Deep Within, Part 1
Deep Within
Rumia looked up and scowled. "Oh, come on already!" she shouted. "Now you're just getting redundant!"
Rin looked at her confusion. "What? What are you talking about? What's getting redundant?"
Four days had passed since the two youkai had been thrown together through bizarre circumstances. And in that time, very little had changed. They were still on the run from everything and everyone, they were still trapped together in the endless void of Rin's mind, they still were no closer to solving the mysteries that beset them, and Rumia was still one inch away from strangling Rin to keep her from starting another stupid game.
Rumia gestured. "Her ability is eternal youth? We've got immortality in like three different flavors already! We don't need another one."
Well, to be strictly accurate, something had very recently changed. They had picked up a new passenger, yet another young blond girl, this one a long-haired witch that had been napping on a riverbank. Rin had very nearly tripped over her while emerging from the water, waking her up in the process. According to Rin herself, the time period between the actual awakening and the girl's assimilation into Rin's body was a jumble of confusion and reflexive action. She hadn't intended to absorb the girl, it just sort of happened that way. Mistakes do happen, after all.
Unfortunately, the girl wasn't inclined to see things that way, and she had taken a very dim view of losing her body and being forced to ride around with a couple of strange naked girls who may or may not be completely insane. In the end, Rin had been forced to remove her mouth, just as she had done with Kaguya and Mokou earlier. Though, if she were to be asked, Rumia honestly could not blame the girl for freaking out completely.
"Yeah, good point." Rin frowned as she cocked her head in the girl's direction. Taking the motion as threatening, the girl started up another bout of wide-eyed muffled shrieks. "So, uh, I don't think she's in much of a listening mood. What should we do with her?"
"I dunno, you're the one who ate her."
"It was an accident," Rin protested. "Jeez, how many times do I have to keep saying that? A mistake! I'm allowed to make a couple."
"Is that so."
"Seriously! It's not like I'm some sort of…compulsive…absorbing glutton…thing. I can stop eating people any time I want!"
"Uh-huh. Okay. This conversation is really starting to weird me out." Rumia shook her head and sighed. "So, back on topic, what about her? We let her go?"
Rin hesitated. "I…Uh, I'm not so sure about that. Maybe I should just stick her in a dream too."
Rumia sucked her teeth. "Rin, you can't fix everything by sticking it into dreams. That's lazy problem solving, and it sets a bad-" She cut herself off. "Okay, now this conversation's getting weird too. Point is, I don't want any more creepy people swimming around your head than we need. You already went crazy once, and who's to say having too many people wasn't a part of that? I mean, we have a good reason for not letting the other two go, mainly because they hate us and they're keeping up from getting exploded, but what good is she? Can't you just…erase her memories and dump her off somewhere?"
"Erase her memories? I…Uh, I really have no idea," Rin admitted. "Never done anything like that before, at least not permanently. I mean, I kinda screwed with Kaguya and Mokou's minds, but that really wasn't a full erasure…Look, point is, if I'm not careful I could end up crushing her mind and…" Then she blinked and squinted at the new witch-girl. She stepped forward and leaded in closer. Then she reached out to touch her fingertips against the girl's forehead.
The girl's reaction was predictable. Rumia rolled her eyes as the wordless screeching intensified. "Oh, nice going genius. That'll make you seem less scary."
"Shush," Rin mumbled. She pulled away. "Well now, that's convenient."
"Huh? What is?"
"Her memory's the worst I've ever seen. It's practically self-degenerating, bordering on anterograde amnesia."
Rumia stared at her. "Okay…I know I'm not the smartest youkai around, but…huh?"
"Right. Sorry. Her memory keeps destroying itself. Her personality and identity are kept intact, but specific events and other information gets wiped away on a constant basis, keeping that personality from maturing. I don't think I'll have to do anything besides put her to sleep for a few hours to make her forget. Crazy."
"Wow, really? Neat. Kinda sucks for her though."
Rin shrugged. "I dunno, she seems happy enough."
"…no she doesn't. She looks terrified."
"I mean before," Rin explained patiently. "I guess always forgetting if something bad happened would make you happy, you know? But yeah, gimme a sec."
Rin closed her eyes and concentrated. Rumia looked from her to the newcomer. Slowly but surely, the girl's metaphorical body began to fade away.
Rumia then turned her attention to the screen. The view still showed the riverbank where they had literally run into the girl. One of Rin's arms came view as it passed in front of her face. The ash-white hand bulged and expanded, losing its color and becoming transparent. As Rumia watched in horrified fascination, the bubble at the end of Rin's arm molded itself into a semblance of a Humanoid shape. Within, dots of matter began to appear. These dots swam toward the bubble's center, converging together and forming a larger mass. Organs began to develop, as did a skeletal frame. Flesh formed in patches, flowing over the bones and meat, (thankfully) covering them from view. Hair sprouted from the top of the head and grew out until it was partway down the back. Finger and toenails dug their way out of the digits for a finishing touch.
Rumia shuddered. Okay, she thought. Now that was really, really disgusting. She wondered if the same thing had happened to her when she had been absorbed, only in reverse. Of course, at the time she had been consumed by unbearable pain, so it had been difficult to pay attention. But she was willing to bet that it hadn't been any more fun to watch.
The bubble flowed away from the girl's body and the hand reformed. Rumia looked away from the screen and turned back to Rin. Apparently expelling someone was more tiring that bringing them in. A thin sheen of sweat glistened on her forehead and her limbs were shaking.
"Uh, Rin?" Rumia said. "You okay."
Rin opened her eyes. "Yeah, I'm good." She took a step forward and stumbled. Rumia grabbed her by the arm and helped her steady herself.
"Thanks," Rin muttered.
"No problem. Even though you falling over really don't make a whole lot of sense, all things considered."
"It's all a metaphor, remember? Everything that you experience in this state is just, um, is just a translation of what-"
"Yeah, okay. I got the really confusing analogies the first time around. Don't really want…" Rumia's eyes wandered back to the screen. She stiffened. "Oh, crap. Rin, you were supposed to put her to sleep!"
"Huh?" Rin looked in the direction Rumia was pointing. On the riverbank, the girl was starting to stir. She sleepily rubbed her eyes and looked around. Then she caught sight of Rin and froze, her eyes widening in fear.
"Oh, not good," Rin said.
"You think? Did you forget to put her under or something? Come on Rin, even for you this is pretty bad."
"Hey, I haven't done this for awhile! Still a little rusty, you know?" The view on the screen shot back and forth as Rin searched the area for a solution.
"Well, reabsorb her and start over!" Rumia growled. "We've wasted enough time as it-"
The girl was starting to scramble to her feet. Rin's pale hand snatched up a smooth stone from the riverbank and clunked her on the head with it. The girl's eyes rolled back and she slumped back to the ground.
"…or you can do that," Rumia finished. "Um, is she okay?"
