Heh, heres chapter 32. Big thanks as usual to Ban3 as well as those who reviewed. Carry on and enjoy, this chapter contains history.
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The world burned.
Ashes danced, a slow, dreary thing.. or rather, a slow, dreary, wind-whipped thing.
Tenma trekked through the smoldering village, a lone wanderer amongst the scenes of devastation that littered the once prosperous hamlet. As she picked her way through the debris, her burgundy eyes both sharpened and dulled with vengeance and soul crushing sorrow at the sights that she surveyed.
This was to be a thriving village, an attempt to expand the tengu village beyond its borders. It was supposed to be safe from the war, hidden far away from the battles between the Daimyo. Now it was a ruin, the product of human cruelty and her own naivety.
She gripped her katana tightly, the rough and yet soft texture of the hilt forming a reassuring handhold above the precipice of sorrow before her. It was partially her fault for what had happened, she had trusted that the humans would keep their word, that they would keep this new village a secret from the bands of youkai hunters that were descending in the wake of the new war. She knew this could only have come from them, she just didn't know who exactly.
She let out a hiss as she regarded the most populous intelligent being in the land. It was foolish, perhaps, to think that during a war the humans would simply target their enemies alone. Entirely neutral factions were being sucked into the conflict, the war looking more like a free for all than a battle. In fact, the latest reports from the Karasu stated that this attack would definitely not be the first. Already, their scouts were tracking a formation of Samurai and Peasant troops approaching their territory, armed with the latest in rifle technology.
A stray gust of wind blew her hair out around her, bringing with it the needle like sting of loose dust and ash, she stopped mid-stride as she noticed something on the ground.. A bow. Picking up the bow, she knew with a single glance that this was a samurai's yumi, the very large bow having it's string cut, likely from combat. In a silent rage, she clenched her fist, snapping the composite bow in half. Only one group of people commanded Samurai.
The Daimyo would pay for their treachery, it seemed her trust had been misguided.
As she walked to the centre of the village, a wounded moan borne upon the wind made her start. The sound was high pitched, as if it came from a child, and that, made her heart clench. Children had no place here. This village was supposed to have been evacuated. With a heavy heart, she ran towards the source of the voice, the centre of the village where a circle released acrid smoke into the slate grey sky.
At the centre of the village, crucified on top of a cross, a young male Hakurou tengu, looking no younger than nine, moaned deliriously. His eyes were clouded with an empty look as the heat from the ashes below him rose around his body. He gazed dumbly at the approaching tengu, uncomprehending the sight of her.
"No..." Tenma whispered as she took in the sight. This was unimaginable cruelty, the stuff of otherworldly monsters. How could anyone do such a thing?
"Maybe in its death, would the Lord forgive it for its satanic existence." A voice announced behind her, cloaked in self-righteous arrogance.
Tenma unsheathed her katana as she whirled on her feet, her weapon held at the ready when she faced her opponent. Standing before her, a Tanegeshima held at the ready, was a Samurai, decked in the standard armor. What was not standard was the small wooden cross hanging from his hand, worn with age.
"You are a christian." She stated even as she stared down the barrel of the rifle.
The voice emanating from the mask had a sickening devotion to it, a brother to blind faith. "One of the converted. The foreigners have shown me the path. The right path, not the pagan ones that all the fools worship. They have also shown me the true, unholy abominations that plague this land." He said this calmly as he motioned his rifle at her and the boy tengu behind her.
Tenma bristled at the remark. "Abominations?" She coldly shot back. "And all your deeds here, killing the innocents, torturing this boy, what does this say? That you are murderers? Killers of innocents? Who are the abominations here?"
The Samurai simply kept the barrel of his rifle firmly pointed at the tengu. "The Lord forgives all. I am only ridding the earth of that which should not exist."
The continued words of blind faith made Tenma snarl. "We have existed far longer than you can imagine, human. We were there when the bushido code was created. We have seen the passage of time, fought in wars that decided the fate of Honshu. We have done so much for this land, have saved it from disaster. What have you done? You simply destroy what you touch."
The Samurai shook his head, in denial of her words. "Satan comes in many forms and speaks lies and untruths. The only way to silence this is to kill the unholy!" He cried out as he aimed and pulled his finger on the trigger of the gun.
Thwack!
Blood poured from the mask as an arrow impaled itself in the would be attacker's neck. The samurai stumbled back, stunned at his suddenly fatal wound. Then with a death rattle, he fell back, his weapon clattering across the ground.
Eri, a silver haired tengu sauntered out from behind a collapsing building, she held a yumi of her own in her deceptively dainty hands. The Hakurou tengu's eyes flashed with disapproval as she approached Tenma, her weapon held at the ready.
"Lord Tenma, if you wish to leave the village next time, at least tell me of your absence. Tracking you was not an easy task."
She chastened the Lord of the Tengu as though a mother scolding a child. She nocked another arrow in her bow. Her ears flicked around, constantly checking for the sound of other threats.
Tenma nodded thankfully at the snowy haired tengu woman. "I... I felt that I should see the devastation for myself."
Eri nodded wryly. "At least take some protection with you, the village needs you."
A moan dragged the attention of the two tengu back to the crucifix. Nodding to each other, they both set to saving the boy. Tenma summoned her wind, sending a razor sharp gale to slice the crucifix at a neat angle. The large cross toppled and collapsed heavily, sending up a cloud of ash as it slid down.
Eri was waiting on the ground. With another gale from Tenma, the majority of the cross was cut away, leaving the boy free to move his limbs even though they were still nailed to the wood. Eri caught the boy, careful not to jolt him too much.
