Yukari Yakumo stared in the gap she just opened, and called her servant again.
"I'm here, my lady." Said the vixen from the other side of the gap.
"Ran, I don't see you. Come in front of the gap."
"My lady, I'm not sure it's-"
"Ran..."
"Yes."
The vixen walked in front of the gap, exposing herself to her master. It wasn't a glorious view. Rather than being classy and dignified, the Ran's clothes were partially burned, her hat was torn in pieces, exposing her ears, and her face was bruised. Still the vixen stood in front of the gap, looking at her feet like a child about to be scolded.
"Ran, I'll tan your hide for that. I told you to get Reimu to Mayohiga. Not to pick a fight with her."
"My lady, she's the one who-"
"Shut up and listen. Eirin's down, and there's something fishy going on here. I cannot get more any medicine, so don't get Reimu, Chen or you hurt. Understood?"
"Yes, my lady."
"Where's Reimu right now?"
The vixen hesitated.
"She's s-sleeping."
"Ran..."
"Okay, she's knocked out."
"Do I really want to know?"
"Well, it started as a pillow fight, and-"
"I do not want to know. If Chen is back, send her to the Hakurei Shrine. Tell her to fill it with all kind of barriers and protections. Even traps if she feels like doing so."
"Yes, Master, but Chen-"
"Meanwhile, set wards around Mayohiga. Reimu's safety and well-being is your priority. Your safety is second, and your well-being is going to drop once I'm back."
The vixen shivered. "I-I shall send Chen immediately once she's returned."
"Hang on, hang on. Chen's not back?"
Ran raised her face, and Yukari slightly jumped at her servant's demolished visage.
"No, my lady. Do I have to wait for her, or-"
"No. Don't leave Reimu alone. Wait for Chen, I'll look for her once I'm done here."
"Yes, my lady."
Yukari Yakumo closed the gap, and left the room where she isolated herself when Reisen came running. While she was talking to Ran, Reisen dragged Eirin in the entrance, and was pressing her hands on the lunarian's chest, in some kind of strange cardiac massage. Yukari briefly remembered witnessing one of those, while she was visiting the outside world. An old man walking next to her suddenly collapsed, and a young man quickly arrived and began doing many complicated things, like moving the arms up and down, rolling the old man on his side, and finally calling an ambulance.
But she had to admit that she never expected the moon bunny to actually know something about medicine. And while she'd rather die than admit it, seeing the almighty Brain of the Moon lying on her back, being taken care by her abused pet was something Yukari never expected to see.
"Come on, Master, just wake up already !"
As the rabbit tried again and again to revive her master, her voice sounded more and more desperate. And while the rabbit slowly broke down and cried, shedding tears on her master's body, Yukari just stared. Eventually, the rabbit stopped trying, and just collapsed on Eirin's body, crying openly. This is when Yukari interfered.
"Rabbit."
Reisen ignored her and kept crying.
"RABBIT."
Yukari was still ignored.
"Reisen."
This time, the rabbit stopped crying and looked at Yukari.
"What do you want?"
"Don't you notice there's something wrong?"
Reisen's anger was immediate.
"YES ! There's something wrong with you ! I left you alone with master, and now she's dead ! How dare you even-"
Yukari's answer was swift and brutal.
"Your master is not dead, stupid animal. Watch your tongue before I rip it out with my own hand."
Reisen's anger turned into surprise as her eyes went from Yukari to Eirin and from Eirin to Yukari.
"M... Master's not dead?"
"Of course not, rabbit."
"Then what's the problem? What's wrong with master?"
"Can't you tell? That's your specialty here."
Hearing that, Reisen relaxed a bit, dropped her shoulder, breathed deeply, and lowered her head until her face was touching Eirin's face.
"Mmm... Smells like soporific. Not chloroform, that one is a gas, and she drank it, so that's not it..."
Reisen kept mumbling for a while, until Yukari finally interrupted her.
"Rabbit, is your master in danger?"
"It's just soporific, but it's also an overdose, even by her standard, she'll be in danger for a while," the rabbit stood to face Yukari, "there's a risk, and I'm no expert. I must bring her back to the moon." While talking, Reisen crouched and grabbed Eirin's body, holding her fireman-style. "The Lunar Capital has the technology and the experience to-"
"You're not leaving Gensokyo."
"Of course I am," said the moon bunny, walking past Yukari, still carrying Eirin over her shoulder, "because Master might recover, but there's also a risk the poison goes to her brain, and if her genius is affected by the poison, she will turn crazy if she-"
"Reisen." The rabbit stopped instantly, perturbed by Yukari's soft tone. As well as the mention of her name, that the bunny finally noticed. "Look around you, and tell me that everything is normal here."
Still carrying her master, the former pet of the moon sisters slowly looked around, watching the paddies, the storehouse, the bamboo fence surrounding the Eientei.
And she said, "I don't see anything unusual."
Hearing that, Yukari's mood dropped.
"Moon bunny, tell me, where is everyone? Where is that princess you protect? Where are all the rabbits?"
