Shinki stood, and the room seemed to vibrate with her fury. "So, this vampire's sister has been kidnapped and forced to serve a evil talking rock, a celestial is involved, and they are coming here?" Patchouli nodded.
"Yes. Can you help us track them down?" The room retured to normal, and Shinki giggled, flying around the room wildly.
"Of course! I haven't had any exciting vistors since Reimu and her friends came by! I'm going to enjoy this! I know they're not here yet, so I'm going to tighten the security around Makai's entrance. That should hold them off a bit longer. In the meantime, I have a friend of yours, Patchy!"
"What are you talking about?" Shinki stopped in front of them and pulled something out her sleeve. It was a green beret with a star on it. Putting it on her head, Shinki said,
"Does it look familiar? This girl came it wearing it, so I figured she was a assassin sent by my rivals to kill me! I knocked her out, took her hat, and locked her in the torture room!" Sakuya looked annoyed.
"Lady Shinki, that hat belongs to the gatekeeper of Remilia's mansion. No one sent her to kill you." Shinki laughed.
"Oh really? She came here through one of Yukari's gaps! She sent the gatekeeper to kill me!" Patchouli sighed.
"Since when were you a enemy of Yukari's?" Shinki thought for a moment, and smiled.
"Oh, that's right! I don't have any enemies or rivals! Well, I guess I'd better let the girl out now. Yumeko, go get her for me, would you?" Yumeko, Shinki's maid, appeared in a flash of light. She bowed.
"As you wish, Lady Shinki." Turning to everyone else, she asked them to follow her. She walked past Shinki's throne, and through the apparently soild wall. "It's not real, just follow me." Everyone walked through. Yumeko turned to them, looking embarrassed. "I'm sorry for Lady Shinki's odd behavior. She's usually much more calm and sensible, but your arrival surprised her. She usually has much longer to prepare for her guests." Remilia snarled.
"That doesn't explain why she threw my gatekeeper into a torture room, especially if she doesn't really have enemies!"
"Lady Shinki… felt whimsical today. I assure you, your friend is in no real danger. She calls it a torture room, but it isn't-" She was cut off by Meiling screaming.
"MAKE IT STOP! PLEASE!" Everyone flew past Yumeko and tore down the nearest door.
"Meiling!" Sakuya shouted. "Are you ok?" Meiling was huddled in the middle of the room, shuddering. She looked up at Sakuya with a dead-eyed expression.
"Sakuya! You're here!" Sakuya helped her up.
"Are you ok? What happened?" Meiling shuddered again.
"The room was full of them. They were bouncing everywhere, and they never stopped talking! They just kept babbling! They told me to relax, to, to… I can't even say it! They just sat there, grinning! How can I relax, you monsters? How can I? I wanted to kill them. Oh, how I wanted to kill them, but I couldn't, they were just…" She kept rambling, but her voice became lower and lower until it was inaudible. Meiling had always been a strong person, Sakuya thought. Whatever did this to her, she didn't want to find out. As they left the room, something fell in front of them. It seemed to be some kind of blob, about half as tall as Sakuya. The second she saw it, Meiling screamed and fell, backing away on all fours. The blob spun around, so they could see it's face. It looked remarkably like Meiling. It had her hair, a identical hat, and dark, red eyes. It also had a ridiculous grin. Staring at Sakuya, the thing said,
"Take it easy!" Meiling shuddered again, Yumeko sighed irritably, and everyone else was just confused. Sakuya asked,
"What are you?" The thing grinned.
"I am Meiling, and I'm guarding!" Remilia laughed.
"Oh really? And what are you guarding, exactly?" The thing bounced over to the real Meiling, and said,
"I am Meiling, and I'm guarding Big Meiling!" Several more of the things appeared, all repeating this and trying to cuddle in Meiling's lap, who was too scared to move. Sakuya eventally managed to pry her away from the things and pulled her into Shinki's throne room. Undaunted, the things cheerfully followed them. Remilia watched them, happy for the first time in hours.
