Forged in Flames

She stared at the ground.

Overhead, her teacher looked down at her with stern eyes.

"Young lady," she said. "Would you be so kind as to explain these?"

Her teacher held out three glossy magazines. On two of the covers were colorful illustrations of characters from popular children's stories. On the third was a photograph of a rabbit-girl wearing very minimal clothing.

The girl remained where she was, kneeling on the rich, purple rug with her head downcast. She said nothing.

"These were found," her teacher hissed. "Under a mattress. Your mattress, to be specific. Would you like to tell me how they got there?"

The girl hesitated and then shook her head.

"No? You do not? Are you certain? Then let me change the phrasing: where did these…things come from?"

She waited for five seconds before adding, "Well?"

"Cammy gave 'em to me," the girl muttered.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

The girl took a deep breath and repeated in a louder tone, "Cammy gave 'em to me!"

"Cammy, you say? The kitchen girl? That Cammy?"

The girl nodded once.

"I see. So, once again you are not only associating with that girl, despite numerous warnings not to speak to her, she is now apparently providing you with contraband. Do I even need to explain how embarrassing it would be to your parents if they discovered you were in possession of material so…common? It seems all my lessons on what is right and proper for a young lady of your station to be absorbing have gone to waste."

"Who told?" the girl said sulkily.

"What was that?"

"Who told on me?"

"Young lady, that has-"

"It was Yorihime, wasn't it?"

Her teacher opened her mouth to admonish the girl again, but then apparently thought better of it. "Good guess," she admitted.

"Thought so," the girl said with a sniff. "Little snitch."

Her teacher pursed her lips. "That's beside the point. We're not talking about her, we're talking about you. You know the rules, you know what your father and mother thinks of this trash, and yet you insist in pursuing it. Do you really believe such behavior is becoming of a princess?"

"So what? I'm not the firstborn. It's not like they care anyway."

"This again," her teacher said with a roll of her eyes. She sighed and knelt down next to the girl. "Look, I know it seems that since Chang'e is the Heir Anointed she gets all the attention-"

"That's 'cause she does."

"-but that doesn't change the facts. I know it's…difficult sometimes, but you are still an important member of the Royal Family, and nothing is going to change that. You may not like it, but the way things are is the way things are. You were born into privilege, and with that comes certain responsibilities, especially when it comes to matter how a young lady is to behave and who she is to associate with. Do you understand?"

The girl frowned but she didn't object. Her teacher took this as a positive sign.

"Good. Now to the unpleasant part." Her teacher held up one of the magazines, the one with the provocative bunny-girl on the cover. "Perhaps you can tell me what you're doing with pictures of nude women?"

She watched her pupil, waiting for a reply. The girl flinched under her gaze. Her eyes darted back and forth as she desperately tried to think of an excuse that her teacher would find acceptable. But instead…

She stared at the ground.

It was a position she had held for at almost ten minutes. Trying to solve problems on her own was not something she was accustomed to. That was what her servants were for. But now she was on her own, cut off from help. And so she found herself thinking and thinking hard, turning the problem over and over in her mind. It was an exhausting experience.

Someone kicked her in the leg. "Hey!" her rival snapped. "Moonbitch! Wake up!"

Well, to be strictly accurate, she wasn't alone. As cruel fate would have it, she had been forced to share the same space with the single most aggravating person she had ever had the misfortune of meeting.

"Are you even paying attention?" Mokou demanded. "Or would you rather take a nap?"

With a sigh, Kaguya unfolded her legs and straightened to her feet. "I am trying," she said, "to think of a solution to our problem. So unless that piece of charcoal you call a brain has anything new to contribute, please sit down and shut up."

Mokou folded her arms. "Oh, I've got something new all right. I guess I've stabbed out your eyes one time too many, because I don't see how you could've missed it."

"What?"

"Look down, your royal dumbness."

Kaguya did so. Her eyes widened.

They were still perched at the top of an impossibly high column of stone, just one of several. However, between the time when Kaguya had started thinking and the present, the columns had evidently gotten tired of the lack of life and had opted for a change. Healthy green grass had grown everywhere, covering both the flat tops and stone walls. It made the whole place look like a forest of extremely tall cylindrical trees that were spaced evenly apart.

"Well," Kaguya said as she stared at the blades of grass that had somehow sprouted up under her bare feet without her noticing. "That's unusual."

Mokou folded her arms and waited.

"Well," Kaguya muttered. "I'd say it's obvious that someone has decided to amuse themselves by messing around with us."

Mokou raised an eyebrow.

"And I'd say said person has exceptional abilities."

Mokou's finger started to tap against her bicep.

"Most likely a reality warper of some kind."

Mokou cleared her throat. "Kaguya…"

"And said person probably has something of an odd sense of humor."

"Kaguya."

"And…a really deep love for a well-kept lawn."

"Kaguya!" Mokou snapped.

Kaguya blinked. "What?"

"Are you finished? I had that all figured five minutes ago."

"Well, then why didn't you say so?" Kaguya said with a scowl.

"Because you looked like you were trying so very hard to think. Far be it from me to interrupt something so rare."

