Orphan

[GuyYouMetOnline]

Chapter 20
Battle

 
"It's kind of odd, you know," Seina said. "Reimu and Marisa are usually involved in every major incident, and yet they aren't here for one of the biggest events in Gensokyo's history."
 
"This isn't your ordinary incident," Kanako said. "This is a war. I'm not surprised they aren't here. Reimu, at least, I believe is at the human village, in case someone decides to take advantage of the fact that much of its population is here. And I think Marisa's there, too."
 
Reimu had reappeared three days after I'd announced my intentions to Gensokyo. It turned out that she had been in Makai the entire time, pursuing a group of demons that she had believed to be responsible for the attacks. The demons, meanwhile, had been deliberately leading her on as a diversion. Worried when Reimu entered Makai that she'd discover the plan, Netese had sent them to distract her. But they ceased their diversion, presumably because their plan had been figured out anyways.
 
"I would have liked to have them here," I said, "if only for their capabilities in battle, but I understand that leaving the human village completely undefended is a bad idea. I doubt Makai will attack it-it's us they need to take out-but wild youkai may very well try something. And it would probably be a bad idea to have Reimu here, anyways, given that the barrier is apparently tied to the Hakurei maiden."
 
"Yeah," Seina said, "I guess that's true."
 
Suwako landed beside us. "It looks like everyone's present."
 
"Then raise a platform," I said.
 
Suwako nodded, and the earth under us rose, forming a platform a few feet higher than the surrounding land. I stepped forward to speak to the assembled force before us, and as I spoke, Kanako carried my words on the wind so that the entire force could hear me.
 
"It's time," I said. "The enemy is approaching. They will be here shortly, and we will meet them in battle. They are an invasion force, one that is invading our home, and it falls to us to stop them.
 
"I won't lie to you; this will not be easy. The enemy outnumbers us greatly, and they have been preparing for the past five years. But the enemy soldiers do not match us in power, nor do they have the array of abilities that we do. It will not be easy, but we can win this fight. We will win, because our home is at stake."
 
I pointed out over the force. "They come!"

Netese and her guard passed through the portal behind the initial force, but they remained behind as the force advanced. A few others remained behind as well, and Netese approached one of them. "Report."
 
"Force one is through and advancing," the demon said.
 
"Our scouts are in the air, I assume."
 
"They are, but they're encountering difficulties. The enemy has forces in the air to interfere with them."
 
"Which is why we sent an escort. That, and to do the same to the enemy's scouts."
 
"Which brings me to another problem. We can't find their scouts."
 
"You can't find them?"
 
"No enemy scouts have been sighted."
 
"They surely have scouts in the air," Netese said. "They are simply magically concealed. It's not something the magic of Makai can do, but it seems that Gensokyo's can."
 
"We thought of that, my lady," the demon said, "but our magicians can't detect any such magic. If the enemy does have scouts in the air, they are concealed in some other manner."
 
"Very well, then," Netese said. "We'll simply have to assume they're watching us. It shouldn't matter. Let me know immediately if that situation changes."
 
"Yes, my lady."

Our force stood as the enemy approached. I could tell there was anxiety, and some members clearly wanted to advance immediately, but the force held position.
 
The core of the army was the rabbit force from Eientei. Led by a rabbit named Tewi, the rabbits were spread throughout the combined force. They knew how to work as part of such a force, and they would serve as guides and examples for the rest of the force, which consisted of people from all across Gensokyo. The tengu, kappa, and oni had their separate forces with specific roles in the battle, but there were still members of those races left for the main force, especially kappa. There were humans, too, and also large numbers of assorted youkai from all across Gensokyo. It was a hastily assembled force, but hopefully it would be enough.
 
Kanako, Suwako, and Seina remained with me, as did Alice, and Hatate was there as well, showing me the images from our scouts.
 
"It's time," I said. "Kanako, give the signal… now."

Momiji, of course, would not have had difficulty seeing the signal anyways, but this signal was one that almost anyone would be able to see. It was an impressive-looking, skyward-aimed blast, but there was no force behind it, no real power. It was simply something that was highly visible. If there had been force behind it, Momiji knew, it would have taken someone with one hell of a lot of power, but with no actual force within any of it, such a thing was easy to do, even with something that visually impressive.
 
Momiji turned to the mouse youkai beside her. "That's the signal. Are you ready?"
 
"I'm ready," Nazrin said. "I have Shou's location."
 
"Right." Momiji turned to face her force. "Remember, remain in the clouds at all times. Nazrin, point me in the right direction. Let's move!"

At the signal, the army charged, and the Makai force rushed forward to meet it. Blasts were exchanged as the forces closed, but they were moving quickly enough that there was little opportunity for this before the forces met.
 
"The next force is coming through the portal," Hatate said, showing me the images.
 
"You're more familiar with the tengu than I am. Are they in position?"
 
"Easily," Hatate said. "We're quick. Nazrin's slower, but one of them was going to carry her, so that's not an issue. They're in position."
 
"Good."

"Esi, Slei, Oeis," Tewi cried out as she creamed a demon with her mallet, "back in formation!"
 
The three rabbit soldiers returned to their position behind Tewi, backing up to her and firing out from the rear of the triangular formation. "Ready!" Esi said.
 
"Good. Squad, forward!"
 
Tewi's squad advanced, and an enemy squad diverted to meet them. Tewi grinned. "Box charge to resist penetration. Good. Shift… now!"
 
As the enemy approached, Tewi's squad executed a quick and well-rehearsed shift, changing from a triangular formation to a rhombus. The enemy squad didn't have time to adjust before they met, leaving the new point of Tewi's charge unopposed on the enemy's flank.
 
The enemy's surprise gave Tewi's squad an additional advantage, which they were quick to exploit. As the point folded into the enemy's formation, Tewi led the rest of her squad straight in.

"How's it look?" Aloris asked. "Can you fix it?"
 
"Of course I can fix it," Nitori said, not even looking up from her work. "I just don't know if I'll have enough time to."
 
The kappa teams had split up and concealed themselves as planned. Aloris's team was hiding under a rock outcropping Suwako had made for them the day before. They would be able to see the signals, but it was very unlikely that any enemy scouts would be able to see them.
 
"Do your best," Aloris said. "If my camo suit's not working, I'll have to stay here."
 
"You're the leader," Nitori said. "You have to go. Take someone else's suit."
 
"I'm only the leader because I've worked with Kanako and Suwako before. And Laqara's the other leader because of her past jobs for Suwako."
 
"And because of her magical talents."
 
"True, but I don't have those. I'm only here because they knew I'd do the job."
 
"So do it, even if you have to use someone else's suit."
 
"Everyone else'll be of more value once the fighting starts than me. I can't replace one of-"
 
"Gotcha!" Nitori exclaimed.
 
"Huh?"
 
"It's good to go," Nitori said. "I fixed it. Didn't think that would work, but it did."
 
"What did you do?"
 
"Well, I thought I was going to have to reconfigure the epidermal matrix adapter, but-"
 
Aloris just held out her hand. "Yeah, um, never mind. I'd rather not have my head hurt for the rest of the day."
 
"Suit yourself," Nitori said, handing her the suit. Then she laughed.
 
Aloris sighed. "I should hit you for that pun."

"Force two is through," Netese said. "Report," she ordered a demon. That demon, Oros, was a magician acting as a relay for the scouts. She had placed an enchantment upon the scouts' eyes, allowing her to see what they saw. Gensokyo's magic couldn't do such a thing, but Makai's could.
 
"The battle's going as expected," Oros said.
 
"Any sign of enemy scouts?"
 
"No. No visual sign, and no magic has been used."
 
"Then they're getting their information to Orphan in some other way."
 
"And concealing themselves, and very well. We should assume they have scouts in the air over us, as well as over the battle."
 
"Yes," Netese said, "but then, our plan already allows for that." She turned to another demon. "Signal the second force to advance."

As before, Hatate showed me the relevant images as she spoke. "It looks like the second force is moving," she said.
 
"Okay," I said. "Keep tracking it. Kanako, get ready to give the signal."
 
"Just tell me when," Kanako said.
 
Mokou wrapped a whip of flame around a demon and pulled it close. She ran a sword of flame through its chest, gave it an uppercut to the chin, and released it to fall to the ground.
 
Two demons flew at Mokou, who met their charge. At the last second, the two demons pulled apart, holding a thin band of energy between them. Mokou cut through it with blades of fire, only to find herself ensnared by one from behind. As it wrapped itself around her, Mokou ignored the pain it was causing and burned through it.
 
One of the demons came at Mokou, and she met its charge with flame before knocking it out and tossing it to the ground. Then she heard a noise behind her. She spun around to see Kaguya holding the second demon, which she'd trapped in magical chains. "Come on, Mokou," she said, "really? You're better than that. I should know."
 
"Oh, I'm sorry," Mokou replied. "Do please forgive me, your highness."
 
"Oh, cram it. You really should have seen the back attack coming."
 
"My only opponent for hundreds of years has been you. So yeah, I'm a little rusty when it comes to something like this. I haven't had the possibility of lunar raids to worry about being ready for."
 
"Whatever. There's a scout over there with three demons in escort positions."
 
"Easy," Mokou said. "Let's go."

"Okay, Kanako," I said, "send the second signal… now."

"About damn time," Tenshi said to herself as she saw the signal. Like the first signal, it was a powerless but visually impressive blast. All of Kanako's signals were such blasts; each one simply looked different.
 
Tenshi took hold of her sword and focused. She'd needed some time to form the cloud cover, since she'd needed to make it look natural, but that was not a concern here, and within seconds, the clouds had vanished.
 
"There," Tenshi said. "Now I can join the fight."
 
