I want to publically thank I Before A Except After K for posting this story on the TVTropes page. If you're here from there, welcome.
kojiro, while I love Dou, I am kind of iffy on using most of his works. Some of them are just too dark and depressing, especially concerning Reimu. Seriously...he kills her twice and has Sanae beat her down. And then has Yukari kill Ran in front of Chen.
I do prefer a bit of darkness in my Gensokyo, in this Gensokyo...just not that much.
From what I remember, last season, someone already posted this up on Space Battles. Apparently this is only good enough to get a 7/10. :p
And for the American audience, Happy 4th of July.
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is owned by Nagaru Tanigawa. Touhou Project is owned by ZUN and Team Shanghai Alice. I own neither. This is a fan fiction of those works.
Beta Readers for this Episode:
Another Duck
werewolf2005
The girl locked her door and made sure her home was secure. She turned around and looked up at the full moon.
Something is not right about that moon. Normally I wouldn't have noticed something like that... Normally, if she was still human.
Alice Margatroid sighed as she heard more howls. Her companion shivered at the sound. Alice turned her head to her, and tried to reassure her companion with a smile.
"It'll be alright. I'm here with you, and I've got my dolls."
One such doll, Shanghai, went around to the girl, and patted her on the head, as if to calm her down. It appeared to somewhat work, as the girl nodded.
"B-but..." she stuttered, "...those things-"
"Youkai." Alice corrected. "They're youkai."
"Those youkai wanted to get in! It was so scary!"
Alice's companion looked ready to cry, and she was right. Normally, it would have been a terrifying ordeal, with a pack of youkai attempting to claw their way into the house. Alice had never had any trouble with lesser youkai since becoming one, so this was a unique situation.
It's an incident. There is no other explanation. I can even feel my blood boil; I can feel my body wanting to let loose.
After having defended her home and her new friend, Alice had decided to take the girl to a safer place. After a few minutes of internal deliberation, it was clear; there was no safer place in Gensokyo for a human than the Hakurei shrine.
Something bothered Alice, however. She was sure there was another place for humans to be safe, to seek sanctuary, but she couldn't remember it at that point. Strange.
Alice knew that all youkai became weaker and more manageable on the shrine's grounds, and the holy land kept some of the lesser youkai out of it completely. It would be the perfect place to hide the girl while Alice dealt with this incident.
Someone made the mistake of attacking my home and my dolls. I'll make them pay for getting me involved.
Funny. It was during an incident when she lost her humanity. It was during an incident when she almost lost her life. And now Alice found herself wanting to resolve an incident.
I'd say I've come full circle, but I'm smart enough not to start an incident.
While Alice was pondering all of that, she noticed the girl next to her, who appeared to be getting more scared by the minute.
Alice put her hand on her companion's shoulder.
"All right. Listen to me - it's going to be a short walk from here to the Hakurei shrine. I'll take care of you, okay? But I need you to do something for me. If I tell you to hide and where to hide, don't question - do it." Alice smiled at her. "You'll be just fine. I won't let anything bad happen to you."
The auburn-haired girl audibly gulped as she stared out into the darkness of the Forest of Magic. She took a deep breath, and nodded.
"O-okay. I'll do my best."
"Just stay close to me."
Alice Margatroid and Mikuru Asahina took off for the Hakurei shrine.
And maybe, hopefully, I'll find out why an S.O.S. Brigade member is here in Gensokyo.
Perishable Night
Episode 5
["Imprisoned / Unexcused"]
=Path of Human Disappearings.=
"At midnight, only beasts and youkai are around the human pass.
There aren't any human-like forms to be seen."
-Touhou 8: Imperishable Night - Stage 2.
It was a short trip in the forest, chasing after Remilia, who was in turn chasing after the bug. We got to a clearing, and Remilia had stopped, staring at the bug youkai. Under the light of the full moon, Wriggle was standing right next to a tree, staring at something.
A beehive.
Yeah, this night has gotten off to a great start.
Wriggle stared at the beehive, then slowly turned to us, her eyes narrowed and a small smile formed. Remilia's eyes widened, however.
I already knew what Wriggle was going to do. And I really started to hate the bug youkai.
"Oh, don't you dare."
I'm with Remilia on this one! Don't throw a freaking beehive at us!
Wriggle grabbed the beehive from the branch, and shook it. I could hear the bees inside beginning to buzz in anger.
Wriggle, whatever sympathy I had for you for ticking off Remilia, it's gone. I hope you get torn apart.
Not nice of me to think that, but I was in a very bad situation.
"Don't you dare!"
Ignoring our protests, Wriggle dared. She emitted a battle cry and threw the beehive at us. It broke at our feet, and I saw the swarm of angry bees begin to fly around us. The enraged buzzing drilled into my ears, as my whole body tensed, as if in anticipation of being stung repeatedly.
The only thing I had going for me was a lack of a bee allergy, but still, one can die from the venom in the stingers due to enough of them. In junior high, I learned that it takes about ten stings per body pound to be lethal, barring being allergic or resistant to stings.
I hated the fact that I knew such a thing in that situation.
Except that the bees went down to the ground. You see, Nagato had done something. She simply put the bees to sleep. As quickly as they had nearly covered us, they went back down. I never found out exactly what Nagato did, but whatever it was, it worked.
Remilia and Sakuya stared at the downed bees, then their gaze went to the bug youkai: giving said youkai a death glare. Wriggle stared at us; as we were no longer under threat of being stung, her jaw dropped. Wriggle had to know she was in trouble. Remilia brought out Gungnir, and tapped it in her hand, while Sakuya brought out her knives. In response to seeing those weapons, the bug youkai squealed as she ran off.
Not so brave without your bugs, are you? My taunt would only get heard by me, however.
"What a unique creature."
That was Nagato, of course. I just patted her on the shoulder.
"Yeah, that's one way of putting it." Considering it's a bug shooting bugs. "Anyways, thanks for putting the bees down. That was you, right?"
Nagato nodded. I'm so grateful you're here. Sakuya gave another sigh as she went up to her master and sheathed her knives.
Remilia watched the youkai run off into the darkness, taking a deep breath and sighing.
"Sakuya, I know I shouldn't waste my time with her...but...I really want to squash that bug right now. Just...pluck off those antennae on her head. Slowly. Make her squirm like the bug she is."
"I'd rather you didn't torture anyone tonight, Remilia." I said. "Even if they somewhat deserve it."
I heard Remilia let out a little laugh at that, as Sakuya was at her master's side.
"Is everything all right, Milady?"
"Oh I'm okay." Remilia looked up at Sakuya. "That bug didn't get a hit in. Such a simple creature." Remilia stared where Wriggle ran off to. "I just want to kill her, is all."
She says that so casually. But part of me was more than annoyed with that youkai. First off, she did try to catch and eat me, so that's a big negative, of course. Second, she threw a beehive at me.
Stupid youkai.
"It's been a while since I noticed this, but the increase in fireflies lately makes everything so beautiful."
That was Sakuya. That was out of nowhere.
Remilia raised an eyebrow at her maid.
"Sakuya, that comment totally clashes with the situation."
"I merely tried to change the subject, milady."
"Oh..." Remilia shrugged. "Well, I only heard the second half. What were you trying to say?"
Sakuya pursed her lips, and her face read "Forget it," while she said: "Nevermind. Forgive me."
Well, Sakuya was right. There were a lot of fireflies out and about that night. But for what she said? Maybe Sakuya was just trying to get Remilia's mind off of that bug youkai, and I didn't mind. I for one didn't want to be sidetracked in Gensokyo chasing after such a weak youkai.
Remilia then started walking, with a purpose, to where Wriggle disappeared to.
"Miss Remilia Scarlet," said Nagato. "If I may make an inquiry?"
The vampire stopped and turned to us, hands on her hips. It was hard to read what kind of emotion Remilia was having. It was almost as if she was happy to be going after that bug youkai.
"Go ahead."
"Wouldn't it be more efficient if we ignored the bug youkai and headed for the Hakurei Shrine?"
That was a good point, and just the one I was thinking. I for one wanted to stop wasting time and get to Reimu or Marisa, or even both. Just find them and get them to solve this incident and be done with it all.
