The Adventures of Master Kaku and Blessed Bell
A Touhou Project Fanfic by Achariyth
Chapter 3: The Ghost Queen
"Life and death are one thread, the same line viewed from different sides." – The Classic of the Way and Power, by the Old Master
Hidden between racks of ruffled dresses, Meiling covered her agape mouth as Yori Houraisan stormed out of the Kirisame Boutique's showroom. Alone at the sales counter, Kaguya Houraisan stood mannequinlike amidst a ring of open jewelry boxes. The fairy-tale princess pleaded with wide eyes for her husband to return to her side.
The glass door slammed behind the stocky printer, knocking over the store's bell. Outside, on the village streets, passersby sped out of Yori's way.
Cold brass tapped against Meiling's foot. With a shriek, the guardswoman jumped out of her hiding place.
Kaguya's eyes fixed on the comely redhead before glancing at the door. With a wordless sputter, the moon princess dashed out of the store.
Sheepishly, Meiling backed away from the storekeeper's stare and slipped behind a rack of yukata gowns. Something sharp jabbed into her back. The guardswoman whirled around, covering her mouth with both hands.
Master Kaku slid a hairpin into her coiffure. "Hold this and come with me." She thrust a wave-print yukata at Meiling's chest.
"I expected more compassion from a fellow Taoist." Meiling draped the silk gown over her arm. Rubbing her back, she followed the Azurine Hermit to the rear counter.
"Don't confuse voyeurism for compassion. Or the weddings in your manga tales for marriage." The Azurine Hermit pawed inside a jewelry box left open on the counter. She held up a butterfly barrette. "This is an impressive piece."
Mr. Kirisame emerged from the storage room. The salt-and-pepper-haired merchant stacked jewelry boxes on the counter. "Yori has an eye for jewelry. Unfortunately, Princess Kaguya considers my wares to be too pedestrian."
Meiling ran her finger along the edge of the butterfly's wing. The translucent green stone, Dushan jade from the Middle Kingdom, glowed at her touch. The moon princess would make a perfect ornament for the carving.
Had Meiling not spurned Yori months earlier, that jade butterfly might have been hers. Granted, he was an awkward schoolboy at the time. She licked her lips. Perhaps she should check if Japan still allowed concubinage-
"Bell!" Master Kaku snapped her fingers in front of Meiling's face. With a start, Meiling grew crimson and pulled her hand away from the ornament. The Azurine Hermit set the jade ornament on the counter. "What do you know about spirits?"
Meiling coughed into her hand. "Emperor Yu the Great forbade rice wine-"
"I meant ghosts." The hermit took the yukata from Meiling and set it next to the jade carving.
"I don't have much to do with them, except when Lady Yuyuko and Youmu attend the mansion's feasts. And now Lady Tojiko as well, I suppose."
Master Kaku raised an eyebrow. "What about your ancestors?"
"Of course," Meiling stammered. "I always offer them the proper gifts. In return, they grant good fortune and health-" The Chinese youkai's eyes widened as she trailed off. Their shopping trip now made sense. Master Kaku smiled and added an amber heart necklace to her pile.
"Perhaps Chinese ghosts might be so benevolent," Mr. Kirisame said. "Japanese ghosts would steal your bodies."
"To change their ways, our offerings must be of the highest quality." Master Kaku planted a rainbow-stained coin on the counter.
Meiling frowned as the hermit kept a finger pressed against the toned silver. She leaned closer to the counter. Without a close examination of the coin's face, she could not tell if it was a real from the mansion's halls. It appeared to be the right size, though.
"Miss Hong?" Mr. Kirisame cleared his throat. The shopkeeper held out a sealed envelope. "Could you please deliver this message to Miss Knowledge?"
Meiling perked up as she took the envelope. A love letter from the father of Patchouli's chief annoyance in life? She would hand the note to the librarian herself. Well, right after she told Sakuya, Remilia, and Koakuma. No one would want to miss Patchouli's mortification. "She'll get it as soon as I see her."
"Thank you. I await her reply, hopefully before I leave on my next trade expedition." Mr. Kirisame picked up the stacked boxes and shelved them underneath the sales counter.
Master pursed her lips and added an amber pendant to her pile. "Can you recommend a vintner?" she asked the merchant.
Mr. Kirisame drew in a sharp breath. "My daughter makes a fine futsu table sake when it strikes her fancy."
"I was thinking more of grape wine. Perhaps a sparkling Koshu?"
"All for Lady Tojiko? Your assistant shouldn't need offerings to help us." Meiling glanced at the growing stack of gifts on the counter. The rainbow coin was gone. The guardswoman sighed; she needed to inventory the Scarlet Devil Mansion's vault after this incident.
Master Kaku hid her smile behind the cherry blossom-print of a paper fan. "Bell, you must learn to be more ambitious."
Shuffling through a billowing shroud of fog, Meiling carried Master Kaku and a full rucksack on her shoulders. Only the diffuse glow of nearby will-o'-the-wisps marred the cloud walls that covered everything in unbroken white. The guardswoman could not see her own hands or even the buckles of Master Kaku's shoes. Neon spirits, more common than fairies here on the path to the Netherworld, circled the Chinese youkai, waiting for a misstep. Shivering, Meiling stopped and groped for a spellcard tucked in her vest.
