Nicolas notes:
Well back after a long week of fighting writer's block.
My editor is out for the count so I posted this without letting her proof read it...Yep this is an un edited chapter, and expect it to be changed in the future!
Once again I thank the people in the review sect for the morale support...
And I'm warning you guys this chap isn't my best and still needs work, eheh.
Disclaimer: I do not own any touhou related materials, yes Rook is mine, you get one for each reviews you leave.
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CHAPTER 2: A fox's worries.
Year 2000
Date unknown
Thirty minutes after encounter
The Outside, Scarlet Mansion, Voile the magic library
"Damn him! Damn that mud wallowing bastard!" snapped Patchouli Knowledge as she nervously paced back and forth, before the dim light of her desk, which was full of books, papers, scrolls and used quills. The agitated Magician was now in the Scarlet Mansion's very own library, The Voile, which is known to contain thousands of copies of the most advanced books of magic every created.
After tending to Remilia Scarlet and her chief maid of their injuries, Patchouli has done nothing but pace around the grand library, occasionally shooting a live fireball at a shelf in her frustration. The library and everything that is inside of it, is protected by various charms, spells, and curses that protects them from destructive forces such as a fireball, nothing short of a meteorite falling down from the sky, with the size of an entire state, will destroy the charms placed. However the Librarian is but five seconds away from doing such an act. The only reason she has not done is that she had no desire of cleaning up the mess afterwards.
"Why…. Why did it have to be now?" screamed the Magician, letting loose a small ring of purple energy around her, making the books shake. After the shaking subsided, the books once more became still, while the disgruntled girl felt a whole lot weaker than she was already. She pinched the bridge of her nose, as she felt an annoying ache spread there.
Calm down Patchouli, she thought, trying to relax herself, compose yourself, calm down, you've down this before you can do it again.
"Question is, how he found us?" she asked herself, her voice cracked from her shouting earlier. With her very long patience, Patchouli rarely yelled at someone, it was probably a long time since she has screamed her fury out.
She lowered her hand and began to survey the grand library. Towering black wooden book shelves stood steadfast in tight neat rows, as they held a vast amount of collections of ancient arcane text, with the first book much more dangerous than the other. Volumes and volumes of books were being held in them, containing powerful spells, cursed languages, and unlimited amount of knowledge. At a first glance the interior of the library seemed to be much bigger than that of the mansion itself to contain all of those tall bookshelves and large quantity of books, but a few charms would fix that without too much effort. The floor was covered in a wide shade of scarlet, courtesy of the mistress of the mansion, while the ceiling was lit by at least a hundred of golden wrought chandeliers. And as if the space was not large enough, the library even had a second floor, where the last thirty extra bookshelves were placed along with their books, complete with an indoor balcony.
Just think of it as a library that is as big as a small city. And because of its large space, the library was considered a labyrinth that was able to rival the hallways of the mansion itself.
But after living inside the library, Patchouli has lost interest in her library's splendor, and only interested herself in the books that she has yet to read.
You were the only one who could've done something, yet you shut yourself in your stupid library and do nothing, after what? After you finally got sick of your game of whispering into Remilia's ear just to get myself kicked out of the house! After all of those years you still bore a stupid grudge against me! Echoed Rook's voice, as his image flashed within Patchouli's mind.
The Magician let out a wild cry, before throwing blue leather bound book into the air, casting a spell after it.
"Royal Flare!" she screamed before, a searing blast of orange flames burst before her, and engulfed the book with fire. As the blaze died, nothing was left of the book, and in her anger Patchouli no longer cared for what she had done. She was breathing hard, tired and exhausted; too much has happened in one night. She had to rest, she had to run, and she had to hide, so Rook may never find her and the mansion again. She had to get away from that demon, or else he will destroy everything she had worked hard for.
"I have to get away…." She panted, wiping the sweat off her brow," Far away… I can't let him win… I'll never let him…"
She had to get the mansion out of this area. They have stayed long enough; she cannot risk Rook finding them again.
