Like the rest of Yuuka's property, her courtyard was exceedingly large and well-maintained. The grass was a healthy shade of green, and even had a small pond with a tall tree overlooking it. Yuuka must have been some sort of miracle worker, as her courtyard's beauty was almost inhuman; it looked like nothing could come close to being quite as extravagant in comparison, especially as the late afternoon sun reflected off of the pond.
Once the three had stepped outside, Flandre and Koishi had decided on resuming their earlier game of tag, with Flandre still being 'it'. The two appeared to be unfazed by the size and majesty of Yuuka's courtyard as they resumed their game. The two began to run around Yuuka's enormous courtyard, looking as if they were having the time of their life just by playing a simple game of tag.
Medicine however, did not share their enthusiasm for the game. The Tskumogami simply leaned against the wall of Yuuka's mansion with her arms crossed in front of her chest and an angry scowl planted on her face as she silently observed the two. The small doll that had been hovering by her side had perched itself on Medicine's shoulders, reminiscent to how parrots would perch themselves on the shoulders of pirates.
Medicine groaned as the two happily frolicked about the courtyard. She could be doing something much more worthwhile than entertain the pair. Flandre looked at the girl and noticed her discontent, "Ummm…Do you want to play Meddy?" she asked, causing Medicine to snap out of her thoughts.
"First of all, my name is Medicine, not 'Meddy.'" She hissed, "And why would I want to? You're the ones who wanted to play these ridiculous games in the first place. I just got dragged along for the ride by you two."
Flandre pouted at Medicine's attitude towards the game, it almost felt as if the girl hated just about everything. Thankfully Koishi soon strolled over; hopefully she'd be able to convince the girl to participate. "Hey, why're you being such a party-pooper?" she asked, causing Medicine's scowl to become even more infuriated if it were possible, "Don't be such a stick in the mud! Come and play with us!"
"No. I don't see why I should have to babysit you two imbeciles when I could actually be doing something worth my time, like talking with Yuuka…" Medicine growled, "Hmph, she had better give me at least an acres worth of land to plant my suzurans in for this…"
"Oh yeah…?" Koishi asked as she edged up to Medicine until their faces almost touched.
"Yeah." Medicine spat back. The Tskumogami looked downright furious; it looked like the girl would leap up and strangle Koishi to death if the satori continued to pester her.
Koishi however, didn't seem to take note of this, and continued talking to her, "Well…you're it!" she exclaimed as she lightly poked Medicine right in the forehead before running off as quickly as she could.
If Medicine wasn't angry before, she definitely was now, "Wh-Why you little…Get back here so I can beat you to an inch of your miserable life!" she screamed in fury as she ran after her as fast as her short legs would carry her, which was actually surprisingly fast. Flandre quickly jumped out of the way before she could run her down, Medicine didn't pay the vampire any mind however as she only had one target in mind, and that was Koishi.
Before the satori knew it she was being tailed by one angry Tskumogami. Koishi took a brief look behind her as she continued to run for dear life as Medicine came closer and closer to reaching her with every passing second. The satori quickly scrambled up the courtyard's sole tree in an attempt to escape her pursuer, but she seemed to have forgotten something: Nearly everyone in Gensokyo had the ability to fly.
Medicine leapt up into the air, landing on a branch that was right next to Koishi, who went bug-eyed at Medicine's sudden appearance. Medicine gave the girl a menacing grin as she began trying to claw at her in vengeance for Koishi's earlier actions. Thankfully for the satori, she had speed and agility to spare and found avoiding the Tskumogami's attacks to be quite easy.
Medicine soon became frustrated with her lack of success in getting her revenge, with her strikes becoming more reckless and sloppy as her anger slowly began to overtake her. Because of this, the Tskumogami began to lose her balance, slowly bobbing up and down as she attempted to regain her footing. Though just to her luck, she was unsuccessful, and found herself falling from the tree and plunged right into the pond that the tree was firmly planted next to.
Koishi sighed in relief as the immediate danger splashed into the water, she began to slowly shimmy her way down the tree and back onto solid ground. Flandre was there to meet her; she wore a small frown of disapproval from her actions. Koishi either didn't care or was just ignorant to her friend's disapproval, however.
"Boy! That was one of the scariest games of tag I've ever played!" the satori exclaimed happily, "Meddy sure can be scary!"
