A Song of Shadow and Flame, part 1

Once upon a time, there were three young girls. And all three girls were threatened with having what they treasured the most stolen away. To prevent this, each girl took within her a power she did not understand and became something more than she was. And thus, a great many people died.

"Once upon a time." A strange phrase, is it not? So often do these words precede a story that we come to assume that that is all they mean: a story is coming. However, consider for a moment what is being said, that at one specific point in time a singular event or events took place.

Such is not the case for this story. All three girls existed at different points in time, years, even centuries apart. And they all desired such different things.

The first girl wanted freedom.

The second girl wanted the restoration of her family's honor.

The third girl wanted to preserve her life.

In this, only the first girl got what she wanted. The second failed not only failed to redeem her family, she ended up disgracing them further. And while the third was at least successfully in saving her own life, the consequences were greater than she could have ever imagined.

But the details overcomplicate the situation. Just know this: once upon a time there were three young girls who wanted something and became both victims and monsters in order to gain it. And once upon a time, their stories would entwine and become one, however briefly. And the outcome of that story was not desirable for any of them.

The first thing Mokou noticed when she came to was that her body was in two pieces, separated just below her ribs and connected by only a few centimeters of flesh, muscle, and stringy intestine. Standing in the way of her regeneration was a large, jagged piece of metal that had somehow managed to get itself wedged into a large crack in the ground. It was more than likely a piece of the elevator, probably torn from the door, though its origins was of less interest to Mokou than the problem of it cutting almost all the way across her stomach. Furthermore, judging from the way her brain refused to acknowledge that she had legs, her spine had been severed.

"Oh, fer cryin' out loud," Mokou growled in annoyance. How did she keep getting herself into these situations? Okay, so she couldn't use her legs for leverage. Hmmm, could she yank the metal shard loose? She wrestled with it for a moment and gave up. No, it was stuck tight, and as strong as she was, the angle was against her.

Okay, fine. If she couldn't overcome the problem, she would go around. Mokou pushed her upper body up on her elbows and tried to scoot away from the shard. Unfortunately, the cut wasn't clean, and there were enough ragged tatters of flesh caught under the piece of metal to make that impossible. Drat.

"Mokou!" she heard Kaguya call, she couldn't tell which one. "Hey! Where are you? I need your help!"

"Over here!" she called back.

Head jogged into view, or at least she assumed it was Head and not Body with her tie missing. While the Kaguya twin was in fair shape, her outfit was not. The resurrection enchantments that had been woven into the fabric had taken care of any physical damage, but both it and the girl wearing it were roughed up and covered in dust and grime.

As soon as she saw Mokou, Head slowed to a stop and stared at her ex-rival's predicament. "Oooooh," she said with a wince. "Nasty."

"Ain't it just," Mokou said wryly. She beckoned with one hand. "C'mon and get me loose."

Fortunately, this time there was no argument. Head ran over and grabbed Mokou from under her arms. "Body's got the same problem," she said. "Or near enough. Everything from the bellybutton up is all crushed by this ginormous boulder."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. You got off easy. At least your important parts grew back. Now, brace yourself."

Head yanked back with all her strength, and Mokou's upper body was torn free. However, this had the unfortunate side-effect of severing the strip of flesh that connected her to her waist.

"Ow," Mokou said.

"Quit being melodramatic," Head grumbled as she retrieved Mokou's lower body and aligned it with its customarily elevated counterpart. She pressed the two together. They made a squishing sound and started to knit themselves into a single unit.

As Mokou patiently waited for her large and small intestine to be properly packed back where they belonged, she took stock of her surroundings. The best she could tell, she was in a wide, stony courtyard of a grim-looking fortress. Odd, but still grim. It consisted of tall, grim buildings constructed of grey, grim stones and surrounded by high, grim walls topped by grim gargoyles. Which was very odd, as the gargoyles were all of fairies, and Mokou wasn't accustomed to seeing fairies look so grim. Grim clouds swirled overhead.

Also, it looked like Eientei. A large, grim Eientei. Oh, the layout was different, as were the building materials, but there was something very Eientei-ish in its design. The walls were carved to resemble those of Kaguya's home, and the rooftops sloped just like Eientei's and were tiled just like Eientei's. True, the tiles were made from stone, but there was no mistaking them for anything else.

"Yes, I know what you're thinking," Head said irritably. "Shut up."

"I didn't say anything."

"But you were going to. So don't. It's not like I got to consult an exterior decorator before bringing us here."

"Okay, but…fairies? Why fairies?"

"Shut. Up. Mo. Kou."

Mokou's skin finished knitting together. She wiggled her toes, found them to be in satisfactory condition, and stood up. "Okay, let's go get Body."

Head led her to a narrow walkway between one of the buildings and the wall. There, a piece of the wall had been knocked loose, presumably by the elevator, and now lay on the ground. Sticking out from it was a skirt and two stockinged legs.

"See?" Head said. "You got off easy."

There was a metal bar lying nearby, another fragment of the recently deceased elevator no doubt. "Yeah, what about you?" Mokou said as she jammed it under the rock. "I had my legs cut off. You were walking around fresh as a daisy."