She flew towards the battle.

The tengu reacted immediately. Shou and Nazrin would pull away from the battle and join Byakuren, so they were no longer Momiji's concern.
 
Momiji led the tengu in a fast, steep dive towards the second enemy force, attacking with gusts of wind as they closed. Then they struck, pulling up an instant later. They rose into the sky, then came around for another pass.
 
"Signal's given," Aloris said. "Okay, everyone, suits on and active. We're moving to position now."

"It's time," Laqara said. "Sunny, you ready?"
 
"Yep!" the sunlight fairy said.
 
"You sure you don't want any sound cancelling?" Luna asked.
 
"I'm sure," Laqara said. "An unnatural silence could give us away. We'll just not make any noise. That means silence from you three, understand?"
 
"Yeah," Sunny said.
 
"No, I said silence. Understand?"
 
Sunny thought for a moment, then got an 'ah-ha' look on her face and nodded. "Good," Laresa said. "Conceal us, then, and then let's get moving."

"Damn it, they're fast," Oros said. "They're ripping the second force apart."
 
"Tengu," Netese said. "It has to be."
 
"What the hell are tengu?"
 
"One of the many varieties of youkai that inhabit Gensokyo. This land has a much greater variety of inhabitants than Makai."
 
"Well, they're fast, and they're striking quickly and pulling out quickly."
 
"Estimate?"
 
"Our force is going to be badly depleted by the time it reaches the main battle. The 'tengu' force will lose its effectiveness when their targets are intermingled with their allies."
 
"Agreed," Netese said. "They'll likely join the battle themselves."
 
"You don't think they'll pull out and attack force three?"
 
"I don't," Netese said. "We can prepare the next force for such attacks, and they know it. They won't be able to pull that one off a second time." She turned to a messenger. "Signal the third force to come through. Get word to Mor and Alozel. When force three advances, they are to adopt an altered formation. Mor's force will spread out in the air above Alozel's and take responsibility for fending off any aerial attacks that occur during the advance. They are to revert to the planned formation when they reach the battle."
 
"How did they get their force in position?" Oros wondered as the messenger left through the portal. "The scouts above the clouds didn't see anything, so they had to've stayed within the clouds. But how did they find their way without sending someone out for a look? There weren't any magical markers or anything."
 
"They may just have somebody who can locate things," Netese said. "It's be simple to put someone in there with an object to guide the force into position. Remember, these people have quite a variety of abilities."
 
"True. Anyways, if the tengu force joins the battle when our force does, my estimate is that the numbers will be such that it won't alter the progress of the battle."
 
"And how is that going?"
 
"If what we've committed was our whole force, we'd be losing, but as things are, force three should turn the tide. Unless they ambush it just as effectively. Why aren't we committing everything at once? We'd overwhelm them easily."
 
"No," Netese said, "we wouldn't. Their ambushes would do far more damage against a larger force, as there'd be more people to hit. If we draw out their ambushes first, our casualties for the entire battle will be far less."
 
"Not for the opening forces."
 
"Those will take heavy losses, yes," Netese said, "but war demands such sacrifices."

"Force three is coming through," Hatate said.
 
"The tengu attack seems to be just as effective as we'd thought," Alice said, "but it won't work again. The third force will no doubt adopt a formation to defend against an aerial attack."
 
"Which is why we aren't trying another one," I said.

"Okay, Rin," Eirin said, "this one's stable."
 
Rin took the injured youkai away, delivering her to one of the other nurses. There were far too many seriously injured people for Eirin to treat, so she was doing only what truly required her and leaving the rest for the nurses. But even then, there were far too many. Byakuren was assisting, and her magic was a great help in keeping people alive for longer. And she could do some restoration as well. But there were still more critically injured people than could be saved.
 
Reisen came in with another wounded youkai and placed her down gently. "This one's bad," she said. "I did what I could, but she's beyond what I can do."
 
Eirin rushed over as Reisen flew off. Yes, this is doable, and fairly quickly, too. This one will live.

The demon attempted an attack from behind, but Wriggle was viewing the battle through many different sets of eyes, and she blasted it without even turning around. "Mystia, I have a new target! Let's go!"
 
Mystia followed close behind Wriggle. Cirno and Rumia were elsewhere in the battle; splitting up allowed them to hit more targets, and they could always regroup if they found one that required all four of them, which they'd already done once to eliminate an enemy squad that had been targeting the more powerful members of Orphan's force. Directing them to a target was easy; she had only to speak through any insects near them. She hadn't quite been able to do that when she'd obtained the power of Nisus two weeks ago, but the ability had developed. She was fairly certain that her new abilities were now fully developed, although their scope was such that she was likely not yet aware of many of them. But she had more than enough for the current battle.
 
The pair reached their target quickly. Mystia struck first, channeling power into a diving attack that knocked the demon to the ground. Then Wriggle was there, and she sent it flying back up to Mystia, who spiked it into the ground. And then Wriggle impaled it with her spear.

"Our force and the tengu have joined the main battle," Oros said, "but the tengu aren't the only ones making this look easy."
 
"Who are you referring to?" Netese asked. "The people they have in the air harassing our scouts?"
 
"No. Those ones aren't exactly ripping through us, you know. Sure, having concealed scouts means that they can focus entirely on attacking ours, but if we can't find their scouts, then our escorts can focus entirely on defense. They're putting up a better fight up there than we are, sure, but they're hardly kicking the shit out of us. No, I was referring to people they have in the main battle. Two pairs that seem to be focusing on locating and destroying our more powerful warriors."
 
"We have squads doing the same thing, correct?"
 
"Yes, but not nearly as effectively as these two pairs. We're talking about four individuals who are clearly extremely powerful. Oh, and they're doing a much better job of finding targets than ours are. It almost looks like they're using the same trick I am, looking through the eyes of others."
 
"Gensokyo's magic cannot do that."
 
"Well, then they've found a different way to do it."
 
"They can do all they're capable of. Four people aren't enough to stop us." Netese turned to a messenger. "Signal force three to advance, then pass through the portal and signal force four to come through."

"They're on the move," Hatate said.
 
"Be ready, Kanako," I said. "Give the signal when I say."

The enemy was approaching.
 
Aloris motioned her team to take firing positions and ready their weapons, doing so herself as well. The weapons they had were fairly new. They were based on something from the outside world called a 'rocket launcher'. Nitori had made them, but only she really knew how they worked. Everyone else just knew how to use them. Nitori had combined the 'rocket launcher' with amplification similar to that of Marisa's mini-hakkero to produce what was essentially a magic cannon. Although they, unlike the mini-hakkero, didn't actually require magic; any power would do. The result wasn't as spectacular or destructive as a Master Spark, of course, but it did the job.
 
The weapons wouldn't be much good when the enemy force joined the battle, as there would be too much risk of hitting allies with the blasts, but against an approaching force, this wasn't an issue.


Laqara's team, at her signal, readied their weapons.
 
We wait for the signal, Laqara thought, then we strike.

"Now," I said.

"Another signal," Netese said. "Oros?"
 
"I don't see any am-what the hell?"
 
"What is it?"
 
"They just appeared out of nowhere," Oros said. "They're on either side of force three, and they're tearing into it with… well, with something. Some sort of weapon."
 
"Are they hitting the air cover?"
 
"Some of them," Oros said, "but most are hitting the main body. Wait, what the hell?"
 
"What?"
 
"They have two teams, one on either side of force three. But only one team is visible. The other's still hidden from sight. The effect has an effective range. I can see the blasts when they exit that range, but the people themselves I cannot."
 
"Two methods of concealment, then."
 
"But why?"
 
"Because they don't have enough of one method," Netese realized. "One method conceals an individual, and the other an area. But they only have so much of whatever they need for the individual method, and some of that probably went to their scouts. The area effect is them making up for their deficiency."
 
"So their weapons disrupt the individual effect, but not the area effect."
 
"And neither effect will work for an ambush again. We'll have the next force fire a danmaku spread around it as it advances. It won't do any actual damage to anything, but it'll hit any concealed people, and it won't drain the shooters noticeably."
 
"It's too bad we don't have enough people in the air to do the same with the enemy scouts," Oros remarked.
 
"True, but again, I'm not as concerned about what they see. After all, everything we're hiding is still in Makai."

"Down!"
 
Rumia ducked, and Cirno sent ice spears over her head, impaling the demon behind her. But the demon kept coming, so Rumia lept back up and ran it through with her sword. But that didn't stop it, either, and it plowed into her and pinned her to the ground. Rumia tried to throw it off, but this one was strong. And then, suddenly, it only had one arm.
 
Cirno dashed around to the other side and cut the demon's other arm off. Rumia threw it to the side, and then she and Cirno blasted it at point-blank range until it stopped moving.
 
"Down," Rumia said. "Do you have another target?"
 
They could hear Wriggle's voice clearly. "East of your position."
 
"I don't think I'll ever get used to that," Cirno remarked. "Come on, Rumia, let's go kick some more ass."

"Depleted," Nitori said as she lowered her weapon. The amplification she'd used required far less energy from the user than the mini-hakkero, but in exchange, it needed an extra energy source. This energy was built into the weapon and would replenish over time, but this was slow enough that once depleted, the weapon was done for the remainder of the battle.
 
Aloris had been aiming more carefully, and so she still had a couple shots left. She took them, then handed the weapon to Nitori along with her optical camouflage suit. "I'm out. That's all of us."
 
Nitori took the items and added them to the pile along with her own. Nitori and two others bundled the gear together, after which Nitori took off with the bundle, far too heavy for an ordinary human but not a problem for many youkai, and headed away from the battle. The gear wouldn't do any good now, and she wasn't about to risk it further.

