Deep Within, Part 3

.

.

.

.

.

…

The first thing Rumia noticed when she stepped outside was just how bright it was. Every place she had visited from the burned-out building on had been dimly lit, and he eyes were not ready for the excessive amount of light that awaited her. She squeezed her eyes shut and covered them with her hand. When she was sure that she could open her eyes without having them feel like they were melting, she slowly cracked them open, which led to the second thing she noticed.

She was outside again. And unlike the tea party or the tunnel-shaped forest, she was not back in those faux exterior sets. Nor was she in some strange field she had never seen before sharing company with burning instruments of torturous execution. No, this time she stood at the top of a short but steep grassy hill. The surrounding area was surprisingly peaceful, especially when one took into the account the sort of day Rumia was having. The top of the hill was sparely inhabited by the sort of gnarled trees with bent trunks and low-hanging branches that practically begged children to climb them. At the bottom was a healthy looking meadow, dotted with patches of wildflowers and large stones that had been stacked in large piles. The sun shown cheerfully overhead, and the air filled with the cries of cicadas.

Also unlike the areas she had visited thus far, Rumia knew this place. She knew it very well. She and her friends played here often, chasing each other through the meadow, pretending the stone piles were indestructible fortresses as they made war upon one another and rolling down the hill (well, at least most of them did. Daiyousei downright refused to participate in rolling of any kind after that one time Cirno had snuck up behind her and pushed her down the hill's slope, resulting in a broken wing). In fact, it was located only a few short miles from their hideout in the side of the Youkai Mountains, which technically made it part of their "territory".

Frankly, Rumia wasn't sure how to react. On the one hand, it felt good to be back in a place she knew and was comfortable in. As far as she could tell, it was exactly like the original. But on the other hand, she was now very suspicious of anything this dream presented her. She didn't want to have a place she actually liked to be corrupted by some sadistic turn in events.

Her eyes swept over the meadow, looking for any sign of weirdness. At first it seemed like there was nothing. Just grass and flowers waving in the wind. Rumia started to relax.

Then her spine stiffened. Her eyes narrowed. She had caught movement.

There, in the center of the field, was a person. They had been hunched over and been mostly concealed by the grass, which is why Rumia hadn't seen them at first. But now they had straightened up. They were wearing a robe woven from the blackest midnight. It was completely formless and perfectly concealed their body. The hood of the robe was pulled up over their head, hiding their face from Rumia as well. In their hands was a wooden-handled shovel. From the look of things, they were busily digging a hole.

Rumia licked her lips as she looked around nervously. Everything she had learned from stories combined with plain common sense told her that approaching strange black-robed people was a bad idea. People generally didn't wear such outfits unless there was something weird about them. Especially if they were by themselves, digging holes. And given the sort of dream she was having, the chances of the stranger having malevolent intentions only increased. Unfortunately, so did the odds of something showing up and forcing her to go and meet them.

Rumia looked down at her sword and frowned. Maybe she should just cut to the chase and cut their head off. She had been given this weapon for a reason. Would it work? Would the dream even let her attack? And if she was successful (and that was a big "if"), who's to say that she wouldn't make things worse? For all she knew that person held the final clues she needed.

Of course, it was quite possible that the hole was intended for Rumia herself. In which case approaching them would be a very bad idea.

As she turned the problem over in her head, Rumia's eyes wandered up the hill's slope. Then her eyes widened. There was a third person with them. There, sitting in the shade of the climbing trees, was what appeared to be a girl with her back against one of the trees. She had her hands in her lap and was watching the robed stranger.

Rumia glanced from one stranger to the other, wondering which person she should approach first. Well, the girl was closer than the robed stranger and much less threatening looking. Plus, she seemed to be unarmed, though that really didn't count for much in Gensokyo. Still…

Rumia cautiously made her way toward the girl. As she drew closer she could make out more and more of the girl's features. She looked young, roughly around Rumia's age. She wore a simple red dress with a thin pale pink open robe over that. In her short hair was a large red bow from which dangled large red beads.

Wait a minute. Rumia slowed to a stop. She tilted her head and frowned. There was something familiar about that girl. Something very familiar…

Then her head jerked backed. Her eyes narrowed and her teeth bared. She knew that girl all right. Oh yes, she knew her. And she had one hell of a bone to pick with her.

Her grip on the sword tightening, Rumia stomped over to where the girl sat. "Hey!" she called. "Hey, you! Rin! Rin Satsuki!"

Rin Satsuki, fully clothed for the first time since Rumia had involuntarily been introduced to her, looked up to her and smiled. "Rumia!" she said happily. "Hey, you made it! I was wondering when-"

The rest of her greeting was prematurely cut off when Rumia smacked her in the nose with the sword's pommel.

Rin fell to her side, clutching at her face and wincing in pain. "Owwwwww!" she shouted. "Why'z youse dooz dat fur?"

It was all Rumia could do not to hit her again. "That was for sending me on a weird-ass journey through dreamland! And for not pulling me out when I told you to!" she shouted down at the Kirin. "And come to think of it, I still owe you for eating me without permission and ruining my life!"

Rin pulled her hand away from her face and flinched when she saw the blood. She pulled a white linen handkerchief from her robe and pressed it against the bleeding nostril. "Ogay, ogay, I'm sowwy alweady! No need do hwit me!"

"Oh, I can think of plenty of reasons!" Rumia snapped. "And what the hell are you doing down here anyway? You're supposed to be trying to figure out what's in my memories! What, did you get bored and decide to go for a walk in my subconscious or something?"

Rin made a huock! noise from the back of her throat and spat out a gob of mucus and blood. She sniffed. "Um, yeah. About that…"

"About what?" Rumia demanded. "I swear to everyone worth swearing to, if you've got some lame-ass excuse for being down here I'm gonna take this sword and shove it right up your…" Her voice trailed off when something occurred to her. "Wait…wait, wait, wait, you're the real Rin, right? Please tell me you're the real Rin."

Rin looked down. "Uh, what exactly do you mean by that?"

"Don't give me that! Gods, what is it with people and not giving me a straight answer? Are. You. The. Crazy-ass freaky-weird blobby girl-thing who ate me?"

"Er, not really?"

"Rin!"

Rin sighed. She straightened to her feet, handkerchief still held over her nose. "Okay, fine. No."

"So you're a fake then?"

"Hey!"

"I'm serious. You're just something my subconscious thingy cooked up? Another fake person sent to talk nonsense and piss me off?"

Rin scowled. "Look, just because I'm a dream doesn't mean I don't have feelings."

"Uh, it kinda does? What are you doing here, anyway? You're not a part of my past. At least I sure hope not."

"I…uh, well. I'm…not really sure," Rin admitted.

"You're not sure?"

"Yeah. To be honest, I don't think I'm supposed to be here." She looked around at the trees surrounding them. "Maybe I'm a piece of the real Rin that…got stuck here? And was turned into a full Rin? I don't know, I just sorta popped up here and no one bothered to tell me why."

Rumia stared at her. "May I hit you again? Because right now I really, really want to hit you."

"Heck no!" Rin shouted as she jumped half a step back. "That hurt!"

"So…if you're not the real Rin or…whatever the hell you are, where is the real Rin? Why didn't she take me out when I called? Or do you not know about that either?"

"Oh. That." Rin stared down at the grass. "Um, I sorta do know something about that. Which is why I think I may be part of the original Rin, because otherwise how could I-"

"Stop it!"

"Right, sorry. Anyway, about that. See, the thing is…" Rin gnawed on her lower lip. "She's kinda dead."

