Touhou belongs to Team Shanghai Alice. So do concepts, characters and everything else you have experienced while playing the game, except the dishes. Here's another man who wants to use his ideas for a story.
Touhou Fan: It would be better if you had a fanfic net account for us to privately converse, but your review isn't wrong either. It just happens to be my take on the characters. I don't really know in depth history on each character, rather writing out stories based on what I do read here and there.
Ran saw her own death approaching in her eyes, which were already larger than round dinner dishes.
At the same instant moment which Ran knew she would be dead, a large beam of laser cut through the air, originating from somewhere on the right side, completely obliterating her would-be murderer in a familiar humming of energy. When the beam had passed, Usutho was nowhere to be seen.
Ran knew that she only had a fistful of moments before Usutho will regenerate her body again from whatever mysterious means that she had at her disposal and so rolled onto her feet again, breathing a sigh of relief at the close call. Never relax until the battle is truly over.
That laser and that humming… it can only be one person.
Her savior could be heard running around the perimeter of the Yakumo residence, and then a grunt signaled that the person had vaulted over the picket fences and was heading in her direction. "Yo!" the voice called out. "Are you still alive there?"
Ran could not help herself but laughed slightly at the voice. "I'm fine… Kirisame," she replied just as the colorless witch burst into view, whom upon seeing the kitsune in one piece, stopped in her tracks, bent down and began panting heavily. "Why aren't you on the way to the river? Why are you back here?"
"Your little kitty begged me to come back for you, ze!" Marisa looked up, gave her best smile and a thumbs-up. "And here I am, back with love!"
"Thanks for the lovely beam. I owe you one now."
Ran began to detect some disturbance in the skies above them, particularly where a cluster of feathers that had been descending to the ground. "I'm not going to the river until Yukari's ready to get you guys out of here."
"We ain't going anywhere, ze."
"'We'?"
Marisa pointed behind her just as she spotted people heading in their direction in a hurry. They were a mix of people whom she had known prior to the underground disaster and a new face among them. "Chen?" Ran called. "Youmu, Alice and… erm…"
"Forget the introductions," the new face with a horn on the forehead waved and cracked her knuckles. "I've got some business to settle with that bird up there."
"Truth is, I ain't going out of Gensokyo," Marisa said. "This land is my home, and I'm staying to the bitter end."
"But Marisa, didn't we agree to come back for Ran and then retreat back to the evacuation route?" Alice asked. "You had barely escaped with your life earlier in the forest, there's no telling if you will survive if you fight with that hell raven again!"
"I told you before, I'm only leaving Gensokyo if Reimu comes with me."
"Remember that this is your choice, Marisa," Ran said. "I am truly glad for you assistance in the diversion mission and your earlier rescue, but you do know we probably won't make it out alive?"
"Of course, ze!" Marisa wore her usual grin, the same one which she usually put on before giving her opponent the largest burst of love beam in regular spellcard battles. "You can count on me!"
"If you're staying," Youmu drew both blades from their sheaths on her hips with a loud screech of metal. "Count me in. I will make her pay!"
If what Yukari said was true, Yuyuko would have been unable to leave Gensokyo due to her presence being bound to the Netherworld, but Youmu wasn't. I know that Youmu would give up her existence to stay with Yuyuko till the end, but somehow Yukari must have convinced her to leave Gensokyo. Trust her to be even capable of separating the most loyal of servants from the master. "You didn't have to leave the Netherworld, Youmu."
"Shut up!" the half-ghost samurai snapped. "This is all your master's doing!"
"But-"
"If we are going to be doing something against that thing, we better do it soon," Youmu warned, her eyes flicking back up to the sky, where a glow had appeared, signifying Usutho's imminent return. "She doesn't seem to die, despite whatever you have done, huh?"
An instant later, Usutho reappeared in the same fashion. Other hell ravens began gathering near their leader quickly, recreating the black cloud of doom once again above Mayohiga. Ran then noticed the horned woman, whom she suspected to be an Oni, stepping forward, a large grin on her face.
"Girl, you promised some distractions for me," the oni half-turned turned to Alice, who nodded. "Great, where are they?"
Without another word, Alice's doll army seemingly appeared from behind every cover available in the ruined village. The numbers were great, but were still terribly outnumbered by Usutho's invading hell ravens. "These are all the dolls I have left, Miss Hoshiguma."
"It's 'Yuugi'," the large oni waved off the polite honorifics. "And any amount of distraction I can get will do well to fit my plans."
"You have a plan?" Ran asked.
"Sure thing, uh… I think that lil kitty called you Ran or something?"
"Let's hear it."
While they were discussing their plans, the black cloud of hell ravens began engulfing their leader once again, forming some sort of protection for Usutho, but not yet ready to strike, even if their enemies below them were still unprepared. Probably by some sinister intelligence or pure foolishness, Usutho did not seem to be capable of pinching that moment to strike, allowing the group to formulate their hasty plan for the next battle.
A minute had passed and the defenders had finished discussing their plans, but still Usutho had not ordered the hell ravens to rain Black Death on them. Eyes once again stared at their oppositions, raising tensions even further.
"Remember that Usutho does not seem to die off permanently," Ran murmured.
"In that case, we get to beat her up as many times as we want to," Yuugi cracked her knuckles audibly, sending chills down the kitsune's back.
I'm not sure if I really want to follow her plan. Those hands might just break- "AHHHH!" Ran screamed out as Yuugi grabbed one of her tails, lifted the kitsune in whole high above her head and began twirling in circles, as if preparing to toss a rope. Ran snapped out of her fear of Yuugi's strong hands and curled her body into a ball, ready to be thrown.
Just as Ran was sure her tail would be mercilessly torn off from the heavy momentum being generated while being twirled, Yuugi released her grip on the tail and Ran found herself flying, head over heels, towards the black cloud above them. Her senses became disoriented, but she managed to pick up the energy radiating from Usutho from somewhere in the direction she had been thrown.
With the large number of hell ravens blocking the way, it would have normally been impossible to break through the blockade with such a simple maneuver, but the biological projectile had been thrown by an oni; the hell ravens in the way were simply knocked away or even sent cannoning in all directions, creating a gap in the cloud where Ran had been flying.
As Yuugi had guessed, Usutho was powerful enough to steel herself against the incoming kitsune, bringing her to a complete stop, but not without generating a shockwave large enough to knock away the hell ravens closest to her.
But that was all that was needed; following in another blur along the path Ran had created was Konpaku Youmu, her two famed swords drawn, hungering for the blood of the nuclear hell raven. At the last possible second, Ran pushed away from Usutho, who had not seen Youmu, and allowed the Netherworld's gardener to strike at her target unhindered. The first slash severed off Usutho's head in a bloody shower, while her second sword split her remaining body into perfect halves in another fountain of blood.
