Revenge

From the confines of the pocket dimension, Sakuya Izayoi and Yuuka Kazami watched the entire events unfold. It was at the point when she saw Gungnir tear through the sky and stab Yukari Yakumo that the head maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion knew her master was alive. After battling in between boundaries and exiting victorious over the youkai, Sakuya knew that Remilia's body lay inside the block of ice that oddly followed the ancient. She was determined to do what she must to get her back.

Because of the nature of Remilia's control over Gungnir, Sakuya knew that if Remilia was dead than no matter the cause, Cirno couldn't have used the weapon for herself. The maid was told from Patchouli that she watched her friend die. However, vampires are resilient beyond reason. Vampires excel physically, mentally, and have immense magical powers. However, for every unfair strength they have crippling weaknesses. Of those weaknesses Cirno lacks the capacity to naturally capitalize on a one. At most her body might be considered an equivalent of Holy Water, but the pair hadn't fought in a melee style where it could be utilized. Cirno was made of 100% pure water, but her ice magic wasn't. If the vampire fought against the awakened ancient instead of the sleeping ice fairy, that might have been a different story, but it wasn't. Thinking it over logically, there was a high probability that Remilia could survive the fight and the wounds she suffered. It was because the body was never discovered that the false premise was accepted as fact.

So, if that were true for Remilia, then what about Flandre?

Yuuka and Sakuya agreed that it was time for her to act. If the maid could use her ability to stop time once, before it could be used against her, then it was now. Finally leaving the pocket dimension, the human kept a low profile and searched for the frozen body of the Sister of Scarlet.

Why search for Flandre when they knew the location of Remilia? To be perfectly blunt, the younger sister is, by far, the stronger of the two. If only one could be chosen to face against the ancient, then Flandre would be the better choice. However, if Sakuya was successful in freeing one without notice, then Flandre could use her unlimited strength to free her sister nearly instantly. So if Flandre could be saved, she in turn could save Remilia and both Scarlet sisters would be fighting the ancient. Though the maid wished for nothing more to see her mistress, saving her sister first was the correct choice.

The first spot she would begin her search would be the most obvious, near the place where Remilia was taken from right before Cirno was trapped by Yukari. The battle with the oni had broken apart most of the frozen lake, but it was that area which seemed to escape the most damage; the far northwestern area of Misty Lake. Was this by coincidence or design? Either way, it was the best place to start.

She'd have to move on foot as her ability to fly was lost when the boundary dropped. This was actually convenient as stealth was of great importance. As long as Cirno didn't know she was there she had the option to use her magic. According to Yuuka, the ancient once capitalized on another god's time stopping ability to slay a number of his comrades. The first time it was used Cirno suffered major blows, but the second it was turned against his friends, and a third it was against him. Why did Cirno get hit the first time? Did she need time to learn how to counter the ability, or was she simply taken by surprise and knew how to counter it all along? In either case it would be best for Sakuya to only use it once, and to do so while she still carried the full element of surprise. Otherwise it was a gamble she wasn't willing to risk.

While being cautious as not to be seen, by the time Sakuya made it to the NW corner of the lake, Cirno had frozen the water once again in dealing with Okuu's Subterranean Sun. The maid could feel herself running out of time. Unfortunately with Misty Lake once again frozen, that added much to her area of search. If worst comes to worst she'd give up on Flandre and go for Remilia, but with everything again blanketed in white she lost track of her mistress' exact location. All her hopes were now on finding the sister.

If there was any luck, she knew Flandre had to be above the water line. Being below the line meant she wasn't encased in ice, and if she wasn't encased in ice she would have already awaken and started a rampage. Since that didn't happen she must still be frozen. All the battles thus far had made a wreckage of the once completely flat landscape, and if she was purposely hidden as a block beneath the surface, buoyancy should have brought her up when the shelf above her was broken. There were quite a few suspicious areas, so she needed to hurry.

It wasn't such an easy thing. First she had to wipe away the snow to the ice beneath and peer within. Flandre would appear as nothing more than a discolored blur, and finding that within the ice would have been hard enough without the darkness of night. It was a miserable search with the chill biting at her flesh and frostbite threatening her very fingers.

Sakuya's perseverance paid off and she found Flandre sealed away in an icy coffin.

Moments later, Cirno was swallowed by her own dragon.

