Stage 3 ~ The Third Watchful Eye

Gensokyo is a fairly quiet place, all told. Even with fairy and youkai mischief, there's not much in the way of major settlements. The largest human concentration is in the village, and even it doesn't have enough people to even be called a town. Things supposedly get pretty lively for a while after most incidents, either from the panic the latest youkai plot causes or the days of tea-fueled revelry that follow, but I arrived in Gensokyo immediately following the quietest incident in years and at the start of a period of calm that continues to this day.

Needless to say, two years of living in the village without even one incident hadn't prepared me in the least for the Ancient City.

The three of us entered the city, flying a short way above the ground so as not to disturb the new snow collecting on the stone paths. Paper lanterns hung everywhere, illuminating the city in a soft glow. As we neared the first crossing, a trio of oni children shot past, chasing after a group of shining spheres. Yuugi rolled her eyes. "Guess they're 'it' today," she murmured.

I floated up and watched the flying spheres as the oni chased after them, all three laughing heartily. Even my novice level of training was enough to recognize the glowing lights as evil spirits. "... You weren't kidding about them," I said at last.

Yuugi grinned. "Heh, you ain't seen nothing yet, either. C'mon, you two. And try not to end up too plastered." She flew further in, her loud, hearty laugh echoing back to us.

As Daiyousei and I followed her along the main walkway, I realized the lights were getting a lot more numerous, and from up ahead there was a clamor of noise. There was a lot to see even with the noise so far off, though; restaurants, karaoke bars, and sake houses dotted the streets, in between hundreds of oni houses, most with at least one of the tall, horned youkai standing out front with a grin and a wave for the passing deva. I shook my head. "You guys really like your entertainment, huh?"

Yuugi grinned. 'You kidding? We're oni, kiddo. You guys got that much about us right, anyway. Heck, the kappa were working on some stuff earlier."

I nodded, looking over the houses. "... There's so many of them. I had no idea there were this many oni left..." I paused; most of the houses were dark, despite the new-looking streamers and lanterns decorating the curved roofs. "... Are many of these actually occupied?"

Yuugi grinned. "Course they are. Mostly. They're just all out partying right now."

Daiyousei smiled. "Chi, it's the solstice. You don't think shrines are the only places that have festivals on this day, do you?"

"Heh, there's nothing an oni takes more seriously than an excuse to party," one of the oni called from her seat at one of the restaurants, grinning at us over a bottle of sake.

Yuugi rolled her eyes. "You know Suika, kiddo, she should be proof enough of that one."

I nodded, scanning the softly lit streets as we continued on for several minutes. "... I can't believe there are so many youkai left down here," I said after a long while. "I would've thought... well..."

Yuugi nodded. "I know what'cha mean, but you'd be surprised how many of us even back then just wanted to live in peace." She grinned, waving to a pair of gaki spirits preparing food, a lone inugami observing them as he set the restaurant's plates, growling every now and then as his black-furred, curving dog ears caught wind of something.

"Is it wise to let 'hungry ghosts' prepare food for everyone?" Daiyousei fretted quietly, glancing back as we rounded a corner. "I mean..."

Yuugi laughed. "Eh, I know what you mean, but that was ol' Shiki's idea, really." She grinned. "Those're the only two gaki left down here, she took the rest with her when they moved Hell, but she always used to put them to work in restaurants. I remember she'd always tell them, 'You once derived pleasure in life from consuming all you could. Now you will see the pleasure others derive from a good meal, and from this you will surely learn your error in keeping that joy solely for yourselves.'" As she quoted, her voice suddenly grew low and pompous, and Daiyousei began to tumble in the air from her giggling. "I mean, it only really worked so far on those two, but she figures the rest will come around eventually..."

Daiyousei shook her head. "H-how on earth do you get away with mocking her like that?" she gasped out around giggles.

"Who, ol' Shiki?" Yuugi grinned. "You really think she's gonna get mad about someone cracking a joke? She knows it's all in good fun... hell, there's not a living or dead being down here who doesn't respect her."

As the lights drew nearer, on either side of us a group of girls spun past, each standing on a spinning white disk that hovered above the ground and propelling themselves forward by beating the ground with some strange, long implement. Loud giggles came from each as they passed us, heading onwards to the festival.

"What are those?" I asked Yuugi softly, watching each one in turn spin past and feeling slightly dizzy myself.

Yuugi grinned and caught one lightly by their pole, stopping her spin almost instantly. "Late to the party as usual, eh girls?" she teased. "Been trying to drink some of the others under the table first?"

The girl staring back at us had blazing red hair that tumbled down over her shoulders and back, and a drunk-blush across each cheek to match. Her robes were pure white and far too big for her, pooling on the floor of her support, which I could now see was a giant sake cup; her "implement" that had pushed her along was a sake ladle. "Oh, hey Yuug'," she said, voice wobbling as much as she was. "Who's the new girl?"

Yuugi grinned. "Miko from the surface. She wants to meet the youkai who ended up hiding out down here. Says she wants to help the humans try an' patch things up with us, since there's not really a war going on anymore."

I flushed just a little. "And, well, I've never seen a youkai like you before..." I paused, taking her in again. Red hair and face, oversized robes, sake paraphernalia... "... but come to think of it, you're a shojo, aren't you?" I finally asked.

The girl nodded, pulling one heavy fold of cloth aside to reveal what was very obviously a sake jar at her side. "That's me," she said, twirling her ladle idly. "What, you think a drunken sea spirit gal can't hang out with oni?"

