The Palace of the Earth Spirits, a place few dared to tread already due to above ground youkai being forbidden from interfering with events there, but the oni that lived there served as a good deterrent as well (Despite being very welcoming to guests.) but the main problem was the aforementioned Palace.
Well, not the palace itself, despite the Western-style manor being very out of place in the Underworld, but the residents themselves served as the main issue.
People tended to be uncomfortable around the mind reading satori knowing their deepest desires and her usually judgemental look said a lot more about her prudish nature than her mannerisms let on. That along with the walking branch shrine to the god of nuclear fusion tended to keep visitors at a minimum, not that the introverted Satori Komeiji cared all that much, she had her pets after all.
Scritching the chin of a Hell Raven that had wandered in, she sipped at her freshly made coffee and continued to read her book with the full concentration of her three eyes. It wasn't particularly engaging, a story about an ordinary human transported to a fantasy world (The Outside World seemed very fascinated with this genre of fiction, for whatever reason) but it was enough to kill the time.
Sensing the brainwaves of a stranger, Satori sighed. The last time she had a "guest", she had to spell card battle them, seemingly out of obligation to their violent tendencies rather than any sane reason.
Knowing this, you might think that Satori was some kind of sociopath, but she really just disliked having to deal with her third eye reading everyone's hearts and desires… And usually those kinds of thoughts disgusted her to the point of wanting to throw the damn pervert into the nearby nuclear reactor.
Needless to say she didn't appreciate guests nor their hearts' desires, so when the door started a knock-knocking, the satori suppressed a groan and covered her face with the waste of paper people charitably called a "book".
"Orin! Okuu!" She yelled, muffled by the paper. "Can one of you answer the door? I'm busy doing… Satori things."
With an annoyed non-committal nya, Rin Kaenbyou begrudgingly headed to the door, opening it to see Nitori with an apologetic look on her face, her gaze averting to the sitting satori who looked back with a look of disdain.
"I'm here on behalf of Nitori Co." She started to explain, very clearly trying to project her voice to Satori. "Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances with the nuclear reactor, we've been forced to temporarily clear out Former Hell in case our maintenance turns into a... As the higher ups put it, 'Chernobyl 2.0', no offense intended."
"None taken, unyu!~" Came the overjoyed voice of Utsuho Reiuji, currently attempting to fry eggs on her arm cannon. Key word being attempting, as the eggs were now on fire.
"Okuu, please use the stove rather than your control rod. Remember when Koishi said that she wasn't happy with the state of her eggs yesterday?"
Utsuho took a moment to think and remembered "Miss Satori's Sister", the mint-green haired girl who came and went as she pleased. "R-right, her."
Satori simply gave a motherly smile towards the former raven in response. Utsuho had adapted to her new form rather well ever since the geyser incident, serving as the Hell of Blazing Fire's temporary administrator while the kappa installed the regulators to the nuclear reactor.
Furthermore, thanks to her simple nature and desire to be useful, she opted to try and be helpful around the Palace of the Earth Spirits once her tenure as administrator was up. Much like a child trying to do chores without prior knowledge however, her earnest attempts always ended in failure.
In this case, her control rod was heated to the point where the eggs were burned beyond edibility and the skillet they were in was starting to melt.
Satori could sense Utsuho's deep feelings of failure and regret as she desperately tried to salvage the molten metal to no avail as the sound of a broken window indicated what had happened to breakfast.
After some awkward silence, Satori finally spoke up again, looking at the kappa this time. "I assume that Okuu's presence won't be needed at the reactor today, then?"
With a curt nod, the kappa pulled out a stack of documents out of her pocket and started scanning it for any mentions of Utsuho on the daily schedule. "As expected, she's not listed on my schedule, but she's welcome back any time if she wants to give the regulators a break, haha."
The satori gave a sly smile. "Was thinking quite the opposite. About time we all went to the surface world together, I feel."
"Fair enough. I'm just here to deliver the message." She shrugged before walking away without another word, rudely leaving the door wide open as the kasha silently closed it before turning to her owner.
"So I guess we're going to buy a replacement pan… And window?" Rin twitched her ears at the idea of having the custom three-legged crow mosaic window being replaced putting a strain on her owner's budget… again.
With a defeated sigh, Rin thought of the catnip she wouldn't be getting this week with a disappointed look before Utsuho emerged, coloured shards of glass stuck in her hair and bow.
"We're going to the surface?"
Having cleaned the glass out of the hell raven's dark brown hair and wings, giving them a quick preen before the trio stood outside of the Palace of the Earth Spirits, a single Zombie Fairy wandering around, arms outstretched and mock-groaning, taking her "zombie" role extremely seriously as Rin picked her and gave her a tight hug.
Pichuun~
"Oh." Rin said simply as the halo-clad fairy floated upwards, freed from the mortal coil… At least until she reformed and continued to wander the fires of Former Hell, assisting Rin in looking rather fearsome compared to her former final boss firebird friend.
"Why do we keep those around, anyway?" Satori sighed as the ghost floated towards her third eye, seeming to reel back when it looked her dead in the eyes. "All they do is wander around and make groaning noises. it's rather irritating."
As the fairy reconstituted, Rin opted to pat her on the head with a warm smile. "Oh, I just ask them to do that when we're not on duty because I find it funny."
