GENSOKYOBOUND

by SKOOLATOON

Hikari Hakurei is Reimu's own daughter of eighteen years. Her quiet demeanor's brought by social inexperience and natural introversion. Night of Gensokyian New Year party, Hikari wakes to a strange meteorite falling from the sky. While many of Gensokyo's finest are in drunken comas in the shrine, Hikari takes it upon herself to investigate. It'd be a long time before she gets home.

31. Hakurei Utopia

Fwash!

'Wo-woah…' Now on the other side of the teleporter, Hikari scrambled to maintain her balance after landing.

Hiyori maintained her stability by simply putting more power into her landing. Marigold's backpack weighed her down slightly, and Osamu-

Thud. "Fucking…"

-did not manage to maintain his balance.

Looking around the wall they were adjacent to, Hikari furrowed her brows. 'This… doesn't look all that different.'

At the moment, the sun had still yet to come up, the night time sky still a deep blue.

"So, we in the future, 're somethin'?" Patting himself off, Osamu got up, looking around. "'Cause, y'know… it don't look like the future."

"It's only been thirty years." Marigold reminded him. "It's not like Gensokyo would have completely changed in a couple decades."

'...It's a little warmer, though. Unless the seasons got weirder while we were away…'

Looking back at the gate, Hikari saw that it was off, now. It was now encased in a large rectangular frame of red and yellow metal, much of which was dented. Some spots were charred, as well. 'I can always turn it back on, once we're done here. It looks like something chewed on it, though...'

Noticing Hikari's observancy, Marigold began thinking..."Should we go back into Eientei, or something?" Then, she changed her mind. "...Wait, no. We should spend as little time here as possible. If we do travel back, that means we'd be alive and running around right now."

"Aa~h…" Hiyori nodded in agreement. "Yeah. If we were alive."

Marigold gave her a dry stare. "Don't jinx us."

Walking towards Eientei, Hikari spoke up, "I think we can stop in, briefly…" before she yawned. "Haa~u…"

'I'm getting tired…' Her hype was beginning to run low.

"...Yeah. We've been going awhile, haven't we?" Marigold yawned, too. "Haa~h…"

Osamu wasn't having it. "Oh, c'mo~n! We're like, here! How the hell do you need to sleep!?"

...Hiyori was indifferent, not needing much sleep herself. "I think it would be a good idea to rest up. If this is really it, we need to be ready."

...Unable to argue with that, Osamu relented. "...Alright. I guess it'd be okay to take a power nap. Oh- dude! The pancakes!" He nodded enthusiastically. "Fuck what I said, we're relaxin'!"

'Good priorities.' Hikari moved past the machine, and pressed towards Eientei's front door…

The glass doors in the front were broken. From here, large parts of the roof could be seen missing. Unfamiliar, rusty cranes held in the air over various shattered parts of Eientei's roof.

"That doesn't look promising." Hikari noted immediately.

"Oh, boy…" Taking a breath, Marigold reached for her backpack. "Who wants to bet we find more zombie fairies inside?"

...Pressing ahead, Hiyori moved in through the front glass door, into the dark clinic.

"Oh, crap." Snorting, Osamu followed behind her. "Looks like Eientei blew the fuck up while we were gone."

Stepping inside, Hiyori furrowed her brows. Marigold took out her Microwave Gun…

"I think I should rename this." Tapping the side of her gun, she turned to Hikari. "It doesn't really microwave stuff anymore."

Hikari nodded, before thinking… 'Laser gun.' She didn't have any good ideas, though.

"Fucking super laser." Neither did Osamu.

Firing her moon-elemental laser into the darkness, Marigold illuminated the trashed lobby. On either side, the halls were blocked by large panels that had pheonix insignias etched onto them.

The middle of the lobby had no more desk, instead bearing a large stairway stretching upward into shade placed there. It stretched the whole length of the room in width.

"Woah…" Osamu stared up at it, awed. "...That's badass."

"That's inconvenient." Marigold was less awed. "We're not climbing twenty flights of stairs."

The beam of her gun passed a torch holster, and ignited it. Pale-colored, moon-elemental flames brightened the room up.

"Oh, thank goodness." She shifted the beam towards the room's other torch holsters, lighting them up too. "Whoever put those there was smart."

Once the party was fully inside the room, the cracking of glass they stepped upon to get inside halted.

'...I still want to know what happened here.' Hikari looked around idly.

Then, the glass behind them started cracking again.

All four party members whirled around, the distinct noise alerting them.

Two Earthen rabbits held up oddly slapdash guns. The one with bobby red hair and pigtails shouted at them. "Freeze! Drop your shit!"

"No." Osamu grinned. "How about you freeze, and drop your shit?"

Osamu tried PK Freeze γ!

KaKaKa~...

A snowflake shaped pattern of icicles began forming around the rabbit girl. She flinched repeatedly as it froze and thawed rapidly. "Oh- A-ahn- ohn- eeh!"

Boom!

The rabbit was frozen solid. The green-haired hare to her side clammed up, eyes wide. "Mi-Midori~!"

Even so, she aimed her gun at the party, firing on impulse.

ChuChuChuChu! Delayed streaks of purple light flew out of the odd shaft-shaped gun.

Osamu barely grazed each one. "Wo-wo-woah! Holy shit!"

Hiyori ran towards the remaining rabbit. Nearing, she lifted up her mace overhead…

The rabbit dropped her gun. "Pl-please! No! No~!" Crouching to the ground with her ears low, she waited for the pain train.

...Hiyori relented, bringing her mace back down to her side.

"...Good." Hiyori sighed. "Please, let us explain-"

Scrambling with all limbs, the rabbit threw itself in the opposite direction from the oni. Climbing back into a walking stance, she put a hand to her ear. "Pheoni~x! I-I… Midori- the base! Base under attack!"

With that, the rabbit sprinted outside, back into the gloom, which had now become a thin grey color.

…

"That went well." Marigold snarked. "You think she'll be back with cookies?"

"If only. " Hikari turned towards the stairs, debating whether or not to climb them.

Folding his arms, Osamu huffed. "The future sucks."

…As things became idle again, Hikari turned to the stairs.

'These stairs look intimidating.' Hikari looked at how some had grated floors instead of regular metal, like the others. She made a movement to step onto the first step-

Fwoo~m!

Every grated step had a column of fire shoot up from it.

"Wooaa~h, kay!" Marigold quickly backtracked away from the stairs, eyes wide.

"The future really sucks!" Osamu grinned at the stairs. "Stairs try to kill you now!"

Glass cracked behind the party, again. 'Already…?'

"Yeah, I hear ya."

Everyone who wasn't already facing the door turned to face it, again. From the darkness, Mokou stepped out. Her arms ignited moments later. "No thanks to you four fuckups."

Hiyori readied her mace. "We don't want trouble."

'...She doesn't seem happy.' Hikari frowned.

"Dude! It's us!" Osamu stuck his arms out. "You escorted us like… awhile ago!"

"O~h…" Mokou nodded, despite knowing this already. "...We~ll, aren't I flattered!?" Mokou's entire form lit up.

"Why are you angry?" Hiyori was straight to the point.

Mokou responded by reeling her arm back, and lobbing a fireball at her.

Fwoom!

...Hiyori's eyes were slightly squinted, but she was otherwise unharmed. "...Why are you angry?"

"I don't have to tell anything to you!" Mokou gave her a wide grin. "Burn, baby!"

Fwoom! Hiyori was engulfed by a fire pillar.

...Once it faded, she was still standing, her kimono glowing as it absorbed some of the fire damage. She sighed.

Baffled, but undeterred, Mokou glared at her. "...You're fucking fire immune!? What the hell!?"

Marigold aimed her moon beam at her, and fired. The low hum of the device was all that clued Mokou to look at it before it struck her.

"Agh…" Mokou exhaled. "The hell…?"

Her flames were quickly overtaken by the pale blue ones of the moon beam. Though Mokou tried to fight it, she quickly found her control over fire fading. "...He-hey! Ugh… silencing is the fucking worst…"

Once Mokou was under it for a full ten seconds, Marigold let up.

Mokou glared at the floor.

...

"Better?" The young magi stared at her inquisitively.

"Fuck no." Mokou swore. "You're all a bunch of assholes who deserve to burn."

Looking like he wanted to counter that, Osamu opened his mouth. "Hey-"

"Descriptive words." Marigold pressed her disdainful stance. "We really don't know why you're upset."

…

"Years ago you all went to find… some asshole or something, and fight him." Mokou relented, unable to attack her way out of the situation. "You didn't come back. Things went to shit, Reimu didn't do her job, and then everything went to shit."

'What…? I mean, she said the same thing twice, but...' Hikari listened carefully, interest piqued.

...Hiyori's brows were furrowed. "What do you mean?"

Mokou rolled her eyes. Turning, she began to walk out into the woods. "C'mon. Let me show you. Don't worry, there's no more assholes outside. For now."

Walking into the darkness, her form retained visibility from the pale blue flames that stuck to her form.

...Hikari looked at the party. Osamu and Marigold turned to look at her, while Hiyori moved to follow Mokou.

"Guess we'll follow." Hikari decided bluntly, casually tailing Hiyori after a short delay.

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

They didn't have far to follow, though.

The bamboo forest was more meek and tame the closer to the edge of it the party got. At the very edge, wilted stalks were all that stood in the party's way, as they approached the forest's edge…

'Edge in more ways than one…' Hikari stared off the edge of the land the forest was upon.

The forest and clinic rested on a chunk of land, suspended in the air by curious, shimmering lines that stretched out to pillars of rock and other hovering masses. Some lines stretched down, but none stretched further up than the island the party was currently on. Below them was an expanse too deep to see the bottom of.

"...Well." Osamu nodded acceptingly. "We're boned."

'Oh, no…' Hikari wasn't very happy with this situation.

"...Wow." Scanning the distance, Marigold couldn't say much more.

Mokou had her hands on her hips. "Ye~p. All gone. O~h, the sun's rising too…"

The sun rose over some sort of horizon that no one could see from this distance. As it did, the grey and blue glow that the land had earlier gave away to a yellow one. Although, the healthy glow didn't last long, as it eventually gave way to an orange, eventually red tint.

"...Did the world end?" Hikari guessed.

"You betcha." Mokou pulled a jar from her pocket, and began twisting it open...

...Looking over at her, Marigold, eyed the blue jar. "Is that a mana potion?"

"Mmhm." Popping it open, Mokou downed it. "...Ha~h. No more mana from the air and shit."

Hikari examined the sky…

As the sun rose, she could make out large, shimmering shapes in the sky. Jagged, glass-like shapes dotted the horizon, forming a circle along it. After a few moments, she realized what they were. "Is that… the barrier?"

"Probably." Mokou turned around. "C'mon. No real point in killin' ya now. Not like we can get off this shitty island."

...Marigold noted something her mother told her. "Can't you fly with pheonix wings?"

Mokou snorted. "Yeah, and go where? They eat up a fuckton of mana, too."

"...Point." Marigold conceded.

As Mokou began walking back to the main building, the party followed her. With the new lighting upon the land, they were easily able to make out the location of the clinic.

Within moments, they made it back to the lobby. "Hold on…" Strutting up to one of the side panels, Mokou put her hand on it. It lit up, and the stairs clicked. "There."

"Turned them off?" Marigold assumed.

Not replying, Mokou moved to the stairs, and began stepping up them, the fire not lashing out at her.

'She probably did…' Willing to risk being roasted, Hikari moved to the stairs, and began walking up them…

'It's good.' Hikari turned to the party, giving them a thumbs up.

From there the party moved up the long and grueling stairway. Osamu held up the bottom of his robe to avoid falling on his face. "Say, flamey-"

"It's Mokou." She asserted.

"-what's with all this new stuff?" He gestured to the purple metal lining the walls and floor. "Like, these stairs weren't here before. I'm pretty sure, at least…"

"They weren't." Marigold stared at him dryly.

"Let's just say I've had a while to do shit." Mokou provided as they continued up the stairs. "Eirin and Kaguya took their sissy asses back to the moon, and took a few rabbits with them. They were the ones who helped set up this whole support beam system that keeps these islands intact."

The stair's length was illuminated through various holes in the new paneling and in the natural roof of the clinic. After many minutes of vigorous climbing, the party reached the top.

"Hn~h…" Marigold grunted, resisting the urge to flop over. "Do you really need these big stairs?"

Grinning, Mokou turned to her. "That's what all the robot bastards and shit probably say, too. Suck it up."

Before them was what vaguely appeared to be Kaguya's room, with many new purple panels blockading the walls and ceiling. In the middle of the room, rabbit girls huddled around a large, rectangular device.

The device was white, with a faint blue glow coming from the interior. Round, blue particles of energy fluttered out, before fading.

Hikari knew exactly what it was. "It's an industrial grade night light."

Mokou chuckled. "Yer close. It'sa 'fear irrigation device'. It was supposed to keep youkai alive, even after the barrier blew, but there's not too many around anymore. I think."

'Huh.' Hikari nodded…

Curious, Marigold wondered aloud. "Is the human village even still there? Actually, if the barrier's gone…" She turned to Hikari. "We really should be brief about this visit."

