Girls are Preparing. Please wait warmly.
"Thank you for coming." Yukari said as she looked upon the group gathered in front of the Hakurei Shrine. "I believe you all have your own reasons for joining, but I won't bother asking. I already know what they are. Some of you even feel the same as me."
Yukari gazed at the eyes of the whole group standing in front of her. Five members looked back at her with combinations of determined, seemingly uncaring, concerned and irritated. She paid no mind to the specifics.
"Wait a sec' Yukari." Marisa spoke up, frowning as she took a quick glance around the group. "You said there were six people. Where's the last one?"
"Ahaha, that's me!" Suika answered in jolly manner next to Yukari. "I'll be going with you guys!"
The others turned to her in a surprised manner, some more than others.
"You? You will be coming with us?" Patchouli asked with her usual soft frown. "I suppose we do need someone with physical power. An oni would be the perfect match."
"Ayayaya…" Aya beat her wings with gentle agitation. "Is this how dangerous this venture is? Has the outside world really changed that much?"
"I believe it's to secure our success, by sending some of Gensokyo's stronger residents." Alice pointed out before turning to the woman next to her. "Why are you here though Inaba-san?"
Reisen returned a small, reassuring smile. "Master asked me to come with you guys when Yukari-san requested someone from Eientei. She said she owed Reimu-san a debt for protecting Eientei and that the group would need someone with medical experience since we might get hurt."
Alice nodded.
Yukari cleared her throat "Before you leave, there are a few more things. There are some words a certain someone would like to say."
Reimi peeked out from behind Yukari's long dress. Her appearance invoked a stew of feelings: three parts guilt, two parts gentle understanding, and one part indifference.
"U-um…" Reimi stuttered, twiddling her fingers a bit shyly in front of the small crowd. "I-I know that Auntie Yukari asked you to do this for Mom. But please, don't die! I don't want to lose anyone else!"
An awkward silence flew overhead. Nobody spoke a word as Reimi turned her head to the ground with a beet red face before courageously looking back up.
"Mom would never want you to see any of you guys die for her sake. And I know some of you guys feel guilty that she's like this…" Reimi took a quick glance at said members who flinched. "But I know it's not your fault! So please, don't blame yourself!"
Unable to look at them in the eye any longer, she turned away. "Just… don't. No more. And come back, please."
As she finished, she bowed politely before heading back inside the Hakurei Shrine.
Marisa tilted her oversized witch hat and head downwards, covering her eyes and frown.
"She's pretty intuitive already, huh Yukari?" Marisa said in a low voice. "Guess that's the Hakurei line fer ya'."
"Yes. I'm uncertain on how strong that intuition of hers has completely manifested, but it is showing itself to be quite powerful already." Yukari answered quietly, purposefully tailored so that everybody heard regardless. "I have a few more words for you as well before you disembark."
She gave the most serious look that the group had seen thus far.
"Remember that impressing the Youkai Faction of Kyoto is pivotal to persuading them to come to Gensokyo; I will leave the method to you. The first and foremost priority, however, is to protect them from whatever dangers may come. Gensokyo's survival may very well depend on your success. Not only that, but Reimu has a high chance of recovery if enough faith is given to her by the youkai that come if this is successful. I have already delegated all the logistics to Ran and the kappa, Nitori Kawashiro. Sanae, Toyosatomimi no Miko, and Byakuren have all agreed to push the incoming youkai to give their faith to Reimu." Yukari stopped momentarily to take in the details as she briefed them. "I will check in once in a while, but be careful regardless. The other members of the supernatural of the Outside World are extremely powerful. Are there any questions?"
No one answered. Not even to question how she got all the different members of the various religions to assist Reimu's Shinto one.
"Then I wish you all the best of luck." She stated before gaps opened individually on each person.
Suika went last. "Take care of yourself, Yukari," she said before leaving. "Reimi's kind of a handful, but you know that already. And rest after this. You look like you need it." She waved goodbye as she finally vanished.
Just as Suika was gone, Yukari fell to her knees, breath quick and sweat cold on her face.