The Librarian's breathing became labored, and her vision became blurry, she casted an advance flame charm in her blind rage without thinking, reducing much of her reserved energies.
I have to calm down, she repeated once again in her head, if my performance keeps on this way, I would've delayed our next departure; I have to move the mansion now.
Patchouli then approached her desk and sat behind the large wooden chair behind it, looking utterly stressed.
"I know you're there Koa, please come out, I need my medicine" said Patchouli in a very weak voice, as she addressed the person behind her.
From the behind a shelf the soft tapping of cautious footsteps can be heard, and not a moment later a young woman approached the weakened Magician from behind.
Her long smooth crimson hair swayed slightly as she came close, and the rippling of her black dress was heard in the silent library. Both the wings on her head and her back were fluttering anxiously, seeing her beloved Mistress' poor state.
Koakuma then set down her Mistress' medicine, which began to take them one at a time, and took all of the unnecessary objects off her desk. Once she was done, the little devil, stood beside her Mistress awaiting further orders, though her wings kept fluttering.
As Patchouli drank her coffee with trembling hands, Koakuma could not help but feel worried about her mistress' health. She has never seen the Magician act this way for the longest time she has been her servant. There are only a few possible events that will be able to reduce her mistress into this state, and she may already know what it was.
After a long uncomfortable silence, the little devil piped up.
"He's back, isn't he?"
The Magician set down her cup and gave no reply, merely staring with great intensity at her coffee.
Koakuma's worst fears have been confirmed, just by looking at Patchouli's reaction. It has been years since that person has last appeared, and his recent appearance has left her mistress distraught, a young man known as Rook, one who always managed to get on her mistress' nerves at the mere mention of his name. Koakuma could tell from the noises and yelling from earlier that evening that he has returned. The little devil can still remember that horrible night when he left. It still haunted her nightmares, that night… Oh how she wished that she too was able to forget, but she cannot allow her mistress to remember all alone, the horrible events, especially after she casted that memory charm on her own best friend and the little sister. Patchouli cried her heart out that night, and as her servant, Koakuma could not leave her mistress alone, even after her mistress offered her to have her memories erased as well. She chose to remember for the sake of her mistress, so that they may remember the horrifying events together.
When her mistress did not respond, Koakuma spoke again.
"And I have already reminded you to reinforce the spell's bind around the vampires and the gate guard for the last century, look like it's too late now" said the little devil anxiously.
"Shut up" said Patchouli softly, "I know I got careless, but will never happen again, I just have to-"
She was interrupted by Koakuma who was scowling at her.
"Okay he made a point" admitted Patchouli sheepishly "Reinforcing the spell when their minds are weakest won't work and the results are nothing short of catastrophic. But we won't be able to apply it again with Remilia's guard up; neither can we cast it once more at Flandre, whose barriers have already shattered. Meiling is ignorant, but not stupid either. She will be suspicious, especially now that she came in contact with that bastard; he probably broke a few of her barriers as well."
"Mistress, you have to take it easy, you're not used to acting like this" said Koakuma, closing in her mistress and began to check her temperature on the stressed Magician's fore head.
"That scum of a Chess Piece was lucky" growled Patchouli, causing Koakuma to back away a few paces, looking alarmed. "If he didn't catch Remilia and Sakuya off guard, they would've won! The little sneak was wise enough to use his personal passages to bypass my protective spells, damn it!"
Another black book bearing an image of a hand holding an blood red apple, was suddenly encased in ice, and in her fury, Patchouli willed the ice trapped book to shatter like that of a vase falling from a high place.
Koakuma sighed, half afraid and half concerned. "You really must stop that, or else your condition will get worst."
"I have to, or do you want me to turn you into my personal punching bag?" the Librarian asked, wheezing slightly, but then she raised her eye brows, as she saw her assistant think about the idea for a moment. "You're really not considering it, aren't you?"
