Here's chapter 4 everyone! Sorry for the long wait. Anyway, for the reviews:
To Kamencolin: It will be answered in the story.
To Havel the Hebel: Just another day in Gensokyo. *Tea sipping*
With that done, enjoy the main story everyone!
Abathur watches as the girls are eating food made by Reimu and Keine. Even Oni-Ultralisk joins the meal, and she enjoys quite so far. She also gives one to Abathur, but he declines it and says it's unnecessary. Also he notices that Oni-Ultralisk also drinks like Terran… with higher tolerance for some reasons as she has drunk down at least a carafe and yet she shows no signs of being drunk, unlike the Oni who's already shaking in place. "Ultralisk, withstanding highly toxic chemical reactions. Adaptation completed."
"…What is he talking about?" Reimu, clearly alien to the words, asks Reisen.
"Well, you get drunk when you drink too much, right? Oni-Ultralisk seems to be fine so far. Abathur's saying that she manages to drink more than normal people… I think even more than Suika, since she's a Hybrid." Reisen explains, using normal words so everyone could understand.
"Maybe it's true, somewhat." Marisa says, as Oni-Ultralisk keeps drinking the sake without a care. "Ultralisk, aren't you even tasting the sake at all?"
"Hm? I feel nothing. It's just like water." That innocent answer makes all the other girls face-fault.
"Wait, don't tell me you inhale our food without knowing how it tastes?" Reimu asks, clearly not pleased at how that sounds.
"Hm? The food tastes nice. Except the orange juice though, it's a bit too sweet." Ultralisk quickly confirms that before she gets mowed down by the angry miko.
Keine agrees: "That's a bit of my fault, I put a bit too much. Sorry about that."
"Don't worry. At least it still tastes great." The girl smiles to assure the teacher so she won't feel too guilty.
Reimu relaxes and says: "I thought you're not tasting it… but how did the sake taste like water to you?"
"Perfect adaptation." Abathur answers, gaining their attentions. "Not too 'perfect' perfect. Toxic chemicals broke down, lost the properties once digested. Similar to Zerg's quick adaptation to environment. Still needs the first source to consume. The Oni's genetics help."
"No wonder you're Purity of Essence." Reisen says, fascinated at the Zerg's capabilities. "You could survive any kinds of living conditions in a matter of seconds."
"Correct." Abathur simply says, ignoring the tone in Reisen's voice.
"Mor drik…" Suika waves the plate of sake in front of her face, with the other hand wrapping around Oni-Ultralisk's right arm.
"Suika seems to stick with this girl rather well…" Marisa looks at the drunk girl, a little amused at how she acts.
"Can't be helped. That girl's part Oni now…" Reimu then notices a certain maid standing just outside the door. "Hey Sakuya, what business do you have here?"
The Evolution Master turns to look at said maid, as she answers: "Mistress saw the monsters on the air, and she called me to investigate. Though, it seemed everything's already in order when I arrived, so I came here to plan to ask you…" She then notices Abathur. "I assume he's the same with the monster in the air?"
"Kinda." Reimu nods, then points to him. "His name is Abathur, the Evolution Master of the Zerg. They're aliens, by the way."
"Aliens?" Sakuya asks in surprise.
"Correct. Zerg, from Koprulu Sector, five hundred years in the future. Here for a mission."
Sakuya gives Keine a look of questioning, and the teacher answers: "He's here to collect 'essence' to improve his race. He didn't know about our ecology so he just did what he normally did, but we managed to talk him down already, and we found out a peaceful way to benefit both sides."
"…I will take my leave then." With that, the maid suddenly disappears without a trace, temporarily stunned both Zerg.
"She can turn invisible?" Oni-Ultralisk asks in surprise.
"Ah no, she just stopped time, that's all." Mokou answers, clearly dismissing something that's normal to them.
And not normal at all to the Zerg. "Time stop. Too powerful. Protoss hasn't achieved that yet. Could rival to Xel'Naga. Human or Youkai?"
Reimu answers. "Human. Though, we have a little doubt that she's completely one, considering that she has said to use the watch a lot of times, and she has lost at how long she served her mistress, which are centuries."
"… Plan?"
"Wait." The miko answers, surprising the Zerg. "Maybe she's reporting what she has found to her mistress. Besides, it's close to night, and…"
"This is an invitation to you." Sakuya appears right behind Abathur, causing Oni-Ultralisk to drop her plate and run right between them, while channeling the Toxic Cloud to protect her master. Stepping back to avoid the Danmaku, the maid simply says: "My objective is to give him a letter, nothing more."
