IT'S HAPPENING YOOOOO
Well, anyways, welcome back to BWI. This chapter is more focused on the OC half of the protagonist set. Hopefully you'll enjoy it!
Hackery: Well, it's nice to hear you like it. Hey, Wildcard is built around the idea of a "mask", isn't she? *rimshot* Lewis isn't actually a policeman, but I'll get to that another time in the future.
Tez7: Well, Muse and I (but mostly Muse). As for the price Darius is paying, it's a bit of a given considering how the previous story ended.
To Ziden115: Aw, no! You're making the gunslinger very sad :(
Haha, well, not really, he can't give much of a crap right now. As for the Wildcard... well, she's got a pretty big rival in Geppetto now. You'll see where that one's going... eventually.
Mage-0f-Rage: Once I get Reimu and co. out of Makai, we'll get to them, definitely. Don't worry! I'm still working... kinda.
And for everyone else, as always; if you enjoy the story, leave a review! It helps to improve the story and you'll get at least an honourable mention during the next chapter.
– TOUHOU –
Lewis couldn't believe his eyes. "You – you're harboring a terrorist, Weiss! Do you realize how much shit we'll be in if–"
"No one needs know of this," Geppetto assured him. "So long as you do not breathe a word of it, I promise you that Darius will do you do harm. As he is, he is harmless."
"How can you be so sure?" Lewis demanded.
"His mind is… absent, I suppose you could say." At Lewis' confused expression, the aged president stepped towards the gunslinger. "Here, let me show you."
"Wait! Geppetto, don't–"
Geppetto ignored him, instead brushing his fingertips over Darius' forehead. Then, in a soft, quiet voice: "Wake up, gunslinger."
The gunslinger's eyes flickered. The brown shifted, bleeding briefly into bloody crimson before sinking into a flat grey. "… Yes."
"Oh my God." Lewis backed away, a hand on his holster – before he remembered he came to this party unarmed. "Shit!"
"Its fine," Geppetto repeated, "but you're putting him on edge. I can't promise you he will remain stable if agitated. His mind is in a volatile state, shall we say?" Turning away from a spluttering Lewis, he met Darius' blank eyes. "Now, gunslinger. Where is Darius Loyhrs?"
"… I am he."
"No." Geppetto smiled. "I think you're a false persona. Where is the real Loyhrs?"
Darius was silent for a long, long time. "… Dream dimension. The Field of Memorials."
Lewis spoke up. "Weiss, did he just say… did he just say dream dimension?"
He nodded. "He did. In that case, who is in control, gunslinger?"
The gunslinger did not respond to the question.
"Did you hear me?"
"… Yes."
"Will you answer the question?"
"No."
Geppetto sighed quietly. "If so, then how can we enter the dream dimension?"
Darius stirred. Strings of black hair fell into his face, but he ignored them. "… Okazaki. Lyon. Death of the puppet…"
"The hell is he saying?" Lewis asked.
"I don't know," said Geppetto. Laying a single finger against Darius' forehead again, he stated, "Sleep." As the gunslinger fell silent, he turned back to Lewis, a dangerous glint in his eye. "Now, I'm sure I can rely on you to speak not a word of this, right? After all…" He turned over his palm, a black needle shining between his fingers.
Lewis gulped. "Yeah, yeah. You can… you can count on me."
And just like that, the foreboding aura he had felt from Geppetto vanished as a wide smile broke out on his face once again. "Excellent! In that case, why don't we get back to the party? I've shown you around plenty enough, haven't I? I should entertain my guests after all!"
The two of them walked off, Lewis looking rather queasy while Geppetto seemed jolly as ever. Behind them, Darius watched their backs. He flexed a hand, an orb of light forming and disappearing. He flexed the other, this time generating darkness. A sharp pain bit into the back of his wrists. He turned his head, barely visible black needles running the length of his arms. They burned red for the briefest moment, and melted. Darius blinked as he tried summoning his powers again. They responded in kind.
A sudden force yanked him to his feet. Two fingers brushed his forehead again as a voice hissed, "Awaken."
Darius looked up as a small light appeared, illuminating his new visitor's features. "… Yes."
He looked to be a younger version of Geppetto, by maybe ten years. The same silver hair, but over his sharp suit was a well-tailored and freshly repaired black longcoat. Lyon Weiss dangled a small shape before his eyes. The tiny replica of the gunslinger bobbed in his hand as he spoke. "Darius, Damion. Speak to me."
The gunslinger spasmed, a sharp hiss escaping him. When he raised his head, one eye had turned to deep crimson, the other the same brown. "What… where…?"
