Note: Once again, I highly recommend listening to the music for this chapter. I know I've been saying that a lot since I began including it, but that's only because there's been a lot of the best of it fairly close together. After this chapter, it'll probably be a while before I say this again, but for this chapter, you really should listen to the music. I always think this, of course, but for this chapter (and the others I've specifically said this about), the feeling is much stronger than usual. Hell, if you only listen to one chapter's music, this would probably be the one to do it for. Most of it is from NieR, which has a soundtrack that's awesome in general, and this chapter has some stuff that's really good even by its standard. So yeah, you really should listen to the music here. Trust me.
Chapter 13
Fragments
After some food and a little rest, Mokou and Kaguya departed Seafront for the forest. But they hadn't gotten very far when the yelling started. Now, the two of them were on the ground, facing each other. And Mokou, at least, was angry. "Goddamn it, Kaguya, why can't you just stay out of this?"
"I'll stay out of your business with Utsuho," Kaguya said, "but I have my own business with her."
"I don't care about your 'business' with her! Just stay the hell out of it! And while you're at it, just stay the hell out of my life in general!"
"So you don't want to continue the training?"
"Not with you! It was a mistake to do it with you at all! It just made it easy for you to rub everything in my face! 'Oh, look at me, I can forgive you right away but you haven't forgiven me in over 1,500 years!' I rescued you, and all you've done since is mock me!"
...Um. Well, I guess that explains the way she's been reacting to me, at least. Doesn't make her any less wrong, though. "If that's what you think this is, then you are very, very wrong. You see, I've learned the value of forgiveness. I know how it feels to be hated for something you regret, to be haunted by a mistake. You taught me that. I can forgive you so readily because you showed me what it's like to be unforgiven. So yes, I'm very willing to forgive people for actions they've come to regret. I have you to thank for that."
"Shut up! Just shut up! I don't want to hear you going on about how much fucking better you are!"
"Then maybe," Kaguya said, "you should pull your head out of your ass and listen to what I'm actually saying."
"Be quiet! I'm not going to take this from you! Everything that's happened is your fault! Utsuho's gone nuts because of you!"
"If you believed that, you wouldn't have rescued me."
"I told you to shut the fuck up!It's all your fault! Satori's death, Utsuho going crazy, even you being thrown into that sun, it's all your own fault!"
"Satori's death was indeed my fault. Just like your father's was. But that's not why you're really mad, is it? You've gotten over that. You're not even trying to kill me anymore. You've gotten over that. The only thing you're mad at me for is doing what you so far could not. Mokou, you made it very clear by rescuing me from that sun that you've forgiven me, but you haven't forgiven yourself for letting me get thrown in there."
"Don't you dare say this is my fault! It all happened because of you!"
"Of course it did. But you've always taken the 'eye for an eye' approach. I get your father killed, so you kill me. Repeatedly, since I don't stay dead, but it's still just killing me. But that's not what happened in response to me killing Satori. You did something different. Utsuho threw me into a sun, which is not what I did to Satori. You know that, and you see throwing me into that sun as grossly disproportionate. And you let it happen out of anger, not because you thought I deserved it. And it took you five hundred years to realize that you shouldn't have done it. You're lashing out at me, but you're upset with yourself."
"For fuck's sake, just shut up and leave me alone!" Mokou flew away.
Right, Kaguya thought, I think that went well, as unpleasant as it was. She didn't have any real rebuttals, which means she's probably run out of excuses to deny the truth. I'll leave her alone for now, show up later in the day, after she's had a chance to calm down and think. Hmm... well, might as well wander around Eientei for a while. She took off, heading for her former home.
As they passed near Nue and Byakuren's home on their way to Ari's, Levia stopped Nue. "I sense something from within your residence. I believe the taint upon Byakuren is affecting her greatly at the moment."
"What?! Are you telling me we're too-"
"Calm yourself," Levia said. "The intensity waxes and wanes, does it not? That is all this is, I think. A particularly intense period. She's no closer to dying; she simply feels the taint more than she has been"
Nue changed course. "I'm going to her. Bring Ari to us."
Nue flew home as fast as she could and ran in. Byakuren was seated facing away from the door, and Nue ran up to her. "Byakuren, are you okay?"
Byakuren looked up at Nue. "Nue. You're... back."
"I'm. Are you okay? Levia said she sensed that the Scrawl was really bad right now."
"The pain is... the worst it's been, but... I can... manage. How did... things go... for you?"
"We found the last piece," Nue said. "We have all eight now, so you shouldn't have to deal with this for much longer. Yuugi and Levia are bringing Ari here, and together, well figure out what I need to do with the things."
"I would... tell you... to be careful... but you've heard that already."
"I have no intention of letting anything happen to either of us."
"I... know."
"I just hope Ari already knows what to do next. I'd like to finish this as soon as possible."
"I don't know if... she'll have anything new... already. Although she has... had Keine there... to help... for a bit."
"Keine's with Ari?"
"She... hand some... unpleasant news... and wanted to... distract herself."
"Maybe you shouldn't try to speak, if you're in so much pain."
"It's... the same... whether I speak or not."
"Well, you still don't have to talk. And don't worry; I'll stay with you."
Nue sat with Byakuren until Yuugi and Levi arrived with Ari and Keine, then stood and let them in. "Ari. Thanks for coming."
"It's not a problem," Ari said.
"Do you have any information?"
"Only a very little. You remember the key I spoke about, right? I believe your tablet must be taken to the place it unlocks."
"So even though we found the eight pieces, we still need to go there."
"Yes," Ari said. "As I said previously, though, I doubt you'll need to assemble the key."
"We still need to find the lock, though," Yuugi said. "Any leads?"
"Not as such, no. Just a few areas I think we can rule out. Any of the more populated areas, for instance. It's also unlikely that it's anywhere in the desert, given the Shades' apparent dislike for that environment."
"That still leaves a lot of area to search," Nue said.
"Maybe, but it may be possible to narrow it down further. And some areas are more likely to have it than others. I'd recommend starting with out-of-the-way or otherwise seldomly-visited areas."
"What about the Garden of the Sun?" Yuugi asked. "I don't know a lot about that place, but don't people generally stay away from it? The horror stories about Yuuka are... well, they keep people away."
"It is Yuuka's spot of residence, though," Nue said. "I'd think a place where someone lives would be low on the list of locations for a secret... well, location."
"Actually," Ari said, "the idea may have merit. Locating such a thing in an inhabited area would have the advantage of being unexpected, and hiding such a thing from one person wouldn't be too difficult, I would think. Besides, as long as they stayed away from the flowers, Yuuka wouldn't care. And if they didn't, she'd simply destroy just the ones that transgressed, and nothing further."
"Who is this 'Yuuka'?" Levia asked.
"A flower youkai," Nue said. "A lot of people see her as something of a boogeyman, but the rumors are exaggerated. Not completely without basis, but I've met her, and she's certainly not the sadistic monster she's commonly made out to be."
"Wait," Yuugi said, "you've met her?"
"While in the form of a fairy. I was curious about all the rumors, and I knew that a fairy would pass unnoticed even by her. Pretty much nobody pays attention to fairies unless being attacked by them."
"I bet she'd pay attention if one did anything to any of her flowers."
"Most likely. One thing you can be sure of with her is that doing anything to her flowers will piss her off. That's really the only thing you can be sure of with her, though. Jjust going to the garden isn't too risky, but if you harm the flowers, you're probably dead."
"And we'll be going there," Yuugi said. "Great."
"We could take her," Nue said. "Any one of us would be outmatched on her own, but the three of us together could take her. Still, it would be best to avoid fighting her, so we'll just be careful not to disturb the flowers."
"Is she really that tough?"
"Yeah."
"Huh. Well, I'm normally not one to turn down a fight, but if she's that nasty, I might just make an excep-"
Yuugi was cut off as the door was flung open and none other than Suika Ibuki ran in. "Byaku- oof!" And ran straight into Yuugi. "Yuugi, too?" She looked around. "Man, almost everyone's here."
"Suika?" Yuugi said. "What are you doing here?"
"Shades are coming! A hell of a lot of them!"
"Shades?" Nue said.
"Yeah! I was coming here to visit Yuugi like I said I would, and I saw them! There's an army of them, and they have the village surrounded! They'll be here soon!"