"Well… It doesn't seem like a bad idea…" said Koakuma with a mischievous smile on her lips.
Patchouli slumped forward and her head hid the desk with a dull thud. "You're hopeless" she muttered.
The little devil only giggled at that, but then her worried expression returned not long after.
"The real question now miss, is what are you going to do now?" said Koakuma, observing Patchouli's actions to her words, "I mean, his return was bound to happen, in a way both of you are alike, equals even, I'm afraid that this is a battle that neither of you will win"
"Who asked you for your opinion on the matter?" snapped the Magician, without raising her head from the table.
"No one, but I am merely assisting you in organizing your thoughts for you, so as not to stress your mind any further" said the little devil quietly. "Mistress you do know that the boy had made a very sharp point in your earlier discussion, we have neglected the little sister for long enough, um, wouldn't it be better if we just lift the spell so that we can have no more trouble with Rook?"
Patchouli lifted her head and gave her assistant a blank stare. "Whose side are you on?" she asked.
"I-I mean, that his truths may backfire on himself. There's always the chance that things may not come out as expected" said Koakuma, averting her eyes from the Magician, while scratching her cheek with her index finger. "He may as well be bluffing"
Patchouli sank back down her desk and went to the task of staring into space. "No, he made sure of it that he wasn't bluffing. He's never that confident if he wasn't sure that his grand plan will work"
The Magician took a violet envelope that sat on her desk and glared at the near perfect hand writing. Koakuma has seen her Mistress randomly taking out that letter every two minutes or so and she cannot help the feeling that something about the letter bothered her. True that Rook had left that letter to Patchouli, but the Librarian had not mentioned what it contained as she retold Koakuma the events at the hallway. What the letter held somehow irked her Mistress greatly.
"Umm, Mistress, are you sure that letter is genuine? It did come from Rook himself, and it could be a fake or-"Koakuma stopped short as her Patchouli interrupted her.
"No, it's real, alright. Just by observing its magical properties I can tell that it isn't a fake. You should be able tell it from real and fake, I've taught you much about his didn't I?" said Patchouli holding out the letter for her assistant to see.
Koakuma bowed, and said in a calm voice, "My apologies, I was just thinking that it might be a trap of some kind one cannot be too careful you know."
Patchouli sighed, and went back to staring at the letter.
"Rook has played his moves well, going to the extent of having the Gap Demon herself aiding him" said the Librarian, "Just how did he convince that demon to help him? Did he willingly sell his soul just so he can go on with his fruitless quest for repentance? No matter, this game of his is a dangerous one and he's willing me to play it. I'd like to see him try and beat me."
The smaller wings on Koakuma's head drooped slightly, her eyes full of concern. "Mistress…" she muttered inaudibly. She was then startled hard, when Patchouli gave her an order.
"Koakuma, I need you to draw a large circle around the mansion's perimeter with your power, we need to get started with the transportation ritual before dawn, I don't want to waste another second or get a tan if we delay much longer, I will handle everything from there, so be quick about it!" barked the Magician, with scowl on her face. Koakuma had not noticed the purple clad girl wearing glasses.
"Ye-yes Mistress!" squeaked the little devil, and began to fly out of the library. She looked gorgeous when she was angry, thought Koakuma as she exited the scene.
Patchouli watched as her crimson haired assistant left, and began to drown herself in her thoughts once more. She had to more careful this time. Rook would not reveal himself so openly if that plan of his will not work. Having him enlisted the world of Gensokyo's creator help, only made matters worse for her. She has never met the Border Demon herself, but the question is why was that creature helping Rook, for what reason? And most of all… At what cost?
"I'll be ready Chess Piece, just you wait," said Patchouli staring down on her black book, "don't worry, this will be one quest you will never seek to accomplish. This time I'll make sure you stay dead"
The Magician felt a surge of red energy go through her, Koakuma's signal. She stood up and began to fade in a purple light, her black book spread open before her. Just before she disappeared she spoke once more. "It'll be fun watching that smug face of his turn into an expression of misery, it'll be delicious…." She whispered, moistening her dry lips with her tongue, before disappearing in a flash of purple.
