The man looked at his reflection in the mirror, staring at an unamused face, covered with unwashed, greasy black hair, and sick, tired brown eyes. It was his face all right. Nothing fancy happened during the night. The man sighed in relief. He got almost killed yesterday, now he had to be careful. He blamed the fox's magic for that, but to be honest, he was also to blame, as her clearly underestimated the woman's resistance. If all Gensokyo inhabitants were as resistants as that woman, he would end up without ammo. And without his gun, he would be as good as dead.
The man washed his hands while wondering what kind of magic allowed one to burn her body after her death. Because the fox was clearly dead, he saw her eyes, and the way they went out of focus. When he ran to the body, he saw she stopped breathing. And when he tried to loot her corpse, the body suddenly burst into flames.
The man looked again at his reflection. He looked like a priest, and the idea briefly amused him, as it was truth. He was a godless priest, trying to change things, but still following a greater design that he believed in. He came in Gensokyo to change this small, closed world. For the better or for the worse. It was impossible, even for him, to predict what would happen. That pocket dimension, Gensokyo, could witness the beginning of a Golden Age. Or it could fall in flames, just like all the other worlds the man visited.
Leaving the bathroom, the man returned in his room, and started rummaging in the notes he retrieved when he murdered the Hakurei, until he found the pages he kept on the people from the bamboo grove. The reporter took an awful lot of notes, including direct quotations, and several personal comments. Most of those comments were of the "she's lying" sort. Clearly, the reporter never really trusted those merry folks, and sounded unable to even tell what they were. Earth spirits, insane humans, or youkai. Those people were mysteries, and the murderer even wondered if they intended to be sincere, or if that girl -Tewi- brought the poor man in, just to make fun of him.
He was still reading the notes when another man came in, and saluted the murderer.
"Sir, we are ready."
The godless priest considered the intruder for a moment. His reasons for all this were personals, but those men who came after he shot the miko weren't blackmailed, acting out of some personal philosophy, or even charmed by some spell. They came of their own accord. And thus they were scarier than whatever Gensokyo may hide.
"Good. But I'll repeat myself : don't be aggressive with those villagers. While they cannot directly support us, the abominations won't attack us if we're near the village. Keep good relations with them."
"Yes, sir ! Your orders?"
'That moron ignored everything I just said', thought the murderer. "Reco on the mountain. Classified as extremely hostile. Be careful."
"Sure thing, sir !" And the man left without waiting for a confirmation. As he closed the door behind him, the murderer could hear him muttering 'Colonel Ran Away', possibly as a retaliation for his apparent scorn. And yet he couldn't help scorning those fools, ignoring his warning, and treating that whole mission as if it was some kind of hunting safari.
"Heh... A safari." For the colonel who looked like a priest, the mission was nothing like a safari. For him, it was simply a bunch of cold-blooded murders. Not matter how much he tried to sugarcoat it, and no matter how pure his intentions were in the end, he murdered, and he would murder again. Granted, time erased most of his kills, but even if the bodies disappeared, he still remembered every one of them. That woman, in Alger. That man, in Oxford. His friend, at the University. He remembered killing that one often. So often...
Colonel Ran Away shook his head. There was a mystery here, and he did his best to resolve it. He could swear to Heaven, and whatever gods he might meet, he truly did all he could, and still what happened then was a mystery to him. There was simply no answer, just an encouragement to turn around and look forward.
And in front of him was Gensokyo. A strange land, where monsters look like girls and women. Even after all this time, the colonel Ran Away couldn't decide if those girls were waiting for an innocent to trick and torture, or if they were truly little girl.
Was it Gensokyo's true form? Something that can't be grasped, something that you cannot understand? Was it a land where innocence bloomed, or was it a twisted land hiding corruption and insanity under an pleasant appearance? He couldn't decide that. What he decided, however, was that he really needed a name. If he were to adopt "Ran Away" as his name, these men would not respect him, and everything would quickly turn into a total disaster, and eventually a massacre. In short, everything depended on him. So "Atlas" would do.
Looking at his reflection again, Atlas definitely thought he looked like a priest. It wasn't the face, nor the clothes, but something in the attitude who reminded him of a priest. With enough luck, he could eventually pass as one. The villagers weren't fools, but they couldn't get a good sight of him yesterday while that vixen woman passed, and for then, two outsiders look the same, especially if they aren't Asian. And they are Japanese, so they wouldn't get near him with his greasy hair.
Yeah, being a priest would be fine. Except for the "don't touch women" part, but he doubted the village has a brothel anyway.
While Father Atlas disguised himself, Chen convinced one of her friends, named Mystia Lorelei, to install her food stand near the Human Village. That way, she would be able to keep an eye on the village while eating warm food.
And while Chen was eating noodles while writing down anything happening in the village, Ran Yakumo was quickly leaving the Bamboo Grove. While things went smoothly for her servant, things sure didn't go smoothly for her. She just managed to catch a glimpse of that foreigner youkai before leaving. One could call her a coward, but she has orders to not let the youkai see her.
And given that this youkai stared at her even through she was disguised as a wild vixen, she quickly decided to be prudent and go away.
As she adopted a humanoid form again, Ran Yakumo tried to remember how that youkai looked like. Everything has been really quick, but there was two details who really shocked her : the kimono, and the horns. Or at least it looked like horns. Her memory was a bit blurry for some reason, but she sure remembered that bright kimono, as it looked like nothing else she saw. On Earth, anyway.
...
There was a simple though, merely an idea at first, but the idea grew and developed, and from a though, turned into an uneasy answer to a simple question as the truth became obvious, the pieces putting themselves together.
"Of course."
