Nicolas Notes:
To visit the ghosts of a past story
And return from the abyss of madness and insanity
To dive into the dark sleep of pain
Just how far will you go to collect and regain?
From dark dreams, through the forest
All while dodging the colorful rain
To duel against and amongst the mightiest
Was the wise one's sacrifice in vain?
Promises are shattered and bond are broken
Is this really a worthy parting token?
To meet with the girl, such a dark heart she had
In her dull gray world, her story was sad
Green waters, the abacus's shop
A short rest before to the village we hop
Pained cries and lamenting dreams
The village is different or so it seems
Lights bangs and colorful beams
Oh dear another friend lost in a flash of cream
The beast at our side, we continue warily
Enter we must into the house of memory
There we find the poem of the Sun
Once again we depart and run
Climbing a thousand steps
In our hearts the secret is kept
Once more we duel
However fate is always cruel
The Wayward Chess Piece struck down ultimately
To explains what happens next: GODDAMMIT YUKARI!
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CHAPTER 8: A Surprising Vacation and a Strange Conclusion
Year 2000
? Anti-meridian
Boundary of Existence and Oblivion
Rook found himself lying on a cold stone floor, waking him out of his temporary blackout due to its bitter temperature. Retrieving the knife he had acquired from the events earlier, he slowly rose to his feet while turning his gaze from left to right seeing nothing but the black horizon over at the distance of this strange realm. Rook began to wonder what was providing the source of illumination which allowed him to see in this lifeless wasteland. His question however was immediately answered the moment he looked up. Above him was a colossal eye with golden irises, staring at him unblinkingly as its irises seemed to glow faintly lighting up the surrounding area around the boy similar to a spotlight. Not a moment too soon, a multitude of golden eyes began to open up everywhere where the sky was supposed to be until they were uncountable ranging from a hundred to a million. Gripping his newest weapon at his side, Rook obviously knew where he was now.
Turning his gaze behind him as he noticed the faint noises of footsteps approaching him, the boy found Yukari Yakumo with her parasol spread open as it leaned on her shoulder as if she were enjoying a nice quiet stroll. Her eyes meeting his, a mischievous smile began to creep upon her lips.
"Yukari…" says Rook looking unsurprised at the Border Master's appearance, "Just what the heck do you want with me? Are you really putting me through crap on purpose? I mean seriously, you have sick sense of humor…."
"Oh but Rook sweetie, you already know that do you not?" coos Yukari while suppressing a giggle, "And no, I don't want anything from you. You just have the bad habit of poking your nose into somebody else's business that's all. But really now, for what did you commit the act of interference for? Was it for the good, or for our own reasons?"
To her slight surprise, Rook smiled. "Well, that's not important now is it?" he says lightly, yet his eyes were cold and so becomes his tone as he continues, "The important thing is what the hell were you thinking when you thought about that part of your 'master plan'. I mean you're no different from the leaders of the different nations on the Outside,"
"It was necessary—"
"Necessary? Don't make me laugh, Yakumo," says Rook shaking his head in mock disappointment, "You knew full well what could have happened if Reimu had failed and you still went on with it even if you knew the risks…."
"Ah, but that's where you come in, Rook" muses Yukari as she takes out her fan and spreads it across her face, hiding it from the boy's view, "Knowing you very well, I just positioned my pieces just where I wanted them and waited for you to activate a chain effect,"
"Which is?" asks Rook, his features sporting a scowl.
"Which is believing the Chronicler's story, causing you to come rushing to the rescue like some knight in shining armor," answers Yukari, closing her fan and pointing it towards the boy, "I thank you for if it wasn't for you Reimu wouldn't have acted on her own. She already made up her mind yet she still couldn't decide on who will take her place temporarily if things went wrong. She waited for a trigger to arrive and that came in the form of your opposition. She won't be able to ask her grieving best friend for assistance after what just happened, and neither would she dare seek the Flower Youkai's help due to the youkai's reputation. So she waited for you to arrive, and I only decided to spice it up a bit to make things interesting,"
"Were you the one responsible for Alice's arrival as well?" questioned Rook taking a step forward, "You do know where she comes from, don't you?"