Master Kaku rapped her knuckles on the top of Meiling's head. "Head towards the brightest light."
Meiling clenched her eyes until they watered. No matter which direction she turned, three wisps lit the fog in front of her. "Which one is that?"
"Turn to your right." Master Kaku pointed, reaching into the fog. "Keep turning. Now walk forward."
Meiling shuffled towards a pink glow all but identical to the other wisps in the fog, counting her paces with each step. After a hundred, the wind picked up, whipping Meiling's hair around her and driving away the white clouds. Four squared timber pillars and a shadowed gate loomed through the thinning haze. Etched with actinic lines, a circumscribed star glowed on the stone gate. Meiling pushed her pace until she passed between the first two pillars.
"Wait." Master Kaku dropped from Meiling's back. Working her shoulders in circles, the guardswoman yanked on her rucksack straps until the hiking pack sat high on her back. The Azurine Hermit palmed a deck of spellcards and approached the wind-worn gate.
The magical circle flared white, flooding the courtyard with an arctic chill. A dozen will-o'-the-wisps howled out of the gate. As the glowing spirits rushed Meiling, she flung a spellcard. The wall of danmaku shredded the spirits into fading smoke.
A second wave screamed free from the circle. Pink danmaku clusters burst between the pillars like summer fireworks. A flash of heat lightning later, and only the living stood before the magical gate. As Meiling exhaled sharply, Maaster Kaku tossed away a spent spellcard.
The magic circle on the gate glowed yet again. Meiling filled her free hand with spellcards.
A black tear ripped through the air in front of the gate, bound by red ribbons at each end. The line blinked open, eclipsing the magical radiance with a galaxy of unblinking eyes. A blond teenager in a mob cap poked her head out of the portal. Squinting, she turned around and examined the incandescent glow. With a wave of her hand, the newcomer quenched the magic circle.
"Hello, Yukari. You're looking cute today." Meiling hid her amazement behind a smile. The Yukari Yakumo floating nearby resembled a truant schoolgirl rather than the glamorous sorceress renowned throughout Gensokyo.
Yukari dimpled prettily and snapped her fingers. The ribboned portal irised wide, allowing the youkai of boundaries to step into Gensokyo. "Thank you, Meiling. I'm trying a new look today."
The dark portal purred, "She's tired of Akane calling her 'Great-Grandmother?' Isn't that right, Granny?"
"Call me 'Aunt'." The border youkai's smile grew strained. "I know Ran taught you manners."
A dun mouseling in a hand-me-down orange dress stepped out into the mist. She gazed up at Yukari with a toothy grin. "But, Granny-" Yukari clamped a hand over the mouseling's mouth.
The Doomkitten staggered out of the portal, laughing.
"I'll deal with you later." Yukari glowered at Chen. As the portal blinked away, she fixed a smile to her lips and turned towards Meiling. "So, why are you at the Gate Between Life and Death?"
"I might ask the same question," Master Kaku said.
"Yuyuko called us here. She has a present for Akane." Yukari released the mouseling.
Akane skipped towards Meiling and, with one final bounce, curtsied. "Do you have one for me, too?"
Meiling glanced over to Master Kaku who, with a grin of her own, nodded. The guardswoman rifled through her pack and pulled out the amber heart pendant by its chain. The mouseling's eyes grew wide as she took the gift from Meiling's hand. Chen helped fasten the new necklace around the mouseling's neck.
Yukari shook her head. "Don't encourage her."
The Gate Between Life and Death swung inward, its heavy wooden beams scraping gravel. Circled by a faint cirrus wisp, a pale girl in green bobbed a greeting. She winced as the two sheathed swords on her back tapped the ground.
"Youmu!" Chen and Akane rushed forward and wrapped their arms around the swordswoman's waist.
Youmu Konpaku held the two girls close. "Miss Ran's almost done cooking for you. We better hurry up before Yuyuko eats up all your surprise."
"I remember you," Master Kaku said. "You made such a cute missionary. Have you studied the Tao today?"
Youmu untangled herself from Yukari's familiars and bowed to the master. "I regret that I have fallen behind in my study."
"'In holding the soul and embracing oneness, can one be steadfast without straying?'" Master Kaku beckoned Youmu to rise.
Youmu's brow furrowed while she wrestled with Master Kaku's words. "What does that mean?"
"Meditate upon the Tao and you shall understand."
Youmu considered the Azurine Hermit's words. The pale girl bowed. "Thank you for your instruction."
Shifting side to side, Akane tugged on Youmu's arm. "You're joking about Lady Yuyuko, right?"
Youmu cast pleading eyes at Meiling, who nodded. With a gulp, the phantom girl mussed the mouseling's hair. "Of course I am. But we should go now. Yuyuko is waiting."
Languid and lascivious, Yuyuko Saigyounji, the countess of the White Jade Gardens, reclined on her cleopatra throne, her arm draped across her hip. Misty tendrils coiled up from the straw tatami mats. Low murmurs susurrated from shadows skulking behind the walls. . With a flick of her wrist, Yuyuko unfurled a hand fan, hiding all but her glimmering garnet eyes behind the paper veil.