Like everyone else Sakuya was lost in awe as the grotesque transformation which led to a creature that spanned far beyond what she could have ever imagined. In fact one of it's own hind legs wasn't particularly far from her location.

Right before the dragon started to form that skyline-spanning comet, Sakuya stopped time.

With only the aid of her knives, Sakuya was forced to dig through the thick layer of ice. Hands trembling, numb, and becoming a purplish-blue from frostbite, the poor maid could barely hold her knives. Thankfully with the stoppage of time she no longer suffered from the adverse weather conditions, but neither did the work make her particularly warmer. Worse yet was that she had at least 120 cm before she even reaches Flandre's head, and then she had to dig her out.

Technically no time passes while she does this, but an equivalent to an hour has transpired. Chipping away at the rock solid ice was a far more difficult task than she had anticipated. Her rate of progress was discouragingly slow and already had she broken two knives. At least those she had in abundance, but the two hands which held them were becoming bruised with the multiple and rapid impacts of the strikes. Worst yet was how long she could maintain her ability of freezing time. The max she'd been able to was six hours. Chipping away with merely silver knives, Sakuya doesn't know if she can make that deadline.

Another hour passes. Then two.

She's maybe only five or so centimeters till she makes it to Flandre's head, but then she needs to get delicate and carefully chisel her outline.

Five hours total have expired.

Physical exhaustion had well pushed her past her limits, as well as the limit for her magic. The maid had abandoned the finer chiseling of the body to simply getting it to the point where Flandre could be pulled from the ice. She'd bang the tail end of one knife with the other stuck in the ice, and when it stood firm she'd stomp on it with her foot. A process she wished she thought up hours ago, but she was forced to make do as she's nearly lost all movement in her fingers.

Six hours in, past her previous record.

With each strike against the ice a curse escaped her lips. Permanent damage must be occurring, but her single-mindedness keeps her progressing. Flandre has been excavated up to her neck. So much of the vampire's body remains, and the rate at which she was digging was slow. Her body would never hold until the very end; this she knew. After coming this far she couldn't allow herself to fail. Was this not the moment she was waiting, dreaming for?

Blood drips from her nose and falls to the ground. Before it travels too far from her frame, it loses color and then halts in mid air. Sakuya has reached the tail end of her limits. With no more magic to supply her time-stopping ability, her body itself is instead being consumed. How much longer she could persist after this was very short. It's inconceivable that she possess the ability or opportunity to free her mistress' sister. She has failed.

Relinquishing her control over time, the blood dripping from her nose that had pooled in mid air splatters against snow right before Flandre's frozen head. Sakuya sits on her knees as her powerlessness has drained the life out of her. Once again assaulted by the cold, her only solace is the warmth from her blood that's dripping on her bare legs.

Warmth?

Of course! She'd been so preoccupied with digging that she'd forgotten her goal. Digging out the frozen body of Flandre was only a means. What was truly needed was for the younger vampire sibling to be revived. To do so, what was needed more then anything was blood; a vampire's prime source of nourishment!

Hesitating not a moment, Sakuya takes her knife and slices hand. Or was about to. With the cold her blood circulation is very poor, and cutting her own flesh at that spot wouldn't do much. She needs to bleed, but there are perhaps no safe extremities to perform the act. So if she couldn't be safe, then so be it.

She stabs herself in the stomach.

Blood gushes from her wound as she twists the knife. Looming over the frozen body of Flandre, blood splatters on top of her head, eventually running all over her face. Steam rises from the crimson dye, assaulting frozen flesh with it's 37 degree Celsius temperature. This is perhaps the fastest way to thaw given the conditions.

Cirno's Dragon starts gathering the ice up in the sky.

Already had blood dripped to the lips of the vampire, but it has yet to take a drink. Enough of Flandre needs to thaw, functioning so that she can take a drink. If she were a human such an incomplete process could only lead to death, but banking on the physical resiliency of a vampire, such a method may be possible. However, Sakuya won't know if her mistress's sister is alive or dead until she starts moving, and until then all the human maid can do is bleed.

There's an odd quake in the air, like someone suddenly grabbed your head and chest and applied pressure. Sakuya feels this and knows a change has undertaken. The blood that had dripped from Flandre's mouth, down her chin and onto the snow, now runs in reverse. Same with the blood on her head, all of that spilled life force is rushing to one spot; Flandre's mouth. She's drinking it.