Silence fell. Well, to be strictly accurate, it wasn't complete silence. The breeze continued to blow, the leaves continued to rustle and the cicadas continued to chatter. But insofar as the two youkai girls were considered, there was nary a peep to be heard.

Rumia stared at Rin, neither blinking nor changing the rhythm of her breathing. Rin shifted her weight from one foot to the other. She removed the handkerchief, sniffed, and pressed the opposite corner to her nostril.

Then finally, Rumia spoke.

"Huh?"

…

.

.

.

.

..

…

Rin fell backward, tripping over a tree root as she tried to scramble away.

"Rumia, knock it off!" she shouted. "It's not my fault!"

It should be noted that Rumia was not in much of a listening mood. Rather, she lunged for Rin again, with the intention of grabbing her by the collar and swinging her spine-first into the closest tree trunk available.

Rin rolled out of the way and hopped to her feet. "Seriously, stop it! Calm down al-Gack!"

Rumia had succeeded in catching the fleeing Kirin and made good on her intentions of introducing her back to wood. "What do you mean you're dead?" Rumia screamed in Rin's face. "How could you be dead? That's impossible! You were fine just a few minutes ago!"

Rin grimaced as her face was pelted with saliva. "Put me down and I'll tell you, okay?"

Rumia's arms were starting to shake but she acquiesced, giving Rin a rough shove in the process. Rin landed on her butt with a wince and an "Ow!" She started to pull herself up but found herself staring up at a very angry Rumia.

"Talk," Rumia growled.

Rin cringed back. "Okay, but can you not hover over me like that? Because it's kinda-"

Rumia nudged her toe under the hilt of her sword, which she had dropped to free both hands. She kicked it up to her waiting grasp.

"-or you could stay right where you are, perfectly fine with me." Rin grimaced. "Wow, this day just keeps getting better and better."

"Oh, you don't know the half of it. Now, start talking already."

"Um, okay. It's like this: remember that evil deep voice that I…uh, she said was whispering to her when you were gone, the one that sounded like a psycho-you? The one that disappeared right after?"

"Yes."

"Well, uh, she found it. In your memories."

Rumia rested the blade in her other hand. Her fingers started to drum a rhythm against the steel of its side. "Explain."

"S-sure. Where'd you find that thing, anyway? Because it kinda looks like-"

"Rin…"

The Kirin flinched. "Okay, okay! Anyway, she was busy trying to pick apart your repressed memories when it jumped out of nowhere and attacked her."

Rumia raised an eyebrow. "Attacked her?"

Rin nodded. She looked down at her feet. "Yeah…"

"And it killed her?"

"Well, her mind was torn to pieces and she stopped thinking right after, so I'm pretty sure she's dead, yeah." Rin shook her head. "I mean, she got in a few good hits, and I'm pretty sure she took it down with her, but-"

"You're lying."

"Eh?"

"You're lying. You have to be. This is just more dream-bullshit meant to mess with my mind. You're just trying to confuse me. More."

Rin's head snapped up. For the first time, there was a flash of anger in her eyes. "I felt it happen!" she snapped. "Don't tell me it didn't happen, because it did!"

Rumia stared. "You're serious."

"I am! Jeez, why do we have to go through every time?"

"Rin is dead. For reals."

"Yes! For reals for reals."

Rumia suddenly found herself on her butt as well. Strange, because she had made no conscious decision to sit down. Her mind was whirling with the implications of what she just been told. And she had no idea how to feel about it.

She didn't like Rin. There were no surprises there. The girl was weird, unreliable and annoying. When she wasn't babbling in circles and making things more confusing, she was being casually terrifying and completely oblivious about it. Plus, there were all those stupid games she liked the play "to pass the time". And that wasn't even touching on the bit Rumia had mentioned earlier about the fact that the Kirin had, for all intents and purposes, ruined her life.

But still, like it or not Rin was her only ticket out of here. She was the one who had sent Rumia to this place and as far as she knew, she was the only person who could bring her out. Also, Rin had been right when she had said that she was Rumia's best chance for survival. Desperate situations made for strange bedfellows, and being hunted by virtual (and in some cases, literal) gods was about as desperate as things got. Rin had indestructibility three times over. Rumia…didn't.

Plus, as much as she hated to admit it, Rumia had been starting to get used to her.

In a low monotone, she said, "She has Miss Kaguya and Miss Mokou's power. She can come back."

Rin shuddered. "Maybe. Wow, I sure hope so."

"What does this mean for me?"

Rin shrugged and shook her head. "Sorry, I have no idea. All I know is that her mind was shutting down, and suddenly I was here, waiting for you."

Rumia inhaled through her nose and let it out through her mouth. Then she moved her body around so that she was sitting next to Rin, back against the tree and eyes staring down at the meadow below. The robed stranger was still busy with their hole and making good progress. From the look of things, it was almost three feet deep.

They just sat there for a long while, listening to the wind and watching the stranger dig. Then Rumia said, "So, what happens now?"

"Now?" Rin sighed and stretched out her legs. "I dunno. I guess wait and hope you're right about the rest of me coming back. If not…well, at least this place is nice. And it looks like your home."

Rumia's eyes narrowed and grew cold. "I don't want to get stuck in someplace that looks like home. I want to go to my real home."

"I hear ya," Rin said softly.

"Besides, I was talking about here. Inside the dream. Is this it? Or is there anymore?"

Rin shook her head. "Uh, I don't know. Maybe you should ask her." She pointed down the hill toward the robed stranger.

"That's a her?" Rumia said. "How can you tell? Did you talk to her?"

"No way. I mean, she's wearing a big black scary robe! Haven't you read any fantasy stories at all? But yeah, she moves like a woman, so…"

"Okay, but now you want me to go talk to the scary robe lady?"

"Good point," Rin admitted. "But I'm not seeing much of a choice here. I mean, you came for answers, right? And she might have them."

"I hate you sometimes," Rumia muttered. She stood up. "Well, fine. I'll go talk to the creepy lady with a shovel. It's not like I'm learning anything useful from you."

"You mean besides the thing about the real Rin dying."

"Still might be fake, so that doesn't count. See yah."

Rumia started down the hill, half walking, half scooting her way down the steep incline.

"Wait," Rin said.

Rumia turned around. "Oh, what is it now? And please, make it good."

"There actually is something important I need to tell you, something that just came to me."

"Oh?" Rumia raised a questioning eyebrow.

"But it's not something about your past. Still have no idea about that. But anyway…"

Rin looked Rumia directly in the eye. "One day, when all of this is over, for good or evil, you and I will end up sitting on this hill again. And I'll ask you to do something, something that's harder than anything you've ever done. And you need to do it."

Rumia's jaw dropped. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? You…you think you can just show up without explanation, claim to be dead, tell me jack-shit about what I want to know, and then go spouting off random predictions like you're some kind of drugged-out oracle? Where do you get off, you-"

Rumia shut up. She was yelling at empty space. Rin was gone. Rumia stared at the place she had been and considered whether or not a tantrum of some kind was warranted. Maybe test just how realistic this new setting was and see if she could uproot a few trees and use them like a pair of clappers.

"Screw it," Rumia muttered. She resumed her descent. "And while we're at it, screw her too. I'm adding the real one to my 'Need to Punch for Real' list."

…

..

..

..

..

...

…

Rumia slowly made her way down the hill, using small shrubs for support and digging her heels into the hillside when necessary. Finally she reached the bottom. Over in the meadow, the strange woman paid her no heed, content to focus on her rapidly deepening hole.

"Well, here goes," Rumia said. Then she set off towards the woman.