"One of them's pulling out," Oros said, "and she's carrying a lot of stuff with her. Another's going the same from group that's still-wait, that group's not concealed anymore. That one's got far less stuff, though."
 
"Hiding won't benefit them now," Netese said. "They have no further need of the equipment, so they're pulling it out in order to avoid risking it needlessly. The other group has less because they concealed themselves differently."

Sunny kept herself, Luna, and Star hidden as the three of them sped away from the battle. But they didn't need to be quiet any longer, so they weren't. "Ha! Take that, stupid demon things!"
 
"We didn't do anything, Sunny," Star said.
 
"You didn't. I made everyone else invisible!"
 
"Yeah, sure, but you weren't the one attacking."
 
"Who cares?"
 
"Not you, apparently," Luna remarked.
 
"Apparently," Star agreed. "So we're done now, right?"
 
"No," Sunny said, "we're just pulling back. That Sanae person wants me to be ready to do something else."

"Their fourth force seems to be finished coming through," Hatate said.
 
"It would appear to be significantly larger than the others," I said. "Do you think this is their final force?"
 
Alice nodded. "Most likely, unless my size estimates were completely off. Which they could be, since Moscow was driven away prior to the arrival of some of their forces. I do believe this is indeed the final force, though. It is, as I expected, significantly larger, large enough that any of our previous ambushes wouldn't have done enough damage to it."
 
"Which is why there's a different one prepared for this force."

"Signal the force to advance," Netese ordered her messenger.

"They're moving," Hatate said.
 
"Suwako," I said, "go."
 
"Sure!" Suwako said. Then she, as I had been able to do when I had copied her powers, passed within the land beneath us.

They'd known how Suwako would be making her entrance, but even so, it was hard not to be startled when she emerged from the ceiling. "Okay," Suika remarked, "that looked really weird."
 
"Suika, Yuugi," Suwako said, "it's almost time. Are you ready?"
 
"You kiddin'?" Yuugi laughed. "Most of us are pissed we've had to wait for so long. The big force is on its way, I take it?"
 
Suwako nodded. "They're coming."
 
"Right, then." Yuugi turned around, facing the oni force that stretched back through the underground tunnel, the force she and Suika were at the head of. "Okay, people! Get ready, because we're about to strike!"

Aya Shameimaru flew above the portal to Makai.
 
Aya loved this 'optical camouflage' suit of Nitori's. It let her get really close to people without them knowing. When she thought of the pictures she could get with its help, she could barely suppress an excited giggle. She wasn't fond of working with Hatate, but this suit was worth it. Although Nitori would probably want it back. So she'd just have to come up with a way to keep it anyways. But that was a concern for later.
 
Being over the enemy leader was great, but the last force had just moved out. There wasn't anything interesting left. Unless…
 
Aya knew she couldn't be seen, but you didn't get the big scoop by being careless. So she waited for a chance, then took it.

"What the hell?"
 
"What is it, Hatate?" I asked.
 
"Aya's off the grid," Hatate said. "I can't get any of her pictures, even ones I've gotten earlier."
 
"Did they find her?" I asked.
 
"No. I'd still be able to get the older pictures. No, I think I know what happened."
 
"And what would that be?"
 
"Aya was one of those above the portal," Hatate said, "and I know her. She's reckless. When the last force began to move, she must have thought the portal site was boring. So she decided to sneak into enemy territory for a peak."
 
"She went to Makai," Kanako said with a sigh. "Typical."
 
"Your ability can't reach into other worlds, then," I said.
 
"Right," Hatate said. "We'll just have to hope she doesn't do anything even dumber."

The steps of single people, or even groups, didn't produce any noticeable effect, but a large force was another matter entirely. And Suwako had made some alterations to the composition of the earth between the chosen battlefield and the portal to Makai, alterations that made the effect easier for her to feel and pinpoint. Which meant that she knew where the advancing force was. So she knew when to begin.
 
Suwako had formed this tunnel during the past two weeks, a tunnel the oni used to hide under the ground. Now, Suwako pushed the earth above her aside, creating a passage to the surface. She stopped short of the surface, leaving enough to support the weight of people passing over it.
 
They waited.
 
"Okay," Suwako said eventually, "go… now!" She completed the passage, and the oni struck.

"Holy shit!"
 
"What is it, Oros?" Netese asked.
 
"I don't- um, they-"
 
"Out with it."
 
"Another ambush force," Oros said. "They came right out of the damn ground! There's no sign of them, then all of a sudden there's a hole in the ground in the middle of force four's formation! And the enemy's pouring out through it! And- and-"
 
"'And' what?"
 
"Even I recognize what type of youkai these are," Oros said. "The ambush force is entirely composed of oni."
 
"Oh."
 
"Yeah, they're ripping through our force like crazy. Why the hell haven't they been using these guys in the fighting from the start?"
 
"Because they wanted a strong force for an occasion such as this one. There were oni in the fight from the start, you said, but most they saved for this ambush."
 
"You think they'll do enough to give them the battle?"
 
"You're the one who can see the fight. But yes, I would expect just that outcome. But then, that's why we still have a surprise of our own prepared." She turned to a waiting messenger. "Go through and give the signal to advance."

"Aya's back," Hatate said. "I'm getting pictures from her again."
 
"Look at any she took in Makai," I said.
 
"Already working on-holy shit!"
 
Somehow, I didn't think that was a good sign. "Show me."

Yuugi took the body of a demon in each hand and swung them around, sending surrounding demons flying. She spun around, channeling the momentum into a toss of both bodies, knocking a line of demons to the ground. She charged forward and somersaulted along the line of knocked-down demons. Each time her hands were down, she grabbed any demons she was in contact with, and on the next flip, slammed them into the ground, on top of other demons if there were any close enough.
 
"Show-off." Suika punched a demon in the gut, sending it flying backwards and knocking several other demons to the ground. She increased her size and ripped a big chunk out of the ground, throwing it onto a bunch of enemies. She returned to normal size as soon as she'd done so; staying big made her far too easy of a target. As another demon charged her, she took a swig from her gourd, spewing fire on it as it closed.
 
"Having fun yet?" Yuugi called out.
 
"What do you think?" Suika replied. "What about you?"
 
"You kiddin'? This is the best fight we've had in centuries!" Yuugi faced a new group of demons. "Okay, who wants to be next? You guys? Okay. Bring it!"

"It would seem," Alice said, "that my estimations of the enemy force's size were somewhat low."
 
"There's an understatement," Suwako remarked. "Looks like they're already in formation, too. They likely won't stop after coming through; they'll march through in formation and head for us immediately."
 
"Oh, man," Hatate said, "this is bad. This is bad, this is bad, this is bad, this is-"
 
"Compose yourself," I said. "We haven't lost yet."
 
"Really? And just how the hell are we supposed to deal with a force that size? Especially now that we're out of surprises!"
 
"We still have something left," I said. "I've been holding something in reserve."
 
"Yeah," Suwako said, "but we weren't thinking of a force that large. Do you think it'll be enough?"
 
"I do," Kanako said, "but we'll need to time it very well."
 
"Um, what are you talking about?" Hatate asked.
 
"As I said," I replied, "we still have a little surprise left."
 
"And this'll really be enough to win?"
 
"If we do it right, I think so, yes. But do I know? No. I don't."

There was no waiting this time, no forming up after passing through the portal. The force, already in formation, advanced through the portal and straight towards the battle.
 
"I still think we should've attacked in mass like this sooner," Oros said.
 
"They would have done far more damage to us if we had," Netese said. "It's unlikely they would have won, but they would have actually had a better chance of doing so. But this way, we've already drawn out their ambushes. Our earlier forces took heavy casualties, yes, but as a whole, we lose far less people this way, and our victory is much more certain.
 
"They may have hurt us," Netese said, "but now, it's our turn."

Yeah, not the longest chapter, I know, but don't worry; there's still plenty of battle to come. I'm just hoping it's good, since I always feel like I do fight scenes poorly. So anything anyone has to say about that would be most appreciated. And, of course, reviews of any kind are always welcome.

[GuyYouMetOnline]

Chapter 21

Field of Battle

"They're coming through," Hatate said, "and it doesn't look like they're stopping to form up on this side."
 
"They were already in formation," Alice said. "There's little reason for them to stop. They'll head straight for us, give us minimal time to react."
 
"Which means we need to act immediately," I said, and as I spoke, Suwako returned. "Suwako, good timing. Hatate, show her the pictures. We need to act now," I said as Hatate did so. "Go immediately, Suwako."
 
"Got it!" She passed into the ground again.
 
"That takes care of them," I said. "Now to notify the other one." I reached for the device Nitori had given me.
 
"Sunny, can you hear me?"
 
 

 
"Wah!" Star exclaimed. "What the heck was that?"
 
"Oh, Sanae gave me this." Sunny held up a small device. "She called it a 'communicatator' or something like that. It lets people talk even when they're far away from each other." She pressed the 'talk' button. "I can hear you."
 
"Good. You remember what we talked about?"
 
"Of course!"
 
"Be ready, because we're going to need you to do it. You'll be able to sense the location, right?"
 
"If it's what you say it is."
 
"Good. Get into position as soon as you feel it. And, Sunny? Make sure you do this right."
 
 

 
This time, the reaction Suwako got upon emerging from the ceiling was much milder, but then, Satori would have felt her mind as she approached. And Satori also, of course, knew exactly what Suwako was going to say. But Suwako spoke anyways; she wasn't as comfortable with having her mind read as Sanae was, and besides, there was another present.
 
"Looks like you're needed," Suwako said. Satori nodded, and Suwako turned to the other. "Are you ready?"
 
"Affirmative. Confirm readiness of area."
 
"You've got enough room," Suwako said. "How long will it take?"
 