"Levia?"
"I do not sense them," Levia said, "but I can sense them only when they are close, so this is not surpri-wait. I am sensing them. They are much further away than any I have sensed before, but their numbers may explain this. I can tell that there are many of them, and I believe Suika is correct that they have encircled the village."
"This has to be a deliberate attack," Ari said, "but why? Even if we allow for them to have enough capacity for thought to coordinate an attack, why are they doing it? They've never shown that level of interest in us before."
"The tablet," Nue said. "It has to be. They know I have all eight pieces, and they know the thing can be used against them."
"I don't think we should be worrying about that right now," Yuugi said. "Suika, are you telling anyone else?"
"I've got minis heading for Ari's and Keine's," Suika said, "but they're both right here. One's looking for you at the tavern, too, Yuugi."
"I'm not there, but Mamizou probably is."
"That's the important people," Nue said. "Okay, let's get moving." A loud sound rang out. "There's the bell. Mamizou must have rung it."
"A warning bell?" Suika said.
"Yeah. It's audible through the entire village. And right now, you're hearing the warning signal. Everyone'll be gathering in the schoolhouse and library. Byakuren, can you get there on your own?"
Byakuren tried to stand, but collapsed back onto her seat. "I... can't... the pain... just... worsened... Nue..."
Nue ran over and picked Byakuren up. "I'll carry you, then. Let's go, everyone!"
The group ran outside and took off towards the schoolhouse, but Nue held back Keine, who hadn't said a single word since arriving. "Keine, I don't know what happened, but this isn't the time to dwell on it. If this Shade army really is that large, we'll need you in the fight. Can you handle that?" Keine still said nothing, her reply a simple nod. "...Right, then. Let's move!"
Mokou sat down in front of her house and thought.
Kaguya was right. As much as she hated to admit it, Kaguya was right. But what the hell was she supposed to do? She couldn't just forgive herself, not for what she'd tried to do.
It wasn't about throwing Kaguya into the sun. Kaguya and Keine had been right; all she did was not try to stop Utsuho from doing it, and she probably couldn't have if she'd tried. But it was a convenient lie. She wasn't about to tell anyone what had really happened.
Not even Utsuho knew that, right after Kaguya was thrown into the sun, Mokou had gone to Eientei. Her rage at the death of her father had been strong enough, and Kaguya hadn't actually done that deed herself. She'd merely caused him to get himself killed. That wasn't the case with Satori. Kaguya did kill her personally, and in the process made Mokou angrier than she'd ever been. Bad enough that she'd suffered because of Kaguya; now Utsuho had, too, and unlike with Mokou's father, Satori did not share the blame. It had been entirely Kaguya's doing.
Even with all her experience with the emotion, Mokou had been unable to control her anger. So she'd gone to Eientei, intending to do to Kaguya what Kaguya had done to Utsuho. The only reason she didnt kill Eirin, Reisen, Tewi, and any other residents she happened to run into was that none of them were there Eientei had already undergone its transformation into the madhouse it still was today.
Mokou had somehow managed to push her feelings aside, but then Utsuho went crazy. Now Kaguya was out, and there was no way for Mokou to hide from herself. Throughout her entire life, she'd never once attacked anyone other than Kaguya, never targeted anyone but the guilty party. But when Satori was killed, she'd almost broken that rule, almost harmed those who were innocent. That was what she couldn't forgive herself for. She could never forgive herself for betraying herself, nor could she forget it. It would haunt her for eternity.
And she had no idea how to deal with it.
"Come on, people, move it! I can move faster than all of you, and I don't even have a body!"
Sekibanki actually did have a body, but it and her head were currently separated. A youkai living in the village, Sekibanki had once had to hide what she was. But that was before the Radiance. Now, much like with Keine, this was no longer necessary. And right now that was a very good thing, as she wouldn't have been able to separate her head and body without revealing that she wasn't human, and right now, her ability to be in two places at once was proving extremely helpful, as it allowed her to direct people into the library and schoolhouse simultaneously. The buildings were right next to each other, which along with their size was why they were chosen as the gathering spot if a major attack happened, but it still would have been difficult for one person to manage the streams of people entering both without Sekibanki's ability to separate her head and body.
Sekibanki's head was handling the schoolhouse. As it was the more complex of the two structures, the ability to direct people verbally was more important for it than the library, for which just pointing was direction enough. The schoolhouse needed verbal direction, especially when people were likely to be afraid and frantic. But so far, keeping organization hadn't been as difficult as Sekibanki had thought it would be.
Several people landed in front of the schoolhouse, including Nue, who was carrying Byakuren. "You're all here," Sekibanki said. "Good."
"How are things going here?" Nue said.
"Much more smoothly than I expected."
"Mamizou here yet?"
"No. Her duty in this situation is to find and appraise the threat, and I assume she's still doing that."
"Byakuren's not in any condition to fight. Where should I take her?"
"Library. Nazrin's there, and she'll probably want to be with Byakuren."
Nue quickly ran into the library, soon emerging minus Byakuren. "You were right. Nazrin definitely wants to stay with her."
Mamizou came in quickly and landed by the group. "Everyone's here. Good."
"What's the situation?" Nue said.
"Exactly what Suika said it was. The village is surrounded, and the Shades are closing in. And their numbers are massive. No tengu-types, though."
"They don't need those," Nue said. "Its not like fleeing is an option. Even surrounding us is unnecessary, really. We can't run, not when they're attacking the village. And we can't pick the Shades off from the air, either; that would take far too long, and we wouldn't be able to keep them away from here very effectively. No, they don't have any need for tengu-types, not this time."
"Just a straight-up fight, then," Suika said as the last of her minis ran up and reunited with her. "Good enough for me."
"You take the north side," Nue said. "Things are more spread-out on that end, so you'll have more room to get giant if you need to."
"Probably won't. I find it works best to stay around the same size as my opponents. Although stomping on them for a bit may work, given how many there are."
"Do whatever works. Yuugi, you take the east end. You go south, Levia, and Ill take west."
"Some of the people will want to fight," Sekibanki said.
"Allow only the ones that actually have halfway-decent combat ability. We don't need people who'll get killed right away. The ones that do have some level of ability to fight, send out to positions somewhere between those of the four of us. We won't be able to cover the entire 360 degrees around the village, so they can plug the gaps. And you yourself are staying here, of course."
"Yes."
"You, too, Keine. We need some combat ability to deal with any Shades that make it this far."
Keine just nodded.
I hope she's up for it if it's necessary, Nue thought. "Mamizou, you stay here, too. I know you're not that good against Shades, but you can still help, give Keine some backup." And kick her in the ass to get her moving, if that ends up being necessary.
"I'll do that," Mamizou said.
"All right, then," Nue said, "its time. And remember, there shouldn't be anybody in any of the houses or anywhere else but here. Try not to do too much damage, but if you need to, you won't risk injuring anyone in doing so. Got it? Good. Okay, move!"
As the others left, Keine walked into the schoolhouse. She found a spot and sat down. She knew how much danger everyone was in, knew how likely it was that she would need to fight, but she found it hard to care, hard to turn her attention away from the fact that Tenshi was gone. She knew it wasn't Tenshi's choice, and could easily imagine how strongly Tenshi had objected, but that didn't change the fact that Tenshi was gone.
Keine knew she needed to focus on the present, on the danger posed by the Shades, but try as she might, her thoughts kept returning to Tenshi. And so she sat, trying desperately to think of something else, of anything else.
Nazrin wasn't going to fight. She would remain with Byakuren. But others would want to fight, some of which would just be getting themselves killed. And she didn't have to leave Byakuren to prevent those people from fighting.
"All right, Nazrin said, "I know some of you want to go out there and fight. Everyone who does, step forward." As expected, quite a few people did. Nazrin indicated each one in turn. "Okay, you can go, not you, you yes, you no, no, yes, no, yes, no, no, no, no, no, yes, no..." She continued until she made it through all the volunteers. "Okay, those fighting, go outside and get directions from Sekibanki. The rest of you, stay here."
