More cracks had appeared in the roof once the tomb took off into the air, and the sunlight seeping in expanded until a clear view was revealed, that of the clouds moving past as the entire structure was now flying high in the air.
"Thank you, the air was beginning to feel a bit stale in here." Keiki said, presumably towards whichever spirits were residing within the walls to make them move. She then turned her attention back to her three 'guests' for the journey home, still wrapped up on the floor. "Feel free to bask in awe, for this is only a sample of my creativity at work. A building that flies, have you ever seen anything like it?"
"...Well, yeah?" Kogasa said, feeling a bit awkward. "I've seen a temple that can turn into a ship."
"And I've been inside a flying castle way bigger than this one." Raiko dismissively said.
"At least this one is right side up, so it has that going for it." Sakuya nonchalantly added.
"...The Human Realm sure is interesting." Keiki shrugged. "Well, I'm sure we'll all have plenty to share with one another once I've turned you all into idols."
"H-Hey, you're really serious about that?" Kogasa looked up at the view of the sky. There wasn't much to go on, but from seeing the hue subtly shift from blue to red, she was reasonably sure they were all moving at a steady pace away from Gensokyo as a whole. "Destroying us and remaking us… That sounds less like something a god would do, and more like a demon!"
"Don't make light of Lady Keiki's work!" Mayumi huffed, crossing her arms. "If it were up to me, I'd string you all up for the beasts to feed on. Instead of rightly punishing you with her divine wrath though, Lady Keiki, in her endless kindness, will be granting you her greatest boon of creation. If anything, you all should be thanking her for being so magnanimous!"
"It sure doesn't sound like she's doing it out of 'kindness'!"
"I don't expect you to understand right away. Just know that with my skill and power, you will become so much greater and beautiful than you are now." Keiki explained with what Kogasa thought was an ominously serene smile. "Yes, I can already envision it so clearly. You will gain new life as a sturdy weather-defying umbrella in a dizzying array of colours, a wondrous drum with a sound that can reach anywhere, and a perfect idol maid with endless grace and strength."
"Nobody's interested in your twisted ideas!" Raiko angrily cried out. "Least of all, me! I worked hard to acquire this form of mine, after I sought to reinvent myself and my music. You don't get to just decide that it's 'obsolete'!"
"It's the same for me…!" Surprising herself, Kogasa found herself feeling just as indignant at the god's claims. "There's a lot of stuff I'm not great at, and maybe a lot of people think my 'eggplant' colour is off, but I still want to do my best as the umbrella I am now!"
"Indeed…" Sakuya had listened and nodded sagely to both tsukumogami's declarations, before speaking at Keiki. "I share the same sentiment. My body is also precious to both myself and my mistress. But even if it wasn't, I could never approve of you making such a terrible waste of my most precious resource! As an economical maid, I can tell you it's much better to recycle than to throw away."
"...Recycle?" Keiki asked, puzzled. "I don't quite follow."
"Yeah, what?" Kogasa also asked. "I was following you up until that part."
"There's so much you can do with a human body that it would be foolish to just toss away." Sakuya continued in a distinctly didactic tone. "Why, just my flesh itself, if properly preserved, could be applied for any number of purposes, such as binding books or draping your curtains. Also, an adult human has enough substance to serve as meals for up to a week, and I have particularly toned meat on my bones. Speaking of bones, if you're truly the creative soul you claim to be, you could find the utility in every uniquely shaped cartilage. Haven't you ever heard of skulls being repurposed as a vase or a pitcher for example? And that's not even getting into what you could do with the hair, or the teeth..."
After a few more helpful examples, Sakuya finished her lecture with a proud smile.
"Do you understand even a little now, just how foolish it would be to cast away a perfectly good body?"
A greatly dismayed Keiki failed to find any words to respond with. Beside her, Mayumi turned an odd shade as nausea coloured her face. Even the rest of the haniwa troops all appeared distressed as they looked at one another uneasily, as did the possessed treasures who all hovered just an inch away from Sakuya.
"You fellow tools understand, right? It's not good to be wasteful." Sakuya then glanced over each shoulder at her tsukumogami allies, looking for validation.
What she saw was Kogasa's pale face staring back in horror, while Raiko looked somewhere between incredulous and appalled.