"Estimated time to completion: five minutes, eleven-point-two-two-seven-four-five seconds."
 
"Right," Suwako said. She felt the location of the coming force through the land, just as she'd done before, and she was in time. She waited, but not for very long. "Okay, begin? now."
 
 

 
"No reaction from the enemy force," Oros said. "Odd. They surely have scouts above us. They have to know what's coming."
 
"They're waiting," Netese said. "When they signal their force to fall back, they want our force to be in sight. The order to fall back will be accepted much more readily if the reason for it is visible. I expect that it will come shortly."
 
 

 
"Okay," I said, looking at Hatate's photos, "it's time. The enemy force should be coming within sight of at least the frontmost of our force. Kanako, give the signal."
 
 

 
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Tenshi said to herself upon seeing the signal. "Really, Sanae? We're falling back?"
 
 

 
"Damn it," Tewi said. "Okay, everyone, we're falling back."
 
"Really?" Esi said. "Isn't this supposed to be a fight to the end or something?"
 
"That was the signal to fall back, so we fall back."
 
 

 
I spoke, and Kanako carried my voice on the wind.
 
"All forces, fall back immediately! We will regroup to meet the next attack, but first, we must regroup! Fall back!"
 
 

 
"I can't remember," Kaguya said. "Do we pull out now, or not?
 
"We don't," Mokou said. "The signal for us to pull out is different."
 
"But why? If everyone's retreating, then why are we staying?"
 
"It's not a retreat," Mokou said. "That was the signal to fall back. The difference is that a retreat is meant to end the battle, whereas this is not."
 
"But how can we win? You can see the new force as well as I can."
 
"I was never actually told," Mokou said, "but I think Orphan's got some sort of secret backup plan. I definitely got the idea that there's something she's been keeping secret."
 
 

 
"Damn it," Mystia said, "are we going to lose?"
 
"No," Wriggle said. "Sanae has a plan."
 
"She does?"
 
"Yes. Only herself, Kanako, Suwako, Seina, Alice, and the ones involved in its execution know about it."
 
"Then how do you?"
 
"It's hard to say something without me being able to hear it. Insects are everywhere, after all."
 
"Ah."
 
 

 
"Cirno, Rumia, fall back!"
 
"Wriggle!" Cirno said. "What's going on?"
 
"We're pulling back temporarily. You've seen the huge force approaching, right?"
 
"We have" Rumia said.
 
"Sanae's got a secret plan to deal with it, and she's pulling everyone back so that we're all out of the way of what's about to happen."
 
"Come on, Cirno," Rumia said. "Let's go. Wriggle, we'll meet up with you."
 
"Agreed. I'll direct you."
 
 

 
"Whoa," Sunny said.
 
"What?" Luna asked. "What is it?"
 
"It's started. I can feel it. I knew I'd sense it, but whoa. I guess Sanae was right about what this is. I've never been this close to one before, and this one may be nothing next to the real one, but it's good enough and I'm close enough that? well, whoa. Come on, let's get into position."
 
 

 
"They're pulling back," Oros said.
 
"Yes," Netese said. "They won't keep doing it, though. They will attempt to regroup and face our new attack."
 
"Why? They have to know they can't win."
 
"Actually, our victory is not a complete certainty even now. It would take a miracle for them to win, but it could happen, however unlikely it is. And remember, they are fighting in defense of their home. Some will abandon the fight, I'm sure, but others will not."
 
"Then they'll die."
 
"Most of them will, yes."
 
 

 
Suwako emerged from the ground. "It's underway."
 
"Good," I said. "Time?"
 
"She said it'd take five minutes and eleven seconds. That was a couple minutes ago. I timed it accordingly; it'll happen while the enemy is in the target area."
 
"Good."
 
 

 
Cirno and Rumia landed next to Wriggle and Mystia. "Okay, we're here," Cirno said. "What's going on?"
 
"The enemy's going to get a nasty surprise," Wriggle said, "but we can worry about that later. We have incoming."
 
"Incoming?" Rumia said.
 
"Yes. It spotted you as you flew past and began to pursue, but it's fairly slow, and you left it behind. It's still coming, though."
 
"Whatever," Cirno said. "We can take it, right?"
 
"Probably," Wriggle said, "but there's something? unsettling about this one."
 
"What do you mean?"
 
"Cirno, you remember the demon that attacked you at the lake, right? The one that kept coming even after you took out its eyes? And then when it showed up again with those others, it kept coming at me even after I took its head off?"
 
"Yeah."
 
"I remember," Rumia said, her voice cold.
 
"Well," Wriggle said, "I pretty thoroughly destroyed it, but? well, the demon that's approaching us looks just like it."
 
 

 
Malachi lacked a good view, but that happened when you were bringing up the rear. Not that she minded being in the back; this force would doubtless overwhelm the enemy, but there would be fighting, and there would be casualties. But it would not be the rearmost force that would see the brunt of it. And not only was Malachi's force newly inserted into the formation, but it was smaller than the others. Not enough to make a difference, not with a total number this large, but her force would likely have been the worst choice to lead the charge. We'll still see a little action, though, I'm sure.
 
Malachi took hold of a medallion hanging from her neck. "Malachi. No issues with my force."
 
The nature of the magic was such that the 'voice' came directly to Malachi's mind. "Confirmed," Netese said. "All force leaders report nominal status. Proceed with the advance."
 
"Acknowledged," Malachi said. She released the medallion. No surprises there. They're not supposed to have any ambushes left by now. The previous force was meant to look like a final attack in order to draw out anything left, and since it drew out something as dangerous as a horde of oni, I'd say it worked. They'd have held that in reserve if they could-
 
The rumbling began suddenly. It took Malachi a few seconds to gather herself, and then she grasped the medallion again. "Netese, we're getting what seems to be an earthquake here. Confirm."
 
"All leaders are reporting the same thing, but there is no effect at the portal. Oros was just telling me about it, too, and he says it's fairly localized. Assume it's not natural, and remain on guard."
 
Before Malachi could confirm, the world in front of her burst into flame.
 
 

 
"Something's happening," Oros said. "The ground seems to be shaking."
 
"Shaking," Netese said. "An earthquake?"
 
"Not a natural one. It's fairly localized in an area underneath our force. There's no way it's natural."
 
"Any sign of a source?"
 
"No."
 
The reports from the leaders began coming in. "We've got some kind of quake here." "Earthquake occurring. Likely unnatural." "Netese, we're getting what seems to be an earthquake here. Confirm." "Netese, we are experiencing an unexpected event, an earthquake."
 
Netese took hold of her medallion. "All leaders are reporting the same thing, but there is no effect at the portal. Oros was just telling me about it, too, and he says it's fairly localized. Assume it's not natural, and remain on guard." She released the medallion. "Oros, any change?"
 
"No, I don't see any- what the hell?"
 
 

 
"Look away!" Sunny cried.
 
Luna and Star were already facing the other way. "We know!" Star replied. Fortunately, she didn't need to look in order to follow Sunny, since she could sense her location.
 
Sunny could feel it. She took position as it rose to the surface, and drew upon her power. As it broke through the ground, she began.
 
Sunny was a fairy of light, and was able to control it. But her power was limited, and under most circumstances, she couldn't have come anywhere close to what she was doing. But these weren't most circumstances. The object rising through the ground was not actually the sun, but it was a sun. A lot smaller, yes, and weaker, but it was also much, much closer. Close enough that she could draw significant power from it.
 
Looking directly at the sun could be harmful to one's eyes. Not to Sunny's, but to most people's. And not instantly, not under normal circumstances, but again, this one was much closer than the real sun. So Sanae had asked Sunny to prevent this. "The small ones she's made before," Sanae had said, "haven't had that effect for whatever reason. I don't know why. There may be something slightly different about them, but I don't know. However, I'm told that she's never made one quite as large before, so there's a chance it will have that effect, which is a risk I don't want to take."
 
Sunny formed a field around it, a field that reflected the harmful light back into it. If one looked at it now, it would be just a bright object. "You can look now," she told her companions.
 
The other two fairies did so. "Whoa," Star said. "That's-whoa."
 
"Um, I don't like this," Luna said. "I don't like being so close to a? to that."
 
"Oh, right," Sunny said, "moon fairy. Well, sorry, but I have to stay here and keep this up."
 
"O-okay," Luna said. "I'll stay, too. But I still don't like it."
 
 

 
"Oros," Netese said, "what the hell is going on?"
 
"I-i-i-i-i-it's-it-it-it-"
 
Netese slapped him. "Get a hold of yourself!"
 
"Y-y-yes, ma'am, sorry, ma'am."
 
"Whatever. Tell me what's going on."
 
"I-i-it just came out of nowhere. I've never seen- how did they- it just-"
 
Another slap. "Focus, damn it! What happened!"
 
"I-it came up right through the middle of our force," Oros said. "Right in the middle. Just went right through them. Right through. Right through them."
 
Talking, Netese decided, wasn't doing much good. Damn. I was really hoping I wouldn't need to do this, but? "Oros."
 
"Y-yes?"
 
"Show me."
 
 

 
Malachi's force, for the most part, was still alive. For now, at least. "Shit!" she exclaimed. "Everyone, reverse course! Now!"
 
As her force did so, one of her commanders fell into place beside her. "We're retreating?"
 
"Remains to be seen," Malachi said. "Right now, we're surviving. Look at that thing, Onkos. It's got a curvature. It's getting wider, and I'd rather not get caught in it as it rises. So yeah, we're backing the hell up." She took hold of her medallion. "Netese, what the hell is going on?"
 
 

 
Calling it 'unpleasant' would be a massive understatement.
 
