This particular 'season' was actually written by one of the beta readers, Smooglii. I read it, and liked it so much that I decided to make it a part of my story. With their permission, of course.
Imagine, if you will, how Kyon manages to gain some infamy, that, due to a certain tengu reporter, his accomplishments are now record in Gensokyo. Aya printed out such a fantastical story, that while some in Gensokyo might dismiss it, someone down the line is going to believe every word.
A particular human, just a normal person, who happens to both have a handy healing barrier, and also the uncanny knack for surviving any situation.
If you had your own agenda, and if you had the means to do it, to acquire this human for your side...
If such an ally were within grasp, what kind of person would reach out and take advantage of it?
Scratch that.
What kind of youkai?
What kind of youkai is willing to do anything to gain the upper hand? What of of youkai is willing to cheat their way to victory by any means necessary?
What kind of youkai is willing to flip this combined world of Haruhi and Touhou on its head?
=The following was originally written up by user Smooglii. This arc is a collaboration between Supperdude9 & Smooglii, and been brought into ICB with their permission.=
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:
Another Duck
Smooglii
Supperdude9
The night after getting back from my third trip to Gensokyo, I slept hard, and in my clothes. I didn't even have the chance to change or take out whatever was in my pockets - I was out. I had forgotten to set my alarm, as I had never had access to one when sleeping in Gensokyo, and my habits were late in following me home. You would think that I wouldn't forget such a basic yet tremendously important thing as setting my alarm, but I'm sure you will understand when I remind you that not only did I not have school, and not only did I have a number of things on my mind including the impending nuclear apocalypse, I didn't usually need my alarm anyway, as my sister, more of a morning person than I will ever be, had taken to barging into my room to wake me up for breakfast. At this point, it was a frivolous ritual, akin to saying a nightly prayer, although now that I understood that several gods did exist and that I might be dating one, saying a prayer before bed made more sense to me than setting my alarm during the middle of summer break, and since I didn't do that either, it would be silly to expect that I had set my alarm.
Well, that's how I excuse it. The truth is that I just forgot.
Anyway, I wasn't woken up by my alarm. I wasn't woken up by my sister, or my mother, or even my cat. No nightmares about what I saw happen to Mokou or apocalyptic premonitions, either. I guess you could call that a good thing. I wondered if this was some cosmic reward for all I had been through. Maybe I would discover a national lottery ticket in the garbage that turned out out to be a winner for five million yen.
Actually, no. That's what I would have hoped would have happened. Something even more unexpected than winning the lottery happened to me that morning, and from the moment I opened my eyes, I knew that I wouldn't be going back to my not-so-quiet life just yet.
What now?
How can I describe what I saw? I was looking at the floor. It's not that I fell out of my bed or anything like that. No, I was still in my bed, but my bed happened to be on the ceiling. A bare patch of floor where my bed used to be lay under me, and when I looked down at myself, there was nothing keeping me from falling down and, if the laws of gravity remembered their proper arrangement, being crushed to death by my bed as it came down after me. The only explanation that made any sense was that someone had taken my house apart and rebuilt it upside down around me as a prank, and since that didn't make much sense at all, I had to conclude that something annoying had happened to me without my permission.
I had just come from Gensokyo and wasn't scheduled to return for some time, so whatever did this was probably from the other absurd part of my life. The part filled with aliens, time travelers, and espers. Maybe Haruhi had gotten annoyed with me for some reason, and instead of closed space, this happened. It seemed reasonable enough.
Of course, it wasn't Haruhi. It was something much more troublesome.
This is a story about how, for a single long day, my life was turned upside down, and how everything I had was stolen from me overnight, without resistance, by someone who I didn't even know.
Possible Spell Card
Episode 1
["Powerless"]
"If you know you're weak, then you should behave yourself.
That's the law of Gensokyo!"
–Reimu Hakurei, Touhou 14, Double Dealing Character - Stage 6 (Reimu B route)
When I was certain that I was not dreaming and that I was, in fact, upside down - or that my room was - I tried to move. I thought about calling for help, but what could my sister or my parents do? As far as I'm aware, they're not magicians, although come to think of it, that is a frightening possibility. Shamisen was also nowhere to be seen, not that I expected my cat to do anything. Then again, Shamisen has done unexpected things like speaking before, so maybe he would come to my rescue or at least tell me what was going on. Naturally, that didn't happen.
Well, no one's coming to help me. I guess I should just call Nagato already.
I was able to move just fine, as though I were right side up and everything else was upside down, and as I got out of bed, it didn't look like it had anything to do with the bed itself. With great force of will, I stood up on the ceiling. It didn't feel weird at all, which itself felt weird. I guess I should say it was disorienting; my whole world was turned on its head, and even my own room seemed unfamiliar. It reminded me of how beginner artists sketch things upside down so that their subconscious won't recognize what they're drawing and interfere.
I wanted to see if just my room was tossed upside down, but looking out the window, and I could see that the world itself was upside down - nothing but sky beneath my feet if I were to leave the house.
If I step outside, am I going to fall to the sky? What a scary thought. As I searched for my cell phone, I noticed that my bedroom door was ajar, and I could hear the television on in the living room. It sounded like the afternoon news. Afternoon? I looked at my upside down clock. Sure enough, it was 4:30 PM on the dot. It also occurred to me that my sister usually had control of the TV at four during summer, and as far as I knew, she preferred her Sailor Moon DVDs to This Week in Politics.
Curiosity got the better of me here. I nudged the bottom (top) of my door open, and crept towards the sound to take a look. What I did not see was my sister.
It was a stranger. Someone was in my house, someone I didn't know, and she was sprawled out on my couch with her head hanging upside down - right side up to me - muttering to herself as she watched the television. It was a girl about my age. Her slender, long legs were dangling over the head of the couch, and... Wow. Glorious. Her short shoulder-length hair, black with red highlights and a single bold white stripe going down the front, was splayed out on the floor above me, and she wore a short white dress that ended in a cluster of red, gray, and black arrows pointing up and down, intersecting with one another. Her waist was wrapped in a blue cloth with a bow that seemed to be tied upside down (she had two of those, one behind her back and one under her collar), and she wore sandals and a gold bracelet on her right arm. There was a purple checkered cloth tucked into her waistband. I didn't have to look at her long to realize what she must be.
Bizarre clothes, I'm bizarrely upside down, or everything else is, and the house is bizarrely empty. Is there a youkai in my house? Outside Gensokyo? Pretty bold for one to show up like this, really.
I knew that there were youkai outside of Gensokyo. After all, not everything supernatural is in there; Koizumi is proof of that. However, this was my first time seeing one out here, not counting visitors from the inside.
I realize that to some, it might be some type of fantasy to wake up and find an attractive punk-looking girl making herself at home on your couch, particularly if you knew that she was some sort of supernatural being and wasn't trying to kill you or rob you. At least, I could only guess that she wasn't here for either of those things, since I wasn't dead and she didn't have a sack of valuables next to her. However, as my house was mysteriously empty aside from us and my inverted gravity would have made it awkward for me to escape, if not outright impossible, I had a sinking feeling that this would not be the kind of daydream-like situation that you would see in a romantic comedy. Or an ero...