The boy whimpered pathetically as Eri carefully laid him on the ground. His hair was just as pale as the Hakurou tengu next to him but it had a contrasting ashen stripe between his ears. His tail was a mixture of his hair color, the white and grey curling around each other in a symphony of shades. His eyes were a vivid gold-brown hue, striking, even as they were temporarily filled with a soulless emptiness.
"What is your name young one?" Tenma questioned gently as she knelt beside the boy. Instead of an answer, the young tengu simply affixed his eyes on the Karasu Lord before wrapping his arms around her neck, his body leaning against her for comfort.
"Mother..." The boy cried even as he stared at her with uncomprehending eyes. Tenma and Eri shared a worried look. They may have just saved the boy but he could be too far gone.
"Lord Tenma...I knew his parents. They were among the dead." Eri muttered softly, her voice tinged with sadness. Tenma echoed her feelings. Another family gone, ripped apart by the senseless violence. How many more would die?
The boy whimpered as he pulled himself closer to the Karasu , as if understanding the news. Tenma wrapped around the boy protectively, her arms positioning themselves to best support his weight. Looking at the pitiful child clinging to her, she knew the choice she had to make.
"We will take him back to the village. We will care for him. Too many have died. We must protect what we have left." With her proclamation delivered, she unveiled her magnificent wings and spread them in preparation for flight, her arms becoming tight vises to hold the boy steady.
Eri nodded. "I will send a messenger. The apothecaries will be ready as soon as you arrive." She backed up her promise with a deft gesture of her hands. Answering her soundless call, an albino crow, with plumage as snowy white as its mistress's hair, landed on her smooth arm. With an obedient caw, it stretched out its right leg, offering its master the paper and ink attachment on its leg.
Tenma nodded thankfully. "Then I will be off." And she burst off in a gush of wind.
As she rose, smoke curled up around her and the weight on her arms faded away, Tenma regarded the change with surprise. It was the second time in consecutive days that she had had such vivid dreams. While vivid dreams were not anything special, to have two in two days had to mean something.
As she thought about it in her head, she realized something. They happened in places that had some kind of parallel meaning to her dreams. The arena resulted in the conversation with the human foreigner who was her enemy and the orphanage provided her with this latest dream.
Curiously, Tenma wondered how that tengu orphan was doing. The last she heard of him, he was performing well and was slated to be one of the wolves' captains. She thought about his recovery with a rueful smile.
Coaxing the boy out of his trauma had been a difficult task. Her best healers were able to wipe clean the physical scars, but the mental ones were ingrained deep into his consciousness. It had been a painstaking 15 years before they could get him to smile. It then took many more years before he could once again join society.
The very presence of a cross would send him into hysterics. As time passed, the tengu slowly overcame his fear, but Tenma knew that he could never completely overcome the trauma of that event. He would be another casualty of the violence, left to suffer for the rest of his life.
"Interesting that you would think of that child. I assume that children like him were your inspiration to throw your support wholeheartedly into the orphanage. I wholly did not expect this to happen in Gensokyo. Then again, I should have seen it coming. It adds to the complexity." Yukari noted as her words jumped across subjects in massive leaps. The blond youkai lay on a gap lazily, her disheveled clothes giving the impression that she had lain there for a long time.
"Yukari. What are you doing here?" Tenma hissed as she scanned the youkai. Somehow, having the sage of Gensokyo inside her dreams felt like a violation. Her dreams were private and hers alone.
Yukari giggled like a teenager watching an entertaining little game. "Watching you of course. Who would have thought that you, of all people, would have feelings for him. Oh, the humanity!" She laughed as her legs kicked around in humor.
"Get out." The tengu hissed.
Yukari stifled any remaining laughter before giving Tenma a knowing grin. "Oh I will, but I will leave you with.. Let's call it a parting gift. You are not alone nor are you superior in your feelings. In fact, you are outclassed." She finished before falling through the gap.
"What do you mean!" Tenma yelled at the closing gap but no answer was to be had. The youkai lord snarled in anger at the cryptic answer.
That infuriating Yakumo!
Tenma unleashed a wind tornado at the spot the gap formerly occupied. As the air howled, she felt her anger slowly dissipating, dying down to a small ember.
With nothing to do, she settled back in her sleep, closing her eyes and feeling her consciousness drifting away.
This time, she had a peaceful, dreamless sleep. One that cloaked her memories of the dream in obscurity.
Morning
Orphanage
Tenma rose sleepily. She looked around in a daze. Somehow, things seemed different.
This bed texture felt strange. Nothing like the palace...
First she saw the she remembered yesterday. And the orphanage. And what had happened.
Groaning, she mashed her head into her pillow. She had actually cried in front of Dutch. Her, the thousand year leader of the tengu, in front of a human. Well, there goes her reputation.
She could not help it however, his words had ripped open an old memory of a time when her people were threatened simply because they were youkai. Fields of dead of both sides flashed across her eyes. It was a sad time, more so for her, since she was their leader.
Tenma remembered shutting herself in her room and crying. As a leader who cared for her people, the thought of her people dying was gut wrenching. Even more so when she had to sacrifice some for the many. Silently, Tenma wished for forgiveness from the souls of the brave tengu who had fought and died for the village. She had made sure that the village would remember their deeds, through voice and pen.
Even so, she knew she would carry them until the day she died. It was the burden of a leader who cared.
She knew however, that she would soil their sacrifice if she did not take the future they had died for. With a heave of strength, she got off the futon and stood up. And promptly stumbled on her feet. Catching herself before she collided with the wall, she used the support to steady and assess herself. Wow, she had never felt this weak since... Well, for a long time.