The silhouettes melted away in silence.
Only Meiling's well-drilled bearing kept her from quailing beneath the ghost's cold stare. At her side, Master Kaku waited stoically, unmindful of the scrutiny.
"Why are you here, hermit? Are you so weary of life that you searched me out? If so, you came to the wrong place. This is a warrior's paradise, not a scholar's." Yuyuko's eyes narrowed. "But paradise will not be your reward when you pass on."
The Azurine Hermit clasped her hands and bowed to the Netherworld countess. "Indeed. There is a slight flaw in my character."
The ghostly ruler of the Netherworld Paradise pushed herself upright. "You should have sought Duchess Komeiji's slice of Hell if you are too impatient to wait for your soul's judgement. Don't fret, I can still free you with a word."
A thin carpet of fog rolled over Meiling's ankles. The guardswoman closed her eyes. She would hate to return to Remilia emptyhanded.
"I have no desire to depart from the path of the Tao," Master Kaku said.
"Not even for paradise?"
"A living dog is better than a dead lioness." The mountain sage clasped her hands and bowed.
Pouting, Yuyuko let her fan fall to her side. "No one accepts my offers anymore."
Meiling released a long-held breath.
A wide-eyed ingénue slid open a wall divider and tiptoed through the fog until she stood next to the throne. "If they did, they would never be able to leave," Yukari said.
"Is that so bad?" Yuyuko asked. "A little company is all I ask for."
Rolling her eyes, Yukari sat at the edge of the mat closest to the cleopatra throne and smoothed her skirts into a wide circle around her.
Meiling shifted her weight from one foot to the other and back again. "Honored ancestor-"
"Am I an ancestor if I died a maiden?" Yuyuko stretched her hands high into the air, arching her back before she fell on her side. Reclining on her throne, she pointed at Master Kaku with the closed fan. "Besides, you are older than I am."
"It is the custom of our people to entreat the spirits of the departed for favor. Since you are the most powerful, we came to you first," Master Kaku said.
Meiling pivoted around and retrieved her rucksack from the villa's door. Kneeling before the throne, she flipped open the top of her bag and set cloth bundles upon the straw floor. One after another, Meiling tugged on each package's chord. Chocolate, wine, silk, and jewelry, as each new offering was revealed, the shadows behind the walls stirred.
"Flattery and gifts. You know how to turn a girl's head." Yuyuko studied each treasure in turn. "Youmu, darling!"
A wall divider slid open. The pale swordswoman tumbled into the hall, followed by Chen and Akane. Yukari bowed her head as the three girls landed in a heap. Scarlet, Youmu wormed her way out from under the familiars. As Yuyuko's smile vanished behind her fan, the gardener stood and tugged on her skirt and livery until she was once again presentable. Only then did the mist-wreathed girl bow to the court.
"I would hate to see Youmu excluded from the gift giving," Yuyuko pronounced. "Youmu, darling, please wear the butterfly."
With fog trailing behind her, Youmu walked over and cupped the jade barrette in both hands. She clipped the butterfly over her ear and twirled around, to the coos of Akane and Chen. Meiling smiled as Youmu skipped out of the hall, no doubt in search of a mirror.
"I think that her omiai invitations will double now. Youmu gets a new one every day. That cute bunny matchmaker is most persistent." Yuyuko smiled, and the shadows in her hall faded. "But you're not here to steal Youmu away. So what do you want from me?"
"Your help to save six fairies' lives," Master Kaku said.
The fan dropped from Yuyuko's hand. She sat up. "You do know I do the other thing, right? This kiss of death? Well, sometimes it's the firm handshake of death-"
"Why didn't you tell me?" Yukari said. Meiling drew in a deep breath as the coltishness of Yukari's new guise vanished behind the flash of an open fan.
Master Kaku turned her shoulder toward Yukari. "Why should I? Your onmyodo magic is nothing more than a pale imitation of the Tao."
Meiling's mouth dropped open. As pale as any bloodless ghost, she edged away from the Azurine Hermit.
"What you perceive through a glass darkly has been made clear to me." Yukari rose, stately and statuesque, newly clad in the glamour of maturity. "Vivid and colorful."
"'The five colors blind the eye.'"
Meiling watched Yukari's hands. Back at the village, spellcards flew for slighter provocations.
Yuyuko glided between the magicians and held out her hand. "This day is supposed to be one of cheer for Akane. Let us settle this instead with a game instead of a fight." She turned to Master Kaku. "To make things interesting, my answer to your request will depend on your performance."
With a sigh of relief, Meiling raked the last stroke of a Taoist ward into the vast expanse of white sand surrounding Yuyuko's paradise villa. A score of similar Chinese characters, Japanese copies, and strange onmyo geometries filled the karesansui sand garden, growing thicker as they neared the straw scarecrow posted at the garden's far end. Meiling planted her rake into unmarked sand, leaned against the pole, and watched the paper charms tied to the scarecrow's cross arms flutter in the breeze.
Her butterfly ornament safe inside the manor house, Youmu trudged past, dragging her rake in the sand. "Please don't do that. The karesansui is supposed to resemble a pond of sand, not a schoolhouse chalkboard."
