This is the Cirno News Network with a breaking news story. More news incoming from the paradise upon the Great Lakes. Apparently, whether by hook or by crook, someone has managed to produce electricity in this day and age. Now, to be fair, usage is hardly widespread and seems to be mostly dedicated to basic necessities. The majority of those being street lamps and running water. However, there have been rumors that they will soon be rewiring the entirety of the city, so that people may once again have working light indoors. We here hope that such an event happens soon. We miss our hot showers here.

Thank you, and enjoy the show. This has been THE STRONGEST! Now back to your irregularly scheduled fic.

Touhoumon: Gray Version
Chapter 7: Getting Back On Track

I could only breathe as I stared up at the fearsome face above me. Whatever she may have looked like, I couldn't tell, so focused was I on those teeth of hers. Eventually, though, the words she had spoken rang through my skull, prompting me to ask of her what she meant. "Ancient ally?"

At that, her grin became even wider if such a thing was possible. "Of course… It's such a shame that your kind doesn't know of it, but we have been allies for a long time." Looking away, she finally let that smile fall off of her face, replaced by a shadow of a frown that was barely visible in the dark. "Not that everyone remembers." Immediately, she turned back towards him. "So yes, we are allies. And you are on capable of helping me, yes?"

Tilting my head, I could only glance curiously at the apparent monster. So this one believed that we were allies? I hadn't known of any of them that could work with a human. At least, besides those that had been captured, like Tokiko.

My eyes shot wide open as I remembered what had happened to my friend. Ignoring the monster in front of me, my hand shot into my bag, searching for the ball that I had used on her what felt like an eternity ago. Pulling it out, I examined it as quickly as I could, attempting to see if I could bring her back out. Or, much more importantly, if she was even ok.

In the process, the scorned monster leaned down even closer, blocking my view with her visage. "So, are you not wanting to help me, ally? That is such a shame… That you'd not think to uphold the ancient compact."

Ok, by now I was getting annoyed. As dumb as an idea it might have been, I shoved her out of the way, still looking for any indication on the ball. However, all that I could find was a glowing red light shining from the trigger mechanism on the brass orb. My finger stroked over the side, hoping that didn't mean anything too poorly. Or that she was… dead. "I'm sorry, friend. I've… I've failed you too."

Tired of being ignored, the monster seemed to make a move towards me, hands raising in the darkness. However, she seemed to freeze at my words. "…Friend? What friend would that be?"

I finally turned back to acknowledge the monster. "My friend who just saved my life, and was injured badly in the process."

For some reason, that made the monster shrink back away from me. She almost seemed… ashamed? "So you actually are friends with one of us? A… youkai?"

Now that was a word I wasn't expecting. The only one who talked of youkai was Tokiko. Granted, there was exactly a lot of data to back up my claim, as the monsters that were capable of speech seemed only willing to mouth off about how they were going to kill us. Still though, it made me wonder. "Does that mean that you're… one of the originals?"

"…So you're aware?" The question seemed to be of a statement as she leaned back, judging me. I couldn't see what thoughts were running through her eyes. "Well, that would make this much easier to explain why I need your help…" Gazing up at the bridge, she asked, "Is that your method of transportation up there, smoking still?"

Head still watching her, I placed the ball back in my sack as my other rested on the sling for the gun. "You might say that. We were chasing down the ones who killed our family. …But they decided to cut the knot, and blew apart the train after we had finished with their monsters."

Not quite looking at me, she sighed to herself. "Yes, monsters. Just like…" Shaking her head free, she looked back at me. "Were these men wearing uniforms of any kind? Uniforms of black?"

Nodding slowly, I replied, "I believe so. I didn't get a good look, but they seemed to be wearing uniforms of that sort." As this monster seemed to not be in the mood to eviscerate me, and indeed may be one of the originals, perhaps she could help me. So, I volunteered a little bit more information, hoping that my assumption was correct. "They also drove trucks with working electricity. Erm… If you know what such a thing is-"

"I am perfectly aware." Her voice was firm, as she turned her nose up. Was that smugness that I was seeing? "I'm a kappa. To ask me if I do not know what electricity is would be like asking if I did not know how to swim." Yup, definitely smugness.