"I'd agree with you, Nagato. Funny thing, is that the bug youkai is running in the direction of the shrine. We have to go this way anyway." Remilia gave us that fang-showing grin. "So let's go exterminating!"
Again, Remilia took off. The three of us paused for a few seconds, glancing at each other.
"I can see some similarities between Remilia Scarlet and Haruhi Suzumiya," said Nagato.
"Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?" asked Sakuya.
Nagato didn't answer, just blankly stared at Sakuya for a second before going to join Remilia. The maid and I glanced at each other, and then back to direction of the Mansion.
"This is not going to be an easy night, is it?"
"No, Kyon, no it isn't."
I can say, without a doubt, that this wasn't such a good idea. I never signed up to be a youkai exterminator. As Sakuya and I rushed to join up with the other two, I really wished I had stayed at the mansion.
If I could take comfort in anything, it was that we were going to the Hakurei shrine.
"Night bird, night song~
Human shall turn off the light in the darkness~
Dream in the night, red in the night~
Humans will be crucified in the darkness~
Night bird, night song~
Humans light up the darkness~."
While she sat on a tree stump, Mystia Lorelei cleared her throat, a little disappointed with that. She was off-key for most of it, and wanted to perfect her song. She had been working on it for a few weeks after coming up with it.
Of course, since she couldn't read or write, she had to do it all by memory. She couldn't put down the songs she came up with, and some of them were lost due to forgetfulness.
I really do need to take the time to learn how to read one of these days. Besides, it's kind of embarrassing to own a business and not be able to do such things...but I guess it's actually impressive.
Mystia shrugged to herself, and decided that even without an education, she was doing all right. Then again, most youkai weren't educated - especially the fairies.
She stood up and stretched, wondering how she would pass the night away, when the image of the torn apart fairy entered her mind again.
That was so mean. So...insane, even for here. Part of her felt that she should have done something.
And what? Get ripped apart by that pack of youkai? Maybe Wriggle was right - maybe it was none of our business.
The fairy's screams replayed in her head, but were interrupted another howl, somewhere in Gensokyo. Mystia grimaced, knowing that something was up, and that she didn't like it. She stared into the direction it came from, and saw something move in the bushes.
Her body tensed, her wings stiffened. ready to take flight -
And Wriggle Nightbug popped out. She was out of breath, her face beet-red.
"Mystia!"
Then the night sparrow youkai saw who was chasing her bug friend.
"Mystia!"
We didn't go far. Following Remilia to a clearing (and I swear I heard someone sing), we came out of the bushes to find two people. Wriggle had cowered behind someone. It was that bird youkai girl who ran that lamprey stand. Up close I noticed that she wasn't Japanese - she was European. She stared at us with her gray eyes as she brushed her short pink hair out of them. Her wings twitched as she saw us, as did her ears, which appeared to be pointed owl ears. The moonlight glistened off a small loop earring she had in her left ear. She had a white and brown dress that had numerous buttons on it - buttons with little wings. On her head, was some sort of cap with a larger winged button on top of it.
This bird youkai - she had to be a bird youkai - whom we heard Wriggle call "Mystia", kept her stare, while Wriggle shook behind her. The bird youkai was cute as well, and looked a bit younger than Wriggle, possibly even a bit younger than me. There was silence, all of us just looked at each other, not knowing how to proceed.
Remilia was the one to move up. She flicked her wrist at the bird youkai.
"Mind moving out of the way...miss...?"
The bird youkai blinked, pursing her lips.
"Mystia Lorelei."
Lorelei? So she's German? The Lorelei was the German version of the siren, if I remembered my folklore correctly.
"And no, I don't intend on moving. Whatever happened, you leave Wriggle alone."
Remilia seemed amused by this. She put her hands on her hips, and I could hear the glee in her voice.
"...Or what?"
No, don't need this. I knew Remilia was looking for a fight. I didn't want it to happen. I stepped between her and the two youkai.
"Hey, no. We're not doing this." I turned to the two. "Okay, Miss Lorelei. Your friend there, Wriggle, attacked us." Attacked me. "Now, I'd like to avoid any violence right now, okay? We don't have the time."
Because I really didn't like walking around Gensokyo at night. I wanted to minimize it.
Lorelei raised an eyebrow, glancing back at Wriggle, who just gave a small shrug. I heard the bird youkai mutter something with a disappointed look on her face, before she turned back to us.
"Really, Wriggle? Two humans, a..." Mystia looked over Nagato. "...and whatever that is-"
Don't offend Nagato. Also, why are people in Gensokyo ready to insult each other so quickly? Why do they antagonize? Just something I'd like to know. And if Nagato was offended by such a statement, she didn't show it.
"-And a bat? That's an unusual group, Wriggle. You should be after humans, not bats."
"Is this seriously the brats' night out?" Remilia exclaimed, obviously frustrated.
Considering how Remilia is acting, I'd say yes. I was getting frustrated too, but with how Remilia was acting: calling her opponents brats, insulting, belittling them. Just as bad as these two.
"But of course, you can't blame Wriggle. Well-behaved children sleep during the day. The night is for us youkai to do a little man-hunting!" Mystia eyed me, a sickly sweet smile creeping on her face. She pointed at me with one of her long fingernails - they sort of looked like talons. Makes sense - bird youkai. Unusually, they were painted green. "I can understand why she wanted you, human. You look delicious." Mystia licked her lips, grinning. "A gourmet chef like me can cook you up real nice!"
I of course didn't like that; I moved behind Remilia. I didn't like being referenced to as food, thank you very much. The vampire muttered to me.
"So, do you still want to do this diplomatically, or can we do this my way?"
"I have a feeling you'll do it your way even if I said no."
She smiled at me, her eyes lighting up. "Quite right, Kyon. Just giving you the illusion of having a say in the matter."
"How thoughtful of you."
At least you don't lie about it.
Remilia took a step towards the two youkai. "Mind stepping aside so I can get at that bug, Miss Lorelei, or should I shoot you down as well?"
Before Mystia could protest, Sakuya interjected. "Milady, we shouldn't stoop to this thing's level. There might not be enough time."
Remilia just shrugged. About time someone pointed it out. Well, I did point it out. It's just that I was ignored, like always. Go figure.
Mystia looked angry. She obviously took offense to that.
"'My level'? Don't joke around!" she shouted at us. "Aren't you four scared by birds flying in the night?"
There is something unsettling about birds at night, isn't there?
"Who would be scared by such a creature like you?" scoffed the vampire.
Well, there went the diplomatic solution of letting those two go. At least I made some attempt to diffuse the situation, even though it failed. I took further steps away from Remilia, in case the two started an attack.
"Whatever, you bat. I'll show you the true terror of darkness!"
"True terror of darkness? That's me, little bird."
"Oh really now?
Remilia looked back at us and grinned, before turning back to the bird. She spread out her wings, to the point where the wingspan had to be at least twice her height. Even from behind it looked intimidating.
"Yes. You see, there is another creature who rules the night." Remilia had dropped her childish voice. It went back to the more mature voice I heard in my time with her in the garden. "The night was made for my kind. I am not a mere bat. Look upon me, and know who I am."
Mystia stared at Remilia for a moment, before it dawned on her who she was. "Oh...wait a second..." She began to visibly shake, and slowly turned to Wriggle. "Wriggle...you...you attacked the Scarlet Devil?"
"Not her! Just the boy!"
"He's my servant, little bug. You attack my servants, you insult me."
"Mysti, I didn't know! I just saw the boy, and I acted!"
Mystia brought her palm to her face and grimaced at Wriggle. The two began to bicker.
"Damn it Wriggle, what the hell?"
"Not my fault! I just saw the boy!"
"Didn't you see who he was traveling with?"
"I didn't notice her! I'm telling you! My senses were focused on just him!"
"And now we got that Scarlet Devil angry!"
And they kept at it. Amazing, really, that they were in danger of being beat down, but they still found the time to bicker. They must be really good friends. The two kept at it with their comedy routine, with Remilia crossing her arms, obviously getting impatient. She began to tap her foot, waiting for the two to notice her again. Remilia glanced back at me with a raised eyebrow. I just shrugged at her.
"Hey, you were the one who wanted to waste time with these two."
"Shut up, Kyon," she said back in her child's voice.
"Just saying."
Remilia turned back to the two, and they were still bickering.
