Hi everyone! I'm back (at least this chapter came out quicker than the last one), and with good news (hopefully, anyway). I've finally gotten back into the habit of writing at a specific time each day (knock on wood), so hopefully I'll start being able to make better progress on writing this thing and be able to update faster.
Another habit I've gotten into is not really knowing where to end things off and just ending chapters randomly. I'll try to stop doing that one from now on, anyway, but you'll have to suffer it for this chapter at least.
Also, in response to Game2002 and anyone else who asked if I respond to PMs: I could? Maybe? I don't think I've ever gotten one, so I've never tried to respond to one. That being said, I'm certainly willing to try and respond to any I get, though considering my track record with answering my email, it might take quite a while to get a response. But on the plus side, it'll make me visit this site more often and hopefully get me writing even more, so go for it.
Now after that long digression, onwards with the story! (Oh, also, I recommend rereading at least the last Pyro/Terry/Mokou chapters, or else you might be a bit confused).
As always, thanks for reading/reviewing/favoriting/enjoying the story! I certainly appreciate it.
"Wha-parent?" Sanae and Mokou said, while Kanako just looked on, confused. Even Suwako looked surprised.
"Pyonta! Why didn't you tell me it was your child?" she said, frowning. She paused for a moment, her eyes glazing over. "How could you not think that was important? And when did you find a mate?" she murmured to herself.
"Our species doesn't require a mate to reproduce," Terry said, speaking through the Pyro. "We simply need enough psychic energy from our hosts to mature to a point where our consciousness splits into two bodies, ejecting a child."
"I…see," Suwako said, looking a little disturbed. "I guess I probably shouldn't have asked. In any case, you're still a threat to Sanae."
"Parent, you underestimate the quality of this host's mind. It is wonderfully different to most," Terry said. "I will not change hosts simply to get the power of a goddess. I am not you."
At this, Pyonta's eyes narrowed, and Suwako, after a brief glance upwards, nodded and closed her eyes. A seam began to open where the brim met the rest of the "hat" and Pyonta began to speak, it's voice deep and steady. "Child. You are me. You are what I was as a child, released when unneeded. I was you. I know how you think, for it is how I thought back then. I know you will, because it is what I did."
"You are incorrect, parent. My mind is not yours. But you will not believe me, will you," Terry said, as the Pyro shook their head.
"I will not," Pyonta said.
"Then let our hosts fight," Terry said. "If we succeed, then you will admit I have no need to change hosts."
"Very well," Pyonta said, while Suwako frowned. "If we succeed, then you will leave this place and never return."
"Agreed," Terry said, before relinquishing control back to the Pyro, who immediately took a step back and began shaking their head vigorously.
"Mmph mmph mph!" they said. "Mmph mmpha mph mmmpphh!"
"It would appear you and your host are not in agreement, child" Pyonta said. "Discord breeds destruction."
"I am aware, parent," Terry said, having taken control of the Pyro again. They remained motionless for a second, apparently communicating. Then the Pyro nodded, and pulled out their flamethrower, seeming very eager.
"Y'know, you don't have to do this fight if you don't want to," Mokou whispered to the Pyro. They shook their head and tightened their grip on the flamethrower.
"Are you ready then, child." Pyonta said.
"We are ready," Terry replied.
"Then let us begin," Pyonta replied, as Suwako began to rise into the air. As she did so, she began sending out slow moving rings of what looked like brightly colored lights, in all the colors of a rainbow.
The Pyro, upon seeing that Suwako could fly, had let out a sad sigh and taken out their flare gun, but upon seeing the colorful rings, they seemed to go completely still. As a result, they were hit by a large amount of the initial barrage, and staggered back in pain.
"If you don't move, child, you are going to lose," Pyonta said. Suwako nodded and let out another wave of colorful rings.
The Pyro continued to remain frozen, and Terry spoke. "I am sorry about this, host," it said. Then, the Pyro began to stagger around awkwardly, putting too much weight behind one step, then not enough behind the next. Moving in this way, they still somehow managed to avoid being hit by the majority of the danmaku, but were still buffeted by a few. Shakily, they raised their flare gun and pulled the trigger. Instead of the projectile that usually came out, a red ball shot forth, which left behind a thin trail from which tiny red bullets were spat out in random directions. Suwako, focusing mainly on the Pyro's odd movements, didn't quite move far enough out of the way, and got hit by a few of the small bullets. Distracted as she was (the bullets seemed more like an irritation than any sort of actually damaging attack), when the red ball finally exploded, she got hit by a few of the shrapnel from it as well. Initially, Suwako and Pyonta were only annoyed that they'd been hit twice by the same attack, but they quickly realized that there was more to it than they'd expected, as the spots where they'd been hit would switch between being painful and feeling completely normal at seemingly random intervals. Because of this, they could never quite get used to the pain, and it became very difficult for them to concentrate, and within just a few moments their danmaku started to thin, to make it easier for them to keep the pattern in their heads. This allowed the Pyro, who was still moving oddly, to avoid most of the rest of the shots, until Suwako and Pyonta decided to change their pattern, and began to descend.