"I don't think you should've done that Koi-Koi…She sure looked mad…" Flandre said.
Koishi looked as if she were about to say something in response, but was interrupted as a completely drenched Medicine slowly reemerged from under the water's surface. Wearing an even more aggravated look as she laid on her back, Medicine stared up at the sky as she let herself float just on the surface of the pond.
At that moment, Yuuka came out from the mansion; approaching the pair of Flandre and Koishi. "I trust you three have been getting along swimmingly?" she asked, but almost immediately regretted her choice of words as she noticed Medicine trudge her way out of the pond.
Spitting out a mouthful of water, Medicine glared at Yuuka and held three of her fingers out towards her. "Three. I had better get at least three acres worth of suzurans planted for having to deal with…her." she hissed as she shot a nasty look back towards the other two present, more specifically Koishi, who put on the most innocent face she could muster.
Yuuka looked at Koishi with a bit bemusement. She opened her mouth slightly, as if she was about to ask the enraged Tskumogami a question, but then thought better of it. She slowly shook her head, and sighed. "We'll have to see about that…but for now, just clean yourself up. You're soaking wet, and I won't have you getting my floors drenched."
Medicine remained silent, scowling at Koishi in pure hatred as she let her small doll companion ring-out her soaking wet ribbon for her, letting droplets of water drip down onto the ground. The doll soon jittered its way up to the top of Medicine's head, tying the ribbon back into her hair dutifully. Once it finished its work, Medicine carefully checked the doll's knot work. Finding the job satisfactory; Medicine gave the doll a nod in thanks. The doll returned the gesture before returning to its perch on the Tskumogami's shoulder.
Wordlessly, Medicine began to march her way back to the mansion huffily, not even taking a glance back towards the other three present. Medicine's departure was signified by the slamming of the mansion doors, causing the three to cringe from the noise. Yuuka began to massage her temples in apparent stress from Medicine's even fouler mood.
"I apologize for that, she can be a bit short-tempered at times…" Yuuka said apologetically.
"It's alright, it's partly our fault anyways…Right Koishi…?" Flandre said, nudging the satori in the side with her elbow.
"Yeah, yeah…" Koishi murmured in reluctant agreement as she gently rubbed her side in agitation.
"I see…all the same, I apologize for her behavior." Yuuka replied humbly, "Any who… I just came out to inform you that lunch is ready! I hope you girls are hungry!"
"Oh boy! I'm starving!" Koishi chirped happily, "My stomach has been growling louder than Okuu's whenever she gets peckish…" with that, Koishi blissfully skipped to the mansion doors, quickly entering in search of food.
"Hey! Wait for me Koishi!" Flandre called after her friend as she chased her down into the mansion.
"My, those two are quite energetic…" Yuuka remarked to herself before slowly following the two inside, "If only Medicine could show such enthusiasm…"
The meal shared by the five youkai was in a word, awkward. A now slightly less soggy Medicine remained wordless as she focused hate-filled eyes at Koishi, who apparently didn't notice the dirty look she was getting from the Tskumogami at the table as she shoveled food down her mouth by the handful. Meiling grimaced a bit from Koishi's lack of table etiquette, though remained silent as she quietly ate her meal, all the while keeping a suspicious eye on Yuuka. The flower youkai however, didn't seem to mind the gatekeeper's untrusting gaze, and ate her meal with a pleasant smile on her face. Flandre simply tried sitting-up straight in her chair as her eyes shifted back and forth between the other four seated at the table nervously. From her point of view, it looked like an all-out brawl would occur at any second.
The silence held between the four was abruptly broken when Yuuka spoke up, "Ah isn't this just lovely? A nice meal alongside some good company…one of life's simple pleasures…" she said without an ounce of irony in her statement, "Wouldn't you say, dear?" she asked the Tskumogami next to her. Yuuka only received a soft grunt of acknowledgement from the girl, as she continued glaring at Koishi. If looks could kill, Koishi's funeral would have surely been held long ago.
Flandre suddenly let out a light cough, as if to bring attention to herself. "So um…Meddy- "
"Med-i-cine." The Tskumogami hissed in correction.
"I mean Medicine…How did you and Miss Yuuki meet each other?" the vampire asked tentatively.