A crossed look passed over Kaguya's face. She extended a finger toward a point about a foot to the left of Mokou's throat and swung it sideways in a slashing motion. At the same time, a pencil-thin beam of light shot out from her finger to bisect Mokou's neck.

At least that was the plan. Mokou looked down at her still whole neck and shook her head. "Stop that. It's annoying."

"Had to try," Kaguya muttered. She massaged her forehead with her fingers. "Look Mokou, we-"

A fist-sized fireball smacked her in the face. Her head jerked back and she said, "Hey!"

"Just checking," Mokou said. She sounded disappointed. "You were saying?"

Kaguya rolled her eyes. "Stupid pyro," she muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Look you psychotic whore, let's get some things straight: you hate my well-bred guts and I would love to slow-cook you on a spit and throw your charred corpse to a mob of starved rats-"

"What's with you and the obvious today?"

"-but like it or not we're stuck here together. Neither of us remembers how we got here or what in the world is going on. So, at least until we get me back home, I…"

Mokou shoved her hands in her pockets. "If you're going to suggest some sort of team-up, can I save time and laugh in your face now?"

"So that would be a no?"

"That would be a piss off and die. And this time, make it stick."

"Figured as much," Kaguya muttered. She shook her head. "Fine. Best of luck to you, Mokou. Do look me up if you ever manage to escape."

Without waiting for the inevitable comeback, Kaguya spun around and marched to the column's edge. Without slowing down she leapt over the side and swooped into the air. Of course she didn't have the slightest idea of where she was going, but if she kept moving in a straight line for long enough, she was bound to find something.

Unless…

With a nose of unease, she stared down at the field of impossibly high green columns below her. What if she was in some sort of alternate universe, one with nothing but row after row of the things? What if she ended circling the planet without having found anything? What if she was stuck here, with no one but Mokou for company? That fate was almost too terrible to contemplate.

Enough, she thought to herself. Of course that wasn't the case. Sooner or later, she would find more people. There were always more characters to be introduced. If she kept going, she would eventually run across a small village or a city or a grand castle or an ominous fortress of some kind. And then?

Kaguya shook her head. She just wasn't any good at this whole planning thing. That was one of the many, many things she kept Eirin around for. She was just so much better at long-terming strategizing than Kaguya would ever be. Hell, as much as the very thought repulsed her, even Mokou was better at it than her.

But Eirin wasn't here. And Mokou wasn't coming along. Which meant Kaguya was now on her own. The thought was troubling, but she would have to rely on herself from here on out. She grimaced as she watched her shadow as it leapt in and out of sight, jumping from green column top only to disappear into the deep spaces in between. It was not a heartening thought, but she didn't have any choice at the moment. How annoying.

Well, the first order of business would be to gather information on her new surroundings. If she came across a town of some sort, then her job would be easy enough. There was always any number of people endlessly wandering around with tidbits of gossip and news from which she could pull together a larger picture. And if worse comes to worse, she could always search out that wise old guy that every tavern or pub seemed to have.

After that she should probably look into getting some decent equipment. All things considered, her outfit was horribly inappropriate for trials ahead. She wondered if there would be any odd jobs she could take to help pay for the gear. And if not that, then she was sure to find some ruffians wandering about with disposable income that they could be persuaded to share.

And finally she would have to work on getting some help. That part would be easy enough. There was always any number of adventurers for hire to be found, oftentimes in the same tavern as the wizened old man. Kaguya wondered if she would have to scrape together enough money to pay them or if the simple promise of adventure and the inevitable spoils would be enough. At any rate, she should probably look into acquiring someone with a large sword and enough brawn to take point whenever they encountered monsters. Someone smaller but sneaky and quick on their feet would come in handy as well. Kaguya herself could fill the position of combat spellcaster, so no problems there. Though since she shouldn't expect the others to be immortal she should probably look into acquiring a healer…

Kaguya's musings were interrupted by a very familiar whooshing hiss, coming from right behind her. She whirled around, hands glowing and ready to return fire.

However, it was completely unnecessary. Mokou was not attacking her as she had thought. Instead, she was hovering over the column Kaguya had just left and washing it with her flames. Kaguya watched in confusion as fire ran down its walls and scorched the grass, leaving blackened stone in its wake.

Mokou whirled around and gave another column the same treatment. And then another one. There seemed to be no purpose to her attack. She didn't even bother to see if her actions had turned up anything new. She just torched one column after another.

Kaguya watched her for a moment more. "What does she think she's doing?" she asked herself. "Does she expect to find rupees or something?"

Then she shrugged and resumed her journey. In the end, it really didn't matter. Mokou had always been insane, so this temper tantrum wasn't anything surprising.

At any rate, a healer was a definite. Probably a priestess of some kind, the last surviving member of an ancient order that had been nearly wiped out by some evil warlord. With any luck, it would be the same villain that had gotten Kaguya stuck in this place. Having compatible goals would help them form a quick bond and become more efficient on the battlefield. And of course the healer would be dressed in the appropriate outfit, some sort of glossy white robe that left out the middle part for some inexplicable reason as well as exposed large amounts of cleavage. Kaguya wondered if that meant that she would have to wear something similar, only in red. If so, then she should probably look into finding a long staff carved from a precious metal and set with mystic runes. She didn't need one of course, but no self-respecting mage would be caught dead without one…

Mokou closed her fist and the rush of flame cut off immediately.

