Hello again, everybody! I managed to finish this chapter quicker than the last one, though still not as quick as I wanted to. There's no Hazama this chapter, but instead there's another well-known (for Touhou fans, at least) green-haired character. As always, please R&R!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Touhou Project or BlazBlue (that'd be awesome, but I've got only this fanfic)
- 2200/03/08 5th Hierarchical City [Ibukido], Sector 7 field laboratory -
"What."
I've been called to the field lab because of an 'odd situation', but this isn't nearly what I expected.
"Just what you heard, Jin. It seems his soul disappeared from the Embryo." the kitsune said in a level tone.
"How... How could you let this happen?!" I quickly stood up from my chair and grabbed her by the collar. "Do you think I'll let you tamper with nii-san's soul like this, you bitch?!"
"I am not going to have this conversation if you don't let go of me." she said with a scowl.
The nerve of her... First she tries to extract nii-san without my knowledge and now she makes demands of me? Ran, however, didn't even flinch when I reached for Yukianesa. Only then I remembered it wasn't useful outside of Gensokyo anymore, so I reluctantly let go of her and sat down. "Tch."
"I'm glad that you still possess some self-control. Now, before you lashed out, I was about to say that we never had control over what happened to Ragna's soul and only Noel could interact with him in any direct way." she said, sitting next to me. "We made contact only when we noticed he tried to fight the Grimoire's influence, but it seems he's still too weak to maintain self-control and act at the same time. We had to pull Noel out when the Grimoire started to go haywire, and moments after that, we've lost connection to his soul."
"Why didn't you inform me?" I asked, still agitated by the fox's audacity.
"I'll be frank with you. You're too obsessed with killing Ragna, so calling you in on this operation could make it unpredictable. Besides, I know you two don't exactly like each other." she said. I couldn't deny her words. "Needless to say, your presence could quickly derail the whole operation."
"It seems that I wasn't needed for a failed mission." I scoffed at her.
"As I said, we didn't control Ragna's soul nor his Grimoire. I've already informed Master about the situation, but..." she sighed. At least that's what we can agree on.
"So now we have to wait." I said as I got up. "No reason for me to stay here, then. Send me back to Gensokyo."
"I do not possess such power. Only Master-"
"Did somebody say 'send back to Gensokyo'?." I heard from behind and quickly turned around to see Yukari peeking out of a gap, sporting a look of incredible amusement as she fanned herself. "I see you two are getting along just fine."
"That is none of your concern, youkai." I said, thoroughly annoyed by her comment.
"It's so easy to tease you, Jinny~" Yukari continued as she left the gap completely and walked to the fox. "I've seen your report, Ran. It is a truly unfortunate turn of events, but it can't be helped. Yuyuko said she will look around the Netherworld, though it might take time, and there's no guarantee he actually is there."
"So neither you can find nii-san..." I sighed in exasperation. "I've had enough. Where did Rachel go?"
"She should be consulting with Kokonoe and Kagura right now." Ran said. "The latter should have reached Gensokyo already."
"Then there will be no objections. Send me to him, Yukari Yakumo." I told the youkai, who giggled in response.
"If that is indeed what you wish for, then I shouldn't stop you~" she said and without a warning opened a gap...right below me.
- 129/05/18 Gensokyo -
The exit wasn't as comfortable as the last time - namely, I landed face-first into the ground. I quickly stood up and looked around, seeing only an overwhelming amount of sunflowers in every direction. Me and Makoto read about this place - it was the 'Garden of the Sun', supposedly a dwelling of large amount of fairies and a powerful, ancient youkai. I didn't wish to fight them, not when I had to meet up either Makoto and Tsubaki or Kagura, so I started going forward just to get out of the field. Fairies tried to attack me a few times, but it wasn't the most annoying thing in the Garden - the sunflowers were tall enough to obscure much of the view from the ground, forcing me to fly and bringing much unwanted attention to me.
I didn't fly far before noticing a woman floating among the sunflowers. She had shoulder-length green hair of more grass-like hue than Hazama's sickly green. She wore a plain white shirt, a yellow ascot, a red plaid waistcoat and a matching skirt. She didn't have any headgear unlike most female residents of Gensokyo; instead, she carried a pink parasol. Just a few seconds after I noticed her, she turned her head in my direction and quickly flew to me.
