Stage 3: Beast
Gensokyo is not the nicest place for an ordinary human to live in. Constant ghost and youkai attacks, the wilderness controlled by sometimes extremely bloodthirsty fairies and other lesser spirits of the land, vampire mansions dotting the landscape and a very real hell underground – all of that contributed to a very sad statistic that gory and terrible accidents were the second leading cause of death in Gensokyo, beating cardio-vascular disorders only by few percent.
The latest tradition of an annual nightmarish magical cataclysm didn't help the situation much.
And still, humans thrived. Reinforcing doors and windows, lighting the nights with lamps and torches, teaching children from the earliest ages how to deal with youkai and correctly recognize them, keeping valuables in easy-to carry containers and keeping pathways to the nearest exit clear because hey, one moment everything is fine and another, your family home is rapidly turning into a radiant ice tomb because Cirno decided to fight with Sunny Milk over some misunderstanding…
Anyway, the point here is that even if some local road had a benign guardian youkai, it would mostly lie down beside it, feeding on donations from travelers, and it would be humans' job to maintain the road and keep it lit at night, and they would do it because otherwise it would quickly become dark, overgrown and neglected.
And the road the ghost team was traveling on right now was precisely that: dark, overgrown, neglected and swarming with dozens of murderous fairies.
"I think-" Youmu said between strikes, positioning herself so a blast of crimson danmaku would go past her, "—they are actively trying to stop us."
"Really? I didn't notice," Yuyuko responded absently, staring somewhere in the distance.
"No, they really are. Look at that one," Youmu pointed her sword at the fairy in a bright yellow dress. "Those release a chain of familiars, retreat, and then return after some rest. That's definitely a learned, not natural tactic."
"So, do you think we will soon encounter an evil mastermind with henchmen? I'd like our adventure to have that," Yuyuko said absently again.
"Lady Yuyuko, is everything all right? You seem—"
"Stop!"
This order came from a stocky and very angry girl that was quickly making her way to them from the direction of the village. Dressed in a formal midnight blue dress, she could pass up for a human if not for her silvery hair and choice in hats. To clarify, she had a quite detailed and realistic miniature pagoda on her head.
First, most obvious sign you are dealing with a youkai or an unstable, dangerous individual – she always, always wears a silly, impractical hat or a head accessory. It is probably a good time to run at this point.
"Evil ghosts! What do you think you are doing, attacking this village in the middle of the night? I am Kamishirasawa Keine, guardian of this village, and you shall not pass!"
Second sign you are dealing with a youkai or an unstable, dangerous individual – she proudly announces her full name and occupation, accuses you of some crime and dramatically raises her arms. It is often still not too late to run at this point.
"Spiritual Birth: First Pyramid!"
Third, and final sign you are dealing with a youkai or an unstable, dangerous individual – she chants a name of a spell card and attacks you with danmaku. At this point, you probably should not bother with running – you will most likely be dead in a few seconds in any case.
These three simple warning signs have saved dozens of lives in the last year alone, and humans should not ignore them or take them lightly. They really save lives.
Of course, Youmu Konpaku was not an ordinary human and for her it was just another day on the job. And so, when faced with a triplet of enormous sucking holes in reality she just took a step to the side, letting them to lazily float past her.
Then, she ran forward, dodging sprays of smaller white orbs. The spell card completed a cycle, creating more reality holes, but Youmu was already near her opponent.
She performed a double slash and Keine jerked back, avoiding the strike but losing focus. However, instead of collapsing her spell card shifted phase, creating a protective shield of familiars.
The energy seals released a thick, structured pattern of red orbs and Youmu had to retreat, further and further, until she was right where she started, right next to Yuyuko.
"I can't get through, it's too thick!" Youmu shouted over the sizzling of energy.
"Don't worry, she won't be able to keep this up for long," Yuyuko said, pointing somewhere at the origin point of intricate patterns. "I know this spell card, it is very, very old. I wonder, why she is using it? Oh, and by the way, don't be fooled by how structured it is, it has a nasty surprise at the end of cycle."
Meanwhile, the front of danmaku wave reached them and both members of the ghost team went silent, concentrating on dodging. Indeed, after a few moments the patterns broke, leaving just a chaotic and thick spam of orbs.
Then, just when Youmu thought she could not keep up anymore, it stopped. The last orbs flew by, and the road was once again empty.
"Huh? She ran away? What a coward," Youmu said with clear disgust.
"She won't abandon the village that easily. She probably just tested us right now. Or maybe tasted? I wonder how she tastes like?"
Yuyuko's eyes glazed over and she took off in the direction where the village gates were supposed to be.
Youmu inwardly shuddered.
(O,)
To say that the village was empty would be incorrect, as it was still full of life. Angry, insane, danmaku-spewing, barely intelligent and quite cute life.