She surveyed the devastation beneath her. In a way it was impressive, but the knowledge that it was really just a bunch of dead grass killed in satisfaction she might have gained.

Then she looked up. Kaguya was now a dot in a distance, flying away toward who knew where.

Mokou considered sending a seeker spell after her. Even though she had been doing it since a time out of mind, killing Kaguya never got old. But unfortunately it would be a waste of energy, if their previous encounter had been any indication.

She briefly considered just letting the extraterrestrial murderer go. Kaguya was so incompetent at looking after herself that she would probably just end up killing herself without Mokou needing to lift a finger. And with any luck, the rules of this bizarre world would shift again and negate her immortality. Why, that would…

No.

No, no, no.

No way. Not happening.

If there was one thing that Mokou could claim with definite certainty, it was that Kaguya was a horrible waste of space that needed to be removed from the world as often and as painfully as possible. But a close runner up would be that the job of removing the Moonbitch was hers and hers alone. To have put so much blood, sweat, and bullets into Kaguya's continued demise only to have some random asshole swoop down and finish the job for her was…unthinkable. In which case she would have to take steps to prevent that from happening.

With a hiss Mokou swooped down below the tops of the columns. And, keeping an eye on Kaguya's retreating figure, she began to follow.

…though of course one of them would end up being a traitor, selling the party out to the evil overlord for some favor or another. It was usually the sneaky one. They were called rogues for a reason, after all. But there would probably be extenuating circumstances, such as a hometown being held hostage or the promise of a loved one's return, and the traitor would redeem themselves by…

Kaguya looked down. She came to a surprised stop. She had been so wrapped up in her anticipation of the journey ahead that she had failed to realize that she was no longer flying over ridiculously tall cylinder lawns. Rather, the landscape had smoothed itself out into a flat plain of sun-burnt grass. A well-worn road cut its way down the center.

A grin spread its way over Kaguya's face. Now she was getting somewhere! Roads, especially ones that had seen regular traffic, meant that she was not far from civilization. She looked up down the road as far as her eyes could see. There seemed to be a line of short hills in the distance, and beyond that she got a glimpse of a glistening…something. But she couldn't make it out. Kaguya's eyes were admittedly not that great.

Still, it was a step in the right direction. In fact, she had just caught sight of someone else, someone who was definitely not Mokou. An old man dressed in the weathered clothes of a farmer sat in a cart drawn by a single grey horse. A carved wooden pipe sat loosely between his lips. The cart was filled with several large jars which were covered by a sheet.

Kaguya quickly checked herself over to make sure she was at least presentable. Even though the family to whom she owed her royal title had disowned her long ago (and had been disowned in turn), some habits died hard, even after several centuries. And it simply wouldn't do to make a poor first impression to an old man, even if she was technically his senior.

She closed her robe the best she could and ran her fingers through her hair. Not much, but it was the best she could do on short notice. Then she swooped down toward him.

"Ahoy there!" she called. "Old man!"

The old man turned in his seat to squint at her. "Aye?" he said. His voice sounded like a creaking rocking chair. "And who might you be, young lady?"

Kaguya was about to give her name before she remembered what a bad idea that would be until she had learned more. "A lost traveler in need of direction," she said as her feet touched dirt. "Tell me, is there town or village nearby?"

The old man took his pipe out of his mouth and regarded her with skeptical eyes. "You've a strange manner of speaking. And it's odd, seeing a nice looking girl like you, out here by herself. You're not from around here, are you." It was not a question.

Kaguya shook her head. "No, I've…run into a bit of bad luck, and would greatly appreciate any help you can offer."

"Eh." The old man stuck his pipe back in his mouth. "Well, far be it from me to turn away a young lady in need of help, but I can't help but feel a tad bit suspicious. There's been many a fool led to misfortune by a pair of sad eyes in a pretty face, if you catch my drift."

It took Kaguya a moment to understand what he was saying. "I'm not working with bandits or traveling youkai gangs, if that's what you're thinking."

"Would be lying if I said the thought didn't cross my mind," the old man said. "You can never be too careful. Had a friend who…" Then he shrugged. "Still, if you are what you say you are, then if you head yonder about…oh, I'd say five meters or so, you'll find yourself in Kamakura."

That name rang a bell in Kaguya's memory, though it was a faint one. "And that's a settlement of some kind, right?"

The old man raised a single eyebrow. "You really aren't from here. Kamakura's the biggest center of business for miles. Comes with having the only decent dock this side of the Saltlick Sea. How could you have gone this long without knowing that?"

The bell was getting louder, but not loud enough for Kaguya to recall any of the town's history. Still, she did know of the Saltlick Sea, which meant she was still in Gensokyo. That in itself was a huge relief. "Sorry, I'm not too familiar with this area. Thanks for the tip though."