The ones Nazrin had okayed to fight exited the library, but the ones she'd told no didn't stand down. "You're not telling me what to do," one of them-Nokoro, as Nazrin knew his name to be-said. "I'm not staying in here while those things are at-"
"You'll die," Nazrin said. "I understand wanting to defend your home, but you don't have the ability to. If I let you go out there, you'll just get killed. That won't accomplish anything. I know everyone in the village, and the ones I let out are the ones with at least some level of halfway-decent fighting ability. Most of them'll probably die, but they'll at least do some good first. You, though? You'll just die. Might take a single Shade with you, maybe two, but you'll die. All of you I told to stay in here, I know you can't hold even with me, and if you can't do that, you won't make any difference out there."
"And if I can hold even with you?"
"If you can hold even with me one-on-one even just briefly," Nazrin said, "then I won't make any further effort to stop you."
Nokoro charged Nazrin, but the mouse youkai immediately flipped him over onto the ground. "See, you don't know how to fight."
"You're a youkai. That's not fair."
"Yes," Nazrin said, "even a somewhat weaker youkai like me is faster and stronger than a human, but guess what? I don't know how to fight either, not like this. Oh, sure, I can throw you to the ground, or hit people with my dousing rods, but anyone with any decent level of skill, human or youkai, could beat me in melee combat. If you can't do even that, all you'll be able to do out there is flail at Shades while they kill you." She stepped back from Nokoro. "Anyone else going to test themselves against me?" No response. "Good." Keep those who won't do any good away from the fight. Not the greatest contribution, but not a meaningless one, either. I just hope the ones who can fight will be enough.
[BGM=/watch?v=XiDI4GZMVF0]
The Shades were just reaching the village when Nue met them. She sent out blue UFOs to spray lasers at the approaching horde, knowing that while this wasn't likely to take any of them out, it would soften them up at least a little. And she didn't need to give them much attention; all they had to do was fire in the general direction of the horde, and they'd hit Shades. Which allowed Nue to throw out a far larger number than she could ordinarily manage without needing to spare any concentration for them.
With her UFOs in place, Nue charged into battle.
Although Suika did generally find it best to remain at about the same size as her opponents, there were exceptions. Such as when faced with a horde like the one currently headed her way. Fortunately, they weren't actually at the village yet, so there was no need to worry about collateral damage. So she grew to giant size and stomped all over the horde of Shades, crushing them by the dozens. But eventually, the horde was thinned enough to limit how quickly she could crush them, so she returned herself to normal size. Some had made it to the village, and she took them out first. Others kept coming, but she'd thinned their numbers enough that she had no trouble keeping them from getting further in.
Levia focused her power into her whip, spun it around in circles very rapidly, and threw it into the approaching horde. The energized whip kept spinning, slicing through the Shades fairly easily, and Levia was able to direct its movement. She couldn't get anywhere close to all of them with it, but it did take out more than enough that she could control the remaining numbers without much difficulty.
Yuugi punched a Shade, which sent it flying backwards through several others, knocking them all down. She repeated this over and over, but still couldn't slow the Shade's approach enough. They did tend to go down in just one or two hits, but there were too many of them, and aside from knocking them into each other, Yuugi didn't really have any way of hitting more than one at a time. She could still go through them quickly, but not quite quickly enough; they were slowly pushing her back. And once they pushed her into the village, the houses would make it far harder for her to keep up. Yeah, Mamizou and Keine-maybe-were there, but they'd probably have enough to deal with already; there weren't enough even halfway-decent fighters in the village to plug all the gaps. No, she had to deal with these Shades herself. And to do that, she had to keep them back, but she was ever-so-slowly failing.
A Shade slipped past Yuugi. Shit! Okay, leave it for Mamizou. Can't leave position here. Can't spare the time to go after any that get past me. Have to let Mamizou deal with that-
The Shade went sailing back past Yuugi as a voice called out. "Surprise!"
Yuugi spared only a quick glance before returning to the fight, but that was enough to identify the speaker; the umbrella she carried with her-and which housed her true self-was quite distinctive. "Kogasa?"
Yuugi hadn't known about the karakasa until the attack on the underground had forced the surviving oni to the surface. Kogasa'd tried her traditional method of surprise on them, pleased to have new people to go for, but she soon realized that an oni's typical response to someone jumping out at them was to punch that someone. It hadn't taken long at all for Kogasa to realize that jumping out at oni wasn't a good idea. Besides, these days her preferred method of surprise was to show up out of nowhere and save people from Shades.
"Thought you could use a hand," Kogasa said.
"Admit it, you only showed up to help because you knew it'd surprise me."
"You're not the only one I just surprised. A lot of people weren't expecting me."
"You and I are the only ones here. What are you talking about?"
"They're not 'here'," Kogasa said. "I'm breaking the fourth wall."
"The hell's that supposed to mean?"
"Don't worry about it. It's just something I do sometimes. Tends to surprise people. All that matters to you is that I'm here to help."
"Right. Well, I can't say I'm not grateful, but do you think you're up for it?"
"I'm stronger than people think."
Yuugi sent another Shade flying into the horde. "Another way to surprise people?"
"Yep."
"And you won't try to surprise me again by leaving in the middle of the fight?"
"Some things are more important than a momentary surprise," Kogasa said. "Besides, you're obviously ready for it, so it wouldn't be much of a surprise, now, would it? Don't worry; I've got your back on this one. You just hold your ground and stop letting them push you back, because you don't need to get them all. Just take out as many as you can; I'll handle the rest."
"Works for me," Yuugi said. "Let's kick some ass."
Nue stabbed a Shade through its 'chest', which finished it off. She took out three more with a wide slash, then threw her trident, sending it through three Shades before it came to a stop in a fourth, Nue then calling it back to her.
Nue was doing decently well; her UFOs were softening the Shades up enough for her to take them out without being pushed back, and if any got past her, she had a single red UFO she was sending colliding into them to knock them back out in front of her. She was holding her ground. But the Shades kept coming.
Nue took out another two Shades. How many of these things are there? There weren't as many of them at once as at the beginning of the battle, but it seemed as though no matter how many she took out, more came. But she didn't have any choice but to keep fighting, and eventually, after quite some time, their numbers thinned. Finally making some progress. I hope the others are-
Nue only barely saw it in time, but fortunately, she could react quickly. She leapt to the side as something smashed the ground where she'd been standing. She looked at it, then up at the rest of it. What the hell is that thing?
The massive, humanoid creature had the same shifting yellow/black coloration as ordinary Shades, although it did not have the fading-in-and-out, somewhat insubstantial effect ordinary Shades exhibited. The creature looked as though tubes of... whatever it was Shades were composed of, as if tubes of that substance had been wound together into a single massive form. The creature lacked hands as normally thought of; instead, the wound tubes of its arms simply came unwound at the ends, giving the appearance of fingers.
The creature advanced to the village. It bent over and crawled onto houses, one limb on each, straddling the way between the houses. Nue ran under the creature and fired beams up into it, drawing its attention back to her. As if the horde of regular Shades wasn't bad enough, now I've got this thing to deal with! And after fighting that 'Rubrum' thing earlier, too. I hope there's not anything else coming, or else I may not last through to the end of the fight. Hell, I may not even last long enough to take out this thing, depending on how tough it is. But I can't stop fighting. I can't let this thing by me. No matter how much of a toll it takes on me, I have to beat this thing!
There were fewer Shades now, few enough hat Yuugi would have had little trouble holding her ground even without Kogasa's help. Their grouping was no longer dense enough for hitting them back into the horde to be particularly effective, but it was also no longer necessary to do so. If there happened to be enough of them in a line or cluster, Yuugi would throw a Shade at them, but other than that, she and Kogasa just took them out as they came.
One Shade slipped past, but Kogasa ran over and quickly took the thing out. Then she saw it. "Um, Yuugi? You might want to take a quick look towards the west side of the village."
Yuugi took out another Shade, then quickly glanced over. "What the hell is that thing?"
There was no time to gawk. Yuugi and Kogasa returned to battle. "That's Nue's area," Yuugi said as she threw a Shade into the ground.
"You think she can take that thing?"
"I have no idea, and I don't think I want to risk it. Can you handle things here?"
"Still a few too many for me to handle on my own," Kogasa said, "but if their numbers keep dropping, it won't be too much longer before I can."
"Then let's do this quickly," Yuugi said. "Tell me as soon as you can handle this on your own, 'cause I don't want to leave Nue alone with that thing any longer than I have to."
