Meiling was beginning to think that allowing Koishi to lead the way was a big mistake on her part. It felt like the scatter-brained satori was leading them around in circles. In fact, much of the scenery was beginning to look far too familiar for her tastes…Maybe she should have been more worried when Koishi had mentioned picking out the scent…
Flandre on the other hand trusted Koishi's sense of direction completely, as she followed the white-haired girl without question and did so with a spring in her step. The amount of trust she placed in Koishi was unbelievable, it was a bit jarring to Meiling to be frank.
Their guide suddenly stopped in her tracks and perked her head up, audibly taking a whiff of the Mountain air. "We're almost there! It's just around the corner!" the satori announced with excitement.
The gatekeeper didn't know whether she could trust Koishi's words at all anymore. While she was fond of the girl and felt a strong sense of guardianship over her like she did with Flandre, how floaty and schizophrenic she acted left her taking everything the satori said with a very large grain of salt. Despite this Meiling remained silent and hoped for the best.
As the three made the next bend, Meiling and Flandre were left speechless at the sight before them. They were met by a small lake, it wasn't nearly the size of the Misty Lake but it wouldn't do it justice to call it a pond either. But either way you looked at it, it was an awe-inspiring sight. Unlike the Misty Lake, this lake's water was clear to the point in which the surface was transparent, as opposed to the murky water of the lake Meiling was accustomed to staring at during her guard duties. Just beyond the water mass was a shrine, with its courtyard littered with onbashira as far as the eye could see. As nice as the scenery was though, there was still one small problem.
"Koishi…This isn't a passage to Former Hell." Meiling stated, dumbstruck by both the beauty of the area and Koishi's horrible sense of direction.
The satori sneaked a look at the area before looking at Meiling, "What're you talking about? The way to the underground is really REALLY close China!" Koishi insisted before quickly adding, "My nose never lies!"
"…Where is it then?" Flandre asked as she scanned the area closely for anything resembling a way into the underground.
Koishi could only give a shrug in response, "I forget…But I'm one-hundred percent positive there's one somewhere around here! Where could it have gone…? Ooh! Look a frog!" the satori cried as she watched a small frog as it hopped along the periphery of the shrine's lake.
The gatekeeper couldn't help but face-palm as Koishi, along with Flandre went in pursuit of the frog. Their lack of concern in the slightest was both astonishing and enviable. Sometimes Meiling really wished she could be just as care free as her two companions were…but it fell to her to be the voice of reason in the group. A responsibility that became more and more taxing with each passing day.
"You guys, could you at least humor me and pretend to care that we're horribly lost!?" Meiling cried in exasperation, tugging at her twin braids as she did so.
Flandre turned her attention away from the frog and comforted the distraught gatekeeper, "I-It's alright Meiling…I'm sure we'll find the underground soon…Right Koishi?"
"Heehee…Look at the little guy go! Hop, hop, hop!" Koishi giggled in amusement, obviously not paying any attention to her companion's conversation, much to Meiling's further disdain.
"I'm sorry Flandre, but given how Koishi is being so…inattentive…I'm not sure I can trust her to handle directions…" the gatekeeper sighed.
"But I'm sure Koishi's trying her absolute hardest China! Doesn't that count for something…?"
"In a perfect world, yes. But no such world exists." Meiling replied, "Trust me Flandre, Iwant to Koishi to take the lead as much as you do. But well…given recent events I think it'd be best if I handled things from here on out…"
"But China-"
"Hey, what're you kids doin'!?" a youthful voice cried, "You girls better not be messing with any frogs out there!" As soon as the voice's words entered her ears, Koishi dropped the frog she was hugging and discretely backed away from it.
Meiling hesitantly turned around, fearing that she would find a furious goddess ready to make her life all the more difficult…But she found no such deity, instead she found a young girl standing in the entrance of the shrine across the lake. She was no taller than Flandre or Koishi, and wore a small purple dress. A wide-brimmed hat with what appeared to be googly-eyes glued on to it rested on her head, effectively shading her from the sun. Her hat was frankly the most distinguishing feature of the girl, not because the girl herself lacked presence, but because it felt as if the hat was staring right into Meiling's soul…Other than that hat's soul piercing gaze, the girl seemed completely ordinary.