Not that I know what goes on in those things or anything.
Anyway, the final nail was driven into the coffin of that fantasy when I noticed my cell phone and all of the landline receivers in the house piled together on a cushion next to her. This person clearly did not want me calling for help. As I was considering how to deal with this, she raised her head. When her hair moved, I saw two small, blue-gray horns poking out of her head. This was definitely a youkai, and she was looking at me with bright red eyes - eyes that sparkled with mischief and delight upon seeing me.
"Oh, you're up."
My fight or flight instincts failed me - all I did was stand there.
She righted herself on the couch, or de-righted herself, and grinned at me. "Don't go anywhere or freak out. I thought you might like the new perspective."
Freaking out is exactly what I should be doing. For starters, who are you, why are you in my house, and where is my family? At this time, there should have been someone here. If my mother took my sister out, she would usually leave a note or something.
"Call me Seija," the youkai said as she flicked her hair. Then, just to dash my budding understanding that I must be the one upside down, she hovered into the air and flipped around so that she was standing on the ceiling with me. "Nice t'meetcha and all."
She didn't seem hostile, but there was something about her that told me she was bad news. I had seen that same mischievous look in her eyes on a number of people by now, so like a dog conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell, I was getting anxious.
We spent the next few seconds staring at one another, her waiting for me to respond and me trying to figure out just how much danger I was in. I guess realizing my immediate concern on account of my silence, she said, "Yeah, I'm a youkai. Don't worry, I ain't here to eat you."
Well, that's one relief. I had so many questions, and she just answered two of them for me. "Where is my family?"
Seija gave a noncommittal shrug. "On vacation."
That's a poor lie and you know it. "What are you doing here?"
I put on a tough face, but I wasn't very comfortable being alone with an unknown youkai who came out of nowhere and had the gall to enter my home.
"I think if I wanted to be tactful, I'd say something like..." She bobbed her head side to side, thinking it over. "How would you like to change the world?" She came up to me and seemingly playfully grabbed my arm. What she said belied the action. "But tact ain't my thing. I'm not gonna lie, you're my prisoner right now." She said it just like that, with a grin. As if it had been decided by committee, and I was now being served.
Your prisoner? Why? Does she really think she can get away with this? As soon as anyone finds out I'm missing, it's going to be very bad for you. Do you have any idea who my friends are?
"Nothing personal. This is what you call a political move." Seija backed up and balanced herself on a parasol that I hadn't noticed she was holding.
...A parasol with lace and ribbons. Chills ran up my spine. Wait a minute, I recognize that.
It was... Yukari's parasol? It was. The one she always carried around. What was Seija doing with it?
"But just because it isn't personal, don't think that this has nothing to do with you. Are you happy with what happened last night?"
You have Yukari's parasol! Don't change the subject. Wait, no, I need to get back on track! "Hang on. Why am I your prisoner? What do you know about what happened last night?"
"Last night" probably referred to what was to me the night before last; the night we all faced Mokou, and the night we were targeted again by the Sky Canopy Dominion. I wasn't sure exactly what specific event she was referring to, and I was starting to feel awkward, hanging on the ceiling like we were. Or standing. You know what? I'm going to go ahead and say that I was the one who was upside down.
"That boundary youkai, forcing her will on the village? Showing everyone who's boss so they don't forget who owns them?" Seija's expression turned sour, like she was tasting the words she just spoke. "She thinks she's so safe, doesn't she? Like everything happens according to her plan. The most powerful and feared youkai in Gensokyo." She gathered up mucus in her mouth and hocked it. It fell to the floor. Not the ceiling, but the floor.
Don't desecrate my house, please. I'm already going to have to make sure there are no footprints on the ceiling. And what about my bed?
"Look, I don't mind if you hate Yukari," I spoke as I took a step back from my strange new company. "And frankly, I can understand it at times, but that doesn't have anything to do with me. Please leave me and my family out of this."
The smile that swept over her face just unnerved me. "You don't get it, do you?" She moved closer. Every step I took away, she took two towards me. I had backed up to the wall, and she eventually pressed up against me.
Passion, please keep yourself in check here.
"I've heard all about your little adventures. All the youkai in Gensokyo know about you now." She extended her arm and stretched out her hand in a grand gesture, and spoke at it like she was referencing a big billboard. "The weakling human who resolved incidents and rallied all the biggest power players to his side so they'd support him no matter what." She returned her attention to me with a full grin of pointed teeth, and tapped her finger on my nose. "You are an inspiration. You were weak. Now you're strong, and it's because of all the friends you've made. Us weaklings are only as strong as our friends."
Seeing her this close, she really was hot, in that punk-ish look, actually. Too bad this wasn't a dream. Right? No, it was real. I could feel the ceiling under my feet... and her body against mine.
Again, body, don't react.
"You call yourself a weakling?"
Seija smirked and shook her head. "Not anymore, I don't. Now I have you." She pulled her face up to mine and whispered into my ear, "If you ever want to see your family again, you'll cooperate with me as my prisoner."
Oh, hell no.
That did it. I knew she must have done something with them, but she just told me to my face that she had taken my family away. I shoved her away, glaring at her. "You're not going to get away with this. Nagato will-"
"Nagato?!" Seija floated in the air again and turned upside down in front of me, sticking her tongue in my face in an exaggerated gesture. "She can't do anything! No one's going to know. I know all about your life, Kyon. I read the newspaper, I've done my research." She lifted her finger over (under) her head and jabbed her pointed nail into my forehead. "I know all about you!"
The newspaper? That's right, Yukari lets the youkai watch us sometimes. They probably tell stories about it to everyone else, which means...
I clenched my fists, somehow managing not to budge in spite of the pain and the wet feeling around where she had poked me. I was up against someone who did their homework. You're not just some random youkai who entered my house. You really do have plans for me. "So, what, you know all of my weaknesses, is that it?"
"Exactly." She crossed her arms and legs and floated there in a kind of "sitting" position. "I know it all, Kyon, because that old hag invaded your privacy and made your life the hottest gossip in Gensokyo."
When you put it that way, that does kind of piss me off. That said, you're still my biggest problem right now. I considered my options, like how fast I could grab a phone and retreat somewhere, but no - even if I could make it five steps without her catching me, she could probably bust down any door in the house, not to mention that she said that she had my family. As I had not changed, I knew I still had the two spell cards in my back pockets, but they were moot at that point. If I were to even attempt a spell card, she was too damn close - she'd tear me apart before I could get three words in. I had no immediate means of defending myself.
"Oh, don't be so mad about it. I told you - you're gonna get a chance to change the world." She shrugged. "I don't want to hurt you or your family. I need you for this, y'know? We're gonna do some real good together."
I stared at this youkai, trying to read her. For some reason, I couldn't help but believe her. I didn't like her, but it felt like she at least believed what she was saying.
