hushed her and held her, alternating between holding her close and patting her hat back into place as sobs wracked her body.
As the sobbing slowly stopped she saw the rain had at some point changed to water. A steady deluge that slowly washed away the blood.
Maribel buried her head in her friend's shoulder, and let the rain lull her to sleep.
-----
Only the phoenix arises and does not descend. Everything Changes
And nothing is truly lost.
Maribel sighed in contentment as the tea warmed her stomach. Sipping tea in the fall was one of life's greatest pleasures.
Renko sat down on the walkway beside her, then waved to the young girl sweeping the steps. “Kuroko, that's enough for today. People expect a few leaves in the fall.”
“Okay, Miss Renko,” the girl replied. She flicked one last leaf down the stairway, then went to put the broom away in the shrine's storage room.
Well technically it wasn't a shrine anymore, Maribel thought as she took another sip of tea. There was no god for the Hakurei Shrine after all. But when they'd bought the land they'd rebuilt the shrine mostly the same as it had been before.
Maribel had been a little worried when Renko'd suggested they take over the shrine. But most of the youkai who had stayed in Gensoukyo had seemed perfectly happy with it. And once Kanon had shown up to insist that the Hakurei shrine should be run by humans the few hold outs caved in.
Now it served more as a tea house. A place at the boundary of the Tengu's new capitol city and the village of Gensoukyo. Between the magitech world the kappa and humans had built, and the pure magic of the wild youkai. A place where steam fairies and flower fairies could meet up and plot mischief, though Maribel was going to make them sorry if they tried anything here.
Maribel's introspection was cut of as Ran flew in over the rise. She reached through a gap and grabbed another cup of tea as the kitsune landed and bowed. “I see you three are doing well.”
“Ah hello, Miss Ran,” Kuroko said. Maribel nodded her own greeting and handed Ran the tea. Ran accepted it and sat down on the shrine's back porch.
The four sat there for some time, just sipping tea. After a while Ran asked, “Has Kanon dropped by recently?”
“Apparently Utusho's been having problems with the generators again,” Renko replied. “Kanon's been busy helping with her barrier powers.”
“Ah. That's too bad. I know she said she wanted the watch them finish the radio tower,” Ran nodded towards the structure that now rose above the expanding city. “I have to admit, it is impressive.”
“She'll be there for the shrine consecration at least,” Maribel replied. “They need three miko after all, and she's better trained then the triplets or the Kochiya.”
“Oh! Can we go to the opening ceremony Miss Maribel?” Kuroko asked excitedly.
Maribel smiled. “Of course Kuroko.”
“I'm still not sure why they had to make it a clone of Tokyo Tower,” Renko said. “You'd think the kappa would want to create something new.”
“Just because we youkai aren't bound to tradition any more doesn't mean we don't appreciate it. And it was a nice building.” Ran stretched. “I imagine they'll rebuild the original in Tokyo too, though Momiji will probably focus on getting a road open for the humans first.
“Should you really be treating the shogun so familiar?” Kuroko asked.
Ran smirked. “She's not my shogun. Gensoukyo is the 'ancestral homeland of the youkai, now and forever.' Momiji was smart enough to realize this land can't be ruled by any one group. You humans might like having a government, but we youkai don't.”
“Though I'm surprised by you humans,” The kitsune said as she looked over the city. “This is supposed to be the age of youkai, but humans are the ones driving the expansion now. The tengu and kappa are just keeping up, really.”
“It has been seven years,” Renko pointed out. “People are surprisingly good at bouncing back.”
“Hm... Perhaps.” The kitsune stood. “Well I'd love to stay a bit longer but I need to talk to Alice about those Makai tourists. Do you have magic lessons at the SDM today Kuroko? I can fly you over.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.” Kuroko hopped to her feet, then gave Renko and Maribel a questioning glance.
Renko smiled and nodded. “We'll pick you up for dinner. It's beef stew tonight of course.”
“Great!” Kuroko's happy smile turned into a frown. “Though Patchouli said we're supposed to be going over bio magic....”
Renko chuckled. “I know it's no fun, but it's very helpful. That regeneration spell she's teaching you is the reason Eirin's still alive. That and Reisen's medical skills.”
“Right, right.” The young girl rolled her eyes at having to hear another 'war story.' Maribel smiled herself as their young ward followed Ran into the sky. It was a good sign that Kuroko could brush those stories off. Especially since that war was the one which had taken Kuroko's own family.
Maribel leaned against Renko and watched the wind play with the leaves. “Hey Renko, do you think Kuroko would mind if we adopted another kid?”
Renko laughed lightly. “She's old enough that you could ask her about that you know.” Maribel pouted until Renko relented. “But I did overhear her talking with the Kaenbyou kids about how it might be nice to have a sister, so I think she'd agree.” Renko shifted causing Maribel to plop into her lap with a surprised squawk. “Now, when were you going to ask me about this Mary?”
Maribel frowned. “It was just a thought. You know I'd ask you before I seriously thought about it.” Her further protests were silenced when Renko bent over and kissed her on the lips. Maribel relaxed and lifted herself into the kiss. When Renko finally pulled away Mary growled lightly, “You're insufferable sometimes.”