"Uh, I think so," Rin said, though her voice didn't seem too certain. "Anyway, she's a witch youkai, so it's not like I can hurt her all that much. I think."
Rumia shook her head. Things were starting to unravel again. "Never mind, damage done. Let's just get out of here."
Rin agreed. Her physical body lifted off the ground and floated down the length of the river, quickly putting distance between them and the girl. Rumia found herself feeling a sudden stab of envy. Sure, the girl had been assaulted, dissolved, terrified out of her wits and knocked unconscious, but at least she had been released and was allowed to continue her life. Provided that she didn't experience some sort of mental trauma, of course.
"So, uh, Rumia?" Rin said.
"Huh?"
"Have you thought about what I suggested? You know, to help us dig up your memories and find out why those people wanted to kill you too?"
Rumia grimaced. The question of her memories had been a source of disagreement for the last couple of days. Rin wanted to find out what they contained. Rumia was curious herself, especially since her survival might depend on it, but the thought of having to endure that pain again made her very hesitant to let Rin make the attempt.
To that end, Rin had suggested a compromise. They would dissolve Rumia's metaphorical body, therefore removing the possibility for the phantom pain. Rumia would then be sent deep into a dream, just as Kaguya and Mokou had been. Rin would then have easier access to the memories and Rumia would (probably) be spared the agony of the operation, with any unpleasantness being retranslated into the context of the dream and therefore being easier to deal with.
Rumia still had strong objections to the plan. Like most youkai, she usually had very vivid dreams, and didn't want to be trapped in some kind of nightmare. Given the sort of memories Rin might be uncovering, Rumia might very well find herself being skinned alive or stabbed repeatedly while being burned at the stake. She had then suggested that they try just sending her to the limbo of darkness again. Rin had agreed, and they had given it a shot.
The attempt hadn't lasted much longer than two seconds before Rumia had started screaming to be released. She wouldn't even look at Rin for about an hour afterward. As it turned out, pain wasn't the worst thing one could experience.
Still, that did leave them with the problem of how to go about unlocking the repressed parts of Rumia's mind. At the moment, the dream option was the only one they could think of. Not for the first time, Rumia wished that they had someone with more creativity on board.
"Rumia?" Rin said again. "Come on, I know you don't wanna do it, but we need to find out what's trapped in your mind."
"Do we have to do it now?" Rumia said. "I mean, can't we wait until we find a better hiding place?"
"We had better hiding place! You made us leave!"
"No, I didn't! The sea monster did when he smashed up the place! I just didn't want to stick around for all his friends to show up."
"Okay, okay, fine. But seriously, we gotta find out what's in there sooner or later. The longer we wait the harder it's gonna be. You know, like jumping into a cold lake."
"Speak for yourself. Every time I jump into a cold lake I end up losing all feeling."
"That's because you hang out with ice fairies! Stop changing the subject!"
"I'm not, I…" Rumia shook her head. "Look, do we really have to do this? I mean, I'm literally putting my, uh, my mind? Soul? You know, that thing that's super important! And I'm putting it on the line here! And you know what? You seem really eager to dig around in my head! Not saying I don't trust you, but it's really getting weird! How do I know you won't screw something up, put a thought in there that isn't mine but I'll think it's mine and end up doing what the thought tells me to do and…Sorry, got off track, where was I?"
"Questioning my motives," Rin said in a mild tone.
"Right! So why do you want to dig through my brain so much anyway?"
Rin's mouth straightened into a tight line, a sure sign that she was growing impatient. "Okay…Still looks like we're gonna have to work on the 'Trust' thing. Fine, I get that, I sorta deserve it. But, uh, Rumia? Duh? I've got major life-killy powers and a big whooping sword popping out of nowhere that are somehow attached to you. I've got a psychotic voice that sounds like you introducing itself as my split personality that can somehow take control of me when I'm not paying attention. I've got some really, really powerful people who think you're some sort of thing that needs killing. And I've got you, the only person who ties this whole mess together. And you've got a great big lump of repressed memories that could probably tell us why all this is happening! So yeah, I kinda want to dig in your head to find out why! Sorry, my self-preservation instincts are insistent like that!"
"But…but…" Rumia's mind raced as she tried to think of an appropriate rebuttal. Unfortunately, none was forthcoming.
Rin sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "Look Rumia, just for the record, I don't think you're some kind of monster, okay? I mean, okay, you are, being a youkai and all, but so am I! And I've done some crazy stuff too! I know what it's like to be hated, and I'm not about to do that to you. No matter what's locked up in there" Rin tapped Rumia's forehead with her knuckles "that's someone who isn't you anymore. I wanna save you as much as I wanna save me, okay?"
Despite herself, Rumia was strangely moved. She wasn't used to people sticking up for her and promising to protect her no matter what. Sure, she and her friends watched each other's backs, but she wasn't sure they would go as far as Rin was offering to go. That didn't mean she liked the idea of Rin clawing out extremely stubborn memories from the deepest corners of her mind any more, but she was less suspicious of Rin's motives.
Besides, no matter how she cut it, Rin was right. The answers they needed were stuck inside her mind, an no amount of talking around the problem was going to change that. "Okay, look. I'll try one more time, but you gotta promise me that if things start going crazy wrong again, you'll stop. Deal?"
"Deal," Rin said happily. "Don't worry, it'll work this time. Promise."
"So not reassuring," Rumia muttered. She took a deep breath. "Okay, let's get this insanity over with."
"Sure. Hang on, let me find a place to park."
"Place to what now…?"
"It means…never mind. Just wait a sec."
Rumia sat and waited as Rin searched the riverbed for a suitable place to hide her compilation of a body. Finally she found a small outcropping of stone, with just enough space beneath for a body to fit. Rin wedged herself in the best she could and pulled up several rocks to further hide herself from view.
"Wow, that doesn't look comfortable," Rumia said as Rin put the finishing touches on their hiding place. "Can you…feel all that?"
"Yes, but it doesn't bother me," Rin said. "And stop trying to get me focused on other things."
"Sorry. So…how does this work, anyway? Do I...lie back or something?"
"Huh? No, why would you do that? No, I'll just do it like I did with the Princess and Mokou. You'll just…kinda fade away and wake up in the dream. Simple as that."
Maybe so, but it still sounded creepy. "Okay, and you promise it won't hurt?"
"How could it hurt? Your spirit-body…thingie here will be gone!" Then Rin's face grew troubled. "Then again, their dream is looking really realistic, so I dunno..."
"I really hate it here sometimes," Rumia muttered. "Okay, get it over with."
Rin nodded. "Okay, just try to relax. It'll still be a little weird, what with all the dissolving and temporarily losing all sensation, so close your eyes or something."
"Sure. Really feeling reassured here."
Rumia squeezed her eyes shut. As she did so, a feeling of slowly falling through darkness so dense it was almost tangible spread through throw her. As Rin claimed, all sensation started to melt away as Rumia sank deeper and deeper.