The options kept running through my head, and ultimately, there was no other path.
"What do you want me to do?"
Seija's smile came back, and she turned right side up-upside down again. She put her arm on my shoulder and leaned into me, tilting her head and putting her face up to mine again. "Hey, Kyon. Don't get me wrong. I'm your friend. A good guy. If you got to know me, I think you would like me. I just have to do this because I don't have power by myself. If you were forced into my situation, would you have the luxury of fighting fair?"
"I don't know your situation. I still don't know who you are." You also said you have my family hostage, essentially. Stop being so friendly with me, because it's pissing me off.
"I'm Seija Kijin," she said, pulling back from me, giving a bow, "and I'm a wanted youkai in Gensokyo. I tried to fight the power, but the power beat me down, and now certain powerful people want my head. All I want is justice against the strong who oppress the weak."
The strong who oppress the weak? I guess Yukari counts, what with her public terrorism the other night, but she had, well, as good a reason as she could have for doing that. Who the hell else is she talking about? And no one ever told me about any Seija Kijin before. If she was part of a previous incident, wouldn't someone have mentioned it? Then again, I had no clue about Chiyuri and her incident. I'll have to get Nagato to get me that information. In fact, I'll ask her for Gensokyo's full history - it might prove useful.
Seija twirled the parasol. "What I want you to do is simple. Come with me to Gensokyo, and help me prepare for the revolution. You'll be my trump card, and that healing thing you do will come in handy. That's all I need you to do..." She paused, her smile fading for a bit, before she regained it. "To a point."
"I can't do the healing thing," I said. "Not by myself, I mean. Someone made some-" My words were cut short by Seija drawing a familiar pack from her waistband and opening it up to reveal twenty red vials. Now that I realized it, there were a few other things attached to her waist. There was the purple checkered cloth I noticed earlier, as well as a small camera that I had seen before. I clearly remembered it, as I had seen it hanging from a certain tengu who had interviewed me. It was Aya's.
She has cherry blossom vials? And... what else does she have? "Did you steal this stuff?" I asked.
Seija grinned. "Not bad, right? Swiped from Youkai Mountain, the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and the youkai of boundaries herself." She held out the camera for me to see. "These are tsukumogami, although their power is fading. I used them to get this far."
Tsukumogami. A type of youkai that a tool or other object becomes when it turns a hundred years old. I always figured that in Gensokyo, they'd look human-like as well. Does that mean those things are alive?
I stared at the camera. I imagined that it was staring back at me, taking in every detail even though no one was operating it.
Also, if you stole from Remilia, I really pity you. You know, maybe there is a reason why you're wanted.
Seija lifted Yukari's parasol up. "We'll get where we need to go with this. Well, and some other things. It has a little bit of the old hag's power, but it uses up its charges pretty quick."
She tapped the wall with the parasol, and a gap opened in it. It was a genuine Yukari portal, creepy eyes and all. Seija invaded my personal space again, her face going serious and her eyes going youkai. They started to glow a deeper red, and seemed to rotate in their sockets. Yes, her eyes turned upside down. "Remember: You're on my side. If anything happens to me, or I fail, your family is dead."
Just in case I believed you about being my friend, right? Yeah, fat chance of that. I quickly reconsidered my options here, ultimately reaching the same conclusion as before. Until I could find help, I was out of luck. I begrudgingly nodded at her.
Seija beamed, and then scrunched up her face like she was thinking. "Oh right," she said. "Take this." She produced what looked like a blue and green snake from her waistband. I'm not sure if I could tell whether or not it was alive, and I couldn't tell you what it was made of, but it definitely resembled a snake. "Wear it at all times. Don't take it off. Understand?"
"What is it?" It better not be some sort of prank snake or something.
"Something called a seed of non-identification." She wagged her hand dismissively. "Kinda simple to understand but complicated to comprehend, if that makes sense. You'll look like someone else, so no one will recognize you, basically. I don't want people knowing I have you just yet, and it'd be in your best interest to not let other people know who you are."
An instant disguise item? I stared at it, wondering how it worked. I didn't see any buttons or user directions written on it. I guess this is pretty cool? No, wait, I shouldn't think about that. She doesn't want my identity to be revealed to my friends. Great. I really am a trump card, aren't I? Something she can just pull out when it's the most dramatic? And what does she mean, "wear" it? I wrapped it around my neck like a scarf, which seemed to please Seija. She clasped her hands together.
"Perfect disguise! Shall we get going," Seija paused, and put a finger on her chin, thinking about something. "Or... uh... do you want breakfast or whatever first? You kinda slept in."
"I've lost my appetite."
I didn't know what to feel as we approached the wall. This girl has my family. She's plotting some kind of revolution in Gensokyo against I-don't-know-who. Probably Yukari. She's obviously trying to start an incident, and she's using me against my will. She even says that Nagato won't be able to help me. Am I really going to go along with her?
Of course I was. It's not like I had a choice.
"Close your eyes as you come through. Trust me."
I don't trust you at all. I closed my eyes all the same. I felt her take my hand, and we walked through the gap together.
Then she must have done something to me, because I blacked out.
When I came to, I was falling through the sky. I saw land above me, and thought it must be Gensokyo. I recognized the lake and the Scarlet Devil Mansion. If I had been paying attention, I might have noticed some other things about it, but my chief concern was my current altitude, which only became more pressing as I realized that the ground was moving away from me, not towards me.
That's right. I was... falling towards towards the sky. The laws of gravity were reversed for me. That thought I had when I looked out the window turned out to be true.
This did not count as flying. It most certainly didn't.
"Whoops!" Seija was in front of me, cackling at my predicament. She grabbed hold of me as I twisted in midair, and I felt a brief second of weightlessness before my gravity shifted back down to Earth. Seija trailed behind me, taking my arm in her hands and trying unsuccessfully to lift me into the air. I was still falling, only this time in the proper direction with Seija attached to me. Is this how it ends? Am I about to die because some youkai threw me into the sky by accident and wasn't strong enough to keep me aloft? I wasn't certain how far off the ground I was, but I was sure that it was terminal.
"Help me!" I cried.
"I'm trying! Hey, wait a second." My gravity shifted back up again.
That doesn't help me!
It shifted back down. Seija was rapidly flipping me in the air, letting me fall a bit each time before catching me with her power. Whatever that power was. The power to flip things? I guess as far as youkai go, that's kind of a weak power, but you almost-no, you might still kill me with it! The constant turning around with no idea where I was made me want to vomit. I suddenly felt glad that I had skipped breakfast.
If this was a carnival ride that had safety features and I was strapped in, I might have been having fun. But as it was, I was free falling with no safety gear, going up and down in the air under someone else's power. That was the furthest thing from fun I could have imagined at that point.