"A filthy daisy," Head said. She and Mokou started pushing down on the bar. "Actually, I ended up getting skewered by a bunch of broken glass. I had to yank it all out before I could even get up."

"At least you could do it without help," Mokou pointed out. The boulder was starting to shift a bit.

"There is that," Head agreed. She fell silent for a time. Then she winced and said, "Hey, Mokou. Can I ask you something?"

"No promises I'll answer."

"When I was dead, what exactly were you and Body doing?"

"Talking," Mokou grunted. "Trading life stories. Working out a truce, a real one."

"Uh-huh," Head said, not sounding like she believed her. "And that's it? Nothing else?"

Mokou stopped pushing. She looked at Head from across the bar, her left eyebrow askew. "Head," she said slowly. "Are you asking if I fucked your twin?"

"Well, I'm just saying, you two seemed suspiciously buddy-buddy when I woke up," Head said with a shrug.

"No we weren't. And why in the hell did you come to that conclusion?"

"Hey, she is technically me, okay? I don't want to have banged you secondhand."

Mokou stared at her without blinking. "Okay. You do realize you're accusing…yourself of being unfaithful…to yourself…with your arch-nemesis, right?"

"And?"

"And doesn't that strike you as monumentally stupid?"

"Oh, forget it," Head snapped. She went back to shoving down on the bar. "Let's just get this thing off her."

They worked in silence for a time, gradually levering the stone up centimeter by centimeter, and then Mokou said, "I don't believe you."

"Don't believe what now?"

"You. We've been fighting for three hundred years now, it finally gets called off, and the only thing you're worried about is sex?"

Body ground her teeth together. "No, that's just what I'm asking about now. We can discuss that other pot of crock later."

"I see," Mokou said stonily. "So you don't buy that it's over."

"Why should I? You attacked me first, remember? And kept doing it for, as you just pointed out, three godsdamned centuries. This whole rivalry was your expect me to believe that just because you and Squishy here had a little heart-to-heart talk, you decide to just let bygones be bygones?" Head let out a derisive snort. "Right. I'll believe that when you freeze over."

Mokou sighed. "Think what you want. I don't care."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

Mokou said nothing. She really couldn't blame Head for her suspicions. Hell, if it were, she wouldn't believe herself either. But she didn't have time to entertain them now. Head was Body's problem, and…and wasn't just a wonderful summary of how monumentally screwed up things were that she now had to rely on one copy of Kaguya to convince another copy of Kaguya that she didn't want to fight anymore?

Soon they managed to raise the stone enough to free Body's lower half. "Yuck," Mokou said, looking at the mess underneath.

"It's a damned shame," Head grunted. She grabbed Body by the ankles and pulled most of her into the open. "Look what it did to her uniform."

"So? It'll mend with the rest of her."

"It's the principle of the thing," Head answered. She nudged Body's leg with her foot. "All right you, get to rezzing."

Body's repairs took longer than Mokou's had, but in good time she was sitting up and easing out the last lingering twinges of pain.

"Okay, that sucked," she announced. She rolled her head around and winced. "Don't tell me I was the only one who got crushed."

"You were, but I got impaled," Head told her.

"Bisected for me," Mokou said.

Body sighed. "Well, there's that at least." She looked around. "Where are we?"

"Our fortress," Head told her. There was an unmistakable note of pride in her voice. "Eientei style, no less."

Mokou shoved her hands into her pockets. "Sure, if you ignore the fairy gargoyles."

"Shut up, Mokou," Head groaned. To Body, she said, "Well, if you're done piecing yourself back together, maybe we'd better go inside."

The three of them walked back into the courtyard and stood before the fortress's main entrance. Like everything else, it was large, bore a striking resemblance to the one back at Eientei, and grim.

"Now that's a big door," Mokou observed. "So, do either of you have a key, or should we knock?"

The double-door answered before the twins could. There was a clonk, a thunk, and they slowly swung outward, gears groaning and chains clinking.

"Okay," Mokou said, staring. "That's not overblown at all."

"Shut up Mokou," Head said again. "Let's just go inside already."

The Kaguya twins walked through the towering doorway. After a moment of hesitation, Mokou followed.

In contrast with its Eientei-like exterior, the inside of the fortress looked more like a temple, with angled walls, stone pillars, narrow hallways, and Lunarian glyphs mixed with Gensokyian runes carved into the walls. Though it was still grey and grim. Mokou's pestering must have put Head and Body into a foul mood when they created this place.

As they moved forward, Mokou noticed a series of steel doors without handles set into the walls. Her curiosity piqued, she walked towards one. As she approached, a red light flashed, and the door slid out of the way with a whoosh.

Mokou peeked inside. She whistled.

"What is it?" one of the twins called back to her.

"Spears," she answered. "Lunarian by the look of them." Her eyes swept over the rows and rows of crystalline weapons. "Lots and lots of spears."

There was another whoosh, and one of the twins announced, "This one has swords."

"And this one has assault rifles," said the other. She jogged over to the adjacent door, looked inside, and said, "And this one has crossbows."

Mokou stepped away from the door. "So, they're all armories then?"

