DISLCAIMER: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS VIOLENT SCENES
Yukari just stood, facing away from Rumia. The Gap World was silent, although every eye in sight swiveled to look towards the Darkness youkai.
Rumia felt small and insignificant.
"Mi-mi-miss Y-yukari?" Rumia said, quietly, as if scared of attracting Yukari's attention.
Yukari did not react. She did not turn. She did not speak. She simply looked into the distance, even though there was nothing to see.
Rumia asked again and again, but there was no reaction, so she just gave up, and sat down.
About five minutes, or, at least, that was what it felt like to Rumia in this world, passed, before Yukari turned.
"I am sure you are aware, that Gensokyo is my responsibility. Indeed, the barriers sealing Gensokyo off from the outside world are my creations." Yukari said.
Rumia nodded. Everyone knew this. Even the Nameless Fairies, which were thicker than Cirno.
"Well, to protect Gensokyo and ensure it's future, and the future of youkai, from the decay of magic in the outside world, I have to plan in advance. Far in advance." Yukari said simply. "I have the main events planned for years to come, however, at certain points, there are... forks in the road to the final destination."
"Forks in the road?" Rumia asked.
"Imagine we travel from where Gensokyo currently is, to where Gensokyo will be in 100 years time." Yukari said. "Imagine that as a timeline... and then turn it into a road, with major events being where the road splits."
Rumia just rubs her head, not understanding, so Yukari forms an image in the air, an image that looked almost like a tree, with all of the branching roads. However, at the end of almost all of the branches, was a red dot, and a gold one on very few branchs, which kept going past the golden dot.
"The red dots denote paths that would lead to Gensokyo's destruction. The Gold dots denote Gensokyo existing in 100 years. I could go on, but I wouldn't want to confuse you too much. The graph is also hardly to timescale." Yukari said, before traceing several roads.
"Notice sometimes, a branch comes off, but it later branches back into the same path? That is a situation I find myself now. There are two options open to me, both of which lead to a 'Golden Point' for Gensokyo." Yukari explains, before she smirks. "And those paths depend on what I do with you, now. I could do either, both options can still lead to Gensokyo's survival, and the rates of each happening are roughly even."
"So... you were not ignoreing me. You were thinking about what do do with me?" Rumia figures out.
"My my. You're more intelligent that I expected. That said, with recent events, maybe I should have expected you to have got slghtly smarter." Yukari says, adding, "Tell me, did Remilia ever tell you what was strange about the theft of her tome?"
Rumia shook her head.
"The book was initially in the basement. The very basement she warned you about. There was no way Marisa would have gone in there, not willingly. Instead, I moved the book from the basement into Patchouli's library, where Marisa would steal it." Yukari explains.
"Why would you do that?" Rumia asked.
"I'm not finished yet." Yukari retorted, bopping Rumia on the head with her parasoul. "Hatate is usually a shut-in, she rarely leaves the Tengu village, relying on her Spirit Photography for news. So what made her know where to find Marisa, and know Marisa had a story with her? Guess."
"... You told Hatate." Rumia said.
"Well, actually I told Ran who told Chen who told Hatate, but the root, yes, was me." Yukari replies. "As for why? The why is you. To see what you would do in that situation, and get you walking down the path I needed you to walk down."
There is quiet, as Rumia thinks.
"But what is this path? What do you want?! Why are you using everyone?"
"For the good of Gensokyo." Yukari said simply. "And as for your first question, to answer that, I would have to make up my mind if I should tell you... or not."
"Tell me what?!" Rumia asks.
"Why Mai reacted like she did. Why your head hurts near portals to Makai. Why Reimu's attitude changed so suddenly after seeing me a short while ago." Yukari says. "They are all interlinked, to an event that happened 100 years ago."
"100 years ago? But I'm only just 100 years old!" Rumia said.
"And don't you find it odd, that a youkai 100 years old is still in the form of a child, and as weak as you are?"
"Satori and Koishi still look like children." Rumia replies.
"That's a species thing, and they are still strong." Yukari says. "Usually, with age comes power for youkai. That is why I am so powerful. There is an ancient rabbit youkai, that is far stronger than any other rabbit youkai, on virtue of her age. Yuuka is a very old youkai, and is very powerful. Most Oni are old."
