And so, here I am. 100 days in, my deadline hit, and...it's been quite a journey. I can't really blame what happened earlier this month, with my laptop going on the fritz and not working, me spending lots of time to fix it (yet failing to find any reasonable fix) and then finding on computer genius who fixed it in less then 24 hours for 90 bucks. He totally rocks, and honestly, he's gonna get my computer business from now on. I'm stuck and back to using open office, so I'm not 100% sure my formatting will be the same as it is now.

And yes, this is ignoring Dark Souls 2's massive addicting effect on me.

And I, being the bearer of the game.

I seeked boss souls, powerful souls to trade for more swag,

I'm at king, for who is the last challenge before NG+

And, this game has swallowed my time whole, as it has so many others.

Ok.

Anyway, I'll talk more about my deadlines and plans for this story.

Enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 8 – Sky High

Perfect!

The steel target shattered into pieces as my shot broke it apart.

Another perfect hit. Woo-hoo!

"Nice shot Liam." Sen said to me.

It's an interesting use of steel creation. I've seen some people using abilities like this before, but not for creating target practice.

"But, that was an easy shot after all. It's just at a distance. So...why don't I give you something a little more challenging, no?" Sen said with a pretty smile.

And then she went on with it. I saw her get on her knees and placed both her hands on the clouded ground.

A part of me makes an uncontrollable smile, looking at Sen doing her magic.

"Alchemy sign: Automaton Actualization." Sen said.

Magic sparked from Sen's hands and made a rune underneath them. A stream of magic trailed from Sen's rune and moved far into the distance, creating more targets down where the other targets had been...

Wait, these weren't more disk targets, but looked more like a pair of metal figures instead.

"So, what do you think of these Liam?"

When I turned to Sen, she was back on her feet.

"How about some moving targets for a change?" Sen said to me. "They'll just move left and right for us, give us a little challenge, but not too much. Heh, you should be able to hit a moving target, right?"

I should. I did hit Wriggle after all.

"Let me show you how it's done." Sen said with a smile as she extended her finger. I saw a glow of orange energy from her pointing finger.

She can do the spirit gun?

Damn, that's sexy...

What-whu-I, um, mean,that isamazing. Its not the spirit gun, but something like it. D-Doesn't use spiritual lifeforce like mine it-it—Just the energy of her own body. So it can't be that move.

Oh God, I hope Sen didn't see me stumble like that.

Looking, I don't think she did. Instead, I catch the tail end of her firing a shot from her finger and nailing her moving target, cleanly taking the automaton's "head" off.

Nice shot.

"Good shot, Sen...but what was that? You were using your bow before." I told her.

If it's not the spirit gun, what was it?

"Oh, its was sorta something Komachi-san showed me when I was younger. She called it the spirit gun."

She did? She knows?

I've heard of mortals learning it, but to pass it on to a Celestial? Those two must be closer then I thought.

"Komachi originally tried to teach me how to do it, but I had a lot of trouble trying to figure it out, and well, I worried I'd kill myself accidentally. So, I just used my own body's energy instead and mimicked it down to form."

Sen took aim and fired a pair of orange blasts from her finger that decimated the rest of the automaton.

"I'm not really all that good with using my own soul and lifeforce as a power source, nor do I have high magical capabilities. So I usually stick to using my own body's energy instead, or at least I do now. Before I became a celestial, all I had was a little magic I had learned from a pair of magical texts I got my hands on, but after Lord Nai started showing me how to use the power that resided in me, I've never looked back."

Most entities have three ways of power that resides in most lifeforms. The energy that comes from their body, the energies that come from their souls, or their magical energies. Across the multiverse they have all sorts of names for these three forms. Ki, Chakra, mana, ether, Reiryoku, souls, and so many more. One source of power can even tap into another, that second wind of unbelievable strength. But all in the end, it all goes back to those three sources.

Doesn't really help any that people confuse them for each other and think that they're all the same.

Gah, that was a tough test trying to sort each one from each other. Alicia failed it twice and I did once. Thank goodness for retakes.

"So, like my little replica of your spirit gun?" Asked Sen "May not be yours, but it sure gets the job done."

"I do" I replied.

My eyes trail a little down as i say that.

My mind trails off...

