Imperfect Metamorphosis

by TakerFoxx

It's the first day of spring, and Cirno and her friends are once again up to no good! But after stealing a strange box from Marisa's house, they soon find themselves over their heads as they discover some things are meant to remain locked up.

42. The Methods and Motives of Monsters

The Methods and Motives of Monsters

Pushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear, Kotohime Sonozika headed toward the raised pavilion that was now serving as the dual headquarters for the GPF and the Hakurou's current recovery efforts. Even though the disaster was already over by the time her people had been allowed to move in, the cleanup was already proving to be quite the trial.

An entire valley had been demolished. While no one had lived there, it still represented a significant percentage of the landscape between the Youkai Mountain and the nearby forest area. Though they had only spoken briefly, Kanako Yasaka had made it clear that she was not happy about this, and intended to do something about it. And while that anger had not been directed at Kotohime herself, being the leader of a neutral third party with connections to most of Gensokyo's major societies meant that some of the fallout was going to land in her lap somehow. The fact that the primary culprits consisted of two known residents of the Human Village and the daughter of the King and Queen of Heaven themselves gave Kotohime a headache just by thinking of the ensuing shitstorm.

At the moment, with Yuuka Kazami now confirmed as having left the area, something that Kotohime was having a hard time feeling disappointed about, the majority of their efforts were going into finding Rin Satsuki, whom Kanako had confirmed as having been in the area not too long ago. However, true to form, their search had turned up nothing.

Kotohime shook her head. Rin Satsuki was by far the most troublesome fugitive ever to be at large. Perhaps there were others that had evaded being caught for longer periods of time, but none had caused nearly as much damage along the way. The reports coming in from the Ancient City alone had made her secretly relieved that the GPF didn't have a branch in the Underworld.

Standing hunched over a portable table under the shelter of the pavilion was Momiji Inubashiri, the leader of the Hakurou. Scattered on the table was a variety of different reports and forms, and judging by the way the white-wolf Tengu was looking at them, the urge to tear them to shreds was strong. Kotohime felt a twinge of empathy, as she soon would have her own pile of paperwork to deal with.

Sensing the Human's approach, Momiji looked up and nodded in greeting. "Lady Sonozika," she said. "Any luck?"

Kotohime wearily shook her head. "You know there isn't any. We're gone over this disaster area with a fine-toothed comb, so either she's long gone or…"

"Or what the ghost said about her acquiring the shapeshifters is true," Momiji finished for her. Kotohime shuddered and nodded. She was acutely aware that Madam Mima was hanging about the area.

Momiji shook her head. "Well, if that's the case, we're wasting our time." She angrily swiped at the papers, scattering many. "Someone with the combined power of a Tanuki and a Nue. Might as well be looking for a single raindrop in a lake."

Kotohime again nodded in agreement. She had long formed the same opinion. "We'll officially declare her as having left the area in a couple hours and expand our search until evening. From there, we'll just merge back to what we were doing up until yesterday."

Momiji straightened up to look her Human associate in the eye. "And you think this will work?" she said. Kotohime noted plenty of incredulity in the question, but no irony. The wolf did have a habit of taking things at face-value.

Chuckling bitterly, Kotohime said, "What? Of course not! We're not going to find her. Someone will, sooner or later, but it sure won't be us." She nodded over to where the winners of this latest scuffle were sitting together. "More than likely it'll be one of them, or another one of the A-listers. The best we can hope for is to be in a position to help out and reduce the collateral damage."

"Plus the cleanup," Momiji said.

"Plus the cleanup," Kotohime agreed. "And honestly, maybe it's better that way."

Momiji frowned but said nothing, indicating that she didn't agree but wasn't going to make an issue of it. "Anyway, so long as you're here, we still need to discuss them." She nodded over her should to where the losers were gathered: specifically, the failed bounty hunters.

Kotohime grunted. What was supposed to be the simplest bit of the whole disaster was proving to be increasingly complicated, as each of them had different circumstances that affected what they could do with them. The case of the Three Fairies of Light, who had long been a minor but recurring headache for the GPF, was more-or-less cut and dried. Reimu Hakurei had confirmed being attacked unprovoked by those three, and made note of the fact that they had also attacked someone who had at the time been believed to be Yukari Yakumo. Granted, she had turned out to be anything but, but it was the intent that mattered. Kotohime would have no problem bringing charges against them.

However, the others' cases were far more problematic. The Celestial's situation was frankly terrifying. Though she was currently receiving treatment from Kanako's people, Kotohime had seen sides of beef hanging from butchers' hooks that were in better shape than her. And while she had more than ample reason to form a case against her, given who she was and what had been done to her Kotohime didn't want to touch that situation with a long-range spellcard. Fortunately, it was clear that the higher-uppers would be handling that diplomatic catastrophe, so at least it was out of her hands. She just felt sorry for whoever would have to tell the King and Queen of Heaven, "Hey, bad news. Your daughter got mixed up with the wrong crowd and, uh, this kind of happened to her. Pretty nasty looking, right?"

"I suppose you're right," Kotohime said. She nodded to where Tenshi was lying. "Any word when she's getting moved to your hospice?"

"Within the hour," Momiji answered. "Lady Kanako, may her name be praised, wishes her to be in presentable condition before she is returned to her family."

Kotohime shrugged. "Well, you certainly have your work cut out for you."

"Don't I know it," Momiji sighed. "But actually, she's not the one we need to talk about. I was specifically referring to the ones responsible for the metal monster debacle."

Kotohime glanced over to the corner of the pavilion where incensed Nitori Kawashiro was still jabbering away at the unusually stoic Asakura sisters. She didn't understand a lick of it, but given the context, she didn't need to. "The Kappa's part of lady Kanako's territory, so she's all yours. Though you might have trouble making anything stick."

"Really?" Momiji said, surprised. "Why?"

"She only deliberately attacked the Asakuras, and that was in self-defense. And I don't think there's any rule against taking your pet giant for a walk or fighting back when attacked. And when the, ahem, hero crew showed up, she gave herself up without resistance."

Momiji still looked perplexed. "I don't understand. Why would this be a problem?"

Kotohime resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She sometimes forgot that, despite acting in a very Human-like manner, the Tengu were still youkai, and thus had a different perception of law and justice than what Kotohime was used to. Perhaps Nitori Kawashiro had not actually broken any rules or laws, but there was little doubt that Kanako Yasaka would find something.

"Fine, whatever, she's all yours, is what I'm saying." She looked over to the Asakuras. "Those two, on the other hand, aren't going to be difficult. All witnesses agree that they threw the first punch, and did so completely unprovoked."

"Plus they trampled all over a quarantined zone and shot at my men," Momiji said with no small amount of resentment. "No, I agree, their guilt is unquestioned. But, ah, there is a problem concerning them we need to discuss."

Feeling her heart sink, Kotohime waited.

Leaning forward and lowering her voice, Momiji said, "The goddess wants them released into our custody."

"Oh," Kotohime said, sighing. "Damn."

"I understand that this…complicates things…"

"It is an extremely awkward request to make," Kotohime agreed. "I mean, I don't blame you, seeing how it's your territory they trashed. And if it weren't up to me, I would be happy to hand them over and hope to never see them again. But…"

"It's not up to you, I know," Momiji said. "They are residents of the Human Village, and you don't directly represent the Human Village."

Spreading her hands, Kotohime managed a weak smile. "Exactly. Neutral third party, remember?"

"I know. But based upon what I know of the Human Village's Leader, he would not be overenthusiastic to release two of his people into youkai hands."

Kotohime snorted. "That's putting mildly. He'd throw a temper tantrum just over hearing the idea."

"Which is why she wants you to talk to him for us," Momiji said. "Perhaps you might be successful in persuading him."

"Me?" Kotohime said, blinking. "Why?"

Momiji frowned. "Well, I'm sorry, but are you not his niece? We had thought, given your close relationship-"

Letting out a surprised bark of laughter, Kotohime said, "Close relationship? Momiji, he despises me and my whole organization! Thinks us a bunch of traitors. And trust me, the sentiment is very much mutual. Honestly, I have as much chance as you!"

"Oh," Momiji said, looking somewhat beside herself. "I did not know that."

Kotohime shrugged helplessly.

A few terse moments passed, and then Momiji said, "Well. We'll, ah, have to deal with that later." She nodded toward the final person they had in custody. "What of him?"

The craggy tarantula youkai that went by the name of Tony was sitting alone, with his arms on his knees and his bulbous eyes staring at the ground. Apparently he had been partnered with another hunter, one that had not survived the battle, and hearing the news had made him essentially shut down.

"Him?" Kotohime's mouth set in a straight line. "I'm not sure. Reimu Hakurei won't tell me much about anything he did. But from what I've been told, he spent most of the fight dead and tried to leave before any of the others. Honestly, I'm tempted to just let him go. It's probably not even worth the paperwork to hold him."

Momiji blinked. "And let him get away with-"

"Away with what? We don't have anything solid on him, save that he's here and wanted the bounty."

"Is that not enough? He also entered the quarantine, and no doubt assaulted somebody-"

"Hey," said a rough voice. "Human."

The two of them stopped talking. Tony had raised his head and was now looking at them, empty-eyed.

"Yes?" Kotohime said warily, wondering how much of their conversation he had heard.

"When…" Tony frowned. He appeared to be struggling around his own words. "When you says Meira ain't comin' back, that she's done gone for good, you means never ever? Like, she gets her ass killed once, and that's it?"

Kotohime and Momiji exchanged a brief glance. "Yes," she said. "That's what I meant."

"Oh." His frown deepened, and he shook his head. "Why?"

Kotohime opened her mouth to answer, but he wasn't done yet. "I mean, it just don't makes none sense. Hell, I gets my ass killed earlier, and I'm still here, still the same old chap. But she dies once, and now she's just meat."

His head lowered again as he drifted back into his private thoughts, still mumbling to himself. "It don't makes none sense. It don't makes none sense at all."

Momiji watched him for a good long while. Then she turned back to Kotohime. "Well, maybe you have a point," she admitted.

Then Kotohime felt someone approaching, someone who would require her full attention. She turned to see Yukari Yakumo being wheeled toward her by her Shikigami, the shrine maiden Reimu Hakurei following close behind. All three of them wore a different expression. Yukari's was calm and collected, but her eyes were dark with boiling rage. Ran, the Shikigami, also wore a mask of indifference, though hers wasn't as good as Yukari's, with the worry she was feeling plain to see. As for Reimu, she wasn't even trying to hide behind a poker face. Quite the contrary, she looked downright miserable.

"Captain," Yukari said as the trio neared.

Kotohime saluted. "Founder."

"From the look of things, your people and the Tengu have things well in hand here." Yukari cast a backward glance over her shoulder. "And it seems that the shrine maiden and I need to have a private chat. So I'll leave the rest to you. I'll expect an updated report upon my return."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Very good." She nodded toward Ran, who turned the wheelchair around and starting pushing it away.

Once the three of them were sufficiently out of earshot, Momiji said in a low voice, "My friend, I do not envy you."

"What, because of her?" Kotohime shrugged. "Well, at least she's not mad at me. Besides, it could be much, much worse."

"Oh?" Momiji arched one bushy white eyebrow.

Kotohime nodded at the three receding figures: specifically, the one bringing up the rear. "Because I know that look Yukari Yakumo was wearing. And I for one don't envy the shrine maiden."

…

Deep Within

In the time Rumia had known her, she had seen Rin cycle through a large number of moods, emotions, and reactions. She had seen her be happy, upset, angry, scared, silly, scary, cold, and just plain strange. She had watched her snap, crack, endure, erupt, hurt, and be hurt.

But this was the first time she truly saw Rin break.

It wasn't a big, dramatic thing. Rin didn't scream, shout, or turn red. She didn't flip out and start attacking whoever happened to be nearby. She just sat there, hunched over her folded legs, arms resting on her knees and eyes staring unblinking at the screen as Reimu Hakurei was led away by Yukari Yakumo. There was a toothy grin on her face, one that was sharing space with an enraged grimace. She didn't move, though the muscles in her arms and upper back were steadily contracting tighter and tighter.

Then her muscles relaxed and she slumped forward. A soft sigh escaped her lips, a sound not unlike dead leaves being stirred by the wind.

"Well," she said. "I guess that's that."

With that, the view suddenly receded and spun around as Rin's physical body, still wearing whatever disguise had been shielding her presence, moved away.

Rumia blinked. "So we're leaving?"

Rin took in a deep breath through her nose and slowly breathed it out. "Yeah."

"But…" Rumia ran her fingers through her hair. "Just because Miss Reimu's with Miss Yukari, that doesn't really mean she was working for her all along, does it?"

There was a long pause, and then Rin said, "No, it doesn't."

"Then-"

"It doesn't matter."

"Huh?"

They passed over the border of the valley. "It doesn't matter if she was telling the truth or not," Rin said. "In fact, I'm sure she was. But she got caught. Yukari Yakumo caught her, and now she'll learn everything. It's over."

Rumia stared at her. "So, that's it? You're just gonna up and leave? Just ditch Miss Reimu and keep running?"

A dark look passed over Rin's face. "No," she said. "I'm not. I'm through with running."

"Then-"

"I'll be back." Rin's voice was calm, eerily so. "There's just something I gotta take care of first."

Well, that certainly couldn't be good. Rumia pondered on what Rin's new mission could possibly be. Visions of burning villages, screaming people with melting skin, and evaporating lakes came to mind. She shrugged and settled down to wait. Hell, it could be fun.

Then Rin spoke. "It's too bad, really."

"What is?"

Rin turned to look at her, her face blank and expressionless. "I had hoped…" Her voice cracked, and she tried again. "I was…really starting to think…that we might have a…"

Unable to finish, she turned away, hiding her face from Rumia. Rumia watched her for a few moments longer before looking away.

"Yeah," she said softly. "Me too."

…

As Reimu followed Yukari and Ran away from the GPF's pavilion, she had a fairly good idea how it must feel to be marched toward your execution.

Yukari was angry. Yukari was very angry. Though Reimu had only known her for a miniscule fraction of the elder youkai's extraordinarily long life, she knew her well enough to get a reading on her moods. When she was annoyed, she was sarcastic and overused big words. When she was pissed off, she spoke harshly and either pulled rank or used her power over boundaries to humiliate or destroy. And when she was incensed, she smiled a lot, spoke kindly, and mentally composed a scathing obituary for the target of her wrath.

And right now, Yukari was incensed.

Reimu wasn't scared of Yukari, not normally. Though she knew that the elder youkai could probably tear her apart molecule by molecule and then erase those molecules from existence, there was still plenty of space between being able to do something and actually going through with it. Yukari seemed to consider the Hakurei family essential to Gensokyo's continued existence, and as Reimu was the only surviving Hakurei, she was at least safe from being disintegrated by Yukari in a fit of anger. Besides, Reimu just didn't intimidate easily, not by authority or by raw power. And Yukari was no exception.

However, if put on the spot, Reimu would have to admit that having to plead Rin's case to an exceedingly angry Yukari after Rin had just gone on a devastating rampage across Gensokyo, one that had even coaxed Yukari's hated rival Yuuka Kazami out of seclusion, was making her a great deal more nervous than she was used to.

After imparting her orders to Kotohime, Yukari neither spoke to nor looked at Reimu as Ran wheeled her away from the others. However, once they had gone far enough to be out of range of any snooping ears, she signaled for Ran to bring the wheelchair to a stop near the edge of the platform. Once there, she spent several moments looking out at the devastation.

"Quite the spectacular catastrophe," she said at last. Her voice was calm and level. "It doesn't quite meet the same standards set by that brawl over at the Blasted Lands, but impressive nevertheless. And in the long run, far more problematic. After all, there is a sizeable difference between an empty wasteland that nobody cares about and what amounts to the front lawn of one of Gensokyo's most heavily populated areas." She shook her head and chuckled. "Of course, knowing Kanako, she'll still find a way to profit from this. Probably have the Kappa convert this whole area into a shopping center or a waterpark. Even so, I really need to have a word with King and Queen Hinanai about keeping a tighter control over their keystones. Those things are really just too dangerous to allow their idiot daughter access to. Of course, that conversation will have to happen before said idiot daughter is returned to them, as I seriously doubt they'll be in much of a listening mood after they've seen her condition." She leaned over the wheelchair's right armrest to look at Reimu. "What in the world happened to that girl, anyway? I know that everyone was playing a bit rough today, but my goodness! You know what she reminds me of? About ten years ago, around Christmastime, Chen decided that she not only wanted to make gingerbread fairies, she wanted to do so with minimal assistance from Ran and me. The results were…quite hilarious, actually." She glanced up at her Shikigami. "You remember that, don't you Ran? We were trying so hard not to laugh because we didn't want to hurt her feelings, but it was just so hard."

Ran, who was clearly wishing to be left out of this conversation entirely, managed to suppress the reflexive grimace and gave a quick nod.

"Now, how could Tenshi have ended up in such a state?" Yukari said, exaggeratedly rubbing her chin. "Because even with her burns miraculously…Well, I wouldn't say healed, per se. I don't think anyone with half a brain would use the word healed to describe her condition. But even so, even with the burns themselves mysteriously disappeared, the sulfur and brimstone smell was still quite distinctive. Why, if I didn't know better, I'd say she was on the unlucky end of a gush of Phoenix Fire." She looked back to Reimu. "But that doesn't make any sense. There haven't been any Phoenixes in Gensokyo for at least one-hundred forty-eight years. Well, of course, there's always Fujiwara no Mokou. But that still wouldn't make sense, seeing how the girl herself was recently devoured by a certain troublemaker. Now what was that naughty girl's name again?"

"Yukari," Reimu said. "I know you're probably-"

"Rin Satsuki, that's right!" Yukari said, snapping her fingers. "You know, with all the trouble Yuuka's been giving me as of late, I had almost forgotten about her." Her eyes narrowed. "Especially since she somehow managed to find one humdinger of a hiding place. Honestly, I was wondering if we'd ever be able to find her. But I guess she wasn't content to just lay low forever, eh? Maybe she got hungry. One can't help but wonder why the Celestial remains uneaten though. But I suppose it's no big mystery. I myself find Tenshi unappetizing even at the best of times. And perhaps Rin simply doesn't enjoy her meals overcooked. So I really can't fault her for sending Tenshi back to the kitchen."

Reimu took a deep breath to steady herself and tried again. "Look, I know you're probably pretty upset-"

"Upset?" Yukari raised an eyebrow. "Oh, Reimu, Reimu, Reimu. Understatements really do not become you. My dear friend, I am quite a bit beyond being upset right. In fact, by this point, I've progressed beyond Hellish Anger Alley and Blind Fury Boulevard and am now working my way into I Cannot Be Held Responsible for My Actions Avenue. I mean, honestly. Added to the omnicidal monsters that seek to burn Gensokyo to the ground, the uncooperativeness of the people who are supposed to be my allies, and my own debilitating injuries, I just found out that one of the few people whose discretion I actually trusted has been actively working against my efforts to save this damned country by hiding one…No, wait, check that, Rin Satsuki is still carrying around the Shadow Youkai, isn't she? That would mean you've been hiding two of those monsters from me." Yukari's fingers tightened over her armrests, making the plastic and metal crumple. "So yes, 'pretty upset' really doesn't do what I'm feeling right now any justice."

Reimu sucked in a sharp breath. "Wait, you think the reason you haven't been able to find Rin is because I've been hiding her?"

Yukari twirled her finger in the air, indicating that she wished for the wheelchair to be turned around. When she and Reimu were properly facing each other, she said, "I heard what your business competitor said, Reimu. 'How are we supposed to help her then?' Did I misinterpret her words? Are you suggesting that, in my absence, some new definition for the word 'help' has sprung up?"

"Oh, gods!" Reimu smacked a palm across her forehead. "I…no, that's not what she meant! I haven't been hiding Rin from you! Hell, I have no idea where she's been this whole time! I only just found her zipping around her a couple hours ago, being chased by what had to have been a third of Gensokyo!"

"Is that right?" Yukari rested her chin on one hand and tapped an armrest with the other. "Then by all means, Reimu Hakurei, shrine maiden of Hakurei Shrine. Enlighten me as to what Sanae really meant."

Well, here went everything. Reimu steadied herself the best she could and said, "Look, we haven't been working against you or anything like that. No…no big conspiracies or evil schemes or anything like to that. Sanae meant help help! Like, actually help Rin!"

"Oh, that clears things up so much."

"I mean we were going to help make her normal again!" Reimu shouted. "That's what this was all about! Get her to actually cooperate with us, get rid of the Shadow Youkai, have her release all her prisoners, and then make her, uh, not a monster anymore! You know, cure her. Solve this problem without, without killing anyone. That's it."

Yukari's finger stopped tapping and one of her eyebrows arched up. "Oh, is that right?" She let out a slow sigh, which turned into a short coughing fit. When it ended, she seemed to relax a bit. "Well, while still very much a problem, that explanation is considerably preferable to my original conclusion."

Reimu felt a flurry of hope. "Oh?"

"Indeed. Had I been correct, I would be forced to have Kotohime clamp you in irons and escort you to Marisa's old cell."

"What?" Reimu's head jerked back.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I like you, I really do, but while I am willing to tolerate and forgive insults and being openly challenged, treachery something else entirely." Yukari carefully shifted into a more comfortable position and folded her hands over her lap. "And while I'll admit to having played favorites in the past, I'm afraid I do not currently have that luxury."

Reimu swallowed.

"But since that isn't the case, there is now less of a chance of this day ending with you behind bars. So that's a step in a positive direction."

Perhaps, but it certainly didn't feel that way. Any sort of debate in which you had to work your way up from almost being arrested was already off to a bad start.

Reimu closed her eyes and took a few moments to center herself. Granted, that fight had already shaken her up, and Yukari suddenly appearing and putting her on the spot was not helping in the slightest. But she had disagreed with, argued with, and yelled at the elder youkai on multiple occasions. Openly opposing Yukari was nothing she was unaccustomed to. It was just that this time she had to do something new: she had to change Yukari's mind.

"Okay," she said once she was sure her voice would remain steady. "Just so we're clear: you are going to hear me out on this and not shoot me down right off the bat, right?"

Yukari clicked her tongue, but she nodded. "Yes, you deserve that much, at the very least. Just be warned: we've already established that I am in an incredibly foul mood. So please, for both of our sakes, don't do anything that might aggravate that."

She gestured out with one hand, and one of her gaps opened up, this one between them and a few meters to Reimu's left. "But given the sensitive nature of this conversation, I suggest we relocate to somewhere private." She allowed herself a small smile. "Won't you step into my parlor?"

Said the spider to the fly, Reimu thought. She eyed the gap suspiciously. "Sure. And this isn't going to end up dumping me in that cell anyway, right?"

As soon as the words had left her mouth, Reimu realized that she had made a mistake, as Yukari's smile quickly vanished. "Reimu, while I do commend you for your wary mind, if such were my intentions, I would hardly need to deceive to get you to go anywhere. All I would have to do is this."

There was a sudden rushing of vertigo, and the next thing Reimu knew she was standing in a tiny concrete room that was even smaller than her shrine, with featureless walls, ceiling, and floor, an uncomfortable looking cot at one end, and crisscrossing steel bars at the other. Beyond the bars, she could see a male youkai, presumably a ferret, wearing a GPF uniform and working at a small desk.

Her balance thrown off from the sudden transition, Reimu stumbled forward and grabbed the bars for support. This drew the youkai's attention, and when he saw that the previously unoccupied cell now held the Hakurei shrine maiden, he very nearly leapt out of his seat.

"Screw my ancestors sideways!" he shouted. "Where the hell did-"

And then Reimu was back where she had started. The bars gone, she came uncomfortably close to faceplanting in the dirt but managed to orient herself just in time.

"I trust we understand each other?" Yukari said. "And don't get me wrong. I still like you, and respect your opinion a great deal more than that of most of the buffoons I've got running this place. But please, don't insult my intelligence, and I'll return the courtesy."

Ran looked troubled. "Master, are you sure this is-"

"Ran, not the time," Yukari said, holding up a hand.

"Yes, but-"

"No, it's okay," Reimu said as she made sure her feet would remain steady. "I can handle myself. And fine. Message received."

"Good to hear," Yukari said. She nodded toward the gap. "Now, shall we?"

This time, Reimu obliged. She wasn't fooled. That little trip to Marisa's now-empty cell had been more than Yukari making a point. She had intended to shake Reimu up in order to put her even more off her game.

But in that, Yukari had made a mistake as well, as being jerked around like that hadn't scared Reimu. Instead, it had just reignited her familiar anger, which was certainly in her favor. She didn't do well arguing from a defensive standpoint. But she was well used to using her anger to focus herself. It went a long way to quelling her nervousness and feeding her determination.

She stepped through the gap and was sucked through the fabric of reality.

…

Deep Within

At that moment, Rin was soaring high over the forest. She had disguised herself as a nondescript youkai and was using the Nue's power to divert attention from herself.

At another time, Rumia might have been worried about where Rin was taking them. At another time, she might have been concerned about what Rin intended. But now, she was a bit beyond such apprehensions, and now only felt the heavy numbness of resignation. It was oddly comforting, in a way.

But even so, she was still a little curious. So she said, "So, where is this promised last stand of yours gonna be?"

Rin, who had returned to her customary position in front of the screen, didn't even glance at her. But she said, "Well, it's not exactly gonna be my last stand, but anyway, think of it like this: whose fault is it that I ended up like this?"

"You mean half-baked and ready to explode?" Rumia asked. "Or you mean as a weird-ass, hungry, people-munching, blobby thingamajiggy?"

Rin considered the question. "I think both apply, actually."

Rumia shrugged. "Well, let's see. There's Miss Eirin…"

"Beat her nearly to death, smashed up her clinic and her house, and ate her princess," Rin said, her expression and tone remaining unchanged. "Who else?"

Starting to get an inkling of what Rin was getting at, Reimu said, "Well, there're those crazy scientist sisters…"

"'kay, them I didn't actually get to do anything to," Rin said with a shrug. "But they still came here looking for me, and the Strutter got destroyed, which had to be really, really expensive." She giggled. "Then they got arrested at everyone's mad at them. They're through. So, who's left?"

Understanding dawned, lifting Rumia out of her lethargy. "No way."

"Yes way." And with that, Rin started slanting downward. It was then that Rumia took notice of where they were and which direction they were heading. They were over the Forest of Magic, making a beeline for the Misty Lake. And beyond that, the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

The stone of Rin's face was starting to crack as crooked smile wormed its way up her cheeks. "I think it's time to pay your old bosses a visit, yeah?"

…

As soon as Reimu stepped into Yukari's home, she immediately noticed a number of changes. For one, the air was heavy with the stench of sterilization, chemicals, and rot, making her nose wrinkle in disgust. For another, she distinctly recalled there being a number of potted plants arranged tastefully in various places. Now, not even the pots remained. And as all the shades were drawn and the lights kept low, there was a feeling of oppressiveness that hadn't been there before. The place had never been especially cheery, but now just being here made her skin crawl.

"I'm afraid I don't entertain much these days, so forgive me if you find the place less comfortable than you remember," Yukari said as she and Ran materialized behind Reimu. "But it is the place where we are least likely to be interrupted."

"No problems here," Reimu said as she stepped to the side, allowing Ran to help Yukari of the wheelchair and to her favorite armchair. Ran folded up the wheelchair, set it next to the umbrella stand, and excused herself from the room.

Yukari motioned toward the other chair, which Reimu took without complaint. Then the elder youkai glanced at the cold ashes of the fireplace, which recollected themselves into serviceable firewood and burst into flame. The improvement to the room's atmosphere was marginal.

