Chapter 9
Choices
"Okay," Eirin said as Mokou tore Kaguya's arm off, "I'm about ready to intervene."
"Not yet," I said. "Let the battle continue. Mokou just took the fourth item; we'll intervene once she takes the branch."
"Isn't that supposed to be when the fight ends anyways?"
"That's what I think Mokou intends, but-" I looked away as Mokou tore Kaguya's chest open, "-Kaguya doesn't know that. She probably won't realize that Mokou's done with the fight."
Eirin thought for a moment. "Good point. I just hope it doesn't take too much longer."
Wriggle rose into the air to face Marisa as the witch approached. "Whoa," Marisa said. "That you, Wriggle?"
"More or less," Wriggle said. She knew exactly what had thrown Marisa off; her appearance was different now, different even from what the demon had seen. The change had occurred during the trip back to Eientei. Wriggle's dress had changed color from white to black, and her eyes from green to red. This was what Cirno and the others had seen, and it was what Marisa was seeing now. Wriggle didn't know the reason for the additional change, but her guess was that it had happened as the power had fully joined to her, truly becoming hers. This, then, was its real mark, and the black dress what the First had truly worn.
"'More or less'? What's that supposed to mean, ze?"
"Exactly what it sound like. There have been changes, but I am still me."
"Changes, huh? Well, whatever. Where's Reimu?"
"I have not seen her," Wriggle said.
"Yeah, you're lying, ain'tcha? Reimu's gone, you're all weird and look different, I'm not buying it."
"I think we both know that you don't particularly care whether I'm telling the truth or not," Wriggle said. "I know how you operate. As soon as you saw me, there was no avoiding a fight. It wouldn't matter what I said. You see someone, you attack them. That's how you work. So quit pretending like what I have to say makes any difference."
Marisa laughed. "Man, you've got some guts now! I like that, ze! Well, if you want a fight so bad, then-"
Wriggle cut her off. "I do not. You're the one who wants a fight."
"Okay, you're trying to confuse me, aren't you? Or something. But too bad, 'cause I know just how to deal with misdirection."
"Let me guess: blow people up."
"Exactly, ze! Glad you understand!"
"I understand perfectly," Wriggle said, repeating what she'd done when facing the demon, passing her voice through surrounding insects to give it a booming and echoing effect. "You are the one who is in over your head. You have no idea what you're up against."
"Oh, really? Well, if you're so tough, then prove it, ze!"
Wriggle took hold of a card. As the one being challenged, convention held that she had first right to use a music card. And she'd changed more than just her spellcards. In addition to upgrading her old ones, she'd made some new ones with the blank cards she'd asked Tewi to get. She'd also remixed her theme of choice, and she activated that card now. "Very well. Just know that your downfall tonight is of your own choosing."
"Geez, whatever."
"You would do well to have care, Kirisame. You have no idea what it is you face."
Marisa laughed. "And just what the hell is that supposed to mean, anyways?"
"I told you that I have changed. You cannot possibly comprehend what I have become, and in facing me, you have sealed your fate. So let us begin. Bug Sign: Bug Storm!"
Wriggle formed medium-sized shots around herself, firing them outwards in streams as they formed. At a certain distance, each shot split into multiple smaller shots. The density of incoming fire was a surprise to Marisa, but the witch was still able to slip through unhit, and she returned fire with a spread of star-shaped shots.
As she canceled her spellcard, Wriggle formed several 'nodes', which could be moved independently from herself and used to fire danmaku. She sent them at Marisa in a spread pattern. The nodes left mid-sized bullets in their paths that soon spread out. As with the spellcard, it was a pattern Marisa had seen before, just a lot more dense and harder to navigate through. But she still managed to do it, although she did only barely avoid colliding with a node at one point.
"Pretty good," Marisa said, "but not good enough. Love Sign: Non-Directional Laser!" She fired larger star-shaped shots in two sets of five rotating streams, one set rotating clockwise and the other clockwise. She also had two sets of lasers rotating in the same manner. Only one set of lasers fired at a time, but they switched at regular intervals. And in addition, Marisa fired off a few smaller star shots targeted at Wriggle's position.
Wriggle maneuvered carefully through the streams, staying away from the lasers, and declared a spellcard of her own. "Bug Sign: Swarm!" Hundreds of small points of light appeared all around. An instant after each one appeared, a thin laser fired from it at Marisa's position. The lasers only remained briefly, but new points of light were appearing constantly, and the barrage didn't let up.
