Here we go! The start of the very much anticipated(For me at least) memory arc! Or ait more simply, the past life of so and so OC.

This one was a serious slog but it is not as bad for this one certain chapter. To be warned, End of chapter contains graphic(I think) descriptions of a certain level.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

As usual, Ban3 gets the credit for polishing this rough diamond and I eagerly await your reactions.


Forest of magic

Some distance away from the youkai market

Orphanage of lost dreams

The orphanage.

A home for children and lost souls, given Gensokyo's dog eat dog nature, lost children, while not entirely common, can still be found in considerable numbers. Not just humans, but even youkai families get torn apart in the wilds of the Land of Illusion, either by other youkai or youkai hunters. When such a sad event happens, the orphanage is at least there for these shattered souls to regain a chance at a decent life.

Utsudo was one of them. When she was young, her parents were killed by a group of vengeful youkai hunters. Only with the intervention of another human did she survive the attack. That human was Rosa, a young woman brimming with a sense of justice. She saved Utsudo and brought her home after performing a burial ceremony for her parents.

At first, Utsudo pushed the bright human away. After all her parents were killed by humans. Why trust one?

Eventually, Rosa managed to penetrate the hard shell of the young Tsuchigumo. She worked her away into the heart of the youkai and gained her unwavering trust, Utsudo became her first orphan.

There were many more afterwards. It seemed that lost children gravitated to the human. But housing them was a big problem. There were a ton of issues to contend with, such as taking care of the children and ensuring that the youkai and human children did not murder each other. Then there was the aging issue. Humans aged faster then youkai did. Even factoring in the longer-than-normal lifespan that humans had due to the barrier, certain youkai would have only reached their prime by the time a human had literally lived his or her entire lifespan and that was only at the shorter end of the youkai aging chart.

Using the power of understanding and love and tolerance, Rosa managed to bring both to an understanding. It was at this moment that Rosa knew what she had to do. Using pure effort and a healthy dose of motivation, Rosa built an orphanage to house these souls. From that moment on, the children had a place to call home.

Utsudo smiled to herself, thankful for the one who had given her a chance at life. If it wasn't for Rosa, she wouldn't have been where she was now. She owed almost all of her good fortune to her, so when news came that someone was attacking the orphanage, she rushed to the scene with Mekan.

Woe to the one who dared do such a thing.

Mekan flew beside her. The magical kappa rolled an orb in her hands, thinking up ways to defeat their opponents. Like the kappa, Utsudo could fly but she preferred not to. The feel of her legs striking the ground, feeling the soft rich, soil around her feet, was something she liked.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to the two, they arrived at the orphanage. It was a simple two story affair with a dormitory wing adjoining it. A wall encircled the whole place, glowing with vivid runic symbols, an important defense when considering exactly where the orphanage was located. Four small towers jutted out of the four corners of the wall, each radiating power.

The main gate stood wide open, the wooden structure creaking mournfully on its hinges. Without a second thought, the two arena fighters ran inside.

Inside, viridian green grass ringed the whole orphanage. Normally, the children would still be playing while the older ones would either watch over them or help Rosa since the night was still young. Now however, they sat clumped in a group, a pair of youkai keeping a less than interested eye on them. A human women huddled in front of them in her, she appeared to be in her later years, although how old she truly was would be hard to guess, given Gensokyo's out-of-whack aging system.

Towering over the entire group a scaly lizardman stood by idly, his forked tongue flicked in and out rapidly as he saw his targets enter the courtyard.

"Hello, Death-Legsss. You have a debt to repay me." The lizard-man hissed, scorn tinging his tone.

Utsudo shot him a burning glare. "Do I know you?"

The lizard-man laughed wickedly. "Not yet you don't. But you will... Soon enough. You see, I made a reputation for myself by betting on arena winners. The more I win, the more I get. And what I cannot win, I make sure that it wins. By any means necessary."

He paused then, a translucent membrane flicked across his eyes before retracting once again.

"But you! You always had a winning streak! Never defeated! And then you lossst! To a human! My string of winning betsss broken! For that, you mussst pay!" The lizard-man seethed, looking more maniacal with each word.