Kaguya started to rise into the air again when the old man said, "Hold up." He leaned forward and squinted at her.

"Do I know you, young lady?"

Kaguya froze. It was entirely possible that her reputation had preceded her and the old man had seen a picture or read a description. Eientei had become a subject of interest ever since they had gone public.

But it would be unwise to assume that such was the case. The heroes in the stories she had read didn't last long by taking chances, especially with strangers. "Uh, I don't think so…"

"Yeah, I do. I mean, not personally, but I know your face from somewhere…" Then his eyes widened. A wide grin split his leathery face and he snapped his fingers. "Well, I'll be damned! You're not the Princess Kaguya Houraisan, are you?"

Well, so much for being sneaky. "I…no?"

The old man laughed. "Ah, don't be modest. It is you! Damn, do you really think there's anyone here for miles that don't know your face?"

"Is this a good thing?"

"A good thing? I'd sure say it is! You're a bonafide Lunarian princess, after all!" The old man's grin grew even wider. "Not to mention people are calling you the single most beautiful creature since Benzaiten. And if you don't mind an old man's honesty, I'm not seeing any reason to disbelieve the stories."

Despite herself, Kaguya was starting to feel flattered. "Well, thank you! I hadn't known I was so well known in these parts."

"Why wouldn't you be? You're Princess Kaguya Houraisan, for the gods' sake! Say, I hope this isn't too bold on my part, but if you're getting tired of flying about you're more than welcome to ride along. I sure wouldn't say no to the company."

"Well…sure! Why not?" Completely forgetting her previous caution, Kaguya floated a few feet in the air and settled down in the space the old man had made for her.

The old man laughed again. "I can't believe this," he said as flicked the reins, starting the horse into a walk. "Wait until I tell everyone who rode along in my cart. I'll be telling this story for years!"

"Oh really? I don't know if it's all that…Say, this is going to sound like an odd question, but do you know where I can get my hands on a staff? Not the walking stick kind, but something with little more class…"

Mokou crouched in the grass and watched as Kaguya spoke to some old fool in a cart. Unfortunately she couldn't creep in close enough to make out exactly what they were saying. Kaguya had an uncanny sense of when Mokou was around, and she didn't dare risk triggering that.

Still, it was obvious that the old man was very pleased to see her. At first Mokou assumed that Kaguya was using her wiles to wheedle favors out of him, but it eventually become apparent that he knew who she was.

Mokou's mouth set in a straight line. Even here in the middle of nowhere, the Moonbitch had a fan club. How utterly typical. She did nothing beyond absorb silly stories and throw parties and people still treated her like someone that mattered.

If only to punctuate the point, Kaguya jumped into the chart next to old man and started talking to him like they had known each other for years.

Bit by bit, Mokou slinked forward, shadowing the pair as they made their way down the road.

As the old man (who introduced himself as Taketori no Okina) has claimed, Kamakura was a seaside town, and apparently prosperous for it. It sat on the opposite slope of the hills Kaguya had seen, leading down to the Saltlick Sea. Several watercraft of various sizes and purposes, from small fishing vessels to large merchant ships, floating in an artificial harbor that had been created using two long piles of rocks that curved out from either side of the town like a pair of arms.

The town itself was evidently a center for business. Every other building was a shop of some kind, selling everything from clothing to jewelry to foodstuffs to tools to slaves to dental services. Several small stands had been set up along the street as well, providing items of lower quality for lower prices.

And everywhere were people. Wealthy people in fine robes and oiled hair, poor people in dirty clothes, merchants, laborers, farmers, weavers, hunters, men, women, and children. They filled the sloping streets, pressing against one another as they went about their ways.

Kaguya found it to be incredibly fascinating. Everywhere she looked she saw something new: a new fashion, a new hair style, a new delicacy, a new type of hat.

And the smells! The aroma of roasted fish, curry and cooking rice rose into the air to mix with the stench of dozens of bodies, not all of them washed, and the dust of the streets. It was almost overwhelming.

Okina took notice. "You doing okay?"

"I'm fine," Kaguya said. "It's just a great deal to take in all at once."

"Huh. Pardon me for saying so, but you don't get out much, do you?"

With a grin she shook her head. "Not really, no. Eientei's pretty out of the way, and the closest real town is several miles away."

"Eientei? What's that?"

Kaguya blinked. "Seriously? You think I'm the greatest thing ever and you've never heard of-"

A young man carrying a bag of vegetables stepped around the cart as he walked past. He instinctively glanced up at the cart's passengers and back down again. Then he froze. His head snapped up and he stared.

"Princess Kaguya!" he breathed.

"Huh?" she looked down at him. "You know me too?"

Instead of answering, he turned to the crowd and started shouting, "Everyone! It's her! It's Princess Kaguya Houraisan! She's come!"

His words garnered an immediate reaction. The babble of the crowd died down immediately and all eyes turned to the cart.

"See?" Okina said in a loud whisper. "I told you!"

Kaguya looked from one gaping face to the next. They were all looking at her as if she were an angel descended from heaven. All in all, a surprising reaction, but far from unpleasant.