Orso had enchanted the scouts' eyes such that he could look through them. What he was doing now was joining Netese's senses to his. This was different from the enchantment, which only the caster could use. By joining Netese's senses to his own, he could share what he was seeing with her. And that included what he saw through the enchantments. It was dangerous to do such a thing repeatedly or for extended periods of time, but there was no danger in doing it for brief periods. But that didn't make it a pleasant experience.
 
Netese broke away as soon as she finished looking and fought back her nausea. The unpleasantness, however, was not what was on her mind at that moment. "Well, then. It would seem as though they were holding a little something in reserve."
 
"We're screwed," Oros said. "It's over. We lost. We're done. We-"
 
"It's not over yet," Netese said. "You saw the same things I saw. The rear force, Malachi's, is almost completely intact, and Nouk's, on point, is also fairly intact. That's enough to give us the battle."
 
"Like hell it is! I don't care about the numbers! What the hell's stopping them from doing that again?"
 
"Something is. If they could have done it more than once, we would have seen it already. I would assume that it took time to prepare, time they know we won't let them have a second time. They won't try it again. And once our forces join the battle, they won't be able to hit us with another without hitting their own forces, anyways. We haven't lost yet, Oros. This is far from over."
 
Netese took hold of her medallion.
 
 

 
"Malachi, Nouk, continue with the attack. Your forces can still give the battle to us."
 
Malachi still had hold of her medallion. "Maybe in terms of numbers, but numbers aren't really the biggest factor right now. I don't care how good your force's morale is, it's not surviving something like a goddamn star coming up into the middle of it. And the enemy's will have gotten a major boost."
 
"I am aware of this, but morale can be swung back in our favor, and I already know how to do just that."
 
"And how are you going to do it?"
 
"It's time for me to enter the battle. You and Nouk press the charge. While you're doing so, I will seek out and eliminate the enemy's leader."
 
 

 
Kanako once again carried my voice on the wind.
 
"All forces, cease falling back and engage! The enemy fell into our trap; advance and finish this battle!"
 
 

 
"That's more like it," Suika said. "Yuugi, you ready for some more ass-kicking?"
 
"Like you really have to ask?"
 
"Guess not," Suika said. "Okay, everyone, you heard the boss-lady! Attack!"
 
 

 
"Damn," Rumia said, "what the hell is that?"
 
"It's the hell raven, isn't it?" Cirno said. "I remember her. Stumbled into her? reactor, I think it was called. Not pleasant. Way too hot."
 
Wriggle nodded. "It's her. They had her hidden underground. When the big force made its move, they sent word down just like they did with the oni. Oh, our approaching friend should be arriving right? about? now."
 
Wriggle was right. "Well, hello there," the demon said as it landed in front of the quartet.
 
Wriggle stepped forward. "What business do you have with us?"
 
"Oh, I think you have a pretty good idea. You destroyed my shell, and I'm not exactly pleased about that."
 
"Okay," Cirno said, "what?"
 
"A shell," Wriggle said. "That explains a few things. It wasn't a person, just a body. You were controlling it from elsewhere. An interesting ability."
 
"That's right," the demon said. "And you destroyed it."
 
"I can certainly see the advantages it gave you. The thing kept coming even after I took its head off. And then when I removed the arm, that came after me instead of the rest of the body. That arm was you point of link with it, wasn't it?"
 
"Clever girl, aren't you? Yes, that's correct. And I'm not too pleased about what happened. Those are hard to make, you know."
 
"So you want revenge."
 
"Well, yes," the demon said, "but that's not the only thing there is to this. I've lost shells before, and each time, I've killed whoever destroyed it. And there's a practical reason for this. You see, a shell requires a starting point. I take a body and mold it accordingly. And what better body to use than one that has already proven superior to the old shell?"
 
"You intend to use my body for your new shell."
 
"I do."
 
Mystia leapt in front of Wriggle. "I won't let you touch her!"
 
"Well," the demon said, "that's entertaining. What about you other two? Aren't you going to leap to your friend's defense?"
 
"No need," Rumia said. "Wriggle could kick your ass like it was nothing. She's even stronger than we are, even now after the coil broke."
 
"After the? so you had a? and it sealed away your power? I thought that wasn't possible. Does explain the sudden power boost, though. Huh. Guess it was Otomone after all."
 
"Who the hell is Otomone?" Cirno said.
 
"A colleague of mine. He's the one who attacked your little group in the forest."
 
"Then you're right," Rumia said. "It was Otomone's fault. He's the one who damaged the coil."
 
"Huh. I guess we had some unforeseen side-effects."
 
"And just what does that mean?"
 
"Otomone had been altered in order to perform a specific task five years ago."
 
"Attacking the shrines," Wriggle said. "Disrupting the border."
 
"Oh, so you know about that. Well, yes, he was one of them. The change that allowed him to disrupt the border must have also disrupted your coil."
 
"That answers that question."
 
"Not that knowing will mean anything. I am about to kill you, after all." The demon ducked to the side, avoiding Wriggle's spear, which had been about to impale him from behind. "And don't think you can take me out that easily. The shell was weaker than I am, which is one reason I want to keep finding stronger bodies. You won't be able to win, bug."
 
Mystia stepped forward. "You just shut the hell up!" She glanced back. "Wriggle, stay back. I'll handle this."
 
"Mystia?"
 
"He wants to kill you. And use your body for one of his 'shells'. And that just pisses me off. I'll take care of him, Wriggle. I won't let him touch you."
 
Wriggle considered this. She could easily take the demon herself, of course, but it was clear that Mystia wanted this one. Besides, I'm the one who called her my champion. I shouldn't tell her no when she's starting to act the part. I'll just intervene if she's in trouble. "Very well, then."
 
The demon laughed. "Oh, so you want to go a round, birdie? Not the smartest decision. I wasn't even going to attack you, or you other two friends. You're not the ones I want. But if you're so willing to die for the bug, then I suppose I can oblige."
 
Mystia dashed in and struck the demon on the chest, knocking it back. But the demon reacted quickly, grabbing Mystia and dragging her along. Mystia gave it a burst of energy to the face and broke free, flipping over it and delivering a kick from behind. The demon took the hit, then spun around and lashed out with an energy whip, ensnaring Mystia's arm. Mystia tried another blast to the face, but the demon avoided it this time.
 
The demon pulled Mystia in, and Mystia let it. She built up energy and channeled it into a kick. The demon blocked, but it wasn't ready for such a forceful blow, and it staggered back from the hit. Taking advantage of this, Mystia broke free, leaping into the air and firing a beam. The demon went airborne to evade, but Mystia simply swept the beam after it. Then she fired another one directly in front of the demon, who flew right into it. Mystia converged the beams, blasting the demon to the ground.
 
Yes, Wriggle thought, good. The power does boost your physical abilities, but the power itself is a far greater advantage.
 
The demon shot upwards, directly towards Mystia. Mystia dodged to the side, but the demon released an explosion of energy as it past, knocking Mystia back. Mystia recovered quickly, releasing spheres of energy that homed in on the demon. The demon tried and failed to evade, and while it was distracted by the hits, Mystia closed in. She flew directly over the demon and fired a beam at point-blank range, once more sending the demon into the ground. Mystia kept the beam on it for a while, and by the time she ended it, the demon wasn't moving.
 
Mystia landed next to Wriggle. "I keep forgetting I can do stuff like that now."
 
"Not bad," Wriggle said.
 
"Yeah, sorry about that. I know you could've taken it out much more easily, but? well, the asshole just pissed me off."
 
"Not a problem," Wriggle said. "I kind of like the idea of you leaping to my defense. And you laughed when I called you my champion."
 
"I guess I did act the part, didn't I?"
 
"Yeah. Now come on. I've got new targets."
 
 

 
"Noi, right flank!"
 
The rabbit named Noi spun around and clubbed the demon that had been approaching him from behind. "Thanks, Tewi."
 
"Luck can't do everything," Tewi said. "You've got to pay at least some attention."
 
"Two more down!" Esi called out. "That's it for this team!"
 
"Excellent. Let's find ano-"
 
"Down!" Slei cried. But the warning was too late, and the stray blast scored a direct hit from behind. "Tewi!"
 
The blast sent Tewi into the ground. She skid to a halt, but not before impaling her leg on a fallen sword.
 
Tewi's team ran over to her. "Tewi," Noi said, "are you okay?"
 
"I've got a SWORD in my LEG. I think I'm going to go with: HELL NO, I'M NOT OK! Also, I think my left arm's broken."
 
"Yeah, stupid question." Noi picked Tewi up. "Come on, let's get you to Eirin. Everyone, form up!"
 
"I don't need the whole team," Tewi said. "Shit, that hurts!"
 
"Well, you're not just an ordinary team leader, now, are you? Did you really think we'd be taking chances with you?"
 
"I suppose you have a point. Ow."
 
"Besides," Oeis said, "you took a stray blast. If that happens when you're here, how bad would our luck be without you?"
 
"Not even the best luck is foolproof. Besides, I'm the first casualty our team's had. I'd say that's pretty lu-DON'T move my arm like that!"
 
"I don't get it," Slei said. "She can still fly, can't she? Why exactly are we pulling her out? Shouldn't she just fly back on her own?"
 
"She's the big boss," Oeis said. "She has no business going off on her own during a battle. She really shouldn't even be in the front lines in the first place, but she's the boss. Keeping her from going off solo is hard enough."
"Right," Noi said, "enough chatter. Come on, Tewi, let's get you to Eirin."
 
 

 
"Reaction has continued for instructed duration," Utsuho said, her voice monotone. "Ending reaction."
 
"Good," Satori said. "Take it down, then let's get to Sanae."
 