Both of the fighters could not see the logic of the words. "What does my winning streak have to do with the children? They have done nothing wrong!" Utsudo shouted back.

The lizard-man hissed in laughter. "You made me lose sssomething, therefore I shall do the sssame to you."

Two cries of agreement behind them made Utsudo and Mekan turn around. A pair of youkai stood behind them, both holding wickedly shaped clubs.

Utsudo and Mekan held up their weapons as the lizard-man grinned victoriously. Gesturing with his hand, one of the guards raised his club over the figure of the old human woman. The arena fighters both froze.

That was when the two clubs came down upon them.


Gate

Dutch watched the scene unfold silently, having hidden in the shadows cast by the gate and wall. He gripped his carbine fiercely when Utsudo and Mekan were attacked from behind.

'Everywhere you go, there is always at least one megalomaniacal asshole.' Dutch thought grimly. It was time for the megalomaniac to get a hard dose of reality.

As he scanned all of the youkai, he noted one thing. They all looked hardened, but they also seemed to radiate an aura of hunger. A hunger for power. The same hunger that was being fulfilled by towering menacingly over the children.

Okay, he could not take these people seriously if they loved the power drawn from scaring children.

Carefully leaning against the wall, he put down his carbine and carefully and silently phased in his anti-material rifle. Following his mental commands, the vault phased out the weapon in a flash of black light.

'Get them Dako.' Vale whispered to him.

Dutch nodded to his daughter's words. Now he had a double incentive to bring down these youkai.

Lifting up the heavy weapon, Dutch sighted his scope on the other pair of youkai watching over the children. He braced himself against the wall, waiting for the signal that would initiate the plan he thought up.

A feather floated down beside him. Dutch glanced to the gently falling object and grinned. She was ready.

"I would ask you to pick on someone your own size, but seeing how you are willing to hold children hostage, I guess it would be pretty much be pointless."

Every single eye turned to the figure holding the weapon in the dark.

"You! Human, you have done me a great wrong. After I am done with thisss fool, prepare for your own end!" The lizard-man sneered, none too concerned by the fact that the human had managed to get close to them without being noticed. He should have been.

Dutch's grin got bigger as he readied to fire. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, he remembered to safety on, unless he wanted the children to be close to an explosion of lethal proportions.

His final adjustments completed, Dutch took a final look down the scope.

The idiots had completely taken their attention off of him to focus on the beating still being doled out to the arena fighters.

Boom!

The 12.7mm bolt shot over the grass lawn. It impacted one of the youkai guarding the children and sent it flying further down the lawn, impacting the runic wall at the other end. Things broke. Not the wall.

The other guard opened his eyes in surprise at the sudden attack when suddenly from above, a black winged figure swooped in and struck him. The guard collapsed, a katana straight through his back. Tenma pulled out the blade, a line of blood showing just how deep the sword had plunged.

The human woman took the chance. Shouting to her charges, she got them to run. The crowd of children and teenagers ran for the orphanage, an organized move towards safety.

'Hmmm, they have done this before.' Dutch thought impressed, as he phased out the heavy anti-material weapon. Picking up his rifle, he emerged into the dull, night's light.

On the arena fighters' end, once the hostages were freed from their guards, they were free to fight. Cruel clubs raised once again, but never made the trip down.

Mekan, using her war fan, slashed at the arm of her attacker. The youkai howled in pain as the metal edge slid cleanly through his flesh. His howls were cut off when a closed fan whacked him hard on the side of the head.

Utsudo simply used her spider legs to barrage her own attacker with strikes. Wholly unprepared for the sudden change in situation, the youkai was pummeled repeatedly with hits until he gave up the fight and dropped unconsciously onto the grass.

Now the lizard-man was at the wrong end of an outnumbered fight. He roared in anger as he kicked a previously hidden bag at his foot. Reaching inside, he pulled out something that made the soldier's blood run cold.

A lever action rifle.

"Duck!" He yelled as the first bright shots flew pass his head.

