AN: Here's chapter 4, with Youmu and Yuyuko! This is the last chapter before the epilogue, so wait for that!
-Chapter 4-
No other place in Gensokyo can match the silence of this place. It isn't simply bleak. It has an atmosphere that calms the soul. There is no sign of any disturbance; nature's bounty and refreshing wind is the sole source of motion and sound.
This is the Netherworld, the land of the dead. There isn't a living human anywhere to be found. The ghosts there, however, enjoy a lively afterlife.
Inside the Netherworld, many of the ghosts and residents were in an uproar. However, none were nearly as concerned as Youmu Konpaku was. She could tell, even from where she was, that there was something seriously wrong with the full moon as it was. Youmu toyed with her ghostly half, Myon, as a way of occupying herself as she pondered what to do.
There was a very good chance that her Lady Yuyuko already knew about the incident that was occurring, but there was also a chance that she didn't. Yuyuko could be quite oblivious at times, in Youmu's opinion, only too happy to eat whatever foods were placed in front of her and picking on her.
The gardener and sword instructor of Hakugyokurou fervently wished that her mentor, Youki Konpaku, was there. He would perhaps have a better idea of what exactly what to do at the moment. She toyed with Myon a bit more, murmuring to herself about everything that was going on.
"So Lady Yuyuko might not even be aware of this... should I tell her?" she mused, glancing at Myon even though she knew that her other half wouldn't speak to her with a mind separate from her own. Something to this degree had to be extremely dangerous, but whether it would pose a threat to the Netherworld? That, Youmu had no idea. But there were all of those people in Gensokyo, and what if something happened so that whatever was causing this stopped new souls from entering the Netherworld?
"Youmu, there you are!"
Youmu perked up upon hearing the voice of her mistress, the ghost Yuyuko Saigyouji herself. The young half-human, half-ghost stood up, beaming over at Yuyuko. It was best to check whether she was in a good mood before potentially telling her of an incident that was taking place - an incident that wouldn't be their fault this time.
"Ah, Lady Yuyuko," Youmu said perkily. "How are you doing today?"
Judging from Yuyuko's expression, it seemed that she really wasn't in such a good mood after all. Oops. Maybe she should have asked whether there was something she could have done for her. Yuyuko brushed a lock of pink hair out of her own eyes, and sighed. She placed her hands on her hips, peering very closely at Youmu, before leaning back and simply studying the girl.
"Youmu. Are you still ignoring /that/?" Yuyuko said, crossing her arms.
"Eh?!" Youmu blinked, staring at Yuyuko. "What do you mean by 'that'?" Was there something going on that her Lady thought was obvious?
Yuyuko smiled a bit. "What, are you not even aware of it? It's because you slacked off that you don't know what is going on."
Well, unless Yuyuko was talking about something completely different, such as the ingredients for her favorite dish mysteriously vanishing, then it had to be about what was presently going on and what Youmu herself had noticed. If that wasn't the case, she would eat half of herself - if only to prevent Yuyuko from eating Myon herself.
"So you were talking about the Moon?" Youmu asked. "I am certainly aware of that. You only said /that/, and so suddenly..."
The young gardener trailed off, not quite sure what to say at the moment. With how easygoing Yuyuko was, and how playful, she could get away with not addressing the princess of the Netherworld by her title. Yuyuko simply shrugged, and wrapped an arm around Youmu's shoulders.
"It looks like no one's taking any action," the ghost girl mused. "So why don't you have a go, Youmu?" She smiled brightly.
Youmu started, letting out a small squeak, and she stared up at the pink-haired girl with large eyes. She wasn't scared, at all, but to go up into Gensokyo, the world of the living, to investigate an incident? She had never done something like that before! That was... that was something that the ones living in Gensokyo did, not a half-ghost girl in the Netherworld!
"Wh-Why so?"
Upon hearing that, Yuyuko actually laughed, squeezing Youmu's shoulders and dropping her arm off of the girl's shoulders. She patted Myon affectionately, and then smiled at Youmu's wide-eyed expression.
"Just kidding. You're much too unreliable anyways. Those three humans we met were much better at this, what were their names? Ah, Reimu, Marisa, and Sakuya." There was a clear joking tone in Yuyuko's voice, and no matter how many times Yuyuko teased her like that, Youmu always fell for the bait.
"Meanie... I'm not unreliable! I can do this!" Youmu practically pouted, and Yuyuko smiled at her, quite happy with the statement despite the fact her gardener had just called her a 'meanie'. She'd heard a lot worse before, and Youmu didn't mean anything harmful by it.
"That's the spirit, Youmu! Even if you are somewhat unreliable, I did mean that," Yuyuko said, a serious tone in her voice.
"H-Hey..."
"Anyways~!" Yuyuko clapped her hands together and then placed her arm around Youmu's shoulders again, steering Youmu towards another part of the garden that they were standing in. "The Prismrivers should be here any minute, and we can start here."