"Yumeko, what are these things?" Yumeko looked at them wearily.
"I'm not sure. Lady Shinki discovered them in another dimension that was full of them. She talked to them, and they called themselves Yuukuri. They seem to resemble different people in Gensokyo, and so far we found one for almost everyone, even all of you." Remilia frowned, annoyed at the idea of a Yuukuri Remilia. Shinki greeted them when they returned.
"You're back, I see. Can I keep her hat?" Time stopped, and the hat suddenly appeared in Sakuya's hands. "…Is that a no?" Remilia glared at her.
"Shinki, we need to make a plan to save my sister." Shinki sighed.
"You're right. I'm sorry I've been acting like this. I've just been so bored lately… Well, what do we know about our enemy?" Patchouli explained,
"Tenshi isn't much of a problem. Any of us could defeat her if we had to, especially since we outnumber her. The voice commanding her seems to have some magic, but I can cancel any spells it's likely to use. As long as no one tries to destroy the keystone it's talking through, it shouldn't be a problem. Flandre is the real issue. She can destroy anything, and she has to do whatever the voice says. What do you suggest, Shinki?" Shinki whispered something to Yumeko, who bowed and disappeared.
"Yumeko is delivering my orders. Soon everyone near Makai's entrance will be ready to stop our intruders. All we can do now is wait and watch."
Yukari and her servants walked out of a gap. "Well, what do you think of Youkai Mountain, Andy?" Andy stared at the mountain for a few minutes, completely speechless. Finally, he said,
"What do I think? It's huge! No, huge isn't big enough. Gigantic is minuscule in comparison! There needs to be a new word for how big it is!" The doll suggested,
"Shenanigantic?"
"Yeah, that's it. Shenanigantic…" Yukari coughed, getting their attention.
"Anyway, I brought you here because I have a job for you. You see, when I was looking for new shikigami, I asked Kanako to help me find someone, and she led me to you and your friends. The problems with that is that now I owe her. So to repay my debt, I'm sending you and Chen to serve her for a few days. I'll come to pick you up then. I'm sure it will be a wonderful chance for you to learn about Gensokyo." She started to walk back into the gap. Andy said,
"Wait! Isn't the Moriya Shrine on the top of the mountain?"
"It's close to it. What's your point?"
"Couldn't you take us there right now with your gaps?"
"I could… but I won't. Like I said, it's a learning experience. Just remember, if anyone tries to stop you, tell them Yukari Yakumo send you to repay her debts."
"That sounds suspiciously unhelpful."
"It is. Now hurry up, you have a mountain to climb."
"Can't you come with me or something?"
"No. Do I seem like the motherly, hand-holding type?"
"Well, no, but…"
"You'll be fine. Just climb. It's not like you have to do it by hand." That said, she vanished into the gap.
Meanwhile, on a much smaller mountain, Tenshi was fighting for air. The more she flew up the mountain, the more magical pressure tried to shove her back down. "Stupid magic…"
"Hey, I happen to like magic!" Tenshi laughed humorlessly.
"That's easy for you to say, it isn't trying to crush you! Can't you turn the pressure off or something?"
"Well, I don't know much about this spell, but maybe I could… you know, if I wanted to. Besides, you can beat this, Tenshi! I have faith in you."
"That's nice, but-" Suddenly, the pressure stopped. She was at the top of the mountain, staring into a dark cave.
"Ah, here's the entrance. It has a gatekeeper too, so I'll make us invisible." The voice did so, and they walked in. The cave was surprisingly small, and lit by some kind of red glow. Two demons were standing next to a portal, one alert, and the other was humming to herself. The alert one looked at the other one.
"I still don't see why Lady Shinki sent you to help me, Louise." Louise stopped humming.
"Oh, you don't think I'll be any use when the intruders came, Sara? Lady Shinki sent me for a reason."
"What's that? And what do you mean, 'came'?"