"An Outsider here? It must be a cold day in Hell for something like this to happen."
"I did not choose to be here specifically." I said calmly. She looked into my eyes in response, which quickly started to unnerve me.
"Yukari's work, then. I must thank her for such gifts when I can." Gifts...
"...Are you a youkai?" I asked.
"You've got keen eyes, boy. A rarity amongst humans." she laughed lightly. "I am Kazami Yuuka, youkai of the flowers. And you are..."
"Jin Kisaragi. Now that we've got the introductions out of the way, could you show me the way to the Human Village?"
"Leaving so soon?" she asked, once again staring at me. "Youkai like me tend to get lonely when nobody but fairies visit. And a strong-looking Outsider is an especially rare case... Mind if I take a part of you as a memento? An arm, perhaps?"
"What the..." I stumbled - or did the closest thing to a stumble in air - as I realized the implication, while Yuuka only smiled in response.
"Don't worry, you'll get it back... hopefully~" she said, closing her eyes and tilting her head to the left.
"I have no intention of being mutilated by a youkai." I said, bringing out Yukianesa.
"I wasn't going to actually do that, you know." Yuuka shrugged in response. Glad we got that sorted out. "But if you want to fight, then why not? I didn't have a workout in quite some time... You are aware of the Spell Card rules?"
"I prefer a more direct approach."
"Splendid!" she clasped her hands as she floated close enough to practically invade my personal space. "We'll fight on the ground. If you manage to knock me down for...let's say four seconds, you'll win and I'll show you the way to the Human Village. If I manage to land a single hit on you, though, the battle will end in your defeat."
"I am not fighting a battle on such terms." I said, unsure if her actions were supposed to intimidate or irritate me, or perhaps both.
"Believe me, you will not be able to fight for a long time after I hit you, even if you wanted to." she said with that unnerving smile and landed on the ground. I quickly followed, landing a few meters away and behind her. The moment I did, she turned around to face me.
"Now then, Jin Kisaragi, show me your power!"
BGM: Sleeping Terror
I started by making large circles around Yuuka, alternating between firing icicles at her and rising blades of ice around her, though she evaded them without much effort, even after I introduced variations and slight randomization. Centuries of danmaku fighting certainly showed in her movements - at one moment she managed to avoid a blade that I rose right behind her as she jumped away from a combination of icicles that would normally prevent her from evading to the sides. She seemed to have jumped off a root that spontaneously grew from the ground, probably a manifestation of her abilities.
"I believe you said something about a 'direct approach', no?" she taunted as she tapped the ground with her parasol. I immediately formed an ice sheet and flew straight at her, barely avoiding numerous roots that were about to immobilize me. I threw a few small icicles at the youkai and slashed the ground near her with Yukianesa as I passed by, creating a wide ice spire, though she avoided both threats. I jumped off the ice sheet behind her and quickly slashed her, this time connecting since her side partially froze.
"That's a curious blade you have... Are you really an Outsider?" Yuuka asked as she attempted to bash me with her umbrella. I blocked the strike, but the force of impact moved me back a good half a meter. She really did mean what she said by 'single hit'... No matter. If I set myself up for a predictable, direct strike, even this force won't be enough to stop my Yukikaze. I just need to think fast and block faster.
"Do you recognize this emblem?" I pointed at the NOL emblem on my glove.
"Should I?"
"If you do not, then it is proof enough of me being from Outside."
"Good point~" she smiled, which unnerved me even more and made me look around myself to check for any roots. "I wonder... is it a technology- or magic-based organization... though judging by this blade, it seems both elements are in play..." She opened her parasol and pointed it at the sun, which made all the sunflowers turn their heads at me, obviously not a good sign. I quickly conjured another ice sheet and flew at her quickly, faster than she could block or strike back, and rammed her with the pointy tip, at the same time jumping off and doing a falling slash across her head; she didn't slam her head against the ground as most of my opponents did, but she nevertheless stopped her attack, stunned by the force. I used the chance to deal an additional strike - I first made a rising slash that threw Yuuka upwards and froze her solid, then as she fell back to the ground I followed with a vicious horizontal strike which broke the ice and threw her away from me.
"A pretty solid attack." she said, getting up in less than two seconds. "Don't pull them though, I'm much tougher than I look."