"Nope, no one's messing with any frogs out here, no sir!" Koishi replied in her usual chipper voice.
The blonde girl squinted her eyes at Koishi, as she slowly approached the three. "Haven't we met somewhere before…?"
Koishi scratched her chin in thought for a moment before the realization hit her. "Oh yeah! You're Kero-Kero! You still owe me the power of love!" Koishi said as she held out her hand expectantly.
"Mhmmm…I'll be keeping an eye on you then…" the girl said as she slowly pushed Koishi's hand down, "So…What brings you kiddos to the shrine today? A blessing? Prayer? Perhaps a fortune telling?"
"N-No, nothing of the sort milady! We just seem to have lost our bearings here…" Meiling answered.
The girl nodded, "I see…Where you headed?"
This was a question Meiling found difficult to answer. After their run in with Nue, it had become difficult to trust anyone, especially strangers. This innocent question could eventually lead to their eventual downfall if she answered incorrectly. Yes, she'd have to think her answer over carefully before-
"We're going to the Underground to visit Koishi's sister!" Flandre chirped happily, much to Meiling's horror.
"The underground, you say? Well then it would appear you have a better handle on your bearings than you had thought. I can point you in the right direction. But first…There's someone I'd like you to meet. Please join us for a spot of tea."
"There's no need for that, your help is more than enough!" Meiling insisted, "So if you would just point us in the right direction, Lady…?"
"Suwako." The girl replied, "And you need to calm down lady. Sometimes you need to slow down a bit and take and sniff the flowers. The underground isn't going anywhere, now is it?"
With no other alternatives in sight, the three followed the mysterious girl inside the shrine. The gatekeeper kept her guard up, just in case this Suwako girl had any alternative angles…Meiling honestly wished she could trust her, but after having to fight off bounty hunters on numerous occasions, your trust in strangers shrinks exponentially…
The three traveling youkai girls found themselves frozen in a state of amazement as they stepped inside the shrine. Yes, the internal architecture was built just like your traditional shrine. There was a small altar for worshiping purposes along with a small table for eating meals, but those features were left unnoticed in comparison to the other objects scattered in the shrine. The shrine held some most unusual things within, being both strange and wonderful at once.
The most unusual object was a medium sized box with antennas sticking out from the top, its shape wasn't too strange…but the fact that moving pictures flashed across its surface was downright astonishing. Even the Kappa city lacked anything like this. The magic used to create this device must have been quite complex, even Patchouli couldn't do something like this. Then again, she was more interested in practical uses for her magic…
Suwako didn't take pay her guest's awe filled expressions much mind, this wasn't the first time she saw a Gensokyian's reaction when first visiting the shrine, and it definitely wouldn't be the last. "You guys can sit down and make yourselves at home; I'll go and fetch some tea." The girl said, but all she received in the way of response were absentminded nods.
"Wowee! How'd you trap all these people in this box? Can they breathe alright in there!?" Flandre asked, suddenly looking concerned for the strangely garbed people in the even stranger looking box.
"Yeah! I want a box full of people like you! Can you tell me how to make one?" Koishi asked excitedly.
Without turning from preparing her tea, Suwako replied, "Don't worry, the people in there aren't real. It's just…magic." The girl replied. While she very well knew the box was about as magical as your everyday rock, she felt magic would be the easiest way to explain it to the three. "Oh, and its foreign magic, I couldn't even begin to explain how to recreate one of these. It was a gift."
Koishi groaned in disappointment at Suwako's answer, she had set her hopes on making herself one of these mystifying boxes. After all, one could never have enough pets, and this strange box seemed to be able to hold a limitless supply of them!
"SAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Come out here for a sec! We have company!" Suwako bellowed, causing her three guests to practically jump out of their skin in surprise. The girl then set down a tray covered with teacups on the small table before taking a seat. "So, how's the mountain been treating you guys? Any scrapes or bruises?"
"Nope! I feel so strong and healthy that I could wrestle five-hundred onis!" Koishi boasted as she plopped down by the table along with her two companions.
"Really? Guess the tengu are losing their edge…Probably too focused on their news stories nowadays…" Suwako replied, looking to the side as she spoke before bellowing out another call. "SANAE! Get your tuckus in here!"
"Do you need something Lady Suwako…?" a reply finally came.
