Chapter 3

The next day, Reimu felt the sun on her face as her call to wake up. She then sat up and looked to the table to see the pillow she left for Nahumar but he was already gone.

"Mnn...He's definitely an early riser." the idle comment led to Reimu carrying on with her usual day no different than the last. Rolling the futon up to put away, washing herself up, changing into her traditional red and white attire and eating a simple breakfast of leftover fish and some rice before heading outside the shrine to greet the clear blue sky. Broom in hand she gently dusted off the steps that she made her way down onto the stone pathway leading away.

"Ahoy!" Marisa called out while descending from her broom before Reimu as her shoes made a tap when touching the stone pathway. "Ready for the party tomorrow?" a tilt of her wide witch hat to Reimu made her smile "Depends, did you send the invitations out?" and returned that smile with a big grin. "You bet I did! Even Byakuren wanted to come this year when I told her we're going to have Ambrosia this time."

Marisa took a look in the donation box out of curiosity and saw some paper. "Hey. You have a donation." Marisa called out. Reimu froze. Then she thought it was a prank. With a shrug, Reimu walked over to open the lid. Sure enough there was a donation. A Thousand Yen!

"...Okay Marisa, what trick are you playing?" Reimu deviately smiled while plucking the paper up but the black and white witch shook her head. "Wasn't me. I ain't got enough to even donate a hundred."

It took Reimu another moment of thinking out loud with Marisa over who left the donation...

"Well if it wasn't you today...and yesterday no one visited asides Nahu-" there the priestess felt as if it was his doing somehow. Marisa just tilted her head curiously at his act "Woah...Nahumar made a donation? He's kind of overgenerous don't you think?" but Reimu just stared at the bill of Yen, instead stowing it away privately within a small pocket in her skirt. "A donation is a donation. Which means-" And a gleam in Reimu's eyes came forth "I can buy some cheap meat to go with my rice for dinner!" completely focused on her vision of thin strips of grilled meat, chicken...even better fish. The possibilities were endless for her.

But seeing Reimu excited and happy was all that Marisa could ask for her friend. "Geeze if a thousand yen got you this riled up, I wonder what kind of emotion I'd see if i gave you ten thousand?"

"You might as well marry me for ten thousand." Reimu jokingly answered as she headed off to the human village with Marisa to buy some quick food!

A simple stop at the human village brought the two to the market and for Reimu to dazzlingly gaze at the selection of food she could buy with her latest donations.

On the way out, a man had approached Reimu with quite a worried look on his face. "Priestess! Please help us..." he pleaded to the red and white shinto priestess as she handed Marisa her purchased goods. The look that Marisa saw was a rare one when Reimu went to work.

"What's the issue?" she asked.

The man bowed his head. "I-it's our son! He can't leave bed at all! It's like some otherworldly force is keeping him to the ground! Please do something!" again praying to Reimu. "Alright. Lead on."

Reimu had Marisa stand outside the home while she went in to check on the child. The mother constantly praying while the father waited in an eagerness for his son to wake. For Reimu this seemed like child's play. She cleaned the area by burning sage for smoke and prepared her needles just right to ward off whatever is there. She swung her Gohei above the child after the sage...but nothing seemed to react. Nothing came from it. The child laid there, frozen to whatever his eyes laid upon. His body still breathing but the nerves were shot.

Reimu took out some talismands "...Okay let's try this." and placed them against the child in an attempt to draw out any posession...but they didn't stick. Neither did her needles. Reimu was at a loss for a moment before remembering that they said 'sleeping'. So with an incense burning gently and her body assuming a meditative position she would prepare to try and contact the dream world...

In her Meditative State, Reimu fell into a light slumber to enter the Dream World. There she could find a strange woman wearing what looked like a black and white night gown with puff balls, a very long sleeping cap and a tail that was noticeable off the bat. She felt Reimu's presence and turned around while laying across the space above them. The dream world changed to a simple plane of existence.

"Doremy." Reimu called out to the woman.