"Ah, you mean this girl?" says Yukari, waving her fan to her side as she wills a gap to open, revealing the image of a young girl in a blue white dress and a yellow ribbon. "She however was not part of my plan or at least not yet. Maybe I'll have to improvise when I am about to make anything do with her. I have seen her world so there's nothing to worry about her at least for now, though I'll be sure to keep an 'eye' on her uf fu fu fu,"
Her world? What is she talking about? Thought Rook, being puzzled for a moment though not showing it on his face.
"I admit that the girl had a very interesting secret. She has many big plans ahead of her, however she feels like it is not the right time to execute them, which I think is most wise," continued Yukari, casually walk around paying no mind to the endless void they were in. This was her world after all, "Would you like to know?"
"It's not my business to intrude matters that doesn't concern me or my job," snarls Rook, his grip tightening around the dagger he held, "What I want to know is what you are planning? Why are you doing this? Why now? Just what the heck were you thinking?"
The Youkai of Boundary's walk came to an abrupt stop as she turned to face Rook from over her shoulder, "Do you really want to know? Why of course you do, you're Rook after all. Stubborn and hard headed little human you are…."
Yukari then lifts up her right hand and starts counting off her fingers, "To strengthen the weakened Barrier, to ensure Reimu's safety during battle, to ease the tension between Makai and Gensokyo, and to level the playing field of battle for humans. After that fiasco during the Possession Incident, the Great Boundary turned weak, horribly weak and as it grows weaker so does Reimu. Now if somehow you did stop Reimu from establishing the Spellcard rules, what do you think would happen then? Of course you wouldn't investigate until you find Reimu drop dead right before your feet, eh? And by the time you find out the cause, how will you save her then? The Barrier has greatly depleted her of the energy she had. So how is that any different with what just happened earlier, or rather the 'worst case scenario' that you came up with, hm? The doom of Reimu would have been inevitable…."
"What?" asked Rook, looking nonplussed at the youkai's words.
"In layman's terms, I was saving Reimu and there was no chance whatsoever of her soul being tied so tightly to the Barrier that it would affect her system," giggles Yukari with a mockingly happy smile on her face, "you were just being paranoid…"
"Yeah right, but what if it didn't work as planned and things would have gone wrong?"
"My, my, aren't you the negative one?" Responds the Youkai of Borders.
"I'm just making sure that you're plan is completely foolproof, you never know what'll happen in the future," Rook darkly says.
"Well if everything did go wrong, then I say you won't be even alive right now and instead you're probably being judged in Higan as we speak," says Yukari her smile growing wider and annoying, "How does that sound?"
"Damn you…" growls the boy as he was about take a step forward only to find out that his right foot was stuck within a gap once more, causing him to shoot the youkai before him a dark glare.
"Moving on… This Spellcard System would provide as good source of foundation for the Barrier and a non-lethal way of combat for both the Hakurei Shrine maiden and that of the other humans thus depleting the total amount of deaths during a duel," says Yukari while aiming the tip of her umbrella towards the boy whose eyes widened at her actions, "Watch…"
Two bluish spheres burst forth from the umbrella's tip and shot themselves into Rook's direction. At that moment, the boy's left leg and arm were held by two more gaps that came out of nowhere leaving his right arm to defend himself from the incoming attack by absorbing the first shot with his dagger. The second sphere however was too fast for his arm to catch and impacted him right on the gut, forcing air out of his lungs and throwing him off his feet a couple meters.
The boy groans as he falls flat on his back on the cold floor. Rook quickly looked down on his chest and was surprised to see it still whole and well, sporting a large blackened patch at the center while smoking, other than that he was perfectly fine. He received no injuries whatsoever, save for the burning sensation that erupted upon the bullet's impact. Knowing Yukari's extent in terms of power, he should have been blown to pieces the moment the bullet hit and Rook knew that he was done for the moment it did.
Just what was that? Asked Rook within his mind as he stared wide eyed at the area the sphere hit him.