Entering the room was a young girl; she would have looked like a completely ordinary human girl, were it not for her mane of green hair and her strange clothing. The girl's hair was a complete mess, it looked like the girl had just woken up and the large bags under her eyes were a very big indication that she in fact did. Her choice of attire was something that the land of Gensokyo had never beheld. Rather than a night gown, the girl wore a plain white T-shirt that appeared to be several sizes too large for her scrawny frame along with a pair of long light blue pants with yellow star-prints on them. Despite the girl's strange clothing, she was actually quite the looker, even with her hair looking as it did.
"Oh there you are, Sleepy-head. I hope you aren't planning on making a habit of sleeping until noon." Suwako teased, "Anyways, sorry to wake you, but we have guests. Why don't you go on and give them a Moriya shrine welcome?"
Sanae looked to their guests and stared at them a moment dumbly before addressing them. "Hi. Welcome to the Moriya shrine. Enjoy your stay..." the girl mumbled before letting out a yawn. "Will that be all Lady Suwako? If it is I'll be going back to bed now…"
"Come on Sanae, what kind of welcome was that? Put some heart into it!"
"I'm sorry Lady Suwako, but I just don't have it in me right now…Can I please just go now…?"
"Alright, thanks for coming out at the very least. I'll talk to you later." Sanae gave the girl a nod before silently trudging her way back down the hall. "I love you Sanae." Sadly, Suwako's words fell on deaf ears, as Sanae was long gone now. Sighing, the short blonde girl looked back towards her guests, "I'm sorry about that. She's just been having a rough time in the friend's department lately."
"Rough time?" Flandre asked, interested.
Suwako nodded, "Yeah. At first Sanae seemed really happy to come to leave the world behind and come to Gensokyo, but lately she's just moping around and shutting herself in her room. I guess it's understandable though, being a Shrine maiden isn't the easiest job, and it certainly doesn't present a lot of opportunities for friend making…" the girl sighed, "When I saw you guys loitering around outside, I figured maybe if she talked to you three, she might have found some common ground with one of you. You know, and make some new friends. Guess it was just wishful thinking though, so sorry for dragging you guys into my scheme there…"
"Wait, you come from the outer world?" asked Meiling.
"Yes, that's right. Finding faith has become far more difficult than it was back in the old days. It was both stay there until we fade away and leave Sanae all alone or come to Gensokyo and try our luck here."
"Ah, so that must mean that this is the Moriya shrine…How could that have taken me so long to realize…?" the gatekeeper said in understanding.
"Duh China, I could've told you that!" Koishi scoffed, "I've been here plenty of times!"
Meiling sighed, "Well that would have been useful to know beforehand…"
"Ummm…Is this Moriya shrine place important or something?" Flandre asked, obviously a little lost in the conversation.
The Chinese guardian nodded, "Yes, you could say that. They've been making a pretty big splash in Gensokyo ever since they've come here. Not to mention they've basically been responsible for all of the recent incidents."
"Yeah, they gave my pet super powers! Now she's got this wicked arm cannon that goes, pew-pew-pew! And KA-BLAM! It even goes SHUWA-ZAMMY!" Koishi said, making some awkward poses to compliment her sound effects. "But they're too stingy to even make me into a magical girl…"
"Oh! Now I remember you! You're that one girl…Komeiji's little sister, right?" Suwako asked, "Boy, it feels good to have that all cleared up now… And just for future reference, goddesses don't have any 'gloomy-powers of love' or whatever it is you went on about to bless people with."
"I think I'm even more lost than before…" Flandre muttered as she struggled to keep up with the conversation.
"Alright, let's get back on topic before this conversation is derailed even more than it already has been…" Meiling said. Honestly, she was beginning to feel just as confused as Flandre was at this point. "In a nutshell, the Moriya Shrine is one of the leading powers in Gensokyo despite only becoming a presence a few years ago. They're on par with the Hakurei Shrine, and the Buddhist and Taoist factions in terms of influence." The gatekeeper explained, "Does that sound about right to you, Lady Suwako?"
Suwako nodded, impressed. "I gotta hand it to you Miss Meiling, you're pretty sharp. No wonder you and your little friends haven't been caught yet."
