Stage 5: Rabbit
I am in hell.
My pitiful existence is filled with unimaginable, unending torment, a world where there is no hope, only suffering and despair.
And yet, nobody notices it. They even barely notice me, like I'm some part of furniture or room decoration. They forget about me the moment they turn away. I am nothing.
I have a name, given to me by my mistress. She called me Myon, because it sounds cute. She considers me cute. I am a ghostly orb that leaves behind a pale trail when it moves, and she considers me cute. It hurts so much.
I am her ghost half, her spiritual part, her eternal slave. I am forever chained to her, the ties that will only be severed when one of us dies. Freedom of movement is denied to me, I can manage to get away a few paces sometimes, rarely more, but that's not the worst part.
The worst part is that I always feel what she feels, every sliver of her emotions, foreign, intrusive feelings that are not mine. I am tainted by her, she is a poison that will never go away, eating me from the inside.
What did I do to deserve such a punishment? I don't know, for I have no memory of the life before I was a part of Youmu Konpaku. Was I born with her? Was I just a stray soul grafted into her by mistake? Was I a sinner in my past life, a mass murderer? Was I meant be punished or is this all a colossal mistake, a joke?
I don't know, and I probably never will. All I know that it is something I can't escape. I can't even kill myself, as the moment I think about it, Youmu notices, and her emotions overwhelm me, tearing away my thoughts and needs. Then, she would often take me in her hands and hug me, telling that everything will be okay and there is no need to be upset.
Oh, how I hate being touched. How I hate absolutely everything about the Netherworld, that endlessly withering garden, that endlessly crumbling shrine that always needs cleaning and repairs, those spirits around, reeking of decay and death.
But most of all, I hate Yuyuko Saigyouji, that ancient undying monster. I hate how Youmu treats her, bowing to her every whim. I hate how she looks at me, no doubt knowing of my peril, how she winks to me when Youmu is not looking and how she sometimes grabs me, teasing me with a final death that would never come...
My name is Myon. I am a round, milky-white object that hangs around Youmu Konpaku. I leave a hazy trail in the air behind me when I move. I have no eyes, yet I can see. I have no ears, yet I can hear.
I have no mouth. And I must scream.
(O,)
Youmu is nearing a breaking point. Her hate washes over me, and my ghostly form gains crimson hues. Her intent to kill passes to me, and I absorb it like a sponge, savoring every drop of this pure, exquisite hate.
Oh, how I will enjoy killing them, it doesn't even matter whom. They deserve it, they always do, for everything they've done, they will pay a hundred, thousand times more. I will maim, and kill, and crush, and rip, and tear. Rip and tear!
The door of the mansion is before us, and she kicks it in, ancient hinges screeching in pain. We are inside, and the door slams behind us. No matter. It would be better if that door cut off Yuyuko from us, but no matter.
The mansion stinks of rodents and rodent piss. The floor is nearly covered with them, little white beast with long ears and crimson eyes. Some of them are copulating. Some of them are dead. Some of them are changing, mutating with fairy flesh. Some of them have already changed, floating in the air and preparing to attack us.
Youmu takes off in the air and starts her dance of death. My hate can no longer be contained, and I release it towards the enemy. It takes shape, ghostly razors slicing through air and flesh. I am the instrument of death. I am the scythe.
More rise up from the floor, ugly and misshapen things. They create their little circles of power, they fire bullets at us, hot, fast-moving bullets. They try to stop us, and they can't. Our hate can not be stopped. We are not to be denied our blood.
We clear the room. The smaller rodents, fearful, pathetic, try to scurry away. We would not let them escape. We would not let anyone escape. Kill them all.
Yuyuko picks up a dead rodent and carries it to her mouth. Youmu slaps it away. She says, in a polite tone that hides a boiling hatred, "Lady Yuyuko, do you want me to repeat what I said about bamboo?"
Yuyuko is not liking it, I can tell. She would like more than anything to crawl on the floor, gorging on rabbit entrails. She smiles instead, and makes a silly face. "No, no, you don't need to remind me. Of course, we would like to leave some place for the main course, the dragon!"
Two-faced, hypocritical bitch.
We move forward, into a damp and narrow corridor. The walls are covered in tapestries, rotten rabbit pelts woven into them. The walls are trying to scare us. The walls are trying to choke us. We don't care in the slightest.
More of rabbit-fairy abominations pour out from the other side. They fill the corridor with their protection circles and their bullets. Yuyuko creates a swirling stream of butterflies with her own abilities. The tapestries are torn. The walls moan and warp. They die, and we move forward.