"Danmaku," replies Yukari as if she were reading his mind, "This is what the contract meant on the matter of resolving incidents without deaths occurring. It also helps on leveling Reimu's playing field as stated earlier, keeping her safe due to its non-lethal damages that it produces. So you don't have to worry about her dying if there's an incident for the rules revolve around her and whenever someone issues a duel with her, automatically these rules are activated unlike to other people where it has to be discussed and declared before the duel starts,"
"So Reimu can't be killed whenever she fights?" asks Rook, "Does this apply outside the battle too?"
The Border Youkai was then swallowed by her own gap, appearing just beside the boy offering an arm to help him up on his feet. Rook reluctantly took it and unsteadily stood on his feet, dusting his pants with his left hand while his right still held the dagger. Yukari now stands before him with her umbrella closed and eyes staring into him like those of the disembodied eyes all around them.
In a sad tone the Youkai then says, "No. This only applies within duels so that means Reimu is still vulnerable to certain methods of assassination, but rest assured that her safety in battle is guaranteed,"
"Then that means she always needs to be on guard if some youkai gets lucky," says Rook, turning his gaze somewhere to his left, "At least now, there's only one person left who's considered a threat to the Hakurei lineage. I'm looking at you, Yukari Yakumo,"
"Me? Really now you have quite the imagination Rook," says Yukari in a false hurt tone, as if she had been caught red handed stealing from a cookie jar only to lie afterwards about it, "Think about it for a minute, Rook. If you narrow it down in a chart, who do you think will be the most capable person taking down Reimu Hakurei even with these rules established, hmm? The Flower Youkai with the strength of nature at her very finger tips? The Black Witch that annihilates everything in her path using the power of love? The goddess of the demons that holds the leash to an army of a thousand demons? No, it is you. You, the man who has trained generations of Hakurei maiden in the art of combat, along with that old reptile who specializes in exorcism. You and that turtle Genji sharpened every Hakurei maiden that has come to pass with your skills and knowledge, surely Rook you know every single attack that Reimu has don't you? You would be able to take her down with just that knife on your hand. How do you explain the way you survived your last battle with her a few hours earlier? If you were only fighting to kill you would've done so with ease. Now as for me, true that I would be able to erase her existence at the flick of my wrist but I do not have the reason to do so… You however are more likely to kill Reimu through various methods any time you want,"
"But like you I don't have the reason to do so!" argues Rook.
"Would you like me to create a scenario?" coos Yukari right beside his ear. How she managed to appear at his side so fast without the use of her gaps, he did not know…
"What?"
The golden eye filled void slowly transformed into the dimly lit interior of a blood red walled structure. The light of the red moon outlines the shadow of the window on the equally crimson floor carpet. Rook looks down on his hands just to see the scarlet liquid it was drenched in. The boy then notices that he lying on the floor with his back against the wall behind him. All around him furniture were overturned, glass fragments and that of ornaments lay scattered on the floor. On the windows hung two barely recognizable curtains which were filled with slash marks as if a wild animal had clawed upon them.
"What the hell?"
Rook's attention quickly directed towards the sound of bangs a few floors below him. It must have been very deep for the noises were faint and muffled.
No…
Forcing himself on his feet, the scenery starts to swirl around him as if he was inside a blender only that it was the outside that was blending. Rook then found himself running within a dark enclosed tunnel while urging himself to go faster towards a single black iron door. All around him, the walls begin to sprout eyes, golden eyes all observing his progress as he ran towards the door. It will take more than that to completely strike fear into him and interrupting his advances towards the door.
"What the heck are you planning now, Yukari?" he yells all around him, his voice echoing throughout the narrow tunnel. Unsurprisingly, he receives now answer except for the gaze of the eyes intensifying with each step he took. Snarling, Rook then jams his knife on the wall which somehow melted into it like a hot knife through butter causing the pupils of the eyes around him to dilate as though in pain. Rook continues to run with the knife travelling through the seemingly hard stone walls, leaving a black red tear behind as it passed.
Arriving at the iron door, the boy realizes that it was locked, so in turn he then resorts to slash the door with the dagger he held and finally blowing apart with a jet black flash of lightning.