As they landed, the circle of danmaku turned into a vertical wave pattern, where a few large green bullets seemed to hop along the ground, each being orbited by a smaller, yellow, fast-moving bullet. At this change of pattern, the Pyro seemed to recover from whatever had made them freeze and then move awkwardly, and began moving much more fluidly. Despite this, they still didn't manage to avoid getting hit by some of the bullets. Attempting to avoid the large ones led into a difficult situation where they would get hit multiple times by the small orbiters, and when trying to weave between the orbiters, they would more often than not jump right into the path of the larger ones. Terry spoke to the Pyro.
"Have you recovered host. Go left."
The Pyro attempted to dodge left out of the way of the large bullet headed right for them, but ended up running right into an orbiter. "I'm better Terry," they said, in between flares of pain. "It reminded me of the dark rainbows, so I-"
"I understand. You don't have to remember. But we need-stand still," Terry said, as an orbiter passed right through where the Pyro had been about to move. Unfortunately, the Pyro stood still for a second too long, and another orbiter scraped their side. "We need to synchronize. I can see where their shots will be, but I can't move you out of the way in time. I can send impulses to your muscles, allowing for near instantaneous dodges, if you allow your body to follow them. This way I won't be trying to control your whole body, allowing you to move mostly normally, but we will not get hit as often. Is this agreeable to you."
"So I won't be hit by the pain spheres? That sounds great," the Pyro said.
"Good then," Terry said, and the Pyro felt something seem to shift inside their head, some tendrils withdrawing from parts of their brain, while others moved from one part to another. As they were getting used to the strange sensations, Suwako and Pyonta's barrage hadn't let up, and they found themselves staring directly at a large bullet heading in their direction. Before the Pyro could think, they felt their muscles twitch and, following their lead, rolled right, evading the bullet entirely. Immediately afterwards, there was a slight twitch left, and they jumped back left, dodging the orbiting adjacent bullet. Then, as they were about to move forward, their muscles tightened, and they stood still, managing to squeeze between a large bullet and its orbiter.
"Ooh, thanks Terry fairies," the Pyro said, looking at a spot around their knee, where they saw a tiny version of Terry with wings pulling them in the direction they should move to dodge. "Now I can get close enough to use the rainblower and make them happy! They look kinda sad." Slowly, they began making their way forwards, dodging through the danmaku pattern almost perfectly (there were times where dodging simply would have required superhuman movements), until they were only a few feet away from Suwako and Pyonta, who had been watching their progress with growing curiosity.
"Impressive, child," Pyonta said. "For a first synchronization, that was very good."
"Thank you, parent," Terry said, as the Pyro pulled out their flamethrower. "I told you I had no need for any host but this one." The Pyro pulled the trigger, and a wave of danmaku, so closely intertwined that it would have looked like one solid mass, were it not for the small gaps between the circular bullets, flowed out of the end of it, engulfing Suwako and Pyonta. Immediately, their danmaku pattern stopped, and they flew up as quickly as they could to escape the Pyro's attack. All over her body, Suwako felt the telltale pinpricks of pain where the danmaku had hit. It felt like the cells in her body were taking turns to flare up in pain before calming back down to feeling normal again, then repeating the pattern again.
From the sidelines came a gasp from Sanae, who looked worried, while Kanako clenched her fist, and though her expression was a mask of stern indifference, it did little to hide her anger and worry. Mokou simply looked on, interested, as she lit another cigarette.
Suwako, who had managed to escape the Pyro's range, hovered in the air, trying to get a handle on the fluctuating pain so she could focus enough for one of her most powerful spellcards. "You look pretty when you're sparkling, goddess lady," the Pyro called out to her.
At this, her mouth widened into a large, joyless grin, and the veins on her forehead started getting more pronounced. "Oh I do, do I?" she said, a barely concealed fury in her voice. "I think you'd enjoy it much more!"
The Pyro shook their head sadly. "I can't sparkle. The suit," the said, gesturing to the fireproof suit they wore, "prevents me from sparkling."