After what might have been a minute, she gave me a shove, and I fell lopsidedly what felt like a great height into a body of water. The shock of the impact, not to mention the cold of the water, knocked all the wind out of me. By the time I regained my senses, my ears were burning from the water pressure and I still had no idea which way I was facing. Which way do I swim? There was light, but I couldn't tell where it was coming from. Even the air bubbles around me were flying every which way, making it impossible to identify the way up by watching them. Maybe this is how I die; drowned because she threw me into a lake and I couldn't find the surface. My lungs began to burn, and I realized my breath was about to run out.
Why is it that every time I go to Gensokyo, it isn't long before I start thinking, "I'm going to die"?
I felt hands on my chest, arms wrapping around my torso, and I was jerked to my side. The water fell away around my ears, and I gasped for air as my head was held above the surface.
"Are you trying to kill me?!" I yelled, along with some unmanly curses.
"What?" said an unfamiliar voice behind me. I became aware that the hands grasping me were not Seija's. "I'm sorry! I thought I was saving you! I'll put you back under!"
Wait, what?
"No, no, no!" I blurted as I thrashed the water's surface to stop my unknown savior from re-drowning me. "I'm fine like this, thanks! I breathe air!"
When the person behind me was no longer trying to force me back underwater, I took a look over my shoulder. I saw the face of a girl with dark blue hair and eyes, staring into mine with concern. Scaly fins were poking out of her hair where her ears would be. I opened my mouth to say something, but my jaw shook. I had started to shiver from the temperature of the lake.
"Um, would you like me to bring you to shore?" asked the girl.
"P-please," I stammered in reply.
If I had to rate my first time going for a swim in the Misty Lake, I'd give it a two, and only for having been saved by such a pretty girl. In fact, this new excursion into Gensokyo sucked worse than my first time. I thought it couldn't get any worse than being chased by Rumia. Or, shoot, I don't know. Maybe it matched it. The encounter with Rumia left me in a damn coma, after all.
As I was dragged back to shore, I spotted Seija squatting on the bank. She waved at me, to which I frowned in response.
"Wow, I thought you could swim. My bad." She stuck her tongue out in what I think was supposed to be a playful manner.
I wasn't feeling playful. I felt like grabbing her and throwing her into the water while shouting "How does it feel, huh?!"
"I can swim," I choked as I crawled ashore. I coughed and gasped as I knelt on dry land. "Just not when I'm spun into a lake from a hundred feet up." Worst carnival ride ever.
I felt the air chill me as much as the water did. I wrapped my hands around my body and shook to try and warm up. Did the earth forget that it's still summer?
"Excuse me..."
I squinted behind me through watery eyes, getting a better look at my savior. She was wearing a green kimono with white frills that didn't seem to get wet in the water. The bottom of the kimono faded to a teal color, and when she rose into the air above the water to stare at Seija, I saw that she had a fish tail in place of legs.
I'll be damned. A mermaid. An actual mermaid! I guess it makes sense that there would be one in Gensokyo, but I usually associate mermaids with the ocean, not freshwater lakes. From what I knew, there were no connections from Gensokyo to any bodies of salt water.
It took me a moment, but I also noticed that she wasn't the only one here. Several fairies were hanging in the air some distance away, all of them staring at Seija. We were quickly gathering a crowd from all the commotion we had raised.
"You're Seija Kijin, aren't you?" asked the mermaid.
Seija stood up straight and scowled. "Yeah, so?"
The mermaid's face lit up. It was as if she had found a discarded ¥10,000 note followed by a half price sale on top-shelf Kobe beef. "You're wanted, you know? There's a big reward out there for you!"
Uh oh. Is this going where I think it is? Also, really? I have to be paired up with someone who has a friggin' bounty on their head? Why couldn't I just show up at the mansion like normal?! I would have taken being hugged by Flandre over this any day.
The fairies around us were starting to chatter excitedly, and one of them came forward. I felt the air chill when she approached. A familiar chill. I couldn't help but stare at her.
You again?! Why do you always show up?!
"Eye saw her first! You all saw me see her come out of that hole! It's the aman- amona- amanajuka?" Either she forgot the term she was looking for or she couldn't pronounce it. "The whatever she is!" It was Cirno, the ice fairy of the lake. She looked giddy, like a kid who had won a prize at a raffle. Her voice carried across the whole lake, attracting more fairies.
"The reward isn't for seeing her, little fairy." Another person was here, this one not a fairy, hanging around the edge of the crowd.
Oh, this is another new one. It was a girl with brown hair and a magenta hairband, wearing a lilac-trimmed white coat and a black skirt that had glowing red lines running along it. She had a confident smirk on her face, and a look in her eyes not unlike the mermaid's.
She leaned back in the air as she flew towards Seija with purpose, releasing danmaku in her direction. "It's for taking her in!"
Man, five minutes in and we're already doing danmaku?! I scrambled to my feet, looking for cover.
"Shoot!" Seija launched into the air to avoid the shots. "Don't underestimate me, you weakling!"
"Hey!" cried Cirno. "She's mine! Don't get in my way!" Frozen shots flew towards the youkai in the glowing skirt, who flew backward to avoid them. Starting to fear for my safety with all of the fairies getting ready to join in, I looked to the mermaid who had pulled me from the water. She, too, had begun to fire danmaku towards Seija. A four-way battle had erupted in the sky before I knew what was going on.
She really is wanted! Why are even the fairies after her?!
Seija didn't seem to have any trouble weaving through the shots, probably because the other three were fighting each other as much as her. The youkai in the glowing skirt seemed to realize this, and she stopped fighting to focus on Seija.
"I said don't underestimate me!" called Seija. "A tool like you has no chance of catching me!"
The youkai laughed. "They also said that we're to use any means necessary against the rebel. I think I'll give it a shot!" With that, she flew up higher into the air, away from the danmaku spray of the mermaid and the fairies. She pulled out a spell card that radiated darkness.
What, we're starting with a freaking Taboo?! This is officially the worst entry into Gensokyo I've had!
"Just try and dodge this impossible spell card!"
[SpElL cArD: eLeGy "HuMaN aNd KoTo DiE tOgEtHeR"]
The youkai plucked at the glowing strings her skirt, and they made musical tones. A koto? Her skirt is a koto? Every note she played came alive tenfold as danmaku - not from her, but rising from the lake in a great big cloud that swarmed around Seija. At the same time, thin, wavy shots burst out from the youkai in a semicircular spread pattern, angled to hit her target and anything nearby. It looked like there was nowhere for her to run.
"What the hell?!" cried Seija from within the cloud of danmaku. The musical notes and spread shots swept away the fairies surrounding the battle, and forced Cirno and the mermaid to keep their distance.
They're serious. They're allowed to use Taboo cards against her? I thought the whole point was that they were taboo!
The spell card seemed to go on forever. I didn't hear anything from Seija, nor did I see her. I felt my heart sink in my chest. Anything happens to her and my family dies. Is she down already? What could I have possibly done against that?
Then I saw her.