However, I did feel like pointing out one thing. "There are a lot of humans that don't know how to swim. And I have no idea as to what a kappa is, so perhaps you can lay off of the theatrics?" If it wasn't readily apparently by now, I wasn't in the mood for posturing.

The kappa, whatever that was, seemed to deflate once again at my words. Turning away, she stared up at the trestle for a few moments before speaking again. "…Sorry. Didn't mean to act like that. Just… hate it when people don't think I'm good enough." Her eyes still turned from mine, she kicked at the ground, causing a rock to splash into the now calm river. "But you may have found what I have been searching for. So perhaps you can assist me in finding it?" Finally, she turned back, her eyes suddenly clear as they glowed slightly in the night.

"You do owe me your life, after all."

Studying her for a few seconds, I let out another long-suffering sigh. At least this… quest that I was being given seemed to coincide with what we were already attempting to do. Or, we were chasing the same people, for whatever reasons we might have. And she was right, I did owe her my life.

Funny how it works. That's two youkai I now owe my life to. But I owe a certain one it multiple times over. So I could agree to her terms… for a price.

"Alright, I suppose that I can. But on one condition." I could barely see the rest of her face in the dark, but I could nearly feel look that she was giving me. "I want you to help me make sure that Tokiko is alright."

A small growl of frustration passed her lips, before she grinned tightly. I suppose that will be fine. That is the friend that was injured?" At my nod, she began walking towards me. "Then it is fine. I wish… I wish that I had one who cared for me like that. But no matter, ally. The deal is set, so let us proceed."

With that, a flash of silver shot from over her shoulder, before darting forward and wrapping around me. I immediately began to struggle against the metallic bonds, but they yielded none against my muscles. Grinning widely, again showing off those teeth of her, she laughed as three other extendable… arms seemed to come out from behind her. "Don't struggle; I'm not going to hurt you. This is faster than walking to the top of the riverbank." Before I could ask what she meant, she lifted off of the ground with the three limbs, and set off across the darkness.

With no recourse but to watch the kappa carry me up the side of the cliff, I attempted to make some small talk. "So, what should I call you? Or do you have a name?"

Over her shoulder, she looked back, the cheeky smile gone again. This girl seemed to have the strangest mood swings. "I'm… Nitori. Nitori Kawashiro. I suppose the courteous thing would have been to introduce myself before all of this." Looking back, she seemed to be cursing to herself, muttering about not again. I wondered what she meant for a second, before realizing that I should respond.

Without much ado, I offered my own name. "I'm Gray. Just Gray. My friend is Tokiko… Well, I don't suppose you know her? She didn't know many in Gensokyo, but she knew of a lot."

Humming, and seemingly thinking to herself, Nitori responded slowly. "Tokiko… No I don't know her. Not in the slightest. But I suppose we'll find out for sure when we examine her." With that, she continued her ascent for a few seconds, before reaching the top of the cliff. Still not looking at him, she asked, "But no family name? Somewhat odd for a human. Youkai don't typically take one, but then again, you're not one…"

I did my best to shrug in the constricting confines of her metallic rope. "Don't particularly need it now, do I? Don't have any family left." We were always just that to each other. A family. We didn't need to call us something special to remind us of what we were.

Granted, those all were excuses. We had one. It was too fresh at the moment, even after the past few days.

This earned me another glance from the kappa, this time frowning. "…There's always a need for one. You shouldn't cast it away so blithely." Deciding to not speak any longer on it, she dropped me onto the ground, before her metal tentacle-like legs retracted into the back of her. At least, I assumed they retracted into her. It was hard to tell in this light.

My eyes turning to the train, or the very end of it that was blown off, I sighed. There was no way we'd be able to get that thing moving again, at least easily. Not to mention we lacked a tractor to pull any of the cars… So, we were stuck here. It would be a relatively short walk back to Pittsburgh, perhaps not even half of a day's. But it wasn't one I'd be willing to make. Besides, who knows how long the tracks would be closed with part of a train left lying on them?