Suddenly the vampire takes a desperate breath of air. Her now-thawed shoulders tense, and in an instant her entire body shatters the ice encasing her. The vampire is alive and free.

Weary as if she'd just awaken from a long nap, Flandre looks around as she has no idea where she is. Spotting the maid, bleeding in the snow, she speaks,

"Oh, Saku? What's wrong? That looks like it hurts."

Sakuya smiles through her pained and pallid expression. The young-appearing vampire squats above her with childlike innocence, neither aghast or even startled by the horrific scene of the bleeding maid. Such disturbing acceptance is Flandre's hallmark. She really is alive.

"Flan-chan," Sakuya's voice is weak, without doubt due to the injury and blood loss, "you need to take me to your sister."

"Sister? Oh, okay. Where is she?"

With an arm that feels as heavy as lead, she points to the south, past the four feet of the massive ice dragon.

"Oh! What's that? It looks like fun!" the vampire is becoming excited.

"Listen, Flan, before you can go and play, you need to bring me to your sister."

"Do I have to?"

"Yes."

Flandre mulls this over for a moment, clearly displeased, "Okay. I guess."

"Don't worry, after you take me to her you can play all you want."

This brightens her mood, "Really? Okay! Got it!"

The childish body of Flandre picks up the full grown human woman with relative ease. Flapping her grotesque wings (which aerodynamically shouldn't have made a difference), the vampire goes into a low hover. Then, like a shot of a bullet, they race to the south. With everyone focused on the frozen sky above them, not one of the Gensokyo combatants ever notice the revived Sister of Scarlet. The pair make it to the general location to where Sakuya pointed.

Sakuya scans the area, unsure of where that block might have gotten to, but Flandre heads straight for it. Either it was their sibling bond or some sense unique to vampires, but Flandre knew exactly where Remilia's body lay.

Upon realizing her sister was frozen in ice, Flandre effortlessly broke the "cold" surrounding her. What took Sakuya hours and much of her own life force, took Flandre less than a second without sacrifice. Remilia fell from the ice and landed on her face in the snow. She might have been thawed, but she had yet to show any signs of life.

Placing the maid next to her master, Flandre backs away a little, "Okay, I brought you. Can I go play now?" she was anxious.

Sakuya's responses are weak. Anemic from her self-inflicted wound, the maid was fluttering between consciousness. Pressing into her wound, she next reaches out to Remilia with blood-soaked fingers. Her touch extends to the vampire's lips, and just as she registers their soft touch, she losses consciousness.

Slight color returns to those pale blue lips. For the first time the elder vampire's body shows movement; she licks her lips. With a faint amount of life returns to her, more of her starts to move. Her arms reach and dig into the snow, pulling herself forward towards her lifeless maid. It's the blood. It's attractive smell draws the vampire, even unconsciously. Instinctively Remilia crawls to it's scent, and once upon it she licks at the wound, drawing as much of the spilling life force for herself. Color and strength visibly return to the Scarlet Mistress.

By the time she realizes what she's doing, Remilia has to stop. Beneath her his her heavily injured maid, stabbed in the belly by one of her own knives.

"Sakuya!" she yells, confused and disoriented.

Quickly she looks around and sees how denigrated the situation has become. Nearby stands Flandre, completely absorbed in the giant dragon of ice standing above Misty Lake. Even further above is a giant plain of ice that blankets the sky. If that were to fall not a one of them would survive. Turning back to Sakuya, Remilia realizes the wound was self-inflicted, and what must now be done. Standing on her own two feet, she turns her back on her head maid, suffering much pain in doing so. Saving Sakuya's life would have to wait. First the world need to be saved.

"Do you think you can break that?" Remilia asks her sister.

"Which one?" she answers without adverting her gaze.

"Both."

"I can break the Dragon, but that other thing is too large. It needs to get smaller before it's 'eye' can fit into my hand."

Which really meant that she could break both, but didn't want to put forth too much effort to take out the ice fall. Whatever her motivations, it could be arranged.

"Alright. Break the dragon, and I'll do something about the sky. We need to hurry and get this over with, I don't want to lose such a talented and dedicated maid."

The End

Vampires are a unique bunch. In a world of science, reason, and technology, they somehow still thrive in fiction and lore. With the destruction of the Gensokyo Boundary, they suffer none from the effects of the outside world. In this way they are true masters in Gensokyo, capable of great power within and without. With magic being drained by a world which rejects it, only something that is accepted stands a hope of battling against the ancient being of immeasurable power.

