Author's Note:

Happy late Easter! I'm still alive and back to normal!

Not much else to say here. Resident Evil 4 Remake was really fun, also. It was nice to rest while playing it. Though, it did feel a bit strange playing as a person who was also fighting a virus (parasite?) in his body… Games sure are immersive these days.

Hope you're all taking care of yourselves. It's important to stay healthy.

~ STAGE 15: Ever-Changing Times ~

[START]

"Pochi! Pochiii!" Hands cupped around her mouth, Kasen's voice echoed through the forest-filled mountain path. Calling, she received no response, leaving her looking uncharacteristically frustrated. "Where could he have run off to now…?"

It would've been understandable if an on-looker assumed she was looking for a dog based on the name she kept chanting; Kasen would have made the same mistake herself. Indeed, she had no idea why Marisa had chosen that name for a pet tsuchinoko. She only knew that for some cursed reason it was the only name the round snake would respond to.

"Hm?" Kasen brushed past closely-knit branches and plant-life. Through them, she spotted a thin line creating a path that rode down the mountain, breaking every now and then as if bouncing. "I see. He's passed through here."

Tsuchinoko had a bit of an odd way of traversing long distances. She'd seen a glimpse of it, that Pochi would bite into his tail and roll around like a wheel. There was a twisted irony in how an animal so lazy as to neglect its daily chores and fall asleep during training would put so much energy into evading her. He'd even managed to sneak past other pets Kasen had ordered to keep watch over him. Perhaps he'd learned some bad habits from his previous owner…

Regardless, the elusive shadowy menace known as Pochi would meet his defeat soon. Once she tracked him down, Kasen had every intention of properly disciplining the snake for his foolish behavior. The only thing his continued evasion promised was more time for Kasen to brainstorm a fitting punishment.

It seemed like he wanted a rather creative one, since Kasen had been walking for quite some time with no sign of Pochi. Eventually, the path began to parallel a nearby river snaking around the mountain.

"Perhaps he's stopped to take a drink…" Kasen mused. As she thought that, a commotion reached her ears.

"Oof!" "Hey!" "Owie!" A series of small voices a short way down, squeaking and yelping.

Hearing that, Kasen swiftened her pace and was greeted with an interesting sight. A platoon diminutive in both number and individual size—girls clothed in uniforms of freshwater greens and blues. Each of them bore a large backpack, looking almost like a shell. A team of kappa, falling back with what sounded less like genuine terror and more irritated, pained yelling.

Ahead of them, something seemed to be wrapping around a tree close by the river. Something akin to a sentient nest of ropelike greenery, whipping at them with its various limbs. The keen-eyed hermit noticed immediately that the vines weren't going on the offensive; rather, it wriggled defensively but never left its position.

"That does it!" One of the kappa, with short blue pigtails and a larger backpack than the rest, marched forward angrily. Her pack stirred, strange noises coming from it, until something resembling a pair of multi-jointed arms shot out. Where their hands should have been was instead rounded razors, with rows of what looked like teeth covering their edges. They spun into a blur and began buzzing maliciously, the kappa bracing herself against their weight. "I'm cutting this stupid thing down!"

Kasen decided now was a good time to intervene, before this got really ugly.

"Just a moment!" With a shout, she inserted herself between the two parties, raising her hands defensively against the kappa.

"Wh—" Taken aback, the razor-happy kappa stumbled, her sharp limbs freezing. "Agh, what? It's you?" Grumbling. "Figures a hermit would get in the way…"

Kasen opted to ignore the latter comment. "If I may, I don't think there's any need to get this violent."

"Hey, those nameless vines started it!" The kappa scoffed, with her companions echoing her. "We were just doing our normal business, and it jumped in the way and started getting all annoying. If you're willing to move it out of the way so we can take what we saw first, we'd be more than happy to let it go."

"'What you saw first'?" Kasen parroted. "What might that have been?"

"A body, a human corpse. We saw it floating downstream, so we were going to 'make use of it', if you catch my drift. No sense in wasting a perfectly good shirikodama, yeah?" She made an 'ok' sign with her hand.

"..." A bit morbid, but Kasen couldn't exactly scold them for being practical. "I… see. If I can remove these 'vines' so you can take your corpse, then you'll let this offense go?"

"If it saves us the trouble, sure."

Fine enough. Turning back to the 'nameless vines', Kasen approached them with a pointed familiarity. The 'vines' squirmed warily but, as if they reciprocated, didn't lash out at Kasen immediately.

"What have you gotten yourself into?" Kasen planted her hands at her hips like a disappointed mother. "Put that down. You're causing a fuss."

There was some confused murmuring from the kappa, as they tried to puzzle out why she was talking like she was about to put the vines in time-out. The vines in-question, on the other hand, froze like a child who'd just been called by their full name. It refused to move, instead seemed to shrink away, as if contemplating fleeing.

"Are you going to make me come over there?" Kasen scowled.

The scolded flora seemed to be shaking, but it didn't budge. With a sigh, Kasen stepped forward.