Seija sped out from the cloud of danmaku, completely unharmed. The purple checkered fabric she had had on her waistband was in her hand, trailing behind her. The koto youkai's jaw dropped, and she quickly fired another wave of danmaku at Seija, who made no attempt to dodge it. Instead, she brought up the fabric and covered herself with it. The danmaku seemed to wash around her, not impacting against the cloth at all. It just plain didn't hit her. After the wave passed, she removed the cloth, flew into close range, and unleashed a blast of danmaku in the koto youkai's face. The youkai fell out of the sky and splashed into the lake.
"If you're going to start cheating," Seija announced, "then I've got a few tricks up my sleeve, too!"
Those items... no wonder she's wanted. She's a danmaku cheater.
"That's not fair!" Cirno cried. "That's against the rules! We're allowed to use those cards!"
"The rules?" Seija spat the word into the lake, turning upside down to glare at Cirno, her tongue stuck out. It was honestly impressive how she could talk when she kept doing that. "They bent their own rules when it served them! 'Allowed' to use Taboo cards? As if I'll go along with that, you idiot!"
Seija sure had a way of making people mad. Cirno brought out a Taboo card of her own.
"Don't call me an idiot! Eye'll catch you with this spell card!"
[SpElL cArD: iCe KiNg "FrOsT kInG"]
Cirno doesn't have much naming sense, does she? This spell card was surprisingly strong from what I remember of her. Four giant crystals appeared next to Cirno, each spewing impenetrable ropes of ice danmaku in a number of directions. I dove behind a nearby rock as it went everywhere, freezing the ground where it struck. It didn't look impossible, per se, but any gap that Seija could fit through would be swept only a second later. It was a high-speed spell card with no room for mistakes. Well, normally.
Seija threw the checkered cloth over herself again as two waves passed over her. I thought I saw it shimmer for a moment, and then the fabric became duller than it was before. Seija threw it off as the wave passed, trying to fly towards Cirno.
Two things I noticed about the cloth: One, Seija always took it off before moving. Did it only work while she was staying still, or did she only want to move when she could see where she was going? I forgot to ask, so I never found out. Two, the more she used it, the less... shiny? It got. What did she say again? The items' power was fading? That they have 'charges'? The next time she used the cloth, it lost almost all of its color. Seija scoffed and tucked it back into her waistband as she dodged the next wave manually.
So, she's not unbeatable with that thing. That's... good? I don't know.
"You've used up your tool," said the mermaid, bringing out a Hard card. "That means you're weak now!"
[SPELL CARD: TIDE SIGN "TIDAL WAVE OF THE LAKE"]
It was a real tidal wave, with watery danmaku rushing up from the lake and sweeping towards the battle in a huge wall. As it neared Seija, it broke apart, and gaps were visible through it, but it was quickly followed up by three more. Mixed with Cirno's Taboo card, this one looked really impossible.
Seija, however, was not impressed. "Huh? Is that it? You disgusting weaklings! How are you going to catch anyone with such obvious danmaku?!" Seija turned right side up again and sped backwards, swinging her parasol around. When the waves passed, she wasn't there anymore, but-
But behind them. One moment she was zooming into my peripheral vision, and the next, she was coming in from the other side. She wasn't any closer to her opponents, but now she was on the other side, with no danmaku coming at her. It was like Yukari and her gaps, except I didn't see her make any.
Okay, I'm jealous. As much as I already didn't like Seija or her tactics, I desperately wanted my own portal maker.
"What-" Cirno was cut short as a thick stream of arrow-shaped danmaku slammed into her from behind before she could react. She was down for the count. Seija didn't stop with Cirno; she sped towards the mermaid, ahead of a new wave of danmaku coming from the lake. That spell card wasn't going to do anything to her now, and the mermaid must have realized it, because she brought out another Hard spell card to replace it.
[SPELL CARD: FISH SIGN "SCHOOL OF FISH"]
A fitting name for a mermaid spell, I guess? A burst of purple and blue oval-shaped shots, each one a different size, streamed out of the mermaid towards Seija, tracking her as she flew. They were fast, and followed her almost perfectly. As the mermaid shot a second "school," the first one turned red and burst apart, filling the sky with obstacles. The mermaid, meanwhile, was dodging Seija's own shots effectively. It looked like she had gotten the upper hand again, with Seija more focused on dodging her pursuers than attacking.
"Hey, buddy! Wake up!" Seija shouted.
Is she still taunting her? That's a weird taunt.
"I'm talking to you! Stop looking at me and keep her on the edge of your vision!" Seija flew over me and turned upside down to scream in my face before rocketing off. I ducked back under the rock as some of the mermaid's shots impacted against it.
What? Stop looking at her? What's she doing? I peeked over the rock and tried to focus on a spot near the mermaid. It's hard to look at something without looking at it, so I ended up watching Cirno instead, who was being lifted out of the water by a group of fairies, protesting that she could still fight. The koto youkai seemed to have picked herself up, but didn't look like she wanted to fight anymore.
Seija flew away from the mermaid again, out of my vision, and appeared on the other side, just like before. This time, though, she was right next to the mermaid. Crossing between the borders of my vision? Is that what she's doing? Seija released another burst of danmaku that struck the mermaid dead on.
Wow.
She really did it. She defeated three opponents who were using Taboo spell cards. Well, she cheated, but I guess Taboo cards are cheating, too? So much for Seija being a weak youkai.
[SpElL cArD: wAtEr SiGn "LuNaTiC rEd SlAp"]
The mermaid had another spell card in her hand. She must have brought it out before Seija warped behind her and cast it as she was being struck. Her kimono was torn by Seija's attack and she looked like she was on her last legs (so to speak), but she was still in the air, showing Seija a Youmu-like tenacity.
Seija didn't have time to avoid this one. A red spiral of layered danmaku burst out from the mermaid, smacking her down into the water. She didn't come back up. It was a one-hit KO.
"See?" said the mermaid. Pain and exhaustion crept into her voice. "Even cheaters can't win forever. She shouldn't have rebelled in a place like Gensokyo."
I didn't pay attention to her. My eyes scanned the lake, looking for any sign of my captor. She's not coming up. What happens if she drowns? Weren't they supposed to take her alive? The words she spoke to me earlier were fresh in my mind. "If anything happens to me, or I fail, your family is dead."
Great. I had to dive in.
I'm supposed to be on her side, aren't I? Like it or not? I really didn't want to do this, especially for an admitted hostage taker. That goes double for one that took my family hostage. I willed myself to move. I willed myself to dive into the freezing lake and swim to the spot where Seija had landed. I wondered why the mermaid wasn't doing anything, but I didn't have time to look back. When I reached the spot, I dove under the surface and searched blindly in the darkness. After two tries, I saw a flash of white, and grabbed for it, hauling it up with me. Seija was barely conscious, her eyes fluttering rapidly as I dragged her to shore. I thought I might have to perform CPR, but as soon as I laid her down on the ground, her eyes shot open and she vomited up a stream of water, followed by a coughing fit.
"Youkai don't drown that easily," said the mermaid, floating nearby, rubbing the spot where she got hit. "I thought you were kind of weird, but you're a human, aren't you? Are you her ally?"