In the end, it came down to surprise. Not only was Swarm a completely new spellcard, it was a much more difficult one than anything Marisa had seen from Wriggle-or almost anyone else, for that matter. It sounded simple, but it was a lot harder than one might think. In addition, the frequency and density of the lasers were high. Marisa did her best, but she was hit before Wriggle was. Multiple times; the lasers didn't stop coming just because one had hit her, and the strike provided a momentary distraction that allowed her to get hit by many more or them. It 'broke' her spellcard, as well, ending that pattern. And although a card could be reused, it needed some time to recharge-'recompose', as it was usually called. This didn't take too long, but it did effectively limit a card to one use per battle, so Wriggle didn't have to worry about that one again. But that still left Marisa with plenty of options.
Marisa managed to break away from the lasers and simply dodged until the card 'timed out' and ended. "Damn," Marisa said, "that was pretty good. Now try this! Magic Space: Asteroid Belt!" Five nodes appeared around her, rotating clockwise and firing fairly sparse sprays of stars behind them. Marisa herself began firing off a large number of rotating streams of larger stars, creating a very dense field. And the shots from the nodes only made things trickier.
Wriggle returned fire with some basic danmaku of her own, repeating her earlier node pattern, but her focus was on dodging. It was very difficult to keep track of the small stars among the larger ones, though, and she took hits. They were minor hits, though, and Wriggle ignored them as she focused on dodging the larger and more dangerous shots.
As the spellcard ended, Marisa spun several nodes around herself that let out sprays of stars. "I know you are capable of more," Wriggle said. "You fail to appreciate my power, and this shall be your doom. Queen's Spear: Stinger!" What formed in Wriggle's hand wasn't the exact spear that she'd wielded against the demon, but a danmaku version of it. Wriggle threw the spear, and it sailed towards Marisa at high speed, leaving in its wake dense twin streams of shots that began expanding outward. Marisa dodged the spear, but it swung around and came at her again from a different angle. "Wah!"
As the spear made more passes, avoiding it became more and more difficult; as the bullets it was leaving grew in number, movement became more and more restricted. Before long, Marisa fell into the trap of focusing too much on the field of shots, forgetting about the spear until it was too late. The spear came in from the left, impacting Marisa and knocking the witch to the side, sending her through a number of the bullets.
"Okay," Marisa said, "fine. If that's the way you want it, then playtime's over. Magic Cross: Grand Cross!" She began firing bullets in six-shot groups, while at the same time spraying fireballs everywhere. Then she added rotating beams, and then large orbs that spun around her. The orbs had the effect of blocking the beams, but Wriggle soon found that trying to take advantage of this wasn't the smartest of ideas. Attempting to stay in the 'safe zone' while avoiding all the other shots served as a distraction and got Wriggle a fireball to the face. She then didn't react quickly enough as the orb moved away, and took a direct hit from one of the beams.
Wriggle made a quick recovery and swung above Marisa, waiting for a straight shot that wouldn't cross paths with any beams or orbs, and when she saw her chance, she took it. "Kamikaze: Wriggle Kick!" She shot towards Marisa at high speed, feet-first, a barrier of green energy protecting her from any minor shots she collided with-although it wouldn't have protected her from the beams or orbs, which is why she'd needed a path free of both.
Marisa didn't have enough time to react. She took a direct hit, breaking her spellcard and sending her flying. Wriggle's card, on the other hand, wasn't the same variety. 'Instant-use' cards, as they were called, weren't shot patterns. They were individual attacks, such as the kick or Marisa's well-known Master Spark. Shot patterns were not a part of them. In addition, instant-use cards were 'depleted' less per use than regular spellcards, and thus could usually be used multiple times before being completely drained and needing to recompose. The number of uses, of course, varied by card; Master Spark was noteworthy there because it was one of the very, very few instant-use spellcards that did need to recompose after every use.
Wriggle didn't let up, immediately declaring another card. "Hive Sign: Fury of the Hive!" Marisa, not knowing what to expect, didn't move away in time, and found herself enclosed by the energy wall. The bullets and lasers came fast and dense, but Marisa managed to avoid every single one. Until the beam came. That caught her off-guard and scored a direct hit, knocking her out through the wall.
Marisa righted herself as Wriggle canceled the card. "Nice one," she said, breathing heavily. "I guess you're tougher than I thought after all. Magic Bullet: Test Slave!" Marisa threw out a large orb, which remained connected to her by a beam. The orb sprayed shots as Marisa swung it around, attempting to hit Wriggle with it. Dodging it wasn't too hard, or wouldn't have been if it wasn't spraying shots. And then there was the fact that Wriggle couldn't pass between the orb and Marisa, thanks to the beam.