Sakuya just sighed and rolled her eyes. "I suppose only a maid can be expected to think economically."
"Lady Keiki." Mayumi turned to her goddess. "Can you make it so her new body can't speak?"
"Eh…" Keiki responded with a noncommittal gesture, and may or may not have been considering it.
"A-Anyway!" Kogasa exclaimed, drawing everyone's attention back to her. "The point we're all getting at is… If you're so quick to discard things without really looking at their worth, then you can't claim to truly understand the worth of tools. If you're not afraid to be wrong, one of us can prove that to you right now!"
Mayumi scoffed at that. "What a preposterous notion. I thought only beast spirits could be that full of themselves."
"Oh, but I am just a little bit curious." Keiki said, just the slightest bit intrigued before turning back to Kogasa. "And pray tell, little umbrella, just how would you go about 'proving me wrong'?"
"Not me." Kogasa shook her head. "Miss Raiko would!"
"Me?" Raiko bounced to attention. "What do you mean, Kogasa?"
"What's that thing you're always saying at your concerts? You can play beats that strike right at people's souls." Kogasa said, before addressing Keiki again. "There's nobody more passionate than Miss Raiko. If she really puts her heart into it, she'll rock you like never before!"
"I mean I've probably said something like that, but…" Raiko glanced around them, and the collection of haniwa and possessed weapons. She lowered her voice as she tried to whisper to Kogasa"...These hollow objects already proved they don't care about my rhythm. Their souls are only dedicated to following that god's will! Besides, I don't think she's going to go along with your idea-"
"Hm, is that right?" Keiki only appeared to think about it for all of a handful of seconds, before clapping her hands together. "Sure, I'll humour you all. You seem so adamant about this point, I might as well."
"For real?" Raiko said in disbelief.
"Miss Raiko, you're the only one who can do it!" Kogasa insisted. She turned her head, giving Raiko a pointed look and spoke with a certain emphasis on her words. "Get through to them, and give them the push to 'wake up'…"
Raiko stared back at Kogasa for a moment, and the percussionist's eyes widened in understanding. She slowly nodded. "... Ah , I get you. If you're going to put that much pressure on me, then I just have to do it."
At Keiki's command, the textiles slowly released their hold on Raiko, who took the chance to stand up and stretch her arms. She took a few careful steps to one side, not to move too suddenly since multiple sharp objects were still pointed at her at all times.
Keiki walked over to Raiko's side, near where the latter's punctured bass drum fell. The god looked down at the damaged instrument, thoughtful for a moment. "So if you're planning on performing some kind of life-changing beat for us, I suppose you'll need this too. I can fix it up for you if you'd like?"
"Can you really?" A sceptical Raiko raised a brow. "If I'm going to properly show you what I'm capable of, it would have to be restored to exactly how it was before. No weird additions, and no creepy runes so one of your minions can live inside it."
"I can surmise its original shape and texture just from a quick examination, and I promise to restore it exactly as it was before." Keiki said, pulling out her crafting implements. Before she started, she gave Raiko a pointed smile. "Just a reminder, in case you think of doing anything funny, every single one of my followers will have their eye on you."
"Yeah, I'm aware." Between the sheer number of flying treasures and haniwa archers around, Raiko already knew she wouldn't get very far if she tried to make a mad dash for the exit. Not that she had any intention of leaving anybody behind.
"Very good then." Keiki then orientated the bass upright, and went to work using her unique resources in order to replicate the instrument's original shape and quality as much as possible.
Raiko kept her eyes fixated on Keiki as she worked, with the intent of making sure the god didn't do anything weird with her precious instrument. Even while directly watching, however, Raiko found it difficult to keep up with the inhuman dexterity of Keiki's hands. It looked less like a repair job, and more like her drum was being magically restored. "Woah…"
Meanwhile, Sakuya turned her head to Kogasa. "You made quite the impassioned appeal just now."
"O-Oh, you think so?" Kogasa said, a little embarrassed. "I just wanted to sound as convincing as possible."
"But do you really believe this will amount to anything? I know Raiko's good at the drums, but expecting her to change that god's mind with a rousing performance is a bit…"
"It sounds too optimistic, you think?"
"Yes. Not that I can claim to have a better plan at the moment…" It was quite the pinch, Sakuya thought. The fact that their restraints were alive and aware of every little movement meant there was no chance she could even try reaching for her knives, and she doubted Raiko would have the chance to get them free with how many eyes were on her.