A door, fresh and rotten rabbit ears nailed to it. A large hall with three spiral staircases. She stands in the middle, a rabbit that failed to become a human, her posture slumped just as her ears are. She is wearing a pink dress and carrying a long wooden mallet. She speaks, her voice squeaky and nasal.
"I am Tewi Inaba, leader of the earth rabbits of Eientei."
She releases a swarm of projectiles, a pattern that fills the room, restricting movement. Rabbit fairies burst in from every direction, from behind every tapestry, every overturned pot, every cleverly hidden niche.
It's a trap. But traps work both ways.
Youmu stands perfectly still, allowing the bullet storm to pass her. She doesn't move a muscle, and I dance in the air, spraying death that can not be avoided. The fairies fall, and with every little scream, every tiny explosion the room clears.
Youmu makes a dash forward and Tewi jumps back, landing on a staircase and running up. Youmu follows, but the moment she is in a strike distance, the rabbit leader jumps on the adjacent staircase.
She fires another volley, even denser than before, and more fairies join the fight. We are at the staircase, and the metal protects us, so they target Yuyuko instead. I want her to die.
She doesn't die. She releases a swarm of butterflies, and chants a name of her spell card, Ghastly Dream. She kills everyone except the leader.
Tewi is in pain. Her ears and clothes are torn, and she loses her footing, tumbling down the staircase. She tries to crawl away. Youmu wouldn't let her, pinning her to the ground with her blades. She still doesn't die.
"You must be a really old rabbit if you managed to almost take human shape and gained an ability to speak," Yuyuko says, floating closer and licking her lips. "I heard that a foot taken from such a rabbit brings especially good luck, and we'll need two. Youmu, finish this."
Youmu hesitates, but only for a second. In a flash, her blades fly up. Tewi screams, twitching spasmodically. She somehow manages to reach the bottom of the third staircase with a tip of her mallet.
She hits something there, and it makes a loud metallic clang. The staircase collapses down into seemingly bottomless shaft and the floor shakes, throwing Youmu off-balance. Her blades come down and hit the floor, creating a shower of sparks. Tewi, leaving a thick blood trail behind her, pulls herself into a newly created circular hole in the floor. A diaphragm of solid metal closes the shaft behind her.
"Oh no! My lucky rabbit feet, they escaped! What a tragedy!" Yuyuko shouts in mock despair.
"We'll kill them all when we burn this place down," Youmu hisses in rage.
I am unable to speak.
(O,)
I am going insane. Youmu is going insane. This place drives us mad, it whips our minds, a lash for each step we take.
Yuyuko does not seem to notice, to her, it's just a sightseeing trip, she is like a tourist, overseeing a plague infested town through a looking glass, a tourist, safe on the ship, a mile upwind. And we walk the streets, breathing in the disease of brain.
The mansion twists and turns, a labyrinth of madness and futility. Heavy metal doors block our path, painted red, blue and gold. Their oversized keys, painted respectively, are somewhere else, guarded, hidden or sometimes broken into pieces.
There is a key at the bottom of a bath tub filled with used syringes.
There is a key locked in a box that would open only if a right tune would be played on the grand piano next to it.
There is a key that is swallowed by a fairy, and we chase her down for a long time before I finally get her with my razor blast.
Sometimes, the keys break in the locks.
Sometimes, when we open the door, there is a solid wall behind.
Sometimes, we move just a little bit forward.
The rabbit motif is ever-present, but the deeper we go, the less prominent it is, as another takes over. The Moon.
An obsession with gray. Small effigies of moon rocks, tiny places of worship. Tapestries, wallpapers, posters on the walls, that round face, that ugly, round and bloated face. The moon is everywhere, it shines from every barred window, it reflects in dusty and cracked mirrors, it pierces through my mind, whispering, shouting, talking in an endless monotone.
"Rabbits are making cookies on the moon," it says, over and over and over again.
…rabbits are making cookies on the moon rabbits are making cookies on the moon rabbits are making cookies on the moon rabbits are making cookies on the moon rabbits are making cookies on the moon rabbits are murdering cookies on the moon rabbits are making cookies on the moon rabbits are making cookies on the moon rabbits are making corpses on the moon rabbits are making cookies on the moon rabbits are making cookies on the moon…
Another door opens and we find ourselves in a circular, domed room. A humanoid rabbit in black jacket formally bows to us, but there is neither dignity nor respect in her posture and smile. Her short skirt is crumpled, and so are her ears. She is averting her eyes.