"Well Reimu, let's cut right to the chase," Yukari said, steepling her fingers in front of her nose. "As well-meaning as your current endeavor might be, it is still foolish and incredibly short-sighted. However, I did agree to hear you out. So by all means, proceed."

Reimu nodded. She opened her mouth to speak, but Yukari wasn't done. "Oh, and just to let you know, should your position hinge upon Satsuki's victimhood, her supposed innocence, her tender young age, and any other appeals to emotion, know that all of the above factors have already been taken into account and are not going to win me over. In fact, relying on them will cause me to terminate this conversation and reconsider not putting you under arrest. Are we clear?"

Again Reimu nodded. Then she said, "Rin saved my life."

A lengthy silence followed, during which Yukari stared unmoving at the shrine maiden. Then she turned her joined fingers downward and said, "Well, credit where it's due: that is not how I expected you to open this discussion. Now, by that, do you mean she did so intentionally?"

"Yeah. You know about the Strutter, right?"

Yukari nodded. "Yes, Kotohime did give me a brief rundown of the situation. That would be Rika and Rikako's creation, yes? Which Yuuka decided to hijack and send off on a rampage."

"Right. I was talking to Rin when it happened. Me and Kanako were talking to Rin when it happened. You know, trying to convince her to, uh, cooperate? And I was its first target. Rin saw its attack first and pulled me out of the way."

"Fascinating," Yukari said. She had yet to blink. "As is your confirmation that you managed to entangle Kanako Yasaka in this affair, something I had already gleaned from your discussion with her shrine maiden, as Sanae Kochiya is highly unlikely to be involved in something of this caliber without her goddess's consent."

Reimu winced. Whoops.

"It is surprising though, that Kanako would agree to such a thing," Yukari continued. "As recent as her addition to the Ringleaders' ranks might be, she always struck me as the most practical of the bunch. Granted, her ambitions can cause problems, such as that debacle with the Hell-Raven. But overall, she does have a good head on her shoulders, and looks at the big picture. Which must have made converting her quite the challenge."

"It was," Reimu confirmed. "But getting back to Rin…"

Yukari held up a palm. "We'll return to the poor sweet child of mass destruction in a moment. For now, I'm curious as to exactly how many people you've managed to rope into your altruistic disaster in the making. We've already gone over Kanako and her shrine maiden, but what of her people? The Tengu, for example. Is Boss Tenma likewise involved? What of Lord Zora and the Kappa?"

"No," Reimu said quickly. It was bad enough that Kanako was now in Yukari's crosshairs as well. There was no point in adding her worshippers to the collateral damage. "None of the Tengu are. And neither are the Kappa. Kanako just agreed to lend her resources and helped try to convince Rin to stop running and cooperate. That's all."

"Ah. So it's just her and her household, correct? Would that include Suwako Moriya as well?"

Reimu's hands were starting to dig into her armrests. "Look, if you want someone's head to roll for this, then just stick with mine. This was my idea. I brought them into this."

"Oh my, do my ears deceive me?" Yukari said, her eyes widening in mock surprise. She clasped her hands over her heart. "Reimu Hakurei, acting…selfless? Taking the full blame so that her associates might walk free? I never thought I'd see the day." Before Reimu could start yelling, Yukari said, "But no, you misunderstand me. This isn't about assigning blame and dolling out punishment. I merely wish to see the full picture so as to accurately gauge the damage."

"Damage?" Reimu said, her face scrunching up. "You mean the fight? Because that wasn't our fault. Yuuka-"

"Not that kind of damage. I'm referring to lasting damage to Gensokyo's already fragile political climate."

Reimu snorted. "Right. Because it's always politics with you."

Yukari glowered. "Don't test me, Reimu. You know I abhor political game as much as you do. The difference is that I don't have the luxury of ignoring it whenever convenient."

"Yeah, you do! You do it all the freaking time!"

"Under normal circumstances, certainly," Yukari said. "I'm content to remain hands-off and let everyone govern their own affairs. That is how I prefer it." As if to reflect its creator's mood, the fire dimmed, making the lights of Yukari's eyes stand out all the brighter in the shadows. "Unfortunately, these are not normal circumstances, and simply can't turn a blind eye to the lasting damage that these sorts of actions can inflict, however well-meaning they might be."

"Yeah?" Reimu said. "Like what?"

Yukari scratched her nose. "Oh, for example, let's say the most probable outcome happens and this all ends up blowing up in your face, and Satsuki ends up cutting a bloody swath across Gensokyo, whether under the Shadow Youkai's direction or of her own accord. Now, assuming that Kanako survives and the Kappa and the Tengu still have anything resembling a civilization afterward, there is every likelihood that Kanako's involvement will come to light. Now granted, she is well liked by her people and highly respected, despite not having been here long. Still, were it to be discovered that she was part of an operation that attempted to help the person responsible for so much destruction instead of ending the threat when she had the chance, well, let's just say there will be a number of people who will be most unhappy."

As she spoke, something strange started to happen inside the fireplace. At first Reimu thought that she was seeing things. As it turned out, she was, but her imagination wasn't to blame.

The fire was moving, taking shape. As Yukari spoke, it formed itself into an animate diorama, with tiny fiery people moving through a tiny fiery landscape, acting out the scenario as Yukari described it. Representations of Kanako, Suwako, and Sanae appeared. They were standing before a crowd of Tengu and Kappa, which wasn't anything unusual. What was unusual was that the crowd looked angry, with a great deal of muttering amongst themselves and accusatory finger-pointing in Kanako's direction. Kanako looked like she was imploring with them.

"She will retain many supporters, true, and perhaps there will be those willing to argue in her favor," Yukari said, providing the narration. "But the backlash will still be severe, creating a division among the people she represents and eroding her support base. The seeds of distrust will spread and grow, eventually calling for her expulsion. Much of the ire will likewise be directed toward Boss Tenma and Lord Zora, given how strongly they supported her rise to power. It wouldn't surprise me if they try to save face by turning on her, further widening the internal rift. And given the way the Tengu media works, their various tabloid outlets will love nothing more to encourage civil unrest so as to increase circulation." Yukari exhaled slowly. "Tell me Reimu, I know you're one to avoid crowds, but you do know the meaning of the phrase 'lynch mob,' don't you? How about 'civil war'?"

Reimu didn't look at her. Now the residents of Moriya Shrine were fearfully backing against a wall as the crowd advance with weapons drawn. Kanako clutched Sanae protectively, while Suwako pressed her back to the wall as she tried to search for some means of escape.

"And that's just touching on the internal strife," Yukari continued. "Relations between the Humans and the Youkai Mountain are exceptionally cordial, all things considered, but you know as well as I do that Master Sonozika will use any excuse to eliminate any good feelings between his people and Kanako's. The Shadow Youkai specifically targeted Human settlements the last time around, and it won't take much for Sonozika to stir up the belief that Kanako Yasaka was deliberately encouraging Rin Satsuki's breakdown. In fact, that would probably happen anyway, with or without his involvement. Fear, grief, and anger have been known to drive people to seek out whatever scapegoats they can find, and finger-pointing is all too common during a time of heavy tragedy. I know that Gensokyo is far from united, but should all this go down, it will become downright isolationist, with the survivors gathering into their little groups and actively hating everyone else." Yukari closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly let it out. She started coughing again, but was able to control it this time. "That's why I need to know how many people you've brought into this. It has nothing to do with blame, and everything to do with minimizing the collateral damage when things finally erupt! The Underworld is ready to dissolve into chaos because of what Satsuki did, and I am going to have my hands full keeping that from happening. I will not and cannot allow Gensokyo's other major communities to fall apart as well."

…

Deep Within

Rumia swallowed. She looked at the screen. In the distance, the Scarlet Devil Mansion was just appearing on the horizon. She looked to Rin, who was staring at the approaching mansion with unsettling intensity.

"The way I see it, I could just keep running and hiding, but what good will that do?" Rin was saying. Her speech was starting to get very odd, with the pitch rising and falling every syllable and the speed of her words steadily increasing. "Sure, I might as well be invisible now, but so what? What am I supposed to do? Change my shape and take up a new identity? Pretend to be a Human or something? Live out the rest of eternity as a fairy, or a random youkai, or something like that? Turn myself into a rock and never move for the rest of eternity?" She shook her head. "No way. I'm not spending forever as a freaking parasite. It's back to the way I was or nothing, you know?"

"And…you think getting payback is gonna make you normal again?" Rumia said. "Because I'm really not seeing how that's going to work."

They reached the shore. Rin didn't answer Rumia's question until she had slowed to a stop and dropped down to the border of the thin forested area that sat between Remilia Scarlet's property and the lake. Then she said, "No, Rumia, I don't. I'm just taking care of unfinished business before they take me down."

"Is that so," Rumia muttered. She nervously rubbed the back of her neck. "Say, uh, before you do that and go off to have your big, final stand, can you like throw me up first? You did promise, remember?"

Rin gave her the briefest of glances. "Yes, I do. And yes, I will." She smiled and reached up to pat Rumia's arm. "Don't worry. You'll be free soon. I just need your strength for a little longer, 'kay?"

Rumia flinched back from the touch. "Rin…"

"I know, I know, 'don't touch me.'" Rin turned back to the screen and started moving her physical body through the trees. "But yeah, settling a few scores is part of the reason I'm going here, but there's something else I gotta do."

Again, the world of emptiness shivered, just it had when Rin first disguised herself. The view on the screen suddenly dropped by a couple meters, meaning that her new form was significantly shorter than her previous body.

"Fairy," Rin said, answering Rumia's unspoken question. "With a maid uniform." She giggled. "Guess your 'internship' came in handy after all. Otherwise, I wouldn't know what they look like. But anyway, this trip is more than just revenge. I mean, it's like I told you earlier: I don't…" Her voice thickened. She swallowed and tried again. "I don't…mind if they kill me. But I'm not going back…in that box. Never again."

Rumia stared. "So, you're so scared of being put in one of those boxes that you're gonna head straight for the place where they keep all those boxes? That makes sense on what world?"

"The one that made me realize that with everyone still looking for me back at the Youkai Mountain, no one's gonna be thinking about the Scarlet Devil Mansion," Rin answered. She giggled again. "So, that should give us enough time to make sure they don't have a box to put me in."

And then Rumia got it. Her eyes popped open wide and she gawked openly at her captor.

"Yeah," Rin said, nodding. She turned her head around to grin up at the staring youkai. "According to your memories, they've got a whole bunch of those boxes, all locked away somewhere. So I think a little intentional property damage is in order."

Rumia ran her finger through her hair as she tried to process what Rin was telling her. "So, the plan is to rampage through the mansion, find the boxes and smash them, then kill Miss Patchouli and Miss Sakuya-"

"What? No!" Rin scowled in disgust. "Just the middle part! Sure, okay, I might be a freak of science, but just because I'm a monster doesn't make me a murderer." She looked back to the screen. "And I don't see why another rampage should be necessary. I don't wanna have them send Flandre Scarlet at me again, you know? That's why I disguised as part of the help. No, what I'm gonna do is sneak in, find those two…" Her face flushed with anger and words failed her. "Well, those two. Then I'm gonna swallow them whole, pull the location of the other boxes out of Miss Patchouli's brain, and then send them both into a dream. Only this time, I think I should have some creative input, you know?" Her broken smile returned, wider this time. "You know how I can mess with people's perception of time in here? I'm thinking I treat them to a few years of the same never-ending nothing that they damned me to. And when I do finally have to cough them up, I'll just make sure your librarian friend leaves how those boxes are made behind."

There was a long pause, and then Rumia let her arms fall to her side. "Wow," she said. "That's actually kinda worse. You're really giving the whole bad guy thing your all, ain't you?"

"I DON'T CARE!" Rin suddenly yelled, making Rumia jump. "They made me take that potion, they made me turn into this thing, they ruined my life! But what happened to them? Did anyone punish them for what they did to me?"

And then the Kirin was on her feet and screaming into Rumia's face. "No! They just decided to write me off as a screw-up and never speak of me again, like it never happened! Meanwhile, I spent nine freaking years in the darkness, with nothing to hold onto, no one to talk to, nothing to hope for! For the gods' sakes, at least prisoners can sleep!" She jabbed a finger against Rumia's sternum. "I didn't even have that! And I thought it was going to go on forever! I know that's what they intended! For me to just be their little mistake, hidden away in a box where no one could see. This is all their fault, and it's time they learned that!"

"Okay, okay!" Rumia said, quickly putting distance between them. "I get it! You're right, that sucked!"

Though Rumia had moved, Rin remained standing in the same position, her finger still poking the place Rumia's chest had been. "You were literally the first bit of hope I had had in years," she said, staring. "I thought I was going to be alone forever."

Rumia had no idea how she was supposed to respond to something like that, so she said nothing. As for Rin, she simply let her hand fall and turned to walk back to the screen, her eye to the outside. "I was never meant to see the sun again," she said, reaching up to lay a hand against the screen's surface. "Never to feel the warmth of a fire, or hear the sound of cicadas in the summer. Never have anyone touch me again. Eternal nothingness, just because they didn't want anyone finding out about their embarrassing mistake."

Actually, Rumia was fairly certain that her being locked up had more to do with her having lost her mind, destroyed Eientei, devoured several people, and was actively seeking to eat the rest, but prudence suggested that correcting the crazy Kirin with supernatural powers while she was waxing poetical was probably not a good idea.

"So hey, if that makes me a bad guy, just because I'm not gonna let them do that to me without anything happening to them, fine, call me a bad guy! I don't c-c-care." That last word broke down into another fit of giggles, this one crazier than the other two, almost sounding like a witch's cackle. "Because…even if they end me, I'm gonna make sure they feel it. I'm not just let them forget me again. They can erase me, but by the gods, this time they'll remember me!"

As Rin made her speech, goosebumps rose on Rumia's arm. Something weird was happening. The darkness was being weird again, like it did whenever Rin took an especially big hit. She could swear that it was moving, like the surface of tempestuous waters. There were whispers too, so quiet that Rumia wasn't sure if she were imagining them, or if they were part of Rin's voice, as they seemed to rise and fall in tempo with her own.

Rumia swallowed and hunkered down into a defensive crouch, but nothing jumped out to attack her. As for Rin, she didn't seem to notice that anything was different. She just sighed and let leaned forward to rest her forehead against the screen. "Well," she said, calmer this time, "that's the idea at least. Who knows if anyone still remembers me after a century or two?"

She moved away from the screen to sit back down. As she did so, the whispers faded away and the darkness settled down. Rumia glanced around, waiting to see if things would get weird again. When they didn't, she relaxed her guard and walked over to sit near Rin.

"Okay," she said. "Just for the record, what you did just now? That was really freaking creepy."

Sniffling, Rin gave her a sidelong look and smirked. "Was it? Sorry. Guess I got a little carried away."

"Yup, you did." Rumia fell silent for a few seconds and then shrugged. "Well, hey, what the hell. I'd want payback too. And there were plenty of times when I wanted to punch Miss Patchouli in her smug, fat face."

"Is that right?" Rin said with a small laugh. "Well, I'll be sure to put one in for you."

"Thanks, I appreciate it." Rumia patted Rin on the shoulder. "Oh hey, for what it's worth, I've got no problem with monsters, so if you're gonna do this, feel free to go for broke, okay?"

Rin didn't say anything. Instead, she just slowly turned her head to stare at the hand on her shoulder with a very surprised expression.

"What?" Rumia said. Then she became aware of the contact and quickly withdrew her hand.

"Well," she said, scooting a few centimeters away. "Okay, let's not just sit around talking while there's stuff to break and people to smack, so let's go do this, yeah?"

Rin grinned. She didn't move.

"Stop looking at me like that," Rumia said. "Seriously."

…

Reimu was speechless. While had long feared the trouble her allies might get into should things go wrong, she had been counting on it coming from Yukari herself. The idea that she might be endangering the foundations of their respective communities was…troubling, to say the least.

Yukari, however, still retained full use of her voice. "Now, I know I'm not assuming much by adding Mima and her desctructophile of a prodigy to the list, seeing how they were both present during that conversation and their close relationship with yourself. Plus, we all know that Mima will jump at any chance to irritate me." She shrugged. "No direct problems there, save for adding more fuel to the fire when Sonozika makes his move, as he will probably use them as an excuse to break off relations with your shrine entirely and therefore eliminating what little support you receive from the village, if not calling for the whole thing to be burned to the ground. And, of course, there are the inherent dangers of including either of them in any sort of delicate operation, but that's a different can of worms altogether." She scratched lightly at a small cluster of blister that stuck out from her chin like warts. "Hmmm, who else, who else…" Then she blinked, frowned, and rolled her eyes. "Oh, of course. I should have thought of her first. The Palaquin was a tip-off, after all. Byakuren is in on this as well, isn't she?"

Reimu did her best not to look too dismayed, but was sure that she failed.

"Thought so," Yukari said, her lips twisting into a triumphant smirk. "As positive of a force as she's been, she is sentimental to a fault. No doubt she was one of the first people you approached, yes?" Yukari blinked. "In fact, that would go a long way to explain Kanako's involvement. This is the sort of thing Byakuren would enter into without question, and she is nothing but persuasive when she has a cause. But then, you had already figured that out."

"Okay, okay, you're right!" Reimu said, swiping her hands to both sides in front of her. "I went to Byakuren because I thought she could win Kanako over. And hey, her resources and magic didn't hurt either. You got me. Now, getting back to Rin-"

"We'll return to her in due time," Yukari murmured. "Let's talk about Byakuren for a moment. Now, I do not blame you for turning to her for help. After all, given her various charitable crusades and increasing influence, she is a logical choice, from both a practical and sentimental stance." She coughed into her fist. "And we've all seen how useful that boat of hers can be in a pinch."

"Yeah, I know. Look, do we really have to do this?"

"Yes, we do." Yukari adjusted her position and crossed her legs, entwining her hands in front of her knee. "I already told you that I need to all the information you can give so as to offset the calamity you've set off. Now, how much of Myouren Temple is involved? Is it just Byakuren herself, or is her entourage also in the know?" When Reimu declined to answer, Yukari said, "Reimu, I will have an answer to that question before this hour is out. You can give it to me now, or I go talk to Byakuren personally. Your choice."

Her shoulders slumping in defeat, Reimu said, "Yeah, they know. At least, Murasa and her crew do. Shou Toramaru too, probably. Beyond them, I don't know."

"Ah. Well, that much is to be expected. And what of Kotohime Sonozika? Would the GPF's presence at the disaster area be attributed to her own involvement?"

"What? Kotohime?" Reimu blinked in surprise. "The hell? Why would I go to her? We don't even like each other! Besides, she works for you!"

"Oh, that hurt," Yukari drawled.

"Hey, knock that the hell off! And no, Kotohime doesn't have a clue what we were doing! She was just at the crater because it's her freaking job!"

"Is that right?" Yukari's shoulders lifted in a brief shrug. "Well, that's very encouraging. In fact, I should probably give that girl a raise."

"For what?" Reimu said. "Refusing? I didn't even approach her, I already told you that!"

"No, but she's openly demonstrated her loyalty to the point where you did not even consider it. That's a rare quality in these times, and should be rewarded."

"Okay, fine!" Reimu said, throwing her hands into the air. "Give her a nice fat Christmas bonus, I don't care! Why'd you even suspect her anyway?"

Yukari shook her head. "Oh Reimu, that should be obvious enough. Myouren Temple and the GPF enjoy a very comfortable relationship, almost symbiotic. It was Kotohime's campaigning that cemented Byakuren's foothold in the Human Village, despite her uncle's wishes. And it's because of Byakuren that the GPF has any nonhuman members at all. Say what you want about me and the people in my employ; but you do have to admit that those two organizations are the most successful examples of interspecies cooperation Gensokyo's seen in a good, long time."

It was all Reimu could do not to groan out loud. She now had a very good idea of what Yukari was getting at.

"So you see," Yukari continued, "even if Kotohime doesn't have the slightest clue of what you're up to, even if she and her people are not involved, they still are. Should the previously described worst-case scenario occur, Myouren Temple's influence is going to be…severely compromised. Granted, Byakuren's personal retainers will remain loyal, but Sonozika will most certainly use the incident to kick them out of the Human Village, and the GPF with them. Any officer that does not renounce their allegiance and turn on Kotohime and myself will be branded a traitor. And without Byakuren to vouch for them, the denizens of the Wilds will no longer tolerate their presence. That's a fair number of Humans suddenly exiled from their homes and cast into a hostile environment, to say nothing of their nonhuman companions likely abandoning them in the process."

Again, the fire came alive, providing Yukari's words with a visual aide. She saw Kotohime and several other Humans chased from the Human Village by an angry mob. She saw that same mob descend upon Myouren Temple, cut through its defenders, and tear it down. She saw the former GPF officers, many of them wounded, fearfully gathering around a fire, while wild youkai prowled along the perimeter of their makeshift campsite.

Shuddering, Reimu tore her eyes away from the scene. It was just another one of Yukari's methods of manipulation, after all. "You don't know that will happen," she said indignantly.

Yukari raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps not, but have you ever seen the aftermath of a massacre? Because I have. And let me assure you, once the mourning and counseling have passed, anger will be quick to set in, and any old grudge and hurt will be dug up and amplified. Finger-pointing is incredibly common, and Sonozika has many, many fingers. Metaphorically speaking, of course."

"All of that because of him," Reimu muttered. "You're telling me that guy is really that bad?"

Yukari snorted. "Reimu, have you met the man?"

"Then do something about him! You're like the empress of everything, right? Fire him or something!"

Yukari stared. "Oh yes, what a fantastic idea. Just go and dispose of a major community's lawful leader, with no justifiable cause, in a time when all of his people will be at their angriest and most paranoid. Yes, that will go over real well. The man may not be Mr. Popular, but he does have most of the Humans' respect. An asshole, to be sure, but he's their asshole. And during a time of crisis, they're all the more likely to rally around him."

"So there's nothing you can do?" Reimu seethed.

"Of course there is," Yukari said, her voice neutral. "Rather than try to shut down his campaign while it's in full force, I prefer to prevent the catalyst that will set it off in the first place. Like, per se, the wholesale slaughter of his people at Rin Satsuki's hands?"

Reimu's knuckles popped as she gripped the armrests. "She is not going to go on a murder spree if you'd just shut up and listen to me!"

"I'm sure you believe that," Yukari said. She uncrossed her legs. "And you'll get your chance to try to convince me of that. But I'd really like to complete the ghastly picture you've been drawing for me." She rolled her eyes upward. "Now, the Underground is straight out for obvious reasons. And I seriously doubt that Tenshi was here as your ally, so would I be correct in discarding Heaven as well? Yes? Good. The Netherworld? No? No surprises there." Then her eyes narrowed. "What of Makai? Did those two heavenly rejects-"

"No, no, no!" Reimu said quickly. "Not them, haven't talked to them either."

"No? Interesting. You probably should have, as their aide in dealing with the Shadow Youkai problem would have been invaluable." Yukari shrugged. "And I'm curious: thus far, you've claimed that you went to Byakuren to help win Kanako over, indicating that this was not their idea. And yet, I find it very hard to believe that this, ah, enterprise sprang from you, considering how open you were to executing Satsuki when this first began. Tell me, before we continue rooting out all the people you've talked to, were we to work backward from yourself, would we find anyone?"

Reimu choked.

"Again, I thought so," Yukari smirked. "Now, who could it have been? Byakuren would be the most likely suspect, but she's already been eliminated. Hmmm, Sakuya Izayoi? Not bloody likely. Eirin herself, maybe? Perhaps this is her way of atoning for…But there is that impressive and extremely expensive arsenal she's equipped her bunnies to hunt the girl with. Still can't write her off completely though, as she does have the…Oh wait." Yukari pursed her lips. "Now that I think about it, there was someone closer to Satsuki than Eirin. Someone who, if I recall correctly, attacked Eirin and ran off a few weeks back and hasn't been seen since. Someone who isn't exactly known for having an especially large brain." She waited for an answer, and when none came, she said, "Reimu?"

Reimu didn't look at her.

"Reimu? Did Reisen Udongein talk you into this?"

Reimu considered lying, but she wasn't Genji. She had no chance of successfully deceiving Yukari. "Yes," she said.

"And is Reisen currently hiding in your shrine?"

"Yes."

"I see." Yukari's eyes closed for a moment, and opened again. "So, on top of everything, you are also hiding and aiding a terrorist. Fascinating."

Reimu's head jerked up. "Wait, terrorist?"

"She assaulted the acting head of one of Gensokyo's communities, stole sensitive property, and disappeared. Also, she is actively seeking allies to help her assist a dangerous fugitive carrying a deadly weapon."

"Oh, quit it with the wordplay!" Reimu snapped. "She saw the guns Eirin had bought, tried to run away, and Eirin tried to stop her. Reisen freaked out, zapped her on reflex, and got scared. That's why she ran to me. She's screwed up, sure, but that doesn't make her a terrorist."

"In my experience, actions carry more weight than intentions," Yukari said. "And tell me, when she fled to your shrine, was that where this all began?"

Reimu shook her head. "No, she came to me during the Ringleader meeting. I talked to Kanako and Byakuren soon after."

"Ah. That explains why she fled to you for shelter. No doubt you're the only person she trusted. But Reimu, come on. What were you thinking, taking in a criminal? You risk having the entire Bamboo Forest come down on you-"

"She claimed sanctuary," Reimu snapped. "I gave it. It's allowed. If Eirin has a problem with that, tough."

"You'll be singing a different tune when she presses the matter in person," Yukari said. "But my, what a tangled web of calamity you've woven around yourself. But getting back to your allies, are there any more that…" Then her brow knit together in a furious scowl. "Oh, wait, wait, wait. That old fool had better not have…"

"Huh?" Reimu said, confused. "What?"

"What about the Dragons? Are they involved in any way, shape, or form?"

Reimu's head jerked back. "The hell? The Dragons? Why would I be working with the freaking Dragons? How would I even begin to…"

"Answer the question, please," Yukari said.

"No! No, I'm not! Hell, the only one I've ever met is that one that lives with Kasen, and she went on some kind of pilgrimage back in September, haven't seen her since! Besides, it's the freaking Dragons! Like they'd ever listen to…" Reimu scowled. "The hell is up with you?"

While Reimu had been speaking, Yukari's face had gone to war with itself. She had been trying to maintain her poker face, but her mouth kept trying to force itself into a smile, and she had the look of something trying very hard not to laugh.

"Nothing, nothing," Yukari said. "A private joke." She cleared her throat.

"Okay, you know what, I've had enough of this bullshit." Reimu leapt to her feet, stomped over to Yukari, and jabbed a finger at Yukari's face. "You wanna know who's part of this? It's Hakurei Shrine, Moriya Shrine, and Myouren Temple. And Marisa too. That's it. No one else. So stop going through the godsdamned list and accuse everyone of stabbing you-"

Then next thing Reimu knew, she was sitting back in her chair with her finger still outstretched, a healthy distance from Yukari. She blinked, and then glowered. "And stop doing that!"

"Oh, but it is necessary," Yukari said, ignoring Reimu's protests. "The scenario I just described to you is but a fraction of the calamity that can come to be because of your failure to think your actions through. You see, that's the difference between you and me: you have gotten yourself worked up over one little girl. Me, I have to worry about all of them."

…

Remilia's hand was still trembling, but she managed to keep it steady enough to dip into the bowl of soup and bring it to her lips. Her eyes fluttered with ecstasy as she sipped the steaming broth.