Waiting until she had once again got a grip on how to successfully traverse a room, she slowly made her way to the door. She felt as if her muscles were rubber, sluggishly working their power to get her to her destination. When she pulled open the door, she was greeted with the sight of Dutch reaching for the now out of reach knob. The human started, a slight hint of surprise briefly turning into a smile.
"Finally, you're up." He said cheerfully as he moved aside to let her pass. Tenma looked at him with a greater level of surprise. Somehow, he seemed both happy and guarded at the same time.
"Did something happen?" She asked as she walked out into the hallway, making a point of presenting a proper image to Dutch. The God's knew how much further her reputation could drop if she showed a weak sight to anyone.
Dutch smiled, half apprehensively and half in elation. "I lost something, but I found it again. Then I learned the price of it."
Tenma frowned at his cryptic answer. It did give away some information but without the source material, it was pretty much worthless. Deciding to leave the question for sometime later, she looked out at the cloudy sky displayed through the window. "How long was I sleeping?" She asked as they started down the corridor, the clouds masked any indication of sun position from which she could guess the time.
"It is approximately thirty minutes before noon. I decided to let you sleep in, on account of certain factors." Dutch answered as he let a pair of laughing children pass by him. The sight of joy caused his lips to pull up into a light smile.
"What?! Why?" Tenma exclaimed, surprised and slightly embarassed by the amount time she had spent sleeping. Normally, she would be up by the light of dawn to address the morning issues before the village rose for the day ahead. To learn that she had slept late made her feel as if she had behaved snobbishly, something she would very much like to avoid.
Dutch gave her an inquiring look."Because during the arena match yesterday, you, for lack of a better word, looked exhausted. Including all the exertions later, I felt it prudent to let you have a long rest."
Tenma turned a slight tint of pink. "Ah, I see. Thanks, I guess." She mumbled, hiding the truth that she still felt a little winded from the activities the day before.
Then Dutch's face turned solemn. "Also, I would like to apologize for yesterday. It was quite crass of me to say what I said and I should have been more sensitive."
The look on his face made Tenma rush to counter his words. "N-no. It is not your fault. I merely asked for the opinion of a person who had experience. If anyone is to blame, it would be me for asking in the first place."
'She feels bad that I feel bad and rushes to explain herself. Quite like you Vale.' Dutch noted as Tenma countered his words with her own. Little did the Tengu lord know that she was now having a conversation with two people, one of them eavesdropping without her knowledge.
'Hmmph!' Vale huffed, giving him an adorably cute mental picture of her standing with crossed arms, complete with a pout and angry flush. The two way mental mind link was a product that had come out of the soul bond that now existed between the two of them. They could have clear conversations, complete without any signs of it, unlike earlier times when they couldn't. Not only that, but he found that the mental pictures that only appeared once when Vale had shown her disapproval for his asinine words at the Moriya shrine was now a common occurrence as images of her would pop up when ever she felt like it.
"How about we decide to leave things as they are and shift to more present concerns? Like taking the time to decide where we shall go from here?" He suggested, preferring to bury the subject before both of his counterparts escalated their respective issues.
Tenma took the offered way out and nodded. "That would be a great idea."
They continued down the hallway, each occupied with their own thoughts.
Dutch sighed inwardly. If anything, he realized that he was in a quandary. The events of the night before brought a new series of challenges. Since Vale had declared her stance, he had to tread lightly around Tenma, lest the Vault Entity became so jealous of her that she did something drastic. He still remembered what had happened when they had first met in her current form and he bet that paralysis was the least of her abilities.
On the other hand, Dutch knew that both of the females had some sort of capacity to affect him. If Vale's signified love, how about Tenma? He guessed that he had some sort of feelings for Tenma too but there were three big hurdles for him. The first was his cute but dangerous Vault Entity of course, but he also did not know just how deep his feelings for Tenma ran. The possibility of him loving two females was... frightening. Dutch did not know if he had the capacity to love twice. The very idea of loving another person with Vale already his would be like a betrayal of her to him and he would rather shoot himself before such an event occured.
Tenma frowned inwardly. Dutch was acting normal today but she could sense something different about him. It was as if there was another presence making itself known, hovering around him. A silent one, content to simply radiate its existence. She could feel it though. It gave off a particular feeling, one that she could feel very explicitly.
He's mine. Stay away. The presence warned.
'Not - going - to - happen.' She swore, a surge of defiance seemed to well up from within her. If this presence sought to have Dutch, Tenma was sure she could free him of this... problem. She would do all that she could to assert her superiority over this upstart presence.
'You will have to make me stay away~' She taunted. This was a fight that she was proficient in. This presence had no idea what it was getting into. Right now, the best way for her to fight this presence was to show it that she was not afraid of it.
"I know this must seem strange after what happened yesterday but I have an inquiry. Just how do you apply your...skills?" She asked, squelching the uneasy feeling she had from asking such a question. A leader of a society asking about the methods of forced societal collapse. Of all the things she has asked for in her life, this had to be one of the most ironic and despicable ones yet.
Dutch turned to her, his face a picture of surprise. 'After what had happened yesterday, one would expect this subject to be taboo. And here we have her asking. Fine. If she so wishes.' Thoughts drifted around the man's mind.
"It would depend on the situation. I think a recount of one experience would be an easier way to explain how it works. I will tell you about it later, when we have reached the dinner hall. You look like you could do with a meal."
And with those words, Tenma's hunger was now a burning flame. Funny how she had not felt it until she was reminded. She had been so focused on trying to keep up her own appearance that she had ignored her own needs, she noted. She should loosen up, she decided, before she wiped herself out.