"I never do that."
"Oh?" Yuuka looked genuinely surprised. "Then you must not have reached your true potential... Ufufu, this will be so fun when you do!" she giggled and spread her arms out, causing two large plants to sprout on both her sides and start to spread some kind of spores. I responded by planting Yukianesa into the ground and turning them into two ice statues. As I pulled the Nox out, I noticed roots coiling around my legs. The youkai was pointing her parasol directly at me, a ball of light forming at the tip.
They were just a bait... Not good...
"Master..." she said as the ball started to first expand, then change into a teardrop shape - with the tip pointing at me.
"Tōga Hyōjin!" I quickly interrupted, slashing the air vertically and hitting Yuuka with the resulting shock wave. The ball of energy also got hit, discharging prematurely into a large explosion and throwing Yuuka backwards, making her slide across the ground and release the roots' grasp on me. I noticed that she drew blood because of the recoil. I don't want to know what would happen to me if I got hit by that...
"You'd probably turn into a mist of atoms~" she said, getting on her feet in three and a half seconds. How did you- "The surprise is written on your face, you know." she flatly cut out my thoughts, which made me realize I was letting my emotions slip.
"Tch." I prepared to make another attempt at taking her down, but her expression changed for a very short moment. I couldn't tell what exactly it was, but it deeply unsettled me; a random person unlucky enough to witness such a sight would undoubtedly freeze in fear on the spot, but I managed to shake it off in time to sidestep as she dashed at me, almost hitting me with a powerful hook. I noticed she was about to do a pirouette and hit me with her elbow, so I moved my left forearm to block the strike. The moment the red Ars shield appeared Yuuka noticed that I deliberately set myself up, but she couldn't stop her own momentum - there was no time left as she struck me.
"Kokūjin..." I said as I prepared for the hopefully finishing attack, the Ars bounding her in place and completely negating the force of her strike. "Yukikaze!"
The counterattack was strong enough to make a large gush across her chest, large enough to be fatal for any human. She fell to the ground, but managed to protect the wound from getting dirtied and had to utilize vines to get up, which took her a good minute.
"Expect the unexpected. I forgot about this rule in the heat of the battle." she admitted. "That attack... well, it seems there still exist things that can't be broken through by brute force."
"You struck with the intent to kill." I said, which seemed to perturb Yuuka for a split second. "Otherwise you wouldn't aim for my head. Just like that 'Master-something', I don't think that the 'mist of atoms' was a joke since we didn't fight under Spell Card rules."
"...Really keen eyes." she sighed. "Forget what I said about Yukari, okay? She tends to import troublesome humans from time to time." Import... Hmm... "And for future reference, it's 'Master Spark'." I think I've heard that name before...
"If you want somebody troublesome, ask about 'Hazama'." I said. Might as well sic her on that bastard, make him more vulnerable.
"Hazama?"
"Another Outsider, pretty strong at that. He caused quite a lot of trouble back there. Now he's in Gensokyo, and not because of the gap hag."
"Hmm... How strong are we talking?" she tilted her head with curiosity.
"He defeated Flandre Scarlet one-on-one and incapacitated Sakuya Izayoi." I said, noticing a glitter of excitement in Yuuka's eyes. This, along with her wide smile and the sheer amount of blood staining her clothes, was the thing that crossed the line from 'quite scary' to 'downright terrifying'.
"Good."
- Myouren Temple -
As soon as she woke up, Makoto noticed that Tsubaki had left her a note saying she went to search the Human Village for clues and would go to Eientei later. Cirno, on the other hand, hadn't come back yet. Quickly dressing up and grabbing the most important things, she went for the other place they were supposed to check - the Buddhist temple beside the village. The road wasn't long, and she could see that some villagers were going the same way as well, which struck her as odd - wasn't the temple ran by youkai? Maybe they could learn to be actual pacifists after all, she thought. A few seconds later, she noticed Reimu flying south and waved her hand, gesturing for the miko to land.
"How's it going?" she asked when she landed.
"So-so. We've met up with Tsubaki, but Yukari has sent Jin back. I was about to go to the temple for some clues. And you?" Makoto said as the two girls started to walk forward.
"Nothing as far. I've searched the Underworld, but nobody reported anything out of ordinary." Reimu shrugged. "At least the oni know about him now. Oh, by the way, did Tsubaki tell you how is Flan doing?"