But as the ghost team moved deeper and deeper into the village, the amount of life diminished proportionally, mostly due to the reason of the fairies being mercilessly killed away with swords. And butterflies.
It was really a planned defense, haphazardly, ineffectively organized, but organized nevertheless. The little fairies tried to use cover, retreated into empty buildings, tried to box the horrible ghostly killers in tight alleys…
It didn't help. No matter what they tried, the result was the same – a flash of the blade, a tiny shower of sparks, again and again, dozens, hundreds of times. Death walked the streets, and it reaped.
But really, there is a limit to everything. Whatever force was driving these fairies forward, whatever means it used to push them, it could not do so forever. More and more retreated after an initial attack, breaking off and running away, never to return. More and more just gathered in the distance, not daring to come closer.
And finally, when the ghost team entered the village square, it was over. No more fairies, no more danmaku. Only them and Keine, grim determination on her round face.
"You've come here for nothing," she stated, and made a wide gesture. "As you can see there is nothing here that could interest you, ghosts. Now leave."
"How rude," Yuyuko responded, eyeing the village guardian with an aura of curiosity. "And besides, there is something interesting here, namely, you."
"I'm glad that long rotten corpses find me interesting," Keine said dryly. "Now, as I said, leave."
"I'm really interested in that spell card you used," Yuyuko said, not noticing or just ignoring the insult. "It is indeed ancient, and if you know it, you must be very old too. But I don't know you, and I am acquainted with all the ancient beings of Gensokyo. So, I'm a bit confused right now."
"I am Kamishirasawa Keine, half-beast of knowledge and history. I feed on history and use it against my opponents. Satisfied? Now leave my village alone."
"Oh, I see," Yuyuko said, a clear disappointment in her voice. "And here for a moment I thought I met someone with whom I could have a meaningful conversation."
Then, her expression suddenly brightened up. "Hey, Youmu, guess what? We met a bug, a bird, and now, a beast. I'd bet a dragon will be next! Oh, how I want to taste a dragon…"
"Lady Yuyuko, I thought our goal was to restore the moon," Youmu said carefully.
"What? I thought we were having a wonderful midnight snack tour across the land! Come on, who cares about the moon? Let's eat!"
"Lady Yuyuko, the moon is clearly affecting you. I think we should—"
"Stop ignoring me!" Keine shrieked, and streams of energy coiled around her. "You barge into my village, you kill everyone and now you treat me as food? Food? I will kill you, and all of your history will be mine! Ambition Sign: Buretsu Crisis!"
"Youmu, this isn't even worth of my time. Slash her. Oh, and by the way, the second phase of this spell card is just like before, so watch out."
Yuyuko yawned and floated up, leaving the intense battle behind. She sat on the edge of the nearby roof, far away from the clash of danmaku.
Buretsu Crisis. It had to be an important event once, but as hard as she tried, she could not recall the details of it. Probably had to do something with the emperor, it usually was so with the "important" events like those. Probably forgotten in a century, if not sooner. Pathetic.
The danmaku patterns were outdated too, concentric circles with large gaps and homing orbs that were supposed to represent threat. It was classic, but because of it, it was too well known and boring. It was a foundation to build on, but a person, unless that person is a bum, can't live on a foundation. A building is required for that.
Naturally, Youmu had no trouble with the first part of the spell. The second part, however, was another story. It was a house built on the foundation that "First Pyramid" was, unoriginal, bland, but still challenging simply because of sheer amount of bullets involved.
But Youmu was a quick learner, and she knew better than to use the strategy that nearly caused her a failure the last time. So, instead of dodging, she patiently waited for the patterns to break away into a chaotic soup, and then slashed away, exploding an energy orb near her.
Normally, it would not do much, but the concentration of danmaku was so thick that the first explosion caused another, then two more, then even more and finally chain reaction reached back to the generating familiars, destroying them with a satisfying reverberating boom.
"Yay! Go, Youmu, go!" Yuyuko cheerfully shouted from her vantage point.
"I'm not done with you yet," Keine hissed, preparing another spellcard. The explosion did more damage to her ego than her body, and her anger was now nearly palpable. "Land Sign: Three Sacred Treasures – Sword!"
"Oh, so now fairy tales are history too, eh? That's a bit stretching it, don't you think? Also, using a sword-based danmaku against a sword specialist is, well, stupid. Gods, I am so bored."
Yuyuko floated down to the battlefield, making her way towards Keine.
"Lady Yuyuko, this is dangerous, I will deal with it," Youmu offered, but Yuyuko didn't listen, floating right through the overlapping spirals of kunai-shaped danmaku.
And as she effortlessly approached, Keine's anger turned into confusion, then into crippling fear. She did not know who was she up against, but she now recognized the style of funeral clothing, used more than a thousand years ago.
