Behold the Exalt
Chapter Eleven: Loved and Lost
Flandre and Reimu left the castle. Reimu wrapped her arm around Flandre to support her, but Flandre pushed her away.
"I don't need your help," Flandre said, "I can get through this on my own."
"You probably can," Reimu said, wrapping her arm around Flandre, "But you don't have to. Your sister was a good friend of mine and she would want me to help you."
Flandre leaned into Reimu and they walked in silence.
"Why couldn't I do it?" Flandre asked as they reached the shrine steps, "Why couldn't I beat her?"
Reimu was silent.
"Answer me Reimu," Flandre said, "Why can't we stop her?"
"We can," Reimu said, "We will."
Reimu and Flandre reached the Hakurei Shrine and were greeted by Sendai, who was sitting on the porch.
"You're not really going to let that thing stay here are you?" Sendai asked, "First you let oni stay here and now a vampire?"
"That 'thing' is a little girl who just wants her sister back," Reimu said.
"Oh, sure," Sendai replied, "Let's just forget the fact that she dines on human blood. We can just gloss that over."
"And what about you telling her not to hurt me?" Reimu asked, "I'm pretty sure she threatened to kill me while you were standing right next to her. In fact, that the next thing she said after you warned her."
"Leona knows better than that," Sendai said.
"Does she?" Reimu asked, "Does she really? Because from my end Leona looks like a murderous madwoman bent on ruling Gensokyo. Do you really think she knows better?"
Sendai looked away. "No, she doesn't."
"Then why would you side with her?" Reimu asked, "Why would you endanger Gensokyo by taking power from me and giving it to her?"
"It's probably the same reason you eat," Sendai said, "To stop myself from starving. Gensokyo will be missing a few youkai and it can recover from that."
"Can Remilia recover from that?" Flandre asked, "Are you saying that my sister will come back?"
"No," Sendai said, looking away, "She won't. She will be dead."
"I thought as much," Flandre said with a huff, "You think that Gensokyo won't change after a few youkai are gone, but you don't think about what will happen to their friends, or their family. If someone close to you died and someone told you 'It's okay, Gensokyo has plenty more deities.' Would you think that?"
"I'm sorry," Sendai murmured.
"You should be," Flandre said, "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to rest off having a hole in my stomach and missing my heart."
Flandre stomped inside, leaving Reimu and Sendai sitting on the shrine porch.
"You'll have to do something about her," Reimu said, "Leona, I mean."
"I suppose I will," Sendai said, staring at the night sky, "Okay that should do it."
"Do what?" Reimu asked.
"You said I had to do something about Leona," Sendai said, "And I just did."
"Did I get my shrine maiden power back?" Reimu asked.
"No," Sendai said, "But don't worry, I'll give that back soon."
"Then what did you do?" Reimu asked.
"Well, I figured that Byakuren had a bleeding heart for youkai, so I told her to have a talk with Leona," Sendai said, "It also had the added benefit of waking her up at four in the morning."
For a while Reimu and Sendai sat in silence, watching the starry night sky.
"Hey," Sendai said, "You did a good job keeping the yin-yang orb under control during the fight with Leona."
"Thanks," Reimu said, "It's what I do."
The two went back to watching the stars. Eventually, Reimu stood up and headed for the shrine. As she reached the door, Reimu turned back for a moment.
"By the way," Reimu said, "It's nice to have you here."
Sendai let out a deep sigh.
"Is something wrong?" Reimu asked.
"No," Sendai said, "I've waited a long time to hear you say that."
The next morning, Murasa was piloting the Palanquin to the human village. Byakuren was standing on the bow, overlooking the village.
"I can't believe she did that," Byakuren said.
"Who?" Murasa asked, " Sendai or Leona?"
"Both of them, I suppose," Byakuren said, "I don't know how the humans can put up with all this gore, but who sends messages over the collective unconscious so early?"
"I know, that was just rude," Murasa said, "Why do you think she told you to just have a talk with her?"
"I don't know," Byakuren said, "But if she's anything like what I'm seeing it's going to be quite the talk."
"Well," Murasa said, "I should probably stop the ship here. I can hear the villagers shouting, think you can find her?"
"I'll do fine," Byakuren said as she leapt off the boat. Looking around town, Byakuren was surprised to how much this place had changed. Flower shops, restaurants, clothing stores, and libraries lined the city streets. Hospitals could be seen in the village, towering over the small shops. Inside the clothing stores Byakuren saw machines powered by a pedal that could stitch clothing together in minutes. As Byakuren walked down the streets to the castle, someone called out her name.
"Miss Hijiri," Byakuren turned to see a maid motioning her to an outdoor table, "You have reservations here."
"There must be some mistake," Byakuren said.
"It's no mistake," the maid said, "The Empress told me this morning that you would be visiting her, and she wanted you to taste the new bounties of the human village."
"Very well then," Byakuren said, taking her seat, "Isn't a little crude, eating outdoors like this?"
"Perhaps," the maid said, "Take this menu, I'll be back shortly to take your order."