"But maybe this will be good for us! Can you imagine the amount of respect we'd get if we take her down? All of Gensokyo will respect us!"
"Wriggle...that's more trouble than it's worth...but..." It appeared that Mystia liked that idea. The two looked over at the vampire, before looking at each other. Mystia gave a shrug. "I wouldn't mind that."
"Are you two done?!" Remilia shouted at them. The two youkai turned back to the vampire, whose wings were shaking with rage. "You know what? I don't even have to waste time with the two of you! You two aren't even on my level!" Remilia snapped her fingers. "Sakuya! Take care of them!"
"So...how is it that you want to start a fight but get someone else to finish it?"
Remilia gave me a nasty look, as Sakuya curtsied, and went up into the air. I looked up to talk to the maid, then I had to quickly look back down.
After all, she was above me. In a short skirt.
Yeah, my face was red. Sorry, Sakuya.
...
...Black lace...
Anyways. *ahem*
"Sakuya, you sure about this?"
"Yes."
She didn't sound so sure. As powerful as the maid was, she could still be taken down. I've personally seen that happen multiple times.
"Mysti, isn't that the maid?"
Wriggle pointed at Sakuya, and Mystia's eyes widened.
"Oh wow. Yeah, yeah that is." They turned their attention towards me. "Does that make you that 'Kyon' guy?"
Hate that name.
"Hey, aren't you the guys who ended that Spring Snow Incident?"
Sakuya nodded once. Also, looked like word spread about that thing. It was front page news after all. How about that. I have some fame, or infamy.
"We take her down, we'll be respected." Wriggle said to Mystia, referencing to Sakuya.
The bird youkai slowly nodded, and the two of them went up into the air, taking out spell cards.
"Uhm, isn't this unfair?" I asked. "Two against one?" I looked back at Remilia, but I noticed Nagato going up into the air. Maybe Nagato did take offense to what Mystia said earlier.
How about that. Nagato can fly. Then again, it shouldn't surprise me. Shouldn't be too difficult for her to "hack" herself that ability. Still wish she could make me fly, however. Question is, how would I control such a thing? Would there be some training involved or something to learn how to control it? I would think so. I could understand Nagato becoming an expert at flying quickly, but for someone like me...I doubt it.
But enough musing about such a thing. As I've stated a while back, I'd never gain the ability to fly.
Anyways, Nagato joined Sakuya up in the air, the two silently staring at each other for a few moments. They then turned to their opponents.
Remilia, who was next to me, clasped her hands and let out a little gleeful laugh.
"Oh, this is going to be so entertaining! Makes me wish I had a seat and some tea to fully enjoy this!"
I somewhat shared her feeling. I for one was really looking forward to seeing how Nagato handled herself in a real Danmaku fight.
"Nagato!"
She turned to me.
"Good luck!" I said, giving her a weak thumbs up. Thinking about it now, I wish I had given her better words of encouragement.
She gave me a single nod, before turning back to her opponents. Danmaku knives began to form around Sakuya, and a small smile crept onto her face.
"Make the first move, youkai."
Mystia brought up her spell card. Here we go.
[SPELL CARD: VOCAL SIGN "HOOTING IN THE NIGHT"]
Weird name, but fitting for a nocturnal bird, I suppose. Mystia spun twice, once clockwise, and then counter-clockwise. Two circles of danmaku surrounded her for a while, then they broke off, going in the general direction of their target. She kept at it, moving from place to place, and forming circles. Wriggle joined in, shooting danmaku.
Sakuya begun her knife-throwing dance, while Nagato silently floated behind the maid. The human interface watched how Sakuya moved for a while, before raising her hand. Blue energy formed in Nagato's palm, snowflakes forming, before they began to shoot out at the youkai.
"Interesting that Miss Nagato embraces her name to such an extent," remarked Remilia. She had found a fallen log, and was sitting on it. She motioned for me to join her, and I did. "Her name is Yuki, and she uses snow."
"Yeah." That was all I could manage to say. My focus was on Nagato in her first real fight in Gensokyo.
She appeared to use a bit of caution at first, and I wouldn't blame her. Can't really dive into the deep end when you first begin, can you? Nagato hung behind Sakuya, seemingly getting a feel for how fast the shots of her opponents moved. She followed the maid in her weaving around. It took few moments before Nagato appeared comfortable enough to move around on her own.
[SPELL CARD: ILLUSION SIGN "INDISCRIMINATE"]
Sakuya pulled Nagato close to her - I'm guessing so the human interface wouldn't get hit by the random nature of the knives for that spell card. I heard the two youkai swear a few times as they got grazed here and there by the knives.
[SPELL CARD: LAMP SIGN "FIREFLY PHENOMENON"]
Nobody had gotten directly hit, so Wriggle used this attack again, but it was nothing either Sakuya or Nagato couldn't handle. Even Mystia joining in didn't cause enough concern for the maid or Nagato.
I saw Nagato bring up a spell card.
[SPELL CARD: HOKUETSU SEPPU "183"]
Wow. That's interesting. I was actually taken aback by the name of that spell card. For those that don't know, the Hokuetsu Seppu was a Japanese encyclopedic work on snowflakes, having a hundred and eighty three drawings of them. And it was another connection to Ukichiro - if I remember correctly, he was supposed to be inspired by that work to do his work on artificial snowflakes.
Anyways, the card. It was quite fitting - there were large transparent snowflakes forming, of all shapes and sizes. I'm guessing that if I look up the Hokuetsu, I'll see those very snowflakes in it. They hung there for a second, before breaking apart, sometimes just spreading out in a fan, or going in a clockwise or counter-clockwise fashion. Mystia and Wriggle had to step up on their dodging, as this spell card appeared to make them panic a bit. It was actually a pretty hectic spell card.
"Very impressive, Miss Nagato!" Remilia called out. "You take to Danmaku quickly!"
Nagato didn't respond to the vampire - she just kept her focus on the fight. I don't know why, but I felt some sort of pride watching my friend do well at this.
[SPELL CARD: MOTH SIGN "SPHINGID'S WINGBEATS"]
Mystia shot large body-sized balls of danmaku at her targets - a straight attack. However, there appeared to be...moths? Moths the size of small birds that "existed" for a few seconds. They formed, randomly flew around Mystia, and then disappeared. With each flap of their wings, they left a trail of danmaku, which hung in the air for two seconds before breaking in half, going perpendicular with their short flight. They got more numerous as the spell card went on, making it a hectic spell card. Because not only did Sakuya and Nagato have to contend with the broken danmaku, but also with Mystia shooting directly at them. Worst part? When a moth flew into Mystia, it became another direct shot.
Wriggle took advantage of this, rushing towards Sakuya and Nagato, forming danmaku in her hands.
"No you don't!" shouted Sakuya.
[SPELL CARD: WOUND SIGN "INSCRIBED RED SOUL"]
She has a new spell card? Sakuya brought out two real knives. Clenching her teeth, she...launched into an attack. It was like seeing a Street Fighter game, where E. Honda does his hundred hand slap. Except unlike that sumo wrestler, Sakuya was armed with knives, and used both her arms. Her arms were blazing, and anything in that range would have been cut to ribbons. Sakuya was actually deflecting Mystia's shots, much like how I'd seen Youmu do in the afterlife. Wriggle of course backed up, not wanting to taste those knives.
"By the Gods!" exclaimed Wriggle. I didn't blame her.
The bug waited out of Sakuya's range, and waited out the spell card, before producing one of her own.
[SPELL CARD: WRIGGLE SIGN "LITTLE BUG STORM"]
Five threads of shots circled around Wriggle, layering around her three times in a counter-clockwise fashion, until it formed a circle around her. The top two layers then broke off, going out, while the inside layer broke in, surrounding Wriggle, before being shot out. Wriggle then moved to a new position, adding an extra thread to the attack each time, and alternating between clockwise and counter-clockwise. Mystia added to this by attacking as well.
I had begun to see a pattern in the fight, where they were taking turns using spell cards, dodging, and backing each other up when their partner used a spell card. It was actually quite gripping, not counting the fact that one of my friends was involved in the fight. Actually, two.
Remilia was just sitting there, enjoying the whole show. She had a huge grin on her face, and kept on making little gleeful noises, and pointing out how awesome her maid was.