"This one has some nasty looking bombs," Body observed as she leaned through one of the doorways. "Sure looks like it. With weapons from every era of history."

"I'm starting to think we should have been more specific when we asked for this place," Head said, shaking her namesake.

Mokou found a room full of wooden clubs topped with round stones. Amusing. "Well, you know what they say: better to have it and not need it then need it and not have it."

"Condom philosophy, huh? Yeah, I can get behind that." Head started back down the passageway. "C'mon, let's find the command center or whatever."

"Command Center or Whatever" wasn't far. It turned out to be a circular room with two low stone rings: one along its outer circumference and another within that opened at both ends. Strange machines and controls were all along the outer ring, while floating over the center of the room was a glowing orange sphere. The walls were covered with screens that displayed what Mokou supposed to be different parts of the dream world. She glimpsed Kamakura, Kaguya's city, the field of grass-covered pillars, and the lunar sea of lilies, among several others. And to the right of the entrance was…

"Sushi bar!" Body said happily. "At last!"

"Friggin' finally," Head added, and the two of them attacked the specially prepared seafood treats like a couple of identical piranhas.

Mokou watched them, torn between irritation and amusement. Out of all the times to stuff one's face with imaginary delicacies, this was most certainly not one of them. And yet, the whole thing was just so silly that she couldn't be mad at them. Especially when they slowly stopped their gluttony and turned to look at each other in bewilderment, their cheeks still full.

"What's wrong?" Mokou asked. "Doesn't taste right?"

Head swallowed. "Well, it's…okay, but I thought it would be better."

"Me too," Body agreed as she swallowed as well. "It's not bad, but it's really not all that good either."

Mokou scratched her chin. "You know, if I recall, you only asked for a decent sushi bar. Not a great one, just decent."

Body made a face. "Crap, she's right. We have got to learn to be more specific."

"You're telling me." Sighing, the twins abandoned the sushi bar and turned their attention to the rest of the room.

"You guys know what any of this does?" Mokou asked as they inspected the various instruments.

"Whatever we want, probably," Head said as she leaned over a panel of blinking buttons. "I don't know crap about computers, so my imagination doesn't either."

"So?"

"So I figure all we have to do is want to do something, pick a control, and say, 'Okay, this one will make such-and-such' happen. For example, right now I would like a mackerel to land on your head. Observe."

Before Mokou could process what she had just said, Head pressed one of the buttons. And true enough, a fish fell from the ceiling to land wetly on Mokou's head.

"Oh, I am going to love it here," Head cackled. She entwined her fingers, flipped them around, and cracked her knuckles. In response, Mokou threw the fish at her.

"Guys, knock it off," Body said. "And come look at this."

She was standing with her hands clasped behind her, looking up at the glowing sphere. Shooting a dirty look at Head, Mokou went over to join her.

"What is it?" she said. "A miniature sun or something?"

"Seeing how we haven't all turned to ash, I'd say probably not," Body replied. "It's not even hot."

"Heat makes no difference to me."

"Yeah, but it does to us, and we're not bursting into flames. So, not a sun." Her face twitched. "And don't get any ideas, please. The last thing we need in here is a real mini-sun."

"Could she survive a mini-sun?" Head wondered out loud. "I mean, I know, fireproof and all that, but that's a lot of fire…Hey Body, have we ever launched her into the Sun?"

"No, and we're not going to start," Body said firmly.

"I absorbed a Phoenix, numbskull," Mokou said to Head. "Phoenixes are from the Sun. I'd suffocate, sure, but not burn."

"Will you two forget the freaking Sun already and concentrate on the big orange ball?" Body snapped. Was this what all her fights with Mokou looked from the outside? If so, it was a wonder that someone hadn't lost patience and launched them both into the Sun eons ago.

"All right, fine," Head said as she folded her arms over her chest. "What is the big orange ball? Or rather, what do you want it to do?"

In answer, Body looked straight at the sphere and said, "Okay, let's see her!"

The sphere pulsed, once, and then its interior seemed to open up, revealing a scene. Mokou scowled. She had quite enough of different scenes being played out through surreal means.

However, this was no memory. In the sphere, she saw Rumia, the current one, striding forward down a forest trail. She was lazily swinging her sword back and forth and humming to herself. What was more, she was now completely horrifying.

Her fingers, once perfectly humanlike, were now curving, metallic blades. Her teeth, once small but sharp, were now razor-sharp nails. Two large leathery black wings sprouted from her shoulder blades to fold around her. Her shadow warped and writhed around her, and wherever it touched plants withered and died. And her eyes…red eyes were quite common in Gensokyo. Mokou had them herself. But while her own eyes often glowed while wielding a substantial amount of heat, they had never glowed like this. Not with Hellfire.

"Holy shit," Head breathed. "Is that what she really looks like?"

"She looks like a demon," Body said. "Not the Makai kind. A real, Grade-A demon. One of the Fallen."

"Yeah, but don't they have six wings?"

Mokou didn't partake in their conversation. She didn't say anything at all. In fact, the sight made her feel a little sick.