The three severed parts of Usutho began falling back down from the sky, but, as they had already predicted, the body parts seemed to have begun fusing together again, proving their guesses that Usutho was likely immortal at that point.
Unlike Ran's earlier battles, before Usutho's body could fully regenerate, Marisa, from the ground, fired off her trademark Master Spark into the air, obliterating the regenerating body within the magical energy.
Both Youmu and Ran touched down beside their comrades on the ground and looked up; the remaining hell ravens were in disarray, but most importantly, Usutho's body did not regenerate, confirming Ran's suspicions that they had to take her down twice in quick succession to stop her.
While the girls admired their victory, Ran turned her attention away to a familiar sensation at the back of Mayohiga observing the battle. We can do this, Chen, Ran said telepathically. Believe in me.
"I knew you could, Ran! But you can't do it alone. I had to seek help."
It is my job, Chen, it's not for anyone else to risk their lives for.
"Why would you risk yours?"
Because… I…
"Huh? Look at that!" Alice suddenly shouted, pointing into the air. In the direction of her finger, high above them, the glow had reappeared.
Ran knew what would happen next. "Marisa! Fire again!"
Within the time Marisa took to react and charge up her hakkero again, Usutho popped back into existence unharmed and managed to move away before Marisa managed to fire the Master Spark. The girls on the ground watched as the hell ravens, which had been disoriented, suddenly dive bombing towards them again.
Alice, however, was prepared. The dolls all around her immediately took into the air and brandished their lances upwards; incoming hell ravens were speared through their bodies against the dolls' weapons. Being limited in numbers, the dolls only managed to buy so much time for the defenders to take action.
Acting on instinct, Ran gave a new order to them. "If the Hakurei maiden is dead, so is the spellwork that limits the power of danmaku! Your danmaku is now lethal!"
All girls obeyed and initiated their counterattack. The other hell ravens seemed to catch on what Ran had ordered and unleashed their own barrage of bullets in Mayohiga's direction. Soon the skies above the mythical village became engulfed in thick concentrations of bullets.
The motley party managed to dodge the haphazard danmaku fired at them and took down hell raven after hell raven, but their enemies did not seem to lower in number. Usutho, on the other hand, seemed content that the defenders were unable to reach her through the mass of hell ravens all around her and so simply watched.
Ran herself managed to knock away one of those hell ravens when she noticed somebody wearing familiar purple and white garments heading towards Mayohiga on ground. Yukari? What are you doing here? Kicking away another hell raven which had tried to smother her face with its wings, Ran dived back down amid the hail of bullets in a frenzy to reach for the person.
Somehow, the kitsune reached Yukari without getting hit. Without wasting time for words, she simply grabbed Yukari in a bear hug at the waist and flew straight for the other side of Mayohiga, in the direction of the Sanzu River. Suddenly, she felt something struck her back, sending a sharp pain through her body and accidentally releasing her grip on Yukari, dropping her. Fortunately, she had been flying at ground-hugging altitudes and Yukari did not seem to suffer much damage, as far as she could see. Ignoring the pain, she simply took off into the direction of the battle above her. Take care, Yukari, be on your way and get the portal working!
As she reentered the thick of the battle, she began to notice Usutho's stare through the small gaps between the cloud of hell ravens. "Marisa!" the kitsune shouted across to the witch. "She's over there!"
"With pleasure, ze!"
Marisa, however, missed her target completely; Usutho had dodged it again by flying in another direction. She tried again, and missed.
"Aim at her, Marisa, aim at her!" Youmu screamed.
"I can't hit her! The blast is too powerful for me to follow her movements!"
"Here, Marisa, let me help you!" Alice called out. Two of her dolls dropped their targets and flew after Usutho. The pair easily caught up with the nuclear hell raven, who seemed not to notice the two dolls, and pierced their lances through her wings. "Now!"
Theoretically, such damage to the wings would have disabled any bird, but Usutho once again dodged the incoming Master Spark by propelling herself in a safe direction with the aid of a blast from her arm cannon. The two dolls that had been sent after Usutho were left in the path of the Master Spark, and when the beam faded, nothing from the duo was left in its wake.
The damages on her wings recovered with the aid of her powers, Usutho began flying with her wings, this time engaging them with her own barrage of danmaku, coupled with blasts from her arm cannon.
"I can't hit her if she's moving this fast!" Marisa shouted as yet another beam missed.
"Need some help?" Yuugi grabbed Marisa by her waist, causing the witch to emit a cute yelp.
"What the ze! What are you up to?!"
"Don't be ticklish," Yuugi cooed and tightened her grip, despite the ongoing danger all around them. Marisa yelped again as she felt pain in her midsection. "We do this together!"
"What?"
"You and me. And that beam. We aim for Usutho. It's not called "Love Sign" without any "love" from me, right?"
"Are you sure this will work?"
"An Oni never lie."
"Marisa!" Ran called.
"On it!" Marisa flashed her brightest smile as she felt Yuugi's grip tighten again. "On three, Yuugi!"
"Count it out loud!" Yuugi growled.
"Three!"
"Two…"
"One…"
"LOVE SIGN!" the duo yelled. "MASTER SPARK!"
Another rainbow beam exploded from the Hakkero in Marisa's hands, the recoil pushing her backwards. However, Yuugi proved to be the strong Oni that she was and managed to hold Marisa in her spot without even flinching. With Yuugi having control over Marisa, she was able to swing the direction of the Master Spark faster than Marisa herself could, enabling them to finally fry the nuclear hell raven in a bath of love beam.
Satisfied that Marisa has done her job, she followed up with the next part of the plan, which involved Youmu. The Netherworld gardener's part in the plan was to simply send Usutho back into a mess of feathers with her speed while Ran would slap an amulet on one of the feathers, timing for it to explode upon the hell raven's resurrection.
With said amulet out of her sleeves and in a hand, she turned around to give the signal. "Youm- OMPH!"
Without needing Ran to give her the signal, Youmu had already darted forward, but instead of racing towards the resurrecting Usutho, she chose to collide into the kitsune at full force into another direction, the sharp edge of her Hakurouken just touching Ran's throat in a dangerous manner. "Youmu?" Ran managed to cough out the name after recovering from the hard impact into her body. "What… What are you…"
"MOMENT OF TRUTH, YAKUMO!" Youmu screamed into the startled face, her own eyes glaring hard at the opposite pair. Pushing her bloodstained blade deeper into the throat, almost to the point of drawing fresh blood from the kitsune, she continued. "WHAT ARE YOU AND YUKARI PLANNING? WHY DID YOU DO THIS? WAS THAT WORTH SACRIFICING ALL OF GENSOKYO FOR?"
"Youm-UGH!" Ran tried to reply, but Youmu had gave her midsection a hard knee.
"WHAT IS IT, KITSUNE? WHAT IS IT THAT YOU NEED TO SEPARATE ME FROM LADY YUYUKO?"