Wriggle dodged another swing by dropping into an open area under it, but it soon became clear that Marisa has expected this, as she cancelled the card directly into another. "Love Sign: Master Spark!" It was a direct hit, and Wriggle was slammed into the ground by the blast. "You fell for it!" Marisa called out as the Spark ended.
Wriggle got to her feet and rose into the air again. "You had enough yet?" Marisa asked.
Wriggle knew she was far from unharmed, but she knew she could keep going-although she wasn't completely certain how much longer she could go for, as she hadn't tested her limits yet-and from the looks of things, Marisa was almost spent. "You cannot hope to win, Kirisame," Wriggle said. "Despair, for your doom is nigh! Insect Queen's Wrath!"
Nodes formed around the combatants and sent out streams of energy, forming a large sphere around the two. Each node remained connected to Wriggle by a beam, and the nodes began moving rapidly upon the surface of the sphere, spraying shots inward as they did. Wriggle began densely spraying shots herself, and she also threw out more nodes. These nodes sprayed lasers as they moved, rebounding away at an angle whenever they hit each other or the wall of the sphere.
Marisa had a very difficult time keeping up with the chaotic storm of danmaku, but she managed. Until Wriggle begin firing a large beam, that is. Marisa did manage to dodge it, but Wriggle simply swept it along after her, requiring her to keep moving quickly, which, of course, made avoiding everything else a lot more difficult. Before long, Marisa flew straight into one of the beams connecting the sphere's nodes to Wriggle, which knocked her off balance long enough for Wriggle to catch her with the large beam, sending her flying out through the sphere and into the ground.
Wriggle ended the spellcard and dropped to the ground in front of Marisa, who was struggling to stand. "You failed to heed my warning," she said. "This is the result. You understand now that you cannot hope to best me."
Marisa was completely worn out-danmaku combat was by nature more tiring than regular combat. This was another factor by which it reduced actual damage and injury, as danmaku battles were generally shorter. "You're… not Wriggle," Marisa managed to get out. "Who… are… you?"
"You're wrong. I am Wriggle. I have merely claimed that which is mine by right of birth."
"What the… hell… are you… talking about?"
"Exactly what I said."
"Fine, I'll be… more specific: if you're… really… Wriggle… how do you… suddenly have… that much power?"
"I told you; I have claimed that which is mine by right of birth."
"Oh, fine, whatever." Marisa managed to seat herself properly on her broom. "Be that way. Just don't… cause any trouble." And with that, she left.
"Woah," Tewi said as the group saw Marisa go down, "she actually did it."
"Yeah!" Mystia called out. "Way to go, Wriggle!"
"Pretty good," Daiyousei said.
"Yeah, Marisa's had that coming for a long time."
Cirno and Rumia stood back a ways; Rumia had pulled Cirno aside while the others were watching the battle. "Nice," she said.
"You've got that right," Cirno said. "And Marisa had it coming."
"That she did. Anyways, getting back on topic, I think we should do it. The coil's going to break eventually, and I'd prefer if this happened under controlled circumstances. And… well, I want to get this over with."
"But- but- but- but- but-"
"Please, Cirno."
"I don't want to hurt you, Rumia."
"It'll hurt even if you don't do anything. It hurts when the coil's damage worsens. It'll hurt if you break it, and it'll hurt if we wait and let it break. All you'll be doing is letting me choose when it happens."
"But then what happens to you?"
"I don't know," Rumia said, "but we're going to find out eventually, and like I said, I'd rather just get it over with."
"But-"
"I'll be okay, Cirno."
"No you won't! You'll be hurt. You'll-"
"It hurts even now."
"Huh?"
"The pain's not major," Rumia said, "but it's there, and I'd imagine it'll only get worse. Sure, it'll hurt when you break the coil, but then it'll be gone."
"I… well, um… well, I, uh… well, all right."
"Thank you." Sorry, Cirno. Once this is done, I'll apologize.
Mokou literally lost her head. "Plus one for Kaguya," Eirin said.
Um, is she… "Are you keeping score?"
"Decapitation tally. Mokou's decapitated Kaguya 3,231 times, and counting this one, Kaguya's decapitated Mokou 3,309 times."
"Um. You're tallying their decapitations."
"Yes," Eirin said.
"And this doesn't seem at all strange to you?"
"Not anymore."
Right. This has been happening for over a thousand years. I guess she just became desensitized to it after a while.
Apparently, resurrection took longer after losing a head, but eventually, Mokou was back on her feet, and she wasted no time. She charged in almost immediately, slamming Kaguya to the ground. Then she blew Kaguya's head off.
"Plus one for Mokou," Eirin remarked. I, however, was focusing on Mokou's actions.
"That's five," I said. "Mokou has the branch. Let's get in there."
