Chapter 6
Those who are Feared

Cirno sent another ice spear at the final twisted, and it burst. "That's another group down."

"Our third since leaving the shrine," Utsuho noted. "And we're in the forest now. Hopefully the human village hasn't attracted too much trouble. Keine and Mokou may not be enough to fend off a twisted attack. They could handle groups like these, but I doubt they could handle an attack like the one on the underground. Although they could probably get help from Eientei; despite Mokou's ongoing conflict with Kaguya, they're on fairly good terms."

"Which brings us back to what you were about to say before the fight," Cirno said. "About what to expect if we have to fight at Eientei."

"Yes," Utsuho said. "Come on, let's get moving again."

"There's really only one person with a nasty trick," Utsuho said as the two of them flew above the forest, "and that's the lunar rabbit Reisen. Don't look into her eyes; she can drive you mad if you do. As long as you avoid that, she shouldn't be a problem.

"The toughest ones in a fight will be Eirin and Kaguya. Kaguya I know is immortal, but I'm not sure about Eirin. She wouldn't die of age anyways, of course, but I don't know if it's possible to kill her, or if she too has used the 'Hourai Elixer'. Anyways, both of them should be considered extremely dangerous in battle. They can't match us in power, of course, but they've had enough time to completely master the power they do have. Especially Kaguya, due to her feud with Mokou-and Mokou's the same way, of course. Anyways, they'll be the tough ones. If we have to fight, we should take out any others first, as they'll go down quickly. Then we can worry about Eirin and Kaguya. On the plus side, we don't have to worry about holding back against Kaguya. Eirin, maybe, but we know Kaguya's immortal, so don't worry about trying to avoid killing-already?"

Cirno felt it, too. Another group of twisted. But… "there's a person, too" Cirno said. "Someone's fighting these twisted. And apparently," she continued as several twisted vanished from her sense, "kicking the shit out of them. What do you think, Utsuho? Should we check it out?"

"At this rate," Utsuho said, "the twisted'll all be gone by the time we get there. But I would like to know just who's beating them that badly. So yes, let's check it out."

The twisted were indeed all destroyed by the time the pair arrived. The person responsible seemed ready to leave, but stopped as she saw Cirno and Utsuho approaching. She waited as they approached and landed in front of her.

"This isn't someone I know," Utsuho said. "Sorry." A pause. "Um, Cirno?"

"I know her," Cirno said. "At least I think I do. There's something… different about her, though. I just can't figure out what."

"Well, who is she?"

"Her na-" Cirno cut off as it hit her. "Wait, you're not wearing your… so the stories were true, then."

"Somewhat, at least," the person said. "But I believe you were about to introduce me to your friend here. Although you don't have to tell me who she is; I've figured that one out."

"Um, right. Utsuho, this is Rumia."

"A name I've heard before," Utsuho said. "I seem to recall hearing something about an amulet of some kind. Is that what she's not wearing, Cirno?"

Cirno nodded. "It was a ribbon she always wore. She never took it off. Ever. Rumor had it that it couldn't be removed, that it was actually a sealing amulet."

"And this is true," Rumia said. "It was indeed an amulet. Essentially, it sealed me away within myself. With the seal in place, I was nothing more than a weak child."

"You probably realize that sounds suspicious," Utsuho said. "Why would you be… sealed away, or whatever?"

"If you're thinking I'm evil or something, you're wrong. Although you wouldn't be the only ones to have that thought."

"I never said anything about you being evil."

"I know," Rumia said. "I'm launching into my explanation here. Anyways, blah blah blah, wouldn't be the only ones to have that thought. And I will not deny that I did things that were… questionable, shall we say. But many people do such things. I was no worse than other youkai."

"But something made you stand out. What?"

"Fear. And I do not mean such things as a wariness of potential danger or of the unknown, nor do I mean anything such as a desire to flee from danger. Such fear is perfectly normal and, as long as you don't let it control you, beneficial. But I am not talking about fear of that kind; I'm talking about fear. The constant sense of vulnerability. The knowledge of complete helplessness. The kind of terror that comes from knowing that if you are targeted, there is nothing you can do.

"Among the people in this world, there are those who fear, and those who are feared. I am one of the latter. And I am not ashamed to admit that I liked it that way. And yes, I did… encourage it sometimes, mainly through displays of power. And that, moost simply, is why they feared me. Power. They saw my power, and it terrified them. Darkness has always had an association with evil, which I think played a part-even if the association is completely wrong-but that was not the only reason. They were afraid of me because they knew they couldn't do anything to stop me. There was nobody that could match my level of power. That is why they were afraid."