Mokou rolled her eyes. "Seriously, take your time. You're all fucking dead, anyway. 'Sides, even the weakest youkai take a few weeks to fade. Y'don't need constant life support."

Furrowing her brows, Hikari chose against replying. 'Back to people writing us off as dead…'

Osamu folded his arms. "Yeah, whatever. Look, you got any pancakes?"

Snorting, Marigold facepalmed.

...Noticing Mokou's face growing increasingly sour, Hiyori spoke up. "We'd like to rest a bit before we get moving. Do you have any places for that?"

This made Mokou grin. "Oh. Yeah."

Turning around, she pointed at a corner. "Over there."

...Osamu didn't put two and two together. "That's a fuckin' wall, dude."

"Yeah." Mokou nodded. "And?"

Marigold was skeptical. "I'm sure you have a bed somewhere."

"And I'm sure you brought a tent and toothpaste and the fucking works with you." With that, Mokou went to the opposite corner of the room, and sat down. "Night." She leaned against the wall.

…

"But it's day." Hikari sassed her.

"Just die, already." Mokou was friendly.

'You're a good person.'

…

Looking frustrated, Osamu marched up to the party's designated corner, and sat down. "Well, damn."

The rabbits around the fear device observed them silently, before looking back at the glowing rectangle.

Hiyori moved towards the corner. "I guess we'll have to make due."

"I'm sleeping on my backpack." Marigold declared, following her.

...Following behind them, Hikari sighed. 'Getting to sleep after hearing all of that is going to be a project…'

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

...Hikari gave up trying to get any extra sleep. 'A few hours are good enough. At least, I think they were hours…'

Osamu impatiently walked laps around the fear device, despite not needing fear as a human.

Marigold was looking over her Microwave Gun… "Moon Beam. I think that's an apt name for it, now. Not creative, but… yeah."

Pausing, Osamu turned from his walking stance. "Sounds badass, though."

Hikari got up. "Is there anything fun around here?" 'Not that we have time, but…'

...She looked over at Mokou, who was asleep in the corner.

'How.'

Hiyori answered for her. "Probably not."

...Marigold stared at the pile of gun pieces next to the rabbit girls.

"He-here…"

The party looked at the stairs, and saw some rabbits bring up the frozen form of the rabbit Osamu attacked earlier. They proceeded to push her towards the fear device.

"Some-someone wake her up…" The cream-haired rabbit gestured to Mokou. The other rabbits winced, looking back and forth between one another and the fire immortal.

Noticing their conflict, Osamu decided to spare them the trouble. Picking up one of the fragments of shattered walling littered around the room, he chucked it at the sleeping girl.

Crack! It shattered into pieces as it broke on Mokou's body.

She squirmed. "U-ugh, what…!?"

Sitting up, she looked around the room…

Marigold was now suddenly near the pile of guns. Osamu whistled innocently while walking slower laps around the device. Hiyori and Hikari were still standing idly.

The cream-haired rabbit spoke up. "We-we… we need you to thaw out Midori-chan…"

...Mokou sighed. "Fine. Don't throw shit at me next time, though. You know better than that."

"Ye-yes, ma'am!" The cream-haired rabbit saluted her.

==== GENSOKYOBOUND: MARIGOLD'S VIEW ====

Marigold idly watched the exchange, before kneeling before the guns. 'So many different parts…'

She could tell they were all designed in a slapdash nature she was accustomed to. Though they had markings of people who knew what they were doing, they were welded together rather obviously. Many guns sported big, unsightly seams along their length, where the parts and colors varied.

'Some of these welds look a little…' She lightly tugged on a gun with a broad, barely charred weld…

Snap!

She couldn't contain her reaction. "O-oops…"

Mokou glanced at her while moving to the rabbit. "What the fuck are you doing?"

She grinned sheepishly, holding the gun like it was still together. "...Polishing the weapons?"

…

"Su~re." Mokou turned back towards the rabbit.

...Once she was fully turned away, Marigold let the gun split apart. "Phew…" Looking over the pile, and at the gun she just accidentally dismantled, she began thinking…

"How did this even happen?" Mokou held her hands over the rabbit, heat energy flowing out and slowly thawing her.

A different rabbit spoke up. "We-we saw these four, and tried to shoot them…"

Mokou snorted. "What, did they toss a bucket of liquid nitrogen at you?"

'These parts…' Marigold their banter out, as she held up a large, grey piece. The left of it was round, but the right side was square, and had a jigsaw-esque indent in it.

Setting it aside, she pulled up a sniper rifle of some kind that had an obscenely long shaft, and two similar pieces on either side of the base. They were vaguely rose-tinted, and thinner, but very similar to the thicker half-circle. These ones had no indent, however, their flat sides simply broad.

'I wonder…' Marigold pulled and tugged on one-

Click. It popped off, apparently attached by some kind of peg.

'...That's weird.' Marigold dismissed the curious design of the sniper rifle, before setting the piece she took aside the other piece.

She reached into the pile… 'What is this?'

The thawed rabbit stumbled about. "A-aah…"

"There." Mokou began strutting back to her corner, before pausing and staring at Marigold's operations.

Hikari moved to distract her. "Where'd, uh, you get all this purple metal from?"

...Turning to her, Mokou spoke. "This place has a lot of spare shit lying around. I picked dark purple because it keeps stuff dark. I don't know if it hides us any better, though."

Marigold stared at the large, faintly glowing green core she pulled out. She was holding onto a black ring that was attached to various other black rings, that all formed a box around the faintly glowing center. The central core looked like it was made up of various smaller, neon-green rings. '...That looks menacing.'

There was a crossbow in the pile, which was missing arrows. There also seemed to be half of some kind of large bazooka, the part that would have connected to a base instead fragmented and broken.

Once she gathered enough parts together, Marigold got to tinkering…

"Okay," Mokou turned away from Hikari, "seriously, what the hell is she doing?"

Hikari casually glanced at Marigold, before looking back at Mokou. "Having fun."

"Yeah, by taking apart our guns." Mokou frowned.

Marigold spoke up, listening to them. "I'm sure you were using the seven foot long sniper rifle, as well as that half of a bazooka."

...Mokou folded her arms. "Well, they're still our resources…"

"It-it's okay, Mokou…" The cream-haired rabbit spoke again. "All we have left… it's all the stuff we couldn't make use of. Our guns are almost out of battery, too. Pretty soon, we'll have nothing…"

Staying strong, Mokou rolled her eyes. "Surely we couldn't have gone through a fuckton of guns in, what, fifteen something years? We'll just go scavenging again."

Midori spoke up, shivering from the cold she was thawed from. "Mo-most of the batteries expire naturally… a lot of the guns don't work anymore."

"...Don't we have like, ballistics?" Mokou furrowed her brows. "Grenades?"

"...Maybe grenades." Midori tilted her head, unsure.

Placing down the crossbow, Marigold put the odd core on top of it. She held the two lightly tinted gun pieces to either side, and put the barrel near the front of the core. "...This… could work." She furrowed her brows.

Mokou kneeled next to her, staring at it. "...How?"

"Something that would activate the core would be good." Marigold supposed. "...That, and I need some kind of blast shielding, since if it flared it'd probably do more than just expel energy forward."

...The rabbits scooted away from the weapons pile.

Marigold perked up. "Oh!"

She got up, and moved over to her backpack. Reaching inside, she took out the NF Burst Gun, and brought it over…

"This should help activate things…" She placed it loosely around the back, so that it'd attach to the handle of the crossbow and have the barrel point at the core.

...Mokou nodded. "A blast shield, huh…?"

...Standing up, she looked around. "I could probably bend some metal, for that."

Marigold smiled up at her. "You'd do that?"

"Sure. It'd only take a few moments." Mokou began walking for the stairs. "If you want me to weld that whole… thing together, though, that's going to take a little while. And probably a few favors."

Marigold sighed. "...I see."

Stopping before the stairs, Mokou turned to her. "...So, what'll it be?"

'...I'm not sure if Hikari would want us to stick around for this.' Marigold turned to Hikari hopefully.

...Hikari shrugged. "Sure."

Mokou stared at her dryly. "Sure to what…?"

"We'll have it all welded." Hikari decided.

At that, Mokou nodded. "Alright. Might be an hour or two, then. Do whatever until then."

With that, she quickly began progressing down the stairs.

…

"In the meantime…" Hikari surveyed her party members. "We should visit a few places. I'm… curious."

Hiyori looked uncertain. "I don't think we'd find anything we want to see."

…

"Well, it's a way to kill time." Hikari argued. She stood adjacent to the fear device, at an angle that their spinning could avoid colliding with it were they to teleport. "We don't have to talk with anyone, or anything."

...At that, Hiyori gave a consenting sigh. "Alright."

'Let me grab my backpack…'

The party lined up behind Hikari. Hiyori waited for Marigold to get before her, so that she could cap off the back and keep the line stable.

"On three…" Hikari half-glanced back at the party behind her. "We're stopping at the shrine first."

'Oh, boy.'

"One…"

Marigold tensed her muscles a bit. 'I should have done some stretches, first…'

"Two…"

Osamu shifted semi-anxiously. "We better have enough room…"

"Three!"

Hikari tried PK Teleport ß!

The four began running, their speed rapidly building as Hikari led them in laps around the room's focal point, the fear device.

'I-I think I'm getting used to this…' Marigold's legs were yelling at her a little less for booking it so fast.

Before they knew it-

KraKoo~m!

...The rabbits stared at the smouldering ring around them in mystification.

==== GENSOKYOBOUND: HIKARI'S VIEW ====

KraKoo~m!

Hiyori and Hikari both dug their legs into the floor to stop the line, the former having more success.

Instead of being at the base of the Hakurei hillside, they stopped directly before the shrine.

'We're here…' Hikari looked around.

The hillside below tapered off into the abyss, one or two wilted trees dotting the edges. A line of shimmering light dug straight into the stairway that lead downward, allowing the party a closer look at it.

The beam was a metal rail, light grey in color, similar to the fear devices. The surfaces shimmered brightly, but inside seemed to be a pale blue beam of some kind.

'Woah…' Hikari was taken aback by the visual.

"Dude…" Osamu pointed in the distance.

The party looked at where he pointed, able to make out Eientei's sky island in the distance.

...Hikari pressed forward towards the shrine's front door. As she approached it, it was open, the inside dark. The faint glow of a fear device was visible from outside, placed where the kotatsu would normally be placed.

"So…" Marigold looked around idly. "This is really all that's left, huh?"

…

Hikari stepped inside-

"Who's there!?"

She froze at the sound of her mother's voice.

'Th-this feeling…' Hikari's heart beat faster.

…

Osamu broke the silence. "It's us! The assholes!"

...Hikari slowly turned towards Osamu, giving him a strained grin.

He shrugged at her, grinning as well. "What?"

Woosh! From behind the fear device, a gohei spun outward-

Bam! "Guh…!?" Osamu was struck in the chin, soaring outside from the blow.

'Woah!' Hikari hardly had time to react. The gohei flew back into the air, before glowing and vanishing.

Hiyori stepped inside, holding her mace defensively. "...Reimu?"

Fwash! A pillar of light shot up from the floor from under Hiyori, sending her flying.

Bam! She flew through the roof.

'Ah…!?' Hikari cringed at seeing her fly through. She turned to look outside…

Bam.

Hiyori landed safely outside, upside down and half-embedded in the shrine's path.

Marigold was next, holding her Moon Beam ready. She didn't say anything, for fear of being mauled.

The shrine door behind them slammed shut, the cracked wood creaking from the violent movement.

'Maybe we shouldn't have come here…!' Hikari held her gohei ready. "...Mom?"

An orb of light spiralled out from an adjacent room. It darted in front of the fear device, before flashing.

After the bright flash, Reimu was revealed in its place, in a combat stance. Her attire's colors were faded, with rips in various places, and she held a gohei in each hand. "You things, again…"

Hikari furrowed her brows. "Mom? What's wrong?"

Marigold was ready to silence her, if she needed to.

Shutting her eyes, Reimu spoke. "Th-the last time I saw my daughter, was thirty years ago…"

Casting one of her arms behind herself, she made contact with the fear device. "...Initiate defense sequence..."

The fear device shifted and clicked as it changed shape, the glow on it becoming red as it opened up.

"Sh-should I fire…?" Marigold scooted closer to Hikari.

"Probably…!" Hikari didn't want to fight.

The Moon Beam hummed as Marigold fired it up, the beam stretching towards Reimu…

Ting! Reimu became an orb of light again, which arced around towards the two.

"Run!" Hikari bolted to the left.

"Eep!" Marigold released the trigger as she ran to the right.

A faint 'ting' sound rang out again as Reimu changed back to normal, unleashing a long, sweeping combo in Marigold's wake as she ran.

Unable to catch up with her, Reimu scooted backwards, and brought her two goheis to her sides…

Reimu tried Teleport α!

But it failed!

Using the speed from her cast, she dashed forward in one instant, swinging her two gohei outward just as fast. "Take that!" Flames of light flared violently in her wake, before going out a moment later.