When she got close enough to communicate without shouting, Rumia cleared her throat and said, "Um, excuse me? Hello?"

The sound of metal scraping against dirt ceased. The woman straightened up and turned to look at her. Rumia couldn't make out much of her face, but what she could see made her shudder. The woman's skin was a sickly shade of purplish-pink, and her chin was mottled with blisters. It looked like she had been horribly burned and had only begun to recover.

Now more than ever Rumia decided to not take any chances. She made sure to keep a good distance between her and the hole and held her sword at the ready.

"Oh," said the woman in a bored voice. "It's you. Figures." She looked back down to her hole. "Go away."

"What?"

"You heard me. Go away. Scram. Beat it. Vamoose. Get lost. Return from whence you came. Getting the picture?"

Rumia blinked. She had seen plenty of strange things the last few minutes, but never had anyone outright refused to talk to her. "But…I can't! The door's gone, and I-"

"Oh, the door's gone, the door's gone," the woman mocked. "Big deal. See all this open space? Looks big, don't it? Pick a direction and keep going."

"Look, I don't know who you are, but I've been through too much to just stop trying now. This dream led me here, so-"

"Oh, did it? And are you sure you wanna keep riding this train? I'm offering you a chance to get off."

Rumia thought for a moment. She shook her head. "No, I'm not giving up now."

"No, of course you wouldn't," the woman grumbled. She looked up again, though her cowl still obscured her features. "Look, small fry, I don't have time to-"

Then the woman stiffened. She leaned in closer. "Where," she said, the word coming out in a low hiss. "Did you get that?"

She pointed at Rumia's right hand. Rumia glanced down. "What, this sword? I found it. Why?"

"Found it. You just found it. Where?"

"Uh…Earlier in my dream. There was this big old field thing, and there was this cross-"

"A cross?" the woman said sharply. "Did you say there was a cross in a field? Was it on fire?"

"Uh, yeah actually. Why?"

"And the sword? Where was the sword?"

"Stuck in the cross, where the foot-nail should be. Why, does it mean something?"

"Perhaps," the woman muttered. "I'm not sure. The sword obviously allowed you to hold it. I wonder…" She shook her head. "Well then, I suppose we're overdue for a conversation."

Rumia perked up. "Really?"

"Yes. But I still have some work to do. So long as you're here, make yourself useful."

She pointed toward the pile of dirt and uprooted foliage that sat next to her hole. Lying on the ground next to the pile was another shovel, identical to her own.

Rumia blinked. "You…want me to help you dig?"

The woman moved her head in a manner that suggested that she was rolling her eyes. "No, I want you to hop around on it like a pogo-stick. Come on girl, snap to it."

Rumia of course had no intention of joining the woman in the hole. That would just be stupid. No, better to stay here, a safe distance away, so that if the woman made any threatening moves she would have enough time to swing her sword and…

Rumia looked down. To her surprise, in her hands where her kick-ass sword had been was now the wooden handle of a shovel. Furthermore, she was no longer standing a safe distance away. Quite the contrary, she was now standing in the hole directly next to the woman. And the sword in question was sticking blade-first into the pile of dirt.

Now, when had that happened?

"I won't get any deeper by you just standing there," the woman said. "Unless you hope your stench will erode it away."

Rumia quickly jammed the shovel blade into the earth at her feet. She pushed it in with her foot, grunted as she pulled up a decent amount and tossed it into the pile.

"So…" she said. "What are we digging for?"

The woman glanced at her. Rumia expected her to snap at her again, but instead she just shrugged and said, "The way down."

"The way down?" Rumia asked curiously. "You mean the way out? Out of this dream?"

"No. Down."

"Ah. Okay. Well, uh, you're definitely going in the right direction. Down, I mean. You're definitely headed downward. No one would mistake this for going up, right?"

The woman returned to her work. "Is semantics really what you wanted to discuss? Don't babble on unnecessarily."

Rumia flinched. "Oh. Sorry."

Despite the woman's promise of a conversation, the next couple of minutes passed in silence. As she pulled out shovelful after shovelful of dirt, Rumia wondered why she was even going along with this. This is ridiculous, she thought to herself. It's getting me nowhere. I should be asking questions, not looking for her lost bone or whatever. Still, something compelled her to keep on digging. It just felt like the thing to do.

She stole a look at her impatient companion. Now that Rumia had stopped talking, the robed woman appeared to be ignoring her. Despite this (or was it because of it?), Rumia found herself growing steadily more or more uncomfortable. It wasn't just the reprimand or the oddness of the situation, it was something about the woman herself. Like just about everything else Rumia had encountered today, there was a feeling of horrible familiarity about her, something Rumia just couldn't identify. It was as if Rumia had been greatly terrified by this woman sometime when she had been younger but could no longer remember exactly when.

What's wrong with you? Rumia thought in disgust. Come on, you faced down Miss Yukari! Sorta. And she ended up throwing you off a big-ass column, but the point still stands!

"So," the woman said suddenly. "Word has reached mine ears that you are on something of a quest. Trying to piece together details of your spotty past. Am I right?"

"U-um, yesss…"

"Had a bit of a rough time with it, haven't you?"

Rumia inhaled and slowly let it out. "Yeah. Had everything from inside-out rooms to creepy festivals to getting thrown from like a hundred feet up to way too many cards."

"Huh. Sounds annoying."

"Yeah," Rumia said with a nod. "So…Uh, sorry, but I need to ask: I'm kinda running out of options here. Is there…anything you can tell me to help?"

The woman paused. She stuck her shovel-blade into the earth and leaned against the handle while she thought. One gloved finger idly rubbed one of the blisters on her chin. "Well, that's an interesting question. Help you? Mayhap, mayhap not. It all depends."

"On what?"

"On what kind of help you're looking for. Help in escaping from this dream? 'Fraid not, kid. I intend to only go deeper. Help in cutting your way out of what's left of Satsuki and going home again? Again, no luck there. But if you want help in understanding who you were …Well, maybe there is something I can do about that."

Rumia felt a brief flutter of hope. "Really?"

"Sure. No one knows you better, actually. But first, there's something you need to answer for me first: why?"

The question caught Rumia off-guard. "What?"

"You heard me. Why is it so important that you find what you're looking for? You were perfectly happy living in ignorance. Why spoil that with something you might regret learning?"

"Uh, because people are trying to kill me over it and I wanna find out why!"

"So it's self-preservation that motivates you? Fine."

The woman straightened. She extended her arm and pointed toward the horizon. Off in the distance, the hump of the Youkai Mountain could be seen.

"At the foot of that mountain you'll find a series of caverns identical to the ones that you and the rest of the little vermin have been infesting, right down to the last strip of salvaged linen. I suggest you head over there immediately and make yourself at home. The rest of the vermin should show up sooner or later as well, acting exactly as you remember. Forget this stupid mission, forget Rin Satsuki, forget the mess of the world you left behind and reclaim your life. Hide forever deep within your own mind. You won't be able to tell the difference, promise."

Rumia stared at her. "B-but it wouldn't be real, it'll be fake-"

"Not real? Fake?" The woman laughed. "Big deal. So are you."

"Say what?"

"You're not real," the woman said in an almost conversational tone. "You barely even exist. You're an empty shell that somehow got the idea that you should have a life of your own. You're a shadow of…No, check that. Don't want to insult the shadows, after all."

Rumia could scarcely believe what she was hearing. "What the hell are you-"

"You're a speck of ash, blowing from the burning remains of a great city. You're a filth-filled latrine placed over the foundations of a once magnificent mansion."