"Let's see if we can change that then," Suwako said, managing to concentrate enough to start sending out a new wave of danmaku. This wave consisted of a set of large, color-changing bullets that went in a spiral pattern, their spirals getting larger as they got further away from Suwako, and large lasers that went right through the center of the spirals formed by the large bullets. In addition, smaller bullets were ejected seemingly randomly from the larger bullets, creating a hard-to-avoid crossfire.
On the sidelines, Kanako let out a low whistle. "I don't think I've seen Suwako get this mad in a while," she said.
"I haven't seen her like this since the last time you-" Sanae began, before Kanako clamped a hand over her mouth.
"Ahahaha, we don't need to go telling everyone about that, do we?" Kanako said, her face reddening. "Ok, Sanae?" she said to Sanae, who nodded.
Mokou simply raised an eyebrow before shrugging and focusing back on the fight.
The Pyro and Terry were in trouble. This new attack pattern seemed to screw with Terry's perceptions, and dodges that were meant to lead the Pyro to safety somehow threw them right into the path of a small bullet, and the Pyro themself seemed to be having a hard time, barely managing to move themselves in the direction Terry suggested, let alone attempt to make any progress towards Suwako. "I don't understand," Terry said. "Why are my predictions wrong."
The Pyro, who had just dodged into the way of one of the small bullets, said, "Why are there so many of you, fairies? Which way should I go? I know you all want attention, but there's only so much I can give."
"How's it going down there?" Suwako said, alternating between a broad smile and a wince of annoyance. "Ready to give up yet?"
"We will not," Terry replied.
"There is a time to simply concede, child," Pyonta said. "Fighting when you have no chance helps no one."
"We will keep fighting," Terry said, as the Pyro managed to barely dodge one of the lasers. Hesitantly, they managed to aim their flare gun in Suwako's direction, but were hit by a small danmaku bullet, causing them to flinch and fire wide. Luckily, one of the stray bullets managed to hit one of Pyonta's eyes, causing it to let out a monotone cry of pain. Immediately afterwards, Terry found that his predictions were once again accurate, as the Pyro, though moving slowly due to the pain of having been hit by so many danmaku bullets, managed to dodge around one of the large spirals and straighten up just in time to avoid one of the smaller bullets hitting them in the face. "I can predict again," Terry said. "But why am I-oh. I see. Pyro, do not look directly at Pyonta. They are attempting to manipulate us through psychic suggestion, to drive us into the path of the bullets. Just fire blindly. I do not believe ammunition will be a concern."
The Pyro managed to take Terry's advice, and began firing their flare gun wildly in the direction they thought Suwako and Pyonta were. While Suwako managed to dodge out of the way of the initial projectile, she found herself and Pyonta being battered by the smaller projectiles. In addition, the Pyro could no longer see Terry fairies pulling them in every direction, only in the directions Terry wanted, and managed to dodge the majority of the danmaku coming from Suwako. Eventually, Suwako and Pyonta grew frustrated enough to lose their concentration, and the danmaku pattern stopped once again.
"Wow, they figured that one out quick," Kanako said, while Sanae clapped in the background "Must have taken me a good ten, fifteen minutes to realize that was hypnotic. Though by that point I was already pretty beaten up."
"True. That was mostly luck though. If they hadn't hit Pyonta's eye with that stray bullet, they'd a' been in trouble," Mokou said, frowning. "And with the beating they've taken, I don't think they'll be able to take much more," she whispered to herself.
"I would not have continued fighting in the same position," Pyonta said.
"As I said, I am not you," Terry replied, as the Pyro began to pat the Terry fairies they still saw flittering around them.
"Perhaps. But this is not over, is it, host," Pyonta said.
"Of course it's not over!" Suwako said, barely containing her fury. "I'm not giving up until I've beaten you!"
As she spoke, a huge cylinder of slowly rotating danmaku formed around the Pyro and Terry, creating a large, shifting wall, leaving them barely any room to maneuver in. Streams of red danmaku began to flow in increasing intervals into the swirling vortex in which they were trapped, and Terry barely had time to sense them coming before they were already upon them. The Pyro, who was barely able to move before due to having been hit by so much danmaku previously, could only avoid some of the shots each time, causing them to get progressively slower and slower. Seemingly in response, the swirling vortex around them got faster and faster, until eventually it became a sheer wall of rainbows. As the Pyro noticed this, they froze, flickers of a memory stirring in their head. A memory of being surrounded by a dark liquid, rainbows shifting and oozing across its surface, as they struggled and struggled to keep on the surface, until the bright red came and consumed it all, the rainbows screaming as they were torn away. They collapsed to the ground, unmoving, even as the streams of danmaku pelted their body.