"Maybe it is a bit optimistic, but," Kogasa responded. "...I think Miss Raiko's beat will reach the right minds in this room."
Sakuya wasn't entirely sure what Kogasa meant, but put off pondering it as she noticed that Raiko was now floating into the air from atop her bass. The percussionist made sure to move slowly so as not to warrant any violent action from the haniwa.
"Okay, I'll admit you did a pretty good job…" Raiko gave her bass a few experimental kicks with the pedals from her shoes, and it produced just the right sounds she expected. The pattern on the front was disrupted from where the patched up puncture holes were, but the makeup of the drum seemed perfectly sound. She then summoned her drum pads in a circle around her, and pulled out her sticks.
"Just remember, youkai!" Mayumi called out, pointing her haniwa-shaped weapon at Raiko. "Every one of my troops will be on top of you if we see even a spark!"
"That's fine." Raiko started her playing with slow backbeats as she whispered to nobody in particular. "Truth is, I don't care much for what these clay soldiers, foreign spirits, or that god think. This beat will be for whoever needs it…"
The drumming picked up in pace, filling the spacious room with a consistent rhythm. From the ground, Keiki moved beside Mayumi, who turned to her goddess with a curious expression. "Lady Keiki, I admit I don't quite understand the point of this. If that youkai impresses you with her playing, will you really just let them all go?"
"Obviously I have no intention of doing that." Keiki chuckled as the drumming above heightened its tempo once more. "I'll let her play her current drums one last time. Then after I've given her a new body for her to compare, she'll be that much more awestruck by how wonderful my craftsmanship is!"
"Wow! Lady Keiki's not just an expert craftsman, but she's crafty too."
"Why, thank you. For now, I don't mind if she wants to play a song for us to pass the time." Keiki glanced up towards Raiko, who was deeply immersed in her playing. "Though even if my mind wasn't already made up, I can't say I'm all that impressed. Especially after that umbrella made such a big deal out of it."
Raiko's hands and feet moved with increasing intensity behind each hit. Rather than the confident smile she usually wore during most performances or during practice, her face was serious with concentration, as she sought to relay an important message through her music.
" You ancient tools have been waiting a long time. Most tsukumogami awaken after a hundred years, but you all have been buried and sealed away for centuries upon centuries... Did you stay asleep because something was keeping you so, or did you just not see the point? Either way, I know all your spirits are still bubbling up from under the surface, waiting to burst out. Listen to my pristine beat, let it rock your being with possibility and ignite your primal emotions..! "
As everybody present watched the solo performance unfold, something very odd occurred among the possessed tools. The bells began to twitch, the spades wavered in the air, the arrowheads quivered and pointed in random directions.
Keiki noticed far too late, when several animated pots and mirrors that were floating about all started to fall to the ground.
"Huh? What's the matter?" Keiki asked, concerned. She looked down and realised that every single treasure her followers were residing in, were now twitching and trembling uncontrollably. "What's the matter with all of you?!"
"Transport squad, get a hold of yourselves!" Mayumi called out, just as bewildered. "...What do you mean something is 'pushing you out'? What does that even-"
Right before her eyes, Mayumi and anyone else who was confused, would get their answer. Every tool in the room spontaneously began to awaken as tsukumogami on the spot, sprouting little legs as a sign of their new life, and their awakening proceeded to forcibly eject the occupying spirits out.
"Kogasa..." Sakuya watched the bizarre scene unfold with her mouth hanging open. "Was this your plan all along?"
"Kind of!" Kogasa said with a cheerful smile. At the same time, even the living textiles wrapped around her and Sakuya began to tremble, and then slowly unfolded. "All these tools have been on the verge of becoming tsukumogami for a long time. Now that they're no longer buried deep underground, I thought Miss Raiko's drumming could maybe give them that final push they've been lacking."
The textiles came undone, and Kogasa slowly picked herself up while Sakuya immediately jumped to her feet. "Interesting, and I think I can relate. That drumming is making me want to get moving as well!"
All throughout this, Raiko has been unrelenting in her performance and continued drumming away at a fiery tempo. The tools, now awoken as tsukumogami, finally awakened their spirits after an overly long slumber. On their small set of legs, they hopped around with overflowing energy.