“Yep!” Renko replied cheerily.
Maribel was considering how to respond when the sound of someone coming up the steps caused them both to start. Maribel sat up as an older man in worn but very beautiful archaic robes crested the hill. Maribel wondered if he was from one of the villages or cities on the outlier areas of the tengu shogunate. While the new capitol of Japan was the most technologically advanced city in the world, places that were further away tended to actually be a lot closer to the human village in Gensoukyo. It was much easier to help the locals rebuild a preindustrial city that could survive the winter and expand later then to get a postindustrial city running all at once.
The two bowed to the man as he approached. “Welcome to the Hakurei Shrine,” Maribel said. “Can we get you some tea?”
The man smiled and bowed in return. “Ah, thank you for the offer, but I'm just passing through. I need to get to the village before dark I believe.”
Renko nodded at the mans words. “That's a good idea. The spellcard rules should protect you if you stick to the village and major roads, but wandering around after dark is always dangerous. Still it is a long walk, if you want you can take a break here and Mary here could teleport you to the village later.”
The man's eyes widened a little bit at that and he turned towards Maribel. “Ah, I see now.” The man hestitated for a moment before bowing deeply. “Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Sareseno Watatsuki. I've come to visit my aunt in the Bamboo Forest, and my cousin in the Netherworld.”
Maribel's started in surprise. “Oh!” She realized she had no idea what to say. “I... that is.”
The man chuckled lightly. “You need not worry about justifying yourself to a failed poet. Besides I know the truth of events.”
“I see.” Maribel shook her head to clear it. She still wasn't sure what to think of the man, but she didn't sense any malice from him. Quite the opposite in fact. “Well, I can teleport you to Eientei directly if you like. It's hard to get there by foot. Do you want to take a break here or...?”
“No, but thank you. I'm very eager to meet with my family, and I wouldn't want to impose on you more then I needed to.”
Maribel nodded at his words then opened one of her gaps to just outside Eientei. “This should put you by the front gates. I hope your reunion goes well.”
Renko spoke up softly from her side, “You may also want to visit Muenkuza. You might be interested in talking with one of the Shinigami there.”
A somber look flickered over the man's face. “I see. Perhaps I will. Thank you again.” He moved towards the portal before hesitating and turning back to them. “Ah yes. I think you should have this.”
He handed her a tome from his travel pouch. Maribel hesitantly took the well bound book. The title, in strong but simple letters read. 'The Rise and Fall of the Lunar Civilization.”
“I wish you two good fortune,” he said as he entered the portal.
“Safe journeys,” Maribel replied hastily. The boundary closed with his passing and her eyes quickly returned to the book. She felt Renko move to look over her shoulder as she opened the tome and skimmed through it.
Before her appeared stories. Tales of victory and defeat, of reason of madness, of hatred and forgiveness. But one story called to her more insistently then the others. She quickly flipped to the back. To the moment everything changed.
Ignoring Renko's surprised hum, she scoured the page looking for the answer to the one question that had plagued her since the battle. She scoured the chapter, looking over it twice, then moved on to the next section to check there.
She repeated this process five more times before sighing and giving up. Renko squeezed her shoulders as she closed the book. “What were you looking for?”
Maribel bit her lip. She didn't want to worry Renko about this. Finally she sighed. “I wanted to see if what I said was true. If that really was Yukari talking though me, or I was just lying to hurt people.” She closed the book. “But it doesn't say.”
“Are you still worried about the connection you have with her?” Renko asked softly.
Maribel grimaced. “I don't know. I think I just wanted to know why things turned out this way. What Yukari's plan was. And, well... I suppose I wanted to know more about the person I was. Or wasn't.” She reached up to touch the hat that the shadow had given her.
She closed the book. “But I guess we can't get all the answers.” She patted Renko's hand and smiled. “Anyways, we should get started on dinner soon. Otherwise Kuroko will lean how bad you are at staying on time.”
“Hey, I'm never more then a couple of minutes late!” Renko protested as they headed towards the kitchen. “You're always exaggerate these things Mary.”
"I give our story to dreams, so that as long as the world lasts, it is not forgotten."
So having a Noir song linked reminded me that I never got around to referencing where all the chapter quotes came from. I shall fix that.
In Xanadu did Kublai Khan
A stately Pleasure-Dome decree,
Where Alph, the sacred river ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
- Kubla Khan, Samuel Tailor Coleridge
The prologues start, a tale of a lost paradise, for the lost paradise of the moon.
Only the phoenix rises, and does not descend...
- Sandman: Exile, Neil Geiman
Sandman is something I always reference when doing Touhou, and Exile is one of the finest shorts in the series, along with Ramadan.
To find glory in battle is a virtue in the soldier,
a vice in the general,
and a positive crime in the statesman.
- George Santayana
An old quote that speaks for itself. I couldn't find myself making Yorihime and Toyohime the kind of villains the story needed. They're racists and generally unlikable, but they avoid killing at least. Sadly not all statesmen are similarly blessed with morals.