With a small hum to herself, the kappa stepped forward, taking a look at the remnants of the train, stretching back over onto the trestle. "So, you used this as your means of locomotion? Indeed, very interesting"

Walking forward so that I would not have to shout, I responded. "Yeah, we were riding the rails towards Chicago on that train. That's where the… people we were following were headed."

"Then we should be heading in the same direction." With little fanfare, she began to walk forward to the last car. In the dim light, I could barely see her grab on to a handle on the end of the damaged car, charred by the impact of that explosive. At first, it seemed as if she was about to climb on.

But instead, she pulled. And the train moved.

It wasn't fast, or quick, but still, she was pulling the train along, with one hand. Granted, she was leaning over, slowly moving along as she panted softly in exertion, but here is one of those youkai pulling nearly ten fully loaded cars along as if she was carrying a bag of fertilizer.

My mouth dropped open as she continued to pull, dragging the rest of the train off of the trestle and back onto solid ground. The wheels screamed as they were drug across the rails, still locked down from where I had closed the brakes not thirty minutes beforehand. As she pulled the rest of the train over, I reminded myself that now might be a good time to reload. She hadn't done anything yet, but a few of those glances… Well, I'd like to go down fighting, if I had to fight at all.

She either ignored the clicks and clacks as I slid shells into the magazine, or did not hear them. All the same, Nitori released her grip on the first car, which I could imagine having a very noticeable imprint on it now. Returning to me, I tried to not imagine what she could do to me with her bare hands, much less with her metal devices. "You are aware that your train has its wheels locked up? Not to mention that a few of the connectors are loose, the hoses are rotted through, a few planks are missing, and the large melted mess on the front of it?"

I snorted at that last description from her. "That's certainly one way of putting it. But the melted mess is what threw us off. Explosive launcher of some sort. Whoever they were, they didn't want us following them." Pausing momentarily, I shrugged. "Also, I threw the brakes on all the cars to slow down the train. Otherwise, I don't believe I'd have been able to run across the top of the boxcars, to reach where they were riding."

"Hrm." Turning her head back to gaze at the cars, stroked her chin as she examined it. "That would explain why I had to spend so much effort in lifting it. Not to mention the load in the cars. Have you any idea of what they were carrying?" At the shake of my head, she turned back to me. "Well, let me get this thing rigged up. Would you kindly go up and turn off the brakes? I'd prefer that this ride would proceed smoothly."

Nodding towards her, I slung my shotgun over my shoulder. Without further ado, I began my climb towards the top of the cars once more. Even if I could turn them off from below, this seemed like it would be the more efficient way. At the least, I knew where the brakes are, and the stroll atop the train would be much more enjoyable while it was standing still.

I suppose the lack of man-eating monsters did help, as well.

Turning the wheels to disengage the breaks, I heard a variety of mutterings about resynchronizing and design specs out of the corner of my ear. However, I tuned it out, figuring that this was some feature that she was deciphering on whatever machine that she possessed. Granted, I still had m doubts over whether such a machine could successfully impel a train, or even part of one, down the tracks at a reasonable speed. But I let the kappa work. The legged contraption she used to restrain and carry me was impressive enough, so what's to say it wasn't capable of more.

Reaching the last of the cars, I heard a grunt from below me, followed by a dark object flying forward to the top of the caboose. It seemed to be some sort of satchel, which would explain where her machine came from. Not well, particularly, but at least it did not come out of thin air. Landing on the top of the car, a loud whine sounded from within it. A whine that was then followed by an eruption of the four metallic tentacles from within. They writhed in the moon momentarily, before looping down around to the ground.

From my first impression, it seemed as if she would have the device, whatever it was, walk us there. Seemed reasonable, if not a bit unwieldy. As I descended the last car, meeting the satisfied smile of the youkai, I noticed that they were not planted on the ground, but instead had attached themselves to the sides of the wheels.