I can't argue with her. Sakuya really is an amazing person. Beautiful, diligent with her job, and a fierce warrior. And not only that, she was a pretty good friend, once you broke her out of her shell.
As soon as Wriggle's spell card was over, Nagato brought out one of her own.
[SPELL CARD: LETTER FROM HEAVEN "ASTEROID 10152"]
Ukichiro again? That was the asteroid that was named after the guy. Nagato raised her hand, and a danmaku ice ball began to form above her, growing bigger by the second. Wriggle saw this, and panicked. She whipped out another spell card, almost dropping it.
[SPELL CARD: HIDDEN BUG "HERMIT OF AN ENDLESS NIGHT"]
This spell card was a much faster version of the Little Bug Storm, and more intense. The bug youkai apparently wanted to take down Nagato before she could use that ice ball. Nagato just kept moving, still charging her ice ball. Even Mystia joined in, trying to take down Nagato, firing danmaku at the human interface.
[SPELL CARD: TIME SIGN "PRIVATE SQUARE"]
Sakuya used a barrier spell card to protect herself and Nagato, who finished forming her attack. I was actually impressed by the amount of teamwork Nagato and Sakuya were using. It was also kind of unfair. Nagato was charging up a shot, and her two opponents couldn't do anything due to the barrier.
But I'm not going to judge Nagato, nor Sakuya.
Nagato pointed at Wriggle, and the ice ball (which was as big as a truck at that point) just launched at Nightbug. Wriggle dodged the "asteroid", I guess I can call it that, but as the ice ball moved, chunks of ice broke off and went in random directions. Wriggle was just smacked by one of them (she got hit right on the side of her head), and she went down, slamming into the ground. She was out cold. Pun intended.
"Wriggle!"
Mystia shouted that, and then looked back up at her opponents. She was outnumbered two-to-one.
"Care to forfeit, little bird?" taunted Remilia, beaming.
Mystia stared back down at her fallen friend, her hands becoming fists. Taking a deep breath, the bird youkai cleared her throat. She then started to make noises. It took me a while to realize that she was preparing her voice - like how a singer warms up. She was going through the notes.
Sakuya looked down to us, her face silently asking "what the hell?" I gave her a shrug in response. I had no idea what the bird was going to do, and neither of my companions did either.
After the bird was finished, she glared at her two opponents.
"Okay. Let's do this. I like to call this little number 'Deaf to all but the Song'".
Mystia began to sing an aria. She actually had an amazing voice, but I was confused as to why she began to sing in the middle of a battle.
And then things got weird.
The night began to get darker. No, a cloud did not go before the moon. Everything began to go darker - the amount of light I could see decreased. I also felt kind of disoriented, almost similar to the Mayohiga effect. I saw Sakuya rub her eyes, almost as if she was experiencing the same thing. Nagato had brought up her hand to her eyes, and I saw her blinking. Mystia disappeared into the blackness.
A thought went through my mind.
"The bird is doing something!"
Remilia also rubbed her eyes and looked around. She was obviously bewildered.
"I've heard of this! There's supposed to be a youkai that causes night-blindness!" Remilia glanced up where bird used to be. "I can't believe it's her!"
Oh that's just great. I would have liked to known that before we went out. Then again, how would we have known we'd run smack into that youkai?
"That's right, little vampire! I've got- oh crap!" Mystia took the time to stop singing to taunt Remilia, but when she did, the night-blindness went away, as well as the disorientation. Sakuya used that opening to throw a few knives at the bird, but missed.
"She has to keep singing to do that!" I exclaimed.
I took a second, wanting to slap myself after saying that. Way to go, Captain Obvious. You're treating Sakuya and Nagato like idiots by pointing that out.
Also, wasn't this unfair? That Mystia could do such a thing? Blind her opponents and get an easy victory? Granted, getting an invincible barrier up and running was also an unfair advantage... For all the rules Danmaku had, there appeared to be some leeway.
Mystia went right back to singing her song, the darkness coming back, but not before she called out a spell card.
[SPELL CARD: HAWK SIGN "ILL-STARRED DIVE"]
The night-blindness still was in effect. Mystia disappeared further into the darkness her singing had afforded her. She sent out a few danmaku hawks, which were doing the same thing as the moths - left danmaku behind. Sakuya took them down with a few accurate knives, and they disappeared. But Mystia still attacked, sending out two different shots. They were transparent symbols. One "waved" around the battlefield, leaving a blue danmaku trail. The other did the same, except it just fanned out and left a red trail. For both, the danmaku broke in half again. Blue broke perpendicular, while red broke in a 45 degree angle. Very complicated, and it was very chaotic.
Sakuya squinted her eyes, knives in hand,
"I can't see her!"
I think that's the point of Mystia doing this.
I called out to Nagato.
"Nagato! Can you do anything?"
"It's difficult to detect where she is. The shots-"
Nagato gasped, as a danmaku grazed her arm. She quickly held where it struck her body and shuddered.
"You okay?!"
"I...I think so." Nagato rubbed her arm, her jaw clenching. "That felt unique."
Unique isn't the word for that. Getting hit by Danmaku just plain sucks.
Mystia's voice went louder. The night-blindness got so bad, I couldn't see two meters in front of me. I couldn't even imagine how it was for Sakuya or Nagato up there.
"Damn it," muttered Remilia. "I have night vision, and even I can't see what's going on!"
It's a bad sign when even a vampire can't see at night, isn't it?
[SPELL CARD: NIGHT SPARROW "MIDNIGHT CHORUS MASTER"]
As I could not see what was going on, I couldn't tell what pattern this spell card had.
[SPELL CARD: TIME SIGN "PERFECT SQUARE"]
Thankfully, I heard Sakuya use a barrier spell card. I don't know how they would have survived otherwise. I then heard Sakuya shout out.
"Nagato! Do you think you can figure out where she is?"
"I think so. It's difficult, however. The singing is hampering my ability to locate her."
It was true. I could hear Mystia singing, but I guess the disorientation also worked on an audible level - I couldn't tell if she was behind me, in front of me, or wherever she was, so locating her by ear was a bust.
There was a few more moments of zero-visibility, and then I heard Mystia cry out. The darkness went away instantly, and I saw the bird youkai holding her leg. What happened was that Nagato and Sakuya had resorted to firing blindly towards where they thought Mystia was, and got a lucky shot.
It's what I would have done, truthfully.
Mystia quickly brought out another spell card and began to sing that song again before the two could really attack her.
[SPELL CARD: NIGHT-BLINDNESS "SONG OF THE NIGHTSPARROW"]
Mystia must have been weakening, because the night-blindness effect wasn't as bad - I could see three meters around me. But again, I couldn't see where she was, the pattern, or what anyone was doing.
You know, despite it causing night-blindness and confusion, I actually liked the song she was singing - "Deaf to all but the Song". It was kind of catchy.
[SPELL CARD: LOW TEMPERATURE SCIENCE "UKICHIRO'S SNOW CRYSTALS"]
[SPELL CARD: ILLUSION SIGN "KILLING DOLL"]
About as quickly as Mystia used that spell card, Nagato and Sakuya used theirs. I was relieved at hearing the Killing Doll being used. Good old Sakuya, using her homing attack when she really needs it.
At the edge of my vision, I saw Remilia smirk and cross her arms.
"Ha! The Killing Doll. It's over for that little bird."
As she said that, the darkness went away again. Mystia had gotten hit, by both the knives and the snowflakes, and yelped as she fell to the ground, actually landing on Wriggle, who was still out. I let out a long sigh, just beyond relieved that the fight was finally over with. Then I noticed the two - Nagato and Sakuya's clothes had a few tears and burn marks on them.
Yeah, that was a bad situation to be in. Being shot at and only able to see two meters in front of you.
Sakuya smirked, cracking her knuckles, although I could see her skin a bit red from where the shots had to have grazed her. Same with Nagato.
"Done, Milady."
"Excellent, Sakuya." Remilia stood up off the log and made her way towards the downed youkai. "Even under extreme circumstances, you still managed to beat such troublesome...idiots." The vampire stopped, standing over them.
As Sakuya landed near Remilia, Nagato landed near me.
"So, how was it?"
"Danmaku?"
"Yeah, and also flying. How were they?"
