Final Chapter
Hell

"What… What is that?! What happened to that rock?!" asked Kaguya in shock when she saw the entity made entirely out of rocks.

The rock monster pulled back its fist and then threw a punch at them. Acting fast, Yukari stretched her hand forward and made a barrier appear to protect everyone. The monster shattered its fist when it punched the barrier.

Ran then jumped forward, going through the barrier and floating in front of the monster. Spreading out her hands, she fired a large amount of leaf-shaped projectiles that bombarded the monster nonstop, chipping off various parts of its body. However, the broken parts recovered at a fast speed, and its fist also reformed.

The nine-tailed fox demon got out of the way when the monster reached its hand towards her. "Shikigami's Radiance: Fox-Tanuki Youkai Laser," she said as she made red and blue energy balls appear around her, and then they fired laser beams that pierced the monster's body, only for the damaged spots to recover almost instantly.

"Such regeneration speed… Taking it out will be harder than it seems…" thought Ran when she saw the monster recovering.

The monster's mouth glowed with bright light, much to Ran's surprise, and then a blast of energy was fired at her, but she got out of the way fast. After the projectile was fired, Yorihime showed up and dashed at the monster, slashing it diagonally across the body with her sword and instantly cutting the monster in two.

As the monster attempted to glue itself back together, Yorihime sliced the upper half multiple times fast, causing it to break into small cubes. The tricolored rock was exposed as a result. That rock glowed and caused the small pieces of rock around it to start coming together. Noticing this, Yorihime jumped at the tricolored rock and, before it could cover up itself entirely, cut it in two.

SLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!

The two halves of the rock fell to the ground, as well as the small pieces of rock. Just like that, the tricolored rock was "dead," as it no longer did anything. "That should do it," said Yorihime.

"What was that all about just now…?" asked Reisen. "How did that rock come to life all of a sudden…?"

"This isn't something you see every day…" commented Eirin.

After the incident was resolved, the group went back into the House of Eternity. They all sat around the table in the living room to talk about what happened. "I can't believe you brought back something so… so… awesome and crazy!" Kaguya said to the Watatsuki Sisters and Rei'sen. Even though her face implied that she was angry, her tone seemed to hint at excitement.

"I'm… I'm sorry… We shouldn't have brought that rock back from our scouting…" said Rei'sen.

"From now on, no more bringing back anything from your scouting!" Yorihime angrily said to Rei'sen, making her lower her head in shame and tremble in fear. "It's a good thing that the crisis was averted before things got worse, but imagine what could've happen if we weren't here to resolve things!"

"I'm really sorry…" said Rei'sen.

"All right, all right… I'm sure she knows her wrongdoing, so let's not be angry at her anymore…" Eirin told Yorihime. "Now that things have been taken care of and nobody is hurt, we should be happy!"

"I guess we also got the answer to that blood splatter on the princess's sleeping mattress and why she suddenly got a hole on her chest…" said Reisen.

"Right… It seems that the rock crushed her head while she was sleeping and also attacked her with some sort of energy blast that created a hole on her body," said Eirin.

"Such a rock exists…?" asked Ran in disbelief.

"I admit that I've never heard of anything like that on the moon…" said Yukari.

Just then, a rabbit demon came into the room, holding a ringing mobile phone and asking who it belonged to. Yorihime recognized it as her mobile phone, so she took it from her and answered it. She listened to what her caller had to say, and then a look of shock appeared on her face. "What?!"

She listened to her caller all the way through, and after hanging up the phone, Toyohime asked her, "What happened?"

"The Lunar Capital was attacked by some kind of rock monster," replied Yorihime. "They managed to take care of it, but some people were killed before it finally went down."

Rei'sen was suddenly reminded of something when she heard this and said in shock, "That's right! We brought back two of those rocks, and one of them is still on the moon! Did that… Did that rock also came to life and attack people?!"

"You brought back two?! Why didn't you say so earlier?!" Yorihime asked her in anger and shock, and then she turned to Toyohime. "Quick! Get us back to the Lunar Capital right NOW!"

"O… Okay…" said Toyohime, and then she turned to the others. "We'll… We'll be taking our leave for a while…"

"It's all right," Eirin told her. "Quickly go back there and fix things. I'm sure everyone back there needs your presence now."

After this, Toyohime used her ability to instantly warp herself, Yorihime, and Rei'sen back to the moon. "I hope everything is all right there…" said Reisen.

"It seems that they have already taken care of everything, so I'm sure everything is already all right," said Eirin. She then turned to the Yakumo family. "Sorry for everything…"

"It's all right," said Yukari. "It's a good thing we were here to deal with this too. Things might have gotten worse if that thing wreaks havoc throughout Gensokyo."

"I'm sure the folks here will have no problem dealing with it," said Eirin. "That thing didn't look like it was a major threat. Anyway, want to get your shikigami's teeth issue resolved now?"

"Right! We almost forgot that Chen has to get her tooth fixed!" said Ran.

"You accompany Chen," Yukari told Ran. "There is somewhere I have to go to."