Vale looked through Dutch's eyes and scowled. Tenma was being adamant in apparently ignoring her warnings. The sight of the tengu lord next to him made her snarl like a cat, her wings stretched out in anger. Inside her, an angry beast roared an echo of her sentiments.
'Did you say something?' Dutch asked curiously as he heard the sound through his mind link. The question made Vale snap out of her jealous moment as she rushed to reassure Dutch.
'Ah, nothing.' She answered, blushing in embarrassment at the realization that he had heard her. Quickly, she closed the mind link before any more of her jealous actions leaked across to him.
Behind her, Nora laughed at the antics of the soul bound entity. "Heh, you are just like that group of admirers that the three of us picked up along our adventures. All those jealous acts remind me of them. Ah, old times."
Vale turned around with a pout, her face still red. "Quiet! I made you come here, I can make you leave." She warned in an humorous attempt to assert her position over the memory fragment, smiling slightly.
Said memory fragment laughed out loud. "And if you did honey, you would have completely wasted all of your time and none of mine. This is all new to me after all. Besides, shouldn't you be less concerned about losing your control on Dutch? You all but own him." She said as she ruffled the entity's silvery blue hair affectionately.
Vale kept her pout as she let the brunette mess up her hair."But with that bird around, I can't help but feel jealous."
Nora grinned reassuring. "Don't worry. If there is one thing Dutch cannot do, it is betray you willingly. He will be there for you."
The fragment allowed a measuring eye to roam the entity's figure, weighing and guaging her features. "Besides, you have quite a few assets for your age look. Not over the top but definitely not a runaway either. If he leaves you, it definitely wouldn't be because of your figure."
Vale covered her chest protectively with her arms, blushing madly as she took a step back from the memory fragment. "Wha-what are you saying?"
Nora laughed evilly. "I'm saying that if you wanted, you could break him using your body."
"What?!" Vale screamed in embarrassment as her mind deciphered the hidden meaning behind Nora's words. Her red face turned even redder as she struggled to purge her mind of the idea. 'Think pure thoughts, think pure thoughts, think pure thoughts...' She mentally chanted as she created a hovering crystal that glowed threateningly.
"D-do you know what you are saying?" She stuttered in warning as she backed away from the slowly approaching brunette who stretched out her arms hungrily.
"Of course. And as a person who cares for Dutch's well being, I need to check the body of his partner to ensure that it is suitable. Don't worry, Dutch is used to my behaviour." Nora said happily as a dark shadow clung lewdly around her eyes.
"Stay away!" Vale cried out in fear as she created more crystals and launched them at the brunette who launched herself at the trembling entity, laughing maniacally.
'Somehow, I get the feeling that right now Nora just had her pervert mode activated. I pity whoever is on the receiving end of it.' Dutch thought to himself as he and Tenma both ate their meal. Funny how the figurehead and leader of their group, a female, was more perverted than the subordinates, both males. Reminded of his friends in the outside world, he wondered if they were worried about him. Probably not, seeing how they knew how he operated.
They probably thought that he had disappeared off the face of the Earth to clean up some loose ends. Project Youkai left a lot of debris in the wake of it's collapse and as beholder to a large amount of knowledge stored in his nanotech enhanced mind, Dutch knew what remained of the program. Smiling darkly to himself, he wondered if anyone had any idea about the dangerous knowledge he had at his disposal. An idea just barely in it's infancy in the militaries around the world and yet right now he had access to it's perfected physical forms. Completely ready to fire and destroy civilization.
He thought of the weapon firing, of the damage it would cause when it struck. He savored the idea that only he had the power and the thought that absolutely no one knew of it's ultimate incantation, it's power nor it's existence. It was quite intoxicating, to know that in a single thought, you could completely and utterly change the world for the worse.
"Dutch? Is something the matter?" Tenma asked as she looked at the human. He looked, for the lack of a better word, power drunk. She had only seen that kind of look before on the faces of leaders who arrayed an army of sycophants to feed their ego, not a former shadow soldier. Frankly, it looked concerning.
He snapped out off his trance. Blinking away the last traces of power in his eyes, he gave her a calm shake of his head.
"Nothing. Just remembering some old information." He answered.
Tenma looked at him with an unconvinced expression digging at her face. She decided to let the matter go, for he had his secrets and she had her own.
"So what do you want to know? A city drowned in anarchy? Or perhaps a simple assassination? Or how about a simple battle? A lot has happened in my life and you can only pick one of them." Dutch pushed his plate away and steepled his finger lazily. Despite his laid back tone, Tenma could easily see that this was uncomfortable for him.
She gulped. All three provided options were ones that she felt were less than fine for her. But she asked for them and she had to know just how he was, if not for her own knowledge, for Gensokyo's safety, lest the human in front of her ran amok. Even though she thought that such an event seemed distant, far more unlikely things had happened before, especially given the unique nature of Gensokyo.
"I choose the first option." Tenma said as she pushed away her own plate, her appetite evaporated. She steeled herself for what was about to come.
Dutch grinned. It was a smile devoid of humor, filled with dark emotions and the promise of darker events.
4 years ago
[Redacted]
[Redacted]
City center
The yells of angry voices filled the streets. The human column marched down the road, a primal rage inherently strong in numbers forcing back the policemen sent to contain them. The air was thick with human emotions as people power rose in a massive onslaught against their leaders.
In a side alley, Dutch laughed darkly as he watched the display. In a way, he envied these people, their simple lives dictated by simple actions. If they were unhappy with the current establishment, simply show their anger by gathering in groups and marching to the government center. Boring lifes, safe and repetitive, with only that little they could do enough to satisfy them. If they knew the coming storm, they would flee in terror.