“When you find peace within yourself, you become the kind of person who can live at peace with others.”
-Peace Pilgrim
Another quote that's exactly what it says.
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
- Anne Frank
This quote had multiple meanings. I wanted to show how much Gensoukyo had changed for the better since book one. That Renko and Mary's journey hadn't been a waste. However, it also shows how quickly the world can change for ill. Hope and despair.
“So stand to your glasses steady,
This world is a web of lies”
- Pilot Song from WWI
I got it from A battletech book, but it's been around since at least the first world war.
The lines as I know them:
"We meet neath the sounding rafters. The wall round us are bare. They echo the peals of laughter. It seems as the dead are there.
So stand by your glasses steady, this world is a web of lies. Here's a toast to the dead already. Hurrah for the next one who dies.
Cut off from the land that bore us, betrayed by the land that we find. The good men have gone before us, and only the dull left behind.
So stand by your glasses steady, this world is a web of lies. Here's a toast to the dead already. Hurrah for the next one who dies."
“Parting is all we know of heaven, and all we need of hell.”
-Emily Dickinsen
Even in Gensoukyo where death is less of a black box, death is a big deal. Perhaps more so in that it happens less frequently to the residents of this world. To those who only die through violence, death will always be a great tragedy. I actually felt bad about offing the Lunarians here. I think I ended up sparing Reisen II as an apology.
“Sometimes I think it should be a rule of war that you have to see somebody up close and get to know him before you can shoot him.“
MASH - Colonel Potter
From the series that was in Korea but about Vietnam. It is on some level terrifying to realize how much death we can unleash with switches and buttons. How many a man can kill without ever seeing their faces. Sometimes I wonder if this makes us more likely to commit such horrible acts. Then I remember how good humanity was at killing each other back when we had rocks. Still for the average person, it's something that might make them think.
I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.
-Tora! Tora! Tora!, Isoroku Yamamoto
While the exact quote is contested, the feelings were there. Yamamoto was correct in his assessment too. Maribel is very very angry.
People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them.
-Stranger in the Village, James Baldwin
When I grabbed the quote I didn't realize it's full significance, however reading more about it I find it fits even better. The Tengu in their pride want to deny their connections to Gensoukyo and their status among the youkai. But they can't escape those connections, and their responsibilities. They can either work with them, or be broken by them.
He who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his words good.
-Analects, Confucius
I don't think much of Confucius, but he had some good ideas mingled in his works. And yeah, the whole end of the book is about diplomacy, and how it's much easier to find friends when you are a murdering pretentious douche. Funny how that works.
“King's pawn to E5”
The traditional opening in chess. Kanako's so pissed they didn't do the Sicilian defense.
You may be obliged to wage war, but not to use poison arrows.
- Baltasar Gracian
A bit of a misnomer since the Lunarian's didn't need to wage war either. However it covers my opinion of their larger tactics well.
If love can destroy, can hatred save?
- Noir
One of my favorite quotes from a series I should watch again. And a fitting question for Mima, Marisa, Kanon and Mokou in this tragedy.
A man cannot sleep under the same sky, that shelters his father's killer.
- Confucius
Something I agree less with, but the drive for vengeance is hard to escape. A fitting quote for Shoutoku's quest for revenge, Huian's battle to prove Meiling's power, and Maribel's slide into madness.
It is good that war is so terrible, lest we become too fond of it.
-Robert E Lee
Something of a reminder to myself I guess. I enjoyed writing the Lunarians getting owned a lot. It's also a good final quote for Jiyuwan, another warrior bound by honor to the wrong side of history.
It is the living that cry for vengeance.
- Battletech, Malicious Intent
Another quote that's less true in Gensoukyo then in the real world, but I think it still has some bearing. It's easy to get caught up in the wrongs of the past and not see what needs to be done now. Once again Shoutoku and Maribel find themselves chained to their fallen kin
Have faith in God, but keep your powder dry.
- Oliver Cromwell
Faith is odd in Gensoukyo. To believe in something you know exists is different then to believe in something you have been told exists. And this quote was all about Momiji. I always thought Momiji would be the type of person who has no need or respect for gods and saviors. Someone who figured you shouldn't trust to mystical powers when you could do it yourself. But I also think she'd be brave enough to admit when she needs help, and to have unrelenting faith not in a goddess, but in Kanako as a person.
The best laid schemes of mice and men...
-To a Mouse, Robert Burns
"But little Mouse, you are not alone,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes of mice and men
Go often awry,
And leave us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy!"
And sometimes, even when everything goes right you might wish it hadn't. Isn't that right, Yukari?
Only the phoenix arises and does not descend. Everything Changes
And nothing is truly lost.
- Sandman: Exile, Neil Geiman
"I give our story to dreams, so that as long as the world lasts, it is not forgotten."
- Sandman: Ramadan, Neil Geiman
I ended where I began. With Sandman quotes. Both of those stories talk of Beginnings. And Endings. And how, though everything that begins will end, it will also live forever. In dreams, in hearts, in minds, and in the stories we pass on.