1/9
"So both Doremy and Yuyuko know about the Metaverse, and know that we're exploring it, is what you're saying?" Reimu said.
I nodded. "Unfortunately."
The five of us were gathered at the Shrine, discussing our current situation before heading into Ethos to explore it further. There were many things I wanted to go over, but I felt that I had to open by revealing our secret was already known to Yuyuko, a former target, and Doremy, the ruler of the Dream World.
"That's bad, like, really bad, ain't it?" Marisa asked.
"But then again, probably not surprising at all," Reimu said. "If the Metaverse is the 'collective unconscious,' as you describe it, then of course someone like Doremy who manages dreams would know about it."
"And since she's working with Yuyuko-sama on the investigation into what's going on Outside, of course she'd fill her in," added.
Nitori raised her hand. "Wait, what investigation?"
I turned to her. "Oh, right, we haven't told you about it yet. Right now, it seems as though there's a major incident unfolding on the Outside, one which we think is tied to the Metaverse somehow." I took a sip of tea. "When I went to go meet with them about the investigation two nights ago, in addition to them revealing that they know about our Metaverse activities, Doremy also shared some information on what this disturbance, which is growing by the day, is like."
"Oh?" All of their eyes were on me.
"She explained to me that it seems as though this strange force is making it so that people have all their greatest desires fulfilled, and never went through devastating losses such as the deaths of loved ones or past abuse. It can even seemingly resurrect people, such as deceased parents of children, rewrite history, or even expunge criminals and corrupt politicians; she saw no mention or allusion to Shido in any recent dreams from Tokyo."
Marisa kicked back. "Huh. So basically a world where everyone is free and happy. What's so bad about that?"
Reimu slammed the table. "You idiot! This is a grave, existential threat to Gensokyo!"
"How so?" Marisa asked.
"Well, think about this: why does religion exist? Why do people pray to higher beings? Why do things like youkai, demons, monsters and other superstitions exist?" She focused on all the rest of us. "It's simple: humans fear the dark, the unknown, and they go through all kinds of hardships in a harsh, cruel world. They seek salvation from all those, and their memes - fears, anger, sadness, beliefs, desires - those memes are the building blocks which all youkai and gods need to take form and thrive. Our entire world is built on memes. So what happens when you throw all that out the window and give people everything they want and take away their reason to be afraid of anything? I'll tell you what happens: people stop praying to gods, which starves them and causes them to die. If they're happy all the time, demons, youkai and monsters don't have their food, so they also die. Every mythical being outside of Gensokyo dies, and that kind of climate on the Outside would, if not reversed, eventually overpower the sage's ability to keep the Barrier up, causing the Hakurei Border to crumble and kill everyone and everything here. Including all of us."
All of us were wide-eyed as Reimu finished her rant.
"Shit," Marisa said, "I knew the Hakurei Border was serious business, but I didn't know we were toast if everyone's wishes were granted. Seems stupid and unfair if you ask me."
"So if we don't solve this mystery we could all die," I said. "That's why we need to get inside Ethos and try to find some answers. If we can tap into the collective unconscious we might be able to discover the culprit and deal with them."
"Assuming we can," Reimu said. "Doing something like this, affecting the public's cognition on a global scale, would require immense power. I wouldn't be surprised if a god were responsible."
"I didn't know changing human cognition could literally change the world in such an extreme way," Nitori said.
"It can, as Reimu said." I looked over at her. "Still, I never thought I'd hear you talk about memes, in a psychology sense."
Reimu crossed her arms on the table. "I always knew how human beliefs and fears shaped religion and created youkai and gods, but it wasn't until I went into the Metaverse, Goro explained how it worked and especially after I awakened to my Persona that it all finally clicked. I remembered an old conversation I had with Yukari, or rather a lecture she gave me, about human perception and memes, and how she called them 'the substance of the soul.'" She chuckled. "Sheesh, I never thought in a million years it would ever be relevant to what I did, and yet here I am, dealing with an incident about human cognition and belief itself."
Marisa cut in. "Can we talk about this later? I know this psychology shit's interesting and all, but the bottom line is that we're dealing with a big-ass threat on the Outside, Yuyuko and Doremy know our secret, and we need to keep 'em from rattin', is that it?"
"Precisely," I said. "And because they know our secret, we need to keep them on our side. I do have some leverage over them - they explicitly told me they need me alive to help deal with the incident, since I know the Metaverse like no one else - but it will fall on Youmu to monitor them and make sure they stick true to their promise of not selling us out."
Youmu bowed. "I will not let you down, not after what you all did for me."