Cirno clutches the arm that's lost it's hand. The damage that was first taken by Meiling, exemplified by hours of continuous battles, had finally given under the pressure of the revived Remilia Scarlet. At it's end, the injury continues to spray glittering diamond dust as her arm degenerates. What little magic of her's that remains isn't enough to sustain her body. Her life is ending.

Flandre appears directly behind the ancient, claws ready for a furious swipe that likely has the strength to decapitate her foe. Cirno senses the killing blow coming from her rear. As the moments tick by and her body falls apart, her existence is slowly flickering into nothingness. With or without fighting anymore she is going to die. Does it make much a difference if it is done by inevitability or the fury of an opponent? Is one way better than another if no matter the outcome she is to end? How does Cirno wish to leave this world?

With her right and remaining hand, Cirno connects with the jaw of Flandre. That child-like body accepts the blow and is rocketed to the ground. Crashing with the most impressive of impacts, the sadistic vampire rises from the dust no worse than before, enjoying receiving a hit as much as giving one. Such resilience is frightening considering Cirno's punch was strong enough to fell a god.

Remilia readies her spear; the red energy weapon materializes in her hand. At that first sign of movement Cirno darts to the side, making full use of her mobility she's retained. It's clear that the ancient doesn't wish to sit still so as to become a target of ranged attacks. There was Yukari with her anti-air artillery, Eirin with her arrows, and now Remilia with Gungnir. It was bad for Cirno to sit still, but that doesn't discourage the vampire. She continues to fixate on the tall woman in blue.

Flandre meets with Cirno's maneuvering, and the pair dance in the air. They rush at each other, strike, separate, and do so again. Both the younger vampire and the ancient appear of equal strength and speed. Both are impossibly strong, blindingly fast, and are otherwise unfair characters. However, those who've been watching Cirno notice that she is now lacking her break-neck turns. Her body must no longer be in a condition that can sustain such pressures. Eirin, from behind her bow, realizes that this battle is ending.

Cirno is but a blue blur, and Flandre red. Remilia focuses on the blue. Suddenly the sky is blanketed with flares. Lest anybody forgot, Okuu is still around. While she lacks the speed and strength of these characters with broken parameters, the destruction of which she is capable is no lacking from the other two. The Searing Divine Flame litters the battlefield with nuclear hazards. While much consideration wasn't given towards Flandre, the vampire wouldn't have taken offense. In fact, making it that much more difficult to engage in combat only delighted the little insane psychopath. It made it more fun.

Hesitating in her movements, it's clear that Cirno no longer holds the confidence she'd had thus far. With her opponent unsure and uneasy, Flandre doesn't waste a moment covering the ground between them. Extending from her fingers are long claws; a vampire's nails that reveal themselves when excited. With these she can cleave through most solid metals. Cirno would prove little resistance.

Flandre is within arm's reach. She swipes furiously, wildly attacking and hoping for any piece of flesh she can render and tear. Unable to escape, Cirno resorts to shifting away and leaning her body to dodge by the smallest of millimeters. At the moment she's about to finally pull away, Okuu fires more shots to cut off escape. Cirno's been backed into a corner.

Suddenly she jerks forward, noticing the red glint in the distance. A fraction of a second later the thrown spear passes right behind her. Unfortunately she can only procure the safety of her main body. Gungnir pierces right through one of her wings, severing it, and casting it to the ground. The ancient screams as if it were a part of her own flesh. Her wing crashes into the ice below.

Those razor claws of Flandre rake Cirno's face. The already damaged left eye is broken away completely. In an act of desperation, the ancient throws a kick at the little vampire who's too close. Perhaps suffering from the euphoria of causing pain, Flandre is stricken and is victim to the strength of the tall woman. Lacking none of her physical power, she launches the vampire deep into the forest, hundreds of meters away.

Okuu is once again radiating a great light, although much smaller than Subterranean Sun. Sacrificing size, she's gained mobility. Charging at Cirno is a meteor, no less destructive then it appears. With half her face gone, panting heavily, the ancient doesn't seem as if she's even going to bother avoiding. Just before the two come into contact, she shields herself with the three wings on her right side.