It was going to be a long night…
Year 2000
Date Unknown
One hour later after encounter
Near Mayohiga by the boundary of Gensokyo
Ran Yakumo, A high ranking youkai, was enjoying her quiet evening observing the starry night sky of the illusionary world known as Gensokyo. The moon was high in the heavens along with its companions the stars, as they oversaw the sleeping earth below. Tonight was a cloudless night, so that the stars were twinkling, while the moon shone brightly. Many constellations were clearly visible and were easy to distinguish because of the clear sky.
Ran was a fox youkai or better known as a Kitsune, a youkai with enough power to fight in par with the gods themselves; however she did not have interest in fighting divine beings at the moment. Tonight was her rest night, and nothing was going to happen except for her relaxing to resume throughout the evening.
Her nine bushy tails, which represented the number of centuries she has come to pass, swayed in synch with her foot steps as she was taking her evening stroll inside a nameless forest, without going far from her master's home of course. So far no one has come to bother her. The forest was quiet and peaceful, the youkai that resided there knew better than messing with a Yakumo.
She was the servant and shikigami of her mistress, Yukari Yakumo, the one responsible for Gensokyo's creation many thousand years ago. She curled her lips, as she was tempted to enter the Human Village and spend the rest of her evening there, maybe even get a chance to scare some humans while she was there, she was a youkai after all and even though she did not consume humans, she eventually had to give in to a small part of her youkai instincts, but she was worried on what might happen to her mistress without her.
Then she began to think about it. Her shikigami, Chen, was busy playing in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost and her mistress was currently hibernating, and probably will not awaken until later next week, she can use this to get some personal space from her work area.
Then again, something bad might happen while she was gone.
Ran sighed; she was such a worry wart.
She continued on her quiet walk, listening to the occasional calls of the forest animals and the chirping of the crickets, which were hidden in their hollows. She was at peace. She is, after all, a beast youkai, and every beast has somehow always found comfort within nature's embrace. The idea she had earlier kept badgering her inside her mind, but she knew she must keep close to her mistress as possible. If she really were at peace she would not be over thinking trivial thoughts such as that. Besides what's the worst that can happen? Nothing will certainly break Gensokyo's peace, she just needed to relax and-.
The Kitsune came to a halt, as she felt a sudden chill down her spine that made all of her nine tails go stiff. Her golden eyes widened in shock, as her internal alarm rang throughout her confused head.
She felt a human presence human presence enter Gensokyo through a forced rip, but such a thing is almost impossible, almost. Actually no being alive or dead was consciously able to enter Gensokyo via gap with Yukari asleep.
Only by invitation or by Yukari's whimsical spiriting away gig, can one enter Gensokyo, land of illusions, paradise for both youkai and crazy huma- oh it's only him.
Ran's shoulders and tails began to relax, as she saw a familiar boy leave a gap walking in a disoriented manner, like that of a drunken person.
Usually, Ran, her shikigami, and her mistress were able to travel in and out of Gensokyo without experiencing any pain of some sort, but forcing one's way in into Gensokyo by the use of an illegal gap, without Yukari's knowledge must really hurt. May it be youkai or human, the sensation they will feel if they attempt such a thing will be akin to that of riding a rollercoaster that was travelling in a breakneck speed, and was doing nothing but going through loops for the rest of eternity. That will be the feeling one will get if they force their way in the Hakurei Barrier, the barrier that separates Gensokyo from the outside. The barrier itself is imbued with divine like level of security to prevent invaders from going inside, as to stop intruders from doing so; it has many unique defense mechanisms attached. One of them was just mentioned above, although there are others who are not as friendly as the one mentioned.
However, this boy was a special case, that or Lady Yukari was just playing along as always. Whoever knows what the Youkai of Boundaries thinks? No one will simply understand her decisions and choices, for they may be for the greater good… Or the bad and worse.