"Good." I turned back to the table. "Now, before we head for Ethos, there is one other topic I'd like to bring up."
"Shoot," Marisa said.
I chose to cut straight to the point. "Byakuren Hijiri also has a Fortress."
Reimu spat out her tea. "Wait, what?"
"I went to the temple yesterday. When I came back, I found that my key had reacted to two keywords: her name, and the temple. All that's missing is the distortion." I took out my key to show them.
"Hot damn," Marisa said. "Guess we got ourselves another target."
"But," Youmu asked, "shouldn't we focus on the incident Outside first?"
"Absolutely," I affirmed. "But, this is a distortion that exists, and could be affecting the acolytes at her temple, and perhaps others as well. Plus, our efforts to solve the Outside incident may hit roadblocks; having another Fortress to work on in the meantime would allow us to keep our skills fresh, and possibly find some more clues as well."
Marisa nodded. "Eh, good point. Not like there's that much we can do from Gensokyo, anyway."
"We don't know that," Reimu said. "We just have to go to Ethos and take a look."
Nitori started twiddling her fingers. Marisa looked at her. "Somethin' wrong?"
"Oh, nothing, it's just… speaking of targets, remember how I said I had one condition for joining you all?"
"What about it?" I asked.
"Well, there's…" she looked up at us. "Do you all remember the yamawaro? Besides Goro, I mean?"
"Yamawaro?" I asked.
"A few years back," Marisa explained, "some kappa left the river, callin' themselves 'yamawaro.' Kappa are antisocial with each other anyway, but the yamawaro have a superiority complex, and often taunt and bully the kappa down in the ravine, callin' them things like 'wimps' and 'babies who won't leave the water.' And unlike the Kappa, they're well organized and can mug pretty much anyone they want, humans, youkai, even goddesses on occasion."
"Right," Nitori affirmed. "There's one in particular who likes to torment me, beat me up and talk about how much more awesome than me she is and how she can ban me from doing anything."
"What's her name?" I asked.
"Her name is… Mitori Kawashiro."
My eyes widened. "Kawashiro? Is she your sister?"
"Technically, yes, we came from the same clutch of eggs, but we didn't grow up together or anything. Again, we Kappa are solitary creatures, we don't really keep in touch even with our own kin, so she's just as much a stranger as anyone else to me."
I took out my key and said the name again. When I did, it shined, displayed a projection of her name, then did something else which it did not do with Yuyuko: another projection displayed "Ethos, Prajna Block."
We examined the key. "'Prajna Block,'" said Reimu. "What does that mean?"
"It must be her shadow's location within Ethos," I surmised. "This must mean that if a person's shadow is distorted, but not enough to have a Fortress, they will appear in Ethos in the location specified and all we need is their name." I rubbed my chin. "This is just like how finding targets in Mementos worked."
"So does this mean we can take on smaller fry without havin' to haggle with keywords?" Marisa asked.
"Yes," I answered.
Marisa clasped her hands. "Sweet! So we can just go out, find small-time crooks and change a buncha hearts all in one place! And get lots of loot, too!"
"It's always about the loot, isn't it?" Reimu sighed.
"Not like you're any better with your get-rich-quick schemes," Marisa snarked.
"In any case," Youmu cut in, "we have a new big target, and a smaller target within Ethos. I see no reason not to take them on. What about all of you?"
"Let's go for it," Marisa said.
"I'm in," replied Reimu.
"Of course," I said. I turned to Nitori. "And you? We don't act without a unanimous vote."
"Well, I mean, I put her name out, right? And if we tackle her, then I'll help you with anything you all want to do, as I promised."
"Then it's settled," I said, getting up. "Our first official operation as the Day Breakers. Are you all ready?"
"Let's get goin'!" Marisa smiled. "We don't have all day!"
A while later, we were back in Ethos. After our last visit, we hastily beached the boat and left it in the Metaverse, dropping the anchor to ensure no shadows could run off with it. We were pleased to see it was still exactly where we left it, so we decided we would just keep it here - it was too big for Marisa's bagging pistol to hold, and something in the real world might try to steal it or hole up in, not to mention the boat's mere existence itself could be seen as suspicious. There was no sign of the Vajra shadow which had attacked us last time, either. So we simply sailed to Ethos and immediately went to work.
"So where are we gonna find Mitori's shadow?" Marisa asked. "The key said she was somewhere in 'Prajna Block,' but we don't know where that is."
"There must be a map somewhere," I said. Turning to Nitori, I asked her, "can you find something… um, er…"
"What is it?" Nitori asked.
