Forgotten But Not Forgiven

It had been almost fifteen minutes since Cirno had left the rest of her gang to search out Reimu and company. Within those fifteen minutes she had become convinced that the Forest of Magic was a labyrinth designed by an absolute sadist, one with ADD. She had to have come back the same mushroom patch five times already, and the trees were all starting to look the same.

Still, she had to press on. Rumia was counting on her. A general never abandoned her men, no matter how gross of a manner they've been devoured by…

Cirno drove out that memory, or at least tried to. The look of utter terror on Rumia's face as her skin began to waste away kept forcing itself to the forefront of her mind. That in itself wouldn't be as bad if it weren't for the voices in her head providing color commentary.

She's dead, you know, they whispered. No one could survive that. She's dead and there's nothing you can do.

Shut up! she shot back. She's not dead, okay? I'm gonna find her and I'm gonna save her and everything will be okay!

Stupid. You saw her body get ripped apart. No one could survive that. Why do you keep trying to fool yourself?

Mystia got eaten once, and she came back, Cirno reminded them. Rumia's a youkai too. She can come back.

Far from the same thing. Mystia at least had pieces left behind. Rumia didn't even have that.

Cirno ignored that last part. Instead, she came to a brief halt in order to select a route she hadn't already traveled. She was at the foot of a gnarled old willow tree, with the path branching off in three different directions. Biting her lip, she closed her eyes and began pointing at each path in quick succession.

"Eenie-menie-um, money-mie? Which path do I…no that's not right."

"Well, hello there, sweet thing," a low, syrupy voice said from directly overhead. "Are you lost? Maybe I can help."

Cirno looked up and had to keep from screaming. A spider youkai, tarantula by the look of him, was slowly descending on a string. Soon he was hanging upside-down directly in front of her, a wide toothy grin plastered on his face.

"It's not safe for little girls like you to wander around by yourself," he leered, giving her a mocking tip of the bowler he wore. "Why, there's no telling what kind of-"

Before he could finish, Cirno shrieked and fell back, bringing her hands up to bear. White light flashed, and a moment later the tarantula was frozen stiff, web and all. That lecherous smile remained on his face, displayed far too many jagged teeth.

Cirno shuddered and immediately left the area. She had to get out of this forest. Too many freaks wandering around.

She decided to change tactics. Instead of continuing her fruitless wandering from one twisting path to the next, she shot straight up. Cirno closed her eyes and covered her face the best she could with her hands, but branches still scratched at her exposed skin as she tore her way through the intertwining treetops.

Then suddenly the leaves gave way to open air. Sunlight burst into her vision and she was through. Cirno soared up and up until she was she could clearly see the landscape stretching around her in every direction.

I really should've done this from the beginning, she thought as she shielded her eyes from the sun and looked in every direction. Nothing, nothing, nothing, noth…

There! Over the fields south of the Forest of Magic, Cirno could see five dots moving quickly through the air. She could barely make them out, but it looked like one of them was riding a broom. That was good enough for her. She immediately starting heading in that direction, ignoring the weariness and pain that was started to spread through her beat-up body. Fairies had amazing recuperative powers, but no one took two Master Sparks twice in one day and expected to be on their best game.

To top it off, those damned voices still wouldn't stop taunting her. Even if she's still alive, what are you going to do? Your ice didn't do anything, nothing you and your friends did anything. You'll probably just end up getting eaten too, and then who will-

Shut. Up.

Mercifully, this time they complied. Cirno steeled herself and added as much speed as she could. It didn't matter if Reimu and the rest thought she was useless. Rumia was her friend and she would be damned before she got left behind.

Hang on Rumia, she thought as she sped over the treetops. I'm coming.

…

Deep Within

At that moment, Rumia was busy calculating her odds of surviving the coming encounter with Eirin Yagokoro. From what she had heard the Lunarian doctor wasn't one to be trifled with. Reportedly, back during the incident of never-ending night, she had stood fast against Eientei's invaders and almost held them off single-handedly. And considering those invaders had been composed of some of Gensokyo's biggest names, including Marisa Kirisame, Reimu Hakurei, Yukari Yakumo and several others, Rumia was growing understandably apprehensive about the upcoming meeting. Even though she personally wouldn't be the target of Eirin's wrath, she was still inside of Rin's body, and anything that happened to Rin would probably happen to her in some form or another. And since Rin had only Rumia's meager powers to defend herself with, Rumia was starting to wonder if now would be a good time attract the attention of as many deities as possible and try to make peace.

Of course, there was that one incident with the smoky pillar of darkness and the bamboo stalks. Rumia was still trying to figure out exactly where in the hell that had come from.

For her part, Rin didn't seem all that concerned about the coming confrontation, though Rumia was starting to think that was more due to a short attention span than any measure of confidence. She was still in the sitting position and was watching her red screen intently. On it, her gnarled talons were turning the pages of the magazine she had picked up.

"Oh look Rumia!" she squealed as one particular article caught her eye. "Did you know that there's a new shrine at the top of the Youkai Mountain with two goddesses? And the shrine maiden is one of the goddess' descendants? Oh wait, yeah you do. Sorry, forgot."

Rumia sighed. "The Moriya shrine isn't exactly big news anymore, Rin. That magazine's a little outdated."

