First Words:
Wiltarrow - Yeah, Waterfall's a harder place to work with, especially seeing as you at least have some characters supporting you in the Ruins, Snowdin or Hotland, but there's no one in Waterfall for Reimu. More than anything, I at first struggled with how to go about Undyne's fight and appearances, but when I took care of that, Reimu interpreting the the lore and having her not completely go past every area became the main issue. Putting the lore aside, I wouldn't be too distraught, if I were you ;D Because you might just find that this chapter's got your worries covered. Well, scenery-wise, I tried my best to describe where exactly Reimu goes, and I can only hope it'll be understandable! Vocabulary's admittedly a struggle for me... ^^' Whatever the case, thank you very much for reviewing!
robodunker51 - I dunno about you, but I'd be more than surprised as a manipulative flower when some weird red-white human summons deadly balls of light all of a sudden; can't help making him not seem that strong in comparison when he got caught off-guard ^^ Besides, the Touhou characters are way stronger than monsters, save for maybe a few exceptions. The only thing that's been saving them from Reimu's utter strength is the different battle system, really. Can't nerf, sorry 8D Whatever the case, thank you for reviewing...? At least, it does seem like you're expressing an opinion, so I'll appreciate that and respond accordingly.
Axis - Oh wow, Gaster. Uh... Reimu's not having enough Fun for it to happen, and we'll just leave it at that. Sorry, I don't want to tread on the unknown, especially since a few of those scenes would basically consist of Reimu finding a place, thinking it's weird, interacting with something, thinking it's weird and leaving thinking that was a waste of her time with a neutral expression, which wouldn't be all that interesting. She'd just... see it, I guess. Either way, it was a good question! My answer, on the other hand, might just be disappointing ;_; Hopefully this won't be too bothersome, and thank you for reviewing!
Guest - Hmmm... I don't think he could ever confuse someone like Reimu with Chara, I gotta admit XD Frisk looked similar and everything, so that might've been a thing there, but Reimu's completely different and it's clear she's got a will of her own so eeeh... Flowey's just stalking the anomaly. Well, either way, thank you for reviewing!
b-wolf95 - No plans are really set in stone yet for what'll happen after this fic (or, for what I'll write that continues this fic), and I'll remain vague towards most predictions for what'll happen in this story so I can't validate or invalidate your guess. Besides, I also figured that setting this story after a lunar invasion or in the middle of stuff about urban legends wouldn't be all that convenient, and I didn't want this to be set before Ten Desires (and Hopeless Masquerade) at all out of wanting the Ten Desires characters to be around, so after Double Dealing Character is the perfect setting. Some characters may have powers that could help Asriel out, but Yuuka's isn't one of them because it can't fix a lacking soul; it just fixes flowers ^^ And agh, omg I must've been tired or something, sorry for mispelling your name; I fixed it. Now there's no proof it happened, mwah ha ha ha ha! Whatever the case, thank you for reviewing as always!
peachlemonade - Hello to you again 8D Replying's a ton of fun, so it's no problem! Yup, there are three variations of Fantasy Seal: the unfocused 'Worn' one, the focused 'Marred' one, and the Last Word 'Blink' one, which is a spellcard I would never be able to make Reimu use in normal circumstances. They all show up in Imperishable Night, but I only got two of them (and the easy version, I guess) in here. At first, I didn't really want to use them because their full names are awkward, but it was either that or pulling out easier spellcards which would be a little anti-climatic. As for the images, well, I don't think I can put links here either...? At least, they don't seem to work in general (I'm certain they don't on the profile page, but don't know if they work in a story), so I'd have to put parentheses in slashes or something: I dunno, it seems more like putting images might be more troublesome for people in the long run. If I see other people also want that, I'll probably put them, but for now I'll refrain from it. Hahaha, Reimu's going all sorts of places for sure, I've written so much scenery already X.X When it comes to this story, I won't say anything about Asgore, but he's kind of tragic, I feel for the guy. Who knows what exactly will take place with Reimu meeting him? I preferably try to get 2 chapters out per month, but even that's sort of pushing it so I don't think my production rate's that fast, mostly because these are really long chapters. I can only hope they're worth the wait. Either way, thank you again for reviewing!
Woah, omg, the last time I updated was on my birthday, I thought I had uploaded something on March ;_; Guess not, I'm sorry, I sure took a lot of time with Chapter 8. Either way, this story's got 11 favorites and 11 followers since the last chapter and *gasp* this story somehow got over a hundred followers, that's amazing...! It kinda shocks me still, even though it's gone over that mark for a bunch of days now. Just... wow! Besides, it's also amazing how I've got so many consistent views, like, there's not a single day where they wane so I can't help but stare in wonder at the very, very consistent chart of people checking the story even weeks after I've uploaded a chapter (I mean, there's always a considerable rise when I upload a chapter, obviously, but you get the idea ^^). Well, thank you all, that's the most (or least, even) I can say!
Whatever the case, enjoy!
Chapter 7: The Downfall of Reimu
The Youkai Mountain has been rowdy as of late. From the sudden appearance of another mountain, its residents are in an uneasy state: the youkai societies living there have even decided to scout the new landmark, sending a few of their own. Not only that, but it seems the Moriya Shrine has been managing the negotiations between the locals. However, it has not been going smoothly... Great change in Gensokyo is to be feared from this development. Newspapers fly about the Youkai Mountain.
Kasen Ibaraki wonders what exactly Reimu is doing about this problem. While the incident is already solved from the perspective of someone who merely exterminates youkai, the political complications surging from it continue, and they, too, bring tension and conflict. Unfortunately, Reimu's approach to the subject matter tends to be a straightforward threat, forcing the faction to settle down. Though Reimu can settle these problems by talking them over, this method doesn't seem frequently used by the shrine maiden.
... Seeing as this must be brought to her attention, Kasen decided to go to the Hakurei Shrine and give her an earful about the current incident. She assumes Marisa will also be there, as she usually is, so she will be able to talk some sense into both of them; two birds with one stone.
However, as she reaches the shrine, Kasen hears no noise and sees no one. "This shrine seems even more deserted than usual..." she mutters, looking around warily. Seeing nothing that would stop her, she enters the shrine to see if Reimu and Marisa happen to be inside. She is also aware of Shinmyoumaru's temporary residence in the shrine, so she expects her presence as well.
Even inside the shrine, there is only silence. Reimu isn't here? Kasen narrows her eyes thoughtfully. Could it be that she actually is taking care of the incident? I've heard only the Moriya Shrine was doing anything, but maybe... "Hey, you!" A voice shouting at her interrupts her train of thought, though it doesn't sound as loud as it should be due to the height of its origin. Kasen immediately faces the tiny habitation of Shinmyoumaru. "What's someone as fishy as you doing around here?!"
"Fishy? Me?" Kasen questions, slightly surprised at such a claim.
Shinmyoumaru points at Kasen with her shining needle sword. "Yeah, you!" Shinmyoumaru responds while seeing Kasen squatting down to her eye level. "There's no one else here, and I kind of have a bad feeling about you! I don't really know why though..." Shinmyoumaru glances towards the side, as if to put aside the last statement entirely. "Anyway, what do you want from here? If it's Reimu, she's missing so don't bother waiting for her to return!"
"Missing...?!" Kasen utters, taken aback by the information she has just processed. "How did that happen?!" Even Kasen can recognize Reimu's strength: as flawed as Reimu's personality may be, it seems unlikely for her to simply go missing.
"I don't know! She just left to solve the incident and no one's seen her since!" Seeing as Shinmyoumaru is as distraught from announcing it as Kasen is from hearing it, she finds herself safely assuming she isn't lying. If anything, Kasen can only think of the worst-case scenario...