The lizard-man laughed as he saw his opponents move to avoid his shots. "This is my power! I decide who wins and who loses!"

'Pain in the ass.' Dutch swore as he took in the situation. They were on open land, no cover, facing an enemy with a rifle. And if he stopped to take proper aim, the lizard-man would probably shoot him.

On the lizard-man's end however, he was having trouble using his rifle properly. The larger than human hand of the youkai was making his use of the gun clumsy. He was still a credible threat though, as an aimed shot almost took the Tokin off Tenma's head

'Oh no he didn't do that.' Dutch thought. The lizard-man just made himself a dead person.

Phasing out his rifle, Dutch took off in a dead run, heading straight for his target. The lizard-man took aim at the running human target, firing as fast he could.

Dutch jumped aside as the first bright shot flew toward him. Rolling back up he continued along his run, getting closer. The lizard-man fired again, the bright bolt just missing Dutch's head.

He wouldn't have a third shot.

Dutch jumped out. Raising his arm back, he threw all of his power into the punch, ramming his fist into the side of the lizard-man's head. The strike from the enhanced human was enough to stun the lizard-man, making him fall back.

Dutch took up the dropped lever action rifle and worked the lever. The brass shell popped out, bringing with it the promise of death.

"No! I decide the winner! I bet therefore I win!" The lizard-man moaned in disbelief.

Dutch simply aimed the rifle at the head of the youkai.

"You won a bullet."

He pulled the trigger. The youkai jerked and stopped.

It was over.

Dutch worked the lever again and slung the weapon over his back. He turned to the two arena fighters. "Are you okay?"

Both Mekan and Utsudo nodded, the spider youkai more faintly...

Then Utsudo collapsed.


Night

Utsudo opened her eyes.

A smiling face greeted her.

"Rosa-San." She murmured.

The old human woman smiled. "So how did you lose, my itty bitty spider?"

Utsudo blushed at the nickname that the old lady gave to her. It was one that only Rosa knew and one that she used a lot.

"I just did, I guess." Utsudo answered, unable to really answer the question.

"Does that make you dominated?" Rosa continued.

Utsudo shook her head. "To be indomitable is to stand up strong even when defeated." She quoted Mekan.

Rosa smiled proudly. "Then you really are the indomitable one. I'm proud of you."

Utsudo blushed again from the praise.

Rosa stood up from the chair she was sitting on. She walked to the door and reached to unlock it.

"It's time to spin your own web, itty bitty spider."

And with that said, the door was opened.

"UTSUDO ONEE-SAMA!"

The sound was echoed by the wave of children that rushed in through the door. Grinning like the young kids that they were, they all rushed to pour out their emotion to the indomitable one of the orphanage.

Dutch stood at the door, smiling at the scene. However, his smile was more bittersweet than happy. Looking at the children, he was reminded of his own.

Many thoughts surrounded his relationship with his daughter. The uniqueness of both the people involved aside, Dutch realized that he really did not know that much about his daughter. What she liked, what she hated or even what she did while he was out of vault. All those was simply unknown to him.

Frankly, Dutch had no idea what he should do as a father. Lack of experience aside, Vale wasn't your average in between teen-and-child girl. She was an entity of timeless age, a being that had seen the passage of humanity from sticks to computers. Not only that, her safety was an easy to solve problem. All she needed to do was to stay in the vault and she would be safe. Her mental health on the other hand was being directly impacted by her residence within the vault. Dutch could only guess how frustrated she must feel from being confined, only capable of watching him in danger. Dutch understood how powerless she must feel. He knew the feeling well.

Sure he could stumble along but that was what he had been doing up until now, and look how that had turned out.

Leaving the scene, Dutch headed into the cool, night air. Some of the older orphans stared at him with either respect or suspicion or sometimes both. No doubt they had heard of his victory and loss against Utsudo in the arena. He paid them no attention. There were more important things to worry about.

With the hostage takers taken out, there was still the problem of disposal. No one wanted rotting corpses on the grass of the orphanage. Firstly, it would stink to high heaven and secondly, it would probably scar the orphans.