"Ah, go party with the others," Yuugi teased, giving her a hearty clap on the back that sent her spinning faster than ever. "Besides, us oni need to have someone around who can actually sometimes drink us under the table. If they get lucky, that is."

The shojo huffed, setting her ladle against the ground and pushing herself off along after the others. "I'll get you passed-out drunk one of these days, miss hot-shot deva!" she called back.

Yuugi burst out laughing. "Ah, man, those guys are a riot to be around..." She shook her head. "Kinda surprised you know about 'em though, I thought you guys decided they were actually those monkey things."

Daiyousei shook her head. "Humans do conflate the two, but I've heard plenty of stories from Rinnosuke that humans used to tell about them..." She rolled her eyes. "Besides, you're talking to a shrine maniac here, I'm sure Chi knows all sorts of youkai..."

"Well, and..." I blushed a bit. "I've been getting Sanae to teach me a bit about youkai and about shrine maiden traditions too... I'm kind of a novice, after all, but she's been a miko all her life..."

Yuugi clapped me lightly on the shoulder, and this time I managed to stay standing. "Nothing wrong with getting some teaching. 'Specially not if it's from the 'good girl'," she pointed out. "Anyway, c'mon, let's join the fun for a while. If you wanna meet other youkai you've never seen before, this is definitely the place to do it!"

Yuugi had a tendency, I'd noticed by now, to seriously understate things. Even by her standards, that last claim was an enormous one. The Former Capital held four large town squares set off-center to each point of the compass, and each one was packed with youkai from all over the city. We entered the southern square to a blaze of three different colors of lights; the warm, red glow of ordinary fire, the softer white sheen of enchanted lanterns, and the pale, dusky hues of the spirits, so numerous it seemed as if they could outshine the moon.

Youkai danced and sang all around the square, sake jars and platters of steaming food literally piled all around on the tables that had been set up. Oni were the most numerous, of course, at least among the ranks of the living. Ghosts of nearly every description I had ever heard of floated along the streets, the sheer number of forms whose legs faded into wisps before reaching their feet unsettling, and all around the square the formless wisps of evil spirits hovered all over the place. Neither kind of spirit was eating, of course, but they seemed to be making quite merry with their youkai neighbors all the same. Overhead, meanwhile, I saw a group of girls flying in a whirling sort of dance, long tails coated in fish scales sprouting from behind them and a fearsome tiger mask on each one's head, fangs to match in every mouth and robes in tiger patterning shrouding most of their bodies. These were shachihoko, Daiyousei told me, youkai with the power to manipulate rainfall, though humans had somehow corrupted their image into a mystical animal rather than the cute girls I saw flying above us and intensifying the snowfall over the square.

In the press of eager youkai and obake, Daiyousei and I ended up swept in opposite directions as we danced. The minutes passed by in a whirl, and suddenly I found myself dancing rather gracefully with Yuugi, the tall oni grinning down at me. "Having fun, huh?"

"Yeah, but I lost track of Dai," I said, trying to clear my head by shaking it. "You haven't seen her, have you?"

Yuugi laughed. "She got herself into a drinking contest with three of the other oni and one of those goofy shojos you saw," she said. "Once a fluffhead, always a fluffhead, I guess, eh? Eh, but don't worry so much about her, fairies sober up pretty fast. Specially if someone swats 'em."

I winced at the idea of that. "... it's pretty amazing down here, though... I've never seen so many youkai in one place, even up in the kappa village..."

Yuugi smirked. "Well, duh, they're kappas. You don't see kappas if they don't want you to..."

I shook my head. "Still, this is amazing... it's like being right in the middle of the hyakki yagyo..."

Yuugi laughed. "Sorta, kiddo. Except it's not nighttime, there's a lot more than a hundred youkai here, and we're not really parading either so much as partying." She clapped me on the shoulder. "But hey, where'd you think humans got that crazy idea from? It's not like we didn't party back when we lived aboveground too, after all..."

I nodded. "Well... anyway, I should probably find Dai..."

"Ah, don't worry yourself over her." Yuugi had me by the shoulder now, steering me firmly through the shifting, dancing crowd of youkai. "Even a smart thing like her's entitled to be a Cirno every now and then. Especially if they're a fairy." She grinned. "Besides, even Cirno knows better than to interrupt oni and shojo at a drinking contest. And anyway there's someone I want ya to meet, so c'mon..."

Yuugi, predictably, continued to dance with me as she led me through the crowd. At the very center of the dancing crowd, a small circle was left empty, a heavy, carven chair settled in the very middle with a table set neatly beside it. In the chair sat easily the oldest woman, human or youkai, that I had ever seen. Long, tangled white hair ran down over her lined, peaceful face and almost completely enveloped the back of her chair. Her kimono was as old as she was, patched and frayed, yet still somehow remained beautiful. As we approached, she opened her eyes and smiled warmly at us.

"Heya, Yama-baa," Yuugi said lightly. "Enjoying the Solstice so far?"

I blinked, and winced. "Yuugi... shouldn't you be just a little more respectful...? I mean, it sounds like you're calling her a..."

"A mountain crone?" The old youkai spoke, her voice deceptively young and gentle. "My dear, she's only calling me what I am. It's not disrespectful in the least..." She laughed. "... my, now. Yuugi, have you brought me someone new to meet? A human, even... how rare and lovely..."