At my curious expression, her smile widened. "My extendable arms have many uses. It doesn't take much for them to adapt to nearly any task I may have." Still grinning, she reached into some part of her dress and withdrew a small black box. At least, I assumed as much. "With this, we'll be on our way soon enough. The only problem is the distinct lack of torque. We'll have quite a bit of trouble if we have to stop quickly. If I had more time, I could actually bother constructing a proper gearbox…"

As her face took on a glimpse of irritation, I couldn't help but laugh. Even the glare she shot me was barely enough to calm my spirits. "Still, though, that's more than what we would have been able to do for quite a while. Let's just get on board and heading down the tracks. The sooner we get that done…" Well, the sooner we would find our targets. But more importantly, the sooner that I could check on Tokiko.

The kappa seemed oddly disappointed that I didn't marvel any longer. Still, any emotion was wiped from her face as she nodded, and we boarded the caboose. Entering the cabin, I found one lantern still lit, and used it to locate all of the others. Not to mention relighting the lantern on the back, in case any other train came our way. No more should be coming this late at night, given how rare night trains were. But it is always better to expect.

Plus, I couldn't honestly say that it was not going to happen. I only knew how the trains back at home ran, not here.

As the flame lit up in the largest lantern's red confines, I felt a small jerk under my feet as the caboose shifted. Slowly, but surely did the train start pushing forward, without any locomotive to pull it. I couldn't help but to chuckle at what anybody might think of this sight, if they saw it.

Turning back inside, I finally got a good glimpse of the youkai who had been helping me all this time. Even if I might have wanted to use the word coerce instead. What I saw was rather shocking, to be honest. She was… different from all the other youkai. Where the Mystia's back at home seemed to have their clothes in order, and where Tokiko's dress never seemed to become too poorly in condition, Nitori's seemed to be in shambles.

She didn't give me a chance to gaze too long, and to count the myriad of pockets stitched over her garment before turning back to me. I was struck by something that stood out above her shabby wear. Those eyes of hers… They were not that of the other monsters. Or like Tokiko's. Or any human's for that matter. Even though they were just off, not quite the right size to be a human's, the look in them… They were dead.

All in all, as she pinned me with her eyes, it made me wonder if I'd stumbled onto some creature brought back from beyond the grave.

But the effect ended when she glanced away, heaving a big sigh. Nitori shrunk into herself, seemingly unsure of what to say. Afraid of how I might judge her. I could swear I saw her glancing towards one of the lamps, as if wondering whether to put it out.

Sadly, I couldn't help her with this, right now. I had grown tired of waiting; I needed to check on my friend. Walking forward, I tried to give her a reassuring sort of smile, digging out the ball as I went. Staring down at it I studied it in an attempt to divine how to use it. Fingering hovering over the stub of a button, I wondered if it were that simple.

Standing in front of the bed, I pressed down the button, waiting for something to happen. Waiting for that hole in reality to appear again. But all that happened was for the button to flash red before the light disappeared from my eyes. Scratching my head, I wondered how exactly I might work it. Pressing a few more times, I shook my head, forehead knitting together in frustration. "How can this damn thing work?"

"Is it magic?" At her words, I turned back towards Nitori. A few moments of silence lingered between us before she volunteered further explanation. "What I mean to say is, is it purely technological? Or is it magical in origin, and merely appears technological?"

Stroking the ball lightly, I answered her question with one of my own. "Is it possible for it to be both? Why does it have to be one or the other?" I was very tempted to ask how could it be magic at all, as all the magic I had seen with my own two eyes was used to attack. But since Nitori was the expert...

She gave me a tired look, reaching up a hand to pinch her nose. "Aki's grant me strength. There is very little intersection of magic and technology. Magic itself interferes with a lot of technological interactions. Especially the flow of electricity. Hence why your world disintegrated after the terrible miracle. All that magic crippled all of the electrical components in the world." Before I could point out that there were apparently some that did work still, she held up her hand. "If you are attempting to debate me, I am quite well aware that there are ways to make it work. All of which the kappa have perfected."