"She got better, I've heard. Wanted to talk with Remilia for some reason. Maybe she too wants to hunt for Hazama?"
"Better not. The possible collateral damage would make Scarlets go bankrupt."
"Agreed on that, Reimu-san." the squirrel chuckled. "Now I have a question for you."
"Yes?"
"Why didn't you tell us you could send us back to Outside yourself?"
"W-well... I was angry that you tried to attack me in my own shrine, so..." she stuttered, folding her arms and looking to the side in embarrassment. "And it would look extremely bad if I antagonized you and the word came out, you know. I didn't think you would get attacked by anything more than fairies before you came back."
"PR, then..." Makoto sighed to herself. "At least we've learned that Hazama's here. Every cloud has a silver lining, I guess. No need to worry, Reimu-san."
"I'm still sorry."
"Apology accepted, then." the squirrel smiled. "Say, would you go with me to the temple or are you busy enough?"
"I don't have any leads, so why not." the miko said and both girls picked up the pace.
In a few minutes, Makoto and Reimu reached the Myouren Temple. It looked like some kind of ceremony was about to start, since quite a lot of villagers had gathered in front, but the two girls entered without waiting. Inside, they immediately noticed Ran talking to one of the youkai resembling a tiger. She had orange-yellow hair with black stripes in it and wore a burgundy dress with orange pattern near the rim, a thick belt-like tiger print near the abdomen and white frills on the rim, as well as white frilly pants, a lotus-shaped ornament on her head and, peculiarly, a giant circle of white cloth above her back that, when viewed from the front, gave the illusion of her head being in the center. She also carried a spear for some reason.
"Oh, Ran. What're you doing here?" Makoto asked.
"There has been a... situation in Ibukido and now we require assistance of Shou-san's helper." the fox said to the two girls.
"Welcome, Reimu." the tiger youkai, Shou, said to the miko, then turned in Makoto's direction. "I believe we haven't met. I am Toramaru Shou, disciple and avatar of Bishamonten."
"Makoto Nanaya, squirrel beastkin from Outside. I didn't expect meeting an avatar, but it seems Gensokyo is weird like that."
"I figured it can be unusual to Outsiders. So, Ran," she turned to the third visitor once again, "are you sure Nazrin will be able to find it?"
"She found the Jeweled Pagoda before, so there shouldn't be a problem-"
"Kourin found the Jeweled Pagoda, not the mouse." Reimu interrupted. "And what is it that you want to find, anyway?"
"...A soul that has been lost from the Embryo, one that Makoto knows as Ragna the Bloodedge." the fox sighed after a moment of silence. The beastkin momentarily paled.
"What the... Ragna left the Embryo?!"
"Calm down, please." Ran said. "We noticed he resisted the influence of his Grimoire, so we sent Noel to contact with him. In the end she had to withdraw and we lost his signal shortly after."
"But... it shouldn't be possible... Professor said-"
"Wait a second." Reimu interrupted again. "Is it just me, or is this some huge and convoluted conspiracy plot?"
"You wouldn't believe, Reimu-san." Makoto sighed.
- Kourindou -
The small shop on the border of the Forest of Magic was quiet as usual, with only ticking of an old pendulum clock breaking the almost absolute silence. The owner, a half-youkai, was not concerned by it - there was nothing to draw his attention away from this curious object. It was a black plate, rectangular in shape and small enough to fit into one's hand, with one side covered with glass for some reason. He found out it was called a 'phone' and used to 'manage sounds, images and information and enable long-distance communication'. Surely, it was another example of the Outside World magic.
His previous experience with the 'Game Boy' made him suspect that the small 'button' on the side would activate the plaque and one of the holes was used to power it. On the other hand, the strange object on its back perplexed him - could it be what allowed this 'long-distance communication'? If that was true, then how did it look? Something akin to telepathy? Maybe it opened a gap between two such 'phones', though without the ability to physically pass through it? Or it wasn't used for this purpose at all, instead being used to 'manage sounds and images'? On closer inspection, he also noticed another Outside object, a 'diode', which he already knew was used to provide (sometimes blinding) light, and a few smaller objects next to the big one and similar to it.