Thwack! "Wua~h!?" Marigold was sent soaring through the air.

"Mom, it's me!" Hikari yelled out, watching Marigold slowly soar...

Three red beams flew out from the fear device, homing in on Hikari slowly. Hikari simply ran to avoid them, letting them fly into the shrine's walls and fizzled out.

Ting, ting! Reimu closed the distance between herself and Hikari, taking only a second to appear before her with her gohei at her sides again, as if ready to execute that dash attack again.

The elder miko's arms began glowing. "Th-that's what they've all said…!"

'Woah!' Hikari leaped into the air more on impulse than out of strategic planning.

Reimu brought the two gohei outward with force. "Ra~h!"

Woosh! A vortex of light and dark magic whirled around herself at ground level, striking the adjacent walls and the fear device, causing the latter to spin.

"Oof…" Marigold landed on her backpack.

Bam! Hiyori smashed the shrine door open. "What's going on, in here!?"

As Hikari landed, she rushed over to Marigold to smack her upright again. "We-we've got to go!"

The faint noises of Reimu teleporting again caused the hair on Hikari's neck to stand. 'Go, go, go…!'

Marigold reversed, noticing where Reimu appeared. "Nope, nope, nope!"

Reimu tried Teleport α!

But it failed!

"C'mon!" Reimu executed another dash-slash attack, more holy flames flaring in her wake for a brief moment.

Whack! "Ga~uh!?" Abruptly sent flying, Hikari braced herself-

Bam!

-to fly through the roof. On the other side, she saw Osamu sheepishly looking up at her from below…

'Catch me!' Hikari glared down at him.

Osamu looked around feverishly, trying to avoid being the one to catch her-

Thud. Hikari landed on him, the two ending up on the floor.

"Oof…" Osamu was squished.

Marigold ran out from around the shrine's edge, having taken the long way outside.

Hiyori was in the door, being bombarded by gohei strikes, doing her best to guard them with her mace. "Hnh…"

"Teleport, mansion!" Hikari yelled out, taking a moment to brush her bruised arms with her hands.. 'That should be a safe place…!'

"I'll hold her off!" Hiyori called back.

Ti~ng…!

Reimu teleported into the air over the shrine. She pointed at the floor, where thin pillars of light shot up defensively around her, protecting her position. From the base of those pillars, orbs of light floated out, drifting towards the rim of the Hakurei hillside.

A shimmering, cylindrical barrier stretched upward.

"No you don't…!" Reimu barked down at them. Yin-yang orbs began expanding around her, promptly glowing with rainbow energy…

"Grab me!" Hikari commanded. Quickly, Osamu and Marigold latched onto her, as did Hiyori once she dashed up to her.

'Running teleport should work, we have room…' Hikari resolved. 'I have to stop that attack first, though…!'

Hikari tried PK Fantasy α!

Reimu was not at all prepared, despite what she may have believed within her grid of laser defenses.

Fizzle!

"Huah!?" Her yin-yang orbs were desummoned as she was staggered mid-air. As the second barrage of technicolor particles came, she became an orb of light again, dodging through them.

Fizzle!

The second barrage hit nothing productive, the shrine's stairs shimmering with colorful energy.

Hikari focused on the orb as her mother blinked back into existence…

Bwa~sh!

The psychic blast staggered her again, dispelling the defense lasers.. "Gueh…!?"

...The four watched as she slowly drifted to the floor with her staggered stance, before landing. They broke from their teleporting stance, cautiously eying her…

…

Reimu slowly stepped towards them.

Hikari smiled. 'I think that did it.'

"...Th-that attack…" Reimu smiled tiredly. "Either… you things have gotten better at your jobs, or… yo-you're really…"

'...She's really worked up.' Hikari couldn't recall seeing her like this, before. '...She looks tired.'

As Reimu walked closer, the relics of age on her features were more distinct. Wrinkles that weren't there before were visible around the eyes and along her cheeks. Her hair was fainter than it used to be, now more ashen.

'Wow. Thirty years, huh…' Hikari couldn't wait until she was seventy.

Reimu glomped her. "Hi-Hikari~!"

'Wo-woah!' Hikari was unprepared. Even so, Reimu didn't manage to bowl her over. 'Sh-she's crying…'

"I-I thought I'd never see you again!" Reimu hugged her tightly.

"...Didn't you know we'd show up in thirty years?" Hikari resisted the urge to cry with her.

"...I-I…" Reimu sniffled. "After you didn't come back, and everything went to hell…" She trailed off. "Wo-wouldn't you go fight im-immediately, though…?"

Marigold shook her head. "We instead decided to irresponsibly screw around in the future."

...Reimu giggled. "A-ah…"

'Not that there's much future to screw around in…'

"We'll fight Giygas eventually, though." Hikari smiled at her mother reassuringly.

Reimu froze. "...N-no… don't."

Hikari blinked. "Why not?"

"Don't!" Tears were streaming down Reimu's cheeks. "You don't come back! You're going to die!"

…

"Pl-please…" Reimu sobbed. "St-stay wi-with… me?"

…

"Sorry." Hikari shook her head, "It's what we have to do."

'I didn't jump thirty years ahead into a sad future for nothing.'

Reimu stared at her for a moment, before shaking her head. "Bu-but why…?"

"We've been written off as dead since the start of our adventure." Hikari announced. "We've always pressed on and proved them wrong, though. I'm confident we'll survive."

…

"O-...okay…" Reimu sniffled. "...I-I love you, Hi-Hikari…"

Hikari sniffled, too. "I love you too, Mom…"

…

After a long moment, Reimu broke the hug. "...When… will you be going?"

"...Not right away." Hikari decided.

...Reimu nodded. "Follow me…"

The five moved towards the shrine door-

Three slow, red lasers flew from the fear device again.

Reimu acted quickly, a single toss of one of her gohei arcing around and deflecting the lasers. "This stupid thing…!"

Ting, ting! She teleported up to it, and placed her hand on the side of it. "Deactivate!"

...The fear device closed up, returning to its blue glow.

Reimu sighed.

"...Let me get the kotatsu out, again."

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

Osamu stood nearby with his arms crossed, as the four girls sat under the kotatsu.

"Almost forgot I had this thing…" Reimu poured herself a cup of water. "Water?"

Hikari nodded. "Sure…"

Blinking, Osamu was curious… "You got anything 'sides water?"

Reimu gave a slight grin. "Aa~h… not in a long time, I'm afraid. Sorry."

He pouted. "...Aww."

"What happened?" Straight to the questions, Hikari wanted to know.

Reimu took a deep breath. "O~h, boy… where to begin…" She sipped from her warm water, before pouring cups for the other girls at the table. "Some years ago, when I was still… in a rut, I guess, the land began to give way. At the time, it was some new incident, but…" Reimu had a small smile. "I didn't participate, so I don't know what happened. I learned eventually that Giygas was behind it, but I couldn't do anything by then…" She looked over the party. "Not that I felt like doing anything, by then."

Marigold sipped her warm water. "...What happened to the mansion? I was planning to ask Hikari to take us there, but-"

"Don't go there." Reimu spoke with finality. "You'll really die."

Marigold furrowed her brows. "Really? Why?"

Sipping from her tea, Reimu continued. "Flandre's the only one alive. After everyone else died… I don't think she'd be worth talking to, right now."

Marigold nodded with a bittersweet look on her face. "Ah. So… my mothers…"

Shaking her head, Reimu sighed. "I miss them."

...Marigold stared into her cup of water.

"How's the village lookin'?" Osamu tilted his head. "They're usually pretty tough over there."

Reimu shrugged. "Last I heard, it was okay."

…

"That, uh… that's it?" He tried to fish further.

"Yeah." Reimu didn't have much to say about it. "More survivors are probably huddled up there than anywhere else. Aside from the tengu camp, maybe…"

'How did the mansion blow up, but that backwards village live?' Hikari was oddly amused. 'I guess it's strength in numbers, or something…'

"We came from Eientei." Hiyori provided. "Mokou says hi."

Surprised for a moment, Reimu looked over at her. "...Mokou's still kicking, huh? I thought she would've fallen below or something, by now. How is she?"

Hikari shrugged. "Okay, I guess. Angry."

Reimu snorted. "Yeah. I'd figure."

...Things became silent. Reimu eventually settled her gaze on Hikari, who stared back at her mother.

…

"I think we should get going." Sipping her warm water and putting it down, Hikari stood.

"Okay." Reimu nodded. "Be safe. Please."

"Can do." Hikari smiled at her.

Moving towards the shrine door, the party slowly moved.

'I don't want to leave her…' Hikari glanced back at her mother, who promptly gave her a smile.

...Smiling back, Hikari nodded. "Love you, Mom."

"I love you too, Hikari." Reimu beamed.

The party was gone.

…

Tears streamed down Reimu's face.

==== GENSOYKOBOUND ====

"Ready?" Hikari asked her party, outside the shrine, and in the hellscape's red gloom.

Confirmation came from them. "Yeah, dude."

"Mmm…" Marigold cracked her knuckles.

"We're ready." Hiyori was indeed ready.

Sighing, Hikari gathered wind. "Okay…"

After a few moments of silent preparation, mostly for herself, Hikari moved.

Hikari tried Teleport ß!

The party was slightly surprised as it began, but quickly stabilized, running in circles rapidly.

After a few uneventful moments of gaining momentum-

KraKoo~m!

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

KraKoo~m!

Skidding to a stop in front of Eientei, the party took a moment to readjust themselves…

'Here we are again…' Hikari felt bad.

"Ma~n…" Adjusting his pants, Osamu complained. "Does that shit get anyone else's clothes fucked up?"

Marigold snorted. "...Not really, no."

"Freaking…" Feverishly, he fought his pant's waistband, forsaking the more convenient option of hitching up his robe before he tried. "There."

'Mom…'

Hikari looked in their direction, her vision blurry.

"...Aw, geez…" He rubs the back of his head awkwardly. "We'll fix all this shit, Hikari."

Marigold looks over at her, looking away from Hiyori. Walking up to her, she put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "We'll be back home in no time."

Hiyori walked into view, giving her a confident smile. "We'll make it through."

'...I-it feels so awkward crying like this.' Hikari sniffled. "Th-thanks, guys…" 'Revenge of the voice box.'

Wiping her eyes, she began to calm down…

"He~y." Mokou's voice came from inside Eientei. "I finished up that big project you brats left me."

The party turned, and Marigold eagerly trotted towards her. "Cool!"

As she moved towards Mokou, the white-haired immortal retracted it. "Ah, ah, ah. We had a deal. I need a favor."

...Huffing, Marigold folded her arms. "Ri-right. What did you want?"

Taking a moment, Mokou considered her options… "This thing's pretty powerful, y'know. You could bring me something that's also pretty powerful."

...Marigold stared at her dryly. "Such as?"

"If I knew, I'd fucking tell you." Mokou snapped back. "That, or I could always use another hand around here…"

...Half tempted to start a war, Marigold reached for her backpack…

Fwa-fwa-fwash!

Overhead, a round, oblong object appeared in the bleak red sky, zipping in from the distance. As it lowered…

Fwoash.

Eirin materialized before everyone, casually stepping into their midst.

...After staring at the scene for a moment, she came to a conclusion. "I'd like to know why you're bartering with the people trying to save this planet."

Mokou's jaw dropped. "Well, fuck me!" Tossing the device aside, she sprinted towards Eirin. "I'll fucking kill you!"

Marigold beamed as the girl tossed the weapon aside, "Ooh…!" before promptly moving to recover it.

Marigold obtained Big Freakin' Gun!

Syringes promptly flew into Mokou's flaming form before she could get adequately fired up. "Egh…" Blue flames began to lick up her form. "Fu-fucking silencing again…!?"

Eirin sighed. "I know you're displeased, but please see it within reason to-"

"Hra~h!" Mokou ran up to Eirin, and tried a grand right hook, missing as Eirin quickly ducked.

Shink! She pulled a small blade from her pocket with her free hand, the one not holding her syringe gun. It slid into Mokou's stomach.

"A-aagh…" Mokou stumbled back, her eyes becoming uneven. "Yo-you… bitch…"

After a few moments, Mokou fell backwards, her consciousness fading.

...Staring down at her, Eirin shook her head. "How unfortunate."

The party curiously moved towards her…

"I had a feeling I'd find you four here." Eirin smirked. "By which, I mean I knew."

"Let me guess…" Hikari paused before her. "You're here to give us a lecture about how we're going to die?"

She snorted. "Amusing, but no. In fact, if my theories are accurate, you're pretty much going to have to live. Unless all timelines involved are meant to be screwed over, which I seriously doubt. Though, be sure to put in effort, or some other timeline will inevitably be forsaken."

...Hikari blinked. 'Timelines?'

The one to question her was Hiyori. "What do you mean by 'timelines'?"

...Eirin nodded. "Right. My theory of timelines thirty years ago was indeed accurate. What I mean by that is, you four are likely not from this Gensokyo. Not precisely, at least."

"Whaddaya sayin'? We're from some weird other time thing?" Osamu ventured.

...After giving him a dry stare, Eirin continued. "Yes. You see, if you went into the future, you would not be around to protect us when Giygas would arrive sooner than predicted to counter attack."