"Host, get up," Terry said. "Stop remembering those experiences. They were blocked for a reason. Please host, at least until this battle is over, keep moving." Despite Terry's efforts though, the Pyro remained motionless, lost in their memory. "Host, I can't fight them alone. Please host, respond," Terry said, as the Pyro's body continued to be pelted by danmaku, their body. "I can't move you without causing serious damage to your muscles, they're expended as it is. Host – no, Pyro, please, at least twitch." When the Pyro continued not to respond, Terry blinked, and uttered a simple "Damn." Raising its voice, it yelled, "We concede." The spell card continued raging. "We concede," it yelled louder. The spell card continued. "Ah. This cyclone is too loud for them to hear me," Terry said to itself. "I'm sorry, Pyro. The fault here is mine. I should not have dragged you into my fight." Terry spread itself around the Pyro's head, trying to protect them from the danmaku as best it could. An instant later, the danmaku in the cyclone began to slow and vanish into thin air. As it disappeared, Mokou strode through the cyclone, flinching as some of the danmaku that remained crashed into her, but still walking into the center.
"Knew I heard something," she said, reaching down and hoisting the Pyro onto her shoulder.
"How did you hear me," Terry asked. "The cyclonic danmaku should have drowned out my speech."
"I've got good ears," Mokou said, shrugging. "'Sides, I was gonna step in anyway. When I didn't see any responding shots coming out, I knew somethin' had to be wrong."
"Ah, I see," Terry said. "Thank you."
"S'no problem. This one's still my responsibility," she said, raising the shoulder on which the Pyro was draped. "What happened, anyway? Y'seemed to be doing pretty well out there till now."
"They were reminded of something they shouldn't have been," Terry said. "You will have to ask them for more information, when they awaken."
Mokou frowned, but nodded. "Well, let's get them somewhere more comfortable than my shoulder, then," she said, as she carried them past the almost completely vanished danmaku cyclinder.
Immediately after they became visible, Sanae began to run toward them, squeezing her gohei nervously, while Kanako followed afterwards, looking grim. Suwako was finishing up stopping her danmaku pattern, and with a final word, the remaining bullets vanished into nothingness. "Are-are they ok?" Sanae asked.
"Well, they're unconscious, but Terry seems to think they'll wake up at some point soon, so they'll probably be ok, just pretty sore, I'm guessing," Mokou replied. "Considering the amount of danmaku they got hit by, they're gonna hurt all over," she said, speaking from experience.
"Oh, thank goodness," Sanae said, as Suwako walked over, sheepishly twiddling her thumbs. "Isn't that great, Miss Suwako, they're going to be ok!"
"Yeah," Suwako said, looking away. "That's good." Mokou opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Suwako said, "I'm sorry, ok! They'd been doing fine through the rest of the patterns, so I didn't think this one would be any harder for them than the others."
Mokou looked like she was about to say something, but then simply shook her head. "Yeah, I know, I know," she said. "Just, just be more careful using that last pattern, willya? S'dangerous to newcomers." She ran her free hand through her hair, while Suwako looked frustrated. "Anyway, you got somewhere to set 'em down for now? I don't want to have to carry 'em the whole time they're recoverin'."
"No. We are supposed to leave," Terry said, still covering the Pyro's head. "We have lost, that was the agreement that started this."
Mokou glared down at Terry. "You really think that still matters now? 'Sides, I couldn't really carry you all the way out of here without some help," she said.
"That was the agreement I made with my parent," Terry said. "Agreements are binding, are they not, parent."
"They are," Pyonta said, causing Mokou to grit her teeth angrily and Sanae to look at Suwako pleadingly. "But the premise of our agreement was flawed," Pyonta said. "You have proven to me that we are not the same. I would not have given up simply to save my host's body from unnecessary strain."
"Wait, you wouldn't?" Suwako said. "Pyonta-" she said, angrily.
"It is not a concern with you, host Suwako," Pyonta said. "You are a god. Gods' bodies cannot be strained beyond repair, faith will fix any injuries you sustain. The same cannot be said of my child's host. You truly do not wish to exchange hosts, child. You have connected too deeply with this one," it said, turning to Terry.
"That is correct, parent," Terry said.
"Then my argument was flawed, and our agreement is void. You are free to stay," Pyonta said.
Sanae sniffed, wiping away a tear from her eye. "Oh, isn't it heartwarming? A parent and child reconciling after a long time apart!"
"Maybe if it hadn't been completely monotone," Mokou said, though she still wore a half-smile. "So can I please put them down somewhere, now that that's settled?" she asked, staggering a little.
"Oh yes," Sanae said, startled, "follow me." She ran back towards the shrine, Mokou following as quickly as she could after her. Sanae threw open the shrine door, and helped Mokou drag the Pyro onto a mat, then lay them down. Suwako and Kanako hung back, talking.