Lyon raised a hand, a black needle held carefully in his hands. The point slowly swung down until it was aimed directly between the eyes. "This one might hurt."
"Wait, what are–?"
His hand fell.
"Time to get moving, Darius."
– TOUHOU –
Julian watched as Geppetto and Lewis emerged from the elevator. It seemed as if the two were having a quiet but vehement argument. Surreptitiously hiding his face from view as they passed by him, he caught a brief snippet of their conversation.
"Look, Weiss, I don't give a damn what you plan with him, but you can't send these innocents into Gensokyo."
"I don't want this any more than you do, Lewis. But sometimes, sacrifices have to be made – something you should be familiar with. I had to either save a future ascendant or save his squad, I couldn't do either–"
"Never again, Weiss. Never again."
They wandered away back to the ballroom. In their focus against each other, they completely failed to notice the blonde had been eavesdropping.
Clare whistled lowly next to him. "Damn. That… well, that's why I said to keep an eye on them."
Julian straightened properly as the roulette table came to a stop once more. He'd lost this round. Darn it. "What do you mean?"
"Just 'cause Old Man Geppetto hired us doesn't necessarily mean we trust him." Clare stuttered briefly as he corrected himself. "I-I mean, he's a great guy and all, but the IEA… well, let's just say I didn't get in with the most trustworthy of reasons."
"If that's the case," muttered Julian, "then why are you telling a law enforcement agent about it?"
The buzz of the crowd around them seemed to fade to a low murmur. Clare turned in his seat to properly face Julian as he lowered his wraparound shades. His eyes were an unnatural colour, the light catching in his irises and reflecting around them – like amber. "Because you're not like the other agents I've met," Clare said quietly. "For instance, you're the only one I've met with the Wildcard's mark."
Julian paled. Across his back, leading from shoulder to opposite hip, a strange sensation ran across it, a pins and needles prickling. A rush of primal fear shot through him. Sitting opposite to him wasn't a human. It was something… else. Something unnatural. Something other. "Who… who are you?"
His eyes glimmered through his dark hair as he smiled, exposing his teeth. No, not teeth.
Fangs.
"You'll see soon enough," he whispered.
Time resumed its normal flow. The crowd's buzz returned. Clare turned back to the roulette like nothing had ever happened. "But really, keep an eye on Geppetto, huh? He's real nice, but some roses have pretty sharp thorns."
Julian narrowed his eyes as he turned his attention away from Clare. Now that he mentioned it, there was a thick air around them. Like something was pulling their strings, marionettes dancing on a stage for some cruel audience…
"I need to get some air." Getting up abruptly, the blonde agent marched away from the table, bluntly ignoring Clare's protests. Heading for the elevator, he absentmindedly slipped in and went for floor thirty-five without thinking. Only when a woman cleared her throat behind him did he snap out of his reverie.
"Mister Meliss," started Yumemi. "Is something troubling you?"
"I – no." Julian looked out the glass wall of the elevator, watching the cityscape below them. "Nothing. Nothing's wrong. So why are you here?"
"I'm interested in seeing what the rest of this building has to offer," shrugged the professor. Julian noted that even at the party, she had her laptop bag slung over her shoulder. "Probably won't go too far, though. Curiosity did kill the cat, after all."
"Good thing we're not cats," Julian chuckled.
Ding!
The elevator opened, admitting him to the floor. Strangely, Yumemi followed suit as he stepped out. "Hey, wait. Are you following me?"
"Maybe."
That's a yes, Julian groaned internally. But aloud; "Well, alright. I guess I don't mind."
"Thank you." Yumemi stepped past him towards the colossal sealed gate before them – one he hadn't even noticed. "You know, there's been an odd feeling I've been getting around here. A… hunch, you could say."
He raised an eyebrow. "Go on."
"This is going to sound ridiculous, but…" Yumemi sighed as she turned back to him, a hand resting on the gate. "Julian Meliss… do you believe in magic?"
His eyes widened as a memory sprung, unbidden, to the forefront of his mind –
Blood. Blood everywhere –
"M-Mother? Father? W… Why won't you respond?"
The Lord Christ, watching sadly from upon the cross –
A masked face, offering him life –
Searing pain, a strangling hand choking the life out of him just as soon as it was given back –
"No." Julian staggered as a wave of dizziness and nausea struck him. Leaning on the railing for support, he spat out again, "No!"
"Julian!" And Yumemi was there, balancing him to make sure he didn't topple over the edge. "What's wrong!? Are you alright?"