But as he opened the door, he noticed that the grass was devoid of dead or unconscious bodies. A trio of golems coming through the gate left an answer to that problem. One particularly had a line of blood running down it.

"They are incredibly useful." Mekan said, landing on the ground beside him. As golem controller, she supervised the disposal operation from above. It helped to disconnect her from the grim task.

"Wait, you left the alive and the dead ones together? Wouldn't it draw the meat eaters to the living ones as well?" Dutch asked.

Mekan shrugged. "Not our problem."

That said, she entered the orphanage. Dutch turned to the walls of the orphanage. Climbing it with the help of a helpfully placed ladder, he reached the top of the stone barrier.

Looking out into the forest, he heard the sound of wings flying through the air. A moment later, the soft sound of sandals touching down, thudded gently behind him.

"How was it? Taking a thinking life with your own hands?" Dutch asked, looking into the trees.

Tenma regarded him with a curious look. "Didn't you take the life of the leader?"

Dutch gave her a bitter grin. "A side of ranged weaponry is the disconnection between killer and killed. You don't feel the body dying in your hands. It is simply aim and shoot."

Tenma breathed out. "It feels natural for me. I'm youkai after all. Killing is part of my skills."

Dutch nodded knowingly. "It seems youkai and human aren't that much similar after all."

Just them, a distant cry echoed out from the forest. It could have been an animal form youkai simply sounding out or a cry of death from an unarmed youkai meeting his unfortunate end. Both paid the sound no notice.

Dutch turned to face the orphanage. "You know, I never knew if I was born or made. The only person who knew is dead and everything relating to the subject is dust."

"I see." Tenma answered.

"From as young as I can remember, I was trained in fighting. I was taught how to acquire the skills that would make me who I am. How to use anything as a weapon. How to change oneself to adapt to the situation. How to spot the weakness in any system." Dutch finished.

He gave Tenma a grim smile. "You and I are on total opposites of the spectrum. You are the light your people turn to. I am the darkness that your people would run away from."

"What are you?" Tenma breathed.

Dutch gave a dark chuckle. "I am a man trained in the arts of entropy. You bring order in the light, I bring chaos from the dark. I am the one with the keys to wreck the world."

Tenma was fearful to ask the next question, this being because it was addressed to Dutch. Funny how the right words from the right person could affect you. "How?"

"By hitting the right spots. Imagine what would transpire if the Tengu village was suddenly attacked from the inside by humans and youkai? What would you do?" Dutch asked.

"I would close the village to all non-tengu. Anyone wanting to enter would receive the full might of the wolves and crows... But that would not destroy Gensokyo." Tenma said, her answer automatic. Dutch's words recalled for her an older time when such a thing had once happened. Images of her people dying seared across her mind.

"No, but in doing so, you have closed off the biggest organized force in Gensokyo. Now imagine at the same time, the human village was attacked by youkai, the youkai market was attacked by humans and the shrine maiden of Gensokyo was assassinated. What happens then?" Dutch continued.

Tenma shivered at the grim picture that Dutch painted. "Both sides will blame the other for the conflict. And with the shrine maiden gone, there will be no one to stop either from attacking the other."

"And that's not the end. What if Eientei was attacked by humans and youkai? The underground stormed by surface youkai? The kappa village besieged by humans? The Moriya shrine attacked by unbelievers?" Dutch carried on his dark tale.

"What if it all happened at once?" He finished.

"Stop." Tenma said, all the words Dutch said leaving stabs of fear in her heart. The dark picture painted before her eyes was a culmination of her greatest fears and she shivered to even think about it.

"That is what I am trained to do. To get the right people, point them at the right targets and kill the right people. I am the dark herald that can create a world in flames, the shadow that chaos follows. I am your antithesis. This is what I am." Dutch finished.

Tenma stared at Dutch with new eyes. To think that inside him lay a person capable of such deeds was unbelievable. The scenario that Dutch created seemed like something out of the mind of a mad man, not him. She shivered uncontrollably as she looked at him.

This man is a serious threat to Gensokyo. He could destroy everything that had been set in place without even showing himself. That to Tenma was one of her greatest fears.