I didn't have an answer for that.
"Well, I won't attack you, but I'll be bringing her in now. Go back to the village and tell them that Wakasagihime of the Misty Lake is keeping order in Gensokyo."
I looked down at Seija. She was still coughing on the ground, weakly trying to stand. I knew what I would have to do here. I didn't want to help her out, but I brought out a cherry blossom vial.
"Help me," Seija choked. She looked pitiful, beaten down by youkai who ganged up on her.
She's like this after only one hit? Maybe she really is weak. Why did they attack her in the first place? What did she do to deserve a bounty? Well, she kidnapped my family. I can't forget that.
I really can't. Damn it all, I really can't. I begrudgingly downed the vial, activating my border, and laid a hand on her shoulder. Slowly, the life came back to her, and she growled, showing all of her creepy sharp teeth. She grabbed hold of my elbow and looked into my eyes, grinning with a malice that wasn't directed at me.
"What was that? What did you just do?" Wakasagihime flew closer to us, intrigued by light pattern of my border. "Hey, did you hear me? You should get going. If you're going to fight me, it'll be a mistake."
I stood up and stepped away from Seija. The mermaid's face fell. "Wait, aren't you-" she stammered. Seija cut her off with a stream of arrows like the one that defeated Cirno, and this time, she didn't let up until Wakasagihime was writhing in the water.
"Take that, you prissy weak youkai who thinks she can play at being strong! What now, you no-legged, nobody fish-faced-" Seija let out a colorful string of curses, turning upside down and flipping her off for good measure. She flew over to where Wakasagihime was and spat on her. I think she was enjoying herself, but her opponent looked like she was in pain and about to cry. I waded out towards the two of them and tried to placate Seija.
"Hey, you won, all right? They're not going to attack you again." I turned to the mermaid. "Right?"
She whimpered in response. Her earlier determination was completely gone, and her attitude now somewhat resembled a hurt puppy. One look at her wide, teary eyes made me feel guilt for my part in making her like that.
"Look," I said, reaching my hand over the mermaid. "I'll heal you if you promise to leave us alone. Okay?"
"I thought I could get some status by bringing down the rebel," she whined. "People usually just ignore me, so..."
I sighed, and put a hand on her to transfer the border. She started to look better, but her look of pain was replaced by one of melancholy. Slowly, she righted herself in the water, staring at the border on her body.
"So you're set on starting another incident?" The koto youkai had come forward again and addressed Seija. "So soon after the last one?"
"The incident isn't over, Yatsuhashi," said Seija. "Not as long as I can still fight. And you - you were on my side before. You're only free because of what I did. Why don't you join me again?"
"On her side"? "What she did"? Were they part of that incident? If not, what incident are they talking about? If something else happened during the Mokou thing, I would have heard about it, right? Or did a quick incident occur in the few hours after the Brigade left the Scarlet Devil Mansion?
Yatsuhashi shook her head. "It's the opposite. Those tools you stole are why my fellow tsukumogami and I are looking for you. You're using them too recklessly. As tools ourselves, we can't let you abuse them so."
She's a tsukumogami? I guess that explains why she was playing herself like an instrument. So I was right - there are human-like tsukumogami.
"Whatever," scoffed Seija, who had her arms crossed. She had gone up into the air, and was upside down as she spoke to the other girl. "You're really just afraid of that shrine maiden and her pals, aren't you? Afraid that she'll beat you up again if you don't follow their rules?"
Yatsuhashi immediately lost her bravado, and averted her eyes. "Well... I-I'm not gonna lie. That's part of it." She shook her head and appeared to regain her composure, pointing at Seija. "It's true. If you step out of line, the shrine maiden exterminates you. That's the rule in Gensokyo, and it's going to happen to you if you keep this up."
"Hang on," I said, climbing on to the bank. The cold air bit at me once again. "Reimu beat you up? Did you have something to do with the Endless Night Incident?" I don't remember this at all!
Her reply was not what I expected, nor was it something I wanted to hear.
"Endless Night Incident?" Yatsuhashi had a confused look on her face. "I've never heard of that. Was there another incident recently?"
What? Two incidents? And...
"How could you not have heard of it? There were hundreds of youkai rampaging everywhere, killing fairies and humans! The Endless Night one? Someone blew up the moon!"
"That doesn't sound familiar," she said, looking up at the sky in thought. "But I was only awakened a little while ago." She returned her attention to me, obviously showing interest in hearing about it. "When did this happen?"
"Ah! Eye was there for that!" That was Cirno, butting in and pointing at me with a weird grin. I forgot she was still here. Too bad my border already ran out so I can't heal her, but she seems to be doing fine. "There were lots and lots of scary, crazy youkai around, and me and Letty saved the day at the end!"
I don't remember that last part. Points for showing up, though.
"That was..." Cirno started counting on her fingers. Then she started counting on her toes. ...Then her fingers again. She looked like she was seriously thinking. "One, two... nine?"
I decided to put her out of her mathematical misery. "It was last month." I know you're not smart, but come on. It just happened.
Cirno looked up at me, confused. She looked back down at her hands, recounted yet again, scrunched up her face, and looked up at me again with an angry expression. "Are you making fun of me?"
"Er, no." The way she was talking was making me uncertain of it. "But it was last month, right? The second to last full moon?"
I began to understand that something was not right here. A thought was creeping into my mind.
No. No no no. What happened to me?
"Do you think Eye'm stupid?" Cirno yelled at me, hovering into the air to be at eye level. "It was..." Yet another recount. She then held out her fingers. "Nine! Nine years! Eye know the difference between months and years, dummy!"
I felt like I got punched in the gut. "Nine... years?"
Nine years.
...Nine years?!
What?
Nine years? It happened last month! I'm supposed to come back in four years to fight a huge, world-ending incident!
I looked around in disbelief, before noticing the sun. It was near the top of the sky; late morning or early afternoon. Definitely not 4:30 PM. As if to highlight this inconsistency, I started to shiver again. It wasn't just that I was soaked; the air itself was colder than it was yesterday. I turned my eyes back down and rested them on Seija, who had her hands behind her head and was looking innocently into the distance. She eventually met my eyes, and gave me a slight shrug.
Oh no. Oh no you didn't. This isn't possible - why do I even bother thinking that? I mean, I was portaled... and... I... Of course. I blacked out earlier.
I could feel my blood get hot. I approached Seija. I didn't know what to do, whether to grab her by the shirt and start shaking her or what. "What did you do? What happened?"
"Didn't I tell you?" Seija grinned at me, slightly tilting her head. "No one's going to know I have you. That's 'cause I took you from the past."
Someone could have knocked me over with a feather.
Flipping into the air, she went eye-to-eye with me, still grinning. She whispered. "Welcome to the future, pal."
Nine years. I'm nine years in the future. All things considered, it looks pretty good. Does this mean that I'll succeed in the next incident? Is that how time travel works? Has it not "happened" yet? Or is this one of those weird timeline things? It's hard to keep track of this stuff.