Now, back to this strange boy, sometimes this young man was granted permission to leave Gensokyo for the outside for a short while, but he was either preoccupied with one thing and another, or was just plain busy with a project , that he had to stay. Other times, when he had free time and was about to carry out his plans, he was not allowed to go out, going to the point where he had to beg Lady Yukari for permission, and if that would not work, he will force his way out. The boy's way of thinking is simple and straightforward, if he cannot go over, or go below, he will use brute force to make his way through. If he cannot think within the box he will just think outside the box. Although even with that kind of thought process, the boy's mind is complex, very complicated, that sometimes he has trouble on maintaining a good conversation with others. Strange boy he is, for even with that, it does not stop him from making various acquaintances, even if he is hard to approach.
Most of the time, when the boy is neither scheming his escape from the barrier or busying himself with helping the local villagers, he will be mostly found within the Yakumo residence (which was his home for the past centuries) where he spends his days watching day time drama with the Youkai of Borders, unless there was a real emergency that he was actually needed, take incidents as example.
"Back so soon, Rook?" sighed the Kitsune, as she approached the boy who was staggering his way to her.
Rook gave her a weak smile, and then as if on cue, he collapsed on all fours coughing what horribly looked like blood. Ran gasped in shock, and dashed to the young man's side.
"Mr. Rook is everything…." She lost her words as she saw the number of rips on the boy's clothing and the half healed scars all over his person. Rook was pale, sickly pale. All color from his face was gone and his left nostril was bleeding. His hands were trembling and could give in any moment, which may cause him to fall face first on the grass, but Ran held him firmly to keep that from occurring.
"What happened to you?" asked Ran, trying to keep the panic off her voice.
"Had… A fight…" Rook explained between coughs, "The pain and exhaustion are taking their toll…. Don't worry I'll be fine… I think…"
"A fight..? What in the Yama's name have you been doing?" demanded Ran, tightening her grip on the boy's shoulder, making him wince. "Ah! So-sorry…"
"Nah, its okay… Now, for what I've been doing…" said the young man in a tipsy voice, while keeping his eyes fixed on the ground," Exercise with a couple of drunkards! You should try it sometimes"
"Did you hit your head or something? You're not thinking straight."
"Kinda…"
"This clearly has nothing to do with physical fitness!" scolded Ran, "Tell me what happened!"
Rook coughed a bit more before answering.
"I… Found them…" panted Rook, Ran caught the sight of tears falling on the ground. "I finally found them…" he repeated.
"Mr. Rook?" asked the fox, and Rook looked up and began to wipe his eyes with his fore arm.
Ran could not help but be taken aback by this. Rook was never the one to show his emotion so openly.
This is a first, she thought to herself, wait a minute…
Uh oh…
A frightened look crept on to Ran's face. She clearly knew what Rook was talking about. When she saw that Rook was about to look up, she hastily change her expression into would be calm smile.
"Really…? That is wonderful news, but you really must heal first" she said with slight unease, as she tried to help Rook stand.
No! This is not good, mirrored Ran's thoughts, this is way beyond scheduled! It's going to be a disaster! Yukari-sama, please wake up!
"Well yeah, anyway, I found the mansion in a rural village somewhere in Wales, you do know where that is, right?" huffed Rook as they began to walk back to Mayohiga. (Ran could not fly if she was tensed or pressured)
Rook filled her in with the events that happened during the exploration of the mansion, which is until he got to Flandre's part.
"You should've seen her," Rook was saying to Ran, who was listening intently, "trapped under the basement for two hundred and sixty years by her own sister, poor thing. Flandre being in the attic was tolerable, but the basement? That's just going too far!"
A hot burning sensation spread like wild fire through Rook's heart and almost fell, luckily Ran kept him steady.
"Thanks" grunted Rook.