"I just realized you don't have a codename yet," I said.
"Codename?"
"We don't use our real names here," Reimu explained. "It's to prevent any adverse effects happening to us in the Metaverse."
"Plus," Marisa added, "it ain't cool for superheroes like us to just use our real names when we're goin' around doin' superhero stuff!"
"...even though you both use your real names when solving incidents," Youmu said.
Both had no comment.
"Anyway, my codename is 'Crow," I bowed.
"I'm Fury," said Youmu, brandishing her sword.
"Starburst!" Marisa smirked, flashing a peace sign.
"And I'm Seraph," said Reimu. "Remember those names, because we use them exclusively."
"I see…" Nitori shuffled around, twirling her lab coat as she did. "...to be honest, I'm not great at coming up with names…"
"We could just go with something obvious for now, and you can change it later if you don't like it," I said.
"Something obvious?" She looked at her sleeves. "Why do I look like a doctor?"
"It reflects your idea of a hero," I answered. "Some aspect about your ideals causes you to believe doctors and scientists to be heroes. In my case, I'm a secret agent, as I worked for the Special Investigations Unit and firmly believe in bringing criminals to justice, but I'm not above working in the shadows or performing legally dubious acts myself if that's what it takes."
"Interesting…" Nitori thought for a bit. "...when I awakened my Persona, it explained that I strive to discover truth and lead others to it. I've never bought into religion, and I always look for scientific explanations and constantly invent things to make life easier, or discover new ways of doing things, just like a scientist would. Sure, I might be arrogant and stuck-up about it, but in the end that's what I'm trying to do."
"And so that's why you look like a professor?" I asked.
"Well… more like a 'Herr Doktor' if you ask me," she smiled.
I was confused. "What do you mean?"
"You know those stories about German mad doctors?" she asked. "Right now, I kinda feel like one of those, since I'm always inventing crazy new things and I'm in charge of building and upgrading all of your weapons. Plus," one of her robotic snake heads came out of her back, "can you really consider this 'science?'"
"Ah, I see," Marisa said. "Goin' for that 'mad scientist' vibe, eh? Honestly, I think it suits you."
"So what you're suggesting is…"
Nitori recalled her Persona and came back down to the ground. "You should all call me 'Herr Doktor,' or just 'Doktor' for short."
I smiled. "If that's what you would like to be called, then 'Herr Doktor' it is."
"Thank you!" she smiled. She then pulled out a PDA, which spawned a satellite dish and a holographic map display. "Now, as for a map, I've got one right here in the palm of my hands. In just a few strokes, I can zero in on anywhere in the tower that I can see. Lesse…"
The hologram was divided into several segments, each representing a floor. When Nitori tapped it with two fingers, each floor above the bottom one was highlighted red.
"Hmhm… I see!"
"What is it?" Marisa asked.
"Seems as though the floors above here are the 'Prajna' block. In other words, you all have already visited it."
"But we haven't yet seen all of it," I thought. "There were more floors above where we stopped for that day." I turned to her and asked, "can you tell where Mitori's shadow might be?"
"I can try." She summoned her Persona again, which spawned another radar dish which spun around and fed information to her PDA. After a few moments, she said, "seems like she's higher up. Like, as high up as I can see with my gear."
"So we just gotta go up," Marisa said.
"Seems like it." Fixing my tie and spinning my knife into a reverse grip, I told the group, "we're better equipped now than last time. We have better medicine, better weapons, and a navigator who can show us the way through the dark and the haze. Even so, we must be careful. The Reaper will stalk us if it gets the chance, and the floors above teem with shadows. Knowing that, are you all ready to ascend the tower with me?"
"Just waitin' for the signal, bubba," Marisa said. The rest all silently nodded.
"Good. Let's head up."
We made our way up to the safe room a few floors up where we had stopped last time. Nitori informed us that Mitori's shadow was still further up, so we gathered our resolve and ascended the staircase. The upper floors of the Prajna block were much like the ones further down: mazes of stone walls, all filled with shadows wandering through them aimlessly, scraps of material and metallic bits on the floor, and treasure chests full of gold, gear and weapons including upgrades to Reimu and Youmu's melee weapons and a new gun for Marisa resembling a Colt.
At one point, we came across another chest. This one had a lock, not that it mattered since Marisa's crowbar could knock them off anyway. Between us and the chest, however, was a curious object on the floor. It looked like a bouquet of flowers floating in a yellow bubble. Marisa went up to it and inspected it.