"You don't have to get that close." Oni-Ultralisk says, eyes focusing on the maid.
"She's right." Reimu stands up and grabs the letter from Sakuya. "Next time, appear about a few meters from us, or the girl here would cut you in half by accident."
"Duly noted." Disappears again.
"… Purpose?" Abathur is clearly not feeling well with that kind of ability.
As Oni-Ultralisk calls back her Danmaku, Reimu gives him the letter and he opens it:
'To Abathur, the Evolution Master
We would like to invite you to have a supper with us on tomorrow, at eight in the night, with a tea party later on, to get better conversation about your arrival. You may bring guests or your 'guardians' to go with you. The Scarlet Devil Mansion is on the hill near Misty Lake. We will be waiting.
Chief Maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion,
Sakuya Izayoi'
"Wow, Scarlet Devil Mansion? That sounds way cooler than anything Mengsk has named!" Oni-Ultralisk says after reading the letter, amused at the name of the mansion.
"Mengsk? That sounds like a human name." Keine asks, curious at the name Oni-Ultralisk mentioned.
"Terran, but correct. Arcturus Mengsk, Emperor of the Terran Dominion. Wanting to erase Zerg. Reasons for the appearance of Queen of Blades."
"Wait, I thought that's you guys turning her into Zerg?" Keine asks.
"Correct. However, Mengsk left Sarah Kerrigan behind. Zerg found her, turned her into Queen of Blades."
"And she's seeking revenge against him?" Mokou asks, expecting a nod from the Zerg. And how right she is. "*Sigh* A man doing everything to gain what he wants, huh?"
"Correct. Never hesitate to use any methods. Including massacres."
"That's disturbing." Reisen says, not liking this person one bit. Even her master has paid a little mind caring about the bunnies. A little is better than none.
"That's none of our concerns right now." Reimu says, dismissing the story. "Right now, we have a party to join, so we should save some energy for tomorrow. Abathur, Ultralisk, you can stay here for a night, then we will take you to the mansion, since it's a bit dangerous at night…"
"Actually, I'm leaving now." Picking up her stuffs, Reisen walks out to the door, after saying: "Thanks for the food, Reimu. Goodbye everyone!"
"Well, one goes… by the way, does Zerg even sleep? Just curiosity taking place." Marisa asks, seeing that Abathur has no eyelids. Sorry, I have forgotten this detail, and I couldn't find any evidences that proofs that he blinks.
"Not sleep, but rest. Needs some time to recover after fighting." Abathur says, not finding the term being familiar in Zerg.
And to his surprise, Oni-Ultralisk yawns, and then just lays down next to the passed out Suika, starting to sleep soundly. That causes Marisa to laugh. "Well that solves the mystery. Come on, let's pick them to a proper room. Abathur, try to find any beds you can use."
"No need."
Afternoon
"Can I come too?" Cirno asks Reimu excitedly, as Abathur's group 'walks' to the Misty Lake. Keine has politely excused herself to return to the human village to fix it up. And Suika is still the 'house-holder' of Hakurei's Shrine so she didn't come… or more like she ignores every attempt of waking her up. So the group leaves with Abathur, Oni-Ultralisk, Reimu, Marisa and Mokou.
"Well, Remilia invited Abathur, so you need to ask him, not me." Reimu says. "I don't really have a problem though."
"Equal sentiment. Could come." No harm seen. Not native, no permission to resist.
"Thank you!" The ice fairy shouts happily, then looks at the Oni-Ultralisk with curious eyes. "Hey, I haven't seen you around. What's your name?"
"Call me Ultralisk! I just came here with Evolution Master yesterday!" The girl greets back, a small smile flashes on her face.
"Just came… wait, I didn't see you near him before…"
"We will explain when we're in the mansion." Mokou says. "And don't think of fighting her, because it might slow us down on the schedule."
"Aw, fine." Cirno says, a bit disappointed that she couldn't fight, yet.
"And I don't think Ultralisk can actually fight her though." Marisa says. "Not that she's strong, but she doesn't have any offense Spell Cards yet."
"And her Danmaku is only used for defense only." Reimu adds up. "But… Abathur, did Ultralisk has any range attacks before she's turned into this?"
"Negative. Ultralisk, created to block damages and deal close-range attacks. Weak against fast movements, aerial and pierce attacks."