Okay, so the freakshow had begun. Rumia slowly laid her shovel against the wall of the hole and inched her hand toward her sword.

"You're a punctuation mark in a footnote of the greatest story ever told. You're nothing, you getting this? You. Are. Nothing!"

Rumia's hands grabbed at empty air. Surprised, she saw that the sword no longer occupied the mound of dirt. She turned back to the woman.

The woman balanced the sword on one hand, resting the arms of the cross-grip on two mangled fingers with the blade sitting between them, pointing down.

"Looking for this?" she asked. She flipped the sword upward and caught the grip in her hand. "Okay, so maybe you're not so worthless after all. You at least make a good delivery girl."

…

...

...

...

...

...

…

Rumia was out of the hole so quickly that she couldn't remember making the conscious decision to jump. All she knew was an intense feeling of alarm, and the next moment she was seven feet up and twenty feet away.

She wobbled a bit but managed to steady herself. Oh, hey. I can fly again. Cool.

She looked toward the hole. The robed woman still stood within, holding Rumia's sword and watching the young youkai with manner that suggested amusement. That…wasn't cool.

"Oh, come on" the woman asked. "Don't be like that. I'm not going to hurt you."

Rumia brought up her hands. "Stay away!"

The woman laughed. "I'm not going anywhere." She held out a hand and crooked a finger.

Rumia's arms were suddenly thrust to either side of her and her entire body stiffened up completely.

And then she was rushing forward, heading straight for the woman at breakneck speed. Rumia couldn't even form enough thought to scream.

The woman held up a palm, and Rumia came to a sudden stop in midair.

Rumia tried to move her body, but found that she couldn't. At least not from the neck-down. Her head and mouth still had mobility at least.

Oh no, she thought in despair. It's like that whole thing with Rin all over again.

"Seriously, calm down. I have no intention of hurting you. Doing so would be counter to my intentions anyway."

Rumia stared down at her. "So you say I'm worthless and then freeze me up?" she shouted. "Sorry, but that looked like all kinds of malice right there! And what do you mean, 'Your intentions'? Aren't you just another part of my dream?"

The woman shook her head, tsking under her breath. "I never said that you're worthless, I said that you're nothing. There's a difference. And no, I'm not part of your dream."

Rumia felt ice water flow through her veins. "You're…not?"

The woman's scarred lips, the only real part of her face Rumia could see, parted in a mirthless smile. "No, I'm not. I'm not even supposed to be in here. Had I not arrived, you would have likely traveled for an even longer of confusing sequences. So say 'Thank you'."

Rumia wasn't feeling very thankful. "So, who are you then? Are you like me from the future? Because Miss Mima said that time's all weird and twisted here, so…"

The woman shook her head. "No, I can honestly say that you will never become me."

"My past then? Are you someone from my past? Are you-" Rumia let out a small gasp as a horrible though occurred to her. "Wait, you're not…my mother are you?"

Rumia's question resulted in a sudden bout of surprised laughter. The woman wrapped her arms around her stomach as she doubled over.

"What?" the woman gasped out between guffaws. "Your…mother? Wow, I…guess I am in a way." Still chuckling, she straightened up and brushed away what were probably tears of mirth from under her hood. "Never really thought about it like that before."

Rumia was starting to feel dizzy. "Wait, you mean you are?"

"In a matter of speaking." The woman shrugged. "Though not in the way you're thinking. But I suppose I did unintentionally give birth to your existence, as insignificant as it may be."

"What does that even mean?" Rumia demanded. She was now completely fed up with it all. Fed up with mysteries, fed up with being denied answers, fed up with confusion, fed up with everything. "Who are you? Tell-" Then she had a sudden flash of insight. Her eyes widened and throat constricted. It suddenly became difficult to breathe.

"W-w-wait a minute…" she stuttered. "You're not…the past me, are you? That Evil Rumia Miss Marisa mentioned in that memory? The one everyone's so frightened of?"

The woman stood still for a moment. Then she slowly and laboriously pulled herself out of the hole. Once she was out, she reached up and pulled the hood away from her face.

Rumia felt a surge of disgust well up from within. The woman's face was hideous. The damage she had managed to glimpse thus was only a small fraction of the tortured waste she saw now. Hair had been burned away in clumps, leaving a few feathery threads of varying lengths sticking out of her skull. Blisters rose up from all over, with one especially thick clump over her left eyebrow, or at least where it would have been had not both eyebrows been burned away. Several white scars slashed their way over her visage, standing in stark contrast to the sickly purple of her skin.

But even with the incredible amount of damage, there were no mistaking those round, scarlet eyes, eyes that were completely identical to Rumia's own.

"Well, I'll say this about you," the ruined woman said as she tugged at the loose collar of her robe. "You're slow as all hell, thick as an oni's skull."

The robe fell away, revealing a body that was just was as burnt and twisted as her face, covered by the torn remains of a sleeveless black dress. Still, even with the extensive damage, Rumia knew it instantly. The huge leathery wings that were now slowly stretching out from the woman's shoulder-blades were a tip-off, but even so there was no mistaking it: it was her nightmare self, the one she had seen in the Funhouse's mirror.

The woman smiled. "But given enough time, you catch on."

…

...

...

...wha-

…

Her body locked and frozen in place, Rumia could only watch helplessly as her nightmare self slowly walked around her. She casually twirled the sword between her talons, spinning it around in slow, lazy arcs.

"I have to admit, I was wondering when you would figure it out," the Other Rumia said in a conversational tone. Her voice had changed in an obvious way. Before it had been somewhat generic and unforgettable. Now it was very similar to Rumia's own, only much more sinister. "I mean, you waltzed right through memory lane, my memory lane I might add, and all you did was whine, whine, whine. 'Oh, everything is so confusing, why won't anyone just tell me what's going on, I'm so annoyed, oh, oh, oh'. Good fucking gods, you had everything short of a flashing sign in big neon letters, and it took you this long to start putting two and two together?"

The Other Rumia stopped her pacing and stood in front of Rumia. "Well, come on. You've just the revelation of a lifetime, haven't you? It's not every day someone is presented with an opportunity of this level. Surely you must have something to say?"

Rumia gulped. "Ri-R-R…"

"Yes, yes, very good. We have an 'R'. Now, where's the rest of it?"

"R-Rin was right, w-w-wasn't s-s-s-she?" Rumia squeaked. "About you. I mean me. I mean…you-you're that evil voice that was talking to her, making her try to k-k-kill people." If it were possible, Rumia would start feeling even colder now. "And you k-killed her as, as, as well."

"Got that straight. Whiny little bitch didn't have the sense not to pry into areas that didn't concern her. Thought I'd teach her a lesson. Maybe even wrench control of this whole ridiculous whatever it is away from her again." She ran her talons down on ruined cheek and smiled. "Unfortunately, she made a better showing than I expected. Credit where credit's due. That was impressive."

Rumia's jaw dropped. "Rin did that to you?"

"Yup. Beautiful, ain't it? Went and torched herself in the process, but hey, she tried. Nearly took me down with her too. Fortunately, I'm just a little bit harder to kill than she is. It's not the first time I've been burned alive, after all." The Other Rumia shrugged. "'Course, it probably won't be long before the powers she got from those two freaks kicks in and she's back in business, but I think we still a little time." She turned to look at the partially dug hole. "Pity she went and burned away all the work I've made on her mind, but there's more than one way to vivisect a cat."

"Wh-what?"

"Don't worry about it, none of your concern."