"Do not overexert yourself, it will only worsen" scolded the Kitsune. Was this the same comrade she had from before? She never saw him this lively. Back when Lady Yukari brought him in Gensokyo, tired and exhausted, a few centuries ago until now, Rook was never the one to speak unless necessary or if Yukari was getting on his nerves.
Usually, Ran would find him alone to his business, like playing checkers with himself, making wooden figures from the drift wood from the rivers, or locking himself inside the guest room (which became his room through time). He leaves the Yakumo residence and does not return until a few weeks later, bringing home reports on the happenings on the darkest parts of Gensokyo, which seem to be fruitless since Lady Yukari was not the one to listen to such things for quite long.
Whenever Ran spoke to him, he will either nod or shake his head. His usual replies if the conversation he was engaged in was uninteresting to him would compromise of 'yep', 'uh huh', 'go away', yeah, 'no', and 'hungry'. But if he was in the presence of someone respectable or someone of high authority such as the Judge of the Dead, he would cast aside his rude attitude and replace it with an almighty gentleman like one, in contrast with his usual personality.
Ran shook her thoughts out of her head, and attempted to be familiar with the boy's change. She had to know what happened to his recent excursion at the mansion, she would have to report this to Yukari later, but now she needed information and Rook would be the only to provide that. The fox hoped that by presenting new reports on the mansion would be enough to compensate for letting Rook find it and will spare her from a severe punishment.
The tip of Ran's two tailed hat drooped slightly. How she hated her luck. One of these days she was going to ask Chen to kidnap a rabbit or two for their feet, it might bring her some good luck by then.
"Did this Flandre do this to you?" asked Ran, her tails swaying nervously from behind.
"Partially," said Rook, "I had to fight my way in, of course they still have no memories of me, so I understand, but that damn asthmatic Magician had the guts to lecture me! She's intelligent I'll give her that, but she's so thick headed!"
"Most intelligent people are like that," chuckled Ran, though she was sweating profusely. "Then what happened?" she asked, fearing the answer. At the very back of her mind she screamed. Please tell me you forgot to give them the letter!
Rook winced, and then frowned. "Well, Patchouli and I had a shouting match, but once I got her to listen for a fraction of a second, I gave her Yukari's letter and explained it to her. After that I left using that Gap infused bottle from Yukari. And I'm telling you it was a bumpy ride… Something wrong, Ran?"
The Kitsune had an uncomfortable smile on her face, but her skin was white as chalk. A bead of sweat slid down from her brow, which she wiped off with her sleeve.
"I-I beg your pardon?" stuttered Ran.
Yukari- sama is going to flay me alive! She thought, panic getting the better of her, she told me to monitor his movements very carefully and never let him out of my sight, but now I screwed up! The idiot was just too damn persuasive and his timing was perfect! He knew that he was being watched for five days straight, so he told me to take the day off for all of my hard work! And I was such an idiot for listening to him; I'm never drinking while he's around, ever! Told me something about going to the outside the border to get a few things from Las Vegas, but he never came back! The trace I put on him gone, cut, severed! *sigh* It was already too late to go after him by then. I was fool for thinking the percentage of him finding that mansion was below zero, and then I forgot that he was good at planning! He was smart….SMART! Stupid silver tongued male!
All of these thoughts race within The poor fox's mind. Oh how she would like to cry on her dismay.
Rook gave her a funny look, probably going to ask her again, but dismissed it as he sensed that his colleague was distressed about something, probably overcooking dinner again. "Never mind…"
As soon as he said the words, Rook began to cough again. The top of his head was throbbing and an aching sensation spread through his limbs, as though they were being crushed. It went on like that for two painful seconds before it subsided. Rook tried his best to keep the pained expression he was about to express just to save Ran from further 'unnecessary' worry, though he could not keep the blood from his cough.
"We really must hurry home" said Ran with concern.
"Yeah, I think we should" agreed Rook, "Thanks for covering up for me." he added gratefully. A smirk spread across his face. "I probably won't go out of the border anytime soon anyway"
Ran tilted her head to the side and asked. "Um, why is that?"
