Here we go. chapter 6.
To speak the truth, i got the feeling when i did this chapter that i was doing something wrong.
What do you think?
Screams.
Screeches.
"Head for the door!" A body hangs, uplifted by a root. Dead eyes staring.
Dutch and Maribel. Hung by roots. Staring accusingly.
She screamed.
"Renko, wake up!" Dutch yelled as he shook her. Renko cried out and struggled in her sleep.
Maribel stood in the back, watching with fearful eyes.
Renko suddenly launched out of her bed. For the second time in two days, Dutch is knocked by her onto the ground.
She gripped his neck, squeezing and staring with wild eyes. Dutch gagged as he tried to push Renko off.
Renko stopped. She stared at Dutch as if for the first time. Horrified, she got off him, looking at her hands.
Dutch coughed. He got up onto Renko's bed and breathed in deep.
"I...I..."Renko whispered.
Dutch looked up and gave Renko a painful smile."I'm still here."He said through a hurt throat.
"I'm so sorry." Renko said in a horrified whisper.
"Don't sweat it." Dutch answered.
Maribel entered the room, worry written all over her face.
She guided Renko onto the bed and now all three sat down on it.
"What happened?" Maribel asked.
"I dreamt I was back at the chamber. With the roots and the statues. And the dead men. And I saw you both. Dead." Renko recounted before she started crying.
Maribel hugged Renko."It's over. We are safe." She comforted.
Dutch got up."I go get something to calm her down."
He told Maribel before moving to leaving the room.
"Wait. Please stay." Renko asked.
Dutch looked at Maribel.
She nodded and he turned back and sat on the bed.
They sat there until morning.
Yukari yawned.
She looked from her bed groggily at the clock. Only a night had passed.
She yawned again and flopped back onto her bed.
But as hard as she tried, she could not go back to sleep. Grumbling at nothing particular, she got up, used a gap to instantly swap her clothing and then gapped herself to the dining room. Reimu may disapprove and say she was letting magic take over her simple body functions but she's a human, not a youkai. What does she know?
Ran was serving breakfast to the three guests."Oh Yukari-sama, you're awake. Would you like any thing in particular?" She asked.
"Anything would be fine." Yukari said as she poured herself a cup of tea and yawned yet again.
The breakfast continued quietly.
Later.
Yukari and Dutch were back at where they sat the night before. Renko had returned to her room, citing that she was not feeling well. Marble followed her.
"What happened?" Yukari asked as they both took sips of tea.
Dutch simply looked out."Please specify." He answered as he looked at the many forests that dot the land.
"During the breakfast, Renko acted as if she was trying to avoid you." Yukari noted.
"PTSD. The defenses for the vault are very good at leaving a mental scar." Dutch said." She almost killed me when I tried to wake her up."
Yukari leaned back, using one of her gaps for support."How goes the modification?" She asked.
Dutch glanced at the vault."Not as easy as expected. Converting the explosion of chemical propellant, which basically is a physical process, into a magical one is not easy. If I went all the way with it, every single flame in this place would have turned into danmaku. At best right now, I can convert the bullet into dammaku form. It will still be lethal but I managed to slow it down so it's classified as fast danmaku and the entire bullet is a bolt of energy of equivalent charge instead of a solid form. That's the best I can do right now. It's will still need a lot of fine-tuning through. Any one with magical capabilities can change the lethality of the danmaku. What I did is just area-wide modification."
Yukari smiled."That's is enough to ensure the balance will not broken. Thank you."
Dutch phased in his rifle."Lethal or non-lethal danmaku. How can you tell the difference?" He asked as he looked at his weapon.
"By the looks of the danmaku. The most common kind, bolts of energy, tend to be brighter when they are in lethal form. However, danmaku using physical weapons such as knifes are lethal in all forms. It is possible to die from them, however the magic in this land will try it's best to keep you alive. There is one exception through. Seals used by shine maidens can either be lethal or non-lethal. You have to look at the seal to be certain." Yukari explained.