"Through mutual interests and hatreds." Medicine replied nonchalantly as she kept her hateful glare focused on the satori at the other side of the table.
Medicine's vague answer only served to encourage the vampire to pursue the subject further, "Like what?"
"None of your business." Medicine curtly replied.
"Now Medicine, that's no way to talk to a guest. Answer her question." Yuuka chastised.
With the roll of her eyes, Medicine conceded to Yuuka's demand, "A mutual interest in gardening, and a mutual hatred for humans." The Tskumogami answered with a lack of enthusiasm or interest in her voice.
Saying that Flandre was surprised by the latter part of Medicine's explanation would be an understatement; the younger Scarlet sister was downright shocked. Never in her life had she heard of any youkai having anything resembling hatred for humans. Meiling had always told her that both humans and youkai coexisted peacefully in Gensokyo…most of the time anyways. And in the short span of time Flandre had spent exploring Gensokyo, she hadn't once met a human or youkai who had outright despised the other species. In fact, from what she saw, humans and youkai almost seemed to get along and interact with one-another just fine. So finding out that someone, a girl who appeared to be her age no less, despised humans was overwhelming. She just had to learn of the roots of Medicine's contempt for the species.
"Wh-Why?"
"Why?" Medicine repeated, cocking her head in apparent puzzlement, "Why what?"
"Umm…Wh-Why do you hate humans?" Flandre inquired, "I mean…I have some friends who're human and they-"
"You're a friend of the humans?" Medicine asked as she turned her hate-filled glare away from Koishi and stared at Flandre with an expression that could only be described as a mix of anger, disbelief, hatred, and betrayal. "You dare ally yourself with such…such…filth?" at this point, all at the table were paying close attention to the conversation with worry. Even Koishi, who hadn't even noticed the dirty looks Medicine had been giving her ever since she had sat down at the table, was now watching with a hint of concern painted on her face. The eyelid of her third eye began to fidget, just barely revealing its pupil.
Before Flandre could murmur a response, Yuuka cut her way into the discussion. "Now, now, calm down dear…There's no need to get into such a fit over nothing." the flower youkai whispered to the Tskumogami in an attempt to calm her. All she received for her efforts was a furious glare burning with hatred from Medicine.
"…Nothing…? Nothing? Nothing!?" Medicine exclaimed in total disbelief. Everyone in the room jumped in their seats from her sudden outburst, even the fearless Yuuka Kazami couldn't help but cringe at her response. "H-How…How could you call it nothing Yuuka!? After everything those bastards have done to me…How dare you call it nothing!?"
"Dear, that isn't what I-"
"Shut up! Just shut up!" Medicine roared as she stood up from her seat, pounding her fists on the tabletop forcefully. She almost looked like she would burst into tears at any given moment, "…How could you call it nothing…?" she whimpered. Then without warning, Medicine ran out of the room, with her tiny doll companion pursuing after her hectically. The doll was obviously struggling to keep up with her much larger counterpart.
Flandre leapt out of her seat as well and began to chase after the girl as well and console her, just as she had done days earlier with the troubled Celestial she had met. But unlike last time, she was impeded by Yuuka, who placed a firm, yet gentle grip on her shoulder. "Just let her go, she just needs some time to herself." The flower youkai said softly, her tone was the opposite of the charisma and confidence she had displayed since meeting them. Even her imperishable smile was now a concern-wrecked frown.
Flandre moaned lightly in defeat, and gave Yuuka a small nod in agreement. The young vampire dragged her feet sadly, and held her head low, saddened that she couldn't help Medicine with her troubles as she had with those she had met before her such as Tenshi and Kogasa.
She turned her head as she felt the touch of another, she found herself looking at Koishi as she wordlessly wrapped her arm over her shoulder in an attempt to comfort the melancholic vampire. "Don't be sad Flanny, Meddy's just in a bad mood…I'm sure she'll get over it soon! Then everything will be alright again!" The satori's words had seemingly succeeded in comforting the vampire as Flandre managed to put on a weak smile, pushing her sadness aside for the moment. "Now let's go play a game! It's really boring in here…" Flandre nodded in agreement as both she and her companion stepped out of the room, leaving the two others in the room to themselves.