Reisen's ears perked, and she looked again. And she saw it : the deserted paddy, the abandoned storehouse, and the partially destroyed fence. And she understood that there was nobody but her master, Yukari Yakumo and herself in this place. The rabbit realized something, but before she could scream a warning to the Youkai Sage, an order took over her mind.
Yukari saw the bunny changing. It was extremely subtle, a slight shiver on the shoulders, a small twitch of the eyebrows, just before Reisen turned around to face the sage.
The lunatic bunny dropped Eirin, and raised her index at Yukari, imitating a weapon. Yukari dropped in a gap as Reisen shots several bullets, transporting herself behind the rabbit. The magical bullets hit the mansion and exploded, destroying the entrance and sending splinters all over the place. Yukari answered by stabbing Reisen's back with her umbrella, tearing the clothes and causing slight damage to the bunny. Said bunny answered by jumping forward while spinning on herself, and shot more bullets at Yukari.
"You're shooting at your own master?"
Yukari opened another gap, this time under Eirin Yagokoro's body, the magical tear swallowing the genius' corpse, and opened her fan as the bunny's bullets were quickly getting closer. She would need to focus, and the fan was there to help.
Not a single bullet touched or even grazed the purple sage. Another gap opened in front of
Yukari, sending them back at the rabbit's face. Her face didn't even flinch as the bullets exploded around her. The rabbit fell from the sky, one hand still pointing at Yukari, while her other arm was uselessly dangling at her side. But before she could shoot again, the Purple Sage moved again, this move levitating toward the bunny and, not giving her any time to react, turned around and hit Reisen's good arm with her umbrella just as the rabbit's feet touched the floor. There was a small breaking noise as Reisen was thrown on the floor, but she quickly recovered and rolled away from the youkai, apparently unaware of the fact that her arms were now broken, and that such a barrel roll would normally be impossible. The rabbit stood again, this time with both arms dangling uselessly, and she tried something different. Instead of shooting bullets, she raised her head and closed her eyes. Yukari didn't need any warning to understand what the insane rabbit was up to you. One more time, she used a gap to go right behind Reisen, and one more time, she stabbed the rabbit in the back with her umbrella as the rabbit shot a beam from her eyes, this time destroying a large part of the mansion. The rabbit felt the stab, but didn't reacted, slightly irritating Yukari. Finally, the purple queen decided to end it and, pulling her umbrella out of the wound, she kicked Reisen's broken arm.
"Ah !" Screamed Reisen as she fell to her knees. But Yukari wasn't stupid enough to fall in a trap, and she quickly flew away from the rabbit. But Reisen wasn't moving. The bunny was on her knees, both her arms broken, and was bleeding from the wounds that the youkai sage inflicted.
"Well," said Yukari, "you're out for now. Be happy I'm a nice person, a thousand years ago, I would have killed you for that." And then the purple sage opened a large gap just under her feet and disappeared again, leaving a broken rabbit in the middle of the deserted Eientei, in front of a partially destroyed building that used to be a mansion.
When Yukari dropped in front of her home, Ran immediately ran out of the house.
"Lady Yukari, how nice to see you again."
"Yes." Said Yukari as she walked in the entrance without even looking at her servant. "You got Eirin?"
"Yes, milady, I put her in the second guest room."
"Wonderful." Said Yukari as she put away her umbrella. "Now, Ran, if I remember right, I said I would... Ran?"
"..." Instead of looking away with her usual scared expression, the vixen was staring at Yukari's bloody umbrella with an intense look.
"Oh. I ran into a little trouble on my way. More importantly, is Chen back?"
"... No. Not yet."
"I see you're worried about her. Take it easy already, that girl is more powerful than you think."
"I know, milady," said Ran, finally lowering her eyes and looking at the ground, "I just can't help. I know she's powerful enough to probably raze the human village, but at the same time, she's extremely naive. I'm afraid she might be tricked."
"She's just late, Ran. She's not being killed as we're speaking. Now then, while Reimu and Eirin are sleeping, we have unfinished business. I want you in the cellar in five minutes."
Ran started shaking.
While Yukari was making sure her servant would never disobey her again, something very strange happened in the Eientei. At first, it looked like a bubble of pure darkness, slowly inflating, until it was as big as a man. Once it reached its maximum size, it started deflating until it totally disappeared. But in the meanwhile, something changed. Namely, a tall woman appeared where there was previously nothing but dirt. The woman herself was not that impressive, she wasn't that tall, and she wasn't as beautiful as the legendarily pretty princess from the moon Kaguya Houraisan, but she gave the impression of being more feminine than the young-looking woman. Maybe it came from her highly-decorated but oversized kimono, or maybe it came from the scarf that she tied around her head, covering most of her hair, except for the exceedingly long ponytail that reached the ground and followed the woman like a snake. But the woman had things to do, so many things to do. Like helping a poor soul in pain.