Smiling at the affection given, the zombie fairy flew off to do fairy things, like throw rocks at oni and be pichuun'd in response.
Fairies are not particularly smart creatures.
Regardless, the satori, the kasha and the branch shrine made their way through Former Hell and the various areas of the Underworld, passing by where the oni usually resided with smiles on their faces and sake in their hands, crossing the "bridge" between the Underworld and Surface World with no interference and eventually ended up on the cusp of the surface, natural light finally finding its way into their eyes.
"Well then," Satori blinked at the natural light, even her third eye having to shield itself from the brightness. "I already regret this, but we might as well push onwards."
Mumbles of agreement echoed through the otherwise empty cavern, the sound of dripping water punctuating the silence.
Nobody really wanted to go any further. Satori hadn't left the Underworld for… a long time, long enough for the sun to actively hurt her eyes even when not looking directly at it.
Rin was simply looking up to the orb with curiosity, the only time she had left the Underworld prior to now was with Utsuho and that was back in the winter where the snowfall was particularly heavy.
And as for the branch shrine herself?
Utsuho saw the blinding orb as an affront to her Lord.
Utsuho had her arm cannon pointed straight at the sun.
Utsuho was absolutely livid and was about to express that feeling the only way she knew how.
Noticing the rapid rise in temperature along with Utsuho's extremely clear desire, Satori uncharitstically leapt onto the raven, flailing wildly in an attempt to stop an Incident before it began.
"Alright. Now that Okuu isn't going to blow up the sun-'' Satori glared at the hell raven now rubbing the growing lump on her forehead while Rin patted her head soothingly. "We can get on with exploring the surface."
Looking around the Underworld's entrance, the satori noticed several of the Underworld's usual residents in their cliques. The first "guard" to the Underworld, Yamame Kurodani was chatting with Parsee Mizuhashi rather amicably while the tsurube-otoshi Kisume hovered around in her bucket, not really adding anything to the conversation but felt safe around the earth spider due to how often the two ran into each other.
The oni were off in their own clique, drinking away the day happily, having dragged some of the local kappa into their impromptu "Surface Party" and dooming them to killer hangovers the next day.
The satori smiled at the chaos brewing around her as a breeze alerted her to a tengu's presence as Aya Shameimaru made herself known.
"Here I thought the Underworld being evacuated was just a loada bunk, but even the recluse satori is here~!" She took a snapshot of the trio with an audible squee as the psychic rubbed her eyes in irritation.
"The sun was already blinding enough without your incessant flash box." Satori wanted nothing more than to take that camera and break it beneath her slippers as her third eye blinked angrily at the reporter.
"Ah, forgot you're not used to the spotlight, my bad." Aya rubbed the back of her head, but still used her free hand to snap a shot of Utsuho glaring at the sun with contempt while Rin struck a pose for her own shot with a "nya!~". "Perfect, perfect." She looked through the pictures she had taken already with a smile. "I don't normally ask this, but would you mind your likenesses being used in the Bunbunmaru Newspaper?"
"Didn't you take pictures of all our danmaku a while back?" Satori raised an eyebrow at the reporter's intent and gave a quick once-over with her third eye. "... Oh I see, the danmaku pictures weren't for commercial use. These photos will be in your next issue, I understand." She nodded with a firm smile. "As Okuu and Orin's owner, I consent for their likenesses being used, as well as my own…" She gave a sly look towards the tengu's expression and read her thoughts again. "Just don't bend the truth too much."
"Of course, ahaha." Aya averted her eyes from Satori, nervously coughing while backing up. "A-anyway, I'll go take some pictures of people who can't read my mind!"
Before she could take off, Satori tugged at the tengu's collar with a concerned look. "That aside, you seem like you know places to go up here and I'd rather not wander around randomly and risk youkai attack."
"As if you need to worry with that hulking raven on your side." Aya thought to herself before flapping her fan, her hair bobbles jostling about in response "Yeah if you head down the mountain path you should find a sign to the Human Village if you just want somewhere to relax for a few hours, Keine might give you some trouble, she doesn't like the more ahem troublesome youkai hanging around and…" She took a second to stare at Rin. "A branch shrine of the sun god and a controller of spirits would rank highly, but you'd have to take it up with her."
"I see." Satori let go with a light nod. "Thank you for your help. I'll be sure to pick up a copy of your paper later." "It should make for some good bedding for the Hell Ravens back home." She thought with a smirk as the tengu took off none the wiser.
After taking a moment to locate the path down the mountain, Satori took a heavy breath in. "Okuu, would you mind carrying me on your back to the Human Village? All this walking has made me tired."
Utsuho shrugged before lowering to one knee to allow Satori to climb onto her back before taking flight, being careful not to jostle her owner too much as she took a look around for the Human Village.
With a tap on her shoulder, Rin pointed to a neatly arranged set of houses with various people wandering the streets as the trio flew towards the entrance of the village, Utsuho being careful to not hit any trees once they started to reach ground-level.
The entrance to the Human Village was as functional as it was a landmark for lost travellers, a pair of torches located near the top of the gate lit by the diligent residents of the village.
Leaning against a nearby wall, the guardian of the human village, Keine Kamishirasawa eyed the new visitors with some suspicion as Satori gave a quick scan of her thoughts, gently grabbing the collars of her pets to stop them from running into the village without consulting the silver-haired woman first.