"Well," she said. "Hello! Nice to see-"

"It is her," one woman said to another. "I don't believe it."

"Never thought I'd see the day," an older man said with a whistle. "Wait 'til I tell Mugi about this!"

"Well, thank you!" Kaguya said. "I had no idea I was so-"

"Kaguya, Kaguya," someone in the crowd began to chant. Everyone else seemed to like the sound of that, because they joined in a moment later.

"Kaguya! Kaguya! Kaguya! Kaguya!"

Dumbfounded, Kaguya looked around at the crowd that had gathered to bask in her presence, each and every one of them chanting her name. She didn't consider herself to be especially vain, but damn she could get used to this.

It couldn't be.

Mokou stared in disbelief as the cart Kaguya was riding on entered the seaside town. That in itself wasn't worthy of comment, beyond the fact that tracking Kaguya would probably become more difficult, but it was the town in question that froze Mokou in place.

It was Kamakura. It had to be. It had been years since Mokou (or anyone else) had seen it, but she remembered what it looked like perfectly. After all, she saw it in her dreams at least once a month. But how could that be possible? After all, it had been destroyed more than a lifetime ago. There wasn't even a pile of ash remaining.

Mokou shook her head. She didn't know what sort of world she had fallen into, but it was clear that it had a sick sense of humor.

Careful not to draw attention, Mokou slipped out of the tall grass and followed the cart into the town.

Inside, it was much the same as she remembered: way too many people in too small a space. Mokou immediately felt a sense of claustrophobia as the crowd pressed in almost immediately. She had to push and shove her way forward just to keep in sight of the cart.

This was a stupid idea, she thought. She looked up at the rooftops. Should've followed her from above. In fact, I think I-oof!

She stumbled forward when someone rudely bumped her shoulder. She looked up to see large man shooting her a poisonous glare before walking away.

Mokou's eyes narrowed. She took a step forward to teach the punk some manners only to have someone else shove her to the side as they walked past.

Now that she was paying attention to the crowd, Mokou began to realize that no one seemed happy to see her. Everywhere she looked people were fixating her with angry stares and muttering to one another.

Ice water surged through Mokou's veins as she felt an icy flash of recognition. She had experienced this scene before. She had experienced it many times. And if people were glaring and whispering about her, then that meant that at any moment…

Almost if as on cue, everyone down the street broke out into sudden cheering. "Kaguya! Kaguya! Kaguya!" they chanted over and over. Mokou stood up on tiptoe and peered over the heads of the crowd to see Kaguya being lifted up onto someone's shoulders and paraded about while everyone shouted her name. The princess herself seemed to be enjoying the attention as she was smiling and waving to everyone.

"Shit," Mokou cursed. "Not this again."

She turned around. Sure enough, people had started to circle around behind her, cutting off her escape. They stood with folded arms and hostile expressions on their faces.

Mokou flexed one hand and tried to summon up a fireball. But, true to formula, her powers had left her again. Next she tried to fly off the ground, only to experience no success.

The mob started to advance on her, just like they always did. She would try to run, but they always caught her. And then the pain would begin.

Mokou took a fearful step backward. And then an interesting thought occurred to her.

Wait, this time I can actually remember all the other times. She frowned. And this doesn't feel the same as before. It's more real, as if it's actually happening. And I may have lost my powers, but I don't feel physically weak or slow. She began to smile. Which means…

The nearest assailant came within reach, his arms extended and hands ready to grab her. Normally at this point she would curl up into a helpless ball and start crying out in fear. But this time around, she settled for ducking under his grasp, grabbing his right arm, twisting it around, and pressing it against his back. He stumbled in surprise and tried to pull away.

So she applied the smallest bit of pressure. His shoulder popped right out of its joint. She followed this up by shoving his forearm down and bringing her knee down on it. The bone snapped with a very satisfying sound.

Mokou kicked the writhing man out of the way and turned to face his fellows. She cracked her knuckles and twisted her neck from side to side, feeling the vertebrae pop. "Come on, boys," she snarled. "You want revenge again? Fine. But this time, I'm not going to make it easy for you."

The mob seemed to accept her terms as fair. As one, they charged.

"Princess Kaguya! Please bless my child! He's been sick with dysentery for days!"

"Of course! May he be healed and all that! There, all good!"

"Princess, please speak to my brother on my behalf! He refuses to surrender my portion of the inheritance!"

"You got it, worshipful disciple guy! Brother person, stop being a jackass!"

"My lady, please accept this offering on the behalf of your lowliest subject!"

"Hey, thanks! Mmmm, shrimp-kabob! Haven't had this since…" A sudden nearby commotion attracted her attention. "Wait, what?"

Kaguya found the celebration of the awesomeness that was her suddenly interrupted a riot broke out. People started yelling and fists started flying, all concentrated around a singular point in the center of the street.

"What's going on?" Kaguya shouted down at Okina, who was standing next to the large man on whose shoulders she was riding.

The old man's eyes narrowed. "It's her," he hissed. He reached into his clothing and pulled out a short machete.