Rook glanced at her with a wide smile, that Ran only saw whenever he somehow emerged victorious at a game of cards or checkers against her mistress.
"Being the analytical person she is the Magician would've made extensive measures to further her study on the letter that was given to her before presenting it to Remilia." Explained the young man with an evil look, "She has to make sure that it is genuine, but that part is already easy enough to figure out, the problem is whether she will allow the invitation within to reach Remilia. She has to make sure that the vampire will somehow benefit something from this( knowing Remilia's attitude the vampire cares only for herself) or she can just cast the letter aside, however this was Yukari we're talking about here, she cannot simply ignore the invitation of a higher being than herself. Being the Scarlet's acting guardian, she has to consider their safety first, and she knows that Gensokyo is the only safe place left for her to take without risking the two sister's safety. The girl is only hesitating for the fact that she knows that I'm here. If she was the head of the Scarlets (which she's not) she can simply say 'no', but she cannot. One is because if Remilia is killed on the outside if somehow she would delay giving the letter, it would be her fault, and if she decided to hide the letter somewhere or vaporize it, her conscience would badger her until she relinquishes the information, but that will take a very long time before that can happen, Patchy, like I said is a stubborn one. Two is because she is nothing but their tenant and guardian; Remilia will always have the final say. No need to worry Ran, she probably won't reveal that I gave the letter, because the mere mention of me would trigger a memory, which is something that Magician is trying to avoid. In a nutshell, there's no need to go to the outside and search for the mansion once more for in due time the mansion will arrive in Gensokyo. Patchouli is probably racking her brain for other alternatives when there are none, hehehehe…."
He's cornered his enemy to force it to move to an area where he wants it to be? Thought Ran, who was slightly amazed at the boy's strategy.
"You certainly know the girl to make her go your way with a gamble" she commented.
"Yeah that's probably what I get from hanging around Yukari. Think of it as a game of risk, luck, and chance" snickered Rook, "To me that bean sprout is the type of person who will spring a trap and endure its consequences, when she knows she has no other way around it. Going back is never in her dictionary. She is also the type of person who will not surrender easily"
"Just like you?" asked the fox, "A formidable adversary she will make."
"If she were Remilia, I would've been Gungnir'ed without question. Remi tends to get bored of mind games if goes for too long than she wants it, strange she also enjoys them greatly."
"Seems like that would hurt a lot"
"Yeah, I already had enough for one night… Soon the Magician will run out of options and will play by my game, by my rules. In the end, the truth will surface, without too much trouble" said Rook who let out a heavy sigh.
If you only knew that you're also a player inside a bigger game, thought Ran, oh well, here goes nothing…
"If they are indeed coming, may I ask you the time of when they will arrive?"
Rook came to a halt, which also made Ran stop, for she was still supporting him as they walked. He then turned to her and stared into her eyes with his unsettling gray ones. "Five years…The time I estimate for Patchouli to finish her studying the letter and for them to arrive would be five years… Probably when Remilia turns five hundred."
Ran could not help, but smile as a wave of relief swept over her. Somehow her smile was too dreamy for her own good.
Time there's still time. I can still warn Yukari- sama about this, she thought happily.
Rook frowned at her dreamy expression and asked. "Why are you smiling like that trouble making ice fairy?"
Ran attempted to kill the smile but failed. "Oh nothing, I'm just debating whether I should eat you or not, I am a youkai after all, I keep wondering what you taste like"
"Is that so~? Seriously that sounds so wrong" snickered Rook, before he went into another fit of coughing. "Damn I feel like I'm becoming like that Magician."
"You keep coughing and your entire body keeps trembling ever since you got here. I've never seen you this sick, just what the heck is happening to you?" asked Ran.
