Behold the Exalt
Chapter Nine: Empress
"You sure you're leaving?" Sakuya asked.
"Yup," Meiling replied with a grin as she stuffed clothes into a bag, "I need to test my skills more. Traveling warrior monk, endless road of the disciple, the answer lies in the heart of battle, all that fun stuff."
"Why?"
"Well, now that working at the mansion is over," Meiling said, "I figured I should get back to real training."
"You're already the top martial artist in Gensokyo," Sakuya said, "Where will you go?"
"I figured I'd start with new hell," Meiling said, "I heard one of the mountain devas lives there. Should make for a good workout, fighting an oni. I hear her skin is unbreakable."
Sakuya lightly stepped closer to Meiling. "Can I ask you something?"
"Go for it."
"Can I come with you?" Sakuya asked in a whisper.
"Okay, now it's my turn," Meiling said, "Why?"
"It's that Leona girl," Sakuya said, "She's insane. She loosed Flandre at the human village just to cover her own tracks. She had no plan when fighting Remilia other than use my stopwatch, and the most frightening thing is that she won. Imagine how quickly that kind of thinking could get you killed, how quickly it could get others killed."
"Probably pretty quickly," Meiling mused, "And of course you can come, I'd be glad to have you along. Do you want to train with me?"
"Sorry," Sakuya said, "But I'm a little out of practice with my 'Everything Ever' martial arts style. I figured I would just cook for you."
"That would be nice," Meiling said, "Oh! You could test your cooking against the best chefs in Gensokyo while I test my skills against bodies of iron and hearts of steel!"
Sakuya let out a quiet chuckle. "That sounds splendid."
Leona finished fussing with her cape. "Alright, is everyone ready to leave?"
"Actually," Meiling said, "Sakuya and I have decided to strike out on our own. Best of luck to you, noble student." Meiling extended a fist.
"May time treat you well," Leona met Meiling's fist with her own, "Noble master."
"You're sure this will work?" Kanako asked, "That the priestess and the cursed are the same person?"
"According to Hina," Suwako said, "There's no doubt about it. Let's go!"
Hina raised her hand. "Do I have to come with?"
"Hina," Suwako said, "You need to relax, you'll be fine. You have to go because you're more experienced with curses and I don't know if the priestess' spirit will overlap the curse when I try to see it. After all, I didn't feel the curse when it arrived. Now let's go."
As Kanako, Suwako, and Hina talked about their plan to find the priestess a little mouse watched them from the corner.
"They've found her," Nazrin said.
"Then let's hurry," Byakuren yelled, "I'm not about to lose a priestess to those fools. Shou, you're coming with. Back me up if there's a fight."
"You mean when there's a fight?" Shou asked.
Byakuren thought for a moment. "Yes," she said, "We will undoubtable fight with them, so prepare for battle."
As the Myouren temple made plans to beat the Moriya shrine to the priestess, Miko dropped down from the floorboard she had popped up in the Myouren temple.
"Fudo," Miko said, "They've found her. We have to hurry, I won't risk losing the priestess to Byakuren. She'd never shut up about it."
Fudo took a bite of her sweet potato. "You got it!" Fudo said, finishing off her potato.
As Miko made plans to beat Byakuren to the priestess, Minoriko Aki started to dance.
"What's gotten into you?" Shizuha asked.
"It worked! I'm the smartest ever!" Minoriko yelled, "I've found the priestess!"
Byakuren pinched her nose. "How did this happen again?" she asked.
"What?" Miko said, "You think I don't keep tabs on you?"
"No," Byakuren replied, "I know you keep tabs on me. Why is the Moriya shrine here?"
"Because we actually found her," Kanako said, "Why are you here?"
"Okay, you found her," Byakuren said, "That's fine, but the Aki sisters are also here." Shizuha and Minoriko suddenly found the clouds and their feet interesting and whistled something out of tune. "Did you tell them about the priestess? How could they possibly have known there even was a priestess?"
"Hey," Shizuha said, "We're goddesses too, you know."
"Actually," Miko said, "That's a good point, how did you know the priestess is here?"
"It's Fudo's fault," Minoriko said.
All eyes turned to Fudo. Fudo slowly backed away, a nervous smile on her face. "I didn't tell them."
"Yes you did," Shizuha said.
"Alright listen," Suwako said, "You can all argue like children later, right now we all have a priestess to impress. The last time we went to the human village we just made ourselves look like idiots. So everybody at least try to stay on task and maybe we won't all lose followers again. Hina, can you find her?"
"Yes," Hina said, trying to hide her nervousness, "Follow me."
Hina couldn't believe she was doing this, leading almost every religion in Gensokyo to the most terrifying curse she had ever felt. As Hina slowly walked through the village she watched the villagers scatter and hide, but she knew it wasn't for the right reasons. The cursed was in town hall, and every step closer Hina took she could feel more ruthless destruction, more endless fury, more hatred.
"Alright," Hina said, motioning to the door, "She's in there."
Kanako, Byakuren, and Miko all stepped forward at once. Suwako pushed them all aside.