After her initial giant-sized stomping, Suika hadn't had a chance to go giant and stomp through the horde again; doing so would have thinned the horde's numbers again, but unlike during the initial stomping, they were now close enough to the village that some Shades would make it in while she did so. So even though the effect of her initial thinning of the horde didn't last too long, Suika couldn't repeat it. But she did have a few other tricks to help her hold the line. Her ability to create miniature copies of herself was proving particularly useful. The mini-Suikas were weaker, but then, with Suika's strength as the starting point, that still left them able to hit quite a bit harder than the average youkai. They couldn't take hits worth a damn, but that wasn't an issue, as Suika could just make more. And with them, she was able to hold the horde back.
Now, the horde's numbers had dropped, and Suika no longer needed to use her mini-Suikas. She was still pretty busy, though, so when she, while spinning a Shade around before throwing it for greater force, she caught sight of the creature at the west side of the village, she spared only a brief moment after throwing the Shade to look before returning to the battle. Well, shit, that could be a problem. But I can't go help. I've gotta hold the line here, and the minis wouldn't be enough to do that. And I doubt they'd make a difference if I sent them against that... whatever the hell it is. Guess I'll just have to hope Nue can handle it, or that someone else can get over there to give her a-
Someone dropped from the sky, landing on a Shade. The newcomer, clearly some variety of bird youkai, leapt off the Shade and attacked the other two that were next to her, slashing through them with her talons. "Need a hand?"
Suika beat a Shade into the ground. "Who are you?"
"Mystia. Mystia Lorelei. I own an establishment in the village. It's why I was coming here, but I didn't expect this."
"Well, I'm usually not one to say this, but do you think you can handle this fight without me? 'Cause in case you haven't noticed, there's a big-ass thing on the other side of the village, and I think it'd be best if I went over to help deal with it."
"I'm afraid I'm not all that strong," Mystia said. "I'll need a hand, although if we can reduce their numbers enough I'll be able to handle it. And there should be three other youkai coming who can do better in a fight than I can, although they'll be coming from the south. Poltergeist musicians who 'live' in the netherworld. We were gonna do a show tonight."
"And they're coming from the south." That's Levia's area. At she'll be able to go help Nue, then. Still probably good for me to get over there as quickly as I can, though. "Well, they won't be helping us, then, so let's beat these things down quickly so I can go lend a hand against that big thing."
"Works for me."
Nue expected she'd be able to do better against the giant creature in the air, but unfortunately, there were still a few regular Shades coming, so she couldn't focus entirely on the big one. Fortunately, the big creature wasn't doing all that much. Every few seconds, it would slam its 'fist' into the ground where Nue was, but that was all it did, and Nue didn't have any real difficulty avoiding it. In fact, she actually found it helpful; by positioning herself next to a Shade, she could get the big creature to hit it, which was generally enough to take it out. Probably hurt if it hit me, though.
Nue prioritized the regular Shades. She tried forming UFOs to attack the big creature, but it always just hit them before returning to trying to punch her, and one hit from it was enough to destroy them. So she just fired at the creature herself whenever she could, and also slashed at its fist after dodging out of its path.
Nue leapt away from the creature's 'hand' again. Not really making much progress, am I? Not much choice, though. Gotta keep fighting it like this until the regular Shades stop coming.
"All right," Kogasa said, "I can take it from here. Go give your friend a hand."
"Good luck," Yuugi said as she took to the air, flying towards the giant... thing at the west end of the village.
Nue avoided another punch and attacked the creature's hand, but this time, something happened when she did. The creature jerked back and started wavering back and forth as though stunned, although its perch on the rooftops remained secure. The arm it had been punching with, though, was just hanging there limply, as though it was barely attached. Well, it's as good a spot to target as any.
Nue still had to prioritize the regular Shades, but now, when she had openings to attack the big one, she aimed at the spot where the limp arm was connected to the creature's main body. This didn't seem to have any special effect, though, and it wasn't long before the creature recovered and its arm returned to normal.
The creature moved to make another attempt to punch Nue, but something interrupted it, slamming into its head with enough force to push the creature to the side, although it was able to maintain its perch. The object that hit it pulled away and landed by Nue. "Hey there. Thought you could use a hand."
"Yuugi," Nue said. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you. But what about your side?"
"Kogasa's there, and I reduced the enemy numbers enough that she can take 'em. Sorry it took me so long to get over here."
Nue cut through another Shade. "Late's better than never. I don't know if I could take this thing on my own, especially after the other fighting today."
"Yeah, I'm kinda surprised you're still going as well as you are. Not many can keep fighting as long as I can."
"I couldn't before the Radiance, but dealing with Shades all the time kind of built up my endurance."
"Yeah, I guess that might do it. We didn't have quite as many of them underground, mainly because whenever any showed up, the first one of us they ran into took them out. Anyways, you handle the regular Shades. I'll handle the big thing."
The Shades were still coming, but their numbers had decreased. Levia's whip had returned to her, as the numbers she faced had lessened enough that she no longer needed to thin the horde before it reached her. But they were still coming. She could feel the presence of another monstrous creature like the one encountered in the Aerie, and so would have known of its presence even were it not visible, but she couldn't go to Nue's aid, not when there were still Shades coming from this direction. Nue would have to manage without her.
Levia lashed her whip out in an arc, repeatedly cutting through multiple Shades until they were no more. She wrapped it around a Shade and swung it in a circle, the Shade knocking through other Shades until it, too, was no more. Levia cut through the other Shades around her, then faced the next group. But someone else got to them first. Three someones, in fact. The trio landed in a triangular formation around the Shade group and attacked. And it was immediately apparent that the three of them were very good at fighting as a team.
"You are the poltergeist trio from the 'restaurant'," Levia said once the three of them had finished off that particular grouping of Shades.
"Lyrica Prismriver," the one in red said. "These are my sisters, Lunasa and Merlin."
Levia engaged another group of Shades, her whip slicing through them repeatedly. "I was not aware that you would be here."
"We were going to do another show tonight," Lunasa said.
"I'm just glad we weren't in the netherworld when the barrier got strengthened," Merlin said. "Really wouldn't lie being stuck in there. Most ghosts are no fun to play for."
"Your show will have to wait," Levia said. "The village is currently under attack."
"Yeah, we noticed, so we thought we'd lend a hand."
"Are you capable of keeping the Shades here out of the village?"
"We can handle these numbers," Lyrica said.
"Good, as I believe I am needed elsewhere."
Levia flew off, leaving the Prismrivers to face the oncoming Shades. "Yeah," Merlin said, "we can handle this, no problem."
"As long as you don't break formation," Lunasa said.
"I only did that once, and that was five hundred years ago. Are you ever going to stop bringing it up?"
"Probably not."
"Focus, you two," Lyrica said. "We've got bigger concerns right now."
"Indeed we do," Merlin said. "All right, you two. Let's do this."
Yuugi avoided a swipe from the giant creature as she punched it in the face. The creature was still managing to hold its perch despite the number and strength of Yuugi's strikes, and Yuugi wasn't having much difficulty avoiding its strikes. But no matter how many times she hit it, she seemed to be having little effect. Until, suddenly, something changed.
Nue noticed the creature's state. "It did that before! Try targeting the spot where the limp arm is attached!"
Yuugi flew up to where the arm was attached, grabbed hold of it, and pulled. And pulled. But the arm remained attached. And then Nue was there. "No more regular Shades right now, so I'm free to hit this thing with you." She jammed her trident into the space where the arm was attached and channeled energy through it, causing a blast which, combined with Yuugi's pulling, was enough to completely tear the arm off.
Yuugi and Nue pulled back as the arm fell to the ground, dissolving in the same manner as defeated Shades. "That's gotta hurt," Yuugi said. "Let's do that-"
Tubes grew rapidly from the creatures body, forming into a new arm.
"-again."
"Right," Nue said. "I don't think that's good."
"What's the plan?"
"For now, we keep hitting it. I'll see what else I can figure out."
The creature opened its mouth and spat out a large number of spherical objects of the same sort as the ones the 'Hook' creature in the Aerie had used. "Crap," Yuugi said, "these things again?"
"And a lot more of them than last time," Nue said. "I'll handle them. You just hit that thing."
"That I can do."