"The hell is this thing?" she asked. "What are flowers doin' here in Ethos?"
I walked up to the flowers to get a closer look. That's when I realized I had seen these before.
"Ah, yes, these sometimes appeared in Mementos as well. When I was with the Thieves, they collected these flowers and gave them to a strange boy who also explored Mementos in his car. He supposedly explained to them that these flowers are formed from human emotions, and made drinks from to help his understanding of humans better."
"What a strange boy…" Reimu thought.
Marisa bagged the flowers. "Well, whatever. Treasure's treasure, and if we collect these maybe somethin' good will happen."
"Agreed," I said. "We must leave no stone unturned." I looked over my shoulder. "Let's keep moving. We don't want to be cornered by the Reaper in a place like this."
"Understood." Youmu stood guard while Marisa fiddled with the chest, which yielded some armor. Armor, once equipped, fused with your clothes, essentially imbuing them with their properties, allowing us to move around freely and still enjoy the armor's benefits. A very useful trait when you're constantly on the move.
A couple floors later, we found the stairs up to the next floor were on the other side of a crevice with spikes on the bottom, which was too wide for us to jump.
"Damn it," Marisa grunted. "Ain't there some other way around this?"
I looked around, and saw a ceiling torch which could rather conveniently serve as a hook. Stepping back, I held out my hand, shooting the grappling hook up at the torch, tugged on it to make sure it was secure, then jumped and swung over the pit, retracted the line in midair, and stylishly flipped onto the opposite side.
"WHOA!" Marisa exclaimed. "How'd 'ya do that?"
"With these!" Nitori revealed her other grappling hooks. "Pits, high ledges, we can zip right by them with these grappling hooks!" She handed them out to the other three, before demonstrating her own grappling hook to join me on the other side. Marisa eagerly followed us over, with Youmu right behind her.
"This is sooo cool, Nitori! Almost makes up for the fact we can't fly!"
"This is… quite the rush…" Youmu mused.
"Ya comin' over or what, Seraph?" Marisa asked Reimu.
Reimu didn't say anything. Instead, she fired off her hook, leaped into the air, then released her hook before spreading her wings and gliding over to us, touching down with one hand on the ground. The rest of us just stared at her while she got up and inspected them.
"I'm… still getting used to the feeling of having these," she said. She raised her angel wing. "Controlling two extra limbs isn't easy." She raised her bat wing. "And they don't catch wind in quite the same way…"
"Ah, chin up!" Marisa grinned. "I'm sure you'll figure out how to fly with those things in no time! Then you'll be zippin' to places we can't!"
"And isn't flight you power in the real world as well?" Youmu asked. "I see no reason why you can't learn to do it here, as long as you have those."
"Er… yeah, but-"
"We really must keep moving," I urged. "We can't rest until we reach a safe floor." I led them up the staircase, and as I did so I swore I could hear a distant metallic rattle somewhere behind us.
As it happened, the next floor up was the highest up floor which Nitori could detect. As we emerged from the stairs, we could tell it was different from the others: it was wide open, and a blue wall stood at the other side in between bronze pillars and statues of Buddha.
And standing in front of it was a pink-haired girl with a red dress and hat, with a lock on her chest mirroring the key on Nitori's, and holding a "road closed" sign. Her yellow eyes and the darkness around her feet gave her away as a shadow.
"That's it!" Nitori exclaimed. "That's her!"
"What's with the sign?" Marisa asked.
"It has to do with her power," Nitori explained. "She can prohibit anything. Stop your movement, disable attacks, block off caves and roads."
"Is that so?" Youmu wondered. "I wonder if that will make her a difficult opponent."
"Hopefully not," I said. "We've already seen that a person's real-world powers do not necessarily translate to what their shadow is capable of. Still, we should keep our guards up and be ready for anything."
"Absolutely," Reimu affirmed.
We stepped forward, Shadow Mitori seemingly not reacting to our presence, until we were close and she finally spoke.
"Halt!" she shouted. "I won't let intruders pass, especially not you, Nitori!"
Nitori stamped her foot. "I've come to put an end to your abuse!"
"And yet you don't come alone," Shadow Mitori chided. "It's just like always with you: hiding behind others' power because you're too spineless to get anything done yourself. Me? I can take on anyone, even you, miss shrine maiden, and the sages, and win!"
Nitori wasn't intimidated. "I'd like to see you try," she dared. "I've never seen you push around anyone outside of the Ravine. And if it weren't for me, all of my friends here would have died!"