"If you don't let me handle this," Suwako said, shoving her finger into each of their faces, "It will be a repeat of what happened last time we came here. Does anyone want that?" Everyone was silent. "Alright then." Suwako knocked on the door.
After a short moment, Leona opened the door.
Hina recoiled in horror from the sight of her and hide behind Kanako. "How are you standing?" she yelled.
"Quiet down you," Kanako said as she pushed Hina away, "I have a proposition for you. If you join the Moriya shrine then we will-"
"Don't listen to her!" Miko blurted, "If you study with me in the Hall of Dreams, I guarantee you that you will get the same thing Kanako offers but better!"
"That," Kanako faltered, "That's so lame. It's like if you went out to lunch with someone and said 'I'll have the same thing my friend is having, but better.' What makes you think you can live up to this promise?"
"Because the Myouren temple will offer-" Shou began to speak, but stopped when Byakuren when held up her hand. Shou looked at Byakuren in confusion, but Byakuren simply rolled her eyes.
"We'll give you sweet potatoes!" The Aki sisters blurted.
"Sweet potatoes?" Miko asked, "Is that the best you can do?"
"I like sweet potatoes," Leona said with a shrug.
Kanako and Miko both stared at Leona. "I guarantee you," Kanako said, "If you join the Moriya shrine then I will wring more sweet potatoes out of these two than you could possibly want."
"No." Leona said.
"Hah," Miko said, "See Kanako, all I had to do was offer more than-"
"No to you also," Leona said.
"Why would you say that?" Miko asked, "What could possibly convince you that the words you just said were a good idea?"
"Because if I agree with you then I join you," Leona said, "But if I agree with the Aki sisters then they join me, right?" Shizuha and Minoriko both nodded happily. "Does the Myouren Temple have anything to say?"
Byakuren thought for a moment. "Only that it is better to be silent and thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt. Shou, we're leaving."
As Byakuren and Shou flew away, Kanako muttered, "I hate her so much."
"Yeah," Miko said, "That was pretty lame. Are you certain about your desicion?"
"I would like my influence to be my own," Leona said, "But thank you for the offer."
"So," Shizuha said after the Moriya shrine and the Hall of Dreams had left, "What are we getting from you?"
"What I am giving to you, is a field to farm and cultivate, regular worship, and your own festival," Leona said, "And that is if you do good work. The majority of your harvest will go to feeding the human village while a portion of the field will be untouched come harvest time as tribute."
"Sounds good," Minoriko said.
"Hold on," Shizuha said, "That sounds great for her, but what do I get?"
"Well, what do you do?" Leona asked.
"I, um," Shizuha looked away, "I change the color of leaves from green to brown."
"We're a package deal," Minoriko said, "Just so you know."
"Alright then, you get the festival," Leona said, pointing to Shizuha.
"Really?" Shizuha said with a smile, "Wait, what would the festival be about?"
Leona shrugged. "Coming of age, defeating the problems of the past to make way for the gifts of the future, an autumn renewal festival, does that sound good?"
"It sounds excellent."
Three months passed. Reimu sat at the porch of her shrine, sipping tea. The garden she kept behind the shrine had served her well this year, and buying seeds was a lot cheaper than buying fruit or vegetables. Reimu had to stretch every mon she had, though recently she found what might be an incident.
Everyday for the past week, at the same hour every day, people would visit her shrine and leave a donation. Reimu wasn't complaining, but the sudden increase in patronage plus the lack of incidents was worth investigation. Reimu watched today's procession as they reached the shrine steps, gave a donation, prayed, and then left. This was something she would have to investigate.
Reimu walked down the shrine steps, wondering if she should treat herself to some pork. The thrift in her said no, but she figured that once she resolved whatever incident there was her steady flow of income would be gone and she wouldn't have another shot at it. Reimu decided she would ask one of the villagers for a donation of pork. As Reimu exited the forest between her shrine and the village she bore a look of confusion.
The village was different. Roads had been paved, houses looked sturdier, and the in middle of the village was a castle. In the marketplace people had stalls filled with fruit and vegetables, but hidden between them were stalls filled with weapons. On the street corners young girls patrolled the streets, wielding weapons made from gold and wearing officer uniforms. Reimu walked through the streets, trying to process what she was seeing. As she reached the town square she saw youkai with cuts all over their bodies tied to posts. Villagers chanted something as they set the youkai on fire. Reimu ran for one of the girls in uniform.
"Hey," Reimu said, "Who did all this?"
"Ah," the girl said with a cheerful tone, "You must mean the Empress."
"The what?" Reimu said.
"The Empress," the girl said, "She lives up in her castle, if you want you can meet her."
"Take me too her," Reimu said, "Now."
"No need to rush, Miss Hakurei," the girl said, "Right this way."
The girl led Reimu into the castle. All across the castle were ornate lamps and chandeliers, beautiful paintings of battlefields strewn across the walls, plush, red carpets, roses lining walkways. Inside the castle Reimu could smell meats being cooked with a savory scent. Everyone here looked healthier, more awake. The girl brought Reimu to the throne room. Massive double doors parted for them.
Sitting on the throne, clad in shining, golden armor, was Leona.