"This is a shock. What brings the Gensokyo Shrine Maiden here?"

"There is a child that refuses to wake up. I demand you get rid of his nightmare before I enter the Dream Realm again like last time."

The odd woman raised her book up like a shield despite her expression still looking like a mix of Smug and Lazy. "I would if the Nightmare didn't escape into the Physical World..."

Reimu blined. "HUH!? How does a Nightmare become real!?" to which Doremy answered

"Very rarely do these Nightmares escape into the real world. When they do, they become hallucinations or even physical bodies. Some last longer than others."

This was new information to be sure as Reimu floated along the empty space in a cirle with Doremy doing much the same as a glob of dreams formed in her hand.

"Then what should we do?"

"This is a matter that concerns the Physical World this time. I'm sure you'll figure out how to get rid of the physical representation of Fear and Dread."

With those words, Reimu would snap out of her meditative state with a verbally annoyed growl. "Damn Baku can't even be clear about all this."

Reimu announced to the parents to hold on for a moment while she went to get something important to the situation. She walked to Marisa who was waiting for her and turned to face the priestess. "So? Got it done?" she lifted her wide witch hat to gaze at Reimu. Silently, Reimu shook her head.
"The kid is not sleeping that's for sure, but something is keeping him still. It's like he's paralyzed."

"Tried using the needles?"

"Did that..."

"Talismans?"

"Nothing."

"Prayer-"

"I tried what i could but Doremy mentioned it being a physical nightmare. The kid is probably terrified..."

The two thought it over before Marisa reminded herself of one person. Together the two incident solvers would say to the other

"Nahumar!"

...

Nahumar tended to his garden to plant new carrot seeds for his menagerie of purple rabbits. Each one hopping over one another and following Nahumar like their parent or guardian figure. Their eyelids closed but still knowing the way around. Nahumar walked up the steps to his shrine and pulled out a brown cloth bag out. "I know you're all pretty hungry. Hunting was fine for a while but-" and with his hand dipped in, grabbing onto a bundle he threw out a collection of carrots in the sky!

"We're back in society! The first taste of carrots once more for you all!"

All in unison the Nighthares opened their eyes, showcasing their solid black eyes with a weird white cross pattern at the flying carrots. Only to have them thump on the ground on the other side. They immediately bolted! Nibbling and devouring the amount of carrots in pure joy.

Nahumar tossed a couple more just for good measure before sitting on his porch to watch the Nighthares have their first honest carrot meal in so long. "...No more do they have to scavenge..." and before he could enjoy a snack of a cacao bean-

"Nahumar." a familiar voice stopped him. Reimu from the sky landed before the God of Fear with a troubling look.

"I need your aid." she announced.

"My aid? What's the problem?" Nahumar fixed his jacket while standing up and preparing to follow her where ever she would head off. "Someone in the village won't wake up and Doremy mentioned the anomaly is not in the Dream World. Just come with me." Reimu and Nahumar would fly off together to the Human Village, returning to the home where the young boy resides.

"I'm back." Reimu told the parents as she walked with Nahumar behind her. The black eyes and purple Sclera was a shock to them and they wondered what kind of being Reimu managed to summon into the world? Nahumar just smiled and waved as he always would before entering the bedroom where the child laid there. Breathing but incapable of waking or moving.

Reimu sat beside Nahumar on her knees...though Nahumar had trouble at first having been more akin to sitting with legs spread out.

She asked the God of Fear "Ever seen something like this?"

To which he nodded. "All too common. There's a Sleep Paralysis Demon keeping him from fully waking. He knows we're here...but he can't react accordingly." and there he pointed to the child's chest.

"...I don't see a demon."

"Look harder, Hakurei Priestess...Concentrate." Nahumar insisted upon the area. The more Reimu concentrated, the easier it was to notice that strange bend of light. The idea of a body upon the child prompted Reimu to toss a few talismans in the open space above the child. There it clung to an arm and part of the body of whatever it was sitting on the child. It did not move.

