Chapter 11
They Look Up To You
Reimu awakens on a comfortable futon. She begins slowly getting up, but then, remembering what happened, bolts upright and readies her Yin-Yang orbs. "Before you kill me for breaking the Spell Card rules, hear me out." says Lucianna, who is invisible.
"Where are you?" Reimu demands.
"Why would I tell that to someone who's going to kill me?" Lucianna says. She continues "Just listen to what I have to say, and you can do whatever the hell you want with me afterwards, OK?"
Reimu sighs, then says "Fine. But after you finish talking, I'm going to get Yukari and we're going to kill you for this violation."
"I don't doubt it." Lucianna says, appearing and sitting in a chair of solid light.
Lucianna says "What I need to talk to you about is the humans' treatment of us youkai. Specifically Yuuka Kazami, however, I'm sure you treat others the same way." She pauses, then says "From her own reports, and from what I've seen while watching the goings-on of this place, you treat most of us as stupid beasts, with just a single trait. We may not be human, but we are sentient beings, with feelings and personalities. Yes, we kill people, but some of us can't survive without doing so. Let me ask, do you feel bad when you eat fish? Because I feel bad when I eat people. But there's nothing else in the world I can eat. Believe me, I've tried. How many times have you boycotted food because you just couldn't stand the thought of killing another living thing? I'd be willing to bet the answer to that is zero. Let me show you something."
She stands and removes her chestpiece and gauntlets, and lets the illusory form she'd been projecting for over a year fade. The skin covered skeleton standing before Reimu now is hardly recognizable as the thin, yet pretty, woman who Yukari had gapped here one day. Her skin is now a sickly grey, a far cry from the healthy sheen it once had. Her once full cheeks now drooped inwards, the bones clear as day. Her chest no longer resembles that of a woman, and Reimu can see each one of her ribs. Her hands are like those of an old human, each bone sticking out. Reimu is unable to adequately voice her shock and horror, and simply sits upon the futon, staring. "Do you see now why I broke the rules? You wouldn't have listened to me otherwise, and I'm not about to let this work go to waste." Reimu finds she doesn't have the fortitude to correct her, make her sacrifice worthless. Lucianna says "I know you're not the leader of the humans by technicality, but they look up to you. I don't care how much or how little they donate to you, I can tell that they all respect you greatly, and appreciate what you do for them. If you are seen as being polite and friendly to Yuuka and the others who aren't causing trouble, the rest of the humans will follow suit, eventually." A pause. "Now, if you're going to kill me for breaking the rules, go ahead, I won't fight back. Just, tell Yuuka I said bye." Lucianna concludes.
Reimu gets up and leaves the cave, silently.
"I didn't think you'd go quite that far," Yukari says while exiting a gap.
Putting her armor back on, Lucianna says, "I assume that means you're ready to gap me back?"
Yukari nods, pauses, then says, "Do you know why I decided to have you do this?"
Lucianna says "Yeah. Because I'm dumb."
Yukari shakes her head, saying, "No, it's because you're brave. Very few people like what Ran is doing over in your Gensokyo, but you're the only one who was brave enough-"
She gets cut off by Lucianna, who says "No. I'm the only one who was stupid enough to challenge the most powerful person in Gensokyo and think I had a shot at winning. I'm the only one stupid enough to go for a year and a half without eating, and I'm most certainly the only one stupid enough to break the Spell Card Rules just because I don't like how someone who just looks like my friend is being treated, even knowing that they lied to me the first time we met. Now, send me back. I have one more stupid thing to do before withering away to nothing."
Yukari stands there silently for a few seconds, her eyes widened ever so slightly, and her usual smirk absent. "Alright", she says, "Would you like to go straight to where Ran is, or would you like to stop by your home first?"
"I'd like to go home for a bit, if that's okay." Lucianna says.
END OF PART THREE