While Ran was still trying to push the gardener away, Youmu withdrew the blade, raised it far behind her, preparing to cleave Ran's head cleanly off her shoulders. Ran quickly snapped back to her senses and lowered her head, just in time to avoid a headless death. Taking advantage of the fact Youmu would need to recover from her momentum after attempting to slice her head, the kitsune, ironically, used her head to strike Youmu in the chest in an attempt to break away.
Ran succeeded in freeing herself from Youmu's deadly embrace… and also succeeded in avoiding another murder attempt, this time coming from Usutho. A white bolt slammed into Youmu from above, sending the gardener all the way down to the ground in a fireball.
"Youmu!" Ran shouted before flying after the flaming Youmu, but she was too slow: Youmu hit the ground before she could reach her.
"Youmu?" Ran repeated the name as she finally landed beside her, cradling her head in her arms. "Youmu! Wake up!" Ran then began shaking her, but the gardener did not respond. The kitsune felt someone land on the ground as well and turned to find Alice running towards them.
"Youmu!" Alice screamed her name as well. "Oh no… is she still alive?"
"I'm not sure. She did hit the ground hard."
As Alice kneeled down and try to revive Youmu, Ran heard another yell from above. Looking up, she was just in time to notice Marisa falling from the sky as well, catching the witch before she suffered the same fate as Youmu and gently settling her onto the ground.
"Thanks…" Marisa murmured as she clutched her right arm in pain, ignoring the large rivers of blood flowing from other injuries. "Damn ravens nearly tore my arm off."
"What about Yuugi? Is she still up there?"
The three girls looked up into the sky at the same time. Among the black cloud of hell ravens, all they could see was one spot in the cloud where the concentration of ravens was the greatest, presumably where Yuugi was still battling it out with them. As they watched, Ran caught sight a couple of moments where she could see the lone fighter still desperately trying to fight her way out. The first glimpse showed that some of the ravens were already clinging onto the oni, and the second glimpse, Yuugi was barely able to struggle much.
The crowd of ravens suddenly dispersed. To the defenders' horror, all they could still see were the ravens, but no sign of Yuugi. It was as if she was devoured by the black cloud. Or even eaten alive by those ravens, Ran thought to herself.
One life, a brave soul, sacrificed herself for the survivors. But how many more such souls do we still have left before all of us are consumed? In a moment of despair, Ran dropped her head down sharply…
… and felt her cap move from its secure position on her head as well.
Remembering that she still had another card up her sleeves that she hadn't played to turn the tide, Ran raised her head up once again with hope, while a shiver went down her spine as she contemplated what she was about to do. So it has come down to THIS, huh? "Alice," she murmured.
"Ran?" Alice turned away from the ravens above them and stared at the kitsune, who was pointing into the sky, causing her to turn back up.
"Usutho."
"Yes?"
"She's looking at us."
"And?"
"And the other ravens are not moving towards the Sanzu River yet."
"I know. But how long before they no longer view us as a threat?"
"For as long as I remain as the threat."
"Yeah, but-" Alice trailed off as she caught Ran's meaning.
"Ran?" Marisa said in disbelief. "You aren't serious, are you?"
"I was the direct threat since the battle here started," Ran lowered her arm. "Thank you for saving me, but it's time for you guys to go."
"No!"
The shout exploded in her head, almost knocking her out, just as her fatigue chose to creep back at the same time. "No…" the voice in her head repeated in a lesser but more pleading tone. "Ran… no…"
"Alice. Marisa. Take Youmu… and Chen with you and go to the river now," Ran insisted as she held her forehead in a palm.
"But Ran, we promised Chen to take you along with us as well," Alice protested.
"Can't bring myself to break that kitty's promise," Marisa added.
"Marisa, you are in no shape to stay either," Ran pointed out. "Alice, you are the remaining one here who can lead the way to the river safely."
"Ran-"
"I ain't leaving!" Marisa screamed. "This is also MY fight! I want… I NEED to avenge Reimu for all that is worth! Are you going to cast us aside now? This," she lifted her arm, wincing in pain, but continued to scream at the kitsune. "is only a scratch! ONLY A SCRATCH! YOU HEAR ME?"
"AND REIMU DIDN'T THROW HER OWN LIFE AWAY FOR THE REST OF GENSOKYO TO JOIN HER!" Ran yelled in return.
"SPEAK FOR YOURSELF! YOU ARE THROWING YOURS AWAY!"
"Alright, break it up!" Alice threw her hands between them. "Fine. We will bring Youmu and Chen to the river first."
"Alice-"
"Enough, Marisa, let's go. C'mon, I need your help here, don't just sit on the grass!" and with that, Alice helped Marisa back onto her feet, ignoring the witch's loud protests, before reaching down for the Netherworld's gardener, lifting her limp body in her arms before taking off in the direction of the river, leaving Ran alone once again.
With nobody else remaining, Ran looked back into the sky at Usutho, who seemed to have been enjoying watching their little quarrel and not taking the opportunity to attack. You think you have won the battle, bird?
You thought wrong.
Ran began moving her hand towards her head, but before she reached for whatever she had in mind, a familiar and annoying voice made it into her head first.
"Why?"
… I will be fine, Chen. Stop distracting me, will you?
"I know what you are trying to do, Ran! Please don't do that!"
!
"Yes, Ran, I know about that spellcard!"
How did Chen find out about this? Ran thought to herself. I swear, even Yukari had no idea I was developing a new spellcard attack!
"Ran… I know what exactly you are planning to do with that spellcard. I'm begging you, please! Do NOT do that! I will do ANYTHING!"
… anything?
"YES! ANYTHING! I will be good from now on! I will do everything you tell me to do, and I won't mess it up! I will stop being mischievous! I will stop causing trouble for you! Please, I will do anything, just don't do that…"
And with that, Ran lowered the arm that was reaching for her head... and along with it, she felt Chen's relief at her actions, even if she was probably a mile away, she could somehow feel it.
Or so Chen had thought Ran was giving in to her begging.
Alright, Chen, you said you will do everything I tell you from now on, right?
"YES!"
I'm glad to hear that.
"Will you come with me to the river now?"
Chen.
"Yes, Ran?"
Head for the river.
"… What do you mean, Ran?"
Exactly what I said. Go to the Sanzu River now. Alone.
"…"
Ran took in a deep breath and reached for her head once more.
"No…"
Gripping tightly, she tore her cap off her head and brought it down to chest level.
"No… Ran… no…."
Closing her eyes, Ran whispered a prayer of her own and tore off the talisman on the cap, revealing a spellcard hidden beneath it, sewn onto the fabric of her cap.
"RAN!"
The kitsune, like graduates at their graduation ceremony, threw the glowing cap high into the air above her with all her might. As the cap reached its highest peak, she shouted out the name of her next attack.