"Is it? Oh well, my memory's even more outdated, so it's all good. But did you know that the goddess and the maiden were caught in an incestuous relationship? And the other goddess ran away crying? It says she was in love with the first goddess. Wow, things must be downright insane over there!"

"Rin, it's a tabloid, it's all bullshit. Don't take it seriously. 'Sides, shouldn't you be more concerned about meeting your old boss?"

Her words made the Kirin cringe. "I know, I know! It's just I'm so nervous about what I'm gonna say, I need some kind of distraction to keep from wetting myself. I mean, she was kinda pissed last time I saw her, but maybe she's calmed down. I don't know, do you think she'll be happy to see me?"

…

"Ran and I will lead the first squad," Eirin said to the assembled soldiers. "As we understand it, close quarters is this thing's specialty, so we'll try to force it outside. Once it's clear of the building, Tewi and Reisen's teams will move in and pound it to oblivion. That is, unless Yukari and her friends show up before then, in which case you let them pound it to oblivion. Do not engage in hand-to-hand combat, you will die. Maintain your distance at all times and if it singles you out, retreat immediately. But above all, do not, do not, do not let it go after the princess! Her safety is our number one priority. Do you understand?"

On cue, the members of the Eientei Guard snapped to attention and saluted. "Ma'am, yes Ma'am!"

"Good. Now get to your positions, this is going to be nasty."

As Tewi and Reisen led their squads away, Ran took the opportunity to sidle up to Eirin.

"Hey Eirin? Quick question. Why do you have a…machine gun?"

"Shotgun."

"Right, shotgun. Why do you have one? After all, you can shoot a virtual storm of danmaku from your fingertips. Doesn't it seem a little…redundant?"

A mirthless half-smile touched Eirin's lips. She hefted the weapon and ran on hand lovingly over its wooden handle. "Sure, if you want them to survive."

Ran blinked. "What does that thing do?"

"What does it do? It solves problems, my dear Shikigami. It solves problems."

…

Deep Within

"So I can see why Eirin would get mad at me," Rin was saying. "I did go a little crazy and cause a lot of problems. But did she really have to squeeze all of my friends out of me and lock me up like that? I mean, she didn't even try to talk to me afterwards. Have you ever been alone in the dark?"

"…yes. All the time."

"And you couldn't leave? And you were stuck in that darkness forever and ever with no one to talk to, nothing to do, can't even sleep or do anything to take your mind off of how lonely you are? That's just too much."

Considering how Rumia had been convinced that that was going to be her fate she was hard pressed to disagree. "But you're just going to talk and sort things out, right? There's not going to be any shooting going on, right?"

"Of course! I learned my lesson the last time around. No shooting, only talking…Oh look, she came!"

The view on the screen shifted, and Rumia found herself staring at the door at the far end of the waiting room, the one that rabbit had ran through. Through it had entered a long-haired woman wearing a red-and-black dress (at least she assumed it was red-and-black. It was a little hard to tell with the screen's tint) and hat decorated with what appeared to be depictions of constellations. Accompanying her was a fox youkai wearing a long robe and in possession of far more tails than should be considered strictly necessary. Rumia recognized the latter one as Ran Yakumo, Shikigami to Yukari. Which would mean the former was Eirin. And neither of them looked like they were there to talk.

Rumia had no idea what Ran was doing here, but her presence couldn't be anything good. In fact, it probably meant that Yukari was close. For some reason that Rumia could never fully explain, the ancient youkai terrified her. Sure, everyone was scared of her on some level, but to Rumia it was akin to a phobia. She bit her lip and watched the proceedings while thinking I want to go home, I want to go home, I want to go home.

"There she is!" Rin said happily. She directed her borrowed body to stand up. "Okay, here we-"

That was when twelve rabbits, all dressed in green militaristic uniforms, took position on either side of the newcomers and, on Eirin's command, started shooting.

…

Eirin watched dispassionately as the air filled with danmaku, all focused on a single target. She was mildly surprised when the Shadow Youkai didn't even try to defend itself. If anything, it almost looked shocked that they would take initiative and throw the first punch. Whatever the reason, every shot hit home and the Shadow Youkai soon disappeared behind blinding flashes of light as the bullets exploded upon impact.

Eirin waited a good ten seconds before shouting "Cease fire!" She wasn't so optimistic to assume they had finished it off with the first volley, but the smoke kicked up by her girls' firepower would make it difficult for her to take a shot of her own. And she didn't want to miss.

"That was…easy," Ran muttered as they watched the smoke fade.

Eirin took aim with her shotgun, barrel focused at where the Shadow Youkai had vanished. "It's not dead."

"Yeah, probably not," Ran sighed. "You want this one?"

"Yes."

The smoke cleared enough for Eirin to get a good look at the other end of the waiting room. Aside from some splintered furniture and torn magazines, it was empty. Eirin frowned but she didn't move her finger from the trigger. She wouldn't relax until she did the thing's autopsy herself.

There. Hiding behind one of the overturned chairs, a shadow was moving. The Shadow, to be exact. Eirin held her fire as the top of its head peeked out into view.

"Wait…Eirin, wait," it said in a horrible gravelly voice that made her think of tombstones being ground into dust. "Don't shoot…it's me…"

Eirin lined up her shot and fired.