Next he tried to disassemble the plaque, taking off its back. He noticed another rectangular inside and promptly took it out, analyzing it. He learned it was called a 'battery' and was used to store power, meaning it was required for most Outside inventions to work. It was different than the one in the 'Game Boy', also possessing some description, fortunately in Japanese as well. There was something about a 'voltage' and the battery type, so it was possible that each Outside artifact needed its own 'battery' to function.
At that moment, he heard the doors open and turned in their direction, hiding the 'phone' under the counter. The only person he noticed was one of those fairies, the one living near the Misty Lake.
"Hey, Rinnosuke-san!" the girl shouted, flying right in front of him.
"Cirno. To what I owe your visit?" he said wearily. If fairies showed themselves to you on their own, it usually meant others were already doing something behind your back.
"Eye've got a biiig question for you!"
"Which would be?"
"Have you seen a green-haired Outsider around here lately?"
"The only green-haired person I saw was someone none of us would like to see." he grimaced - not many people enjoyed the flower youkai's company. "I could ask around, though. Why do you want to know?"
"He caused that explosion at the SDM! You know, the one Aya-san wrote about! Eye'm going to capture him" Cirno exclaimed.
"Did he, now? Hmm... What did he look like?" he asked curiously.
"He has this black hat and coat and yellow, snake-like eyes..."
Rinnosuke remembered seeing such a person, and not too long ago, at that. He was staring inside the shop, bud didn't enter. He also saw other fairies that day, those three led by the light-refracting one, but didn't mind them much. He told that to Cirno, who immediately excused herself and left as quickly as she came.
"Could she know something about this...?" he said to himself, shrugging after a moment and going back to examining the 'phone'.
- 2200/03/08 Japan, [District 1] -
Relius looked at the various screens and displays in his laboratory. He remembered it clearly: the day the Black Beast sent him 80 years forward in time. Now, the lab stood semi-operational once again, and he knew by whose hand it was. Hazama is still alive, he thought.
Meanwhile, Carl and Litchi were busy preparing the equipment, mainly the tank which would be used to house the Prime Field and the seithr converter. The boy shivered at the sight of the miniature monolith used to seithrificate various animals they used as test subjects. Thinking about the tests gave him an idea.
"Litchi-san, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, Carl. What is it?"
"Father said something about souls when you used the converter on those badgers... This would mean that theoretically all living entities have souls, right?"
"Souls of animals aren't like souls of sentient beings. They serve to store instincts, consciousness and memories, since animals don't possess personality or sense of self. They don't go to the Abyss of the Azure either, merely dissolving after enough time has passed." Relius answered on the Chinese woman's behalf. "As such, they are very useful test subjects for manipulating seithr."
"Wouldn't that contradict the theory of evolution?"
"Facts already contradict most theories and religions. Unless you want to say that by this logic sentient souls develop somewhere along the way?"
"It's just... Forget it, Father. We've got much work to do." Carl finished as he connected the tank to the converter. "Anyway, you said we need a DNA sample and sizable amounts of seithr. We've got the sample, but we'll have to harvest most seithr from wildlife."
"Correct. I've already sent Ignis to collect some. The crucial point, however, will be making the Prime Field grow a soul of its own."
"You've prepared the converter for this procedure, right? We don't need another incident like the one... when you created Nu..." Litchi said, a light shiver coming down her spine.
"That was when we used uncontrolled seithr compression. This time the circumstances and technology we will use are different."
"I hope you know what you're doing, or else we're all dead." the woman said with a tinge of fear in her voice.
Not a few minutes after the two finished assembling all the equipment did Ignis come back, carrying a large cage with a few foxes, heavily mutated by seithr and barely alive without the ambient fumes of the magic element in the air. Relius quickly set the cage by the black monolith and started chanting an Ars specifically for containment of seithr without it being rendered inert by the Lynchpin. Shūichirō was much smarter than he gave him credit for - it took him quite some time to prepare this Ars, otherwise the Prime Field would be already finished, trained and underway to the Abyss of the Azure. After making sure the enchantment he placed on the tank was stable, he started breaking the foxes down into more seithr and transfer it into the tank.