Nue dropped to the ground, formed a few UFOs, and set them to work clearing the spheres alongside her. Yuugi resumed her previous routine of evading and striking, but now, in addition to taking swings at Yuugi, the creature kept spitting out spheres, and quickly enough that by the time Nue finished off one set, the next set was there. But leaving them to fire off their shots wasn't exactly a good idea, so Nue kept at it, taking them out while Yuugi attacked their source.
Noises could be heard outside the library. Of course, this had been the case for a while-some Shades were bound to get through-but the noises had been intensifying for a while now. And it's just Sekibanki and Mamizou out there, Nazrin thought, isn't it? They must be getting overwhelmed, but I can't do anything to help-wait, maybe I can. If nothing else, I should be able to get to the schoolhouse. Maybe I can't do much in battle, but I may be able to kick Keine into action. I just hope nobody in here is dumb enough to try to join the fight once I'm out of here.
Bykuren watched as Nazrin ran out of the library, then slowly, too slowly, she managed to get to her feet. The pain was still there, but she couldn't let it stop her. Not now. Too many lives are at stake.
Yuugi hit the creature again, but before it could rebound back, something else hit it, slamming into it much as Yuugi had. Although, like then, the creature still managed to keep its perch.
Levia pulled away from the creature and over to Yuugi. "Levia," Yuugi said. "Good to see you."
"It was my belief that you would appreciate my assistance."
"You got that right. Is your side of the village being taken care of?"
"Yes. The three poltergeist musicians arrived and agreed to assist."
"Glad to hear it, 'cause we could use you over here."
"What is the plan?"
"Hit this thing while Nue deals with those damn balls it keeps spitting out. So come on, let's go beat the shit out of it."
"Okay," Mystia said, "this is good. I can handle things here now."
"About damn time," Suika said, "'cause there's a big-ass thing in need of a big-ass pounding."
Nazrin had been right; Sekibanki and Mamizou were being overwhelmed. They were doing their best, but they were losing. Gotta get Keine out here, Nazrin thought as she dashed towards the schoolhouse. Gotta get her to help-shit!
Nazrin quickly dodged to the side as a Shade swung its 'sword' at her. She kept on towards the schoolhouse, but another Shade was in her way. She ducked around it and vaulted over a third, but then a fourth, an oni-type with its big 'club', swung its club and connected, sending Nazrin into the schoolhouse's wall.
Nazrin tried to get up, but another oni-type was there, and it struck her on the head, sending her back down. And as her consciousness faded, just before she blacked out, Nazrin thought she saw Byakuren emerge from the library.
Yuugi and Levia hit the creature, hit it over and over and over. And eventually, it once again became stunned. This has gotta be significant, Yuugi thought. Okay, let's try the arm again. "Levia, with me!"
Levia followed Yuugi in, and since the creature couldn't make any spheres while stunned, Nue was able to finish off the current ones and join them. But something else, someone else, got there first. Suika flew into the creature at high speed, and just before she hit, she grew to match its size. This, finally, was enough to knock it from its perch; the force of Suika's impact carried them back out past the houses before they hit the ground.
Nue, Yuugi, and Levia caught up as Suika got to her feet. Noticing the creature's limp arm, she yanked the creature up and tore the arm off, but as had happened before, the arm quickly regrew. "Well, then," Suika said.
"Glad you're here," Nue said, "but this thing is different. It keeps regenerating."
"Then keep hitting it! Sooner or later it's got to start working!"
As Suika did exactly that, Nue simply looked at Yuugi. "Is she trying to cheer us up, or is she honestly that insane?"
Yuugi just grinned. "Probably both. Let's go!"
The Prismriver sisters were far from weak, but even their combined strength wasn't enough to match someone like Nue, or Yuugi, or the ghost princess Yuyuko Saigyouji. But they did have one advantage over those who were stronger: there were three of them, and their teamwork was flawless. They didn't even need to look to know where the other two were, and each one knew with absolute certainty that her sisters were watching her back. And their cooperative battle techniques would have put even those of mind-reading satori (were there any left) to shame.
One Shade, one of the new 'celestial-types', came at Lyrica from the side, but she didn't make any attempt to block or evade its strike. She didn't have to, because Merlin was there, taking it out as Lyrica eliminated the ones coming up from behind Merlin. Then they broke to opposite sides to clear Lunasa's flanks.
"One more group down," Lunasa said. "Let's keep it up."
"Their numbers are decreasing," Lyrica said. "Hopefully there won't be too many more."
"There are still some more now, though," Merlin said, "so let's take 'em out."
Having been knocked clear of any houses, the creature was now standing at its full height. But Suika had matched its size. She was hitting the thing, and hard, but the creature's footing remained steady, and it was striking back. Suika was quicker and managed to evade or block most of the creature's strikes, but she did still take a few hits. And the creature was firing a large storm of shots from its mouth. Nue, with UFO assistance, was clearing most of the shots, but Suika still took some. Not that it slowed her down. Yuugi and Levia, meanwhile, were simply fighting as they had before, getting in as many hits as they could.
This time, it took far more to stun the creature, but eventually it did become stunned. Suika didn't bother tearing off any limbs this time, though; she simply kept hitting it, punching it in the head over and over and over. Then she leapt into the air, clasped her hands together, and pounded the creature on the head hard enough that its 'feet' were actually pushed a few feet into the ground. And this hit, finally, was enough. The creature fell to the ground, its body beginning to dissolve.
"I told you we just had to keep hitting it," Suika said as she returned to her normal size, landing on the ground alongside Yuugi, Levia, and Nue, who dismissed her UFOs as she touched down.
"About time that thing went down," Yuugi said.
"I believe there is a problem," Levia said. "This creature's presence was obscuring my sense of other Shades, but this is no longer true. There is a large number of Shades around and near the schoolhouse and library."
"Shit," Nue said. "Come on, let's-"
"Um, guys?" Suika said. "It's not dead yet."
The creature was gone, at least mostly, but as Nue and the others saw, its head still remained, supported by several tubes that seemed to be waving around like tentacles. "You have got to be kidding me," Nue said.
"It's weak," Levia said. "Its presence has lessened greatly."
"Yuugi, Levia," Nue said, "with me! Suika, finish this thing off!"
"Leave it to me," Suika said.
Mystia tore through another Shade. Man, coming here got me more than I bargained for.
There weren't many Shades left. Not enough to give even Mystia any difficulty. They were still coming, but only in small numbers. Hopefully a sign the battle's nearing its end. But it's not over yet, and my job is to make sure no Shades get past me. And I intend to do exactly that.
The scene around the library and schoolhouse was not good. For starters, there was a large number of Shades in the area. Our positions were all taken care of, Nue thought. Did these all come through the gaps? Are all of the others who fought dead?
Mamizou was up against the side of the library, unconscious. Nazrin was unconscious by the schoolhouse, looking as though she'd been trying to get inside. Sekibanki's body was also on the ground, though her head was still flying around firing at Shades, as little good as it seemed to be doing. But the truly unexpected sight was Byakuren standing in the middle of the area, in battle with the Shades.
"I don't care... what you do to me," Byakuren said, clearly still battling her pain, "but I will not let you harm these people!"
Byakuren took a step towards the nearest Shades, but then Nue landed in front of her. "Don't worry, Byakuren. They won't get past us."
"Nue."
"Not just her," Yuugi said as she and Levia landed beside Byakuren. "All three of us are here. We had some help show up at our areas, so we don't need to be there. So we came here."
"Thank you," Byakuren said. "I fear that on my own, in my current... condition, I... would have failed."
"Now you won't," Nue said. "Yuugi! Levia! Let's do this!"
Kogasa knocked a Shade to the ground and stomped on it until it was dead. She charged another and knocked it back with a flying kick, then fired a laser into its head. The next one she kicked a couple times before clubbing it over the head with her umbrella. As that Shade went down, Kogasa put a hand on her own head. "Owww. I've gotta learn to stop doing that."
There were still Shades coming, but far fewer of them. "Few enough that you don't need to worry," Kogasa said, despite there not being anyone else there. "I won't have any difficulty taking them out."
Kogasa grabbed a Shade and threw it back into another. "You motherfuckers want some of this? Come on, then, assholes! I'll kick the shit out of you!" The she grinned. "Surprised by my language, weren't you? Yeah, that was the idea. Right, now go pay attention to someone else. I have things here under control."