"Rrggh, this is frustrating," Suwako said softly. "I mean, it's not like I could have known they'd be unable to fight back to that attack, right?" she asked, looking towards Kanako, who shook her head.
"No, you couldn't have known. That being said, it's been a while since I've seen you angry enough to use that one," Kanako said. "What happened?"
Suwako grimaced. "I don't know. Part of it was their danmaku-it had this weird effect of constantly flaring up and then dying down in intensity, and that was aggravating, but there was just an undertone of anger there for some reason."
"I am sorry host," Pyonta said. "That was due to me. I was angry at myself for seeing the child I'd lost, and that anger was shared with you."
"Lost? How did you lose your child?" Suwako asked curiously.
"I do not wish to speak of it," Pyonta said.
It was at this point that a strong wind alerted them to the arrival of Aya, who skidded to a halt next to them. "Hi!"
Kanako groaned, while Suwako adjusted Pyonta on her head, trying to act nonchalant. "Hello Aya," Kanako said. "What horrible twist of fate brings you to our shrine today?"
"Well, I'm helping look for an outsider who's supposedly around here, but first," she said, quickly stepping around Kanako to look at Suwako, "what happened to you? You look like you've been fighting a bear or something."
"We were sparring," Suwako said. "Well, I was practicing my dodging skills. Apparently they need work." Kanako nodded.
"Really? This doesn't seem like your handiwork though, Kanako. I should know what your danmaku's like by this point, considering how many times I've been hit by it. This seems more like Mokou's doing. Ah!" she said, preparing to write in her notebook. "You cheated on Kanako with Mokou, didn't you, but Mokou found out you were already in a relationship, and so you two had a huge fight, didn't you!"
"Do you really think I'm so naïve that I wouldn't figure somethin' like that out?" Mokou said, putting a hand on Aya's shoulder.
Aya attempted to spin around, but Mokou's grip held fast, "Ayayayaya! When did you get there? But this just proves my point! Why else would you be here if not for a lurid tryst?"
Mokou simply rolled her eyes. "I was escortin' someone here," she said.
"Oh! Who? Was it your lover you were going to get secretly married to? And then Suwako messed it up?" Aya said, scribbling notes in her notebook.
"What happened to me bein' in a tryst with Suwako?" Mokou asked. "Anyway, no, it's nothin' like that. I was probably escorin' the person you were lookin' for."
"Huh? Person I was – oh! Right, I forgot. Where are they then?" Aya said.
"First, how did you know where they were?" Mokou asked, turning Aya around.
"Oh, I found some of the others. One of them has this device that can locate the other members of their team," Aya said.
Mokou sighed. "Well that would have been convenient to have earlier. Can you take us back to their teammates?"
"Sure, sure. But I get an interview with this one!" Aya said, holding up her notebook.
To Aya's surprise, Mokou smiled at that. "Sure, that's fine. In fact, I wouldn't miss that for the world. But you'll have to wait until they're awake again, they're currently unconscious."
"Wow, another one? These guys seem to get injured all the time. First that Scout gets into a fight with Yuuka, now this one's unconscious as well?" Aya said, scribbling in her notebook. "Maybe that wizard really did curse them."
"Wait, an outsider fought Yuuka?" Kanako said, interested. "That's something I would have liked to see."
"Well, just wait until my paper comes out!" Aya said, "I've got pictures of the whole thing!"
"I guess for once I'll actually read your paper then," Kanako said.
"Hey, that hurts, you know?" Aya replied. "I work hard on my paper!"
"While I'm sure you do, the quality-" Kanako began to say, before Sanae stepped out of the shrine and hurried over.
"What's going- oh, hi Aya. What brings you here?" she asked.
"She's going to try and get an interview with Pyro when they wake up," Mokou said, smirking.
"Oh? That might be difficult," she said, frowning. "But would you like to wait inside? I'll make us all some tea."
"Ooh, that sounds nice, thanks!" Aya said, rushing towards the shrine entrance. The rest followed at various speeds, Suwako and Kanako bring up the rear.
"Sanae's too nice for her own good sometimes, isn't she?" Kanako said, sighing.
"Well, at least it's only Aya. The worst she could do is write a 'scandalous' story about us or something," Suwako said. "But just in case, no talking while she's here, ok Pyonta?"
"Yes, host" Pyonta said.
"And don't think I've forgotten what we were talking about before," Suwako said. "I still want to know how you could just 'lose' your child." Pyonta was silent, so Suwako simply shook her head and followed Kanako into their shrine.