At once, there was a blur, both from the plant and from Kasen. Several thin green ropes snapped and cracked across the open air, only for something white to intercept them right in Kasen's face. A bandaged arm, raised in front, gripping. Several long vines grappled in Kasen's grasp, struggling fruitlessly against the hermit who showed no sign of strain.

"Enough." Kasen's tone deepened, seeming to boom without raising her voice.

It was as if her words had enforced some unseen power. The vines in her grip seized up, and went limp. As if the sensation traveled across to the main body, the mass of plant life flopped to the ground, seeming to lose all rigidity.

"Whoa…" There was some awed murmuring from the kappa, though Kasen hadn't really done anything worthy of praise. Stepping forward, she brushed aside the large pile of greenery—

"There you—hm?"

Two sights. The first matched her expectations—the fat-bodied tsuchinoko who had been fleeing from her, Pochi. Indeed, his ability to manipulate plant life had been a dead giveaway of his identity.

The second, however…

"... This isn't a corpse." Was the first muttering that escaped Kasen's mouth. Indeed, this person was still breathing. Lying face down was a long-haired girl wearing strange red and black clothing. In her hands, she seemed to still be firmly grasping two pistols. She could forgive the kappa for assuming she'd perished in the river somehow—she looked a mess, her breathing weak and clothes ragged.

Of course, if she was merely half-dead and not fully dead… Well, the hermit was an ally of humans, in the end. The same naturally went for her pets.

Thinking of the earlier display, Kasen smiled gently and glanced in Pochi's direction. "I see, you were protecting—"

The tsuchinoko had shoved his entire body into a bag at the girl's side. Wrestling, pulling, and finally emerging with a sopping-wet lunchbox that he happily pried open and shoved his face into.

"... It's a start." A disappointed sigh.

At any rate, she would need to explain the situation to the kappa and work something out. Kneeling at the girl's side, Kasen rolled her over to check her pulse and fully assess her health. The moment she did, a gasp escaped the hermit's mouth.

"—W-What the—? You—?"

Dark.

It's dark. Night, inside and out. I feel the moon hanging overhead, though I can't see it. I just know that it's our hour. Night, the time of youkai.

My body feels lighter. Stronger. I'm drinking, and I feel fire rushing through my bones with each sip.

It's loud. Lots of people cheering all around me. Chaotic, like one big rampaging party.

Yeah, a party, that's right. It's a celebration. Feels like everything's coming back into focus again…

I'm inside a large, dimly-lit cavern; one of our hideouts in the mountain. We just finished clearing up that massive group of humans who marched in, trying to take back others we'd kidnapped. Yeah, it was a good fight. Everyone's in an uproar, feels like a real party now.

Good drink. Warm food. More than enough fresh meat for everyone.

Really, really fresh meat.

At a makeshift table made from stone and wood. My throat's burning. I'm chugging down enough drink to topple several others my size, and I've yet to stop. It's not just a buzz in my head, it's like the whole skull's rattling. Yet I'm as upright as if I'd just gotten an amazing night's sleep.

Even the others sitting with me can't keep up. They're a little jealous.

"Oi," A woman with short blonde hair and rugged get-up (same as the rest of us) barks. She's not all that special. I barely remember her face. "Save some for the rest of us, will ya?"

"Drink faster then!" I cackle, my face hot. I empty another dish. "Not my fault none of you can keep up!"

"Peh." Blondie spits. The horns atop her head shine against the dim light as she sips from her own dish. "Why a small-fry like you got picked up, I've got no idea. Y'got no class, no appreciation for the drink."

"It's cheap swill we nabbed from humans. It ain't that damn special, just drink it down."

"That's what I'm sayin'! If ya can't even appreciate the finer details of the shitty ones, how can you savor the higher quality works? Secret to life, right there!"

I scoff. "Cheap shit's to be chugged like the trash it is. You only slow down to savor the good stuff. You're thinkin' too hard on it."

She looks genuinely offended. "Like I keep tellin' ya, you—"

A loud sigh from another at the table; rust-colored hair, a single horn. Can't make out her features either. "Can we just drink? Having a damn philosophical argument over liquor, shit."

We both shut up. I totally won that argument, though.

A few more moments, drinking in silence. I find my gaze circling, observing. The room feels smaller than I remember. More faces. More people. Lots I don't even recognize.

"... Feels like the mountain's gotten a lot busier lately." I absentmindedly mutter. "Lots of new faces every day…"

"It ain't that recent." Blondie comments. "We ganged up with the tengu and took the kappa under us a while back. It's just territory expansion."

"Yeah, but still. Feels like it's gotten pretty crazy, huh?" I always get this way once I blow past a certain stage of drunkenness. Like my thoughts finally slow down. It's an odd feeling. "And now we're… organizing? Got the tengu watching the mountain like guard dogs, the kappa fooling with the weird shit humans love building. I dunno, feels like we're changing from how things used to be."