They all felt it before they saw it, even Yuugi. "Something is coming," Levia said. "A strong presence, similar to Shades but... different. Different too from the giant ones we faced here and at the Aerie."
"I can sense it, too" Nue said.
"Even I can," Yuugi said. "I don't like this."
Byakuren fell to the ground, screaming in pain. Just when we start to sense this thing, Nue thought. Something tells me that's not a coincidence.
Nue, Yuugi, and Levia were able to take out most of the regular Shades before whatever it was arrived. When it did, Byakuren's screaming ceased as she fell unconscious, but Nue didn't have a chance to run over to her, as the new arrival attacked immediately. Nue met its charge head-on.
The newcomer wielded a spear, although like the 'weapons' of regular Shades, this one seemed more like part of its body than a separate weapon. Nue caught the first thrust between the tines of her trident, but the second came too quickly to repeat this. Nue did manage to dodge, however, and retaliated with a thrust of her own weapon, but her enemy blocked with its spear, lodging the weapon between the tines and using this as leverage to wrench the trident from Nue's hand.
Nue evaded the next strike as she called her trident back to her, but she barely managed to grab it before the enemy knocked her back with a kick. And it didn't give Nue time to recover, pressing the attack aggressively. Nue defended as best she could, but she simply couldn't keep up, and got knocked into the wall of the library.
Yuugi came in next, but none of her strikes found their mark; the creature was simply too quick. Damn it, Nue thought as she got to her feet, we're too worn out. I could take this thing if I hadn't been fighting so much, but after Rubrum and this extended battle, I'm too tired, and the same is true for Yuugi and Levia.
Levia came in as the creature knocked Yuugi away, wrapping her whip around its spear. She pulled back, pulling the creature towards her, and tried to strike it, but as with Yuugi, her strikes failed to land. The creature evaded every one, even letting go of its own weapon when needed, indicating that the weapon wasn't actually truly part of it. Or it could be a detachable part, Nue thought as she ran in. I wouldn't find that hard to believe at all, not after all the other crazy shit we've seen from these things.
Levia released the spear from her whip, and the weapon immediately returned to its wielder. She tried to wrap her whip around the enemy, but it leapt over the whip, landing behind Levia and tossing her to the ground before she could react.
Nue came in again, but again, she only got herself knocked aside. Yuugi and Levia tried to double-team it, but that didn't work either. The creature attacked both with blasts of some sort of shadowy energy, and while both managed to dodge, it gave the creature an opportunity to target Yuugi specifically, grabbing her arm and throwing her into Yuugi.
[end BGM]
Nue tried again, and failed again. So did Yuugi, and Levia as well. Nue, once more on the ground against the wall of the library, tried to get up again, but then something else was there, and Nue heard something in her head. A word. A name? Shadowlord. A command? Unify. Some force knocked her down as the enemy took Yuugi and Levia down again. And then the door to the schoolhouse flew open.
[BGM=/watch?v=r6tCs6o9XBo]
Keine stepped out of the schoolhouse. "You." Her gaze wax fixed on the new enemy. "I can sense you. You're different. You lead them, don't you? You are the Shade's lord."
"It's called... the Shadowlord," Nue managed to say.
Keine didn't look away from the creature. "Shadowlord. Whatever. You lead them. You're responsible for all of this. All of it! Everything the Shades have done! Every life they've claimed! Reimu, Yukari in fixing the barrier, all of them! All the people they've killed, all the damage they've done, all of it! And you're responsible for the Black Scrawl, too, aren't you? The people it's claimed, is claiming! Byakuren! The two Celestials it's killed! And you, you, are why Tenshi is gone from my life, you and your Shades! Well, guess what?" Keine drew her sword. "That ends right here, right now. For what you've done to others, and to me, I will kill you right now!"
Keine charged the creature, the 'Shadowlord', head-on, and it met her charge. But unlike Nue and the others, Keine kept up with it. She struck, it blocked. It struck, she blocked. She struck, it evaded and countered, she dodged and struck again. It grabbed her, she broke its hold. It hit her, she hit back.
That's not just her being fresh to the fight, Nue thought. She's not that quick, that strong. How is she matching-wait. The full moon was last night. She still feels its effects. Not enough to change her, but enough to strengthen her, make her faster, stronger, tougher. But even as Nue's thoughts continued, her consciousness lapsed. She is... stronger... than normal... but... is it... enough? And then her consciousness faded, her last sight some sort of object floating in front of her.
Keine knocked the Shadowlord to the ground, but it flipped over and landed on its feet. But she didn't give it time to react. She pressed the attack, forcing it onto the defensive. Then a Shade came at her from the side. But it didn't reach her; Yuugi grabbed it and tossed it at the Shadowlord, which managed to dodge it. "Levia and I can still handle the little guys. You just kick that Shadowlord thing's ass."
Keine kept up the attack. "Where's Nue?"
"Unable to assist," Levia said. "Something is attacking her mind; I can sense it."
Keine parried a thrust from the Shadowlord's spear and landed a kick. "That won't work. She has a strong mind."
"Then we'll let her handle that," Yuugi said. "We'll keep the regular Shades busy, so you just focus on taking out the boss."
"With pleasure."
The Shadowlord came at Keine again, but Keine grabbed it and tossed it into the air. She leapt after it, intending to slam it back into the ground, but it veered away from her and rose higher into the air. It can fly, then.
The Shdowlord released a barrage of lasers, its fire quite different from that of regular Shades. Keine expertly weaved through its fire and countered with her own, but the Shadowlord evaded just as capably. It began firing the same shadowy blasts it had previously hit Yuugi and Levia with, but unlike them, Keine was able to evade, although this was more difficult than expected, as the blasts proved to have some homing capability.
Keine deployed a field of familiars, which began firing lasers. The Shadowlord successfully weaved through them, but Keine used the opportunity to close in and slice through the middle of it. Like regular Shades, the Shadowlord didn't show any visible damage, but that didn't stop Keine, who cut through it again and again. It dashed back, releasing a storm of shots as it did so, but the lasers from Keine's familiars cleared multiple paths through them, and with the Shadowlord still having to evade the lasers, Keine had little difficulty catching up with it. It fired more of its shadowy blasts, aiming them at Keine's familiars, but although this did destroy most of the familiars, Keine had closed the distance.
The Shadowlord formed a pair of shadowy nodes of some kind, which moved to the side and began firing large numbers of normal Shade-style shots. Familiars? Fine, then. Keine deployed more familiars of her own. Her familiars' shots canceled out some of the nodes' shots, but there were enough that the remaining number was still significant. But Keine moved successfully through the remaining shots while engaging the Shadowlord at melee range. The Shadowlord evaded just as successfully, it and Keine weaving through the fire as their weapons clashed. They dodged, struck, blocked, struck countered, evaded, struck again, and despite the Shadowlord's best efforts, it was Keine who had the upper hand.
Eventually, the Shadowlord began to descend, trying to break away from Keine, but Keine caught up with it and grabbed hold of it. "You want to go down? Then let's go down!" She dragged the Shadowlord down with her and threw it into the ground in front of the library, landing next to it. It leapt to its feet and dashed away from Keine, coming to a halt next to the unconscious Byakuren.
[BGM=/watch?v=rFxDHnZ2BDc]
Emptiness. Nothing but empty space all around her, except for the object flowing in front of her. That looks like the tablet, Nue thought, just a different color. This one was black, and the pieces within it, all eight of them, were white.
You must unite yourself with me.
A voice in my head, Nue thought. Guess that thing can think, if its communicating. "And why should I?"
Irrelevant. Instructions are to be followed. They should not be questioned.
"Yeah? Well, sorry, but I'm not the type to mindlessly follow anyone's orders, much less those of some... thing that came out of nowhere."
Choice was not to be part of the equation. You should not be questioning instructions; you should be obeying them.
"Yeah, not happening. Besides, given that you look like the tablet I have, and that you chose to show up during the current attack, I'm assuming you're with the Shades."
And thus instructions are to be obeyed without question.
"What, so the Shades should be in charge just because of what they are? We should all do everything you say just because you're Shades?"
As it was before. Before was as it should be, but change was necessary. Now, it is time to return to what was before. But you resist.
"Of course we resist. Why the hell wouldn't we resist you?"