In her mind's eye, she saw the Rumia Yagami she had known, forgotten, and only recently recalled: a little energetic Human girl, remarkable only for the surprising number of scrapes she could get herself into in a single day. She held that image in her mind and put it side-by-side with the monster she now saw.

Gods, what those people done to her? She knew now what Rumia had done to them; those corpses were evidence enough. But what had they done to her, to turn her into this? And whatever it was, how could they do it to a child?

Mokou's hands curled into shaking claws, which in turn clenched into fists. She was a horrible person, perhaps even a monster, but she would never, never deliberately deliver that kind of cruelty to a child. What Rumia had done to her attackers had been too quick and too kind. If only Mokou had been there, had gotten back in time. Even if she couldn't have rescued Rumia and the others, she could have shown those back-birthed fools the various skills she had picked up over the years. So many ways to die, so many ways to cause pain, and they would get to experience each and every one. Surely there could be no one more deserving.

Then a hand appeared in her field of vision and snapped its fingers. Mokou jerked back, startled out of her rueful thoughts.

"Hey, chill out," Head said. "You're about to go up in flames."

Mokou looked down at herself and realized that she was giving off quite a lot of heat. Her hands were literally smoking. She took a deep breath and reestablished her internal balance.

"You okay?" Body asked. Head looked at her like she was crazy.

"Why," she said slowly, "do you care?"

"I'm fine," Mokou grunted as she rubbed her forehead. "Just got caught up in a moment of violent hatred, that's all. Don't worry, had nothing to do with you."

"Okay, that's it!" Head exploded. She pointed at both Body and Mokou and demanded, "Just what the hell is with you two?"

"Huh?" Mokou said. Not the most intelligent response, but she wasn't feeling especially articulate.

"Look at you! I'm out for a few minutes, which I still owe you for by the way, and when I come to, the feud is off and you two are all BFF's like the last three hundred years never happened!"

Mokou sighed. She didn't need this. "Why," she said in the exact same tone Head had used, "do you care?"

"Head, I told you, I'll talk to you later," Body said, sounding testy.

"It is later!" Head shouted. To Mokou's eyes, she looked about ready to start frothing at the mouth. "You promised me an explanation. So let's hear it already!"

Mokou closed her eyes and rubbed her throbbing head. She really didn't need this. Part of her wanted to just flash-fire the annoying twin and work with the somewhat more reasonable one.

Fortunately, she was spared from having to provide a length explanation, though the source was unwanted. "It's simple, really," Eirin said as she came in through the door. The Lunarian doctor had traded in her urban attire for her usual red-and-blue dress. "They talked, they finally came to see each other's side, reasoned that enough was enough already, and decided to call it quits. Not hard to understand, really."

Mokou eyed her warily. "Didn't I ashify you?"

The smile Eirin sent her way was not at all friendly. "Mokou, a little thought exercise if you'd please. Picture, in your mind's eye, a tree. Just a normal tree, with bark, and branches, and leaves; fruit is optional. Now imagine that tree on fire, wood burning, leaves crisping, the whole thing consumed by the flames until nothing is left but a pile of ash." She clasped her hands in front of her waist. "Now, mentally remove the flames, and imagine the tree whole and healthy again. Was it at all difficult?"

Like Mokou, the twins seemed unsure of what to make of Eirin's sudden arrival. "Oh," Body said as she moved around to put the orange sphere between herself and Eirin. "Hi. Hey, you're not upset about us not saying yes to your plan and going with Mokou, are you?"

"Only if you want me to be," Eirin said neutrally.

Head frowned. "Huh?"

Mokou felt she understood. "I think she means it's time for you to realize that she's not real," she explained. "Figment of your imagination and all that."

"Oh. Well, we already knew that. But these guys have a habit of doing stuff on their own, if you hadn't already noticed."

"Not this time," Eirin said. She strode forward toward the sphere. Head and Body both retreated, though Mokou stood her ground. She had dealt with this shallow pretender before, she could do so again.

But rather than demand satisfaction for the insult, Eirin simply walked up to stand next to her and contemplate the image of Rumia. She made hmmmm noises as she rubbed her chin in a thoughtful manner. "As much as I would like to save you all from yourselves, I'm afraid I am limited by my nature. All of my kind are. As such, if you are committed to this course, we have no choice but to follow."

"Well, that's reassuring," Mokou said, though not quite as nastily as she normally would have. She didn't want another velmick staring her in the face. "We would probably have an easier time believing that if you hadn't spent so much time sending monsters after all."

"Plus our families," Body added. "I mean, come on. That's just mean."

"Oh, come off it," Eirin said dismissively. "Most of those were simple nightmares doing as nightmares are wont to do. Besides, you were in league with the trespasser at the time. Now, you are not."

"Circumstances necessitated a change?" Mokou suggested.

Eirin wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Unfortunately. Understand that we still have strong reservations concerning this course of action, and I would highly advise against it. However, if Kaguya wishes to follow it, we have no choice but to follow."

Head, who had been standing silently ever since Eirin's arrival, broke into the conversation. "Wait," she said, dark eyes narrowing. "When you say 'we,' you mean…"

"I mean us figments, of course."

"Interesting," Head murmured. "So, that would include…oh, let's say those Lunarian soldiers that took us captive?"