The shotgun belched smoke and a blazing green fireball shot out, starting off the size of a pellet when it exited the barrel but swiftly grew as it charged towards the thing's face. By the time it impacted, it was the size of a cantaloupe and neatly blew off half of its head.

The room filled with a soulless howl of agony as the Shadow Youkai fell backward, clutching at the ruined remains of its face. Its sword fell clattering to the ground.

Ran whistled her appreciation. "Wow, you weren't kidding about that thing. What is it?"

Eirin frowned, but said, "It's of Outside World make, but I had the kappa upgrade it."

"Upgrade? That's putting it mildly. You look disappointed though."

"It was supposed to launch it through the wall."

"Oh."

Well, if they couldn't force it outside at that moment, then they would just have to change tactics. Eirin pumped another round into the chamber, walked around the waiting room until she had a clear shot at the moaning, writhing monster and fired. And fired again. And again.

…

Deep Within

Gongs were going off in Rumia's head and light was exploding behind her eyes. All around her, the endless sea of nothing had become an endless sea of thrashing energy and pain. She could literally feel the substance of it twist in agony as the impacts of whatever it was hitting them reverberated through the recesses of Rin's mind.

Rin herself had taken the worst of it. She was lying curled up in the fetal position, clutching her belly and staring with glazed eyes at the shattered remains of her screen. She had managed to withstand the first round of fire without much difficulty, much as she had absorbed the bullets of Rumia's friends earlier. But whatever Eirin had shot at her had been much, much worse. The screen had exploded upon impact and though it was not actually Rumia's body taking the hit, she could still feel the echo of it rip through her core.

"She shot me," Rin was whispering. "She shot me she shot me she shot me…"

Rumia cried out as another impact sent pain ripping through their space. "Rin, snap out of it!" she screamed. "You've got to get us out of here!"

"…she shot me she shot me she shot me…"

"She'll keep shooting you if you don't move your ass! Rin, listen to me, we have to-"

"It was supposed to be a talk!" Rin screeched. Suddenly she was to her feet (metaphorically speaking) and shouting towards where her screen used to be. "I just wanted to talk! It wasn't supposed to be like last time! Why did you shoot me? Why?"

…

Eirin was seriously considering demanding a refund from the kappa. Despite shooting five rounds into the monster and blowing off its head and most of its torso in the process, it was still moving. And to top it off her shotgun had maybe one round left before it completely melted to slag from the heat.

Oh well, at least they were making progress. Her concentrated fire had reduced it to a quivering mass of shadows that didn't even resemble a humanoid form anymore. If this last shot didn't finish it off, then she would turn to the syringes.

Eirin pumped the final round into the chamber, noting with displeasure the amount of force required to accomplish just that simple movement, aimed for the core of the thing's mass, and fired.

It hit, but not in the way she had intended. A literal split-second before collision a thin twisting appendage formed itself from the main mass and shot out to catch the fireball in mid-air. To Eirin's surprise, the projectile did not explode upon impact but remained burning in the monster's grasp like some sort of flaming baseball.

A shiver ran over the thing's body and it began to grow. The tentacle holding the fireball grew fingers and shaped itself into an arm. Another arm braced itself against the floor and pushed the main body up as legs formed underneath. While all this took place, four smaller tentacles popped out of the top and twisted together to recreate its head.

All of this takes time to describe. In reality, it was on its feet and opening its eyes in less than three seconds. Eirin felt the first quiver of unease, but she didn't lose her nerve. Before it could regain its senses, she threw away the ruined shotgun and shouted, "Shoot it down!"

Her girls responded immediately, Eirin and Ran adding their own firepower to the barrage. This time, the Shadow Youkai didn't bother to seek cover. Its body shook as the bullets exploded against its frame, but it didn't disintegrate.

Then Eirin's quick eyes noticed something strange. "Cease fire!" she snapped. The danmaku cut off in an instant.

Ran sidled up to her. "Hope you got a plan," she muttered to the Lunarian. "Because we're kinda dropping the ball in the whole 'force it outside' department-"

"Shhhh!"

Eirin squinted at the Shadow Youkai's form, still visible through the smoke. It was as she had thought. The bullets had ceased to detonate upon impact and were instead sticking to it like knives. It still held the green fireball in one hand like some sort of demonic lantern.

Eirin had seen that phenomenon from exactly one being before. Pieces came together in her mind, constructing a conclusion that she didn't even want to entertain.

Oh no, she thought as the feeling of unease grew into icy fear. No, not this. Not her.

As if in confirmation of her fears, bullets began to sink into the thing's body. At the same time, it began squeezing the fireball, causing it to grow smaller and smaller. It seemed to be literally pressing it into its palm.

A wave of uneasy muttering spread through her soldiers. It was clear that they found the situation as disturbing as their leader did. A few of the older veterans had been there the first time this had happened and, judging by the looks on their faces, they were reaching the same conclusion Eirin was.

The last of the bullets vanished and the thing was whole once more. Eirin opened her mouth to ask a question, but before the first word left her mouth the Shadow Youkai screamed, a high-pitched echoing cry that caused all to wince in pain and cover their ear.

Then it grabbed up a fallen chair and hurled it at Eirin. "Watch out!" one of Eirin's rabbits shouted as she tackled her out of the way. The chair crashed against the far wall hard enough to crack the bamboo as it shattered into splinters.