I see Sen in a red dress. Her nicely toned body perfectly fitting, just an inch too tight, the way any guy would lustfully like.

The sensual Sen walked over to me, swaying her hips, before pushing me down on the bed.

Oh god, she's climbing on top of me

" . . . oh Liam . . . ."

That look in her eyes...I know what you want...

"I wanna see your spirit gun . . . pull it ou—"

LIAM!

Stop that. What the hell! In my own head, I took a mental shovel to my brain process and beat myself back to the much less sexual real world.

"Liam, it's your turn. I wanna see your spirit gun shot. You can nail a moving target 50 yards away, right?"

You pervert . . . yes Sen is a really cute girl, she's quite nice, and she's cool. Don't think like that.

She's your friend, not your girlfriend . . . though since she's the first female marksmen I've met in years who also actually talks to me, Sen would be an amazing girlfri—Stop thinking like that! Don't you dare mess anything up Liam!

She's a friend, and a really cool person. And a damn good shot.

Once again, Shovel to brain. Stupid brain, dying when i was in the middle of puberty.

Back to the real world, I could see a little smirk on her face.

She then spoke. "C'mon Liam, aren't you going to whip it out for me?"

Oh geez . . . innuendo . . . no, brain, no . . . .

She giggled cutely at that. I think she was enjoying teasing me.

"You're not having any trouble perfor—"

I wasn't going to allow her to finish that one.

"No No, I'm fine. I just needed to focus a little. I'm sure you'll like my bullet when it sinks into your target."

. . . .

Damn it Sen, now you got me doing it.

. . . no, not doing it. Or with you. Or to you. T-the pun I mean. Gah.

Sen exited my vision and moved somewhere behind me and I took a step forward. Sen was outside my view, and it was time to get to work.

I put my eyes on the target

Think about the target and don't think about Sen . . . .

. . . Think about the target and don't think about Sen . . . .

. . . Think about the target . . . .

And . . . .

. . . the target.

It's moving. I'll have to compensate trajectory. Wind's a non issue . . . .

Weight . . . no weight, non-issue.

Early shooting showed me showed me how long it took. Compensate for time and distance.

…

Take aim.

…

Ready my spirit shot.

…

Let it fly.

"FIRE!"

The bullet shot from my finger. Yet my eyes stayed sharp on the moving automaton.

I felt my energy move away from me and make its way to its mark. The shot hit its target, the spiritual shot blowing through it's chest. Heh, targe—

A second shot maimed more of the target's chest, hitting where it's heart would be.

Unconsciously, I'd double tapped my target.

. . . Oops?

Moving upward, I notice the head untouched. Time to triple tap.

Automatically, I aimed a shot for the head, which succeeded in taking the automaton's head clean off.

"Nice shot. Little bit of overkill. Gotta say, I was expecting you'd miss at least the first shot." Sen said impressed.

I . . . oh yes, Sen's next to me. Turning, the celestial comes into view. "What can I say, I know my shots well." I pridefully said back.

Oohhh . . . my face lit up a little bit, now that Sen was next to me.

"Having fun?" She asked.

"Yea. Haven't had this much fun all week." I said back.

"Week . . . ." She muttered. "Hmmm" Sen was now thinking. I rubbed her chin and began to think.

"Tell me Liam, how'd you get here? Mind telling a mortal your story?"

"Of course."

And so I did. I told her where I came from, a godforsaken planet with a lot of desert and so little water. How I lost my first home in a fire when I was a little tyke and my subsequent my trips through crappy orphanages, most of the information I knew from what others told me and a few glances at my own history.

Sen commented how they all sound like made-up stereotypes. We both got a laugh out of it.

"Yea, sounds like anyone wouldn't last long there." She said.

"Agreed." I continued. "But what really killed me was, apparently, a wraith that had gotten inside my homeworld. And being my world had nothing to handle it, it killed everything in it's path. I was it's final victim before it was stopped."

"Ouch. Tough luck"

"More like the opposite. My life sucked. I mean, if I liked it I wouldn't have forgotten it. My afterlife, on the other hand, is great."

Hehe. Afterlife.

"And it was when I died that I met Elly."

"Who?"