I suppose that would make sense. Considering how proficient this youkai seems to be, it wouldn't surprise me that she found a way to make it work. Or her kind, so she says. Still, we were getting off topic. I needed a way to figure out how to open this ball. "Back to the case at hand. You are asking what it is? All I know is that when it hits a monster, it is swallowed up by a hole in reality."

That caused the youkai to stiffen. "Not, it couldn't be… she's dead. She made sure of it." Glancing up at Gray, her expression hardened as she moved closer to him. "Are you sure it was a hole? Could you perhaps say that you saw a… a gap in reality?"

One word was just the same as the next, was it not? "Sure. Just as much as anything else. Hole, gap, tear, rift…" I wasn't a walking dictionary, but I could probably think up a few more, if I cared to do so.

She shook her head, as the information seemed to be unable to fit together in her head. I had seen the same expression on sister's face the few times that she had attempted a puzzle. "It does make a difference. But if that's the case, either she's alive, or…" She began muttering to herself, before realizing I was there, still waiting. "Well, ignore me for a bit. But it means that it is magic, in all regards. So it might have to be willed forward."

Raising an eyebrow at her, I waited for the explanation of what that precisely meant. After a few moments, the kappa stopped her dithering, and elaborated. "Sorry. But it means what you think it means. You have to want it to happen." At the look on my face, she tried to continue. "It's… difficult. Magical artifacts of any kind are triggered simply by the person using it. Most don't even have a trigger to activate it. I can't explain much further. You just… do it."

"Heh." Well, I suppose that's the easy way to describe it. How do you grow corn? You plant it. How do you shoot someone? You point and pull the trigger. And how do you summon Tokiko out of the hole that I sorely hoped she was not bleeding to death in? You just press the trigger and will her out. Well, there was no time like the present to do.

Pressing the trigger of the ball, I held it out towards the bed, and just thought of her lying there on top of it. Lying there, while not bleeding out. Not dead at all. My eyes closed as the mantra slowly repeated in my head. Lying there, on the bed. Lying there, on the bed. Lying there, on the bed, not dead. On the bed, not dead. On the bed, not dead on the bed not dead not dead not dead notdeadnotdeadnotdead. Before the thoughts were able to consume me, however, I heard a soft object impact a softer one in front of me, causing my eyes to snap open. And lying there was my friend.

She still looked to be in awful shape. There were a plethora of cuts that covered her exposed body, not to mention a number of rips on the dress she wore. But she was alive. I don't know how to describe the warm feeling that entered my chest at the sight of hers rising up and down slightly, or the soft breathing that passed her lips. But It felt good, to know that I hadn't lost her. Not on top of everybody.

The biggest injury, however, was where he arm had been only an hour or two before. Now, instead, was a stump of a forearm with the bone sticking out and raw muscle shining in the lamplight.

This, however, struck me. I do quite remember seeing her slash the entirety of her arm off, leaving her without a stump at all to speak of. And here she was with half of her upper arm still attached. Looking back at Nitori, I asked, "Is this… Normal? She lost her entire arm earlier in the night."

The kappa slowly walked over to my side, before looking down at my birdie of a friend. "Not for it to heal so fast… But it is normal for her to heal this much. Youkai can recover from almost all injuries." She leaned forward, down to the wound. Sniffing at it, she paused. "But this smells almost… Rotten. What exactly did you fight that put her into this state?"

"I believe she called them, Chens." I'd just call them little bitches, if I bothered to use invectives to any great degree. At least the Mystia's didn't do anything similar what they did to her. "She took a shot that was meant for me. Would have got me in the face. Blocked it instead with her arm."

Eyes seeming to flash green in the light, she shook her head in response. "Makes as much sense as anything else. Still, the copy of a dead shikigami's dead shikigami? Is this intentional, or is there some other game being played here…"

That question made me well up inside. This was not a game. This was my journey for revenge. "This is Tokiko's life, not some sort of game. What could make you say something like that?"