"Aw that's lame. I want to have a Danmaku fight with her…"
"It's going to be soon." Marisa says. "I fought with a few ones shooting spikes and such. When they become Youkai, you can fight them."
"Yes!" Cirno shouts again, the flies ahead first to the mansion.
"She's energetic." Oni-Ultralisk giggles.
"More like naïve." Reimu sighs. "Let's go, before the gatekeeper could mow her down before hearing her reason out."
"You have arrived. I was almost punching her out." Hong Meiling jokingly says, as she is having Cirno being picked up on the back collar, while looking at the group heading to the mansion she's protecting. "I assume that you're Abathur, right?"
"Correct." He gives the guard the invitation letter. "Invited for the supper."
"Ah yes, Sakuya has told me about it… So here's everyone?" Meiling asks after releasing Cirno.
"Could be." Abathur gives out a 'not so clear' answer.
"Why?"
"Heard warnings from Reimu. Unexpected guests."
"Well, it could be hard… for now, just get in everyone. I will ask…"
"Everyone's permitted to go in for today, Meiling." Sakuya appears next to the gatekeeper. "However, only the ones we know and/or have the purpose to meet Abathur. Otherwise, no one else."
"Okay!" Meiling salutes, before pushing the gate open. "Here we go everyone!"
"…Over-complicated." Abathur simply says, as he sees the huge dining hall Sakuya has led them into. The theme color is scarlet, just like the name of the place, but the ceiling is painted white, with gold strings decorations here and there. And the windows are covered by scarlet curtains. And the size of the room is large enough for an Ultralisk to stay completely in and still have space to move around.
The head maid hides her smile under her left hand as she says: "It's just for holding banquets and to show off. We will head in the private dining room, which is to the right here." Sakuya points at the door at her right, as she goes ahead and pushes it open so everyone could get inside. And indeed, this one is at a moderate size, big enough to hold a large-sized family. And Abathur could see a few people already sitting in the empty table… well, empty in terms of not having food.
The one in the furthest of the table, having wings similar to Mutalisk on her back and her outfit consists of mostly pink-themed, gives out a demanding aura, similar to the Queen of Blades. She starts speaking when she sees Abathur: "Greeting, Evolution Master. My gratitude for accepting my invitation."
"Can't decline. Need to work with everyone." Abathur says, indicating part of his purpose being here.
"I could tell, from the newspaper as well. And…" The moment the vampire sees the miko, all of the aura from before vanishes, as she greets her childishly: "Reimu! It's nice to you here! Please, come and sit in the chair at my right!"
"Nice to see you too, Remilia." Reimu casually greets back, as she heads to the said chair.
Meanwhile, Abathur is confused at how Remilia changes her mood. Seeing the state he is in, Mokou says: "Remilia has a one-sided love to Reimu. The other doesn't recognize that, or just straight-up ignore it. Kind of a crush."
"Interesting. Heard of love, not crush. Between Queen of Blades and a Terran."
"Is it possible? I mean, yeah she was human, but now…"
"Irrelevant to my objective." Abathur immediately says, not wanting to sidetrack his missions.
After her giddy moment, Remilia remembers the people here, as she coughs and puts up her command mode. "My apology. Please take a comfortable seat for yourself. Mister Abathur, though, I would like you to take the one opposite to Reimu. I wish to speak with you about your objectives here in Gensokyo."
Abathur slithers towards the place, then pulls the chair to one side and just stays there… causing Remilia to ask: "What's wrong? Do you need something?"
The Evolution Master explains: "Cannot use the chair. Body not created for such purpose. Lower body of a lizard, better working in Evolution Pit."
Remilia looks down to observe his body shape, then apologizes: "Sorry, it must have slipped under my mind. Make yourself comfortable then."
With that, Abathur just 'stands' there, waiting for the others to sit down as he looks around to observe who's in the table. Oni-Ultralisk has sit next to him, and next to her is Cirno on her left. Marisa sits next to Reimu while Mokou and Keine picks the chairs next to a girl who keeps reading her book even when the whole group enters the room. And one more who wears a butler-like outfit for women is standing behind said girl. The last one, which is similar to Remilia but smaller, takes a sit next to Cirno, and the ice fairy notices and the two start talking friendly towards each other.
"Anyway…" Remilia regains Abathur's attention. "Given the newspaper provided from Shameimaru, you're here to find a way to improve your… Swarm, by collecting essences of everything."
"Correct." Abathur nods. "However, tasks may change. Found the source cores."