She silently stared back at her two opponents, and then back to me...with a small smile. "I found both to be enjoyable."
"Obviously. You're smiling."
Her eyes widened a bit, and she brought her hand up to her mouth. She pressed her fingers into the corners of the smile, here eyes widening even more.
"You...you didn't know you were smiling?"
She shook her head, her smile fading.
Something is going on, and it's not just the incident. This is proof that something is going on with Nagato. Even she doesn't know what it is.
"You all right, Nagato? You've been behaving differently. From how you normally behave. Not that it's a bad thing, you know? It's just...is there something going on?"
She slightly pursed her lips.
"I don't know, Kyon."
Her eyes widened again, as did mine.
She called me by that name...
"Something is going on if you call me that."
"I'm sorry."
I shrugged. I actually wasn't upset that she called me that.
"Don't be."
I looked over at Remilia and Sakuya, and the two youkai were stirring, getting up on their knees. The vampire and the maid were standing over Wriggle and Mystia, arms crossed. I heard Remilia saying something to the two - what, I couldn't tell you.
From behind the log I was sitting at, came a rustling. My body tensed, fearing another youkai, and I hopped up, moving quickly to the four. Nagato was at my side.
"Remilia!"
"Yeah, I hear it!" she said as she brought out Gungnir again. We all stared out at the moving bush.
And out popped a fairy. I was scared by a mere fairy.
It was a fairy wearing a blue dress. Green hair, pony tail on her left side. Her wings were golden. I've seen that fairy before, playing with Cirno that one time near the lake.
Her eyes were wide with fear, until she saw us, and who we were standing over.
"Mysti?! Wriggle?! What-"
She knows them?
That thought was cut off by howls. And they were close. Chills went down my spine again, that primal fear coming back. The fairy turned towards the sound, and then she ran for us, hiding behind us - namely me.
"What the heck?"
The fairy looked up at me, with her green, pleading eyes, as she grabbed my shirt.
"Please! Protect me! They're after me!"
I noticed a few scratches on her arms and legs, along with a few slashes on her dress. She looked to have barely gotten away from a fight. I wondered why she didn't simply fly away, until I noticed that one of her wings was damaged - there was a tear right in the middle of one, and it was bleeding a little.
Seeing such a creature like her kind of tugged at my heartstrings.
"Dai-chan, what the heck happened to you?!" asked Mystia.
"Mysti! They came for me! They're killing all the fairies!"
Killing all the fairies?
A predicament that would have to wait - because out they came. More of those beastial youkai. They didn't come right for us - they circled us, like a pack of wolves. Remilia grinned as she twirled Gungnir.
"All right! And I thought this was going to be a boring night!"
"I'd take boredom over this any day," I remarked.
The little fairy, whom Mystia called "Dai-chan", clung to my body, shaking, as we were circled. The youkai snarled at us, baring their fangs.
I don't know why, but I brought out a vial. Maybe because I wanted contribute, you know? Besides my healing, I didn't really contribute during the last incident until near the end, so maybe I wanted things to be different. Granted, I did not want to be a part of all that, but I figured that if I was out there, I might as well play my part.
I shook the vial, and saw the liquid inside of it bubbling. I guessed that made it agitated and ready to be a danmaku grenade. Aiming at a group of youkai, I threw the vial...I overthrew the vial. It went way past them, about ten feet over their heads. I couldn't believe that I failed at such a simple throw.
Remilia looked back at me, a dumbfounded look on her face.
"Really, Kyon?"
My face was red from embarrassment. I really had no words for that.
Lucky I'm not protecting myself, or that I'm in charge of fighting for myself. I'd be dead by now.
Seriously. That throw sucked.
The youkai, however, didn't appear to take it lightly. One from the group I threw it over then charged us.
Out of nowhere, Wriggle had jumped into view, giving the youkai a kick that whipped it's head back - its neck had to be snapped, with the violent reaction it made.
When did she get back up?
Wriggle then went up into the air, and directed a swarm of fireflies to cover some of the youkai that charged as a response to that. Mystia was flying around, singing an aria, making most of the other youkai claw at the air, grunting in apparent confusion.
I began to ask myself why Mystia and Wriggle would assist us, until I glanced down at Dai-chan. They're helping her.
Remilia, Sakuya, and Nagato began to make short work of the lesser youkai that charged us. It wasn't long before the seven of us were left standing, still circled by the remaining youkai. I didn't do much, other than be a shield of some sort - the fairy was hiding behind me.
I'm going to mention something else here. Nagato was helping out at first, but then...I don't know. She did something to defend herself from one of the youkai's attacks - she waved her hand, and something happened. It appeared to be more of a reaction than anything else - she just acted on the spur of the moment, and some sort of ice formed. After doing that, Nagato then kind of froze up, staring into her hands. She didn't participate in the battle after that.
"Nagato what the hell are you doing?!" shouted Sakuya as she came to the interface's aid.
Even after we dealt with the attacking youkai, we were still surrounded. The rest of them advanced on us at the same time from all angles.
And then something strange happened. Again.
[SPELL CARD: WAR COMMAND "DOLL'S WAR"]
Someone used a spell card, and it wasn't any of my companions there. From the shadows, there came little girls armed with lances, swords, and other weapons, downing the remaining youkai. There had to be dozens of these little girls.
Those little...dolls.
Dolls. Those are dolls. The shadows betrayed the size of the warriors. They were dolls, which only meant one person...unless there was someone else in Gensokyo who could control dolls. And considering how creeped out I get by the dolls of Gensokyo, I hoped there wasn't.
The dolls put down all the youkai that surrounded us, save for one, another especially large beastial youkai. It looked like a pigman, with its snout and tusks.
Man the way these things are designed, it's like they are directly from my nightmares.
The dolls then ran around the one left standing, circling it. The youkai suddenly started to gasp for air. In the moonlight, I saw what had to be the shine off of a fine, metallic string wrapped around its neck. The dolls then appeared to grab onto the strings that they were attached to, and pulled hard. My eyes followed the shine of the other direction, up to a tree branch.
And there, akin to a grand anime introduction, stood Alice Margatroid. The rings on her fingers, where the strings were attached, reflected the moonlight. Alice was wearing a shorter skirt and sleeves than I last saw her - blue dress, white capelet, and still carrying her grimoire - the one that took her humanity and made her a youkai. She also had long leather boots that went up to her knees, and sported an especially large backpack, with various dolls hanging off of it.
As much as Alice creeped me out, I was happy to see her.
Alice, still clutching the strings, pulled and pulled on them, bringing the youkai to its knees, as it attempted to breathe. She kept tightening, and I could see as blood began to drizzle where the strings made contact with the neck.
She's using her puppet strings like a garotte wire! Somehow Alice had found a way to be even more creepy!
The puppeteer then jumped down, walking up to the youkai, still tightening her wires, still strangling her target. Alice showed no emotion as she was doing this, just staring into the eyes of the youkai as she choked the life out of it. Eventually, the youkai's limbs went limp, but Alice didn't stop tightening her grip.
She didn't stop until she decapitated the thing.
Are they doing this on purpose? Being extremely violent so they can get a scare out of me and a free fear meal? Was that how it worked? I'd never get an answer to that.
Alice stood there, as the body of the youkai went to the ground. While she was still staring down at it, she made a motion with her hand, and all the dolls returned to her, assembling themselves on her backpack, or even going into it.
She's a one-woman army. Another girl I'm grateful to have on my side. I mentally paused for a second. She's on our side, right?
"Miss Margatroid! Impressive!" Remilia sheathed Gungnir as she walked up to Alice. "Haven't seen someone do that in a long time!"
Alice still stared down at the headless youkai she killed, not responding. Remilia patted the puppeteer on the back.
"Aren't kills like that the best? The ones where you can stare into their eyes, and watch as the light of their life extinguish? Kills like that are a treat."
Remilia, please. You're going to give me nightmares.
Alice took a deep breath before responding, her voice flat. "I took no pleasure in that, Miss Scarlet. It's just that...that thing attacked you all. I had to make it pay for attacking my friends."
During all that, I had moved to Nagato, who was still staring into her hands.
"Nagato? Nagato? You okay?" I was really worried about her - her freezing up in the middle of a battle; Hell, her freezing up in general scared me. "Nagato? Seriously, are you okay, because you just standing there is starting to scare me."