Mokou backed away from Kaguya and waited for the Lunarian to resurrect. As Kaguya got to her feet, Eirin and I moved between her and Mokou.
"Get out of the way," Kaguya said. Neither of us moved. "I said, 'get out of the way'!" We still didn't move. "That's an order, Eirin!"
"Go," I whispered to Eirin. "You don't have to disobey her. I can handle this."
"You, too, Orphan," Kaguya said as Eirin moved aside.
"If you insist on continuing this battle," I said, "then I will stand aside, but first, take note of yourself."
"Excuse me?"
"Examine yourself," I said. "I think you'll find something noteworthy."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"I do believe you're missing something."
"Fine, if it'll get you out of my way." Kaguya started looking over herself. "Yeah, I don't see any-wait, where are the treasures?"
I backed away as Mokou approached, carrying the five items. Kaguya tensed up as Mokou drew close, but nobody attacked. Mokou set the items down in front of Kaguya one at a time. "The Fire Rat's Robe. The Buddha's Stone Bowl. The Dragon's Necklace. The Swallow's Cowry Shell. The Jeweled Branch of Hourai." Mokou stepped back. "I believe that's all five of the items you named."
Kaguya quite clearly had no idea what was going on. 'Huh?"
"Think about it, Kaguya," I said. "What was the reason for your conflict?"
"Mokou blames me for her father's death."
"And he died because…"
"Because he attempted to find the Jeweled Branch of Hourai."
"And what was he doing in a more general sense?"
"Um… trying to secure a wife?"
"Not quite that general."
"Okay. Um… oh! He was trying to complete my challenge."
I nodded. "Exactly."
I waited, but Kaguya didn't seem to make the connection. Eventually, Mokou stepped up to her again. "Oh, come on. Isn't it obvious? What did I just do?"
"You fought me."
"Jeez, Kaguya, this isn't that hard. Yes, we fought, but during the battle, what happened?"
"Um…"
Mokou gave an exasperated sigh. "I took the five items, Kaguya."
There was another pause, but then it suddenly hit Kaguya. "Oh. Wait, what? Are you saying-"
"That I just completed your challenge? Yes, I am."
"Wha- but- I- you- uh-"
Mokou indicated me. "Orphan there told me something. She said that maybe you didn't expect so many people to attempt the challenge, that Lunarians would have responded differently. Is that true?"
"I… um, yes," Kaguya said. "I didn't even think about it until you killed me that first time. After that, I looked into it, and I saw that you were right. That's why I withdrew the challenge." Her tone was hopeful. "Are you saying-"
"That I forgive you? No. I still can't do that, but Orphan said something else, too. She said that I didn't have to forgive you, that I could end the conflict instead. She's the one who suggested that I complete the challenge."
"I was not, however, expecting a fight like that," I said. "An ordinary battle between you two-so that Mokou could take the items-would have been one thing, but I was not expecting such a drawn-out, brutal, bloody battle. I think I know why you did it, though, Mokou. You were attempting to purge your lingering hatred towards her, weren't you?"
"That is indeed what I was doing." She turned back to Kaguya. "And I have to say, you did put up a pretty good fight."
Kaguya's relief was plain to see. "I like to think so. Eirin, who won?"
"Huh?"
"Mokou has decapitated Kaguya 3,232 times," Eirin said. "Kaguya has decapitated Mokou 3,310 times. Kaguya wins."
"Okay," Mokou said, "hold on. You were having Eirin keep a decapitation count?"
"Yes."
There was a pause, followed by laughter. "I think that's the best thing I've heard all week."
I turned to Eirin. "I think we should give these two some time alone."
"Yeah," Eirin said, smiling. "I just hope this sticks."
My name is Eirin Yagokoro.
They called me the 'Brain of the Moon'. I did not dispute this title; after all, there is no doubt as to my level of genius. I realize how that statement may sound, but there is no boasting involved. My genius is well-established, and I do not believe that false modesty is appropriate. If it's not true, that's one thing, but I truly am at that level, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise.
My field is medicine. I have been a doctor for over thirteen hundred years. I have been developing new treatments throught that entire time period; many of my procedures have become standard practice among Lunarians, as their effectiveness is unrivaled. I am the one who cured the 'Great Lunar Plague', and I have cured countless other diseases. I have even stopped death.
Research on immortality was strictly forbidden, so I had to conduct that work in secret. I was hardly the first to attempt the development of an elixir of immortality, and given the secrecy required, I suppose it's possible that someone before be managed to succeed. However, I doubt it, because when my elixir was first used, it was not long before people realized what had happened.
