Yoshiki-909: Mmmm...
Old Man of the Mountain
Both Reimu and Saber couldn't help but glare jealously at the stranger's... assets.
"Shiki told me to meet him at a 'Human Village'!" the well-endowed, blonde girl who couldn't be a year older than themselves told them. "Please tell me where it is!"
Reimu stuck a thumb behind her. "Just follow the trail," she instructed.
The girl nodded in thanks and sped past them.
"I swear I've seen her before," Saber muttered.
"Does it really matter?" Reimu asked.
Saber didn't respond, and the two went back to their trek to the Komeiji Manor.
"Do you mind explaining that sword?" Saber suddenly asked.
Reimu fingered the hilt of the unnamed sword at her waist. She had a general idea about what it did, but she was still in the dark about why she would be given such a 'weapon'.
With a sigh, Reimu told Saber, "Well... when I hit someone in the head with it, I get a memory or something from them. And apparently, it forces them to see it too. That's about it. It doesn't hurt them or anything."
Saber considered her for a few seconds before saying, "Well, that would explain why you used it on a child."
Though Saber's usual stoic demeanor didn't go away, Reimu sensed that the Servant had forgiven her. Thinking about it, Reimu did want to get along with Saber. She seemed like a good friend to have. Maybe a bit clean-cut, but friendly and kind nonetheless.
Deciding on a conversation topic, Reimu asked Saber, "Hey, what's your Master like?"
A smile crawled up on Saber's face as she replied, "Well, my Master's very nice. He's a good cook and a determined warrior. He's reliable and never gives up on his friends. Polite, honest, and maybe a little awkward and he can be stupid at times. But I'm glad he's my Master."
"Your Master sounds like a good guy. What's his name?"
"Shirou Emiya."
The name didn't surface in any of Reimu's memories.
"Well, I hope you find him soon," Reimu said.
Saber nodded. Then her expression turned serious.
"I sense a Servant," Saber told her.
"I see a Servant," Reimu shot back.
Walking on the opposite side of the road was one of Gensokyo's most feared youkai: Yuuka Kazami, her parasol open and blocking the sun from her eyes. Next to her was a man wearing a black suit, his silver, combed hair a bit tousled, and piercing red eyes.
Her heart pounded in her chest, but Reimu managed to stay calm as she whispered to Saber, "Let's ignore them."
Both groups pretended the other didn't exist as they approached each other. Reimu's throat tightened up with fear as she and Yuuka stood side-by-side for a second. She saw the flower youkai smile. Preparing for a fight, her hand clenched her miko stick...
...and just like that, they had their backs to each other. Reimu finally gulped and her hand relaxed.
"Shrine maiden."
The moment Yuuka's Servant said that, a chill colder than Cirno's blizzard went down Reimu's spine. Forcing herself to follow Saber's gaze, she turned around.
Both Yuuka and her Servant were smiling at them.
With her heart hammering in her chest, Reimu held her miko stick tightly. This very encounter was one of her greatest fears: to fight someone stronger than Yukari herself. Even with Saber, she didn't think she could survive such an encounter, especially with that Servant Yuuka had with her.
"H-Hey," Reimu started.
Yuuka put a hand up to tell her to be quiet. Reimu obeyed like a terrified puppy.
"We won't fight you today," Yuuka told her, her voice soft yet so powerful. "I just wanted to warn you. Reimu Hakurei, Arthur Pendragon, that your hold over us youkai won't last much longer."
Reimu was too terrified to even comprehend what she said.
Yuuka turned to her Servant and said, "Let's go, Antonio."
The Servant replied, "Of course, Miss Kazami."
The youkai and Servant walked away, and once they were out of eyeshot, Reimu threw up on the road. She had never felt so scared in her life.
...
Satori Komeiji considered the throne made by the Hassans. It was a monstrous thing made of metal scraps and carved wood, blades and bottles of poison hanging from the armrests and the headboard.
"Gramps," she said. "Is this your idea of a throne?"
Gramps grunted noncommittally. With a sigh, Satori sat down on it.
It was too big. If she tried to sit down with her back to the middle back of the throne, her ankles would dangle off the seat. Only her hands reached the armrests if she sat in the middle. And it was very, very uncomfortable.
"Can... can I have a cushion?" she asked.