"But what are you?" Rumia screamed. "How can you be me? How can I have even been anything like-"

"You just don't get it, do you?" The Other Rumia shook her head pityingly. "You're not me, not really. After that bitch Yukari and her cronies finished ripping apart my mind and sealing off my strength, the body still lived. Of course, it was all just pure, animal instinct to begin with, but over time it started to develop something resembling intelligence, small as it was. Enter you."

Rumia felt like vomiting. Is that all she was? An accident? A sort of secondary mind that formed in the shell of a monster?

"But you know what really irks me?" the Other Rumia said. "That your creation is probably more than just an unfortunate side-effect. I wouldn't be surprised if that bitch Yukari did it on purpose, just as a final insult to my memory. Leave nothing of her onetime arch-nemesis except a weak, stupid little slip of a girl who can't even use her own powers properly. Bet she thought the real me was gone for good, wiped away by that green-haired ghost's spells. She of all people should have known that nothing is ever gone for good."

The Other Rumia got a faraway look in her eye. "I can't tell you what is was like, being nothing more than a shattered mind. I didn't even a real consciousness. Just a bunch of fragments, floating around in the back of your mind. It took years for them to slowly come together again. And even when my awareness began to reappear, I was still too weak to do anything. I'm tied to my power, you see. And so long as that damned ribbon was in place, I couldn't even whisper to your dreams."

"My…ribbon?"

"Yep. Clever use of fashion, I must admit. Disguising a powerful sealing spell as a hair ornament. Of course, once it was gone and Satsuki started using my powers, then there was nothing stopping me from coming back." The Other Rumia shrugged. "Of course, I was a bit…overeager at first. Probably should've been a little more subtle when working on the Satsuki girl, but hey, spilled milk and all that."

The Other Rumia headed back toward her hole. "And when I get done here, it won't even matter anymore. Anyway, I've monologued long enough and the clock's ticking. So if you'll excuse me…"

"No, wait!" Rumia screamed. "What's this all about? Why didn't anyone ever tell me? Why did they let me go? Where did you come from, why are trying to kill everyone, why…Who are you?"

"What, wasn't all that enough for you?" The Other Rumia chuckled. She turned around again and strolled right up to Rumia. She reached up with her twisted talons and lightly brushed the tips against Rumia's cheek.

"Isn't it enough to know that you were born from the shattered remains of the greatest terror ever to walk the dust of Gensokyo?" The Other Rumia purred. Her hand slipped down to caress Rumia's neck.

Rumia grimaced and tried to pull away from the touch. "Wait, stop-"

"Isn't it enough to comprehend the entirety of your pointlessness in this world? That the threat to your life is simply reflective of your status as a scapegoat?" The Other Rumia's hand moved even lower to run up and down Rumia's thigh. "No other purpose than to take the penalty for my sins. Delicious irony, isn't it?"

"I don't-"

The Other Rumia pressed herself uncomfortably close. "Of course you don't. I'm surprised you're even capable of understanding language, much less comprehending your place in this world. But getting back to your question: if it's an introduction if you want, then I suppose I have the time to indulge you. After all, it's not like you'll remember any of this anyway."

Rumia gaped. "Wait, what?"

"You really didn't think I'd let you just stroll off and report back to Satsuki that I survived? The last thing I need is for that girl to start hunting me down again. As far as you'll be concerned, you stepped through that door and ended back at that silly tea party."

"But you can't!"

"Oh, I can. We're connected, remember? And you're no longer delving into the depths of your subconscious. You're in my world, Rumia. I can do whatever I want to you." The Other Rumia laughed when she saw the look on Rumia's face. "Oh, don't worry. I've leave the bulk of your journey intact. Hell, it might send little Rin after Yukari. Revenge by proxy isn't as satisfying as doing it yourself, but hey, let's be practical. Now then…"

She stepped away from Rumia and spread her arms to either side. The meadow began to darken. Rumia looked up and saw that the once clear sky was now being blotted out by storm clouds. Lightning flashed without thunder.

She looked down again and inhaled sharply. The meadow was dying. All around her the grass and wildflowers were wilting away, blackening right down to their roots. An icy wind picked up, biting right through her clothes and chilling her to her bone.

The Other Rumia seemed not to notice. Her arms remained stiffly outstretched and her eyes pointing upward. The wind tore at the tattered remains of her dress, flapping them around.

And then, in a low monotone that was nevertheless filled with power and authority, she began to speak.

"I am…" she whispered.

"First among the bastard daughters of He who is called I Am, I have come.

I am she who was cast from Heaven and rejected by Hell.

I am she who steals men's hearts with a look and their souls with a kiss.

I am the heretic who was crucified, the apparition that stalks the night.

I am the shadow that lies in all men's hearts, the consuming flame that they refuse to see.

I am she who was betrayed by my people, and so shall I reap my vengeance tenfold.

I AM the dark, I AM death given flesh.

I AM Rumia Yagami. The one, the only, the original.

I AM the Shadow Youkai."

The Other Rumia threw her head back and shouted her boasts to the sky. The wind leapt up in response, howling ever so loud but not loud enough to drown out the monster's words.

"And from my hand shall come the fires that will scorch Gensokyo to the bone. And as I look upon the ashes, as the smoke of burning flesh enters my nostrils and the screams of the damned souls sings in my ears, I will say that it is good.

For I am the Alpha of the Omega, the beginning of the end. And I will strike down with great vengeance and furious anger on those who attempted to betray and destroy me! And they will know the name of the Shadow Youkai when I lay my vengeance upon them!"

With that she let her arms fall to her sides. Her face came back down as a slow smile spread over her lips. The wind died down to a gentle hiss. "Sorry, I've always wanted to do that."

Rumia stared. "That…really didn't…"

"Yeah, I really don't care. Sorry mini-me, it's time for to go now. I've got an appointment with a couple of freaks that I really can't miss." The Other Rumia flicked her hand in Rumia's direction. "Buh-bye now."

Rumia opened her mouth to say something, but the words were robbed from her mouth as her body was suddenly flung backward at an incredible speed. The dead field receded from sight at a breathtaking pace, with the last thing she saw was her nightmare self jumping back into the hole. She tried to scream, but if she made any noise she couldn't hear it over the roar of the wind in her ears.

And then the meadow and the hill were gone, and she was flying through the dank, stone passageway, watching the walls fly past like a tunnel. The tunnel shifted from hard stone to soft fabric, and she caught a brief glimpse of Mima still hovering at her table, turning cards over and murmuring to an audience that wasn't there. And then the tent was gone as well, and she was flying through an empty field. The burning cross flew past just long enough for her to notice its presence. And then the field was gone, and she was in a smoky hallway of mirrors. Rumia looked to the side to see an endless line of distorted reflections dart past. And then glass and smoke was replaced with dust and decay as her body twisted around corners and sped through the ruined corridors of the burned out building. Her body then suddenly shot upward and she was soaring upward through darkness next to a tremendous column of stone. She ascended so quickly that it looked like the column was endless falling downward. She reached the top, narrowly missing cracking her head on the painted plank that extended from its edge and continued upward. She caught a brief glimpse of Yukari still dressed in her strange column and standing on the plank's edge, and then her body tore through fabric and she shot out of the roof of the tent. The circus in all its gaudy horror surrounded for a fraction of a second before it too disappeared in the distance, followed by the front of the burnt building as she flew through the faux forest, darting and dodging the tree trunks through no will of her own. Then her path of flight titled again and she was flying up a steep incline of earth and scraggly bushes. Then things leveled out and…

…

Wha…I…Where am…

…Did I…Oh my gods my head…

Wait, where…Where is…

…

"Oh, am I?" Mystia said. She set the teapot back down. "I'm sorry."