"But you were defeated eventually, right? I would assume it was a cooperative effort, then."

"That was the plan," Rumia said. "It was decided that I needed to die. A certain Yukari Yakumo gathered together the most powerful youkai she could find and led them against me. Their intent was to kill me, and against that group, even my power would not have been enough. They were coming to kill me, and I knew they would succeed. It would cost them, but they would succeed. But as I knew I would die, they knew it would cost them. So they were willing to listen when I proposed a compromise of sorts."

"Hold on," Cirno said. "Are you saying you sealed yourself?"

"No, but it was my idea. I knew I would die otherwise, so even being sealed was preferable. And although Yukari would have preferred my death, she decided to accept leaving me alive in order to prevent the deaths they would suffer in the process of killing me, deaths that may even have included Yukari herself."

"And how'd you know she wouldn't just kill you once you were sealed?"

"I didn't," Rumia said, "but I did take a couple of… precautions. First of all, the amulet was created by a neutral third party. And I made Yukari swear not to harm me after the sealing."

"And you just trusted her to keep her word?"

Rumia laughed. "Hardly. I… set things up, shall we say. First of all, I was able to find someone who could tell if Yukari intended to keep her word. Not a mind-reader; an empath. I'm sure she's dead by now; she was human, not youkai. Also, I, um, led people along, shall we say. I told her to swear not to harm me after the sealing, and I did so in a way that put her honor on the line publicly. If she did choose to break her word, well, there would be repercussions. She wouldn't exactly be a trusted figure, I'll put it that way. But even with that, I only allowed the sealing to happen once the empath girl confirmed Yukari's intention to honor the agreement. Yes, it was still a risk, but it was either that or a more certain death, so it was an easy risk to take. And it worked, obviously."

"How did the amulet get removed?" Utsuho asked. "I assume there were substantial safeguards against its removal by anyone, intentional or not."

"That's correct," Rumia said. "It happened a few days ago. I was attacked by the… things."

"We call them twisted."

"An appropriate name. I was attacked by a small group of twisted. Of course, I didn't stand a chance against them in my weakened, childlike state. I tried to run, but they blocked my escape and attacked."

"Of course," Utsuho said.

"Ah, so you have noticed it. Yes, the twisted have a sort of… disruptive effect. I think it's what prevents people from affecting them directly, and it's probably also why they can truly kill immortals. And in my case, they disrupted and eventually broke the seal." Rumia grinned. "They didn't last long after that."

"And so now what?" Utsuho asked.

"'Now what?' I don't have any specific plans, you know. I'm not up to anything."

"Why should we believe any of what you said?"

"Ooh, hostile. Are you after a fight? Because I'd be more than willing to oblige. It's been far too long since I had a good fight to the death."

"Cut it, you two!" Cirno said. "Now, Rumia. What exactly are you going to do?"

"Right now, I think it may be a good idea to do something about these 'twisted', but in general? Live. But, you know, I could ask you the same question."

"We're fighting the twisted."

Rumia laughed again. "You don't get it, do you? I saw your fight with that Sanae girl, Utsuho. You are very powerful. And you, Cirno. Would I be correct to assume that you have a similar level of power?"

"Yes," Cirno said. "What, you don't actually think you can take us, do you?"

Another laugh. "Oh, no, that's not what I'm thinking at all. No, I'm talking about something else. You see, your situation is somewhat similar to mine. The two of you are very powerful. You're far above me, at least during the day. In the darkness of night, my power is still significantly above yours, although if you two have come this far, you may very well pass even that point eventually. And, of course, there are two of you; as a pair, you probably could take me, even at night. But what did I just tell you about being feared? Because your power has reached the same level. You are far above anyone else. And don't forget that whole 'burn Gensokyo' thing, Utsuho. You will be among the feared now. Just like I am. So what do you plan to do when they come for you?"

"You've already seen that," Utsuho said. "If anyone stands against us, we're simply going to defeat them in battle. Even if it's a real fight and not just a danmaku battle."

"Ah, but you still don't get it. See, my own situation was similar. I was attacked multiple times, and every time, I fought off my opponents. That's why they teamed up against me. Eventually, you, too, will face such a group. What will you do then? What will you do if faced with such a force determined to kill you? I suppose you, Cirno, won't be any worse off than I was; they'll have no choice but to seal you. But you, Utsuho. They'll come to kill you. What will you do then?"