"No one?" Despite that, she decides to have Shinmyoumaru confirm her words.
"No one! Marisa asked around the mountain, and she said Reimu didn't even get there! Don't you believe me?" Shinmyoumaru asks, feeling as if Kasen were underestimating her somehow. In general, Shinmyoumaru is somewhat wary of Kasen's presence for unknown reasons, but tries not to let that scare her.
Marisa may have asked around, but people can claim whatever they want; even lies... Reimu would never back down from something she is convicted to do, especially if it's part of her duties. The mountain's locals... They might have done something reckless. Kasen manages to smile apologetically. "Don't worry, I'm not doubting you. It's just strange that someone like Reimu has gone missing. You understand," she calmly says.
"Well, yeah... Reimu's really strong, so it doesn't make any sense that she's missing." Shinmyoumaru crosses her arms, seemingly thoughtful. She knows Marisa wasn't lying, and has no reason to. She doesn't distrust Marisa. Even so, it is hard to imagine Reimu being done in by anyone. However, what are the chances of anything else having happened to Reimu?
"Exactly." Kasen nods. Then she glances towards the shrine's exit. "Anyway, if Reimu isn't here, there's nothing else I can do so I'll just get going. Will you be okay all by yourself in the shrine?"
Shinmyoumaru huffs. "Of course I will!"
"If you've been okay alone all this time, then I suppose it was a stupid question," Kasen remarks before standing up. "Goodbye." She briefly waves at Shinmyoumaru with her bandaged 'arm', and then proceeds to leave the shrine.
"I wasn't planning on getting involved with this incident, but..." Kasen mutters with narrowed eyes. Considering what might have happened to Reimu, I can't leave that mountain alone, Kasen thinks as she coldly looks towards the sky.
I must investigate, and see it for myself.
. . .
"I..." Reimu looks towards numerous broken crystal shards around her, pieces of the table it used to be above, and melted parts of cheese splat over them with an uneasy smile. "Might have over-done it a little." That understatement is made out of sheer optimism. From a tiny crack in a wall, Reimu can even hear squeaks of despair, but pays them no mind (because she doesn't care).
Curious about the random piece of cheese trapped in a crystal, Reimu tried to release it by hitting it with her Purification Rod at first. However, as that wasn't working, Reimu grew frustrated at the crystal and cast Fantasy Seal on it.
... The results were as disastrous as expected (to anyone but Reimu at the time). I guess it can't be helped now, she thinks before deciding to finally move forward through Waterfall. A final squeak resounds, but Reimu remains unresponsive to the mouse's cries. With a neutral expression, Reimu walks for a few minutes until she finds a familiar sight.
To the left, she sees Sans near an object she found in the Wishing Room before... and a familiar, recurring box. Reimu frowns as she approaches Sans. "Someone's really got to take down whoever's making this box scam. It's getting annoying."
Sans follows Reimu's line of sight. He stares at the box for a while, as if associating Reimu's words with what is truly there. "oh." As if greatly amused, Sans mischievously looks towards the side. "you thought that was a scam?"
"Isn't it? No one would make a box where you can store and get your items back at will without at least charging for it." Reimu narrows her eyes, being somewhat aware of the fact that Sans is implying she is wrong. "I'm not about to believe someone's doing people that much of a favor out of the kindness of their hearts." She crosses her arms, irritated at the thought of her ever falling for such easy scams.
"i guess it'd be pretty suspicious for you, but it's not a scam. trust me. this is common underground technology. everyone's used one of these at least once. me included." Sans winks. "but then again, you don't look like you're carrying much. so maybe you'd have no use for it anyway."
Reimu hums thoughtfully with a skeptical expression. "Common Underground technology, huh... You monsters are pretty advanced. I could find something similar where I come from, but it'd probably be some artifact owned by a self-righteous hermit." Reimu frowns, seemingly displeased. Then, other thoughts occur to mind, making her recover her neutral expression. "And even then, I'd bet Marisa would pawn it off of her before me..."
"that a friend of yours?" Sans asks, admittedly curious at the name Reimu has uttered. Slightly surprised at the question, Reimu widens her eyes.
She hadn't noticed that she even said Marisa's name out loud, so the realization made her feel somewhat awkward. "Sure." Reimu opts for this answer, unwilling to elaborate on the topic. "She's probably taking care of things while I'm not around, but I wouldn't want to take it easy just because of that. Who knows what might be happening to the shrine as I speak!"
"seems like being a shrine maiden's serious business. at least you've got people helpin' you out on the other side." Sans shrugs, figuring Reimu wouldn't want to specify on that either. Due to that, he decides to go into what truly matters. "i get that you wanna reach the king's castle as fast as possible, but i wouldn't rush through every single area i find if i were you. you might just miss out on something important. and if you do, it might make your journey all the more difficult for you."
Reimu frowns. "Another lecture disguised as friendly advice? I don't really need any of that. I can get through this place no matter what! I have to!"
"how you end up going through the underground's all up to you. i'm just giving you a helping hand. as a pal." Sans winks. "i wouldn't lec-your adventure go on without offering you a few pointers."
It takes Reimu a few moments to understand the pun based off of the word 'lecture', but when she does, she doesn't look amused. "That one's so far-fetched."
"that depends on your perspective," Sans responds, "seems all right in my eye sockets." Knowing that Sans even took advantage of her words to say 'eye sockets' instead of 'eyes' due to him being a skeleton only makes her unamused frown deepen.
"Ugh, whatever," Reimu utters, "I'm going now. I've got a castle to get to."
"actually, wait a sec." Reimu isn't even given time to turn around, much less to step away from the area. Sans moves towards the box, leaving Reimu curious. "i got another pointer to give ya." He then opens the box. "you'll thank me for this one later down the road." From the abyss that is its interior, Sans takes out something covered in a familiar blue wrapping. Isn't that the Nice Cream from that blue monster in Snowdin?
Reimu's expression turns skeptical as Sans stretches his arm out to her, as if to give the Nice Cream to her. "here you go. monster food doesn't need to be digested, and basically just heals hp. luckily for you, you can eat it right in the middle of battle and no one'll complain."
"Isn't that cheating?" Besides, if Papyrus's spaghetti is anything to go by, that thing probably tastes terrible... Reimu thinks while eyeing the Nice Cream warily.
"nope. perfectly acceptable," Sans casually replies, "if anything, it makes you wonder why barely anyone uses items in the first place."
Reimu continues staring at the Nice Cream. "I don't think it's worth it if it tastes bad," Reimu bluntly says, still leaning towards not taking the food Sans is offering her.
"not all monster food is like papyrus's spaghetti," Sans assures her. "eating it won't kill you or anything. so go on. take the nice cream." Reimu narrows her eyes thoughtfully as Sans urges her to take the food in his hand. "it's got nice words in it. you can't say no to that."
"I'm fine with not having any encouragement, you know?" Reimu takes the Nice Cream despite those words. "I can handle myself without anyone. Anyway, where am I supposed to keep these items if I get any more?" At least, Reimu assumes she will be able to find more food to use in battle, but she doesn't have any room to keep it in. She is already holding her Purification Rod in one hand, and the Nice Cream in the other; she would probably have to hold it with her mouth whenever she'd have to throw amulets.
"in this box," Sans responds.
Reimu frowns at him. "The box can't follow me around. It's not like I can tell whenever I'll have a battle either."
"welp. you're out of luck. the most i can give you now is a telescope and i'm pretty sure you can't put any food in there." Sans points at the familiar object he had been standing next to before he had to pull out the Nice Cream from the box. It seems that the object also found in the Wishing Room is called a telescope; Reimu briefly takes note of this in her mind. "hey. maybe you'll find something eventually. there are a few shopkeepers in the underground. they might just be sellin' a bag or two."