The rabbits immediately began firing again, but this time the Shadow Youkai wasn't interested in being hit again. It snatched up its sword from the ground and leapt straight at the wall. The bamboo exploded into dust and it fled to the outside.

"Are you all right, Ma'am?" asked the rabbit that had saved her, Utada Eirin thought her name was.

Eirin nodded and allowed herself to be helped to her feet. "Thanks," she said. "Want a promotion?"

Utada smiled wryly. "Do I get my own quarters?"

"Don't push you luck." She took a deep breath and surveyed the battleground. It was bad, though not as bad as it could have been. The far end of the waiting room was a complete loss. Even without that hole in the wall, the floor and all the furniture was completely ruined. Still, all in all they had gotten off lightly.

"Ma'am, forgive me, but it's her, isn't it?" Utada asked. "It's Rin Satsuki."

There were some muffled gasps coming from the other assembled soldiers. Eirin pressed her lips together in a thin line, but she said, "Looks like it."

"Huh?" Ran asked. "Who's Rin Sat…seki? Suki?"

Eirin shook her head. She could feel on hell of a headache starting to form. "In a minute." She turned to the soldiers. "All right, we're clearing out. All of you, go find-"

That was when she heard someone yell "Fire at will!" and the sound of flying bullets filled the air. Eirin froze as she realized what had happened. The shock of what she had seen had completely driven one important fact from her mind.

"Reisen and Tewi," she spat, making the names sound like a curse. "Godsdamn it, I forgot." She whirled back to Utada. "Okay, change of plans! You're in charge now. Go get the princess, sneak her out of the back, and get her as far away from her as possible! Head for the Scarlet Devil Mansion and tell Sakuya Izayoi what happened, got it?"

The uncertainty vanished from her new commander's face as she snapped to attention. "Ma'am, yes Ma'am!"

"Good. Move!"

As Utada led her soldiers away Eirin grabbed Ran and pulled her along as she started running for the side exit. Ran complied, but she was still baffled.

"What? What's going on? Who the hell is this Rin person? I thought we were dealing with the Shadow Youkai!"

"We might be!" Eirin shouted back. "But it's much, much worse than that."

"How could it be worse? What's all this about? Eirin!"

"Later! We have a buffet to crash!"

"Buffet?"

"Yeah, and if we don't hurry it's gonna be all-you-can-eat rabbit. Now shut up and move!"

…

Reisen had never liked fighting. She could do it if she had to, but on the whole it was something to be avoided. So when she found herself leading twelve of the Eientei guard, ready to attack an unknown enemy, she was understandably nervous.

Her squad had taken position along the right wall of Hourai Clinic, waiting for the Shadow Youkai to reveal itself. Tewi's group was stationed at the left side, with the plan being to catch it in their crossfire and hopefully stall it until reinforcements arrived. Despite what Eirin had said, there was no question of ending the fight themselves. From what they had learned this thing didn't play by the rules.

For what had to be the fifth time, Reisen dared to peek around the building's corner. The knowledge that the Shadow Youkai was only separated from them by a few thin walls of bamboo and paper was not doing her nerves any good. On the other side, she could see Tewi doing the same thing. The two met each other's glances, and Tewi shot her friend an encouraging smile and a thumbs-up. Reisen shakily returned the gesture and ducked back behind the clinic. She sighed and slumped against the wall. Now that there was a definite plan of attack, Tewi had gotten over her previous panic and had become downright chipper about the upcoming battle. Reisen couldn't help feel a little envious of her friend's confidence. As for herself, she kept imagining the Shadow Youkai's sword suddenly jamming itself through the wall to pierce her skull.

In which case she should probably stop leaning against the clinic. She gulped and scooted away.

"Reisen?" said Shiina, one of her soldiers. "Are you all right?"

"What? Oh, I'm fine!" she said, forcing a laugh. It sounded fake even to her ears. "Just wondering what's taking them so long, that's all."

Shiina shot her a dubious look. "If you say so." She turned away from Reisen and focused on the forest, presumably keeping an eye out for their promised help.

Reisen had to repress a moan. And to top it off, she had been drafted as some kind of military leader. That was supposed to be Tewi's job and Tewi's alone. She wasn't cut out for this.

That was when the chaos began.

It started with Eirin's voice yelling something she couldn't make out, and then the sound of large amounts of danmaku being discharged pounded through the walls of the clinic. Reisen tensed up immediately. Oh gods, oh gods, it's really happening, what do I do, what do I do…

"Reisen?" said Shiina. "Reisen! Your orders?"

Her voice jolted Reisen out of her panic attack. The Lunar rabbit pulled herself to her feet and took a deep breath. "Um, well, Eirin doesn't want us attacking until the Shadow Youkai's forced outside. So wait until you, um, see it come out, and, and take it out. Do your, um, do your, you know, your thing."

Great speech Reisen, she berated herself. They're just overflowing with confidence now.

But she didn't have time to worry about that now. The sound of firing had cut off inside, to be replaced with a repeating click-BOOM! That would be Eirin and her shotgun. Reisen had accompanied her when she had picked it up after the kappa had gotten done upgrading it and had witnessed a demonstration. Despite herself, she was almost starting to feel sorry for the Shadow Youkai. Almost. After all, Eirin stood a good chance of finishing this herself. If so, Reisen wouldn't even have to look at the thing.