Shrugging, Meiling shook her rake free. She followed behind the phantom gardener, smoothing away her footprints with her rake. The two girls swung wide around a cherry tree, the sole plant in the garden.
As Meiling and Youmu neared the patio deck, the villa door slid open. Yuyuko stepped outside, trailed by Master Kaku, the Doomkitten, and Akane. Meiling shook her head at the crock of cream in the Doomkitten's hand and joined the procession behind Master Kaku. It was Yukari's duty to raise her familiar, but a kitten with unfettered access to cream, like Flandre rifling through Sakuya's secret stash of chocolate liqueurs, would only end in tears.
Yuyuko stopped at the end of the patio. "This will be a witches' trial."
The Doomkitten's ears perked up.
"Shouldn't Marisa be here?" Meiling asked.
"This is supposed to be a test of magical skill, not of who can throw the largest Master Spark," Yukari sang out from the manor house. She carried a goblet of white wine out to the party on the patio. Like an adventuresome youth finding a half-empty wineglass when clearing the dinner table, she quickly tipped the wineglass to her lips. A pleasant flush filled her cheeks. "But I did get the idea from her."
"What are the rules?" Master Kaku stretched her arms in front of her body.
"One spell, one target." Yuyuko waved towards the scarecrow. She mussed Akane's hair. "Impress her. Simple, isn't it?"
"Any spell? Not just combat spells?"
"Even spinning straw into gold." Yukari knelt and cupped her hands to her mouth. She stage-whispered, "Don't try that one, though. I shared that secret with Akane last week."
The mouseling beamed and touched the ends of the yellow bow around her neck. The cloth took on a metallic sheen.
Meiling ran her ribboned braid through her fingers and dreamed of wearing gold. She shook herself awake; the fairies came first.
A flash in the corner of her eye turned Meiling's head. At the other end of the sand garden, the scarecrow blanched until wood, straw, and cloth faded to the hue of sun-bleached bone. The magic wards etched into the sand failed to glow.
"Youmu, you did scare away all the ghosts, right?" Meiling asked.
"Ghosts?" Youmu stammered. The phantom swordsman clung to Meiling's arm with a vise grip. She glanced at the scarecrow, squealed, and buried her head in the Chinese youkai's shoulder. Meiling bit back a laugh. Who would have thought that a phantom would be scared of ghosts? Then Meiling looked out into the garden and froze.
A sickly green glow settled upon the scarecrow as though a will-o'-the-wisp possessed the straw man. Flames kindled along the wooden crossarm, whipped into a blaze by a dust devil's whirls. The spell ward streamers burned to windblown ash. A shimmering puddle of molten sand grew below the straw man. Out in the karesansui garden, the sand wards lit up with a neon glow.
The Netherworld sky darkened as clouds gathered, spiraling around the villa. A waterspout stabbed down from the sky, quenching the fire in a cloud of steam. Water rushed through the garden, smoothing away the lines in the sand. Yuyuko clapped as the torrent relented, leaving the warrior's paradise awash in silt.
"My garden!" Youmu wailed. The phantom groundskeeper buried her face in her hands and slumped to the deck.
As showy as the spell was, Meiling saw more impressive displays of magics every time Patchouli tried to prevent Marisa from pilfering the mansion's library. Crossing her fingers, the guardswoman glanced over at Master Kaku. The Azurine Hermit denied the silent question with a wave of a hand.
Akane hugged Yukari tight. "Was that your magic, Great-Granny?" Shaking her head, the ingénue of boundaries wrapped her arm around the mouseling. "Who did it?"
Meiling's eyes narrowed as the Doomkitten swept a sketch made of sand into the ruined sand garden. Was that a smile she had seen from the Doomkitten before the jug of cream hid the cat youkai's lips?
"It wasn't me," Master Kaku said.
All eyes turned to the ghostly countess. Yuyuko smiled coyly and offered her arm to Akane. At Yukari's prompting, the mouseling clung to her hostess. Yuyuko led Akane inside the manor house. The door slid shut, locking with a loud click.
Atop a Netherworld terrace carpeted with verdant moss, Meiling clasped her hands and bowed. "Thank you for the match." Splinters from a shattered practice sword surrounded her, standing upright like saplings growing out of the moss.
Youmu brought the tsuba guard of her own practice sword to her eyes in a salute. "It's good to have an appreciative student for once." The ghostly swordswoman knelt, pried loose a clump of moss, and wrapped it around her bloody knuckles. A pair of silvery shades, drawn by the blood, floated nearby.
"Did you grow this moss garden for martial arts training?" Meiling asked. The half-meter layer of moss had been soft and yielding every time Youmu had knocked her down in practice.
"Not really. I don't normally get cut." Youmu applied pressure to the moss bandage. The pale girl glared at the shades until the spirits floated away. "Yuyuko asked for the mossery after she grew tired of rosariums and orchards. This is one of a score of different gardens, from cactus to fernery, within our paradise. The warrior spirits love them, so Yuyuko keeps adding more."
"Which one is your favorite?"