"I don't have any money," Reimu points out, seemingly neutral to that issue. If push comes to shove, she can just beat up the shopkeepers and take what she wants.
"huh. so you didn't know you could take money from the monsters you beat?"
Reimu widens her eyes in surprise. "I can?" That sounds way too convenient to be true. If anything, Reimu wishes all the youkai she beat would also have to give her money.
"guess i should've seen that coming," Sans remarks. "a monster can fight you for just about any reason, but in the end, they can take a portion of your money if you lose. if you don't, you can get some of theirs. that is, if you feel like it. no use givin' away money if you don't actually want it. when you don't have anything, it's also fine, by the way." I really wanna implement that in Gensokyo now...
However, Reimu can already tell no youkai would ever adhere to that. Most of them wouldn't even have money anyway. "it used to be a way to pay the royal guard for their efforts, but it's now become a full-blown rule of battle. you know. to make it more of a competition. it's all in good fun. you can't really abuse it anyway. the royal guard comes after you for that."
... Reimu smirks. "But now that I've beaten up the head of the Royal Guard, I don't think that'll be a problem for me..." I'm gonna strike it rich here! Reimu mentally proclaims.
"the currency's probably not the same where you come from," Sans says, "so even if you get rich here, it won't help you out in the long run."
"Tch..." Reimu scowls. "Anyway, that's all, right?"
"yup. unless you wanna look through that telescope. but i'm pretty sure you're in too much of a rush to appreciate its premium view." Sans shrugs, as if uncaring of this fact.
Reimu gives him a blank look, figuring (with her intuition) that there probably is nothing special about the telescope. "Uh-huh... Well, see you around, I guess." He's probably going to show himself again at some point, Reimu thinks. After all, Sans seems to be practically stalking her, at least in her eyes.
"see ya." With that, Reimu decides to check out the closed room near the box. It is a small room, and there doesn't seem to be much inside. In fact, there are only scriptures at the walls in front of her, and no traces of anything else. Curious about the scriptures, Reimu walks over to them. Similar scriptures had information on monster History, so Reimu can only think this will yield the same sort of information.
However, she actually can't make out the words on the wall. They seem to be so old, they are practically illegible. Considering this room exploration pointless, Reimu frowns bitterly before leaving. As she does, she looks to the left, and finds a monster standing idly nearby. Its vacant expression and simple, gray-ish form serve to make Reimu not feel intimidated by it at all.
Though Reimu planned on leaving it alone, it starts speaking to her before she can do so: "What's a star?" Reimu gives it a confused look.
"It's a light in the sky," she responds without much hassle. "What else would it be?"
"So you're not a star?"
Why would I be a star? "Of course not."
"... What's the sky?"
"You don't know what the sky is?" Reimu asks, even more perplexed than before. Have the monsters of the Underground been trapped for so long that they no longer know of the sky? Some seemed to know of it, but maybe this one has not even seen the surface at all.
"Is it a place?"
Reimu frowns, seemingly troubled. "Not exactly."
"Is it a person?"
"Uh..."
"... Are you the sky?"
Reimu scowls. "No! The sky is...!" She attempts to gather a good definition of the sky from her mind but surprisingly, none seems to occur to her. "It's... a space, or something like that..." Unsatisfied with her own words, she reaches her limit. "W-whatever! I don't have to explain anything to you!"
From her frustration, Reimu simply leaves the monster by walking ahead at a fast pace. She doesn't spare it a single glance, though it definitely is staring at her as she goes. Reimu reaches the edge of the area, with water following it. The water, Reimu notes, is of a brighter color than normal, probably due to something illuminating it below. She shrugs, finding that fact uninteresting. Instead, she sets her sights on the other side of the water.
There seems to be land. Standing right at the edge of that land, like Reimu, is a duck. A duck-like monster, to be precise. However, it looks identical to a normal duck. Due to that, it doesn't faze Reimu at all. She floats over the water and swiftly lands next to the duck monster, still paying no mind to it. Even so, the monster's eyes now have a tint of sadness to them. Though it prided itself on the duty of taking people from one side of the area to the other, Reimu can already fly as she pleases...
Reimu keeps walking forward, only to find herself with even more paths to choose from. Three pathways to the left, one to the right, and another one forward. To Reimu, so many options are greatly troublesome, especially if something useful happens to be in either of the paths. Thankfully, there seems to be a sign in a corner. Reimu decides to see what's written on it.
'North: Blook Acres'
'East: Hotland'
'?: Temmie Village'
. . .
Reimu frowns. "None of these point to the castle..." she mutters, now unsure of where to go. Initially, her intuition was pointing towards the eastern path, but it seems like the path leads her to a completely different location called 'Hotland'. The supposed northern path also leads to a seemingly pointless location, and as it can be at any of the three paths to the north, it would be confusing to follow any of them, so Reimu finds herself with only two choices: backtracking, or following the path below her.
... Not wanting to backtrack at all, Reimu decides to walk through the southern path instead. At first, this doesn't seem like a terrible idea, and Reimu's mood improved from now having a clear way to go. However, as she moves further into it, Reimu sees water before her. The water is shallow, but even then, the thought of stepping through it greatly displeases Reimu. Besides, the sizable piles of random objects and faintly foul smell don't help her motivation to trudge onwards at all.
At least Reimu has the ability to fly. With that in mind, Reimu is now floating over the water, mere centimeters from it. She passes through a lonely-looking dummy and two piles of trash, all with a bitter frown.
Then, she hears a sound. Reimu turns around, but doesn't see anything. If anything, she only notices that the dummy is missing. She faces forward again, only to see the dummy right in front of her. "Woah!" Reimu flies backwards slightly to make some distance between the dummy and herself. She sees it now has eyes, and those eyes are locked onto hers relentlessly. Reimu assumes a fighting stance, figuring the dummy isn't acting out of any peaceful intentions.
"Hahaha... Too intimidated to fight me, huh?" it confidently says, but that fails to faze Reimu.
In fact, her displeased expression becomes completely neutral. "I didn't even know you were alive."
"Shut up. Shut up! SHUT UP!" Reimu is already expecting a duel, but it seems the dummy wishes to speak further. "I am a ghost that lives inside a dummy! I'm technically not even alive! Just like my cousin... who used to live inside a dummy, too."
"UNTIL YOU CAME ALONG!" Reimu's neutral expression remains. "When you came in, they thought they were in for a nice chat... but you only fought the monster guiding you! Relentlessly. Ruthlessly! MERCILESSLY! They were so scared of being next that they left their dummy in tears!" Was this in the Ruins?
... I kind of faintly remember a dummy being around since I was being told to talk to it of all things, but... The dummy hadn't done anything special at the time, Reimu notes; at least, as far as she remembers. Either way, such details don't matter to Reimu, who doesn't bother protesting or responding to the dummy in front of her on the topic. "HUMAN! I'll have you scared into tears too, begging for your life...!" Its color turns red in pure anger as its body disassembles itself into various, unsettling parts; teeth seem to grow out of the middle of its body.
'*Mad Dummy blocks the way.'
Reimu frowns impatiently. "That's what I was waiting for!" Not wanting to move the Nice Cream in her hand just so she can throw amulets, Reimu decides to simply use her Purification Rod for the remainder of the battle. Despite having had to make this decision, Reimu looks fairly determined as she brandishes her trusty weapon. "You better be ready for this because you're going down for getting in my way!"
. . .