While she was still staring, she spoke. Her voice was unemotional, but...shaky?
"I don't mean to scare you. I...I created matter. I created data from nothing. I created a shield. I didn't alter any data to make it. I...made it from nothing."
"What does that mean?"
Nagato swallowed hard. "Kyon...I think I'm evolving."
"That's...that's good, isn't it? No, isn't that great?" I turned her to me. "Nagato, this is what you've been born to do, isn't it?"
Nagato looked up to me. Not with eyes that had any resemblance of wonder or anything like that, but surprisingly, of fear.
"I don't know. If I'm evolving, if we've solved the problem we had...then what would be the point of me being assigned to...?" She didn't finish that sentence.
"The brigade."
She nodded.
Nagato is scared. I'm actually seeing her scared.
"But do you feel fine? We can worry about evolution thing later, but do you feel fine?"
Another nod.
"Then right now, that's all that matters. Whatever is happening to you is-"
"Making me more human? Is that what you're trying to say?"
I gave her a shrug. "Not the words I'd use..." I thought about it for a second. "Well, actually, yeah. Those would be the words I'd use. Sorry."
"Don't be. I don't dislike it." She looked up at the night sky, breahing in and out. She was silent for a moment before speaking again. "But...Kyon, what is this place? What is Gensokyo?"
"A very wondrous place." We turned to see Alice, who said that, with a small smile. She looked genuinely happy to see me. "Hello Kyon. Been a while, hasn't it?"
She gave me a quick hug.
"Yeah, it has been. How you doing, Alice? You still okay?"
"If by that you mean 'have I come to terms with what I am?'" She slowly nodded. "Somewhat. I can't give you a yes or no answer. Just a 'somewhat'. It's still taking me a while to get used to it." Then Alice turned to the human interface. "And this would be Yuki Nagato, correct?" Alice extended her hand, which Nagato took. "Pleased to meet you. Alice Margatroid." Nagato gave a silent nod while they shook hands. Alice stared back up at me with those multi-colored eyes. "So, this is a very interesting night. Three members of the S.O.S. Brigade are in Gensokyo."
Nagato and I quickly glanced at each other.
"Three?"
Alice nodded, and then turned her head to her right.
"Mikuru."
What?!
The beautiful time traveler, Mikuru Asahina, timidly stepped out of the shadows, and her eyes lit up when she saw me and Nagato.
Good Lord. Something big really is going down. Also, what the heck? How is she in here? Why is she in here? As much as I was glad to see her, I knew that Gensokyo was no place for this girl. Heck, Gensokyo is barely a place for me.
Also, I had noticed that we were in quite a large group. Sakuya and Remilia were talking things over. Alice, Nagato and I were being joined by Asahina. And Wriggle and Mystia were over with that Dai-Chan fairy, going over her wing. This was a large group.
"Kyon! Nagato!"
Asahina ran to us, and embraced me.
"Asahina, what in the world are you doing here?"
She was shaking and appeared to be ready to cry her eyes out.
"I don't know! I was walking home yesterday, and all of a sudden I find myself outside Miss Alice's house!"
I looked over to Alice. "If that's the case, then thank you for taking care of her, by the way."
"It was nothing. In fact, she enjoyed playing with my dolls."
Playing with those creepy things? Well, they were well-made dolls, and I guess they could be cute. It's just that I knew that they are used for battle. I've seen them move in battle. That was pretty much my first impression of them.
"Yes. Miss Alice was so nice to me! She even offered to find out why I'm here." Asahina thought that over, and her eyes widened, as it really dawned on her that Nagato and I were there in Gensokyo too. "Actually, why are we all here?"
"I haven't the faintest idea. We'd like to know that too."
I shifted a bit, as I was still being held by Asahina. Not that I minded, you know, but I still was wondering if she would let go.
"Uhm...Asahina...?"
"What?"
She took a moment to compose herself, and then realized that she was still embracing me. Blushing bright red, she jumped back like I gave her an electric shock.
"Ah, I'm sorry. It's just been a weird day for me."
"Yeah, I can believe that."
"Can you believe this place, Kyon? It's so...weird."
"That's one way of putting it." I said that as I noticed that Dai-chan fairy look over her damaged wing. Mystia and Wriggle were still talking to her, but then they all went silent as the vampire neared them.
"Now, back to business." Remilia said as she approached them, arms crossed. "What should I do with the two of you?"
"Easy, Remilia." I said as I went to the fairy. I downed a vial (wow it tasted bad), getting the Supernatural Border up and running. I tagged the fairy - getting the barrier up and healing her.
"Human, what-" Dai-chan's eyes widened as the Supernatural Border surrounded her as well. I thought "to hell with it" and tagged Mystia and Wriggle as well. Why not? They did assist in that battle earlier. Maybe some sort of payback.
The three of them, the fairy, the bug, and the bird, (what a weird group), just stared at me, apparently at a loss for words. Their wounds healed up.
"Kyon, you shouldn't have wasted a vial on them."
"Remilia, there's nothing wrong with healing them, right? They did help us out, after all."
"But why did you heal up the bug? She was going to eat you."
That's true. "When you put it that way..." I shrugged.
Remilia then moved, quickly, getting the stunned Wriggle and Mystia in a headlock - after a quick thrust to end the barrier surrounding them.
"Well now. I appreciate the assist, but I am still a little miffed that you decided to attack my servants and I. Now...what do you two have to say for yourselves?"
I could tell that Remilia was squeezing on their necks. Wriggle and Mystia struggled for a bit, panicking. Wriggle made a little choking noise before speaking.
"Sssss...ssorry! I'm...so...sorry!"
Mystia was frantically trying to break free, but to no avail.
"We're sorry! We're sorry we're sorry we're sorry!"
Remilia finally smiled.
"That's what I wanted to hear."
She let them go, and they collapsed to the ground, gasping for air. Remilia then looked back up at me.
"Okay then, since you seem to 'know' what you're doing, Kyon...what should I do with them?"
"You're still going to hurt them, aren't you?"
"Maybe not the bird, but definitely the bug."
Wriggle held up her hands.
"Whoa whoa whoa. Hey, a girl's gotta eat. I thought he was a free meal. It was a mistake, all right?"
"Please don't talk so casually about eating me." I glanced over at the vampire. "You know what, Remilia? Go ahead and smack her if you want."
Not nice of me, I know, but it's also not nice to talk about eating another person.
Wriggle whipped around to face me.
"Why you little- ow!"
Remilia used the handle of her spear to bonk Wriggle on the head.
"...Kyon?!"
We all turned to Asahina, who exclaimed that. Her jaw was dropped, as she stared in apparent shock at me.
Not just me. It was as if she finally realized the people we were with weren't really people. She had to have noticed the wings on Remilia and Dai-chan's backs, the bird features of Mystia, and the antennae on Wriggle's head. Not to mention my Supernatural Border.
This was an unusual sight, to say the least. If I was in Asahina's position there, I'd react the same way.
"W-what was that? That red thing? What happened to you? Who are these people? Where are we? Why are we here? What's going on?!"
Missed out on "how" and "when".
She kept on stuttering, unable to really speak. Ah, right. She doesn't know. I heard Sakuya sigh.
"Explanation time?"
I shrugged. "Looks like it."
"Okay. But can we do this at a different location? The youkai here are stirring."
She was right. Already they were beginning to move their limbs. Alice used a spell card to knock out the lesser youkai. They aren't dead yet.
The woman yawned and stretched, feeling the stiffness in her body. She had slept for a long while, and had felt the seal around her weakening. It finally gave way, like it did every full moon. The woman got up and looked for her warden.
"Hello? Miko?"
The woman, still stretching and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, looked for the miko in the shrine. She went into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of sake for herself. Well, if the miko isn't here, then she shouldn't mind if I steal a drink.
Drinking straight from the bottle, she did a quick look around. Weird. The miko is usually around to see me awaken, to make sure I 'know my place' and all that other nonsense. The woman didn't hold it against her. The miko defeated her multiple times, and instead of sealing her away for good, had allowed her to awaken and be free every now and then. It was a good deal, actually.
Better than being sealed up in Makai, that's for damn sure. You get sealed up in there, there's a good chance you don't come back out.
The woman then went to the front door, and opened it. What she saw made her take a step back.