I have always been close the Princess Kaguya. We've been close friends all our lives, and eventually, she had employed me directly as head of her medical staff. She was the only person who knew of my secret work, and she is the one who consumed the Hourai Elixir. I myself did not. I wanted to succeed in developing immortality; I had no interest is claiming it for myself.
When Kaguya's immortality was discovered, she was stripped of her right to the throne and exiled to Earth. I, however, was merely imprisoned; apparently, making someone immortal is a much lesser crime than becomming immortal. I was imprisoned for some time, but compared to Kaguya, my sentence was light. I was even allowed to resume my work upon my release, although I was required to submit to additional monitoring.
As it turned out, Kaguya's crime was eventually forgiven; her mother had always claimed that not wanting to die is natural, and I suppose she was finally able to convince the right people of this. The problem was that Kaguya had come to prefer life on Earth.
I was selected as part of the party that went to retrieve Kaguya, presumably in hopes that our friendship would aid me in convincing her to return. I, however, would never go against the Princess' wishes, especially not after she was exiled while I, the one who made the elixir and thus the one far more deserving of punishment, got off much lighter. So instead of bringing her back, I aided her in driving off the rest of the part and resumed my position as her servant.
Not wanting additional battles against fellow Lunarians, Kaguya and I went into hiding. Eventually, we learned of a plan to preserve magic by seperating the land of Gensokyo from the rest of the world. Knowing that this would remove our need to hide, Kaguya and I became residents of this new land. Eventually, we located the rabbits' mansion, Eientei, and Kaguya was allowed to reside there as its master.
Gensokyo may currently be facing a crisis. The demons that are attacking may be part of an invasion plan. Kaguya believes so, at least, and has been attempting to unite Gensokyo under her to meet this threat. Unfortunately, others have had the same idea, and in addition, the response from Gensokyo's people has been... less than encouraging. Still, I can't help but feel optimistic. A seemingly-endless conflict has just ended, and this is enough to make anyone feel hopeful.
"That was great, Wriggle!" Cirno said as Wriggle rejoined the group. "That was awesome!"
"Indeed," Tewi said. "It's nice to see Marisa on the receiving end of a beating for once. That was impressive, Wriggle."
"Yeah," Daiyousei said, "but what was with all that stuff you were saying?"
"Just me having some fun," Wriggle replied.
"And how did you do that with your voice?" Mystia asked.
"I sent my words through nearby insects. I've found that I like the effect."
"That was crazy, though," Rumia said. "I mean, that was Marisa. I don't think she's lost to anyone but Reimu, and you just took her down hard."
"Well, it wasn't easy, but yes, She was much more powerful than any of her descendants, and I'm only now realizing just how powerful She was."
"Yeah," Cirno said. "I mean, damn."
"Glad you were impressed," Wriggle said. "Now, I do believe we were heading back to Mystia's place?"
"Cirno and I would like to detour to the lake and pick up a few things," Rumia said.
"Oh, come on, Rumia," Cirno said. "They're our friends. Tell them the truth."
"All right," Rumia said. "I'll tell you what I understood. Basically, Eirin found that the pain when the demon attacked Cirno was because some kind of magic called a 'coil' has been placed on me. Apparently, part of it's also on Cirno, and Eirin said that part's maintaining the coil. The demon's attack somehow damaged this effect, and now the coil's condition is deteriorating. Apparently, this deterioration is stimulated whenever…"
It had taken a little while, but Copenhagen and Hourai had found the Tsesek recruiting office. The man sitting at the desk looked up as they entered. "Huh. You two looking to sign up?"
"We've been considering it," Hourai said.
"Hmm…" He looked them over. "Well, what could we expect from you in combat? Magic of some kind, I would assume."
"From me," Hourai said. "Kia here is more of a physical fighter."
The man stood up and walked over to Copenhagen. "Well, you don't look like much. You sayin' you're one of those 'tougher that you look' types?" Copenhagen nodded. "Hah! Yeah, I've heard that before. And you know how many of them actually lived up to it? Not many. So, yeah, you'll have to prove yourself."
"Okay."
Copenhagen threw a punch, but the man, anticipating the move, caught it in his hands. "Yeah, 'cause nobody's made that move be-"
Copenhagen continued the punch, slamming the man's hands into his face. "I expected that."
The man shook his head. "Huh. Nice move. Not really a sufficient demonstration, but it proves you're not worthless. We've got a test course set up; you simply need to complete it. We'll need to test you, too, of course," he said, turning to Hourai. "You'll be accepted upon passing the test."
"Don't get ahead of yourself," Hourai said. "We haven't made a decision yet. We need a little more information first."
"Oh?"