"LAST WORD: EIGHT SIDED MANDALA BARRIER!"
The twin-eared cap exploded like a supernova, creating a blinding ring of light not unlike a shockwave, causing even Usutho to shield her eyes from the resulting flash. When the light had subsided, the cap simply disintegrated into fine sparkling powder, raining back down onto Ran.
The furs on her body began standing as if a cold wind had swept a chill down her spine, and on the tips, some sort of static electricity had started forming all over her body. Ran clenched both fists tightly, channeling all the energy she had in her body between her fists before throwing both arms skywards, fists now open, as if she was flinging something into the sky.
An energy barrier of mythical origins surrounded the kitsune, and from out of nowhere, eight large bolts of magic in the distinct colors of the rainbow, including white, the combined spectrum of all colors, emerged and homed themselves to random targets above Ran.
Each of the bolts, upon impact, created something similar to black holes that sucked nearby ravens in, none of which could escape the gravatitional pull, no matter how each affected raven cawed, slashed its talons or flapped their wings to break free. The black hole-like magic quickly created holes in the black cloud of death above Mayohiga within seconds, allowing sunlight to shine down from seven mini gaps.
Ran, her elbows bent at waist level and pointing to the back, her palms still open, clenched her hands into tight fists when she had seen that the black holes were not going to drag anymore unfortunate hell ravens into themselves.
Each of the mini black holes bolts gave an audible pop similar to a rubber balloon exploding in close proximity to the ear, releasing only feathers and splashes of crimson blood; no other traces of the hell ravens that were caught in the black holes remained.
Regular spell work... combined with a little of Yukari's powers: the border of time and space.
Ran noticed that some of the hell ravens were attempting to pass Mayohiga with high speed; her magical bolt attack caught the runaway ravens and disintegrated them accordingly. Turning back to the front, she was glad to see Usutho, despite their distance, panicking, not knowing what to do.
"Come and get me, bird brain!" Ran taunted.
The kitsune gathered the eight bolts around her before commanding them to spear towards Usutho, who apparently had guessed that she would be the next target and hence dodged the attack with feathers to spare. While the bolts returned to their caster, Usutho fired a large blast from her arm cannon down towards Ran.
Ran, however, stood at her position. As the laser approached, she directed the magic bolts to orbit around her, attempting to deflect the shot. It was a successful maneuver, as one of the orbs absorbed the attack into its core, itself disappearing with it.
However, what she did not expect was to suffer a backlash that struck her body, almost like a sword piercing her heart. Crying out in pain, she clutched her chest and squeezed her eyes shut, but willed herself to recover immediately.
Last Word spells are dangerous. I can generate infinite energy, but at the cost of my own life. I feed my life into the spell, and in return, I am almost invincible... as long as I can hold.
The magic bolts... there are eight of them. I can't be that unlucky at this point, right?
Checking her spellwork, she noticed that the red magic bolt was missing. Figured. As long as she doesn't realize the secret to breaking my spellcard, I should be fine. I can only hope she destroys another of my orbs in the wrong sequence. That would cause an energy reversal and restart the barrier.
And as long as my barrier remains intact, I can continue to send out these bolts to attack the ravens, but... maintaining the barrier is already a labor itself; I'm using my life force to fuel this inpregnable shield.
I'm out of options at this point. I can only pray that I hold out long enough for everyone to escape before I finally collapse.
Chen... please be gone. You should never have to witness me being defeated. You have always looked up to me as your master, and I to you as my shikigami. I am the strong pillar that you envy, I am the motherly figure that you could always count on... and I'm now the same goddess of mercy who grant you time to escape.
Chen... my dear Chen...
...
...
...
I loved you. Loved you like my own.
Hell ravens were dive bombing at her again, not knowing that she was virtually untouchable within her energy bubble. Clawed talons swiped at her, entire ravens pierced through her, but Ran still stood resolute; the ravens accomplished nothing.
Invincible as she appeared to be, each time an attack struck her, the barrier would compensate the penetration by opening a mini black hole, therefore disjointing the attack from harming her body. The defensive protocol, however, put a larger drain on her energy reserves, which was fueled by her life force.
Also, as the barrier weakened due to destruction of the colored orbs in a certain order, not only would she suffer a backlash due to a major magical energy surge, more energy would be required to maintain both the barrier and its defensive mini black holes. Standing around and doing nothing would simply hasten the inevitable drain of her entire life energy.
Ran knew she had to get the hell ravens away from her and so sent the seven remaining bolts in random directions around her; the hell ravens recognized the danger and sought to evade the black holes, but some still were caught. In the same fashion as before, those poor birds simply burst into feathers and rain of blood.
Not wasting anymore time, the kitsune threw the green-colored bolt, baiting Usutho to fire at it. Break it and you renew my barrier, bird brain.
As expected, the nuclear hell raven took the bait and fired a shot in an attempt to deflect the bolt, which took the blast and both disappeared into thin air. The six remaining orbs disappeared as well, and Ran, smirking at how her plan worked, resummoned all eight colored magic bolts and renewed her assault at Usutho. Wrong color, bird brain, she mentally taunted. Maybe if you knew the order, you might stand a chance. Satisfied that her barrier was once again at its peak condition, she refocused on the battle.
One hell raven, in the corner of her eye, tried to take flight past Mayohiga; Ran simply redirected the nearest magic bolt to chase the escapee while the rest of the magic bolts continued to cause disarray among the enemy.
Usutho was watching that runaway raven and saw its impending doom chasing it. Remembering that one shot from her cannon was enough to stop the bolt, she fired at it. The shot collided into the magic bolt, which was just inches behind Usutho's sibling, taking it with it into nothingness...
...and Ran felt another blacklash, startling her for an instant before screaming again in pain, this time falling backwards and onto the ground. Was that a red bolt that I sent out again? How did I make that mistake?
The latest backlash forced something up her throat, and when she coughed it out violently, it was blood red. My organs... they are starting to take damage from this spell... how long can I last?
Getting onto her unsteady feet and not bothering to wipe her bloodstained mouth, she concentrated again and, excluding the orange-colored bolt, which was next in the order of colors, attempted to assault Usutho directly with the six other bolts. Again, Usutho knew she could simply destroy the magic bolts without difficulty and so fired a shot at one of the bolts; they all disappeared instantly.
Eight magic bolts reappeared out of thin air and began flying for Usutho, all of it happening almost instantly. Of course, Ran knew better after the second backlash and kept the red bolt, which is the first color of the rainbow, around her. And again, as expected, Usutho took the bait and destroyed one of the orbs.
She doesn't realize the red one is what that starts the chain, Ran thought to herself, before something in her throat caught her off guard again. Without her even coughing, blood expelled itself from her mouth and stained her robes. And even if Usutho doesn't figure it out... my own spellwork will kill me soon.