Hikari tensed up. "...So, is this our fault…?"

Eirin shook her head. "Not at all. If you were successful here, you'd go back and this future would not be. However, given the laws of probability, there cannot be a time when you are doomed to fail no matter how many iterations of the scenario play out. In this scenario, you would go back in time and stop this future from occurring."

...She lost Hikari. "So~... we're… going to live?"

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Eirin continued. "Ideally. What I was trying to imply is that, if everything operated in one timeline, you would create a paradox. If you saved the world from a bleak future, you'd not have a bleak future to save it from. The time period you go back to will be safe, because you are there."

Then, she tilted her head back and forth. "Of course, Giygas will still be there, too."

...Osamu groaned. "Uu~gh… is this just like a sneak peek then, or something? Why'd we come out here!?"

"...You people are simple." Eirin jabbed.

Marigold elbowed Osamu. "Hey- fuckin'..."

"Slaying Giygas in this timeline will prevent it from further destruction." The doctor assured them. "You will do good, and allow it to heal. On the other hand, you'll need to repeat this action for your own timeline."

...Marigold noticed something. "Shouldn't four more of us appear at the same time in our original timeline?"

Smiling, EIrin answered. "Perceptive. Yes, four more of you appear, and those four will fail to return. Likely through death."

This got everyone's attention. "Wh-what?" Hikari jerked her head back. "Why would they die?"

"Because," Eirin held up two hands. "If you are here right now…" She waves her right hand, "and they return to here and keep it from being a disaster," She then points her left hand at her right hand. "we would then have a paradox. Again." She drops them both. "Since the universe hasn't torn itself inside-out, you're probably from the timeline where you succeed. Unless the situation is more complicated than I expected…" She brought a hand to her chin…

"We should just continue as normal, then…" Marigold resolved.

"Exactly." Eirin nodded. "Do not let my words go to your head, or this situation will become endlessly complex and probably involve more bad endings than there will be good ones."

'...So failing's still a very real possibility, then.'

"On that note…" Eirin began walking for Eientei. "Let me know if you need equipment. Since the atmosphere is no longer as kind as it once was, it would do well to arm yourselves with mana restoration items."

Hiyori agrees, nodding herself. "That sounds like a good idea."

After her agreeance, the party begins to tail Eirin as she proceeds back inside the clinic…

...She looked around at the new pheonix-embroidered walls. "...I see Mokou's gotten creative, while I was gone."

Moving forward, she places one foot on the stairs-

Fwoom!

Flames shoot up from the many stairs ahead, all of the grated stairs flaring up once again.

"Really?" Eirin monotoned. "Let's see…" Backing up, she looked around the room.

...Hikari and Marigold looked at each other, before Marigold decided to give her a hint. "There's a switch-"

"There." Eirin pointed at the right wall. Moving up to it, she leaned at a few different angles and put her hand on various places, before figuring the pad would be beneath the pheonix symbol.

It lit up, before glowing red.

"Oh?" Eirin was pleasantly surprised. "So she put in the effort for a hand recognition system. More effort than I expected."

Walking outside, Eirin approached Mokou…

"Uu~gh… fucking…" Mokou began to sit back up. She looked at the silent ship overhead, which continued to rest there momentarily. "That bitch…"

Kneeling behind her, Eirin allowed herself a moment to take out a bonesaw. "...Ah, almost forgot…"

Mokou froze up. "What!?"

Shink! Eirin slid the small blade into the back of Mokou's neck.

"Fucker!" Mokou lit up, in a column of flames. "I'll… kill…!"

Thud. The flames went out, Mokou rolling onto her side.

...Eirin wiped her slightly charred face. "Oh, well."

Taking the bonesaw, Eirin began quickly working off Mokou's right hand, sawing into the wrist with a repetitive and quick motion, audible from the lobby the party stood in.

'What's she doing?' Hikari couldn't see well from inside…

Ri~p. The last of the flesh was messily severed with a few pulls. Eirin had blood on her gloves. "Hmph. Messier than it should be." Dissatisfied with her operation, she parted from Mokou's unconscious form.

Stepping towards the switch, she activated it with Mokou's dripping, disembodied hand.

The panel lit up blue.

'...Oh.' Hikari winced. 'She's gonna feel that when she wakes up…'

Osamu widely grinned. "I guess she gave her a… 'helping hand'?"

…

"Thanks for volunteering for target practice." Marigold raised her big weapon slowly…

"Let's throw him off the world." Hikari feels like inflicting violence.

"Even I want to punch you for that." Hiyori confirmed.

Osamu got a kick out of that. "Pfft-hahaha~!"

Displeased, Hikari gave him a few warning whacks.

Thwack! Thwack!

"So-sorry!" He chuckled merrily. "Wo-won't do it again, dude…!"

'He's not sorry.' Hikari was certain.

After sparing the party a amused glance, Eirin continued to move up the deactivated stairs. "Follow me, you four. Let us see how far this mess stretches."

A groan came from Marigold. "Do we have to climb that staircase again…?" Then, a yelp of surprise. "Eep!"

Hiyori lifted her, backpack and all.

...Marigold grinned at her. "Thanks."

"No fair!" Osamu double-took. "Dude, I don't wanna climb 'em either!"

"Too bad." Denying him mercilessly, Hiyori moved for the stairs in pursuit of Eirin.

'They're really not that big of stairs…'

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

At the top, rabbits turned to look at the five as they appeared over the stair's apex.

Eyes widening, Midori stammered. "Ei-...Eirin!?"

"It's her!"

"Wh-where's Mokou!?"

...Nodding with pleasant surprise, Eirin addressed the sight before her. "Mokou managed to relocate the fear device, and keep it operational? She's come a long way, in thirty years."

Walking past the cowering Earth rabbits, and the fear device, she eyed the pile of weapons, as well as the other aspects of what was once Kaguya's room, such as the shattered flat-screen in the back.

Eirin came to a conclusion. "...I don't particularly agree with the redecorating."

Hiyori put Marigold down at the top of the stairs, who promptly took a few careful steps forward. "...She doesn't even have any beds, here."

Eirin snorted. "No beds…"

She moved to the door to Kaguya's inner bedroom, which now had a purple, pheonix-embroidered panel over it. Knocking on it, a hollow noise was produced. "...Hmm." Reeling her arm back, she punched it-

Clang!

The panel fell inward. Inside, there was a vast shaft that revealed smashed and crushed rooms, furniture, and a gaping hole.

"...Ah." She had a blank stare. "No beds."

'Wow.' Hikari didn't know that much of Eientei was actually destroyed…

...As Eirin approached what was once a shelf that held… 'What are those…?'

Hikari approached it, too, and picked up one of the rectangles it held. It had a colorful depiction of some fish on it, reading in English, 'Shark Tales 2'.

'This shelf made good use.' Hikari wanted to know why Kaguya had a shelf of picture boxes. 'It seems to open…'

Opening it with her thumbs, Hikari looked inside. There was only a disc with similar colorful pictures.

'Oh.'

The middle of the shelf had no more boxes on it, however. Instead, one of the shelves was removed to make room for what looked like a chemistry set. Blue potions sat to the right side, while the left had leaves, mushrooms, and some dirt. In the middle there were glass cups propped over unignited twigs and leaves.

"...This is actually serviceable." Eirin considered. "Barely."

Taking some of the potions left there, she moved up to the party. "Take these. They're better than nothing, and it seems I'll have to take a few moments to scavenge this wreckage before I do anything else. You'd best make haste."

A potion was passed to all the party members. Hiyori moved up to Hikari, giving her the one she got.

'Don't you need one…?' Hikari looked at her questioningly.

Hiyori turned to Eirin. "Would you know if there's any water nearby?"

"There should be some springs around the side of the building." Eirin automatically replied while she turned to further examine the chemistry set. "...If there aren't new ones because of the fractured plumbing."

'...That sounds likely.' Hikari saw no reason to disagree, not particularly considering it.

Marigold did, though. "I'm sure the plumbing would have water to spurt out for thirty years… or whenever things went bad."

"I do not know, then." Eirin didn't really care to find out, apparently. "Apologies."

Hiyori blinked. "...Doesn't Mokou need water?"

"Yes." Eirin's reply was prompt. "Dehydration and hunger claims even the immortal. Although they may not die from it, it is instead endless pain."

'Oh, good.' Hikari was pretty eager to get out of the future.

...Stumped, Marigold folds her arms. "Where could she possibly get water from, then…?"

...She looks over at the rabbits, who are all staring at them and making more effort to be quiet than before. "You know, don't you?"

They shake their heads.

...Marigold slowly reaches for her big weapon, but Hiyori steps ahead of her, instead.

"We don't mean any harm…" Hiyori smiled at them. "I simply want some water. I'll even let you bring it to me, if that's how we have to do it."

...Osamu eventually speaks up, after a few moments of thinking. "Doesn't it fuckin' rain anymore?"

"The sky's red." Marigold counters. "I wouldn't-... wait, if it didn't rain…" She looks in the direction of the exit. "I can't believe I didn't think of that. The bamboo is still somewhat alive. It rains, sometimes."

"No it doesn't!" Midori pipes up.

…

"Okay…" Marigold slowly turns to her. "How do the trees live, then?"

...The red-haired rabbit fidgets. "...Uhm...th-they… they find water."

"They just get up... and find water." Marigold confirms.

"Uh-uh-huh!" The rabbit smiles.

…

Hiyori dryly looks down at them. "Can you please just bring me some water?"

Midori frowns at her. "It'll run from you."

Turning to Marigold, Hiyori reluctantly backs away and gives her a go-ahead. Marigold raises her big gun. "Take me to the water."

"O-okay…" With her ears low, Midori got up, and began moving…

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

The party stood in a clearing near the edge of the bamboo woods, where the stalks were the most lush of the sky island. Pots and pans were scattered about atop boxes and wall chunks. Most were empty, or only held small sums of water…

The party had made their way outside, following the rabbit through the quiet forest to this point.

"This… is all of it?" Marigold rose a brow.

"Ye-yeah…" Midori held herself. "...It rained a week ago. Some of it's in jars…"

...Taking out her filled canteen, she looked around the rain collection site. "...Are there any extra jars around here?"

"...Yeah." After a moment of hesitation, Midori nodded. "Over here…"

'I half feel like this rabbit's going to pull a fast one on us…'

Hiyori followed her around a clump of healthy bamboo stalks, where there was a red, slightly smashed metal cabinet. The outside was flaky and rusty. As the rabbit flipped it open, she took out one of the many jars.

"Here." She handed it to Hiyori.

Looking closely at it- checking for damage or dirt- Hiyori found a name written in marker on the outside.

"Isaki…?" Hiyori looked over at the rabbit questioningly, as they stepped back towards the party.

"She won't need it anymore." Midori looked away.

...Hiyori put her canteen and the new jar away, briefly raising her eyebrows as she did so.

'...Well.' Hikari stretched her arms. "Hn~h… Should we teleport to that cave, now? Where Giygas should be?"

"I suppose…" Hiyori nodded. "We don't really have anyone to say goodbye to, here."

'...I guess not.' Hikari looked down.

"We're gonna kick some ass!" Osamu pumped an arm into the air.

Marigold tilted her head. "...I think we should pay Eirin one last visit. She did say something about equipment…"

"Let's do that." Hikari decided.

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

Rather than march all the way up the stairs, they got Eirin to come down to the lobby of the structure.

"I wanna know how fit we are to go to war with whatever Giygas' got in our way." Standing before Eirin, Marigold made a request. "Like… how good is our current attire?"

...Eirin furrowed her brows, before marching around the party. "Good idea. I do have some items, but I'll only grant them where need be. Truth be told, your best defense will likely be healing magic."

Hikari stared at her dryly. 'Really, now…?'

Looking over Hikari, Eirin had a contemplative look…

…

"That dark resistance won't do much." Eirin decided. "My ship doesn't carry body armor, though, so it's likely better than nothing. Fortunately…" She feels the fabric of Hikari's black vest-esque article. "This is made of good material."

Walking over to Marigold, she immediately began addressing flaws that stuck out to her. "You're a walking target with a backpack that big."

"Hey. I need my things." Marigold folded her arms. "Besides, I knew that, already…"

"Your general magic resistance is too low to be meaningful." Eirin declared. "It still helps, though." She pointed at her, "You're the smart one, right?"

...Marigold nodded. "I'd like to think so."

"Good." Eirin took out two things, though the party wasn't sure from where. "This here is a neutralizer. I meant to put it in the self-sufficient fear irrigation devices, but I hadn't the time. It should be able to wipe magical statuses and barriers from the field… and you can use it as much as you want." It was a flat device, with a grate on one side and rotatable knobs on the top. The back had some smaller grates, for ventilation. She tossed it over to Marigold, who barely caught it.

Marigold obtained Neutralizer!

"Also…" Eirin brought up a second item. It was a shiny red box, with two straps, big enough to fit on someone's back. "This would probably make a better backpack."

Jerking her head back, Marigold couldn't see how. "...It's a box."

"Yes." Eirin nodded. "Observant of you."