For him however, things had to be of a far more grander scale. To save the many, the few must suffer. After all his planning, after all his considerations, he knew that this was the only way forward. Human nature simply could not be trusted to follow through with what is right. To wait is to stand in front of the gun, defiant and dying, heroic, but it served no practical purpose other then to create a martyr and what is a martyr if there is no one to inspire?
Like those in the streets, he wanted to send a message. However, his message would resonate far better with the world than any protest would. His method would be extremely amoral, his tactics completely unthinkable and the result absolutely predictable.
Walking out into the streets, he joined seamlessly with the group as they chanted their slogans and held up their sign boards along their journey. He knew from planning that this was but a single river feeding into the city center. All around the city, people were angry and they were willing to show it. He needed to send his message where there was the greatest concentration, so that his efforts would pay off.
He knew they would attribute this event to hooligans, anarchists and the usual rabble, but that was what made him invisible. The wide general definition would simply give him another cloak by which to cover himself. Why think so deep when far more reasonable answers protest right outside your doorstep.
As he continued down the road, he finally reached his destination. The city center, a crucial hub which traffic moved through, now the site of the largest gathering of angry people the city had ever experienced. The noise was unbelievable, a primal roar of feeling that resonated across the crowd.
Dutch simply huddled inwards over his hoodie, exposing as little face as possible. Moving along the edge of the crowd, he reach his location, a van parked along the side of the road. Using a pair of keys, he opened the door and looked inside.
Satisfied with what he saw, he closed the door and locked it, careful to block the sight of any protesters from seeing the contents of the van. His deed done,he headed out into the sea of people, always hiding himself from view, away from prying eyes.
In the sea of humanity, he smiled bitterly. This gathering of angry people was intended to show their leaders a posture of strength, of unity against the conditions that they had endured for so long, but he knew humankind was fickle. This show of unity was as weak as a house of cards.
And he simply needed to push. Right. There.
In a blur of action, he introduced his fist to the side of a drunk, angry man shouting along with the people around him. It was a calculated sequence, forged by years of experience to simply stun and hurt, not to knockout. The moment the man was struck, a timer appeared in Dutch's view.
10 seconds.
As the man fell, Dutch turned around and forced his way into the crowd. The angry atmosphere drew away the attention of the people around him and he projected a forceful air around him. The crowd parted as he continued along his way.
5 seconds
By now,the drunk man had recovered from his attack. His head clouded with alcohol and ringing with pain, he got up, stumbling against the other protesters as he looked around for the culprit. Seeing a hooded man next to him, he swung a punch, eager to exact his revenge.
1 second
By now, the fight had escalated. The drunk man simply swung his fists about in a wanton manner, he whacked the people around him and set them off too. People were fighting in the middle of the crowd, the combat rapidly drawing in bystanders, each releasing their built up anger physically.
Zero
The door to the van parked along side the road clicked shut. Inside, Dutch opened the trapdoor on the floor of the vehicle and entered the dark opening of the city sewer system. With a grunt of effort, he slid the cover shut, making sure to press a button on the rusted underside of the van.
In the darkness, he simply strolled towards his new goal, the walls of the sewers blocking out the chaos overhead. Compared to the deafening shouts earlier, the silence was pure bliss. His footsteps echoed around him in comforting staccato taps. Cobwebs and dank, stale air huddled around him and clung to his face.
By the time he had exited the sewers, city law enforcement were all but wiped out in the attempt to contain the free for all in the city center. The van along the side of the street was consumed in flames, the result of apparently faulty wiring and a leaking fuel tank.
By the time he had left the city altogether, riots were exploding everywhere.
When he had finally passed the border, the city was in flames and the rest of the country was drowning in anarchy.
As Dutch finished his tale, he took a look at Tenma, curious to watch her reaction. As expected, the silver haired tengu lord looked queasy from the tale as she tried to comprehend what he had just told her.
"Why?" She asked as she struggled to understand why would anyone do such a thing.
At the question, Dutch sighed. "That was the killer question. You see, normally this sort of event would be ignored, since this is a rather common occurance in the outside world. However, I received information that the leaders of the country had actually intended to send in an army to quell the protesters by using exactly what I did but far worse. This and several other political moves would have given them total control of the country with the army as their tool. This would have sent a wave of fear across the country and no one wanted a massacre nor dictatorship. So I decided to circumvent this by setting off the crowd in a way that would be easy to spread the feeling before the army deployment was complete. The sudden violence caught the leaders off guard and they rushed the deployment of their forces, resulting in massive confusion. The result, the country leaders were overthrown in the confusion and a would be dictatorship was stopped."
Tenma blinked. "That was actually quite a good move. You saved the country."
To that statement, Dutch laughed bitterly, his laugh dying into a equal bitter smile. "And in the process, killed several hundred people. You see, everything that happens hinges on human nature. From my research, I learnt that the army general likely would have objected and the soldiers might have simply disobeyed their orders . You know why I still did it? Because I couldn't take that risk. I couldn't bet that a conscience would triumph over orders. What has happened has happened and all those lives that I theoretically saved can never compare to the lives I destroyed. Out of the two outcomes, it was the better ending but whether what I did was necessary or not, I will never know. You know what is the best part? I would do it all over again if I had to."
The look of self-loathing on his face was so strong that Tenma had to do something. Placing her hand over his, she favoured him with a sad smile.
"But you had nothing else as an answer. You did what you had to do." She consoled him gently. Dutch looked up at her as her eyes channeled an unspoken sentence between them.