"Rook! Just in time, help me finish her!" came Reimu's voice from the other end of the room.
This time it was the boy's eyes turn to expand, seeing the scene before him. Reimu stood at the very end of the room, her usual white sleeves stained with crimson, a nasty cut carved on her cheek. She stood with her purification rod raised and her knees ready to give away but only managing to hold on for the sake of performing one last act before blacking out. In front of Reimu was a girl, a familiar girl in a red dress and dirtied mob cap. Flandre was being pinned to the wall by two large needles like spears stabbed into her palms, making her look like she was being crucified. Blood ran down the surface of the wall as it seeped through the little girl's hands like a light waterfall, dripping to the floor similar to rain.
"What is this? I-I don't get it…"whispers Rook as he took five hesitant steps forward, his footfalls echoing around the large chamber of the Scarlet Mansion's basement. The entire room was only lit by the light coming from the glow of the Ying and Yang symbol that was on the wall. Keeping the powerful vampire in place with its strength. Rook then notices the number of craters and debris strewn on the ground as if a large battle took place, which was highly possible.
The boy's gaze trailed towards Flandre, whose eyes gave him a sad look as if asking; Why?
He was now before her, staring at her broken form wanting nothing more than to help her. Reimu was beside him explaining the situation, however her words never reached him for his mind was numb at the sight of his most cherished suffering in front of him.
"She has been attacking the village for weeks; there have already been reports of her terrorizing the tengu's home going far as killing her own sister!" described Reimu, while keeping the barrier around Flandre alive, "Rook I know you've been having second thoughts about this for months but like it or not we have to seal her! She almost killed Marisa, are you going to wait until she finally takes the life of someone else you knew? Hey are you listening to me? Rook!"
Ahh, that's right… whispered the boy into his mind, blocking out every single words that the miko spouted from her mouth. The mansion already arrived years ago… Three years to be exact. The moment they landed in Gensokyo, Remilia proceeded to go on a rampage the very moment they arrived only to be put to a stop by Reimu and Yukari… Patchouli's dead, I finished her during Reimu's first assault on the mansion. Afterwards Remilia was chained due to her fury and was placed her in the basement instead of Flandre. Flandre, was then given to my custody with a few fragments of her memories regained she remembered me. After that we lived quite happily until….
"Rook!" screamed Reimu into the boy's ear. Rook's eyes slowly travelled from the ground towards Flandre who seemed to be struggling against her bonds. The needles that held her in place were growing cracks on their sides as the vampire uttered a silent roar, opening her mouth and bearing her fangs.
"Rook you have to stab her, use your knife!" continued Reimu as she fought to keep the vampire's cage intact, "Please, do it now!"
Stab her? Should I really? Rook gripped his dagger hard before swinging it sideways. Blood was sprayed upon his face as he drove the dagger's blade across the shrine maiden's throat.
{EVIL CIRCUIT INCREASED}
"Nice try Yukari," he growls, turning the dagger in his hand and stabbing it into Reimu's chest, "But you have to try better,"
The shrine maiden screams a horrible shriek, causing the walls, the ceiling and Flandre to gather into one place, forming a large mound of purple smoke. All around Rook, the scenery changes back into the eye filled void with the mound of smoke writhing and flailing around until it turns back into the familiar form of Yukari Yakumo, clutching her midriff as if hit by Rook's dagger itself.
So ends the Demon's illusion
"Wonderful, magnificently done Rook!" says Yukari with mock smile on her face, "As expected from you, boy. To break that illusion without too much effort and I say, Mima's knife seems to have this effect on anything concerning my borders. I wonder why? Anyway, you see what I mean Rook? If I would only push the right buttons I could easily make you commit something you would have never thought possible! You are easily influenced by those close to you, especially that vampire… My, if I were to get a hold on that vampire then I may be able to gain full control over you"
"You wouldn't dare," says Rook with a menacing tone, the black red electricity coursing through his arms before disappearing.