I suppose I wasn't as ready for opposition as I had thought. Rumia was correct; I hadn't considered the potential for a coordinated attack against us. My thoughts had been more concerned with the immediate situation; I had not spared much thought for what would happen afterwards. There would be no such large-scale attack against us for some time, certainly. And it wouldn't happen before the twisted were dealt with, I was sure. But eventually? Yes, what she described was a very possible situation.

I was of course worried for myself; death is not something most people look forward to. And I also worried for Cirno, but not because of concern for her survival; I knew she wouldn't die. The twisted may be able to truly kill her, but nothing else could do so. But I didn't want her to end up sealed away within herself as Rumia had been. I didn't want to let anything happen to her.

We had both cared for each other for some time, but it was only then that I realized how I truly felt about Cirno. And I knew, then, that I wasn't going to let anyone seal her away or do anything else. And I wasn't about to let that happen to myself, either.

It was a little while before Utsuho replied. "I don't know what will happen then," she said eventually, "but there's one thing I do know, and that is that I won't stand down."

"Neither will I," Cirno said.

"I see. That may be a foolish decision, but we will see, I suppose. I don't think you'll have to worry about that sort of cooperative attack until the current situation has been resolved, though. I'd expect some opposition, sure, but not at that level. And the same is true for me."

"If you're saying we shouldn't work to end this," Utsuho said, "then you can just shut the hell up right now."

"Oh, no, that's not what I was saying. In fact, I intend to work towards resolving this situation myself. Perhaps doing so will end up being helpful. After all, people aren't likely to kill someone who just saved them, now, are they? And even if it doesn't work out that way, the twisted are everyone's enemies. And 'everyone' includes me. So I see no reason not to fight them."

"Whatever," Cirno said. "We just want to get rid of these things."

"I see. And I would assume your current destination is Eientei; is that correct?"

Cirno nodded. "It is."

"Well, it's certainly a good choice, but I don't think you'll find anything there. I had the same thought, but after looking into it three days ago, I don't think they're the ones behind this."

"Okay," Utsuho said, "hold on. 'The ones behind this'?"

"Oh, is that not why you're heading there?"

"We're looking for information about the twisted," Cirno said. "What, do you think someone made them?"

"They aren't natural," Rumia said. "They should not exist, and I don't mean that in any sort of moral sense. Things that are not alive or dead, or even anything non-living. And there are the other things, like their appearance or the disruptive effect. Their existence should quite simply not be possible. Such things could not have come into existence naturally; their existence in fact defies nature. But if they can't have formed naturally, then what does that leave?

"I say there is someone responsible for the existence of the twisted because that is the only way such things could come into existence. Although that does not necessarily mean their creation was deliberate; it's quite possible that something was done that led to their existence as an unintended and unforeseen consequence. But either way, someone is responsible. And no, I do not have any idea who it is. I did suspect Eientei, specifically Eirin; if even half the rumors are true, the twisted are very much the sort of thing that might come out of her… experiments. But as I said, I looked into that, and have concluded that Eientei is innocent."

"We're still going there," Utsuho said.

"Oh, go ahead. Do as you like. Perhaps we'll meet again." And with that, she flew away.

"Well, then," Utsuho said after Rumia had left. "I'm not sure just what the hell to make of that."

"That was not the Rumia I knew," Cirno said. "That was… I don't know what that was, but it wasn't the Rumia I knew."

"You think it's true, then?"

"Yes," Cirno said. "That wasn't the Rumia I knew, but… I think it was Rumia. Although I'm not really sure what's convincing me of that."

"I'm just irritated that she, too, left before I had a chance to ask my questions. Anyways, what we really need to know is if she's a threat."

'I don't think so," Cirno said. "Not to us, certainly. Not right now, at least. She's right about the twisted being everyone's enemies."

"True."

"I'm more worried about what she said about us. We both knew we'd likely run into some trouble, but… do you really think they'll organize against us like that?"

"I don't know," Utsuho said, "but it is possible."

"Then what do we do? Is there some way we can avoid it?"

"No," Utsuho said. "No hiding, right? If we just left and went back underground, if we hid out again, we could probably avoid it, but…"

"We're not going to do that."

"Right. Which means we'll have to take the risk."

"And if they do come for us?"

'Then we deal with it. But right now, we need to focus on the twisted. Come on, let's get going."

They can come if they want to, Utsuho thought as she and Cirno took flight. But if they do, they'll regret it. They won't do anything to you, Cirno. I won't let them.