"A friend, well, I met her that day I died and we became friends. She was the shinigami who killed the wraith that killed me, and then reaped my soul afterwards . She's the captain of t-"

Oh yea, I'm not suppose to talk about that stuff to mortals.

I readjusted what I was about to say "She's one of the top shinigami in all of our afterlife. She's-she's like, the most awesome shinigami out there. She's nice, strong, sweet; Elly's just amazing."

"It was meeting her that showed me what I wanted to do with myself. I don't really remember my mortal life, but what I do know, and from what my gut tells me about my past life, I never really had much direction in my life. I was listless, just going whatever way someone pointed me in . . . but her . . . I saw her . . . Elly was the total opposite of what I was." I said.

She was something strong . . . something . . . as nerdy as it sounds, grossly incandescent.

"She was what I had longed to be. Someone in control of their own destiny, who had great power and used it responsibly. She was, well, like an angel. I even thought she was an angel when I met her."

She was what I wanted. She knew who she was, she knew what she want

"A-and I just knew right there and then, that I wanted to be just like her."

"After Elly reaped me, she was kind enough to stay with me, too, and brought me as far as she could. Before she left, she told me that if I wanted, I could join the afterlife, and she offered me the chance to become a shinigami."

"So what did you say?"

I had a little chuckle. "Yes of course. I wanted to be just like her."

I'm sure Sen can see my big smile.

"And so, I did. She took me to the Ministry of right and wrong to sign up and I was officially inducted into the shinigami corps. I then joined the academy and began my training. Many years later I graduate, and here I am."

Sen liked everything I said.

I really am smiling now. She likes it. Yay.

"So, how's your first day been here in Gensokyo?" Sen then asked me.

Umm . . . .

"Ummm . . . ." I said and finished the line of thought with ". . . painful."

To Sen's curious expression, I began to explain. I told her how my day began: Alicia and I both being given our first assignments as shinigami. She laughed when she talked about me getting launched across Gensokyo by my sempai, then told her about her first time getting launched by Komachi.

Apparently, it was upwards and Komachi launched her high into the clouds before she learned how to fly. If it wasn't for Komachi catching her like a newlywed she would have splatted.

Geez. . . one would think Komachi would learn by now not to do that.

I then told her about Wriggle Nightbug and my encounter with her.

When I was done with it, Sen commented. "Yea, she does that to everyone. Wriggle did that same thing to me when I moved to Gensokyo."

So it seems . . . .

"What happened?" I asked.

"She ended up picking a fight with me. I wound up pinning her to the wall with my arrows, knocked her out and stripped her down to her undergarments to embarrass her, and you know, as a warning never to attack me again. Worked pretty well on bandits back in my city when I was alive.

"...or at least that's what I would have done if that youkai bear didn't come rampaging through, nearly bisecting Wriggle and sending me running for my life. Apparently, one of our stray shots from our fight hit a sleeping youkai bear."

Note to self: do not disturb the bears here.

"Yea, your fear's justified. The Youkai bears here are scary and really strong...but thank goodness they can't fly. Just take to the air and usually you're safe . . . ."

The way she ended that . . . .

. . . .

. . . something else to add, Sen?

". . . just gotta watch out for their throwing arm when you do. It's not fun."

There was a moment of silence, and an "Ummm" between us.

"Um . . . we're getting off subject. So tell me, after Wriggle Nightbug, what happened next?"

And so I detailed to Sen my encounter with Yakumo-san.

Of course, skipping over the embarrassing part about the boundaries of inner thought and spoken word.

"Yea, that sounds like classic Yukari to me. So, where'd the train send you?" She asked me.

I pointed to the clouds here. "All the way up here actually."

"You came here?" Sen was surprised

"Yea, it was somewhere around here." I said. "Not too sure where. I found myself inside a little crevice inside the clouds. Ended up staying there the whole time until I was pulled back to were I was by Yakumo-san."

. . . .

"They were really fluffy. I almost fell asleep in there." I confessed.

Once again, Sen giggled really cutely.

"These cloudsarereally fluffy" Sen said.

With that, Sen took a dive onto the fluffy cloud ground behind us.

Stretching her arms out and falling backwards on them, she landed quite softly, little bits of cloud kicking into the air as she did.

"Ahh . . . it's been a while since I've done this . . . ." she said to herself. "You live here so long you totally forget about how soft this place is . . . ."