 

 
"It's dissipating," Malachi said. "Onkos, take squads one through four. As soon as it's gone, head in there, find who's responsible for making the thing, and kill them."
 
"Um? are you sure we can? Anyone who can do that has to have a hell of a lot of power."
 
"It took time to make," Malachi said. "They won't be able to do it again; if they could, we'd have already seen it. Don't give whoever's responsible time to do it again. Get in there and kill them."
 
"Uh, yes, ma'am!"
 


 
Tenshi impaled a demon through the chest. Pulling her sword out, she spun around and took another demon's head off. "Yeah, nice try, but you can't-"
 
Another demon charged in from the side, and it was a big one. Fast, too. It slammed into Tenshi's side, sending her flying back. And that wasn't all; the crunch upon its impact was hard to mistake.
 
Tenshi got to her feet and tested her arm. "Ow." Broken. Good thing it's not my sword arm. "Okay," she said as the demon advanced towards her, "you're dead."
 
Tenshi leapt into the air, and an odd-shaped rock formed under her feet. Tenshi rode the keystone as it sped like a missile into the demon. As it hit, Tenshi leapt over the demon, spinning around and impaling it from behind. She let it fall to the ground as she tested her arm again. Yeah, definitely broken. Well, it'll heal.
 
Tenshi charged back into the battle.
 
 

 
Nouk's force was waiting. "There you are," Nouk said. "Um, are you missing a few squads?"
 
"I detached them to deal with whoever made that star," Malachi said. "Killing whoever did that'll be another morale boost for our side. Our job is just to press the attack."
 
"But you're not going to, are you? Not personally, at least. You're planning to join up with Netese, am I right?"
 
"You do know me, don't you? Netese is right; killing Sanae will likely give us the battle. So Sanae has to die. Netese'll probably insist on an 'honorable fight', but I'm not risking this entire thing on a one-on-one. I'm going to aid her whether she likes it or not."
 
"I thought so. Tekeit, you're in command. Squad three comes with me; everyone else, proceed as planned."
 
"I thought you'd want to come," Malachi remarked. "Squad six, you're with us. We penetrate through the enemy and meet up with Netese. Everyone else, form up under Tekeit. Come on, Nouk, let's go."
 
 

 
"We have movement," Hatate said. "The survivors of the final force have rendezvoused, and are moving in as expected, but a small group has broken off. And is moving separately."
 
"What of Netese?" Alice said. "She was heading this way; is she still approaching?"
 
"Yes."
 
"She's coming for me," I said. "She knows she needs to change the morale around, and she's decided that killing me is the best way to do it. That group is likely coming for me, and Netese herself is coming to ensure that they succeed."
 
"Not quite."
 
"What the hell?" Seina exclaimed.
 
"I think that's Wriggle's voice, isn't it?" Suwako said.
 
"Yes, this is Wriggle. I'm speaking to you through insects near you."
 
"And you think I'm incorrect about the enemy's intentions," I said.
 
"You're close. Two force leaders, Malachi and Nouk, are indeed heading for you. Netese is coming to kill you, and they intend to assist her; the small group they're with is simply to get them through the fighting to you. They expect that Netese won't want the help, though; they think she'll want to fight you one-on-one."
 
"Hold on," Seina said. "How do you know this?"
 
"My kind is everywhere."
 
"Thank you for the information," I said. "All right, then. You're all coming with me. We'll go meet Netese head-on. If she wants to fight me alone, I will oblige her, but I want the rest of you there to make sure nobody else interferes."
 
"I'm not letting you fight alone," Kanako said. "I'm not going to risk losing you again."
 
"Then intervene only if necessary to keep me alive."
 
"?Fine."
 
"Thank you. Let's move."
 
 

 
Damn it. "He's gone," Eirin said.
 
Rin barely had time to remove the body before another was set down in its place. Eirin looked it over quickly. Okay, this one I should be able to-
 
"Eirin!"
 
Eirin looked up to see what looked like an entire battle team coming towards her. No, that is a team. That's Tewi's-
 
Eirin caught sight of the injured Tewi as the team landed. "Tewi! Are you all right?"
 
"Cut the stupid questions, will you?" Tewi said. "I've got a broken arm and a sword in my leg. I'M NOT ALL RIGHT, OK?"
 
"Right," Eirin said. "Nothing life-threatening. Take her to the nurses, then get back into the battle."
 
The rabbit named Oeis nodded. "Understood."
 
As they flew off, Eirin turned back to her current patient. The nurses can take care of Tewi. I need to focus on this one.
 
 

 
I selected what I thought would be a decent location for this battle. Of course, being that we were in a desolate region, the only considerations were our various positions. I chose a spot to the side of the battle, far enough away that it wouldn't affect the fight.
 
I landed, with Kanako, Seina, and Alice behind me; Suwako had gone to head off Malachi and Nouk's group. The two leaders would likely leave the group behind to keep Suwako busy, but that was what I wanted; it would be much easier for Kanako and the others to keep just the two of them occupied. Power wasn't the issue, of course; it was a concern of numbers. Two people were much easier to keep busy than a larger group.
 
Netese arrived promptly, only one other with her. "So," she said, "we meet. Sanae, right?"
 
I stepped forward. "That's correct."
 
"I am Osira Netese."
 
Alice moved up beside me. "Netese."
 
"Alice Margatroid. I had hoped that Nekiei's ambush would kill you."
 
"I'm not at all sorry to disappoint. Nekiei got what she deserved; are you prepared for what you deserve?"
 
Netese laughed. "'What I deserve', hmm? Have you even thought about the reason for my actions?"
 
"Ambition seems likely," I said. "What I don't understand is why this war is necessary. You could have easily framed Shinki's death as Alice acting alone. Why all this?"
 
"You'll have to ask someone else. I'm not the one who presented Gensokyo as an enemy."
 
"Bullshit," Alice said. "But whatever. You are responsible for my mother's death. Why?"
 
"It was nothing personal, I assure you. Nothing against her, and nothing against you. It wasn't even because she held authority in Makai."
 
"Then why?"
 
"Not because she was the ruler of Makai. It was because she was the one who was the ruler of Makai."
 
"Stop with the riddles."
 
"Oh, there's no riddle," Netese said. "You see, your mother couldn't die. That's why I decided to kill her; she would otherwise continue to exist for eternity."
 
"Hold it," Seina said. "Are you saying you did it just to prove it could be done?"
 
"No. I don't care if someone cannot die. Unless, that is, the person in question is in a position of leadership. I acted to remove an immortal ruler, and I framed you specifically for it because I didn't want you replacing her. If you ascended to her state, you would become just as eternal as she was, and that would defeat the purpose of the entire thing."
 
"Why don't you want an immortal ruler?" Seina asked.
 
"No leader should be eternal. Leadership much change, but with her, it never would. Now it will."
 
"I don't think so," Alice said. "If she is dead, then I will ascend to the throne in her place. And I won't let you stop me."
 
"Oh, I'm not going to stop you," Netese said. "You're free to try. But you do need to reach the throne, do you not? I think you'll find that to be a difficult task. But no, I'm not here for you. I'm here for Sanae."
 
"As I suspected," I said. "You've come to kill me in hopes of turning the battle around."
 
"Correct. I must say, though, that I'm disappointed. I thought you might perhaps face me with honor."
 
"If by that you mean alone, I intend to. The others are here simply to ensure that nobody from your side interferes."
 
"Probably a good idea, actually," Netese said. "Malachi, at least, is likely to attempt to intervene, and I wouldn't be surprised if Nouk comes as well. Maybe Maorol, too; I think he's still alive."
 
"Right," I said. "Well, my allies will be sure to keep yours at bay."
 
"I want Maorol," Alice said. "He's the one who landed the killing blow on my mother."
 
"Sure," Kanako said.
 
"I didn't think you'd know that," Netese remarked.
 
"Nekiei mentioned it."
 
"I see."
 
"We'll leave that one to you, Alice," Seina said. "Sanae? Good luck."
 
 

 
"That's strange," Suika said. "Hey, Yuugi, you see that?" She pointed.
 
Yuugi and Suika were near the edge of the battlefield, and had seen a small number of people land a decent distance from it, too far away to make any of them out. "Yeah, I see it. Probably some big shots taking things into their own hands. Let's go."
 
"Go? You're leaving the fight?"
 
"Hell, no," Yuugi said. "There's a fight over there; you can bet on it. And probably some pretty tough people, too. Beating up all these guys is a blast, but I'd like a more challenging individual opponent."
 
"Suit yourself. I'm stayin' here."
 
"Then go nuts," Yuugi said.
 
 

 
"The enemy is coming," Satori said. "Clear a path, then we'll push through. No need to fight them all. Perhaps you can indeed take them, as you think, but this is a chance we do not need to take. Let us go."
 
Satori and Utsuho flew up, emerging from the very large hole Utsuho's sun had made as it rose. The enemy was waiting. The one in command-one named Onkos, according to thoughts from some of the others-had positioned his people well. They had taken positions around the sun as it dissipated, and now they were moving in, keeping Satori and Utsuho encircled in an attempt to prevent escape. They had people above, too; it would not be possible to escape without engaging at least a few of them.
 
"Follow me," Satori said. "Begin charging, and attack on my signal."
 
Satori moved, Utsuho behind her. "Get ready," Satori said as they neared the enemy. "Fire? now!"
 
"Mega Flare!"
 
Utsuho's beam blasted through the enemy, and since she'd had a chance to charge it, it was significantly wider.
 
"Good," Satori said. "Move!"
 
Utsuho ended her attack, and the two of them dashed through before the enemy could react.
 
 

 
"Damn it," Onkos muttered as he saw the targets escape. "I told Nekiei the target was too powerful, but did she listen? No, of course not. Yeah, maybe all of us would have been enough to take her, but if we grouped up, she'd just get away, so we had to spread out, so she ripped right through us, and?"
 