I felt my heart skip a beat. "... you're... a Yamanba?"

The old youkai blinked, and then let out a hearty, croaking laugh. "Ah, Kansai... how long has it been since I heard that old twang? Osaka, isn't it?" She smiled. "... dear me, you're not afraid of this old youkai, are you?"

I felt my cheeks grow red, my fears disarmed by the kindly voice. "I'm... sorry. It's just, I grew up with all sorts of stories about the lady of the mountain, and... I guess I sort of got frightened on reflex..."

The old youkai laughed again. "Oh, dear... do they still tell those silly stories?" She shook her head. "But yes, dear. I am Yama-uba." She paused, and smiled brightly at my confusion. "The one and only Yama-uba," she added.

I glanced away. "... I see..."

Yuugi grinned. "Hey, don't go getting some wild idea in your head..."

"She's right." Yama-ba smiled lightly. "I'm not 'the last'. I was the only one there ever was, dear."

Something clicked in my mind, and I stared into those ancient eyes. "... But then... that means you would know Sakata no Kintoki, surely...?"

Yama-ba let out another of those hearty, croaking laughs. "Little Kintaro! Of course I remember that darling boy..." She winked. "I hear he went on to be quite a famous warrior... though it seems he didn't forget his old nurse back on the mountain heights, hm?"

I paused. "... well... no, he didn't, but there are other tales told about you too... um..." I shook my head. "Tales get changed in the telling, but there's always a truth they start from, so..."

"Sheesh, just come out and say it." Yuugi patted me on the shoulder. "You wanna know where those stories about her eatin' human kids came from, right?"

I bowed my head. "... sorry... but I can't help but be just a little worried..."

Yama-ba nodded. "Dearie, you have every right to be worried, growing up with stories like that. To put it simply, well..." She smiled. "I wanted such tales to be told. Humans are far less likely to come looking for a child they have reason to believe is no longer among the living. And one grows tired over the years of humans bursting into one's home and stealing away the child you lovingly raised, only to take it back to their village so their own children can look down on and mistreat them... oh, yes, I saw that happen quite a few times, when I was a few years younger and more foolish..."

She shook her head. "I've never eaten a human child. But I threatened to quite a few times, if they would not leave me in peace to care for those who fell into my lap." Her eyes were stern now. "I wanted to care for them, and I knew that any human ever in my care would be regarded as 'tainted' and 'unnatural' by their peers. I would not permit those I cared for to be stolen back to such a life. So I encouraged the stories... though your Kintaro learned soon enough how hollow they were..."

I looked away, ashamed. "... I'm sorry, Yama-ba," I murmured.

Yama-ba laid a wrinkled hand on my head. "Dearie, how many humans do you know who would have even asked that? Who would have wondered even to themselves if the kindly, soft-spoken, ancient youkai before them could really have stolen and eaten human children while nursing others?"

"... More than you would think, Yama-ba," I replied, my head still bowed and my voice reverent. "Humans are changing, up there on the surface. There is even a temple that holds service for both humans and youkai alike... That's why I'm down here now, because there are some of us who believe it's time to end this old exile and forget the old strife."

Yama-ba beamed. "I see... and is that your wish for this year, then?" She moved her hands back to her chest, lifting something that had lain hidden in a fold of kimono... a flower, its blossom singular but massive. The species was distinctly alpine, but I couldn't place the pure white blossom specifically. She bent her head, murmuring softly to it. "And speaking of which, what might yours be for this year, Yuugi?"

I looked questioningly at them both. Yuugi grinned. "Same as always, of course. Make our parties bigger and louder and more fun every time!" She cocked her head. "... that -is- what I said last year, right?"

Yama-ba chuckled lightly. "Mostly. And a little bit about that dear Parsee girl too..." She glanced up at me, smiling. "It's a tradition they came up with down here. Each year, on the solstice, I come and sit here in the very center of the party. And one by one, each youkai makes their way to me, and they tell me their desires and plans for the upcoming year. And I remember them, every single one, and remind them each year of what they told me the last year..."

Yuugi grinned. "Yeah, the Parsee thing definitely goes double for this year. If more people are gonna start coming down here, there's got to be the right girl for her among 'em..."

Yama-ba shook her head lightly, a gentle chuckle escaping her lips. "And you, child?" She looked at me, those eyes quiet and calm once more. "What is it you desire to bring about, by yourself and for yourself, in this coming year?"

I blinked. "What I want to bring about...?" I shook my head. "I want to make friends with more youkai, of course... There are so many amazing people here I never thought could exist two years ago..."

Yama-ba frowned. "Two years ago? What was so different back then? Surely there were youkai about... I remember Yuugi telling me about quite a number of those 'incidents' far longer than two years past."

"Yeah, but she wasn't around for it." Yuugi grinned and clapped me on the shoulder. "This kiddo's from Outside, y'know? Our old friend who's even older than you thought she'd do something to annoy the Hakurei right before another incident started..."

Yama-ba paled lightly. "No wonder, dear... oh, my, I'll have to remember that wish fondly, then."

"One other thing..." I glanced down at my outfit with a bit of a smile. "My goddesses, the Aki sisters... I want to be able to earn a lot of faith for those two, as well... I'm their miko, after all, even if I'm still not completely sure how to be one." I paused, and glanced up at Yama-ba's inquisitive face. "I only was asked to become their miko a few months ago... I wasn't born into the tradition and trained like Reimu was."