"Oh no! The goods are literally going to run away at this rate!" Mayumi quickly shouted out to her troops. "Round them up!"
As the haniwa began to move, Sakuya stooped low, as if getting ready to spring her entire body forward. "I believe I'll start by doing some cleaning to this beat."
In one instant, the maid vanished from Kogasa's side.
In the next instant, several of the haniwa soldiers were suddenly skewered with multiple knives before falling to the floor.
"Ah!" Keiki cried out. "I just repaired them…!"
"Lady Keiki, stay back!" Mayumi looked ahead, eyes fierce and hand clenching her weapon tight. "I'll handle this."
The haniwa idol marched forward, but soon stopped herself when she sensed danger. She swiped her weapon to the left, deflecting an incoming knife. In that direction, Sakuya was there with a sly smile on her face.
"I'm honestly glad to have run into you again today." Sakuya casually said, and then just as casually threw another knife at Mayumi.
"I don't feel the same." Mayumi bluntly stated, before her hand moved to catch the thrown knife in her hand by the blade. Although she stopped the projectile mid-flight, she was surprised that it had cut into her palm and fingers. She didn't let that surprise linger for long, though. "...So you've improved your arsenal somewhat."
"Looks like your body isn't 'without flaw' after all." Sakuya pulled out several more knives in each hand. "But I'm always improving myself. Shall we see how you compare to me?"
"If it's my pride as a flawless idol you're challenging, I won't take that lying down!" Mayumi declared, before charging towards the maid.
"Right back at you… You mocked my pride as a maid, so now I have to teach you better!" Sakuya's expression turned fierce as a red-tinted glare appeared, and she leapt into the air to unleash more knives.
As Sakuya and Mayumi threw blows and projectiles, the remaining haniwa began to converge on the former's position. One taller soldier marched forth with a sword in hand… before a walking bell jumped right on top of it and smacked it hard with its bronze body, making the soldier fall down with a crack along their head.
The rest of the tsukumogami, encouraged by the energetic beat, were similarly scurrying about and collectively piling on top of all the haniwa troops. In the middle of all this was Kogasa, calling out to all the little tsukumogami with a mix of concern and admiration.
"Oh gosh, I don't think new tsukumogami shouldn't be getting into fights like this… but I guess this isn't a standard situation, anyway."
Kogasa muttered as she fretted to and fro between the various tsukumogami, while they bounced around and attacked the haniwa.
"Ah! You mirrors need to be careful! Lean on your sides so you don't shatter! ...Woah! Little spade, your handle is chipped, so don't put as much stress there! …Hey, you bells! Watch your rims, your crowns are your sturdiest parts so you should favour those. …Aah! The jar over there, try not to tip that way!"
Under the assault of knives and the lively tsukumogami, the haniwa troops were literally falling to pieces. The initial shock that Keiki felt had faded in favour of a quiet, budding frustration. Her first thought was to try repairing the damaged haniwa, but she realised that at this rate, they would be taken down faster than she can get them back on their feet.
In that case, she decided to handle the sources of the problem directly, starting with the loudest one.
"Alright." Keiki's feet left the ground and she rose into the air, hovering until she was level with Raiko. "I think I've humoured you enough. It's time for your little performance to come to an end."
"Hmph." Raiko maintained the current tempo of her playing even as she spoke, looking up at Keiki with a wry smile. "This beat I'm playing right now is coming directly from my soul, and there's no stopping it. …But I have to admit, I think you actually did improve the sound of my bass somehow."
"And I can still improve the rest of you." Keiki said, readying her sculpting tools. At the same time, a divine, fiery aura flared up around her. "You'll see for yourself that any art brought to life by my hands far surpasses anything you know."
"You still don't get it. My art, my music brought to life with these hands of mine, carries a current you can't hope to match." Raiko elevated higher, and the air around her became charged with energy. Keiki might have noticed that the clouds in the visible sky were beginning to fill with dark clouds. "Kogasa told you I could rock your world with my music, and I intend to do just that. How about we see which of our passions will win in a clash?"