Shadow Mitori scoffed. "Kappa are not people who rely on friends. We are a race which prizes the strength of the individual. He or she who rises to the top has the right to subjugate those weaker than them, and create their own laws which all others must follow." She twirled her sign around and pointed it at us. "You river kappa still don't seem to get it. Therefore, I will show you your place, show you why the yamawaro are superior!" Her body then quivered, before quickly dissolving into darkness and reforming into a red starfish with one blue eye - Decarabia.
Marisa sneered. "You think you can scare us? I've chewed through goddesses tougher than you."
I took a fighting stance. "Let's get in formation. Scan her, Doktor."
"Got it! Navigation power on!" She summoned her Persona, floating in the air behind us, while the rest of us drew our weapons and got ready to fight.
"Don't you know? I can block anyone and anything! Watch this!" Shadow Mitori then created a yellow shield in front of herself - Tetrakarn - followed immediately by a blue one - Makarakarn. "Go ahead. Just try to lay a finger on me!"
I grunted. "Damn it, she's packing deflector shields."
"Come again?" Reimu asked.
"That yellow shield repels physical attacks, including our guns, and the blue one repels magic. If we attack her with anything, it will simply bounce right back and hurt the user, but it also breaks the shield."
"Izzat so?" Marisa said. "Well, if that's the case, guess I'll have to break into my bag of tricks!" She reached into her bag and got out a glass bottle with a cross on it. "Holy water. A must for any demon hunter."
"What good will that do us?" Reimu asked.
"Catch!" Marisa tossed the bottle over to Reimu. "Throw that thing at her!"
"Um… alright," Reimu said. She threw the bottle at Shadow Mitori like a grenade, where it hit the ground and released white lights - Kouha. Of course it activated the Makarakarn, causing the lights to rocket back at Reimu before dissipating harmlessly.
"Impressive," I complimented. "Crafting infiltration tools, and exploiting Reimu's Bless immunity to break the shield without anyone getting hurt."
"They're meant for deterrin' demons during my ingredient hunts in Makai, but I found durin' tests they released those light balls in the Metaverse and figured I could put them to good use. I have a few other things like 'em too, just in case."
"In any case, it looks like we now have somewhat of an opening. Let loose with magic!" We attacked Mitori using various magic attacks while she retaliated with Eiha. We managed to establish that she resisted Nuke and Curse and reflected Fire even without the Makarakarn, and she wasn't weak to anything we had.
"Damn," Reimu grunted. "She's surprisingly tough!"
Shadow Mitori cackled. "You fools! You think I earned my status by being weak? I cut my way to the top with my strength and skill! I can prohibit anyone from doing anything and there's nothing they can do about it!"
Nitori chuckled. "Nothing, eh?" She hit a button on her PDA, which caused a complete profile of the foe to project from it. "Scan complete! Get a load of this!"
Marisa couldn't believe what she saw. "She's weak to physical attacks? Hell, this'll be easy!"
"But she still has Tetrakarn up," I noted. "Any physical blow will just be countered."
"How do we diffuse it?" Reimu asked.
"There are spells that break the shields, but none of us have either of them…"
Marusa rubbed her chin, smirked and glared from under her brim. "Any physical attack?" She looked over to Youmu. "Fury! Get into attack position! Move on my word!"
Youmu drew her blade. "Understood."
"Good." Marisa then produced her bag gun, ejected a chipped copper vase, then threw it at Shadow Mitori. The attack triggered the physical barrier, causing it to shoot back at Marisa who caught it with the bag gun. The second the barrier was struck, Marisa gave Youmu a signal to charge Shadow Mitori. Youmu then summoned her Persona and let loose with a rapid flurry of slashes, which served to soften Shadow Mitori up for one finishing Giant Slice right to the eye, which knocked the starfish down to the ground, enabling us to surround it.
As we drew our weapons (with Nitori getting in on the fun as well, drawing an over-the-top retro-futuristic laser rifle), Shadow Mitori lay on the ground, protesting "preposterous! How can you lowlifes defeat me, she who prohibits everything?!"
"Prohibiting everything won't stop those who don't care about the rules," I quipped. I looked over to Nitori. "What do you want to do?"
Nitori grinned. "I think it's time… to let 'er rip!" At that cue, we jumped into and tore the starfish apart, until it lay defeated on the floor, bleeding money we mugged from it, and transformed back into Shadow Mitori's battered, bruised self.
We stood back, and watched as Shadow Mitori slowly got back onto her feet and shakily steadied herself.
"Geh! You damn thieves always think violence is the answer to everything!"
"You didn't exactly want to peacefully negotiate either, here or in the real world," I said.