Yama-ba nodded. "Well, I shall remember that desire as well, then." She smiled. "I trust you'll come back down here next year for our next little celebration?"

I flushed. "More quickly than that, I should think." I paused. "... I hate to say it, but we should probably get moving on, though. There's a lot more to see, and we got... held up a bit back at Yamame's webs..."

Yama-ba laughed. "I saw her earlier, and that adorable little tsubure-otoshi friend of hers as well..." She tilted her head. "Who's 'we', though? Neither you nor Yuugi seems the sort to be hindered by an earth spider's webs..."

I flushed. "Um, Daiyousei was with me too... she got caught up and separated in the dance, though..." I looked around. "Where did she go...?"

Yuugi laughed and slipped off. "I'll go get her... even if the shojo get kinda pissed at me for it..."

Yama-ba shook her head quietly. "There are many strange things in this world, dear," she intoned. "Including a pair of youkai species that somehow function better while drunk... I doubt even an old mountain crone like me will ever understand them..." She smiled. "Kintaro did always love the drink himself, though... ah, many's the time he and the other woodsmen would get drunk, and on clear nights you could hear the sound of their shouts and laughter and songs from one side of Nippon to the other..."

She fell into a series of happy reminisces about Sakata-no-Kintoki, and despite my worry about Daiyousei I found myself listening intently. It was only when Yuugi returned, holding a struggling fairy lightly by the arm, that we took our minds off of the great hero.

"I was winning! C'mon, lemme go finish those lightweights off!" were the first words out of Daiyousei's mouth.

Yuugi rolled her eyes. "You started off sober, and they started plastered," she countered. "Now they're still plastered, and you're even more so."

I shook my head, moving closer to the fairy, a little worried. "Dai?"
Dai huffed and wrapped her arms firmly around me. "C'mon, let's go... finish drinking those morons under tha table..." she slurred, pouting.

"Gotta admit, she holds her liquor better than I would've thought..." Yuugi was grinning as she gently tugged me free of her vicegrip. "But I guess even the last greater fairy can do stupid things every now and then... like trying to drink an entire group of oni and shojo under the table 'stead of three or four of 'em..."

Daiyousei huffed again. "... mmph... we're going on, aren't we Chi?" She looked up at Yuugi slowly. "... 'm gonna wanna be sober for this... y'mind? Chi won't..."

Yuugi blinked. "Well, if you're sure." She shrugged, then brought one clenched hand down in a blur that struck Daiyousei square on the head. I winced and turned away as she suddenly burst into wisps of smoke and vanished.

"...mmph... well, seems I traded sobriety for a splitting headache... I wonder if this is what humans call a hangover..." Daiyousei shook her head as she reappeared, simply popping back into existence where she had been a minute before. "You didn't have to hit that hard, Yuugi..."

I sighed a little. Yousei, even the greater type like Dai, were essentially immortal; fatal damage would simply cause them to fade back into nature for a short time while they regenerated at a rate that would make a Zonder jealous. Because of this, residents of Gensokyo tended to be fairly cavalier about "killing" fairies. (Not that the fairies weren't mostly cavalier about getting blown to bits themselves.) As an outsider, I'd yet to really get used to the idea.

"Wanted to make sure I didn't have to hit again." Yuugi was saying. "Anyway, if you two think you've seen enough of the Night Parade, you'll probably want to hit up the Palace of Earth Spirits next. I mean, you may not have -met- 'em, but you're at least known by this point to a good chunk of the Ancient City. You're known by the stragglers up top, and a girl like you'll make good gossip for the city dwellers... so 'less you want to go traipsing into one of the other two's domains, and I don't recommend that seeing as how Suika and I haven't seen 'em in years, the palace is where you'll want to finish up your journey."

Daiyousei frowned. "... if I remember correctly, those who built and held that mansion no longer remain there..."

Yuugi nodded. "Yeah. You'll see, though." She smiled. "Honestly, I can't see you two saying you accomplished your goal in comin' down here if you don't at least meet the new owners of the Palace..."

I nodded. "Do we need to ask for an audience or something...?"

"Chi..." Daiyousei was struggling not to laugh. "It's not like royalty live there... for goodness' sakes, you don't go around asking for an audience when you go see the vampire and her household..."

Yuugi grinned. "Yeah, we call it a palace for old time's sake, but it's really more like a Westerner's mansion. I mean, you can't just barge in, it's someone's house, but I'll bring ya in, I'm welcome there."

The sounds of the party dimmed away as we walked onwards, mostly dark streets greeting us past the main square. We walked in silence, though I noticed a lot more disused and collapsed houses as we continued. Yuugi told me quietly that not a lot of people liked living near the palace, especially since the owner seemed to like keeping mostly to herself in any case. Above the old, crumbling homes, a tall structure slowly came into view.

It was another half-hour or so before we finally stood beneath the high walls of that building and were able to properly see it. Those walls were of carefully quarried stone, each stone irregularly shaped yet fitting in an elegant fashion with each of its neighbors. Each wall boasted a number of windows, each one done in stained glass and some of them very large indeed. It reminded me of pictures I'd seen in college of the great basilica of St. Peter's in Moscow, and I found myself admiring the feats of masonry and engineering that had gone into constructing the building, taking the rough stones and shaping them into an arrangement that never seemed to rely on the mortar to fill in the spaces between, and that had set such large windows, each little piece perfectly placed...

