Part 3: Conflict's Rebirth

Chapter 18: Satori (I)

Satori Komeiji looked up before she had even heard the knock on her door. She could hear the kasha's thoughts even as she'd turned the corner into the hallway that led to Satori's room. Her pets rarely approached her room unless she requested them to, or unless they'd had good reason; and Satori could sense the fear in this one's mind.

Satori marked her place in the book she'd been reading and set it beside a stack of almost a dozen others that she'd already finished. Still other stacks of books were scattered around the vicinity of her desk, some that she had even written herself, in a seemingly random form of organization. Many of them would need to be returned to her own personal library (although it was easily one of the largest libraries on Earth, even containing a collection of demon books that would've put Kosuzu's to shame), now that she was finished with them. Perhaps she'd order the kasha outside of her door to do that very task, once she'd said what she needed to.

Even as Satori approached the door, the kasha's thoughts became clearer. Utsuho is still gone, Satori thought. She recalled what Rin had said. Almost a year ago now, it was. Utsuho had been taken in by a youkai named Yuuka Kazami, after being defeated in battle. Satori hadn't particularly cared at the time, and having dismissed Rin, returned to her room without giving it a second thought. There were other pets to watch the Former Hell in Utsuho's stead, whether she returned home or not. One less hell raven made little difference.

Apparently it did make a difference. Utsuho did not return, and now the other pets were concerned. As Satori pulled open the door, the kasha on the other side jumped to attention. A young little thing, Satori hadn't even recognized her at first in her human form. A cat recently turned youkai, like so many others that resided in Chireiden, and the Former Hell itself. "L-lady Satori...! I'm... so sorry to disturb you!"

Just get on with it, Satori thought to herself, as her third eye pried through the kasha's confused train of thought. She saw mental images of Utsuho, of the other pets in charge of managing the flames of the Former Hell, all in a jumbled mess as the kasha tried to put those thoughts into words.

"See it's been almost a year now, and... Utsuho never came back, so..."

"... 'now the fires of the Former Hell are burning out of our control'," Satori finished for the girl, her voice never fluctuating out of its usual bored-sounding inflection. "If you were so worried about being unable to manage the fires yourself, why did none of you go find Utsuho yourself?"

The girl flinched away slightly. The wordless pets of Chireiden, the Palace of the Earth Spirits, all looked upon Satori fondly. Those who could not communicate vocally, as they had not yet become youkai, could appreciate Satori's ability to understand their thoughts, and respond to them in kind. While those older pets, who had since become youkai and were able to communicate normally, grew to fear Satori's abilities, as all others eventually did. That fear was a feeling Satori had grown accustomed to, and it no longer bothered her. Let them fear me, she had told herself. Even the shunned youkai of the underground know to fear one such as me. There was no longer any place for her among youkai society. She lived alone in Chireiden, spending her time reading and writing, while sending her pets out to perform most tasks that required leaving the palace walls. Not even her younger sister, Koishi, remained. She had long since ventured off to the above ground world, and Satori could count on one hand the number of times she'd seen her sister since she'd closed her third eye. These days, Satori only ever really had one visitor... and she rarely ventured all the way out to Chireiden either.

"Well, n-none of us except Rin have ever... gone above ground." The kasha's words brought Satori back into the present moment, and she once again regarded the girl with that same dead-eyed stare. "And because it's been so long, we thought... we should maybe ask you what to do."

Satori's lip twitched into a slight frown, but she said nothing. She recalled the name Rin had mentioned: Yuuka Kazami. She was not someone that Satori had ever met personally, but there was some familiarity to it. Someone she may have read about, perhaps. If that were true, she must surely be someone of at least moderate significance. Perhaps Utsuho was still with this person, somewhere in Gensokyo.

As Satori pondered this in silence, the kasha stood warily in front of her master, unsure of whether or not to speak out. Even as she decided to finally break the silence, however, Satori cut her off. "Take my books back to my library," she said, before stepping out of the room, and turning down the hall. "See to it that my room is clean by the time I get back."

The kasha stood stunned behind Satori, unsure of what to do or say. Satori could sense that she wanted to say something, probably to ask if Satori was indeed going to go bring Utsuho back down to Chireiden herself. As Satori walked past the corner, the kasha's mind now drifting out of range, the last thing she could hear (in her mind, anyway) was the young kasha finally deciding to obey her master's order.

That was good. Hopefully the girl would move quickly. Satori had no intention of wasting more time above ground than was necessary.