It would seem impossible, but those three wings of ice completely halt the progress of the searing sun. Okuu continues to try and push forward, but she's stilled by the stubbornness of the tall woman. However, shards and glittering dust spray from the frozen limbs that are attempting to stop the nuclear raven. It's a valiant push, but eventually Okuu runs out of juice and her solar aura fades. When it does Cirno pushes her away, then slices at the raven with her remaining two wings on her left side. If they were sharp Okuu might have been cut in half, but the blunt blow is plenty heavy and knocks her a great distance away.

Battered, her body crumbling to dust with each passing moment, the Ancient Slayer of Worlds refuses to yield. The third and final combatant makes herself known by charging at Cirno again with her lightning-like speed. However, this time she lacks the element of surprise. Flinching with uncanny reflexes, Cirno reaches out and catches the vampire by the head, immediately putting a halt to her charge. Greatly taller and with an arm-span that far surpasses the child-like vampire, Remilia couldn't even hope of retaliating. With the head of the vampire in her grasp, Cirno twists her body and hurls the child at the recovering raven. The two crash into each other in a more embarrassing than painful manner.

The raven and vampire collect themselves, helping each other to recover. Once they are again centered, they take a moment to survey their opponent. Cirno hasn't moved from that spot. One of her wings is gone and all three on her right side are shards of their former selves. She might not be capable of properly flying at this point. By all intensive purposes it appears that she can't move.

"She just doesn't know when to give up," Remilia tells her unlikely ally, "does she?"

Okuu swallows hard then speaks, "Why does she keep doing this? It's obvious how this is going to end."

Remilia tells her, "It's because that she knows how it's going to end that she fights so desperately. I admire that there isn't an ounce of 'quit' in her, but she's really in an unsightly state. It's unbecoming, but I can't help but find her beautiful."

There's a roar deep within the forest. A giant column of fire rises into the heavens and paints the night in it's orange glow. The pair turn their heads away from the ancient and at this new threat. To one of them this is familiar, but the other is seeing it for the first time.

"Is that your sister?" Okuu makes a good guess.

After nodding, Remilia states, "It's over."

Flandre leaps from the forest. In her hands a curved shaped device that appears as a wand. As Remilia has Gungnir, Flandre has Laevateinn. From it's tip bursts it's flame, and as it's manipulated the pillar clumsily follows. With this weapon in hand Flandre charges at Cirno, though lost of most of her speed from carrying such a large weapon and heavy weapon. In ancient times it was once carried by a giant. Flandre posses the same kind of strength.

The ancient stares, calculating with a cold disposition. This isn't the face of someone who's accepting of death. This clumsy sword is too destructive, and it's path is easily predictable and avoidable. Even if Cirno's flight is greatly diminished with the loss/damaging of her wings, this shouldn't be particularly difficult.

There's a sudden pop directly underneath her, and Cirno quickly moves in reflex. It's like the cannon fire she's heard, but it's calmer like the flares that had been fired by the kappa. As the projectile passes by her and ignites in the sky, she confirms it's precisely that. But why would anyone bother to fire one of those directly at the ancient? Could it have been an act of desperation by a kappa who's giving their final push? Whatever the case, the flare, and the one who fired it, are of lesser concern to the charging Flandre with her wand of fire. Cirno's going to have to move soon if she's going to avoid.

Except she can't move! She's completely frozen! Unlike when she was trapped by the Hakurei Miko's binding talismans, this is like her body is encased in stone, suddenly surrounded by an element that has her completely engulfed. Was this the aim of the one who fire the flare? But how were they doing this?

Cirno couldn't turn her head, but she could still control where she sees. As best she can she looks down. What she thought she saw was someone standing on the ice directly below her. She can't focus properly, but it almost looks like Okuu halfway hidden in the ancient's shadow cast by the flare. But Okuu is standing next to Remilia! Who is this?

As if she forgot, Cirno turns her sights back to Flandre. She's now dangerously close, already swinging Laevateinn. Try as she might, the ancient is completely frozen stiff. Given enough time, she might find a way to fight this constraining magic, but she has no time! Maybe if she summons enough strength-

"Please don't suffer."

Willpower leaves her. The voice she heard calms her soul; words filled with love. She no longer feels pain. As the fire encroaches upon her, it's warm and comforting.

Closing her eyes, she smile.

Flandre cuts her in half.

Final Moments

Sensing someone near, Cirno opens her sole eye. It's a familiar face wearing that plaid red vest and skirt. It's a youkai of green hair and deep amber eyes. In her arms is her parasol, completely useless as it's night.