"Naturally."

"Those constantly spawning sailors?"

"Of course. Though I doubt they would be of much use."

Head and Body exchanged a look. Then Body said hesitantly, "And the velmick?"

Eirin smirked. "How many would you like?"

"Oh my," Head said as she rubbed her palms together. "This is starting to get interesting. And what about the Zerg?"

"Ah," Eirin said. "The Zerg. Funny you should mention them."

She motioned toward the sphere, and the view swept past Rumia to focus on a figure that had previously been walking just out of sight, leading Rumia on.

The person was aesthetically interesting, Mokou had to admit, as well as aesthetically stupid. It was like someone had combined a woman with a lobster and given her dreadlocks and skeletal wings. It didn't take any great leaps of deduction to figure out where she had come from.

Nor was it needed, for as soon as the twins saw who it was, they recognized her immediately. What was more, they reacted as a child meeting Santa Claus for the first time (Mokou being exempt, as she hadn't been a child at the time and hadn't even heard his myth until Kaguya had forcibly injected it into Gensokyo. Still, he had been a nice enough chap).

"Sun, moon, stars, supernovas, and comets," Head whispered, her voice breathless. "I-is that who I think it is?"

"Obviously," Eirin answered, clearly enjoying the reaction.

"Ohmigods," Body breathed. "Ohmigods, ohmigods, ohmigods. And she's working with us?"

"For us, to be exact. Well, you. She is there to keep an eye on Rumia, as well as carry out any tasks you might have for her."

Head stared at her. "Kerrigan is working for us."

"Yes."

"Kerrigan. Queen of Blades. That Kerrigan."

"Indeed she is."

"Wow." Head turned to her equally starstruck twin. "I don't know about you, but I'm starting to have second thoughts about turning down the whole 'Chill Here for a While' offer."

And with that, Mokou had enough. She roughly muscled past Head to claim Eirin's attention. "Look, I don't give a crap who…or what…that ugly pincushion is or where she…assuming that is a she…came from. I'm more interested in where they are now."

"Certainly, you two-bit, combustible skank," Eirin said agreeably.

Mokou blinked. "Wait, what did you call me?"

Instead of answering, Eirin looked back to the sphere. "Zoom out," she told it. "Let's see the place."

"You are holding a grudge!"

"Oh, indubitably. But we can discuss the repercussions of your poor impulse control later. In the meantime, please do direct your attention to the viewing globe. There, I believe your question is being answered."

It was indeed, though it wasn't the answer Mokou had expected. Rumia heading for the courtyard of a large mansion that sat in the middle of the forest of bamboo. It was such a central location to everyone present that Mokou was actually ashamed that she hadn't recognized it right off the bat.

"What," Body said flatly. "Why are they in Eientei?"

"Because she believes that we are still going to help her," Eirin answered. "She was promised an escort to the center of your conjoined subconscious minds, and has been led to believe that the center would be represented by Eientei." She smirked. "We saw no reason to dissuade her of her beliefs, and in fact constructed an Eientei just for her. All in the service of being accommodating hosts, I assure you."

"Okay, I gotcha," Body said, grinning. "So, now that she's been lured into an ambush…"

"You simply need to decide the exact specifics of that ambush," Eirin confirmed for her. "Hence, this war room. And the sizeable armory that preceded it."

Mokou took a deep breath. Well, she was committed to this course. There was nothing for it. "All right, so basically, we're running the dream now, right? Both her half and mine?"

"A simplified way of putting things, but that is not incorrect."

"So long as we help you get rid of Rumia, right?"

Eirin nodded. "By any means necessary."

"Fine then. All right ladies, listen up. This is what those means are going to be."

"Are we there yet?" Rumia asked for the fifth time in the last ten minutes.

"Almost," Kerrigan answered, also for the fifth time in the last ten minutes.

"That's what you said the last four times."

"And it's become progressively more true each time. Now, be silent. We'll be there in due time."

Rumia flashed a grin at her guide. "Better be. Don't forget what I said about turning Kaguya into a brain dead paperweight."

"I am not in the habit of forgetting things." If Rumia's taunts were starting to grate Kerrigan, she made no sign. "Nor will it be necessary. You will get your exit, have no fear."

"I have none. You should, though."

To this Kerrigan offered no answer. She merely kept moving forward through the forest, Rumia stalking behind, leaving a trail of withered foliage behind her.

As they marched on, Rumia idly glanced around at the shadows between the trees. She wondered how the betrayal was going to take place. Just as Kaguya had never trusted her, she did not trust this manifestation of Kaguya's mind. She was being set up; of this there was no doubt. Just as well. She would annihilate whatever was waiting for her and reestablish the terms of their "agreement."

That really was the problem with dealing with inferior beings in possession of delusion of grandeur. No matter how many times you put them in their place, they always got uppity all over again. It would be easier if she could just cut her way out like she had done so back at her own subconscious. Unfortunately, doing so risked doing irreparable harm to both Kaguya and Mokou, and she needed them alive, at least in a functional sense.