...Marigold squinted her eyes. "A~nd… it won't fit everything?"

"That's where you're wrong." Flipping it over, the back of the box began glowing. Eirin pressed a few buttons on the strap-

Bam! A pile of lunar rifles, grenades, and other assorted arms fell from the device. Eirin's eyes widened as she stared at the pile. "...This was supposed to be a recreational storage unit."

Marigold stepped back as the pile dropped out in front of her. "Wo-woah! That's… a hammerspace bag?"

Eirin gave a half-agreeing nod. "You could call it that. Unlike hammerspace bags, it does not use its own pocket dimension. Rather, it uses allowed storage space from lunar facilities. You needn't worry about the limit, unless you're planning on wedging an automobile inside, or something equally large."

...Marigold leers at the new backpack. "How would I get a specific item out?"

"With your hands." Eirin began stepping over to the other two party members. "You can look inside of it. Oh- don't press the oversized red button on the strap, either. If you do, just don't press it again for a few seconds. If you press it twice- thrice, rather- it will expel everything inside. You can also set which sides are interactive, object sorting- you probably know- I'll let you figure it out. The buttons have labels."

With that, she tossed it over to Marigold, who caught it easily with both arms, as it was a respectable size.

Marigold obtained LunarStorage: Recreational Model!

"I see…" Setting it down, Marigold took a few guns from her larger backpack blindly, and began placing them on the glowing back panel. The panel lowered as the objects were set on it, seeming to allow them dynamic room to exist both without interfering with one another, and without being crushed by the walls. "Oo~h…"

Progressing towards Hiyori, Eirin's brows rose promptly. "...Surprisingly, you have many resistances." Reaching out, she felt the hem of the kimono. "Fire resistance. Thunder resistance. Frost resistance…" She tilted her head. "It may do you useful. I see you have status defenses, too. I'm quite curious as to why your equipment is margins better than that of your friends."

"I'm kind of the one that soaks up the damage." Hiyori paced in place a little. "I am an oni, after all."

"Quite." Looking down at her mace, Eirin nods. "I almost couldn't tell, with that blunt instrument you were lugging around."

...After a moment, Hiyori shrugged. "It's not like I really have anywhere to put it."

"Still, such a loadout makes you surprisingly durable." Eirin has a small, approving smile. "...I just hope you're agile, like that."

"I think my casting more than makes up for it." Hiyori remarks, before casually smiling back.

Stopping before she moved on, Eirin gave the oni one last glance. "...You are curious."

Moving up to her last stop, Eirin hovered around Osamu, giving him a clinical stare. "...I take it you really don't like being on fire."

Grinning, Osamu folded his arms. "Nah, I'm just so hot these robes gotta be fire proof."

…

"Well, I have drugs for that." Eirin smirked, before quickly pacing out of Osamu's sight, circling around him.

"Aheh… yeah." Awkwardly, Osamu scratched the back of his head.

As Eirin circled back in front of him, Osamu had another brilliant idea. Giving her an examining stare of his own, he made a request. "Couldja lean a little closer? Like, just bend a little more…?"

"I don't charge for lobotomies." Eirin stated plainly.

...He blinked. "Wazzat mean?"

"It means she's going to poke your brain out if you don't shut up." Marigold annotated from the sidelines, not looking over from her new backpack.

He snickered. "I'll, uh, be quiet now…"

'Her cleavage isn't even exposed…' Hikari stared at the scene dryly.

Looking downward, Eirin's eyes ran over Osamu's gohei… "You know you can't use that, right?"

...Swinging it around, he grinned. "You were sayin'?"

"If you try to hit something with that, it'll break." Stepping up to him, she held out her arm. "Try damaging me."

...Stepping back, Osamu reeled back his arm. "You asked for it!"

With force, his arm snapped down.

thwick.

...

His expression was stubborn. "Dude, you're probably damage resistant, or something."

...She folded her arms. "Try it on her, then." She pointed at Marigold, who was still sorting things into her bag.

Sneaking up on her, Osamu brought the gohei up over his head, ready to bring it down on her shoulder…

Once again, he cracked down with force.

thwick.

...Marigold turned, sparing him a glance. "Wha~t?"

...He folded his arms. "Maybe this thing's just not turned on, or something…"

Hikari comes up to his side, and claims it from his hand. Then, she demonstrates its power with a half-hearted whack to his forearm.

SMAAAA~SH!

'Woah!' Hikari jumped back herself, as Osamu was bowled over onto his side.

"Ah- fuck…!" He rolled onto his back. "Fuckin'... you clobbered me, dude…"

"...I think my case is made." Eirin is smug. After a moment, she continues her questioning. "You're the team's caster, correct? Dedicated caster, at least."

...Sitting up, Osamu groaned. "Uu~h, yeah… yeah, that's me."

Raising the Miracle Gohei, Hikari tossed it over at Osamu. He scooted out of the way of it, before it clacked to the floor beside him.

"I see." Eirin stepped over to the pile of deposited guns from earlier, before reaching in. "Let's see…"

She pulled out a rod with a thick end to it. "Stun prod. Probably won't help you, where you're going, but the lunar corps don't make common mage equipment."

After an underhand toss from her, Osamu fumbles to catch it.

Osamu obtained Lunar Riot Baton!

"The on button is on the side, it's a switch." Eirin spoke. "Don't hold the business end when you turn it on."

Such a statement tempted fate. "Business end?" Grinning, he rotated it with his hand, holding the bulbous part with one hand as he flipped the switch-

Vzzt!

"Ow! Fuck- shit!" Jittering violently, he fell away from the device. From the floor, he crawled away. "Geez!"

Hikari sighed.

Hikari tried Lifeup α!

Osamu's minor bruising and other assorted wounds healed. He patted himself, "...Cool."

"...You four should be adequately prepared, now." The lunar doctor gave a final nod to the party. "Still, do not be afraid to come to me if you have any final worries before you set off. Get the job done, and we'll all be better off for it. You have this world's thanks."

She began walking up the stairs after her brief parting message.

...

Marigold looked over at the scattered sci-fi guns. "Hehehe~...!" Quickly, she took to them, sorting through them… only to become more sedate moments later. "Aah. I… don't know how these guns work."

'You know what? I wanna try…' Hikari moved up aside Marigold.

"Oh?" She turned to the shrine maiden. "...Good luck."

Hikari stared at the blue screen on the gun's top. In the center, there was a little 'x' icon, with writing next to it in Japanese.

"...Key management server not found." Hikari read it aloud. "Some features may be locked or unusable. Activate today for only…" She squinted her eyes. "Four hundred somethings."

"Sounds like a rip." Osamu added, swinging his prod around. "...Dude, this thing, like, makes noises!"

It made an electrical woosh sort of sound, as he flailed it around-

Vzzt! "Ah- shit, shit…"

"Maybe you shouldn't play with it…" Hiyori advised him. "It's a weapon, you know."

Marigold kneeled down, and picked up a few grenades…

Marigold obtained three Plasma Grenades!

"...They look like some kind of grenade." Marigold observed. Looking over them, she decided to place them inside the backpack. "Even if they fit in my pocket… I'd really rather them not go off."

...With that, the party had nothing else to do in Eientei.

"We should get going." Hikari approached the front of the clinic's smashed doors.

"Yeah." Following behind her, Marigold walked with a spring in her step, relieved of the weight of her previous backpack.

"About time!" Cracking his knuckles- and making sure his stun baton was turned off- Osamu strutted after them. "It's time to kick some ass!"

"We'll have to be careful." Hiyori cautioned them. "Anything could happen."

In the clearing outside the clinic, Hikari paused, getting into position for a teleport. Osamu held onto her shoulders, Marigold held onto his shoulders, and Hiyori firmly rested her hands on Marigold's shoulders, intent on stabilizing the rear.

"Yeah, yeah…" Osamu wasn't particularly worried, at the moment. "We're badasses, dude."

'To be debated.' Hikari resisted the urge to reply. "On three. Think of that cave we visited."

Everyone began focusing.

"One…" HIkari gathered wind from the desolate land.

…

"Two…" Tensing her muscles, she took in her surroundings not entirely consciously. 'This is it…'

...

"...Three!"

Hikari tried Teleport ß!

Hikari hurled herself forward, her party members doing the same in her wake. Hastily and eagerly, their legs and respective footwear thundered against the arid soil of the bamboo forest's floor. They went around and around until-

KraKoo~m!

...

The bamboo forest was still.

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

KraKoo~m!

Light flashed, signalling the four's arrival.

'A~nd… there…' Hikari felt herself stop within good distance. 'About time we pulled that off without any hitches.'

The first thing to note, was that the cave didn't seem very much like a cave, nor did they seem to be underground.

"Woah…" Osamu gaped.

Grey, bleak fog seemed to wrap around the platform the party stood on. Static lighting illuminated the dense fog, giving the whole area an otherworldly, shifting sensation…

'It… feels really wet…' Hikari noticed that they stood upon something grey. The air was humid. 'What is this…?' She stomped on the grey, textureless floor. She couldn't put her finger on the noise it produced.

Kneeling down, she reached for the floor…

'A-ah…?'

Air seemingly stopped her hand, the hand itself feeling the pressure of a surface, but nothing else.

"...We're like, off the radar." The team's spellslinger walked further ahead a little.

Marigold looked at the platform's edges, wary. "I think falling would be the one of the worst things to do right now."

"Agreed." Hiyori didn't like the looks of infinite fog above and below, either.

Standing up, Hikari held her Jet Black Gohei tightly. 'Let's press ahead. This weird mist dimension can't be all that bad…'

She stopped, and looked in the opposite direction. Large, flat rectangles of grey sat in the distance at awkward angles.

'Guess there's nothing over there.'

With no other choice, Hikari moved forward, her party members following behind her.

The path lead them to a two-way split. One path visibly leaded nowhere, while the other lead to some sort of door.

'...The path we just came from…' Hikari thought back to the dark cave Yukari took them to. 'That was the underground's door here. But, where's the underground…?'

The path that lead nowhere was also recognizable. 'That was the path to Hell.' She definitely felt like the geometry matched… even though the areas where the cave exits would normally be were now nothing at all.

"There's something over there." After pointing at it, Marigold moved towards it.

As they approached, they found the door sealed shut. There was a busted keypad on their side.

"...Just a door sitting in the middle of nowhere." Hikari reflected aloud, finding it amusing. Looking at it closer, she saw text on the panel's side. "...Lunar Access Gate five." She read it aloud.

'The moon seems to really get around, these days…'

"Geez. It's like the moon freakin' started makin' everything instead 'a us." Osamu found the coincidence curious, as well.

Vzzt! Vzzt!

"Woah!" Marigold jumped, moving for the door as cover. Two thin lasers rotated in the air over the party, the shot not coming terribly close to them.

Moving quickly, the four huddled around the opposite side of the door.

Osamu chose this time to question its existence. "The hell's this door even for!?"

'Us, apparently.'

Vzzt! Vzzt!

The lasers rotated against the other side of the door, aimed far more directly, this time.

Marigold brought up her latest, biggest weapon, which she kept on hand. "I suppose this is as good a time as any to see how this works…"

Rounding the corner and aiming it ahead, she saw the illuminated form of a large, pink robot. The robot had similarly colored appendages which supported its ball base, sporting a visor or windshield of some kind on the top…

The device was as large as the tall door the party stood behind, which had to have been eight or nine feet tall.

"Alright…" She held onto the trigger of the NF Burst Gun within the mess she had created. The familiar popping sound was heard, the bullets flying into the green core within the device. Marigold could only guess how it looked from the outward green glow the device projected, as Mokou seemed to make good on her offer to install shielding from the core.

After a few bursts of danmaku made the core glow blindingly bright from the opposing robot's perspective-

Fwash!

A large, green orb rocketed from the device, drifting towards the robot. Lime lightning arced from the orb itself, clinging to the robot's form as the orb flew closer to it…

Fwo-fwoo~m...

The gun's green glow became more saturated, as it vibrated lightly in Marigold's grasp. "U-uh…?"

Heat waves washed out ahead of her, as the air around ten feet ahead of her crackled visibly with small, yellow and green sparks, a mysterious chemical reaction taking place.

Fwoom. The green orb fizzled out on the robot's form, electricity traveling up and down it.

Vzzt! Vzzt!

"Eep!" Marigold turned to run behind the door, when-

Zzzt. Her ankle clipped the persistent laser that stood in its way. "Aa-aa~h!" She fell onto her side as she got back behind the door.

'Here we go…' Hikari's eyes subtly widened at the immediate damage.

Hiyori reacted quicker.

Hiyori tried Lifeup ß!

...After a moment, Marigold rolled into a sitting-up position. "...I'm not sure how this new weapon works."

Twirling out his stun baton, Osamu grinned. "Well, I'm gonna show it how my new weapon works…!"

He ran out from behind the door, and stopped when he saw how tall and wide the slowly approaching octo-appendaged robot was.

"...On second thought…" He sheepishly backed away towards the door, again.

Osamu tried PK Thunder γ!

Thwaa~sh!

...Hikari looked to the side, noticing a thunderbolt strike down somewhere in the distant fog.