"Yeah," Copenhagen said. "Let's be honest here; we all know you're mainly after numbers. Yeah, anyone you accept has to be able to fight to at least some extent, but you're accepting anyone you can."
"Um…"
"It's fairly obvious, you know. It's the obvious approach. Gensokyo's residents are, on average, a bit above us in power. What we have is a lot more people. So it's obvious you're going for a horde approach. The question, of course, is how many you intend to sacrifice. Because, well, we'll fight, but we don't want to be sent out to die."
"I see. Well, that's understandable. 'Course, they don't tell me too much. Although it doesn't sound like we'll be taking a very complex approach. We're not expecting coordinated resistance; that's the whole point of the advance attackers."
"And you're not worried that they may unite in preparation for an attack?" Hourai asked.
The man laughed. "At the moment, it would seem that at least three different groups are attempting to do just that. This brings them into conflict with each other. They won't be getting any 'unifying' done."
"I'd say just do nothing," Copenhagen said. "Don't give them any clue that we're coming."
"Um, you do realize that they've inevitably got someone, probably multiple someones, keeping tabs on Makai, right? We've been able to conceal most of the buildup as being nothing out of the ordinary, but now that we're just about ready to move, it's pretty obvious what we're up to. If we let that bitch Yukari do it her way, Gensokyo might actually manage to unite against us. So we panicked others into action, and now they're too occupied with each other to get anything done against us."
"That's about what I figured," Hourai said. "I'm afraid Kia doesn't have a good mind for strategy and tactics. She greatly favors the direct approach."
"There's something to be said for that. And the attack itself will be very direct. We aren't expecting too much opposition. Some of the groups, especially the mountain and Eientei, may be able to mount some decent resistance on their own, but they'll be fighting separately. Of course, even if we do face a unified Gensokyo, we're ready for that. The bosses believe in preparing for the worst. We'll have enough people to completely overwhelm them no matter how unified they are. I'd expect that the attack will go in waves, in case they have any nasty surprises planned, but, well, even if you end up in the middle of a trap, I wouldn't worry; the waves are a precaution, and I'd think each one would be large enough to handle any such problems."
"I see," Hourai said. "Well, I suppose that's not too bad. I don't think we're ready to decide right now, though. Thank you for the information, and if we decide to join, then we'll see you again."
"Hold on," Alice said to Byakuren. "I need to speak with Copenhagen and Hourai."
"You have a means by which to do so, then?"
Alice nodded. "The magical connection I needed to bring them to life allows us to communicate mentally."
"I see."
"They've actually been relaying everything they've heard to me. I've been able to handle conversing with you while listening to them, but 'speaking' with them, as it were, at the same time as I'm conversing with you would be a bit much, I think. I should be able to listen to you without difficulty, but saying two different things at the same time is a different matter."
"Understandable," Byakuren said. "Converse with them, then. I can wait."
"Thank you," Alice said. [Okay, you two, back to the original plan, except I want you two to stick together. The gossip there may be different than what London and Holland picked up, especially since Tsesek doesn't just have a recruiting facility. Neos is close enough that I'm sure there are rumors flying around that you wouldn't here in a smaller town.]
[We know the plan, Mother,] Hourai sent. [We spotted a busy-looking tavern while looking for the recruitment center, too, remember? We're on our way there right now. In the meantime, I assume you have some thoughts on what the recruitment officer said.]
[Nothing was too surprising, although I didn't expect him to know or volunteer so freely that information about the advance force, even if it was limited to confirming my suspicions. I suppose it's a sign of how close they are to ready; they don't feel a need to keep that classified any more.]
[People've probably known about the advance force for a while, though, right?] Copenhagen out in. [I doubt its purpose was any major secret.]
[There would certainly have been rumors,] Alice agreed, [but I wouldn't have expected people like that recruitment officer to confirm them so freely, or even to have been told they're true at all. As I said, it's probably a sign of how soon they'll be attacking. Secrecy simply isn't a worry for them now. They think it's too late for anything to change, and I'm afraid they're right.]
[But isn't that why we're taking action?]
[Yes, and I intend to continue as planned, as least for now. But given the situation regarding myself and my mother, actually stopping this is probably beyond my capability at this point in time, although I may at least be able to divert the war away from Gensokyo. But for that, I'll first have to deal with Netese, or whoever's really in charge. Which means that for now, we proceed as planned. Moscow, status update.]
[She's definitely headed for Kases,] Moscow replied. [There's no question there anymore. I don't know if it's her current destination or just a point along the way, but at this point, there's no doubt that she's going there.]
[Shanghai?]
[Still on my way, Mother. I should catch up to Moscow within the hour.]