…and I am acquainted with all the ancient beings of Gensokyo…
She ran, abandoning her spell. It released the last spray of kunai and crumbled, allowing Yuyuko to pass through its origin point. The spell left a misty haze and Yuyuko squinted, making out the silhouette of her opponent, disappearing into the nearby wide building.
She slowly followed, floating into the building through a window on the second floor. A long hallway stretched to both sides, the doors being marked with letters and numbers. The hallway was empty.
"Come out, come out wherever you are!" Yuyuko called out. Of course, no one answered, and she slid the nearby door open.
It was a small classroom, with only ten or so desks. The walls were covered in bright crayon and watercolor pictures, their captions full of glaring spelling mistakes. The clock on the wall was cracked but still functional, showing it was nearly an hour past midnight. Also, the teacher's desk slightly trembled.
Yuyuko flowed in, closing the door behind her. "I hate it when the prey tries to run, it gives meat an unpleasant aftertaste. Also, please show some dignity, you are about to die, you know."
Still trembling, Keine stood up, desperately eyeing the small room. Yuyuko gave her a reassuring smile.
"Do you want to run again? I can sense life a long distance away, so it's no use. And, as I said, show some—"
Yuyuko suddenly stopped, noticing something on the pictures in the room.
There was too much red in them, splats and streams, badly drawn crayon lines and irregular circles. A red pool under a stick figure, an ugly cow without a head, red gushing out of the stump, a better picture of someone cut in half…
And in the center of it all, a large drawing of children in bright clothing and silly hats, all standing around a very poorly drawn Keine. And above, a sign in red "To aur favorit teecher."
Yuyuko even recognized some of the children. Of course, they were all badly misshapen, but two distinct antennae of Wriggle and four wings of Mystia were impossible to miss.
"Oh, so this is what you meant when you called this place 'your village'? Clever, clever…"
"So what?" Keine snapped, her trembling vanishing in an instant. "So what if the youkai are bloodthirsty? Aren't they just children? Don't they deserve education? Don't they deserve better than they have?"
"It is unnatural," Yuyuko said flatly.
"And so are ghosts! People must die and remain dead! You are a millennia-old undead abomination! You are a monster!"
Yuyuko laughed, a long, hearty and sincere laugh. It spread through the hallways, it filled the whole building, it echoed in empty classrooms, filled with gnawed bones of children and teachers who failed to get away in time when youkai attacked, it spread out into the village, entering every broken home, every basement where people barred themselves in and waited for the rescue that never came, further and further it spread, to the ugly and putrid moon and to lowest reaches of hell...
Ok, maybe not that far, but it isn't the point.
The last echoes of laughter faded, and the small classroom became silent. Yuyuko turned to the pictures again.
"You know, I don't have anything against education, and can even stomach the education of youkai, but seriously, history? That's, like, the most useless discipline."
"Without history, we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past," Keine said grimly.
"Uh-huh. But you know, if you taught your students common sense instead of useless ancient dates at least one of them would not be inside my stomach right now."
…guess what? We met a bug, a bird, and now, a beast…
"W-what?"
"Exactly. And you, yourself, that nearly forgotten danmaku of yours… Let's say it just doesn't live up to the modern standards. You see, even Wriggle was more challenging than you."
"No, no, no, no, no…" Keine muttered, covering her ears. She vigorously shook her head, and tears dripped from her cheeks. "It's all a lie, it can't be happening, it can't be, it can't it can't…"
"Also, Wriggle tasted exactly like apple pie filling. Can you at least live up to that?"
Keine stopped moving. She went completely rigid, her face a frozen mask of hatred and pain.
Her lips moved. "Ending Sign: Phantasmal Emperor."
It was beautiful, a flawless, intricate and bright spellcard. Phantasmal swords pierced the air in all directions, sliding through walls as there was nothing there, slicing desks and chairs. Smaller blades created a circular pattern, lights dancing around their edges, an area of absolute death.
Yuyuko turned to the approaching danmaku. There was nowhere to dodge, nowhere to escape, and she just smiled, awaiting the bullets to reach her.
Maybe, today was the day she would finally die. It would certainly be an interesting change of pace.
"Human Sign: Slash of the Eternity!"
The muted cry came from behind, and Youmu burst into the room, slashing through the wooden door. She continued forward on her momentum, shattering the ghostly swords and danmaku, jumping over the ruined desks, ducking under the familiars and slamming into the enemy, pinning her to the blackboard.
Keine didn't blink, even when the swords half-closed on her neck like a pair of scissors. The sharp edges cut through the skin, drawing tiny droplets of blood.
"Oh, hey there. I was starting to wonder if you got lost in the building," Yuyuko said, and Youmu glared at her.
"I told you not to go alone, and you didn't listen. You could've gotten hurt! Seriously, can't you focus at least a little?"