"I am Reisen Udongein Inaba, the Lunatic Rabbit of the Moon," she says, emphasizing every word. She makes a wide gesture around the room. "Welcome."
"I am Youmu Konpaku, half-ghostly gardener of the Netherworld, and I am here to put an end to your schemes, villain."
Reisen seems to be amused. "Ghosts? How unusual. Well, you are too late, as I've sealed all the doors leading away from this place. You won't be able to hinder our plans any further."
"What plans? Are you behind the moon incident? I'm Yuyuko, by the way," Yuyuko says, feigning innocence. Oh, how she loves doing that. I hate this quality of her. I hate everything about her. I hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it…
"The moon incident? You mean, an earth-sealing spell? Of course we are behind it," Reisen says proudly. Her confidence is unnerving and annoying. I want her to shut up. I want her to bleed.
"Lady Yuyuko, let me slash her," Youmu voices my desire.
"You should stop your spell, it is very troublesome. Youmu, go ahead and slash her," Yuyuko orders. Youmu takes a battle stance. Let's finish this.
"Oh, such a rude ghost. Aren't you even going to let us explain?"
A human descends from somewhere above. She wasn't there a moment before, and yet here she is, slowly floating down. Her posture is regal, but her smile is wicked and crooked. Her clothes are formal, yet strange, red and black sewn together, constellations and stars used as thread. Her hat betrays her occupation – a medic, and her weapon signifies her combat style – she is a coward, keeping at distance, raining arrows from afar. She does not introduce herself.
"What is it, are we having visitors? Are these ghosts your playthings or is it just another pathetic invasion attempt?"
Her voice reeks of arrogance and disdain. She considers us unworthy of her time, her words, her breath. I want to take her by the throat and kick her in the face until her arrogance caves in along with her nose. I want to see her choke on her own blood.
"Another one responsible," Youmu says, her rage still barely contained. "Shall I slash her too? Lady Yuyuko, just give me an order."
"I am the only one responsible here for everything," Eirin says coldly. "I've just met you, and I've already had it about enough of this stupidity. Udonge, I leave this to you."
She ascends to the ceiling and disappears. Youmu is like an attack dog, gnawing at her chain. Yuyuko is smiling again. She is always smiling in situations like this. Why is she smiling? Does she find it funny or amusing or is it a blood-crazed smile of a maniac? I can't tell. I can never tell. I will never be able to tell.
Reisen starts snickering, her whole body shaking, her broken ears flopping on her head. She spins in place once, and stops, looking at us. No, she isn't looking, her eyes are closed, she is just facing us properly now. Her face is twitching.
She is opening her eyes.
Oh gods, she is opening her eyes.
Her eyes are swirling with crimson. Her eyes are like two bottomless slated wells of blood. Her eyes harbor screaming souls, flayed infants, knotted arteries and liquid insanity. Her eyes. Her eyes her eyes her eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes eyes…
"Yes! My eyes contain the full power of the True Moon! Gaze into them and lose the last vestiges of your sanity! This is your end! Wave Sign: Mind Shaker!"
Bullets, innumerable bullets. Elongated and sharpened at one end, waves and waves of pink and blue solid bullets. Youmu manages to dodge, finding gaps in every wave, but progress is impossible, Reisen just keeps firing, and firing, and firing…
Then in an instant, the bullets vanish. The air is clear and Youmu, slightly confused, takes a step forward.
"Look out!" Yuyuko shouts. Is it a tint of worry I hear in her voice?
Youmu immediately jumps back and the bullets appear again, as if they never vanished. Because they never did. Our mind is like a mold to her, she does whatever she wants to us.
I am so going to enjoy killing her.
"Oh, so you are able to see through my illusions," Reisen says calmly, absolutely calmly before suddenly screaming, a strange, undulating scream. "Well, in this case I will have to just TURN YOU INSIDE OUT WITH MY POWERS AND HANG YOU out to dry. Why, wouldn't it be great?"
"Your cheap tricks won't help you," Yuyuko responds, looking bored already. "Youmu, just let her spells time out. I want her pelt intact for my third guest room."
"Don't you dare," Reisen growls. "Don't you dare to treat me like some washed-up scum to wipe your feet on. BECAUSE I'M NOT! I'M NOT, YOU HEAR ME? You hear me, right? Do you think I'm screaming for no reason? I'm picking a frequency, you see, a resonant frequency of your minds. And when I'll pick it… you'll see. YOU'LL ALL SEE NOTHING! Lunatic Sign: Visionary Tuning!"