Sakuya stood at her mistress's side, ready to assist with a steadying hand or a napkin should it be necessary. To be truthful, it was difficult to even let Remilia feed herself. The urge pamper her mistress like she's never been pampered before in her long and spoiled life was almost irresistibly strong, but enough of Remilia's stubborn pride remained for her to insist on holding her own silverware. She had consented to letting Sakuya bathe and dress her in clean clothing, but then, she usually did.

Her mistress's condition was just as bad as she feared, and Sakuya didn't know if she would ever forgive herself for allowing Remilia to decay this far. The first stage of blood starvation! What had she been thinking? Thank the gods for Patchouli's merciful disobedience. The magician was sleeping at the moment and had made it clear in no uncertain terms that harsh repercussions would befall anyone foolish enough to awake her, but Sakuya fully intended to make her gratitude known in the future, just as soon as she figured out how. But for now, her attention was fully occupied with her mistress's care. It was just her good fortune that vampires were evolved to survive on a liquid diet to begin with, so tomato and basil soup mixed with purified blood was just what the doctor ordered.

Remilia managed to finish most of the spoonful, but her hand's shaking got worse, making the rest spill. Sakuya gently covered Remilia's hand with her own, keeping it stable.

"Thank you," Remilia murmured as she lowered the spoon. "Even if I do feel dreadfully silly right now."

"No shame in accepting help when it's needed, mistress," Sakuya said, dabbing at the side of Remilia's mouth with the napkin.

"Hmmm, yes, I suppose." Remilia stared down at the still full bowl before her but didn't lift her spoon for another sip.

"Mistress?" Sakuya said, worriedly tilting her head. "Is there a problem with the soup? I can have it replaced if you're not in the mood for tomato."

"What? Oh, no, no, no," Remilia said with a weak laugh. "No, it's delicious, as always. It's just…" She sighed. "I've been such a fool."

Oh, so that was what it was. "We all we were, mistress," Sakuya said graciously.

Remilia looked up to her. Her crimson eyes were still pale with weakness, but they twinkled with amusement. "Hmmm, I noticed that you did not try to convince me otherwise."

"Far be it from me to contradict my lady," Sakuya said, her voice grave.

"Ah, well struck," Remilia said with another squeaking laugh. "But you're not right."

Sakuya frowned.

Remilia sipped at another spoonful of soup, this time managing not to lose any. "We weren't all fools. At least, Patchouli wasn't."

"In many ways, she is the biggest fool of us all," Sakuya said with an air of gravity. "Just not in this specific situation."

That made Remilia laugh harder. It wasn't much by her usual standards, but it was a heartening improvement. "Ah, truer words have never been spoken. But even so, we all owe her a debt."

On that point Sakuya was in full agreement.

She stayed by Remilia's side until the little vampire managed to finish almost all the soup, then she helped her lift the bowl to drain the rest.

"Ah, well, that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be," Remilia said as Sakuya wiped her face.

"Not at all," Sakuya said. "Would you like another-"

Suddenly Remilia's stomach gurgled, quite loudly. The vampire and her maid looked at each other and this time they both laughed.

"Well, I suppose that answers your question better than I ever could, wouldn't you agree?" Remilia said, patting her tummy.

"Completely, mistress," Sakuya said as she drew another ladleful from the silver pot and refilled Remilia's bowl.

"Oh, and ah…" Remilia said suddenly.

"Yes?"

"Do you by any chance have any of those little cookies? The crunchy ones with the chocolate coating?"

Smiling, Sakuya rose to her feet. "Of course. Let me go get them."

She pulled her pocketwatch from her apron pocket. Fortunately, the damage it had taken during that route with Yuuka Kazami had not been permanent, and with Patchouli's help she had fixed it within the first week. Of course, given the state her mistress had been at the time, she had found little to celebrate in its repair, but it had been a small blessing nonetheless.

Clicking it, she stepped off the path of time and left the room, leaving a frozen Remilia behind. She felt an uncharacteristic bout of giddiness, and caught herself skipping down the stairway on the way to the kitchen. Thank goodness all of the mansion staff she passed were as frozen as their master and thus incapable of seeing her, but even then she wouldn't have minded much. She had made enough of a fool of herself already; a little more embarrassment wouldn't hurt her much. Truthfully, she found it hard to care about such things. Remilia was once again in her right mind and returned to her. It was as if Sakuya had been wearing clothes of lead these past weeks and only just had them removed. True, Flandre's absence still cast a heavy shadow over the mansion, but there was so little joy to be found these days, so Sakuya was going to take it where it was found, and Remilia's return was certainly a cause for celebration.

And from the look of things, she wasn't the only one who thought so. All of the fairies that she passed were wearing cheerful smiles, a welcome relief from the fearful expressions that had been the norm as of late. Smiling wide in return and with a bounce in her step, Sakuya passed by one group of fairy maids and turned toward the door that led to the kitchens.

Then she stopped in her tracks. The smile faded away.

Wait a minute…

…

Deep Within

Entering the mansion had been surprisingly easy. Most everyone seemed to be inside for some reason, including the gate guard, and no one had noticed Rin sneaking in through one of the side doors. Having spent a solid week trying to keep the ever-persistent Marisa Kirisame from entering the place, Rumia had a working knowledge of the easiest points of entry.

Once inside, there were enough of the fairy maids moving around in groups that Rin was able to tag along with one after another, using them to blend in as she moved through the corridors.

"So, where's the library?" she asked.

Rumia frowned as she searched her memory. "I don't really know this part of the mansion. I was only here for like a week and spent most of it outside. Try to find that big room in the front, the one with all the staircases. I think I can find it from there."

"The foyer?"

"Whatever. That one."

Rin nodded and kept moving through the hallways. Rumia kept searching for any recognizable markers, but nothing popped out at her.

"This place is big," Rin said, wonder in her voice. "I mean, this place is really, really big."

"I know, right?" The group of maids they were following passed through a some kind of sitting room full of rich furniture done up in red satin and gold trim. It was easily larger than most monarchs' banquet halls, complete with a lilypad-filled fountain in one corner. "Miss Sakuya does something weird with that pocketwatch of her, makes it bigger on the inside than on the outside."

"Wow," Rin said as she paused to stare at a gem-encrusted grandfather clock that was topped with a golden carving of a bat with its wings spread wide. "That's kind of neat, actually."

"Yeah. Kinda makes you wonder why Miss Marisa only ever went after the books and the magic doodads. I mean, look at this stuff!"

With great reluctance Rin turned away from the wealth that surrounded them to continue the search. They weren't on a sight-seeing tour after all, even if the Scarlet Devil Mansion held more marvels than most museums.

The next hallway had a row of nine-meter tall windows along its left side. "Okay, we're on the edge," Rumia said. "So, just follow this, and it should take us to the big room sooner or later."

Rin nodded and moved along. The small group of fairies was heading along the same way, so Rin was able to continue to use them for cover. Paying no attention to the fact that they had picked up a tagalong, the fairies chatted happily amongst themselves. Distracted with their mission, Rin and Rumia only listened with half-an-ear. Apparently Remilia Scarlet had been ill as of late, and was finally on the mend. But it wasn't until a different name was mentioned that the two invading youkai began to pay real attention.

"Everything's almost back to normal!" said one of the fairies. "And when someone rescues Flandre, everything will be all right!"

Rin's head jerked back. She exchanged a brief glance with Rumia and then leaned in closer to listen.

"I don't know," said another fairy. "I'm actually kind of relieved she's gone. I mean, it sucks for the mistress, but at least we don't have to worry about her getting out and tearing us apart anymore."

"Yeah, remember the last time that happened?" said a third. "I had nightmares for weeks!"

A wide smile grew on Rin's face. "Did you hear that?" she said excitedly. "Flandre Scarlet's gone!"

"I'm right here, of course I heard!" Rumia said. She began to smile in turn. "Well, well, well, finally something's going our way!"

"I know, right?" Rin jumped up and started looking a little dance. "I mean, now we have nothing to worry about! She was the only one who could fight us, and with her gone, that means-"

"Wait one moment!" shouted an authoritative voice. "You there! Come here!"

Rin stiffened immediately, her eyes popping wide. As for Rumia, she felt like her system had been flooded with ice water. She knew that voice.

There, standing behind them, was Sakuya Izayoi. The chief maid's brow was furrowed. She looked perplexed, and a little angry.

"Where did she come from?" Rin whispered frantically. "She wasn't there a second ago!"

"I don't know!" Rumia whispered back. "Just don't freak out! Maybe she's talking to one of the other guys or just wants us to do the laundry or something."

Indeed, the other fairies they had been following had also stopped and were staring at Sakuya with naked apprehension. They moved toward her, but she held up her hand, stopping them.

"No, not you four," she said. "I know you. Go about your business. I need to talk to her."

She was pointing straight at Rin.

"She can't see through my disguise, right?" Rin said. She was starting to shake. "This has gotta be a mistake, right?"

"I don't know!" Rumia said. "Just…hold it together, okay?"

Sakuya frowned as she leaned in close, her icy eyes studying Rin's face. Then she said, "I remember the names and faces of every fairy, youkai, mortal, demon, spirit, and other sentient being to have ever worn one of my uniforms. And I am quite certain that I've never seen you before in my life. So tell me, who are you, and what are you doing in this house?"

…

Reimu was growing angry again. "You think I don't care about them too?" she demanded. "You think I'm just singlemindedly focusing on Rin and forgetting about everyone else? I've got the same worries as you! I've just got one more person I intend to save than you!"

"If it were that simple, our lists would be identical," Yukari said. "Unfortunately, it's not, so they're not."

"Look, I understand that-"

"No you do not," Yukari said harshly. "You cannot, so don't pretend otherwise. You are mentally incapable of grasping the peril our home is in right now, and thus fail to understand how much worse you are making things."

The color in Reimu's cheek rose. "Hey, where in the hell do you-"

"Where do you think? You cannot understand the situation we are in because, to be quite frank, you do not understand death."

And Reimu was struck dumb.

"You just don't understand it, Reimu," Yukari said with a small wave of her hand, her voice weary. "You've tasted it here and there, certainly, but that's not the same thing as seeing the aftermath of a horde of invaders, of walking through the charnel house that had been, just the day before, a thriving village that had never been a threat to anyone, the dirt turned to mud from the blood, the heads of the children stuck on pikes as a warning, their bodies left out for the wild dogs. You've never had to descend upon a mighty metropolis, filled with just as many innocent as guilty, fully intending to annihilate every living thing within with her own hands. You haven't watched generation after generation of friends and enemies grow old and die, to be replaced by the next batch in turn. You've never denied a starving family entry to your personal paradise, because they carried an incurable curse that would have spread to your people as soon as they stepped foot inside. You haven't watched your friends and colleagues fade away and vanish because the people who had once paid them faith and devotion decided that they didn't need their help anymore." She closed her eyes and pressed two fingers against her forehead. "Wait until Marisa goes insane and you're forced to end her life yourself, then you can claim to understand. At least, I'd acknowledge you as a junior member of the club."

Reimu's throat was now so thick that she didn't dare try to speak. Because as much as she wanted to tell Yukari to shut up, that she didn't know what she was talking about, hadn't she had those same thoughts just a few minutes ago, when that woman, Meira, had died for her? Hadn't watching someone lose their life in her place shaken her up so profoundly that she had been in a near-daze for a good portion of the cleanup? She imagined having to witness such things again and again over the centuries, of having to do the killing herself because no one else could.

What kind of person would she become, to have seen so much death and caused so much of it herself? To continue on, year to year, decade to decade, century to century, with so much blood on her hands and knowing full well that the future would only make them bloodier?

The answer was simple: Ask Yukari.

Studying Reimu's face, Yukari nodded slowly. "Yes, I've done as much, and will do so again. No, I don't enjoy it, I would rather not have to resort to such measures, but you know as well as I do that sometimes, you just don't have any other choice. It doesn't happen very often, but live as long as I have, with the responsibilities that I have, and you'll find that it adds up."

Reimu found her voice then, though it was thick and rough. "Why do you care?"

"Excuse me?" Yukari blinked. "I didn't catch that."

Taking a deep breath, Reimu tried again. "Why do you care? You're…you're a youkai, an immortal. You don't see death the same way we do. Why would you care about all the people you've killed? Hell, why would even care enough to kill in the first place?"

"Oh, that's easy enough to answer," Yukari said with a small shrug. "I love this county."

…

Deep Within

Rumia inhaled sharply. Damn it, why did all their attempts to be stealthy always blow up in their faces? Even with the combined powers of a Nue and a Tanuki things went wrong. It just wasn't fair.

"Okay Rin, keep cool," she said. "Don't freak out, and, uh, just tell her what I tell you, okay?" She tried to keep her own panic levels down as she wracked her brain for a suitable cover story. "Uh, say that Miss Patchouli was, was, was using you to test out a…a face changing spell thingy, and it got stuck!" That actually wasn't half-bad, given the circumstances. Pleased with herself, she nodded and added, "Or you liked the new more than the new one! Miss Patchouli is always doing weird-ass experiments on people…which I just remembered that you already know…so she might buy that!" She waited for Rin to follow her script. When she didn't, Rumia cleared her throat and said, "Rin? Any moment now. Hello, you listening?"

She wasn't the only one to notice Rin's lack of response. On the screen, Sakuya was also growing impatient. "Excuse me, are you mute? Or have you simply been struck speechless? Perhaps you are unaware of how things work here, but when I ask a question, I expect an answer." She flicked her right hand, and three of her trademark silver knives appeared between her fingers. Rumia, having been on the wrong end of those knives on at least one occasion, shuddered.

Rin, however, wasn't intimidated. In fact, she still hadn't moved at all. She just remained in place, staring at the screen with a look of open curiosity.

"Rin!" Rumia hissed. "Come on! You're about to blow our cover!"

"You know, I was thinking," Rin said, not taking her eyes away from Sakuya.

"Really? That's a first," Rumia snapped. "And can you save the deep thinking for a time when we're not-"

As if she hadn't heard her, Rin waved an arm at Sakuya. "Flandre Scarlet's gone, so why do I have to be afraid of her again?"

…

The strange fairy had still not given Sakuya the answer she had demanded. Instead, she just hovered there, staring stonefaced.

As for Sakuya, she was starting to grow worried. In her experience, when such diminutive creatures such as fairies showed neither fear nor aggression, it meant there was more to them than met the eye, especially when they had been caught trespassing. Keeping her thumb at the read over her pocketwatch's button, she held up her knives in plain view. "You are trying my patience," she said. "I will give you one more chance. If you do not respond, you'll be cut to ribbons."

"Is that so,"the fairy said suddenly, speaking for the first time. "And I'm curious: after I resurrect, then what will you do?"

The answer to that question would be to swat her outside and kick her over the gates and send her flying with a knife sticking out of her backside, but now that Sakuya had proof of the fairy's hostile intentions, she was no longer interested in asking or answering questions. She brought time to a stop and set to work: swiftly moving over, under, and around the fairy, hurling knives as she went. When the fairy was surrounded by a sphere of gleaming silver, she put a healthy distance between herself and her victim and let time and physics take their course.

Now released from Sakuya's hold, the knives flew forward to impale the fairy from several dozen directions, sticking to her like a humanoid porcupine. But though that space now contained more knife than fairy, she didn't die. She didn't even stagger.

Oh, this wasn't good.

The fairy reached up with one knife-covered arm to pull out two blades that were holding her mouth shut. "Yes, I remember you and your knives; and believe me, I also remember very well how much they hurt. But you wanna know the funny thing about that? Once I get hit by the same thing enough times, it stops hurting. And you already used up all your tries nine years ago."

And then her body started to suck the knives in.

All of the joy Sakuya had been feeling from Remilia's recovery was washed away by a flood of ice-cold fear. A horrible realization was dawning, one that was almost too terrible to contemplate. No, it couldn't be. Not here, not now.

The fairy finished absorbing the last of the knives and showed no injury for it. Then her body warped and morphed into a shifting blob of color, which shrank into a new form: one of a young youkai girl, with shoulder-length blonde hair, a round face, and clear blue eyes.

Rin Satsuki cocked her head to one side and grinned. "But I guess the real question is this: do you remember me?"

Sakuya's interactions with Satsuki had been limited. She had been introduced to the Kirin girl at the start of the experiment, certainly, but of the two residents of the Scarlet Devil Mansion that had been involved, Patchouli had considerably more contact with her, interviewing Satsuki multiple times and running her through endless tests. Sakuya had spent most of her time discussing matters with Eirin Yagokoro and making plans with Patchouli, content to let the others see to Satsuki's care.

Of course, once things had gone completely wrong, Sakuya had done her part to try to fight her off, only to discover that her powers were useless. And while using Flandre as a weapon had been her idea, she had still had very little direction contact with Satsuki. Even during her trial and imprisonment, she had hung mostly toward the back. In fact, out of everyone who had been involved in that calamity, she had been the most withdrawn from the actual test subject.

But it appeared that Satsuki still remembered her, and she had finally arrived to settle that score. And with Patchouli's barrier unfinished and Flandre gone, there was next to nothing they could do to stop her.

Satsuki's form changed once again, this time becoming Sakuya herself. Her double grinned wide and spread her arms. Her fingers lengthened and narrowed, turning into metallic claws.

Sakuya didn't meet her challenge. She stopped time immediately and fled. She couldn't hope to face Satsuki alone, and the others had to be warned. If she hurried, perhaps they could evacuate everyone before anyone was lost. But with Remilia in the condition she was, she was not at all optimistic about their chances.

…

At Reimu's incredulous look, Yukari allowed herself a small smile. "You look surprised. Was my answer not one you were expecting?"

Reimu shook her head. "No, not really. I mean, I know you're really protective of Gensokyo, but…"

"Well, you're not wrong." Yukari leaned her head back, her eyes misting over. "I love this country. I love watching the moon rise. I love wandering through the forests. I love it when wild youkai try to pick fights with me. I love watching the cherry blossoms fall. I love the long fishing trips Chen always insists we go on at least twelve times every summer. I love watching the setting sun, on the rare occasions that I get up early enough to watch it.

And I love the people. The Humans who always seem to be overcompensating for something, the Tengu who always seem to have detached their mouths from their brains, the Kappa believe that there is no problem that can't be solved with lots of explosives, the Celestials who all seem to have cotton candy for brains, the fairies who'll cheerfully attack the same overpowered monster in the evening that had blown them up that same morning, the Oni who only emerge from their drunken hazes when they find something they haven't smashed yet, the Kirin with their ridiculous fashion statements, the Satori who insist on loudly providing commentary for every embarrassing thought that crosses your mind and then act surprised when no one wants to be around them, and the list goes on. It's a country of silly children, and while it occasionally drives me up a wall, I love the fools that inhabit it."

"Okay, fine," Reimu said. "But still, how the hell does that give you the right to do the things you do, to be so cold as to just point at someone and say 'Okay, you need to die, so these people over here can live'?"

"Ah, now we get to the heart of the matter," Yukari murmured. "I thought this would come up sooner or later. And for your information, I am not so blasé with the lives of others as you've been led to believe. I simply have lost such reservations a long time ago, and gratefully parted ways with the delusion that you can always save everyone. Reimu, wake up. As hard as it might be to face, sometimes it is necessary to sacrifice someone else's life to keep everyone from dying. You simply have the misfortune of living through one of those cases."

"Yeah? And you're willing to sacrifice anyone if you had to?"

Yukari's eyes glimmered. "Oh, I see where this is going. You're going to name off a bunch of my personal friends and try to catch me playing favorites. Nice try Reimu, but I have let, or even caused people I was close with to perish in order to save this country. And before you ask, yes, could include yourself. As fond as I am of you, and as hard as I will fight to protect you if I can, your life is not worth more than the whole of Gensokyo. No one's is."

"So that's what we are to you?" Reimu spat. "Potential cannon fodder? Sure, you may, ahem, 'like' us and all, but you still just use and dispose of people so you can stay safe in your little paradise-"

Despite her weakness, Yukari was on her feet in an instant. The anger that had been simmering below the surface had just boiled over. "Reimu Hakurei," she said in a harsh whisper, almost a growl. "As much as I am willing to indulge your insolence, my tolerance only goes so far. Next time, think before you accuse me of such things."

Reimu was struck dumb. While she knew that Yukari wasn't happy, she hadn't expected such an open display of anger.

But as she thought about, she understood why Yukari had taken offense. Yukari was in the condition she was in because she had put herself on the front lines to protect Gensokyo. Sure, she had manipulated others to help give her an edge, and sure she had probably planned to have the fight with Yuuka Kazami ended before she was wounded, but the fact remained that, once the plan had collapsed, she had still kept fighting. According to what Ran and Genji had told her, the reason Yukari was so hurt was because she had used her very soul as a weapon, even after learning that doing so could result in its destruction. And even after, she had still exerted herself to save her remaining allies. Those weren't the actions of someone content to sit on the sidelines and let others shoulder the danger in her place.

Reimu took a slow breath and let it out, releasing her previous hotheadedness with it. "I'm…sorry," she said. "I got upset and wasn't thinking. Sorry."

Yukari glowered at her, but then the anger seemed to leave her as well. "Accepted," she said grudgingly. "Just so long as you understand."

She gingerly returned to her seat, wincing as she did so. "Stupid," she muttered. "Shouldn't have moved so fast."

Reimu hesitated, and then said, "You…really will do anything to protect Gensokyo, won't you?"

"Egad, Holmes," Yukari said, giving her a look. "You are just now noticing?"

Reimu wasn't sure what "Egad, Holmes" meant, but she assumed it was some foreign phrase. The implied meaning was clear enough. "Even if it kills you?"

"In a second," Yukari whispered. "Preparations have long been made for the Hakurei Barrier to survive in the event of my death, so yes, I would."

A silence fell between them as Reimu struggled to think of what to say next. Then Yukari surprised her by asking, "Do you know why I founded Gensokyo in the first place?"

Reimu blinked. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Yukari settled back into a more comfortable position and folded her hands in her lap. "Because Reimu, much as learning the full extent of your plan and who exactly you had gotten involved was necessary to calculate how much damage control might be needed, a full understanding of my position and motives is necessary if this dialogue is going to go anywhere. And the root of that is found in Gensokyo's genesis. So I ask again: do you know why I went through all the trouble of taking a significantly large piece of real estate and physically and spiritually separating it away from the rest of the world, something that required an excessive amount of power, precision, planning, and cooperation from a variety of beings that did not play well with others and in some cases were openly hostile toward me and each other? And not only bring it into being, but ensure its continued existence: making sure that the sun continued to rise and set on schedule, that the weather proceeded as normal, that the land would continue to produce life, and that newcomers could still enter but that we wouldn't experience a problematic amount of magic leaking out? Because let me tell you, it was not easy."

Reimu stared, completely befuddled as to why Yukari would consider this detour necessary. Even with the explanation of "need to know my motives," Yukari wasn't giving her any new information. "Yeah, I know. Everyone knows. You managed to work out a truce with the Youkai Sages and strike up a deal with the Dragon God, and together you created the Hakurei Barrier. It's in all the history books."

"Yes, I know," Yukari said patiently. "But I asked you if you knew why."

"You already told me that too! Back at Pandemonium, remember? Mr. Capital Letter God was becoming really popular, everyone was forgetting their old gods, so you and your buddies decided to up and split before you all faded away!"

Yukari nodded slowly. "That's…also not incorrect, but oversimplified."

"Is there anything about you that isn't?" Reimu said, repressing a groan.

"Certainly. For example, the reason I prefer to hibernate through the winter months is because I find the season to be unbearably dull, save for Christmas of course. That's always worth waking up for. But in this particular instance, the bare summary fails to full encompass the details."

Yukari's gaze drifted upward and her eyes glazed over as she assembled her memories. Reimu felt her neck start tingling again. She glanced to the fire to see if it was doing anything interesting. It was.

"A bit over two thousand years ago, a shift started to occur," Yukari said, her voice a droning murmur. "The big fellow upstairs decided to become an expansionist. Until then, He had contented Himself with a tiny piece of territory far to the west of here, which He guarded, and at times reprimanded, as jealously as I do with Gensokyo. But either this had become too restraining or the time had come to enact a long-awaited plan, but He decided to kick off a movement: a new religion was born, or a continuation of an old one, depending on who you talk to. It really doesn't matter."

Again, the flames took shape, this time of a handful of tiny people composed of white flame surrounded on all sides by tiny people made from yellow flame. Then, one by one, the people made from white fire reached out to touch the people made from red fire, turning them white in turn. These in turn touched their neighbors, who touched their neighbors, until all of the fire people were burning white.

"It started off small, as such things tend to do. A tiny sect, in an unimportant country. Most people considered them a harmless passing fad at best, a temporary inconvenience at worst. But of course, they were neither of these things. It didn't take long for their teachings to take root, and once they had built up steam, well, this part you should already know from your readings."

The crowd of fiery people shrank down to a single white dot in the middle of a flaming globe, showing a collection of landmasses that Reimu vaguely recognized from some of the maps she had managed to find of the Outside World. The dot grew, consuming large chunks of yellow and spreading across the face of the Earth.

"Naturally, this progression saw quite a great deal of resistance, oftentimes violent. However, this failed to hinder the new religion, and in some cases actually helped it. One of the most important lessons I've taken from history is that banning a way of thought is the best way to ensure its survival, and this certainly was the case here. Of course, once they had gained enough power, the followers of said religion also turned to violence and conquest to further their grasp, something I have on good authority that this pissed off the majority of the Silver City's populace. Like they're in any position to judge."

Reimu cleared her throat. "Uh, look, this is all very interesting, but are we going to reach some kind of point here, or are you just planning on filibustering me into submission?"

"Oh, absolutely," Yukari said. "And if you weren't paying attention before, I suggest you start now. Because this is where things become relevant. This is where I came in."

…

It never failed.

Having successfully accomplished within the space of five minutes what Sakuya had failed to do over the expanse of nearly two months and dragged one overly melodramatic vampire back to her senses, Patchouli Knowledge had felt that she had earned her nap.

Unfortunately, her success had seemed to have won her one of the single most irritating organizations known: a fanclub. It seemed that just by giving Remilia a pep talk had caused her to become the toast of the mansion, with everyone lining up to offer words of congratulations, admiration, and oaths undying loyalty. In its proper place and time, Patchouli might have been more receptive, as she often felt that her many accomplishments and discoveries in the field of magic had warranted her much more recognition than she got. But for something so trite as speaking the truth, it just became bothersome.

So, once Hong Meiling had finished parading her around the place and the fairies had wrapped up their fifth rendition of "She's a Jolly Good Fellow," Patchouli had finally managed to excuse herself from the celebrations and retire to her quarters for some much-needed rest.

However, just as she had finally started to drift off into the warm embrace of slumber, some idiot decided to barge into her room and start shaking her by the shoulder.

"WHAT!" she bellowed, swiping out with one hand that glowed with scarlet energy and missing the other person by mere centimeters. "I swear, if we are not under attack right this very second, I will fill your veins with so many clots that the flow of blood will be brought to a standstill!"

"Get up," hissed the person who had waken her, who turned out to be a panicked-looking Sakuya. "There's an emergency. We need to go. Now."

Despite the urgency in Sakuya's voice, Patchouli was still too angered to respond rationally. "What, does Remilia need her diaper changed as well?" she snapped. "Does someone need to put her over their shoulder and burp her? I do believe your meager skills are adequate for that at least."

"I said get up!" Sakuya said. The harried maid grabbed Patchouli by the sleeve and hauled the magician out of bed.