That's...unusual.
The grounds of the shrine were a mess. Stalls, litter, broken tables, chairs, stains of wines, uneaten food, garbage...it looked like a festival had occurred but nobody bothered to clean it up. Actually, judging by the broken tables, it looked like a fight had also occurred at said festival.
There is even danmaku scarring around. Someone had a heavy fight. Too bad I missed it.
Mima took another drink of sake, as she stared out at the Hakurei shrine's grounds, wondering where Reimu Hakurei was.
We continued our way to the Hakurei Shrine, after learning that was where Alice and Asahina were going anyway - it would be the safest place for the time traveler. Sakuya had taken Asahina aside and went about explaining what was going on - my time in Gensokyo, the Spring Snow Incident, all that. Remilia took great pleasure and amusement in hearing Asahina's reactions to hearing all of those events. Alice walked alongside me and Nagato, while the fairy, whose name I learned was Daiyousei, tagged along, as she said she would feel safer with us, and possibly safe on the Hakurei Shrine's grounds. Wriggle and Mystia followed Daiyousei from a distance, I guess wanting to protect their friend - we did learn that they were indeed friends.
Nagato, however, had remained silent ever since her discovery.
While I was happy for her, it also scared me. What she mentioned was true as well. The only reason why she, or why the whole Data Society was interested in Haruhi was because of the potential of auto-evolution. Nagato had achieved her goal for her people, but what did that mean? Would she have to leave the S.O.S. Brigade? Would the Data Society just pull back from Earth or whatever and go to their origins in the universe? I asked her such questions during the time it took Sakuya to explain what was going on to Asahina, but Nagato didn't answer. As I said, she was silent.
Sad. She accomplished something very big for her race, but she might have to leave as a result. That was what she appeared to be afraid of. Truth be told, I was afraid of that myself. I'd have to lose a good friend.
As for her "acting more human", and I don't really want to say that, but it is what it is...well, I didn't mind it. Not that I didn't like the old Nagato just fine, but seeing her open up as a small result of some of that evolution was kind of nice. She appeared to be able to express herself a bit more. I liked it.
I looked over to my other Brigade associate. Mikuru was obviously scared of Remilia, and walked so that Sakuya was in between her and the vampire. Hopefully, she'll get over it. Also, I guess this was one vampire this girl didn't appreciate.
I turned to Alice, noticing a doll hanging around her. It was a little blonde doll with wings and a red dress. It silently stared at me as it floated in the air over Alice's shoulder. It didn't go into her pack, and it actually didn't appear to need to be attached to strings. It was just a free-floating doll.
"Alice, what," I said, pointing at the doll. "Or who, is that?"
"Oh." Alice's eyes brightened up. "Kyon, this is 'Shanghai'."
The doll gave me a single nod. It flew up to me, doing a curtsey, and then went back to Alice's side.
"Is...is she alive?"
Because that would be 10/10 on the creepiness scale! I don't need nightmares of living dolls tonight, thank you!
"No. I have been doing a lot of research, and she is my most advanced doll. She is not fully sentient, but she is semi-autonomous, and has a small level of intelligence. Shanghai is, for better terms, my servant."
Alice smiled at me, and then looked forward, losing the smile as quickly as it had formed. "It's been difficult." Alice said out of nowhere.
"What has? Making Shanghai?'
"Well, yes, but that wasn't what I was talking about. Yes, finding the materials, constructing the doll, and finding the right incantations and mechanisms to make her work has been a challenge, but I didn't mean that. No." Alice nodded over to Remilia, as if referencing her. "Ever since you've left, I've tried to handle it better. What I've become. Changing from your original form into a youkai is a...difficult process. It's not gentle."
"What do you mean by that?"
Alice stared at me. "Think of what your teenage body is going through - puberty. Over a series of years, growth spurts, chemicals introduced into your body, hormones, and the like, rapidly turn you into an adult. It's a change in your body. For turning into a youkai..."
Alice looked over at Wriggle.
"I mean, look at the bug youkai. Going from the form of a mere firefly into a young woman? The change was rapid. Am I correct, firefly?"
Wriggle blinked, a bit off guard in that she was spoken to. The bug youkai pursed her lips, and gave us a shrug.
"Ah...I think so. I mean, I don't remember much about the change...other than I didn't like it. I mean, I like what I've become, but I didn't like going through it."
"And you - Mystia, was it? What were you before you became this?"
"I was a night sparrow. And Wriggle's right. The change was not easy."
Remilia slowed down to join our conversation. Truthfully, she didn't so much "join" as "butting in". "Alice isn't far off. The change is violent - mentally, emotionally, and physically taxing. Youkai suffer from some sort of psychosis and insanity because of what their bodies went through to attain their humanoid form. If you want the most extreme case...well..." Remilia paused, and let out a deep breath. "You have Flan."
Then...that explains a lot.
"She wasn't like that before she was turned. No, she was a sweet little sister, actually...but her turning into what she is broke her, and she became what she is now. The truth is, there are no youkai that don't have some form of psychosis. Even purebloods - youkai born as youkai - have a form of insanity."
I had to word the following right, as I didn't want to offend her.
"So...what you're saying is that you are insane."
Remilia grinned at me.
"Maybe."
"Then again you appear to take great pleasure in killing. I think it's safe to say that you are psychotic."
"That's different. I embrace what I am, Kyon. I have fun doing what I do." Remilia spread out her arms. "If that makes me insane in a world where people toil doing what they hate doing, year in and year out, until they grow old, bitter, and just die because they fail to take care of themselves, then yes. I'm insane." Remilia pointed at me, grinning. "The reality is, you humans are insane."
"How do you deal with the nightmares?"
That was Alice, whom we turned to. For a brief while, she looked tired. "I've been having nightmares ever since I've become what I am. How long do you have the nightmares?"
The vampire appeared to mull that over for a few seconds, tilting her head back and forth. "Only for a few years, I think. It varies." Remilia rubbed the back of her head. "Flan had them for decades."
"Decades of nothing but nightmares." Damn. "I never knew she went through such a thing."
And now that I know that she suffered to become as crazy as she is, I feel guilty for wanting to avoid her all this time.
"Like I said, Kyon. It was tough for her."
Alice sighed in resignation, closing her eyes, a sadness overtaking her face. I placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Being a youkai isn't all that it's cracked up to be, is it?"
"No. No it isn't."
We almost bumped into Sakuya and Asahina, who stopped. Sakuya already had her knives out, while Asahina made a beeline to hide behind me.
"What? What is it?!"
Then I heard it.
The sounds of something big moving amongst the trees. Think Jurassic Park, where the T-Rex was moving through the trees, and you heard the "thump" of its footsteps; the crunch of the flora in movement, brushing up against whatever was going past. Like that, but this was for real. Suffice to say, I was on edge, since this thing sounded massive.
Oh please don't tell me that it's some sort of youkai. Stupid thought. Of course it had to be a youkai. A big one at that.
There was a squeal, some sort of boar, I think, and running. The monstrosity that had to be in the forest moved quickly, obviously giving chase, the snapping of branches drowning out the sound my beating heart was making. A few thundering steps, and then the animal squealed one last time before apparently being killed. Remilia chuckled.
"Ah. She got it."
Asahina turned to the vampire.
"Who? What? Who got what? What got what? What's going on?!"
Grinning, Remilia nodded at the trees as Sakuya sheathed her knives.
"Well, I think the animal that was killed was a boar of some kind. As to who killed it, well, there is only one thing that it could be."
Before she could explain further, it rose above the tree lines. The moon was its backdrop, casting its shadow over us, and not allowing me to get a good look at it. A large figure, the most prominent thing were two horns on top of its head. They looked like they had bows tied on them.
God Almighty. Have mercy. And I threw in a few swears for good measure.
It was a girl. A large girl with horns - had to be a giant. My heart was in my throat as Remilia called out to it. Asahina squealed and shrunk behind me, as did the fairy. I myself wanted to hide behind Sakuya again.
I'm not a coward. It's just that the thing looked at least two-stories tall.
"Ah! Suika! Thought that was you!"
Suika?
As if sensing my confusion (and terror), Sakuya explained. It was the Mesmeric Mist Incident.