Dutch pulls his rifle charging handle and aims through the holographic crosshairs at one of the bamboo shoots. He pulls the trigger. The rifle barks but instead of invisible bullets, a trio of bright energy bolts fly out at significantly slower speed and impacts the bamboo shoots. The wood splinters under the triple impact and the shoots falls.
"Good enough. I probably need to modify the lethality of the weapon before anything else." Dutch said. He phased out his rifle and stood up to leave.
"Are you all free tonight?" Yukari asked him as she looked up.
"Why?"
"The human village is having a festival. It would be nice to see how your fellow humans have adapted to this place, don't you think?" Yukari asked.
Dutch looked at the paradise."It would be nice." He said before turning.
"One more thing."
Dutch stopped.
"Assuming from your weapons and you in particular, you have fought the defenses of the vault. How is that you don't have a mental scar?"
Dutch stared into nothing
"What made you think I don't?" He answered before leaving.
Lunar capital
Watatsuki no Toyohime was a fine young woman. She was a lunar princess and a leader of the Lunar Defense Corps. She was also a lunar emissary but that title was a bit ambiguous since there was nothing to be emissary to. In short, she was a great catch for any lunarian. And there were many who tried.
So it would probably be to her suitors shock if they were to see her right now. Burning through peaches like a vacuum machine. But you could hardly blame her. It's just her way of relieving stress. It's not like she could get fat.
Reisen kneeled down beside her, sweat dropping. The princess was a serious lover of peaches, having a reputation among the lunar elites for grabbing any one she saw if she was hungry(even from the royal garden!). Whenever she visited any lunar household, advance warning had to be given so that the household could stock up on peaches.
And if anyone disapproved, well she is a princess. She can damn well do whatever she wants.
Outside, Yorihime was running her personal troop of rabbits through her personalized 'training from hell'. As a veteran rabbit put it,"I would rather go fix a faulty purifier than go through her training. At least the purifier is quick."
Reisen shuddered as she remember the private one Yorihime gave to her and her namesake on the earth. She could totally agree with that sentiment.
Just then, Reisen felt a buzz. She froze, heeding the familiar call of of another lunar rabbit.
"Reisen, can you hear me?" The rabbit asked through her ears.
Ah, it's her namesake, she realized.
"I can hear you loud and clear, Undongein-san." She answered.
"I need you to pass a message to the princesses." Undonge asked.
"Go ahead."
"You are to tell them that the shield is breached, the vault has a new owner and they are to bring a bottle of thousand-year sake the next time they come to earth." Undonge finished.
Reisen blinked in confusion at the last part of the message."Okay." She sent back. Undonge dropped off.
Reisen returned back to the present. Toyohime, watching the whole exchange, asked,"Who was it?"
"A message from Yagokoro-san, princess." Reisen answered. She proceed to reiterate the whole message to Toyohime. Toyohime remained silent throughout the whole time. When Reisen finished, Toyohime just sat there with a unreadable face.
"Princess?" Reisen asked.
Toyohime snapped into action."More peaches!" She spoke with a serious face.
Reisen sighed and bought up another plate. As she watch Toyohime devour the fruits, she could not help but see a slight tinge of panic in the actions of the princess.
Night
Human village
The humans in Gensokyo, like any other humans, have adapted to their surrounding with ease. They learned several lessons by heart, some of them the hard way.
The first was that you don't go out during the dark unless you were suicidal.
The second was that wild youkai should NEVER be approached, no matter how Cute or harmless they looked. Especially the blondes.
The third was that the shine maidens are not to be messed with. Unless you want devastation to visit you.
The fourth was that if you send your child to school, expect him or her to receive a head butt sooner or later.
Like all humans, the Gensokyians followed the rules to the letter. Sure there were some idiots that did not follow the rules but natural selection ensured that they did not last very long.
And along the things adapted by humans from their surrounding was the oni love for party. While not as frequent or rowdy as the actual ones(or even the tengu ones, for that matter), it was still pretty crazy by outside standards.
Usually held once a month, the festivals bring the residents of the village together to have fun. It was both a curse and a godsend. Any feuds between families would usually be solved during the festivals with the help of alcohol but more feuds would pop up during the festivals as well, also with the help of alcohol. And for those who wanted to stay sober, there were the standard assortments of stalls to keep you busy.