"All right, fine!" Patchouli stumbled to find her footing and yanked her arm away. "What is so important that it couldn't wait un…until…"

Her damned lung problems chose that moment to make its presence known. Her breathing passages closed, her lungs burned, and she started wheezing uncontrollably. Covering her mouth with one hand, she fumbled around her nightstand with the other until it closed around her bottle of medicine. She hastily pulled the cork and inhaled the thick, sweet-smelling smoke that floated out.

As Patchouli soothed her rebellious airways, Sakuya said, "Actually, that whole part of there being an emergency was just to get you out of bed. I just wanted to ask you a question."

Still coughing but now able to speak, Patchouli gawked at the maid. "Wh-what? You dragged me fr-from my well-earned nap to a-a-ask a qu-question?"

"Yes," Sakuya said. "I just wanted to know how you sleep at night."

Patchouli stared at her without speaking. Then she took one last deep lungful of medicine and corked the bottle. "Not well," she said, putting the bottle back on the nightstand. "Given that I cannot nod off for more than a few minutes without some imbecile shaking me awake so as to question me about meaningless trivialities!"

"I meant in general," Sakuya said. In contrast to her panicked voice earlier, she now spoke with deadly calm. "You know, given the things you've done. How do you manage to sleep? How do you live with yourself? Does your conscience bother you at all, or were you born without one?"

"What are you-" Patchouli shut up immediately. Her brain had woken up enough to start putting the pieces together, and the picture that was forming was not a good one.

"After all," Sakuya continued. "You had me in that box for nine years. Probably had me locked away somewhere nearby, yeah? Practically next door. How were you able to sleep, knowing what you had done to me, what you were putting me through?"

Patchouli wondered briefly if she was still asleep and dreaming all of this, but the sensations were too real. She glanced toward the door.

"Go ahead," said the thing wearing Sakuya's face. "I won't stop-"

The rest of the sentence was cut off when a spike of hardened ice slammed through its eye. It blinked the other in surprise, and then smiled.

"The first two times you did that was agony," Satsuki said. "The third was painful. The fourth stung a bit." The icicle was absorbed into its face, leaving her with a perfect blue eye. "But every time after that might as well be the brush of a feather."

Patchouli broke out into a run. She was out of shape, yes, and her usual heavy robes were not at all suited for such activities, but she ran with all her might, out of the door and into the library beyond. True to her word, Satsuki did not stop her, but remained in place, smiling as she watched the magician flee.

…

"I was young," Yukari said. "Well, relatively speaking. Only two-hundred and eighteen years old. And very much enjoying myself, thank you very much."

The fire was now deep red. Reimu watched as it showed her the supposed "young" Yukari, well, acting like Yukari: that is, floating aimlessly through forests, chatting with wispy spirits, and laughing at Humans. Some things just never changed.

"At the time, Japan was much like Gensokyo is now. Well, sort of. Magic was a great deal more prevalent, and youkai and gods were creatures you encountered on the roads rather than discussed rumored sightings. Fine days, to be sure, but like everything good, it was doomed to end."

One of the wispy spirits that the younger Yukari was talking diminished until it vanished with a tiny pop. She turned toward two others, only to have them disappear in turn, leaving Yukari all alone.

"The gods operated much as they do today: their continued existence dependent on the faith they gathered from those would pay them worship. And even then, some were unable to maintain a sufficient level of devotion to survive. Some were patron deities whose family lines finally snuffed out, some were eliminated by rivals, and some were simply discarded and forgotten. I lost some of my first friends that way. And though that was the way of things, I soon became worried. Mortals were so easily swayed, and Japan was not large. What if the time came in which all the gods were forgotten? Or maybe one would grow strong enough to encompass all of the mortals' needs and the others were no longer needed, or the mortals would learn enough to render all of the gods obsolete. And how long before the youkai themselves were likewise driven out? Not a pleasant thought, and though many of my peers felt that I was just being paranoid, that it was natural for old gods to die away to be replaced by new ones, it turned out that I was right. But of course, I often am."

The younger Yukari now stood among a crowd of people, some Human and others not, that had gathered around a single man. This man was urgently telling his audience something important, something that seemed to require a great deal of arm waving.

"One of our young people had gotten adventurous and decided to go see what other lands look like. It happens from time to time, only this one not only managed to go further than anyone else, he also made it back to tell the tale. Quite a rarity, I can tell you. And the tale he told was both strange and frightening. Far, far away was a mighty empire, one that had discarded all of its gods and now only worshipped one. Not only that, they were bound and determined to have all of their neighbors follow their example, through force if needed. Of course, such a story needed to be confirmed, but though I have never been much interested in exploring, I could move about then just as easily as I do now."

The younger Yukari emerged from a tiny gap in the middle of a city full of people, all of them made from white fire. From there, she flew over roads, villages, and fields, encountering more and more of the white fire people, until at last she found someone made from yellow flame: an old, crippled man, wrapped in rags and sitting with his back to a withered tree.

"It was just as the young man had reported. There was a concentration of faith unlike any I had ever seen, and it was all directed at toward a single focal point. A wonderful thing, if you happened to be that focal point. But to any other supernatural being, it was a choking wasteland. I tried to find the old gods, the ones those people had discarded, but there was no trace of them. They had all shriveled up and faded away, all but one: once a youthful god of wine and revelry, he was now a broken old man, abandoned by his followers and left with nothing. He barely remembered his own name, the poor creature. It was then that I knew that sooner or later, this all-consuming faith would find its way to my home and take my people. Maybe not right away, maybe not for another century, but sooner or later, they would come and take away everything."

Then the fiery Yukari was seen speaking to a gathering of a multitude of beings, each one of a different color. The discussion appeared to be a heated one, with one person after another shouting opinions and objections.

"My colleagues were deeply trouble by what I had learned. Some suggested that we prepare our defenses, while others argued for a preemptive strike. However, the smoking remains of those who had tried to stop this new faith's advance quickly discouraged that idea. This was a problem, one that had to be addressed. And as it turned out, we weren't the only ones to think so. There were any number of pantheons and foreign faiths throughout the world that felt threatened. What followed was unprecedented: a gathering of gods, heroes, spirits, and demons from a variety of religions, temporarily setting aside their differences and internal battles in order to decide how to survive in the changing world."

And then the same group of multicolored people stood before a different group. These people were all made from white flame as the ones that had been presented before, but unlike them they were all in possession of six wings apiece. It didn't take any great leaps of the imagination to guess who they were supposed to represent.

"It was the Norse group to come up with the idea, actually. Instead of fighting the inevitable, we would move instead. Each pantheon would create a sanctuary of their own, separate from the world and yet still connected to it, a place where the forgotten gods could retreat to instead of falling to oblivion. Not everyone was on board with the idea, of course. Many saw it as giving up, and refused to have anything to do with it. Those people no longer exist, sad to say. But those of us who chose reality over personal pride went to meet with the guardians of our enemies so as to secure permission to put our plan into action."

"Okay, hold up!" Reimu interrupted. "The hell? You had to ask permission from the people that were threatening to invade you and take your lands just to ensure your own survival? What the hell is up with that?"

Yukari chuckled. "Well, perhaps I misspoke. Made arrangements to ensure that they would leave us alone is perhaps more accurate. And though they weren't exactly thrilled with the idea, word came from upstairs to let us be." She snorted. "I suppose that would be points in the Big Guy's favor, but I'd feel a bit more kindly towards Him if He hadn't, you know, taken our lands."

"But I thought Christianity wasn't that big in Japan."

"Well, maybe not my lands specifically," Yukari admitted. "Our homeland has held out better than most, and it has retained a healthy population of those who still practice the old ways. But facts are facts: the old faith is on its way out. Gensokyo wouldn't be as fruitful as it is without most of the gods and youkai migrating over. Every century more arrive, Kanako Yasaka's household being a prime example." She shrugged. "But returning to the story, even though they had received direct orders to let us go ahead with our idea, the Angels weren't content with that alone. In fact, they wanted payment. And, as I was the one representing the Japan delegation at the time, it fell to me to pay it on our behalf."

Mystified, Reimu could only shake her head. "The hell? You mean their own freaking God told them to leave you alone, and they still wanted you to pay them for the privilege of leaving Japan so they could come in and take over?"

"Perhaps you have noticed that I am not at all fond of the Silver City and its residents?" Yukari said wryly. "That little condition is one of the many reasons. But desperate times called for a great deal of pride swallowing, so in the end, the ones who were most committed to the project agreed. Not happily, mind you, but we agreed."

"And what was the payment?" Reimu wanted to know. "What did they make you give up for your own freaking survival?"

"I don't know," Yukari said.

Reimu blinked. "Uh, but you just said…"

"That, unfortunately, was another condition of theirs, and a particularly cruel one at that. Not only was I to give up something, they also took all memory of what it was. I don't know what I gave them, only that I no longer have it." She sighed. "I can't tell you how many times I've wondered exactly what it was. Power? Some sacred treasure? A lover? A friend? A child? I do not know."

Reimu felt a little sick to her stomach. "So, you mean you might have had a family that you…" She couldn't finish the rest of the sentence.

"It is certainly possible," Yukari said. "I'm not exactly the motherly type, and I certainly have never established any sort of romantic attachments since Gensokyo was formed, but the equipment does work, if you wished to know. I do wonder…"

She was silent for a time, staring at the fire. Reimu didn't say anything, deciding to wait. Some pauses you just didn't interrupt.

Then fire moved again. The tiny Yukari now stood with various members of her own circle. Judging by how the fires around them were leaping up, it had been a time of violent energies being released. And then, overshadowing them all, a massive reptilian head appeared to gaze down on them.

"Once we knew we would be uninterrupted, my companions and I set to work," Yukari continued. "We chose an appropriate spot to serve as the gateway between the old world and the new, spent several weeks working out how to balance the powers we would be wielding, devised a system to keep our sanctuary protected and functioning, and finally started to build it. This of course attracted the attention of a very large fellow, whose presence had been conspicuously absent until then. I'm sure you know what happens next."

Reimu nodded. As she had mentioned earlier, the Dragon God's appearance at Gensokyo's genesis was one of the most important events in their history, as it was thanks to his assistance that the Youkai Sages had succeeded in their enterprise. Also just as well known was his subsequent disappearance after the Hakurei Barrier had finally gone up. Few people knew where he had gone. Reimu strongly suspected that Yukari was one of those people, but she had remained tight-lipped about the whole thing every time someone dared to question her.

"Good," Yukari said. "Oh, and by-the-by, you see that woman hanging near the back, third from the right? That's your ancestor, in case you were wondering. The first of the Hakureis, and the only Human actually present during the event. Be sure to wave hello."

"What, really?" Startled, Reimu jerked up. She stared at the brightly burning figure. "She was there?"

"Indeed. The barrier is actually named after your family, instead of the other way around. You do guard its only official gate, after all."

Now that was interesting. It went a long way to explain why Yukari always treated her with more respect than other Humans. Still didn't explain why she lived in perpetual poverty though.

"What was her name?" Reimu asked.

"Hakurei," Yukari answered.

"Uh, I know that. I mean her first name."

"So did I. I just told you she was the first of the Hakureis. Much like the barrier takes its name from your family, your family takes it from her."

Well, that did make sense. "Okay, but what was her family name?" Reimu asked, mostly out of curiosity. "I mean, before."

Now Yukari was smiling again. It was not a nice smile. "Oh, you are going to love this. Her full name was Hakurei Sonozika."

Reimu sat up straight in her seat. "Hold up!" she shouted. "You mean-"

"Yes, she came from the same family that runs the Human Village today," Yukari said, nodding. "It only made sense, seeing how they were the first Humans to cross over." She snickered. "No doubt that old fool who runs it today would throw a fit if he ever found out, considering how much he detests you and your shrine."

"Uh…" Reimu tried to think of a suitable response, but none was coming to mind. "I, uh…"

Yukari laughed again. "Oh, don't let it bother you. That was centuries ago, and your two families haven't mingled since. Honestly, you're probably more closely related to Marisa than you are to Kotohime. Besides, trace any Human family in Gensokyo back far enough and you'll find connections to the rest."

Well, that much was true, and Reimu found it to be something of a relief. She was on shaky enough terms with Kotohime enough as it was. Having to call her "cousin" would only make things awkward. Half-a-dozen questions sprang up concerning her family's role in Gensokyo's creation, but she decided to let them wait until a more appropriate time.

"At any rate, the rest is, as they say, history," Yukari said, settling back into the story. As she spoke, a familiar landscape appeared in the fire, lush and beautiful. It was Gensokyo: not quite as Reimu knew it, but close enough to be recognizable. People poured in: Humans, youkai, fairies, gods, and many, many more. "This country of ours came to being, and for a time, all was well. Life went on, and it was good. But then, less than seventy years after, we hit upon our first real problem."

…

Already panting with exhaustion, Patchouli bolted from her quarters and into the small sitting area that was between the door and the ocean of bookshelves. She bunched up her muscles to leap into flight, intending to make a straight beeline for the exit, when someone coughed.

Satsuki was following behind her, calm and unhurried. She had dropped her Sakuya disguise in favor of a form that closely resembled the one she had been described as wearing when Patchouli had been at the Ringleader meeting, with flowing ebony hair tied by numerous ribbons, flower-patterned trousers, bone-white skin, lavender eyes, ripping talons, and an aura of twisting darkness, shot through with red and purple.

"Look," Satsuki said, speaking in a voice like a burning crypt. "I know you're in a hurry to go and all, but are you sure you wanna leave me alone with all these books?"

Patchouli came to a sudden stop. The peril forgotten, she whirled around, her hands glowing. "Don't you fucking dare!" she shouted.

"I'm just saying, this is a lot of wood and paper." Satsuki held out her hands to either side, and flames ran up and down her arms. "Seems kinda dangerous if you ask me. I mean, what if someone drops a match?"

Growling, Patchouli advanced. "If you so much as singe a single bookmark, I will reduce that repulsive hodgepodge you call a body to its base components and seal each and every one of them in-"

Then the air was split by an eardrum-shattering cry of challenge and something dropped from above to slam into Satsuki's head, driving her down with such force that the marble was smashed. Patchouli gaped in surprise when she saw Hong Meiling hopping off of Satsuki's prone form.

"Patchouli!" the Chinese guard shouted. "Go! Now!"

Snarling with fury, Satsuki spun to her feet and slashed out with her bladed right hand. Meiling deflected the blow with her forearm, spun around with it, and used the momentum to drive her foot into Satsuki's stomach, driving her back two meters.

"Now, librarian! I'll protect your books! Go!"

The hell she was leaving. Patchouli charged up her energy and anxiously watched as Meiling and Satsuki traded blows, looking for an opening. But before she found one, someone laid a hand on her shoulder. She jumped in surprise and almost discharged the power she had gathered.

"No, Patchouli," said Sakuya, the real one. "There's no point."

"But Hong…" Patchouli protested.

"She can handle herself, at least long enough to keep Rin distracted. The sooner we're gone, the sooner she can flee as well."

Patchouli shook her head. "No, I'm not leaving-"

Then her body erupted into pins and needles. Patchouli tried to move, but found that her motor skills no longer functioned, and instead she collapsed to the floor.

"I'm sorry, I do not have time to argue," Sakuya said as she withdrew her hand from the nerve cluster in Patchouli's lower back. She pulled out her pocketwatch. "And time is now of the essence."

…

Deep Within

Rumia wondered if she should be worried. On the one hand, Rin had completely flipped, and in a wholly different way than usual. Instead of the rage-blinded berserker she had become in the Ancient City or the panicked whiner from just about any other time, she was now a catlike predator. Instead of stealthily paying evil unto those who had done evil to her, she was now out in the open and playing with them. Not only that, she was loving every moment of it. All things considered, it was not a heartening metamorphosis for someone who commanded so much raw power.

On the other hand, Rumia was no paragon of morality. She wasn't evil, per se, she was just a wild youkai, and as such she tended to have a very shaky grasp of ethical behavior. Her primary concern ever since Rin had devoured her had been her own survival, and with that now a near-impossibility, she had resigned herself to the fact that she was probably going to die, and might as well enjoy the rest of the ride. Besides, she had never liked Patchouli Knowledge, so seeing Rin scare the bejeezus out of her had been very satisfying.

At the moment, Rin had temporarily abandoned her two specific targets in favor of going head-to-head with Hong Meiling, the Scarlet Devil Mansion's red-haired gate guard. Rumia wasn't sure if the crazy was responsible for Rin's sudden increase in competency, but though the Chinese youkai was renowned for her mastery of the martial arts, Rin was more than holding her own. Of course having Kaguya Houraisan and Fujiwara no Mokou's shared skills to draw upon probably helped, but even so, it was impressive.

But perhaps even more impressive was that though Rin had accumulated quite the unsavory reputation as of late, Hong Meiling was not showing any fear. Or at least, that's how it seemed to Rumia. Having to view the fight from Rin's point of view made it difficult to tell, what with the quick-moving limbs flying all over the place. Still, it was exhilarating to watch.

At the moment, Rin was taking advantage of her superior strength to keep Meiling on the defensive. The gate guard steadily moved backward, ducking and weaving through the flurry of Rin's slashes and kicks.

Suddenly Meiling cried out in pain. She rolled back, putting distance between her and Rin, and clutched at her side.

"Gotcha!" Rin crowed as she rushed forward. Rumia stiffened when she realized that Rin was focusing on Meiling's neck.

"Hey!" she cried. "Wait a-"

Then Meiling threw herself to the floor. One of her legs swept into Rin's shins, while the other came up to hit her just below the knees. Caught up by her own momentum, Rin pitched forward to slam facefirst into the ground.

Rin flinched. "Ow," she said.

"Really?" Rumia said. "Ow? After everything you've been through, a little faceplant makes you go 'ow'?"

Before Rin could retort, Meiling was already on the attack again. Rumia couldn't see how from her position, but the next thing she knew, Rin was lifted up and hurled backward. She flew backwards and up, smashing through the ceiling and into the room above. Once there, she was able to regain control, twisting her body around to land crouched on a support column.

Less than two seconds later, Hong Meiling came rushing through the newly created hole, right leg outstretched and aimed at Rin's head. However, this time Rin was ready for her. Her head moved just enough for the oncoming foot to crash into the space it had been, and she grabbed the gate guard by the ankle.

Hong Meiling's face changed as she realized just how vulnerable she was now. She tried to twist out of Rin's grasp, but before she could, Rin had already lunged forward and smashed her fist against Meiling's face, sending her crashing back through the far wall.

"Okay," Rin muttered as she scanned the area for her opponent. "Now I'm getting mad."

Rumia cleared her throat. "Um, yeah. About that. Go easy on her, okay?"

"What?" Rin turned to stare at her in bewilderment. "Why?"

"Because I kinda like her. She was the only one who was nice to me when I had to work here."

Rin's face contorted in frustration. She mumbled something angry sounding under her breath and said, "Okay, fine!" She turned back toward the screen. "Have it your way! But don't blame me if she…uh…"

Hong Meiling was nowhere to be seen.

Rin cautiously advanced, eyes scanning for any sign of movement. However, after a while it became apparent that this wasn't a set up for a sneak attack.

"Oh great, she's gone!" Rin complained, motioning toward the screen. "Perfect!"

"So?" Rumia said. "It's not like you were after her. She was just doing her job."

"Yeah, but Patchouli Knowledge is gone too." Rin's eyes narrowed. "Okay, fine. I guess we get to go hunting."

"Yeah. But hey, can we speed things up? I mean, freaking them out is funny and all, but if they decide to call for help…"

Rin frowned, but she nodded. "Right. Keep focused on the mission. Gotcha." Then she turned her attention toward the hole in the floor, the one that led to the library. "Hey, wait a minute."

"What?"

Rin moved toward the hole and peered in. "I think someone's down there. Might be the librarian."

It was then that Rumia noticed something. "Uh, Rin? Is something wrong?"

Rin giggled. "Wrong? You mean besides-"

"Yeah, I mean besides all that stuff you were about to name off," Rumia interrupted. "You're not…feeling any different, are you?"

"Nope. Why?"

Rumia shook her head. "Never mind." But she still felt uneasy. Rin's eyes were different. They normally were bright blue, but now they were noticeably darker, almost violet.

…

"It was a youkai," Yukari said. "One of the younger ones, one of the first Gensokyo originals. I can't tell you how pleased we were when new youkai and fairies started coming into being, as it meant that our plan had worked." For a brief moment, that half-smile became genuine. "And of course, it was hard not to become fond of the cute little critters. I'll not deny, there were many of us that felt somewhat parental toward them."

In the fire, Reimu watched as Yukari and her fellow Youkai Sages floated high in the air. Below, tiny glowing children were coming into being. They started running around the miniature Gensokyo, behaving as children will: playing, fighting, exploring, and enjoying their personal playground to the fullest. Reimu couldn't help but wonder exactly how accurate Yukari's depictions were, given that newborn wild youkai tended to be mischievous pranksters at best, predatory monsters at worst. But then, from Yukari's point of view, it probably amounted to the same thing.

Then she noticed that one figure stood out from the others, one of the girls. Not apart; quite the contrary, there seemed to be more of the children gathered around her than any of the others. Reimu had encountered many a youkai gang in her time, and any decent-sized one had a leader. Sometimes it was official, as was the case with Cirno and her friends; other times, it was just the one the others listened to. She could tell that this one was a leader.

"One in particular started to draw attention from her…well, I guess 'siblings' isn't exactly the right word, but it fits in this situation. She was stronger than most, and the ones she couldn't beat through sheer power she outwitted, earning the others' respect. She was also very charismatic and outspoken. There was a pull to her. When she talked, the others listened, even if they had no idea who she was." Yukari's voice was growing wistful, nostalgic. "Around that time, many of the older youkai, the ones that had come over with us, had formed several little communities, and most of the younger ones were gravitating toward them. She, one the other hand, wasn't interested in having an elder take her by the hand and regale her with tales of what life was like in the Outside World. She wasn't interested past defeats, only future triumphs. And she had no desire to follow anyone's lead."

Now the girl was taking her followers into a secluded part of what would one day be the Wilds. Reimu, who knew the topography of Gensokyo better than nearly any other Human, didn't really recognize it, but given the centuries that had passed since then she wasn't surprised. As she watched, the little gang of new youkai started to etch out a community of their own. Tiny shelters were erected, at first primitive tents and lean-to's before upgrading to wooden huts; a deep trench was dug out in a rough circle around their encampment, far larger than was needed to house their numbers; and jobs were delegated to the members, with some becoming hunters, some becoming guards, other the builders and craftsmen, and so on. Reimu had to admit that she was impressed. Wild youkai were typically unorganized and rarely had the patience to learn any skills beyond the ones they had been born with. And while youkai villages and hamlets existed apart from such civilizations as the Tengu Village and the Ancient City, they tended to not last long. But it was clear that this group was not only taking the creation of their little territory seriously, they fully intended to expand, if the large empty space between their border and the actual settlement was indication.

"I honestly couldn't have been more proud of them," Yukari said. She was now watching her past play out in the fire along with Reimu. There was a faraway look in her eyes. "I mean, it's one thing to carve out piece of territory and say, 'Look here, this is our country now, and it will grow and become strong.' But when the little rodents that you made the country for actually pull their head out of their asses and start making something of it for themselves, well, that's something special. And when we heard that they were actually seeking out relations with the Humans, I think I actually jumped up and down and cheered." She sighed and shook her head. "But like all things, there was a darker side. You see Reimu, our ambitious young leader had heard the same stories that all the young youkai were told, that Gensokyo had been founded as a sanctuary to preserve our way of life from a foreign culture and religion that was steadily assimilating everything around it and bringing the world under a single flag. And that's where we had a problem."

Reimu considered her question carefully before asking, "Yukari, are you talking about who I think you're talking about?"

Yukari's smile became bitter. "I believe so. As you may have guessed, she took the wrong lesson from those stories. Instead of learning that the paradise she had been born in had been bought with a heavy price and she should never take it for granted, her fascination had been with the peril we had escaped, with the all-consuming foe we had fled. She had looked at them, heard about what they were doing, and thought, 'Wow, what a good idea!'"

Reimu's eyes shot up from the fireplace to the mantle that hung over it. There sat an ancient helm of iron. A sharp horn of ivory curved up from the left side, while the one on the right had been broken off. A ring of diamonds, some of them missing, circled its rim, and a gleaming ruby sat in the center of its forehead. It was rough and crudely made, but still somehow beautiful in its noble savagery, and it was clear that it was meant to function as both a crown and a war-helmet alike.

"Minerva," Reimu said, feeling her insides squirm at the name. She glanced down to the fire. The little youkai settlement was now much larger, with proper houses that were slowly expanding to the border, and the trench was replaced by the beginnings of a proper wall.

"Yes, Minerva," Yukari said heavily. "When word reached the sages that our bright young prodigies were planning on engaging in, ah, an aggressive recruitment campaign, Minerva was immediately brought before us and questioned. Naturally, my colleagues were not at all happy about her ambitions, and more than a few counseled that she should be unmade and her settlement scattered."

In the fire, Minerva was now prostrated on her hands and knees before the sages, including Reimu's ancestor. However, Reimu couldn't help but notice that Yukari wasn't standing with the rest of her allies, but at Minerva's side, facing the rest of them.

"But you didn't," she guessed.

"No, I didn't," Yukari said with a sad shake of her head. "I probably should have, but like I said, I had grown fond of the girl and found her little village to be very promising. I argued that her actions were born of ignorance instead of malice, that she just didn't understand the implications of what she intended and thought she was doing the right thing. Then I had a private chat with the girl herself and did my best to explain why forcibly conquering the rest of Gensokyo and setting herself up as queen was a really, really bad idea."

Yukari shrugged. "It seemed to work. The other Sages agreed to give her a second chance. After all, it wasn't as if she had actually done anything yet. And she seemed genuinely repentant and claimed to understand the error of her ways, and so the matter was laid to rest. Life returned to normal and they kept building their city. We watched them for a while, but when no one tried to conquer anything, we eventually moved on to other matters."

"Big mistake, huh?" Reimu said.

"Oh yes," Yukari said. She glanced to the fire. In it, the youkai settlement was now a good-sized town, and the wall was growing ever higher. "Very big mistake."

…

"We need to leave," Sakuya said.

They had all gathered in the observatory, at least all the ones that could be found. The observatory was composed of two levels: first the ground floor, where Koakuma and the maids were huddling together, trembling and consoling each other. The leaders, Remilia, Patchouli, and Sakuya, were on the second level, a silver disc about two-thirds the size of the room that floated halfway between the floor and ceiling. It was from here that Remilia's multi-lensed telescope stretched up through the observatory's domed ceiling. Normally, an illusionary solar system would circle overhead, mirroring the movement of the planets while the dome itself displayed the stars. But no one was interested in astronomy at the moment.

"Leave?" Remilia said, her voice an angry hiss. She was sitting in the swiveling observation chair and though Sakuya had insisted that she avoid unnecessarily putting herself under stress, she insisted in taking a direct role during the strategy session. "Just retreat, and abandon our home to that monster's clutches?"

"Mistress, our home is lost already. We have no weapon that can fight her, no matter of defeating her. And now that she's gained the ability to shapeshift, she'll be able to pick us off with ease."

"Ridiculous!" Remilia retorted. "There must be something we can do. Whatever happened to Patchouli's supposed brilliant security idea?"

"Well, obviously if that was working, Satsuki wouldn't have entered the building, now would she?" Patchouli snapped.

"It still isn't finished?" Remilia exclaimed. "You've had weeks! What have you been doing all this time? Stacking rocks?"

Before the two of them could descend into one of their famous catfights, Sakuya swooped between them. "Ladies, please!" she said, thrusting an open palm toward each. "Mistress, Patchouli has been hard at work this whole time. Her lack of success is due to the extreme difficulty of what she is trying to accomplish, not negligence on her part. Patchouli, the Mistress is still weak. Please do not aggravate her."