"Come on, Liam, you try it too."

Well, maybe . . . why not?

I sucked in fear and I took a dive myself, falling backwards and landing in the comfy clouds.

. . . ahhh . . . .

"This place is a paradise . . . it really is . . . ." Sen said out loud, resting.

And so, we began to lay like this.

After a few minutes of relaxing, Sen broke the silence.

"So tell me Liam . . . why did you choose to come to Gensokyo?"

"Huh?" I responded.

"Yea, why did you sign up to take over for Fukakusa-san? She asked me.

"Um, what do you mean?" I said back.

Sen laughed at that.

"Oh come on, don't tell me you don't know." She said. "No one in their right mind would choose to work at Gensokyo. I may not know much about what you shinigami do, but I know enough that this place can drive people crazy."

Say what you want, that's news to me.

…

. . . ok, well, everything I've seen . . . yeah, I could see that being the case.

"You've got to have a reason to choose a place like this. Such as . . . ." And Sen left it hanging.

"Such as what?" Which was was exactly what Sen was expecting me to say.

"That you're Komachi's boyfriend that she's been keeping hidden from me for all these years, and now that Fuka's hurt she's got an excuse to bring you in."

"WH-WHAT?!" I both said and thought.

M-Me? Komachi-sempai's boyfriend?

My mind flashes in before I can block, thinking about Komachi in that scandalous red dress I imagined Sen wearing, but so much tighter on her . . . .

No nono!

I swatted away the thoughts on all fours.

Must have been a funny sight for Sen to see.

"Oh come on, don't fuss." Sen said calmly "I won't tell anyone. I promise I won't tell a single soul." She said.

"Bu-but, I'm not Sempai's boyfriend." I told her. "I . . . I didn't even know she had one."

The beautiful Celestial turned and looked at me. "Really? Komachi is one sexy woman. That body is something even a god would wish their lover would have. Myself included."

Sen didn't believe me.

"Come on, just admit you're that red-hot lover she has." She coyly said

No, no no, don't think about that.

"I'm not. Really, I'm not her boyfriend. I just met her this morning."

Sen looked at me . . .

and looked at me . . . .

"Bah . . . ok, ok . . . you're not her boyfriend."

Finally.

"Besides, your story wouldn't make sense anyway. She's said they've been together for over a century."

So then why did you accuse me of it then?! Gah!

"She has had this boyfriend for over a century now, maybe longer and she refuses to tell me who he is. It's been killing me as to who it is. I mean, I've tried, I've asked, I've followed leads, and I've gotten nothing."

And with that she exhaled a sigh.

This is news to me.

"Ghhhh, like I said, Gensokyo is a crazy place and most people have to be crazy to do a job like this. I figured being in love might have been one of those kinds of crazy."

It's time I set the record straight.

"How I got this job wasn't anything special. I'm a new recruit. I was automatically assigned here. I had no say in it." I said.

"Ahhh . . . like fresh meat into the grinder . . . ." Sen sa . . . wait.

I really,reallydon't like that euphemistic.

"Gensokyo's a crash course, but you'll be ok. If you don't quit, I'm sure this place will toughen you up for every other job you take. It's like jumping into the cold pool to adjust to the water. Gensokyo has a habit of toughening up people. I'm a perfect example of that. I kept on getting pounded into the dirt and almost eaten on a weekly basis when I first moved to Gensokyo. Lord Nai, Lady Belle, and Komachi had to save my rear more times then I could count. It took over a century later of being here, but now I'm the one saving other people's butts."

"And speaking of amazing butts, Komachi's going to be around and she's very powerful, I'm sure she'll be able to back you up when you need it. Besides, I'm pretty sure she'll love any excuse to go on a break."

"Anyway, while we're on the subject of beautiful women, tell me Liam, do you have someone special?"

Oh, oh, she's asking that, seeing if I'm single-

. . . wait, is she interested in me?

Umm . . . .

Umm . . . .

How do I answer this . . . ?

"N-no" I meekly answered.

Not like that.

"Really? No one at all? You're a sweet guy, I would expect someone would have snatched you up." Sen said to me with a smile.