I shook my head. I was perhaps a little overly proud of my engineering background, but I'd come here as a miko to speak with the youkai underground, not spend all day analyzing the architecture or to wonder how and where magic had been used to craft it. I could indulge my engineering instincts another day. For now, I stood quietly by as Yuugi walked up and... predictably banged loudly on the door with one fist. I winced as I noticed the dents all over the heavy doors, though at the same time I marveled at the way they had apparently stood up to centuries of abuse by the tall oni.

After a moment, the handle slowly turned, and the door opened. I peered in, wondering what sort of youkai lived in such a lonely yet beautiful place, but inside I could only see a small cat peering quietly up at us with unblinking eyes. Yuugi grinned. "Heya. The lady of the house's got a few visitors, mind seeing us in?"

The cat let out a long mew that carried far into the house, and began making its way deeper in. As it turned, I caught sight of two long, black tails waving slowly, and I blinked. "Chen...?"

"Chi..." Daiyousei shook her head as we followed. "That's definitely not Chen... trust me, I would have told you if I thought -any- of the Yakumos were here..." The cat took no notice of us either way, however, and simply led us along deeper in.

Most of the rooms we passed through were surprisingly well maintained, though empty of human or youkai presence. Only animals lived here, and the occasional fairy flitting idly around. In fact, there were quite a number of animals in the rooms, far more of the Underground animals than I remembered seeing in any other part of the trip down. There were the usual sort of animal: small rats with sleek, dark grey fur ran about underfoot, though not many, as the cats, long-haired felines with black and red coloring, were probably the reason for. In a few of the rooms, dogs lay almost as if on guard beside the doors; thin and limber hounds with close-cropped, pitch-black fur, they made no sound or even a twitch as we passed them, but their eyes watched me closely, alert and wary but mostly simply curious.

A few of the rooms held odder creatures. One room was almost completely lightless, and even with my magician's sight I could barely see a foot in front of me. Overhead, however, I could make out a squeaking and flapping that made it all too clear what sort of creatures were inside; Daiyousei grabbed my hand firmly almost at once, and refused to let go until she had led me after the other two all the way out of the room. Another room had somehow had its floor lowered; water inside kept a few fat, blind white eels wet and happy. A handful of odd white lizards eyed us as we passed, as well as a much larger one with black scales and clear, piercing eyes. I idly made a mental note to tell Patchouli the next time I saw her; surely my magician teacher would be interested to know I'd seen a living salamander. And in the last room, stands made of metal that had been twisted into such curious shapes and forms I felt sure magic had played a part in their creation supported literally dozens of pitch-black birds that cawed at us as we entered: hell-ravens, Daiyousei whispered to me.

Another of the black hounds also lay in this room, but as I approached, it suddenly jumped up with a snarl and positioned itself in front of the door, eyes focused on me as it let out a long, quiet growl.

"Well now. That's not too friendly." Yuugi was grinning again as she leaned down, hands on her hips, to look at the hound. "Not very good manners either. Three years, and you still don't even say hello before gettin' right to the growling? You just that stubborn of a pupil?"

With a snort, the hound suddenly reared on its hind legs... and kept on rearing, growing taller and taller as I watched, fascinated. The muzzle shrank, fur gave way to skin and cloth, and soon enough a young man with wiry black hair and a pair of definitely canine ears poking up out of it was standing in front of me. Yuugi went right on grinning. "That's better," she crowed. "Been a while, Ereb, eh? What's got your fur so ruffled?"

The inu winced. "Would you quit it with that nickname, Miss Yuugi? I told you, my name's Inuka now... a-anyway!" He huffed, and his eyes focused back on me, a deep, focused red. The boy had only a loose vest and a pair of ragged shorts on, and I could see a small black tail swishing slowly behind him. "Miss Yuugi is always welcome, but who's this human girl doing here? I remember the last time there was a miko bursting in here..."

Daiyousei raised an eyebrow. "But Chi isn't bursting in here, and there isn't an incident going on anyway..."

Inuka shook his head. "Just because she's not doing anything right this second doesn't mean I can just..."

He trailed off, and after a moment I saw the cat had returned and placed a paw on his foot, looking up at him quietly. Inuka blinked. "... wait, you sure?" The cat just fixed him with a steely stare. "Well, if you say it's okay..." Inuka sighed and stepped to the side, nodding. "Go ahead in... I've been officially outranked here..."

I blinked, but Yuugi had already stepped up, patted Inuka as if he were still a dog at her side, and passed through. I bowed slightly and hurried after the others into a much larger room than I had yet seen. From up ahead of us, a voice spoke quietly. "Well, now. When Rin told me she was bringing a miko to visit me, I must admit I was expecting the red-white menace..."

I shook my head at Reimu's nickname. Easily one of the most powerful women in Gensokyo, Reimu Hakurei was the eldest of the three mikos within the border, and easily outclassed Sanae, let alone myself; as such, she was the primary resolver of 'incidents", with a characteristic style that had not endeared herself overly to most of the youkai population. "... I see." The girl who stood before us now, holding our feline guide in her arms and gently stroking her back, was somehow familiar to me. She wore pink, a blue vest with three yellow heart-shaped buttons covering parts of it, and her straight pinkish hair curved down with the contours of her form until it almost reached her shoulders. A trio of slim, red strands, almost like arteries, floated lightly around her shoulders and hips, converging in a dark red orb that gave me a soft, involuntary shudder as I looked at it, and it looked back with a single unblinking eye. A third eye, making the girl before me a satori, youkai with the power to read thoughts...