No wait, forget about that you idiot! You're out of your time! You got taken into the damn future against your will!
I covered my face, trying not to scream or throw a fit. I couldn't believe what had happened.
How did she do it though?
I lowered my hands and stared at her still grinning face. First and foremost, I needed to know something. "What day is it?"
September 19th, 2013
Oh, you have got to be kidding me! "How? You're a time traveler? How did you-"
Seija had already moved away from me, landing on the ground. As if to answer me, she tapped the parasol on her heel.
It didn't take me long to put two and two together.
"If you stole Yukari's parasol, then..."
"Bingo," said Seija, as she mischievously swayed her hips, obviously pleased with her actions. "I took her precious, precious time travel device. Wasn't easy, either. I had no idea what it looked like, for one, but I knew she had to have one. The rumor mill was pretty instrumental in my knowledge of that. She thinks she can predict anything, but she didn't see that coming. Since none of her past selves have shown up, that means she's stranded." Seija's grin became huge and maniacal, and she laughed at the sky. "Oh, how I'd love to have seen her face when she realized I beat her! Not so high and mighty now!"
This girl is crazy. I mean, crazier than most people here. She "beat" Yukari, but lost to one of the weaker youkai? I looked at Wakasagihime. She seemed to have collected herself, and was quietly watching the conversation.
Besides which, isn't it supposed to be impossible to lose a TPDD? Asahina told me something like that a long time ago. She only managed to lose it that time because it was 'predetermined'. So, was this also predetermined somehow? Or is there another way to steal one? Did she cheat?
"Well," said Yatsuhashi, "The incident you're talking about sounds similar to the one that happened just recently. Weak youkai all around Gensokyo became violent, and tools began transforming into tsukumogami. That was when I was born."
Seija wagged her finger. "It was a great revolution of the weak against the strong." She began to look angry. "We would have won if it wasn't for that shrine maiden, the magician, and the devil's maid. Thanks to them, the weak stay oppressed." Seija turned to me. "We just can't win under the usual danmaku rules."
Seriously, what's all this talk of oppression? I didn't see anything like that in my time... at least, not if you don't count what happened with Yukari. But youkai are the ones rising up? That sounds completely backwards. Also, if she made those three angry, then she probably deserved what she got.
"What we need," Seija continued as she began to pace, "is an army. Last time failed because it was a scattered uprising, but the weak outnumber the strong. Plus, the power of the Miracle Mallet still remains."
The Miracle Mallet? From the tale of the inch-high samurai? I would find out about that later.
Seija addressed the other three with a sweep of her arm. "Ain't you sick of being pushed around by the shrine maiden and the boundary youkai?" She pounded her fist into her hand. "Of the religious domination by the Buddhists, the Taoists, and the gods of the mountain?" Seija pointed to the Forest of Magic. "The fairies of Gensokyo are treated like pests, and youkai are hunted by humans even when they don't pose a threat. They can't even take on the strong ones, so it's the weak who suffer!"
Religious domination? That's right, Yukari said that religious leaders would start to pop up in Gensokyo. So by now, uhm, that is, by the specific date I find myself in, that all should have happened. I was still confused about whether that meant I was going to win.
"Does it seem fair to you that someone can always get their way as long as they're good at danmaku? Of course the shrine maiden is so powerful; she wrote the damn rules!"
Cirno was getting into Seija's speech, especially when she mentioned the fairies. "Yeah! It's not a problem for me, but the other fairies are always getting picked on! They even kill us when they feel like it because they say we'll come back anyway!"
Seriously? Who does that?
Wakasagihime nodded, although she still looked apprehensive. "Youkai aren't allowed to harm humans from the village, but humans from the village are allowed to kill youkai. Gensokyo is supposed to be a haven for youkai. It isn't fair."
You guys are actually buying into this? You were fighting just now! Then again, maybe that was exactly why.
As I said before, I've noticed that youkai tend to respect those who can defeat them. That may have been what was happening there.
Yatsuhashi shook her head. "I can't stop you, but I can't be part of it. You say you'll uplift the weak, but you do so by abusing stolen tools. I'm afraid this is goodbye."
Seija spat on the ground as Yatsuhashi flew away. "What a coward. Abusing tools? Tsukumogami like her are the ones who'll benefit when we overthrow the social order. It's like that saying, right? 'Evil prevails when good men do nothing.'"
And the "good men" in this situation would be who, exactly?
"Sorry," I chimed in, "but do you have a plan? Where are you going to get an army from?" I was kind of having my fill of Seija's speech, and I wanted to get this over with. I had no interest in being a part of this longer than I needed to, especially since I was starting to understand the implications of all this.
"You mean where are we going to get an army?" Seija smirked and pointed in the direction of the human village. "There's an army of weakling youkai just that way. All we need to do is free them. Then we can meet up with my other friend and begin the revolution."
In the human village? What, is there a prison for youkai there?
"Perhaps..." Wakasagihime came forward. "Perhaps with you... you really think this plan can work?"
Seija nodded. "Been planning this for a while now, and I intend to win."
"Then I will come with you. I can't stand the way that the weak have been treated."
Have the weak really been treated badly? Is that something that was happening even in my time, or is it new? Gensokyo's an unforgiving place, but it sounds like they're talking about a social problem.
"Me, too!" said Cirno. "Eye can do all that stuff myself, even!"
"Then it's decided," said Seija, surveying us with a proud smirk. "In that case, what are your names?"
She's already gotten two followers. I'm not sure if this bodes well or not. Having Cirno on my side from the beginning should be interesting, at least.
"Eye'm Cirno, the fairy of the ice!" Cirno shouted, her hands balled against her hips in a proud stance. "Eye'm not one of those weaklings you're talking about, but Eye have weak friends, too!"
Ouch. I wonder what they would think if they heard you say that.
"I am Wakasagihime," said the mermaid. "I don't usually get involved, but I feel like I have to do something now."
Seija nodded. "Good, good. I'll be your leader: The counterattacking amanojaku, Seija Kijin!"
An amanojaku? That's right, Cirno mentioned it earlier, or tried to. Aren't amanojaku a type of oni that tempt humans to make them do bad things?
Also, thank you, knowledge of youkai.
There's a well known legend about an amanojaku who tricked a young bride-to-be into letting it into her house. The amanojaku killed the girl, flayed her skin, and wore it as a disguise. It even fooled her own parents until the girl's wedding day, when a crow informed them that she was not what she seemed. Generally speaking, amanojaku are associated with deceit. In other legends, they see into the darkest desires of the human heart and provoke humans into acting on them, or they make bets and cheat to win them. In modern times, if someone calls you an amanojaku, they're calling you a contrarian; someone who always takes the opposite stance to someone else. It didn't escape me that an amanojaku was now in front of me, telling me that she was fighting a battle for justice that seemed dubious at best, in which she was blatantly cheating. I even told her as such.
"Oh?" She grinned at me. "Huh. You've done your homework on us youkai."