The foyer of the ancient underground palace was alive with the sounds of its various pets roaming about. It seemed that the status of the Nuclear Furnace, which was in fact Utsuho's job to manage, was direr than Satori had initially realized. And she had been so blissfully unaware, having kept to herself for so long these last several weeks. It was not unusual for Satori to lock herself up in her room for days at a time without leaving. Being surrounded by so many others, to have all of their thoughts speaking aloud in her mind at once, was always a sure way to give herself a headache.

Rin, being one of the oldest and most powerful youkai in the palace (by far the oldest and most powerful kasha for sure), seemed to be in charge of things. She stood closest to the palace front doors, directing certain factions of the other pets into continuing to try and maintain the fires beneath Chireiden, while sending others out into the Ancient City for anything that might be of use. She didn't even notice Satori approaching until she was already within arm's reach.

"Rin," Satori said, causing Rin to jump in surprise at the sound of her master's voice, "why didn't you go to retrieve Utsuho, when you realized she wasn't about to return on her own?"

"A-ah! Lady Satori!" Rin seized up in a panic, and already Satori could see everything that she needed to know. She saw the face of the youkai that had battled with Utsuho, and it was plain that Rin was terrified of this woman, Yuuka Kazami. And on top of that, embarrassed that she hadn't done anything about it. "I-I was going to, honest, but-"

"Enough." Satori raised her hand, silencing Rin instantly. Even her jumbled thoughts had ceased. Satori had her complete attention. "I don't particularly care why you didn't go get Utsuho yourself. Although I already know why," Satori drawled on, and she sighed softly before she continued. "I'm going to get Utsuho myself. This is the second time that her negligence has brought trouble to my door, and I won't stand for it."

Satori stepped past Rin without even giving her a chance to respond. She could see plainly what Rin was thinking, that Satori would not change her mind. That much was true. Rin would know better than to try. So long as she kept the fires of the Former Hell from burning Chireiden to the ground, Satori would be satisfied. That was the best Rin could hope for. She didn't want to see what would happen if Satori really got angry.

Eyes followed Satori as she walked along the main road of the Ancient City. It was not often that the master of Chireiden ventured out on her own accord, but the people of the underground had not forgotten her. Not even the oni of the Ancient City wanted to have their minds read, and a good number of them avoided her. It was a sentiment that Satori shared, however. Drunken filth, the lot of them, Satori often thought to herself when thinking of the oni. Always looking for a fight, always looking for more to drink. Not the sort of company Satori wished to associate herself with, even if most of them avoided her. The majority of the oni, as powerful as they were, might not have feared her like so many other races did, but their avoidance was good enough for her.

Gensokyo, on the other hand, held a more mysterious quality to Satori. It had been almost a thousand years since she had last ventured above the ground. Not since her race had been utterly decimated, and she had fled below ground with her infant sister. She wondered if they would still fear her as well. They would probably be right to. She, like so many of the other creatures living below the surface, had been shunned by the people above, and forgotten. Yes, they would fear her, but perhaps they might not remember why.

Satori's train of thought was intruded upon by the mental voice of another (two others, actually) that was approaching her from behind. Satori did not turn to see, nor did she slow her walking; she already knew who it was even before they spoke. "'ey, Satori!" the cheery voice of Yuugi Hoshiguma called from close behind. "Been a while since I've seen ya out and about, what's the occasion?"

"Finally decide to come out drinkin' with us?" came the voice of Suika Ibuki, another oni, and a close friend of Yuugi. The two were certainly among the more sociable oni of the underground (which was saying a lot), and two of the few individuals who didn't outright avoid Satori.

"No," was all that Satori said. She didn't even hesitate, or turn to face the two, and merely continued on her path.

"Ah, I get it. Goin' to visit Parsee, is it?" Satori didn't need to see Yuugi to know that she was grinning; she actually felt it. "You're just about the only one she seems to get along with, for whatever reason."

"I have business in Gensokyo," Satori said flatly. This seemed to stun the two oni, who had probably never heard of Satori ever leaving the borders of the Ancient City, let alone heading above ground. "I have no patience for your drunken idiocy today."

Satori continued on, never stopping, leaving the two to share a look of bafflement between each other, before they shrugged it off and (Satori believed, anyway) no doubt left to resume their drinking and partying. It amazed her that the two of them still even tried to communicate with her, when she'd made it very clear that she preferred being left alone. Satori supposed that it was just part of Yuugi's nature. Perhaps she simply respected Satori's power to some degree. Probably she wanted to goad Satori into a fight one day, but she wouldn't bother, not unless she had a good reason.

Satori doubted that Yuugi would feel very enthusiastic about challenging her in the future if that day ever came.