Often, men and the occasional women would be found the next day on the road, drunk or hungover. Sometimes, the last drinkers would form a line. The line would snake through the village, picking up steam as people, drunk, sober or in-between joined in. They would then clean up the mess of the party until the village was ready for the activities of the day. Then the leaders, drunk and exhausted, would flop down on to anything they could find and sleep it off.
One hilarious legend involved one such man. He fell asleep into a cart and the farmer left the village. When the man woke up, he panicked,thinking he was caught by a youkai that was going to eat him. The farmer thought the man was a youkai that was going to attack him and humor ensued.
But now was only the start of the party. Men and women sat together, laughing at stories. A rare oni could be seen, challenging any one willing to bet their liver.
As Dutch watched the events unfold, Ran walked up from behind him."Why don't you try it." She asked with a smile.
Dutch shook his head."I usually dont take alcohol if I can." He explained.
"Ran-sama!"
The voice belonged to a nekomata. She ran and jumped onto Ran. Ran laughed as she gave Chen a hug.
"Dutch-san, I would like you to meet Chen, my shikigami." Ran introduced.
Dutch returned Chen's bright smile with one of his own."Please, just Dutch." He said.
"Ran-sama, can we go see the fireflies? Wiggle is doing a night light dance." Chen asked.
Ran looked at Dutch. He smiled and motioned for her to go."I'l be fine."
As the two youkai left, Dutch walked, looking at the revelry going on. As he just walked, he passed by two blonde girls discussing about fireworks. One was wearing a witch uniform down to the broom. The other wore a simple dress and had a doll floating beside her.
"Should I go for more fuel or bigger bang?" The black white witch asked her companion.
The other girl sighed."It's a fireworks display Marisa, not a magical barrage."
Marisa grinned."More bang it is. Besides, what could go wrong, daze."
Dutch shook his head and continued walking.
As he walked down the line of stalls, a stall owner beckoned towards him.
Dutch moved to the stall. The owner was an old lady with a friendly wrinkled face.
"Boy, you just arrived here from the outside, didn't you?" She asked.
Dutch nodded."How did you know?" He asked.
The old lady laughed."Your clothing. Only outsiders would wear that kind." She said.
Dutch looked down on his clothing. He was wearing the cleaned uniform without the body armor.
"Since you're new here, have one on the house. Welcome to Gensokyo." She said as she offered him a skewer of meat with a smile.
Dutch accepted the skewer."Thank you ma'am." He answered.
Chewing on the meat, Dutch carried on.
He walked along and met Maribel and Renko. They were trying out one of the stalls, smiling happily.
"Having fun?" Dutch asked.
"Yup!" Renko answered as she tried to hit a target with her natural skill but failing at it.
He continued along his way, eager to see if there was anything that the festival had to offer.
After making a loop, he was back at the center of the village. The girl with the blue dress was there, behind the stage. She walked onto the stage and bowed.
"Introducing Alice Magatroid and her doll dance." The emcee announced.
The girl bowed before she started. Dolls appeared from behind her and flew around in a intricate series of movements. The crowd wowed at the movements of the puppets.
As Dutch watched, the nanobots in his eye changed their formation until he could see small threads of magic connecting Alice's fingers to the dolls.
He blinked, wondering why he could suddenly see magic.
Master? A mental voice asked him.
Surprised at the sudden mental voice, Dutch thought back.
Vale? Is that you? He returned.
Yes Master, it's me. What you are seeing is a ability of the vault. It grants you the ability to perceive magic. It seems that the nanobots in your body have interfaced with the vault and combined itself with it. You can now change the nanobot setting on your eyes to spot magic if you want. Vale explained.
Thanks. Dutch answered.
He watched the display. When it ended, Dutch looked up and saw the magical border for the first time.
It was a transparent blue that gave the kind of illusion that it was solid and nonexistent at the same time.
As Dutch admired the view, a movement catches his attention.