The two glowered at each other for a moment longer. Then Remilia's shoulders slumped. "Of course," she muttered. "My apologies. No slight on you skill intended."

Patchouli thought of saying something snappish, but thought better of it. "Well, all right," she said. "But Sakuya does have a point. Satsuki has already tasted the best she and I have to offer once before. And there is nothing in our arsenal that she will be unable to adapt to. If we try to fight, we will be defeated."

Before Remilia could respond, someone started banging on the observatory door. Remilia, Sakuya, and Remilia spun towards it, half-expecting to see a laughing Rin Satsuki breaking in to slaughter them all. More than one of the fairy maids screamed.

But no one broke through. Granted, the sealing spells Patchouli had put in place would make doing so quite the chore, but they were all sure that Satsuki would be able to pull it off. Instead, the person on the other side just kept banging their fists against the door. Accompanying them were a great many voices, all of them calling to be let in.

Sakuya floated down to the door and cautiously approached it. "Who's there?" she said.

"It's us!" said a voice that she recognized as belonging to Fidra, one of her maids.

"Please, let us in!" added Jessi.

Sakuya wanted to, but recklessness was not part of her nature. She glanced to Patchouli, who had come down to join her. "Well?" she said.

Patchouli's eyes fluttered for a moment as she checked the wards she had set up. "It's them," she said. "The rest."

"Are you positive?" Sakuya said.

"Of course not," Patchouli said, a touch of impatience in her voice. "Satsuki might very well have acquired the ability to divide herself, and shapeshift the separations. Or perhaps she now has unmatched skills as an illusionist, able to deceive my wards, though I heavily doubt it. Or it is possible that she can now burrow into her prey's minds and direct their actions, and is now using our friends as a way to trick us into opening the door. And I suppose that it is possible that-"

"Enough," Sakuya said. "Open the door."

The door swung open, and in rushed a gaggle of fairy maids, two of them supporting a limping Hong Meiling. As Patchouli resealed the door, Sakuya did a quick headcount and felt a small twinge of relief. Good, everyone was accounted for. As often as the maids drove her to frustration with their slacking off and messing around, they were still her staff. She was not going to allow any of them to be harmed.

"What happened?" Patchouli demanded of Meiling. "Where is Satsuki? Are my books all right?"

"Mmmmph!" Meiling said, pulling her arms away from the maids and frantically waving them in the air. "Mrrrrif!"

"What?" Patchouli's face twisted up in confusion. "What does that mean?"

Looking frustrated, Meiling pointed at her chin. "Rumpher!"

Patchouli shook her head. "You still aren't making any sense. Speak actual language!"

Sakuya tapped Patchouli on the shoulder. "I believe what Hong is trying to tell you is that her jaw has been shattered, and she would like you to heal it."

"Oh," Patchouli said, feeling a little foolish. "Of course."

She touched Meiling's jaw with a glowing hand, triggering her natural youkai recuperative abilities and accelerating them by a significant multiple. The Chinese youkai's skin shifted and bubbled as the bone fractures came together and restructured themselves.

When she was done, Meiling rubbed her jaw, nodded in satisfaction, and said, "Thank you." She bowed. "Please excuse me." Then she turned back toward the door.

Sakuya stopped her with a hand to the shoulder. "And where do you think you're going?"

Meiling looked surprised. "The invader is still loose within the mansion, and lady Knowledge's books remain in peril. I cannot stop her from here, so I must go to where she is."

"Finally someone is talking sense!" Remilia said as she dropped down to the floor. She took the landing harder than she had expected and stumbled to regain her balance. Within a millisecond Sakuya was at her side, steadying her.

"Please be careful, Mistress!" the head maid implored. "You are still-"

"Yes, yes, I had noticed," Remilia said, brushing off Sakuya's hands. She pounded her fist into her open hand. "But still, Meiling is right! Now is not the time to retreat!"

"We're open to suggestions," Patchouli said, putting one hand on her hip and rolling the other out.

Remilia's brow furrowed and her mouth closed tightly, making her fangs stick out. "All right, just give me a minute…"

"On second thought, maybe you'd better let us take care of that," Patchouli said hastily. When Remilia looked offended, she added, "No offense, but even mild blood starvation has been known to affect a vampire's decision-making capabilities."

"While you are doing that, may I have permission to leave?" Meiling asked. "If nothing else, I can distract her until a plan of attack is ready."

"No," Sakuya said. "You are not sacrificing yourself just to buy us some time."

"Who else will?"

"Not me," Patchouli said.

"No one is sacrificing themselves!" Sakuya said, this time a bit heatedly. "This is going to be a sacrifice-free day!"

"Which includes the mansion," Remilia said, briefly looking up from her pondering.

"Mistress, you know I hate to contradict you, but is the mansion worth our lives?"

"That beast isn't after the mansion. If she were, she would have burned it to the ground already, wouldn't you agree?" Remilia shook her head. "If we were to leave, she will just follow, and we do not stand a chance while out in the open. At least here, we have a wealth of resources at our disposal."

Patchouli and Sakuya exchanged an awkward glance. After all, they were the reason Rin Satsuki was here in the first place.

Sakuya cleared her throat. "Ah, should we at least call for help? Surely Reimu Hakurei or Yukari Yakumo would come in an instant."

"What do you think I've been trying to do since we got here?" Patchouli said crabbily. "But I don't know where Yukari Yakumo is, and Hakurei Shrine is still inside that box of hers that my signals can't seem to penetrate."

Remilia's eyes suddenly lit up. "Wait a moment…"

"What of the GPF?" Sakuya asked.

"The what now?"

"Boxes," Remilia mused, mostly to herself. She stared at Patchouli.

"The Gensokyo Peacekeeping Front!" Sakuya said. "The closest thing we have to a police force!"

"Oh, them," Patchouli said, nodding as if she had known all along. "What about them?"

"They answer directly to lady Yakumo! If anyone can get in contact with her and have her come and catch Satsuki in time, it's them!"

"Catch her," Remilia said, looking from Meiling to Sakuya. "In time."

"Yes, Mistress," Sakuya said. "That is what they can-"

"That's it! Sakuya, you're a genius!" Remilia said, excitedly grabbing Sakuya by the collar. "And you too, Patchy!"

"I know," Patchouli said. "Why?"

"I know how we can beat her!" Remilia said. There was a wide grin on her face. She quickly pointed to her librarian, chief maid, and gate guard in turn. "And all it'll take is the three of you and your natural talents!"

Sakuya frowned. "Mistress, are you certain? What of the GPF?"

"What about them?" Remilia said dismissively. "It took them a ridiculous amount of time to finally bring down Marisa, and Yukari is probably still in no shape to be of any help anyway!"

"Even so, they can quickly spread the word that Satsuki is here, and bring others to…"

As they argued, Patchouli felt someone tug on her sleeve. "Lady Patchouli," she heard Koakuma whisper in her ear.

Annoyed at the interruption, Patchouli scowled and said, "What is it?"

"It's Tokiko," Koakuma said. "She isn't here, and she wasn't with the second group."

"What?" Patchouli blinked. "Wait, I thought she was with you! She was the last time I checked, back during that overblown celebration!"

"Yes, but we parted ways after returning to the library! I haven't seen her since!"

"Patchouli," Remilia said, noticing their conversation. "Is there a new problem we need to be aware of?"

Patchouli cleared her throat. "It seems that my intern has yet to join us, and may still be in the library. My assistant was expressing her concern."

"Tokiko is still out there?" Sakuya said, looking troubled.

"Who?" Remilia said. Then before someone could answer, she said, "Never mind, it doesn't matter." She clapped her hands together. "All right, that just means we need to move more quickly. Meiling? We may need that distraction after all. But do not allow yourself to killed, severely injured, or devoured. We'll be needing your skills more than anyone else's."

Meiling covered her fist with her open palm and bowed.

"Patchouli? Anything you can do to give her an edge, give it to her. And as soon as you can, we're going to need one of those crystal boxes of yours."

Patchouli stared at her blankly. Then her eyes widened as she began to understand.

"Sakuya, while they're keeping Satsuki busy and rescuing Patchouli's intern, evacuate the rest of the staff as quickly and as quietly as possible and then join the rest of us. The fewer bodies getting in the way, the better, wouldn't you agree?"

Sakuya hesitated, but nodded.

"Excellent." Remilia rubbed her palms together eagerly. "All right girls, here's how we're going to catch a monster."

…

Her back pressed flat against a bookshelf, Tokiko inched her way forward to peek out into the next aisle. She was trying her hardest not to breathe loudly, though nothing could stop her heart from pounding.

When everyone had been celebrating Mistress Scarlet's recovery, it had occurred to her that with her boss all but promising to spend the next few hours asleep, now would be an excellent time to catch up on her reading. So she had snatched up the book she was currently going through, found a secluded sitting area, and gotten lost in the story.

However, not half-an-hour later, she had been startled by the sound of fighting from the far end of the library. When she had snuck over to investigate, it was already over by the time she arrived, but given the broken floor and the hole in the roof, something very bad must have happened.

And then some kind of…creepy, glowy monster girl had dropped down through the hole and started moving toward the shelves. Tokiko had been unable to keep from gasping, which had immediately drawn the monster's attention.

Now she was sneaking from aisle to aisle, hoping desperately that she would be able to reach one of the exits before the monster found her. She didn't know where it was now, but every now and then she would hear the sound of someone scampering across the shelves or something sharp being dragged over the floor. It was still here, and it was hunting her. Her only hope was that her superior knowledge of the library's paths would save her.

The next aisle was empty. Biting her lower lip, Tokiko quickly glanced over her shoulder and slipped around the corner. She flew low to avoid making footsteps. Hopefully this thing didn't have a good sense of smell.

Then something dropped down from above to land behind her.

Squeaking, Tokiko whirled around. There was nothing there. She looked up. Again, nothing.

It had to be her imagination playing tricks on her. She continued on. Yes, it was that, and nothing more. The library was huge, and the monster was probably in a completely different part-

Something sharp tapped her on the shoulder.

Nearly soiling herself, Tokiko forgot that she was trying to be stealthy and rushed upward as fast as her wings could carry her, heading toward the top of the towering shelves.

The monster was already up there, sitting on the top and waiting for her. "Boo," it said.

Tokiko screamed and shot back down. She zigzagged through the aisles until she came upon an area with four chairs surrounding a table. She ducked under the table and clutched at one of its legs, all the while praying to every god she could remember for some kind of miracle.

For what felt like an eternity she just lay there, trembling and waiting for her death. This had to be the monster everyone was so afraid of, the one her boss had been trying to prepare for. But they were too late. It was here, it was going to eat her, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Except it didn't seem to have come after her. Seconds ticked by, then a minute, and Tokiko opened her eyes. She was alone.

She looked around, wondering if she should move. She poked her head out from under the table.

And then two eyes of shining violet simply appeared in the air directly in front of her.

Tokiko couldn't even scream as the rest of the monster appeared. It was sitting on its haunches with its forearms resting on its legs not two meters away and staring at her.

"Hi," it said. "Who are you?"

"I…I…I…" Tokiko desperately tried to remember how to speak. "I just work here! I didn't do anything, please leave me alone!"

One of the monster's talons tapped against the inside of its leg. "Where is Patchouli Knowledge?"

"I…I don't know! She s-s-said she was g-going to take a nap! Maybe she's still there! In her room!"

"Already woke her up. Almost had her, but I got interrupted. Now she's gone. Where is she now?"

"I don't know!" Tokiko shrieked again. "Oh gods, please! I don't know!"

"I see." The monster sighed. "Well, do you know where-"

Suddenly the monster's head snapped up and it stared upward, toward the ceiling. It looked back and forth, as if it were sniffing the air.

The next thing Tokiko knew, the monster was gone, skittering its way up the far bookshelf like a long-haired spider. She watched wide-eyed as it reached the top and lunged at something she could not see.

There was the sound of a concussion, and the monster was launched backward to slam against a support pillar. Hong Meiling came sailing after it, feet-first.

Tokiko watched in stupefied amazement as Hong Meiling drove the monster straight through the pillar, and soon the two were grappling in the air, pitching this way and that as they struggled for some kind of advantage.

"Tokiko?"

Tokiko yelped and leapt up. Unfortunately, she had forgotten that she was under a table and ended up clutching at her throbbing head.

Then someone grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out into the open. "Are you okay?" Koakuma said as she helped Tokiko up.

"I th-think so," Tokiko said, rubbing her head. That was going to leave a bump. "What's going on?"

"Isn't it…obvious?" said Patchouli Knowledge as she huffed her way toward her two assistants. "Rin Satsuki…has finally…decided to seek revenge."

Tokiko stared at her. "But the generator isn't finished!"

"Yes, and isn't…that just rude of her, to attack…before we were ready for her?" Patchouli steadied herself with a hand to the side of a bookshelf and panted. "But for now…I need your help."

"Me?" Tokiko said, bewildered.

"Both of you." Patchouli took a deep breath and started jogging again, this time in the direction of her chambers. "Follow me."

Tokiko and Koakuma glanced at each other and moved to follow. As they did, Tokiko stole one last glance up at the battle taking place overhead. Hong Meiling had grabbed Rin Satsuki by the ears and brought her face down to smash against the gate-guard's knee. Well, at least the fight was going well, at least for now.

…

"We were called away from Gensokyo," Yukari said. "Well, most of us. Word reached us that one of our northern counterparts was having trouble keeping their borders intact and was requesting our aid. But when we got there, everything was fine, and no one had any idea who had sent for us."

"A trick?" Reimu guessed.

"Indeed," Yukari said darkly. "In my defense, I was a bit more…gullible then, more ready to take people at their word, but everyone is born with a certain measure of naiveté that is worn away by age and experience. Or at least, it should be."

Reimu suspected that she was being subtly insulted and glowered. Yukari, however, wasn't paying attention to her, but to the fire.

"As you are well aware of, Minerva's repentance was anything but. She still fully intended to take Gensokyo for her own. She just needed us out of the way. And as soon as we were gone, she made her move."

The light of the embers flickered in Yukari's eyes. The scene in the fire was changing. Reimu didn't want to look, but she couldn't help herself. Minerva's settlement was now a high-walled city, with the spike of her citadel jutting out from its center like the needle of a sundial. And out from the city charged her followers, who now numbered in the hundreds. No longer were they a group of eager-eyed children; now they were fully armed conquers. And there wasn't just youkai. Reimu could see a fair amount of Humans among their ranks, as well as several fairies. They descended upon their closest neighbors, a tiny Human outpost, barely large enough to be called a hamlet. And from there, they did as all invading hordes did with their victims.

"Unfortunately for Minerva, she had severely miscalculated in several areas," Yukari said calmly, as if the display of horrific violence taking place inside her fireplace were of no consequence. "She was right to judge me and my fellow Sages to be a dangerous obstacle. However, she was limited by her lack of knowledge. You see, she had assumed that my power over the Borderlands was restricted to within Gensokyo's borders. As such, she had thought we would need to make the journey on foot, and would be gone for months. It never occurred to her that I could be sitting here at home one minute and at the far side of the Outside World the next. As such, once we had learned of our error, we returned home that same day." She sighed. "Unfortunately, we were still too late."

The Youkai Sages emerged into the aftermath of Minerva's invasion and stared in shock at the carnage all around them. The younger Yukari looked like she was in a daze.

"I couldn't believe it. How could Minerva have done this? Why had she betrayed me? There had to be some mistake. A coup, perhaps. A rebellious follower of hers disposing her and turning her city back toward its path of bloodlust. Or she was being controlled by some other being and used as a puppet. The Angels, perhaps. Or Mima."

"Mima?" Reimu said, perking up in surprise.

Yukari nodded. "Yes, she was active back then. She wasn't a ghost yet, certainly, but still had gathered more than her fair share of notoriety. However, in this instance she was not at fault. Eventually I had to face the facts. Minerva had lied to me. She had used me. And as I was the one who was responsible for allowing her to go free, it fell to me to make amends."

Now the tiny Yukari was flying through the air, burning lightning bolts being drawn to her hands like little lightning rods. Minerva's city loomed before her.

"I was devastated," Yukari said. "Heartbroken. Ashamed. And very, very angry. Minerva obviously had not expected me to be back so soon, but she was quick to adapt. As soon as she heard that I was coming, she called back her forces and locked up tight. Unfortunately for her, she was again misinformed about my abilities. She believed that I was like her, only older and stronger. She believed that all of the followers, weapons, and magical failsafes she had been accumulating on the sly would allow her to overwhelm me. She was wrong."

A hail of arrows shot out from the city to descend upon the miniature Yukari. In response she stuck out her hand and turned them around, returning them to the walls. They detonated upon impact, and the walls simply collapsed.

And then the fire flared up brightly, making Reimu jerk back. When it settled down again, there were only two figures within, both the size of one of Alice Margatroid's dolls. One of them was Yukari, who was standing with her arms folded. The other was prostrated before her, face down on the ground. It was Minerva. Lying between them was the same crown that now sat on Yukari's mantle.

"I need not tell you what I did to them," Yukari said. "You've already seen the results for yourself. As for Minerva, once she was beaten and humbled before me, she begged for her life. She claimed that she would spend the rest of her days atoning for her sins, that she would serve me from there on out. Unfortunately for her," both of the flaming figures puffed out of existence, letting the fire burn normally, "I wasn't hiring."

Reimu reluctantly looked up away from the fire. Yukari was already gazing at her. "Now, earlier you asked me if making you sit through a history lecture served some sort of purpose, and it did. You also asked me why I was so cold, so unwilling to consider other avenues. And my answer is this: I've been there, Reimu. I stuck my neck out to save a young girl that I believed to be merely misunderstood, because I thought it was the right thing to do. And as a result, people died. And it was far from the first time. I've made other mistakes, let my heart get the better of me, and others paid the price. I can't allow it to happen again, not this time. There is too much at stake. Rin Satsuki has my sympathy, but she does not have my mercy."

"Furthermore," Yukari continued, this time a hint of steel in her voice. "You also asked me what gave me the right to decide who lived and who died. And to that I give you this answer, which you should have known already: Gensokyo is mine, shrine maiden. Bought and paid for. I may not rule it, but I sure as hell own it. And I protect what is mine. The Angels aren't going to take it from me. Neither is Yuuka. Neither is the Shadow Youkai. I've sacrificed too much to allow it to be harmed by misplaced sentimentalism. This country is more than just my little getaway. It is the entire justification for my existence, and no one, not even you Reimu Hakurei, daughter of Miko Hakurei and descendant of Hakurei Sonozika, is going to jeopardize it and its people. And that ismy answer."

…

The door to Patchouli Knowledge's private vault wasn't thick. Physical resilience was never reliable in her line of work, and she didn't much care for the thought of having to move a heavy door every time she needed something. However, it was sealed with every kind of defensive ward she could think of. And given her considerable expertise in such matters, it should have been harder to penetrate than the heart of a fully-armored oni warrior, which was why the fact that Marisa Kirisame had managed to get inside purely by accident remained a significant bruise on her pride, and would likely remain so for the foreseeable future.

However, she didn't have time for past embarrassments, save for the one that was currently trying to kill them all. Patchouli pressed her hand against the door and deactivated the wards.

The vault itself wasn't large, perhaps the size of Reimu Hakurei's shrine. Thirty of her crystal boxes filled the shelves along the walls, with six more occupying the table in the center.

The ones on the table were the least dangerous, containing mostly books. Grabbing one at random, she keyed in the passcode and popped the lid open. "Empty it," she told Koakuma and Tokiko. "And let's go."

Her assistants were reluctant to touch it. "It's not…dangerous, is it?" Koakuma said, keeping her distance.

"The boxes with explosive contents are kept along the northern wall," Patchouli said with a glare. "The ones containing lifeforms are along the eastern, and the western holds items of a delicate nature. Now, empty the box, and do so carefully, or you'll find yourself inside one."

That galvanized them into action. They worked together, quickly removing the literature inside and stacking them in the corner.

"Good," Patchouli said with a nod. "Now grab it and let's go."

"Wait," Tokiko said as she peered curiously at the box's former contents. She picked one of the books up and opened it. "What are these?"

"Does it matter?" Patchouli said, turning toward her. "They're books, obviously. I happen to own quite a few of them, as you might have…" Her voice trailed off when she realized that the pile of "books" weren't actually books in the strictest sense. But that wasn't possible. That specific box was always kept at the opposite end of the table, wasn't it?

Too late Patchouli remembered that she had rearranged everything after learning of Marisa's burglary escapade and cursed herself for not taking the time to mark the boxes.

"WHOA!" Tokiko said as she stared at one of Patchouli's Outside World doujin comics, her eyes popping wide and her cheeks turning bright red.

"Tokiko, what are you doing?" Koakuma said as she tried to pull the comic away. "We don't have time for…Oh, wow."

Mortified, Patchouli snatched it away from them. "Okay, that is none of your business, you have no right to be going through my stuff, and, and I only have them because Remilia likes them!" She moved between them and the rest of the stack. "Now, please let us remember that the mansion is currently under attack and that we are all in very mortal danger!"

"Right, right," Tokiko said. "But, uh…"

"WHAT!"

She pointed at the comic in Patchouli's hands. "Can I borrow that?"

Patchouli took a deep breath. "Help me move that box now and without complaint, and swear that you will never speak of what you saw in here, and you can have it!"

"Deal!" Tokiko quickly lifted one side of the box while Koakuma took the other, and they carried it out. As they left the vault, Patchouli heard Koakuma whisper, "I'd better get a turn."

Her face now even redder than Tokiko's, Patchouli quickly covered the pile of contraband with an invisibility spell. After all this was over, she resolved to test herself for malicious curses. It would go a long way to explaining the day she was having.

…

As Hong Meiling seized Satsuki by the shoulder and the waistband of her pants to hurl her against the wall, she couldn't help but feel a little guilty. True, the Scarlet Devil Mansion under attack, and true, she and her friends were in very mortal danger. But despite the seriousness of the situation, it couldn't be denied that she was enjoying herself far more than she had in years.

This Rin Satsuki person was good. In fact, she was excellent. She didn't seem to be using any identifiable style, but her movements were quick and graceful, and her every blow was potentially lethal. Meiling couldn't remember the last time she had been challenged at such a level. In a world where disputes were solved by magical bullets and spellcards, it was a rare thing that she got to put her expertise with the martial arts to good use. As such, she was relishing this opportunity to test herself against a true master.

Of course, according to Patchouli and Sakuya this person wasn't actually a master but someone who robbed others of their hard-earned skills and power, something that Hong Meiling, who had worked hard to reach the level she was at today, found to be ethically reprehensible, but the end results were the same. Meiling had always wanted to travel to the Bamboo Forest of the Lost to try herself against Kaguya Houraisan or Fujiwara no Mokou, and now she could fight both of them at once!

Which wasn't to say she was going into this fight armed with nothing but her feet, fists, and reflexes. Satsuki reportedly was armed with a great many of other tricks, ones that could end the fight in an instant should she decide to use them. Fortunately, Meiling had Patchouli Knowledge to help her prepare. Phoenix Fire? It would have to deal with her fireproofing spells. The touch of death? Life-sucking fields of darkness? Those would have to pierce through her stoneskin enchantments, specially designed to cause such attacks to simply wash over her. Of course, Satsuki could always just eat through Patchouli's enhancements, but if it got to that point, the fight would be over anyway, so Meiling might as well arm herself with every advantage she could get her hands on in the meantime.

Strangely enough, Satsuki wasn't bringing her heavier attacks to bear. Quite the contrary, she seemed to be enjoying the fight as much as Meiling, rolling with her punches, ducking her kicks, and rebounding off the walls and ceiling to return with her own onslaught. There was a tooth-baring grin on her face. Just as well. Both Sakuya and Patchouli had made it clear that Meiling didn't stand a chance of defeating Satsuki on her own and could only keep her distracted for a time. So long Satsuki was absorbed by their contest, it gave Meiling's allies more time to do what they had to.

Meiling ducked a decapitating slash and pounded at Satsuki's stomach with her fists several times in quick succession before striking with both palms at once. They hit and hit solidly, and Satsuki was launched back with the speed of a discharged bullet. She recovered, but Meiling slammed shoulder-first into her midriff less than a second later. The two spun in midair, with Meiling coiling her legs back and shoving up as soon as her back was lined up with the floor, sending Satsuki up and through the ceiling.

Well, at least they were out of the library. Now she had to take the fight out of the mansion. Meiling soared straight up, passing through a succession of holes before emerging in a banquet hall, just in time to see Satsuki cut the supports of the heavy chandelier, bringing the whole thing down.

Meiling rolled to one side, just in time to avoid being crushed but not quick enough to keep one of her feet from being pinned. Scowling, she used her free foot to kick the chandelier off, but Satsuki chose that moment to land feet-first on her head, smashing Meiling's upper torso through the floor and leaving her in the awkward position of having her top half sticking out of the ceiling of one room and her bottom half emerging from the floor of the other.

Then Meiling felt two horribly strong arms wrap around her middle and lift her up through the floor, still upside-down.

"Here's a trick I learned from a big metal guy," Satsuki said. She fell to her knees, driving Meiling's head back through the floor. It hurt, sure, but no more than anything else had.

Satsuki lifted her up again and stepped to one side, fully intending to drive her again through a solid chunk of floor. Before she could do that, Meiling wrapped her legs around Satsuki's neck, used her arms to grab her ankles, and put every ounce of energy into her power of flight, sending the two of them hurtling backward. She prayed that their path would lead them through a window. The sooner they were outside, the better.

It was actually a wall, but the end result was the same. They burst through into fading sunlight, pitching this way and that. The impact had stunned Satsuki, loosening her grip and allowing Meiling to wiggle free. She spun around and propelled her fist towards her opponent's terrible, yet beautiful face. However, Satsuki's open palm was waiting for it.

This time Satsuki was the one to spin around. She drove her other forearm into Meiling's elbow, knocking the two of them into a whirl and sending them tumbling toward the grass. As they fell, Satsuki started laughing, and caught up in the insanity of it all, Meiling joined her.

…

Reimu was stunned. She had come here to plead her case to Yukari, no easy feat to begin with, and she had been defeated before she even had the chance to begin. Granted, the odds had been stacked against her from the beginning, but she had thought that she would get the chance to speak before having her argument dismantled.

And the worst of it wasn't that Yukari wasn't giving her a chance. Quite the contrary, she was sitting patiently, waiting for Reimu to begin. The problem was that Reimu had nothing to say, because Yukari was right. Oh sure, she was still kind of a bitch and many of her methods were…questionable, to say the least, but that didn't change the fact that everything she had said was true.

Rin's life didn't begin to compare to the importance of Gensokyo as a whole? True.

Reimu was in no position to point fingers at Yukari and condemn her for the things she had done and was planning to do? True.

By bringing Moriya Shrine and Myouren Temple into her scheme, she endangered them both and threatened to tear down everything they had worked so hard to build? True.

Rin was fast slipping into becoming the monster Yukari had feared from the beginning, and even if she didn't, the Shadow Youkai would surely emerge and make the decision for her? Very, very true.

"I…" Reimu said as she desperately wracked her mind for something to say that wasn't, "You're right, I'm sorry," but it wasn't coming. "I…uh…"

What was there to say? She couldn't appeal to conscience, because Yukari was already following hers. She couldn't appeal to emotion, because she had known that to be useless from the beginning. She couldn't appeal to logic and reason, because…

Reimu, I may be an idealist. That doesn't mean I'm an idiot.

Wait a minute.