He pushed away as he fought to control his racing heart once more. "Yeah… yeah. But… you're a scientist, Professor Okazaki. How could you possibly believe in… in magic?"
"Not magic like you might believe." Yumemi flinched as the possibility of another fall on Julian's part reared its head, but he seemed stable now. "I've studied the potential for an outside force affecting our lives. Outside gravity, outside magnetism, outside dark matter – hell, outside quantum physics, even!" She waved a hand at the steel gates before them. "Julian, I am a scientist leading the fields of expanding our knowledge of the universe. But too many of my tests and experiments have ended in failure. My hypotheses, all wrong. There is another force at work in our universe. And behind this gate… I don't know what's in there. But I can make an educated guess."
Julian seemed to have calmed down by now. Even so, the mottled scar on his back stung as he spoke. "And that guess is…?"
"An as-of-yet unexplained force. One that stands outside all other forces." An intensive light flickered to life in her eyes. "Magic." She reached for the lever by the gates. Running a hand over the access panel, a small device blipped as her hand crossed over it. Punching in the access key, she glanced back at the stricken Julian. "This is my newest experiment, agent. And now, I'll see whether my work will come to fruition."
She pulled the lever.
The gates hummed with the hiss of hydraulics as they activated, a yawning maw of darkness exposing itself within. A sudden bang behind them made them whip around and see some of the last people they wanted to see.
"Well, fuck me," Clare said rather succinctly.
"H-how did you get in here?" Lewis looked significantly more panicked. "T-t-the guards must be getting lazy. I–"
But more than either of his companions, Geppetto looked ready to rip them a new one. "Blast! Always interfering, each and every last one of you!" A series of thin black shapes flew into the air, light reflecting off of them as they spun. "No more from you, Agent Julian!"
"Argh!" Julian staggered backwards as a row of needles ran up his leg. Falling to the ground heavily, he cursed in pain. "What… Geppetto, what the fuck is going on!?"
"This is something that cannot be let into the public eye," Geppetto snarled lowly. Holding a single needle out before him, it extended into a much larger shape, a red gemstone set into the tip – a spear. "I am sorry, but this is one secret you will be taking to your grave."
Beside him, Lewis spun a single finger in the air, small gales forming around his hand. Catching the look in Julian's eyes, he shrugged apologetically. "Just following orders, Julian. Don't hate me."
The blonde agent slowly got back on his feet and tore out the tiny needles. They left no marks behind as he removed them, almost as if they were acupuncture needles. "How… how!? There's no way this should be possible!"
"It's magic," said Yumemi. Reaching into her vest, a tiny metallic cube appeared in her palm before expanding into a complex-looking handgun. "I'll explain everything later – if we get out alive."
"Something that I won't let happen," growled Geppetto. His hand snapped back as he made to lunge – but a crushing force closed vice-like around his wrist. "What the…?"
Clare stood easily behind him, fingers digging into the aged president's wrist. Behind his sunglasses, shimmering amber light sparked to life. "Sorry, but I'm afraid I can't let you do that just yet, buddy."
"Nngh… no!" Geppetto struggled in the strange man's grip. "Lewis! Now!"
Clare yelled in pain as a sweeping gust tore at him, flinging him away from Geppetto. Smashing into the wall, he stood slowly under the night sky. Behind a broken lens, his amber eyes smoldered, teeth – no, fangs – bared as he readied his claws.
Yumemi's eyes widened. "Werewolf…!"
"Wait, Clarence is a – wuagh!" A hand closed around his collar and yanked him deeper into the dark chamber.
"Like I said," repeated the professor, "I'll explain later if we get out alive."
The aged president began to run after them. "Lewis! Don't you dare let them get aw – argh!"
With a guttural roar, Clarence skidded to a halt in front of them on all fours in a feral crouch. His outline was beginning to grow hazy, glimpses of a far more primal form breaking through. "Not a step closer."
Vibrant green light coalesced around Lewis' hand as he pointed it at the werewolf. The light flared, extending along the length of his arm until he was gripping a sword in reverse stance. Crossing it over his chest in a defensive stance, he glanced at Geppetto. "Shall we?"
"We have no other alternative." Geppetto hefted the spear with no more effort than he would have to lift a toothpick and flung it.
Julian nearly tripped as resurgent pain crackled up his thigh, an explosion's shockwave rushing past him as the three combatants clashed in the entrance of the chamber. The pain was rapidly overwhelming him – and not just the needles Geppetto had landed. His scar was blazing with an incredible agony, as if trying to slow him. No… have to… keep moving!
One foot in front of the other as he continued down this dark hallway. There, at the very end of the tunnel! Wait a second… that… isn't that…!?