"I mean that I can detect magic, and the intruders are already here, silly!" Louise's eyes glowed, and Tenshi reappeared. She pulled out her sword, muttering,
"Why does that invisibility trick never work?" Sara lunged at Tenshi and Louise started firing danmaku. Tenshi tried to fire back, but Sara grabbed her by the head and smashed her into the ground.
"Flandre! Protect Tenshi!" A scarlet blur slammed into Sara, knocking her into Louise. Irritated, Sara pulled out a spell card. "Demon Sign: Magic Vortex!" The cave darkened, and Sara started spinning. Danmaku flew in every direction, even at Louise. Tenshi started to laugh, but then the bullets stopped in midair and started spinning, firing off even more danmaku. Flandre got hit, partly out of surprise, but mostly because she wasn't bothering to dodge. Finally, the danmaku flew back to Sara, surrounding her in a seamless orb of energy. Laughing manically, she charged straight at celestial didn't even move out of the way. She waved her hand, summoning a giant keystone. Sara crashed into it, ending the spell card and her consciousness.
"Well, now that the amusement is over with, let's go." Louise laughed.
"Aren't you forgetting about me?"
"Yes. You're stronger than your friend, but not by much. If you're smart, you'll pretend you never saw us."
"Never saw you? I think not. This is the most exciting thing that has happened in years, and how would I look if I didn't do anything? No, I'll keep fighting, if you don't mind."
"Dead or alive is fine by me. Flandre, crush her for me, would you?" Flandre pounced on the demon, slammed her to the ground, then sat on her. "I said crush her!" Flandre grinned.
"I am! I did this to Patchy once, and she said, 'Stop, Flandre, you're crushing me!'" Tenshi and Louise laughed, and the voice sighed irritably.
"Cursed loopholes. Fine, just smash her head into a rock or something." Flandre got up as slowly as possible. "Faster!" Flandre and Louise disappeared into a blur, there was a cracking noise, and one of the rocks was split in two. Louise fell to the ground, unconscious. "Good, thank you. Now let's… gah, you and your loopholes took all the fun out of this." The keystone floated over to the portal. "Well, I do have one more request. Punch yourself in the eye." Flandre complied, and the voice snickered. "Ok, I'm feeling better." Tenshi asked,
"I know we're going to Makai, but it's a entire world! How are we going to find what you're looking for?"
"Well, I know my way around. We're going to meet a few people at the Ruins of Vina."
Unknown to the voice and it's victims, Shinki saw all of this through her magic. "Well, That went about as well as I suspected. Sara tries, but she's too lazy to really train. Still, now we know where they are going." Patchouli was reading a book labeled, 'A tourist's guide to Makai'.
"This doesn't say anything about what the Ruins of Vina were. Did you leave that out for some reason?" Shinki sighed.
"Yes. The area is safe enough, and I have had visitors go there, but I left the details out of the book to make sure visitors stay away from its secret. There is a tremendous power locked away there, sealed up by Yukari. She asked me to look after it, and I have. My magic masks the power, and the lack of details means no one can figure out that the power is there. If this voice really is after that power, then I should stop holding back." Confused, Remilia asked,
"What do you mean, 'holding back'?"
"Well, I wanted to have fun with our intruders. Start with weaker demons, and as they get closer to me, I'll send stronger and stronger ones. I wanted to see how long they would last."
"This isn't a game!"
"It is, but now I can't afford to treat it like one. Thankfully, two of my strongest children live near the ruins, so they should be able to handle them."
"Considering what we just saw, I don't trust your kids. I'm going to fight them."
"If you must, but you should at least give them a chance. Besides, none of you know where the ruins are, so you can't go there unless I tell you. They won't lose. Elis is a very powerful demon of magic, and Sariel… well, he's called the angel of death for a reason. I'll tell them our inturders are coming."
Patchouli said, "There is something I need to know. Just what is this power? If your children fail, and we do have to fight the voice, we're going to need to know what it is." Shinki looked worried.