This is crazy, this is crazy, Rumia thought to herself. This is crazy, this is crazy, …
And she was gone.
…
Rin stared at the place where Rumia had stood just a second ago. "Wow, that is kinda crazy. Never really paid attention to it before." She shrugged and let her own mental projection of herself vanish as well, allowing herself to fully occupy her physical body. She wouldn't be needing that little room inside her mind anyway.
Once those barriers had been broken down, Rin reached out into her own mind. She felt the fleeting presences of Kaguya and Mokou, still drifting through the world of dreams she had sent them too. She briefly wondered how things were working out for them. Maybe she should check later.
However, there was no time for that now. Her mind brushed against Rumia's essence, a small quivering beacon of intelligence hovering deep inside the recesses of Rin's being. Rin smiled at she did so. It was sort of funny now that she thought of it. All those people were making such a fuss over something so tiny and helpless. Well, okay, so there was more to it than that, but it was hard to think of Rumia as a threat when she was like this.
Okay, here we go, Rin thought. Sweet dreams.
And with that, she opened Rumia's subconscious.
…
...thisiscrazythisiscrazy...
Rumia sat up straight with a jolt and a gasp.
"…this is crazy, this is…Holy crap!"
The transition between floating through a void and suddenly having mass and sensation again was so unexpected that it took Rumia's brain several seconds to catch up. She winced at the sudden onslaught of sunlight and squinted at the scene around her.
Her body was indeed back. That was a plus. And she was clothed again in her usual black skirt, white blouse and black vest, which was another step in the right direction. The youkai attitude toward nudity was much more lax than that of Humans, but that didn't mean she hadn't been getting tired of being naked.
However, as comforting as that bit of familiarity was, her surroundings were far from normal. From the look of things, she was in a medium-sized square room, though great effort had gone into making it appear otherwise. The walls and ceiling had been painted to depict a sprawling countryside with a blue sky overhead, complete with a glowing light that looked like a white sun. The floor beneath her feet was designed to represent a field of grass and flowers. There was even a trunk of a tree stuck halfway into the wall, with its branches fusing into the ceiling overhead to melt into a painted depiction of the rest of the tree, leaves and everything. A recorded track of chirping birds and chittering insects played in the background, and a gentle breeze flowed in through unseen vents. It all seemed very silly.
However, once Rumia's vision began to clear, she had to admit that the amount of detail put into the illusion was impressive. The designers clearly knew their way around matters of perception. She could almost believe that she was sitting inside a glass box in the middle of an actual countryside.
Then, as she stared at a painted river, she saw a painted hawk dive into the painted water and come up with a painted fish and flap its way into the painted sky.
She shuddered and turned away from the weird wall. After all, the scene taking place inside the room was, while less weird, a bit more interesting.
She was sitting at a rectangular table, set with a white tablecloth. All around the table were five chairs, four of which were occupied, Rumia's chair being situated at one end and the empty chair at the other. And in the other chairs…
Rumia jumped to her feet. "Guys!" she said happily. "It's you, you're okay!"
Mystia turned to smile at her. "Hi Rumia." She held up a squat, blue teapot. "Tea?"
"Tea? We've been separated all this time and all you can do is offer me tea? Wow, so glad you missed me."
"Missed you?" Wriggle asked from her place at Rumia's right. "Where did you go?"
"What? Don't you remember? I was-" Rumia cut herself off. "Wait, what the hell am I doing? Gah, I haven't even been here for a minute and already I'm wigging out." Still, she had to admit that, weird or no, the teaparty was miles better than what she was expecting. She sat down. "You know, I think will have some of that," she said, holding her teacup toward Mystia.
"Of course," Mystia murmured. She gently tipped the teapot over and started to fill the cup.
Rumia looked back and forth. Wriggle and Daiyousei both sat smiling in their seats, holding teacups but not drinking from them. On the table were a variety of different pastries, vegetables and sweetmeats, all untouched.
"So…you guys not eating?" Rumia asked. "And where's Cirno? She couldn't make it?"
"What are you talking about?" Daiyousei asked. She pointed at the empty seat. "She's right there!"
"Uh…No, no she's not. Unless she became invisible or really, really small or…"
"No, silly! Right there! Look!"
Rumia leaned forward and squinted. Now that Daiyousei mentioned it, there did seem to be something there. Small, fluttering white dots, dancing downward through the air…
She blinked. "Hold up, is it snowing in that chair?"
"It's Cirno's new idea!" Mystia said. "Having a body is too dangerous. This way, she can be everywhere at once without having people shoot at you!"
The snow was forming a small pile in the center of the chair. "Yeah, okay. That's…definitely the dumbest idea she's had in a long, sad history of bad ideas. Can she…hear us at all? Can she even talk?"
Mystia just shrugged and smiled.
"Right…You know, maybe she should have asked me before disintegrating herself, and…Uh, Mystia? The cup's full. No need to pour anymore. Seriously, you're drowning the tablecloth."
…
Okay, so that is a little bizarre, Rin thought to herself. Funny, but still bizarre.
She shrugged. Well, at least she's getting to talk to her friends. Her mouth dipped down. Even if one of them is nothing more than a pile of ice crystals.
She still hadn't told Rumia that Cirno had gotten herself vaporized during their escape from Eientei. And while she knew full well that fairies were destroyed and brought back to life on a regular basis, those spells had just been so powerful. And the fact that she had gotten herself killed while trying to defend Rumia only made it worse. Rin had no how she was going to break the news to Rumia. Their relationship was tenuous as it was.
Rin retreated from that line of thought. No time for that now. She had a job to do.
After taking a second to steady herself, Rin moved along the track of Rumia's memories. The most recent were the easiest to move through. Year after year of shenanigans with her friends, making and getting into trouble. Rin had to admit she was just a little envious. She had never had that much freedom, even before she had changed into a power-absorbing monstrosity.
Then she ran across one memory that made her pause. It wasn't anything particularly notable, just Rumia hanging out with her friend in their little mountain hideout. It was late evening, and they were all sitting in front of a small, crude fireplace. Judging by the conversation, they had attempted some sort of caper only to have it blow up in their faces. And yet, judging by the way they were laughing and teasing each other, they didn't seem to mind in the slightest. Gradually the chatter slowly died down as they drifted off to sleep, one-by-one. Rumia was the last to succumb. She just reclined against a stalagmite and watched the dying fire with increasingly heavy eyes and let the feeling of contentment wash through her.
Back when Rin had lived in Eientei, she had been taught that the wild youkai were little better than animal, creatures that stood upright and talked but were driven by their base desires. But this scene didn't seem particularly savage. Rather, it was kind of beautiful, in its own way. A small band of children who had been given eternal life and youth and had decided to enjoy every second of it.
Maybe it was her youkai instincts, but Rin found herself aching to join them, to greet each day with the knowledge that it would be full of nothing but fun, mischief and play. To go to sleep each night knowing that the next day would be the same. And to know that she had friends that thought of her as family and would always be there for her, no matter what the circumstance.