Two weeks prior to that night, Gensokyo partied for three days straight. It lead up to a feast at the Hakurei Shrine, but some sort of red mist covered the land, and everyone within it was in a partying mood. Reimu, thinking the Scarlet Mist was back, went to the SDM, took on and defeated Remilia a second time. Finding out that it wasn't her, Reimu then came across Yukari during the feast, who claimed to have a surprise for the miko. After defeating Yukari again, Reimu got that surprise. The "person" in question that was before us, the one who caused that red party mist.
Suika Ibuki.
An oni.
An actual freaking oni.
The two battled it out at the Hakurei Shrine in an epic confrontation, where Suika even used black holes against the miko, but to no avail. Black holes?! Really?! In front of Gensokyo and some of the human villagers who had shown up at the feast, Reimu beat down the oni, making her submit.
Beating something that size...that's beyond impressive.
The giant ducked down, and moved towards us. The snapping of limbs continued to fill the night, though...
Okay, this is weird. She's coming towards us. I can see the movements in the trees, but the sound is actually getting weaker. Yet she is definitely getting closer. This doesn't make any sense!
The trees kept moving as the giant oni continued to lumber towards us. Nagato stared out at it, still unemotional. Wriggle and Mystia were holding onto each other, obviously scared, and Asahina's grip on me tightened. The branch-snapping kept getting closer, but weaker. The bushes in front of us shook-
And out popped a little girl with horns. Horns that had ribbons tied on to them. She had long blonde hair that ended in a ponytail, a sleeveless shirt (the sleeves were torn off), and a blue skirt. She also had chains attached to her wrists, though they only had a few links. She was also carrying a huge dead boar. This girl looked to be barely twelve years old, but she slung that hundred-plus-pound pig over her shoulder like it weighed nothing. She smiled at all of us.
"Hey Remilia! What's up!"
The little girl in front of me is supposed to be an oni, one of the most powerful youkai ever. Tonight just gets weirder and weirder.
Reisen let out a silent deep breath. From the shadows, she stared at the girl with the long black hair. When Reisen snuck around, she found the girl just standing there, her eyes fixated on the door Reisen had planned to use to get to the entryway.
Knew it. She was waiting for me. I would have walked right smack into her. However...
Reisen continued to stay in the darkness, wondering how she would get out of Eintei. The girl was still there, her back to the front door, but Reisen knew that she needed to distract her before even thinking of opening the front door. Silently ducking back through the side rooms, the rabbit soldier began formulating several plans on how to distract the girl.
Don't have any equipment, don't have anything, besides my sidearm and a few clips. Going to have to figure out with what I have in front of me. Simplest plan would be to create noise. Thing is, I make a noise, and the girl will be on me quicker than even I can react.
Reisen looked around for anything she could use. She was in the front office for her master - which was used for medical consultations. Her eyes fell on a well-stocked bookcase. Medical books. A lot of them.
Reisen tilted her head. She had it. A small smile formed on her face.
It's a child's game, but it'll buy me the distraction.
Working quickly but silently, Reisen set up the books along floor, standing them upright, one after the other, with one of the Luger's magazines balanced on top of the final book- sure to make noise. When she was done, she grinned. Actually always loved to play with dominoes. Miss those days. Reisen mused over the fact that she did all that setting up without making a single sound, feeling good about herself. Reisen then carefully stepped over her work, making her way to the side door. She coaxed the first book to fall, then quickly went to the entryway.
When she got there, she saw the girl's head perk up as the magazine clattered on the floor, and just as quickly went to the office.
Outsmarted you! Reisen, hugging the wall, made her way to the front door. She glanced back to where the girl disappeared to, and didn't see anything. Reisen opened the front door, stepping outside, ready to run -
And there stood Tewi Inaba, the rabbit youkai, with static in her eyes, armed with her mallet. Just waiting for Reisen.
Instinctively, Reisen brought out her Luger, aiming it at the youkai's head. But it was no use - she knew she couldn't pull the trigger on Tewi.
No no no no! Tewi...
"Going somewhere?"
The girl's voice, from behind Reisen. The rabbit soldier whipped around, having no qualms about shooting the girl, but the gun was knocked away. The girl grabbed Reisen by the throat, lifting the soldier off her feet.
"You didn't actually believe that you stood a chance against me, did you, Sergeant?"
Struggling to breath, Reisen attempted to speak, but couldn't. The girl stared up into Reisen's eyes with no emotion. The girl squeezed harder.
Damn it...I was so close...
"What was that? I couldn't hear you."
Reisen attempted to fight, striking at the girl with her arms, her legs, anything to try to make her let go. But it didn't even appear to faze the girl.
"I don't know why you think you can beat me. Didn't you see me make short work of your master, of your rabbit friend there?" The girl brought Reisen closer. "Of your Princess?"
I still have one trick up my sleeve! Bet you didn't know I could do this!
Reisen made a "gun" with her hand, and pressed it up against the girl's face. Bringing the thumb down, she shot a magical bullet into the girl. Reisen was let go, as the girl held onto her face. The soldier gasped for air, using those precious seconds to locate her gun. She moved towards it, getting her fingers on it -
And was slammed against the wall by the girl. Reisen stared at the damaged face - and watched as it was healing quickly. The girl showed emotion, a small scowl on her face.
"You shouldn't have done that, rabbit. I should kill you...but I have need of your abilities." A smile crept on her face. "Welcome to serving the Sky Canopy Domain."
No! NO! NOT THAT!
That was the last thing Reisen thought as she felt the sand take over her body, as she was plunged into darkness.
-entry-
-entities encountered-
-Mystia Lorelei, Nightsparrow Youkai
-Daiyousei, Fairy
-Alice Margatroid, Youkai (Formerly Human)
-Shanghai, Semi-Autonomous Doll
-Suika Ibuki, Oni
-Various Youkai
-Battle data recorded and sent.
-Personal Note:
-I have found the game of Danmaku to be enjoyable. The display of power. The planning that goes into each attack. The way one needs to always be ready to move. It is a very sophisticated way of combat.
-"Mesmeric Mist Incident"
-Starting at the beginning of summer 2004, Gensokyo had constant feasts and festivals without a logical reason. This went on for the entire month of June, before July 1st, 2004. Reimu Hakurei decided to find out why this was happening. She had noticed a mist in the land. Led by her intuition, Reimu Hakurei defeated Marisa Kirisame, Alice Margatroid, and Youmu Konpaku, before initiating another assault on the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Defeating Hong Meiling and Sakuya Izayoi, the shrine maiden confronted Remilia Scarlet, under the impression that the Scarlet Mist Incident was occurring again. Defeating the vampire did nothing, and the mist persisted. Returning to her shrine for another festival, Reimu Hakurei met, fought, and defeated Yukari Yakumo. Then the shrine maiden found the culprit - the mist itself. Suika Ibuki, an oni, has the ability to change density, and became a mist to get all of Gensokyo to party by engulfing it with her essence. The two fought on the shrine's grounds, before the shrine maiden made the oni submit. The mist then ended.
-Suika Ibuki now resides with Reimu Hakurei as a result. Oni will follow those that are strong, especially those that beat them.
Status: ==RESOLVED==
-File catalogued by: Emiri Kimidori
-[ADMIN 612:] Unknown status detected in entity Nagato Yuki. Explanation requested.
-{UPDATE} [ADMIN 612:] Please respond.
-{UPDATE} [ADMIN 612:] This is the third request we have put forth for your response. Respond, or face consequences.
-Response:
-I don't want to.
-N. Yuki
-end entry-
-logoff-
Mima is usually seen with the bottom half of her body being that of a ghost tail. However, people forget that in Touhou 5: Mystic Square, the last time she was canonically seen in a game, she had developed legs.
I can literally listen to "Deaf to all but the Song" all day. I've done it, in fact. Just had it on repeat on an MP3 player all day on my birthday. It's such a good song, and one of my absolute favorites in the series. Could be my favorite boss theme, actually. Possibly a tie with "Septette for the Dead Princess" and "Love Colored Master Spark". "Green-eyed Jealousy" is up there as well. ...And "Staking your Life on a Prank."
Touhou boss music is so good, it's hard to pin down the best one. I still maintain that "Capital City of Flowers in the Sky" is the best song in the entire series, however.
Review this story! Lady Yukari demands it!