"What choice did I have?" she pleaded. "If you don't control anyone, somebody else will just come and control you! Like those damn Tengu on the mountain! Or that priestess in the temple! Seriously, tried goin' there a few times, but you know, that lady only preaches the path to Nirvana or something, when really she sees herself as some kind of saint and god who treats her followers like livestock!"
Our eyes widened at this revelation. "Is that… so?" Reimu said.
"It is so!" Shadow Mitori pleaded. "You of all people should know that, you kicked her ass a few years back!"
"Well… yeah, but, since then Byakuren hasn't come off as anything except a kind, if somewhat misguided woman…"
"See?! You do recognize it! She ain't just 'misguided,' she's a complete phony, and she and the Tengu tried to control me! That's why I tried to exert myself over others, I didn't want to be controlled too!"
Nitori shook her head. "But… that doesn't make you any better than them. It makes you exactly like them too."
"I… I understand that." Shadow Mitori chuckled. "Guess I'm an awful big sister, aren't I?"
"It couldn't be helped," Nitori said. "The way we kappa are, the way our 'society' works, it makes us all antisocial bigots and boors. I used to be exactly the same way. But I've resolved to end hate and distortion, with the help of my friends. Promise me you'll help me too."
Shadow Mitori nodded. "Okay… I will… sister…" Her body glowed, turned into a white light, then left behind a card on the ground.
Marisa walked up to the card and picked it up. "What's this thing?"
"The bud of a treasure," I explained. "If we had left it alone, it would likely have grown into a full-scale Fortress." I examined the card Marisa held; it was a Tetraja skill card. "Do you mind if I take this? It might come in handy later."
"Sure, go ahead." She handed the card over to me, then turned to stare at the blue wall behind where Shadow Mitori had been standing. "Now then… somethin's fishy about this wall…"
"Hmm." Nitori deployed her radar dish, which caused her PDA to flash. "Now that you mention it, I can detect readings behind it. They're faint, but there's no mistaking them."
"So… does that mean this is actually a door?" Youmu asked.
"Most likely," I said. "Certainly we are nowhere near the top of the tower."
Marisa kicked the wall, to no effect. "But if it's a door, how do we get it to open? There a switch? A key? Do we just bust it down with brute force?"
Reimu sighed. "What is it with you and wanting to destroy things with big explosions?"
"Exactly," I said, "plus if we did something like that it'd attract shadows to us. Let's see…" I examined the door, and thought about the similar doors separating areas in Mementos. "This tower, Ethos, is a Fortress shared among those who live here in Gensokyo."
"Yeah, what about it?" Marisa asked.
"Back in Tokyo, the Phantoms explained to me that, initially, they could not venture very far down into Mementos, but as they took down palaces and their notoriety grew they started leaving more of a mark on the collective unconscious, causing deeper and deeper parts of Mementos to open up."
Youmu looked at the wall. "I see… are you suggesting we need to do something similar here?"
"Quite possibly," I answered. "If we take on more small targets and bring down more Fortresses, it may allow us to access higher areas of Ethos, perhaps eventually leading us to the top."
"The top, huh?" Marisa looked up at the ceiling. "Wonder what's gonna be up there waitin' for us? Treasure? A gate to heaven? Better not be some big, eldritch monster that'll eat us all alive. That'd be a really lame prize for all the work we put into haulin' our asses all the way up there."
"In any case, the incident Outside, at least for now, takes priority over Fortresses or getting to the top of Ethos." She thought silently for a moment. "Still… this is all too big and strange to ignore. No incident is 'ordinary,' but this one is extremely strange, and the more I dive into it the stranger it gets."
"You can say that again," Marisa said.
I looked at the wall again. "Anyway, it looks as though this is as far as we'll get for now. I'm sensing another gap in cognition on this floor. We can warp back down to the entrance hall, then come back here and resume our exploration from here. Or, we can stay a little longer and train, or find additional treasure, before we head back.
Marisa yawned and stretched. "Nah, let's go back. I'm feelin' pretty beat."
Reimu yawned as well. "Now that you mention it… we stayed up pretty late last night playing games with the others, didn't we? And we didn't get much sleep because they kept making so much noise."
I crossed my arms and yawned as well. Actually, I think all of us yawned. "Well then, if that's the case, then we should return to the real world. If one person is exhausted, it would slow the rest of us down and make us vulnerable to ambushes."
"Good idea," Marisa affirmed.
We warped back down to the entrance hall and prepared to leave Ethos, with me making a quick detour into the Velvet Room to do a couple fusions. We were just about to exit, when we heard a noise outside.