The sound of shotgun blasts ceased, and there was still no sign of the Shadow Youkai. Reisen found herself feel a small trickle of hope mixed with worry. Was it over? Had they killed the thing? Or had it killed them? The former was more likely, as there would have been a great deal more yelling if it had rose up and slaughtered the lot. But still, what if could kill someone with a look, just stop their heart and that was it? Reisen told herself not to entertain such thought, that they weren't doing her any good, but she couldn't help but think of worst case scenarios.

And then the yelling started. And the shooting resumed. Oh gods, it wasn't dead. And it was going to kill them and then kill everyone outside.

That was when a good chunk of the clinic's front disintegrated and something charged out of the newly created hole. Reisen felt all the doubts she had been feeling freeze into ice. It didn't take a genius to identify the newcomer as the dreaded Shadow Youkai.

"Reisen! Do we fire?" Shiina demanded.

Oh yeah. They had a job to do.

"What? Oh right. Fire at will!" Reisen shouted. At the same time, Tewi was giving the same command to her squad on the other end. Somehow, now that she was actually facing the monster instead of waiting for it, she found the fear easier to ignore. Adrenaline was funny that way.

The response was immediate. At her word, both squads of rabbits rolled into range and pointed their fingers at the Shadow Youkai. Fat spheres and small, sharp blades of energy in red, blue and lavender hurled forward from both directions. The Shadow Youkai tried to turn to face the new sound, but was caught in the crossfire and soon disappeared behind the barrage.

It worked! Reisen thought numbly. It actually worked! Grinning, she pointed her right hand at the monster, index finger and thumb extended, and added her own firepower to the assault, adding wave after wave of glowing red blades.

"How long do we keep this up?" Shiina shouted over the noise.

"Until we see it explode!" Reisen yelled back. The surprising success they were experiencing was starting to fill her with confidence.

"Sounds good to me!"

Reisen nodded and kept firing. Funny though, the monster didn't show any of sign of caving to their attack. She had to squint to tell, but it looked like it was still standing. That couldn't be good. And then…

"Stop shooting!" someone's voice cried, somehow rising about the sounds of battle. "Cease fire! Fall back! Shut those fucking things off!"

Cease fire? Huh? Confused, Reisen did as she was told. Around her, her soldiers were doing the same.

Eirin was standing on the roof of Hourai Clinic. The Lunarian doctor was holding a megaphone, which was how she had managed to make herself heard.

"Okay, everyone with ears longer than two feet, listen up! I've already sent my squad to help evacuate the princess! I want you to gather up the rest of the mansion staff and join them! Commander Utada will fill you in on the rest. Now move!"

Huh? We're supposed to go, just like that? Reisen exchanged looks with her squad they looked just a confused as she was.

"I'd listen if I were you," said a soft voice directly behind her.

Reisen whirled around. "Gah! How'd you-"

Ran the Shikigami stood there, clasped hands covered by her sleeves. "There's been a change of plans. You're to follow Eirin's orders and let her handle this."

"Bwuh? But it's not dead!" Reisen shot a glance over her shoulder to confirm. The Shadow Youkai was on its hands and knees, staring at the ground. It looked hurt, but it was definitely not down for the count.

"How is Eirin supposed to kill it by herself?"

"I'm not sure, so maybe you can tell me," Ran said calmly. "Does the name 'Rin Satsuki' mean anything to you?"

"Rin?" Shiina gaped. "That thing is Rin?"

As for her part, Reisen felt like someone had punched her in the gut. She wobbled a bit and had to brace herself against the clinic's side. Her weak legs slipped out from under her, sending her sliding to the ground.

"So you do know her. Good. Perhaps you would care to explain who that is and why she is such bad news."

Reisen didn't answer. In fact, she barely even heard Ran's words at all. The rhythmic percussion of her heart was pounding so loud that it drowned out everything else.

Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump.

Someone called her name from far away. Reisen didn't acknowledge it. Her mind had been forced to a stop and had yet to restart.

Someone clapped their hands in front of Reisen's face. "Reisen! Wake up!"

Reisen jolted. She stared up with wide eyes at Shiina's face, which was looking down at her in concern.

"Reisen, are you still with us?"

Reisen swallowed but didn't respond.

Shiina cursed. She whirled to the other soldiers and screamed, "You heard the doctor! We're getting the hell out of here!"

There was no argument, no questions. They also knew the name Rin Satsuki. Shiina grabbed Reisen by the arm and hauled her off the ground. From there the Lunarian rabbit was partially dragged as squad turned and ran for the Eientei mansion as fast as they could, a disgruntled-looking Ran floating right behind.

As for Shiina herself, she had been friends with Reisen Udongein ever since the latter's arrival. And she also remembered Rin Satsuki very clearly, both after the change and before. She couldn't fault Reisen for falling apart, but she also couldn't let that make her forget the current crisis.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Tewi's group had also gotten the message, judging by the way they hadn't even bothered going around the clinic and were now bounding across its roof. They had good cause too. If Ran was to be believed, and there was little reason not to, Rin Satsuki was on the loose again. May the gods help them all.