[Remember to-]
[Hold back from Moscow's position, I know. She's the one who's made for stealth; they'll see me more easily. I know the plan, Mother.]
[Just be careful, Shanghai.]
[I will.]
[Good.] "Done," Alice said. "Sorry about that."
"It's not a problem," Byakuren said. "I want to get to the bottom of this as much as you do."
"I know," Alice said. "Thank you. Now, as I was saying, Moscow followed this 'Netese' when she left Pandemonium, and is still doing so. Shanghai is heading out to rendezvous with Moscow and…"
"Well," Eirin said as she led me towards Eientei, "I suppose we might as well get started with some basic questions."
"Let me guess," I said, "you're going to ask me what power I have."
"I take it you've been asked that before, then."
I nodded. "It's the first thing everyone thinks of to ask. And I suppose it makes sense that they would. The thing is that I believe that the power I have now and the power I had before my memory loss are different."
"You're certain of this?"
"As certain as I can be. Using my power gives me a sense of wrongness, a sense that it's different."
"I see. Hmm… well, what is your current power?"
"My power is that of nature, of the land and the sea."
"Land and sea," Eirin said. "Not sky?"
"Um, no. Is that important?"
"It could be. If your power is indeed power over the forces of nature, then it is incomplete if it applies only to land and sea. This brings to mind two possibilities regarding the change in your power."
"Please explain."
"Certainly," Eirin said. "You see, a complete change from one power to another is likely impossible-although I suppose it wouldn't be the only impossible thing I've seen today. Anyways, I think the fact that you have power over land and sea but not sky is a significant clue, and it brings to mine two possibilities.
"The first possibility is that originally, you did indeed have the complete set of land, sea, and sky, and that the change is a loss of the sky portion of your power. I don't know what could have caused such a loss, but I suppose the natural assumption is that it's somehow related to your memory loss."
"I would think it probably is related," I said. "What is the other possibility?"
"You have power over land and sea," Eirin said. "The second possibility is that your original power was limited to one of those two, and that the change is the addition of the other. And without your memory, you would have had to learn both from scratch, so there would have been no clue there as to which is which."
"Both give me the same feeling."
"If so, that makes the second possibility less likely."
"Are there any other possibilities?" I asked.
"Yes," Eirin said. "As I said before, a complete change is supposed to be impossible, but I've already seen something today that's supposed to be impossible, so it probably should not be ruled out. There's also the possibility that you originally had highly varied abilities, and that your current abilities are simply all you've retained after whatever it is that happened to you-which the losing-sky-powers possibility would fall under. Aside from that, it could also have been a copy, a drain, or an exchange."
"And those are?"
"A copy is just what it sounds like," Eirin said. "That would mean your powers became a copy of someone else's. An exchange is similarly obvious; you and someone else would have switched powers. A drain would be you, well, taking the power of someone else such that you have it and they no longer do. I would consider that the least likely possibility, though. Out of all the possibilities, I think the copy is the most likely, with the exchange being in second place. Incidentally, none of these are things that anyone knows how to do deliberately. It's not even known what actually causes them, and all are extremely rare-I've only seen three cases of power change in over a thousand years, yourself not included."
"I see."
"Now, if you copied someone else's powers, it's likely that your original powers still remain within you somewhere. Two of those previous cases were copies-the third being an exchange-and in both cases, the affected's original powers remained within them. The copied powers merely took dominance. It is possible to regain one's original powers, but doing so comes at the cost of the copied powers. One's original power can remain more easily than a copied power can, and if the original power becomes dominant again, the copied power fades away.
"If, on the other hand, what happened is an exchange, then you would not have your original powers; the one you exchanged with would. However, although it is not known how to induce an exchange, there is a proven method for undoing one, a method I developed myself for use on the exchange case I had. It's much easier than causing an exchange, as undoing one involves just taking powers that don't belong and helping them return to where they do belong."
"So the process is reversible."
"Yes," Eirin said. "For the other possibilities I mentioned, I am not sure, but I know for a fact that those most likely two are reversible. If it's one of the other possibilities, then I am afraid that your case is within the unknown."
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Daiyousei asked.
"That's exactly the eighth time you've asked that," Mystia remarked. "And yes, I've been counting."
"It's their choice," Wriggle said. "I will not interfere."
The three of them and Tewi landed in front of Mystia's house, and Mystia led them inside. "I just don't like it," Dai said. "There's no telling what'll happen when they break this 'coil' thing. What if Rumia dies?"
"She won't," Mystia said. "Think about it, Dai. The coil is a seal, right? Whatever it was placed around is something she used to have. So, yeah, getting it back won't kill her. I'm more worried that it might do something else to her, but remember what Rumia said about Eirin? Eirin seemed to think that breaking it's the best idea, right? And she knows what she's doing."