Rin lingered on that memory longer than the others, but finally managed to pull herself away. No, she mustn't let herself get distracted. The repressed memories, she had to focus on the repressed…
She stumbled upon another memory of an evening just like the one before, only in this one that bird girl, Mystia, had decided to use Rumia's stomach as a pillow. All right, now this was just getting unfair.
Rin forced herself to speed through the rest of Rumia's prankster days. Nearly a decade-and-a-half of mischief making sped by in a blur.
Then she was passing through events from earlier in Rumia's life, back before she had met Cirno and the others. Rin had to admit, these memories were much more unpleasant to view. She knew that these were from a time when Rumia had been much less civilized and almost feral. But still…
No, please! Leave us alone! I don't wanna…
Rin passed through those memories quickly, doing her best not to linger on one for too long. She shuddered. Maybe her teachers at Eientei did have a point after all.
Finally she reached as far as she was going to go. And there it was: a tangled knot of memory, buried so far in that Rumia hadn't even known they existed, not even in the context of a fleeting dream.
Rin moved her essence over the memories, wondering what they contained. She wasn't sure if she wanted to find out, but the situation they were in demanded answers.
Okay, here we go, she thought. Hope this doesn't get too scary.
With that, she grasped the tangled mess and began to dig.
…
Rumia was suddenly knocked out of her chair by an unseen force. She gasped and tried to pull herself up, only to be lifted off the ground and thrown onto the table, scattering plates, cups and food.
She tried to sit up, but something was holding her limbs in place, almost as if she were tied down. Overhead, the sun seemed to be shining twice as bright, assaulting her eyes with a fierce light.
She squinted against the glare. Wriggle, Mystia and Daiyousei had risen from their seats and were now staring down at her. Though she could barely make out their faces, they didn't seem friendly.
"Hey look," Wriggle said. "The monster's waking up."
"Should we be standing so close then?" Daiyousei asked. "I mean, far be it from me to tell you two great masters what to do, but this inferior Human would be much more comfortable taking a few steps back."
"Then do so," Wriggle snapped. "If you can't handle a little risk, then feel free to leave."
"Well, excuse me for having a sense of self-preservation. Not everyone likes the idea of being incorporeal."
"Enough, both of you," Mystia said. "Save your moronic grudges for later." She leaned in closer, so that Rumia could see the scowl on her face. Rumia was pretty sure she had never seen Mystia's face look like that; so calculating, so cold, so…cruel.
Panic briefly seized Rumia's mind, but then she realized what was going on. Well now, I guess Rin just got started, Rumia thought. I wonder what deep-seated issues this must represent.
She tried to open her mouth to ask what was going on, but found that she could not.
Okay, not good. Uh, Rin? Are you listening? Things are getting uncomfortable. Seriously, I think they're gonna start skinning me. Rin!
"Well, so far so good," Mystia muttered. She reached down to grip Rumia by the jaw, turning her face from one side to the other. "Look, no sign of the taint at all."
Daiyousei started a slow clap. "Bravo, bravo. Confetti and cheap alcohol all around. And it only cost you the lives of at least a dozen people, not counting the few hundred or so before I could get you to get off your immortal asses and actually help. Your skill is truly amazing."
Wriggle sighed. "May I squish the insect? Please?"
"No, you may not," Mystia hissed. "Be quiet. And that goes for you too, shrine maiden. Your comments contribute nothing of worth."
Shrine maiden? Daiyousei, a shrine maiden? Did Miss Reimu start outsourcing or something? What's going on here?
Rumia once again tried to speak, tried to move, tried to do anything. To her surprise, she actually managed to start struggling this time, though her movement was very weak.
"Well, look at that," Wriggle said. "I think she's scared. Aw, how adorable."
Rumia opened her mouth to demand an explanation, but all that came out was a wail of absolute terror.
…
Okay, so that didn't work, Rin thought to herself. She could feel her constructed body frown in frustration.
The lump of memories was proving to be exceptionally hard to unravel. So far it had resisted all her attempt to untangle the various threads and make some sense of Rumia's past. The experience was not too dissimilar to trying to push her fingers through hard clay.
Alrighty then, so this is gonna take some work. Let's see what happens if I try this…
…
The end of the table tilted downward and Rumia found herself slipping and sliding down a slope that had not been there a moment ago. Grass was swiftly replaced by soil, rocks and small shrubs that scratched her skin and tore at her clothing as she tumbled downward. Rumia cried out in fear as she tried to grasp for any kind of handhold to halt her fall, but her fingers slipped from branches and clumps of dirt broke loose to join her.
Then, after what seemed like an eternity of pain and confusion, Rumia finally rolled to a stop. Sniffling, she pulled herself to her feet. Thankfully none of her bones were broken, but her legs were still shaky and she needed to grab onto a nearby tree to keep from stumbling. Then she got a good look at her new surroundings.
She was in another one of those strange rooms fashioned to resemble the outdoors, only this one was larger and much less cheery. She stood at the foot of a large hill which rose up against one side of the room to continue into the painted wall, making it seem much larger than she actually was. Several tree trunks were placed here which rose into the ceiling, on which was depicted the roof of a forest. Though the ground beyond the dirt from the hillside was flat and clean, pictures of fallen leaves had been drawn. The whole place was done in muted browns and yellows, making it seem like it was in the middle of autumn.
This is getting creepy, Rumia thought to herself as she brushed off her clothes. Who made all these weird rooms and why don't they just go outside?
She looked from her right to her left. Lack of authenticity aside, there was something familiar about the forest. Although she couldn't put her finger on exactly when, she was reasonably certain she had been there before. She supposed that was a good sign, as it meant that Rin was making some headway.
"Just hope that whatever I discover here doesn't show that I was some kind of killer demon thing in a past life," Rumia muttered. "And really, what the hell happened up there? Did my friends put me together by…I don't know, sewing dead bodies together or something?"
She sighed. Well, nothing was going to be learned by just standing around, and at least there was nothing actively trying to torture her. She turned around and revised her appraisal of the room. The far end stretched far out of sight, making it seem more like a hallway. A hallway filled with tree trunks and fake leaves.
Well, it wasn't like she had anywhere else to go. Ignoring the little voices that were telling her what a bad idea this was, Rumia started off.
…
Rin was starting to make some headway. At least she had managed to coax a few stray fragments loose. Unfortunately, they were useless, just more of the same as she had been seeing already. A much more savage Rumia prowling through a forest, hungrily searching for food. And in some cases, she found it.
With a shudder, Rin pushed those images away. Though she knew that preying upon Humans was a fairly common practice among youkai even with the anti-hunting laws in place, it was still disconcerting to actually watch it happen. Poor kids…
Rin went back to working on the repressed memories. Hopefully she would find something that would make this unpleasant trip all worth it. Some clue, some indication as to why Rumia was so feared. Unfortunately, she had a feeling that even if she found what she was looking for, she was not going to like it.