"Just this is enough to tire me out. I fear what support I can give will be very limited." She pushed herself to stand back up and looked to the evening sky. "Let all of Gensokyo hope that the hand I have shown will be enough to secure our safety."
xXx
"I have been expecting you," said Yasaka, nodding in acknowledgement. "You are the ones that Yukari sent?"
Patchouli spoke first. "Yes. And you are Yasaka-san?" The purple haired magician asked.
Yasaka nodded in response while Marisa turned to huff at the librarian.
"Hey Patchy! I was gonna answer her!" Marisa complained. "Why'd ya' go and do that?"
"Because if she didn't, then you would have left a bad impression for us," Alice responded promptly, sighing. "You've never been diplomatic as long as I've known you. Try and let us do the talking instead."
Marisa crossed her arms, huffing. "Hmph. Fine. And I can be diplomatic when I wanna be."
Suika laughed while Reisen and Aya gave a slight smile. Patchouli just sighed in annoyance.
Even Yasaka allowed a smile through. "Do not worry." Attention returned to Yasaka. You are guests of the Youkai Faction. As a long-lived youkai myself, I know myself the numerous quirks that powerful beings may have, though you may want to be more careful with the others. However, allow me to be the first to welcome you to Kyoto. May I have the honor of knowing your names?"
"Thank you very much Yasaka-san." Reisen bowed politely. "I'm Reisen Udonge Inaba, a moon rabbit. Pleased to meet you."
"Marisa Kirisame! Just an ordinary witch." She gave an energetic grin.
"My name's Suika Ibuki!" She waved her arms around, giving a jovial smile. "We should have a drink sometime!"
"I am Alice Margatroid. I am a Magician." The puppeteer bowed in respect.
"Patchouli Knowledge." She coughed in between her words. "I am also a Magician."
"Aya Shameimaru! Honest reporter of the Bunbunmaru Newspaper!" Her cheerful intro was met with gentle scoffs.
"I'm honored to meet you all as well. I am curious though. You two…" Yasaka switched off between eying Patchouli and Alice. "You appear to be very much human, yet you're not. You're both youkai, but I'm unable to discern any of your distinguishable features."
Alice spoke first. "While we appear human, we are youkai without any features such as wings or horns, Yasaka-san. Patchouli-san and I are known as Magician Youkai. However, we do not have the same physiology as most other youkai."
"Magicians do not possess the naturally enhanced physical strength and durability of most other youkai," Patchouli added. "In fact, we are generally frail even by human standards. I regret to inform you, but I am someone who is fairly sick unlike Alice."
"Interesting…" Yasaka muttered to herself. "You have a very diverse group. Oni, Tengu, Moon Rabbit, Human and now Magician youkai. I doubt Yukari would send someone unable to fend for themselves here. May I assume that Yukari has already notified that you or Alice will be researching on how to remove the leylines from me?"
Patchouli nodded. "Yes. We have been told. Both of us will be staying here in order to research that as well as guard you. I am unsure on what the others will do in the meantime."
"I see. Have you also been told about the other factions besides the youkai in Kyoto?" Yasaka asked.
"Nah. Not really. All we know is that most everybody else is stronger than you though," Suika stated bluntly. "That's what we're here for. We're some of the best there is!"
Yasaka nodded her head, allowing herself the smallest of giggles.
"Nonetheless, it would be foolish to send you out without any information. Therefore, I will tell you everything that I know. Please have a seat on a cushion as this may take a while." Yasaka offered, gesturing towards the red cushions placed on the wooden floor around the table. The Gensokyo group silently accepted the invitation.
"Now then…" Yasaka began, placing herself at the head of the table. "There are three other factions besides the Youkai Faction. Those are the Devil, Fallen Angel, and Angel Factions. They are the three major powers of the world as of this moment, each with their own leaders. A long time ago however, there was a great war that began between them. To this day, that war hasn't officially finished. A ceasefire has been called, but unofficial, minor conflicts still break out between the three. In the end, the Devils lost their four Maous, the strongest beings and leaders on their side along with several of their stronger members. The Heavenly Hosts were much of the same, losing most of their forces in the conflict. Finally, the Fallen Angels, who were formerly Angels, lost most of their forces except their leaders. To my knowledge, each of these factions cannot easily reproduce either and thus, they have been severely diminished. As a result, each side is hesitant to fight each other in an outright battle."