Yukari sighs.
"I've decided." Yukari said, opening a gap. "Come with me, this gap will show you what happened... 100 years ago."
Rumia gets up, and follows the gap youkai through the gap, a bright light blinding her when she entered.
The light faded, and both Rumia and Yukari were in the sky. It was around midnight, the sky was cloudless, the stars were out, and the moon was full.
"Rumia, we are just veiwing a past event. We cannot interfere in the past, or be effected by things like stray attacks." Yukari says, causing Rumia to notice when she turned to face Yukari that Yukari was translucent. Then she saw her own hands were too.
"...Is that so~" Rumia said, looking through her hands in wonder.
"Pay attention." Yukari said, as a scream rung through the night, followed by another. The sound of battle briefly rung in the forest below. Then silence. Then another scream. Silence.
The screams were getting closer, until there was one right below. Something shot out of the trees, and stopped about five meters away, looking around, and away from Rumia and Yukari.
The stranger was adult height, with straight, long blonde hair, with fresh blood stains. She had a pair of wings, large, and made of crackling black energy, with dark blue bolts occasionally dancing along them. They were thin, like a membrane. She wore clothing similar to Rumia's own, and looked emicated, her arms looking no more than skin and bone, her hands, as well as long nails, like Mystia's talons, drenched in blood.
"W-w-what is that thing?" Rumia asked.
Yukari did not answer.
The being let loose a screech, like a banshee, which pierced the night, before seven rainbow orbs slammed into it.
A woman, looking in her forties, flew near to the creature, which seemed unharmed by the attack, which resembled Reimu's Fantasy Seal. She wore the same style of clothing as Reimu, down to the colors and patterns, even wielding a Gohei. Two Hakurei Ying-Yang Orbs floated around her, and unlike Reimu, her hair was tied into two buns.
"Who are you?" she asked. "I've never seen someone like you before, but violence like that is not allowed here, towards Humans or other Youkai."
The being turned towards the Reimu-like woman, and let loose a blood-curdling screech, before she flew towards her at incredible speed, bouncing off a quickly raised barrier, but shattering it as she did so.
"W-what?! Such power to break the barrier in one hit!" the woman said, as the creature lunged again, bouncing a smaller distance off a second barrier.
"This creature clearly sees no reason. As such, it is my duty as the Hakurei Shrine Maiden to exterminate it!" the woman says, gathering power into the Ying-Yang Orbs, while using barriers to keep the creature at bay.
The creature, however, stopped mindlessly smashing against the barriers, and formed a sphere. The sphere was the same material as it's wings. When it was about the size of a football, with a feral hiss, the stranger hurled the sphere at the woman, before following after it.
The sphere slammed into the barrier formed, and detonated, sending out a large shockwave of black... energy. The woman was thrown backwards, her barrier broken, while the creature flew right into the explosion, and came out the other side, bleeding and battered by her own attack.
Then her hand pierced the woman's chest, before she could even raise another barrier.
"Right through the heart." Yukari said simply, as the creature used her other hand to repeatedly thrust into the torso of the woman, who was clearly dead. The creature turned towards Yukari and Reimu for the first time, and despite looking like skin and bones, Rumia couldn't help but notice something.
"She... looks like me, but older." Rumia said.
The creature let loose another scream, before opening her mouth wide, wide as a snake, revealing sharp teeth, readying to bite the dead woman's head.
That was when a barrage of lasers slammed into her side, causing her to drop the human, and turn, hissing, towards the attacker.
It was Yukari. She looked hardly a year younger, but it was clearly Yukari.
"This is my favorite part." the present Yukari says quietly.
The past Yukari looked at the falling corpse, and sighed.
"The Hakurei Maiden is dead. I guess the next one in line will have to take the mantle sooner than I wished." she said sadly, before looking at the creature, which was looking at Yukari, licking it's lips.
"The Hakurei Maiden failed. Thus, it falls to me to protect this land."she says, being answered by a shriek, before the creature lunged at her, slashing wildly, with long nails, coated in the same dark energy.