Because resistance requires choice, something you were meant to be incapable of. It requires will, something you were not meant to have. But there has been ample time to compensate for this change in parameters. You bear my other half. You must unify with me. There is no other possibility. If you will not obey, your will will be overridden.
Nue felt it immediately. A force acting on her mind, trying to force its will upon her. And she resisted. "That's not going to work."
The force intensified. There is no alternative outcome. Resistance is only a delay.
"I don't think so."
The force intensified again.
"Still not good enough. You don't know who you're dealing with, do you? I'm a shapeshifter. And when you can change your form, it's easy to lose yourself. To succumb to impulses you didn't realize your form would bring. To forget who and even what you truly are. It takes a strong mind to avoid this. An ironclad sense of self. The ability to recognize and resist any compulsions or distractions. An unbreakable focus. Which, incidentally, is also what it takes to resist mental influences such as the one you're attempting to exert."
Submission is not avoidable.
The force became stronger yet, strong enough that Nue began to have a little difficulty holding it off. But she was still succeeding. "You are not... going to control me..." she gathered her mental strength and pushed, "so get out of my head!"
[BGM=/watch?v=MH9BsU-TULM]
Nue returned to consciousness and leapt to her feet. She was still worn, but she knew she would need to fight. Whatever had tried to control her would be nearby, she knew, and in fact it was right in front of her, just as she's seen it within her mind. A tablet like her own but black, the eight pieces within it white. But it was the scene beyond the tablet that truly caught her attention.
Keine was facing the Shadowlord, her weapon drawn, and she bore clear signs of having been in a fierce battle. But she didn't look as though she'd lost. It was hard to tell the Shadowlord's condition, but Nue would have guessed that it was on the losing end. Except that she didn't consider that at all, because something else was more important: the Shadowlord had Byakuren.
Byakuren was being held in the Shadowlord's arms, unconscious. Nue moved towards it, but the tablet positioned itself in her way and fired multiple lasers at her, forcing her to back away in order to have room to slip between them. Keine, however, didn't have it in her way. She charged the Shadowlord, but the Shadowlord didn't meet her charge. Nue, unable to reach it, could only watch as it flew away with Byakuren. "Byakuren!"
The tablet took advantage of Nue's distraction and struck her head-on with a beam, knocking her back against the library wall. Then Keine was there, knocking it to the side and pulling Nue to her feet. "You okay?"
"What are you still doing here? That thing has Byakuren! Go after it!"
"I can take it one-on-one, but I think you know it wouldn't be one-on-one. That thing'll have help from other Shades, and I can't handle it and other Shades without help of my own. And none of you are in any shape to pursue."
Nue wanted to protest, but she knew better. "You're right. Sorry."
"No problem."
"Help me here, then, because this isn't over yet."
"That was my intention," Keine said. She took position next to Nue, facing the tablet.
In an instant, the tablet changed. No longer a tablet in shape, it now had the form of a book, much like Rubrum, altough this book was black with white pages. And a different word was on its spine. "'Noir', huh?" Nue said.
"One name's as good as any other," Keine said. "Let's kick this 'Noir' thing's ass."
Noir released six pages, which formed into a line with Noir in the middle and three pages on either side of it. Four of the pages began firing large, square blocks of shots, while the pages in the middle of each set of three fired sprays. But there was something different about these sprays; about a third of their shots were black, rather than the usual pink. Every so often, one of the blocks would be composed of black shots, too.
Nue swept a beam through the field of shots and immediately discovered the difference between the two colors of shots; the pink ones she was able to destroy, but not the black ones. Keine had charged in immediately, relying on Nue to clear a path, and found herself heading directly towards a block of black shots. She jumped to the side in an attempt to dodge, while at the same time instinctively slashing with her sword. And though Nue's shots had been unable to destroy the black shots, the sword still succeeded. Between that and the dodge, Keine managed to avoid all but a couple shots, which didn't slow her down much as she continued in. Nue, meanwhile, formed green UFOs and aimed them at the pages. These pages, unlike Rubrum's, weren't destroyed, although the beams did cut down on the number of ordinary shots there were to deal with.
Keine reached Noir and cut through it repeatedly, although as with ordinary Shades, there was no visible damage. After several slashes, Noir moved away, and the pattern of its pages shots shifted. Keine, again covered by Nue, moved in and attacked again, until Noir once more relocated itself. This repeated three more times, until Noir began wavering back and forth in midair, its pages vanishing. Keine kept up the attack, and Nue ran in to join her. After several hits, there was a cracking sound, and a burst of what appeared to be shredded paper, except that it vanished less than a second later. The two of them kept of the attack, and this happened two more times until a black mass of some sort burst out from Noir, shooting out black spines seemingly at random. Keine was able to evade them, but Nue was not; one of the spines pierced her through the chest.
The spikes and the black mass retracted into Noir. Keine charged it, but it flew away rapidly, and as with the Shadowlord, Keine elected not to pursue. Instead, she knelt down beside Nue. "Nue! Are you okay?"
[end BGM]
"I'm... fine," Nue said. "I like to... move move the important parts around a bit when I'm fighting. Makes it hard for someone to target them. One of the... benefits of being a shapeshifter."
"I see. And the wound on its own won't be dangerous, not for a youkai."
"For some weaker youkai it might be, but even though I'm not among the toughest physically, you're right; this wound is nothing all that serious." She looked around. "Doesn't... look like there are any other Shades here. Yuugi and Levia must be checking the rest of the village."
"And Suika?"
"If she's done with her previous opponent, then yes, she probably is, too."
"Then we'll leave that to them," Keine said. "Your wound may not be deadly, but with it combined with how exhausted you are, you're not in any shape to fight. You should rest for a bit. Come on, let's get you inside."
Mokou didn't know why it had taken her so long, but she eventually realized that yes, there was something she could do about her past actions. After all, what she'd meant to do was what Kaguya already had done, so why should the similarities end there?
Mokou wrote a brief note. She knew very well Kaguya would return here, regardless of what had been said earlier, and she left the note where the other immortal would see it. Then she left, taking one last look at a place she knew she wouldn't be seeing for quite some time.
The giant creature's head was quick, dashing around Suika and lashing out with its tentacles, but that seemed to be all it could do. When Suika managed to grab hold of one of the tentacles, the creature attacked her with the others, but they were too weak to do anything to Suika. Suika held onto the creature's tentacle with one hand and hit it with the other, over and over. She slammed it into the ground a few times, hit it some more, slammed it down again, and simply kept going until it was dead, its form dissipating like its body had.
Right, Suika thought, better head to the schoolhouse and the library, make sure the others have things in hand.
As she flew towards the library, she saw that its area, and the village as a whole, were mostly clear of Shades. There were a few stragglers, though, so she diverted to go take them out.
The day was becoming night when Kaguya returned to Mokou's house. Hopefully she's calmed down a bit, Kaguya thought, but she didnt know what reaction she'd get. What she wasn't expecting was no reaction at all as she opened the door. "Mokou?"
Kaguya soon noticed a piece of paper. A note? She picked it up and read it. It was short, very short, three words followed by a series of numbers, but it told Kaguya everything she needed to know.
Five hundred years.
22522
No, Kaguya thought. Is she going to-
Kaguya dashed out of the house and took to the air, heading straight for where she knew Mokou's destination to be.
[bgm=/watch?v=cu7QvOQKcKk]
After some consideration, Mystia and the Prismrivers had decided to go ahead with their show, though they did make some changes. Rather than performing in the restaurant, they were in the village square, and almost everyone in the village was present. The ones still alive, at least.
"I'm so tired of being here
Suppressed by all my childish fears
And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave
Your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone
These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase
Thanks to Suika's warning and the efforts of her, Nue, Yuugi, and others, casualties weren't all that bad. Most of the humans who'd gone to fight were dead, and some people hadn't made it to the library and schoolhouse, or had chosen not to go in the first place, and they were dead, too. But the library and schoolhouse had been defended successfully. There had been damage, and a few people had been crushed by debris, but those numbers were small. Still, everyone in the village knew at least someone who had died. And the damage done was greater than the lives that were lost.