The silly exchange of assaults continued for a few times, and with each passing second, Ran felt her own body began to break down. First she noticed that a thick fluid was blocking her ears, then in the next moment, looking at her sleeves, she realized she was bleeding from her kitsune ears. Shortly after, she realized that she had lost all sense of hearing, either due to the blood pooling in her ears or her brain, which was already working overtime, simply ignoring the ears.
Somehow, Usutho, despite her limited intelligence, finally realized that the battle was going nowhere and that Ran was simply a diversion. She had noticed that Ran was bleeding onto her own clothes, but could not figure out why. The nuclear hell raven then instructed her brethren to ignore the weakening kitsune and fly directly for beyond Mayohiga.
Ran, despite her loss of hearing, still had her sense of sight functioning. She saw the large masses of hell ravens attempting to fly past Mayohiga and sent all her magic bolts randomly in an attempt to cut down the ravens, keeping the red one near her.
And that move proved to be a fatal mistake. Usutho, for some reasons, thought she would still attempt to attack the lone defender directly and had fired a shot aimed directly for Ran's head. Ran's still-strong sense of energy detected the shot, despite not hearing the loud bang that emerged from the arm cannon, and unconsciously animated the nearest magic bolt to block the attack, which was the one remaining bolt orbiting around her.
As the shot connected with the bolt, a third backlash struck the kitsune. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ran screamed yet again and her vision blanked out like a bolt of lightning. Crumbling to the ground again, she caught herself with her arms before she hit the ground hard on her back. She tried to blink to clear her vision and rub her eyes with her bloodstained sleeves, but nothing she did would restore her eyes to normal.
Now both blind and deaf, all she had left was her innate ability to sense magic and energy changes. She no longer knew if the ravens were still flying in the direction of the Sanzu River or not. She couldn't make out where Usutho was at that point.
Ran didn't even know if she was still alive or not.
Still, she continued to feel her final spellcard draining her life with each passing second, even when she was not doing anything. In her mind, she knew that her mission had failed, but she also knew that she had done all she could.
I'm sorry Yukari... I tried my best. I guess I won't be following after you to the Outer World, the world where both you and Reimu planned long ago to escape to.
I'm sorry Reimu... I tried my best. I couldn't save Gensokyo too... I guess I would be joining you soon over there...
And I'm sorry Chen... I tried my very best. I really wanted to come with you... To live with you in the Outer World... I promised you a surprise... because in three days time, it would mark your next birthday... I was planning a little picnic trip for you...
But now I'm too tired to follow you.
I want to sleep... the sandman is coming.
At least the lights are out.
At least I wouldn't hear any noise that would rouse me from my rest.
Finally, Ran decided to terminate her Last Word, sparing the last of her life force from the spellwork. The energy barrier, without her life energies to feed from, simply shuddered and ceased to exist, exposing her vulnerable body to any attack.
Ran, still using her elbows to hold herself up, then groped around to find her bearings on the grass, but even simple motor movements were getting hard to perform. Her arms feebly slid on their own and the back of her head slammed onto the ground, almost knocking her out instantly. But then again, she wasn't sure if she was already knocked out from the impact or still conscious.
From somewhere in front of her, she felt a massive source of energy gathering. Probably Usutho ending my misery...
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Chen's telepathic voice erupted in her head, stirring her and sending chills down her spine. Chen? CHEN?
Ran felt a shockwave as she guessed that Usutho had fired her arm cannon at her, but the shot never hit her. In fact, she had felt something coming from her left and also felt that something collide with the shot.
No...
It can't be...
Chen?
A sudden burst of energy within herself allowed Ran to clumsily get onto her knees and crawled over to her right. Her hands brushed against a body, and as she felt around, she knew that her worst fears were true; Chen somehow had stayed behind and had taken the shot for her.
"CHEN!" Ran cried out in agony and despair, even though she couldn't hear her own voice. "CHEN! NOOOOOOOOOO! CHEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNN!"
She desperately groped around the body and managed to lift the limp body while still on her knees. Bringing Chen to her chest, she began wailing at the loss of her shikigami to Usutho. Why did you do this, Chen? WHY?
I did all of this... so that you could live on...
You foolish shikigami! You do not understand the value of my sacrifice!
I wanted you to live... to see the Outer World... to be the first to see what it looks like...
But her mourning wouldn't last long, as she felt Usutho's arm cannon charging up again in front of her, almost only a short distance away, and she knew that this time, Usutho will get her.
Ran understood that she only had seconds to spare before her own death. Still hugging onto a dead Chen, she sat back on the balls of her heels and arranged her bloodstained sleeves, which would act as a meaningless shield for Chen, before lowering her head onto Chen's. Satisfied that Chen was most likely protected from Usutho's next blast, she twisted her entire body around, turning her back to Usutho...
...
...
...
"Huh?"
Ran leapt up onto her feet. "Whoa..." she murmured to herself as she checked her own body; her robes , expecting to be bloodstained, were only stained slightly from the mud on the ground and a few blades of grass lined the lower half of her robes.
Wait a minute. I can see myself! And I can hear wind blowing a gentle breeze around me. Was that all a dream?
Ran looked behind her and found that she had been sleeping under a tree, and had been hugging a large rock on her chest. So it WAS a dream after all...
What am I doing here? Why can't I remember coming to this place?
More importantly... where's Chen?
As though Chen had heard her thoughts, the nekomata burst out from behind a bush, looking well and whole, holding a flower in her hands. "Ran!" Chen happily bounced over and reached up to Ran's face with the flower. "You're finally awake! I picked this flower for you!"
Ran absent-mindedly took the flower and smiled. "Thanks, Chen." Looking up into the sky, she saw that it was still afternoon. "It's getting late, Chen," she said to the nekomata, still not remembering what she had to do after this. We probably went on a stroll and that mischievous Chen played while I snuck a nap under that tree and had that horrible dream. It felt real though, but I'm glad it's not. "Let's go."
Chen stared at Ran with a puzzled look for a moment, then smiled. "I'm glad you know it's time. Let me lead the way, Ran!"
"Erm, Chen?" Ran started as Chen began pulling her sleeve. She had recognized the area to be the mountains behind Mayohiga and the way home was on her left, but Chen was pulling her to the right. "That's not the right way."
"Hmm?" Chen stopped for a moment and seemed to consider something, then shook her head. "Nah, Ran, it's this way."
"Uh..." Ran let herself be led and followed behind Chen, who was happily walking in front of her, all the while humming some melody that she always hummed to herself. However, after twenty paces, she was sure that Chen was leading her not back to Mayohiga, but towards the Sanzu River, past the Chuu Road. "Chen. I'm sure that's not the way home."
"Home?" Chen asked, but didn't stop.
"Yeah. Mayohiga. It's getting late and I need to cook."
And only then did Chen stop in her tracks again, but not turning to face her master.