"I suppose it's possible… Well, I don't know much about it, but that power is basically a monster that Yukari sealed away and put here. She never said what it is, exactly, but she did tell me it's name. It is known as YuugenMagan."
Sariel woke up. A image of Shinki appeared before him. "Sariel, can you hear me?"
"Yes, mother."
"I told you not to me that. Call me Lady, call me Shinki, call me Lady Shinki or Mom, just don't call me mother! It's so formal!"
"Yes, mother." Shinki sighed.
"I swear to me, there's no arguing with you. Anyway, what I wanted to tell you is that three intruders are coming. I don't know if they are after the secret, but I want you to stop them either way. They look like this." Another image appeared, showing Tenshi, her keystone, and Flandre. "Elis will help you, since she got this message too. After you beat them, take the winged one to me." Sariel looked confused.
"Are you sure those are wings? How can they fly with those crystals on them?"
"I don't know, but you should take her to me. The others are holding her hostage, and she is forced to obey them by magic. Do not underestimate her." Sariel nodded and flew off to the ruins.
Youmu was getting ready to clean the garden. It was a nightmarish task for most, since there are thousands of plants, and all of them needed trimming. But Youmu could finish it in seconds. She unsheathed one of her swords, and concentrated. The sword took on a green glow, and she raised it over her head. Then she slashed,uleashing a wave of energy that cut through all the plants. Grinning, she checked her stopwatch. "Five seconds. That's a bit slower than usual… I need to train more." Sheathing her sword, she turned to leave, and realized someone was watching her. Chelsea and Shannon were watching her in awe, and Ran certainly looked surprised. Youmu smiled. "I knew you two were coming for training eventually, but I didn't expect you so soon. Are they going to stay here, Ran?" Ran nodded.
"Yes. I will come to pick them up at 10:00." With that said, Ran disappeared into a gap. Youmu looked at the two girls.
"I thought it would at least be a week or so until you come for training." Confused, Shannon asked,
"Why did you think that?"
"I thought Yukari would want you to get used to working for her. That's what Lady Yuyuko said when I asked her. If you keep going to different places, how can you get used to any of them?" The three of them considered this. Chelsea said,
"Maybe…" Everyone looked at her. "Maybe she just wanted us out of the way! She took Andy to Youkai Mountain, and said Chen was with him, so that means she won't be with him!" Shannon nodded.
"That makes sense. She put us all somewhere else, so we won't distract her from something. Considering what happened at the Forest of Magic, I guess we can be pretty distracting…" Confused, Youmu asked,
"You went to the Forest of Magic? What happened?"
"I'll explain in a minute. She wanted us out of the way, and Ran did say something weird happened at a mansion, so maybe she's investigating it!" Chelsea asked,
"So what do we do now?" Youmu walked over to them.
"We don't worry about it. She sent you here for training, so that's what I will do. If anyone can handle whatever's happening, it's Yukari. Now come on, there's some people I want you to meet." They looked reluctant, but they followed Youmu to what seemed to be a mansion. As they looked around, they realized that everything looked strange, and for some reason, they had a feeling they should leave. Quickly. Every step fulled them with a vauge sense of dread. Shannon couldn't figure out why. Yes, the sky was purple, and the air was a bit more misty than she was used to, but what was there to be scared of? While Shannon was focused on their surroundings, Chelsea was more aware of her own emotions, so it did take long for her to figure out what they were scared of.
"Hey, Shannon? I just thought of something."
"Yeah?"
"Where are we?" They stopped, realizing they had no idea. "Master Youmu, where are we?" Youmu turned around, surprised.
"I thought you knew. Well, you're in the Netherworld." Suddenly, it all made sense. They were in the land of the dead. The dread was because they were literally getting closer to dying with every step. Seeing their expressions, Youmu said, "Don't worry, you're not going to die." Chelsea looked at her like she was crazy.
"How can you say that? Dead people live here! They'll probably eat our souls or something!" Youmu sighed.