"The Heavenly Hosts. Is that to mean that the God of the Biblical Bible from the religions of Christianity does in fact exist?" Patchouli questioned.
"Yes. Though, he has not been seen in some time. He exists."
The sound of pencil scribbling furiously against paper drew everyone's attention.
"Aya-san, why are you writing all this down in your notebook?" Reisen quizzically asked. "Is this in case we forget? I doubt any of us will forget something so important."
Aya waved it off dismissively. "No, nothing like that. This is just for myself."
"What? Yer not gonna publish it here or somethin', are ya'?" Marisa asked, cocking an eyebrow at the tengu as she finished jotting down what she wanted.
"No comment." Aya replied with a small deadpan, although there was a hidden undercurrent of sadness.
Suika looked at her suspiciously, narrowing her eyes ever so slightly before deciding not to call her out.
Marisa shrugged. "Eh, whatever. Not my problem anyway."
"Continuing…" Yasaka interrupted before any more idle talk could continue. "It is said that the more wings any of these three factions have, the more powerful they are. Twelve is the highest count one can have and this applies to all the main factions thus far. Though there are very few of them, just one of them is said to be able destroy the nation of Japan several times over with their power."
The room went silent as Yasaka had expected. Anyone with power of that magnitude would shock anybody. However, the outbursts and reactions she expected from a few people in the room were nonexistent. She thought they would be more shocked to hear that they could possibly be taking on someone of that caliber but they didn't look the least bit scared. She took to observing the members of Gensokyo.
Both Patchoulil and Alice had discerning expressions. Yasaka didn't know how powerful they were, but they had said that they were physically weak. In that case, several of the other factions' members could easily defeat them in a fight were they to get close. For a moment, she doubted their capabilities before she remembered that Yukari Yakumo was involved. Again, she doubted that she would have sent anyone incapable of fighting back, even if they were only here to help remove the leylines from her. Physical strength was not everything either and both Magicians seemed very intelligent. Their calculative looks told Yasaka that maybe they were much stronger than they seemed if they didn't even look the least bit perturbed at her information. Thus, she'd withhold judgment on their strengths until she actually saw them in combat. Strategic and intelligent minds combined with magical power was a deadly combination.
The moon rabbit had a neutral look, giving absolutely nothing away from her body language. Was she also a similar case with Patchouli and Alice? Yasaka had no idea what a moon rabbit was capable of in the first place. Nonetheless, the most she could tell about Reisen was that she was as capable as an average youkai and that she clearly had some sort of power or skill that was enough to be sent over to Kyoto.
Suika, the oni, had a very significant change. She seemed jolly earlier, but now she looked deadly serious. The onis here in Kyoto no longer existed unfortunately. They were officially extinct, but Yasaka did not forget the physical power they wielded. Beneath her cheerful exterior, Yasaka knew, laid someone of immeasurable power who could probably level mountains with a single fist. The nine-tailed fox estimated that the oni was most likely one of their most powerful fighters and that to bring her along was the equivalent of bringing in an Ultimate-Class devil as 'reinforcements.'
Marisa was much of the same to a smaller degree. Energetic earlier, but now she only had a frown to her face. She was a human with magic, but she couldn't tell her level of mastery or just how much she had. The frown gave Yasaka some slight shivers mentally as she didn't look the least bothered on possibly defending the Youkai Faction of Kyoto from such a high level enemy. Could that possibly mean that Marisa had fought enemies like that for a long time now? That was the only explanation Yasaka could think of for the lack of a loud response that she had expected to hear seeing as Marisa was one the loud ones. It was that, or the possibility that the Lunarian War had hardened everyone so much that they were used to enemies of that level. For a human to survive that, this Marisa had to be incredibly powerful.