…

It felt…strange, walking towards the intruder. Out of the many, many people she never expected to deal with again, Rin Satsuki was in the top five. Unfortunately, one of the side effects of living so long is that people on those sorts of lists tend to show up sooner or later.

That is, of course, if the creature really was Rin Satsuki. There really was no way to tell based on sight alone. Of course, there was no one else who would simply absorb danmaku shots like that, and her showing up in Eientei would be quite the coincidence otherwise. To that end, Eirin was going to assume that it was her until proven otherwise.

To that end, she had taken the time to retrieve her bow from storage. It was a bit of a step down from her now ruined shotgun, but it would get the message across.

From the looks of things, her girls had done their job well. The thing she believed to be Rin was kneeling in the dirt, hands splayed before her and sword lying some feet away. It was partially turned away from her, but Eirin could still see what appeared to be smoking bits of pitch dripping from it face to leave smudges on the ground.

Eirin frowned and notched an arrow in her bow. Tears or no, Rin Satsuki was still one of the greatest threats to Eientei. She would be damned before she let another rampage happen.

"Rin," Eirin called out. "Rin! Rin Satsuki! Turn around."

Still sniveling, the thing pulled itself to its feet and turned to face her. "Eirin. You…recognize me?"

Now I do for certain, Eirin thought to herself. Aloud, she said, "What are you doing here, Rin? How did you escape from your prison?"

"Rumia…helped me. She opened…the box."

That name didn't ring a bell. "Is Rumia the Shadow Youkai's name?"

"I don't…know…what that…is."

Huh, that was odd. "And is this Rumia's whose body you're wearing?"

"Yes."

Eirin pulled back on the bowstring. "Let her go, Rin. I don't want to hurt you."

Rin's stolen eyes blazed up with new fire and her guttural voice came in stronger, losing that note of forced hesitation. "You already hurt me! Why? I just wanted to talk."

…

Deep Within

I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die…

Her mind locked up by fear, Rumia stared with frantic eyes as Rin angrily addressed her newly created screen. On it, she could see Eirin grimly holding them at arrow-point. Considering that Rin had managed to absorb all attempts to destroy her, Rumia had little doubt that she could survive the arrow. But that didn't mean getting skewered first was going to be any fun, especially since it appeared that Rumia would be taking some of that backlash as well.

Besides, this was Eirin they were talking about. The arrow was probably cursed or poisoned or something like that.

"You didn't even give me a chance to explain myself!" Rin screamed. Her balled fists were trembling and angry tears were pouring down her face.

"I didn't know it was you, not at first," Eirin said, her voice sounding strangely mechanical when filtered through Rin's borrowed ears. "But even if I did, have you seen yourself lately? Would you take the chance?"

"Uh, R-Rin?" Rumia ventured. "Maybe you should calm down-"

"If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't have bothered sending Tewi to get you!" Rin shouted. "I would have just smashed my way in and done it! I'm strong enough to do that now!"

"Rin, stop shouting at her. You only have my power, and I-"

"Rumia, please," Rin said in a strained voice. "Not now."

"I'm sure," Eirin responded. "But even if I knew it was you, do you really think I'd be waiting for you with open arms? Face it Rin, you didn't exactly leave us with a good impression last time around."

"But I've changed!" Rin cried in frustration. "I'm different now! I just want to get my life back!"

"Oh? And how does this 'Rumia' feel about giving up her life so you might regain yours?"

Rumia's spine stiffened.

"She's my friend!" Rin protested. "She helped me escape!"

"And did she willingly let you devour her body, trap her mind and steal her power?" Eirin said. "I see no difference between what you did then and what you're doing now. Still taking away people's lives against their will. Did you know that there are still those who wake up screaming from nightmares about what you did to them? And you wonder why we're not taking chances."

Rumia glanced around at the endless void around them, at the gigantic crimson screen, at her own paralyzed body and at the increasingly nutty girl who had made it all happen. She thought about the brief glimpses of what Rin had created from her power, of the pain she had felt coursing through the space around them when Eirin had shot them. She thought about the signs of Rin's mental instability and being trapped forever in this place, unable to escape, unable to move and with no one except one very strange girl with more than a few issues for company. Rumia found herself seeing Eirin's logic, harsh as it was, to be wholly reasonable.

"I had no choice!" Rin shot back. "What was I supposed to do, just slither my way back? Let the sun dehydrate me until I shriveled up? Let all the fairies of the world turn me into a kickball or a beanbag chair? I'm not working with a lot of options here!"

"Then prove it."

"Eh?"

The steel in Eirin's eyes sharpened. "You say that you're different, that this one incident was just an act of desperation? Then prove it. You've made it here, so you don't need Rumia anymore, right? Let her go, and I'll believe you."

Rumia's heart leapt, though she did her best to conceal it. This was it. If Rin would only listen to the pissed off lady with the bow-and-arrow, then Rumia stood a chance of walking away from this nightmare.

Then again, there was just a good a chance that her captor would completely disregard Eirin's words and keep her imprisoned.

Or go crazy and tear her mental ghost apart. It could go any way, really.

Rin, however, didn't respond. She just stared at her feet.

"How about it, Rin? Are you really willing to start over with a clean slate? Let Rumia go."

Rin's eyes remained downward. Her shoulders shook slightly, but other than that she made no move.