…
Rumia nervously glanced back and forth as she walked forward. The artificial forest was causing her to experience a severe case of déjà vu. For some reason, she felt like she should be creeping around on all fours, preferably through the branches, even if the branches themselves didn't exist.
Of course they don't exist, Rumia thought. None of this exists! In fact, nothing I've done in the last few days was real, not physically at least. So why am I even fussing about it?
Maybe she was just getting claustrophobic. Even though the illusion of being outdoors was a good one, she was still painfully aware that the walls of the hallway were only about four feet in either direction. Rumia never did like being indoors. It made her feel like she was being pressed in from all sides. Even back at the gang's hideout she had preferred sleeping in the main cavern instead of her small alcove just because it was larger and more open.
Maybe all this is some kind of metaphor, Rumia thought. Like, even when I'm outside I still feel trapped because…of something or another. I don't know, Rin's the one with actual psychosomethingoranother training. I'll ask her after this nonsense is over. No, wait, on second thought maybe I won't. She'll probably just go on an hour long spiel with about twenty different interpretations and…Oh, holy crap.
Rumia stopped in her tracks and stared. She had reached the other end of the hallway.
…
Rin was starting to contemplate taking Rumia's memories and bashing them against the wall of her mind until something came loose. She wondered what could have possibly happened to force Rumia to repress those events to such a degree.
Dang it Rumia, did your past have to be this traumatic? She was instantly struck with remorse. No, wait! I'm sorry, I didn't mean it! Don't hate me or anything.
Deciding that she should probably just keep concentrating at the task at hand before her dumb thoughts got her into any more trouble, Rin started to go back to work. But then she paused for a brief moment.
Should I? It would be kinda rude. What if she's having a sex dream or something? Maybe with the bird friend of hers? I'm pretty sure I've seen fragments of them…flirting. So, maybe there's something there? No, wait, what am I doing? Rumia's love life is her business! She can keep her private sexual fantasies or…That is, assuming she's even having a sex dream. Could be about a game of mahjong for all I know.
Rin struggled with the issue for another moment before going, You know what? What the hell. It might be bad, and she'd want me to save her if it was bad, right?
She snuck a quick peek. To both her relief and disappointment, Rumia wasn't doing anything of much importance, just walking through a strangely rectangular forest.
Well, better boring that too exciting. Okay, back to work.
…
It was a building. A building three stories tall. A building three stories tall with row after row of rectangular windows. A building three stories tall with row after row of rectangular windows and a sloping, tiled roof. A building three stories tall with row after row of rectangular windows and a sloping tiled roof that had apparently been nearly destroyed by fire. A building three stories tall with row after row of rectangular windows and a sloping tiled roof that had apparently been nearly destroyed by fire and abandoned.
And, just to act as the icing on this highly bizarre cake, the front of said burnt-out husk of a large building was jutting out of the wall at the end of the hallway.
Rumia stared up at the structure, trying to piece her head around its purpose for being here. While it lacked the sheer size and intimidation of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, there was still something about it that sent a chill down Rumia's spine, even without the problem of it being the roasted skeleton of a huge building that somehow got stuck in a wall.
"Do I know this place?" Rumia said as she scratched her head. "Pretty I don't. Oh gods, I hope this isn't another stupid metaphor."
She started toward the front entrance and hesitated. There was definitely something about the place that repulsed her. Something about the loneliness surrounding the structure, the feeling of being abandoned and unwanted. She couldn't place her finger on it, but it made her feel odd. Not just nervous or creeped out, but also a little…
Guilty.
"Well, whatever," Rumia muttered as she turned away. "Screw that place." If there was one thing she had learned, it was that large, creepy looking buildings that popped up in dreams were best avoided. Better to just sit tight and hope Rin's plan didn't go horribly wrong.
Unfortunately, that plan suddenly proved impractical. For four different reasons, all of which started to rush toward her.
"There you are, slowpoke!" Cirno shouted as she and the rest of the gang ran up to Rumia. "We've been waiting for hours! What took you so long?"
Rumia stared at her. "Well, hello Dream-Cirno. Glad you decided to stop being falling powder. And hey there guys. Thanks for throwing me on the table and acting super weird back there. Really appreciate it."
This of course was ignored. "Here, hang on to this!" Cirno shouted, thrusting a card in her face.
Blinking, Rumia took the card from her. It wasn't a spellcard, nor did it contain any bizarre scenes that could be interpreted any number of ways. "Cirno, this is an Ace of Spades."
"Right! Don't lose it!"
"Yeah…Okay, look. I know the you from the real world ain't all that bright, but not even she would shove a playing card into my hand without telling me why. So, you wanna just skip the confusing symbolism and just tell me what I'm supposed to learn from this card here? Because I-"
"Stop talking," Mystia said as she grabbed hold of one of Rumia's arms. "We're late enough as it is!"
The night-sparrow's grip was surprisingly strong. Rumia didn't know what they were late for, but she was sure she wasn't going to like it. "Hey, you're kinda invading my personal space here, and I'd appreciate it…"
Wriggle wrapped her fingers around Rumia's other arm.
"…okay, now you see that? Don't do that! I feel like I'm about to get raped or something…Hey!"
That last exclamation was directed toward Cirno and Daiyousei, who had snatched up her legs and pulled them off the ground.
"Seriously, what the hell!" Rumia shouted. "Wherever it is you're going, you don't need to take me with you!"
They ignored her and started marching toward the building's entrance, carrying the struggling Rumia with them.
"Let me go, already! Okay, I don't care if you're not the real my real friends, as soon as I get out of Rin and back home, the first thing I'm going to do is punch all of you in the nose! Seriously, let me…" Her breath caught in her throat as they started up the building's steps.
"Oh, hell no! There's no way you're taking me in there! Look at it, it's got nightmare-central written all over it! I do not want to see what's in there! Let me go, you stupid figments of my imagination!"
The handles of the scarred and burned doors turned as they neared. The doors swung open.
"Let me go!" Rumia screamed. "I don't want to go in there! Let me go!"
All her cries and struggling were to no avail, and soon they had passed over the threshold and marched right inside.
…
Rin slipped away from the tangle and regarded it critically. It seemed that the deeper she probed into it, the more it resisted her. Maybe it was time for a change in tactics.
She took stock of the options available to her. Rumia's darkness causing powers and sheer destructive force was useless. So was Mokou's flame. And her own adaptability was restricted to external matters. It would do her no good in this situation.
Kaguya's abilities however…those gave her pause. Officially, the Princess' power was control over eternity. Rin had never been clear on what that exactly meant, and even now that she had full control over the power she still wasn't sure what it entailed. Still, it presumably had something to do with time, which would logically include the past. So by following that line of thought, perhaps by mixing Kaguya's strength to her own, perhaps it would have some effect on the tangle?