"What's wrong?" Ran asked. "Are you pulling one of your tantrums again?"
"... Ran..."
"Hmm?"
"... we can't go back home anymore."
Ran swore that her heart should have skipped a beat, but it. In fact, she felt pretty empty in herself. She decided not to reveal her surprise and thought she would play along. "Why not?"
"Because we now need to cross the Sanzu River."
"What for?"
Chen slowly turned around. "I thought you already understood, Ran."
"Understand what?"
"That we are heading over to the Higan to meet the Enma."
Enma?
No...
It can't be.
It just can't be.
It was all a dream, right?
"No..." Chen answered her thoughts as she shook her head gently. "It isn't a dream, Ran."
"No..."
"Ran... we're both dead," Chen broke the truth to her master. "Just like all the people who didn't make it to Mayohiga."
"You... you can't expect me to believe you, Chen."
The nekomata simply walked back to the tree where Ran had been sleeping under and pointed up with a finger. Ran followed the finger with a slow gaze and saw what she had obviously missed when she first awoke.
"You landed up there, right through the sharp end of the branches," Chen announced without a hint of fear in her voice, almost as if it was second nature to her to be saying such. "Most likely dead on impact or even before. As for myself," Chen held her arm and turned slightly to her left. "Somewhere beyond this stretch of tall grass. I think my head got split on the rock or something, I can't tell."
Without waiting for Ran to fully digest and understood the full impact of this new revelation, Chen grabbed her master's hand again. "But we should go, Ran. It's pointless to look back now. You have done your job... it's time to rest," and with this, Chen smiled radiantly at Ran.
Still dumbfounded, Ran blankly followed as Chen led them through the Chuu Road towards the Sanzu River. Along the way, she somehow recovered from her shock from the truth about her death and tried to converse with Chen, whom she had noticed to be amazingly calm, matured and in control, unlike herself, who probably looked frightened and lost. It was almost as if their roles of master and shikigami had been reversed.
"How did you know about my secret spellcard, Chen?"
"You are always sleep-talking."
"I wouldn't have mentioned everything that you had seen at the very least?"
"You are exactly what you said, Ran."
"Does Yukari know about it?"
"Your spellcard opened boundaries, right? As long as you do that, Yukari would notice."
"And she didn't confront me about it."
"Ran, you are Yukari's Shikigami. Her powers flow through you, and so will yours to hers. If you are going to be opening boundaries, she would definitely be aware of it. And the fact that the boundaries did open is a sign that not only Yukari was still in Gensokyo, but she also allowed you to use her powers," Chen said. The kitsune can't help noticing that Chen wouldn't have been able to answer her in such a sensible manner had the conversation been held just prior to the incident. "But..."
"Chen?"
"I'm just wondering something. Why did Yukari want us to bring everybody to the Sanzu River? That's where the dead go to travel across to reach the Higan. The living should not need to be crossing it."
"The boundaries are the weakest at the Sanzu River, or so Yukari said. She claimed that it would be easiest to break through the Hakurei Barrier before it collapsed due to the absence of Reimu, which would have trapped us here permanently."
"Looks like we have to just ask her!" Chen laughed. "Or rather... I hope she isn't still at the Sanzu River."
"..."
"Ran?" Chen dropped her smile and took on a worried look. "I'm sorry if I made such a bad joke. I really do hope everyone got out of Gensokyo already. It's been quite a few hours since."
The duo hastened their pace, anxious to find out the situation at the banks of the Sanzu River. As they approached, the silent gushes of the river could be heard, and Ran couldn't help it but sprint ahead of her shikigami. All around them were telltale signs of a heated battle that would have taken place right after Ran lost her fight, including a large line of missing trees. The last of trees stood on her sides as she broke through...
... and saw that the river was empty. Neither Yukari nor any signs of the survivors were seen at the river banks. Even the skies were free of ravens, and the sun shone down through between small clouds.
"..." Ran stared at the empty river banks.
"... your sacrifice did not fully go to waste, Ran. Yukari probably has made it out with the others."
"... the river banks are empty."
"That's because most of the souls have already crossed the Sanzu River to the other side. Other shinigami would have ferried them across, and it does looks like we are pretty late. The Enma wouldn't be pleased."
"How do you even know so much about the River and the Enma?"
"That's because I made friends with a shinigami."
"WHAT?"
Chen giggled weakly. "It's really boring around Mayohiga, and the only time I get to have friends was when I was in the Human Village during the nights with the others and Miss Keine. I met Komachi some time ago and became friends with her. She's really lonely too, you know?"
"..."
"I knew you would have forbade me to make friends with the shinigami, so I didn't tell you about it. I did skip some classes to meet up with Komachi- yelp!" the last came as Ran pinched the nekomata's ears angrily. "Heehee, Ran, I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!"
After a short moment, Ran released her grip on Chen's ears, knowing that Chen skipping classes was no longer a concern. It did remind her about Mokou being unable to find Keine, and she began to wonder what had become of the historian of the Human Village. Ran didn't get to wonder long though, as now both of them wondered how they would cross the Sanzu River.
Legends had it that a soul must cross the Sanzu River with the aid of a shinigami's way of passage, a boat of sorts that was the only method capable of navigating through the river. There were rumors of what lay beneath the waters of the Sanzu River, but they did convince the living and the newly dead that swimming in the Sanzu River was definitely out of question.
"Ahh!" Chen brightened up suddenly.
"What?"
"I'm-a go find Komachi and get her to bring us across."
Before she could say anything, Chen had already scampered off to the right side of the river banks, headed towards the tall grass behind some trees and disappeared from sight. Shortly after, she heard sounds of a scuffle and quickly raced towards the grass.
There, she saw a small hastily-made tent made out of cloth, which she suspected to be some of the missing articles of cloth in the Yakumo household, the thief most likely being Chen, with a large banner hung across the entrance with a sign "NO ENMAS ALLOWED" painted crudely on it.
And inside was Chen rolling about with another girl. A large scythe which seemed to belong to a shinigami stood harmlessly in a corner, and while the girl was in obvious reaching distance to the scythe, she didn't seem to reach for it to get Chen off her.
From the excited voices from both Chen and the girl, Ran guessed that the girl had been sleeping and the nekomata simply jumped onto her to wake her up.
"Gerrof me!" the girl moaned loudly. "Let me sleep! I'm tired!"
"You sleep more than my master's master, Komachi! I need you now!"
"Uhhh..." Komachi seemed like she had dropped back into her dreamland, but Chen wouldn't relent. "Uhhhh! Go away!"
After a couple of minutes, knowing that Chen wouldn't be able to wake the lazy Komachi up, Ran thought she would try something. "Look! The Enma's comi-"
Even before Ran finished her sentence, Komachi had already leapt up from her bed of very comfortable-looking hay and was dusting herself clean. "Wuhwha?" Komachi rubbed her eyes. "Where?"