"Who? What are…Ah, what am I saying? Who else would it be?"

If for no other reason than to provide a visual aid, the center of the commotion exploded outward as Fujiwara no Mokou leapt into the air. She leapt onto a nearby man's shoulders, wrapped her legs around his neck and arms around his forehead and quickly twisted around so that both she and the man's head were facing the opposite direction. Before his lifeless body slumped to the ground she was already off his shoulders and climbing up a nearby wall like a monkey.

The whole maneuver took less than five seconds.

Kaguya started to struggle against the strong arms holding onto her legs. "Put me down!" she shouted. "She'll be after me in a minute!"

But either the roar of the crowd was too loud or he was enjoying the sensation of having a beautiful young girl ride around on his shoulders too much to let something as trivial as an impending attack from a psychotic killer to let her go, because he continued to hold her right where she was.

"Hey, are you listening?" Kaguya screamed. "I said-"

Mokou had gained enough altitude. She leapt at Kaguya, hands outstretched and going right for her throat.

"-oh, too la-Gah!"

Mokou slammed into her, knocking her off the large man's shoulders and driving her to the ground. Her fingers dug into Kaguya's neck with a vice-like grip and her eyes blazed with pure hate.

"Not this time," Mokou seethed. "This is my dream, not yours. Not this time, Moonbitch."

If she were capable of breathing, Kaguya might have asked Mokou what in the hell she was talking about. However, Mokou's fingers were like steel. Kaguya couldn't so much as squeak.

Then several pairs of hands grabbed Mokou by the shoulders, waist, arms hair and anything else they could get a hold of and pulled her off of Kaguya. Kaguya's hand went to her throat as she started coughing.

Despite being outnumbered several dozen to one, Mokou continued to struggle against her assailants. She kicked, she scratched and she bit, at one point nearly tearing a woman's finger clean off with her teeth alone.

And then she broke free from their arms and launched herself right at Kaguya. But by that time, Kaguya had recovered enough to drive her foot into Mokou's stomach. The fire-loving girl's eyes bulged and she fell back with an "Oomph!"

The crowd was on her at once. In short order, her arms were pulled behind her back and her face shoved into the dirt.

Kaguya pushed herself up into a sitting position. "Okay, that's enough!" she croaked. "Let her up, I need to ask her some-"

She was knocked down again as everyone behind her rushed forward to pile onto Mokou.

"Hey!" Kaguya shouted as she had to roll out of the way to keep from getting trampled upon. She clawed her way to the closest alleyway and ducked out of the way. "What are doing? Is that any way to treat Princess Kaguya? Hey!"

Everyone ignored her as they rushed past. Mokou was pulled up from the ground and hoisted above the mob's heads and carried kicking and screaming off toward the shore. Everyone followed, their fists pumping the air.

Soon Kaguya was left alone. Eyes darting in confusion, she stood to her feet and took a hesitant step onto the now empty streets. Further down the slope, she could see the mob as it continued to move away, but where she was things were very still.

She sighed. "I guess that's it," she said to herself. "Should've known it was too good to last. Weird people."

Mumbling to herself, she took stock of herself. Her robe was now covered with dirt and torn in a couple places. The rest of her hadn't fared much better, though the fresh scrapes she had accumulated were already starting to close.

She brushed herself off the best she could and started down the hill. She may have lost her worshipful populace in record time, but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy whatever they were going to do to Mokou. With any luck, she might be able to contribute.

Mokou's shoulders were shoved roughly into the sand. She had been carried down to the street and to the water's edge. Which meant that the end was coming.

Strong hands held her limbs in place as fists reigned down from above, pummeling her body. Joints snapped, bones splintered and soft flesh was reduced to pulp as the onslaught continued on and on, just as it always did.

Despite this, Mokou was surprised to find that she was not afraid. Every time she had experienced this scene in the past, the sheer terror had been worse than the pain. But now that her conscious mind was in control, she noted that being beaten to death by the mob was actually less painful than some of the things she had suffered during the times when Kaguya had gotten creative.

Still, it was starting to get a little repetitive. She just wished that they would hurry up and get to-

The smell of smoke filled her nostrils.

-ah, there it was.

From her place at back of the crowd, Kaguya let out a slow whistle of appreciation. She didn't know what Mokou had done to piss these people off, but it had to have been magnificent. Mokou did have a knack for inspiring murderous rampages of revenge in her enemies.

It didn't look like there was much space for her to squeeze in, unless she wanted to fly above their heads and try to pull Mokou out (and that was such a bad idea on many, many levels), so Kaguya settled for grabbing a handful of strawberries from a nearby deserted fruit stand and enjoying the view.

That was when smoke started to rise from the riot's center. Kaguya frowned and leaned in closer. Was she…

The crowd burst into cheers as Mokou's now flaming body was lifted above their heads. For a moment Kaguya thought that Mokou was finally starting to fight back, but no. She had not surrounded herself with fire, she had been set on fire.

Kaguya rolled her eyes. That never worked. One of the many annoying things about Mokou is that thanks to her natural control over flame and the many charms she had coated her clothing with, she was completely fireproof. Trying to set her alight usually just resulted in a nasty shock as she returned said flames to sender.