"No they won't. Ghosts don't do that. Besides, it's the realm of the dead. There are no wild animals or youkai to hunt you, and the ghosts can't hurt you. It's one of the safest places I know." The two humans looked around nervously. The place certainly looked peaceful enough… as still as a graveyard.
"Is it usually this quiet?"
"No, we usually get a lot of visiting ghosts. They're gone right now, but that's just because we're having a big event soon, and Lady Yuyuko didn't want them to come early. It's a concert, in fact. I wanted you to meet the musicians."
"Really? Why?"
"Because the musicans, the Prismriver sisters, are very good at teamwork. Their danmaku and music involve the three of them working together. When I fought the two of you, I realized that you have completely opposite sword styles. Shannon only defends, and Chelsea only attacks. I'm going to make to break you two out of that, but that doesn't mean it can't be a good thing. The two of you perfectly compliment each other's strengths and cover your weaknesses. I have never trained to fight alongside anyone else, but the Prismrivers always do that, so they can show you how to work together properly. By the way, have the two of you learned how to make danmaku yet?"
As anyone with half a brain could guess, Youkai Mountain is mostly populated by youkai. What they couldn't guess, and what Andy is now finding out, is that most of those youkai are fairies, and all of those fairies are idiots who love to shoot at people for some reason. Danmaku was pouring down like a rain of needles. Thankfully, they were very poorly aimed needles, and fairies aren't exactly durable. After blasting the fairies into obilivion, Andy asked, "Chen, that's the third time they've ambushed us. Is there something you're not telling me?" Chen shrugged.
"Not really. Fairies just like to mess with people."
"And I'm guessing there will be more of them the higher we climb?"
"Yeah, but they don't live near the top of the mountain, so it's mostly tengu up there. Unless they think you're a threat or something, then they trick the fairies into coming after you." As they flew up the mountain, eventually the shower of danmaku was replaced with autumn leaves, and the wind seemed to pick up. Chen smiled. "Oh, they're already here, huh?" A laugh fulled the air, and two girls flew towards them. Chen smiled at Andy. "I suppose you know who they are?" Andy stared at them for a minute. One of them had a hat with fruit on it and was barefoot, while the other one was slightly taller and had a dress that seemed to end in leaves instead of cloth. Andy recognized them in the sense that he had seen them before, and he knew exactly which Touhou game it was, which stage, even what music was playing in the background, but their names eluded him. As far as he was concerned back then, they were just your average, easy to forget Stage 1 bosses. The fruity one stared at them.
"What are you doing here?" Chen spoke up.
"We are here to see Kanako. We still have a lot of mountain to climb, so could you move out of the way?" The two grinned. "…I'll take that as a no." The wind blew even worse, and it was clear a fight was about to break out. Chen was about to start shooting, when Andy jumped in front of her.
"Chen, do we have to fight them? Personally, I just want to find out about them. Can we just talk to them or something?" The wind died down, and it seemed like the battle had been averted, when everyone except him, even Chen, burst out laughing. The leaf-dressed one said,
"A nonviolent solution? You're certainly a strange human, aren't you? A Outsider, I'll bet. Well, since I'm feeling courteous, I'll introduce myself. I am Shizuha Aki, the goddess of leaves. This is my sister Minoriko, goddess of the harvest."
"Oh, so you're gods? Fasinating. I've always wondered about the whole 'faith equals power' thing. How does that work?" Shizuha shrugged.
"I don't really know, and neither of us have enough worshippers to care." Andy realized something.
"Oh, so that's why you're only sta-" Chen clamped her hand over his mouth. Shizuha's eyes narrowed.
"We're only what? I don't know what you were about to say, but it sounded like a insult to me. Sister, I think it's time to teach these intruders a lession." Andy realized something else.
"Oh, that's what Yukari meant by a learning exper-" He was cut off by Shizuna shooting danmaku into his mouth. It tasted like dirt.