"What's that noise?" Reimu asked.
Nitori's radar dish deployed. "I'm getting a strange reading approaching us from out there."
I listened carefully. "It sounds like… a car."
"A… car?" Marisa said.
We cleared the entrance, and moments later a blue, bathtub-shaped car with a pile of junk tied precariously onto the back zoomed in, drifted toward the wall beside us, and stopped. Its driver, a small boy with grey hair and a grey-and-white jacket, jumped out and pitched a starry tent next to it.
I instantly recognized who this boy was. The others, however, had no clue who he was or what he was doing here, that was certain.
"Phew," he sighed. "It's been pretty tough lately, especially with all those weird cables all over Mementos."
I stepped up to him and bowed. "Long time, no see."
He looked up at me, stared for a second, then jumped back in surprise. "Oh! Mister… er, Crow? What are you doing here? How did YOU get here?"
"I could ask the same," I replied. "How did you get here from Mementos?"
"Oh, that's, uh… that's a secret!"
Soon, the others walked up as well. "'Ya know this kid?" Marisa asked.
"As a matter of fact, I do," I said. "He's the boy I was telling you all about earlier, the one who gathers flowers."
Reimu crouched down to his level. "What's a boy like you doing here in Ethos, though?"
"I live here."
...huh?
"...eh?" Marisa grunted.
"I said I live here. My name's Jose. I'm studying humans on behalf of my master. This is where I camp out when I'm not driving through and collecting things in Mementos."
"I… see." I bowed again. "Well, you already know me, but I'll introduce myself again. I'm Crow."
"Seraph."
"Fury."
"Herr Doktor!"
"And Starburst!"
"Together, we're known as 'The Day Breakers,'" I said. "We're going around, destroying fortresses and attempting to solve the mystery of this tower."
"Is that so?" Jose said. He looked up. "Then I guess you're just like the Phantom Thieves!"
"Er… yes," I said.
Jose approached the spiral staircase leading up. "You know, I said I live here, but I've never been up these stairs because I can't drive my car up them. I never go anywhere without it. I just live here because my master gives me my instructions near here."
"Who is your master?" I asked. "And what are your instructions?"
"Well… I'm not sure if they're my 'master,' but they are someone who wants me to go out and study humans. I've never actually seen them or heard them. They just leave me written instructions on what to do and where to go, and lately that's been Mementos."
Reimu raised her hand. "Hold on," she said. "You can go to Mementos?"
"Yup."
"Can you take us there?"
"...sorry, I can't do that," he frowned. "It's something only I can do."
Reimu sighed. "I see."
"Seraph's just interested 'cause we heard there's something strange goin' on in the Outside world," Marisa explained. "Crow here thinks it involves that 'Mementos' place, and we're tryin' to see if we can get there to fix it, or find some other method if we can't."
"Outside… oh, right! You must all be from Gensokyo!" Jose said. He then looked at me. "But then… how did you get to Gensokyo?"
"Long story," I replied, wanting to get this over with quickly.
"Oh, right, humans don't like long stories," he said.
"Well, sometimes we do, just not when we're tryin' to scoot," Marisa said.
Jose looked at Reimu again. "But then… Mementos has been acting strangely lately. It was actually destroyed recently, right after the Phantoms took down the God of Control…"
"The God of Control?" I asked.
Jose slumped. "It's another long story."
"You can tell us another time." Marisa grinned. "A 'God of Control' eh? Must've been one hell of a fight!"
"I'd like to know the context as well, with a name like that," Reimu added. "But again, another time."
"And you said Mementos was destroyed," I asked.
"Right. But… recently, it came back, and it came back different from before. Before, the place was dirty with bad thoughts, bone tracks and garbage, but now it's… lifeless and clean. Too clean. Not only that, but there's all these strange tentacles covering the place. I went to the very deepest part, and found some kind of 'control room' showing different places in Mementos and one other strange place. If someone's shadow appears on the screens, the tentacles take them off… somewhere. I don't know what's going on." He hesitantly chuckled. "At least they're not interested in me."
I thought for a moment. It seemed I was dead-on about Mementos being tampered with… nay, it had been completely replaced. And now whoever or whatever had control over it was using it to effect changes to people's cognition. This was much more severe than I had previously thought. They were, in effect, controlling people's cognitions, perhaps even wholesale rewriting them. And if what Doremy indicated was correct, then they were doing this to somehow grant everyone happy lives, or at least create that illusion…
I sighed. "I guess I was right. Someone is tampering with people's cognitions, enslaving them all with happiness, and creating a grave threat to the Hakurei Border as well. The threat to the Hakurei Border may not be intentional, but the former must absolutely be their objective."
