Black Birds Wings Reach so Far
Gensokyo was burning.
The sky blackened by the smoke that rose from all around the once lush and green wonderland. Where once stood the great Land of Illusion, now there stood nothing but blackened and burned soil. Smoke billowed up from the still burning Forest of Magic; the Youkai that once lived there either gone or trapped beneath the burning foliage.
Above the fires and smoke, atop the Peak of Youkai Mountain stood a single Youkai, The very Youkai responsible for everything that has befallen the once beautiful land. Utsuho had won, burned Gensokyo to ashes just as she had planned. But then, if she had won the battle, why did the victory and her very being feel so empty?
She wanted to show Orin and Lady Satori their new home, the new Hell Utsuho had created for her best friend and owner to live in happily, without any prejudice against Lady Satori. She couldn't though; she knew she couldn't go get Orin because she was gone. They were all gone, consumed by the raging flames of the Yatagarasu. How had it happened, how had she let everything spiral out of control so quickly?
Utsuho was gagging, choking upon the orb of light and heat she had swallowed. The Orb was burning her alive from the inside out, she gagged as another burst of scorching air rushed up through her throat as she fell onto the ground. The purple haired woman was already gone, as was the smaller girl with the strange hat. They had tricked her! They were probably laughing now at the stupid Hell Raven, who had foolishly believed the words of a stranger and was being cooked alive for her naivety.
Did she die there, did the burning flames of Yatagarasu consume her soul as well and left only burned remains?
She had survived the flames that had tried to burst from her being and consume everything in their path; she had contained and controlled them, right?
Or had she died and this burning wasteland that she stood in alone her punishment for the stupidity she had shown in life, her own Hell that nothing existed in but herself and her pain?
Utsuho stayed there on the ground, curled up and awaiting her inevitable demise as her body was roasted by the fireball she had consumed. Her death never came; it stayed just out of reach even as she wished it upon herself, pain flaring out of every part of her body and soul. It felt like hours had passed, but eventually the burning began to finally subside, only to be replaced by the pain of flesh tearing at the center of her chest.
She shrieked and tore at her shirt, pulling it open to reveal the pale flesh tearing as something pushed its way up out of her. She bit her tongue to holdback a scream, blood filling her mouth as the object continued forcing its way out of the Hell Ravens chest. Soon the pain became too much and she blacked out, falling forward onto the ground, twitching and barely breathing.
Utsuho turned, looking at the shrine of the gods who had started her fall. It say so high upon this mountain, looking down over all of Gensokyo, the gods truly thought themselves above all, and so they had turned her into a God that required no faith. She had shown them how foolish they were, the shrine falling in on itself as the fire continued to eat away at it. She looked over at the Shrine Maiden who had come out to fight her, who she had spared the fire that had consumed her gods. The Shrine Maiden reminded her of the one from before, the red and white that had started the Black Birds fall…for defeating her had only been the beginning of the end.
Utsuho couldn't breathe, but she dragged herself up from the bloody floor and flew on exhausted and scorched wings back from the outer reaches of the Former Hell of Blazing Fire to the Palace of The Earth Spirits. She didn't notice that as she flew, the fires behind her flared with new life. She did not notice the light shining from her very body, barely even aware of the dull thumping in her chest that her heart still beat. The eye that had forced its way out onto her chest stared out blankly, dried blood and scar flesh surrounded it as the eye of Yatagarasu saw nothing but a world consumed in its holy flames of nuclear fusion.
She landed before the doors to the palace; she felt something had changed in her. For the first time since she took flight she turned to look and saw that where once there had been cinders, there were flames burning bright. Pride had filled the Hell Raven as she realized maybe the 2 gods hadn't lied, and that she now had the power to relight the failed flames! She had reached for the door just as it had opened, and found Orin staring at her. Why was there such fear in her old friend's eyes?
As she took flight from the scorched remains of the shrine to the earth gods, she knew why Orin had been scared of her oldest and truest friend. Her Utsuho, her Okuu, had become something different from the weak Hell Raven that she had worked alongside and known since before they were Lady Satori's pet. She had become a flaming three legged crow, that's black bird wings reached out so far in the night sky that they blocked the stars light, leaving only glowing red eyes in the night sky to watch from above.
Orin had forced happiness as her friend quickly explained the story of the gods and Yatagarasu to her. A grim look covered her face as she seemed to think, and finally spoke once more as Utsuho tried once again to enter the Palace of The Earth.
"Okuu, you should go get the deepest fires lit!" She suddenly had exclaimed, and Utsuho had turned to look at her, a broad smile breaking out onto her face. Of course! It could be a surprise for Lady Satori; she clapped her hands together happily and jumped in place for a few seconds.
"That's a great idea Orin! Don't tell Lady Satori, okay?" She had asked the Kasha, who nodded her head quickly. Utsuho had hugged her then, and Orin slowly returned the hug. She had halfheartedly returned the hug as if she didn't want to touch her friend.
Just like before, Utsuho now realized her friend had been scared of her. It hurt to realize how even then the seeds had already been planted that would lead to the end of any happiness in her life. That already the moon started to eclipse the sun that brought light to her heart buried deep within her, but this moon would never move and allow light past it again.
She flew over the mostly dried up Misty Lake, and saw the somehow still frozen house of the small Ice Fairy she had seen when she climbed up from the Geyser. She had blasted the fairy over and over, and each time she had been vaporized and simply reappeared over and over. Eventually she had given up, flying off to find easier to be rid of prey to vent her rage on. Her rage had been like the energy that filled her body, it was pure, unstoppable and never ending as she had flew about Gensokyo. She had rained flames down upon the Wonderland below until the ground was as black as her shattered, broken heart.