However, this time it wasn't happening. Mokou continued to burn like anyone else would upon being set on fire, and if her convulsions were any indication, she was not enjoying herself. The crowd carried her onto one of the many docks sticking out into the water (how were they doing that without getting scorched themselves anyway?) and, once they were far enough, threw her into the sea.

Kaguya quirked an eyebrow. Well, that was unexpected.

Now that their object of hate had been disposed of, the anger simply went out of the crowd. Their unity dispersed immediately, and they all calmly walked back to the city and started wandering off in different directions.

Kaguya swallowed the last strawberry and ran over to the nearest person. "Hey!" she shouted. "Question: what in the world was-"

He walked right past her without taking notice.

Kaguya tried again, this time with a mother and daughter. "You two! Please explain why-"

Once again, it was as if they didn't even see her.

"-or you can just walk away like a deaf idiot. Hello!" She waved her arms around. "Can anyone see me? You were worshipping me just a second ago. Well, your goddess doesn't like being ignored! Do you want me to start smiting?"

Nobody was impressed with her divine anger.

Kaguya rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. Forget you guys. Assholes." With that, she stomped off down the same dock they had flung Mokou off of.

Pieces were starting to come together in her mind. She was starting to suspect that she had figured out where she was. It wasn't a happy conclusion, but it could be worse.

She stopped at the dock's end and stared down at the rippling water.

Still, she did need more information, and right now the only person that might actually acknowledge her existence both hated her and was a charred corpse under several feet of murky water.

Life was cruel like that sometimes.

Mokou grimaced as consciousness returned to her. Returning from the dead was a regular was a regular occurrence for her, but this was the first time she had suffered death by immolation. She couldn't say she much cared for it, but she took heart in the knowledge it happened to Kaguya far more frequently. If anything this unpleasant encounter provided useful research data for future killings.

For the moment, she lay still, letting herself heal. Crisped skin flaked away as a new pearl-white layer pushed up from underneath. Shriveled nerves stretched out and became whole. Silvery lavender hair snaked out of her skull spread out in all directions. Then the enchantments Mokou had spent good money for started to take effect and her clothing started to regenerate, covering her healing flesh.

When she judged herself to be sufficiently repaired, Mokou opened her new eyes.

Kaguya was there, staring down at her.

Mokou groaned and shut them again. "What a sight to wake up to," she muttered. "Can I be dead again? Please?"

"Love to, but not now. Get up."

Mokou sighed and sat up. She and Kaguya were sitting on a beach, about half a mile away from Kamakura. Kaguya's robe had been removed and set down next to her, leaving her in her shirt and shorts. "I suppose I have you to thank for pulling me out of my watery grave?" Mokou grumbled as she scratched the back of her neck.

"Don't read too much into it. I needed to ask you some questions, and didn't feel like waiting for you to learn how to swim."

"Hey, I know how to swim, I just don't like-"

"Save it. What's going on?"

Mokou moved her body around and leaned back against a nearby rock. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know what I mean. Why did those people hate you so much?"

"Why don't you ask them? They seemed to like you well enough."

Kaguya sighed. "They started ignoring me right after they threw you in the water. I can't even get them to look at me."

"Yeah? I'm not surprised. The scene was over. They didn't need you anymore."

"Scene?" Kaguya raised an eyebrow. "Explain please."

Mokou considered telling the Lunarian to piss off again, but decided against it. "Well, for starters, this town here, it's called-"

"Kamakura, I know. Talked to one of the locals a little bit before they crowned me queen for like a minute."

Mokou grinned. "Poor Kaguya, you just can't hold onto royal titles, can you? But yeah, this is Kamakura all right. Used to love coming here as a kid. It was only a few miles from the family manor, and Fa-"

Her voice suddenly caught in her throat. Mokou paused, took a moment to steady herself and continued.

"They'd let me tag along with the servants sometimes, when they'd go to get food and other stuff."

"Servants? You?"

"My family was nobility, you stupid bitch," Mokou snarled. "Remember?"

Kaguya shrugged. "Not really, no. So, you knew this place as a kid. So what?"

"You knew it too. In fact I'm pretty sure this…this is where Father met you."

"Oh? Sorry, still can't remember. I was meeting prospective young men all the time, after all. Just my luck that that one so happened to have beget a lunatic."

Mokou wondered how much time would be wasted if she picked up a rock and jammed it into Kaguya's eye. Probably too much. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. It's gone. Doesn't exist anymore."

"Really?" Kaguya looked over Mokou at the town in question. "Seems all right to me."

"That's the point. This is a fake, it has to be. The real one was destroyed. Burned down more than a millennium ago."

"Oh, did it?" Kaguya said. "One wonders who dropped that match."

Mokou snarled but she didn't deny the suggested accusation. "But the thing is, I still have dreams about it. Well, one dream. One where-"

"Everyone is treating me like a queen and beating you to death?"

"Exactly," Mokou sighed.

"And then they set you on fire and throw you in the water?"

"Every time."