'Wow.'

Thwaa~sh!

Cla~ng! The robot's metal hide made a loud disagreement with the electricity that struck it, the appendages that slowly moved the device jittering and locking up.

Thwaa~sh!

Cla~ng! The dim yellow and pink lights around the robot's form began to blink sporadically, and out of sync.

Vzzt! Vzzt!

The two resulting lasers shot somewhere into outer space, aimed at incredibly awkward angles.

Marigold came back out from around the door, her Heavy Bazooka on her shoulder. "Heavy Bazooka~!"

She took general aim, and fired.

Fwoosh! The orange projectile soared for the robot's form-

Boom! Seemingly pushed by the force, the dented base drifted to the side softly, the appendages spazzing out as they tried to support its new momentum. It eventually stopped itself from going over the ledge with some fortunate movements…

Fwoosh! Marigold didn't let up, though, another projectile heading for the robot-

Boom! Blam!

Hikari jumped, the louder explosion startling her. She looked around the door, to see a column of flame stretching into the air, pink metal parts raining down across the nearby landscape.

"Haha~!" Osamu stuck his middle finger up at the smouldering wreckage. "Fuck robots!"

'...If every encounter's that easy, we shouldn't have a problem.'

"...That was probably just a scout." Hiyori guessed, brow raised as she looked out from around the door as well.

'Yeah, it's not going to be this easy.'

Putting away her bazooka, Marigold lifted her big weapon again. "I still have to figure out how this thing works…"

Hikari knew how. "Very carefully."

...Marigold gave her an amused but sardonic stare.

Eventually, after a few moments of silence, Osamu prodded things along. "...I don't think we're gonna find anything stickin' around this door. Shit's broke, dude."

"Seems like it…" Hikari decided to part from it. 'Thank you for your service as a barricade, mystery door.'

With that, the party pressed forward into the dim gloom of the grey realm. Their walk eventually became open-ended as they reached land that, instead of being a linear path, expanded out into a large plain that simply had foreboding holes in it.

'Very open-ended…' Some of the holes separated other parts of the land entirely, though, so they had decisions to make.

Grey rectangles poked from the plain in a few places, featuring little other than their outline to make their existence a distinction.

...Coming to the midst of the plain, the party looked around.

Speaking of open-ended questions, Osamu had one. "So, is this like, the world's asshole or something?".

Marigold snorted.

'Apparently.' ...Abruptly, Hikari an interesting thought. 'What would it be like to live here?'

...She tapped her sandal against the floor again, finding that indescribable noise again. 'Probably weird.'

On cue-

Ghost of Starman A tried Teleport Ω!

Ghost of Starman B tried Teleport Ω!

From two orbs of light, two ethereal starmen spawned before the party.

"Life signature double-H detected…" One of them spoke, but the party couldn't discern which. "Impossible! We have a Hakurei-class combatant!"

"It is no matter." The other starman assured the first one. "We are beyond strength. This fight will be trivial."

'More of these ghosts…' Hikari readied her gohei.

Grinning, Osamu turned to one of them. "But are ya beyond ice!?"

Osamu tried PK Freeze γ!

KaKaKa~...

A snowflake-shaped pattern of ice crystals formed in the figure of Ghost of Starman B. It began writhing under their cold effects. "Auh- ooh- agh…!"

Boom! The final blast of ice froze the ghost's midsection, rendering it vulnerable.

'Now's my chance!' Hikari began running towards it, her gohei raised...

Ghost of Starman A tried PK Starstorm α!

Marigold rose her big gun, pointing it at Ghost of Starman A. "Put your… arm things up!"

The starman didn't react in any definable way.

Hiyori, noticing that it wasn't reacting, decided to get the jump on it.

Hiyori tried PK Freeze γ!

As the snowflake pattern attacked the starman, the unnoticed starstorm finally caught up with the party.

Bam! Boom! "Woah- fuck- woa~h!" Osamu flailed wildly, spooked more by the suddenness of the pain than by the fact he was in pain.

Blam! Bam! "Ow- ow, ow…" Hikari was staggered as she ran, thrown off balance by the crashing of bright stars against her back. She slid to the floor, feeling the awkward sensation of resting on pressurized air. 'Whatever this stupid floor is…'

"Haha!" The starman near her was amused. "The Hakurei is on the floor!"

'...Is that supposed to be an accomplishment?'

Blam! Boom!

Hiyori grunted, stumbling a little. "Hngh…"

Scrambling to her feet, Hikari ran towards the smug, partially frozen Starman who taunted her. Bringing her gohei up, she swung-

SMAAAA~SH!

"Huoh…!" The starman became material, the cracking ice at its core revealing inner machinery, along with tubes that carried some sort of pink fluid. "Yo-you~...!"

Swiftly, Hikari swung her gohei again on impulse, not entirely planning to but going with it anyway.

Thwack!

"Go~h…" The dark strike caused the Ghost of Starman B to buckle. As its torso began folding-

Cli-cli-cling! Slick, dark thorns jabbed up through its torso, acting as support beams.

"You'll not be rid of me that easily…!" The starman bellowed.

Ghost of Starman B tried PK Starstorm α!

This time, Hiyori was more attentive to the sky. "Osamu- shield us!"

His head shot in her direction. "Oh- uh, right!"

Osamu tried PSI Shield Σ!

The party was protected by pale blue psychic shields!

Standing up again, Marigold brought up her big weapon. "En-enough with the stupid star magic…!"

Repeatedly pulling the trigger, she fired up the core of the weapon-

Fwash! The sickly green orb flew out towards the Ghost of Starman A, lightning arcing out onto its figure as it neared.

The starman stood rigid, until-

Fwo-fwoom…

The weapon entered its violent cooldown state once again, as Marigold approached the starman's side.

"Uuh-Uoou~h!" The starman's form violently began to flicker, the portions of it within the device's cone of effect seemingly boiling. Pops and crackles of lime and yellow energy disrupted its figure-

Crack! The ice that froze its center violently shattered into blue electricity.

"Aoh-vzzvzzvzt…" The Ghost of Starman A lit up with pretty blue, pink, and purple shades of electricity, before multiple parts of its being crumpled to the floor.

The stars from the incoming starstorm hit the party again.

Blam! Bam! Boom! Blam!

"Hn~h…" Hikari winced, nearly having to crouch to hold her ground.

"Oh! Ow~..." Marigold was tossed onto her side, again, her body aching.

"Hahaha~!" Osamu was too amused by the fact he took less damage to acknowledge the fact he was taking damage. "Fucking stars, dude!"

'If only we all had as much vigor.' Pain was pain to Hikari, though. 'He probably adapted from all the times we've hit him.'

The remaining material starman stood before Hikari, still. "Yo-you savages haven't seen the last of me!"

Glaring up at it, Hikari leaped.

In the air, she brought the gohei across the helmet of the starman twice.

Thwa-thwack!

Bringing it up before she fell back down, she acted quickly to ensure there was a finisher to her combo-

SMAAAA~SH!

The helmet caved in after the final blow. "Vzzvzzss~hh…"

"Woah…" Osamu grinned at the display. "Dude, that gohei! It has like, a trail of darkness when you swing it!"

'Yeah, I know. I happen to be the person who swings it around.'

...She looked down at the gohei. 'It is kinda cool, though.'

Suddenly, there was a loud noise.

Kraa~clankclank!

"Something's coming…!" Adjusting herself into a battle stance, Hiyori stared forward intently.

"U-ugh…" Marigold couldn't get up. "I-I sprained my ankle, again…"

Hikari tried Lifeup ß!

...Nimbly getting to her feet, Marigold had a half-grin. "Sprained ankles always suck. They hurt so much for something so simple."

A loud whirring sound was heard, and the roar of an engine came from somewhere below the party.

Whhii-Kraa~clankclank!

The grey floor before the party opened up, a machine tearing through the foggy material. From it, an immense, grey machine emerged. It had a broad, unmanned platform with railing as its base, and two large pipes tipped with orbs on the front of the machine. A giant tread sat under it, allowing it to move forward.

"It's a run-people-over machine!" Osamu exclaimed. "Oh, shit!"

'Pffft…'

Lightyear Device tried Teleport Ω!

But it failed!

The party moved out of the way of the device as it passed them. As it did, the two rods on top lit up a violent orange color…

Whhii-Kraa~clankclank!

Two purple stars were shot from the top of the rods. They slowly descended towards the party…

'Those don't look friendly…' Hikari and Marigold backed away, while Hiyori and Osamu stood, staring at them.

Hiyori raised her mace to counter one as it flew towards her, and Osamu realized the other was aimed at him a little too late. "Oh, fu-"

Boo-Boom!

The both exploded into purple blasts of energy, which fizzled out immediately after.

"O-oh…!?" Hiyori blinked.

"Woah!" Osamu looked around wildly.

Lightyear Device tried Teleport α!

...Hikari stared at the large machine as it rocketed off into the distance, abruptly and without warning.

'Oh. Okay. It's… just gone, then.'

"Uu~h…" Osamu walked around aimlessly. "I can't see, dude…!"

"...I'm blind." Hiyori announced.

Hiyori tried Healing ß!

...She blinked a few times. "Nevermind."

Hikari tried Healing ß!

...Bringing his hands to his eyes, Osamu rubbed them. "...Yeah, it got better. Weird shit..."

'That machine was weird.'

...Looking around, Hikari noticed the fog in the distance let up only slightly, revealing that all of the deviating paths of the platform they were currently on went nowhere in particular. The only way left was the new one created by the large device, seemingly.

Moving towards the new tunnel, she made an announcement. "Looks like we're going that way."

"Mmm." Marching aside her, Marigold had the big gun raised.

"That's a big fuckin' gun, dude." Unwilling to resist anymore, Osamu commented on its clunkiness.

Marigold smirked. "I think it fits. This thing sounds like it goes under meltdown whenever I fire it."

The four moved through the small tunnel, only to find that it lead to a grey plain slightly lower than the one they were on.

'It's hard to tell what's additional land past whatever we're standing on, and the edges…' Hikari pensively examined the landscape. 'Fog is annoying.'

Down on the newer plain, the party moved forward-

Vzzt! Vzzt!

From the mists ahead, two persistent beams stretched outward, signaling the party that enemies were approaching. They came from vastly different locations in the mist, however…

'Two more of those things…'

The pink and yellow lights along the rims of the machines lit up. Four octo-appendaged robots approached from the mist, slowly.

"O~h boy…" Osamu backed towards the tunnel.

"We could just let them come into the tunnel." Marigold strategized. "That way we'll just be able to wail on them with bigger attacks."

THWASH

All four party members jumped. Before them, a massive column of electricity thundered down, extending their visibility in the fog just enough to see the sides of a few other plateaus and platforms.

As the column faded, the crackling form of a humanoid floated in the air. It appeared like an Invincible, but its eyes were noticeably sharper. The long, faux-hair the normal variants of it carried was instead flowing. Electricity ran across its locks, and up the immense, orange broadsword it held in one hand.

The obscenely large sword, though similar in style to the purple ones of the invincibles, had unique kanji carved on the blade near the hilt, reading 'Ogre'.

'Why do the enemies just keep getting more intimidating…?' Hikari was really receptive about fighting something that flashy.

Marigold raised her big freakin' gun. "I think we should focus our fire on that thing…!"

"Y'think!?" Osamu was already backing for the tunnel…

Osamu tried PK Thunder ß!

Thwa~sh!

The lightning harmlessly was absorbed by the electric humanoid.

Thwa~sh!

The lightning arced from its original path, instead being absorbed by the humanoid.

"Yes. Use lightning on the lightning elemental." Hiyori snarked. "Good plan."

...He shrugged sheepishly. "Hey, I had ta try."

Vzzt! Vzz-vzz-vzz-vzzt!

A barrage of lasers came from the approaching octobots.

"Fuuaa~h!" Osamu dove to the floor, pierced through his upper chest.

"Aa-aah…!" Hikari felt her thigh begin to burn. She didn't look down, but saw enough of the laser to know where it probably connected… 'Oh- ow ow ow…!'

"Gu-hnh…" Hissing, Hiyori braced herself against the two oncoming lasers, shielding herself vainly as the lasers passed through her left leg and right arm.

'It hurt- it hurts…!'

Hikari tried Lifeup Ω!

...The party's wounds began to heal.

Miraculously unscathed, Marigold backs away incredulously. "Ahaha~h…! Let's go!"

The other three begin taking her lead and retreating into the tunnel, looking to distance themselves from the firing squad of robots.

The electric Invincible approached the tunnel opening, hot on their heels. Though it was too big to enter after them, it seemed to know their plan by the way it slowly drifted upward…

'She's so big…!' Glancing back at it, Hikari marveled at the scale of the dark miko. 'She's, like… eleven feet tall!'

Orcus tried PK Thunder Ω!

Raising its blade to the sky, the humanoid allowed electricity to arc into the fog above from its massive blade.

Thwaa~sh!

Lightning struck somewhere within the tunnel, causing various party members to twitch.

"A-ah!" Marigold jumped out of her skin, nearly tripping as she moved away from where it struck on the slope ahead.