"I was wondering where you were," Cirno speaks through a pained voice. Had she a normal human body this would have been impossible, but as long as a spark of life remains she can speak. Although, a spark is all that remains. "Are you going to finish me off again, like last time."

Yuuka Kazami stands above the less than half of body that remains of Cirno. She was cut just above the waist, but much more of her than that has dissolved. Most of her chest is gone, her dress deflated. The degeneration on her face hasn't progressed, but it's as if it's being saved for last. The sparkling diamond dust is spraying from every centimeter of her body.

"That really isn't necessary, is it?" though she smiles, the youkai's expression is pained. "You're falling apart."

"Aye, I am." Cirno looks around. A few have gathered. Aside from Yuuka, there's Yukari and Reimu, Marisa, Flandre and Utsuho. Remilia is gone (having attended to her gravely injured maid). "This crowd is much bigger than last time I died. I guess I must appear to be quiet the spectacle."

"It's not every day that a life form that's survived for billions of years dies. If I was a certain miko I would have sold tickets."

Nobody particularly (especially Reimu) finds that funny. Even Cirno seems a bit put off.

"You were so much cuter when you were younger."

Clear signs of irritation strike Yuuka, and some of the others lightly snicker. To retaliate, she turns her back to the ancient and scoffs, "Well, at least I don't have to suffer your pigheadedness for another 1500 years."

"No," Cirno tells her, "there won't be a next time."

Yuuka stops and looks back. The only words she can say are, "What?"

"I survived last time because some of my magic remained. Last time the only thing destroyed was my body. I held back a bit of my magic so I could one day return. It's why the Ice Fairy kept regenerating when she was destroyed over and over again by the vampires and gods. When I was the Ice Fairy she only had magic and not a true body. As long as one of the two remains I shall regenerate. This time, however, my magic's completely spent and my body destroyed. There's no coming back from this."

The smile falters. Gripping her parasol tightly in her hands, Yuuka's face is nearly in a rage, "Then why did you start this? Why did you try the same failed tactic if you knew you wouldn't get another chance?"

Cirno rises her right hand to silence the increasingly angry woman (only three fingers remain), "It's alright. This is what should have happened long ago. However, I'm glad, that at the very end of my long life, I've finally found what I was looking for."

Yuuka opens her mouth to object, but her voice offers no power. After a moment she chooses words her tongue will accept, "What have you found?"

The pieces of Cirno scattering into the cool night air increase. Her time on this Earth is rapidly drawing short.

"I don't have the time remaining to explain, but look each other in the eyes. Look at each and every one who's participated this day. You'll come to see what I see. In time, you'll come to see."

Death, a cruel merchant, takes Cirno. In a flash, the her that remains is stricken into dust. Cascading in a brilliant glitter, the ancient's final moments are the remains of her body drifting into nothingness on the gentle kiss of the wind, sparkling as they reflect light. It's as if the crowd's witnessing twinkling stars no more than an arm's reach away. In those beautifully short moments, all traces of the ancient fades away.

For a few minutes the group remains, watching over the spot the greatest being they may ever know once laid. One by one they leave, some returning home, some to join their friends, and some turning their focus on repairing the damage done. In the end it's Yuuka, who once adored the Ancient Cirno in her youth, that can't tear herself away. A practice long abandoned, she lowers herself to her knees and offers a prayer to the departed soul. Afterwords she leaves, hiding her face underneath her umbrella from any who might be watching.

After everyone is gone, and nearby fires diminish, blanketing the area in a lightless night, a winged figure approaches the final resting place. Obviously a female, she takes a knee and places a hand on the exact spot. Lowering her head, she too seems to offer a prayer. After she's finished, she takes a stand. As she's about to walk away, she thinks she hears something not far away. Her head snaps to, the yellow glow from her eyes illuminating the dark. Discovering nothing, the woman walks away.

It's not over just yet. There's still the epilogue. It's not really a spoiler, but the 2nd Okuu is Hati, as well as the winged figure at the end. In case you forgot, when Marisa fought Hati she'd been frozen when he stood on her shadow. Using one of the kappa's flares, he does the same to the ancient. It made better literary sense to leave it out of the main writing, but it might be confusing so I attached a couple cheat notes here in the postscript. I'll have more to say when I post the next and final chapter.

~Kyle Castorena