"Wow, aren't you a mess of insecurities."

"Fuck off, Kaguya," Mokou snarled. "And let's stick to the main point here: we're in a city that doesn't exist anymore outside of reenacting a common scene from my dreams. And before that, we had a fight in mind-trip land where both of our powers started acting out of whack. So, I'm thinking it's pretty obvious where we are."

Kaguya folded her arms. "As much as it pains me to agree with you, I think I've reached the same conclusion. The Dream World?"

Mokou closed her eyes. "Yeah. The Dream World."

"Well, it could be worse," Kaguya said. "As I understand it, this place does have an actual ruler. Well, rulers. All I'll have to do is find them and ask them to send me home."

"Yeah? And where does that leave me?"

"Figure that out yourself."

Kaguya rose to her feet. She picked up her robe, threw it over her shoulder and started to walk away. Mokou stared after her.

"Hey!" Mokou shouted. She jumped to her feet. "You're just going to leave me here? I mean, you went through all the trouble to drag out of the water…"

"Why not? I already got what I want from you. Besides, you wanted nothing to do with me, remember?"

"But…but it's the Dream World. You can't just leave me here alone!"

Kaguya turned to face her. "Oh, now you want to team up? That's a surprise. Weren't your words to the effect of…what was it again? 'Piss off and die'? Something down those lines."

"Situation's changed. I didn't know where we were."

Kaguya smirked. "What's wrong, are you scared of dreams? Afraid the boogeyman is gonna get you?"

Mokou glared but she didn't contradict her. "So, yeah. About that team-up idea?"

"This really is the world of dreams," Kaguya muttered. She sighed. "Okay, fine. Tag along if you must. But until we get out of here, we have a truce, got it? No murder attempts, no leaving the other person to die unless absolutely necessary, no hiring other people to kill each other, and so on and so forth. Agreed?"

Mokou's face fell. "This is going to suck." She shook her head. "Okay, fine. But just so we're clear, this is not going to be like those children's stories you like so much. I don't want any stupid best friend bonding. That's the last thing I need."

"Hey, I told you already! 'When Cicadas Cry' is not a…" Kaguya caught herself with a grimace. "Forget it. And agreed. In fact, I plan on killing you in the most painful way I can think of the moment we get home."

"Heh, you're welcome to try," Mokou said with a weak grin.

Kaguya started walking again. This time, Mokou followed.

For a long time neither of them said anything. What was there to say? They had known each other longer than most nations had lasted, and yet their relationship was founded upon mutual hatred and the desire to watch the other suffer. Compatibles goal or no, it wasn't something you just got over.

In fact, Mokou was having serious doubts about their chances of success. It was taking an inordinate amount of willpower to not reach over and pull Kaguya's head right off of her body, and she was sure her rival was feeling the same way.

Still, what choice did she really have? Kaguya was the only other person that Mokou knew for a fact existed, and could therefore be at least trusted not to start falling into that strange behaviors people in dreams often adopted. And Mokou did not want to be stuck in the Dream World alone. Even having Kaguya for company was better than that, if not by much.

That was when Kaguya stopped suddenly. She stared out at the sea.

Mokou frowned. "What's up with you?"

"Look!"

Mokou turned in the direction she was pointing.

There, standing in the surf, was another girl. She looked like she had been through a rough time. Her thin and tattered black dress clung tightly to her body. Her blond was plastered to her skull and hung down around her thin face in strings. She was breathing heavily from exhaustion and seemed to be having trouble standing upright.

But strangest of all was the ornate curving sword she clutched limply in one hand.

Mokou was immediately on her guard. She summoned flame to her palms and was pleased when they obeyed. At her side, Kaguya had dropped her robe and fallen into a defensive position. Multicolored sparks started to dance between her fingers.

The newcomer slowly trudged toward them. Mokou tensed herself and prepared to unleash an inferno.

Then the newcomer took one step out of the water and fell face-first into the sand. Her sword fell from her fingers and landed with a wet plop!

Mokou and Kaguya exchanged a look.

"So…" Kaguya began.

"Yeah," Mokou finished for her.

They looked back to the girl, who was spitting out wet sand as she weakly pushed herself up on her palms.

"Ugh…" the girl groaned. She looked up to see Mokou and Kaguya staring.

"Oh, uh," she said. She seemed to be struggling with her own tongue. "Nyuh…"

"Nyuu?" Kaguya suggested.

The girl's face twisted into an expression of confusion. "What? What does that mean?"

"Nothing, just seemed like the thing to say. You want something?"

"Uh, yeah. Are you guys Kaguya Houraisan and Fujiwara no Mokou?"

Mokou stiffened immediately. At her side, Kaguya did the same.

"Who wants to know?" Kaguya demanded.

The girl sat up on her knees. "Me? A prisoner of this place, just like you guys. My name's Rumia. Rumia Yagami. And believe you me, you guys need to hear what I have to say."

Oh, that can't be good.

Anyway, not a whole lot to say about this chapter, except that yes, I plan to milk the whole "Kaguya's a NEET" meme for every drop it's worth.

Until next time, everyone!