You are not alone. She whispered... Or at least conveyed wordlessly. The feeling passing between equals. Both knew the feeling of hard choices and to another equal, there was a kinship that went deep.
It made him nod thankfully.
Nora smiled sadly as she looked at the view. The fact that Tenma could console him after what he had said gave her a warm feeling. It made her approve of the tengu lord. Maybe Dutch could finally find the happiness that he deserved.
Beside her, Vale watched sadly, streams of tears running down her face.. She had received the feeling of self loathing at full blast from Dutch and it was painful, to say the least. The cry of sorrow that she released was so heart wenching it stopped Nora in her tracks before she could reach her. To feel this much self hate was like stabbing oneself repeatedly. Dutch kept his feelings to himself and this was one of the few times that she would ever learn about it.
He always kept what he felt to himself. No complaints. She was always curious about what went on in his mind, aside from the standard bemoaning that even she did, he never cried out in anger or frustration.
"Why do you always keep it in?" She once asked him. She saw the change in his eyes, the pain that threatened to explode outward from her probing question. For a split second, he looked less like the man he was forced to become and more like the boy he should have been, lost in the pain of what he had experienced.
He had returned her question with an idle chuckle. "Not worth much is it." He answered as his humor eclipsed the pain that was revealed in that split second. She gave up the line of questioning and Dutch continued to keep his pain more closely than his secrets.
"How long must you keep doing this? To keep all this hate locked inside you." She whispered deploring. She looked away, having seen enough for herself.
The angelic entity clenched her fist as her face changed from sorrowful to determined. She wiped away her tears, turning to the memory fragment and speaking with conviction in her voice.
"I want you to train me."
Nora looked in surprise at the entity. This new request was unexpected. After all, Vale was safe in the vault. The hunters were called off once she had returned to the control room and no physical object save her soulmate could enter.
"Why? Do you know what you are really asking?" Nora probed inquisitively. This new development was interesting. This was something Dutch would be more inclined to ask for, even when in a completely safe place. Maybe both sides were influencing each other.
Vale nodded resolutely. "I saw his face when I died. That look... I-I can never forget it. I will not let him experience that again, if I can help it." She answered, her face twisting into an anguished grimace as she remembered his expression.
Nora grinned a predatory smile. "Fine. But I must warn you. This will be brutal. I won't do things half-heartedly. There won't be any predictable trainings, no simple training regime or actions. I will be attacking you with what I have. You must learn to adapt or perish. Are you still willing?"
Her soon to be student answered with a hard look, one that looked out of place on her adorable features. Her wings gleamed with light as they stretched out to their full glory and her sky blue eyes shone like a morning sky. At that very moment, she looked more like an avenging angel than a young girl.
Nora simply smiled wider. All this was simply an appetiser before the true material was revealed.
Dutch's memory
Atlantic Sea
Decommissioned Haruna Class Destroyer
Christened Depth Watcher
Vale flapped her wings as she hovered over the gently rolling deck of the destroyer. Nora simply smiled as she took in a breath of salty air. The azure waters stretched out to the horizon and beyond, not a single object to mar it's clarity. Light glinted off the gentle waves, forming the illusion of bright diamonds on the surface.
"Feels great, doesn't it? Come on, you won't feel any different from this. Land on it." She urged. Vale took on an uneasy expression as she landed on top of the deck. Grabbing onto the railing along the side of the ship, she held on as she let her body get used to the rolling motion of the stationary ship.
"Right, now that we are both on this thing..." Nora said as she snapped her fingers. Vale yelped in surprise as she felt her mental mind link with Dutch disappear.
"Right, no special unfair advantages to even the score or distractions. Just you and me." Nora continued predatorily as she charged Vale. The entity backed away as her opponent grabbed her arm and in one move, sent her over the edge. The splash formed an appropriate finish to her attack as she looked back. Vale reappeared on top of the deck, drenched in salty water.
"Wha..?" The stunned entity uttered bewildered as she tried to reorient herself with the sudden events around her. Her soaked clothes clung to her wet body as she stared blankly at the dry metal underneath her.
"First rule of fighting, know your situation. The better you know the details , the easier you can adapt to them. Remember any and all points of interests." Nora barked out as she held out a hand. A line of memory weave appeared over her hand, coiling around itself like a snake.
"This is your situation. What I hold in my hand is a memory. If you can reach the criteria that I have set for you, you get to peer inside this memory. After all, you haven't seen all of Dutch's important memories yet have you?" She offered with a wry smile. An incentive was a good motivator.
Vale dragged herself up with a grunt of effort. With a yell, she charged Nora.
The water splashed 3 seconds later.
Orphanage of lost dreams
Tenma silently contemplated what she had learnt as she watched Dutch carry away their plates.
From what she could tell, the man she knew hid a painful past, one even she would have trouble comprehending. To do such a dark deed, for the right reasons, was far more painful than simply doing it for evil. It was a wonder he hadn't lost his mind yet.
"He seems like a good man." An aged voice pierced her thoughts.
Tenma looked up to see Rosa smiling down at her. "He is." She remarked wistfully as she glanced to see his back disappearing around the corner.
Rosa grinned with wisdom as she moved to sit opposite the tengu lord. Her face filled with hidden knowledge, she littered her next words with a sprinkling of amusement.
"Is that why you wish for him, Lord Tenma?"
Tenma glanced in stupefied shock as she heard her true name spoken out aloud by the elderly human. Other than her split second of shock, she controlled her expressions very carefully, making sure to present a composed face to Rosa.
"How did you guess?" She probed curiously. If Rosa knew her identity, it would be a fool's game to deny it. She had to find out how her alias was broken.