"Shut up, stupid human. You wanted to know why we couldn't reach a peaceful solution, so I'll give you two reasons: One, humans are incurably annoying, and two, fighting is more fun! Now, die under the autumn leaves!" She pulled out a spell card. "Leaf Sign: Falling Leaves of Madness!" The leaves surrounding them stopped falling, and instead reversed, flying up to Shizuna and making a pile behind her. Andy didn't have time to think about that, though, because she started shooting hundreds of bullets at him. He dodged the first few by sheer luck, but then he realized he was watching the bullets, when he should be looking for the gaps between the bullets. Armed with this knowledge, he kept dodging and started to shoot back. To his surprise, his doll started firing as well, but it mostly just hid behind him. Shizuna smirked. "Your bullets are slow and weak. Your panic is overriding your focus. You have no skill at all, do you?" Andy tried to calm down, and focused his power into his hand. "Well, if you're just going to bore me, it's time to end this!" The leaves started falling again, but now they were just more danmaku bullets. They curved around Shizuna and flew straight at Andy. Desperate, Andy pulled out a spell card.
"Shikigami Sign: Barrier!" A purple barrier appeared in front of him, blocking most of the bullets.
Yukari stopped walking, feeling a slight strain on her power. She grinned. It hadn't even been ten minutes, and Andy was already in trouble. Well, it didn't concern her. She kept walking, as the portal to Makai finally came into sight.
Chen watched Andy's battle with vauge interest. Yukari had ordered her to protect Andy, but he could probably handle someone like Shizuna, even if he didn't realize it. Besides, she had other problems. Minoriko smiled at her. "So, should I blast you off the mountain, or will you leave?" Chen laughed.
"What a joke! You don't stand a chance aginst me!" Minoriko's face turned red.
"Do you really believe that? Foolish cat, you are but the servant of a youkai, while I am a god!" They both pulled out spell cards. "Bumper Crop: Promise of the Wheat God!"
"Wizard Sign: Spread Phoenix Wings!" Minoriko fired lasers at Chen, and Chen started making rings of red and yellow danmaku. She dodged the lasers easily, while Minoriko was frantically trying to avoid Chen's bullets. Meanwhile, Andy's barrier was starting to fade, but Shizuna's bullets were pouring down on him as fast as ever. Focusing his power, he fired out some more orb danmaku. She laughed and dodged it easily, but then she realized he wasn't even aiming for her in the first place. His danmaku flew right past her and stopped, then swelled and started firing more bullets at her. She avoided this as well, but now that she was distracted, Andy fired a laser at her. It wasn't a very good laser, he thought. Marisa-sama could make a better one with her pinky finger. While in a coma. Nervertheless, it was strong enough to smash Shizuna into the mountain and knock her out. Grinning, he flew over to Chen and hugged her.
"Chen, I won!" Chen smiled and wiggled out of his grip.
"That's great, but I'm still in the middle of a battle."
"No you're not! Minoriko isn't even fighting back, she's just running away from your bullets!" Chen's smile widened into a sadistic grin.
"Exactly, it's not over till I say it is!" Turning to the goddess, she yelled, "Run, little god, run!" Minoriko flew past her, but Chen's bullets swerved around the two shikigami and kept following her.
"I am running, what more do you want?"
"Well, I want a watermelon."
"I can't just make a watermelon!"
"I thought you were the god of the harvest."
"I am, but I just help things grow, I can't make food out of nothing!"
"Oh. Well, I want you to admit that I'm better than you, and answer any questions Andy has." The danmaku disappeared, and Minoriko said,
"Alright, I admit it! You are far more powerful than I could ever hope to be! Now please, just leave me and my sister alone!" Chen grinned smugly.
"Now answer Andy's questions." Andy shook his head.
"There are some things I want to ask her, but not now. Not like this. If she wants to talk with me, then I'll ask her went we come back down the mountain. For now, I think it would be best if we keep climbing. Come on, Chen." He flew off, with a very surprised Chen following him, and a rather shocked god watching them leave.