Something had emerged in the forefront of her memory, that conversation she had had with Byakuren some weeks ago, when Reimu had been experiencing some heavy doubts about the wisdom of continuing her efforts. She mentally went over that conversation, reviewing the points that had been made. Then she went over her most recent encounter with Rin, everything the Kirin girl had said and done, both positive and negative. And when she was done with that, she went over everything Yukari had just told her, and compared it to the above.

Reimu started laughing. She couldn't help it. Because in explaining herself to Reimu and justifying how she did things, Yukari had also given her the key in turning her around.

Yukari frowned. "Ah, I'm sorry, is something the matter? Was there a joke made that I missed?"

"No, no, sorry," Reimu said, struggling to bring herself under control. "It's just, I thought of something."

"Oh? And what might that be?"

"You're right," Reimu said.

Yukari had an excellent poker face, but sometimes she didn't bother with hiding her surprise. This was one of those times. "Yes, I know," she said, staring. "Though it's a bit…odd, to hear you say it so plainly."

"Yeah, but hear me out," Reimu said. "You're right about what might happen to Kanako and Byakuren if all this goes wrong. And you're right about how I can't judge you and what you've done. Hell, you're right about a lot of things. But there's one thing you missed."

"Really. Do tell."

Reimu nodded. "I'm not going to deny that doing things my way is super-risky. I'm walking a razor-edge with my flight gone, I get that. And there's every chance I'll take everyone with me if I fall. And then everything will be lost and Gensokyo could burn."

"But see, here's the thing," she continued. "We've talked about what might happen if I screw up. But if we do things your way, then it's all but guaranteed to end in disaster."

…

One hand clutching at the stitch in her side and the other gripping her medicine, Patchouli limped out into the open sunlight. Sure enough, there was Rin Satsuki and Hong Meiling, still engaged in mortal combat. To the gate-guard's credit, she wasn't dead. In fact, just like before, she was holding her own, though to Patchouli's mind it was only a matter of time. Meiling was very good, yes, but she wasn't that good.

If only to illustrate that point, Satsuki suddenly rolled back, putting distance between them, and struck the ground with her fist. There was a small flash of scarlet energy, and the ground literally surged up and outward in a wave. Meiling was only put off her balance for a fraction of a second, but it was enough. Satsuki seized her face with one hand and shoved forward while swept her legs, driving Meiling to the ground. Once the gate-guard was down, Satsuki proceeded to pound at her face with both fists.

Fortunately, Patchouli's enchantments saved her from being split open like a watermelon, but though she managed to fight her way out of Satsuki's grip and restore the distance between them, one eye was already swollen shut and her lip split and bleeding. Furthermore, she was dragging one leg in a worrying matter.

This wasn't going to last much longer. Patchouli frantically searched for some way to keep Satsuki from killing Meiling and then spied her broken barrier generator, still sitting under the protective shield she had raised over it.

"Meiling!" she called as she waved and pointed. "The generator!"

Meiling saw her and nodded. "Don't worry, I won't let her touch it!" she called back.

"No, you idiot! Knock her at it!"

That surprised Meiling enough for her to stand up straight and stare at Patchouli in confusion. Predictably enough, Satsuki took advantage and smacked the gate guard with a sharp elbow to the temple, knocking her to the ground.

As Meiling moaned, Satsuki turned around. She saw Patchouli and smiled. "Ah," she said, her talons twitching with excitement. "There you are."

She started to advance. Patchouli tried to remember what spells she had used against her during their battle nine years ago and finally just went with simple explosion of force.

Satsuki's hair was blown as if stirred by a great wind, but she was otherwise unaffected. Damn it, she was already adapted. She kept coming, the color disappearing from her arms. Patchouli remembered full well what that meant.

Then she spied a marble statue of Vlad Drakul standing in a bed of roses. She seized at it with her mind, broke it from its pedestal, and hurled it toward Satsuki with all her might.

Satsuki caught it with one hand, stopping it cold. Her forearm melted and flowed over the statue, enveloping it completely. From there, it literally was eaten away from the outside in until nothing was left.

"Om nom nom," Satsuki said as she resumed her advance. Her eyes suddenly flared bright crimson. "Hey, I'm feeling kinda hungry."

…

Deep Within

Rumia's breath caught in her throat. She knew that voice. She edged around to get a good look at Rin's eyes. They were shining with anticipation. What was more, they were bright red, like her own.

Oh shit.

…

Well, that was disconcerting. Satsuki's voice had been horrible to listen to already, but now it was downright spine-chilling. Patchouli hurled a bolt of lightning at her. The effects were predictable.

"Just keep doing that. It just reminds me of how much I hate-"

Then she was struck by a blue-and-white blur. Finally she was lifted off her feet and sent tumbling toward the generator, where she ended up sprawled over the dome of the shield

Not questioning her good fortune, Patchouli turned the shield off, dropping Satsuki onto the generator itself. From there, she turned the shield back on, sealing her inside.

Of course, that wouldn't hold her for long. Satsuki had proven to be quite effective against magical barriers the last time around. But that wasn't Patchouli's intention.

She reached out with her mind and felt the heart of her flawed generator. She started charging it immediately, filling its core with as much power as she could summon as quickly as she could. She could literally feel Satsuki stare down at the glowing dome in surprise, no doubt wondering what it was.

And then, before Satsuki had a chance to react, Patchouli turned the generator on.

The last time she had done that, the generator hadn't exploded as its predecessors had. It had just sort of deflated and cracked. But then, the last time she had taken numerous safety precautions and hadn't recklessly filled it with power before throwing the switch. And it hadn't been filled with cracks then.

The long-awaited explosion finally came, this one far more spectacular than the ones that had come before.

The shield popped like a squeezed grape as the magical equivalent of a fireworks display shot out in every direction. Patchouli shied back into the shelter of the mansion as sparkling fragments rained down onto the gardens. It looked as if the sky were raining gemstones. And, in a way, it was.

Satsuki emerged in a daze from the multi-colored smoke. Apparently her concentration had been disrupted, making her body shift between the features of at least four, perhaps five different people. She took two drunken steps to the right and fell flat on her face.

"Very pretty," Sakuya said as she joined the exhausted magician. "Was that what you had in mind?"

Patchouli shrugged. "That was admittedly not its original purpose, but at least it came in handy in the end. Thank you for getting her there, by the way."

"My pleasure. The box?"

Patchouli coughed. "At the ready," she said, inhaling her medicine. "The staff?"

"Safely evacuated." Sakuya nodded to where Meiling had fallen. The gate guard was now gone. "And Hong has recovered and stands ready."

"Good." Patchouli looked over to Satsuki, who was struggling to push herself up. "All right. Let's put the little abomination back where she belongs."

…

Yukari placed one withered arm in her lap while resting the elbow of the other on the armrest and leaning her head against her fist. She crossed her legs and said, "Oh, will it? And no doubt you have supported your conclusion with your long years of experience in such matters." She sounded amused, which only grated Reimu's nerves further.

"I've got more experience in this matter than you do," Reimu shot back. "Because let me tell you right now, Rin isn't anything like all those other people you had to deal with."

Yukari shrugged. "If by that you mean she isn't driven by evil ambition as Minerva was, that she never chose to become what she is today, that she was an innocent thrust into a bad situation through no fault of your own, then yes, she is nothing like Minerva. But neither were a great many of the other problems I've had to deal with since. Let me tell you a story about a perfectly normal young man who, about four-hundred and forty-eight years ago came across a cursed box in his-"

"That's not what I'm talking about either," Reimu hastily interrupted, before Yukari could regale her with another horrifying tale of bloodshed. "I'm sure you've, uh, dealt with plenty of people like that too. I'm talking about what Rin is, not who."

"And what might that be?" Yukari said.

"You tell me," Reimu shot back. "What can she do?"

There was a lengthy pause, and then Yukari uncrossed her legs and said, "Ah, I begin to understand. You believe that I am unable to overcome her, should it come down to it."

"I know you can't."

"Do you now?" Yukari murmured. She closed her eyes and massaged her forehead. "All right then, why not?"

"Because…because…" Reimu ran her fingers through her hair as she tried to gather her scattered thoughts and level out her breathing. "Okay, give me a minute here."

"Of course. Take all the time you need."

Reimu nodded and closed her eyes. When she was ready, she said, "Look, I talked to Genji about this, and he told me the same thing you did, that Gensokyo's been attacked by plenty of monsters in the past, some of them very, very powerful."

Yukari nodded. "Well, he was right."

"But he also told me that none of them were anything compared to what Rin will become, if she loses it completely."

"'If'?" Yukari repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. If. And hey, you've changed the subject plenty of times to go off on your tangents. This time, let me do the talking, without you butting in, okay?"

Yukari laughed, a sound that set Reimu's teeth on edge. "Oh, fair enough. All right then, what is it that you want to tell me?"

"A lot of things you already know, but either you somehow don't realize what they really mean, or you're so afraid of them that you've plunged yourself into denial."

Yukari's eyebrows rose only a few millimeters, but Reimu was willing to bet that she had scored a hit. However, the elder youkai didn't move to stop her, so the shrine maiden pressed on.

"Let's go down the list again," she said, "for what has got to be the millionth time. I mean, I know you must do it daily, right?" She held up her right hand and starting ticking off points on her fingers, starting with the pinky. "First she's got that adaptation thing going for her, perfected by none other than Eirin Yagokoro herself, in ways even she couldn't have imagined. Use anything against her, and she'll get used to it in seconds. Shoot her, and she'll walk right through the bullets. Stab her, and she'll just swallow the sword. Any kind of magic, any kind of weapon, all of them useless. Sure, you'll hurt her the first few hits, but she'll take it and just keep coming."

"Next, there's the Hourai Immortals," she said, moving her ring finger down. "Another one of Eirin's greatest successes. Thanks to them, what damage she takes before adapting will get washed away in seconds. Pound her flat, and she'll be back on her feet the moment there's a break. Blow her apart, like Flandre Scarlet did, and she'll pull herself back together in moments, good as new. It doesn't matter what you cut off, what you blow up, what you squish, she'll just keep healing and staying fresh while you exhaust your energy."

Next was the middle finger. Reimu briefly considered saving that for last, but now wasn't the time to be petty. "After that, there're the guys she got today, Nue Houjou and Mamizou Futatsuiwa. Kotohime told you about that, right?"

"She did," Yukari said neutrally. "And I find it interesting that, despite the fact that Byakuren is going out on a very unsteady limb for her, Rin still consumed two of her entourage. Quite ungrateful of her, if you ask me."

"Yeah, well, maybe," Reimu admitted. "But they weren't acting on her orders at the time. She told me a few weeks ago that they disappeared without telling anyone where they were going, and Nue told me that they were after the bounty, so they were definitely acting on their own. Hell, Nue even told me that she was trying to keep Byakuren from having anything to do with Rin."

"Smart girl."

"Not really," Reimu said. "Especially when she did a piss-poor imitation of you."

Yukari blinked. "Ah, I suppose you mean literally?"

"Yeah. She was trying to scare me off. Didn't work."

"I see." Yukari shrugged. "Well, I suppose arresting her for impersonating a public figure would be pointless. But even so, I doubt that Byakuren will find much solace in the fact."

"Or it'll make her want to attack Rin even less because she'll be afraid of hurting them too," Reimu countered. "And we're not talking about Byakuren right now, remember?"

"No, indeed we are not," Yukari murmured. "Though I should point out that she is a subject that we'll have to return to sooner or later."

"Then make it later. Let's stick with Rin for now." Reimu brought down her ring finger. "Like her weapons, for example. Let's stay with the immortals for now. Take Fujiwara no Mokou, because she sure as hell did. Somewhere, a long time ago, Mokou consumed the soul of a Phoenix, didn't she? Like Utsuho Reiuji did with that dead sun god? It gave her Phoenix Fire, the hottest, most destructive flame known. And now, Rin's got it. And believe me, she doesn't mind using it. You saw what happened to Tenshi, right? And that was with her holding back. If she wanted to, she could set the whole godsdamned county on fire, kick off a raging inferno all the oceans in the world will be unable to quench."

"Very poetic," Yukari said. "Though not strictly accurate. It is possible to snuff out Phoenix Fire. It's just very difficult."

"Yeah, okay. And if the fire had an inexhaustible source, like, say, one really pissed off Phoenix, or someone with the power of a Phoenix?" Reimu countered. "What would win, the oceans or the fire?"

"Hmmm, point."

"And finally, there's the big one, the one everyone's so scared of." Reimu brought down her thumb, completing the fist. "The Shadow Youkai. The avatar of a homicidal Archangel. Something that can kill people with its freaking shadow, and loves doing it. Something so powerful, and so evil, it's got even you pissing your panties."

A flicker of annoyance passed over Yukari's face, but she remained otherwise dispassionate. "A crude way of putting it, but not inaccurate. Fearing such a creature is, after all, a sign of sanity."

Reimu nodded. "Right. I don't even need to go into why she's bad news, and you probably know that better than I do. And not only that, but this time she's hiding behind all that other stuff I just talked about. You can't get to her, but she can get to you, and easily."

…

Deep Within

Rumia lunged, intending to tackle Rin down. A wave of force bowled her over and sent her sprawling.

"What are you doing, Rumia?" Rin said with a playful giggle. "You know that won't work. You can't stop me, nobody can!" She lifted her hand to her mouth and giggled again. "But why would you want to? Isn't this what you wanted, to see your former tormentors twist and scream?"

Scrambling into a crouch, Rumia shouted, "Not with you like this! Crazy Rin I can handle! Bad guy Rin I'm okay with! But not evil Rin! I mean, come on!"

"Evil?" Rin tilted her head to one side. "Is that what I am? Is that what you think of me?"

"What am I supposed to think?" Rumia thrust a finger at Rin's face. "I mean, for the gods' sakes, your eyes look like they're on freaking fire! And you sound like her!"

"Her?" Rin bared her teeth in a ghastly grin. "Whoever are you talking about?"

"The evil me, you twit! The one you were supposed to have killed! The one that killed you!"

The smile vanished. "I did kill her," she said. "I already told you that."

"Oh yeah?" Rumia challenged. "Okay genius, try this: say something, and really listen to yourself."

"What are you-" Then Rin blinked. She glanced down and grabbed her throat. "Wait, what…" Then her eyes went wide and she looked at Rumia.

"No," she said.

"Oh, finally caught on, have you?" Rumia said. "Now look at your arm. Notice something weird about your glowy thing?"

Rin looked. Her aura was now writhing like a pit of snakes, and was the color of a dust storm. Glowing arms were shooting out to connect to some unseen part of her mind. "No," she said, patting her arms and her torso. "No," she said again, her hands going to her face. "No, I…I killed her, I…I'm not going…"

Fascinated and horrified, Rumia watched as Rin literally went to war with herself. The Kirin fell to her knees as she clutched at her face and hair. Parts of her aura dimmed to grey, almost becoming white again, before plunging back into violent colors. The color of her eyes pulsed from crimson to violet and back again.

"I can't…I can't…" Then Rin's head snapped back and she screamed.

The sound of it was simply unearthly. Rumia hunched over and covered her ears as the darkness vibrated with the pain of it. It tore through her mind like a jagged shard of glass. She had no doubt that if she heard that noise in the real world, her ears would be bleeding.

Gritting her teeth, Rumia glanced up. Rin was still screaming, the echoes reverberating through their dark world. But beyond her, on the screen, Rumia saw that their enemies weren't going to let her have her breakdown in peace.

"Oh wow," she said, her voice barely audible over Rin's cries. "This is gonna be bad."

…

Meiling came barreling toward the dazed Satsuki with all the speed she could muster and swung her clenched fist straight to the center of Satsuki's mass.

Now, though Meiling and her allies didn't know it, Rin Satsuki had spent a good portion of the previous day trading blows with two veteran Oni warriors. And when it came to sheer physical power, the Oni were a species that measured their bench presses in units of mountain ranges. They were unmatched, and Rin had taken numerous hits from them and kept going.

Hong Meiling was nowhere near the level of an Oni. She was exceptionally strong, true, but compared to them she might as well be a fairy. However, what she did have was the power of focus, the ability to manipulate and control her chi. And with the proper focus and application of strength, chisels could shatter diamonds, straws could impale trees, and bare hands could shatter stone. And focusing was her specialty.

As such, when the punch connected, it hit with such force that Rin's ancestors probably felt it.

Her eyes bulged to twice their normal size and she briefly flashed through every color of the spectrum. Then she was hurtling backward, a shapeless blob of half-formed limbs and melted faces.

Had she been allowed to continue, she might have gone several kilometers before she even started to slow down. However, simply knocking her away was not her opponents' intention.

Waiting for her beyond the garden's boundaries were a number of glowing hoops, forming a sort of tunnel. As Rin passed through each hoop, a fraction of her momentum was shaved away, bringing her down to a more bearable speed: not enough to allow her to recover, but enough to ensure that she could be caught without compromising the integrity of the waiting net and to give the person hovering next to it the time she needed.

And there, as the end of the tunnel, floated Patchouli Knowledge's box, its lid open and waiting.

Even with the hoops slowing her down, Rin Satsuki still entered the box with the speed of a freight train. As such, the backlash would have been immense, possibly enough to rebound her back out. However, in that fraction of a second between her entering the box's interior and the collision with its bottom, Sakuya Izayoi brought time to a halt. She reached over and calmly closed the lid and activated its security spells. Then she allowed time to resume its course.

The box was rocketed back nearly half a kilometer before Patchouli's slingshot spell brought it back the way it came. It passed through the hoops, lost a significant amount of momentum in the process, hit the ground and proceeded to dig a trench through the garden before coming to a stop in a bed of primroses. And there it sat, completely inert.

Hong Meiling stood still for a moment, staring at it. Then, when she was sure that Rin Satsuki wasn't going to coming burst out she walked out to the box and tentatively touched it with one finger.

Nothing happened.

Meiling nodded. She covered her fist with an open hand and bowed low. "Ill-gotten as your skills may have been, that was still well-fought," she said. "May you find peace in the end."

…

Deep Within

Though she couldn't hear Hong Meiling's words, it wouldn't have mattered anyway, as Rin wasn't feeling very peaceful. She wasn't acting out in violence, but she certainly was not at peace.

"No," she choked as she stared out at her new prison. The fire in her eyes died, as did the cold in her voice. She walked over to the screen and placed her hand against its side. Then she sank down to her knees as she moaned, "No, no, no…"

Rumia wondered if she should say anything, and decided not to. Sometimes, there was nothing to say. As such, she just sat still and said nothing as Rin kept whispering, "No, no, no, no…"

…

To be fully truthful, Reimu was surprised that she had managed to keep the argument going as long as she had. As she heard it told, when Yukari got serious, those who tried to oppose her often ended up losing, blackmailed, and/or disintegrated, as Remilia had, minus the part about disintegrated. Or so Reimu assumed. Given Remilia's vampiric regeneration, it was quite possible that she had been at least partially disintegrated sometime in recent history.

But not only had Reimu avoided all of the above fates, she had survived Yukari's opening bout and taken the offensive. The way she saw it, she deserved some kind of medal for that accomplishment alone. But then, she deserved a medal for the sort of things she did on a monthly basis, and none had yet arrived. Still, the feeling she was getting was not unlike the one she had gotten the first time she had met Yukari, when she, Marisa, and Sakuya Izayoi had started to gain the upper hand during their first danmaku duel. Granted, Yukari had just been playing with them for kicks, but since the elder youkai was now deadly serious and Reimu was on her own, it only made things all the sweeter. She just had to keep the rush from going to her head, as a single mistake would bring it all crashing down on her.

"Reimu, I understand the point you are trying to make," Yukari was saying. "But if anything, the mention of the Shadow Youkai only works against your argument. After all, your entire thesis hinges upon cooperation with the unfortunate child in question being a viable alternative to seeking her destruction. And if she is, in fact, under the Shadow Youkai's influence, than there is little to nothing we can do for her. If anything, it only makes killing her all that more of the merciful thing to do."

Reimu nodded and hoped she didn't look too eager. "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. But see, that's not the case. When Yuuka attacked us, Mima got all of us together-"

"And who does 'all of us' consist of?" Yukari interrupted. "Just out of curiosity."

"Marisa, me, Sanae, and Rin," Reimu said promptly. "Kanako was kinda dead at the time, and so was Nitori. The Asakuras were kinda hanging out with us, but no one really wanted them around. And everyone else was either already taken out or still trying to kill us."

"Hmmm, and Rin was, in fact, assisting you of her own free will at this time?"

"Yeah, she was," Reimu said, with just a hint of impatience. "I'll get to that part in a second. But like I was saying, we didn't want Yuuka listening in on us when we, uh, strategized I guess. So Mima had us touch her hand and…" Reimu frowned as she tried to think of the right way to verbalize that bizarre experience. "She did something so that our minds were inside hers. She had like a mock-up of my shrine that she brought us to and said it was made from her memories."

Now Yukari was showing interest. "A domain spell? Surely not."

"I don't know what it's called," Reimu admitted. "But that's what she did. We all were there, Rin included. And so was Rumia." To be honest, Reimu probably enjoyed the stricken look on Yukari's face more than she should have, but she still was quick to clarify, "Not, not that one. I mean the one I knew her as, the one that was part of Cirno's stupid gang. Yeah, apparently Rin somehow managed to preserve her mind when she ate her."

Reimu quickly summarized that meeting the best she could, leaving out the unimportant bits and focusing on her interactions with Rin and the harmless Rumia. When she was done, Yukari wasn't even trying to keep from staring. "Fascinating," she said. "And you are certain the Shadow Youkai is not influencing her actions? Because while I am willing to buy that the other Rumia was preserved, I cannot bring myself to believe that her deadlier counterpart is at all idle."

"She isn't," Reimu said and felt a small measure of apprehension soil her high. "Mima checked for that."

Yukari's eyelids lowered. "Oh?"

"Yeah, uh…" Reimu rubbed the back of her neck and she wondered how much of Rin's "visit" to Hakurei Shrine some weeks back she should reveal. Deciding that Yukari was better off knowing nothing about it, she just said, "Rin…knows about the Shadow Youkai, actually. Apparently they had some kind of confrontation, and Rin thinks she came out ahead."

Yukari snorted.

"Yeah," Reimu said reluctantly. "That was my feeling too. But still, Rin's convinced that she managed to kill her, and I guess the Shadow Youkai doesn't feel like discouraging her. But according to Mima, the real nasty Rumia is still in there." Reimu pointed at her own head. "Like, real deep in her subconscious, doing who the hell knows what."

Yukari sucked in a sharp breath, only to regret it when she started coughing. When she was able, she said, "That…is very troublesome news."

Reimu nodded. "Tell me about it. And during the fight, there were a few times when Rin became, well, really freaking scary. She didn't get murderous or something, but when first Tenshi and later Nue and Mamizou kept attacking her, Tenshi in specific, well, she kinda got really, really ruthless." She shrugged. "Okay, admittedly they kinda had it coming, seeing how they wouldn't quit and kept stabbing and shooting her and stuff, and she did try just knocking them out at first, but after that didn't work…Look, you saw what happened to Tenshi, and we both know why we can't find the shapeshifters."

"So just so we're clear, you are, in fact, confirming that the Shadow Youkai is having an influence on her actions?" Yukari said slowly. "And how, exactly, does this bolster your point?"

"Because she might be getting influenced, but she hasn't going under yet," Reimu answered. "I mean, after I snapped her out of one such, uh, episode, she saw what had happened to Tenshi and had a kind of a freak-out. I mean, she was honestly horrified." She leaned forward. "Look, she's slipping, I admit it. She's slipping. But she's not gone yet. She definitely doesn't want to turn into a monster, and is terrified of it happening."

"And I'm sure you believe that," Yukari drawled. "But I feel compelled to point out that this is hardly the first time I've heard such sentiments, from a great many people who ended up becoming monsters anyway."

"She saved my life," Reimu shot back. "And not just the one time. There were a couple of other times she stopped my ass from getting cooked by one thing or another, when she could have just let me die and split." Before Yukari could say anything, she added, "And oh yeah, did I mention the part where she was freaking cooperating with us? Because I think I did. Sure, she was skeptical and all, but still was willing to take the chance. She fought by our side when she could have wiped us all out. That alone proves that she can be reasoned with."

Yukari's shoulders lifted in a shrug. "Perhaps, but one can't help but notice that she was and still is conspicuously absent. That doesn't speak well of her desire to cooperate, if she is so quick to abandon you once the danger has passed."

"She was never in danger to begin with. Hell, she probably could have left any time she wanted. But she stayed to help, and only disappeared when you showed up on the scene! What does that tell you?"

"That my involvement is likely to be detrimental to any effort to convince her of your good intentions?" Yukari suggested.

"Ha. Haha. No, it's that she's as scared of you as she is of herself. Look, let me make this plain for you. She wants to be helped. She wants to be saved. And she not only is willing to cooperate, she was cooperating until you scared her off." Reimu took a brief moment to ready herself. This was it. "Sure, my way may be risky as all hell, but it was working, while we've all seen where your way has been going. Plus, my way has this being resolved all the more quicker. My way has her going with us to see Shinki and Sariel and getting all traces of the Shadow Youkai removed of her own free will. Meanwhile, your way will just keep her running, keep her fighting, keep making her grow more and more desperate, cross more and more lines, and give the Shadow Youkai more and more time to work. Your way is going to end up turning her into the very thing you're scared of. And even if you do manage to destroy her in the end, a whole lot of people are going to die in the meantime. Once she finally goes over, she's going to be unstoppable, and you know it."

…

"You know, after all that worry, I must admit that I can't help but feel a little disappointed. Relieved, but disappointed," Patchouli said as she looked over at the box.

Meiling, who was busy stretching out her recently healed limbs and testing them for missed fractures, looked at her in surprise. "Disappointed?" she said. "I cannot recall the last time I was challenged so!"

"And that's the thing," Patchouli said. "You were challenged. She was difficult. By all rights she should have been invincible."

"She was," Sakuya told her. "We outwitted her, not outfought. And we extremely fortunate that the plan went off without a major hitch."

"Fortune, nothing," Remilia said, staring at Rin Satsuki's new prison. "It was fate."

No one bothered to argue with her. When Remilia was involved, especially in her own home, she might have been speaking literally.

At the moment, the four of them were standing in the Scarlet Devil Mansion's foyer. The box containing Rin Satsuki sat in the center of the floor, contained in a bubble of halted time. Or rather, Sakuya and Meiling were standing. Patchouli was sitting on the bottommost step of one of the staircases while Remilia had taken one of the chairs that had sat along the wall and pulled it close to the box. She now sat with her hands gripping the underside of the chair, her eyes focused on the box in a manner not dissimilar to a hawk perched protectively over its eggs.

In a way, Sakuya saw Patchouli's point, though she herself was far from disappointed. Rin Satsuki had gone down surprisingly easily. Personally, she attributed to the girl having become so confident in her abilities that she had decided to play with them first, allowing them time to come up with an effective counterattack. The same thing had happened during the first Satsuki incident. That was the problem with these godlike beings; they were always sure of their overwhelming strength that they constantly misused what they had. As far as she was concerned, power wasn't measured in terms of magical reserves or how many tricks you possessed. It was what you did with what you had. Which was why they were alive and Satsuki was back in a box.

Of course, they couldn't just shove her back into Patchouli's vault and be done with it. She still held at least four people captive, quite possibly more. They needed to turn her over to the right people to be dealt with, and soon. The bubble Sakuya had created to ensure that Satsuki wouldn't even try to break out was different from what she did usually when she stopped time. Normally, her pocketwatch would focus her natural her natural talent to allow her to step off the current of time and accomplish numerous tasks within the space of a single moment. This was also the reason why the mansion was as large as it was, with the interior having been expanded many times over while keeping the exterior at a manageable size.