The gardener probed a patch of brown with her finger. "The flowery meade. I collected wildflowers from all over Gensokyo. There's a brook stocked with ayu sweet trout and even an old-fashioned Heian teahouse straight out of Yuyuko's childhood."
Meiling whistled. "Where did you find the time for that?"
"An aspiring swordmaster is expected to demonstrate artistry as well as martial prowess." Using a knife, Youmu pruned away the brown moss. "Is that not also the case with the Chinese?"
The shattered sword at Meiling's feet grew more interesting. "Sure." Did reading manga bodice rippers count?
"Which art-?"
"What will Yuyuko do next?" Meiling slapped a hand over her mouth and groaned. Until the question burst forth, she had tiptoed around it since Yuyuko secluded herself inside her manor home.
It was Youmu's turn to grow captivated by the garden at her feet. "I can't."
"Not even between fellow retainers?" Servants loved to gossip, which suited Meiling just fine.
"You misunderstand me. I cannot tell you because I do not know myself." The petite gardener grew more child-like as she scooped chunks of crumble, like rotted cork, from the pruned moss. "Yuyuko's confided a thousand plans to me, and I still can never guess what she's going to do. But no matter how whimsical her fancies might seem, a purpose always guides her actions."
Meiling gave silent thanks that her own master's desires were more straightforward. What Remilia did not do out of playfulness or hunger, she did out of pride, and when that was wounded-
"I've decided that I'm still mad at you."
The guardswoman shuddered. Immediately, she felt the cold press of a forehead against her own. Meiling opened her eyes to Youmu's emerald ones. The petite gardener floated in the air, buoyed by the mists gathering at her feet.
"You're burning up!" Instantly, Youmu appeared behind Meiling, shoving the larger youkai toward the white gravel path that bordered the terrace. "You must return to the manor house. The living cannot wander these gardens for long."
"I'm fine," Meiling called over her shoulder. She tripped over her feet as Youmu pushed her down the path. By the Eight Immortals, the little phantom girl was strong. Meiling twisted, and Youmu stumbled past the Chinese youkai. Blurring, the phantom appeared behind her, and slammed her tiny hands into the small of Meiling's back. "I just had something on my mind."
A spellcard flashed behind Meiling. The gardens streaked around her in a wall of red-speckled green. Meiling clutched her head and closed her eyes. Finally, she skidded to a stop.
"You'll be safe inside. Ask for the butterfly ginger tea." Youmu's voice grew distant and the pressure against Meiling's back lifted. "Don't forget, stay away from the cherry tree."
Blinking, Meiling found herself at the steps to the White Jade Gardens' manor house. She looked over her shoulder. A thick haze shrouded the path the garden terraces.
"Let me guess, Youmu's worried about Netherworld fever again," a silky voice said.
Meiling whirled around. In front of the door stood a golden flame as tall as a man. She rubbed her bleary eyes. The flame parted into the nine gleaming tails of a fox maiden.
Ran Yakumo craned her head around her tails. "She means well, but the poor deal keeps forgetting that she has a lower body temperature than just about everyone." The fox youkai ran a tortoise-shell through a tail's golden fur. "Youmu's such a sweetheart, though, so we all play along."
"She certainly wouldn't take no for an answer." Meiling turned her shoulder and groaned. Two brown handprints were slapped against the back of her green dress. She reached back and brushed away the moss.
"She takes after Yuyuko in that manner. I pray that will be the only way." Ran bowed her head and murmured a sutra.
Meiling waited for the end of the fox maiden's prayer. "I thought you and Yukari are on good terms with Yuyuko."
"Yuyuko treats me like a broken version of those calculators that the kappa sell. She thinks that if she thumps me hard enough, she will 'fix' me. No matter how hard she tries, it never works to her satisfaction. That doesn't stop her from trying again and again." Gaslight flame engulfed Ran. To Meiling's surprise, neither the fox maiden's fur nor her flowing sleeves caught fire. "For your own sake, stay far away from Yuyuko." In a flash of silver, both fox and fire vanished.
Meiling whistled at the display of magical skill. Marisa, Gensokyo's self-proclaimed master of light magic, could not weave an illusion so fine. Patchouli, for all her elemental prowess over flame, preferred the glow of the crucible to silly light shows, especially after Meiling and Master Kaku had given the alchemical magician a new medicine to craft.
Peering over her shoulder into the mists, the guardswoman pursed her lips. What medicines waited for harvest within Youmu's twenty gardens? Mulberry, licorice, hawthorn or perhaps even the exotic west ocean ginseng, the yin to the yang ginseng bubbling inside Patchouli's maze of glass pipes. Meiling spun around and ran for the white gravel trails that led to Youmu's mossery.
A brilliant gleam burned through the mists, blurring Meiling's vision. Throwing an arm in front of her eyes, she skidded to a stop and waited for the purple streaks to fade from her eyes.
An odachi great sword blocked the gravel path with a drawn blade as tall as a man. It floated in the air, as though a mist-shrouded samurai wielded a challenge. Meiling blinked away the last purple auras in her vision, only to stare at the sword's slicing edge. She backed slowly from the sword. The odachi remained unmoving, like a guard at its post.