So she continued to play along, following yet another manifestation of those two twits' numerous cognitive deficiencies, letting them feel that they had the upper hand. Unfortunately, as good as it had felt to drop pretenses and return fully to being her patron's avatar, doing so had brought its Voice back to the front of her mind.

Kill, it whispered, low but insistently. Everything. Destroy all life. Rend their souls from their bodies. Leave nothing but bones and dust in your wake.

And so on and so forth. Normally Rumia would be more than happy to comply, but as the current situation called for some measure of patience and restraint, she had was forced to ignore Azrael's call and the urges that came with it. The bother of it all was the Voice wasn't intelligent; it was nothing more than a prerecorded psychic message, programmed to play over and over with little change. As such, she couldn't just tell it to sit down and wait until the appropriate time.

Remake the world in My image. May ashes be your clay and the earth your canvas. And as the cold fires right higher, the sweet scent of Death will reach even the Creator's nostrils, and He will look down on your Masterpiece and weep for joy.

Great, now it was waxing poetical. The gods save her from melodramatic enemies of Heaven. Rumia sighed and tried to distract herself by picking out interesting shapes in the bamboo stalks. That one, for example, reminded her of a severed rabbit's head, and with a few adjustments, that one could be a hangman's gallows.

Yeah, that wasn't helping.

"We're here," Kerrigan suddenly announced. Sighing with relief, Rumia looked up.

Predictably enough, she had been led to a mock-up of Eientei. It was a more-or-less accurate representation of the real thing, only without the rabbits that would normally be milling around and the shadows were longer. It wasn't the center though, that much was obvious. Even though she was expecting it, Rumia still felt a little offended. Again her intelligence was being insulted. She knew she shouldn't let it bother her, but come on.

Ah well, might as well play the farce to the end. "Homey looking place," she remarked. "Eientei, right? Makes sense."

"Kaguya and Mokou will be here within the hour," Kerrigan told her as she moved to conceal herself in the shadows. "They are on their way already. So might want to put your face on."

"Fair enough." Rumia concentrated, and her features shifted, remolding themselves from Rumia the Shadow Youkai to Rumia the generic youkai woman. She was tempted to remain as she was, in the off-chance that Mokou and Kaguya really were on their way, as their reactions would be priceless.

That done, she sat down on a rock and waited.

She didn't have to wait long. Soon enough, she could smell them coming. Well, Mokou at least. Her eyebrows rose. Well, well, well, so they were delivering the real deal. She was expecting them to try to trick her with a couple of lookalikes. Now, why would they take her to a false center but bring the actual girls within her grasp? And…

Where was Kaguya? The Paranoid Princess was nowhere within range. There were fresh hints of her scent following Mokou, so they had been together recently, but the Lunarian herself was not present.

Her scarlet eyes narrowed. Maybe she wasn't the only one being underestimated here. She shot the hidden Kerrigan a suspicious glance. What was her game?

Well, no time to make an issue of it now. Her former traveling companion was now coming into view. She looked more-or-less the same, though Mokou seemed to have lost her father's sword. Rumia tsked. Now that was just careless.

Well, it was time to get into character. "Hey!" she said as she stood up, a wide grin on her face. "Look who finally showed up! Hey Mokou, how was the jail break?"

"Revelatory," Mokou said. "How did you get here?"

"Walked," Rumia answered primly. "As well as flew, ran, even fell a little bit. Did some digging at one point too. No swimming though. I guess they got tired of that theme."

Mokou smirked. "Not quite. Glad to see you're all right though, especially since the last time we saw you, you were being led away in chains."

Rumia laughed. They were as standoffish as ever. "So were you. And you're not the only badass around, you know." Still no sign of Kaguya. Yup, this was a problem. She shot a quick glance in Kerrigan's direction. Maybe a lesson would be appropriate. "It wasn't without incident though. Them rabbits have some nasty teeth." She looked Mokou up and down. "And judging by how roughed up you look, neither was yours. Family reunion get out of hand?"

Instead of raising the bait, Mokou said nothing. Rumia's smile faltered.

"All right," she said at last. "What's up? And where is Kaguya? Did she get lost?"

"She's on her way. But there was something I wanted to ask you first."

Oh yeah. Something was definitely up. Smiling in a disarming manner, Rumia's fingers stroked the hilt of her sword. "And what might that be?"

Mokou stepped forward. "Rumia," she said. "How did you survive?"

Well, lovely. Another rendition of Paranoia Theater. Rumia could not wait until she was free of these idiots. "By being badder than the baddies and tougher than the toughies. Give me some credit, Fujiwara. I may not be immortal like you two, but I can, in fact, look after myself."

"That's not what I meant," Mokou said. "I'm talking about the cross."

And with that, the game was changed.

"W-what?" Rumia whispered.

"The cross, Rumia," Mokou repeated. "How did you survive being crucified?"

If Mokou had been harboring any doubts that the Rumia she had been travelling with was also her Rumia, the one she had thought dead, they died as soon as she saw Rumia's reaction. The youkai (if youkai she truly was) was absolutely dumbstruck. Her face had gone bone-white, her mouth slack, and she seemed to have trouble keeping her balance. But more noticeable was her shadow. When Mokou had entered the courtyard, Rumia's shadow had been just a shadow. But as soon as Mokou had pierced her with her question, it had exploded outward behind her like a flashfire, cutting down all living things in its wake.