It was a long shot but hey, nothing lost by trying.
Rin reached into the well of Kaguya's power and drew out a considerable of energy. And then, after a brief moment of hesitation, she renewed her attack.
…
Rumia found herself dropped unceremoniously on her rear. She quickly scrambled to her feet and backed away.
"Okay, you imaginary freaks stay away from me!" she shouted. "I don't care if you look like my friends or not, I don't like anyone who kidnaps me and drags me into…huh?" She took a look around her. Her eyes widened in shock. "Wait, w-where is this? What is this? Where did you take me?"
The best she could figure, she was standing in a room made from musty old wood, burnt black by fire. Such was to be expected from the building's appearance. However, it was apparently much, much larger on the inside than it was on the outside. There was a single wall behind them and the floor beneath their feet. Beyond that, the room seemed to have no end in any of the other directions. The wall stretched upward and to either side for what seemed to be eternity, disappearing into a black void that was uncomfortably reminiscent of the world inside Rin's mind. The floor continued forever as well, a vast expanse of hard charcoal.
It was not empty, however. The majority of the room was taken up by what had to be the strangest looking festival Rumia had ever seen. At least she assumed it was a festival, judging from all the lights and bright colors. However, everything was wrong. The lights were too gaudy, the decorations extremely tacky, there were too many pictures of horrific white-faced monsters with large red noses and the entire thing was dominated by a huge red-and-white striped tent. Strange tinkling music filled the air, of the sort that was probably written to sound cheerful but just came off as ominous and creepy.
Rumia had been to her fair share of festivals in her time. In fact, it was an ongoing tradition for her and her friends to get thrown out of one at least one per year. However, those had mostly been small celebrations put on by towns and villages in honor of some holiday or other special occasion. She had never seen anything like this before, and she was certain she didn't want to see it now.
"Okay, don't like. Definitely don't like." She turned around and faced the wall. "How do I get out of here? There was a door here a second ago. What happened to those windows now? There was like a hundred of them."
"Come on Rumia!" Cirno cried as she grabbed Rumia by the shoulder. "We wanna beat the crowds!"
"Don't touch me!" Rumia said, jerking away from her. "And what crowd, we're the only ones-"
"Move," Wriggle said. She got behind Rumia and pushed her toward the festival. "The circus is gonna fill up fast."
"Circus? I don't know anything about any circus, and I'm pretty sure I don't want to go to any…" Rumia looked up and realized that, despite the fact that the festival had been a good distance away only a few moments ago, they were now practically at the front entrance, which consisted of a gated archway decorated by red-and-white flashing lights and the head of one of those creepy white-faced monsters at the apex.
Rumia sighed and shrugged Wriggle off. "Stupid dreams with their stupid rules not making any stupid sense."
"Ahem," a humorless voice said from somewhere above her. Rumia looked up to see a Human girl sitting at some sort of booth to the left of the entrance. Rumia blinked.
"Reimu Hakurei?" she asked, but a moment later she saw that no, the girl was not Reimu. She was dressed in the same outfit as Reimu, and there was enough of a resemblance that it was easy to mistake her for the shrine maiden at a glance. But this girl was shorter and a little stouter than Reimu, with lighter hair done in two pigtails on either side of her head. Also, this girl looked like she had never had a single day of fun her entire life.
The girl glared down at her. "Ticket?" she said in a voice usually by waiters in high-priced restaurants to ask poverty-stricken ragamuffins if they had a reservation.
Rumia stared back at her. "Ticket?" she said. "You mean, do I want a ticket or do I have a ticket? Sorry, I have no idea where-"
"Rumia, get your ticket out!" Cirno hissed. Rumia turned to see that the dream's depictions of her friends were each holding up a playing card, all of them Aces.
"Seriously?" Rumia said. "The cards are…Oh, never mind. Dream logic, I gotcha." She rolled her eyes. "Well, looks like I'm going to the freaky-ass festival. I guess it's better than what I thought this was going to be like, but Rin better have an explanation for this weirdness." She held up her own Ace of Spades. "Though I'm pretty sure there's only four Aces in a deck. What's Dai got there, an…Ace of Skulls? Okay, that's not creepy at all."
The annoyed looking girl who wasn't Reimu took the cards from them. She examined them closely and grunted. Whether it was a grunt of satisfaction or annoyance that she would have to let them in could not be judged. At any rate she reached down to tug on something behind the booth and out of sight.
The gate shuddered once and slowly swung open with a loud crreeeeaaaak.
"All right, let's go!" Cirno shouted as she tugged Rumia by the sleeve.
Rumia stared up at the open gate with the grinning visage of the white-faced monster overhead. "Uh, yeah. You know what? I'm starting to have second thoughts, so if it's okay with you I'm just gonna-"
"Move!" the ticket-taker girl snapped.
Rumia winced and allowed herself to be dragged inside. It probably wasn't the wisest choice, but the girl looked like she was about to pull out a meat cleaver or some other sharp object.
The circus was even more bizarre on the inside than it was on the outside. All around them were booths painted colors that hurt the eyes. Some sold disgusting looking junk food, some sold souvenirs (most of them unnecessarily pointy) and others were that which consisted of trying to hit targets with various projectiles. Rumia tried not to look as those too closely, as most of the targets resembled the faces of screaming children.
Rumia shuddered and turned to the people who brought her here (she still refused to think of them as her friends). They were huddled around a map, pointing and talking excitedly.
"Oh…We gotta try the funhouse!" Wriggle said. "All those mirrors…"
"Can we get something to eat first?" Daiyousei asked. "I'm starving for some cotton candy!"
Rumia shook her head. She didn't know what was stranger; this nonsensical festival from who knew where, or the idea that all these nonsensical words were somehow taken from her own mind. And she was willing to bet that the "Funhouse" was anything but.
"No way," Cirno said as she snatched the map away from the others. "The show's gonna start soon. We need to get to our seats!"
Rumia perked up. Now that sounded potentially useful. "Show?" she asked. "What show?"
In response, Cirno pointed toward the large red-and-white striped tent. "What show do you think? The show, the big show. The greatest show on earth!"
…
Almost there… Rin thought grimly. The tangle of memories was starting to separate under her assault. Almost there…
A fragment came loose. Rin seized up it and opened it up. The image of a golden-eyed face framed by long, blond hair. Rin frowned. Hey, isn't that-
Yeah, you really don't want to go there.
Rin suddenly found her mind blasted backward, almost all the way into the physical world. Disoriented, she steadied herself and regarded the tangle as realization struck her.
So that's where you've been hiding!
The tangle was starting to clump back together, fixing the damage Rin had done. Rin growled and hurled herself back at the tangle. Now this had gone beyond a simple quest for information. The monster that had used her to try to kill Reisen had been found. Now there was hell to pay.
…
Rumia gasped as they entered the tent. Given how deserted her dream had been up until now (annoying knockoffs of her friends and one crabby Reimu Hakurei cosplayer notwithstanding), she had expected the interior of the tent to be the same.