"One of the last, in fact. Humans tend to be rather aggressive when their privacy is threatened." Satori's voice was quiet, but I still started at the sound of it. I'd yet to say anything, after all. "Surface thoughts are rather simple to see," she continued. "Your own eyes perceive simple things, even when you don't focus on the object. Color, distance, perhaps a rough approximation of shape. My third eye sees surface thoughts in the same way. It's not something I can simply turn off..."

I shook my head, and took my eyes away from the third eye. I'd come here to meet with this girl, not to insult her the instant we met. Even though she did feel a bit familiar. "I'm Chitose Izumo," I said quietly, bowing deeply to the girl. "I'm from the outside world, but as of the end of last summer, I'm now the miko of the Aki Shrine..."

The girl bowed lightly in return, careful not to dislodge the cat from her arms. "Satori Komeiji," she said softly. "Exile, and one of the few remaining satori... and yes, you feel a bit familiar to me as well... may I?"

It took me a moment to realize what she was asking. "I thought..."

She cut me off, though gently. "I can perceive surface thoughts, I said. You cannot tell two people apart at a distance until you look closely. To see where in your memories you have come across me, or something that reminds you of me, takes conscious effort. I'd like not to start off our conversation by gazing into your thoughts without asking first..."

I considered for a long moment, but I definitely couldn't place where I had seen the girl before. She was right, though, that she seemed very familiar. "Okay," I finally said. "Go ahead... I can't remember where we met..."

Satori nodded quietly, stroking the cat in her arms quietly. "... remind me to ask you who this 'Bond' person is later, please," she remarked suddenly. "And why I have a rather strong urge to slap him."

After a moment, I felt a sensation I couldn't properly place. The feeling of unquiet that it brought with it was definite, though. Satori gave a quiet sigh, before slowly nodding. "... the festival, I see... two years ago now... at the Hakurei shrine... and I see you met my pets there as well..."

I nodded after a moment. Now I remembered, vaguely, speaking with the girl. That had been my second day in Gensokyo, the day after Yukari had pulled me in from the modern world. That week had been... a whirl, to say the least, though in the end it was what convinced me to stay and make Gensokyo my home.

Satori pondered for a long moment. "I'm curious now," she said after a long moment. "To be honest, I looked at a bit more than strictly necessary... and what I saw intrigues me..." She paused. "... The human mind is a curious thing, Chitose. Even when you offer to let someone look, even if someone literally cannot defend themselves, the mind still conceals certain things, on instinct... The only time the mind of a human is truly open is in battle."

I blinked. "... are you asking me... for a duel? I'm not all that good still..."

"That doesn't matter." Satori held a card now, totally blank. "My goal is to see into your mind, to understand who you are and why you have appeared before me. For that, your skill does not matter... all that matters is that you face me..."

"Couldn't you just... ask?" Daiyousei spoke up this time, hovering a bit worriedly beside me.

Satori smiled, just a little. "Even a perfectly truthful human conceals things, great fairy. You should know that well. Errors of omission, slips of the tongue, simple forgetfulness... I am a satori, not a human. I know people by seeing their minds, not hearing their words. And, I confess freely, yours is a mind I wish to see more clearly..."

I pondered for a long moment, before drawing out a spellcard of my own, this one shaped like a playing card with a single symbol marked on the back. "It'll give me a chance to try this out, after all..."

Satori nodded, floating lightly into the air. "I'll let you begin, then," she said softly.

I rose quietly as well. "Giving me a change of pace, are you?" I asked lightly, remembering my other two duels. "Well then, thank you." I smiled. "Here I go, Logic-Defying Sign: Mercury Flow!"

I couldn't really call this card original. At its heart, it was a spell taught to me by Patchouli. And I could see the recognition in Satori's eyes as rings of blue and yellow orbs flew out, alternating between the two colors. Patchouli's specialty was elemental spells, and this one melded water and metal together to craft quicksilver... which technically was an element itself, but I hadn't really brought up the periodic table with the youkai who was trying to teach me magic.

Satori nodded quietly. "... I see. The reclusive magician who assisted the black-white before... and she is your teacher, at times, though perhaps not as often as you would like..."
I blinked at that. "She's sickly. And not... all that used to visitors besides Marisa..."

Satori raised an eyebrow. "I didn't say she wasn't. But you certainly wish she weren't unavailable quite so often..."

I frowned. "... maybe so, but I'm not about to force her... she's being generous already by teaching me at all..."

Satori fixed me with all three of her eyes. "... I know that. But, this is what it means to let me into your mind, Chitose Izumo. Are you certain you're okay with that?"

I snapped my fingers lightly. As I did, the orbs suddenly shifted their movement. In Patchouli's own card, the two types simply spiraled out in different directions. I, however, had opted to mix two different movement types. My own skill being weak, this thinned out the density a lot compared to the original card, but now the yellow orbs were radiating outwards in ruler-straight lines, while the blue orbs fanned out and curved across in a wide flow.

Satori nodded, passing the blank card before her eye. "Very well. I'll make my move, then. Recollection: Mercury Poison!"

I caught my breath at the all-too familiar name, and sure enough, those opposing spirals began to fly out from Satori as she flew in toward me, exactly like I remembered. I shook my head as I darted in, dodging between orbs curling in from both sides. "How do you have this spell...? This is Patchouli's..."