"You there." Satori addressed the Were-hakutaku firmly, but still courteously. "This is the Human Village, correct?"
"That it is." She said simply, knowing what the next question would be. "And I might as well just clarify that while I do have some concerns about… Her." Keine's eyes shifted to the hell raven and more specifically, her control rod. "I suppose the Underworld populace has nowhere else to go today, so consider this place a haven for you… as long as you don't cause any trouble." Her brown eyes seemed to flash a wicked red for a moment, but it could have been a trick of the light as well.
"We'll keep that in mind." Satori gave another read-over of Keine's mind to verify exactly who's wrath she'd be smited by if she caused any trouble. "Ah, so Marisa's in town? I'll be sure to say hello to her."
Without another word, she finally let go of her pets and walked into the Human Village, Utsuho and Rin catching their breaths before following suit.
The Human Village itself was… Well, a village full of humans, for the most part. While Gensokyo has been peaceful outside of Incidents for a while now and that was reflected in the growth of the settlement, some of the older residents were still wary of visiting youkai, especially ones having been involved in Incidents directly.
Needless to say Utsuho was getting a lot of half-glares from untrusting humans and she wasn't entirely happy with it.
Satori sensed the corvid's concern and silently started to gently pat her head with a soft smile. "There there. Those humans wouldn't dare touch a feather on you."
Taking a second concentrated glance around, Utsuho's bird eyes started to pick apart discrepancies in the "humans" around her. A pair of bunny ears concealed under a cone hat here, the slight glint of a fang there, a pair of sparrow wings fluttering in the slight breeze of the late morning-
Wait, those were slightly more obvious. Shaking her head and ruffling her feathers to take a second glance, she barely got to see the girl's brown, winged cap before Satori tugged her shoulder.
"Come on Okuu, I don't want to lose you in the crowd." She urged calmly, not wanting to literally drag the bird around the village lest she get lost.
Looking back, the density of people had started to increase, so she couldn't get a second clear look at the mysterious girl behind her.
Ravens are now laying…
A/N: Okay, I think I'm done with these transitions now.
Mystia was tired. Being a Night Sparrow Apparition by trade meant that generally the sun in the sky was a sign to sleep.
Not today.
Sitting at a table Keine had helpfully let her borrow for the day, she waited for applicants for Choujuu Gigaku, her two-youkai band along with Kyouko Kasodani, rather appropriately a soundwave amplifying youkai.
Unfortunately this ability didn't exactly result in the slam-dunk indie punk band Gensokyo needed. Nor was it the one anyone wanted, after hearing them for the first time.
Being self-taught musicians was probably the first reason why, followed by not really having any Outside World material to follow, leading to the pair's patented brand of ear-bleeding, asynchronous symphony of chaos that spectators swore was a danmaku attack all its own.
Needless to say anyone who was curious either didn't know of Mystia directly and quickly caught on once they heard her voice, or already knew of Choujuu Gigaku and simply wanted to get an autograph from Mystia, (and a few disappointed Kyouko fans when they realized she was working at the Myouren Temple.) which was a shock to her, but not an unwelcome one.
Waving off a particularly artistic fan who depicted her in a pair of sunglasses and a leather jacket, clearly strumming her heart out while lightning struck the stage around her, Mystia sighed before taking a drink of coffee that Keine had also gratefully gave her to keep herself awake past her schedule. It was bitter and tasted awful, but that bitterness drove her mind into staying awake as long as possible to meet her next potential bandmate with the best first impression possible.
Using one hand to put the metal kettle she brought from her humble abode on top of her camping stove to reheat the water, Mystia unfurled the scroll that Remila gave her just the previous evening, as if it would change the name signed in crimson at the bottom of the page.
"Why me?" The night sparrow's mind racked over this contract given to her, a pledge to allow her to work at this upcoming festival despite her reputation as both a pest of a youkai and guitarist in a punk band. Really, she would have been happier if the vampiress had just paid up for the lamprey and left, never mind offering her a place at this prestigious festival presumably going to be attended by Gensyoko's finest residents.
So enthralled by the piece of legislation, she didn't even notice the sound of footsteps approaching before a shadow cast over the table, large and terrible.
Looking up, it was none other than Kyouko herself, the green-haired yamabiko's ears wiggling happily, seeming even more excitable than usual, practically shaking the table in excitement.
"Mystia! I got your note earlier and had to see this for myself!" The priest in-training had barely bothered to put her work clothes on properly, having practically launched herself from the temple after being given the note. "Is it true? Did you serve the Remilia Scarlet last night?"
"Calm down Kyouko, you've got more than enough energy for the both of us." Mystia chuckled as she handed the scroll over before she could vibrate it any more and risk Keine's wrath. (She was very insistent on it being returned clean.) "Besides, didn't you at least inform someone at the temple? I really don't want Byakuren to drop kick me into enlightenment for being a 'bad influence' on you."
"Relax, Misty," Kyouko walked around the table and pulled up her own chair next to the sparrow. "Lady Byakuren isn't going to smite me or you for bunking off work for an hour or two." Ignoring Mystia's concerned stare, she rolled the scroll back over with a content sigh. "We got more important things to worry about anyway, our recruitment drive for Choujuu Gigaku! WE WILL ROCK GENSOKYO!"