"It's kind of necessary with my lifestyle." Again, thank you, Yukari, for that book.
Seija let out a chuckle. "Yeah, sure is. Well, I ain't an oni, and I ain't exactly tempting you, am I? You're here because you have to be."
True, but you're trying to make us believe that what you're doing is good. I just can't believe that Reimu could be considered part of an oppressive regime. And what, you want to overthrow all of the powerful people in Gensokyo? Does that include Remilia and Kaguya? Does that include...
Oh no.
No.
"Who are you?" My thought process was interrupted by Cirno, who had flown up to me and was staring at me with an annoyed look on her face. I could feel the cold air coming from her, and I worried that my sopping wet clothes would freeze over. I stared at her for a moment before I realized that I was still wearing that snake thing. She didn't recognize me at all.
I guess I shouldn't use my real name, even though I don't think anyone in Gensokyo remembers it since they all use my nickname. It would kind of defeat the point of the disguise. Then, should I use the other one?
What the hell, I might as well.
"John Smith. I'm a human who happens to be on her side."
"John... Smith?" Cirno put on a confused look as she tried to pronounce the English name. She started to giggle. "That's a weird name for a girl!"
Uh.
This gets better and better, doesn't it?
I gave Seija a look. She shrugged and whispered to me.
"Everyone sees something different. We're in Gensokyo, so you'd expect to see a cute girl, right?" She chuckled at my expense.
I brought my palm to my face. I get it. You flipped my gender. Not that it really matters how people see me, I guess.
"Pleased to meet you, Miss John Smith," said Wakasagihime. She was smiling again.
You sure got over getting beaten fast.
"Ah, likewise," I said. "Thanks for saving me from the lake." She gave a nod.
"All right!" Seija pointed the parasol towards the village. "Enough dillydallying! We got an army to raise, and a revolution to win!"
With that, Seija had us "march" on the human village. An army consisting of an amanojaku who could flip things upside down and who could be knocked out by just one hit, an ice fairy who insisted that she was strong, a timid, unremarkable mermaid, and me, a human who didn't want to be there and was wearing a disguise that made him look like a girl. Our mission: To liberate some sort of youkai army from the clutches of the human village and defeat the strongest beings in Gensokyo, who just yesterday had sworn loyalty to me.
Wonderful.
My thoughts came back to what I was thinking earlier. Would we actually end up fighting Reimu and Yukari? Remilia and the Scarlet Devil Mansion? ...Marisa?
I couldn't believe the situation I was in. I had been brought into Gensokyo against my will by an amanojaku who had my family hostage, and who happened to be building an army so she could take on... Reimu.
I'm actually going to be going up against freaking Reimu here?!
It's official! This is the worst excursion I've had into Gensokyo yet! I'm going to be opposite Reimu here in the future?!
The worst part is that this Reimu would have had nine years of experience over the last time I saw her, and would have had to have gotten even stronger.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to throw up my hands and give up. This... Seija... I wanted to just pounce on her and make her give my family back. Who the hell is she to do this? To put me into this situation?
The screwed up thing was how easy it was to go along with it. She has your family. That's the thought it took to make me keep going. I seriously would have given up otherwise at that point.
Going up against Reimu...
I feared for what was to come, but with no other choice, I collaborated in a plot to start an incident. An incident that I was almost certain would put me on the side of the bad guys.
"What is it, Meiling?" Remilia was in the Scarlet Devil Mansion's practice room, playing with a sword. It was a curious item, one that Sakuya had presented to her, that filled her with bloodlust when she held it. It had become a fine way to personally discipline those who needed it, like underperforming fairy maids or youkai who happened to piss her off.
"Another riot on the lake, Lady Remilia." Hong Meiling stood by the door, her face showing concern. "More weaklings and tsukumogami, it looked like."
Remilia paused mid-swing. "Oh? I thought that Sakuya had already helped resolve that incident. Don't tell me I must send her out again."
Meiling shook her head. "No, my lady. Seems like it was caused by the amanojaku rebel. The one with the bounty on her. She was battling on the lake, but there were two strange things I noticed."
"She's the one that you can use Taboo spell cards on, right? I was thinking about going after her myself, for sport. Maybe I should take my sister..." Remilia mused on this. Flandre going outside was to be avoided, but maybe if she had an enemy she didn't have to hold back against, it would be fine. After all, it had been a long time since she had gotten to play with anyone new, despite all the new youkai that had been showing up in Gensokyo lately.
Things had gotten interesting during the past few years in. So many new factions. Taoists, Buddhists, a rival Shinto shrine, and those were just the religious ones.
"That's the first thing. Three people came after her at once, using Taboo spell cards, and she defeated them all."
Remilia raised an eyebrow. "Really?" When she got a nod, the vampire whistled. "Impressive for such a weak creature. I guess that's why she has such a high bounty. But besides us, only weak youkai and fairies live on the lake, don't they? Their spell cards were probably weak even at the highest level."
"That's the other thing," said Meiling. "It looked like she was taking hits, but the only one that seemed to affect her, she got back up from right away... and there's more." Meiling stepped closer to the vampire. "The rebel got back up because she was healed by a Paranormal Border."
Remilia completely stopped, her eyes widening. "What?"
"A healing Paranormal Border."
Remilia dropped the sword. She stood stock still, blinking arrhythmically. "...Kyon?"
Meiling shook her head. "I got closer to make sure. It's a girl, probably a human. Doesn't seem like she can fly. I don't know who she is, but she has his power."
The vampire closed her eyes, her heart fluttering. "Oh. Okay." She regained her composure. "So okay, the theft of the vials..." Remilia frowned. "Patchouli said that it was probably Marisa." The vampire thoughtfully rubbed her chin. "So... there's someone else who can use them to activate it?"
"It seems that way."
"Interesting." Remilia stared down at her sword, considering the thought as she picked it back up. She came to a decision. A Paranormal Border wasn't anything new - even she was able to pull it off after a few months of training, but that was nearly a decade ago.
But besides Kyon, nobody has been able to pull off a healing Paranormal Border, even though many had tried.
Things really are getting interesting.
Remilia nodded once, and then strode towards the door, past Meiling. "Get Sakuya for me, and alert Patchi. Hell, alert the whole mansion. We need to keep an eye on this new incident."
"Right away, Milady."
The vampire left the room and started down the hall. Her thoughts kept going back to what she felt when she heard it was a healing Border.
Kyon... If you really are back...
I am currently not considering bringing in more into this story, but... I'm not opposed to the idea. It's just that PSC came out of nowhere, and like I said, I liked it. Meltdown is still going to be the end of the story, that's the plan.
Seija is a big trouble maker in the world of Gensokyo, and she had been causing trouble behind the scenes for years. It's not accurate, but it's not too terribly far off to think of her the closest thing to an anarchist that Gensokyo has. I was surprised when she got her own game - Impossible Spell Card.
READ AND REVIEW! LADY YUKARI DEMANDS IT! And send Smooglii some love.