Despite the heart-warming display between her two young friends, Meiling's attention was focused elsewhere, specifically on Yuuka, her gaze was so focused on the flower youkai that she barely noticed the two take their leave. The gatekeeper was astounded by Yuuka, the feared Flower Master of Four Seasons and the remorseless monster of the Garden of the Sun who cared only for the wellbeing of her sunflowers and other's pain and misery actually looked genuinely concerned for someone other than herself. For the first time since her first encounter with the dreaded Flower Youkai, Meiling's confidence in the seemingly endless amount of horrifying tales she had heard about Yuuka that had spread all over Gensokyo began to falter as she looked into the Flower Youkai's sorrowful eyes.
Despite the constant mental nagging she had against the idea, Meiling cautiously approached the Garden of the Sun's mistress. "Miss Kazami…? Are you…Are you alright?" Meiling asked.
Yuuka slowly turned her head towards Meiling, staring into her eyes for a brief moment before letting out a sigh. "Don't be ridiculous…Of course I'm alright. Why on earth wouldn't I be?" she said weakly.
"Your expression betrays your words." Meiling stated simply before pulling a chair out from under the table and took a seat next to Yuuka, ignoring every instinct that screamed of the foolishness of the action. "You…You must really care for that girl, don't you?" Yuuka looked up once again, staring at Meiling with her jaw slightly ajar as she simply mulled over what the gatekeeper said.
"Yes…I suppose I do care for her…just as much as you care for those two girls you watch over." Yuuka responded, "She's the closest thing I could call a daughter…She may be a bit prickly at first, but she really is a lovely child once you get to know her…Which is why I try to protect her from the cruelty of this world…She's suffered enough already."
"Miss Kazami, if it isn't too much to ask…Would you happen to know why she holds such contempt for humans?" While it wasn't exactly uncommon to find a youkai who disliked humans; it was a rare occasion to find one who outright despised the species. In fact, many youkai in Gensokyo were either indifferent to them, or simply saw them as a meal rather than an object of hate, or even on a rare occasion, youkai would actually consider humans allies. To find a youkai who held so much hatred for humans was shocking, especially one who was so young-lived. Meiling couldn't help but be curious of how this unbridled hatred could have come to be.
Yuuka paused for a moment to let the question sink in, "Miss Meiling, you wouldn't happen to be familiar of how a Tskumogami comes to be in the world, would you?" Meiling nodded, the process of how Tskumogami were born was both familiar and well-known to her. "Yes, yes…of course you do…then you must also know that a Tskumogami has a much different way of thinking than the more common types of youkai such as ourselves…" Yuuka paused a moment in contemplation before continuing, "You see, Tskumogamis are able to recall every moment of their existence as an inanimate object, as strange as that sounds. The treatment they received in their lives as inanimate objects play a huge factor of what kind of person they'll become once they make the metamorphosis into a full-fledged youkai." Yuuka let out one last bitter sigh before speaking once more, "As you may have already guessed, Medicine had a particularly bitter experience in her days before her life as a youkai…"
I can't say that I know the entirety of her story; it took a good amount of time for her to finally open up about her past in the first place. But here are the scant few details of her past that she had entrusted me with…She had described her life with her master as being a simple yet happy one. Her master had given her some of the most attentive and loving care a mere plaything could ever garner. That girl was apparently quite attached to little Medicine in her childhood. Much to the point of her master saying some things…though I could never loosen that doll's lips any further on the subject…she's such a secretive girl...
Though of course, you must realize that humans grow and mature much more quickly than we Youkai do...and as an effect, they outgrow the things they favored most of all in their youth once they've achieved adulthood. When this time in a human's life comes, they'll often pass down their playthings of yesterday and give them to their own offspring, with the same going for their children's children and so on. However…Medicine wasn't so fortunate.
Rather than being passed down to the next generation, Medicine's master had other plans in mind…She no longer had no need for a plaything in her life. So rather than giving Medicine up to some child that may have enjoyed her just as much as she had in her youth, she decided to dispose of her. Before Medicine could realize what was happening, she found herself abandoned in a remote field of suzurans. Though it wasn't the most traditional means of disposing of an unwanted object, it was still an effective one in the end.
Her master abandoning her really struck the girl hard, understandably. After all, how would you have felt if the only one you had ever loved and cared about in this world had abandoned you like a piece of garbage, leaving you to wait for them helplessly with the false hope that they just might actually return for you? I myself do not think many would have the mentality to handle something like that at her age.