It belong to a man who was leaning against the wall. He watched the crowd like a eagle, scanning their faces with piercing eyes. His face had a scar running down it.
Dutch stared back when the man's eyes landed on him. The man looked away quickly.
Dutch continued to watch the man for a minute.
Highlight target. He thought.
...
/Target highlighted (line of sight)/
...
The man now had a red arrow over his head.
He turned to walk away.
Dutch watched the arrow disappear as it's target walked behind a wall.
Later...
The fireworks were in full swing. They arced over the sky, sending out bright bursts of sound and sparks.
Dutch was enjoying every minute of it. The line of stalls gave a good position to watch it happen. As he watch a pink dragon made of sparks fly overhead, the red arrow suddenly appeared.
He turned away from the spectacle and checked to confirm. It definitely was the same guy from before.
He was walking along the stalls. Scanning again with his eyes.
He stopped at one stall and left a piece of paper then turned around and left.
The stall owner, the same old lady from before, looked at the paper. She took out a closed sign and left.
Dutch followed the old lady. The whole event gave him the feel of something bad about to happen.
She walked along the path before turning into a alley.
Dutch pressed his back against the wall and crept up to the alley.
In the alley, the old lady and the man were talking in hushed tones.
The old lady said something to the man and he answered back in a harsh tone.
As Dutch watched, he felt a presence next to him. He turned around and there was three men looking at him. One of the men had a knife just inches away from Dutch's throat.
The man holding the knife motioned with it and the four entered the ally.
"Boss, we got a listener." One of the men said.
The scarred man stopped the conversation.
He looked up."A outsider? Typical. Your kind were always were a bunch of pests." He growled.
He threw a punch that hit Dutch in the stomach. Ditch doubled up from the pain and laid on the ground.
...
/Warning. Blunt force trauma/
...
A outline of Dutch's body appeared in his view. The stomach area was highlighted in red.
I think I felt it first. He though.
"So what now boss?" One of the men asked.
"Finish him and dump him in the forest for the youkai." The scarred man answered.
Dutch suddenly kicked out his legs. The man standing behind was knocked back onto the ground in surprise. At the same time, Dutch launched himself up and backed away as fast as he could.
And then he hit the wall.
He cursed. No running out of this one.
The man on the ground got up. Now Dutch was facing four, slowing inching towards him. The four took out knifes.
As Dutch watched the weapons facing him, he thought about how to end this fight quickly.
His nanobot enhanced brain quickly formulated an a attack plan, taking in everything and turning out a sequence.
Dutch saw as a mental self charged the four men. The first would probably try to stab him since the alley was too narrow to swing properly. Dutch would dodge out of the knife and at the same time send a chop for the man throat.
It would crush his windpipe. As the man choked, Dutch would grab the knife out of his hands.
Then on to the next man. He would go for the man's throat, cut the arteries that supply blood to the brain. Then on to the next.
A spin around him and a stab to the neck where the spine meets the skull.
The last would be simple, a throw to the neck. He will be dead before the first man even died from suffocation.
As Dutch prepared to execute the moves, his muscles already priming to move, he snapped out of the mental movie.
What the hell am I doing. He thought to himself.
Already moving, Dutch quickly modified his plan.
At the first man, Dutch dodged the expected stab and instead went for a quick strike on his forehead. The man eyes rolled up and he dropped.
Grabbing the knife from the man hands, Dutch went for the next one.
The man takes a swing at Dutch. Easily dodging the flying blade, Dutch used the hilt of his own to smash into his head and continued to the next.
Nothing special, just a quick kick to his third leg.
The last man, having watched his companions get decimated by the one outsider, lost his nerve and ran away.
Now Dutch was facing the scarred man. The old lady was crouching at the side, covering her head. Dutch walked past her and raised his knife.
"I'm leaving with her." He stated.
The man simply took out his own knife."Perhaps I underestimated you. But no." He returned.
"I highly doubt that you will last against me one on one."
The man laughed."Yes. I agree. But I outnumber you two to one."
Then a fist smashed into Dutch's head and he blacked out.
Well congrats for reaching the end.
What do you think?