Meanwhile, in Gensokyo, Seija Kijin smirks. Everyone is giving attention to that mountain... They've practically forgotten the last incident. She can see it from afar: the mountain that has just appeared in Gensokyo... Even though the side effects of the Miracle Mallet have yet to cease, everyone is far too busy solving the incident at hand to pay attention to what has technically already been solved. I can do whatever I want now that they're all too busy to notice!
Without the people to enforce justice, Seija is free to do as she pleases. Naturally, that involves re-starting her revolution, which she has found to be possible even without Shinmyoumaru with her. From her research on the side effects of the Miracle Mallet, Seija concluded that the objects affected by that tool still house some of its power: if Seija can collect a good amount of them, she will be able to use that power through them and make all her plans come into fruition. Now that no one can notice her is precisely the best time to strike!
... She feels a presence. Seija turns around, only to find a cube of abyssal darkness. "Hey there," it greets Seija, "You look like you've got free time on your hands."
"Who are you?" Seija warily asks with narrowed eyes. She can tell it's a youkai of sorts, at least. Could it be...?
The cube chuckles. "There'd be no point to someone like me if I told you that!"
"Well," Seija states, "now I'm curious." A youkai of the unknown, huh... That can't be its true form. An illusion...? Or... "I'll have you expose your true form to me!" With her eyes locked on to the mysterious cube and a flick of her hand, Seija's powers are triggered. The cube can even sense this, curious on what exactly the amanojaku is doing.
Before she can notice, Nue's form is exposed. What is now visible is an expression of sheer surprise before the smug look of Seija. "My true form...!" Nue's mood sours immensely from this turn of events; she scowls. "How did you do that?"
"Seeing the true form of anything is too easy when you can even flip the unknown upside-down. What else is there to an unknown form when it's reversed?" Seija's smirk widens. "Even your existence, comprised of fear of the unknown... If reversed, just what will be left of it?" She shrugs. That wouldn't be too interesting. "But enough of that. What does a nue such as yourself want with me?" Naturally, Seija doesn't plan on complying with anything Nue will tell her, and is only asking out of curiosity.
"Ugh, wait, are you an amanojaku?" Nue briefly questions, grimacing. "What a bother, I chose the most annoying target ever." Even by other youkai, amanojaku are a hated sort. After all, their nature relies on what opposes things. "But now that you've gotten me angry, I'm not just going to let you go. At least, not without roughening you up. That was part of the plan anyway, since it was obvious no one would search for the shrine maiden without any incentive."
Seija raises an eyebrow skeptically. "Search... for the shrine maiden, you say?"
"Exactly," Nue responds with a sly smile. "She's missing, you know? The red-white shrine maiden, that is." Red-white... A color scheme Seija is more than familiar with, and not just from herself. The one that put a stop to her plans was undoubtedly a red-white shrine maiden. Reimu Hakurei, or so she was called. It hadn't been that long since the incident happened, after all. There is simply no way Seija wouldn't remember Reimu.
"Oh? Is she now?" Seija snickers. "That's interesting." It is more than interesting: it's better than Seija thought. So Gensokyo's shrine maiden is gone?
"Isn't it? That's why you're going to help everyone look for her," Nue states without hesitation. The strength of a nue is not to be underestimated. Seija knows her demeanor comes from how sure of her own power she is.
However, Seija doesn't comply with others. It simply doesn't happen. She frowns, displeased at the order. "And why would I have to do something like that? I would have to be a fool to search for the shrine maiden."
"Because I said so," Nue answers, "And if that doesn't convince you, then you should go look for her because I will crush you otherwise." She smirks. "I'll show you an unknown not even the likes of you can reverse!" The mysterious wing-like appendages on Nue's back, red on one side and blue on another, contract and expand to their original positions despite their sharp appearance; the movement is slightly dizzying.
"In the end, that's all you want, isn't it? You just want to bully the weak under the pretense of making them search for the shrine maiden. Self-righteous delusions and hypocrisy aren't what you'd expect of a nue, admittedly enough!" Seija argues, wanting to hold her ground against the intimidating presence of Nue.
"That's the last thing I want to hear from someone like you! So what if I want to have a little fun helping out a respectful cause? No one told me I had to do the peaceful route with this." Nue narrows her eyes in the same way an animal would narrow its eyes at its prey. "Especially when you're so uncooperative."
"So you're going to force me to look for her? Hah! Give me a break. With the shrine maiden gone, now I can truly do whatever I want!" Seija exclaims, still unamused. "I'm not about to let a nuisance like you stop me!" They lock eyes.
"I'll see to it that hypocrisy of yours rots along with the shrine maiden!"
"Submit to the fearful, mysterious unknown and learn your place, amanojaku!"
As if determined from the very beginning, their battle starts, all in the name of Reimu Hakurei...
. . .
"Impossible," Mad Dummy mutters, "Impossible! IMPOSSIBLE!" They are as mad as they are shocked. The human in front of them has managed to defeat them completely, without any hassle whatsoever. She dodged his dummies flawlessly, and her attacks... "Physical attacks aren't supposed to work on me! You couldn't have defeated me with that weird stick!"
Reimu smirks. "Didn't you know? A shrine maiden's tools are especially made to exterminate ghosts like you. It'd be weirder if it hadn't worked!" Indeed, the extermination of ghosts is like second nature to someone like Reimu: all of her weapons have some sort of spiritual and magical energy kept within them, made to hurt youkai. "Now, you better be prepared to admit your loss! You might as well just skip your turn and let me spare you if you know what's good for you!"
"Ugh... No way..." they mutter, distraught. Mad Dummy's HP is already fairly low, but they do not want to lose to a human under any circumstances, especially when she is acting in such a proud manner. Mad Dummy was supposed to have their vengeance! They were supposed to take Reimu's soul, cross the barrier and do as they pleased! And yet, Reimu is far too strong to defeat. Mad Dummy realizes they have no chances against her. "BUT!"
Figuring Mad Dummy isn't willing to give up, Reimu frowns, seemingly troubled. "As long as it's my turn, you can't do anything to me! You'll have to bear through as many attacks as I want until you finally bite the dust! So even if my HP's already low... I can just bring YOURS down to 0!" An assortment of small dummies floats above Mad Dummy. "Hahaha. Hahaha! HAHAHA! You'll be stuck here until your very last moments!"
... Reimu sighs. "Is that so?" Well, this thing doesn't really know that it doesn't work that way for me, but still... What a drag. Despite those thoughts, Reimu manages to smile mischievously. This is why sore losers suck. That smile slowly becomes a smirk as a ying-yang orb materializes near Reimu. Unfortunately, that orb is different from the others, so it fails to float and falls, making her have to accommodate it with the hand holding her Purification Rod. She moves said Purification Rod to her other hand, and focuses most of her strength on holding the heavy orb in place, especially as it is growing even larger and heavier as moments pass.
Mad Dummy trembles slightly, staring straight at the orb. Is it a bluff, or an actual attack? However, the rules are clear: attacks are in turns. Even if Reimu intended to attack, she would not have been able to do so. With this in mind, Mad Dummy has all their dummies fly at Reimu's soul and continues feeling confident with their cheating. "Dummies! Attack!"
"Not so fast!" Reimu shouts as the dummies fly in her soul's direction. The ying-yang orb is starting to make her arm hurt, so Reimu doesn't hesitate to aim it at Mad Dummy. "Holy Relic: Ying-Yang Demon God Orb!" Since it's very heavy, Reimu takes a few seconds just to properly position it, but she manages to throw it at Mad Dummy regardless. This unusual heavy-lifting happens to also count as a spellcard, one Reimu doesn't use all that often. Though it looks big and intimidating enough to do so, the ying-yang orb can't truly flatten the opponent.