"Rin, I need an answer here. Hello?"

"Hey Rumia?" Rin said suddenly.

"Huh?"

"Am I really so terrible?"

Rumia gulped. "W-what do you mean?"

Rin looked over her shoulder. Her eyes were devoid of emotion, her voice a dead monotone. Rumia couldn't tell, but it also looked like her aura was starting to darken. That couldn't be good news.

"Am I really that much of a monster, something to be feared and despised?" Rin turned completely and started walking towards where Rumia hung, her bare feet striding across the open nothingness. "A horrible freak of nature, something's whose very presence makes your insides squirm. Is that how you see me?"

Rumia gulped. "Well, um, you know I've really only known you for a couple hours, so it's way too early to make any, um, judgment calls," she babbled. "But you know, you seem like a nice person all around, and whatever happened back then, well, that's in the past right? So if Miss Eirin's giving you a second chance, hehe, then maybe you should, um…"

Rin reached up with one luminescent hand to touch Rumia's cheek.

"…listen…to her? Oh gods, please don't…"

A small, sad smile touched Rin's lips. "I guess it's true then," she said. Rumia couldn't tell who she was talking to.

"Um, is that so? What's true?"

Rin didn't answer. She turned again to face the screen.

"Eirin?"

"What is it, Rin?"

Rin took a deep breath, and Rumia's body tensed with it. She squeezed her eyes shut. This was it.

"Eirin, I-"

That was when something hit them and the world was knocking spinning.

Rumia screamed as the darkness started convulsing around them. White, red and purple bursts of energy erupted around them like pustules. Rin was knocked off her feet and knocked sprawling.

The view in the screen was in complete disarray. It was difficult to tell if what they were seeing was static or if Rin's body was being whirled around at great speed.

"What's going on?" Rin shouted as she tried to pull herself up. Another quake shook the place, knocking her flat again. "Rumia, what happened?"

"How should I know? This is your mind!"

Rin managed to stumble her way over to the screen just in time for the picture to clear. From the look of things, her constructed body was lying on its side in the dirt, staring at the bamboo forest. Both she and Rumia gasped in unison when they saw some of the biggest names in the Gensokyo's Who's Who list.

Reimu Hakurei, youkai exterminator extraordinaire and Gensokyo's resident problem solver. Marisa Kirisame, Mad Witch of the Forest of Magic and someone who still might be holding a grudge against Rumia. Mima the Evil Ghost, notorious dark magician whose name was still spoken of in whispers. Suika, the only known oni active in Gensokyo and reported to be able to bench press the Youkai Mountains without a warm-up.

And, in keeping with the sort of day Rumia was having, Yukari Yakumo, Gensokyo's vicious watchdog and the closest thing they had to a Capital-G God. Also the person who ranked the highest on Rumia's Avoid-At-All-Costs list. All taken together, Rumia estimated their chances of surviving to be somehow near Cirno's chances of successful enrollment in the Gensokyo University.

The cavalry had arrived, and they had brought hell with them.

"She tricked me!" Rin screamed. She started banging her fists against the screen. "She tricked me! She just wanted to keep me busy until they showed up! Well, I won't let her get away with this."

Even though Rumia knew it wasn't real, the feel of bile rising in her throat was pretty damned convincing. "Um, w-w-what d-do you mean b-b-by-"

"I'm sorry Rumia, but I need for you to go away for awhile. I can't afford any distractions."

"What? What does-"

"Don't worry, I'll come get you after I'm done teaching these guys a lesson."

"Wait! What are-"

And then everything disappeared. Rin, the screen, the writhing substance around them, even Rumia's imaginary body and the sensations it was experiences. All gone. Just nothingness.

Hello? she said, or at least tried to. Her mind formed the word, but there was no outlet.

Oh Rin, she wondered as despair rose up. What are you doing?

…

"No!" Eirin screamed as Rin was ripped from the ground and tossed in the air like a ragdoll. "Not now! I was reaching her!"

"So am I," Yukari said. "Watch me reach her."

She called up fire and plasma and twisted them together to form a blazing rope of destruction, which she promptly hurled through one of her bizarre portals. Another portal opened directly over the still-flying Rin, causing the twisting rope to bear down on her and slam her to the ground.

"That reached her! Didn't it reach her Suika?"

"Sure did!" the little oni cheered. "Hey, I can reach her too!"

The little oni suddenly stopped being so little. Within a matter of seconds she was more than fifteen feet tall and tearing up bamboo by their roots. When she had enough to fill her enormous palm, she raised it over her head.

"No!" Eirin cried, but it was too late. Suika slammed the entire load down on Rin, who was just struggling to her feet. The force of the impact literally drove her into the ground.

Eirin stamped her feet in frustration. "You idiots! Stop! You don't know what you're dealing with!"

"Maybe not, but we know how to deal with it!" Marisa laughed. "Reimu?"

"Got it." The shrine maiden extracted a card from her skirt. At her command, it started hovering in the air, her yin-yang balls circling at high speed.

"Evil Sealing Circle!" she snarled, and the card exploded in red and blue light, which surrounded the ripped-up stalks of bamboo and burnt them to ash.

"Ready dearie?" Mima said sweetly to Marisa. Her former prodigy grinned and gave her a thumbs-up.

"Am I ever!"