Rusty swirls her dish. "You getting somewhere? We're still how we've always been. Bigger numbers just mean we gotta actually boss people under us around." I feel her eyes on me. "That includes you, you know? Both up and down the chain, nowadays."

"Yeah, I know. Just sits weird with me. Like indigestion." I sip at my dish.

Blondie leans forward into the table. Her voice is low. "... Just between us, I hear the bosses are planning something with some more youkai outside this big crew we've got. Seems like we might be getting even bigger from here on out."

"Even more?" I raise a brow. "What, are they tryin' to found a country or something?"

"Hell if I know." Blondie shrugs. "Could you imagine? Place'd look crazy as hell."

I couldn't imagine that. I like how simple things are here. Ransacking, fighting with humans, drinking after we either win or lose… It's simple. Easy to define myself with.

If that life were to change… What would I define myself by?

"Hey," Blondie perks up, noticing something. "Heads-up, ladies. Boss comin' in."

The crowd of chatting youkai part like an ocean. There's no bowing, no rising out of respect or anything of that. But there is an acknowledgement. They simply move, not unlike smaller animals knowing not to pick a fight with something bigger than them.

I see the figure cut a path straight to our table. They're directed at me, actually, which means it's that person.

Now I rise. This one's still not a formality. It's more like a personal sort of respect, like greeting an old teacher.

Her silhouette comes into view. Flowing red robes almost might fool an onlooker into assuming regality. If they looked closer, they'd see some odd spots of red staining the whites and grays amidst the finer parts of it. A slight ragged look to the whole ensemble, a reminder she had also left the same fight as they did.

Atop her head, a proud horn that I always looked at with admiration. Strong, tall, and firm. Confident in itself as she was in herself.

There's no one else I would rather work under. No one else I can personally call 'Boss' other than this person.

Her name—

'■■■■■■'.

… Hm? That's weird. It feels like I can't remember it. But I know it, it's '■■■■■■'—

—

"Oi." Her voice cleaves my thoughts. "Small fry. We've got business to attend to. C'mon."

I realize something now. She's important, but I can't remember her name. Even her face. It's blank like the others. It shouldn't be. I know her, I know her! Who is she? What is her name? Why is she important? I need to know. I know it. I already know but I don't and yet I—

'■■■■■■'. '■■■■■■'. '■■■■■■'.

No. That's not right, that's not right.

Who is she? My body moves to follow her as my mind is left behind like a forgotten ghost, as it realizes something else.

My name. What's my name?

My head hurts. What is my name? Who am I? Where am I? What's going on?

No, name. Start there. My name is. My name is. My name. Name is.

Name.

Name name name name name name name name name name name name name name—

MY. NAME. IS—

Luka snapped awake with a gasp. Heart pounding. Breathing heavy.

Reality took a moment to settle in. She was lying on her back. Clothes changed. They felt like cloth robes, like pajamas. In a kotatsu.

Building. Guest room? Reimu's shrine? No, this didn't look like her shrine. It was also completely empty. Not a person around. Silent, without any signs of anything around.

Rising to a seated position, Luka tried to recollect her thoughts. Was she dreaming? She tried to remember what it was, but… It was hazy. Like a thick film of plastic kept blocking her when she went to reach into her memory. It was something important, but trying to cut through the film made her head hurt for some reason.

No, first thing's first, how did she get here? Luka surveyed her memory. The last thing she remembered…

"... Right. I got my ass kicked." Luka rubbed her temples. She'd fought Aya and lost. The reporter turned out to be way stronger than she anticipated. "Then… I blacked out on her last Spellcard, but…"

Where did she go from there? Had Aya kidnapped her? Did tengu do that?

"They took my guns, whoever set me up here…" Luka patted herself down. Nowhere to be seen, the room seemed mostly empty. Like it had been cleared out just for her.

Well, she wasn't going to get anywhere sitting around. With a grunt, she rose, wincing a little. "Ow, ow…" Her body felt sore. How badly did Aya beat her?

Weakly shuffling, she noticed something like a sliding door.

"(Quietly…)" It'd be a good idea to avoid fighting for now. As gently as she could manage, Luka slid the door open, and peered through a tiny crack.

White. The first thing that greeted her was something sharp and white. Teeth? Teeth.

… Teeth?!

Frozen, she swiftly processed what she was staring at. A carnivore, several times her size. As majestic as it was behemothic; 700 pounds of bloodthirsty muscle, a beautiful pelt of orange and striped white and black.

The true king of the gigantic killer cats had been waiting for her right at the door. A Bengal tiger, legs tensed and ready to maul her to death.

And again, Luka remembered. She didn't have her guns.

Author's Note:

I'm sure some of you are putting the pieces together and have solved one part of the story's mysteries by now. That one's not exactly subtle, and I never intended it to be. I do have to wonder though if anyone's figured out any of the rest, or even the finer details of what it all means.

I'd love to hear any theories in the comments/reviews. Don't count on me telling you if you're right, though. I don't want to ruin it for anyone who's just getting here.