When Meiling was ten meters away, almost at the door of the villa, she stopped and held up her hands. "Youmu, is that you?" The guardswoman squinted, searching the white clouds for shadows.
The odachi remained still as rolling fog billowed around the blade, hiding it from view.
Meiling had not expected an answer. The scythe-like handle was too long for the petite swordswoman. Besides, Youmu's speed meant that Meiling could blink and find herself in another part of the White Jade Gardens. As a test, she stepped forward. Gravel crunched under her feet.
Now a mere five meters away, the odachi cleaved through the mists with a mighty swing. A gust of wind roared past Meiling, whipping at her skirt and hair.
She held here hat against her head. "Okay, I won't got farther, whoever you are." Meiling backed away until she bumped against the villa's door. It gave way, and Meiling fell backward into darkness.
Through a single bloodshot eye, the abyss stared back at Meiling.
At the edge of the guardswoman's attention, Yukari leaned over the table and snapped her fingers in front of Meiling's nose. By the ingénue of boundaries' shoulder, a portal had ripped a midnight tear in space. In that beyond, the eye surged forward, filling the Wushu shield-sized portal with its inky pupil until only the barest ring of white sclera could be seen. "Please answer me."
Like a bird paralyzed by a serpent's stare, Meiling was pinned to her chair. She babbled freely. Starting with the six poisoned fairies found inside the Scarlet Devil Mansion, she told Yukari everything, from the secret spider shrine hidden underneath the Forest of Magic to the man-cleaving sentinel sword guarding the way to paradise. Yukari listened in silence, even when Meiling's ramblings turned towards the Houraisans' spat at the Kirisame Boutique. Finally, when the river of knowledge had been reduced to a few trickles about tengu celebrity tell-alls, the enigmatic blonde waved her hand.
The portal winked shut.
Meiling still sat transfixed in her chair.
Using the starless aether of her portal magic, Yukari traced a sigil in the air. The endless knot of the Master Word floated before Meiling for an instant before fading away.
Meiling slumped in her chair. She reached for a nearby teacup, but as her fingers brushed against its handle, it rattled in its saucer.
Yukari slid the porcelain cup into Meiling's hand. "You should have found me first."
A long draught of green tea settled Meiling's nerves. She closed her eyes and savored the grassy taste.
Meiling awoke with a start, covering her heart with her hand. "I must have drifted off."
Yukari leaned over the table. "Hold still." She placed the back of her hand against Meiling's forehead.
"I'm fine."
"You don't want to sleep off a fever. At least, not in the Netherworld."
Meiling set her cup aside and rubbed her hands against her pant legs. She exhaled, opening her flows of chi. An aura like a cool spring breeze grew from her palms and wrapped around her hands. "No, really, I'm fine. I'd sense a fever in my chi."
Yukari pushed Meiling against the back of her chair. "Warrior girls are just as bad as men when they're sick. Now, finish your tea before I fetch Eirin."
Meiling took a sip and puckered her lips. "Youmu told me to drink butterfly ginger tea."
Yukari sat back in her chair. "She would know best." The blonde sorceress clapped twice. Gaslights on the wall popped into flame, bathing the room in light. Wisps poured out of the walls, flying through a maze of ornamental metal screens that sectioned off ovens, stoves, and prep stations into an orderly grid.
A kettle whistled, high and clear. A vapor trail rippled out of the depths of the kitchen, connecting Meiling's table setting to an unseen station via a curtain of fog. The steam shriek relented. A glass serving tray floated along the cloud, the contents of its clear dome occluded by a shell of swirling white. Clutching her teacup, Meiling pressed herself against her chair as the service settled on the table before her. The dome lifted away from the platter, spilling fog out over the table's edge. A steaming porcelain cup, well-worn and patched with gold, remained on the tray.
"Just in case Youmu is wrong…" Yukari reached over, and, from a metal flask the appeared in her gloved hand, poured a clear syrup into the cup. Her eyes, black and without sclera, met Meiling's.
Meiling slid her chair away from the table. "Can I take that to go?"
Atop the patio deck, Meiling shook the last drops from an overturned teacup. A rainbow sheen spread across the flooded karesansui's waters like a film of oil. She hated to waste good drink, but the syrup Yukari added had turned the tea into an alchemical experiment instead.
As the last ripple faded from the pool, Meiling set the gold-streaked cup on a window sill. She hoped Patcchouli was closer to finishing the ginseng cure than the stalled negotiations with Yuyuko were. The ghostly ruler of the White Jade Gardens had not been seen since the Doomkitten flooded the karesansui. Neither had Master Kaku, for that matter. Instead of dodging swords and unknown poisons, Meilng wanted to spell Sakuya in the mansion's parlor and tend to the six stricken fairies. But the rules of hospitality placed obligations on guests as well as hosts.
With a sigh, Meiling turned and froze. A statue of milky jade and turquoise sat beneath the cursed cherry tree. Meiling leaped over the flooded garden, gliding until her feet landed on the cherry tree's bare root.
The "statue" spoke. "Has Yuyuko chosen the next trial?"
"It isn't safe to linger beneath this cherry tree."
Master Kaku opened her eyes, breaking her meditations. "Has Yuyuko chosen the next trial?"