Rumia didn't respond. She was slumped bonelessly in her chair, trying to catch her breath. Her mind was swimming with a thousand different images, none of them making the slightest bit of sense.

"Rumia?" Daiyousei said. "Are you all right?" Despite her question, the little ice fairy didn't sound the least bit concerned.

Rumia shook her head. She felt like throwing up. "What…what just happened?"

"I poured you a cup of tea," Mystia said. "But it seems the amount was too great, and the tablecloth suffers."

"What?" Rumia looked around. A table of various foodstuffs was set before her. It was covered with a white tablecloth. Around it sat Mystia, Daiyousei and Wriggle. At the far end, fluttering snowflakes fell into a small pile in an otherwise empty chair. The whole setup sat in a medium-sized room, painted with realistic depictions of the outdoors.

"Seriously?" she said in disbelief. "I'm back here? That's what that light was all about? Bringing me full circle without explaining anything? What. The. Hell?"

She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. She wanted to overturn the table and scatter the dishes. She wanted to do all these things. Instead, she just let her head fall forward so that her face hit the tablecloth.

"Rumia, what are you doing?" Wriggle asked. "The tablecloth is not food."

Rumia tilted her head so she could get a good view of her friend's doppelganger and the empty smile on its face. She turned her head the other way. Mystia and Daiyousei were also watching her with the same infuriating smile.

Her hands clenched and unclenched. It seemed that her sword had also disappeared. Well, wasn't that disappointing.

Then her eyes fell to the table itself. They focused on the knife and fork that had been set for her, glittering in the sunlight. Her crimson pupils narrowed.

…

Her mind was an absolute mess.

She could tell that even without checking. Even forming coherent thought was a chore. She didn't fully understand how her once-physical brain operated in her now cohesive state, but it was obviously broken. Her psyche had been beaten, torn apart and then incinerated.

In fact, the damage was so extensive that she was certain that she should have been dead. She wondered why she wasn't, or at least she tried to. Putting two-and-two together became all the more difficult when her basic reasoning facilities didn't even work properly.

Fortunately repairs were underway. Bits of memory and sentience were piecing themselves back together, piece-by-piece. It was slow going, but she was gradually becoming whole. But until then, there was little she could do but lie still and let herself heal.

Still, there was something bugging her. There was something important, something she couldn't quite remember. Something about a girl and a dream. But whatever it was, she just couldn't pull together enough of herself to form the girl's name.

…

Much later…

Rumia lay on her back and stared at the artificial sky. One arm was behind her head and the other held a half-eaten strawberry tart.

Now that she thought about it, things weren't really that bad here. A little boring maybe, but after the circus of fear and the dungeon of pretentiousness, boring was more than welcome. At least things were peaceful here. And the food didn't suck.

She glanced to her side at the ruined table. Well, the food that hadn't been smashed during her rampage didn't suck. And the bodies of Wriggle, Mystia and Daiyousei's doppelgangers were starting to smell, even though she had stacked them in the far corner.

Rumia wondered if she should feel guilty about that. Even though they weren't real, they did look exactly like her friends. She also wondered if killing them in her dreams would affect how she saw them in real life. Maybe she had accidentally created some sort of deep, psychological problem stemming from murdering her mind's representations of the people she cared about most.

Screw it, she thought. They were annoying the crap out of me.

She brought the tart to her mouth and nibbled a bit off. She had to admit, it did taste good. But like everything else, it was nothing more than an illusion. And she was really growing tired of illusions.

With a sigh, she said, "Hey, Rin? Just wondering if you're listening. Not really expecting you to, seeing how you haven't been listening the last fifty thousand times I've called you, but just on the off chance that you are, I'm getting kinda sick of this. So if you'd be so kind as to let me out of this effing nightmare, I'd be really much obliged."

Nothing.

"Okay, seriously. Do it now!"

Still nothing.

Well, that really wasn't a surprise. Rumia sighed and tossed the rest of the tart aside. The way things were going, she wouldn't be surprised if she…

…

Deep Within

…ended up spending…wait.

Rumia jolted upward and regretted it immediately. A sharp pain seized her stomach and she flopped back down. Wincing, she fell backward again.

She was back inside Rin's weird mind-world, that much was certain. The surrounding nothingness was a big tip-off, as was her own lack of clothing and sudden luminescence. She supposed she should be relieved that the dream was over. And under normal circumstances, she would be.

However, she didn't quite recall Rin's mind-world world hurting like a bitch.

Her entire body ached. She felt like she had been pummeled by an oni undergoing that time of the month and then stepped on by a giant for good measure. And to top it off, her skin felt dry and burnt, as if she had been left unconscious in the summer sun for about twenty hours. Every movement sent lances of pain shooting through her nerves.

Rumia managed to lever up a single arm enough to get a good look. What she saw made her gasp. The skin was now lobster red and covered with deep purple bruises. She quickly checked the rest of her body. It was the same.

"Rin!" she screeched. "Where are you? Get your ass out here, now!"

She was answered by a wordless shriek of agony. Rumia stiffened and turned around.

Rin Satsuki was lying nearby, curled up in the fetal position. And from the look of things, she had been through even more hell than Rumia had. While Rumia looked like she had been left out in the sun too long and then gotten into a bad fight, Rin looked like she had been systematically tortured. Her skin was red, black and pink and also covered with ugly bruises. Her hair was mostly burned away and only just coming back in ragged patches. Straight scars crisscrossed her body, conspicuous white lines against the red and purple. Her eyes were swollen shut and her lips were bleeding.

"What. The. Hell? Rin?" Moving as quickly as her aching body would allow, Rumia made her way to the Kirin's side. "Rin, are you okay? What the hell happened?"

Rin shuddered once and faded away. Rumia jerked back.

"Wait, where are you going? Rin? Are you still there? What's going-"

"I-I'm here, Rumia."

Rumia whirled around and saw nothing. The voice was Rin's, but it had come from no specific source. Rather, it seemed to come from everywhere at once.

"Rin? Is that you."

"Yeah. Sorry. Didn't, ah, didn't know that the damage was…all great inside, quite big it was. Yes, it all freezes little by little."

Rumia frowned. "What?"

"Sorry. It's…really hard to concentrate like this. The worst of it is fixed, repaired. Construction complete, new construction options. But…there's still a ways to go, and I think it's gonna be a long, long time, till touch down brings me home again-"

"Rin! Focus!"

"Right, sorry. Anyway, didn't think it was that bad though. But when I made my avatar again, all the mentality messhall where the soldiers go…Gah, sorry. All the mental damage got turned into physical, and oh my gods that hurt."

Rumia's eyes widened. "Wait, all that happened because…Were my memories that bad?"

"…be a sweetest dream or a beautiful, you're beautiful it's true…sorry, what?"

"I said, did my repressed memories do this to you?"

"Those? Naw, not them. It was what was hiding inside them, and what it did to me."

"Huh?

"I've been kinda dead."

"…what?"

"Deader than a ding-dong doornail dropped on a drippy…Darn it, there I go again. But yeah, remember that evil voice thing that said she was me but sounded more like you?"

Rumia nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, turns out she was hiding in your repressed memories the whole time." Rin giggled, a high-pitched sound that was slightly crazy. "And I was all like, 'Ready or not, here I come!' And she was all like, 'Noooo, you found me!' And I was all like, 'You!' And she was all like, 'Go away!' And I was all like, 'My name is Rin Satsuki! You tried to kill my bunny! Prepare to die!' And she was all like 'No!' So I go all nuts, right? Like I was pounding her to oblivion. But then she grabs a knife from the ground and tries to stab me to death. And I'm all like-"

"Rin!"