She was wrong. The place was packed. All along the edges of the tent wooden bleachers were set up, filled with seats. And each and every seat was occupied. And each and every person was noisy.
Despite her chosen lifestyle as a forest dweller, Rumia had seen crowds before. She and her friends would make semi-regular trips to the Youkai Market to see what new cool thing had just popped up for sale. And of course the festivals were always packed.
Still, seeing so many people gathered in such a small place, all of them on their feet and cheering for the show to begin…it was a bit overwhelming.
Furthermore, she knew many of those people. There was one whole section devoted row after row of rabbit youkai. Some were wearing militaristic uniforms, others had the frills and aprons of maids, others the stained white uniforms of cooks. Rumia's heart leapt in her chest. She had seen those uniforms before. She wasn't sure what the entirety of Eientei's population was doing here, but given that she and Rin had made off with their princess, she was willing to bet that they wouldn't be welcoming her with open arms.
Sitting at the front of the assemblage of long-eared youkai girls was the woman Rumia recognized as Eirin Yagokoro. Rumia couldn't help but glare in resentment. In many ways that woman was responsible for all the hell she had been through. She had turned Rin into what she was. She had called in Yukari and her minions, forcing Rin to flee. And now she was presumably one of their pursuers. The woman was a monster in most, if not all senses of the word.
However, the Eirin she saw before her didn't seem all that terrible. She seemed weak and frail, as if she had her strength sucked from her. And the look on her face wasn't hard or terrible. It was…sad. Even regretful in a way.
Rumia tore her eyes away from Eirin and searched the rest of the crowd, searching for people she knew. To her relief Yukari didn't seem to be present. If she were to show up than this dream would be a certifiable nightmare rather than just frustrating and kind of creepy. However, Reimu Hakurei was. She was sitting at the top of the bleachers to the right, watching the scene below with a look of utmost boredom. Sitting next to her was that stupid witch-girl Marisa Kirisame. Rumia wasn't sure how this was going to turn out. Few of her previous encounters with those two had turned out well for her…Well, okay, so maybe the noodle thing had been totally worth it, but still.
Sitting on Marisa's other side was a girl with short blond hair that most people would probably mistake for a Human girl in her mid-teens. However, most people didn't live in the forest like Rumia did, and were thus unaware of the reputation of Alice Margatroid, the girl who had reportedly achieved youkai immortality through sheer force of will. Her presence didn't bother Rumia, seeing how she had no longstanding grudges with the puppet-master. Still, she had been known to team up with Marisa in the past to wreak havoc. Wriggle and Mystia had both gone on at length at the sort of damage those two together could accomplish. And with Reimu there as well…Rumia decided to not trust her subconscious to have any sort of warm feelings towards them and keep her distance.
But it didn't stop there. Over there, Cirno's friends Sunny, Lunar and Star were sharing the longest sandwich Rumia had ever seen in her life. Up there was the vampire (and Rumia's ex-boss) Remilia Scarlet and her servitors in a private box all to their own. That Human police-girl that was always spoiling their fun was stalking around in some kind of security uniform. The Tengu reporter Aya Shameimaru was moving around, taking pictures of everything. The goddess of Moriya Shrine, Kanako Yasaka, was in attendance with her shrine maiden Sanae and sometimes rival Suwako. Chen and her boss/mentor/mother figure Ran sat in the front row.
And that was just the tip of the iceberg. Nearly everyone Rumia had ever met or at least became aware of seemed to be there. There were even people she only vaguely recognized. Even though she was still standing by the entrance and well out of the way, she was starting to develop a serious case of stage-fright. Something told her that she was going to end up at the center of attention, one way or another.
And with my luck I'll somehow end up naked as well, she thought. I mean, at least with Rin everyone else was naked too. I suppose I should just be glad I don't see Miss Yukari here. Because then this really will be a nightmare.
"Rumia!" called out a nearby voice.
Rumia looked up. Filling the first two rows of seats of the bleachers to her right were several Human children, all wearing the same depressing grey uniforms. Sitting with them was a tired but kind looking young woman with short brown hair, presumably their caretaker. The one who called her name was a spiky haired boy with eyes so narrow they almost seemed shut and a smile so wide it more than made up for it. He waved at her with unmistakable enthusiasm.
"Hey Rumia, we made it!" he shouted down at her. "Didn't I tell'ya? I told you we'd get here!"
Now thoroughly confused, Rumia managed a half-smile and waved back. "Um…sure. Yeah, that's great."
"Oh hey, what happened to your eyes?" he said. "They're all red! That's so cool. Did the ghost witch curse you or-"
"Kohta, that's enough!" the young woman said. She grabbed the boy by the arm and pulled him back.
He just looked confused. "But it's Rum-"
"Don't talk to it, you know better than that!" she hissed as she pulled him out of sight.
Rumia scratched her head. "Hoe-kay, that made no sense whatsoever. Who…Hey!"
Her dream friends got behind her and pushed her forward, away from the seats and toward the center of the tent.
Rumia whirled around. "What do you think you're doing?" she snarled. "I'm getting real sick you pushing me everywhere. And no, not being real isn't an excuse!"
"But the show must go on," Mystia said. "And how can it go on if it doesn't even start?"
"That's right," agreed Wriggle. "And the show can't start without you. Why do you think we came here in the first place? So the show can start!"
"So get out there already, dummy!" Cirno gave Rumia another push, causing her to stagger back a couple of steps.
Rumia looked over her shoulder toward the tent's center, where several slats of wood were laid out to form a large ring. She didn't know what kind of show the audience was expecting, but she was willing to bet that if she was going to end up skinned alive, dismembered, disfigured or any other nasty ways the searing pain of Rin digging through her memories might translate itself into her dream, it was going to take place inside that ring.
"Screw that," Rumia muttered. She tried to shove her way past her friends' doppelgangers, but they quickly moved to block her way.
Rumia's eyes flashed. "So that's how it's gonna be?" she asked. "Okay, fine. Just warning you, I've had dreams about being a really kick-ass goddess before, and if I could do it then, I can do it now." Her hands started to glow white as she prepared to unleash a hail of bullets. Dream or no dream, she was not going to be thrust into the middle of this show without a fight.
Unfortunately, the dream disagreed. Strong fingers wrapped around Rumia's wrist and very nearly pulled her off her feet. She turned to see that those closest to her had risen from their seats to help "motivate" Rumia to start the show.
"Let go of me!" she shouted as she tried to jerk away. But the grip on her arm was too strong. Once again, Rumia found herself picked up and carried toward somewhere she did not want to go, born along by people who did not seem to hear her cries and protests.
And then Cirno started chanting. "Rumia, Rumia, Rumia…"
Those moving Rumia forward seemed to like the sound of that rallying cry, as they quickly joined in.