They weren't horns, but ears.
"Ran."
"I'm here."
"What's new?"
"That youkai approached the Eientei as you guessed, but I was unable to investigate any further, as it saw through my disguises."
"Worrying, and annoying."
"Besides, I suspect it used some kind of spell against me, as I have difficulties remembering how it looks like. I just remember it having huge rabbit ears on top of its head, and a shining kimono."
Still bowing her head, Ran waited for Yukari to say something, in vain. After several seconds, she raised her head, and saw her master smoking while staring at the youkai mountain.
"Lady Yukari?"
"Changing plans again. You take Reimu to Mayohiga. Take whatever she wants, I don't want her throwing a tantrum. Once Chen contacts you, send her to me immediately. I'll visit the Eientei myself. No, in fact, forget it, once Chen contacts you, tell her the surveillance mission is canceled, and keep her in Mayohiga, along with Reimu. Maybe they can play or something. Contact me, and tell me if there's anything strange in her report."
"Such as?"
"The outsiders, of course. I want to know if they're related to that lone rabbit."
"Anything else?"
"No. You go, right now."
"Yes, my Lady."
Yukari Yakumo opened a gap under her feet, leaving the Hakurei Shrine deserted. Ran Yakumo sighed in relief, and, walking down the corridor, penetrated in Reimu's room - only to be greeted with a pillow to the face.
"Dammit, I told you before, Yukari, I don't need no pampering ! Leave me alone or tell me what happened, because you're too protective, and I don't trust your 'you fell down some stairs' phony explanation !"
As the pillow fell from her face and touched the floor, the thousand-year old vixen was reasonably pissed.
A gap opened in front of the Eientei, dropping Yukari Yakumo on the ground. The Purple Sage took a few minutes to casually observe the place, looking for possible traps. There was an outer wall, made of bamboos trunks, sharpened to discourage any curiosity, leaving only a thin opening. The Eientei as a property was insanely huge, and the mansion itself took a large part of the Eientei. All around the area, you could see rice paddies, maintained by rabbits. In a remote area, was the storehouse, a simple oversize shed built to stay dry even during a storm. Rumours said that most of Eirin Yagokoro's medicines were kept here, but rumours also said that Eirin Yagokoro was a sadist lesbian maniac. The Mansion of Eternity was standing here, between a rice paddy and a bamboo shed, but just like a hair in the palm of a hand, the lunarian influence was obvious, as it looked nothing like the rest of the area. But Yukari Yakumo wasted no time looking at an already familiar scenery, and she walked in. She could've just dropped in that Yagokoro's office, but even through she refused to admit it, she needed answers, and popping out of nowhere in someone's house was usually and strangely considered rude.
As Yukari walked in the strange building, she bumped into someone -a man- who ignored her and quickly left the place. If the Mansion was located in the outside world, the entrance would have been considered as sober and a bit ragged, but in Gensokyo, it was considered as elaborated and extremely impressive, only beaten by the Scarlet Devil Mansion. The building's skeleton, the beams, was made with some dark wood, probably some ebony, while the rest of the building was a mix of beech and oak, creating a very disturbing impression to the newcomer as some area of the mansion gave the impression they were absorbing the light, fooling people into thinking it was already evening while it was in fact noon.
For Yukari, the building was as twisted as its inhabitants. Except for that rabbit walking toward her, she was the only one around who never tried to manipulate or blackmail anyone.
"Lady Yakumo? Can I help-"
Ignoring the moon rabbit with a sneer, Yukari walked past her.
"So, what can my humble self to to please the Youkai Sage?" Asked Eirin Yagokoro with tired eyes.
"Nothing, I just came to have a chat."
"You're too kind. Udonge is bringing us some tea, that should-" Eirin interrupted to yawn. "-should make me better."
"You don't look well," said Yukari in an obviously fake concerned tone, "is there something I can help with?"
"I'm afraid not, it's a personal problem. Family business." Answered Eirin, not noticing she said too much.
"I see... Anyway, have you heard the rumors?"
Eirin Yagokoro yawned again.
"Yes, I heard them. It seems your protégé, Reimu Hakurei, has a boyfriend or something like that, right? She ran away from that shrine?"
"No, I am talking about the trouble in the village." Yukari's smile disappeared at the mention of a possible boyfriend for Reimu.
Eirin yawned again. "It's been a while since I got someone from the village here. I do not know the news. Until that tengu newspaper arrives, of course."
Yukari didn't answered immediately. Something was bothering her, something related to Eirin's latest declaration, something contradicting a recent event. But she couldn't remember it, and when Reisen entered in the room with two cups of tea, Yukari lost the thread of her though, and forgot about the contradiction.
"Warm tea ! I used green one, that should wake you up, master." Said the smiling moon rabbit, carefully avoiding to meet Yukari's stare.
"Thank you, Udonge."
"Same here, rabbit."
Once the rabbit left, Yukari spoke again. "Are you sure you don't know anything? I mean, it's been quite a ruckus there."
"No... I mean, yes, I don't know..." Eirin Yagokoro was clearly dozing off, her head slowly falling on her chest.
"... Are you okay?"
There was no answer from the sleeping woman sitting in a chair. Yukari swallowed the burning tea, put the cup on the floor, and walked to Eirin.
"Hey, Yagokoro. Are you sleeping on me? Am I that boring?" Said Yukari, in a fake crying voice.
She poked Eirin and, seeing no reactions, shook the woman from the moon. Slipping from her chair, Eirin fell head first on the floor. The youkai sage wasted no time quitting the room, leaving the lunarian behind her, finding the moon rabbit waiting in the corridor.
"Your master is unwell, Reisen."