"Huh? Oh, right. Focus. Anyway, we got in a fight."

Rumia slowly lowered herself into a sitting position. She thought on this for a moment. "So…While I was going through weird-ass dreamland, you were having an epic battle in the center of the mind with your evil twin?"

"Uhhhh, I don't think she's my evil twin. She kinda admitted she was lying. But the part about the epic battle was right."

"Is that so," Rumia growled. "Then what the hell is she? And what happened to her?"

"Still not sure about the second one," Rin admitted. "Couldn't question her very much. She just wouldn't sit still, and she kept dodging all my questions and attempts to kill her. It was very rude. I have half a mind to report her to her mother and…And there I go again. Right. But she did say she really was a part of you after all." There was a sudden ripple through the darkness that felt like a wince. "Wait, sorry! I don't mean you're the Dark Voice! I'm just saying…Well, you know…"

"Yeah, I get it," Rumia muttered. "Don't worry about it. I saw some stuff that makes me think you might've been right about that part after all. But what happened to her?

There was another ripple of emotion. Rumia wasn't sure, but she got the feeling that Rin was smiling. "I beat her," Rin said proudly. "She did her best to kill me and…I won. She's gone."

Rumia blinked. "Wait, really? You killed it?"

"Uh-huh. Well, we kinda killed each other."

"Wow."

Death really didn't carry the same weight for youkai that it did for humans. In fact, most youkai will have experienced being killed at least twice during their first year. But the actual experience of dying was still the same for youkai as it was for humans, and as such it was an uncomfortable subject to bring up, not too dissimilar to discussing being unjustly released from a job or discovering a cheating spouse.

In fact, Rumia herself had been killed more than her fair share of times. Mystia called it an occupational hazard, and though Rumia wasn't exactly sure what that meant, she assumed it probably had something to do with things that were going to happen sooner or later. Like that one time she and Wriggle had tried to sneak into Master Sonozika's mansion. Since then, she had given the Human Village a wide berth. Being beheaded does that to a person.

A lengthy silence passed, and then Rumia said, "Um, how are you doing now?"

"Huh?"

"Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah. Well, no, not really. But I'm getting better. Not my first time. Had some…bad days, back when stupid Eirin was doing her experiments. But yeah, all that immortal recovery juice is helping. Should be okay in a few hours or so."

Rumia was beside herself. Over the last who knew how many hours of being stuck inside her dreams, she had steadily grown more and more angry at her captor, to the point where she was ready to beat the annoying out of her. But now that someone had quite literally beaten her to the punch to an extreme degree, she had no idea of what to think. So instead she decided to abandon that line of thought entirely and said, "So, what happened to me? Why am I all beat up?"

"What? Oh, right. Uh, well, most of you was in that dreamworld place. And…how was that, anyway? See, it's been a long time since I've had a dream, and I'm kinda curious about what it would be like to go in one for real."

Rumia closed her eyes. "Look, do me a favor? Can we not talk about that now?"

"Er, okay. Sorry. But yeah, there was still some of your essence outside with me, and it kinda…Well, you know. Collateral damage.

Rumia opened her mouth to start yelling. Rin, likely sensing this, was quick to add, "But it's being fixed! Even as we speak! You'll be all better before I am, promises to promises!"

Rumia held up her right arm to look. Sure enough, if she squinted she could see the bruises receding little by little. It was a slow process, but it was happening.

"Okay, fine. But if I was still messed up, why'd you pull me out?"

"'Cause you told me to. Hey, what happened to that teaparty? Looked like everyone was dead. Did you kill them? All of them were dead and gone."

Rumia growled. "Well, I didn't know I would be popping into ground zero! And please, drop the teaparty."

"Dead," Rin continued on as if Rumia hadn't spoken. "Dead and gone. Dead. Gone. Dead. Died. Die. Die gone."

"I said…Wait!" Rumia felt like her brain had just been jolted with electricity. "What did you just say?"

"Gone, gone, gone, gone…"

She's losing it, Rumia thought. Aloud, she said, "Rin, snap out of it!"

"…gone, gone…huh? Sorry, what did you say?"

And in a moment, I will too, Rumia thought. "Go back. What's that part you just said? About 'Die gone'?"

"Dunno. Why?"

"You seriously don't know why you said that?"

Rin didn't answer. Rumia let about thirty seconds tick by before yelling, "Rin!"

"Huh? Sorry, blanked out. What'd you say?"

"Forget it," Rumia sighed. "Look, just concentrate on fixing us. We'll talk later."

"'Kay," Rin said wearily. Then her voice brightened. "Oh, hey! Guess what?"

"What?"

"You know your repressed memories, the ones deep, deep down, deep within? The ones where the Dark Voice thing was hiding?"

Rumia sat up straighter. She didn't want to let herself hope, but a small trickle was inching its way in. "Yeah…?"

"Looks like the Dark Voice thing was the reason they were so hard to get at. Impenetrable fortress! But when I was working on putting you back together, they were all unraveled and stuff!"

The small sliver of hope started to grow. "Seriously?"

"Uh-huh. I think I'm fixed enough to show them. Hey, you ever heard of thing called 'Movies'? Reisen says they had them back on the Moon, and they sound really cool. Maybe next time we visit Eientei we can-"

"Rin!"

"Sorry. But yeah, wanna see them? They're still a little messed up, so I don't wanna stick them back in your head just yet, but I think I can still play them. You know, like before?"

"Yes! Show me now!"

"Okay, okay! No need to be pushy. Pushy. Pushier. Pushiest? Yeah, okay. Focus. Anyway, just a little warning, it's kinda…weird."

Once again, an opening in the nothingness before Rumia opened up, revealing a tableau of images inside. However, unlike last time, it was covered with a grainy film, and the images jumped in and out of focus. The colors warped and bled together like a bad watercolor painting.

Then one of the indistinct blobs took on a more substantial shape, that of a woman leaning over and looking straight into the memory's viewpoint. Rumia felt her throat rise. Even with the heavy distortion, she knew exactly who it was. And she was not in the least bit surprised.

"Hey look," Yukari Yakumo said. Her voice sounded warped, as if she were underwater. But Rumia was still able to make out what she was saying. "The monster's waking up."

Rumia inhaled sharply. She knew this scene. She knew it very well.

"Should we be standing so close then?" said another voice. It took Rumia a couple seconds to remember where she recognized it from, but then she remembered the humorless girl dressed as Reimu Hakurei taking tickets in front of that damned circus. "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."

A green and blue blur moved. "Then do so," Mima snapped. "If you can't handle a little risk, then feel free to leave."

"Well, excuse me for having a sense of self-preservation," said the Reimu Hakurei cosplayer, whom Rumia assumed to be the red and white blob at the other end of the scene. Both she and Mima were standing behind Yukari, still in sight but a ways away. "Not everyone likes the idea of being incorporeal."

Rumia shook her head. So, Mima had been on whatever it was as well? This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all.

"Enough, both of you," Yukari growled. "Save your moronic grudges for later."

The Yukari-shaped blob leaned in closer. "Well, so far so good," Yukari muttered. An arm-shaped blur moved, and the view staring moving back and forth. Rumia unconsciously touched her jaw, remembering how Mystia's doppelganger had held and shaken it. "Look, no sign of the taint at all."

There came the sound of someone clapping sarcastically. "Bravo, bravo," said the unidentified girl. "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."

"May I squish the insect?" Mima said. "Please?"

"No, you may not," Yukari snapped. "Be quiet. And that goes for you too, shrine maiden. Your comments contribute nothing of worth."