Days turned to weeks, and weeks into months. Yet Medicine still found herself to be very much so alone. Soon enough, the months had turned into years, some very long and bitter years at that. I can't even begin to comprehend how Medicine must have felt…Sorrow…Anger…Hatred…Betrayal. These feelings were the catalyst that fueled her transformation from an ordinary doll and into a youkai. Seemingly from the moment that life entered her body, she had sworn vengeance against the ones responsible for forsaking to suffer such a horrible fate.
"…And that is her story to the best of what little knowledge I possess on the subject." Yuuka concluded.
Meiling sat in silence, wearing a sympathetic look as she took in the tale. "I don't know what to say…I'm speechless." Meiling said honestly.
"Understandable." Yuuka replied simply, "I can't say that I knew exactly what to say once she had relayed her story to me. So, now you must be able to see why she despises humans to the point of the mere mentioning of them gets her in a fit."
Meiling responded with a weak nod, taken aback by the revelation of Medicine's miserable past. Yet one thing was still bothering Meiling… "Miss Kazami…Medicine mentioned something about you hating humans as well?"
"Hmmmmm, I suppose she did. I can't honestly say I'm particularly fond of the species…" Yuuka confirmed.
"Why is that? I m-mean, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Well dear, let's just say humans took something precious of mine and leave it at that." Yuuka answered vaguely. The flower youkai exhaled deeply as her mind suddenly appeared to be elsewhere, and her eyes began to drift towards the room's sole window. "…I must say Miss Meiling, that vampire of yours is made of harder stuff than she looks." She commented, abruptly changing the subject, "For a girl of her mentality to be haunted by such dreadful nightmares…her mind must be stronger than it appears."
"What are you going on about, Kazami?" Meiling asked defensively.
"Little Flandre's night-frights of course." Yuuka stated as if it were a commonly known fact, "The girl has been enduring against some pretty nasty dreams as of late from the looks of it…I suppose it's to be expected, when the only family you have in the world sets a price on your head and has you hunted down like a common animal."
Meiling stole a look out of the window behind herself where she could visibly see Koishi and Flandre playing some sort of game together, obviously to get Flandre's mind off of Medicine, "How do you…?"
"Know?" Yuuka finished for her, "Well, let's just say I've had some… past experiences with these sorts of things." Meiling was beginning to become suspicious of Yuuka's recent abundance of vague answers, but set her suspicion aside for the moment.
"Is there any way to help her with these nightmares?"
"Well…no. The ones in charge of these things have quite a firm stance about dreams…no amount of bargaining or pleading would make them fold." Yuuka said with absolute certainty, "However, fortunately for our little friend here, such things won't be necessary."
"And that's supposed to mean…?" Meiling asked in obvious confusion.
"That little satori girl, she has the power over the subconscious. I doubt the girl herself is aware of it, but it'd appear that Miss Komeiji has been helping our vampire friend through her nightmares." An amused smile crept up Yuuka's face as Meiling looked at her with a baffled expression, "This however, is only a temporary fix. The only true way for Flandre to ever truly be relieved of these nightmares is to face the source of her fears, when the time for that comes…she will have to do it alone." The flower youkai said grimly, "But once she's faced these fears…she will need you and Miss Koemeiji to be there for her, to support her."
Meiling silently nodded with a sense of determination in the action. Yuuka smiled in approval and slowly stood up from her seat, stretching a bit with a groan. "My…how has it become so late in the day? Now, Miss Meiling why don't you go and spend some time with those precious little girls? I'm sure they'd enjoy your company."
"I think I'll do that." Meiling replied, "But what will you be doing then?"
"Oh don't fret about me…I just have a doll to go look for." Yuuka responded with a smirk as she exited the room with umbrella in hand. As Meiling watched the flower youkai depart, she found herself not watching a monster, but rather a person. The gatekeeper soon enough left to do just as Yuuka had suggested, leaving the massive mansion empty.
Taking a step out to the courtyard, Meiling took in a fresh breath of air. The Garden of the Sun's air felt like it was completely and utterly pure, somehow more pure than the rest of the air in Gensokyo. The gatekeeper supposed it was just another one of the odd qualities of the garden. Flandre and Koishi soon took notice of the gatekeeper's presence and began to run towards her gleefully.