Meiling leaned against the trunk. As soon as her hand touched bark, she recoiled, stumbling away from the tree. "Not yet."
"Leave me be." The Azurine Hermit closed her eyes.
"You shouldn't stay out here," Meiling said.
"Because of this cherry tree? I hear its voice in my meditations, whispering for me to bask in the light and sleep beneath these branches. I also sense the corpse tangled in the roots below us." Master Kaku barked a cold laugh. "Death has courted me as a cherished prize for fifteen hundred years, yet I've fended off his wine and songs and Casanova charms. This cherry tree has all the allure of a clumsy schoolboy trying to take a kiss."
A slow and soothing whisper called to Meiling by name. The guardswoman backed away from the cherry tree until floodwater lapped at her ankles.
Master Kaku rapped the tree root with her knuckles. "It is rude to chase after another in my presence. I have felled Death's tamed oni for less. I should settle things between you and I with a lit match."
The murmur faded from Meiling's ears. She grabbed the mountain sage's arm. "Let's go."
"It is not the time for action, but for effortless being." Master Kaku chuckled. "It is also time to step out of the water, unless you brought a change of clothes."
Meiling looked at her feet and groaned. The hem of her green dress had grown dark and heavy from the ripples of the pool. She hiked her skirt to her knees and splashed out of the water.
Now on a stretch of sand outside of the reach of the cherry tree's branches, Meiling spun around, freezing in mid-turn. Her eyes narrowed as she watched the hermit meditate. ""You're still not certain that the ginseng will heal the fairies."
"We will keep looking at every new avenue opened to us. Even if some paths, like this cherry tree, are dead ends."
"How does that square with the idea of effortless action?"
"'The movement of the Tao, by contraries, proceeds."
Meiling shook her head. Her parents had always warned her of the travails of dealing with the wise. She drew in a deep breath. "What is your interest in helping me?"
The Azurine Hermit meditated on the Tao in silence.
A bell pealed throughout the ruined garden, loud and sonorous. In the courtyard, the Doomkitten swung a wooden ram into a painted bell taller than Meiling.
"Come and get it!" yowled the Doomkitten. The cat youkai hid behind the ram as a sandal flew out of the villa's door.
Inside paradise's dining hall, six silver sabres danced, each heavy laden by skewered racks of meat. From Parmesan-encrusted pork loin to bacon wrapped chicken breast, the swords served the guests of the White Jade Gardens until their plates overflowed. A poniard circled the tabled, offering sausage-like grilled chicken hearts dripping with lime juice. Meiling waved the blade away, choosing instead from a basket-hilt sword a beef cutlets brushed with garlic butter.
To the guardswoman's right, Ran closed her eyes and turned green. Covering her mouth with her napkin, the fox maiden choked back her gorge. She stabbed a claw towards the empty chair at the head of the table. "She knows I can't eat garlic, citrus, or peppers." As a sop to the fox maiden's exacting diet, snap peas, radish slices, and shaved horseradish in thin ramen broth filled her salad plate. Ran's tails drooped as a brass-belled sabre hovered over her shoulder, offering fillets of lemon-soaked rainbow trout. With a muffled groan, she dashed out of the dining hall.
Ringed by a rainbow of blush wine bottles, rosy cheeked Yukari slumped over the table, caught between giggles and hiccoughs. The jade butterfly fluttered in the air as Youmu, mist-wreathed and determined, played tug-of-war with Chen over a rapier teeming with grilled ayu sweetfish.
In silence, Master Kaku sat, eating a scoop of rice and flowers one long golden grain at a time.
A pipe whistled out a reedy fanfare, accompanied by the martial rumble of a tabor hand drum. The wall dividers at the edge of the hall parted. A mountain of golden fur stumbled into the room as Ran marched backwards from a drawn katana floating in the air, her hands held high. The sword pressed Ran into the room and onto her stool. A cup of milky tea appeared on her plate.
The tabor's loud tattoo crescendoed. Youmu dropped the ayu fish sword and sprang to her feet. Even though Meiling had been hired as a guard, and not a regular soldier, years of training brought her to her own. As the pipe sang a three note parade ground command, she drew herself to attention, to the amusement of the sage and the sorceress.
The drums fell silent as two red-sleeved hands gripped the edge of the open wall divider. Two chocolate-colored mouse ears peeked out from hiding. Akane threw herself into the dining hall, bounced off her hands in a front handspring, and flew high, twisting through the air. The mouseling sidestepped her landing and threw her arms wide in an acrobat's salute, showing off her new clothes. She bounced out of the salute and ran around the table, squeezing hugs as she passed each guest before taking her chair by the head of the table. Only then did she fish out the heart pendant from her collar. The amber glowed like fire against her scarlet blouse.
Meiling grinned as she sat. The mouseling had traded Chen's orange dress for a scarlet Chinese blouse and pants, complete with gold trim. Then again, calling the outfit Chinese was stretching matters. The trousers were more Hunnish than Han, the fabric, an almost denim-like sateen, and the blouse came straight from a Hong Kong movie maker's girl-next-door villager fantasy.