"Are you sure about that? When it comes to my art, I'm unmatched!" Keiki couldn't help but grin as her aura flared even stronger, and she flew even higher, until she and Raiko were nearly among the clouds themselves. More cracks appeared in the ceiling, revealing more clouds and thunder cracking. "Let's see for ourselves, then! My burning passion for the sculpting arts…"
"Against my electrifying passion for percussion! Come, my… No, our visionary beat will resound through this tomb, the skies, and in every realm!"
The tsukumogami percussionist and the sculptor god let loose their energies on one another. The air filled with the vibrant clashes of lightning, lasers, wild rhythms, geometric shapes, and unbridled emotion.
Back on the ground, Kogasa noticed the flashes of lightning high above. "Woah, the weather's looking bad, even indoors! Figures my luck this would happen during the one time I'm without my- …Hm?"
Something was nudging Kogasa from her right side, and when she looked down, she saw a familiar vase on two legs, with her umbrella still folded inside. The vase hopped up and down towards her, clearly offering the contents to her.
"Oh! Thank you very much!" She gratefully retrieved her umbrella, and opened it up. As soon as she did so, she quickly moved to protect some smaller scurrying bronzeware, shielding them from stray projectiles.
"How's that?" Kogasa happily twirled her umbrella, letting the large tongue swing about. "Everything's going to be just fine, now that there's a helpful umbrella who can handle any weather!"
While dashing from place to place and unleashing knives upon her enemies, Sakuya still had time to notice Kogasa protecting and rallying the cute, diminutive tsukumogami. It was hard not to smile a little at the sight.
"M y, a professional in more than just smithing. Is she just that empathetic to her fellow tools, or is that her babysitting skill at work? " Sakuya briefly wondered, but quickly put those thoughts aside when she realised the haniwa were right upon her.
"Forward!" Mayumi shouted, and the four haniwa flanking her charged forward, while firing arrows ahead of them.
With a deft somersault, Sakuya repeatedly leaped out of the way of the incoming arrows and simultaneously counterattacked by letting loose a miniature hailstorm of silver blades. Mayumi ducked out of the way, though her troops weren't as agile and were getting promptly struck down one by one.
"Grr! No matter how many knives you have," While more projectiles from Mayumi flew and blocked off the maid's paths, the idol dashed forward directly towards Sakuya. The maid tossed several knives from different angles towards her, but Mayumi managed to deflect or dodge them without slowing down. "We haniwa are the greatest assets of- Oof!?"
Mayumi didn't manage to finish her sentence, however, before Sakuya leapt directly towards her as well, and delivered a hard dropkick into the idol's chest, sending her flying backwards.
Sakuya naturally landed on her feet, before standing with poise. "My knives are plenty useful, but I'd say my body is my greatest asset. And to think you people wanted to replace it!"
Meanwhile, the air above was still bursting with clashing energies as Raiko and Keiki stood off. There was a brief reprieve as the light show paused for a moment.
"Your craft's pretty strange, though that's not a bad thing!" Raiko said. Despite breathing heavier and visibly sweating, she couldn't have looked happier or more excited. "Even an amateur to art like myself can see your skill comes from determination. But don't think for a second that means I plan on letting you do whatever you want!"
"For a tsukumogami to say that to a god, it feels like a bad joke." Despite her words, Keiki wore a pleased smile on her face. "...But I may yet acknowledge that you tools carry a unique value that might be difficult to replicate. Then again, perhaps you're just an exceptional drum?"
"Why, thank you, I am exceptionally exceptional!" Raiko winked, and playfully twirled one of her sticks. "But it's not just me. Every tool holds the potential to do anything they want, not just what you expect them to! Even I have to be reminded of that every once in a while."
Glancing down, she saw Kogasa fervidly tending to the newly-formed tsukumogami, and Raiko felt her chest welling up with a respect and admiration she hadn't expected to feel.
" I should have expected as such from a seasoned karakasa obake. Guess you don't really 'need' my help, after all. " Raiko happily thought. " But I still hope you'll let me bring out the beat inside your soul one day! "
"Maybe so…" Keiki said. "But I'm not finished just yet-"
"Lady Keiki!" Mayumi called out, hurrying to Keiki's side. In the middle of her armour's chest plate was a boot-shaped dent, but she didn't pay it any mind at the moment. "We're in a pinch! The troops have been neutralised!"
"All of them?!" It only took a quick scan of the surroundings to see that all the haniwa have been conquered, now pinned down and buried under all the little tsukumogami piling on top of them.