Satori shook her head. "A recollection, constructed from your memories of her. I told you I would be seeing your mind..."

I shook my head, and lapsed into silence. This spell was familiar to me, it was simpler for Patchouli to use and I'd seen it many times... there was little in the way of a blind spot, but the trails of yellow and blue were simple enough to dodge in between and evade. Satori, on the other hand, seemed a bit confused by my twist on the spellcard's movements... and as I suddenly pointed down, I grinned a little. I had one last little card to play here.

Several of the yellow metal orbs had been released directly behind me, spreading out in lines just like their blue counterparts. However, as they got far back enough, starting to reach the "boundary" of our fight, they suddenly changed direction, descending vertically in perfectly straight trajectories.

Satori nodded. "Your own personal take, though that vertical fall looks familiar..." She had focused on me the whole fight, making only the minimal movements needed to graze by my shots... or maybe that was just her fighting style. After a moment, though, her eyes went wide... and she came to a stop, looking straight at me even as two orbs curved in, one from each side, and arced through her.

I frowned as I floated back down and landed, watching as Satori picked the cat up again and stroked her back. "Why did you throw the fight...?"

Satori raised an arm, cutting me off. She shook her head slowly. "You... surprised me. So much so that I lost all track of the battle..." Her eyes regarded me quietly now. "... I admit, I looked perhaps deeper than might have been necessary... but you fascinate me, Chitose. Deeply."

I shook my head. "I don't see how..."

Satori gave a slight smile at that. "To you, perhaps it is not so amazing. But to an old satori like me, who can still remember the days when we lived on the surface..." She shook her head. "... you would be completely fine with me living up there, among you. Even knowing that I could with a moment's exertion know your darkest secrets..."

I shook my head. "Having power doesn't mean that power will be used," I said softly. "I may not be able to read your mind, but I can still understand you, at least a little. After all..."

Satori nodded. "I came down here, yes. As you presume, without fighting, simply wishing to find a place to live peacefully... and to answer another question, it is the same reason I've turned this old palace into something of a menagerie..." She looked down to the cat in her arms. "Animals don't have the same instinct to protect their secrets that humans do. To them, having someone who can understand their thoughts, who can tend to their needs and know their desires, is a blessing..." She looked up, all three eyes regarding me quietly. "... to have a human want me around, the same way my pets do..."

I smiled. "I'm not so unique, Satori," I said quietly. "Humans aren't like what they were, back then. One of the nice things about our lifespan is, we change quite quickly..."

Satori chuckled a little, watching as the cat suddenly jumped down and began to rub against my leg. "You're more unique than you think, Chitose," she said softly. "But if you insist... I'll try and put in an appearance, here and there. I at least owe this Byakuren of yours a visit, if only for giving me the pleasure of meeting you properly..."

I looked down, petting the cat at my side softly. "... So... is this as far as the Underground goes?" I asked, glancing over to Yuugi.

The oni grinned. "Not quite, but you have met almost everyone down here..."

Satori rolled her eyes. "While true, Yuugi, there's a bit further down..." She shook her head. "You've come all this way down, though. I think you and I both know you'd like to go to the very bottom, if only to say you did. You're not only here as ambassador, after all, are you?"

I didn't even get a chance to fully nod before her eyes darted to the cat at my side. "Well then, you'll need an escort down there. Would you?"

The cat had vanished from beside my leg, and suddenly I felt two arms catch me tightly around the chest and squeeze, drawing a hot blush to my cheeks as a tail each tickled at both sides of my ribs. "Hm, I dunno... she never did notice me..."

The pressure on my chest withdrew, and I turned to see a girl with fiery red braids dressed in a long black dress, two long black tails swishing eagerly behind her and a pair of ears poking up out of her hair. "And that wasn't 'punishment' already just now?" I asked, trying to carefully adjust my sarashi after the girl had disordered it.

Daiyousei fluttered up behind me and hugged more gently around my neck. "Honestly, Rin, I sometimes think you're an even worse prankster than the trio..."

Rin just grinned, showing a pointed pair of canines. "She says, while hugging the girl those idiots led into the bamboo field on a cold spring night..." she pointed out, giving the girl a light prod. "I led you two all the way here, even got the inu-baka to let you pass, and you didn't recognize me even a moment? I think I get to punish you a little for being so mean to me..."

I shook my head a little. I knew Rin was just teasing. Albeit rather physically. "Rin, I'm sorry," I said, after I'd finally fixed my clothing. "Will you guide us? Please?"

Yuugi clapped a hand on the nekomata's shoulder. "Just 'cause she mistook ya for Chen is no reason to be stingy," she said, laughing. "I gotta get back to the party anyway, so do this as a favor to the gal who keeps things in line around here, eh?"

Rin smirked. "You mean the -other- girl who does that," she said, sticking out her tongue. "But sure, c'mon... besides, you-know-who would be awful sad if you came all the way down here and didn't visit her..."

I blinked. "Wait, she's down there right now? Even when there's a party going on down here?"

Rin shrugged. "Well, Mom's not going..."

"I keep telling you, you shouldn't call me that..." Satori smiled a bit. "And I think I'll join you, Yuugi, if that's all right. Need to practice a little bit if I'm going to go visit that monk..."