One of the Hassan clones came over with a feather pillow. Satori put it underneath her, sat down on it, and crossed her legs and arms. It was better than simply sitting down on it. She closed her eyes, and a jolt went through her brain. Somebody had entered their territory.
"Koishi!" she called.
A few seconds later, her younger sister appeared, followed by one of Hundred-Faces' clones, the child one.
"Yeah, big sis?" Koishi said.
"Can you have all of the Hassans, Utsuho, and Orin gather here? We're going to have guests soon."
Koishi smiled and disappeared. The child Hassan looked around before scampering away.
Satori didn't see why Koishi smiled. She could see how dead her eyes were.
Within a few minutes, the hundreds of Hassans, including Asako, Cursed Arm, and Serenity were in the foyer with her. Along with them, Orin and Utsuho were looking confused at the summons, a good number of zombie fairies behind them.
"We have guests," Satori informed them.
With impeccable timing, the door opened, and the Hassans prepared themselves for a fight.
"Satori Komeiji!" Reimu called.
"Yes?" Satori called back casually.
"Please stop messing with the forest! It's loud, disruptive, and annoying!"
"No thanks."
Reimu flicked out her miko stick, and Saber sighed as she drew out her invisible sword.
"In that case, we'll-" Reimu started.
"Attack," Satori commanded.
The forces within the Komeiji mansion, save for Satori and Gramps, charged at the two intruders. Reimu grabbed Saber's arm and turned them both nonexistent, rushing to the middle of the room as the Hassans ended up in one large, awkward doggy pile. As they returned to existence, Utsuho spun around and aimed her control rod at them.
"Bow to my wrath!" she cried as she released a flaming, nuclear orb at them.
Saber gritted her teeth as she deflected the orb and threw it at Gramps. The large Hassan knocked it aside with the back of his fist. Reimu went to throw talismans at him, but she spotted Cursed Arm extending his hand towards her.
With a dark chuckle, the Assassin shouted, "Writhe in agony!"
Reimu's talismans changed direction as they blew up in Cursed Arm's face, and he slammed into the wall opposite.
"Reimu! Ghost!"
Without question, the shrine maiden faded out of existence as Serenity reached out to touch her. She ended up flying through where Reimu was and flipped herself to her feet. Reimu went back to existence and grinned... until something hard slammed into her ankle.
"Take that!" Orin said gleefully.
The Hassans were regrouping, and the hundreds of them were surrounding Saber and Reimu. Saber held her sword out, unsure if she could deal with this many opponents at once. And Reimu was making sure no permanent damage was done to her ankle.
Satori put on her skull mask, and both Orin and Utsuho followed her lead.
"Continue," Satori said.
This time, the Hassans ran at the two between two second intervals. Every time a personality was destroyed, another would be there, ready to put a dagger between their shoulderblades.
"We can't keep this up forever!" Saber shouted, knowing that they would eventually be too slow, or one of the main Hassans would attack them and finish them off.
Reimu deflected a Hassan's blade and hit him with her miko stick. "I know!"
She glared up at Satori. Underneath her mask, she was utterly emotionless, and Reimu knew it. Maybe if she threw the memory sword at her, then she could shock her and turn the tide.
But looking at Gramps, Reimu didn't like her chances of that happening. Despite the sheer size of the Servant, it was pretty obvious that he could catch it and throw it back at her.
Gritting her teeth, she threw a talisman at another Hassan. They had to do something about this, but there wasn't anything coming to Reimu's mind.
Then something sparked in Saber's instincts. She sent the back of her fist back and hit something. The Hassans stopped attacking, and everybody's eyes drifted to who Saber hit.
Koishi Komeiji lay on her side, bawling her eyes out as she clutched her face.
"My... my nose!" she cried. "Idz broggen!"
They heard a shriek, and Satori ran to her sister's side, throwing her mask off. The Hassans, Orin, and Utsuho parted for her as she went through them. She ignored the fact that she was at Saber and Reimu's mercy as she threw herself over her sister.
"Koishi!" she screamed, her voice full of pain. "Koishi!
Koishi continued to sob, and Reimu took a look around. Nobody was making a sound. The Hassans, pets, and zombie fairies were all staring in fear at what had happened. Saber's mouth was set in a scowl, her eyes full of self-loathing.
Reimu nudged Saber, who shook her head, not meeting her eyes. Deciding that now was the time, Reimu drew out the memory sword and stepped towards Satori. None of the Hassans went to stop her as she stabbed down at Satori.