Finally, there was the tengu with the notebook and pencil. An interested smile, but one that didn't quite reach her face. If she had to take one guess at one of Aya's advantages, it would be her speed. Tengu as a whole were known for their incredible speed, more so if they were a crow tengu. It seemed that the Lunarian War had affected her very much if the undercurrent of sadness wasn't an illusion or a trick of the light. Could she have lost comrades or others important to her? The others, except the Oni it seemed, didn't notice the split second of grief that had showed in her voice. Either way, the same idea of all the others being powerful applied to her as well. If they were here, then they brought something important to the team and Yukari deemed them strong enough to trust them in the outside world.
One thing bothered her though. The Lunarian War that Gensokyo was involved in would bring veterans in fighting. That didn't mean the most stable people however and she was prepared for that. To even help them should they have needed it, if only in order to fulfill her purpose. She completely expected them to be emotionally detached or scarred. Anything that showed that the war had clearly hurt them in whatever way possible.
It wasn't there for most of them though.
Was it because none of them had experienced very much loss personally and only Yukari did? Or was it possible that they were all hiding their true emotions behind their cheerful exteriors? Marisa and Suika had all only become more serious when she mentioned how strong the enemies could possibly be and that wasn't a good indication of what they really felt. Only Aya obviously held some grief from the war. Other than her, the scars either never existed in the first place or they hid it well. She doubted they would answer truthfully if she asked on what their personal stake was for participating in the group and if they did, she had no way to validate it.
Yasaka decided to think upon this another time. For now, she decided that completing what she wanted to say before they believed her to be suspicious was necessary.
"As for the immediate area, Kuoh Town is the area closest to Kyoto, being only thirty minutes away with human transportation." Yasaka continued again. "Currently, it is occupied by a devil but we have no idea whom. While I detest doing so, leaving Kyoto for Gensokyo may be the best option for the future for the Youkai Faction of Kyoto. Therefore, I will assist when I can to help you impress the other youkai, although publically I must appear impartial."
She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts.
"If I may make a suggestion, scouting and spying in Kuoh Town would be a good start." Yasaka informed them. "I will leave the details on how you'd like to do so to you, bu-."
The sliding door leading to the meeting room slid open, revealing a three-tailed kitsune.
"What is it?" Yasaka asked somewhat coldly, frowning at the interruption.
The servant bowed respectfully before speaking. "Yasaka-sama. Forgive me for intruding, but the elders are calling for another meeting on plans involving moving the youkai who wish to move to Gensokyo. They request your presence."
Yasaka stood up from her seat gracefully, her long golden tails blossoming out. "Very well. I will be there immediately."
She walked to the door but stopped before completely exiting, turning towards the Gensokyo residents.
"If you wish to roam around the shrine then please don't hesitate to do so. I will be back momentarily and will send a servant to find each of you to come back here for further discussion." Yasaka turned and left, the servant shutting the door behind her.
A small silence set in before Marisa decided to break it.
"Well. Shrine's lot bigger than Reimu's, eh?" Marisa nudged Suika gently as the Oni eventually decided to uncork her sake gourd and drink out of it.
Suika laughed. "Course. Yukari had ta' slip in some donations for years to help her out. Even after Reimu got married and had Reimi, she still did it. Reimu never found out though."
Both Aya and Marisa turned to the horned youkai in shock.
"Wait what? Yukari did that?" Marisa asked, almost dropping her jaw.
"Enough, Marisa. Suika." Alice cut in. "Though we appreciate you speaking up first to break the silence, it would have been better if it were actually about what to do now that we are here."
"Tch." Marisa turned away, crossing her arms across her chest. "Wasn't like anybody was sayin' anything anyway."
Patchouli cleared her throat, ignoring Marisa's response.
"We now know where to start at the very least, thanks to Yasaka. Alice and I will have to stay here in order to figure out how we are going to remove the magical leylines from her. This will leave the four of you in charge of surveillance for Kuoh Town in the meantime." The sickly magician stated, coughing between every few words.
"Hey, why am I stuck just watchin' a town? Why can't I research with you guys?" Marisa eyed both Patchouli and Alice.
"Because we already have more than enough help here in Kyoto," Alice reasoned. "We don't need anybody else and in terms of raw magical power, you are amongst one of the most powerful in case something goes wrong in Kuoh Town. Also, you would cause something to explode or something along that manner if you helped us."