"Then what?" Tenma found herself asking. She already regretted it. Dutch's words were carving a path through her head, dredging up old memories of her people, murdered in cold blood for no other reason other than that they were youkai.

"There will be chaos. Each side will either engage in open combat with the other or dig in. Massacres of unaligned populations would take place openly and fear and death would be the order of the day. Inevitably, there would be one group that would rise to be the strongest power of the group. That group would engage in a campaign of conquest until all of Gensokyo would be subverted under its rule. That faction will be of course under my control. But I was trained primarily for the chaos part, not the ruling part. I can do it but I prefer to leave it to others." Dutch said.

"And the tengu village?"

"I did say that all of Gensokyo would be subverted. Very likely, the tengu village would be the last one on the list, the final obstacle before total rule. While the tengu village may represent the largest organized force in Gensokyo, the chances of it standing against the combined effort of the rest of Gensokyo is a bet that I wouldn't take. Your people wouldn't be destroyed though, given their experience in managing large populations, it's likely that they would be co-opted into service. The Hanataka, the Dai and the Crows would probably serve the same function as before, just under another leader. However, its likely that the majority of the wolves would be killed off, given their strong loyalty to you. They would represent the largest resistance to the victorious faction and would be eli..." Dutch described but was interrupted by Tenma.

"Stop! I don't want to hear it anymore." The Tengu lord said, her voice shaking. Dutch turned around to see that the silver haired youkai looked as shaken as her voice and was crying.

"Oh damn. I'm sorry. I got carried away." Dutch apologized, at a loss for words for what to do. It's not every day that you reduce a thousand year leader to tears through words.

Tenma gave him her own apologetic smile even as she cried. "It's not your fault. It's just that, what you said reminds me of a time when my people were under threat. A lot happened during that time and you managed to bring out those times in your words. It's not a good memory."

Her words and her expression guilted Dutch into stepping forward and silently giving the youkai a hug. Tenma accepted the warm body, crying softly into the fabric as she wept her tears for her dead people.


Vault

Dutch banged his head against the wall.

It seemed that it was a given that anyone who spent time with him for an extended period would eventually come to tears. And who knew that this time it would be Tenma.

At least after Tenma had cried her fill, they had both retired to the orphanage under their own power where Rosa had thankfully given them a pair of rooms to stay in.

At least accommodation had been sorted out.

Walking off the entry platform, Dutch sat down on the swivel chair in the middle of the room and just sat there thinking. The orphanage gave him a lot to think about.

From the other door, Vale sauntered in, carrying a cup of tea. The vault entity looked slightly stressed as if she'd been doing some heavy thinking. But she kept a smile on her face as she flew to him and placed the cup on a saucer beside the interface in front of her father, getting a thankful nod from him.

Turning around, she returned to the door. Halfway to the entryway, a sudden question from Dutch made her stop.

"Vale, do you think I make a bad father?"

The question stopped the entity cold. Her silvery-blue hair whipped around as she turned her blue eyes to Dutch. The man was standing up, looking away from her, his back facing her. It looked to her as if he was fearing her next answer.

"No. How could you be?" She whispered, making sure her words were loud enough for her Dako to hear.

"When I look at the children in the orphanage, I see unbound joy and happiness. But in here... all I see is a cage. I want you to see things with your own eyes, but you are trapped in here, because of me." Dutch answered.

A pair of arms wrapped themselves around his neck lovingly. At the same time, crystalline-feathered wings reached around him and a comfortable light weight settled on his back.

"But that's not your fault Dako. Just because you are the vault owner it does not mean that you can simply change what ever you want." Vale spoke into his ear as her arms tightened around him. The same feeling of peace arose again but this time, Dutch was too distressed to feel it.

"Even after that, what else have I done? I don't know your likes nor your dislikes. I have not done anything fatherly for you. I even made you cry! How does that make me worthy of the father position that you have given me?" Dutch answered.

"I like you. No, I love you Dako." Vale answered, her voice hinting that she meant much more that just those words. The weight left Dutch's shoulders as the arms and wings also left. Vale came around, flying at eye level with the human.