Onkos led the force back to the battle, muttering to himself all the way.
 
 

 
I struck.
 
I wielded my staff; Netese wielded an ornate sword. I swung in from the side, and she blocked the hit. I swung the other end of the staff around and hit her in the stomach. She responded with a kick to the chest. I took the hit and grabbed her leg, twisting it and sending her to the ground.
 
Netese pushed off the ground and flipped over me, aiming a strike at my head. I ducked to the side and thrust my staff up, catching her in the chest. She went with the force of the impact and rose higher into the air.
 
Netese held out her hand, and multiple thin beams shot out, surrounding me in a cage-like pattern. "The cage of entrapment," she said. "You cannot escape."
 
"Is this how you hold your victims in place while you have your way with them? I think you'll find it less effective here. The level of energy you're using is nothing I cannot break through."
 
Netese laughed. "I never said it was a cage for the body. Prison of Lust!"
 
The cage closed rapidly, but I erected a barrier of magic. The energy impressed itself upon the barrier, rather than upon me, and vanished with the barrier when I dropped it. "I never said it had to be. Energy is energy, whether it affects the body or the mind."
 
I attacked with a blast of flame. As Netese evaded, I took to the air and charged. She blocked the strike, but I sent a bolt of electricity into her, blasting her back. I fired spheres of energy at her, but she was able to avoid most of them as she charged in. She slashed with her sword, but blocking it was easy. She dropped below me, forming an odd-looking mass of energy in her hand. "Desire Drive!"
 
Netese launched the mass at me. As it came, it fanned out like a net, but this did not slow it. I tried to drop under it, but it changed course, and I was unable to react fast enough to block it before it hit me.
 
For a moment, nothing happened, but this didn't fool me. If there was no physical effect, there would no doubt be a mental effect, so I readied myself for one. And one indeed came. I felt certain urges, and quite strongly. I felt a desire to, um, engage in a certain activity. The desire wasn't directed towards anyone in particular; I wanted anyone, and badly. Thinking clearly was difficult. Extremely difficult. But not impossible.
 
Netese came up at me with a slash aimed at my neck. I brought my pole up to block it, then slammed it down on her head. She grabbed onto my leg, but some wind magic was sufficient to dislodge her. She dashed above me and attempted a kick to my head, but I dropped under it, grabbing her leg and throwing her downwards.
 
Netese righted herself well before hitting the ground. "How can you still? you should be overwhelmed by desire."
 
"Not quite," I said. "As you can tell, I am resisting it."
 
"Nobody's done that before. How can you?"
 
"I suppose none of your previous targets have had my level of discipline. That's all it is; discipline."
 
"Enough to resist my compulsions. Impressive. But no amount of discipline can hold them off forever."
 
 

 
Seina came in from behind Nouk and smacked him in the head with her gohei. The demon spun around, only to find himself blown into the ground by a strong gust of wind. "I don't think smacking him with a stick will work," Kanako said, "even if it is your gohei."
 
"Fine," Seina said. She spun and sent a gust of wind at the recovering Nouk.
 
Alice dropped a chunk of ice onto Malachi. Malachi managed to dash out of the way, only to get hit in the face by a blast of flame. "Not bad," Malachi said, "but not good enough."
 
"You do seem fairly durable," Alice said. She saw no reason not to engage in conversation; after all, the objective here was simply to keep anyone from assisting Netese, not to actually defeat them. And besides, there was something she wanted to know."
 
"Indeed I am," Malachi said. "There's a reason I took the lead when we fought Shinki."
 
"Why did you do it?" Alice asked. "Why did you want to kill her?"
 
"I didn't. She didn't matter to me either way. It just gave me an opportunity."
 
"An opportunity? An opportunity for what?"
 
"An opportunity to start a war," Malachi said. "Netese originally intended to frame things as Alice having acted alone, but I had other ideas. I wanted this, wanted the invasion of Gensokyo."
 
"Why?"
 
"Why? Look at it! All the different creatures, the different landscapes. The ties to Higan, the Netherworld, Heaven. The sun, the stars. Day and night. Weather. Seasons. All the things you have here! And then look at Makai! Just demons, no climate variations, everything's the same! Why should only you get the rich, varied world?"
 
"Jealousy."
 
Both turned to face the speaker. "Jealousy," Yuugi said. She advanced towards Malachi, and she was quite clearly pissed. "It's all about jealousy. You want this, you want that. I am sick of jealousy."
 
"Jealousy? You think this is just about jealousy? This is about you, about all of you in Gensokyo, keeping this land to yourselves! We of Makai are just as deserving of such a land as you are!"
 
"Don't pretend you're not jealous," Yuugi said. "I know jealousy. I know more about it than I ever wanted to. It ruins lives, and yours has had far more wide-ranging effects."
 
"Oh, shut up! You're just dodging the issue! You have all of this, and we don't! You're the ones at fault here! You don't know what it's like, knowing this world is there but not being able to share in it! You don't know!"
 
"I know enough," Yuugi said. "I've seen more jealousy than I ever wanted to. For years, it has been ruining the life of someone I care deeply about. But yours, yours led you to seek war. So many people have died because of your jealousy. I hate jealousy."
 
"You don't know a thing. You'll never know. Don't pretend you understand."
 
"I understand jealousy perfectly well. And I am absolutely sick of dealing with it. So you understand that I am going to pound your fucking face in!"
 
Yuugi charged, but Alice didn't watch the fight; her attention was directed elsewhere when another demon arrived. "That's a violent friend you have there," he said. "Alice Margatroid, correct? I've been wanting to meet you for quite some time. I am Maorol Olone."
 
"Maorol," Alice said. "You're the one who killed her."
 
"Yes, I am. And I'd like to finish her line off."
 
"And I'd like to pay you back for her death. But first, tell me: why? Why did you do it? Why are you a part of this?"
 
"Unification," Maorol said. "Everyone should have the same ruler. Much less potential for conflict. Fighting this battle now will prevent others from occuring in the future. But your mother was unwilling to take over Gensokyo. So she had to go. And you, obviously, oppose this as well, so you also have to go."
 
"Not happening," Alice said. "You're the one who's dying here."
 
"Yes, by all means, fight as best you can. We shall see who emerges victorious."
 
 


 
 
Yuugi punched Malachi in the gut, sending her flying back a ways. She fired on Yuugi, but the oni just charged right through the blasts. She grabbed Malachi, threw her into the ground, and punched her in the face. Then she picked her up by the neck and threw her into a boulder with enough force to send her through it.
 
Malachi recovered quickly enough to open fire again, but as before, Yuugi just charged through it. Malachi leapt to the side and grabbed Yuugi by the arm as she passed, attempting to throw her to the ground. Yuugi, however, took to the air, dragging the surprised Malachi up with her. Malachi let go, but Yuugi grabbed her before she could get away and slammed her back down into the ground.
 
"You're a tough one, aren't you?" Yuugi said as Malachi got to her feet.
 
"I am," Malachi said.
 
"Good. Means I can hit you a lot more." Yuugi pulled a boulder out of the ground and threw it at Malachi. Malachi dashed under it, only for Yuugi to slam into her and once more throw her to the ground.
 
 

 
Netese was right; I wouldn't be able to resist her indefinitely. Sooner or later, the desire would overcome my resistance. I could have used dispelling magic to remove the effect, but doing so would require a few seconds of concentration, which I knew Netese wouldn't let me have.
 
"Chains of Lust!"
 
Chains burst from the ground under me, attempting to ensnare me. I picked one and ran straight at it. I hit it with a blast of magic, destroying it and giving me an opening to escape. "You seem to be fond of the lust theme."
 
"Well, I am a succubus," Netese said. "It happens to be an area of expertise for my kind."
 
Netese launched a barrage of shots at me. A combination of evasion and barriers was enough to get me through easily, but I could tell that I was losing ground. It was becoming harder to focus, to think clearly. Since I had to focus on holding off the compulsion I had already been hit with, my performance in the battle was suffering. Before long, she would have the advantage, and I knew I wouldn't have a chance to rid myself of the compulsion. So I took a different approach.
 
I charged Netese, bringing my staff down in an overhead swing. Netese sidestepped the attack and struck with her own weapon, but I was able to bring mine back up in time to block. "How much longer can you last, Sanae?" Netese said. "Not very, I'd imagine. Soon, you'll either slip up against my power on your mind or slip up against me in battle."
 
"Maybe," I said, "but I think you're overlooking something."
 
Netese pressed against my block, attempting to break through it. "Oh, really? And just what would that be?"
 
"You're the nearest person," I said. And then I let the desire loose.
 
I ceased to act rationally. I leapt into Netese and grabbed her, pushing her to the ground and pinning her. She managed to get my arm with her sword, but the pain didn't register. And she knew why; she recognized the look in my eyes.
 
The lustful compulsion Netese had hit me with did not cause lust towards any specific person, just lust in general. But in my case, Netese was the only one present for that lust to target me towards. Allowing the built-up force of her compulsion to take over sent me into a lusting frenzy, ignoring everything else as I tried madly to have my way with her. She tried to throw me off, and would likely have succeeded under normal circumstances, but I was acting unencumbered by thought, acting purely on primal instinct, and she failed.
 
I didn't want to violate Netese, and fortunately, she reacted as I'd expected. After she failed to throw me off, she withdrew the compulsion, forcing me back to my senses. But I had kept track of my crazed self, and when the lust-driven madness ended, there was no pause needed to regain my bearings. Before she could act, I grabbed her head and slammed it into the ground. I repeated the action, then dealt blows to her arm, leg, and chest before jumping to my feet. I picked up her dropped sword and threw it away, then stood over her with my staff pointed at her throat, its head glowing with energy.
 