"Oh, crap…!" Osamu didn't anticipate good things.

Thwaa~sh!

Hiyori's form lit up, as electricity ran down her horns. Her shackle glowed brightly, the electricity traveling into it instead of through her body in its entirety. "Wo-woah…"

Thwaa~sh!

Bam! "Egegugu~h!" Marigold jittered violently, before unceremoniously faceplanting. A few sparks of electricity fizzled out on her clothing, though.

'Marigold!' Hikari prepared to heal her-

Thwaa~sh!

Bam! "Zazatataza!" Osamu lit up brightly. Once the shock was through, he was thrown to the floor by the force of it, landing awkwardly and smouldering.

'O-oh…!' Hikari proceeded to heal the party with wide eyes.

Hikari tried Lifeup Ω!

...Marigold was the first to get up. "Ou-... ou~ch…" Crawling at first, she got back onto her legs quick enough, shambling up the slope.

...Explosively, Osamu roared to life. "Fucking blood and thunder!" ...Wincing, he held his side. "Ow."

...Hiyori patted herself appreciatively. "Thanks."

Quickly, they made it to the top of the slope, now on the surface of the higher ground.

Woosh!

Hikari was knocked to the floor by a sliding jab. The electric miko had sailed across the plain's surface, as if riding on its stomach, to make the slash connect correctly.

"Aa~ugh!" Pain flared throughout Hikari's body as she felt her torso contort awkwardly. 'Aaaa~h!'

Hiyori tried Lifeup γ!

...Hikari felt her body bend back.

'O-oh- Ow! Ouch, ouch- aaagh…!' She felt her eyes tear up as the healing process took place. 'Wh-where did that thing even hit me!?'

Osamu tried PK Freeze γ!

KaKaKa~...

A rapidly freezing and thawing snowflake-shaped pattern of icicles began to assault the Orcus' torso. It didn't visibly react to it, though, as it adjusted back into a drifting position after its previous stab on Hikari.

Boom!

The chilly surge of cold air made it flinch, but little else.

Hiyori ran at it. Raising her mace into the air, she prepared to attack the lower torso of the towering humanoid.

Noticing her approach, the Orcus swung the huge broadsword at the oni in return-

Cla~ng!

The parry made Hikari twitch in surprise.

"...Ha~h!?" Hiyori was eventually flung into the air from the Orcus' strength. Flying backwards, she promptly touched down on the textureless grey platform-

...Hikari still couldn't name that noise, produced this time by Hiyori's sandals on the platform. 'It was pretty loud that time, though…'

Marigold aimed up her Heavy Bazooka at it, opting not to use her big freakin' gun since Hikari was in the vicinity. "Eat this…!"

Fwoosh! The amber projectile rocketed towards the Orcus-

Boom!

It cringed back from the blow, but sported no obvious physical damage. Red mist drifted from its form, mingling with the fog…

Osamu tried PSI Shield Ω!

The party was protected by blue psychic power shields!

"Hopefully they don't run the hell out this time!" Osamu snapped at his own magic.

'...These shields are better than his last ones.'

Orcus tried PK Thunder Ω!

It rose its broadsword to the air once again, lightning arcing into the fog above.

"Get ready…!" Marigold cringed, knowing no other way to prepare for the inevitable.

Thwaa~sh!

Hiyori's shield flickered violently, the electricity coursing through it. Before it was dispelled, the shield wrapped itself into a ball of magic, which shot towards the Orcus.

On contact, the orb exploded into raw mana, but nothing else seemed to visibly happen.

Thwaa~sh!

"Eep!" Marigold shut her eyes as her shield flickered violently, before it performed an action similar to Hiyori's.

Once again, the Orcus refused to react to the orb striking it.

...She opened her eyes. "...I-I'm okay."

Thwaa~sh!

"Egagagaga~h!" Marigold was not okay. Twirling in place, her bazooka clattered on the floor beside her, making that sound Hikari couldn't name, before she fell on her side.

Hiyori tried Lifeup γ!

'Ma-Marigold…' Hikari stood up, finally having recovered from her awkward healing process. "Al-alright…"

...Rousing herself again, Marigold shook her head. "I-I have a heada~che…"

Vzz-vzz-vzzt! Vzzt, vzzt!

Persistent lasers shot from the tunnel, restricted by its rims.

'They're catching up…' Hikari grimaced. '...I might have to use a big attack. This is getting pretty hairy.'

Stabbing its blade into the foggy floor, the Orcus dissipated into six orbs of electricity, which spread out and seemingly vanished.

'It would have this attack.'

...The blade promptly rose from the floor below, and pointed itself at Hikari.

'Yep.'

Hikari tried Shield ß!

Hikari was protected by the power shield of light! Her psychic power shield was overwritten.

Hiyori noticed the incoming robots, as did Marigold. They both moved across the battlefield to get a jump on that situation.

Osamu tried to help with the possessed sword of stabby doom. From a distance, at least.

Woosh! Hikari slid on the floor as she skidded out of the way of one of the electric blade's passing swipes.

"...Do ya think water would help!?" Osamu shouted from afar. "With the sliding and dodgin'!?"

'It's electric!' Hikari began running towards him, intent on dragging him into the dodging session now. "No!"

Holding her big freakin' gun high, Marigold stood over the tunnel as the octobots progressed out of it.

Hiyori stood before them, mace raised high.

...The four Ultimate Octobots aimed at her, before firing.

Fwoosh! Fwoo-fwoo-fwoosh!

They fired odd lines of light, which surrounded Hiyori to build an electrical cage. The four lines they shot all overlapped one another, building an incredibly dense plasma cage which quickly closed in on Hiyori. As it did, it became invisible, her body jittering lightly.

The shackle on her arm glowed, the four instances of paralysis that were cast on her all being absorbed by the oni treasure.

Fwash! A lime green orb passed across the back of the octobot offensive line, spreading electricity across their robotic forms.

Grinning, Marigold held her gun tensely as it vibrated lightly once again, the violent cooldown process beginning once more.

Cla~ng… Cling, cling, cli-clonk…

The back of the machines seemed to melt under the unique reaction produced by the gun's cone.

Noticing this, Hiyori took a deep breath. "...Here!"

Hiyori tried PK Fire Ω!

Blam! The initial blast of fire lit up the entire tunnel.

Boom, boom, boo~m!

Huge blasts of flame made the tunnel a searing red, great explosions pushing swaths of flame up, over the robots, and into the air. The entire tunnel's width became a neon orange, red color, the black of smoke being the only differentiating factor from the bright light.

"E-ah…" Marigold backed away from the tunnel entrance, skittish.

Fwoo~m…

A final swath of flames caressed the entire tunnel's width, the orange, amber glow slowly fading as the fire's brightness gave way to what remained of the octobots.

Smouldering wreckage and melted metal sat in blobs before Hiyori.

"...I-I think I overdid that…" Hiyori's posture faltered.

Hikari watched the electric blade rise to the air, after she had successfully avoided seven consecutive jabs from the great blade.

'Here it comes… that one move that always knocks me out.' Hikari took a deep breath, watching it.

"Shit, shit…!" Osamu began running in the opposite direction.

The blade fell.

Hikari exhaled, kicking against the floor with great force. The unnatural sound of the textureless floor echoed out, and her leg flared with pain, as she cast herself into the air to avoid the blade.

Thwa-woo~sh…!

The Orcus jabbed into the floor. A shockwave of static-charged wind roared out from under Hikari, and from the Orcus' heavy sword.

"Oo~w!" Osamu roared as he was flung into the air by the shockwave.

Before the Orcus could recover from its mighty stab into the ground proper, Hikari swung her gohei with great force, flinging herself towards it. Taking a deep breath as she neared it, she felt her arm muscles begin to yell as well once she cast the gohei towards the dark miko's face-

SMAAAA~SH!

As if surprised, the Orcus jerked its head back. Then, it hunched over, stunned by the inopportune strike on its person.

Hikari dropped to the floor before it, landing on her butt. "Oof…"

...Osamu stared up at it, walking over with an awkward strut. "Dude…"

Marigold and Hiyori approached, too, staring up at it curiously.

...Hikari turned to Osamu. "Quickly, buff me!"

Smacking her face, Marigold reached for her backpack. "I can't believe I forgot about that…"

From the shimmering surface of the backpack, Marigold drew her large and clunky Moon Beam. "Let's see if this works…!"

Quickly, she fired the moon-elemental beam at the Orcus.

...Though it made contact, no flames licked up the stunned Orcus' body.

...Marigold pouted. "Wow."

Osamu tried Offense Up α!

"More!" Hikari felt like being an adrenaline junkie, today.

"Alright, alright…!" Osamu was put off by her ferocity.

Osamu tried Offense Up α!

'Alright…' Hikari gestured for him to continue.

Boom! One of Marigold's bazooka shots exploded on the Orcus' side, making it wiggle in place a little.

Osamu tried Offense Up α!

"That's good." Hikari gestured for him to stop, her hand going too far accidentally.

...Osamu tried Defense Down α!

The Orcus cringed while in its stunned position. After, it began to raise its head again…

Hikari leapt up at it. Slightly too eager, she went a little higher than intended. Letting herself fall, she readied to attack.

She put enough power into her horizontal slash to spin around, her gohei hitting twice.

Thwa-thwack!

Her overhead strike was equally as overcharged, and she ended up doing a forward flip. "Wo-woah!"

Thwa-thwack!

Before she fell to the ground unceremoniously once more, Hikari unleashed a final, impulsive jabbing attack. "Hra~h!"

Bam!

Her gohei passed through the Orcus' head, as her attack propelled her straight into it.

"Oof!" Hikari rebounded off of the upper torso of the electrical miko, jitters traveling through her body. 'We-weird…'

…

FWOOSH

The Orcus dissipated into a massive whirlwind of wind. Osamu and Marigold were thrown onto their sides, while Hiyori had to squint her eyes to be able to see with all the sudden wind force.

It dissipated in brief moments.

…

Cli-clink. 'What…?'

...Hikari scooted on the floor towards the objects that dropped from the Orcus.

One was its sword, which-

Fwoa~om… vztvztvzt...

-promptly dissolved into nothing but sparks.

There was also a nugget of gold.

'Oh.' Hikari didn't know what to do with that. She grabbed it with one hand...

Finally, there was a ring, with a yellow jewel in the center. Taking it-

Hikari obtained Stolen Thunder!

-she held it close to her face. '...I'm not really into rings.'

...Looking over at the party, she worked to get back onto her feet. Once she was, she held the ring up. "Who wants a ring?"

The party members strutted over. "No thanks." Hiyori declined. "I don't think conventional jewelry would survive on me."

This made Marigold grin. "...It dropped from a thunder god thing. I think it'd fit on you just fine."

...Shrugging, the oni still made no request.

"What if that shit zaps me?" Suspicious, Osamu narrows his eyes at the ring…

Marigold rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'll wear it…"

Taking it, she paused. "...Also, come to think of it, this thing's starting to itch…"

She unequipped the Eternal Band, and slipped Stolen Thunder onto her right hand, onto her ring finger.

"...Neat." Smiling at the yellow-gemmed metal ring, Marigold was satisfied.

"Rings ain't my style anyway." Nodding compromisingly, Osamu looked ahead at the tunnel. "...Damn, you guys roasted 'em."

Hikari tried Lifeup α!

"...Aa~h." Taking the idle moment, Hikari did a few stretches. "...Let's keep going."

Taking the lead, Hiyori and Hikari moved forward while the other two party members trailed behind. Once again, they moved into the tunnel, taking care to navigate past the now cool blotches of charred, semi-pink metal.

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

END OF CHAPTER 31

Protagonist: Hikari Hakurei, Disciple of Paradise

-Inventory-

Weapon: Jet Black Gohei - The gohei once wielded by Sendai Hakurei no Miko. Theoretically, anyway. Boosts attack power, and critical hit rate. The dark impulse of the gohei frequently allows Hikari to strike twice instead of simply once, even when unprepared.

Arms: Shade Sleeves - Dark-elemental arm sleeves. Allows Hikari to add an additional strike to her combo when prepared. Ten percent darkness resistance.

Body: Midnight Miko Outfit - Dark-elemental miko outfit which combines the positive aspects of Reimu and Sendai Hakurei No Miko's outfits. Designed to provide more magical and physical defense all around, and as such might weigh Hikari down a little. Twenty percent darkness resistance.

Misc: Chaos Ribbon - Dark-elemental ribbon. Has a rather crazy slapdash design. Twenty percent darkness resistance.

-Skills-

Attack: Quickly! Swing your gohei at them for massive damage! Sometimes happens twice from the Jet Black Gohei's dark impulse. Has an additional strike due to Hikari's Shade Sleeves.

PK Fantasy α, β, γ, Ω - Bombards the enemy with pain in the form of flashing colors. Deals magical damage. Heavy mental strain that increases with each tier. Third tier forms a barrier, which breaks upon moderate damage. Final tier is a non-elemental nuke of immense magical power.

PK Flash α, ß, γ, Ω - A bright flash that distributes very random status effects to enemies. Usually makes people cry. Higher tiers increase chances, and introduce possibilities of fainting or dispel. Higher tiers can instantly destroy more varieties of foes, and make people feel weird.