Youmu glanced around, and gave a start. Of all the places for Yuyuko to lead her to in the Netherworld, it was here? Why were they here? It was dangerous!
"Lady Yuyuko, is there any reason we are next to the Saigyou Ayakashi?" Sure, the rest of the garden was filled with the cherry blossoms of spring, but she'd been quietly told by Yukari herself that the Youkai Cherry Tree would never bloom as long as Yuyuko was around. Youmu had never really grasped why, but she trusted Yukari; Yukari and Yuyuko were good friends and if Yukari had told her and not Yuyuko, then there had to be a reason for it.
"Hey, I'm here because it's not just a cherry tree, Youmu, and we need all of the magical energy that we could get." Yuyuko looked up at the tree, unaffected by its powers due to already being dead.
"Is it even sentient like us?" Youmu wondered, staring up at the tree. Being half-ghost and one of the dead protected her from its powers, too.
"I don't think it matters, anyways-" The sound of music heralded the entrance of the Prismriver Sisters. "Lunasa, Merlin, wonderful timing. But where's Lyrica?"
"We came as fast as we could," Lunasa, the oldest, said, her violin tucked underneath her arm. "It was good that we didn't have any concerts today."
"Lyrica's coming. She was spending time with a new friend of hers when you summoned us," Merlin said, her trumpet in her arms. "Lyrica doesn't have too many friends, and we like this girl that she met, so we invited her along. I hope you don't mind."
"No no!" Yuyuko said. "In fact, another person would be wonderful. We need all of the people that we can find."
"Lady Yuyuko, what's going on? Why do we need so many of us to be here?" Youmu asked, confused. What was Yuyuko up to this time? Did it have something to do with the incident, and the question was, were they going to do something to fix it? Honestly, as much as she loved Yuyuko, she wished that the other would fill her in on her ideas sometimes, if only so she didn't ask so many questions. Questions were becoming quite annoying. She looked at the Prismrivers to see if they had any clue.
Merlin shrugged upon seeing Youmu's look. "Hey, we know as much as you do."
"Oh, nothing, just a spell that Yukari told me about a very long time ago. With everything concerning the moon, we can't just let the night end and let the day begin with that moon there, can't we?" Yuyuko beamed. Youmu's eyes widened.
"Lady Yuyuko... you mean..."
"Exactly, Youmu! We're going to stop day from coming without everything being solved! And the more magical energy we have when the spell is being performed, the better! Which is why I wanted to do it near the Saigyou Ayakashi and you Prismrivers here!" Yuyuko said, quite happy now that Youmu seemed to understand exactly what was going on.
"I understand, Lady Yuyuko," Youmu said, nodding. "Is there no one else that can come here?"
"I don't think so... I'd love for your mentor to be here, but he's nowhere in sight. As for the ones in Gensokyo, I'd love to summon those two girls as well, but we don't need the barrier to the Netherworld broken again- ah, there you are, Lyrica! And who's your friend?"
Indeed, it was the youngest Prismriver sister approaching them, with her piano floating near her. Trailing along after her was another girl, with short blonde hair, a blue and white dress, and a wide-brimmed pink hat. There was a flute near her.
"Hello... my name is Kana Anaberal," the new girl said. The fact that she was floating proved that she had magic, but Yuyuko looked up at her with a bit more interest than she would another person.
"Poltergeist? There aren't many of you."
"Y-Yes," said Kana. "I'm a poltergeist and a musician-in-training."
Youmu blinked. That certainly explained her flute, but she was surprised that the Prismrivers had allowed another girl into their group that wasn't related to them. Then again, she was not only a musician in an instrument that they didn't have in their group, but was a poltergeist like them... and there weren't many poltergeists in Gensokyo or the Netherworld. Kindred spirits?
"Alright! Kana, Lyrica, will you two be dears and help the rest of us with this?" Yuyuko explained what she already had to Youmu, Lunasa, and Merlin. The two newcomers nodded.
"Now, if there are no more questions, why don't we start~? Lyrica, you haven't said a word, are you ready?"
Lyrica jumped. "I'm ready!"
The group took their positions underneath the Saigyou Ayakashi. For a moment, nothing happened, but then a few cherry petals appeared to fall from the tree, despite the lack of blossoms. Perhaps this was the Youkai Cherry Tree's way of lending it's support to their cause.
Yuyuko Saigyouji the Ghost Princess, Youmu Konpaku the Half-Ghost Gardener, Saigyou Ayakashi the Youkai Cherry Tree, Lunasa Prismriver the Violinist Poltergeist, Merlin Prismriver the Trumpeter Poltergeist, Lyrica Prismriver the Pianist Poltergeist, and Kana Anaberal the Flautist Poltergeist began.
The night froze.
-Chapter 4 End-
AN: Kana Anaberal was another character from the Touhou game Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dreams, a poltergeist. Her befriending Lyrica was from a fanfic that I never got around to writing.