At this point Kyouko stood on the table, fist raised and loudly declaring her intentions to all that could hear her, willing or not.
Dragging the dog-eared youkai back down onto the chair, the usually outgoing youkai had the decency to look embarrassed at least. "M-my apologies everyone! It's an honor to be in your village to r-recruit for Choujuu G-gigaku, we'll be more respectful of your ears from now on!" She snapped rather suddenly towards Kyouko. "What is your deal?"
"What's yours?" Kyouko pouted. "Choujuu Gigaku is our punk band, we need to keep that hell-raiser spirit up!"
"This is finally our chance to make it as a real band and not just a noise complaint generator!" Mystia rebutted. "The whole reason I set up a lamprey stand was so that we could go beyond the prejudices of youkai and you're still hollering like a lunatic!"
*tap-tap, tap-tap*
"What do you expect?" The priest-in-training threw up her arms in exasperation. "All I do is sweep the grounds and sometimes danmaku battle some troublesome fairies. What do you do on the other hand? You're free to fly around without a care in the world, selling lamprey and singing songs of joy?"
*tap-tap, tap-tap*
"You live rent free at that temple! Meanwhile I've had to buy equipment, including my guitar, repair the lamprey shop, and even begged the local fisheries just to sell to someone like me!" Mystia recounted her struggles to even start her business after realizing that scaring humans for a living wasn't really fulfilling and trying to make amends for the harm she caused.
Compared to the likes of Remilia Scarlet, whose servant now regularly attended the Human Village for groceries, Mystia's villainous presence was much more personal in the eyes of the village and quite a few of the residents still had problems with her even trying to make amends, let alone setting up a lamprey stand in the village she once terrorised.
*tap-tap, tap-tap, tip*
"Think I've heard enough here, if you don't mind listening to a stranger." The source of the incessant tapping caught the bickering duo's attention as a girl sat across from them on a bass drum and surrounded by high-hats, red short wavy hair and eyes matching the drums with white flowers in their centers as her purple tie with a white inverted cross stitched in billowed in the wind, showing the black cross-stitch shirt tucked neatly into her contrasting white skirt and matching long-sleeved sports coat.
"Listen to you about what?" Mystia felt annoyance creeping up in her tone, having to deal with a total stranger now inserting herself into her and Kyouko's disagreement. "Your fashion sense?"
The girl gave a knowing look and a friendly chuckle. "Not the first to make a comment like that, not the last. But that warcry from a few minutes ago about wanting to rock Gensokyo?"
"I'm so sorry for Kyouko's loud-"
"Sign me up." She stated simply. "Is there a form I sign or an audition I need to do?"
"Ah." Mystia hadn't really thought about a formal sign up process, considering how unlikely an applicant was from her recruitment drive here. Barely able to pull enough money to bribe Keine with a stern promise not to cause any trouble while she was there, along with the unfortunate timing of her trip meant there was nary a chance of finding a suitable applicant.
Sure, this girl was dressed pretty strangely for a human and her straight-forward attitude left her a bit suspicious, but she wouldn't pass up an opportunity like this one.
"I figured I'd ask what your specialty is, so what's your preferred instru-" Mystia's words caught in her throat as the ruby-haired girl tilted her head with a smirk.
"Preferred instrument? Well, I'm a taiko tsukumogami if that makes things any easier," She gave a carefree smile before stretching her arm for Mystia to shake. "Raiko Horikawa."
"I'm Mystia Lorelei the guitarist," She shook the drummer's hand. "And this is Kyouko Kasodani, the front singer." Directing her left hand to the nodding temple worker. "Now that we're all acquainted, I want to see what you have to offer."
Raiko lightly tossed her drumsticks with a coy smile. "Never thought you'd ask." Tossing the twin sticks into the sky, the air around the trio seemed to crackle a little bit as Raiko's eyes shone for a brief moment. "One, two, three-"
Catching the sticks in each hand, Raiko immediately started drumming out notes thick and fast, even using the drum mallets on the back of her boots to add to the beat and despite the erratic movement, produced a perfectly timed beat for Mystia and Kyouko to listen along to, inadvertently tapping to the beat themselves.
After a minute or so of solo drumming, Raiko suddenly tossed her drumsticks into the air again, before grabbing them and finishing the solo with a bow.
A moment of silence passed before polite applause and woops came from behind Raiko, as her solo had attracted some attention from humans (and a few youkai) that were enthralled with the impromptu concert. Hopping off the bass drum, Raiko gave a more substantial bow. "Thank you, thank you, but that was merely my audition for this band, my apologies for making you think my performance was anything but."
As the crowd quietly dispersed, Mystia and Kyouko were needless to say completely speechless with Raiko's on the fly concert and acknowledgement of her audience. "You're overqualified." Mystia finally said, mouth agape. "We'll just drag you down if you join Choujuu Gigaku."
"Being naturally adept isn't being overqualified, don't put yourself down like that." Raiko was now back on her bass drum, shifting slightly with a sympathetic smile on her face. "I spent nearly a hundred years being the front and center of prestigious events in the Outside World, it'd only be natural that I'd draw a crowd in, even by accident." Her cheeks turned into a lighter shade of her hair for a moment. "That being said, I did go a little overboard with that solo, sorry."