Utsuho had been spending day in and day out in the lowest furnaces of the Former Hell of Blazing Fire, but the fires were truly burning brightly once more. She had lit them with her power, and as she gained more and more control over them she found herself with more and more free time as the flames required less managing to stay lit. She found herself wanting to go back and tell Lady Satori of how good of a job she was doing, to see the slight pride on her Masters face at seeing her pet's new strength.
She had frozen in the air, her wings slowly flapping to hold her afloat. Maybe she could do more…maybe she could create a new bigger Hell for them to live. A Hell where Lady Satori wouldn't have to worry about the angry stares of foolish humans and hateful Youkai, she would change the upper world into a new Hell for her family!
She had sped off to tell Orin of her new plans; the Kasha had such a strange look on her face as Utsuho explained what she wished. She had told Utsuho she would tell Lady Satori and Koishi, and assist them in getting together their belongings. Had said that it would be a perfect surprise for them, and that first Utsuho needed to make a way up to the surface. Okuu had flown off to the far reaches of the Underworld then, and had in minutes blasted a large hole straight up and out onto the surface. The hole ended up becoming a Geyser, but it was still a much faster way for them to get up and out onto the surface.
Creating the Geyser had exhausted the Hell Raven, and so she had returned to the deep reaches of fire pits to rest for a few days. But while she rested, Orin had not been packing.
Orin had been getting ready to betray her best friend, to bring down evil Youkai to defeat her and stop her plan for a perfect world. She didn't get any powerful Youkai though, she had gotten a human.
Utsuho's hands clenched into fists at the memory of Orin's betrayal, she was her friend! Utsuho would have trusted Orin with her life, and the cat had tried to take it from her. All because she was fearful of her new power! That was it, wasn't it? She was simply terrified of her friend's abilities, jealous of how much she could have done to help Lady Satori!
'You know that's a lie, she loved you with all her heart and you killed her because of your own stupidity.' A voice rang inside Yatagarasu's vessel; Utsuho forced it back down deep into her heart. She didn't want to admit what she knew was true, didn't want to admit that it was her own rage that had shattered her heart.
Utsuho had heard the human battle with Orin from deep within the flames, and had flown out as fast as she could to find her friends attacker. Halfway out of the flames she found herself confronting a human dressed in Red and White, they had talked for a few moments but Utsuho knew that nothing they said would matter. This Shrine Maiden had hurt Orin to get here, and she would make her pay dearly.
The fight had been a long struggle, both sides slowly gaining ground on each other. In the end though, Utsuho had been the victor. She watched the charred remains of the shrine maiden fall to the cavern floor, an annoyed look on her face. She had wanted to cook her a little, not burn her to a crisp.
She had set off in search of Orin then, hoping her Kasha friend was alright. She found her sitting on a rock near where the Shrine Maidens remains had fallen, staring at them with a horrified look on her face. Utsuho had landed, smiling happily at Orin as she began to speak.
"I beat up the human for hurting you Orin!" She exclaimed happily, but took a step back at the rage filled stare the Kasha gave her.
"Y-you killed her Okuu! You didn't just defeat her, you burned her alive!" She yelled at Utsuho, the Hell Raven not understanding why Orin was so mad at her. She reached a hand out to her old friend, and blinked as she recoiled from her touch. The Kasha shook her head and looked down at the ground, tears in her eyes.
"Okuu…I'm sorry, but I called that human here. You're out of control, and Lady Satori is going to find out what you're doing and punish you! So I sent evil spirits above ground to get someone to come down here and stop you!"
Utsuho stared at the Kasha, and inside she felt something break within her. Her hands tightened to fists as she felt her anger build up inside her, and she began to glow as the energies inside her began to spiral out of control.
"You…you tried to kill me…" She mumbled, not able to believe her rage filled mind as it arranged the events. She felt her body heat up, and watched as Orin took a few steps back as Utsuho's entire body glowed brightly in the light. Orin had tried to reply to the Hell Raven, but Utsuho did not allow the cat even her final words.
"You are my closest friend, and you betrayed me!" She screamed out, and she saw a look of fear on Orin's face as it was consumed in the angry flames of Yatagarasu. The fire exploded outward throughout the entire Underworld, consuming all in its path as every Youkai, animal, or unlucky human underground was vaporized in seconds by the holy flames.
The flames had consumed everything on that day, the entire underworld blackened by the flames. Lady Satori, Lady Koishi, Orin…her family had been consumed by her rage. She had been the cause of her own suffering, yet Gensokyo had been the one to suffer for her sins. She gazed down upon the world she had made into a home for people that no longer existed, people that if they did would hate her.
Utsuho's mind finally snapped as it accepted that all the pain and suffering was by her own hand. That she had become a uncontrollable monster, and that no matter what she did now in this life, she could never make up for what she did to her family.
She fell to the ground from the sky then, her wings not able to hold up the weight of the black bird's grief. She fell onto her knees, burying her face in her hands as she finally wailed her sorrow to the world that she had burned and emptied.
She simply lied there on the burned ground, not even looking up as the Witch moved towards her. Barely lifting her eyes to stare at the hate filled golden orbs as she felt the Magic Furnace push against her forehead, the witch's tremendous magical power being focused into it. She stared up at her with empty, broken eyes as the witch spoke.
"I hope you burn in your own flames in hell, that you realize all the pain and suffering you have caused was for nothing." The witch spoke, and Utsuho's wet eyes shut as she prayed for second chances. Not for her, but for her family that had been killed by her own foolish rage.
"I already have." She replied, before the magical energy ripped through her entire body. The anger and grief behind the blast was the same as Utsuho's, and with the Hell Raven making no move to defend herself as she felt her body being undone by the energies.
She thought as she died, that she saw the smiling faces of her family awaiting her.