"Yes well I may not be the sharpest blade of the bunch but-wait, what did you call me? I…I don't remember introducing myself…"
"Come now. I might be adorable, but I have more than just that to fall back on, I've been around the block a few times you know. Besides at this point I'd have to live under a rock not to have heard of the famous Flandre Scarlet and Hong Meiling. Oh, and the Komeiji girl too." Suwako said casually, "I mean your faces are on every newspaper in Gensokyo you know? You'd best get used to people knowing your faces, because I reckon nearly everyone in Gensokyo has seen them one way or another."
Meiling snapped out of her initial shock, "You're right, I shouldn't presume we'll pass for being inconspicuous anywhere now, least of all here on the Youkai Mountain. I presume that you don't have any plans to turn us in then if you're telling us this?"
The goddess shook her head, "Nah. I don't have any interest in collecting any bounties or anything like that, so you can relax. Can't promise the same of my significant other though…"
"Kanako Yasaka?" Flandre's expression furrowed at the name's mentioning. She still hadn't forgotten what the goddesses of the mountain were suffering through, and she wouldn't any time soon.
Suwako seemed surprised to hear the name but her surprise quickly faded, "Sharp indeed. You definitely have a handle on things, don't you?" The goddess said before taking a gulp of her tea. "Know, if you're as sharp as I think you are you'll probably be asking me about her business dealings, right?"
"You're no slouch yourself then, Lady Suwako."
The goddess sighed, "I've no doubt you think low of us right now, don't you? The other deities of the mountain sure do…"
The Chinese youkai shook her head, "I'll withhold my judgment until I've heard you're side of the story. Then I'll decide how high or low to think of you. You deserve at least that much."
"Wait, wait, wait…Can we slow down for a second or a maybe a minute? I'm really confused…What's going on now?" Koishi asked, with Flandre nodding in agreement.
"Allow me to enlighten you." Suwako said, "You've seen the other goddesses of the mountain yes? Shortage of faith to go around and whatnot?" the two confused youkai girls nodded in turn, "Well, I'm ashamed to admit that my partner, Kanako and I are the cause of this…" Suwako said with a throb of guilt in her voice. "Though it isn't much, I hope you won't judge us too harshly…at least until I give my side of things."
Meiling nodded, "As I said before, we all owe you that much."
"Then you're as gracious as you were wise, Meiling." Suwako said with gratitude, "Now, I'll just tell you the truth here, no need for dancing around any corners or anything of the sort. Kanako, the more dominant goddess of our partnership has never exactly been easily satisfied…Like a human, she is driven by desire. The desire for power if you want to be specific. In truth, this ambition of hers is the reason I can't claim this shrine to be mine anymore. Despite this, I've built a good friendship with her, one I wouldn't be quick to break. When you've lived with someone for over one-thousand years, they begin rub off on you, you know? Not to mention she's helped me watch over my descendants ever since she claimed the shrine."
"That would include Sanae, yes?"
"Boy, you're on a roll. Yes, Sanae's my descendant, my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great granddaughter if you want to split hairs. Anyways, I've usually acted as the voice of reason in our partnership. Granted it always hasn't been easy, but she would usually take my words to heart, considering I've been around a litt-"
"Wait, hold the phone! You have a great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandaughter!?" Koishi interrupted.
"Well, you're one great off, but yes. What of it?" Suwako answered patiently.
"Cool! I want a great-great-great-great-granddaughter too! How do I get one!?" the satori asked, bursting with excitement at the idea.
The goddess blushed at the question, "Well…When you find someone you love with all your heart, you'll eventually settle down and once you do that-"
"L-Lady Suwako! Can we please get back to the subject at hand? Please." Meiling pleaded, her face flushed red.
"R-Right, gladly…"
"But I want to know!" Koishi huffed; the two elder's embarrassment of the subject flying over her head entirely. Even Flandre's curiosity was peaked, just how did one become a grandmother anyways?
"Er, well…Let's just say that one day you'll meet someone you like, someone you'll want to spend the rest of your life with…When that day comes, everything will make sense and before you know it you'll be old and have grandchildren of your own. Is that answer satisfactory?"
The satori nodded with the largest smile humanely possible, "Uh-huh! I guess that means I'll have grandchildren of my own REALLY soon!"
"P-Pardon?"