But that wasn't the same as keeping a single object anchored in time while allowing everything else flow freely. While she could hold it in place for the time being, it wasn't a permanent solution. Besides, the sooner Satsuki was out of the mansion and in someone else's hands, the more comfortable she would be.

And so she turned to the exhausted magician on the stairs and said, "Patchouli, please notify the GPF and have them get in contact with Yukari Yakumo. Tell them that-"

"Oh, that won't be necessary," Remilia interrupted.

Sakuya blinked in surprise. "No? Mistress, why not?"

"Because I've already called to have this…thing removed. During that last bit of the battle. They should be here any minute now."

"Is that right?" Sakuya said. She smiled. "Well, good! Lady Yakumo surely has been told by now, and should be-"

"I didn't call the GPF."

"No?" Now Sakuya was confused again. "You were able to contact Lady Yakumo directly then?"

Remilia's gaze remained focused on the box. "No."

"Ah…Reimu Hakurei then?"

"No."

Now Sakuya was starting to grow uneasy. She exchanged a look with Patchouli and asked, "Mistress…who did you call?"

Remilia looked up then. She smiled at her chief maid, a sad, regretful smile. "Ah Sakuya, you remember how earlier, I lamented my recent bout of foolishness?"

"Yes, Mistress."

"Well, I'm afraid I've gone and done something very, very foolish."

Before Sakuya could question her further, there was a sudden knock at the door: polite, but insistent. She froze, and glanced over to Patchouli.

"Who?" she mouthed.

Patchouli frowned, and shook her head. "Something's gone wrong with my wards. I can't tell."

The knocking continued, louder this time. Sakuya turned back to Remilia.

"I'm sorry, Sakuya," she said. "You would have tried to stop me if I had told you, and would have been right to do so. But I had to."

Sakuya stared at her. Then she wordlessly turned and walked over to the door. She placed her hand on the handle and turned it.

The door burst open, nearly upsetting her balance. And in sauntered the last person Sakuya wanted to see.

"Good afternoon everyone!" Yuuka Kazami called as she folded up her umbrella and thrust it into Sakuya's hands. "Or is it evening now? Sunlight always seems to retreat too quickly for my taste." She looked around with a pleased look on her face and focused on Remilia.

"Ah, little Remilia Scarlet," she said, strolling over to where the vampire sat. She walked with the aid of a copper cane, its tip echoing as it struck the marble floor. "So good to see you again! And your message couldn't have come at a better time. Little Elly was giving me quite the earful for wandering off earlier today. Not that she was wrong to do so. I fear I upset the poor thing quite unnecessarily." She sighed dramatically. One of her eyes was covered by a black patch. "No doubt I'm in for another lecture when I return again. But ah well, such is to be expected. Still, this is such an unexpected pleasure. You are looking divine, as always." Then she tilted her head to one side. "Well, no, actually you look shriveled and malnourished. My dear child, have you been eating well?"

As Yuuka spoke, Sakuya set aside the umbrella and stole forward, drawing out her pocketwatch out with one hand and a knife with the other.

Then something invisible slammed into her and knocked her back against the wall. Dazed, she slumped to the floor.

"Wonderful to see you too, Sakuya Izayoi," Yuuka said cheerfully. "Still an efficient killing machine utterly devoted to your master's protection? Excellent!"

Then her hand snapped up to catch Hong Meiling's foot as the gate guard came flying at her head.

"Now, you I don't know," she said as she hurled Meiling away. "But I am certain that whatever your function, you perform it with competence and reliability. Ah, ah, ah, none of that."

That last sentence was directed toward Patchouli, who had been in the process of expanding a ball of flame between her hands. The magician hesitated, and then decided that her chances of success were not high enough to risk the consequences of failure. The sphere snuffed out.

"Very good," Yuuka said approvingly. "Patchouli Knowledge, is it? Your reputation precedes you. I am pleased to see that your intelligence does the stories justice."

"Everyone, stop!" Remilia shouted. "Sakuya, Meiling, Patchouli, do not attack!"

"Very wise," Yuuka said, nodding. "But I do not begrudge your servitors their…tenacity, considering how our last little encounter ended." She focused on Sakuya, who was coming to her senses. "However, your fears are unfounded. The last time we met, it was on the battlefield. But today, we meet to do business. As such, I see no reason for violence, do you?"

Sakuya pressed her back against the wall and pushed herself up onto her legs. "Mistress," she said in disbelief. "What have you done?"

Yuuka clicked her tongue. "Now, now, what kind of attitude is that? I am here by your master's invitation with nothing but peaceful intentions. Come, come, cannot we set aside old grudges and work towards a mutually beneficial arrangement? In fact…"

Her eye narrowed as it focused on the crystalline box that sat in front of Remilia, unaware of the conflict that was taking place around it.

"Is that what I think it is?" Yuuka said. There was something strange about her expression, at once reverent and hungry, and yet with a noticeable amount of apprehension.

Remilia nodded. She stood to her feet and did her best not to tremble. "Yuuka Kazami," she said. "I would like to collect the bounty on Rin Satsuki."

…

There, she had finally gotten it out, and not ended up shot down in the process. Reimu couldn't help but feel proud of herself. Okay, granted, it was highly unlikely she was going to convince Yukari of anything, and there was still every possibility that she was going to end up in that cell anyway, likely for her "own good" or something equally stupid, but just having made her concluding statement felt damn good.

Still, she would have to admit to a certain amount of nervousness as she waited for Yukari's response. The elder youkai was still staring at her without any sort of concrete expression appearing on her face. She was deep in thought, that much was evident. That, or she was trying to psyche Reimu out. But either way, the ball was in her court.

When Yukari finally spoke, it was slow and methodical, as if she were crossing over a verbal minefield. "You do realize that, in order for your plan to see success, you will need a way to make Rin 'normal,' as you call it, don't you? After all, I highly doubt that as much as she wishes to stop running, she also has no desire to spend the rest of her existence as a glob of mucus. Without a cure, you are doomed to fail, as there is nothing you can really offer her, and she cannot be allowed to keep any of her captives."

That surprised Reimu. Yukari's comment wasn't a direct attack or a dismissal. Instead, it was…constructive criticism? "Yeah, we know," Reimu said. "Rin said the same thing. But just because we don't have one doesn't mean one can't be found."

"Despite the fact that Eirin Yagokoro has been working towards one ever since the original Satsuki incident, and to date has made no real progress?"

Reimu took a deep breath. "Look, I know it isn't going to be easy. But as smart as Eirin is, it was just her, alone. Now, we have people like Mima and Byakuren helping too. And…and if, if, if you agree to, well, not shut us down, and maybe even help us, we have an even better chance."

"That is not good enough, Reimu. This is not something that can be solved by 'maybes.' You need a bonafide cure for this to work."

Reimu scowled. "And your way needs a bonafide way to kill her. You got one?"

"Oh, I'd say so," Yukari said. "There is, after all, any number of places I could drop her through my gaps."

Crap, that was right. Yukari did have a noticeable advantage when it came to wishing problems away.

But then again… "Yeah? If it were that easy, why didn't you do it to the Shadow Youkai the first time around? Or Yuuka, for that matter?"

Yukari didn't answer. And with that, Reimu realized the answer.

"Because you don't want to risk it," she said, her eyes widening and her mouth perking up. "Because it's too dangerous. You don't want to let creatures like them into the Borderlands, even if it's just for a second, because you're afraid they'll drop something, or shoot something, or somehow spread their influence into it. Because if they do, then you've lost everything."

And then a second realization followed the first. "Besides, you can't just get rid of her out of hand. She's still got Kaguya Houraisan, remember? We need to get her back, plus everyone else Rin's absorbed. If you were to just drop her into a black hole, how does that save anyone? Especially since there's no guarantee that she won't survive and not come back, looking for revenge. I mean, for the gods' sakes Yukari!" She motioned toward the elder youkai. "Just look what fighting Yuuka did to you! You sure you can handle Rin once she cuts loose?" A third realization blossomed. "And oh yeah, speaking of which, Yuuka is still on the loose and wreaking havoc. Hell, you saw what she did today. And that was just for the hell of it. Can you really concentrate on bringing Rin down while you're watching your back for Yuuka?"

When Yukari didn't respond, Reimu, who was now starting to feel a little dizzy, decided to ease up a bit. "Look, I know, despite everything you've done, you're just acting in the best interests of Gensokyo. You're going to protect it at all costs, I get that. But if it makes more sense to help the kid before she cracks, shouldn't you do that instead? It's safer that way, fewer people get hurt, and…" Reimu hesitated, then though ah, what the hell, and said, "…and she's still a scared little girl who doesn't deserve any of this, damn it!"

There, she was done. Exhausted, Reimu slumped back into her chair while she waited for Yukari's answer.

…

Remilia's words hung heavy over the remaining inhabitants of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and everyone had a different reaction. Patchouli moaned and buried her face in her hands, a sign that she had given up trying to inject rationality into the world of madness that had gripped her household. Sakuya stared slack-jawed at her mistress, her brow rising as open shock gave way to realization as she finally came to understand what Remilia was doing.

And Hong Meiling, the slowest thinker of the three, at first frowned in puzzlement as she tried to comprehend this strange turn of events. However, while no genius, she wasn't stupid, and she too came to understand. However, unlike the other two, her reaction was not negative. Instead, she smiled grimly and nodded in approval. Then she stood up and walked over to stand behind Remilia with her arms folded, a silent declaration of support.

As for Yuuka, she looked thoughtful. "Is that right?" she mused, rubbing her chin. "Well, well, well, what an interesting change of events. Now, whatever could that foolish young man be up to?" A shadow fell over her face. "I wonder…"

Remilia was confused. Who was Yuuka talking about? But before she could ask, the Yuuka's dark look was gone, replaced by one of delight. "Well, splendid!" Yuuka exclaimed, clapping her hands. "You know, I had just about given up hope that someone would come through. Why, just today there was a tremendous commotion over by the Youkai Mountain over that very problem."

"Excuse me?" Remilia said, surprised

"You haven't heard? No, of course not." Yuuka idly scratched her neck. "It's been too soon, and news travels so slowly it seems. But as it turned out, the elusive individual herself had gotten herself cornered by a number of hunters, all wishing to do what you have just claimed to accomplish. I was there myself, to keep an eye on things. It was quite the spectacle." She shrugged. "Of course, even with my encouragement, each and every one of the poor devils ended up failing miserably. Quite disappointing, I can tell you." She nodded toward the box. "The little tyke must have come straight here afterward, to have allowed you to catch her so soon."

Remilia inhaled sharply. "I…I assure you, I am not trying to deceive you! She is there, in that box, and…"

"Hmmm?" Yuuka tilted her head to one side. She chuckled. "Oh, I see. You think I disbelieve your word, that I am experiencing doubt due to having seen the girl herself chased this way and that in an entirely different part of the county. But lay your troubled mind at ease. What I saw of her capabilities has told me that she is extremely swift. And what I know of her troubled history, she would have good reason to pay you a visit." She shrugged. "Now that I think of it, it makes sense that those events would scare her into settling what scores she could as quickly as possible. No doubt she felt that she was racing against time." She glanced again at the box. "And she was right. By the by, how did you pull it off?"

"I…well…ah…" Remilia shot a pleading glance to Sakuya. The head maid sighed and strode forward. While she most definitely did not approve of Remilia's new course of action, she was not going to turn her back on her mistress now. What's done was done, and nothing would be gained by rebellion.

Using as few words as possible, Sakuya summed up the battle and how they had managed to put Rin Satsuki down. Yuuka listened with fascination, her eyebrows rising and falling in response to certain highlights. When the story was done, she said, "Ingenious. So simple of a solution, and yet so effective! If only the others had…But of course, they were constantly interrupting one other and fighting amongst themselves, so I suppose I shouldn't judge them too harshly." She spread her hands and shrugged. "One can one do?"

"I…" Remilia had no idea what she was supposed to say now.

"At any rate, to business!" Yuuka declared. "Now, I'm afraid that a month has passed since the bounty's original posting, so you no longer qualify for the special bonus. But of course, the full amount is yours. Now, that would be twenty-million yen, in exchange for-"

"Keep your money," Remilia said. "I don't need it."

Yuuka raised an eyebrow at the interruption. "Oh, well, no doubt your wealth would make such an amount seem trivial, but if you weren't looking to increase your cash reserves, why come to me?"

"I want my sister," Remilia said firmly. "That's my offer. Rin Satsuki for Flandre."

A silence fell upon the room, so thick it was almost tangible. Remilia's friends tensed up in preparation for some form of retaliation. Yuuka's eye narrowed, and she started tapping her cane against the floor.

"Ah, I suspected as much," she said in a low voice. "So, the girl in the box in exchange for the girl in the jewel?" She reached into her blouse and extracted a metal ring. Attached to it was a large crystal that burned with a bright crimson light. "One crystal encased monster for another, is that it?"

Remilia's long-dead heart leapt when she saw that crystal. So, Yuuka had not brought Flandre back yet. There was still hope. "Yes," she said, her hands reaching out. "Please…"

"Hmmm." Yuuka snapped her hand away from Remilia's, her fingers closing around the ring. "No, I don't think so."

"No?" Remilia said in dismay. "Bu-but surely, there is room for negotiation…"

Yuuka shook her head. "There really isn't," she said as she placed the ring back into its hiding place. "The terms for the bounty were quite clear. Rin Satsuki for a certain amount of money. Really now Remilia, while my heart breaks to see you distressed so, had I ever intended to leave the price up for negotiation, I would have stated as much from the beginning."

"But-"

"No buts," Yuuka said firmly. "Rin I was seeking on the behalf of another, but as far as Flandre is concerned, I have my own designs. As such, I simply will hear no talk of handing her away. She was won, after all, fair and square."

Remilia's hands were starting to shake. "B-but surely we can come to s-some sort of agreement," she said, a forced smile on her face. "S-some kind of c-c-compromise?"

"Why would I want to do that?" Yuuka asked. "Dearie-o, I cannot see how I would benefit from such an arrangement. Flandre is a magnificent creature, one that is dripping with potential." She tapped her breast, presumably over where the ring was secreted. "And to be quite frank, you were squandering it. No, I am afraid I cannot allow her to return to your care. To allow such a precious child to be locked up again, to rot away because big sister is lazy to teach her control? Such a waste cannot be tolerated."

"But she can't be taught," Remilia cried. "I've tried, so many times! It just won't work!"

"Then perhaps your methods were inadequate and the time has come for an adult to take over. I mean, honestly. A child raising a child? Cute in theory, but the practical application leaves much to be desired." She chuckled with amusement and leaned over. Remilia stiffened as Yuuka's fingers brushed her cheek. "Now, don't you worry any. Little Flan-Flan's in excellent hands, and I promise you that I'll take tender loving care of her."

What few pretenses Remilia had towards reasonable negotiation snapped then. "No!" she cried, lunging forward. "You will give me-"

The next few moments were a flurry of confusion. Seeing the ensuing violence, both Sakuya and Meiling moved to prevent their mistress from getting herself killed, and Patchouli started to summon her power. Then came three seconds of pain, and all four of the Scarlet Devil Mansion's residents found themselves under heavy restraint.

What looked like the upper portion of a gnarled tree had burst out of Yuuka's back, a web of twisting, knotted, and naked branches. They had struck out, rendering everyone helpless: Patchouli found herself pinned against the stairs, Sakuya had been slammed back against the wall and held there, Meiling thrust up against the ceiling, and Remilia held against the floor, her limbs spread wide. Save for Remilia herself, all of them had been knocked unconscious.

Leaning on her cane, Yuuka hunched over to glower at Remilia. "Excuse me?" she growled. "What was that you said just now? I…'will give'? Did you just issue a command? A warning? A threat? To me?" She lifted her cane and pressed the butte against Remilia's forehead. "You arrogant, self-deluded leech, who are you to dictate my comings and goings? Do you know what you are, little vampire?"

Writhing under Yuuka's grip, Remilia cried out as the pressure against her head increased.

"You're a corpse," Yuuka said as she slowly twisted the cane back and forth. "A dead little girl, who should have been rotten away to nothing but maggot food hundreds of years ago, consigned to nothing but a skeleton and a stone with a name and two dates, if you were lucky. It is only because some other shambling corpse chose you for a meal that you remain. Do you comprehend, oh foul creature of the night? You're leftovers, a memory of a meal long discarded. So don't you dare go putting on airs with me, you pathetic, mewling quim!" Snorting with disgust, Yuuka withdrew, taking the cane with her. She reached up, and one of the knobby branched creaked as it twisted up and around to hand her the umbrella she had brought. "I can only pray that when your sister has been properly broken into and trained, she at least learns a measure of the humility that you are so sorely lacking."

Horrified more by the implications of what Yuuka was saying than her present predicament, Remilia screamed, "No! You do not touch my sister, you twisted-"

The umbrella came down across her face, knocking her senseless. "And there you go again," Yuuka said. "Honestly, what does it take to drive the point through that skull of yours? Flandre is mine now, and I will touch her whenever, however, and wherever I please. The sooner you come to terms with that fact, the happier we all will be."

With that, Yuuka unfolded her umbrella and held it overhead. "Well, I don't see any reason to continue this dialogue. I'll send word to the appropriate papers and let the people know that the bounty has been concluded and collected." She nodded cordially to the trapped vampire. "A good day to you, Remilia Scarlet. Thank you for your assistance in this affair."

The doors suddenly burst open, and what looked and sounded like a hurricane of paper rushed into the room. They filled the space quickly, fluttering on the raging wind like bats. But even so, the last thing Remilia said before darkness claimed her completely was Yuuka's eye, shining through the gale.

And then, there was nothing.

…

The fire cracked and sparked warmly, and Yukari hadn't stopped staring at it for nearly five minutes now. Across from her, Reimu was fidgeting as she waited for an answer, but Yukari didn't have one. And that bothered her.

This was a strange situation, one that made her feel uncomfortable. Yukari was well-used to being challenged, sometimes to the point of open defiance, but she always had an answer. Granted, sometimes it wasn't always the right answer, and many times she had been in the wrong. But that normally came to light after the fact. It wasn't often that she had heavily reconsidered her own stance after setting a course.

Which wasn't to say that she thought that Reimu was necessarily in the right. As much as the shrine maiden claimed to be fully aware of the risks she was taking, her earlier reactions to the effects failure would have upon her allies told Yukari that no, she most certainly did not. Reimu was a lot of things, a great many of them admirable, but she wasn't famed for thinking things through. Which wasn't to say she wasn't intelligent, just that she was a person of action. And while she clearly had given the subject a great deal of thought, more so than she usually did, there were a great number of details that had slipped past her attention.

But that didn't mean she was in the wrong either, and it was that realization that Yukari found troubling. If she had discovered this mad scheme being fronted by anyone else other than Reimu, their talk would have gone much differently, mainly with Yukari verbally overpowering them and destroying their ego. They wouldn't even have been given the chance to defend themselves. But then, if it had been anyone other than Reimu, there probably wouldn't have been a conversation in the first place. Just a gap to someplace with a long drop and a sudden stop.

And yet it was Reimu, which had a profound effect on the shape of things. The list of people that Yukari considered worthy of conversing with on an equal level was vanishingly small, and for reasons known to an even smaller number, Reimu was the only mortal on that list. Of course, the same had applied to most of the previous Hakurei shrine maidens, save for the few that had proven to be complete fools, but she was especially fond of the current one. Yukari liked Reimu, and what was more, she respected her, a rare privilege. As such, Reimu deserved an answer beyond a hard "No" and being kicked out the door.

If only Yukari had one to give.

Yukari stood up suddenly, winced when a sharp pain slowed her when she was halfway, and completed the rest of the motion with care. Reimu stiffened, no doubt certain that their debate was about to reach its final climax.

"So…" she said, waiting for Yukari to fill in the blank.

Yukari said nothing. Instead, one hand holding onto her chair for support, she hobbled off toward the hallway, coughing as she went.

"Uh, wait a minute," Reimu said, rising. "Where are you going?"

Yukari gave her a brief glance over her shoulder and kept moving, leaning against nearby furniture to keep upright, painfully making her way out of the room.

"Okay then," Reimu said. "I'll be right here then."

When Yukari crossed the threshold into the hallway, Ran was immediately there to assist her.

"Master, what's wrong?" she said, putting one of Yukari's arms over her shoulders to help support her. "Is everything all right?"

Still coughing, Yukari said, "My study, please."

"But what of…All right."

Ran helped her ill master through the house and into Yukari's private study. From there, the elder youkai was carefully eased into her chair, which wasn't all that unlike the one she had just left.

"My thanks," Yukari grunted as she rubbed her throbbing knees. She sighed and gingerly leaned back. "I hate being like this."

Ran looked concerned. "Would you like me to prepare another bag of the Elixir of Life?"

"No, no, I'm just grousing," Yukari said, shaking her head. "It's just not fair. Yuuka walked away from that fight in far worse condition, and yet she's apparently well enough to go traipsing about the countryside and stir up trouble again, whereas I can't even walk from one room to the other without help. Where's the justice in that?" She sighed and massaged her forehead, careful not to upset any of the blisters. "So, I take it you were listening?"

Ran hesitated before answering. "Not intentionally, Master, but I was standing ready in case you called, and you know that I do have sharp hearing."

"Yes, you do. So, what do you think?"

There was another moment of hesitation, and then Ran said, "Well, it is not my place to dictate your actions-"

"I wasn't asking you to. I am simply requesting the opinion of one of the people I trust before I give an answer to another."

"I see," Ran nodded. "Well, if it were me, I would do what is in Gensokyo's best interests."

Yukari snorted. "Oh, come now. That's just being evasive."

"Apologies," Ran said, bowing her head. "But very well. Perhaps you should consider this: you have on a number of occasions claimed that you would do absolutely anything to ensure Gensokyo's survival, correct?"

"Yes, and I believe I've demonstrated that just as many times."

Ran nodded. "Well, pardon me Master, but doesn't 'absolutely anything' include the more merciful paths as well as the horrible ones?"

Yukari quirked an eyebrow.

"I mean, Reimu did make some good points," Ran continued. "And if she's right, if it is more logical to help Satsuki than it is to seek her destruction, should that not be the course you take?"

Yukari grunted. "A strange thing to say, considering how much you feared that Chen had been killed at Satsuki's hands."

"There is information I have now that I didn't have then," Ran said respectfully. "Just as there is information that you have now that you didn't have before."

"Hmmm." Yukari made a tent with her fingers and pursed her lips thoughtfully. "I suppose."

"Besides," Ran said. "I know what it's like to almost lose a child that I love dearly. It is not a fate I would wish upon anyone else."

Yukari tilted her head. "You speak of Reisen Udongein?"

Ran nodded.

"Hmmm. That girl has proven to be most troublesome. My fault for not keeping a closer eye on her." Then Yukari reconsidered. "No, wait, it's Eirin's fault. The rabbit was her responsibility, after all."

There was a short but noticeable pause before Ran asked her question. "What are you going to do to her?"

"Which one?" Yukari asked. "Reisen or Eirin?"

"Reisen."

Yukari shrugged. "Nothing. Damage done. Besides, she claimed sanctuary. She's Reimu's problem now." She rubbed the back of her neck, massaging her aching muscles. "Though I have to give Reimu the credit she deserves. I'll admit: when I agreed to hear her out, I fully expected for her to have nothing of worth to say. I seem to have acquired a bad habit of underestimating people. Still, while she still has a lot to learn, I can at least rest easy with the knowledge that, should something happen to me, I am leaving the country in good hands."

Ran looked alarmed. "Master, you're not-"

"No, no, calm down," Yukari chuckled. "I have no intention of dying any time soon. I simply speak of unpleasant but real possibilities, that is all."

Nothing was said for a time. Yukari leaned her head back and thought. It wasn't on what decision she was going to make; that much had already been decided. She simply reflected on everything that had happened up to that point, and noted how strange the current situation was. It was, after all, not very often that she changed her mind to such a degree."

Finally she grunted and sat up. "Well, I'd better go finish things with that girl," she said. "Come, give me a hand."

Ran complied. "Master? One more question," she said as she helped Yukari to her feet.

"Ask."

"Reimu. You seem to trust her word implicitly, whereas most people would receive open suspicion. Why?"

Yukari chuckled as they moved toward the door. "That is one of the great benefits of dealing with someone like Reimu. The girl simply cannot tell a lie to save her life. It simply isn't in her nature."

…

Reimu immediately stood up as Yukari reentered the room with Ran's assistance. "Oh, hey!" she said, noting with annoyance that her voice had cracked. She cleared her throat and said, "So…you made up your mind."

"I have," Yukari said shortly.

"Ah. Good." Reimu watched as Yukari was helped back into her seat. The elder youkai cautiously settled in, sighed, and said, "Sit down, please."

Reimu sat.

A ponderous silence passed, until at last Yukari said, "You do realize that if the worst ends up happening, that Satsuki truly progresses beyond reason, she will have to be destroyed. You understand that, yes?"

Reimu's heart gave a little jump. Was this really happening? "O-of course!"

Yukari nodded. "You also understand that, if this is going to work, a cure for her condition must be found; or lacking that, some means for her to carry on that doesn't require the consumption of others, and ensures that she will no longer have the ability to adapt and absorb, correct? This isn't negotiable. If she is to be 'helped,' she must be fixed, and never be able to threaten anyone again. And a way of doing so must be discovered soon."

"I know," Reimu said. She was staring openly, unable to believe that this was happening. "So…are you really…"

Yukari grunted. "Well, if it is as you say, I see no reason why we shouldn't at least attempt to gain her cooperation. If successful, it will make things go all the more smoothly."

Reimu was still staring, though she was now wearing an uncharacteristically sloppy grin. "So you're in?"

"Hmmm, interesting way of putting things. I am willing to give 'your way' a chance, and I truly hope it succeeds. That's it."

"Oh, my gods," Reimu breathed. "Wow. Uh, I really wasn't expecting…well, you know…"

"Neither was I. But I am full of surprises, sometimes even for myself." Yukari scowled. "And wipe that silly smile off your face. It's disturbing."

That only made it grow larger. Now Reimu's cheeks were starting to hurt. "Sorry," she said. "Can't help it."

Yukari muttered something about kids these days, and then said, "All right. But you do understand that I can't overlook the fact that you doing all this behind my back, and had dragged others into it as well. I will be having some words with Kanako and Byakuren." When Reimu looked stricken, she added, "Don't worry, I'm not going to banish them or even remove them from power. I'm just going to make sure that they don't try to pull something like this again. Such division during a time of crisis is to be discouraged. And that goes for you as well. Next time you have a problem with my methods and have an alternative course of action, come talk to me first, all right? "

"Uh, okay," Reimu said. "Whatever you say."

Yukari smirked. "Now that's a sentence I do not hear nearly as often as I'd like." She nodded toward the door, which opened of its own accord. Beyond was twisted, eye-filled nether of the Borderlands. "Where would you like to be dropped off? The disaster area, or your shrine?"

Reimu thought for a moment. "Uh, first one and then the other. I need to check in with the others, but leave me a way to get back to Hakurei Shrine when I'm done."

"Very well," Yukari said. "And come to think of it, I'd better head back there as well. I need to talk to Kotohime and Kanako anyway." She signaled her hand toward Ran, who nodded and went to pick up Yukari's wheelchair.

"Kanako?" Reimu said, the hairs on her neck rising. "Uh, what about?"