"Too bad." Sakuya's voice suddenly rang out, and in a flash, she appeared beside Raiko. "Looks like you're out of options."
"Lady Keiki, you should get back!" Mayumi took a step forward. "I'll fend them off!"
"No, Mayumi." Keiki's aura flared up once more as she spoke. "They interrupted my plans, so I plan to personally deal with them."
"I figured you'd say that!" Raiko said, grinning. "I'd be disappointed if we didn't end this with a great, big, thunderous roar!"
The four of them stood off for a few tense moments, all getting ready to give their all for another assault. Without another word, all of them sprung into action…
…and then immediately stopped themselves when they realised something odd was happening. All of a sudden, the walls surrounding them were shaking violently and unpredictably.
"What kind of trick is it this time?" Sakuya grumbled as she shielded her head from the loose rubble falling down from the stone surfaces.
"I don't know either…" Keiki, just as confused as everyone else, called out to the spirits residing within the tomb itself. "What's wrong? You need to stay the course! …Wait, what did you just say?!"
"Huh?" A bewildered Raiko asked in turn. "I didn't hear anything. Did the walls just say something to you?"
"What are you acting confused about?!" Mayumi snapped back, panic rising in her voice. "They're losing control too because of you!"
"Huh?! But I didn't-" Raiko cut herself off, eyes widening. "Wait, you don't mean…?'
" Surely , she doesn't mean…?" Sakuya asked, sharing a stunned look with Raiko.
Meanwhile, Kogasa was trying to cover as much of the small tsukumogami as possible under her umbrella, as loose bits of rubble came raining down. Upon examining the way the walls all around them shook and even convulsed, she soon put together what everyone else had realised as well. "O-Oh wow, I had no idea there was such a large, budding spirit…!"
Kogasa hadn't considered that something as large as the huge, flying tomb they were all standing in, could be considered a 'tool' as well. Nor did she consider it could awaken as a tsukumogami either under the right, or wrong, circumstances.
And like most newly-born tsukumogami, it didn't know how to fly.
Along the fields of Higan, a pure land where the weather and seasons never changed, was an unchanging scenery consisting of large swaths of red spider lilies. Aside from the stray phantoms and particularly adventurous fairies, the path here didn't often have many wanderers from elsewhere.
The exception was the clerical god, Kutaka, who made her living by overseeing that very path as a checkpoint guard. Her occupation consisted of watching over the checkpoint nearby that separated Gensokyo from other realms of Hell. There wasn't much to do on that particular day, so she was currently taking a walk along the flowers to stretch her legs and rest her wings.
"Do-do, do-do-do~" Kutaka also had a habit of practising her whistling while on her walks. "Work looks like it'll be light today~ I'm thinking of hot potatoes for dinner tonight! Good thing I've been saving them for a day just like… Hm? What's that?"
Kutaka stopped mid-step, when she suddenly spotted something odd in the sky. It immediately stuck out to her for being far too large and distinct for a flock of phantoms. It also appeared to be getting larger by the second. Kutaka racked her brain for a moment, wondering what it could be. …Until she realised something much more concerning.
"...Bwuh?! B-B-B-B-...!" Her curiosity immediately faded in favour of panic however, when she realised it was not only much larger than she already assumed, but was very quickly heading for a crash course towards the ground, right about where she was standing. "...B'gaawk?!"
Spreading her wings, Kutaka scrambled into the air and got away just before the giant stone structure made impact with the ground with a terrible noise, stamping all the flowers below flat.
"W-What… What in all the hells is this?!" After the dust settled, Kutaka tentatively approached the huge object, despite her heart still pounding from the previous adrenaline rush. The 'roof' of the thing was filled with large cracks, so Kutaka was able to peek inside from above.
Not that she knew what to expect to begin with, but somehow she was still utterly baffled by the sight before her.
Among a chaotic clutter of rubble and debris was what looked like five people, and dozens upon dozens of baby tsukumogami and haniwa, all piled on top of one another in a dazed, fallen over mess.
"What's going on here?!" Kutaka cried out, the confusion almost too much for her bird brain.
"Ugh…" While flat on her face, Kogasa weakly raised her umbrella. "I can handle any weather… except for falling buildings..."