"Misty, we need Raiko." Kyouko turned to the night sparrow with sparkles in her teal eyes. "She already knows how to drum up a crowd-" a rimshot and an eye roll from Raiko briefly interrupted her. "And she has experience as an actual instrument, so maybe she can teach us to become real musicians!"
Mystia side-eyed the tsukumogami, who was giving her a friendly, if knowing look at her inevitable answer before looking back at Kyouko, her eyes seeming even more hopeful than before.
"Okay, okay! Just stop giving me those damned puppy-dog eyes." Mystia finally broke away from the dog-eared youkai, who was now smirking maliciously towards Raiko, who shook her head with a smile in response. "How about we celebrate our new bandmate with some grilled lamprey and sake?"
Originally Mystia was just going to give it an hour at her recruitment drive, give up, go home and drink sake until she passed out in bed, but this conclusion to her day would be much preferred, even if she'd have to fly home tipsy.
Getting up from her chair, she nearly tripped over the metal kettle on the dirt ground she forgot she put there once it had finished boiling earlier and got down on one knee to check her stove and turn it back on, ready to grill some lamprey.
*click*
Nothing.
*click*
Nada.
*click*
Rule of three dictated that Mystia's camping grill was not going to work, much to her chagrin. "Oh…"
"Not too familiar with cooking devices, but I believe you need fuel for that sort of device." Raiko helpfully pointed out.
Kyouko sighed. "Misty, did you forget to turn the burner off after you were done boiling the kettle again?"
"Ahhhh…" Mystia rubbed the back of her head, averting her eyes. "Guess I was too distracted trying not to make a scene.~"
"You bird-brain," Kyouko snarked with a wink. "I'll go find someone who can help us cook some of your famous lamprey!" She didn't even wait for a response before taking off over the table, nearly crashing into Raiko in her haste, sprinting off to find someone vaguely fire-related.
"Is she always like this?" Raiko asked almost rhetorically towards the enterprising bird.
"Yeah, but it reminds me of my days bothering humans, so I don't mind it too much." Mystia mused on her former brash personality, having deluded herself into being a terror of the night what felt like forever ago as she uncoupled a cooler full of lamprey. "You don't mind a bit of lamprey that's a little less than fresh, right? Just some unsold product from last night that I'd have to throw away anyway."
"Free food is free food." Raiko simply said, flipping a drumstick as she did so. "Some sake would hit the spot in this lovely spring breeze, though."
"It isn't quite Gensokyo without sake." Mystia agreed tiredly, pulling out a cheap bottle of said rice wine along with a pair of sake glasses, pouring some of the chilled, clear ambrosia into them before picking up one of her own. "To Choujuu Gigaku's future."
"Agreed, my new friend." The sound of pottery clinking preceded the pair taking a shot of Gensyoko's brand of relationship building: Getting drunk!
Utsuho sat, dangling her legs off of the chair as she impatiently waited outside a second-hand shop for Satori to finish shopping.
Well, she had finished shopping, it was just the matter of payment.
Namely, Satori being a massive haggler.
"I know you can go lower than 1500 yen." The mind reader repeated for the upteenth time in the last half an hour as the shopkeeper continued to sigh deeply.
"Ma'am, it's a bird feeder from the Lunar Capital, ornately designed for only the highest of nobles, stolen during the Lunatic Kingdom incident," The shopkeeper was getting tired of the satori's continued efforts at getting a better deal. "it's worth more than 2500 yen at a minimum, I don't know why you insist on trying to undercut me."
"Okay, so you're claiming that this is a Lunarian bird feeder. But how do you know that this is Lunarian specifically, knowing so little about them? Or even if birds exist on the moon?"
The shopkeeper's agony could be heard across the human village as Utsuho spotted a teal haired youkai girl asking sound, only for people to shake their head as her expression slowly turned to worry, rushing towards the corvid without hesitation, sweat dripping down her face in exhaustion after having run herself ragged across the Human Village.
"You okay, miss?" Utsuho was simple, but she knew when someone was in a tizzy.
"No, I can't find a single person in all of this damned town who's willing to lend me some help with cooking some lamprey!" The priest-in-training explained while Utsuho felt a maternal need to scritch Kyouko behind her dog ears.
"Cooking?" The raven's wings fluttered in anticipation as her eyes widened at the prospect of helping this small, desperate girl. "Lead the way, I know how to set things on fire," She took a moment to peek inside the messy second-hand shop.
"Yo, Miss Satori, can I stretch my legs?"
"Yeah sure, don't go outside the Human Village." Satori didn't move an inch, keeping her eyes focused on the shopkeeper. "We're going to be a while, debating on the nature of extraterrestrial avian lifeforms, aren't we?"
The shopkeeper gulped. "W-what do you mean, this is a Lunarian bird feeder."
"Well, let's start by talking about what we know about the Lunarian empire based on the shrine maiden's exploits…"
Mystia finally relaxed her wings a bit around Raiko, the tsukumogami's friendly attitude putting her at ease as sake filled her blood.
The recruitment drive had transformed into an impromptu bar, alcohol flowing like a river between the two as the crowd left them be, but still wished they could join the party.