Mima's teeth flashed as she grinned. "Good."

The two of them flew high above the smoking impact zone. Directly beneath, there was a still a small dark speck, lying motionless in the crater. Mima gently placed her hands on Marisa's shoulder. At the touch, her fingers began glowing with a sparkling green light. Meanwhile, Marisa's hakkero hummed loudly as it gathered power.

"No!" Eirin screamed. She pointed her arrow at the pair, but then she was suddenly snatched up from the ground, dropping the bow in the process.

"Uh-uh-uh," Suika chastised the struggling Lunarian. "Play nice!"

Unable to break from the giant's grasp or even reach her syringes, Eirin could only watch helplessly as the light in the sky grew brighter and brighter, until…

"Final Spark!" Marisa and Mima cried in unison. Pure destructive force, thicker and brighter than even the Master Spark, shot forth from the hakkero directly down into the crater.

"What's wrong, Lunarian?" Yukari said mockingly as she hovered over to Eirin's side. "You seem concerned for the monster's safety. Don't tell me you've gotten soft."

"Idiot!" Eirin spat. "That's not the Shadow Youkai!"

"Is it not?" Yukari seemed wholly unconcerned about this revelation. "Hmmm, it certainly looks a little different, all smoky and such." She shrugged. "Oh well, still close enough."

"No it's not! Seriously, you don't know what you're doing!"

"And you do, I suppose?"

"Yes! That's no normal youkai, that's-"

"Hey guys!" Marisa shouted, magically amplifying her voice to make herself heard over the roar of her attack. "Something's happening, ze!"

All eyes turned to her and Mima. They were still digging their way to Makai with the Final Spark, but Marisa's face had started to look strained. Considering that her ridiculously overpowered spells didn't usually tax her, especially with Mima lending her power to the mix, this was somewhat odd.

"Marisa?" Reimu said as she floated to the witch's side. "What wrong?"

"Don't know," Marisa mumbled back. "Feels like something…pushing back…nneeggghhh!"

Suddenly the Final Spark seemed to tamper off near the hole's entrance. Just as it expanded out from Marisa's hands to a thick cylinder of energy, it shrank back down again to disappear into another set of hands. A sharp-taloned, pitch black set of hands that were slowly rising from the hole's epicenter.

"Oh, here we go," Eirin groaned. She slumped over the oni's fingers. "It's the Satsuki incident all over again."

"Uhhh, say what now?" Yukari said. Like everyone else, she was entranced by the seemingly impossible sight of someone not only surviving, but absorbing Marisa's Final Spark attack.

Eirin ignored her. "Marisa!" she screamed. "Stop firing! You're only making her angrier!"

"What?" Marisa shouted back.

"I said…"

The Final Spark suddenly pulsed and reversed its direction, turning on its source and launching a very surprised Marisa and Mima into the sky.

"…never mind."

Over the hole hovered Rin Satsuki, wearing the nightmarish form of Rumia the supposed Shadow Youkai. There was no denying it, the girl was pissed off. What had been small, dancing wisps along the edges of her body had erupted into angrily writhing vines of pure midnight. Her eyes had lost all her hurt confusion from earlier and now only blazed with hate. Her sword was clutched in one hand and by the looks of things she fully intended to use it.

"You're going to want to put me down," Eirin told Suika.

"Huh?" The overgrown oni stared down at the woman clutched in her hand, as if she had forgotten that she was even there.

"Put me down. You'll need your hands free."

"Oh. Okay."

Eirin was unceremoniously dropped to the ground. She landed with a thump on her rear but pulled herself to her feet as quickly as she could.

"Uh, Eirin?" Yukari said. "What's going on?"

"The end of the world."

"Seriously?"

"Near enough." Eirin reached into her dress and removed three of the syringes. She held these between her fingers on her right hand like a set of throwing knives. "Now, listen up: grab your friends and get the hell out of here. Things are about to get really ugly."

Yukari bristled. "And who are you to tell me what-"

A savage roar of hate and rage exploded from Rin's Shadow Youkai form. There was no more time. Eirin grimly readied the syringes as she started to run towards the whirlwind of darkness that was starting to form. She ignored everything around her; Yukari's cries of surprise, Suika's clumsy attempts to grab her again, the dark storm clouds that were forming overhead, the way the light seemed to grow dimmer over time, everything. The only thing she was focused on was her target and the single thought that repeated over and over in her mind.

Now this? This is going to suck.

…

One of the very few drawbacks to having an all-female cast is that everyone uses the same pronouns, meaning I have to use their actual names more than is usually necessary. Ah well.

Anyway, not a whole lot to say about this chapter, except that the spider-youkai in the beginning segment (i.e. the least important) isn't supposed to be anyone important, just something to freak Cirno out. I kinda liked him though. Maybe I'll bring him back. Or not. Haven't decided.

Also, the entire fight at Eientei was originally only going to be about seven pages long and cap off chapter three. However, this proved to be…impractical.

And with this I've exhausted my update buffer and have some schoolwork coming up. I'll try to get the next chapter up by the end of next week though.

Anyway, thanks for the comments! As always, praise and criticism are equally welcome. So if there's something that caught your eye, leave a review!

Seriously, the amount of reviews I receive is how I judge my worth as a man. God, I need to get out more.

Until next time, everyone!