The past Yukari parried some blows with her parasoul, and some others with wisps of energy she created, before sending another barrage of lasers at the creature, peircing it's body at point blank.
This, however, did not deter the beast. It's wounds rapidly healed, and it vanished, before it suddenly jumped from between the shadows of two trees, and slashed the past Yukari unaware.
"I see, so you regenerate quickly, and can move between shadows. Annoying in the night. That leaves one option." the past Yukari said, forming multiple barriers around the creature.
"Sealing."
The past Yukari opened a cap, and pulled out a red ribbon, tieing it into a familiar shape, as the creature slammed against the barriers, breaking them one by one, sometimes throwing another energy sphere at them, hurting itself, but regenerating.
Yukari focused on the ribbon, which glowed, as the creature broke out, and lunged at her.
"Border of Perception!" Yukari declared, when suddenly the creature turned and started going away from Yukari.
"I knew I couldn't get in close to tough it, without tricking it. I flipped it's perception... it thinks it's heading towards me, when it's actually going away." the present Yukari explained, as the past one entered a gap, and exited right on the side of the creature.
She then slid the ribbon onto her hair, and the creature stopped, and started grabbing at where Yukari placed the ribbon, and her hand, while hissing manically.
"Ugh, I can't seal her madness, not just the madness anyway... I'll have to seal a lot more, it's all tied together..." the past Yukari said, before with a flash of light, the creature was gone, and replaced.
Rumia started to fall, and was caught by the past Yukari.
"With this, at least you get a chance to live... but I need to find out what you actually are. I think I'll keep you asleep until I can finish up that seal properly and ensure you are safe to exist."
Everything turned to white again... and Rumia was back in the Gap World.
Silence. Rumia couldn't believe what she just saw. She was... a monster like that? A monster that gave Yukari trouble? She killed a previous Shrine Maiden? That would explain Reimu's reaction. But that didn't explain Mai, or Shinki...
"Yes, I sealed your madness and power away." Yukari said. "My hope was that when your new self's mental state became strong enough to withstand and suppress the madness, that your powers would slowly return. However, you just became like a child, and played around. So, I nudged you on the right direction. That is why you can now see in your own darkness... your powers are returning, little by little."
Rumia didn't reply. She was still in shock.
"In case you are wondering who that other person was, it was Reimu's Great-Grandmother." Yukari adds.
"... Not helping." Rumia said.
"I'm not here to help. I'm here to tell you what happened. Anyway, I found out something about you as well. You were not of Gensokyo." Yukari says. "I will give you three guesses where you came from."
"... Makai." Rumia said slowly.
"Bingo." Yukari answered. "I do not know why you came to Gensokyo, or why Shinki isn't after you as well as Alice, or how you got to Gesnokyo... but I know you are from Makai. And judging from Mai's reaction to your name, as well as your... behavior, when you arrived, I can only guess you killed a lot of people in Makai too. It explains the voices and headaches too."
"Makai is making myself want out..." Rumia said quietly.
"Exactly. Makai's Maisma makes it strong enough to effect you, even with my seal."
More quiet.
"You might wonder why I am telling you this. It's because I think we may need that power against Shinki. I am willing to wager that Shinki, if she realises who you are, will remove the seal in an attempt to use you against Gensokyo. My plan, is to let that happen. You see, how you are currently, I think you could have access to your full powers, and retain your sanity, for about... five seconds. With my help, I could up this to thirty, after which you would have to put the seal back on, or lose your mind."
"Wait, you want me to get caught by Shinki, and then beat her and get the seal back... in Thirty Seconds?" Rumia says.
"No. I want you to do what you can and get the ribbon back in thirty seconds." Yukari says. "I don't expect you to win, but that power, might give an opening."
"So you're... just using me as a weapon against Shinki." Rumia says.
"No. As I said, there were multiple paths. However, you getting caught by Shinki during the fight is likely if she realizes who you are. The other options were to take you away from the fight altogether, or to let you be unleashed and deal with you... permanently. I think this is preferable." Yukari says.
Rumia stayed quiet, and Yukari nodded.
"You need time to think. I know. There is still time until you meet your maker anyway..." Yukari said, walking back to where she was before she began talking, leaving Rumia to cry quietly.