The kappa just shook her head, empty eyes turning to given me a dry laugh. "Anything in Gensokyo is a game… From a certain point of view, at least. The youkai think differently than you would. A human's life is nothing to them."

Wishing to point out that by that statement, I was worthless to her, I instead turned back to Tokiko. My hand rose up to softly stroke the down of her feathery hair, comforting myself with silky down. As I do, I can't help but smile. Take away everything that happened, all the injuries and everything… She was just a cute girl sleeping. And not a monster that took a blow to save me from others.

Eventually, I look back at Nitori. She seemed to be shaking slightly in her boots, eyes flashing green once more, but I pay it no heed. Or at least, not very much heed. "So, care to tell me why you are going after these people? Especially if they are people that have working electronics, which your kind apparently perfected.

She glowered at me for a second, before she looked back at me with blue, dead eyes. "I'm looking for my own copies. You know how there are copies of certain youkai?"

"The monsters, yes." The images of the Mystia and Chen flash in my eyes. "Nearly feral copies of the ones who live in your land, if I remember correctly. At least the ones who are larger seem to be intelligent enough to hold conversation… even if most of that conversation was about how they would eat me."

Satisfied for once that I understood what she spoke of, Nitori continued. "I am looking for my own copies. I've had reports come in from all over… it was even enough that CNN carried them. There have been many habitats that once had teeming populations of them, before they seemed to vanish."

That didn't sound like too big of a problem for me. There have been more than a few culling of the monsters when they get too strong in numbers… If we've the resources to spare. "What's wrong with that? Did they grow too strong, and become a threat."

"No." Now, she glanced away, thumbs twiddling. "My copies were more peaceful than the others. They wanted to be left alone, for the most part. And they were. There was no need to kill them, except in rare cases." She looked back at me, her eyes suddenly lit up with an emotion I didn't imagine her having. "Something odd is going on, because someone is taking my copies. Which could lead to some horrible things."

I paused for a few moments to digest all of this, especially her last line. What could be so horrible about a bunch of monsters being kidnapped, if they were copies of one known for their scientific know-how? "…Wait a moment. Are they as competent as you are?" Shaking her hand back and forth, I translated. "So, sort-of. But if one has quantity, they don't need one youkai that'd be better than all of them. They'd be able to create a monopoly on the market, if they know your secret to making electricity to work."

I blinked momentarily, my train of thought derailing. "They do know how to do such a thing, correct?"

Taking a moment to think, she shrugged to herself. "Possibly. If they grow, they could probably piece it together. It isn't that hard once I figured out how to do it. I just had to find a way to do it… painlessly."

Not wanting to imagine what she did before that, I continued to ruminate. "So, they could corner a market… Or they create an army. Or at least fund an army, I should say." Pausing, I glanced down at Tokiko, where my hand had in the meantime become entangled in her down. "So we need to take them down, soon."

"Yes, we do."

We both sat there for a few seconds longer, wondering what our next step is. "How fast can this thing go, Nitori?"

"Fast." Blinking, she gave me a small grin. Interestingly enough, the teeth were flat and human like… Not the sharp rows that I had gazed at earlier. "It depends, really. I shouldn't go too fast, as this train would tip over if we approach too high of a speed. Plus, I'd rather not risk running into something, either. We've not exactly in the best location."

"True… I suppose we don't have to go extremely fast." Still, we needed to go fast enough. "Could we make it by daybreak? The night is still relatively young."

Humming to herself, she pulled out what I had assumed was a black box. Instead, it was blue. Just the same as what was left of the kappa's dress. "We can make it, but mind my words. How far is it to the destination. Do you know?"

Thinking over what I remembered of geography, and what little I remembered of the timetable, I guessed. "About five hundred miles from Pittsburg to Chicago, perhaps? And we are probably a good dozen or so miles out when we hit the water." Again, they were guesses, but they sounded close enough to me.