Reimu has her own soul dodge the orb and watches as it not only hits all the dummies previously flying towards it, but it also continues towards Mad Dummy at the exact same speed. Mad Dummy seems visibly nervous now... "It can't be. It can't be! IT CAN'T BE!" A scream is the last sound heard from Mad Dummy, before even that was cut off by the ball having successfully collided with them. As expected, it simply bounces off of Mad Dummy after that and fades away as if it had occupied no mass whatsoever, though the 25 HP it took from Mad Dummy is enough to prove it was as heavy as it looked.
... Mad Dummy's turn ends. "Serves you right for cheating," Reimu says, "I win!"
'*You spare Mad Dummy.'
Meanwhile, it seems Mad Dummy is still recovering from the orb's impact, drowsily attempting to continue floating. "This human... This human's way more trouble than she's worth. I'm out of here!" With that, Mad Dummy simply sinks into the shallow water and somehow out of sight. Reimu stares at where Mad Dummy used to be for a moment with a neutral expression on her face, somewhat troubled with the clear waste of time that was their battle.
"Whatever," Reimu mutters before proceeding to float through the dump she seems to be in. She moves her Purification Rod back to her right hand as she floats about, only catching sight of many foreign objects in a pitiful state. I don't think the way to a king's castle would be through garbage... Even so, Reimu doesn't see other alternatives.
Due to this, she has to bear through the faint smell of various rotting objects and see where the path she is on will lead her. She finds another waterfall in her path, and from a distance, she sees a patch of golden flowers. They remind her of a certain flower... Reimu floats towards said patch of flowers. Several wooden planks surround these flowers, rotting from the time spent within the water. Reimu feels light faintly shining down on her.
Looking up, she spots many wooden planks, and they seem to be forming a path. The path is upwards, Reimu notes. I guess this might just lead me to the castle! With an optimistic smile, Reimu flies up to these wooden planks at higher speeds than usual and swiftly lands on them. They are serving as platforms, and they are many. In fact, there is a needless amount of paths available in this area. Reimu starts to regret having landed already, as she figures she will have to fly again to discover which path truly leads somewhere.
Now that she is floating in space again, she can see something resembling an exit from afar; she wastes no time flying towards it. Reimu feels even better than before for being able to fly, as the many wrong paths she could have taken would have greatly wasted her time. This is a really disorienting area... I wonder why, Reimu thinks before setting her feet down on solid ground, having landed on the exit. Unlike the light pouring through the wooden paths, the area ahead of her seems especially damp and dark.
The only visible things in this hallway are scriptures faintly glowing in a light blue hue. Is this legible or what? Curious, Reimu decides to see this for herself. Immediately, she can make out the words engraved into the dark stone of the Waterfall caverns; she smiles.
'In the end, it could hardly be called a war. United, the humans were too powerful, and us monsters, too weak.'
... Yet again, the text perplexes Reimu. Are these youkai really so weak that they can't even win against normal humans together? That doesn't add up. I mean, the other text was talking about monsters being able to absorb human souls, so why wouldn't they just do that and win if they're apparently the kind of youkai that gets stronger by absorbing human souls? Not that Reimu can even accept a kind of youkai that can only grow stronger by absorbing souls. All monsters Reimu found in the Underground aren't of the same species, but the texts speak of them as a collectivity, as if their properties were the same; that also makes no sense to Reimu. Reimu continues reading:
'Not a single soul was taken, and countless monsters were turned to dust...'
Reimu frowns. So what, these youkai couldn't even kill one human? Is that it? That can't be true. But then again, why would the monsters write negatively about their war? Anyone would write what makes them look good, rather than this harsh reality: there is no reason to document a lie of this sort. And why did the youkai turn into dust in the first place? Didn't they just get beaten? There are too many unanswered questions. Despite that, Reimu moves towards the left and continues reading.
'The humans, afraid of our power, declared war on us. They attacked us suddenly, and without mercy.'
Maybe they're trying to look like the victims here? Reimu thinks, finding no other explanation to what is written on these cavern walls. But for who were they trying to play the victim card for if there exist no humans among them? It still makes no sense for the monsters to falsely document this war. "Ugh..." I don't think I'll ever understand this... That only frustrated Reimu because she finds a need to know more about monsters, as that could hold information as to how to cross the barrier.
However, she hasn't found anything coherent to go by. Disappointed, Reimu simply continues walking along the corridor since there are no more scriptures to read. Shouldn't these all be in a book somewhere? It's kind of dumb scattering your own History throughout a cave... Reimu's movement is brought to a halt when she reaches the edge of the path she is on; it seems she is on higher ground. Below her is a path forward, which Reimu promptly lowers herself to. She spots a basket of sorts containing various umbrellas.
Seeing as there is an abundance of water drops up ahead, as if it could even rain in the Underground, Reimu finds herself acknowledging rather quickly the purpose of these umbrellas. Even so, she is already carrying a Nice Cream and her Purification Rod; more than that would be a complicated matter. She figures she will have to move her Purification Rod to her left hand again, but the idea displeases her slightly. Regardless, Reimu takes an umbrella from the basket as she wouldn't want to get needlessly drenched.
... It seems closed. Reimu decides to inspect the umbrella, only to find a button of sorts incorporated into the umbrella's handle. Even the umbrellas here are weird, Reimu thinks before pressing the button and watching as the umbrella opens fully. But they're not that hard to understand. With a looser grip on the umbrella's handle than that of most people's, Reimu has it covering her head from the 'rain' as she starts walking forward in a carefree manner.
It isn't every day that Reimu is walking around with an umbrella; she tends to stay at home on rainy days. Reimu only finds herself thinking of this after a while of walking, the novelty of such circumstances wearing out for her at quite the fast rate. If anything, having to hold two objects with the same hand from needing to have an umbrella starts to be more troublesome to Reimu than anything. After all, Reimu doesn't plan on having a casual stroll through fake rain when she is stuck in an underground location away from Gensokyo.
She has higher priorities. As she feels a breeze coursing through the area (making her glad for Papyrus's leg warmers), Reimu comes across a greater exit than she has previously encountered. Sharp, rocky edges of varying shades of dark-ish blue are what make up said grand exit, and the light shining through is of a similar blue hue somehow. Truly, this is the kind of pathway one feels proud just from stepping through it, which is exactly how Reimu felt when she did so.
Surprisingly enough, this connects to an area outside of the caverns she has been travelling through. From one side, Reimu only sees rocks stretched out as far as the eye can see, while the other... Reimu's gaze turns blank when analyzing just what she is looking at. What the heck is this supposed to be? A gigantic billboard blocks the scenery beyond Waterfall, one the monster population prides itself on possessing. In fact, said scenery is a perfect view of Reimu's desired destination, in its full glory, seen with the mesmerizing lighting and mood of the melancholic yet gorgeous Waterfall: the clash between the grand building and such blue colors makes for a worthwhile travel just to take photos of that very background alone, though all of Waterfall itself possesses great beauty.
... Now, what obstructs it is a billboard announcing the premiere of a new 'MTT' movie of sorts, or at least, that's what Reimu can gather from the letters on it. As for the images, they are rather... pink; far too pink for Reimu's tastes. The picture is also completely full of glitter, and taking the center spot is what seems to be a black, rectangular box with a screen at its front; though it's mostly lit up in yellow, it has a few red areas as well (Reimu wonders if it makes a pattern). The box seems to have small, flexible, artificial arms at both its sides, and a small wheel at the bottom of some sort of metallic yet flexible extension located downwards, as if to serve as a means of movement. Red roses surround this robotic entity, and it is even holding one with its right arm and positioning it close to the screen one could interpret as the robot's 'face'. It is also leaning backwards for unknown reasons.