When Ran didn't reply, Komachi, who was still in a daze, quickly grabbed the scythe and ran out of the tent. "I better get back to work before the Enma accuses me of being lazy."
"For the thousandth time already, you mean?"
"Huh? Chen?" Komachi seemed to notice Chen for the first time. "WAIT A MINUTE... you tricked me!"
"Yeah, kind of," Chen proudly lied. "You see, I need your help today."
"What?"
"We need to get across the River."
And that's when Komachi noticed Ran for the first time too. "You brought a soul here just to get me to bring her across?"
"Yeah... and this will be the last time I do it."
"Chen..." Komachi screwed her eyes closed and let out a large yawn, the scythe raised high above her head. "I'M OVERWORKED AND UNDERPAID! I could have used that nap, and you woke me up for... this?"
"Sorry Komachi," Chen lowered her head. "I will also be crossing it today."
And Komachi finally did stare at the nekomata. "Oi," the shinigami poked at her friend. "That's not funny."
"It isn't a joke..."
"The living cannot cross it, I told you."
"We're both dead," Ran cut in.
Komachi's face dropped. "... Chen? Really? But..."
"... I know. I'm sorry, Komachi."
"We are friends only for a year or so, Chen. We are just starting to get along really well!"
"I don't want to leave you, Komachi. You're like my best friend ever. We made that slackers' corner together, remember?"
"Yeah, I do."
"And that's going to be the only thing I leave behind as a token of our friendship, okay?"
"..."
"Komachi?"
The shinigami turned around, not wanting to face her best friend. "Actually, I have been ferrying a lot of souls across Sanzu River today. They all mentioned a war or something."
"Yeah... that crazy miko did cross it, right? The one in red and white, the one I always told you about."
"I'm not the only one working today, but I didn't see any miko."
"Oh..."
"Excuse me, Miss Komachi," Ran suddenly said. "I've read about how the shinigami work. You would require some form of payment from the souls who wanted to cross the Sanzu River. Anybody who didn't pay either didn't cross and stay behind as a lost soul or get tossed overboard if they tried to cross."
"That's right."
"And this payment is usually in the form of incense money from funerals held by the living... for the dead."
"... Yes."
"And it's a war in Gensokyo right now. I don't think anybody would have had a funeral held for... us."
"... I know."
Ran didn't say anything after that. She knew that the shinigami understood what she was going on about.
"Chen... that soul over there... is your master, right? Her name... Ran?"
"Yeah."
"..."
"Komachi?"
"You can't cross the river... your master is right."
"You mean you are too lazy," Chen accused.
"No... I really mean it. You can't cross it without payment," Komachi simply said, still not turning around.
"Come on, Komachi. We are best friends! Surely you can make an exception?"
"I..."
"Chen," Ran laid a hand on the nekomata's shoulders. "This isn't something friendship alone can mediate. If we tried to cross without paying, she will have no choice but to toss us overboard. She is a shinigami, and she has to do her job."
Chen was not having any of that and, going back to her child-like ways, began to accuse Komachi of not being a true friend all the while. She kept going on and on, and all Komachi did was to stay as she was and listen to it all. Common sense would dictate that one should never mess with the shinigami, but it looked like Komachi really shared something special with Chen and was making an exception for her.
The one exception which Komachi couldn't make was to grant them a free ride across the Sanzu River, and Chen was getting mad. She insulted Komachi in all the manner that she could, and when the shinigami still did not concede, Chen simply squatted down and cried, mumbling about how she was completely alone, thought that she had found a friend, but turned out to be somebody that she wasn't and the likes.
And finally Komachi did relent. "Alright, alright! Chen!"
"... *sniff*..."
"Okay, fine! I will just ask for something that every soul that had passed here seem to have, okay? It's definitely something you can pay with!"
"But it has to be something with gold in it, isn't it?" Ran asked.
"Well..." Komachi stared at the squatting nekomata. "Your shikigami will never forgive me if I refused to let you two cross, but payment of sorts still need to be made."
"Thank you for making a concession for us, Miss Komachi."
"Don't thank me," the shinigami sighed. "I'm just going to be scolded again tonight."
"What do we need to do to cross the Sanzu River?"
"... your hats."
"Huh?"
"Deal!" Chen leapt up, wiped her eyes with her sleeves and gingerly removed her cap. Caressing the cloth, she handed it over to the solemn-faced shinigami with both hands. "Here you go! And I just remembered, this cap has some gold lining in it to give it the shape, so it counts as gold, right?"
Komachi absent-mindedly felt along the edges and nodded, then turned to Ran. "Your... erm..." she started, then slowly broke off as she looked up at Ran's head.
Ran reached up for her cap... and only felt her own kitsune ears. Where is my cap?
"Did you drop it on the way here?" Komachi inquired.
"Uh..."
How?
How did Chen managed to retain possession of her cap after her death while I didn't?
She was indeed wearing her favorite cap when I was cradling her, I am sure of it. And my cap was-
...
...
... I see.
So this is how it has to end, huh?
"I'm sorry, Komachi," Ran finally said after realization hit her. "I... lost mine."
"Uh... in that case... uh..." Komachi dropped her head and guiltily turned her eyes to Chen.
"Ran can still cross with me since I have already paid, right?" Chen asked hopefully.
"..."
"... right, Komachi?"
"... sorry."
For a short moment, nobody moved or said anything else, but then Ran simply shook her head. "It's fine, I will stay behind."
"WHAT?" Chen shouted. "No way!"
"There isn't any other way, Chen. I don't have what the shinigami requires for payment."
"I'm not leaving you behind!"
However, this time, Ran finally lost it and snapped back at her shikigami. "AND WHOSE FAULT DO YOU THINK IT WAS THAT LANDED US BOTH HERE?"
"I... I..." Chen stammered as both herself and Komachi visibly shrank at Ran's outburst.
"I TOLD YOU TO GET TO THE RIVER, CHEN!" Ran continued screaming, tears in her eyes welling up in anger. "TIME AND TIME AGAIN. NOT ONCE, TWICE OR EVEN THRICE, BUT FIVE TIMES. FIVE DAMNED TIMES, CHEN! I TAUGHT YOU BETTER!" and instantly regretted it. I know I did all of it for Chen. Not for Yukari. Not for Reimu, and definitely not for Gensokyo. It's all Chen, so why am I so angry about this?
Ran squatted down and covered her hot face in shame, unable to face her shikigami, whom she had publicly shamed in front of her best friend. As she embraced for the cold words from Komachi to confirm that only Chen could cross the river, she pleaded to Chen in herself to ask for forgiveness for shouting at her with ill meaning.
It's going to be our last time seeing each other, and yet this is how I ended our story?
I don't want it to be this way!
I tried... I tried my best!