"I already have someone I want to spend the rest of my life with!" Koishi chirped, "She's the bestest friend a girl could ask for! And I well…she makes my chest feel all fuzzy and good inside! But in a REALLY
"H-Huh? Is there something on my face?" Flandre asked in reaction to the strange look Koishi was giving her. Her gaze made her feel…strange.
"L-Lady Suwako, can we PLEASE get back to the more urgent subject at hand?" Meiling pleaded once more, silently praying that this conversation wouldn't corrupt Flandre or Koishi's innocence.
"Yes, yes of course. You two can ask your friend Meiling here all the questions you undoubtedly have afterwards." The goddess said with a sly grin. If looks could kill, Meiling would have no doubt murdered the goddess a hundred times over. "Anyways, where were we now…? Oh right, my partnership with Kanako. Despite her being the one in charge, she would always take my word to heart. That was, until we came to Gensokyo. As soon as we came here, she began to ignore my advice more and more and decided on using more aggressive tactics to collect faith. Granted, it worked, but it's landed us in hot water more than once… And now her ambition is directly threatening the balance of Gensokyo and the lives of goddesses. Believe me, I've tried to stop her, but she outright ignores my thoughts now…"
The three remained silent; swallowing Suwako's story was difficult. Figuring out a solution to the problem was even more so. If Kanako wouldn't even listen to her partner of over two-thousand years, it was doubtless that any other attempts at resolving things peacefully would be a wasted effort. And if what Hina told them about Kanako was true, using force would end in them being a big bloody mess on the mountainside. It was beginning to look like a hopeless situation.
Suwako suddenly perked up, "Well, speak of the devil…It looks like my significant other is back from running her errands."
"Kanako…" Flandre hissed. The vampire was seething with rarely shown anger.
Meiling placed a hand on the vampire's shoulder, "Be calm Flandre. Force won't solve this problem. We need to use our heads here." The last thing the gatekeeper needed was to have Kanako as an enemy.
"Yes, please refrain from doing anything to irk Kanako. She's not the most forgiving person I know…And I have to live with her, so…" Suwako added.
True to the goddess's word, the doors to the shrine slid open, revealing a tall purple-haired woman. She wore a white sun-dress accompanied by a straw sun-hat. The woman's eyes were covered by a strange piece of eye-wear, they were shaped like glasses, yet the lenses were tinted black as night. In her arms she held what looked like a basket full of groceries. Despite the woman's unimpressive appearance, her presence felt…almost suffocating. As if her very essence demanded respect. This woman was without a doubt the infamous Kanako Yasaka they've heard so much about during their trek up the mountain.
"Goodness, the village was hectic today…The scoop of the century must have passed through the village, everyone was simply buzzing about today…" Kanako muttered as she closed the door behind her. The purple haired goddess took off her tinted-glasses and finally took note of the three strangers sitting at her table with Suwako. "Oh, I wasn't aware we had company. What is it you three have come here for? To offer a prayer perhaps?"
The goddess only received silence in response, with Flandre fidgeting with her hands a bit in an effort not to scream at the goddess, while Meiling silently supported her. Koishi didn't seem as anxious as her two companions as she peacefully admired Kanako's fashionable choice in head-wear.
"Ahem…Welcome home Kanako. These are just some travelers that lost their bearings, I'll just point them in the right direction and they'll be out of here in a jiff." Suwako said.
"I…see…" Kanako muttered absent-mindedly as she tried to catch a better look at their three guests. The purple-haired goddess inspected Flandre in particular, scrutinizing her every feature, from her crimson-colored eyes to her rainbow colored wings. Then realization struck her. "S…Suwako…Would you please join me outside for a moment? I have something I'd like to discuss with you…"
"I suppose I could." Suwako replied, standing from her seat.
The wind goddess opened the door for her shorter cohort, "Please make yourselves at home in the meantime friends; this should take but a moment." Kanako said before following Suwako outside, closing the door behind her.
Kanako lead her long-time partner to the shrine's back-courtyard. It was a well-kept area, thanks in part to Sanae's diligence and Kanako's manipulation of wind keeping any stray leaves or any other sort of debris away from the shrine. There wasn't a soul in sight and with the wind blowing constantly; it was the perfect spot to have a private conversation.