"China, China! You wanna play with us?" Flandre asked in childish excitement, with the recent events involving Medicine out of her mind for the time being.
Meiling couldn't help but smile at that, "Of course, I'd love to! What are we playing?"
"Ummmm…What do you think we should play Koi-Koi?" Flandre asked uncertainly.
Koishi simply shrugged, "I dunno…But I'm getting tired of tag…" The two exchanged looks with one another as they began to contemplate on what activity to partake in.
The gatekeeper let out a laugh at that, despite their current situation with Remilia's bounty and the high probability of being hunted down by Gensokyo's finest in an attempt to claim the reward, Flandre and Koishi's childish nature always managed to brighten her mood. "Well, while you two think that over, let me ask you something. Where would you like to go next? We need a plan; we can't just walk around aimlessly forever, after all."
Flandre began to scratch her chin in thought as she pondered the gatekeeper's question, "…I dunno…There's just too many places to go to…Why don't you pick Koi-Koi?" the vampire asked.
"Well I…I wanna go visit my big sis and all of her pets!" Koishi proclaimed happily. Flandre nodded in agreement with the idea wearing a small smile.
"Sounds good to me," Meiling said, making the decision unanimous, "Now… where exactly does this sister of yours live, Koishi?"
"Oh um…Somewhere right…around…here!" Koishi pointed down towards the ground, causing Meiling to grow perplexed.
"Ummmm, Your sister lives in the ground?" Meiling asked skeptically.
"What? Of course not! Who said that silly? She lives at the Palace of the Earth Spirits in Former Hell!" Koishi clarified happily.
"Ah, now that makes a lot more sense…" Meiling replied sheepishly. In retrospect it was a foolish question to ask, after all, what remained of the Satori had been sealed underground along with all of the other youkai deemed too dangerous to be allowed in Gensokyo.
Normally Meiling would try to avoid going into such a perilous place full of dangerous youkai, not to mention evil spirits, but with their current situation, Former Hell would be much safer than any other place in Gensokyo. News from the surface usually took quite a long while to travel to the underground, if it ever did at all. The capital of Former Hell would be the perfect place to catch a breather from the constant need to stay on the move to avoid any potential bounty hunters.
"But there's only one problem with that plan…I don't know of any easily accessible routes into the underground." Meiling said.
"Ooh, I know one!" Koishi replied cheerfully.
"Really now? Where would this route be?" Meiling asked curiously.
"Alllllllllllllll the way up there!" Koishi cheered as she pointed her finger into the distance.
Meiling slowly turned to where the satori had pointed, only for her jaw to drop wide open. The satori had pointed towards the summit of Gensokyo's largest mountain, Youkai Mountain. In what the area lacked in name creativity, it more than made up with danger. The Tengu on the mountain were very territorial, and would attack any outsiders who dared an attempt to scale the mountain. Not to mention the sheer size of the landform, it took quite a while to scale the mountain even while flying, Meiling couldn't even imagine how long it'd take them to reach the top by foot…
"Wow…" Flandre gasped in amazement as she stared at the mountain with awe.
"All…All the way up there…?" Meiling stuttered out in disbelief.
"Uh-huh!"
"Well then…this'll be one very long and tiring trip…" Meiling adjusted her beret as she stared at the mountain, dreading the long journey ahead of them.
Most people would have become horribly lost in the ginormous Garden of the Sun by now. The garden's lack of landmarks made losing one's way easy; in that sense it was quite similar to the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. Luckily for Yuuka being accustomed to the garden's layout, she had no problem traversing her way through mazelike landscape. Finding Medicine however, was another story.
The doll was deceivingly skilled at hiding herself, making it all the easier for her to attack unsuspecting humans. Yuuka had to admit that finding her would be a challenge, even with her having the home-field advantage. Yuuka carefully scanned the area for any possible trails the Tskumogami could have left as she made her way through the garden, trying to be as thorough as possible in her search. As her eyes carefully picked out each and every detail in her surroundings, the flower youkai quickly found it unnecessary as she caught sight of a small object flying just above the field of sunflowers. The object that was easily identified as Medicine's constant companion seemed to have noticed Yuuka as well, as it began to zip towards her as quickly as its small wings would allow it.