"Well, it turned out all right in the end, don't you think? And besides, you now have a chance to personally execute the villain."
"Right," Youmu said, turning back to Keine. "I, Youmu Konpaku, hereby accuse you of… um…"
"She raided the village and was using is as a training ground for her personal youkai army," Yuyuko helpfully suggested. Youmu's eyes lit up.
"So, you were a real villain after all! I, Youmu Konpaku, hereby accuse of all these horrible crimes and sentence you to death by my hand! Any last words?"
Keine said nothing. The pause dragged on and silence in the room became heavy.
"Um, well? Oh, I get it, I really shouldn't look over your shoulder at such an important moment. Take your time, I'll be outside."
Yuyuko left the classroom and glided down the corridor. She sat on the windowsill at the end of the hallway and looked over the empty village, feeling a bit uneasy for some reason. Was it guilt? Sadness? Was what she was doing – wrong?
Yuyuko pushed the feeling away. It was all perfectly normal. Youkai kill humans. Humans kill youkai. Sometimes, a false moon would not go away for a month, plunging the land into an endless night, allowing an ambitious youkai to try to fulfill her dreams. And she would leave her dream for a while, teaching monstrous kids in a blood-soaked school. Then, a hungry ghost would eat her. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Welcome to Gensokyo.
"Lady, the deed is done," a voice came from behind her. Youmu looked slightly shaken, and Yuyuko noticed that she got some of the blood on her ribbon and sleeve.
"Is something bothering you?"
"No, it's just… when I killed her, she didn't explode or anything. Her head just…" Youmu paused. "She was supposed to be a half-beast, right? But she looked like a normal human, even after I…" she paused again. "I've killed humans before, but it was mostly in the heat of combat, and she just didn't move and kept looking at me, just looking and looking until I…"
"Youmu, stop. Just stop. And look at me."
Yuyuko stood up from the window and leveled her gaze with Youmu. The half-ghost girl was on the verge of tears, and it was not a good sign. Something had to be done, so Yuyuko grabbed Youmu by the shoulders and spoke, in low, concerned voice:
"Now, repeat after me: these are not my true feelings. These are not my true thoughts. The moon is trying to drive me crazy, but I resist, with all my might. I am Youmu Konpaku, the proud and true half-ghostly gardener of Hakugyokurou, and I shall know no fear, as I walk into the fire and flames, water and ice, steam and ash, salt and dust, slime and lava, mud and sand, rocks and forests and valleys as I slay villains with my blades and as I serve my lady Yuyuko, to whom my loyalty is immeasurable."
Youmu blinked a few times, and her expression turned to normal, albeit slightly confused one.
"Um… lady Yuyuko, that's too long and a little bit scary. Can I just get some fresh air instead?"
"Sure! I'll be right behind you," Yuyuko cheerfully said and released the girl. She quickly walked away, almost breaking into a run at the end of the hallway.
"Well, then!" Yuyuko said and rubbed her hands, turning in the direction of the destroyed classroom. "It's time for the third course."
(O,)
"Ta-da! I'm back!" Yuyuko announced, kicking open the front doors of the village school.
Youmu was near the porch, holding her ghost half in her hands and examining it. She turned to the voice and froze.
Yuyuko was covered in blood, head to toe. She wore a strange long and slimy red scarf, so long it went down from her neck to the ground and trailed behind her. In her right hand, she held a severed head of Keine. For some reason, the head didn't have eyes.
Then, Youmu realized that wasn't a scarf at all.
"Oh, hey there, Reimu!" Yuyuko exclaimed, clearly addressing someone behind Youmu. The half-ghost girl instinctively turned, but the village square was just as empty as before.
"Oh wait, that's not Reimu, that's just a boulder. Whoopsie!"
"Lady Saigyouji, you have to stop doing that!" Youmu cried out, turning back, and sure enough, Yuyuko looked completely normal again.
"Doing what?"
"That! That thing with the blood you just did! It's not funny! It's scary as hell!"
"I don't know what you are talking about," Yuyuko said in an even and honest voice. "Also, hell isn't that scary, sure, there are some parts, but overall…"
"Let's just go," Youmu wearily said and stood up. "We have to restore the moon, remember?"
"Aww, I thought we were looking for a dragon. I so want to eat a dragon. Of course, it would have many scales, but… Hey, Youmu, are you listening? Where are you going? Wait for me!"
The half ghost didn't turn or slow down, she just kept walking, and Yuyuko sighed.
"I was trying to cheer you up, dummy," she quietly whispered. "But hey, it's probably because I'm not trying hard enough. Next time, I'll definitely get you to smile."
Oh, it would require scale and preparation of course, and proper timing, but Yuyuko was sure she would be able to pull it all off.
It would be the greatest prank ever.