Chapter 17: Love, Love Rhythm
Alex left the Human Village roughly the same time as Shina, but unlike her his spirits didn't feel as high as the clouds. He wasn't too surprised by that. Even the brightest rays of sunshine couldn't penetrate the thickest clouds in his heart, after all.
But Alex wasn't moping around, cursing his life like he used to. Now that he had the chance to think by his lonesome, the weight of what he did last night set upon his shoulders like an entire planet. He felt guilty that he was unable to recall most of his actions after the two kissed. The vague memories of moaning and grunting painted a vivid enough picture of ecstasy the two took part in. Alex could only think, however, of his own participation in the act, or rather the lack thereof.
Shina had done most of the work, an expert in comparison to his sloppy, novice self. His parents had perished too early to teach him how to handle a situation like that, so by all means he shouldn't feel guilty about his inexperience, right? But he did, and he could only murmur tiredly to himself, "Why?"
Was it because he was coerced into performing the act? Did Shina's pure, lustful gaze leave him incapable of saying no? Absolutely. Not. Alex knew who Shina was, and her only fault there was perhaps advancing their relationship too soon and too quickly.
But its not as though the love wasn't there. Alex DOES love her. Shina DOES love him. What they did with that love was going to happen eventually, and Alex believed that some part of Shina was aware of that. The deeper Alex thought about this, the more frustrated he grew.
And he knew that every second longer he spent on this was a spit on the face on Shina's efforts. She was basically an amateur too, but she still tried so, SO hard to make it work. The echoes of her quivering lips and delicate moans could attest to that, as much as it embarrassed Alex to admit it.
Alex then froze in place, his brain feeling as though it had been forced through a cheese grater. He grumbled from the side of his mouth and shook his head.
He knew the truth. He didn't want to ADMIT it, even when by himself, but he knew it...and dreadred it more than death.
"I...could be a father."
His hands could be felt trembling as he lifted and stared at them with pale white eyes. He imagined a baby no bigger than his head cradled in his arms. Basic paternal instincts kicked in, urging him to give it a hug, but instead he started to cry.
The child was a figment of imagination, a creation of stress. But its warmth and the tears he felt trickling down his cheeks were real as could be, and frightening too. If he gave this child a hug, would it cry? ...Would it live?
He didn't have any faith in his ability to hold a child, let alone show how much he truly did love it. But he didn't deserve to have one...He didn't know the first thing about taking care of one and beyond that, what would that child even be like? Would they take after their mother, and be as pure as the winter snow? Or would they take after him, and develop the split personality disorder that ruined his life?
Shina didn't deserve to have a child like that, even if she'd love them with all her heart. That's why Alex knew he'd never be rid of this guilt, because he helped Shina created it.
"Son of a bitch..." Was the only thing Alex could growl about all this.
He grabbed onto the side of his throbbing head and tried to take deep breaths. The air was stagnant but clean, fresh with the smell of morning dew and the forest leaves. It was the perfect relaxant for the mind, albeit a temporary one in Alex's case.
He was very, very glad when he was reminded of what he's supposed to be doing, which forced those negative thoughts out of his mind. After one five-second long breath he tucked his hands into both pants' pockets and reached for the Gaia Temporis, raising and tossing it a couple times next to his face.
"Ok, lets see what I can find..." He clasped the stone down tight, and his muscles felt taut. So he let out a sigh, and then headed higher into the sky.
It didn't take long for him to sense a magical force trying to repel him, more than likely the Hakurei Barrier's power at work. But he needed to get as close as possible to the edge of Gensokyo if he wanted any chance of finding the Dream World.
From what Alex could recall, the realm existed separate from Gensokyo, but could be accessed from it. It was an Incident that Reimu, Marisa, Sanae and Reisen were involved in that took them to the Dream world, and from Marisa's account of things that place isn't that easy to reach.
But Alex didn't consider that a challenge in the slightest. The Gaia Temporis had allowed him to reach normally impossible places in the past. All he had to do was find the entrance, and the stone would handle the rest.
He held one hand up near his forehead to fend off the irritating sunlight and then used the other to keep the Gaia Temporis propped up by his face. Only someone like Alex could so casually treat this artifact of unimaginable power like a store bought magnet.
He waved the stone around a bit, maybe floating a few inches in some direction if he felt like it. The stone was either broken, or not getting a signal at all. So he shook it some, thinking maybe it needed a little wake-up call. The stone could be as stubborn as a mule and more disagreeable than a full-grown cat.
Alex wasn't sure what kind of grudge the sentient lifeform in the Gaia Temporis had against him, but they rarely saw eye-to-eye beyond letting him stop time. It was starting to get borderline irritating, and childish.
"You're just opening a hole, I could do that easily with a shovel...!" He sighed as he turned the stone around and glared into its clock-like engravings. He suspected the thing inside was looking back at him with a cheeky smile, so he gave the stone another hard shake to put it in line, then rested it by his hip.
He hung his head back until his neck was sore and thought about this another way, "Or maybe the entrance has been moved..."
He huffed, and puffed, and he quietly blew his anger out, "God...damnit! That's ex-actly what's going on here!"