"Oh relax will you? What I'm trying to say here that a situation such as that is highly possible, what with Reimu's profession and your friend's destructiveness your mind will be forced to conflict in the decision making, and from my point of view you failed miserably at that part. You acted without thinking, without even considering the situation you were in—"
"AND THAT'S BECAUSE YOU CHUCK ME IN THERE ALL OF A SUDDEN! YOU DIDN'T EVEN WARN WHAT WAS—" yelled Rook only to be cut off in turn by Yukari.
"But that is the point, my boy. Split decisions appear out of nowhere without announcing their arrival or formally requesting one" clarified the Border Youkai, "Eight hundred years you have treaded the earth and you still…..umm how do I say this? Ah yes, suck in decision making. One wrong move and everything could go wrong; I'm trying to help you here so that you will be able to advance in your game,"
"Well you're not helping at all! You're making things worst you hear me!?" shouts the boy, pointing the tip of his knife towards Yukari who merely stared with a bored expression.
"You better be careful with that. Mima's still inside that thing so it's best not to agitate her with your deliberate movements," reprimanded Yukari, however her words were useless for she followed by saying, "Maybe if you shake it a bit more for a few seconds and see what happens?"
"I-wait, Mima's in here?" questions Rook staring at the knife in his hands in disbelief.
"Well…. How do the Americans say it these days? Ah right! Well 'duh' genius it took you long enough," says Yukari in an annoying voice while rolling her eyes.
"Yakumo…" growls Rook giving the Youkai a murderous look, "Don't make me use this thing against you…"
"Oh fine, fine, fine. Party pooper, but before we move on to the next topic, do you understand everything I've said earlier?" she asked while receiving a nod from Rook as a response, "Good, it should provide you with a few things to think about. It could prove fatal for you if you lacked even at one department seeing that you're opponent has a lot of tricks up their sleeve,"
Rook stood silent for a moment while staring at the knife in his hand, thinking on the amount of magic it has stored within by the Evil Spirit herself. Maybe if he were to be able to extract the power within he would be able to gain some of its energy, however something told him that it would be a bad idea if he tried.
Yukari suddenly clapped her hands together and with a wide smile on her face declared, "Alright, let's get started! That my boy is Mima the Vengeful Spirit's dagger, the very same dagger that took away her own life when she was still alive and well. It holds a part of her soul, of her essence making it look like you're holding Mima herself in your hands. When she still existed, only a quarter of her energy was stored in there as a reserve in case she had to fight a full scale battle, but during Reimu's possession she used every bit of her power into all of her attacks going as far as using the dagger itself by giving it to you to seal her and the spirit that controlled Reimu. Now, with a part of her essence stored within the dagger she is bound to return into the dagger if ever her form on the world of the living is destroyed, thus keeping herself alive even defeated. However that was what she was supposed to be planning, but due to the interference of the sealing she can never get out ever again and she knew this the moment she handed you that thing. You can feel it can you? Her dormant power vibrating against your palm along with the spirit encased with her. Well my friend, that is only a taste of her black magic so I suggest you turn off its power before it consumes you,"
Rook then stares at her incredulously and says, "How do I turn it off? I don't even own this thing and I wasn't the one who stabbed Mima yet why does it answer to me?"
"You can turn it off by letting go of it," Yukari simply answers while Rook lets go of the knife, letting it skid to the ground harmlessly and almost immediately the black red glow died. Rook then fell on his knees as if he was suddenly drained of energy, the buzzing strength he had earlier completely gone. A headache began its slow advance all over Rook's head as he felt his reserve go dry, making his vision blur and darken. Shaking his head, the boy unsteadily rises back to his feet while resisting the urge to throw up.
"Ah, it seems that it has the same effects as that of the 'Price'," Yukari then proceeds to click her tongue in mock disappointment, "Oh dear, it looks like your use of it will be greatly limited because of that, or maybe your body is still adjusting to the dark magic that the knife is imbued with. Oh well, it's a theory so I suggest you limit your use of the dagger and don't completely rely on it, mmkay?"