She seemed to agree. Fiddling with a few dials, she muttered, "Forty-five knots ought to do it. Don't you agree?"

"Sure, but…" I hadn't heard something like that in a long time. Some of the fisherman from down east had mentioned what I assumed was the unit of measurement. "Shouldn't you be using miles instead? Isn't knots a naval unit?"

She grinned at me again, a little bit of life coming to her eyes. "I'm an aquatic youkai. What would you expect otherwise?" Excellent point, I do suppose. Still seems a little unwieldy, but as long as she believes we can make it in time.

With reluctance, I tore myself away from Tokiko. walking to where I had set our sacks earlier in the night, I took mine and set it down. "Do you mind turning around for a bit? I need to change into another set of clothes. I did take a bit of an impromptu bath earlier."

Rolling her eyes, I did notice a little bit of a blush as she spun around, looking pointedly out the window. "If you say so. You didn't seem that wet to me, in any case."

As I took my shirt off and began to change, I noticed that she was right. I didn't appear to be wet in the slightest… Or to have been wet anytime recently. It didn't mean that I shouldn't change, though. It needed to be done anyways. Quickly, I finished the rest of my business, buttoning u pa new shirt to sleep in.

Sniffing the discarded garments, I shook my head in disbelief. No wet smell at all pervaded them. If it was a sunny day, I might have believed it. But at this time of night? Certainly odd. Still, I had no choice but to accept it. It was much too late to worry about such things.

As I stretched my clothes out on a line to air out, I turned back to the kappa, wondering if I should ask anything. There we a lot of things that I felt like asking. At the same time, though, there was very little in me that desired speaking to another. So, for whatever reason, I didn't ask my questions. They could always wait until business is done.

I was not sleepy, though. While for all intents and purposes I should have been, I was still unable to sleep. So, I took a leaf from my friend. Opening up Tokiko's sack, I dug out a book to read. Wherever she is, I'm sure that my mother is laughing at me now. And I'm sure that I deserve it.

But that is how I spent the rest of the night. Seated in a chair, glancing up to make sure that my friend was still alright. The warm feeling continued to plague me, but I did not mind it so much this time. So, with a kappa staring off into space while gently stroking a well-polished key that hung from her chest, I began to flip the pages.

After all, who knows when the knowledge of legends might come in handy?

A/N Well, here we are once again. A bit of a short one this time, as I felt that it was the best place to stop. Not to mention that this section ran at least 2000 words over what I thought it'd be. Oh well; next chapter will simply be longer.

As for this chapter, we have our first true interactions with the lovely Nitori. Who apparently my mind has turned into a mix between Doc Ock and the Hulk. If they lived on/by a mountain that formerly was ruled by creatures that could have picked it up, essentially, is it too much of a stretch to say that one can move almost a dozen train cars? Also, this Nitori is more competent than canon, at the expense of a lack of… social, strengths. And if there is any ambiguity, then yes, it is that Nitori from the soliloquies.

Moving on, to Mr. or Ms. Anon who kindly reviewed, thank you much. We'll be seeing how the two interact next chapter, once Tokiko wakes up. It's going to go about as well as you might imagine. But to be completely honest, there'll be no little girls among those in it, for we'll have two brick houses later on. Not that either would be the kind to take offense at such a thing.

But as for your queries on to what is in this world? There are none of those that you spoke of. There might be in a future, perhaps… But that wouldn't be until after this story would be over. And remember what I've stated previous: I've taken out the vast majority of the Pokémon elements, with only a few legacies left over. (Gray named for the version, Joy being medically inclined, the balls, Team Rocket) And the plot would be more akin to a Tales series game than a proper Pokémon game.

But I'm glad I'm not burning ye out on the descriptions. I'd rather not burn through it all of the backstory in an infodump, even if it was the perfect location to incorporate a spiel. And I'm checking it out, thanks for the suggestion.

Digressing, hope everyone has enjoyed it so far. Next time, we're getting to town, and taking care of business. Please read and review as always! Any and all feedback/criticism is welcome. Until next time!