Yukari gave her a look. "Reimu, I told you already: your cohorts aren't going to be punished. Lectured, yes. But I am not about to kick out someone whose had as a positive effect on Gensoyko's population as Kanako Yasaka and Byakuren Hijiri has just because I'm a little miffed. So please, stop being so overprotective and let me do my job."

Which was about as good as she could hope for. Ran helped Yukari into her wheelchair, and soon the three of them were heading for the way back.

Before they stepped through, Reimu cleared her throat, "Uh, Yukari?"

"Yes?"

"For what it's worth, thanks."

Yukari blinked. She exchange a brief look with Ran and then said, "Well, two-for-two. That is also something I don't hear often enough."

…

Remilia's return to consciousness was slow and painful. The first thing she became aware of was the throbbing pain in her forehead. The second was just how weak she felt, and how thirsty she was. The third was that she was, for some reason, she was lying in a thick pile of paper. It wasn't exactly uncomfortable, per se, but she would have preferred the warmth of her soft bed.

And then her memory finally rebooted and she sat up suddenly, only to cry out and clutch at her head when the throbbing became severe.

"Lady Scarlet!" she heard someone say. There was the sound of rustling, and two strong arms picked Remilia out of the pile. "There you are! Are you okay?"

Remilia's vision cleared enough for her to make out Hong Meiling's worried face. She looked around. Though things were still blurry, she could tell that she was still in the foyer. A purplish, Patchouli-shaped blob still sat on the steps, her head clutched in her hands. There was something weird about the place though. It seemed to be buried in something.

"Mistress?" she heard Sakuya say. The maid appeared at her side in an instant. "My gods, are you hurt?"

"Nothing life-threatening," Remilia muttered, her tongue thick. "What happened? Where is Yuuka?"

"Gone." Everyone looked over to Patchouli, who had raised her head to glare at them. The magician looked absolutely miserable, not to mention thoroughly angered. "She's long gone. Though she didn't leave empty-handed."

"What?" Remilia stared at her, and then up at her two servants. "What does that mean?"

Overhead, Sakuya and Meiling exchanged a troubled look. "Mistress," Sakuya said. "Perhaps it's best if you don't-"

"No, tell her!" Patchouli snapped. "She deserves to know! After all, she's the one who invited that beast into this house in the first place!"

"That's enough, magician!" Sakuya shouted back. "I think she's been through enough as it-"

Remilia reached up to grab Sakuya by the shoulder. "No, she's right. Tell me."

A pained look crossed over Sakuya's face, but she said, "I'm sorry Mistress, but she took the box."

Remilia's stomach clenched up. "She now has Rin Satsuki?" she whispered.

"Yes."

"But…but Flandre…"

"She still has her as well."

"But then, what is…" Remilia sat up in Meiling's arms to get a good look at the place.

The whole room, from the floor to the staircases, was buried in single yen notes. They covered the place like a heavy snow, waist-deep even to the two tall women that held her. There had to have been hundreds of the little bills. Thousands.

Millions.

"Yes, she still paid your precious bounty," Patchouli said scornfully. "In full, I might add. Of course, she got to choose the denominations." She angrily smacked a nearby lump, sending notes fluttering. "At least the maids will have something to do now."

No. No, this couldn't be happening. It wasn't supposed to go this way. Dazed, Remilia lay back and stared listlessly up at Meiling and Sakuya's concerned faces. Rin Satsuki was gone. Yuuka Kazami was gone. Flandre was gone. She had failed.

What had she done? What had she been thinking? That Yuuka Kazami, someone who had already proven herself to be a monstrous sadist, would be so overcome with sympathy that she'd let Flandre go with a pat on the head and a cookie? Now, after her friends had risked their lives to save the mansion, at her insistence no less, she had made it all for naught. She had thrown away their last chance to redeem themselves in Yukari Yakumo's eyes. Capturing Satsuki was supposed to be their salvation, but now it would be their destruction. After all, if Yuuka made good on her promise to make known what had happened here, Yukari was not going to take kindly to the new. Not at all.

Everything was lost, and it was all her fault.

Wretched, miserable, and utterly disgusted with herself, Remilia curled up against Meiling and cried like the child she appeared to be.

…

In a different part of Gensokyo, in another mansion entirely, another servant was also quite fed up with her master's foolishness.

Elly paced back and forth in front of Mugenkan's main entrance, her tiny hands balled into fists. All around her, the many flowers that filled the foyer followed her back-and-forth path, with the ones closest to her making a point of shying back lest they attract her wrath.

What in the world was Yuuka thinking? A few short hours ago, she had returned from her unannounced sabbatical, something that Elly could scarcely believe she had taken in the first place. True, Yuuka had a tendency to be…spontaneous, sometimes to the point of self-endangerment, but given the current hostile feelings toward her, one would think that she would understand that leaving the Garden of the Sun now was almost suicidal! And to Yuuka's credit, she seemed to realized this, and had meekly allowed Elly to lecture her at length about how now was not the time to be taking unnecessary risks, how she was in no condition to be exerting herself, and given how many people depended on her, acting so recklessly was just irresponsible.

Given Yuuka's acceptance of what Elly was saying, the Shinigami fully expected that, once she had exhausted her angry words, there would be a time of hugging and tender forgiveness. But just as she had started to gather steam, a message had arrived at the mansion, via magical channels. That in itself had been a tremendous shock, as they never received messages from anyone. But to have one finally arrive only to interrupt Elly's righteous anger had been infuriating.

And to top things off, as soon as Yuuka heard the message, whatever it was, she had left again! Elly had stood stupefied as her master apologized profusely, explaining that something had just come up, that it was actually important this time, she truly was sorry, and please don't worry so much, everything will be fine! And then she was gone.

Now Elly was on the verge of tearing at her hair. This was insanity! What was she going to do? If something happened to Yuuka, she would never be able to forgive herself. It wasn't her fault of course, but that was inconsequential as far as her feelings were concerned.

That was when she heard someone whistling. Elly paused in mid-pace, her ears straining to listen.

It was Yuuka. Oh, thank God. Elly turned toward the door just as it opened and Yuuka walked in. Whistling a local folk song to herself, Yuuka handed her umbrella to a waiting vine and shut the door with her behind. She seemed very pleased about something, which probably was related to the lavender crystal box she carried under one arm.

Then she looked up and saw Elly glowering at her.

"Ah," she said, the happy look turning into one of guilt. "Well, I'm in for it now."

Elly marched straight up to her and hovered so they were face-to-face. "What's wrong with you?" she demanded. "Twice! Twice in one day you leave suddenly, telling no one where you're going, and worrying me sick! And right when I was in the middle of reminding you how dangerous leaving the Garden is! What if you had been attacked?"

Yuuka bowed her head. "I'm so sorry, Elly. The first time was foolish, I do agree. But this time, I really was needed-"

"Needed! I'll tell you where you're needed! It's here, in the safety of the Garden! You are not fully recovered from your injuries! And let's not forget the missing piece of your soul. What if you had been attacked?"

"Ah, well, I have been weakened, it is true, but I like to think that I am at least strong enough-"

"No!" Elly's finger jabbed the center of Yuuka's chest. "That's what you thought before you went to go fight Yukari Yakumo! And what happened then?" Her face now beet-red, Elly took a deep breath and shouted, "There are people here that depend on you, master! That need you! If you had been hurt, what would happen to-"

"Elly," Yuuka said, placing a finger over the raging Shinigami's lips. Despite her anger, Elly shut up immediately.

"You're right," Yuuka said softly. "Going out the first time was extremely irresponsible, and I am very sorry for worrying you. However, this second time was necessary. I had very important business I needed to attend to."

Elly withdrew from Yuuka's finger. "Business?" she said suspiciously. "What kind of business?"

"You recall that little scavenger hunt I've been hosting on the behalf of our guests, the one with only one item and an impressive reward?"

"The bounty? Of course I remember!"

Yuuka jiggled the box under her arm. "Well, it seems someone finally came through!"

Surprised, Elly leaded forward to curiously look the box over. "What, that's her? I mean, that box has the person you've been looking for?"

"Indeed." Yuuka smiled fondly at her blonde helper. "Now, I'm sure that you have many more cross words for me, and I'll not deny that I am deserving, but might they wait until this matter has been seen to? I really must get this box to someplace secure."

"Oh," Elly said, her anger dying. "O-of course! But what are you going to do?"

Yuuka walked briskly forward, and Elly followed. "As imprudent as my earlier departure might have been, it did bear unexpected fruit. I learned something very interesting about this troublesome child, and I do believe it is time that she and I got to know each other better."

…

Even though there was still one hell of an ongoing crisis, even though her people now needed her more than ever, Kanako just couldn't concentrate on the problem at hand, which galled her. This was the sort of situation where she normally thrived; to take hold of chaos and direct it towards order, and from order, profit. To take charge and mold catastrophe into opportunity.

And the fates knew that, all ambition aside, now was an excellent time for her to do just that. Momiji needed to talk to her. Kotohime needed to talk to her. Boss Tenma needed to talk to somebody before he either went off on an alcoholic binge or suffered a full emotional breakdown. Lord Zora didn't really need to talk to her but had dropped a polite hint that touching base sometime before the day was out would to both of their benefits. And based upon what Kanako had been hearing, Suwako had been talking entirely too much and probably needed a swift kick in the rump before she forgot herself and gave the general public the entirely wrong idea.

But as much as she should, Kanako just couldn't concentrate on her duties. Her mind was too wrapped up with another ongoing catastrophe entirely. When she had allowed the GPF to assist in the recovery efforts, she had done so reluctantly, for fear that their involvement would draw Yukari Yakumo to the scene all the quicker and lead to her finding the full truth of what had transpired before a cover story could be constructed. And unfortunately, that was exactly what had happened. Yukari had shown up, immediately stumbled upon the truth, and then dragged Reimu Hakurei away for a "private talk." And all reports agreed: the border youkai had been absolutely livid.

Yukari Yakumo knew. All was lost.

All right, granted, she was going to find out sooner or later, but Kanako had been nursing a hope that by the time she was made aware of Reimu's reckless mission of mercy, they would have a cured and decontaminated Rin Satsuki to mollify her with, or at the very least some evidence of progress. Instead, they had a very large crater, an alarming amount of scrap metal, confirmation that Yuuka Kazami was back on her feet and once again actively wreaking havoc, and the very real possibility that Rin Satsuki had just eaten two people whose abilities made her essentially invisible. Oh yeah, this was going to end poorly for everyone involved.

For the first time, Kanako began musing on the current state of her old territory back in the Outside World and if moving Moriya Shrine back would be a feasible plan. Perhaps it was time for a revival.

Some kind of commotion drew her attention, back at the pavilion. Kanako reflexively glanced toward it and her face paled when she saw one of Yukari's gaps opening up. Well, here it came…

And then out of the gap stepped Reimu Hakurei. What was more, she wasn't exhibiting the slumped-shoulder posture of the condemned. In fact, she looked…baffled, a little dazed, and entirely too pleased with herself. That was odd. Either the meeting had gone extraordinarily well or Yukari had psychically dominated and rewired her mind. Kanako leaned toward the latter theory, especially since Yukari herself emerged behind Reimu, again pushed around in that wheelchair by her Shikigami.

True to form, everyone under the pavilion immediately stiffened when Yukari retook the scene, but neither she nor Reimu seemed at all interested in them. Reimu looked around and, noticing Kanako, ran toward her.

"Hey," she said. "Don't worry, Yukari is-"

"Currently in one of the foulest moods she's been in in recent history," Yukari finished for her as Ran wheeled her toward Kanako's way. "The shrine maiden's enthusiasm is unfortunately a bit on the presumptuous side. Yes, Kanako Yasaka, I have been brought up to speed. And no, I'm not happy about what I've learned."

Reimu whirled to face her. "What? But you said-"

"I know very well what I said, and I'm not going back on it. That doesn't change the fact that I am still not happy."

That made Reimu scowl. "What is this, group therapy? Do I get to share my feelings next? Look, I already told you, the whole thing was my freaking idea, so don't take it out on her!"

"Seeing how Yuuka is no longer present, I am not going to be taking anything out on anyone. But, like I told you, there are certain kinds of behavior that must be discouraged. And one of them…ah…"

The sentence trailed off as Yukari looked up and around, as if she were searching for something. "Hang on now," she muttered. "I sense…that we are about to be annoyed."

Confused, Kanako, Reimu, and Ran also looked up. Then all four of them focused on a swiftly moving dot that was streaking right at them, followed by five other dots moving at a somewhat slower speed.

The dot turned out to be a Tengu female, one with two brown twintails and a fashion sense that tended toward purple-plaid. Clutched in her hands was what honestly appeared to be a cellular phone.

Everyone stared silently as Hatate Himekaidou flew toward their little group for all she was worth. "Oh my gods!" she squealed. "I mean literally! Oh my gods, oh my gods, oh my freaking gods! All of you together! This is, uh…"

She held up the phone-like object and pressed a button. There was a quick flash of light, indicating that the device did in fact have a camera function.

"Oh, that is so making the front page!" she said breathlessly. "Unless…Hey, can I get a pic of you guys, like, smiling or something? Because you all just look like really confused, and that won't-"

"HiiiiiiYAAAH!"

The rest of Hatate's photographic ambitions were cut off when Aya Shameimaru dropped like a meteor to kick her rival in the head.

"So! Reimu Hakurei!" Aya said as she pulled out her notepad and clicked her pen, paying no attention to the fact that she was still standing on the only partially conscious Hatate's head. "What response do you have to the recent allegations that you and Yuuka Kazami have been secretly working behind the scenes to sabotage Yukari Yakumo's power base? Yukari Yakumo, have you anything to say to the rumors that your Shikigami has been deliberately hindering your recovery? Kanako Yasaka, my-your-name-be-praised-and-your-miracles-celebrated, do you suppose that this is all part of the alleged Human conspiracy to-"

Wordlessly, Yukari held up a glowing finger. A beam of white light shot out to hit Aya in the center of her chest, knocking her off her feet and sending her flying back beyond the valley's boundaries.

The five other dots, who turned out to be various members of Momiji's Hakurou, finally arrived, all of them panting for breath. They took one look at the scene and the color left their faces.

Kanako shook her head. "I thought I told you to keep the press out of here," she said.

"I'm sorry!" said one of the wolves. "We tried to stop them, but they were just too fast!"

"Then try harder," Yukari said in a clipped tone. "Install surface-to-air missile silos if you have to. Because if one reporter gets through, you'll be fired and end up working for them instead. Clear?"

Five pairs of eyes stared at her in horror. They then turned pleadingly to Kanako.

"What are you looking at me for?" she said. "She outranks me." She nodded toward the groggy Tengu still lying facedown in the dirt. "Get her out of here, confiscate her camera, and tighten up that perimeter."

Moments later Hakurou and reporter alike were gone, leaving the four of them alone.

"This is certainly shaping up to be one of those days," Yukari muttered as she closed her eyes and lightly rubbed her eyelids. "All right, Kanako. As I was saying, you're not in trouble, not really. But even so, given the circumstances, I can't overlook the fact that-"

Again she stopped in mid-sentence, this time because the ground had starting shaking in rhythm, as if it were being steadily pounded like a great drum. This was following by the sound of shouting, coupled with the occasional scream.

And then the sun was blotted out.

Fearing the worst, Kanako turned to face this new problem. Despite her extremely low expectations, her heart still fell when she saw what it was.

Oh, you can't be serious, she thought, her mind growing numb. I thought we were done with this giant robot nonsense.

Indeed, that's what it appeared to be: a twenty-meter figure, clad completely in black metal, leaping toward them. It landed in a crouch, its landing sending a small shockwaves that blew a small cloud of dust and stone chips away from it. It looked around, focused on the staring group, and stood up.

It was then that Kanako noticed that another metal figure was standing on its shoulders, this one of normal size. She also noticed that the larger figure had two horns sticking out from either side of its head and the smaller one has as single horn jutting from its forehead.

One metal-encased hand reached up to raise the visor of its helmet, revealing Suika Ibuki's massive face. "All right!" she shouted. "Where's the party?"

Kanako, Ran, and Yukari stared blankly, first at the giant oni and then at each other. Reimu just groaned and buried her face in her hands.

"What?" Suika said in confusion. "C'mon! I need to beat some pain into Rin Satsuki! Where is she?"

The smaller figure on her shoulder leaned over to whisper in her ear. Suika blinked and her face fell.

"Awwww," she whined. "Don't tell me we missed it!"

…

Deep Within

Rin had stopped whimpering, but that was only because she had withdrawn so deeply into herself that she had ceased to acknowledge anything around her. Granted, Rumia was the only thing around her, but the point still stood.

The little Kirin had drawn up her legs in the fetal position and was now rocking back and forth. Her eyes had returned to normal at least, but they were dull, unfocused, dead.

As for Rumia, she wasn't doing so well herself. The thought of having to spend the rest of eternity trapped in Rin's mind was nothing short of horrible. Her only hope was that their captors would open the box in order to force Rin to regurgitate her other captives. From there, she could only pray for execution.

She looked over to Rin. Maybe, if imprisonment was to be their fate, she could talk Rin into sending her into a dream and leaving her there. Her previous experience with that idea had been a literal nightmare, yes, but it was infinitely better than the alternative. Not all dreams were bad, after all, and maybe Rin could do a little tweaking to make it at least a tolerable one, and wasn't it just a measure of how far she had fallen if she was seriously considering such options?

Rumia got up and walked over to Rin. Rin didn't acknowledge her. Rolling her eyes, Rumia drew her foot back and kicked her.

"Hey," Rumia said. She kicked her again. "Get up."

Rin fell over, but otherwise there was no reaction.

"I said get up!" Rumia kicked her again, and again. "Get. Up. And. Fix. Your. Gods. Damn. Mess!"

Rin did glance at her then, but her only reply was a morose, "Go away, Rumia."

"The hell I am." Rumia reached down and hauled Rin up by her hair. "Look, idiot. It's your fault we're in here, remember? And I can go on and on about every stupid thing you've done, and keep beating you up for it, and I just bet that you're gonna lie there and take it. But that's not good enough. You still owe me a promise, remember? So get up off your ass and make good on it already!"

Rin didn't even bother to free herself from Rumia's grip. She just hung limply, her eyes unfocused. "And where would you like me to release you?" she said, her voice a dead monotone. "Into the box? With me? I doubt you'll enjoy it. Limited space to move, and you'll just be cuddling with me forever."

Rumia dropped her. "Then get us out of the box first!"

A low, unpleasant chuckle rasped out of Rin's mouth in response, one completely without life. She crossed her legs before her and leaned back on her elbows to look up at Rumia with incredulity. "And how would you like me to do that?" Rin said. "Hmmm? The last time I was in one of things, I ended up staying in it for-"

"Nine years," Rumia finished for her. She wasn't especially interested in hearing the story again. "Yeah, I know."

"So, tell me: has it ever occurred to you that if there was any way to get out of one of these things, any way at all, I might have used it then?"

Rumia crouched low so that the two of them were locking eyes. "And has it ever occurred to you that the last time you were in one of these things you were nothing more than…" What had Cirno called her? "…a giant booger? And this time you're kinda not?"

Finally, there was a flicker of life in Rin's eyes.

"So you're stuck in a magic box?" Rumia pressed on. "So what? You eat magic for breakfast! So it's really super-hard? Big deal. You practically fly through solid rock and make it look easy! Plus, you're so strong you can knock a freaking Oni senseless. Are you telling something like this is gonna hold you?"

Rin frowned. It was a slow startup, but Rumia could see that her mind was finally moving again, digesting this intriguing possibility.

"You wanna go down in history as a loser?" Rumia said. "Just another monster that the so-called good guys put down? Huh?" She leaned in closer. "Meanwhile, the same people that made you this way get to go down as freaking heroes. You didn't even get your revenge. Are you just gonna lie down and let that happen? Well? Are you?"

"No." Rin's face hardened with determination. She stood up. "I'm not."

With that, the screen flashed back into existence. Beyond, the crystalline edges of the box's interior could be seen. Rin stomped over to stand in front of on.

"It's not going to end like this," she breathed. "I'm not…I'm not going to let them win!"

Her eyes burned with fire again, and this time Rumia was especially inclined to stop her. She watched as Rin's fist shot forward to slam against the side of their prison. It drew back, and hit it again. And again. And again.

…

"Oh my," Yuuka said as the box started to shake and thump to a rhythmic beat. "Now, perhaps I am jumping to conclusions here, but I'm starting to get the impression that she wants to come out."

Gulping nervously, Elly backed away. "Master? I…I don't think this is such a good idea?"

Finding a room free of plant life in Yuuka's domain was next to impossible, so they had to settle for one that was reasonably clear and tell everything inside to take a hike. Personally, Elly would have been quite happy to do this from a stone cave deep underground, and was quite certain that one could be provided in a reasonable amount of time, but according to Yuuka it wouldn't have made a difference.

Now the box sat in the middle of the domed room, with Yuuka and Elly standing over it. "A good idea?" Yuuka said, watching in fascination as the box continued to jump. She rested one hand in the crux of the opposite elbow while she used the other to thoughtfully rub her chin. "No, Elly, my honeysuckle. It is not a good idea at all. A good idea would be to hurl that box as far away from the Garden as strength will allow and pray the thing inside does not turn its attention toward us."

Elly's face went pale. "It…it's that bad?" she whispered.

"It is worst. If she were of a mind, she could kill both of us with ease, and go on to level the Garden in moments. And there would be little either of us could do to stop her."

Now a cold sweat had broken out on the tiny Shinigami's forehead. Wiping her brow, she said, "Then please! Be rid of the thing before it gets out!"

"Normally I would be in full agreement," Yuuka said. She was using that calm voice she used before she did something really scary. "But there are promises I made that I cannot go back on. There are things in motion that I do not fully understand, but certainly wish to. There are powers at play that most certainly need to explain themselves." A slow, cruel smile twisted her lips. "Besides, I do not believe that it is our fate to die here today."

"B-but how c-can you be so sure?"

Yuuka looked over her shoulder to wink at her helper. "Because Elly, my darling little pumpernickel, we are far too interesting to be killed off in such an anticlimactic manner."

And without bothering to explain such a strange line of reasoning, Yuuka knelt over and placed one hand against the box's side and the other on the slanting curve of the lid, near where the seam would be if it were still visible.

"Hmmm," she said as she looked the box over with the critical eye of a craftsman. "Fine work indeed. It seems to be password locked. A pity I didn't bother to pick that bit of information out of its creators' brains. It would certainly make this easier. Still…" Her hands changed, becoming gray roots that adhered to the box's sides. "There is something to be said for brute strength."

With that, she started to pull her hands in opposite directions. The box stopping thumping, but then the trembling began as the thing inside abandoned hard blows in favor for one, long push.

"Yes, I feel you in there," Yuuka said, her voice now a guttural growl. "You desire to be free, do you not? Well, push then!"

Now terrified and fully convinced that her master had gone completely mad, Elly pressed herself against the wall and whimpered.

"Push!" Yuuka commanded again. The strain was showing on her face, but she continued to apply pressure.

"Push!"

The box was starting to really shake now.

"Push!"

A crack appeared in one facet, followed by two more.

"Push!"

Elly covered her eyes.

"PUSH! Damn you to hell, PUSH!"

And then the lid was literally ripped straight off the box, sending glittering fragments flying everywhere. And out shot one of the strangest creatures Elly had ever seen. It flew straight up, somersaulted, and clung to the wall and stared down at the room's occupants with wide eyes.

"Magnificent," Yuuka breathed as her hands returned to normal, allowing the two shattered chunks of crystal to fall to the floor.

The creature reared back in shock. "You!" it roared.

Yuuka nodded in greeting. "Ah, Rin Satsuki I presume? It is such a pleasure to finally meet you face-to-face." She held out one hand toward the creature. "And I believe we are long overdue for a heart-to-heart talk."

…

So…yeah. I was going to have the author's notes just be something like "Yuuka's got Rin. Be afraid" or something like that, but it seems that, now that I'm here, there's a great many things I need to talk about. Okay, let's do this!

First of all, it seems that I may have given the wrong impression in the last chapter and led many people to believe that I was upset with the last two chapters themselves. This is not the case, and I apologize for the way I phrased things. What I was upset about was that the last two chapters ended up being necessary at all, as they were written to bail me out of an incoming massive plot derail. I was also upset about having to drag Yuuka out of hiatus so suddenly, as again, she wasn't supposed to return until this chapter and was only there to force the plot into a direction I could work with. Plus, it all happened at a time when I was working a lot of hours, and that probably affected my mood.

However, I feel the chapters themselves were the best they could have been given the circumstances, and actually really liked how most of it came out. And I have to admit, they did their job spectacularly in getting things back on track, and working on RoSD right after made for some fantastic therapy. As such, when I went to work on this chapter, well, it's no exaggeration that I found myself having the most fun writing that I've had in a long, long time. This chapter was a freaking blast, and I was thrilled to find that I was excited about working on the story again. So yeah, things are definitely much better now! Sorry about all the whining.

And, ah, speaking of this chapter, you probably have noticed that it is really freaking long. Over a hundred pages, in fact. I did consider splitting it into two, but ultimately decided to release as a whole, given that it's the arc finale and all. Still, the chapter lengths are becoming a real problem, and once the next arc starts I'll definitely start working to keep them at a more manageable size. Does that mean the end of monster chapters? No. But it does mean that there'll be considerably fewer of them. And hey, it means updates will come quicker, which is always a plus.

Anyhow, like I mentioned earlier, this is the Hide-and-Seek arc's finale, so I guess this is a good time to give me finale thoughts on the arc as a whole. Overall, it was kind of a mixed bag. On the one hand, I love the character development for Reimu, and getting into her personal conflicts went over very well. Also, it was great to be able to return the spotlight to Rin and Rumia after the Yuuka vs. Yukari rivalry ended up taking up too much attention in the previous arc, even if it did mean putting them through more pain and suffering, but hey, such things are to be expected. So from a character standpoint, I feel it went rather well. Still, there's a few parts that could have gone better. I've already beat the whole robot fiasco horse to death, so I won't touch on that again. Beyond that, looking back it does suffer somewhat from not having a concrete antagonist until the very end, given that Yuuka was on the bench for most of it, the Shadow Youkai is doing her thing over in RoSD, and Yukari was also mostly in the background. While that did give the underrepresented characters some breathing room, it did mean things tended to be a bit unfocused at times. Still, on the whole I'm pretty okay with how things came out.

Now, regarding the next arc…Uh, let me put it this way: when I start a new arc, I usually have a vague idea of where I want it to go, with one or two important points that I need to hit, and don't really figure out what the climax is going to be until I'm about halfway through, which is when I start working towards it. But this arc is going to be the first one where the beginning, ending, and middle are not only preplanned, but have been in the works for well over a year. So yeah, this is gonna be…interesting.

Hehehehehe…

On a lighter note, I always had this nagging feeling that I was taking inspiration for Yuuka's portrayal from somewhere, but for the life of me I couldn't think of what it was. And then, when I was out on a delivery last night, it hit me: Yuuka was subconsciously inspired by Hexadecimal from Reboot! I felt sort of stupid for not realizing it earlier, because their personalities are terrifyingly similar. And as such, I now picture them as having the same voice, with allowances made for accents. So it's official: should IM ever get any sort of animated adaptation (hey, I can dream, can't I?), Genji will be voiced by Jeff Bridges, and Yuuka will be voiced by Shirley Millner. And I guess Sayaka Ohara can do Yukari.

Oh, and just a reminder: Yuuka has Rin. Be afraid.

Until next time, everyone! Imperfect Metamorphosis resumes in March.