Mokou's brow rose. Wow, that had been interesting. It wasn't quite as impressive as those tornadoes, but it was certainly something.

But there was no time to dwell on that now. Rumia was starting to advance, marching toward Mokou with deadly purpose. Her eyes were blazing brightly, and though her shadow had returned to manageable size, it writhed around her like a living thing.

"What," she growled. "What. Did. You. Say?"

Oh boy. Mokou had expected a reaction, but this was a wee bit more aggressive than she had anticipated. But it was too late to rethink her words now. So she stood her ground, steeled her eyes, and said, "I was there, Rumia. I saw it. The dead field, the corpses, and the cross, or what was left of it. And I know you were nailed to that cross. How did-"

Even with the way things were going, Mokou was completely unprepared for what happened next. Rumia let out a shriek that could only be described with such adjectives as "piercing," "unearthly," or even "physically painful to listen to." And then Mokou was hit with something, like a wave of…it wasn't cold. Cold was an insufficient way to describe what Mokou felt. It was more like she was bowled over by a void, one that sapped all of the considerable heat from her body and, unsatisfied with that, stole it from her surroundings as well.

Mokou choked back a cry, and for a moment it seemed like her heart had stopped. Then her vision cleared and she was suspended almost a full meter off the ground, her back pressed against a stone pillar. Rumia was there, her hand tight around Mokou's throat, the other gripping the hilt of her sword. Her face was twisted into a mask of fury, and her skin bulged with black veins. It was like her demonic self was about ready to burst free.

Mokou struggled to free herself, but she might as well have been trying to lift a mountain. Rumia's hand was stronger than steel and colder than ice.

"How?" Rumia demanded. "It's not possible. This isn't my dream, it's yours. You can't know about that. It just isn't possible. How do you know? TELL ME!"

"Holy shit!" Body blurted out. She thrust a shaking finger at the monitors. "Rumia's gone Anti-Form!"

"Not an inaccurate way to put it, actually," Eirin said. The faux Lunarian doctor scowled down at a display of energy readings that had just started to spaz out. "Now you see why we've been working so hard to get rid of her?"

Eirin and the two Kaguyas were still at the Command Center or Whatever. It had actually been Mokou's idea, based on the reasoning that if Rumia couldn't get her hands on Kaguya, she couldn't achieve her goal, giving Mokou more time to work on breaking her. Head of course had immediately declared Mokou's idea to be pants-on-head retarded, but if she wanted to go alone to face the crazy youkai that had reportedly wiped out the Zerg and the velmick without even trying, that was her affair. Her only condition was that she be provided a large tub of popcorn to watch the proceedings with.

Still, it wasn't as if Mokou was completely without backup. Her Lunarian allies were keeping a sharp eye on things to provide support or whisk Mokou away if needed. And as the twins were still getting used to the whole godlike control thing and Mokou hadn't even tried it yet, Eirin had been put in charge making sure she didn't die.

And judging by how swiftly Rumia's façade had dropped, Mokou did seem to be in immediate danger of doing just that.

Body cleared her throat. "So, uh, you can stop this, right? Pull her out?"

"Pulling her out is a bit premature at this point," Eirin said. She reached for a nearby microphone. "But I do think a little friendly support is in order."

Bringing the microphone to her mouth, she said, "Kerrigan, Trespasser is getting violent, as you've no doubt noticed. Calm her."

Mokou tried to answer Rumia's question, she really did, but she couldn't even breathe. Noticing this, Rumia loosened her grip just enough for Mokou to gasp the smallest amount of air into her lungs.

"Was. There," she forced out. "Saw it. For. Myself."

"You were there?" Rumia demanded. "How? I don't remember-"

An earth-shaking roar cut into their conversation. Rumia had just enough time to turn and see a hulking monster that seemed to be a combination of all the worst parts of a rhinoceros, an elephant, and a goliath beetle charging at her before she was swept aside by one of its tusks.

Rumia tumbled head-over-heels through the air, but managed to regain her senses before she hit ground. Hovering, she straightened up and turned toward the snarling beast, her eyes glowing with hate. Her left hand came up, and darkness danced around her fingers.

Then she lurched forward with a short gasp of pain. That lobster-girl of Kaguya's, Carrie or whatever her name was, had somehow managed to sneak up behind Rumia to stab the razor-sharp shoulders of her wings into Rumia's back.

"Here's your exit," she said in a weird, layered voice. Then she grabbed Rumia's head with both hands and hurled her out of the courtyard.

That done, she straightened up, brushed herself off, and started walking toward Mokou, a smug look of satisfaction on her face. She motioned with one hand, and the beast charged after Rumia.

"Hello, Mokou," Carrie said. "Sorry about the interruption, but it looked like you needed a hand."

Mokou slumped down. "Thanks, Carrie" she coughed, rubbing her throat. "Though that one-liner made no sense at all."

The look of contempt she was given was so familiar that Mokou was certain that Kaguya was watching her from behind those yellow eyes. "Inside joke," Carrie said. "And it's Kerrigan. Can you stand?"