"Very? clever," Netese said. Then she spat out blood.
 
"It's over, Netese," I said. "You lost."
 
Netese managed to stagger to her feet, but just barely. "I'm not? ready? to give up? yet." She held out her hand, and her sword flew into it, which had the unintended effect of knocking her down again. "Damn it."
 
"You lost, Netese."
 
Netese managed again to return to her feet. She tried to ready her sword for a strike, but the shift in posture threw her off-balance, and she barely avoided falling down again. "Damn it."
 
"Netese, it's over. You lost."
 
She was silent for a moment. "You're right," she said eventually. "You won. I yield."
 
 

 
Suwako finished off the last of the demons she'd drawn away from Malachi and Nouk. Time to get back to Sanae. I hope she and the others are doing all right.
Suwako sped off.
 
 

 
Seeing that the battle between myself and Netese had ended, Kanako and Seina disengaged from Nouk and landed on either side of me, a very worn-looking Nouk landing next to Netese. A moment later, Alice landed by me. "I see it's over," she said.
 
"Netese has yielded," I said. "How've you been doing?"
 
"Maorol did indeed decide to show up."
 
"I expected as much," Netese said. "And since you're here, I assume he's dead."
 
"Not dead," Alice said. "Unconscious, yes, and quite badly injured, but he'll live. There was no need to kill him."
 
"Unexpected," Netese said. "I thought you'd want to take the life of the one who did the same to your mother."
 
"He will die, I am certain, but not yet."
 
Netese gave a derisive laugh. "Don't tell me you intend to give him a 'fair trial'. Well, whatever. What of Malachi? Where is she?"
 
As if in answer, a demon came flying in from the side, hit the ground, and skid to a halt. "She pissed off an oni," Alice said. And sure enough, one came in after her.
 
"Yuugi," Alice said," stop! The fight's over!"
 
Yuugi stood still for a moment, then walked over to the rest of us. "Fine, but she better get what's coming to her. She pisses me off."
 
"And you gave her quite the beating, it would seem," Netese said.
 
"Oh, now who do we have here? You must be the enemy leader."
 
"Correct. I am Osira Netese."
 
"Why are we just talking to her?" Yuugi asked me.
 
"Netese has yielded," I said. "There's no need to kill her unless she creates one."
 
"I am an honorable warrior," Netese said. "I will stick to my decision to yield. What would you have happen now?"
 
"Um..."
 
"She's yielded to you, Sanae," Alice explained. "She's acknowledged you as the victor. That means she'll take whatever actions you tell her to in regards to resolving this conflict. That right passes to you, as the victor. It's an honor code that's common among Makai's warriors. Assuming, of course, that she's being genuine. Which I suspect she is. There may be a lot of things to dislike about her, but I do believe her to be honorable."
 
"She's lying to an entire population," Yuugi said. "Hardly seems 'honorable'."
 
"A different code of honor than that of the oni. Deception is not seen as inherently dishonorable, as long as you do not actually break any word you have given. Even killing my mother was simply her acting to her beliefs. That does not make it any less of a crime, though, or any less wrong."
 
"I see," I said. "So then, all we need to do is figure out how we want to conclude things? Fairly easy for Gensokyo, I think; Netese withdraws and does not attempt another attack. The situation in Makai, I think, is trickier."
 
"Yes," Alice said. "There will be civil war if this isn't handled very carefully. I think I know what to do, though." She turned to Netese. "Netese, you will withdraw your remaining forces from Gensokyo. Then you and your surviving commanders will come with me to the capital, where you will announce that you were fooled."
 
"I did not yield to you," Netese said. "You do not have the right to command me."
 
"You will do as she says," I instructed, which put an end to her objections. She didn't like it, that was clear, but as far as she was concerned, she had to do what I said, and so she did.
 
"Thank you, Sanae," Alice said. She then turned back to Netese. "In the capital, you will announce that you were fooled. You will present anyone still alive who was a part of your group as those who fooled you. You will say that they convinced you I was responsible for Shinki's death, when it was really them who were responsible."
 
Yuugi cut her off. "Hold it. Are you just letting her get away free?"
 
"No. Netese, you will reveal them as traitors, and they will be dealt with as such. You will say that I had nothing to do with my mother's death, and acknowledge me as the rightful ruler of Makai. You will then announce that as punishment for allowing yourself to be manipulated into a war with Gensokyo, you will be voluntarily exiling yourself from Makai.
 
"Once the announcement is made, you will accompany me to the throne of Pandemonium. I understand that I am likely to be attacked despite your presence and words, but you should be able to stop at least most of it, and certainly enough to enable me to reach the throne. Once I do, I will ascend to my mother's state of being and position as ruler of Makai.
 
"I am well aware that this will not be a bloodless affair. I fully expect acts of violence and rebellion against me, but this should at least prevent a true civil war. You will act as instructed by me to help resolve hostilities, beginning your exile as soon as I determine that there is nothing more you can accomplish in that area. Do you understand?"
 
Netese was silent, responding only with a nod.
 
"Hold on," Yuugi said, "that's it? That's all you're going to do to her? Make her go live somewhere else?"
 
"Make me leave my home forever," Netese said. "Force me to live in a land that hates me, that sees me and thinks of this battle, of everything that happened. Not to mention the fact that I acted in Makai's best interests."
 
"Acted in-"
 
"She believes what she did was for Makai's good, Yuugi," I said. "I can explain later. Stand down."
 
"Fine."
 
"I don't think you'll find all of Gensokyo unwelcoming," Alice said to Netese. "The Scarlet Devil Mansion is already home to one succubus; I think they'd have room for another. And the lady there isn't likely to be angry with you for what you did. If anything, she'd probably be impressed."
 
"Why," Yuugi asked, "are you helping her find a place to live?"
 
"Believe me, in many ways I would love to have her killed. But I will be taking my mother's place as ruler of Makai, and I must consider the entire realm. Allowing her to live will go a long way towards easing the transition."
 
"Whatever."
 
"Your people's ways are different, Yuugi," I said. "Allow Alice to handle this her way."
 
"Fine."
 
"Good." I turned back to Netese. "I believe the fighting has mostly stopped, but some likely remains. Let us announce your surrender."

[GuyYouMetOnline]

Epilogue

 
In the end, things went back to normal. Not the same as before, but still normal. It took some time, of course, but normality has a way of emerging intact.
 
Alice left for Makai soon after Netese's force withdrew. I don't know precisely how things are in Makai, although the last I heard, the situation was stabilizing. I understand that Alice has been coming to Gensokyo frequently to consult with Byakuren; rumor has it that she's even created a portal between the Myouren Temple and Pandemonium for the purpose of these visits.
 
Netese did indeed take up residence at the Scarlet Devil Mansion. I don't know much about that situation; she's never seen outside the mansion, and the other residents generally refuse to discuss that situation.
 
The Lunarians remain at Eientei. I understand that Kaguya and Mokou are making significant progress in their relationship; last I saw her, Keine said that they were down to an average of one killing a week.
 
Yuugi has visited a few times. She tells me that fighting in the underground city had been The last time Yuugi visited, she was accompanied by Parsee; I'm told that their relationship is going fairly well, although Yuugi says there are occasional jealousy-related issues.
 
Despite the risks I had Utsuho take, Satori is much more friendly with me than she is with Kanako. I think it's because I actually went through her, whereas Kanako bypassed her entirely. Satori visits me fairly frequently; I think she likes having found a non-animal who isn't uncomfortable around her.
 
Tenshi returned to heaven, where I understand her reception was less than enthusiastic. They did not approve of her participating in a war. She managed to talk them down, though, mainly thanks to the fact that she fought only in Gensokyo's defense. They still didn't like it, but I'm told there were no actions taken against her for her role. I spoke in her defense, too, which may have helped.
 
The mountain hasn't changed much. The situation with Seina could have been very awkward, but it wasn't. I was her biological mother, yes, but the way she saw it, her parents were Kanako and Suwako. And that's fine, I think.
 
Kanako and Suwako are still trying to gather as much faith as they can, and I think Kanako's a little irritated by how easily I can gather faith. Aya is continuing her usual 'reporting', and I'm told she's still trying to get one of Nitori's optical camouflage suits. Nitori, of course, is still tinkering with whatever contraption she's working on at the moment.
 
As for me, I set up my shrine in the Forest of Magic; it seemed appropriate for me to reside there. I ended up taking in a magician youkai as my shrine maiden, which also seemed appropriate. I'm often visited by people who want me to give them power; Reimu's assistant, Nol, has been by multiple times. I haven't done it for anyone; there are so many ways doing such a thing could have unpleasant results.
 
I don't use the name 'Orphan' anymore. Orphan was a woman searching for her lost past. Not that I have found it, that is no longer who I am. I'm someone different now, not Orphan and not who I was before losing my memory. I have not, though, taken on a new name; I may not be the same person I was before losing my memory, but I am still her, if that makes any sense.
 
I am a descendant of a god, and one who became a god. I am one who found my way back to Gensokyo after being gone for five years. I am the one who led Gensokyo against Makai's attack. I am a god of magic.
 
My name is Sanae Kochiya.
 
 

 
And done. Sorry it took so long.
 
Let me just give a thank-you to everyone who read this, and a bigger one to anyone who gave any kind of feedback,
 
As for what's next, well, I already have another Touhou fic ready to write. It will be its own story, unrelated to this one or Broken World, although once again, some elements, particularly certain character pairings and backstories, are likely to show up again. I plan to call it 'Radiant Decay', and it will be up as soon as I get the first chapter written. I hope to see you all there.