Rin grinned lightly at that, and caught both me and Daiyousei by the hands. "Well then, c'mon, you two. Otherwise the featherbrain's gonna get it in her head to follow Mom and you'll miss your chance to visit!"

I turned to wave over my shoulder to Satori and Yuugi, but all I caught was a quick glance of a floating red eye and a slight smile; the doors to the room had already closed, and Rin quickly led us around a corner and out of sight, deeper into the earth.

((Author's Notes

((... this one took way too long to get out. Hopefully the next chapter will go a bit more smoothly, and I've actually written a good chunk of the one following, so the last parts of this story hopefully will be out more quickly. That said, time for the usual trivia. There's a lot this time around, so buckle in.

((I decided to take some liberty with the Ancient City. This is Chi's first real time (on-screen) since the brief mention of the kappa village way back when that she's gone into a place where youkai live. Even more so, it's a place where a LOT of different youkai all live in the same place, though it's "primarily" oni. This ended up with me doing a bit of light research into some new youkai types that haven't really been seen in the series before; just the sort that would still be hidden away underground where humans can't see them any longer.

((Shojo (not to be confused with shoujo) are, as mentioned, sea spirits that tend to be very drunk. They tend to be conflated with the orangutan, which is the "monkey thing" that Yuugi makes reference to, and one Edo-era painting I dug up actually has the shojo paddling along using a sake cup for a boat and one ladle for a paddle. Seeing as how they're almost as fond of alcohol as oni (the word is used sometimes in Japan nowadays to refer to a lush), it made a good pair.

((And yes, Daiyousei drank a few of them under the table. To be fair, they were probably more drunk than Suika to start with, but I don't see it as too far-fetched that Dai would have learned to hold her liquor considering just how frelling old she is.

((Another briefly seen creature here is the gaki. Anime fans might recognize "gaki" as a slang term for "brat" or "annoying child", but the original term refers to a kind of yuurei (spirit). A less malevolent sort of evil spirit (Buddhism regards their version, preta, as beings to pity and even leave food for), gaki are those who were particularly greedy in life. As part of their afterlife, they are punished with an insatiable desire to consume some object, sometimes food but often something disgusting or bizarre. Shikieiki, who assigns punishment to the dead, apparently has a bit of a poetic sense of humor, as she's put them to work here as servers of food rather than eaters of it. Only two are left, though; as Yuugi noted, the only evil spirits that remained when Hell moved were the ones that showed signs of repenting.

((Hyakki Yagyou is an old tale in Japanese mythology, telling of a yearly parade of all the youkai together. Many different legends center around the concept, and it was a very popular subject in Japanese art. Yuugi, however, rightly points out that this is much different than youkai on the surface going wild and cavorting through town, though hints that the concept's origins might have derived from humans watching a youkai party.

((And then we come to Yama-uba, the crone of the mountain, one of the most famous creatures of Japanese myth. There are quite a number of tales of the yama-uba being cannibalistic towards human infants, but again I've decided to play around a little bit with the origin and reality behind such tales, having them instead be spread by the crone herself to keep humans from trying to rescue the children she stole away to raise herself. One of the most famous stories of the yama-uba concerns her connection to Sakata-no-kintoki, aka Kintaro, aka Kintoki-Douji (Persona fans will probably recognize that last one). One of the most famous warriors in Japanese mythology, on the level of our Paul Bunyan or Ireland's Finn mac Cumhaill, as an orphan he was abandoned on a mountain and raised by yama-uba, nursed by her until he grew into a warrior of amazing strength.

((As a side note, the flower is also a reference to one story, wherein it is said that a single special flower holds the soul of the yama-uba and is her sole weakness. Whether this one holds her soul or not, it's precious to her and kept close.

((And, finally, we get to Satori and her home. There's no real description outside of "a Western-style mansion", so I had a bit of fun coming up with a larger description of it. I also took some further liberties, since I don't think it makes sense for Satori's pets to only be blaze cats and hell-ravens. (I also don't think it totally makes sense that only Rin and Utsuho, in all that time, would have been cared for long enough to become beast youkai, so I tossed in a younger one born from a hellhound.)

((Satori herself... is a rather difficult case. It's very much canonical that almost anyone instinctively hates and fears satori youkai because they can read minds with barely any effort. Even youkai aren't able to escape the third eye's gaze. As Satori says, animals are the only ones that cherish an ability like that rather than hating it... so the palace became filled with all sorts of animal dwellers of the Former Hell. Chitose's attitude towards her, however, was definitely not one she expected to see. (Which helped out a bit, considering that Chitose's still fairly new and Satori is a well-established stage 4 boss.)

((Oh, and her reference to "Bond" is due to Satori holding and petting Rin reminding Chi for a moment of Ernst Blofeld, villain of the 007 film Diamonds Are Forever and the originator of the "evil villain slowly stroking a cat while contemplating plans" trope that villains like Dr. Claw made famous. Why Satori, an independent and strong-willed woman, wanting to slap James Bond should be obvious.

((That's about it for the little whirlwind tour of Underground fauna. I actually had a fair bit of fun researching out what sort of various youkai and yuurei should be lurking about underground for Chitose to rediscover, and what sorts of strange animals might inhabit Satori's home. (Incidentally, the salamander Chitose saw is the magical sort, lizards with strong affinity to fire and magical powers.) Next up we're heading deeper to the bottom of the Underground; fans might have a good idea where, but we'll hold off on that for now... after all, not everything's going to be just revealed right away... ))