A shadow came over the table, great and terrible, shrouding the night sparrow in darkness that rivalled her own abilities. Craning her head up, a being of immense power looked back with three crimson eyes, a wingspan that made her bird instincts shrivel up and die in shame and a cape that was splayed with galaxies, as if she was the spark of all life walking alongside mortals.
Needless to say the first words out of her mouth being "Yo, I heard you needed something set on fire." Took Mystia even more off guard, not knowing how to feel about this.
"I mean… My gas cooker has no gas and raw eel isn't the best thing to pair with sake, but I don't want to waste your time with such trivial matters-" Mystia tried to explain herself as the mighty being got down on one knee to meet her at eye level.
"Got nothin' better to do." She held out her left, non-control rod covered hand to shake Mystia's with. "Utsuho Reiuji."
"M-Mystia Lorelei." The sparrow shook the raven's hand, surprised at her grip strength but otherwise friendly demeanor as Utsuho inspected the tiny cooking device.
Standing straight up, Utsuho pointed her arm cannon at the burner and charged it, the local temperature noticeably increased to an uncomfortable level before it all concentrated into a tiny flame, which seemed to dance from the tip of her cannon to where the flame on the burner would usually be, simply existing as if it wasn't just spawned from a nuclear control rod. "There we go, nice and simple." Utsuho said mostly to herself, having learned from earlier in the day before turning back to her fellow bird. "Now, how about some of that lamprey your friend said you wanted to cook?"
It was framed as a friendly question, but to Mystia it seemed like a demand being made of her. "Y-Yeah, sure." She visibly gulped, placing her grilling tray above the flame, letting it warm up as she kept an eye on the hulking bird, who had already sat down on a free chair.
If there was a sense of unease coming from Mystia, Utsuho wasn't aware of it as she grabbed a drink of sake before realizing her arm cannon was still on and detaching it, dropping it to the ground with a mighty thud before grabbing a drink of sake, not noticing both Mystia and Raiko's looks they were giving her.
"Damn girl, you just carry that thing around to show off?" Raiko chuckled at the rod's weight as she caught the first wisps of cooking lamprey with a soft smile.
"It's how I harness Lord Yatagarasu's strength." Utsuho explained simply, as if discussing the calm spring breeze. "Why?"
"Just curious." Raiko responded with a smile, simply wanting to know more about her fellow youkai. "Ever since I sought out my own source of power, I've had a bit of a curious streak when it comes to that sort of thing."
Utsuho was about to respond with her own pleasantries, but Kyouko had other plans, if her sudden jolting upwards was anything to be believed. "A-ah! I spent so much time trying to find someone to light Misty's stove I lost track of time! Sorry Misty, but I really need to get back to the temple before Byakuren really does lose her rag with me!"
Before she could rush off, Raiko finished off her sake and lightly gripped the teal girl's shoulder. "Hey, hey. Relax a little, won'tcha? I'll talk to your boss and make sure you don't get anything more than a slap on the wrist, 'kay?"
With a curt nod, Kyouko led the way for Raiko to follow, simply floating with her drum kit, leaving Mystia and Utsuho to mill about.
Mystia continued to shoot glances at Utsuho, the hell raven simply awaiting her eel with a content smile, hands politely crossed across her chest.
Despite her expression being one of friendliness, Mystia was still wary of her as she plated up the grilled lamprey, eyeing the raven just in case she tried anything.
She didn't, simply opting to take a wide bite of her eel, immediately flapping her wings in ecstasy. "This is the best thing I've ever eaten!"
Mystia reeled back in surprise, the sheer joy from the corvid putting her off guard and unsure of what to do next. "Thank you…"
Quickly devouring the eel, Utsuho took the time to give Mystia a once over, the sparrow still eyeing her with some distrust.
"Is there something wrong?" Utsuho scratched her head, her dark brown hair rustling in response,
"N-Nothing." Mystia lied through her teeth and even the simple-brained corvid could tell something was up.
"Is it my figure? I can fix that if you'd like." Without a chance to respond, Utsuho's body started to turn a blinding white, forcing Mystia to turn away.
After the light faded (and Mystia made sure she wasn't blind.) she gave Utsuho another look.
The hell raven's presence was significantly diminished, her wings more resembling Mystia's in total wingspan, with the central "eye" having shrunk significantly as well and her natural eyes had faded to more match her hazel hair colour and her cape had disappeared entirely.
Her smiling face was much less menacing than before, her intent seeming to have done a total flip, even though Utsuho's mood hadn't changed a bit, just her appearance.
"That makes things easier." Mystia finally admitted, finally able to take her eyes off without fear of being eaten or something equality ridiculous, allowing her to properly cook her own eel.
"Good." Utsuho said after a few seconds of silence. "This is the first time I've tried talking to someone without Miss Satori helping me, so this is … Tricky."
Mystia blinked, letting the sound of the sizzling eel and bustle of the Human Village play out wordlessly. It was nice, in a way to finally feel like she belonged somewhere.
Sure, Mystia had the Youkai Trail, that was her designated area she had beaten off "lesser" youkai for that distinction. The days of forcing her way through, hurting for the sake of hurting and nothing else-
It was little wonder that she went down the path of scaring humans. She needed bigger prey, not just the insects she lorded over as a self-proclaimed queen.
It was paradise until that night, the one where the moon was off, the night seemed to drag on forever, a perfect time to frighten humans.