"What in the-"

"Sleep Paralysis Demons manifest into reality from the sleeping world when the victim's nightmares are potent enough." his hand outstretched upon where the neck of the creature was to dispel the illusion of the demon.

Reimu looked in a half second of shock. A cold, chilling sensation ran up her spine but faded as soon as she was accustomed. She's seen far worse from her field of work and this was another notch on the belt. It's body was black with grey veins. It's face was featureless aside the two vacant white eyes and gaping mouth. It made no sound. Made no motion. It did not even care if it was caught. With one twist of the wrist, Nahumar broke the concentration of the demon and condensed it's presence into an obsidian black crystal no longer than a finger or thicker.

It took a moment for the child to finally move and focus in on the two. "T-thank you..." His shakey tone came forth as Reimu reached over to pet the child gently.

Notifying the parents, Reimu and Nahumar were met with a barrage of bows from the family.

"Your son is free from the demon keeping him still." Reimu announced. The parents were far too happy to know it wasn't too late.

"OH THANK THE BOTH OF YOU! Truly this was the blessing of a god!" To which Nahumar would reply

"No need to thank me, it was all The Hakurei Priestess' work. I was merely brought in to aid her." Lying then and there in front of Reimu knowing full well the situation.

Only when they left the Human Village did Reimu stop Nahumar to ask him some questions.

"Normally I don't care about this but why did you lie like that? You were the one who got rid of the beast in the first place." Resting her Gohei against her shoulder in waiting.

"...I do not wish to gather Faith again. It was people who believed in me too much that caused the surge of emotions to affect the humans and led to my banishment." he then raised the crystal to the sky. The natural light of the world revealed it's true color of dark blues with a swirl of black inside.

"I doubt being thanked by two humans will lead to something like that. We have gods of all kinds and deities roam this land. Heck we even have a giant fusion reactor in Former Hell powered by a Yatagarasu inside of a Hell Raven. You're. Fine." Those two words she nearly shouted with a bitter anger behind them.

Nahumar however took her words in earnest. "Then next time someone thanks me i'll accept it."

"Also-" Finally the priestess points to the crystal.

"What are you going to do with that?"

"Oh this? I'm going to eat it."

"You're joking." A flat response just as Reimu watched Nahumar popped the crystalized terror into his mouth with an audible crunch like glass. Small tendrils of a black smoke escaped from his closed lips briefly before fading as he swallowed.

"...Mnn. Bitter with a tangy bite." and expelling air with a gasp. Reimu was still unphased. Calm, collected and always composed no matter the situation. "You're definitely a 'god' alright. A weird one But i hope you keep your end of the bargain and bring that Ambrosia Tomorrow. Three Barrels-"

"Two!" Nahumar corrected Reimu. She just smiled and chuckled. "Right, Two. Thought I could sneak in a third." before taking off back to her shrine.

But something rumbles in the Palace of the Earth Spirits. An individual was found on the outskirts of Former Hell. A strange sphere that turned into a man when he woke up. Found by the Kasha named Rin she took this person to Satori. There among the small group that followed in interest they would discuss the matter.

"You are not a 'human' that's for sure. What is your name?"

"I...Don't know. All I remember is darkness before waking here."

"Satori-Sama! Can I name him!?"

"HEY! Why does Rin get to name him? That's not fair!"

"Calm down you two...though i can already read your ideas. We're not naming him Sakana or Tamago

"Aw..."

"You can...read their minds?"

"Yes but yours is...Jumbled. It really is not worth examining further until your memory is less fragmented."

"Then how shall I earn my keep?"

"We could use someone to help Yuugi keep peace in the underground. How does that sound for work?"

"...I shall accept."

"And how about for now we call you...Yakyosho? Your eyes are very...striking like a terror in the night."

The being named Yakyosho bears a striking similarity to Nahumar in physical build and clothing minus the starry night jacket. The only difference is his eyes. White Iris and Black Sclera that shared a haunting presence behind it.