"I'll keep that in mind…" says Rook in a grim voice as he holds his right hand on his right brow, "Dizzy… damn it feels like the world's swirling…"
"Hmph, moving on," continues the Youkai Sage while Rook attempts to regain his wits about him, "You probably know this, but you're able to absorb attacks made out of energy or Danmaku and absorbing it into your being by channeling the attack through the knife and converting it into electricity, but just as I said, your body doesn't have enough space to accommodate all the power you absorb. You're lucky, because if you even attempt to block out the Black White's beam of love then good bye sanity or you'll barf out every meal you had since you were born (that is if such thing is possible). That knife of yours, if you were observing earlier, is able to cut through Reimu's barrier as she was performing her ritual and those barriers were said to protect its summoner from all kinds of attacks so it seems that Mima's knife is one of the few things that is able to penetrate it completely. I can even deduce that it can rip a hole in the Great Boundary itself, seeing that you cut through my illusion. But still….. Just as I said using its powers is very taxing, no? Be patient and your powers will return in no time…."
"Wait, you're talking as if I'm keeping that thing," says Rook while pointing a finger at the dagger on the floor, "Why can't you just give it back to Reimu and seal it somewhere safe? Wouldn't that be the best course of action instead of giving to dangerous old me?"
A mischievous grin crept upon Yukari's face as she answered, "Oh but Rook, that wouldn't be any fun wouldn't it? Where's the thrill of doing that?"
"Hmph, I should've known…" mutters Rook, while resisting the urge of slapping his own hand on his forehead. Instead he stared at the Youkai before him with a serious expression before saying, "So what now? You've explained yourself and made yourself acceptably clear even though I find you actions increasingly reckless for a youkai of your caliber, so what do you plan on doing now, Yukari?"
"Me? Do now? Why of course as an elite mastermind unlike any other, I would be carrying out my many grand schemes," the Youkai simply says, raising her left hand elegantly while she spoke, "The Spellcard system would surely catch the eye of the many residents of Makai and would probably adopt its use to ease the tension between the two sides as I have stated earlier. All we have to do now is to beat the bloody pulp out of each other without having to die. A simple plan that Shinki will be more than happy to play along with,"
"How can you be so sure?" says Rook, pushing further in case Yukari had anything else in mind.
"Trust me, this will work…"replies Yukari while narrowing her eyes towards the boy, "And if it doesn't, then I already have a countermeasure in mind,"
"Then what about Reimu? Will she be able to handle the pressure of the responsibility she has?" asks Rook.
"Will you?" counters Yukari while pointing her closed fan into Rook's direction, "Relax will you? Now I know why I paired you up with Ran, you two worry too much,"
"I'm just making sure that this won't backfire,"
"I already did. I took away fragments of her memory from the moment we met, me offering the Spellcard System and that of your interference,"
"You did what?!" exclaims Rook, looking utterly shocked at the youkai's words, "Why did you do that? For what reason?!"
"So that she won't turn into either you and Ran, a couple of worrywarts," huffed Yukari with her arms crossed under her chest, "The girl already has too much in her mind, it is only wise to erase a few unimportant information,"
"And you think by simply erasing the moment you met the most powerful youkai in Gensokyo will solve anything?"
"Yes, but don't worry, I haven't erased her memories about you only that event that happened a few hours earlier," giggles Yukari as if one of her harmless pranks had just succeeded in hitting their mark, "And for good measure I erased the witch's memory too about ever meeting me or Ran, however I left the entire bit of her recollection about you so don't expect that she'll be still your friend the next time you see her. She still grieves for her fallen mentor,"
"Is this the same? With the memory spell that I'm trying to break?" says Rook, a hint of desperation in his tone, "If it is, then will you be able to help me?"
"No, it's your problem not mine and you have the responsibility to fix it and not me," responds Yukari with a bright smile on her face.
"That was expected," deadpanned Rook with an un-amused stare.
Yukari then walked towards somewhere to Rook's left, kneeling down and slowly picking up Mima's silver knife from the floor. The knife gave no response at the Youkai Sage's touch, but then glowed an eerie light of red as it neared Rook who took five good steps backwards from the knife.
"What are you doing?" asks Rook in a cautious manner while eyeing the dagger warily.