She was just on her way to the Human Village when-
"Yo, what's goin' on here?" A voice so familiar and dreaded cut through her thoughts as Black White sat at the table, a tired smile on her face and greedy hands already reaching towards the bottle of sake.
Mystia sighed.
Marisa. Goddamn. Kirisame.
Even having only heard legends (more specifically several customers' accounts of her thieving ways) of the Black White made Mystia's feathers stand on end.
Not out of fear of her life of course, the magician seemed to be lacking her iconic weapon, but more pressing was the sake bottle now present in her hand and currently pouring into a cup.
"So, how good is this sake?" Marisa once again cut through the silence, trying to start a conversation as she took a drink, nearly choking on the taste. "Not very good, then." She answered her own question with a cough.
"It's almost like I didn't buy it for you," Mystia snarked with a sigh, snatching the bottle back before the magician could start drinking directly from the bottle. "That and the last time I recall seeing you, you wanted nothing more than to eradicate me when you were with that puppeteer and now you want to pretend like nothing happened?"
"... That's how it usually goes." Marisa looked away with some embarrassment, still eyeing the bottle in Mystia's hand. "Plus, I don't want to start a fight in the Human Village again, I was already on probation after a run-in with the owner of the second hand shop down the road…"
"I really hope Miss Satori isn't giving that shopkeep too hard of a time." Utsuho mused to herself before taking a drink of sake, seeming to ignore Marisa's presence entirely.
"Yeah, that satori needs to get her pets under control. This one time, I ended up having to go all the way underground just to take care of one damned raven. She didn't even thank me for getting her pet under control. Could you believe that she wouldn't even pay me?"
"Can't imagine that." Mystia said somewhat bitterly, taking the time to pour herself more sake, Screw it, the stand didn't need to be open tonight. "Speaking of causing trouble, what are you doing here?" "Aside from taking my sake." She thought to herself.
"Well I was just making the rounds when I noticed the smell of something cooking and it's too early in the day for the usual stands to be open for lunch, so I followed my nose." She explained simply, before pointing to the stove. "Also, think that eel's burnin', ze."
Mystia squealed in surprise, being so distracted by her partycrashers that she didn't even notice the eel's flesh starting to blacken as she hurriedly plated it up, sticking it onto the center of the table before it became inedible.
Giving a glance towards the slightly blackened skewer of lamprey, Marisa weighed her options. It looked perfectly edible and was the reason why she barged her way to the impromptu party, but the night sparrow's judgemental look made her briefly reconsider.
Briefly. If Reimu couldn't stop her from helping herself, some night sparrow youkai couldn't!
Reaching towards the skewer, Marisa was just a smidgen too late as a slightly swiffer pair of fingers snatched up the singed skewer.
Turning, Marisa finally noticed Utsuho's presence next to her, the raven simply chewing on the eel with a smile, not even caring about the charred skin, the umami more than making up for the slightly burnt taste. "Just as good as the first one!"
Marisa was simply shocked. Out of everyone in Gensokyo she could have ran into on today of all days, this was one of the least likely candidates.
And that meant…
"Ahh, such a lovely spring day, guess I'll walk off this sake, maybe go visit Reimu before that satori turns up, ze!" Black White quickly got up, dusting herself off and quietly removing herself from the scene, clearly walking away from the second-hand shop Utsuho was waiting at earlier as both looked on quizzically.
"Wonder what her deal is with Miss Satori." Utsuho wracked her brain, not noticing the Ordinary Magician trip over herself to avoid the approaching mind reader, carrying a bird feeder with the smallest of smug smiles.
"Considering that clerk seemed insistent on pushing the narrative that Lunarian avian life exists, I assume it's a family matter." Satori didn't even need to hear what the bird brain had said before looking right at Mystia. "I hope Okuu wasn't too much of a handful for you, I only expected her to go for a walk around the village."
"N-not at all!" Mystia looked the third eye with trepidation, seeming to peer within her soul and gleam the truth.
"Ah, so you needed Okuu's power to light.. A grill." Satori opened her human eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose with a sigh. "A branch shrine of the sun god. And you used that power, the nuclear fusion that is on the forefront of kappa technology... To light a grill."
"Miss Satori, the poor dog-eared youkai who came before me needed my power!" Utsuho exclaimed, getting up from her seat a little too quickly and stumbling due to her shrunken wingspan.
"And you've been drinking." Satori's tone became one of an annoyed parent as she turned to Mystia again. "I truly am sorry for my pet's behaviour, I would ensure she makes up for your lost sake, however I lack the necessary funds today due to… Okuu related issues."
The corvid rubbed the back of her head with an ashamed look. "Ah, thought you forgot about the window incident."
"It's why Orin can't have any catnip today, so of course I wouldn't forget." Satori lightly bapped Utsuho on the head. "Now if you would kindly change back to your full strength, we'll see about getting back to the Underworld early."
"Yes, Miss Satori." Utsuho groaned, turning to Mystia with an apologetic look on her face before fire consumed her body, Yageratsu's influence returning to her as she spread her full wingspan before Satori clambered onto her back. "Mystia, was it? It was nice talking to you."