This isn't the ending I want!
I wish I could take it back, Chen, I didn't mean it!
Yes, I was angry, but I should not have snapped like that!
You know it, I never do!
That wasn't me!
That was-
Ran's hands, which were covering face, suddenly dropped, revealing a tear-streaked face with eyes wide opened. No... it can't be...? Reaching up to her head between her kitsune ears, her hands brushed against a familiar fabric. Pulling it off, she brought it to her eyes and confirmed her suspicions. "Why?" Ran turned to her shikigami, who stood just in front of her, meeting her at head level like a benevolent goddess with a radiating smile.
"It's yours, Ran," Chen said as she continued smiling, then closed her eyes as if to embrace her righteous decision. "You gave this to me, after all, so it should belong to you. Use my cap to cross the river, Ran."
"Chen," Komachi called out. "You do know that this means YOU don't get to cross, right?"
"I understand."
"But... why?" Ran asked, still unbelieving that her shikigami was about to give up her chance to move on.
However, Chen said nothing as she got down to all fours, laid flat down on her front and head both hands in prayer above her head.
Her master did not understand what that action meant, but apparently Komachi did. "The highest honor a disciple can give," the shinigami said. "It is said that this action is reserved for a master whom the disciple believes to deserve the utmost respect one can give, and Chen simply believes you are worthy of it."
"But-"
"Accept it. That is all you need to do, and all that you can do at this point. Chen didn't really do it the proper way, but it is the thought that counts."
I'm not sure how, but the entire mission changed from diversion tactics to simply protecting my own personal interests. That did not occur to me until I was on the shinigami's boat though.
Komachi was right; I don't seem to realize that I care more about her than myself. All the mischief she did, most of them getting ME into trouble with Yukari, all the pranks she pulled around the house, I didn't seem to want to put an end to them.
At least, that was what she told the shinigami during their friendship bonding days, none of which I was aware of up till some moments ago.
I was also unaware of what the historian had been teaching her youkai classes in the Human Village. She was definitely knowledgeable of more things that she was letting all the while; her final act of respect to me caught me off guard.
I prided myself as the second most powerful being in Gensokyo, right after my master, but of what use are those powers if I know much lesser than the ice sprite at the lake? I already know that my fate, as Yukari's shikigami, was simply to be her tool, but even as a tool, I should be allowed some knowledge of my own. Yukari didn't seem to care that I was learning on my own, so why didn't I pursue it?
An opportunity to survive the hell raven's onslaught was silently offered to me, yet I turned it down with a deal to sever myself from my master. If anyone else were in my shoes, they would have to be as foolish and insane as myself to not accept the offer. Yes, I am completely aware that even if I hadn't acted as a diversion, I would have been able to make it to the Outer World, except that I wouldn't know if the others would survive the journey to Mayohiga at all.
I willingly gave my chance to many others, some of whom chose to return it back to me by coming back for me, but I didn't give them the chance to return the favor. All of those who came back had their own goals and reasons for doing so, but one of them returned solely for me...
You already know who that is, Reimu. I'm sorry, but it really hurts me to repeat the name of the one who stayed behind-
"Oi," Komachi suddenly stopped rowing and used the pommel of her scythe to nudge the sleeping form on her boat. "You aren't supposed to be sleeping."
"Try staying awake after more than 36 hours of continuous battles," Ran grumbled as she sat up again and stared ahead. "Is this going to be for an eternity?"
"Depends on how much you have reflected on."
"I made my choices at every turn, and I regret half of them."
"That half seems to make up a long list. A verrrrrrrrrrrrrry long list," Komachi chuckled as she started rowing again. "You know, I shouldn't be telling you that. I'm only doing so because Chen is my friend, understood? You heard nothing from me."
"Who are you?"
"Perfect!" Komachi gave a wink and a thumbs-up.
"Mind if I asked something?"
"Hmm?"
"You would have ferried countless souls across the Sanzu by now. Tell me, have you met anybody who was as selfless as Chen?"
"Hmm... tough question."
"Maybe... a certain miko wearing red and white?"
"I told you, I didn't ferry any miko today. You will have to check with the other shinigami, but whether any of them are as willing to speak with you as myself would be the real question."
"So that means the shinigami never interacts with the spirits they ferry across?"
"As far as I am concerned, nope! Don't tell the Enma though, I'm pretty sure the first question the spirits I ferried across get asked would be something about me."
"I won't."
"Chen said she trusted you completely, so I hope she's right. Blah, who am I kidding..." Komachi lamented as she foresaw her own immediate future. "Enma's gonna bruise me again for slacking off."
"Aren't you working hard now?"
"The definition of "working" for the shinigami is different from the others."
"Really?"
"Nope!"
"... and here we are," Komachi gave a few more powerful strokes as the boat neared the shore. "I gave Chen my promise and brought you across the Sanzu River."
"Thank you, Komachi. It's an eternal debt that I would never be able to repay to both you and Chen."
"I honestly hope you get to move on," Komachi pushed her boat away from the shore and began to row back in the other direction. "It would really sadden Chen if you didn't."
Ran stayed at the shore and watched Komachi and her boat slowly grow smaller until both disappeared behind a fog and even then, she continued to stand at her spot and do nothing but look on, wishing that a miracle would happen and Chen would join her on her side of the river.
Time seemed to not pass as she did so, but she knew that she had to continue on her way. On this side of the river, many other recently deceased, also on the way to the Higan, were wandering aimlessly around. Maybe there's no rush. I should take my time too.
I'm here, on the other side of the river.
Waiting for you.
We are only a river apart, but it seemed an eternity away.
I will be here for as long as I can.
My beloved Chen... till we meet again.
Wow, a year and a half since my last update, and at least three years since the start. I really need to get back to finishing this. I'm actually surprised that some people are still finding this story and PM'ing me about this.
The main point of Ran's segment is not about Ran, Chen, Yukari or even Reimu, but Usutho.
Usutho represents the player, who either spams the bombs/credits or use some third party program to grant themselves god mode, then push through the game on the hardest difficulty and claim that he or she (maybe it?) overthrew the world. As the world burns all around them, the player then wonder what the purpose of the game was about.
Ran and the others play the part of the antagonists of the game, and while scripted to lament their loss of their homeworld, they would never know that their resistances were doomed to be futile. Perhaps it would be time to rethink how the NPCs of the games we play feel when we cheat through? No hard feelings, I cheat sometimes too.
Note: Eight Sided Mandala Barrier is Ran's Last Word from Concealed the Conclusion. To avoid a massive block of text, just youtube it or something.
EDIT 3/2/2016: I just read some of the reviews again and would like to thank all reviewers and readers for your support for my story, including those who have PM'd me about Letters to Reimu. I do apologize to all who favorited/followed this story for the 1.5 year wait. Hopefully those who are following this story would have got an email notification of this update ; )