"I'll have water," Byakuren said, staring at the menu. This was all so pompous of Leona. What was she trying to prove? Proving in broad daylight that she could beat Byakuren? No, Leona was headstrong, not stupid. Probably. She had to know that fighting Byakuren here would wreak havoc on the human village. She probably wanted them to meet outdoors so that Byakuren couldn't attack.
A few minutes later the maid arrived with Leona in tow. Leona sat down and the maid brought her some black coffee.
"So you bring me out here," Byakuren said, "And you're dressed in full battle regalia complete with your cape? For a social call, you're not putting on a good show. What is that awful stuff anyway?It looks like grease."
"Coffee," Leona said with a sly grin, "Good for the brain. You want any?"
"If that is what drives your actions, then I certainly do not," Byakuren said.
"Suit yourself," Leona said, "So why is it you contacted me so early?"
"I didn't," Byakuren said, "Sendai did. She did the same thing to me. Told me you and I should talk."
"Well," Leona said, "What do you want to talk about?"
"Are you going to stop murdering youkai?" Byakuren asked.
"No," Leona said, "I'm not going to stop keeping humans safe."
"Then I'm afraid we have very little to talk about," Byakuren said.
"Really?" Leona asked, "You don't want to know how the human village has been advancing so quickly? You don't want to see the marvelous new machines that have been developed? Figure out where new fashion trends have been coming from? I'll tell you. All that came from my rule."
"Listen," Byakuren said, "What I'm telling you is for your own safety. Not only is it a bad idea to hunt down youkai the way you are, but you can't keep doing this. Kanako has been busy playing with her nuclear generator but she isn't ignorant of what you're doing. You are killing her worshipers, and she will not take this lightly. There is an entire mountain of youkai beneath her shrine, youkai who would fight for her. When she decides she's done letting you mess around with her there will be an army of youkai marching down your streets. Kanako will not be alone in this. By setting up your own religion you upset the delicate balance between myself, Miko, and Kanako. She and I will join Kanako to destroy you."
"Then we will fight," Leona said.
"No," Byakuren said, "You will die. How exactly do you plan on beating them, or even me? Do you think you can beat an entire army? Will you call on your sixty daughters to wage bloody war against thousands of youkai?"
"When the time comes, I will be ready," Leona said.
"Ready like you were to fight Remilia, a single vampire who nearly killed you, or ready like you were to fight Flandre, who also nearly killed you?" Byakuren asked, "If you fight against them everyone you lead will suffer and die. While I cannot imagine what thoughts run through your head, I must admit that you have piqued my curiosity and I do have a question. What makes you so foolish, so thick headed that you think you have to slay every single creature in Gensokyo."
"Ahh," Leona said, leaning forward and threading her fingers, "You want to hear that story. Well, you may want to order a drink because it takes a while."
A man, tall as a mountain and wide as one too knelt before Leona.
"Will you marry me?" The man asked.
"Yes, Bruno," Leona said, "A hundred, thousand times yes."
Tears ran down Leona's cheeks as Bruno drew Leona into a long hug. They didn't have much, but together they had all they needed. They had talked about this day for awhile, but Bruno still found a way of surprising Leona with the question. In a few short months they would be man and wife, and Leona couldn't wait for those months to pass.
Each of them would be youkai hunters, they had trained all their lives. Bruno was the strongest man the human village had ever seen, and to Leona he was also the sweetest and the gentlest. There was one thing that Bruno could never seem to resist, and that was being a hero. Every time something broke, or there was work to be done, or someone just needed a friend then Bruno was there in a heart beat.
Together, they had beaten a number of youkai. Neither of them had magic, but neither of them cared. They had learned to fight together, coordinating their actions to baffle youkai and make quick work of feral youkai.
One night, a string of murders struck the human village. Nights became tense, shops closed down early, and every night the killer returned the sound of a baby's cry could be heard across the village.
"Don't go," Leona begged as a baby wailed outside, "This is something we're not ready for."
"Leona, darling," Bruno said, "Please let me past. Together we can conquer anything. Come with me and we can put an end to this."
"No," Leona said, "Whatever's out there will kill us. Let Kotohime take care of it, or let Reimu take care of it. I know you want to help, so help me by staying here and staying safe."
"I," Bruno paused, "Darling, please, what are you scared of?"
"Dying," Leona said, "You dying." Leona stepped away from the door. "Please stay."
Bruno walked to the door. "Darling, youkai are weak to weapons of faith. So please, have faith in me."
"I will," Leona said, "Just promise me you'll come back."
Brune smiled. "I would move worlds if it meant I could return to your side. I promise."
"Since that day," Leona said, "I have never seen Bruno again. I held out hope for a long time, but there came a point when I had to accept that he was dead. I never even found out who killed him."
Byakuren was quiet.
"Do you want to know else I lost when Bruno died?" Leona asked, "I lost any sympathy for youkai. So when Kanako comes I'll be ready. You want to know why I'll hunt down and kill every last youkai in Gensokyo? It's because anyone of them could be his killer."
"Are you certain of this?" Byakuren asked, "Are you really going to kill every last youkai in Gensokyo?"
"To my last breath," Leona said.
"Very well then," Byakuren said, "Then it seems we have run out of things to talk about."