"And the part about them being alone? Obviously Eirin thinks something will happen."
"And she also thinks that the two of them will be fine."
"I gave them some luck, too," Tewi said. "Don't worry so much."
"But what if it releases some monster or something? Shouldn't you be there, Wriggle?"
"They said they wanted to be by themselves," Wriggle said. "It's their decision to make. I'm keeping eyes on them, though, don't worry."
"Keeping- oh yeah, the seeing-through-insects thing."
"I'll know if something happens," Wriggle assured her. "I'll know."
"I still don't like it," Dai said. She moved into the next room.
Tewi turned to Mystia and Wriggle. "So what do think? Six more times? Five? Four? Because she's not going to stop asking until they actually break the thing, you know that, right?"
There was a pause. "She already left, didn't she?" Mystia said.
"Didn't even stop," Wriggle said. "Entered the room and went straight for the window."
"Wait," Tewi said, "she's gone? And you expected her to leave? And you didn't stop her?"
"She's lying unconscious a few meters away," Wriggle said. "I had appropriate insects waiting. Their poisons knocked her out. It's a short-lasting effect, though. She'll be awake again in a few minutes; let's go bring her back inside."
"You do that," Tewi said. "I'm going to go make the disposal drop."
"I still think you should've done that during the battle."
"Like I was going to miss that fight. Don't worry," Tewi said as she left, "this won't be a problem."
Aya landed in front of the sleeping Meiling. "China!" Nothing. "Hey, China!" Still no response. "Right, then," Aya muttered. "Time for step 2." Then she applied danmaku to Meiling's face.
Meiling was knocked backwards into the wall. "Waugh!"
"Wake up, China!"
Meiling took a moment to compose herself. "Okay, what the hell was-Aya?"
"Hi. I have a few-"
"You're not welcome here. You know that."
"I just have a few questions, then I'll be on my-"
Meiling assumed a ready stance. "You'll be on your way right now. You have no business here."
"Probably not. She's probably left by now."
"Hold on, left?"
"Yes," Aya said. "I'm looking for a woman who goes by 'Orphan'. I heard from Nol at the shrine that she was headed here."
Meiling thought for a moment. "Hmm… actually, there was someone, although I never got her name. I was ready to fight her off, but then she pulled a dirty trick on me and got past."
Aya took out the photo she'd showed Nol. "This look like her?"
"I didn't pay much attention to what she looked like," Meiling said, but she took a look at the photo anyways. "Actually, that may just be her. She had the same hat, at least."
"Then it's her," Aya said. "Where is she now?"
"The Human Village. I heard her and Yuugi talking about it as they left."
"Yuugi? Shit! The oni have her? She's been captured? Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, on shit."
"Actually," Meiling said, "I think Yuugi was just-" But Aya was already gone. "Figures. That woman's a menace. Well, at least she's got her sights on someone else."
It was about an hour until sunrise by the time Cirno and Rumia arrived at Misty Lake. The pair found a nice empty spot along the shore of the lake and landed.
"Rumia," Cirno said, "are you sure about this?"
"We need to do it," Rumia replied. "We've been over this, Cirno."
"I know, but I still don't want to do it."
"Please, Cirno."
"Hey, I already said I would. I just don't want to."
"I know," Rumia said. The pair stood silently for a moment.
"Rumia," Cirno said.
"Yeah?"
"Promise you won't leave me. Promise me that whatever happens, you'll still be here."
"I promise, Cirno," Rumia said. "As long as I'm alive, I won't leave you. And, Cirno?"
"Yeah?"
"If… if something happens… if I go crazy or something… I want you to be there for me."
"You won't go crazy," Cirno said. "I won't let you. No matter what happens, you'll get through this, because if anything does happen to you, I'll be there to get you back. I promise."
"Thank you, Cirno," Rumia said, and the pair embraced.
The two of them separated after a few seconds. "Right," Rumia said, "let's get this over with. Ready?"
"No," Cirno said, "but I'm as close as I'm going to be."
"Then let's do it."
Yeah, I am clearly having more fun with Wriggle than is legal.
There's one thing I'd like to talk about. More than one review mentioned my portrayal of Marisa as being overly trigger-happy. Those reviewers said that they'd seen Marisa as a more rational individual. I, however, do not see her that way. As I see it, she's extremely aggresive; hell, the Alice scenario in SA even has her say that beating up unrelated people is what she usually does. So while you're all free to have your own preferred interpretations of the character, mine is that she's very aggressive. It's really just a matter of opinion and preference.
And as always, reviews are appreciated.