"So you're single then." She declared "Well, Gensokyo's a good place to be a bachelor. With some luck, you might save or meet a cute girl here and kick off a fairy tale romance with her. The female population here in Gensokyo is much higher compared to other places across the world. So I'd say you're quite in luck, and I should know, since I figure you're into girls, and well, figuring the only straight thing about me are my arrows."

Sen chuckled to that . . . though . . . .

"Huh?" I said back.

"Yea, you get the expression right? Straight as an arrow? I'm gay, not straight, so the joke's that only my arrows are straight." Sen explained to me

And then I got it and laughed an-

"-What wait, you're gay?!"

. . . Sen's gay?

. . . really?

"She told you all about me, right? She always does that . . . right?" She said.

"She didn't tell me anything about you." I answered back.

Sen . . . um . . . wasn't expecting this.

Neither was I, but um . . . .

"You, you really don't know? I thought Komachi told you? She usually tells the people she tries to set me up with . . . I really assumed she said that . . . oh" And her face went red with embarrassment as well.

"No, of course you didn't. Damn it . . . ." She said to herself.

Damn it all. And here I thought I was connecting with a really cute girl.

….

I sighed.

"Oh geez, I thought I you knew." Sen said, sighing with her hand on her forehead "I didn't mean to lead you on or anything."

I spoke quick with "-It's fine, it's fine. You didn't."

You actually kinda did. But whatever. I don't let that stuff doesn't phase me much anymore.

"Thanks, friend." Sen said to me.

"You're welcome, friend." I said back.

A friend's great thing to make.

"…"

"..."

". . . um, we should change the subject."

"Good idea."

And then the idea popped in my head.

"Well, I told you my story, but what about you? Sen-san, how did you become a celestial?"

Chapter 8 – Sky High - End

And we'll find out next chapter.

So, did anyone see that coming? Yea, Sen's gay, and not going to be Liam's love interest, if he actually ever gets one.

I hope you guys all enjoyed this chapter.

Ok, story progress. I've been having problems, well, staying to task. While the idea is solid in my head, it's actually sitting down and doing it, inside a chaotic life and unpredictable times to write, discipline is definitely one of my shortcommings for more then this, but most things.

I really want to tell this story. Liam's story is one I want to tell. Though sometimes, I'll be honest, I do feel disenfranchised at times, like I'm well...playing Dark Souls offline with no help.

But granted, that's life isn't it? Difficult, no real guides as to how to make it, and well, you know.

All and all, that's the short and sweet. That's the state of the story. I need to do more, and I shall. I'm not sure how long it'll take.

Anyway, my word count for now to then...about 54,121 words. Pretty good for 100 days, for the first try. Let's see how far I can go on day 200...which would be August 7th, a few days before I start my fall college classes. This time, hopefully I actually get something done in that last month.

I want to also throw help and thanks to Wolfsbane706, one of the members of the Shrinemaiden's IRC. Thank you for proofreading this chapter and helping me. I really needed it.

Also, Dark Souls 2 Rant time

As said, I love Dark Souls 2. Personally, it's a fantastic game. They took all the elements of 2 and made it so much more fun. I prefer the Magic Knight style gameplay. Watcher Greatsword is fun to wreck things with. Gameplay's better, everything's better.

Well, expect Soul Memory. I admit it is a good system to keep the level 1 master players from killing the level 1 beginning players (a problem in DkS1), but it throws a massive wrench into matchmaking and fight clubs. But you know what? PvP is really a whole lot of fun. Lagstabbing, dishonorable chuggers, and Soul Memory aside, They did a good job crafting PvP. I'm sure From Software will find a solution, or modders will for the PC.

And Lore. Dark Souls 1 did a great job about this...while Dark Souls 2 on the other hand...I feel underwhelmed and uninformed. I've beaten the game...and was very, very disappointed. From Software could have done a much better job.

And this game ate many, many nights, and probably delayed the time it took for me to get my laptop fixed. But I let my Xbox online expire for now, and I lack the will to go play offline through the game some more...at least right now. I'll maybe pick it up later...or not. Might depend on if I renew my online subscription. I really do like the Dark Souls games, and one of these days I'll write a story for Dark Souls. But today is not that day.

Sen's chapter is next. I hope you guys enjoy this experiment of Sen's Flashback.