"Obviously." In demonstration, Mokou stood up.

"Good." Kerrigan turned away from her to focus on Rumia, who was pushing herself to her feet. "Find a more defensible position and better prepare yourself. I'll buy you the time."

Mokou's face screwed up in confusion. "And how do you expect to do-"

Kerrigan's beast's bellows suddenly rose in pitch, turning into a scream. Then they died down, finally ending with a gurgle. A beat passed, and then its body was hurled through the courtyard wall. Mokou and Kerrigan stared at it as it tumbled past.

Shaking her head, Kerrigan motioned for Mokou to get back. "Get moving already." She crouched down, and her wings snapped wide. "And watch a true professional at work."

Rumia emerged through the hole she had created. When she saw Kerrigan was doing, she scowled. "Oh," she said. "You. Right." She beckoned with one hand. "Well, have at it then."

"Wait!" Mokou said, reaching for the lobster girl. "You can't-"

Kerrigan leapt up high. "Prepare yourself!" she snarled as she swooped down, talons outstretched and reaching for Rumia's throat.

"Yes!" Head shouted. She pumped her fist into the air. "Now we're talking!"

"Seriously, this is what we should have done from the beginning!" Body chimed in. "All right, assimilate that bitch!"

Right before Kerrigan's pounce found purchase, Rumia's arm snapped up. The lobster girl suddenly found her momentum halted by the thin, silver sword that was now impaling her through the chest.

"Yeah, no," Rumia said. She gave her sword a flick, and Kerrigan fell into a crumpled heap in the dust.

Mokou immediately moved to intervene, but Rumia's shadow leapt across the courtyard. It spread out in a straight line, and a wall of darkness sprung up from it, driving Mokou back.

Sighing, Rumia squatted down to the twitching Queen of Blades. "Given your origin," she said, "I'm assuming Kaguya is watching right now. And seeing how much she loves her monsters, she's probably got a long queue of them waiting to be thrown at me. I really don't have time for that, so I think a little object lesson in the difference between fantasy and reality is in order."

With that, she reached out and grabbed the top of Kerrigan's head.

The wall of darkness fell just in time for Mokou to see the aftereffects of Rumia's touch. Her heart fell. Well, this had gone to Hell in record breaking time.

"What?" Body gaped. "She killed Kerrigan?" She grabbed Head by the shoulder and started shaking her. "She killed Kerrigan!"

"I know, I saw!" Head snapped as she pulled away. "Eirin, what gives?"

Eirin scowled. "Well, obviously the real monster was stronger than the imaginary one. Who would have thought?"

"Yeah, but she's…she's Kerrigan!"

"Was."

"Body, shut up," Head said. "We can always make another one."

"And the girl learns," Eirin said. "But as touching as your concern for our departed colleague might be, I believe Mokou's predicament to be of far greater concern."

Mokou stared in shock at the withered husk Kerrigan had become. While she had figured that Rumia had to be responsible for the bodies back at the field, to see her wield such power so casually was a bit on the worrying side.

As for Rumia, she seemed more annoyed by the interruption than anything. "Professional my ass," she muttered as she straightened. "I don't know about you, but I'm getting sick of these pretentious, thickskulled figments of Kaguya's, who all keep thinking they can-" Then she caught sight of Mokou and blinked in surprise. "Oh yeah. That's what we were doing."

With no other warning, she struck. Mokou was immediately on the defensive as Rumia assaulted her with a flurry of supernaturally fast slashes and kicks. To Mokou's credit, she actually managed to deflect the first volley and even land a punch of her own on Rumia's cheek. Rumia looked surprised. Then with malicious snarl, she lunged forward, tackling Mokou to the ground.

Mokou tried to push her off, but once again Rumia's fingers were around her throat.

"Tell me again," Rumia said, her face mere centimeters from Mokou's. "Tell me what you just said."

Looking her straight in the eye, Mokou forced out, "I was…at the field…where they crucified you."

Rumia's face went blank. She leaned in close to stare into Mokou's eyes, as if trying to pluck answers she needed right from her mind. Then, with a snort of disgust, she threw Mokou to the side.

"You were there?" she said. "All right, some clarification is needed. Do you mean here, in the dream? Or were you actually at the actual event? Because if it's the latter, you and I need to have some words."

"Both," Mokou hissed. She rubbed her throat. Her skin tingled unpleasantly. "I was at both."

"That right?" Rumia's eyes narrowed. "Well, I didn't think anyone had gotten away, but it seems I wasn't as thorough as I had thought." Five wriggling tendrils of smoke rose up behind her, their multi-fingered tips outstretched and grasping. "I'll just have to correct that then."

And so it begins. The beginning of the end. The alpha of the omega. The final hoedown and all that jazz.

Though in hindsight, it was probably a mistake to introduce Kerrigan, mainly because though she's a second-rate figment (Kaguya has only ever played the first Starcraft game, after all. She doesn't even have Brood Wars!), she's the sort of character that kind of demands attention, requiring her to be disposed of lest she take start taking screentime away from the leads. But ah well, she served her purpose.

Until next time everyone!