"Suwako, do you know who those three are? That's Flandre Scarlet and her friends!" Kanako squealed. The normally stoic and stern goddess was practically jumping with excitement, with a smile that's rarely seen painted on her face.
Suwako in turn replied, "Yes, I'm aware. I'd have to be living under a rock not to know who they are Kanako. What of it?" the shorter goddess didn't like where this conversation was heading one bit…
"What of it? What of it!? Surely you must see the strike of good fortune we've had!" Kanako cried in glee, "Even you must know that the Tengu treat the vampire as a celebrity! She's all they've talked about for weeks! If she were to make a few appearances alongside us or even speak in our name…We'd be swimming in faith! And even if the deal goes sour, we could easily turn them in for Remilia's reward money…Just imagine what we could do with all that money…"
"No, Kanako." Suwako said firmly, "I don't like where this is going. It's bad enough we've been depriving the other deities of Gensokyo goddesses of faith, but now you want to use a little girl just to further your own ambitions?"
"Don't you see Suwako? I'm not doing this for us; I'm doing this for Sanae." Kanako said sternly, "We're all she has now; I refuse to disappear and leave her alone. I want to see her grow up, get married, have children…I want to be there for her, her children and their children Suwako. We can't do that unless we have faith. And I'll ensure this future by any means necessary Suwako, with or without your blessing."
A moment of silence passed after Kanako's words, the two goddesses staring at one another unflinching. "…Believe me; I want the exact same thing. I want to see Sanae grow-up and help raise her children as much as you do Kanako. But I refuse to sacrifice others on the altar of my ambition just to see that dream come true, trust me Kanako, living a life filled with regret isn't living at all. It was a mistake letting things get this out of hand…but I'll rectify my missteps right here, peacefully or…" Suwako pulled out a small card from her baggy white-sleeves, "By force."
Kanako burst into laughter, "Bahahaha! Surely you jest Suwako. You mean to challenge me?"
"Only if I have to Kanako. You're out of control; someone needs to beat some sense into you, and if that someone has to be me, then so be it!"
At that moment, all amusement disappeared from Kanako's face, being replaced with her normal cold, stern expression. "Very well Suwako, if that's how you want things, I'll be more than happy to put you back into your place." The goddess said venomously as her white-sundress morphed into her usual attire, which consisted of a red shirt with long white sleeves and a black skirt with a flower pattern stitched around the hem along with a large shimenawa tied around her waist.
Suwako jumped into action as soon as it became clear Kanako wouldn't be convinced by anything but danmaku, raising the card she held above her head. "Native God 'Red Frog of Houei Four!'" Suwako called out, causing an eruption of danmaku to spring out from the card and towards Kanako in a barrage of red and white.
The wind-goddess simply weaved through the field of danmaku that rushed at her with ease. A smug grin was planted on her face as she did so, as if mocking the earth-goddess's efforts. This would have irritated Suwako if she was actually using the full extent of her spell-card's capabilities…The Moriya goddess was thankful that Kanako wasn't familiar with her spell-cards, otherwise she may have saw through her plan…
It had been some time since Kanako and Suwako had stepped out of the room, much to the point that Flandre and Koishi were becoming restless. Meiling remained patient, mostly due to her experience of standing outside without anything to do at hours on end while guarding the Scarlet Devil Mansion. In comparison to that, this was much better.
Koishi and Flandre however, were a completely different case. The two had very little patience for sitting around and doing nothing. The young-mistress was a little tamer, due to the many moments of monotony of her life in the basement. But it took great effort on Meiling's end to keep the restless satori from scrounging through the Moriya Shrine's personal belongings.
"I'm soooooooo bored…" Koishi whined for the eleventh time as she let her head fall onto the table.
"Just be patient Koishi, I'm sure they'll be back soon. Hopefully Suwako is trying to reason with Kanako that what she's doing is wrong and things can be settled peacefully." Meiling said.
"I hope so; I don't want Hina or the others to go Kyuu…" Flandre said, looking just as bored as Koishi.
"I'm sure they are, surely Kanako will at least consider Suwako's words. She did say that she worked with her for about a thousand years now. That must mean something to her." Meiling reassured. "After all, even Kanako must see the wrong in what she's doing."