She slowly walked to Reisen, who was still on her knees, panting and bleeding, her arms dangling uselessly, like pieces of meat in a butchery. If someone could witness the woman's approach, it would have looked like she was levitating rather than walking, dragging her impossibly long hair as she walked, keeping it clean despite the woman walking in the dirt and in the mud.
Finally, the woman arrived in front of Reisen.
"Duōme kěbēi de shìqíng kàn dào de." She said.
Slowly, the insane rabbit raised her eyes until they met the woman's. There was a brief unspoken communication between the two, until Reisen finally moved. She stood in front of the woman, and, still without showing any emotion, stared at the unknown youkai.
"Ràng wǒ lái bāng nǐ." Spoke the woman, while gently touching Reisen's broken arms.
There was no light, no impressive magic, but after a few seconds, the moon rabbit's arms were normal again. But the woman's arms were twisted, the bones broken, and her kimono sleeves became redder as the open fractures were causing an insane amount of pain.
"Wǒ huì chéngdān nǐ de tòngkǔ." Said the woman, showing a brave smile despite the sweat appearing on her forehead.
"..." Reisen didn't answer. Her eyes were still focused on the woman, and there was no expression on her face. What happened to her when Yukari asked too much was still in action.
"Nǚ'ér." The woman moved her broken arms, and pulled the mute rabbit in an horrifying hug, the broken, bare bones rubbing against the rabbit. A normal person would have panicked, but Reisen didn't. In fact, she didn't felt anything. Her mind being gone, both by the orders and the pain she received by the hand of the sage, she was as good as dead.
And thus, she didn't notice that the woman's wounds were already healing, at an impossible rate, even for a youkai.
"Oh, what now?" Yelled Yukari. "Stop crying Ran, I think someone knocked at the door."
"I-I-I'm sorry-"
"I said shut up !" Said the purple benevolent sage as she listened with attention. "Umm? Well, I was wrong. Now, where was I?"
Yukari looked over the different tools, until she settled on one.
"Okay, Ran, now we're getting serious, I'll use this one no-" She dropped the tool, and listened again. This time, she was sure, there was a noise. "Okay, Ran, get your clothes back. Someone penetrated Mayohiga."
The youkai quickly flew out of the cellar, ready to get her revenge on the poor soul who dared to disturb her, leaving her crying servant alone. The purple sage flew and flew, leaving the cellar, flying through her house, and finally stopped in the sky, towering over the whole lost village.
"There you are." She said as she spot the intruder. With a mischievous smile, the youkai opened a gap in the air, and went it, appearing right behind the intruder.
And then her smile dropped. She expected some lost youkai, but the intruder was instead a human, and a very boring one. He was dressed almost entirely in black, with just his collar being white.
"A priest?" Wondered Yukari, until she noticed the metallic briefcase the man was carrying, his other hand in his pocket. The purple sage tapped the man's shoulder, and savored that small jump as the man quickly turned around, almost sending his briefcase in the youkai's face.
"Welcome to Mayohiga. What are you doing here?"
"Ha! Okay! Well, at least I'm in the right place."
"Oh?" The youkai tilted her head. "There was a reason for you to be here precisely?"
"Well, yeah. I came to deliver a present to some chick named Yukari." Said the man, looking around, his hand still grasping the metallic briefcase.
"A chick..." Mumbled Yukari.
"Sorry, was it you?"
The youkai sage exploded. "YES! IT'S ME! WHAT DO YOU WANT?! TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT OR GET THE BLOODY HELL OUT OF MY TURF!"
"AAAAAAAAAH OH GOD I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I just wanted to give you something." The man took his hand out of his pocket, holding two items in his hand. The first was a silver fob watch, the second was a small rope, no longer than a hand, and as large as two fingers. The man quickly span the watch around his index, and presented Yukari with the rope. "That's the thing."
"Hu?" Said Yukari as she examined the little thing. It looked like a normal item, but for a youkai such as Yukari, it was somehow threatening.
For a while, the both of them stayed like that, the man holding the rope between his index and his major, and Yukari staring at it, the man unwilling to touch the youkai, the youkai unwilling to get close to the rope.
And they stayed like that, until Ran dropped from the sky, landing loudly behind the man, effectively trapping him between the orange vixen and the purple sage. That is, if everything went as planned. In other words, it failed. When he heard the noise, the man jumped again and, showing his back to Yukari, threw the rope at Ran.
Meanwhile, at the Eientei, the unknown youkai, alone again, started chanting.
"Qiújìnle wǒ de zuì, liú xià nín de jiānyù zài wǒ de yāoqiú. Xiūxí cóng nǐ de tòngkǔ."
At soon as the last words left the woman's mouth, things changed in the world. A mental link was established between a fool man locked in the deepest cell, and a simple vessel. An abomination stood, unaware of any change in its environment.
"Shāo zhège dìfāng !"
Burn the place. For the abomination, it would be like killing two birds with one stone, and so it started walking, blowing steam as it breathed, shivering as if it was locked in a fridge instead of walking in the Eientei, its teeth chattering.
"S-s-s-so cold..."