This imagery greatly confuses Reimu. In fact, Reimu is struggling to remember other instances in which she has been this confused. It's due to this that Reimu simply decides to look forward and start walking as if she hadn't seen anything, especially since she figures she'll never get an explanation for what she has just seen. Besides, she may be confused, but she certainly doesn't care enough do anything other than to look at the billboard, ignore it and move on.
Right when she notices this outside area doesn't have any 'rain', she enters the next one, which does; this means she still has to use the umbrella. It bothers Reimu further the fact that she has to walk in a not at all straightforward manner so as to not get her shoes wet, seeing as there are puddles of water stopping her from simply walking linearly. While Reimu would like to fly, she notes this isn't the best of ideas when she is using an umbrella, as it partially blocks her view. Reimu ends up resigning to the fact that there is no way around the situation and decides to take her mind off the negative parts of it by looking at her admittedly pretty surroundings.
A few echo flowers can be seen in the distance, and while they are also bothering her, Reimu can acknowledge there is some beauty to the path she is walking through precisely from the aesthetic of having puddles scattered about. This naturally comes from a purely optimistic point-of-view, as there really is nothing else positive about Reimu's circumstances other than the scenery, which Reimu normally doesn't care much for.
Finally, it seems Reimu has reached a location without rain. A basket filled with umbrellas is also conveniently nearby, so Reimu decides to leave the umbrella there... if it were closed. How do you close this thing again? Reimu presses the button she used to open it; this doesn't have any effect on the umbrella. Perplexed, Reimu tries to close it by simply forcing all its edges back to their original position. Since it seemed practically about to break from such an action, Reimu stops midway.
... Reimu grows even more perplexed by the umbrella. How did Yukari close her own umbrella? I'm pretty sure hers was this kind of umbrella... But fancier, Reimu dismissively adds in her mind. At least, Yukari would know how to go about all the strange objects Reimu has been coming across, being one of the few with knowledge on the Outside World. After all, the Underground apparently possesses similarly advanced technology despite having also been sealed by a barrier... Reimu starts getting slightly frustrated at the fact that she has no idea how to close the umbrella.
. . .
Reimu attempts to close it once again... she hears a cracking sound.
... As expected, it looks like Reimu has broken the umbrella. For a while, Reimu stands immobile, staring at the umbrella with a curious, though slightly vacant expression.
. . .
Reimu scowls. "Stupid thing..." Out of simply not wanting to see the umbrella at all, she throws it behind her, towards the ground. While that should have marked the end of the subject, Reimu catches a glimpse of something golden precisely behind her. She has specifically spotted what seem to be golden petals... in an area where flowers wouldn't grow, especially if they're simply golden flowers.
Reimu aims five amulets towards that area, but no longer sees anything similar to a flower there. She narrows her eyes. "I know you're around here somewhere!" Reimu shouts while moving her Purification Rod back to her right hand. "Just show yourself already, flower youkai!" How long has that flower been watching me for? The last time I spoke to him was at the Ruins.
For him to know where I am... He must have been following me all along, Reimu thinks, filling the seconds of silence that passed without any signs of Flowey. She huffs, figuring he isn't going to show up any time soon. I bet he's still watching me... But from where? Admittedly, there are no good hiding spots in this room. How has that flower been watching over me all this time without me noticing?
Reimu faces forward and starts walking past the basket and the sign she promptly ignored (as it just read out 'Take one', which Reimu assumes it refers to the umbrellas). I'll have to get to the bottom of that later. However, this new discovery has led to Reimu being more alert of her surroundings as she moves, which isn't particularly good for the journey at hand. Immediately laying eyes on something other than walls, Reimu stares at an old statue warily. It is made of rock, and has suffered through quite an amount of damage; water drops consistently fall on it. The statue carries a lonely atmosphere with it, so Reimu ends up simply frowning before moving along, having figured the immobile statue is no flowery threat to her.
It is precisely when Reimu enters a new room that a screen suddenly appears right in front of her:
'*Shyren hides in a corner but somehow encounters you anyway.'
"Huh?" Reimu immediately looks towards a corner and, as the text specified, Shyren is hiding tthere. Her head is turned away from Reimu, as if that would make her invisible. However, Reimu can only wonder why this is happening if she has only 'somehow encountered her anyway' even though she is clearly in hiding. "Do you even want to fight me?"
Shyren shifts slightly, but doesn't give Reimu any response beyond such a nervous gesture. Reimu smiles in an easygoing manner. "Oh yeah, it was my turn," she utters out loud, making Shyren react uncomfortably once again, but without any words. Reimu assumes a fighting stance. "Well, get ready. You're going to regret encountering me by coincidence!" Even after such words, Shyren does not face Reimu; this doesn't faze her.
With the ease expected of an experienced shrine maiden wielding the greatly familiar weapon that is her Purification Rod, Reimu aims an attack at Shyren. She then jumps back to create some distance in one swift motion and watches as Shyren does seem slightly weakened, but her reaction is minimal. It isn't that she is trying to ignore Reimu: Shyren is simply too shy to even face someone like Reimu, especially when she doesn't seem to want anything more than to beat her to the ground.
... Even Shyren's attack is minimal, as one or two musical notes sluggishly fall into the screen in accordance to her shakey, tone deaf hums. Reimu has no trouble simply moving to the side not to get hit and watches as that is literally all from Shyren's turn.
Reimu starts feeling slightly exasperated at Shyren's lack of a reaction. At least, Reimu assumes, she has probably taken enough HP from Shyren to make it a certainty that she can spare her.
'*You spare Shyren.'
"If you didn't feel up to fighting, you could have just said so," Reimu says, "instead of wasting my time." Then, Reimu reminds herself of Sans's words; she smirks. "Now give me your money!" she demands without any sense of politeness. Reimu isn't truly expecting Shyren to give her any money, so it really doesn't occur to her to be a little more delicate when addressing her (even then, she would still have no sense of politeness, but this fact reinforces her lack of consideration further).
... However, it is after she utters such an order that Shyren finally moves, turning around to face Reimu. Her face is similar to that of a fish and, Reimu notes, what previously seemed to be her body is actually a separate entity. Said separate entity is what is holding the money out for Reimu, which she can't help but look at in a curious manner. Even so, she doesn't take much time to take it, just in case they suddenly go away. With that, Shyren and the mysterious separate entity with her make their way out of the room, though Reimu faintly hears a voice humming a song she isn't familiar with while they do so.
Did it come from Shyren? The tune sounded sad, which Reimu doesn't find too surprising: no one would be that happy about getting beaten up. It's her fault for starting the fight. Despite thinking that, not even Reimu is sure of how the battles are triggered: this one was especially perplexing, as it doesn't seem like Shyren herself even caused it. Reimu shifts her attention towards the free money she just received: it looks like she attained 25G. With a smile, Reimu tucks the money safely within the mysterious confines of her clothing. While objects as big as the Nice Cream or her Purification Rod would never fit, something as small as coins are not a bother for Reimu.
Water is at the middle of the room, which has two paths available for Reimu: one to her right, and another one forward. Curious, Reimu decides to check the path to her right first. After a few moments of walking, she reaches it, but sees some scriptures by its entrance:
'The northern room hides a great treasure.'
Reimu gazes thoughtfully at these scriptures. Treasure, huh... Marisa would really love that. From mushrooms, to echo flowers... and now treasure. Reimu can't help but think that the Underground is probably better suited to someone like Marisa than herself. She peeks at the room, but the only things she sees heavily imply that Reimu would have to solve a complicated puzzle to obtain whatever lies in that northern room.