"I would not!" Marisa denied boldly. "Maybe."
Alice looked unimpressed. "Marisa, I've known you for a long time as a friend. You even tell me about some of the magical experiments that explode in your house. We can't allow that to happen here."
Once again, the group could hear Aya's rapid writing in her notebook and Marisa turned to her with a minor scowl.
"Would ya' stop that? Ya' better not put this in yer third-rate rag!" Marisa said as Aya completely disregarded her anyway. "Ahh whatever! Fine! I'll do whatever we need. Happy?"
Alice finally smiled at her companion in a more controlled fashion. "Thank you Marisa."
"If we're going to spy in Kuoh Town, we should have a place to stay too." Reisen added. "We could open a small clinic in Kuoh to stay at. We can get information easily this way too, helping other patients. If any of us get hurt, I could also have supplies on hand immediately to take care of it."
"Not a bad idea." Suika agreed. "Where we gonna get everything though? Don't we need money or something like that?"
Reisen nodded, red eyes turning towards the sliding door Yasaka went through earlier. "We could ask Yasaka-san for finances. With how she acted, I'm sure she'd agree. If not, Marisa-san could steal some."
"Speaking of which," Patchouli promptly interjected, "I would still like my stolen books back Marisa. I've already told you that I have no intention of lending you any more books yet you still come to my library."
Marisa scratched her head sheepishly. "Hehe. I didn't steal 'em. I'm just borrowin' them. 'Sides, you live way longer than I do anyway. Just get 'em from my house after I kick the bucket!"
Though Patchouli glowered heavily, she decided not to say anything.
"In any case, it seems our plan has come together." Alice commented. "Aya and Suika will spy for us in Kuoh Town. Their abilities make them effective for that manner. Marisa and Inaba-san will stay at their clinic and keep ears out for anything suspicious events from word of mouth. I believe this is an effective strategy. Are there any questions?"
"Yeah. What's gonna be our team name?" Marisa asked.
Alice raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Our… team name?"
"Hey. That's a good idea. We should have a team name. We don't want to keep calling ourselves, that group, you know." Aya chipped in.
"Yeah. That don't sound half-bad." Suika joined in too. "We should have a name!"
"Hmm… how 'bout Team Gensokyo? We are all from Gensokyo after all." Reisen pointed out.
"What!?" Marisa responded in shock. "That's way too simple! Come on! We need something more exciting!"
"If we allow you to name it Marisa, you would name it something ridiculous." Alice said. "I vote for Team Gensokyo."
"Second! Now I can put this on my newspaper!"
"Third! Let's drink ta' it!"
"That makes four people Marisa-san. The majority wins." The rabbit-eared girl smiled mischievously at the human.
"Wait a sec'. Patchouli didn't even vote!" Marisa tried futilely to object to the decision. "Come on Patchy! Help me out!"
"No. And I don't care." Patchouli said in the flattest tone possible.
Suika laughed boisterously while Marisa dropped her head in false depression.
"Haha! I guess we're Team Gensokyo now!"
A/N: Well, I guess I've got enough motivation to do this. Most of the reason this chapter took so long was because I didn't know how I wanted this to progress. When you involve politics, everything becomes really complicated. To others, it's easy for them. For me? It's a completely different story and I have to work around that. Also, the thing with Touhou characters is that unless they're characters shown in the games or in the books, it can be difficult to get a feel for what they're like so it's hard to write them at times. However, it also gives you liberty with how you want to write them. One good example is Momiji. To my knowledge, she doesn't even get dialogue, nor do we see her talk in any of the written works. It's a pro in that you can write her however you like and a con in that you have nothing canon to refer to, unlike Reimu or Marisa.
This chapter in particular, gave me a very difficult time and despite it being necessary, I disliked it. If anything could have been done better or whatever, please let me know by reviewing, PM'ing me, etc. Thanks to my Beta Xavic for fixing up all this for me. He IS on this site so you can go look him up if you want. This was a gruesome chapter to write for me and it's hard to write conversations with an entire group like this. Nonetheless, I suppose I can officially declare that this story is underway. I hope you enjoyed my efforts anyway!