Hypnosis α, Ω - Puts weak enemies to sleep for a short time. Works better on tired or exhausted foes. Can also be used in a far more costly form that works on multiple opponents.

Shield α, ß - Halves damage the target takes. Only works against physical attacks, and enough strikes, or powerful strikes, will dispel it. Higher tier turns it into a power-shield that protects even better and even reflects a fraction of protected damage.

Lifeup α, ß, γ, Ω - Heals target a little. Higher tiers heal more grievous wounds, like bone fractures. Highest tier heals everybody in the party.

Healing α, ß, γ - Heals basic status ailments. Higher tiers can cure more dire effects, like burning alive.

Teleport α, ß - Allows instant transport to the general location of an area remembered by oneself or one's party members. Requires a long, fast run-up to execute, however. Higher tier allows a circular motion to control the run-up instead, giving Hikari more control over the teleport.

Ofuda Toss - Throw a holy ofuda that does massive holy elemental damage to youkai and dark elemental foes. Effect lessens the more holy the thing you're attacking is, to the point of healing holy things. Only works if you actually have ofuda, though.

Cautionary Barrier - Summon a barrier that deflects attacks and magical attacks of all elements. Can be broken by stronger attacks, and is holy elemental.

Lightshine Ofuda - Two ofuda which explode into orbs of light. Area denying holy attack.

Summon Koishi - Using the Heart Gem's power, Hikari summons Koishi Komeiji. Casts three random HK spells on enemies, before using a higher tier one that depends on her current mood. Typically can manage two uses before she's out of mana. Costs sizable mana. Doesn't work across time, apparently.

Ω-Ω-Ω-Ω

Mage: Osamu Katsumi, the Wannabe Mage

-Inventory-

Weapon: Lunar Riot Baton - A lunarian riot suppression armament. It saw use in the Genso-Lunar war, and then proceeded to see further use in rebellion suppression and the Giygas-Lunar conflict. Allowed largely only in the lunar capital, and under normal circumstances loses power when not on the civilization's electrical grid, though Eirin knows how to get around this. Deals electrical damage. You can hit yourself with it like an idiot, too.

Arms: Imperial Bracelet - Gives slight knockback resistance. Doubles the strength of the last cast of magic used before running out of mana.

Body: Super Rugged Robe - A sturdy robe enchanted to resist damage. Made partially with sturdy cloth from deep underground. Grants fifty percent resistance to fire elemental damage.

Misc: Rugged Red Mage Hat - A red colored mage's hat made from cloth in the Human Village. Minor resistance to thunder, ice, and fire magic from its well worn usage in the past. Didn't see much action… until Osamu bought it! Grants ten percent resistance to fire elemental damage.

-Skills-

PK Thunder α, ß, γ - Very random thunder attack that deals limited damage. Higher tiers increase number of bolts, and sometimes power.

PK Hydro α, β, γ - Gets everyone wet. Usefulness with PK Thunder and PK Freeze depends on whether you hit yourself or not! Creates whirling water spirals at higher tiers.

PK Freeze α, β, γ, Ω - Generates ice crystals at the target's location. Medium damage and effect; may freeze some targets, especially wet ones. Highest tier has a near-guaranteed freeze chance and immense ice damage, at the cost of being very taxing.

Fireball - Manipulate mana to make a shoddy fireball. Low damage and effect.

Static Hands - Not a real spell. Result of a very undercharged PK Thunder that can accidentally go off.

PSI Telepathy α - Speak to friends you haven't met yet! Unstable connection and only works if they have the skill or are asleep.

PSI Shield α, Σ, Ω - Halves damage from magical and psychic attacks. Thunder spells fry it instantly, and harder blows dispel it. Second tier applies basic shield to entire party at higher mana expense.

PSI Magnet α, Ω - Costs no mana to use, and steals a very tiny amount of mana from the enemy. Enemy has to have mana in the first place for it to work, though.

Offense Up α, Ω - Get pissed! Boosts strength and confidence depending on caster's power and receiver's power.

Defense Down α, Ω - Throw the enemy off their game. Makes them slightly more vulnerable to physical attacks.

Ω-Ω-Ω-Ω

Inventor: Marigold Knowledge, the Tri-Magi Love Child

-Inventory-

Weapon: Big Freakin' Gun - A Marigold Knowledge invention. Uses a NF Burst Gun as the base, which irritates the energy core with an inner Pop Gun. Spamming the trigger doesn't make it go any faster, unfortunately. The batteries inside are only there for mana circulation, meaning their power is really inconsequential. The addition of extra parts, blast shielding, and the energy cored turned this into a vastly powerful weapon, capable of shooting a non-elemental arc-lightning ball. The weapon's cooldown is more dangerous than its projectile, the exposure of which rapidly causes enemies to go through violent chemical reactions.

Arms: Stolen Thunder - Electric elemental ring crafted sometime in the distant future. Forged from mysterious, electrical gems and adamantite, it provides one hundred percent electric resistance, granting immunity to electrical damage.

Body: Elementalist Adventure Dress - A custom dress made by Alice. Provides some defense against magical and psychic attacks. Allows very free movement. Grants twenty percent resistance to fire, thunder, and ice elemental attacks.

Misc: Sun Swirly Glasses - Lets Marigold not be blind. Grants immunity to the effects of PK Flash, and to blinding light attacks. Allows Marigold to stare straight into the sun.

LunarStorage: Recreational Model - Allows extended inventory. No weight limit, but has a huge size limit. Allows Marigold to draw any item she wants, at any time.

Unnamed Lock Opening Device - Opens locks very precariously. Made with steel, burnt cloth, packaging peanuts, thumbtacks, string, and wooden wheels. Don't even ask…

Ruler - Lets you measure the world around you!

Protractor - Lets you find the angles of anything ever. Totally overpowered.

Scotch Tape - Transparent adhesive from the outside world. Weak, but handy!

Deck of Cards - Allows Marigold to play Strip Poker with the party. Just kidding… or am I?

Shield Killer - Electrical device used to subdue harassers. Has settings ranging from Tickle Torture to Arse Blaster. Fires electrical projectiles, of unknown power.

Holmes Brand Designer Hat - Village swag! A retro village hat that ceased production ten years ago. Sells for a pretty penny nowadays, but it's pretty useless otherwise.

Slime Generator - A bulky box that shoots a small splat of slime. Doesn't seem good for much.

Counter-PSI Device - A weird device Marigold found from a flying saucer. Works in strange ways, and seems to disrupt everyone's concentration. Marigold is immune to its effects.

Charm of Sleep - Grants immunity to sleep while equipped, or held. Can be equipped to Arms or Misc.

Microwave Gun - A Marigold Knowledge invention. Constructed with a controlled flame crystal and metal parts, it fires a beam of sustained microwave energy that cooks biological foes alive. Fire-elemental at its core, it's also very inefficient against machines. The lens used in it was switched with a Moon Lens, allowing it to instead deal moon-elemental damage and silence foes. Silenced foes are unable to use spells.

Defense Shower - A Marigold Knowledge invention. Made of a broom, a showerhead, some magnets, and uses jars of water as ammo. Slapped together with ofuda, giving it a holy defensive effect. The jars are usually filled with Talcum Powder, for alchemical purposes. The liquid that is dispensed becomes auto-applying lotion.

Heavy Bazooka - An invention developed in part by Kappa Tech and Marigold Knowledge. It shoots heavy fire-based blasts of fire magic, and deals high knockback. It was constructed by stuffing some fire and gravity stones into a tube, adding a cap on one side to direct the fire, and hooking a magical wire to the handle. Nitori did most of the work, though…

Eternal Band - Band made from a time transistor. Allows melee attacks to deal time-elemental damage and statuses.

Spectrum Shotgun - A Marigold Knowledge invention. Filled with foil chip bags to conduct the mana, and it is transmitted into a wind stone. Upgraded to draw mana from a simple wooden block filled with immense magic reserves, giving it virtually unlimited ammo. The addition of a battery and a prism allow it to fire seven rainbow colored beams at a wide spread, which deal non-elemental damage. Firing long enough allows them to focus and deal incredible damage, at the cost of insane recoil and instability.

Neutralizer - Unused component of the Fear Irrigation Devices, and invented by Eirin Yagokoro.. When activated, all PSI and magical effects on the battlefield are wiped, including area-denial spells, status effects, buffs and debuffs… everything. Levels the playing field! Affects party members, too.

-Skills-

Assembled the BFG-Nine-Thousand - That's a big fuckin' gun, dude…!

Accessorizer - She's accessorized, son.

Now Has Hyperspace Inventory - Now she's a real FPS hero!

Shiny New Guns - Walkin' armory, yo!

Wasteland Wanderer - Guns and gas and go~ds!

Ω-Ω-Ω-Ω

Fighter: Hiyori Hashimoto, the Buddhist Oni

-Inventory-

Weapon: Mace of Devas - The last of the four treasures held by the Devas of the Mountain. Ability to whack stuff really hard. Increases critical hit rate by lieu of being a really big, blunt, spiky weapon. Allows partial blocking of magic attacks.

Arms: Shackle of Devas - The first of the four treasures held by the Devas of the Mountain. Grants immunity to sleep-inducing magic. Grants fifty percent resistance to wind and thunder magic.

Body: Kimono of Devas - The second of the four treasures held by the Devas of the Mountain. Grants immunity to paralyzing magic. Grants fifty percent resistance to fire magic. Insanely durable. Has a floral design to it…!

Misc: Bows of Devas - The third of the four treasures held by the Devas of the Mountain. Grants immunity to confusion-inducing magic. Grants fifty percent resistance to ice magic.

-Skills-

PK Starstorm α, Ω - Summons forth the stars from the night's sky to rain down upon enemies. Hits all enemies, and deals high magical damage, at the cost of being highly mentally taxing. Can hit allies if they're in the effective area, as the white stars don't have homing properties. Power proportional to amount of enemies, as well.

PK Fire α, ß, γ, Ω - Creates an igniting blast of flames at the target's location. More impact comes with higher tiers.

PK Freeze α, β, γ - Generates ice crystals at the target's location. Medium damage and effect; may freeze some targets, especially wet ones.

Shield α, ß, Σ - Halves damage the target takes. Only works against physical attacks, and enough strikes, or powerful strikes, will dispel it. Higher tier turns it into a power-shield that protects even better and even reflects a fraction of protected damage. Highest tier applies a basic shield to the entire party.

Lifeup α, ß, γ - Heals target a little. Higher tiers heal more grievous wounds, like bone fractures.

Healing α, ß, γ, Ω - Heals basic status ailments. Higher tiers can cure more dire effects, like burning alive.

Teleport α, ß - Allows instant transport to the general location of an area remembered by oneself or one's party members. Requires a long, fast run-up to execute, however. Higher tier is largely automatic and requires little room to execute.

Martial Arts - Skilled in hand-to-hand combat.

Ω-Ω-Ω-Ω

Author's Note:

16 k words before author's note and end-chapter summary, 18 k after

HOLY SHIT this was a big chapter

the reasons for that are basically that i wanted to get a lot done but couldn't find time to get it done in under 10 k words, so uh… yeah, here we are!

also i really wanted to get action in since i said it was gonna get in this time

since we're pretty blatantly in the cave to the past right now, the final boss will be NEXT TIME

it's been a rocky road yo, but we're COMIN' IN ON THE FINISH LINE

anyway…

stuff and things about this chapter:

the orcus was a generic heartless recolor from kingdom hearts 358/2 days, but i customized it and stuff because it inspired me somehow. i also gave it some fresh new attacks and stuff because the other one was the same as an invisible because yeah

i still left in its "get stunned if hit after trying the dropping stab" thing

i had a lot of fun writing the interaction with reimu in the shrine in future land, though i dunno how the emotional aspects really carry over or if they have proper time to sink in… or if i hit any emotional notes well at all

oof

reimu picked up teleport α, though, even if she can't use it! she's a smart cookie, yo

a smart, stranded, probably-somewhat-stir-crazy cookie

also, if the timeline situation is confusing, beat me up and i'll update this author's note to give a basic rundown of it or something, but i don't think it's terribly hard to grasp from right now and a little more will be explained in the future; i did my best to make the time travel as least complex as possible considering how out of control time travel always gets in fictional works

...also reimu's moveset was based off of roxas' KH2 fight . w .

despite how much i hate that series' story, the flashiness and RPG elements draw me in, yo…

...not much else to say about the future! it's kind of mysterious but at the same time desolate and stuff

as usual i'll now shamelessly beg for feedback to make sure i didn't blow something up; if i done did did an oopsie please contact your local firing squad for more information- by which i mean yell at me

get HYPE for GIYGAS, YO

edit: also uploading this like ten days after finishing the chapter because i finally got around to proofreading it (something hard for me to focus on because freakin' this chapter's been embedded in my mind from how many times i've tried to proof it only to get interrupted by people)

although i suppose that's what i get for like a sixty nine page chapter (WAHEHE SIXTY NINE DOOD HOHOHAHAHO)

as always, see you all next time!