Chapter 8: Shinki
Rumia had returned to Makai earlier that evening, but she had not returned to Pandaemonium. Instead, she had gone back to Kana, to the far reaches of Makai that had once been Hokkai (they had tried to hide their location from Shinki's eyes, but it hadn't exactly worked). Shinki wouldn't admit it out loud, but inside she had been utterly devastated. Alice and Yumeko both knew that it must have had a profound effect on the Makai goddess, but she would not say so.
She was happy for Kana, at least. She knew that she cared for Rumia (her Rumia), in a way not unlike the way Shinki did. Though she doubted Kana realized it just yet. But she was also immensely envious of the troublesome poltergeist. She'd stolen Rumia away from her, when she'd been Shinki's first. Not just the so-called 'evil' Rumia, but both Rumias; because Kana must have enabled the 'evil' Rumia to win out. Why else would she have gone to Kana without a word to Shinki?
Shinki supposed she could have taken Rumia back by force. She was more than powerful enough to wipe Kana from existence, now that she knew what to expect in terms of her abilities. But what would that truly accomplish? It would only anger the half of Rumia that was now in control, and almost certainly drive her own Rumia deeper into the subconscious mind of the enraged one that held dominion of their shared body.
"I'm sure this is for the best, Lady Shinki," Yumeko said, in a rather poor attempt at comfort. "You know that she was unstable. Even if she was to return to Pandaemonium as she was before, who's to say she wouldn't have reverted back the next day? Or the one after that?"
"There's still a chance that she could come back, mother," Alice added in, and Shinki had to smile back at the girl. She did not think that Alice had quite forgiven Rumia for her actions of the last several weeks, but that hatred in her mind had begun to diminish, Shinki could sense that much. It was good. She did not want to blame Rumia for the sadness she now felt, and she didn't want Alice or Yumeko to do the same.
"Perhaps both of you are right," Shinki said with a soft sigh. She was trying to sound as sincere as possible, but it was hard to hide one's true feelings in such a moment of sadness. "My time with Rumia was wonderful, even if it was short. I was happier than I'd been in years." Shinki tried to smile, but it came across as forced. She didn't need to see the looks on Alice and Yumeko's faces to know that much. "I feel as though maybe I can finish what I started, by rebuilding Makai."
Shinki had started the arduous task of restoring Makai to its former glory, in the days before Yuuka and Mima had wiped out a large portion of its population, with Rumia by her side. This had been in the several months between the day when Shinki had removed Rumia's seal, and the day that Rumia vanished into the depths of Makai, where she'd met Kana. Shinki did not know for sure if Rumia's personality shift had come first, or if it had been Kana that instigated it, but regardless of the truth of the matter, Shinki had made no further progress since the day of Rumia's disappearance. Despite her claim that she would continue now, her motivation was not what it was. It would be difficult to move forward, especially after everything that had happened. Her claim was little more than a lie to ease the worried minds of Alice and Yumeko.
Shinki leaned back in her throne and closed her eyes, staring upward. Alice and Yumeko began to talk amongst themselves, but Shinki hadn't been listening, as she drifted lost among her own thoughts. Nor was she initially aware when the conversation in the room had ceased, plunging it into an uneasy silence.
"... Shinki...?" The voice that spoke was one that Shinki had begun to think she would never hear again. Her eyes shot open, and she stared across her throne room at the new arrival. It was no wonder that Alice and Yumeko had lapsed into their current stunned silence. Shinki at first almost hadn't recognized the woman that stood before her now. Her manner of dress was much more modest, and her hair had been cut shorter, to about the same length as it had been prior to the removal of her seal, but it was undoubtedly Rumia.
"R... Rumia..." Shinki stammered out, and she stood shakily from her throne. She had lapsed into such a resigned state that seeing Rumia now, (and she had no doubt that it was her Rumia), the goddess had been rendered almost entirely speechless.
Rumia smiled, and gave a single nod of her head. "I'm... I'm sorry I made you wait. I didn't want to say what I was doing, in case it wouldn't work." Rumia held her arms out to either side of her body, as though showing herself off. And in a way, that was essentially the truth of it. "Yukari was able to split the two of us into separate bodies. We're our own people now, not just two sharing one body. She can be with Kana, and... I can be with you. For good, this time."
Shinki could no longer contain herself. She would've been happy enough just for Rumia to have returned of her own will, even if just for one day, within that formerly shared body of theirs. But this was better than the Makai Goddess ever could have hoped for. She ran forward to the good Rumia and embraced her tightly, even lifting the shorter woman an inch or two up from the floor in the process. "Oh, Rumia...! That's wonderful news!" Shinki peppered Rumia's face with several quick kisses, ending with one directly on the surprised youkai's lips. "Where've you been all this time, then? The other Rumia came back to Makai a few hours ago..."
"Oh, hahah, well... I thought it might be awkward, if there were two of us running around that looked exactly the same, so..." Rumia brushed one hand through the shortened locks of her hair, and gently pushed them out toward her shoulder. "Part of me just wanted to make sure it was possible to tell us apart at a glance, but... I also did it for myself, too. Like... it's more of a symbolic thing, I think. Because I feel like a different person now."
"You look more beautiful than ever, Rumia," Shinki said, and the two embraced once more, standing this way until Yumeko broke the silence that had fallen between them.
"I'm glad that you're happy, Lady Shinki, but... are you sure that there are really two Rumias in Makai now? It seems a bit far-fetched to me."
"I'm certain that my Rumia is telling the truth, Yumeko. You don't always need to be so overprotective." Shinki smiled back at Yumeko nonetheless, ensuring that she did not hold the woman's suspicions against her. "I can still sense Rumia and Kana's presences in the far reaches of Makai, just as I can feel my Rumia, here in my arms right this moment."
"Let it go, Yumeko," Alice said, placing a hand on the demon maid's shoulder. There was a sort of calm resignation in Alice's features that did not exactly seem unhappy. "Mother is happy. Happier than I've seen her since I was a child. If Rumia can make that much of a difference in her life... then I think we can both try to forget what happened."
"Yumeko... Alice..." Rumia, still held in Shinki's arms, turned to face both of Shinki's 'children', both her true creation, and the one she'd adopted so many years before. "I can't say for sure what my other self will do from here. And I'll even take part of the blame for everything she did up until now. But I promise, I'll never do anything to hurt Shinki again. You have my word on that."
Yumeko stared down the Darkness Youkai (who in truth, was not a youkai at all, but a phantom goddess) that had grown so close to her very own creator; her mother. She still had her reservations, but nothing she could do or say would change things now, she realized. "Alright, Rumia," Yumeko sighed out. "I will do my best to start anew with you, and forget everything that you've done. But I will have my eye on you."
"As long as you keep mother happy, I won't argue," Alice added.
"Thank you, Yumeko... and you too, Alice." Rumia smiled at them both, and then turned back to Shinki. "We can still pick up where we left off, right?"
"Of course, Rumia," Shinki replied, caressing a hand gently against the other woman's cheek. Any doubt whatsoever that may have lingered in Shinki's mind vanished when she looked down into Rumia's eyes at that moment. There was no hint of the other Rumia's foreign malignancy to taint the innocence in those eyes. It was all the motivation that Shinki needed, to know that she could finish that task that she had started all those long months ago. "Let's rebuild Makai, together."
End of Part 1