"Where are you going?" Ran asked her.

"I'll tell you when I come back," Yukari told her.

Hell was in no way a place that anyone would want to go willingly. Yet, Yukari chose to go there on her own accord, though it wasn't because she really wanted to go there, but because there was one thing she wanted to clarify that she was willing to go there, and without her subordinates. She wasn't ready to bring them along to a place that contained a dangerous person.

"You're not allowed to walk up to Master Hecatia just like this, mortal!" a fairy wearing a clown outfit that had the same pattern as an American flag—Clownpiece—angrily said to her as she followed her. "This is showing disrespect to her! I should be dragging you out of here!"

"Then why aren't you actually doing it?" Yukari asked her without looking at her.

Clownpiece hesitated for a moment and then said, "Because… Because…"

"Because you're afraid you won't be able to stop me, right?" said Yukari before she could come up with an answer.

Clownpiece growled in frustration and then said, "Don't get so cocky just because you're strong! No matter how strong you are, you are no match for my master! She will make your life a living hell if you get on her bad side!"

Yukari ignored what the fairy said and continued making her way through the dark, gloomy passage that had a large set of doors guarded by two fairies dressed in armor that had skull motifs at the end. "Don't let this trespasser in!" Clownpiece told the guards, who got their spears ready in an offensive stance. "She barged in here all of a sudden and wants to see…"

Before she could finish speaking, an echoing voice was suddenly heard. "Go ahead and let her in. I'll gladly welcome her."

"Are you sure, Master Hecatia?" Clownpiece asked the disembodied voice. "She could be here for dangerous reasons!"

"Has there been anyone or anything that is capable of threatening me?" replied the voice. "Just let her in. I know what I'm doing."

Since their master said so, the guards opened the door to let Yukari in, and Clownpiece followed her. "Just because the master let you in doesn't mean I welcome you!" the fairy said to her. "You'll regret not listening to my advice in the first place!"

"I never asked for your advice in the first place, so I don't care about them," Yukari replied with a stern look that was fixated on a person in front of her.

Seated on a throne decorated with skulls was a red-haired woman wearing a black t-shirt with the words "Welcome Hell" written on it, and there was a heart in between those two words. She wore a tricolored plaid skirt consisting of the colors red, blue, and green. On her head, she wore a hat that had a red sphere on top of it. Tied to a collar around her neck were a pair of chains with two small spheres colored blue and yellow attached to the end of them.

"Welcome, Yukari Yakumo! It's quite daring of you to come all the way to my realm, and by yourself!" said the woman—Hecatia Lapislazuli—with a smile. "To what do I owe you that you came all the way here without a word first?"

Standing in front of her with a stern look, Yukari asked, "That living tricolored rock… That belongs to you, right? One of your monsters of hell or something?"

Smiling, Hecatia asked, "Whatever are you talking about?"

"Yeah! What are you talking about?" Clownpiece angrily asked Yukari. "You come in here asking about a rock without a reason? What's the matter with you?!"

"Don't pretend that you know nothing!" Yukari angrily said to Hecatia. "The Lunarians found a pair of suspicious-looking rocks, and they brought it back to their capital. Those rocks have lives of their own and attacked people. One of them was brought to Gensokyo by the Watatsuki Sisters and attacked us. When I saw that the colors on the rock had the same three colors as your sphere accessories and the fact that they were found on the moon, I came to the conclusion that it must have something to do with you, since you hold a grudge against the Lunarians, so it makes sense for you to leave behind something like that there."

Hecatia chuckled for a few seconds after hearing what Yukari said, and then she said, "Well, looks like you caught me! You're talking about Vráchrox, right?"

"Vráchrox? Is that what those living rocks are called?" asked Yukari. "So you are behind this… What exactly are they and why did you leave them behind on the moon?"

"Vráchrox are basically living rocks that exist for the sole purpose of being bloodthirsty," explained Hecatia. "Rocks filled with killing intent… Only something as messed up as that can you find in places like hell. At least my hell!

"As to why I left behind two on the moon… Well… It's true that I did hold a grudge against the Lunarians because of Chang'e, but even though I decided that there is no longer any worth in extracting revenge on her, since she isn't really responsible for there being less shadows in the world, I was like… 'Why not? I'll give those haughty moon folks one last scare!'"

"Revenge… Not surprising… You are the kind of person who holds grudges after all," said Yukari.

"Why do you care about the Lunarians?" Hecatia asked her. "You're a demon, so it's unlike you to care about other species, especially one that thinks highly of themselves and looks down on everything on Earth. And the last time I checked, you don't have the best history with them."

"True, I wouldn't care about anything related to the Lunarians," said Yukari, "but the fact that your vengeance towards them got Gensokyo involved is something I cannot sit by and do nothing."

"Just because they decided it was a good idea to bring one Vráchrox to Earth and got the place you call home into trouble?" asked Hecatia. "If you're coming here, then chances are likely that you dealt with Vráchrox already, so you should be happy!"