Rosa simply chuckled. "I can never forget a benefactor of the orphanage. Especially one like you who has done so much for the children. Or perhaps you don't remember?"
A long unseen memory flashed by, one of a human female requesting her permission to establish an orphanage so close to Tengu territory. Tenma blinked as she tried to match that young impassioned woman in her memory to the aged one in her eyes. As she remembered the events that happened that day, she started.
"Ah." She simply stated as a flash of remembrance lit up in her eyes.
Rosa laughed softly. "Yes it was. I wanted to get your attention remember? So I challenged your head of security to a duel. I still remember that fight as if it was only hours ago. The feeling in the air was exciting, wasn't it? A human actually challenging one of the most powerful tengu in the village. Most would have deemed it suicidal."
"You were soundly defeated, if I recall." The tengu lord mused, her head cocked to the side, a slender finger tapping on her cheek.
The human elder nodded humorously. " I was fighting a youkai with a skill level that was high, with the experience of years far beyond mine and on her home ground. I wasn't going to stand a chance at all."
"And yet you still did." Tenma finished, looking confused at the idea.
Rosa smiled serenely. "When you have people important to you, you would do anything to help them. No matter what you get in return, you will do it because they matter. All the actions in the world simply cannot measure up to the people that are special to you."
She affixed Tenma with an introspective eye. " Perhaps you would have seen it in the people close to you. Maybe not directly but it's either shown or implied.
"You are of great importance to the village. Like it or not, your safety is far more important than me beating some random youkai. If I can minimize the amount of danger you have to face, then yes, I would. Even if it hurts me."
Tenma looked away. "Yes, he did say that." She mumbled quietly as she avoided the gaze of the human.
Those words made Rosa smile in delighted surprise. "Oh,I didn't mean him. But that is interesting. He understands your importance and is willing to sacrifice himself for that. That shows quite a level of selflessness."
"He does have quite a large amount of it." Tenma returned with a small smile.
"So what do you see in him?" Came the question, rammed straight at the gates. Tenma froze as she struggled to answer the deceptively impossible question.
"I can't tell you. I really don't know how to explain it. It was like a shadow that crept up and suddenly he was there. He did nothing special but somehow, he managed to do all the right things. Said the right words..." Tenma answered as she reminisced the time they spent together. Even if it was short, the last few days were filled with adventure. Her heart fluttered with anticipation as she realized what the days ahead might offer. The promise of a journey with Dutch gave her heart palpitations.
"But is there anything that is special to you?" Rosa probed further.
Tenma gazed into memory. "...Him. That's all I can say. He arrived, accepting that youkai existed and was willing to exchange with them. That was notable to me."
"Are there any faults that you find about him?" Came the next question.
Tenma clenched her fist as she remembered the events of the day before. "His recklessness concerning his own life. He is willing to place himself in danger just for the safety of others while completely disregarding his own."
Rosa's eyes crinkled with mirth at Tenma statement. "Most would see that as a blessing, not a fault."
"I don't. He is risking himself." The silver haired youkai lord hissed with conviction.
Rosa watched the changes in the youkai with amused eyes. "So you love him."
The statement made Tenma snap her head back to reality. "Wha...no, impossible." She flushed as blood gushed into her cheeks before spreading to the rest of her face. It seemed the tengu lord had become a brilliant ruby... or at least her face had.
Rosa grinned as she took on a shark like smile. Blood was in the water. "Tell me, Lord Tenma. If what you feel is not love, what is it? You desire him, that is obvious. You accept him for who he is, even his faults. What other reason can justify your behavior?"
"But it would be impossible. A youkai and a human, together? The chances of it happening simply do not exist."
The fervent denials simply strengthened the elderly human's resolve to let the tengu lord see the truth. "Then what is it? Human youkai bonds have happened before. You desire him in a way that others don't. What else can there be to say?"
Tenma simply covered her face with her hands as she shook her head. "No no no, it's just not possible. It cannot happen." She cried out. A public human youkai relationship would be shunned in most places of Gensokyo, even for her. If even a rumor reached the ears of the village, she would be kicked out of office faster than Shameimaru could deliver her paper. Even though youkai and humans both mixed together, inter-species bonds were incredibly rare. Love was where both sides drew the line.
"It already has. Look inside, Lord Tenma. You cannot deny yourself." Rosa left the warning as she turned away. Unseen by the tengu, she smiled to herself. The seed had been planted. It was simply a matter of time before Tenma would succumb to it.
It was surprising at first. As she took care of the children the night before, she had seen the two figures on the wall, one supporting the other as the lightest whisper of crying drifted through the window. She had seen the actions that happened, the key moves that signified the deep feelings they both had for each other.
It shocked her when she realized that all this movement was unconscious. Anyone with a good eye could see the obvious feelings they held for each other except, apparently, the people themselves. This could not last. Rosa had to make sure that they knew their feelings before it brought problems to both of them. She was a firm subcriber to the true love has no bounds school of thought and she applied it to her daily life. Right now,it would be useful in what it brought.
As she left the room, she saw Dutch returning from his errand. She signaled her wish to talk to him. The young man complied, eyes curious to why she would call him.
"Your companion seems to be a good person." She started, using the same starting sentence as she did in Tenma.
Dutch smiled. "We try to be." He answered, his tone hinting at the hard choices they both had to made.
Rosa blinked. This was already getting interesting. "How did you meet?" She inquired.
"I was given an assignment and she just happened to be in the area. After that, things rolled on." He answered as he shrugged at his own words. Truthfully, it was an complete simplification of the events that happened. That being said, it was the best he could come up without straying into lying.