A second fanfare howled through the hall like a winter wind, rooting all to their seats. As the last note died away, Meiling blinked and shook her head.
At the head of the table, Yuyuko appeared, resting on her cleopatra throne. Taking a wineglass from the collection growing around Yukari, the ghostly countess raised it high. "A toast."
Meiling joined the table and raised her glass in response. Impish Yukari, however, raised two.
"To the newest member of Clan Yakumo." Yuyuko said. After the cheer died down, the swords descended upon the dun mouseling. As her plate filled with meats, Akane pointed to Yuyuko's empty placemat. "Aren't you going to eat, too?"
A fan appeared in Yuyuko's hand. With a flick of her wrist, she hid a smile behind the fan's cherry print. "I've been told watching a ghost eat can put a damper on spirits."
Yukari choked on her wine. The ingénue set aside her goblet and coughed into a cloth napkin.
Master Kaku cleared her throat. "And a decision avoided extinguishes joy."
Had Meiling lived out her days in the Chen village, she might have gasped at the affront. But the guardswoman's travels had taken her far from the Middle Kingdom, across the waves to a land where the sun never set upon its forthright people. Years there in the service of Remilia had accustomed Meiling to uncouth confrontation, but not from her countrywomen.
Yuyuko sat upright, rapidly flickering her hand fan open and closed. "That was not an invitation to do the same."
"We are kept waiting for an answer, yet you find the time to lecture me about propriety," Master Kaku said.
"You were always free to leave, unlike most who enter my gardens. Only your desire restrained you." Yuyuko tapped Yukari's shoulder with her closed hand. "Did I get that right, Yukarin? I never was a good Buddhist, despite all the young priests who tried to save my soul."
Yukari shrugged, hunching over her placemat. Using a chopstick as a stylus and sauce for ink, she scribbled lines on a clean plate.
Yuyuko held her fan to her cheek. "I hoped you changed your mind about my offer."
Youmu folded her hands in her lap and grew attentive.
"I must insist on an answer," Master Kaku said.
"It would please me to speed away the uninvited." Yukari set aside her chopstick and tilted the plate upright. Behind Meiling, Ran drew in a hissing breath. The hair rose on Meiling's arms as the fox familiar's immense chi gathered.
Yuyuko snapped open her fan, hiding Yukari's plate behind its cherry blossom print. Ran's chi dissipated. "I admire persistence, but might it be misplaced?" She held up her hand before another could speak. "Before you tell me that you won't leave without an answer, think for a moment. What incentive do I have-?"
"What about the six fairies wasting away at the Scarlet Devil Mansion?" Meiling blurted out.
The table fell silent. Even the serving swords remained still. Yuyuko focused her garnet eyes on Meiling. The guardswoman swallowed a nervous laugh. She had endured thorough inspections from a platoon of sergeants major, but the Countess of the White Jade Gardens stared her down as to judge the guardswoman's soul. Meiling doubted a youkai's vice would be lighter than a feather…
A child's hand tugged on Yuyuko's sleeve. "You'll help them, right?"
Yuyuko closed her eyes. A ghost of a smile crossed her lips. "Of course. Life wouldn't be the same without them. We'll leave after dessert." She opened her eyes and laughed at the quiet. "A sad face might be good for the heart, but this is a feast. Eat, eat!"
Out on the villa's patio, cut off from Yuyuko's party, Yukari braced Meiling. Gone was the coltish ingénue of the festival, replaced by the sorceress's customary courtier glamour. "You've fallen into bad company."
Fixing her eyes straight ahead, Meiling clasped her hands behind her back and waited out the tirade.
"Don't play the soldier with me. It's been centuries since you were in uniform." Yukari circled the guardswoman. The villa door slid open. Yukari muttered under her breath and turned away. "As you were, missy."
Meiling waited ten heartbeats before she allowed herself the barest upturned hint of a smile.
"I wondered where you were hiding." Yuyuko stepped outside, followed by the animal familiars, Master Kaku, and Youmu. The phantom gardener wore her paired swords on her back.
"A little outside air helps digestion." Yukari drew a closed fan from her sleeve.
"Let's take a walk through Gensokyo, then."
Yukari waved her closed fan through the air. A red-ribboned portal blinked open, tearing an inky rip in space. To Meiling's relief, absent were the eyes which so frequently stared out of whatever abyss Yukari carved her portal from. Instead the darkness rippled like water, fading into the Scarlet Devil Mansion's courtyard. The mansion's door flew open, and a silver-haired maid rushed towards the portal. The onmyodo sorceress snapped open her fan and grinned at Master Kaku. "I win."
Without a word, the Azurine Hermit walked to the portal.
"Let me go first." Meiling held out her arm in front of the sage. Had she seen a glint of steel in Sakuya's hand? Swallowing, the guardswoman strode through the portal, passing out of the Netherworld and back into her home. "Odd, that felt just like walking through a door. I expected something more eventful."
Sakuya appeared in front of Meiling and grabbed the guardswoman by her shoulder. "Meiling, you can't keep inviting guests unannounced. The mistress-" The maid's eyes grew wide as first Youmu, then Lady Yuyuko walked out of the portal, followed by Yukari and her familiars. "What have you done?"