"I'm coming here to make sure if my assumption is correct, and now that it's correct, I'm warning you that the next time you want to mess with people you don't like, don't get Gensokyo involved!" Yukari told her with an intimidating face.

"Oh, is that supposed to be a threat?" asked Hecatia, not daunted at all by her. "You better remember where you currently are and who you're talking too! I heard that you're one of the most powerful beings in Gensokyo, but you're still just a demon, and there are limits to how powerful a demon can be! I am a goddess who rules over hell and keeps watch over all the sinners here. If I decide not to play around… then nobody can hope to defeat me!"

"Right! Master Hecatia is powerful!" Clownpiece said to Yukari. "There's no way you can beat her if she doesn't hold back! You better watch your mouth, or else she will make you suffer here for eternity without you having to die first!"

"So… now that you've accomplished your purpose here," Hecatia said to Yukari, "you should probably be leaving now. You should be happy that I'm not angry at you for showing up uninvited. Run along now before I decide to teach you a lesson. You don't want to provoke me, don't you?"

Even though Yukari didn't like the goddess of hell's attitude, she knew that the latter was right. Hecatia was indeed more powerful than her if she didn't hold back, and she wasn't the kind of person who would see spell card rules necessary at the moment. If she was to get on Hecatia's bad side and start a fight, chances were likely that she wouldn't be able to get out in a good condition.

"I don't care if you are still angry at Chang'e, but next time, watch what you're doing," Yukari said to her in an intimidating tone.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind," said Hecatia in an attitude that didn't seem like she was serious about what she said. "My subordinate will now escort you out of this place if you want to."

"No need," Yukari told her. "I can leave this place myself. You better hold true to your words, or else…" She then opened up a gap and gave Hecatia one last glare before stepping into it, and then the gap disappeared.

"How dare she threaten you, master?!" Clownpiece angrily said to Hecatia. "We should go to Gensokyo and burn down the whole place with the fires of hell! That should teach her not to mess with us!"

"It's all right," said Hecatia. "We're not really bad guys, so doing something like that is unnecessary and pointless. If the folks there do insist on getting on our bad side, however, then they better not blame us if we take action. All right, go back to whatever you were doing earlier and have fun."

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot! I was about to torture a new guy when she showed up! I'm going to use him to vent out my anger towards her! Heeheehee!" said Clownpiece with enthusiasm before leaving the place.

Back on the moon, Yorihime was less than happy to learn about everything that happened while she was gone. As punishment to the scouting group for bringing back dangerous things, she had them punished by forcing them run around the capital five laps. Given the massive size of the capital, this was not a feat that could be completed in a short amount of time, and the amount of stamina that would be used up was no laughing matter as well.

The lunar rabbits that brought back those rocks had no say in this, however. They were deathly afraid of their captain, so no matter what she told them to do, they would always obey her. With no other choice, the lunar rabbits did their best to run around the Lunar Capital.

"Seriously… I'm never ever going to bring back anything I find out here again! Never again!" said Seiran while running alongside her comrades.

"Me too…" said Kagome.

"I can't believe Captain Yorihime didn't even give us a chance to rest…" said the red-haired lunar rabbit with twintails. "We were still exhausted from facing that thing…"

"That's the kind of person she is… Borderline merciless and unreasonable when in a bad mood…" the lunar rabbit with short, light-purple hair reminded her.

"How long is this going to take…?" asked Rei'sen.

"To my knowledge regarding the size of the capital, I'd say that at our fastest speed, it would take forty to fifty minutes to make one turn, so five laps would be about… three hours…" replied Seiran.

"Oh god…" said Rei'sen, almost on the verge of tears upon hearing that. "I don't think I can handle this… I'll never bring back anything from out here again…"

"We'll all in this together…" said the other lunar rabbits.

THE END

In regard to Hecatia being stronger than Yukari, ZUN said in an interview regarding Touhou 15 found in Strange Creators of Outer World that Hecatia is greater than Eiki. That may not be the most accurate translation, so the context can be up for interpretation, though given Hecatia's possible inspiration and her role, it wouldn't be a surprise that she is indeed more powerful than Eiki. Since Eiki is agreed by some to be more powerful than Yukari, it's no brainer that Hecatia is more powerful than the latter as well.

That's the end of the story. Even though this story didn't get many reviews like my past few stories, I still want to thank all those who reviewed.

My next story is going to be a part of my Smash Bros. series, entitled Invasion of the Evil Lords. It's a comedic story about the "worst" alien invasion in the history of Tooneria, the planet my SSB series takes place on. That story won't come out until next year, so please have patience and look forward to it!

I've said this before, but I'll say it again: since this is the last chapter, I am unable to answer questions of anonymous reviewers, so unless you have accounts to make signed reviews, please refrain from asking questions, because I won't be able to answer you.

God bless you all!

Trivia:
1. The name Vráchrox comes from the Greek word for rock, vráchros. Since Hecatia is most likely based off the Greek goddess Hecate, I figured I give those living rocks a Greek-sounding name.

2. The idea for Hecatia's spheres that aren't in use being small came from a piece of fan art I saw on Danbooru.