A sizzling seal appears in the air, creating a v-shaped pattern of bullets. It starts moving sideways across the battlefield and splits, creating the similar inverted seal. The patterns overlap, creating rhomboid cells. It stops our progress again. It delays the inevitable. Delaying the inevitable doesn't make it any less so.
More and more seals appear and the pattern becomes more and more intricate. Yuyuko is looking bored out of her mind. Youmu is doing her best to stay alive. Reisen's eyes flash.
Youmu stops, looking desperate and confused. "I… I can't see anything! I…"
Yuyuko silently glides to her, taking her hand. She leads her, not like a blind is led, but like a partner in a dance, guiding her through the death labyrinth with precision and grace. I absolutely hate it when she treats Youmu like that, because these moments, it looks like she really cares. She doesn't, and I know it, I can swear my life on it, Youmu is just a tool to her, no, even less, a toy she plays with when she gets bored. Yuyuko, leave us alone, and die, die, die!
The spell times out. It had to happen eventually. Reisen is not pleased. Reisen is furious, her fury pushing at her from the inside. She is like a bladder that is about to burst.
She doesn't. She calms down. She figured out our frequency, but she can't do anything against Yuyuko. The only thing left for her is to hope Youmu will make a mistake. She won't.
Reisen doesn't shout anymore. She doesn't talk anymore. She holds her insanity inside, and announces her next spell card. Loafing Sign: Idling Wave.
The room starts spinning. Four seals appear around us, spinning with the room. To us, they are immobile. Maybe they are really immobile, and everything is in our heads. Maybe everything since the moment we stepped into the mansion is in our heads. Maybe the mansion is bright, happy and peaceful place, and we are the only insane monsters here. I don't want that to be true. Oh, how I don't want that to turn out to be true.
Yuyuko leads Youmu again. Youmu can't see the bullets. I can, barely, they are slow and easy to dodge, but she can't see any of them. She only sees Reisen's lunatic eyes. The world consists only of her eyes.
The spell times out quickly, but we are still no closer to defeating our opponent. She is unscathed, and shows no signs of fatigue. Maybe she has five more spell cards. Maybe, ten. Maybe, she can keep this up forever, switching them around, I don't know.
But I know that Youmu is not invincible. She is getting tired, and her movements slow. Her hate, the force that has driven us so far, is starting to wane. Fear, a cold and sticky fear, creeps in.
And Reisen notices it.
"So, this is the end then, eh? No point in dragging this any further, then," she says, licking her lips. "You know, I shall enjoy killing you, half-ghost. And for you, the one immune to my powers, we'll find a nice and cozy consecrated barrel to pickle you in. Time to finish this. Spread Sign: Invisible Full Moon!"
The spinning of the room is gaining in speed. Reisen's outline blurs, and an image of the full moon appears behind her. The visage of her eyes grows larger and larger, until the moon itself is staring at us, a condemning and hateful stare.
Bullets. Waves of bullets, dense, spreading and intersecting, filling everything. The waves bend to the spinning rhythm, they are irregular, the gaps open and close in a moment, creating deadly lures and traps in the pattern. They vanish and appear, the spinning of the room is nearly unbearable, and Yuyuko…
Yuyuko yawns. She releases Youmu's hand. She takes a step forward, and bullets graze past her. She raises her hand, a little pink fan in it, a fan she pulled out from somewhere in her clothing. She chants a name of her ultimate spell card, a silly, idiotic name.
Deadly Butterfly: Everlasting Nap.
A blast from her fan knocks the bullets aside. The bullets crack, and from each and every one, a butterfly is born. They flutter, blocking my view.
Reisen screams. It is a long, howling scream, and I'm loving every last second of it. Youmu's rage finally boils over. She runs to the source of the scream.
The butterflies wilt and die, their ghostly forms burning out. Reisen is still standing, still screaming, her face and body a bloody unrecognizable mess. Youmu reaches her, and slashes forward with her katana. The screaming stops.
But Youmu does not. She throws her long blade aside and tackles her opponent to the ground. She stabs Reisen with her short sword, again, again and again, long after her opponent has stopped moving, she keeps stabbing.
Yuyuko floats closer to her. "Youmu, it is over," she says, and for once, I don't hate her for that.
Something inside Youmu breaks, something vital. She throws her sword aside and starts crying, rocking back and forth. She is soaked in blood.
I want to comfort her, and yet I can't. It's the worse part of the torture – to be helpless, to not be able to contribute, and I am always like that, and always will be. Nothing will ever change.
Yuyuko leans forward, and taps Youmu lightly on the head. There is a tiny release of energy, and Youmu falls.
And with her, I fall into darkness.