The view started to shake again, though not from Yukari's efforts. Instead, it looked like the Rumia of times past was trying to struggle.

Yukari laughed. "Well, look at that," she said. "I think she's scared. Aw, how adorable."

A cry of terror filled the scene. Even distorted as it was, Rumia didn't have any trouble recognizing it as her own.

"Oh gods, make it stop," the girl groaned. "Yukari, can't you do anything to shut her up?"

"Can you shut up the human as well?" Mima asked. "Kill two birds with one earth-scorching fireball?"

"I said enough," Yukari said. "If you two want to go ten rounds later, feel free, but for now-"

The picture suddenly fell apart into formless smoke, taking the voices with it. The hole then sealed itself up and disappeared. Rumia blinked in surprise and looked around.

"Hey, Rin?"

"Yeah?"

"What just happened?"

"To what?"

Rumia gestured to where the hole had been. "What happened to the memory? It just stopped."

"Oh, it did?" Rin said. "Yeah, I guess it did. Sorry. Guess it's still damaged. We can try again later, after it's all fixed." Then her disembodied voice turned vicious. "And I'm doing the best I can, so stop yelling at me!"

Rumia jerked back in surprise. "I'm not! I'm…Okay, look. How about you just rest and work on fixing us. We can talk about this later."

"Okay," Rin said wearily. "Talk to you later."

"Later. Sure." Rumia looked at the nothing around her and then down at her still-healing body. She sighed. "One last thing though."

"What?"

"Next time you get a crazy idea that involves me getting sucked into bizarro world and having to deal with my mind getting totally screwed with while you go and dig around in my head and fight evil version of one of us resulting in both of us getting totally messed up beyond belief…"

"Yeah?"

Rumia put her head down and groaned. "Do us both a favor and keep it to yourself."

That actually got a laugh out of the Kirin. "Yeah, good idea. That works, work, works…Um, I'm gonna shut up now."

Everything was quiet. Moving carefully, Rumia levered her body down and lay flat on her back.

This had been most definitely the single worst day of her life. She wanted to blame Rin for it, but that just wasn't working the way it used to. And the worst part was that despite everything she and Rin had been through, they still had no concrete answers. Hints, clues, maybe a vague direction or two, but no answers.

She wondered about the Dark Voice that Rin claimed to have fought. This time at least she was sure that Rin was telling the truth. Either that or Rin had screwed thing up on accident and was using the Dark Voice as a convenient scapegoat, but something told Rumia that such was not the case. She couldn't put her finger on it, but her instincts were telling her that the mystery of the Dark Voice was more serious than she thought. But everything time she tried to give the problem any deeper thought, she just ended up getting confused.

Well, whatever. At least they knew one thing for certain: Yukari had the answers. As did Mima, for that matter, and whoever that human girl had been. She had been dressed in a Hakurei shrine maiden uniform, so there was probably some connection to Reimu. Some long, lost sister, maybe? No, she would be too old by now. Her mother? Grandmother? Rumia just hoped that they wouldn't be forced to go after those three for information. Running towards those seeking to destroy you was a bad survival tactic.

Rumia closed her eyes. For the first time, she was glad she could no longer sleep. She had quite enough of dreams.

The Devil, a voice whispered in her mind. The destroyer from within.

Rumia sat up immediately, despite the pain it caused her. She looked around. "Is anybody there?" she asked, but there was no answer.

…

A few minutes ago…

Finally!

She had cut things really close, but she had made it. The final layer had been breached, and she was home-free. Well, in a matter of speaking.

With a wide grin over her twisted features, she leaned over to peer at the bottom of her hole. A ray of sunlight shone out of the crack she made.

With a whoop, she jammed her shovel into the crack and opened it wide enough to admit her admittedly odd shaped body. Then she tossed the shovel out of the hole, clutched her sword tightly (hadn't been just so nice of the little idiot to return it to her?) and leapt in.

She found herself flying through open air, high above a sparkling ocean. Seagulls called to each other as they circled the sky, looking for discarded food. Waves crashed against a nearby shore, on which a small seaside village sat. The large amount of vessels seemed to be more geared to the shipping of goods, suggesting that this hamlet got its wealth from merchants rather than fishing.

She scanned the coastline, looking for her targets. She hoped she wouldn't have to go into the village to find them. That would take way too long.

However, she was in luck. She spotted them walking together along a beach a few miles south of the village. Grinning, she folded her wings and dove into the ocean. She did appreciate a good entrance, and rising from the waters was a classic.

The salty waters felt like fire against her battle-scarred skin, but she didn't care. Her main concern was just how hideous she looked. One look at her and the people she came to meet would run away screaming.

Even though it would slow down the healing of the real damage, she couldn't afford to lose any more time. With a concentration of will, she reshaped the form she had taken, moving the damage inward and changing the exterior. When she was finished, one would never be able to tell she had been hurt in the first place. Of course, it did make her movements weaker and her reactions slower, but she could deal with that. She wasn't here to fight after all.

A song started playing in her head. Without fully realizing it, she began to hum under her breath while singing the lyrics in her head. "Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream."

She slowly surfaced above the water and watched her targets as they walked down the beach. There were two of them. Both of them were pale girls with long hair, but that was where the physical similarities ended. The softer looking one had midnight-black hair and was wearing shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. A heavy purple robe was slung over one shoulder. The leaner one had lavender hair so pale it was practically white. She wore a long-sleeved shirt and red trousers, held up with suspenders of the same color. White and red paper charms covered her trousers and ribbons of the same color were tied into her hair.

With a grin, she began to swim towards the two, now singing softly to herself. "Merrily, merrily, merrily…" She frowned. That voice wouldn't do at all. It suited her well enough, but not for this mission. With a painful grimace, she changed it as well. Then she resumed.

"Life is but a dream."

…

Having a villain launch into a lengthy monologue while the hero lies helpless is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, it's a good way to reveal a chunk of exposition concerning their identity, motives, backstory, future plans, etc. Also, it's a great way to have them ham it up and enjoy their time in the spotlight.

On the other hand, as any comic-book villain will tell you, it's a freaking stupid tactic. The hero is at your mercy, so wouldn't it make sense to just kill them then and there? You know, before they can find some way to escape and use the information you've just given them to defeat you? it's especially bad when the villain just takes off afterward and leaves the actual killing to some kind of death trap. Seriously, those never work.

However, in this case Ex-Rumia needed our Rumia alive to keep Rin busy. Plus, seeing how they were technically still connected, killing her would be a bad, bad idea. And since she was going to forget everything afterward, the risk was at least minimized. And let's face it: monologues are great fun to write, and Ex-Rumia can chew the scenery with the best of them. So I decided to say "Screw it" and have a little fun.

Anyway, sorry this one took longer to come out. I hope some of you got the message on my profile, but for those of you who didn't, school has unfortunately started up again and is in full force already. I don't know how much this will affect future updates, so let's just play it safe and say that there will be delays here and there. I'll do the best I can, but since I'm going to be graduating in a couple semesters I need to focus on that.

And speaking of the story, I'm curious on what you guys thought about the last three chapters. Specifically, what do you think all of the weird stuff like the tarot cards and Mystia's weird chant meant and where do you think our lovely ladies will end up as a result? Also, since I do plan on writing my own stuff one day with plenty of mindscrews, did the Deep Within mini-arc work? If so, what worked about it? What didn't and could be improved? Was it awesome? Did it suck? Or was it just weird? Anything goes, so long as it's constructive and polite. So let me hear from you! Especially you, yes you, Adrian!

Until next time, everyone!

(Die gone)