Without warning, the shrine began to shake violently, causing the three to lose their balance and clutch on to the closest object to them. Just as sudden as it had begun, the shaking quickly died down. Despite its short presence, it had managed to knock a few things in the shrine down. Thankfully no one seemed to havesustained any bodily harm and nothing important looking looked damaged…
"What was that?" Flandre asked, sounding more curious than she was surprised.
"I…Don't know…It sure didn't feel like an earth-quake…" Meiling replied.
Thankfully the three didn't have to wait long for an answer, as Suwako dashed into the shrine. Given the panicked expression on her face, something horrible had happened. "You three have to leave, right now!" The goddess said quickly.
"Why, what happened?" just as Meiling asked, the shrine shook once more, this time much more violently.
"Yeah so Kanako wants to use you guys as a promotional piece to collect more faith and then sell you out to Remilia, and that didn't really agree with me, so I kind of challenged her to a fight…" Suwako explained quickly. "So unless you're all keen on that plan, I'd suggest you guys follow me."
The three didn't need any further convincing from the earth-goddess and quickly gathered their things. Suwako then lead them outside the shrine, where a fierce battle between Kanako and Suwako was taking place in the skies above…Wait, Suwako…?
"I can split myself into two; it's the effect of one of my spell-cards." Suwako explained upon seeing the looks of confusion from the three. The earth-goddess then stomped her foot into the hard soil of the ground, opening up a large hole in the ground. "Alright, here's your one way ticket to Former Hell. I was going to bring you to a more traditional entrance but given recent events, this'll have to do. It might be a bit of a bumpy ride, but you should all be fine…Hopefully."
"I can't tell you how sorry I am Suwako; if we hadn't come here none of this would be happening right now…" Meiling apologized.
Suwako simply shrugged her apology off, "Eh, don't worry about it. If it wasn't you three it'd have been something else. Besides, Kanako could stand to be knocked down a few pegs. Now seriously, get moving, it won't be long before Kanako realizes what I'm doing here."
"Thanks Froggy, we'll come back and visit sometime!" Flandre said.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm looking forward to it! But seriously, can you guys get a move on already? This spell-card isn't going to last forever you know!"
"R-Right! Sorry! Farewell Suwako and good luck! Be sure to get in a few hits on our behalf!" Meiling said as she grabbed ahold of Flandre and Koishi. The gatekeeper then leaped into the passage Suwako created for the three. As soon as the three were out of sight, Suwako closed the passage off just as the effects of the spell-card ended, causing her second-half to disappear.
The goddess sighed in relief, assured that the three would be safe from Kanako for the time-being. Now that she didn't have to worry about their well-being, Suwako could focus properly on her battle with her longtime friend and partner. This battle would no doubt be a long and tiring one…in reality Suwako was already knew without a doubt that she would lose. But that didn't mean she would go down without a fight!
AN: (I'd just like to inform you all that there will not be any pairings in this fanfiction, so sorry if any dialogue in this chapter raised any hopes on that matter.) Hello, happy belated New Year's everyone. Sorry about the wait for this chapter, first I had a really bad case of writer's block, then there was schoolwork to take care of, along with college applications…Over all, I've been busy lately. But on the bright side, neglecting this story gave me time to get back into things I've neglected to do for months. So yay me.
So, this chapter…I really feel like it's lacking something…I think it's the dialogue. It feels a little more…I don't know; stale, in comparison to past chapters? Or maybe it's how rushed the ending feels? It's hard to describe, but it feels like something is definitely missing here…Well regardless, I'm just happy to be past the damn Mountain arc. Now we can move onto some new, exciting stuff!
Anyways, despite the lengthy waits between chapters and the sometimes good, sometimes so-so writing, I hope you all still enjoy this story! I can't promise the waits will become any shorter, but I'd still like to wrap this story up by the end of the year 2014. Considering the story is now slowly inching its way towards the last few stretches, I think it's plausible for me to do that.
But… just in case you guys are getting a little fed up with the waiting periods between chapters and are looking for something to preoccupy yourselves with, I recommend you check out Captain Vulcan and Nuclear Hell Raven ASAP. They're both really talented writers who focus primarily on the TouHou section who both need way more followers than they have now. They've both been a big inspiration to me and are way better at writing than I am to be honest. So seriously, please check them out. I promise you won't be disappointed!
Anyways please wait warmly for the next chapter. Until next time!