"I'm giving this back to you. It's your fault that Mima's in here so take responsibility for it you naughty little boy. Don't forget that you almost lost my other gift to you, so I'm warning you right now…. Lose this dagger and the world loses Mima, if this thing is lost it won't return like that box do you understand?" advises Yukari offering Rook the knife's handle while summoning a black box on her right hand from a gap, "A builder always needs his tools in order to create something new,"
"What am I going to make with these anyway?" he questions, frowning upon the box and the knife. Rook reluctantly took them, placing the box under his arm and the dagger on his left hand. The legion of golden eyes above them all blinked three times before Yukari formed an answer.
"A better world…." She whispers with a content smile. This one genuine not mixed with any false emotion or feelings, maybe Yukari did wish for a better world, "However that will have to wait…."
"What?" asks Rook taken aback by her answer out of all the others. If she wanted a better world, why can she not make a new one at the flick of her wrist? Rook wondered what's stopping her…
"To make such a world, I have to get rid one more thing…" continues the Youkai of Boundaries, taking slow step towards the boy. It happened again…. Yukari was now before Rook, holding him up by his neck with one arm as if he weighed nothing. The boy kicked and flailed at the youkai's iron grip, struggling to release himself from her hold.
"What are you doing? I don't…" he choked while struggling against the youkai's grasp while still holding his black box in his hand.
"The thing I have to get rid of….Is you, Rook…." Answers Yukari in a sinister tone,
What? Rook attempted to fight back by raising Mima's dagger above his head in order to make Yukari drop him as he stabbed her on the shoulder; however the effort was wasted for Yukari managed to open a rip through realities before finally tossing Rook into the void.
"Your existence has tipped the balance of power in Gensokyo, Rook," echoes Yukari's voice as the boy fell screaming through the infinite blackness, "You will have to take a vacation, a vacation you've always wanted. Too many times have you gone against me and I cannot have you do so again… Heh, please enjoy your time on the Outside while I sort things out in Jigoku, don't worry it will only be for a short while…"
She's kicking me out? Thought Rook with his eyes wide in disbelief, Sort things out? What is she talking about? I don't understand...Why is she doing this? Damn I should have never put my guard down even for a moment…
"It's only for a short while, Chess Piece… Don't worry, I'll send Ran after you once everything has calmed down," continues Yukari's voice, "I've arranged everything for you, however even if you try to search for that mansion again, I doubt you will be able to find a second time…"
"Damn it…"
"Be a good boy and don't cause trouble! I also have a special thing to give you so that you can make use of your time while on the Outside….."
"Damn you…"
"Well then…"
Rook looked above (or below rather) and just had enough time to see the sight of a large trash bin before crashing head first into it. Struggling to find his sense of balance once more, it took Rook a few second before he finally got out of the trash heap and stand on his two feet. The nighttime scenery of an urban city filled with many glowing lights met his eyes the moment his vision returned, the sound of the fluttering wings of the sleeping birds that resided above the rooftop echoed all around the moment Rook had appeared.
Rook had enough time to see a white piece of paper float out of the gaping maw of Yukari's gap before it closed itself with a loud pop as if it did not exist in the first place. Kneeling down to retrieve the fallen parchment, Rook then proceeds to read it before glaring up into the sky and yelling at the top of his voice, "DAMN YOU YAKUMO!"
The paper, in which he had read, held a small message which said;
Are you interested in the Pacifist Mode?
A large black bird with a pale area at the base of its beak sat contently above the power lines, observing the boy with curious eyes right before beating its small wings and boomeranging off into the night.
END OF PROLOGUE PHASE;
CONTINUING TO THE NEXT LEVEL
WELCOME USER: ?
WELCOME TO THE MADNESS OF LAEVATEINN…
Nicolas Notes: No editor's notes this time because Felicita's going through rough times and has to work on her time organizing. You're all probably wondering why it took this long, right? well it ain't something I'm supposed to convey to public eyes so PM will do, heh. Well one reason this got delayed for one time was that big things happen when you least expect them and they come in fast and furious. Expect the next update to become slower... And I thank you all for those who have come this far into the story! All of your supports are well appreciated!
Don't forget to review, okay?
Until next time!