Darius was curled up in the middle of the chamber, countless black needles forming intricate circles around him. A thick, palpable aura hung off of him as he laid unmoving, eyes hidden from view by his matted black hair. Julian slowed to a walk, Yumemi following suit. They slowly approached the still figure on the floor, and as they did, something caught their ear. The sounds of combat had long faded, instead replaced by this crushing silence.
Drifting just under the pressing white noise, however, they could just barely make out something.
Whispers…?
Julian took a wary step closer. The black needles shifted as his foot landed near them, almost bending away from him. "Yumemi, is this who I think it is?"
"I believe so." The strange pistol in Yumemi's hand was still levelled at his head. Now that they had a chance to calm down, Julian could see the odd design of it. It was made of thick, blocky steel, red light shifting in the cracks along the chamber. Definitely not a normal gun. "This seems to be… Loyhrs. But why would he be here?"
"This must be the secret Geppetto was trying to hide… So what should we do with him? We can't exactly leave him here, right?"
"We'll see." Yumemi narrowed her eyes as she examined the layout of the needles around him. "It might just be possible…"
"Yumemi, what are you going on about now?"
"Hmm, no… the seals would probably prevent me from being able to access the hypervessel. But then could I possibly… hmm, I wonder…"
"Yumemi!"
"Eek!" The professor jumped as Julian snapped her out of her reverie. "Oh, erm, uh, right. Right. Theoretically, we should be able to enter this man's 'alternate persona', so to speak. With the hyperspace vessel I used to enter this timeline, manipulating these black runes to our ends might make it possible for us to ease the load that would otherwise crash my vessel. You see, Chiyuri is still working on repairs on the full model, but the portable version I am carrying right now is still capable of travelling beyond the fields of one dimension and into another. By harnessing the latent potential of dark matter, I–"
"Yumemi, I can't speak science."
She sighed. "Teleport into his mind."
"How? You can't possibly expect me to believe that!"
"I don't need you to believe," snapped Yumemi, "I just need you to go with it." Thrusting a hand into the air, she drew a large circle in the air while chanting furiously under her breath. A red line appeared in wake of her hand as it traced a circle. Completing the arc, she pulled her hand back, red runes rapidly inscribing themselves around its circumference. They glowed briefly – and vanished, instead a white line appearing in its wake. It expanded, ripping itself open to reveal… something.
Inside the rip, there was some sort of dessicated wasteland. A smoking ruin of a house loomed over the otherwise flat horizon. Julian couldn't believe his eyes. "Yumemi, I apologize, but… what the fucking hell?"
"I know, my magic is choppy. I only learned by copying others, you know. Personally, I consider it decent for a Muggle."
"Oh, my f – that's not the point!"
"Speaking of points…" Yumemi and Julian flinched as a much louder explosion reverberated throughout the IEA. Someone was going to notice that real soon.
"Meliss… and… OKAZAKIIIIII!"
"If we don't move, we'll be filled with them!" Yumemi roughly pushed Julian towards the rip. "Go, go, go!" Ingoring his protests, she shoved him into the rift and turned around, raising her pistol just as Geppetto levelled his spear at her face. For a brief moment, they stood stock-still in face of each other's weapons.
"Miss Okazaki…" Geppetto snarled. He looked horribly mangled, terrifyingly deep gashes brutally slashed across his face - the blood was still flowing as his face continued to pale. "I brought you… to this timeline… and this is how you repay me!?"
"Mister Weiss," Yumemi began. "I am always in your debt. You and I both know that. But with all due respect… go fuck yourself."
BANG!
As the aged president fell back, Yumemi hit the floor. His black spear lashed out just barely over her face, a lock of red hair blasted away by it. Grabbing the limp body of Darius, she gave Geppetto a mock-salute before jumping into the portal as well.
Geppetto smiled grimly as he fell back onto the floor. Blood ran over one eye, sealing it shut as it congealed. Just barely visible in the darkness, Lyon was there, kneeling by his side. "Brother…"
"It's time, isn't it?"
He nodded slowly, a trickle of red running from his mouth. "Make me proud, Lyon…"
"I will."
A smile came to Geppetto's face, small but genuine. "L-Lyon… Thank you."
His eyes closed. In Lyon's arms, he could feel the steady beat of his brother's heart fade… and stop.
"No need," Lyon finally said. Tapping a finger against Geppetto's forehead, he slowly drew a black needle from his skull, admiring the sharpness of the tip. "After all…" He pressed the tip lightly against his temple – and with a hiss of pain, plunged.
"We're just getting started."