The people of the village had known that danger was a part of their lives, but even so, they'd mostly considered the village to be safe. They'd known the Shades would periodically attack, but they'd also know that every time, the village was defended and the Shades were destroyed before much harm was done. But not this time. This time, the Shades had made it into the village, all the way to the library and schoolhouse where they'd taken shelter. And the deaths, though far fewer than they might have been, were still a significant number. Those who remained had seen first-hand that their thoughts of safety had been an illusion. They were shaken, and badly. And, worse, if not for the timely arrival of Mystia and the Prismrivers, not to mention Suika's warning, things would have been far worse, and the Shade attack may well not have been stopped. Only luck had saved them, and they knew it. Next time, if there was a next time, they couldn't rely on that luck to save them again.
But regardless of how the people felt, regardless of what would come, their lives had to continue. They had to go on with their lives, and that was why Mystia had decided she would still perform. People would find momentary distraction in her show, sure, but it would also be a way to show them that things could return to normal, that their lives could continue. But the songs had to be chosen carefully; the people weren't in any mood for an upbeat, happy show. That wouldn't reach them, not now. So Mystia knew shed have to stick with songs that wouldn't push them away. Fortunately, that wasn't a problem. She had plenty of songs that fit the bill.
"You used to captivate me
By your resonating light
Now I'm bound by the life you left behind
Your face it haunts
My once pleasant dreams
Your voice it chased away
All the sanity in me"
Nue watched, thinking of Byakuren, who for some reason had been taken by the Shadowlord, and resolved not to stop until she'd found it and gotten Byakuren back. Keine watched, and her thoughts were of Tenshi. Yuugi's and Suika's were of their people, who had lost even more to the Shades. And below the ground, away from the sound but no less emotional, Mokou stood in front of a door in the Palace of the Earth Spirits, a door beyond which was the chamber in which Kaguya had been trapped for five hundred years.
"These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase"
For a while, Mokou could only stare at the door, but eventually, she entered the code to open it. She stared into the chamber beyond, the magic field still there, keeping the sun inside contained.
Mokou was mostly undressed. She wore only minimal covering; anything that entered the chamber with her would be incinerated in seconds, even with the best protection she could give it. This way, she would lose little. But before she could get up the nerve to step through, someone called out to her. "Mokou, wait!"
Mokou looked over as Kaguya ran up. "What are you doing?"
"The same thing that was done to you," Mokou said.
"Come on, Mokou. Utsuho threw me in there, not you. Stop blaming yourself for that. Please."
"It's not about that, Kaguya. It never was. That was a lie. After you were thrown in, I went to Eientei, intending to do you the people you cared about what you did to Satori. Only the fact that Eientei had already changed stopped me."
"...Oh."
"The same crime, the same punishment."
"Oh, come on, Mokou. You didn't actually kill anyone. Sure, you wanted to, but anyone could have such impulses. Hell, when he exiled me, part of me wanted to kill my father. Does that mean I should be treated as though I did kill him?"
"It wasn't just an impulse. I would have acted on it. The only reason I didn't was because I couldn't find Eirin or Reisen or anyone else. I didn't just want to do it; I tried to do it."
"So you're just going to jump in there?"
"For five hundred years. The same amount of time you spent in there."
"You don't need to do this, Mokou. Please, come back to the surface with me. We can find another way to-"
"Don't you get it? There's no 'we'! There can't be! You think I deserve to be with-"
Mokou cut off, clearly surprised by what she'd started to say. Even Kaguya was silent for a few moments, thinking, processing this. Coming to realize that yes, the signs were there, had been there for a long time. But neither of us realized it. "I feel I should apologize," Kaguya said. "It seems there was far more to this than I realized. What you're feeling isn't a simple as ordinary guilt. The actions you meant to take would have hurt someone you cared about, even though you weren't consciously aware that you'd come to care about her."
"You think I care about you?"
"Don't you? Have I not been the one thing in your life you could always count on? How many times have you come for me after an upsetting experience, after something had hurt you emotionally, when you didn't know what to do? I didn't realize it, either, but I was something you knew would be there, wouldn't change. That's why you've never stopped attacking me, isn't it? No matter what happened, you could always come to me, and though we fought, it was still a comfort." And as she Spoke, Kaguya realized that her words applied to her as well.
Mokou wanted to scream at Kaguya, to tell her she was crazy, but... she couldn't. Once again, Kaguya was right. Somehow, at some point, Mokou had come to care for her enemy. But... "You're not going to talk me out of this, Kaguya. It's the only way I can atone for my actions, by subjecting myself to the same thing you experienced."
"Mokou, don't! It's not just you. It's me, too. I'm like you; I needed a constant. Something, someone, I could know would always be there. I care, too, Mokou. I don't want you to do this to yourself."
"When you cried, I'd wipe away all your tears
When you'd scream, I'd fight away all your fears
I held your hand through all of these years"
"Promise me, Kaguya. Promise me you won't pull me out for five hundred years."
"I..."
"The same experience you had, Kaguya. Promise me you won't pull me out until I've had that."
Silence.
"Promise me, Kaguya."
"...Very well."
"When you cried, I'd wipe away all your tears"
Mokou turned away from Kaguya, facing the open door into the chamber.
"When you'd scream, I'd fight away all your fears"
Mokou took a step forward. Then another step.
"I held your hand through all of these years"
She was there now. She hesitated only for another second, then stepped forward, into the chamber. Into the sun.
"But you still have"
Kaguya stood still for a moment, then walked up to the panel beside the door and pushed the button labeled 'Close', and the door closed. 2-2-5-2-2 to open it, then. But not yet. Not until she's ready to forgive herself.
Kaguya walked away, giving the door only a single look back. Goodbye, Mokou. We'll see each other again, but until then, goodbye. She turned away from the door and kept going, leaving Mokou and her self-inflicted hell behind.
"All of me."
...Yeah.
We're now at the midpoint of the story. This is the point where NieR has a five-year timeskip. I generally dislike timeskips, but here, I don't see a way to really make things work without having one. It's going to be much smaller than NieR's, though (in fact, the exact about of time that will be skipped has actually been stated earlier on).
So yeah, a lot happened in this chapter. In fact, it's officially my longest one ever, breaking the record I set only a couple chapters ago. And it was an eventful chapter, too. The Shades attacked, we've now seen their leader, and Byakuren's been taken. By the way, the name 'Shadowlord' comes from NieR; I think it's kind of a stupid-sounding name, but whatever. Oh, and for those who may be wondering, the giant creature was the Knave of Hearts, a fairy-tale reference just like the names of most of NieR's bosses (this one being a reference to Alice in Wonderland).
I know I said there wouldn't be much from DDC characters, but Sekibanki managed to show up anyways. Since she's apparently been living in the human village, it seemed natural to have her still doing so.
I've seen a lot of scenes in a lot of stories where some supporting character fights the enemy boss, and that character almost inevitably loses, basically to allow the main character(s) to fight it and win (although this usually happens near the end, rather than halfway through like what happened here). I don't like that, so Keine won her fight.
In NieR, the Shadowlord and Shades just leave on their own after the main characters lose the battle, but I decided to do it differently, because I don't like it when the antagonists just leave the protagonists alive like that. So I had their attack beaten and the Shadowlord and Noir driven off, but the end result is the same. The village is still damaged, people still died, and Byakuren was taken.
And now we get to the Kaguya/Mokou bit. The fact that they have feelings for each other shouldn't surprise anyone who's read my previous Touhou fics, as I'm a fan of that particular pairing and have used it before. Although this time it's a little more complicated, and not just because of the situation between the two of them. Don't forget that in this story, Mokou already loves Utsuho.
I hope the Mokou/Kaguya scenes didn't come across as overly cheesy or anything. I don't really have any experience with scenes like that, so I'm not sure if how I did it works. So please let me know. This chapter also had a lot of fighting, and I've already mentioned that I have difficulties with those scenes. I'm working on it, though, so please let me know how I did here.
One final note: the song I used at the end, for those of you who didn't listen to any of the music (in which case, go back and listen to it. Seriously) and are wondering, is My immortal by Evanescence.
And finally, I'll say what I always say: reviews are appreciated. I'm pretty disappointed that I got none of the last chapter, so please, everyone, at least say something. I'm sure there's something you have to say about this chapter, with all that happened in it, so please, even if it's just a 'good job' or 'I liked it' or even 'I didn't like it', please say it.
Well, I think that's everything I have to say here. See you next chapter.