"You mean our hair?" Remilia uses her fingers and spins a few strands of her hair in before continuing as she focuses on Oni-Ultralisk: "So that's the truth, huh? I thought that bird was making up the stories."
"Predicted to be much more. Youkai essences proved to be effective."
"And the first result is… her." Remilia points her sharp nail towards Oni-Ultralisk, who has joined Cirno and the younger vampire's conversation.
"Correct."
"I see… oh, I forgot." Remilia notices the glare from her friend afar. "A bit too late, but let me introduce the people in here. My name is Remilia Scarlet, the owner of the mansion. You have met Sakuya Izayoi, my head maid here. The one protecting the gate outside is Hong Meiling. And the girl who looks like me is my sister, Flandre Scarlet."
"You call me, sis?" The girl in question temporarily turns to her sister upon hearing her name being called.
"It's alright, Flan. I'm just introducing you to Abathur here." When the girl returns back to her conversation, Remilia continues while pointing towards the girl a few seats away: "The one there is Patchouli Knowledge, and the one behind her is Koakuma. They reside in a library being placed inside this mansion. They're here also because of their interests in your race…"
"More like you dragged me here, Remi." The librarian speaks up, causing the vampire to smile nervously. "But, you're not wrong in the part that I'm curious about this race, Zerg, if I read it right."
"Correct." Abathur confirms.
"And about that girl…" Putting her book down, Patchouli focuses on the new Youkai. "So she has Oni's genetics in her system?"
"Will not be only her. Most Ultralisks will be the same."
"Same in appearance?"
"Genetics, otherwise no."
"And in that newspaper. You said you were in the middle of the war… and then you found a portal leading here, and your leader appointed you to come here and gather essences…" Patchouli recalls what Aya has written. "But, you're current the ones leading these Zerg…"
"Swarm needs a leader. Self, current highest intelligent creature. Also, personal project."
"…Thanks for that." And with the questions done, Patchouli returns to her book.
"Returning to the previous point…" Abathur turns back to the older Scarlet. "I would like to create a mutually beneficial relationship with the Swarm. We have a lot of essences from… well, species." Remilia dodges the glares from Abathur's group, as they know full well what she has done in the past. "We can provide them to you, as we don't have many uses for them. And in return… we could ask you for some helps."
"…Define 'help'." He has learnt The Queen of Blades' past, and a lot of 'helps' have ruined her life. Trusting Mengsk Senior is one of them.
"Well, if things go wrong, we might ask for your force to…"
"Not happening." Abathur immediately declines the offer. "Forces, won't waste for trivial things. Essences, could find somewhere else."
Now that falters the smile on Remilia's face. "If that so… how about some info about your Swarm?"
"… Will consider. Cannot spill everything out." Similar to the interview. Shouldn't be problematic.
"Then that's settled…" Remilia's grin returns…
"I just thought of something…" Marisa suddenly speaks up, gaining everyone's attention. "You said before that the Zerg has the ability to burrow into the ground right? What happens with that ability if Zerg has turned into Youkai? I mean, look at her. Do you expect me to believe she is somehow still able to do so?"
"… Good question." Haven't thought about it. Zerg-Youkai, might lost burrow ability… wait… "Ultralisk, able to fly?"
To answer that question, Oni-Ultralisk pushes the chair away a bit, before she floats up to her point her feet just barely reach the surface of the table. "It seems so. And…" Aiming towards a panel on the floor, she floats down and picks that panel up and jumps down, much to everyone's surprise… and then she moves up again before placing the panel back, no traces of such event is found.
"…That's… absurd…" Even Sakuya couldn't believe that, as she walks towards the panel and touches the thing. "… It's like it's not being touched at all."
"…" Cannot… form right words… Youkai abilities are too great…
"Even you can't explain it huh?" Reimu notices the sound Abathur is making with his mouth.
"…Negative. Needs… more researches…"
"We could help with that." Abathur looks at Patchouli as she says: "However, that's the work for tomorrow. For now, just enjoy the supper. It's getting cold soon."
Chapter 4 end!
So... the idea for the 'alcohol turned water' is something related to Zerg's super-fast adaptive ability. Didn't know where I got that idea from though.
Though, when I started re-thinking about Youkai Zerg's capability to burrow... It's super funny in my head: Like, one would just lever the ground up then jump down into the hole and hide down there. No evidences found. But in reality... who am I kidding, this is Gensokyo, everything is meant to be illogical.
With that off... also, SDM arc is not over yet. See you in the next chapters!