Looking at the procedure, Carl started to have doubts. Sure, they would create a Prime Field to find the Abyss and bring Lotte-san's soul, but what then? Were they supposed to throw it away like a tool that has fulfilled its purpose? Noel-senpai was, after all, a Prime Field as well, one that managed to gain a sense of self, learned how to actually live as a human. Didn't her yet unborn sister deserve to be treated like a human as well, despite what Relius continued to say? He'd heard what happened at Ibukido, how Ragna tried to rescue Nu instead of killing her, though his father only said that the girl knew nothing but fights, pain and blood - anything different was bound to make her panic. She was mistreated like probably all Murakumo Units. That had to stop.
In a few minutes, Relius finished deconstructing the foxes and placed the resulting seithr inside the tank. The amount was still much too low for the procedure to begin, so he send Ignis to find more mutated specimens, while he went to inspect the Cauldron. Litchi, on the other hand, finished securing Arakune's tank in the corner and went to the blond boy.
"We're at the final stretch, Carl. Cheer up."
"I know, Litchi-san... It's just... Father will probably try to use the Prime Field as nothing more than a tool. We won't let that happen, right?"
"No, we won't. That man has harmed enough people."
"Hm... I'll never forgive him..." he said, gritting his teeth.
"He is a despicable man, but we can't focus on our hatred."
"Yes. We have to heal Lotte-san and rebuild Nee-san and Mother."
The two talked to each other while Yukari kept observing them. The seithr won't reach the Great Hakurei Barrier as long as the Lynchpin worked, but until then she had to destroy the Cauldron here. Of course, acting while the man was still here would be ill advised... Or she could just spread in Gensokyo a gossip about Hazama's partner showing up just outside the Barrier and wait until the Scarlets caught the wind of it. Two birds killed with one stone.
- 129/05/18 Gensokyo, Scarlet Devil Mansion -
Kagura reached the mansion without problems, save for some fairies trying to attack him without warning. He noticed that the red-haired gatekeeper was on high alert, scanning the area for any intruders and saw him as he approached.
"Another Outsider?" she asked when he came close.
"Yeah, sort of. I'm looking one girl that came here. She wore a cream-colored uniform and had an eye on her hat. Her name's Tsubaki Yayoi."
"You're from the same organization, huh? No problem, she went-"
"Wait, Meiling-san!"
The two looked in the direction of the mansion, from which a certain gem-winged vampire came, along with a fairy maid carrying an umbrella to shield her from the sun. Kagura recognized her as the younger sister of Remilia Scarlet - a force to be reckoned with.
"W-w-what are y-you doing h-here, F-flan?" Meiling said, almost completely pale.
"Onee-sama allowed me to leave and hunt down that green guy!"
"J-just like that?!"
"I had to pester her for the whole night, you know..."
"Green guy, huh..." Kagura said to himself, then continued aloud. "I suppose you're talking about Hazama."
"You know him?" Flandre asked, smiling creepily. "Then you must-"
"W-wait a second." he put his arms up. "There's only one guy who worked with Hazama, and his whereabouts are unknown. Trust me, nobody who knows the bastard has any love for him. Most want him dead, and so do I."
"In that case... Wait here for a minute!" she said, running back to the mansion.
"What's with her?" Kagura turned to Meiling.
"A very long story." she replied. "By the way, do you have any cure for seithr poisoning?"
"Depends on how severe it is."
"Unconsciousness, possibly hallucinations?"
"Then there's nothing we can do." Kagura shook his head. "I suppose it's Hazama's doing?"
"Yeah..." Meiling leaned against the wall, but quickly jerked back up as she saw Aya attempting to make a dynamic entry. "Hey, watch where you're flying!"
"Chill out, China." the tengu said as she landed. "And who do we have here? Jin's co-worker, maybe?"
"Something like that. Kagura Mutsuki, head of the Mutsuki family. And you are... from a newspaper, right? Bunbunmaru?"
"So you DO know!" Aya jumped in excitement. "See, China? I'm popular now!"
"Nothing new." Meiling rolled her eyes. "You are popular, but as a kindling provider."
"That's harsh." the tengu muttered in a quiet, saddened tone, but quickly returned to her chipper state. "Anyway, could I get an interview from you?" she turned back to Kagura.
"Actually, I'm somewhat busy right now..."
"Oh, don't be like that. It won't take long, I promise!" Aya clasped her hands together, but just a second later she noticed Flandre and the fairy coming back from the mansion. "Oh, I j-just remembered. I'm s-supposed do be elsewhere, so... See ya later!" she quickly said before taking off for Youkai Mountain.