Reimu gives up on the idea of checking on said room and walks forward. A fairly narrow path surrounded by water is what awaits Reimu, something she is rather indifferent towards. When she does step into the slightly dark room with the narrow path, Reimu doesn't react in the slightest... until a single tentacle rises from the water. She immediately assumes a defensive stance and narrows her eyes at the tentacle, but notices another one rising from behind her.
She is surrounded. "Show yourself already!" Reimu shouts, simply wanting to know the identity of the creature that seems to be manifesting itself in this area. She preferably doesn't want to fight underwater, but if the monster proves dangerous, Reimu will have to do so; she steels herself for such a circumstance.
... A head emerges from the water, though it's bigger than Reimu expected. Its eyes are large, and its expression is needlessly cutesy; she wonders what kind of youkai this is supposed to be. "H-hey... there...!" it greets in a noticeably uncomfortable manner. "I'm big, so I-I take a while to fully appear, y'know? That's why I took so long, y'know? Sorry..." It seems almost teary-eyed at the prospect of having troubled Reimu, which Reimu finds slightly odd. "A-anyway! I'm Onionsan! Onionsan, y'hear!"
"What do you want?" Reimu bluntly asks, though not out of wanting to be rude. She is merely curious about the presence of such a strange monster and flat out asked what was on her mind.
"Well, uh...!" Onionsan's reaction isn't positive, as they seem even more nervous about speaking to Reimu. "I just... Just thought you would want to... talk, and all that..." Knowing about how visibly nervous they look like, Onionsan attempts to recompose themself. "After all, it's your first time in Waterfall, right?! You're probably confused, right?! You need some help, right?!" The way they expressed themself only seems to indicate desperation, so Reimu can't help but regard this particular youkai as pitiful.
However, a use for them does occur to Reimu's mind. "Yeah..." she responds, a smile growing on her face. "You know, I've been finding these scriptures about the History of humans and monsters, but some parts are really confusing. Why do monsters turn to dust? Can you tell me that?" Reimu doesn't come up with a more pertinent question, as the most confusing points stem from the fact that the monsters do not behave like youkai in the slightest, something other monsters surely wouldn't be able to answer for her.
For a second, Onionsan seems confused, then pensive, but becomes happy again in a matter of seconds. "I don't know why us monsters turn into dust, but...! I happen to know that monsters turn into dust when they..." Onionsan pauses, looking slightly sadder. "When they die..." Reimu widens her eyes slightly at this revelation. When they die? That isn't youkai-like at all. I guess the text really meant these monsters suffered heavy casualties. No youkai comes to mind when Reimu thinks of one that would turn into dust after death, so this information still sounds doubtful to her. Even so, it's also doubtful that Onionsan is lying, as they have no reason to do so.
"Is that so?" Reimu utters, somewhat thoughtful. "Thanks, I guess." Beyond that, Reimu figures she isn't going to get any more helpful information out of this octopus-like creature and decides to walk away from them.
Despite this, they re-emerge from the water at the position Reimu happens to be in on land. "Y-you're welcome! If you have anything else you want to ask, you can count on me, y'hear! I can help you out whenever you want, y'hear!" The chipper mood fades slightly as Onionsan reminisces. "After all, it's not like... I've got anyone else, since... They all left for the city aquarium." Is this youkai just lonely? Onionsan recovers their mood once more. "But I won't do the same, y'hear! The aquariums are full, so it'd be pointless anyway! So, I'll keep hanging around, this place, until Undyne, fixes everything."
At the mention of Undyne, Reimu finds herself saying, "You shouldn't expect Undyne to fix everything." Reimu walks towards the exit for a few moments. "She's only supposed to do justice, not fix every single problem you have. You should keep that in mind," Reimu says in a rather neutral tone, as if stating the obvious, before leaving the area. Onionsan doesn't even get any time to respond to Reimu, as they are admittedly surprised by her statements and weren't given any time to reply. After that, they start wondering if they said anything wrong, as she didn't act friendly at all. Had that been because she has a history as a mean person, or due to Onionsan? This is a true dilemma.
Meanwhile, Reimu finds herself coming across scenery anyone would find gorgeous, but she remains unfazed. Contrasting with the darkness of the rock she is standing on is the bright aqua colors of the echo flowers she can see at a distance and from the water itself, wondrously shining for reasons unknown to Reimu. Delicate-looking plants surround Reimu, who doesn't bother not to step on them as she moves forward, taking in the narrow paths ahead of her. However, she immediately stops when she sees scriptures to her left.
'The power to take their souls. This is the power that the humans feared.'
... Seeing as Reimu has already concluded that from other scriptures, she feels slightly disappointed as she moves on from them. This sure looks like a long path, Reimu thinks as she passes by an echo flower, this time ignoring whatever it might have to say. I don't think I've done this much walking in the past few years... After all, with the power to fly, Reimu doesn't need to walk through paths. In a way, Reimu doesn't need to walk through these either, but she doesn't know where to go yet, so she doesn't risk flying all the way through the Underground. How would she see youkai that could point her to the right direction otherwise? None of them can fly, apparently.
Reimu notes the great amount of waterfalls present in these caverns from this area alone, as she can see many of them up close here. Some parts of her path are wooden bridges of a dark color, but that goes unnoticed by Reimu, who is looking towards the water rather than the floor. This area also carries faint whispering sounds, but Reimu already knows they come from the echo flowers. The echo flowers would only have dialogue from normal monsters about... typical monster topics (nothing in particular came to Reimu's mind), which is completely useless to her.
... It is then, after Reimu starts gazing at a strange, tall, shiny plant of Waterfall that she looks to the side and finds someone familiar in the distance. "What?" Sans? And it isn't like Sans is blatantly stalking her by being there: he is next to a telescope, near a box Reimu initially suspected... Even the room Reimu found pointless could be seen from a distance, and becomes closer and closer to Reimu as she dashes towards a grinning Sans.
"heya," Sans casually greets as he is faced with an angry-looking Reimu. "looks like you ended up following my advice after all. isn't it much better takin' it easy and seeing the sights? it's all about the journey, buddy." Sans winks. "i'm glad you understand that." Reimu glares at Sans, figuring he does know Reimu didn't mean to make her way back to this and pointlessly explore more of this area.
The fact that she really did pointlessly explore so many rooms further dawns on Reimu... Her trip through garbage, having to hold and break an umbrella, meeting all sorts of strange monsters... All for nothing. Even the scriptures only served to confuse her. It seems like wanting to hurry as much as possible did end up being her downfall, as she couldn't even notice she was going the wrong way all along. Indeed, Reimu has not only wasted time, but proved Sans right by her actions.
Reimu's hand twitches, as if she could be frantically swinging her Purification Rod around at any moment. Feeling slightly embarrassed, though mostly angry, from this ordeal and at the fact that Sans might be teasing her, Reimu shouts while pointing her Purification Rod at him, "S-shut up! One more word from you about this and I'll seriously take you down!"
Author's Notes:
And so this chapter ends with an angry Reimu! We can all just assume Sans managed to subvert Reimu's anger, since he's surprisingly good at interacting with her ^^' I mean, he has to be... Otherwise, Reimu would kick his skeletal ass like no tomorrow. I'm really glad for this chapter since it's from it that I planned out Waterfall and, well, I don't think you'll have to worry about skipping most of Waterfall because that definitely won't happen. Anyway, Kasen!