"…Rumia, Rumia, Rumia…"
The cry was seized upon by those in the bleachers. It spread through the audience, picking them out of their seats and moving them to clap along with the rhythm. Within a few short seconds, everyone was on their feet and the air was filled with the deafening roar of their voices.
"Rumia! Rumia! Rumia!"
And all through it, Rumia kicked, Rumia struggled, Rumia even managed to get the odd bullet shot off, but it made no difference. She might as well been trying to fight against a hurricane.
And then she was suddenly released. She landed on the dirt floor and quickly scrambled to her feet. She moved her body into a fighting position, ready to redesign the faces of anyone who would be stupid enough to touch her.
However, no one made themselves available. The chanting had ceased as soon as she had hit ground, and everyone was back in their seats, watching her in expectation. Rumia slowly looked around the room, taking stock of the hundreds and hundreds of eyes boring into her.
Sweat prickled at the back of her neck. Her eyes furtively searched for an exit, any exit. Unfortunately, the one and only entrance had now been closed off. And any attempt to try to tear her way through the roof would likely incite a riot.
Her gaze settle upon her friends' doppelgangers, who were all sitting together and munching on some strange feathery pink bread. She slowly extended her right hand in their direction, middle finger raised to the sky. This seemed to amuse the audience, as a small wave of laughter filled the room.
Rumia took a deep breath and steadied her nerves. "Great, so now you've-" Her voice squeaked. She paused and tried again, louder and slower this time.
"Great, so now you've got me here in your damned ring," she called out, her voice echoing through the tent. "So now what? You're just going to laugh me? Am I supposed to start dancing and singing too? I came here to learn about my past, not have my dream try to kill me through embarrassment. What's supposed to hap-"
At that moment the lights went out. All of them.
Despite the suddenness of the action, Rumia actually started to feel better. Complete darkness she could handle. She was, after all, the Youkai of Darkness, the only one she knew. Unlike most people, all of her dreams about being in the dark were not nightmares. In fact, nine times out of ten they involved her being the predator in the shadows. Maybe now things would start going in her-
Blinding light flared up out of nowhere, causing Rumia to reflexively squeeze her eyes shut. Once the pain had faded, she opened her eyes just a crack and slowly widened them as her irises constricted in response.
The majority of the tent was still covered in darkness, but a spotlight had been turned on, illuminating the ring in which Rumia stood. Actually, "illuminating" would be an inadequate description in this case. "Flooding it with so much light that it was almost oppressively tangible" would be closer to the mark.
At the same time, the unseen crowd erupted into cheers. Rumia trembled as the sound buffeted her from all sides, making her feel trapped. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to curl up in a dark corner somewhere, unnoticed and safe from the world around her.
That was when a new voice rose up above the cheers and whoops. A voice that was very close to Rumia. Directly behind her to be exact. "Ladies and more ladies and the occasional gentleman, children of all ages, welcome to the greatest show in Rumia's mind! Appropriate, seeing how it's the only show in Rumia's mind!"
Rumia's spine stiffened immediately. She knew that voice and knew it well. She slowly turned around as it continued its introduction.
"And in this show, there will be no acrobats, no trapeze artists, no clowns and no dangerous stunts of any kind! Because let's face it; with all of you being able to fly and come back from just about anything it would be a bit unimpressive, now wouldn't it? Instead, watch and be amazed as little Rumia here is confronted by the truth of her horrifying and forgotten past! Laugh as she completely fails to understand any of it, because what she'll be shown will be annoyingly cryptic and unhelpful in the extreme! Wince as she becomes increasingly frustrated when she realizes that the information locked inside her head is totally useless without any frame of reference! And feel the icy touch of fear as the implications of what Rumia learns slowly dawns on you, and the magnitude of the hell she has found herself in reveals itself! All this and more await her, so let's show our support for our brave and confused heroine…Ruuuuumia Yagami!"
Rumia's jaw dropped as the crowd went absolutely crazy. Yagami? What? Was that her surname? Did she even have a surname?
She would have asked the owner of the voice to clarify that bit of information. Unfortunately, the person in question was the absolute last person Rumia wanted to ask anything from. She was a tall woman, almost twice Rumia's height. Her legs were long and shapely, which her tight black slacks absolutely failed to conceal. She wore a dark blue shirt and a bright red topcoat over that, with long tails that reached halfway down her calves. She held a leather whip in one white-gloved hand and a red megaphone in the other. A tall, shiny black hat sat on her golden hair.
Rumia felt her legs go weak. "Mi-mi-mi-" she stuttered.
The woman leaned over to smile at her. "Mi-mi-mi? Come on girl, you're on stage! Spit it out!"
Rumia gulped and whispered, "Miss Yukari…"
With a grin, Yukari Yakumo poked Rumia in the nose with the handle of her whip. "Isn't she great, ladies and gentlemen?" she shouted into the megaphone. "Why don't we give her another round of applause?"
As the tent once again filled with cheers, Rumia could only think one thing: Okay, now it's a nightmare.
…
Rumia, stop leaning on the fourth wall! I just had it painted!
Anyway, if this chapter feels like a lot of buildup with little in the way of actual payoff, then you're absolutely correct. I wanted to get this whole weird plotline accomplished in one chapter, but as I started to get more and more ideas that idea just stopped being feasible. As such, I decided to break up the dream into two chapters instead of one. That way, the likelihood of individual scenes from Rumia's weird dream being overshadowed by this plotline's climax becomes somewhat less. And believe me, every scene, no matter how surreal, is significant: whether by dropping clues to Rumia's past, foreshadowing future events, reflecting some aspect of Rumia or Rin's personality or even a silly shout-out to a Disney movie. Though on the negative side, it means spending longer time in mindscrew land. And if mindscrew's aren't your thing, hang in there. The action chapters will return soon enough.
Gah, it's the Eientei arc all over again! More in the way of answers will be in the second part, though I won't promise they'll make any sort of sense, at least not right away.
Anyway, couple of interesting bits of trivia. First of all, Ellen (the forgetful witch-girl at the beginning) holds the unique distinction of being the only Touhou character not created by ZUN himself or based upon some myth or folktale. Rather, she's the protagonist of one of his favorite mangas. What's she doing in Gensokyo? Don't know, never read it. But it's kinda cool that ZUN has done his own share of fanfiction through his games. Represent!
Second, despite the obvious associations with the name, Rumia's surname of Yagami isn't a Death Note reference, at least not directly. That's actually taken from the fantastic Walfas-esque comic Touhou Nekokayou: Scarlet Weather Archive in Japanese Red by a fellow called Kimiko Muffin. Out of all the zillion Touhou works out there, that one is probably the most influential insofar as Imperfect Metamorphosis is concerned. At least, it's what got me interested in Ex-Rumia and Rin Satsuki (even though my depictions of those characters and his are very different) and motivated me to use them in this story. If you've never heard of it before, check it out. It's an archive binge you won't regret!
Until next time, everyone!