"Same to you." She bowed politely. "Please come again!" Her chef's instinct kicked in before a furious blush covered her face. "S-Sorry, I run a lamprey stand on the Youkai Trail at night, I'm not usually up this late."
Satori blinked. "Will you be available on this 'Youkai Trail' tomorrow evening? I think I have a way to repay your generosity."
With a meek nod, Satori gave a signal for Utsuho to take off, the kasha Orin barreling behind them after a catnap lasted a little too long, leaving Mystia to watch them fly off towards the geyser that led to the Underworld before turning back to the table, covered in empty sake glasses, a half-eaten stick of lamprey on an abandoned plate and a sense of immement dread if she didn't start cleaning up.
"Least they could have done was help clean this up." Mystia noted, starting to hum a jaunty tune as she cleaned up the wares she brought from home, making sure everything was accounted for as tiredness started to creep up on her.
At the very least, she could take tonight off to go resupply her stand at the night market.
Late afternoon at the Scarlet Devil Mansion was usually the busiest time of day, with the maids working overtime to ensure the sprawling living space was up to the owners' high standards, along with the head maid preparing breakfast for her mistresses making things rather chaotic.
Still, Sakuya handled her duties with grace and elegance, not spilling a single drop as she made her way around the rushing fairies, clicking her stopwatch as necessary to avoid colliding with the headstrong fairies before she opened the door to the balcony where Remilia was sat, her left wing having mostly straightened out, but still unsuited for flight.
"Milady, are you sure you should be outside when you're still healing?" The maid asked with some concern, knowing what Remilia's answer would be.
"A simple sprain won't stop me from appreciating a sunset, Sakuya. That and I thought we could discuss further plans for the Scarlet Moon Festival under this lovely sunset, don't you agree?" Remilia didn't even turn around as Sakuya put a tray with kettle and teacup down, pouring a fresh cup of tea with a tinge of blood to sweeten the flavour for a vampire such as Remilia. "Thank you." She stated as Sakuya stood back up, hands crossed over her chest.
"Of course, milady. What would you like to discuss?"
"I suppose I should ask how you feel about this now that you've had some time to mull it over." Remilia sipped at her tea, smiling at the tang of blood in her drink.
"I thank you for your gracious attitude milady, but even after mulling it over I see no tangible benefit to neither you nor the residents here to host such a festival." Sakuya explained her stance with all the elegance expected of her.
"Sakuya, I feel like you're missing the point," Remilia took a moment to wet her parched throat again. "Do you know the saying 'walk a mile in my shoes', perchance?"
"The idiom of trying to understand someone before criticising them? Why would you bring up such an idiom, milady? You're different from anyone in Gensokyo bar Lady Flan."
"Therein lies the problem, Sakuya." Remilia sighed, getting up from her chair and heading towards the shaded edge of the balcony, resting her head on her arms as the sun continued to set, basking the Misty Lake in amber light. "No matter how long we spend here, we are still outsiders to this land, everything from our house to the way we dress to even how we live is completely different from anywhere else. Doesn't that bother you?"
The sound of gentle footsteps indicated that Sakuya was approaching, but she still stood behind her master, looking out towards the lake herself. "Isn't that why you took me under your wing? Isn't that why you helped out Patchouli when she became ostracized from society? Meiling? Even Lady Flan? Are you thinking of leav-"
"Nonsense." Remilia cut her off, straightening her arms to lift herself off the stone wall. "Scarlet Devil Mansion is my home and mine alone. I'd sooner burn this place to the ground and kill you all myself than even dare entertain that thought." Her icy tone bore no argument, before it softened again with a chuckle. "Not that this place would last long even if I did leave."
Sakuya smiled at the passion behind those words, knowing her mistress wasn't going soft anytime soon. "That was excellent milady, but that didn't answer my question on why you suddenly wish to host a festival when you seem perfectly content as is."
Remilia put her arms behind her back and gave a good, long sigh. "It's not really about feeling content. home is where the heart is and I wouldn't change this place for the world. It's… Something rather selfish that occupies my mind."
"As your humble maid, any and all requests should be brought my way milady, I'm not going to say no, after all." Sakuya encouraged her mistress to speak up, more curious on what she would deem as selfish at his point than doing her job.
"On the night of the Scarlet Moon Festival…" She turned to Sakuya, her eyes shining with the same childish glee Flandre gave her when she asked for an extra portion of cake.
"I want to spend it as a human."
A/N: Not usually a fan of cliffhanger-esque chapter breaks, but this seemed like a good stopping point to publish, along with being a chunkier chapter to boot with a lot more focus on the "B-Plot" cast. That being said I do apologize if anything felt a bit slow and dialogue-heavy.
I also apologize if my portrayals of Mystia and Okuu in particular seem a little bit too off… It's at this point I must reveal my hand and talk about The Celestial's Song Bird by Slothful Simple Man. It's a lovely fic and was the genesis for the B-Plot for this fic, please don't hit me, the dynamic of "Night Sparrow/Sun God" is just too damn cute for me to pass up.
Omake:
*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BE-*
*slam*
"Shaddup, damn infernal contraption." Mystia dragged the blanket on her bed over her entire body, trying to curse the setting sun above her. The night market could wait for her mild hangover to ride.
A certain maid's voice didn't, echoing over the Youkai Trail, along with most of Gensokyo.
"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DID YOU JUST SAY?"