Yoshiki-909: A lot of things here will occur, still not saying which, but as for Artoria's 'Summoning'... that will be explained in a later chapter.

Dullahan Under the Willows

Leaping back, Reimu tried to process what she had just seen. She looked up at Sekibanki's face.

Just as she had seen in that vision, tears ran down her face. Reaching up with Hessian's hand to touch her face, Sekibanki looked at the wet glove and realized that she was crying.

Saber walked up to Reimu and asked, "What happened? That sword just bounced off her head."

Reimu frowned and shook her head. "We're leaving," she declared.

She turned away, but then something howled.

Not Lobo. Sekibanki.

In a fit of rage, the Rokurokubi hurled herself at Saber and Reimu, slashing maniacally, throwing heads, shooting lasers from her eyes, and launching danmaku in all directions. Her mouth foamed as a feral look in her gaze clouded her thoughts.

"Damn you humans!" she screamed. "Why couldn't you see that I was still human?! My neck detaches and you destroy everything in my life!"

No, it wasn't just Sekibanki they were defending themselves from. This was also the rage, the sheer desire for revenge from the Avenger that Sekibanki was sharing a body with. A mind filled with sorrow combined with the body of an Avenger embodying revenge.

And her rage was aimed at the human race as a whole.

Sekibanki's voice was shrill as she screamed: "You took my home! You made me lose my friends! You murdered my grandfather!"

One of the sickles hooked around Saber's sword, right under the pommel and above her hand, which was a mistake. Saber twisted, and the sickle went flying from Sekibanki's hand. With a roar of rage, Sekibanki swung down at them with her remaining sickle with both hands, and Saber and Reimu raised their weapons to block the attack.

"I never asked for your money! I never asked for food! I never asked for protection! I only wanted to be accepted!"

She leaped back and charged back forward, her sickle burning with a dark blue flame. Utilizing her Noble Phantasm, Sekibanki sliced at them to cut off their heads, but Reimu deflected it off her stick. Struggling with the sheer weight of the attack, Reimu felt her arms burn as she summoned the yin-yang orbs of the Hakurei Shrine and sent them hurtling into Sekibanki's stomach, making her lurch.

With a hard shove of her miko stick, Reimu knocked Sekibanki's sickle aside, which was enough for Saber to leap up above the demi-Servant and slice at its neck. The Servant and Master separated, and Hessian fell flat on his back and Sekibanki's head rolled away.

Reimu considered Hessian's body and, extending her miko stick's length to that of a quarterstaff, stabbed it right in the heart. The Avenger disappeared in golden sparkles which floated into the sky.

"Got a problem with that?" Reimu asked Saber.

Saber shook her head and replied, "No. Avengers are evil, and it would be a mercy for both them and us if it disappeared."

"A mercy for them?" Reimu repeated.

"Their existences are made completely from regrets and pain. It's a relief."

Reimu shrugged. "Now let's check on that youkai."

They both went where Sekibanki's head rolled off to, and something cold went down Reimu's spine as she realized that, instead of it being oak trees shielding them from the sun, they were underneath the wide canopy of a willow tree.

Sitting at its trunk was Sekibanki's torso, which cradled her head and stroked its hair. They could hear the muffled sobs coming from her.

"I just wanted to be human..." Sekibanki whispered. "I didn't ask to be like this..."

Saber's armor clanked, and Sekibanki's head popped back onto her neck and she pressed herself against the tree trunk.

"Leave me alone!" she cried, voice cracking in desperation. "Go away!"

Saber flinched. Reimu didn't think that Saber knew about what Sekibanki had gone through, but it was clear she knew.

Sekibanki, the Rokurokubi Horror, was scared.

"I won't hurt you..." Saber said softly.

But Sekibanki clearly didn't hear her. "No! Stop! Please!"

Saber, still trying to show Sekibanki she meant no harm, reached a hand out and said, "I'm not going to hurt you! Please!"

At her sudden shout, Sekibanki wailed and tried to run away, but tripped and fell on her face. She was delirious in fear, wailing loudly and trying to crawl away.

"Grandpa!" she screamed. "Where are you?! Grandpa please!"

Reimu couldn't believe it. Less than an hour ago, this girl was cockily demeaning the both of them. Now, however...

Saber dropped her sword and walked over to Sekibanki. She picked the youkai up by the arms, and Sekibanki's eyes dilated as tears and snot ran down her face. All she could do now was scream. Scream like a child whose oldest fears have been brought to life.

"No! No! Nooooooooooooooo!"

Saber, her gaze kind, wrapped Sekibanki in a hug. Sekibanki didn't struggle, and she stopped screaming in fear. Instead, she hugged Saber back and let out every year she lived in pain out in her cries.

...

"Your Servant is gone."

A nod.

"What you did could've killed you. You basically let it sap your life force from you."

Another nod.

"You're off the hook, but don't do that again, even if you get your Servant back."

A nod once again.

Sekibanki had her hands behind her back, her collar lifted high to cover half her face, and she didn't meet Saber nor Reimu's gazes.

Apparently, after hitting her with the strange blade, Sekibanki was forced to relive the memories that Reimu had seen. She wasn't aware that Reimu had seen them, and the shrine maiden wasn't exactly excited to share. After breaking down in Saber's arms, she sat down with the Spirit and had a one-on-one talk about it (Reimu tuned in, but didn't say anything), and Saber gave her a promise: She would be seen as a human among humans again, even with the knowledge of her being a rokurokubi. Sekibanki, now dry of tears, simply thanked Saber sheepishly.

Now, both Saber and Reimu were chewing her out for her earlier misdemeanors to make sure she wouldn't do them again. Never hurt to be too prepared.

"You understand, right?" Reimu asked.

Sekibanki nodded. Reimu crossed her arms and smiled.

"Good. Then we're done here."

Reimu turned away, but something in her heart caused her to stop moving. Saber, who had begun following her, stopped and looked at her in curiosity.

Taking a deep breath, Reimu prepared for what she was about to do.

"Hey, Sekibanki," she said quietly, looking over her shoulder. "I'm sorry about your grandfather. He seemed like a great guy."

Sekibanki said nothing in response for a while, and Reimu figured that she was angry at her for some reason. She began to walk away.

"Thank you," Sekibanki finally said.

Reimu nodded, glad to get that off her chest, and walked away with Saber following her.

They left her be, the Dullahan Under the Willows.

...

"Say uncle!"

"U-u-UUU-"

"Say uncle!"

"Uncle!"

Cirno released Mystia, and the bird lay on her face, gasping for breath.

"Ou, that was good wrestling!"

Cirno grinned as Lancer stood next to her, and she snorted at Mystia cockily.

"Hah! I am the strongest!" she declared.

Lancer considered the next kid in line. Jabbing a thumb at Wriggle, he asked, "Hey, how about that one next?"

Cirno put her hands on her hips and laughed. Lancer put a hand to his face and chuckled.

"You are a strange one, Master," Cu Chulainn snorted.