"Why do you say 'enslaving' though?" Marisa asked. "Putting aside the threat to Gensokyo, a world where everyone is happy, has everything they want, and never went through loss…" she thought for a moment, then snapped her fingers. "...but then, loss and hardship are what drive us to do what we do and improve ourselves, overcome that hardship. I mean, imagine a world where Seraph's mom never died in that storm, and was still around. Seraph would still be the shrine maiden, but she'd still have her old girl to lean on whenever she felt scared or afraid. She wouldn't be as hard and strong as she is now."
"...mmh," Reimu grunted.
"Or what about Fury? Don't you have some kind of loss you went through?"
Youmu looked down. "Well… for a long time, I had a mentor, my ancestor, Youki Konpaku. He was the gardener serving Yuyuko-sama before me. I… don't know much about my actual parents, other than that they were sickly and died young during during a wave of 'airless sickness.'"
"'Airless sickness?'" I asked.
"A blight that hits Gensokyo every few decades," Reimu explained. "It's called that because it leaves people unable to breathe. According to Eirin, it's caused by some kind of 'coronavirus' that's only found in Gensokyo, that mutates every once and a while and infects people again. She thinks it started as an oni disease before jumping to other species, including humans, but it doesn't affect everyone it infects. Some say it only kills those who are cursed somehow."
Youmu continued, "after that, Youki took me as his apprentice. His training was tough, he barely talked, and when he did it was with a chiding, booming voice, and he could be stubborn and steadfast at times. Even so, he was fair and respectful, and the closest I had to a father figure growing up. Then one day he just up and disappeared; not even Yuyuko-sama knew where he went. Part of me wishes he would come back, roughness and all… but then, I continued to train and get stronger in his absence."
Nitori shuffled her feet. "Part of ME wishes me and my fellow kappa got along better and could work on big projects without the risk of stuff blowing up in our faces or devolving into infighting. Instead I was forced to leave the ravine and make friends on my own, including Ma- I mean, Starburst."
I nodded. Each of my teammates had things they wished were different, but at the same time accepted they had gotten stronger because of their hardship. Then there was myself: forced to make myself into a man without a family to guide me. Ending up here in Gensokyo, away from everything I knew and the convenience of modern life… but at the same time in a place where I could start fresh without fear of either being found out, or judged even if I was. Still, I did regret that I couldn't have met Ren earlier in life… I sometimes imagined a world where having him around as a real friend could have kept me from going down the dark road which I did in reality.
I shook my head. All of that was beside the point. What mattered was, we had a threat to Gensokyo, and possibly humanity, on our hands, and we needed to find some way to stop it.
"Jose," I asked, "if it isn't much trouble, could you do us a favor?"
"Sure," he said. "What is it?"
"You can report on Mementos for us, yes? If that's the case, could you do that, possibly tell us of how the Phantoms are doing?"
"Um… sure," he nodded.
"If you'd like, we can do something in return for you. Consider it a deal of sorts."
Jose's ears perked up. "Oh! Well, if you happen to find any flowers in the upper floors of this place, I can do that and sell you some stuff I find."
Marisa's eyes widened. "Flowers… that reminds me." She pulled out her bag gun and shot out the flowers we found earlier. "You mean these?"
"Oh, yes! Thank you miss!" Jose happily scooped up the flowers and threw them into his car. "If you can keep finding flowers for me, that would be perfect!"
"Alright then," Marisa replied, tipping her hat. "If it's flowers you want, we will absolutely deliver. Just make sure you get us all the good stuff in exchange."
"I will," Jose smiled.
Reimu then went up to him and ruffled his hair with her hand. "You're a cute little boy, aren't you?" she said.
"Ahh…" Jose blushed.
"Do you like kids?" I asked her.
"I love kids!" she chirped. "They help brighten my day! Of course, I'm not sure if I'm ready to have my own, even if I eventually have too, hehe."
Marisa stretched her arm. "C'mon, let's blow," she yawned again. "I'm gettin' tired."
"Alright," I said. As we exited, I looked back at Jose. "I hope to see you again."
"You too," he said back. I rowed us back across the lake, we left the Metaverse, and all went our separate ways, agreeing to meet back at the Shrine soon to discuss our next steps, whether we should solely focus on the Outside incident, try and tackle Byakuren's newly-discovered Fortress, or some combination of the two.