I read up on Wild and Horned Hermit, so I got to know Kasen a bit better. I mean, she shows up in Urban Legend in Limbo, but my impression of her there was only superficial. She kind of seemed like the sort of character with common sense, you know. The one that does the right thing. However, when I read Wild and Horned Hermit, I started understanding her character better: people who say her Urban Legend in Limbo theme doesn't fit her probably don't know her all that well because while she is a fairly good person (?), who cares about others and tries to do the right thing while wanting everyone else to do the same (so she's kinda naggy), there's also this cold ruthlessness about her. Seriously, sometimes Kasen can give you the chills. I mean, she is a good person, but there are certain instances where she acts cold, but more to herself than something she outwardly expresses. Besides, they're really short instances.
But you get the feeling that she could be ruthless if she wanted; and in some aspects, she is. Like 'Oh I'm just crushing these things out of existence' with a cold expression as if it were nothing special. Her battle theme in Urban Legend in Limbo is badass, and I think it's because it represents that scarcely-seen cold, ruthless side of Kasen; its more emotional parts represent her as a whole. She's very mysterious, since you don't really know all that much about her, so I imagine her backstory would be really interesting. Anyway, I was planning on the first scene being about other great characters (Touhou is full of great characters), but that scene wasn't very good so suddenly, Kasen came to mind. With that, I decided to make her see the shrine and, well, she suspected the worst. You can't blame her for that though: it's pretty amazing how optimistic everybody else is being about the ordeal.
While Wild and Horned Hermit never makes Shinmyoumaru meet Kasen despite the fact that Shinmyoumaru lives at Reimu's for a while, I assumed they would know each other. In Urban Legend in Limbo, Shinmyoumaru thinks she's really suspicious and, ahem, I wonder why (*cough*SheMustTotallyBeAnOni*cough*Issun-BoshiKilledOne*cough*); I wanted to portray that too. Shimyoumaru is so cheeky and childish, it's sort of strange to write when you're constantly with casual, easygoing characters. In the end, the scene might seem pointless since we all know Reimu's missing, but its purpose is more to tell you how stuff is going in Gensokyo when it comes to the incident at hand, and the reaction of the Youkai Mountain people specifically to it. It's not going all that swiftly... If only Reimu were there to threaten everyone :P
The Touhou side is really moving forward though, and that's awesome to me since I love writing these Touhou characters. I mean, I get nervous too since they're such great characters, but I do love writing them a lot. At first, when Reimu meets Sans, I got stuck; I didn't know what I wanted with the conversation. Then, I re-wrote it and everything became fine, especially since Sans decided to explain stuff to Reimu. His advice is pretty sound, but Reimu just wants to hurry along Waterfall! Look where that got her... XD I personally think Sans and Reimu can get along because Sans can just take her stuff in stride and Reimu can't actually hate anyone. Besides, they're both pretty lazy. Either way, Sans is being a total bro and it's great since Reimu needs to learn her stuff from somewhere if she's not willing to see everything.
I was somewhat looking forward to Mad Dummy, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized Reimu wouldn't get much from them. After all, Mad Dummy is... Mad. They're not in the mood to listen to anything, and they won't provide anything in particular beyond their ramblings because of this. Seriously, you end up fighting them more because they wanted your soul than because they wanted vengeance. So, I decided we didn't need to see the battle between Reimu and Mad Dummy, mostly because it'd also be a pretty short battle too. After all, Reimu's attacks aren't entirely physical, so she can damage Mad Dummy. Frisk can't damage the ghost in-game because they only use physical attacks, while Reimu's weapons are made to damage youkai, who are weak to spiritual attacks.
Basically, Mad Dummy never had a chance ^^' This made me cut to Seija! I thought I wasn't going to write a scene with Seija since it'd be kind of pointless, but then I found a good point for it. My initial plans for a Seija scene, if there was ever going to be one, was to have her reaction to the incident and how that totally delays Impossible Spellcard. But yeah... That'd be boring. Then, I decided I wanted a scene where I'd showcase just what exactly Nue is doing to 'help' Marisa. Originally, the target was going to be Kokoro, but I found it hard to place her anywhere since I don't actually know her main place of activity. Due to that, I had to give up on Kokoro and immediately, Seija popped to mind.
... And that scene was written. Oh, it was great. Its purpose is to let us know that youkai will always be youkai and that Nue's help isn't exactly the best Marisa could get, but I also liked writing Seija a lot. Seija is the kind of character that's always portrayed as greatly one-note. With this, I mean that out of all the Seija fics I read, most had Seija literally go like, "Oh yeah, I like what other people don't and hate what people like!" You know, because everyone announces their own character traits, it just seems so three-dimensional, don't you think? Overall, I see Seija portrayed as if she had no individuality, or that the character trait mentioned above was her individuality, meaning that Seija doesn't even have motives or goals or anything of her own. It was sad. After all, she isn't written this way in the games. She has individuality. She does things according to her own goals.
With that in mind, I decided to portray her in the same way. You know, without blatantly shouting out the opposites part. An amusing part about Seija is that she speaks in a rough way, but it's the rough way you'd imagine some old guardsman speak like or something XD So she ain't like Marisa, who speaks in a boyish, rough manner. Seija also thinks mostly of what'll benefit her, and can be quite manipulative. Besides, she's a talkative sort who wants things her way... and things can't go her way with Reimu around. Naturally, Seija doesn't want Reimu to be found, and isn't willing to join Marisa's Search Party. Meanwhile, Nue...
Well, Nue's such a youkai. As I said in the previous chapter, Nue is surprisingly less conniving than Mamizou, and has a more fun-loving feel to her. Really, she just wants to do her thing, and even when she is on your side, what she does while on it is often misguided since... she does her own thing (and she's a youkai, so what were you expecting?). She doesn't like it when her true form is exposed, so she didn't really like Seija using her powers on her. I made Seija see a cube of abyssal darkness because it was the opposite of a ball of light, by the way XD Anyway, Nue seems like she's more simple-minded than Mamizou, but plenty mischievous, confident and proud. She knows that she's the type of youkai you don't mess with. She seems more of a jolly type too, but not in the cheerful sense. It's just that she's the fun-loving sort. I like Nue's personality, to be honest. I'm basing it off of the games and her appearance in Forbidden Scrollery, and it came out rather nicely.
Anyway, I liked that scene, especially because we all know they were going to fight, and the last lines are really reminiscent of lines you'd hear from the opponent in a Touhou game ^^ And all of this is because Reimu's missing, oh Reimu... Speaking of her, she's just getting really confused about the scriptures, huh? It'll be a while before she gets to the conclusion that these monsters aren't really youkai. Though I loved that Reimu was exploring all these places, I'm not all that confident about her interactions with Shyren and Onionsan: I get nervous about the minor characters because I'm really afraid of screwing them up... Onionsan seemed really chipper but depressed about their circumstances in the game, so I tried to get that desperate tone across. Meanwhile, Reimu would never bother singing to Shyren or anything, so nothing in particular could be done in that battle.
The only interaction beyond the one with Sans that I liked was with the star monster, as in, that one who asks you about the stars XD Honestly, I was more amused with her interactions with the different environments than with the monsters this time around: from the last chapter with the echo flowers to the umbrella stuff, Waterfall is pretty fun when it comes to its areas. Oh, and you must be wondering about that glorious billboard XD It's, of course, a billboard of Mettaton promoting his movie... and that's all I'll say about it. Beyond the fact that it's fabulous, that is ^^ Just picturing it makes me laugh... Anyway, I confirmed Flowey was stalking Reimu in the last chapter, but Reimu caught him now. Sucks that he wouldn't show himself because I would've liked to write Flowey...
Oh, and it seems like there are no deleted sentences that were funny, so yeah. None of that's here so, uh... Look forward to the next chapter? It'll have more Waterfall, and maybe we might reach Hotland!