"I love you." She said resolutely. Right before leaning forward ,eyes closing, and kissing him.

Even as Dutch opened his eyes in surprise, Vale entered his mouth. Her tongue pushed aside his teeth and tongue, gently exploring every crevice that he had.

Dutch realized that he was free to move. But as he moved to grab Vale, he realized that he had no resolve to push her away. He simply let his arm return to his side and let them hang there. He closed his eyes, letting himself drown in the moment.

The taste of each other filled both their minds.

Encouraged by the lack of action, Vale wrapped her arms around Dutch neck and drew him in closer. Her body pressed against his as his arms instinctively wrapped around her lower back.

In the mouth, both sides tongues fought a battle of supremacy. Vale's tongue searched for Dutch's, combing every nook and cranny for the appendage. But her opponent was elusive and she had an almost guilty reluctance to her actions.

Then in one smooth stroke, Dutch counterattacked, forcing his tongue into Vale mouth and pushing back hers. Now in a total reversal of position, Dutch took Vale's tongue hostage, controlling her every movement. Using a combination of accurate guiding and good maneuvering, he slathered every inch of Vale's mouth with a layer of his and hers saliva, the two tongues coiling around each other.

Vale uncontrollably moaned as her mouth was violated. The feeling was driving her wild.

When Dutch pulled a tactical retreat in preparation to break for air, Vale keep her tongue connected. The kiss finally ended in a crescendo of movement where their lips met, both tongues simply moving and coiling around the other.

Finally, both broke for air. Their lips separated, a line of saliva still connecting the two, both stared into each other eyes. Vale blushed madly, her eyes guilty.

"And that was for?" Dutch asked, inquiring in his gaze.

Vale silently detached herself from him. Dutch let her go. Slowly, she flew to the adjacent room.

When the door closed, Dutch collapsed into the swivel chair. He ran what just happened in his head and to be fair, it did not look good for himself.

When they kissed, Dutch could feel the desire inside Vale. It projected itself quite strongly. But he could also feel a certain reluctance in her. It was as if she tried to fight her desire but failed. Plus her guilty face at the end meant that she definitely knew what she was doing.

If so, that meant that Vale had some very powerful feelings for him that she was fighting. And he knew nothing of it.

Dutch slammed his fist down in the table. All this while and he knew nothing of her feelings. He should have paid close attention to her, should have noticed that she had developed something more than a father-daughter view of their relationship. This all could have been detected earlier if he had just spent more time with her.

And Vale assumed him that he was fit to be her father. Dutch snorted. Yeah right.

Dutch hoped, really hoped, that Vale could keep a control on her emotions. Because given what just happened, he had lost all faith in his own self-control.


Vale sobbed.

She let the pillow she was crying to absorb her tears as she tried to force down the up-welling of emotions that overwhelmed her. But as hard as she tried, it was a lost cause as all her of bottled up emotions just spilled over.

The vault entity pushed her head deeper into the pillow, wetting the fabric. She felt lonely, having no one to hold on to as she cried.

It was probably then when her feelings for him developed further. Of course she had not noticed it. She instead regarded it as an acknowledgement of love for her father figure. And Vale still did. She loved Dutch as a father figure.

But she also loved Dutch as a person. And that was the problem.

Right now, Vale could feel the self-reproach that Dutch had for himself. As vault entity, she had access to every thought, feeling and memory that Dutch had. The human was punishing himself for what had happened.

It hurt her that he blamed himself for her feelings. She longed to go out and tell him that it was not his fault. To comfort him. But she could not, not after what had happened.

Maybe if she disappeared, it would go back to normal. Dutch wouldn't have to contend with her and her strange emotions. He would be able to continue onwards without her.

Vale entertained the notion. It would be so easy for her. As vault dweller, there were so many places that she could hide. Just open a hole and enter, out of Dutch's life forever.

The more she thought about it, the more it seemed right. Getting up, she walked to the door, silently opening it. Dutch still sat there, clearly engaged in internal self-punishment.

With her heart pained at seeing her father figure and her love hurting himself over her, she made up her mind.