"I'm back! Onee-san said that I can go with you, but you'll have to take good care of me!" she said with a mischievous smile.
"Never thought of anything else, miss... I didn't quite catch your name." Kagura met with a smile of his own.
"I'm Flandre Scarlet! Nice to meet you!"
"Kagura Mutsuki. The pleasure is all mine." he said, taking Flandre's hand and kissing her in a gentlemanly manner. "Now then... Meiling-san, right? You were saying Tsubaki went..."
"To the Human Village. Just make sure you don't bump into the miko, or we won't hear the end of it." the gatekeeper said. "Good luck on finding that snake. Oh, and one more thing..."
"Yes?"
"If you can, please visit Eientei. We need Yagokoro-san's aid now more than ever."
"I suppose it's about that seithr poisoning?"
"Mhm... Sakuya hasn't woken up since that night..." Flandre's expression saddened unexpectedly. "Please, Kagura-san, can we go to Eientei first?" she said, looking at the dark-haired man.
"I can't say no to those cute eyes. To the Bamboo Forest, then." he said and the three promptly walked away, Meiling observing them as they did. She didn't know exactly what Flandre told her older sister, but she thought it would be better if she didn't find out.
- Unknown -
He opened his eyes to the bright, almost blinding sunlight. His first instinct was to check if his right arm was alright, but there was nothing out of ordinary. After a moment, he realized he didn't knew the reason behind this action. He knew there had to be some, but he couldn't figure out what could it be.
Then he looked around himself, noticing the immense black-red orb in the sky. It didn't seem like a natural formation, neither were there any beams supporting it. He knew it was an important object, but he didn't know why.
Then he looked at himself: a red jacket, a huge lump of metal that could pass for a sword, a strange pair of gloves... He knew those were important too, but he couldn't remember anything more about them.
Thinking about his current predicament, he realized that no matter what he tried to identify only made his mind draw a blank. He couldn't even remember-
"What's my name?"
- EXCERPT FROM GENSOKYO CONTACT TEAM REPORTS -
Name: Yuuka Kazami
Gender: Female
Race: Youkai
Danger Level: Extremely High
Aggression Level: Indeterminate (see Addendum)
Date of birth: Unknown
Birthplace: Unknown
Blood type: Unknown / N/A
Eyes: Red
Hair: Green
Weapon: Danmaku, martial arts, umbrella, magic, plants
Special Ability / Drive: Budding Four Seasons
Capable of manipulating all kinds of plant matter, even utilizing it in ways that are logically impossible.
Addendum: Because of the subject's highly teasing nature and dark sense of humor it is often hard to differentiate between what she considers to be jokes and what are actual threats, more so because they often imply total obliteration of the other party. The subject is known to otherwise treat humans with contempt, so caution is advised.
In other words: stay the hell away from her. -Kokonoe
Name: Rinnosuke Morichika
Gender: Male (Finally, a proof that sentient youkai are not only girls! -Makoto)
Race: Half-youkai
Danger Level: Very Low
Aggression Level: None
Occupation: Shopkeeper (owner of Kourindou)
Date of birth: Unknown
Birthplace: Unknown, probably Japan
Blood type: Unknown / N/A
Eyes: Golden
Hair: Silver
Weapon: Non-combatant
Special Ability: Eye for Principle
Capable of learning the name and purpose of an examined object. Contrary to the name, this ability does not give any knowledge required to properly operate the object nor about its inner workings.
Name: Shou Toramaru
Gender: Female
Race: Youkai (tiger)
Danger Level: Low
Aggression Level: Very Low
Occupation: Avatar of Bishamonten (As much as you can consider it an occupation... -Makoto)
Date of birth: Unknown
Birthplace: Unknown
Blood type: Unknown / N/A
Eyes: Golden
Hair: Orange-yellow with black stripes
Weapon: Danmaku, Jeweled Pagoda of Bishamonten (see Drive)
Special Ability / Drive: Treasury of Vaiśravaṇa
Capable of accumulating large amounts of precious gems, as well as creating them using lasers fired from the Jeweled Pagoda. In order for this ability to work, the lasers must hit bare ground. A large amount of gems are required to use the Jeweled Pagoda, but are not consumed in the process.