"Ah, I see." Rosa answered as she took in the information. By now, Tenma's pet human was much less a running joke and more of an actual title. Somehow, someone brought up the idea that this new outsider who was under Tenma control was basically her new right hand man. As such, he was dangerous and should be watched carefully, lest he somehow inexplicably advanced the Tengu village's agenda over others.
Yet when Rosa looked into those blue eyes, she saw in his eyes not danger but instead a window into a lost person's mind. He looked just as lost as the children she took in. To her, those looks were one of the most heart breaking things she had seen. Those eyes were the eyes of a person who had given up on his life.
And all that was hidden within those eyes. She knew, without a doubt, that this young man here had seen and done things that grown men would fear. The pain of it was etched into his eyes.
"Ah, I shouldn't hold you back from your partner. Please, return to her. I have to see to the children." The human elder said as she decided to cut short her inquiry. All the information she inferred was interesting enough. She decided not to pry any further.
Back at the room, Tenma was silently contemplating her situation. She absentmindedly brushed back a lock of silver hair as she engaged in introspection.
Dutch.
That human male both enticed her and infuriated her. In the few days since they had met, he had managed to coax out a wide range of emotions from her, something even centuries old tengu would find impossible to accomplish. He even managed to almost draw her into a kiss, completely without any notice whatsoever. He had actually bitten her, something that would normally result in his death.
She checked her hand by reflex. As her youkai senses scanned for any mark on her hand, even though she knew there was none, she looked and realized that even then, while he was doing that act, he was gentle. His teeth did not bite into her skin anymore than it actually caressed it. Just thinking about it made her flush gently.
And... yet when she dug deeper, she concluded that Dutch was an enigma to her. All that she knew was more than often just the experiences of his time in Gensokyo. Yes, he also had some sort of connection with Yukari. If anything, Tenma knew that if Yukari was into this, things were at a level that even she might have trouble comprehending.
Somehow, Tenma felt that she was entering into something that could be well over her head. Something was about to happen and Dutch would be the catalyst.
Ah, think of the human and the human shall appear.
Dutch got a bad feeling as he looked at Tenma. The tengu lord looked like she was deep in thought before he entered. If past experiences taught him anything, it was that something was about to happen and it would be big.
His eyes drifted upwards towards the heavens which at the moment were concealed by a dilapidated ceiling, if she proclaimed her love for him right after Vale did, this would be an impossible situation in so many ways for the three of them. Suffice to say. Dutch feared for Vale's reaction should that happen. Involuntary vault confinement was not on his list of things to do.
What he needed was a diversion. Something to take her mind off him. And he had just the right question to ask. One that he realized he should have asked yesterday.
"Teri, I have a question. Since you are a crow, how come you don't use your powers?" He asked as he took his former spot opposite her.
Tenma glanced at him at his sudden question. She temporary held off her line of thought as she set herself on the task of explaining.
"In my position, if I used my powers, it would be obvious what I was. In the end, I only used my power in front of my guard. I'm actually a better fighter with the sword." She answered, her prefered weapon clinking by her side. Rosa was strangely perfectly fine with weapons next to her charges. It was slightly unnerving, seeing children running happily around lethal weapons that could lop off their heads with a simple swing.
"But you aren't in the village. Wouldn't you be free to use your powers? Or perhaps there is another reason?" Dutch shot back mockingly. The bait had been thrown. It was time to see if the bird would bite. No pun intended.
Tenma pursed her lips at the allegory. Although he was not fully serious, his last words strayed into dangerous territory. To her, there was only one way to really prove her capability.
"Perhaps you wish a demonstration of my power? In fact, how about a match between the two of us. It would be useful in learning each of our different strengths and weaknesses." She replied calmly, her tone however challenged Dutch to say no.
He winced inwardly. This was expected but he really did not wish to have to fight Tenma. Frankly, she looked like she could curb-stomp him into the ground. All while looking beautiful he might add.
"Can I say no?" He returned with an expectant face. There could only be one answer for him.
Tenma adopted a sly smile as she affixed him with a hard look that arrested his gaze. As she held his look, she shifted smoothly, her body curving to face at an angle away from him, the light catching the curve of her breast and lighting up the tips of her hair, giving her an angelic silvery glimmer around her pale face. Her contrasting burgundy eyes seemed to bore into his soul as she leaned towards him, holding him captive in the power of her gaze while he dumbly stared back at her, a mortal looking at the beauty of a being beyond his imagination.
"Of course not." Came that sultry silky voice again, completing the most alluring image Dutch had seen in his life. Needless to say, all his resolve crumbled in the face of this...this unbelievably enchanting image, this impossibly beautiful woman.
Dutch reddened from the sight of her as his mouth working unconsciously to utter the one feeling his mind was experiencing.
"Wow." He breathed out, his eyes still held captive by Tenma's gaze. The almost inaudible word made Tenma smirk.
"Well then, I'll be waiting for you outside." She continued before rising up and leaving. Her counterpart's eyes followed her as she crossed the threshold of the door and stayed there, long after she was gone. Dutch was left to himself in the room, his mind recovering sluggishly from the womanly assualt.
As he shook himself out from the trance, he struggled to comprehend the powerful female that he was partnered to, that was some seriously powerful stuff she had just used on him. He made a note to always keep in mind that Tenma was both a youkai and a woman. Both were powerful in their own right but when combined, he had practically folded like putty.
As he rose, he realised something that made him shudder in fear and something else too. Something about Vale and Tenma. Both females were powerful in their own right. And if he wasn't careful, when the collision came, and he was sure that it would happen, the effects of it would be one for the record books.
Better run for cover.