Rook spat out blood from his mouth before answering. "I don't know. My closest guess is fighting four times with opponents that had enough powers to level a country, without breaks, can really wear one out. Using my powers above their limit so many times, and shrugging all of those hits I got, caused an overload. My body couldn't simply handle the burden. You know how I fight Ran, I delay all of the pain that I'm supposed to feel during battle, and have them respond as soon as the fight ends. That will give me time to recover, but looks like I held it back too long. Funny how you beat the crap out of someone only to feel their pain later… The Irony… You know what I was thinking of giving it a cool name to match, eh?"
Ran, frowned at his words and said. "You're in that state and you have the time to joke? Once we get home, you will take a rest, effective immediately! I'll tell Yukari-sama to tone down your next missions by a level. You're not cut out for long term combat; better nail that thought to your thick head!"
"Nothing a little training wouldn't fix" chuckled Rook, but then his eyes grew wide and clutched his stomach, as if someone punched him. This was the worst fit so far, for it was so sudden, he didn't have time to prepare. It felt like his bones were being crushed into tiny bits while they burned like a white hot metal in a blazing furnace. His eyes felt popping from their sockets and his blood felt like it was turning into liquid fire, which continued to course throughout his body. His limbs felt like they were being crushed by an elephant, ten times bigger than the average one. The other sensations were too horrible to describe. Rook's vision began to dim, white spots of light danced on the edge of his vision. His knees gave way, and fell to the surprisingly soft soil.
"Rook!" Ran cried out in surprise. She quickly tried to catch him, but small electrical tendrils seeped out of him convulsing body. The fox could only watch as the boy fell on all fours coughing out red liquid. Mayohiga was still a good distance away from their location; she will not make it in time if she ran.
"Idiot!" snapped Rook, "Aren't foxes supposed to be smart? Why didn't you fly me back in the first place?
Finally overcoming her tension, Ran grabbed the young man by his shoulders and proceeded to fly her fastest.
Rook resisted to slap his hand on his forehead.
"Maybe you really should hang around team nine ball" he suggested, snickering despite his situation.
"I will not! Growled Ran in a feral manner, which silenced Rook of his snickering for the time being. "The damage for the overload got to your brain, I better hurry or else I'll be force to kick your ass back to gear!"
"Hey Ran," called Rook, an empty look in his eyes.
At that Ran became scared. "What?"
"The game…" said the boy, a small smile on his lips.
"Damn it, Rook!" yelled the fox, sounding genuinely concerned.
Hehehe… Cute... he thought in his pain clouded mind. Maybe she's right. The overload damaged a teeny part of my brain… This is going to be troublesome…. Hmm, overload doesn't seem to fit its name… I know… I'll call this pain, The Price… Much better than 'overload'… hehe, ouch, feels like I have massive head ache… On the other hand this pain is nothing compared to what I've gotten used to already… I finally found them… My family… And in five years we'll all be reunited… I'll just have to take care of some loose ends… That Magician… After that, I'll make them remember…Eh? Why are these black spots at the edge of my vision…? Ran's shouting something I can't hear… I can't breathe… Feels like I'm being strangled… It'll be fun… Watching the Magician go boom for once…ugh, I give up… goodnight..
Back in reality, Ran was shouting at the top of her voice. "Damn you fragile human!" roared the Kitsune in frustration, as Rook suddenly went limp on her arms, "Yukari-sama will chop my tails off if you die, you hear me?"
The sea of trees rustled as she shot over head, with a tremendous gust of wind in tow. She had to make it; she had to go faster…
As she prayed to whatever god that may be listening, she kept her eyes into the horizon, hoping to arrive at Mayohiga's barrier.
Ran yelped in surprise, as a gap opened out of nowhere and swallowed her and Rook whole…
Everything went black.
Nicolas notes:
That was fun... Well, anyway, some of you may be wondering about the summary of Rook's plan, that is plain batsh*t confusing. Well, I'm like that...
Remember this chapter wasn't edited so I apologize for the grammatical mistakes and confusing the hell out of you guys...
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I'll be editting it if my editor decides to work again~
Rate, review and share~!