"Good evening little one," Yuuka greeted, "You wouldn't happen to know where your master would be, would you?"
The doll quickly nodded in response and motioned her over before flying off towards the direction that Yuuka could only assume to be where Medicine was at. The flower youkai followed her guide through the vast garden at her own sluggish pace; Yuuka was not one to rush into things after all.
Before long, her small guide had abruptly stopped at the edge of one of the scarce clearings within the garden, its size was not particularly great, making it quite easy to overlook. It was there that the little blonde-girl sat alone, hugging her legs as she stared down at the ground.
Yuuka sighed in relief as she finally found the Tskumogami, "Medicine."
"…Yuuka." Medicine said back, remaining motionless.
The flower youkai began to silently traipse her way to the lone girl, with her silent companion flying alongside her fearfully, hiding behind Yuuka's shoulder as they finally closed the distance between the Tskumogami and themselves. The two youkai sat in silence for what felt like hours before Yuuka finally composed herself, "Medicine, we need to talk."
"Why on earth would I want to talk to traitor like you?"
"Come now dear…you know I didn't mean it like that…" Yuuka said, genuinely hurt by the Tskumogami's harsh words. "Will you at least hear me out?"
Medicine gave no answer aside from a grunt of indifference. Yuuka took it as her cue to continue, "Dear, I know what the humans did to you was unforgiveable and completely unacceptable…Quite honestly I can't at all blame you. But getting angry about it won't solve your problems."
"Hrmph, easy for you to say, after all it's all just nothing to you, isn't it?" Medicine spat in disgust.
"Far from it, dear." Yuuka replied calmly, garnering a confused look from the Tskumogami, "I have no love for mankind; the world could be rid of them for all I care. They took away something of mine… something that I'll never be able to replace or get back from them."
She evidently had Medicine's attention by the end of her last sentence as the doll looked at the elder youkai intently, like a small child wishing to hear the conclusion of a bedtime story. "…What did they take from you?" she asked after a brief moment of silence.
"My innocence." Medicine's jaw dropped in shear bafflement at the conclusion of the flower youkai's sentence. How could Yuuka Kazami, the feared mistress of the Garden of the Sun, have been…defiled by a human? Yuuka noticed Medicine's bewildered expression and quickly corrected her, "Not in the sense your thinking, dear."
"In what other sense could you possibly be talking about then?" the Tskumogami asked impatiently.
"My sense of wonder. They took away that blissful ignorance of the cruelties of the world that only a child could possess." Yuuka clarified, "They made it painfully obvious to me that a world devoid of pain and misery was nothing but a foolish dream." Vivid images of fields of flowers set aflame and enraged townspeople armed with weapons and torches burned fresh in Yuuka's mind, along with the sounds of the villager's contempt filled cursing and her own screams of horrid agony. These images were soon replaced by the sight of her own blood covered hands and the terrified expressions of the townspeople along with the sound of her attacker's cries of pain and pleas of mercy soon filling her ears. Soon everything went silent, aside from her laughter; she stared up at the moon laughing as if she had been told the funniest joke ever told as she stood on the blood drenched field that was once her garden.
Coming back to reality, Yuuka continued her spiel, "In that sense, you and I are the same. We've both been wronged by the monsters of this land. Both of us see this world's true nature all too clearly." Medicine gave a gruff nod in agreement as she stared at the sky that was painted a brilliant orange color by the sun with a blank look in her eyes. "So what do you say? Will you forgive me for the lack of thought behind my words?"
Medicine sighed and let her eyes travel from the sky and to Yuuka's crimson eyes, "I suppose…" the doll youkai muttered, managing to muster a small smile for Yuuka to show her sincerity, pleasing the flower youkai greatly as she returned a smile of her own.
"Let's go home then, my dear."
A/N: Originally I never thought this chapter would past five-thousand words, much less take as long as it did to write...yet here we are, close to six-thousand words and weeks later. Ah well, what're you going to do? I'm satisfied with how this came out, considering I was hating how it was coming out near the beginning, I actually ended up redoing the first stretch entirely. xP
Well, next chapter we can finally get the plot-rolling again. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, hopefully you'll enjoy the next.(Once I give DD an overdue update of course...) Til' next time, folks.