Anything simple in life would always get complicated. That's the lesson that has been pounded into his head one stubborn, rusted nail at a time. "No wonder I get all these headaches..." He thought as he put the stone away for now.
He realized his only recourse NOW was to find someone who knows about the Dream World and ask them how to enter it. Regrettably, his rational mind went straight for Eirin.
"Nope, nope. Not again." He shook his head, and thrust his arms out. Denial was a hard pill for him to swallow, but there was no dosage high enough to fend off reality.
"Fine, fine...I'll go ask her." He slowly started his descent towards the Bamboo Forest. But as he made his way there a few dark clouds started to form in the atmosphere, and the temperature took a sharp plunge into the twenties.
He lifted one arm up and saw his hairs sticking on end. A thunder storm was coming, and a strong one at that. Alex found nothing ominous about that, for nature was just doing its thing. But what WAS strange were the sounds that accompanied it.
"Badump!" "Badump!" "Badump!"
It was a solid beat, each sound coming two seconds apart from each other. A tribute to the coming storm perhaps? All Alex knew was that it was close, and behind him. He peeked over his shoulder and saw someone floating there quietly atop a red drum decorated with a flowery white pattern.
The girl looked like she came straight out of band practice, for she wore a white sport coated with long sleevs over a black shirt with red cross-hatching, and a purple tie on top of that. She had a curious pair of black-purple shoes with red lacing and a large drum mallet on each heel. Her short, wavy red hair matched the color of her eyes, which remained partway shut the whole time she sat there.
"Fancy running into you here." She spoke up with a voice as smooth as jazz. When combined with her loose, laid-back posture, her demeanor could only be described as "one cool cat". Alex also got a bit of a "Big sister" vibe from the drummer, which is precisely how she saw herself towards her fellow tsukumogami.
Her words about this being a coincidential meeting rung hollow in Alex's ears. After gesturing a hand up next to his face he remarked, "I'm sure lots of people like to fly around in storms."
"You got me," She replied with paper thin resistance as she crossed her delicate legs together, "Truth is, I've been tailing you since you left the village."
"Really?" Alex slowly, grimly raised his brows.
"I'm not a stalker, if that's what you're insinuating," She took such subdued accusations in strider as she leaned to the side and commented, "But you could called me a fan, Mr. Overlord."
Alex decided it be to be quiet and hear her out for now. And no, it was NOT because he found the compliment flattering!
"We actually 'met' last night. At the festival? Kokoro's performance?"
Alex knew she'd've stuck out like a sore thumb even in that thick a crowd. He was just too embarrassed to admit to a strange complete stranger as to why he was distracted. The girl shrugged and seemed no worse off not being recognized.
She leaned her right hand out and introduced herself, "Raiko Horikawa. Pleasure to meet you."
Raiko Horikawa ~ Rhythmic Beat of Freedom
Alex crossed his arms against his chest and felt a little shy, so he just waved his fingers out a bit and remarked plainly, "Alex Whiter. Same here."
Raiko blinked a few times and then retracted her hand to the top of her drum, then paddled her legs a bit and smiled, "That's fine. That's the way you live your life."
"Huh?" Alex said with his mouth hung to the right a bit.
Raiko summoned a drumstick into her right hand and flicked it out at him like a magic wand, then winked one eye shut and smirked, "Can I ask you to spare a moment of your time? There's something I want to see clearly with my own two eyes."
There was an intriguing air to this drum come to life that Alex found himself entranced by. But not enough to just answer her request all willy-nilly, certainly. After crossing his arms up tight he closed his eyes to reject her distracting charm as he asked, "And that is...?"
"My power is to make anything follow a rhythm. Though to do that, I would naturally need an understanding of other's rhythms, yes?"
"Of course," Alex brushed a hand up beside his face and remarked, "Its like how a fire-wielder needs heat protection."
"Bingo!" She turned her body to the side and put more 'Oomph!' into swinging her drumstick out, then resumed sitting back against her drum and explaining in detail, "A body houses three different rhythms. One for the body, one for the mind, and one for the soul."
Alex grumbled while scratching the side of his face with a full hand's worth of fingers, "This isn't going to lead to some psychoanalytical mumbo-jumbo is it?"
"I can tell you've run into your fair share of those already," Raiko said with a mildly humored chuckle, "But no, that's not it. You just have a very...curious rhythm."
"Do I now?" That term was broad enough in this case that Alex was actually legitimately interested to see where the drummer was heading.
"When you were with that girl, your overall rhythm was harmonious. I would daresay you could make a heavenly concerto with that rhythm," The expression on her face got just that tiniest bit dour as she murmured, "But there was some disharmony deep inside. It was difficult for me to peg what was wrong because of the crowd at the time, but..."
"But now you've got me and my 'rhythm' all to yourself..." Alex nodded his head a couple times and stretched his arms out with a long sigh, "Well, here you go then. Examine as much as you like."
Raiko pinched the drumstick between two fingers and laid it down flat on her drum. She kicked her feet up to budge a little closer and then used the bridging of her fingers to support her chin, "I'd love to, but your whole temperment changed overnight. Now its neither harmonious or disharmonious, just this terrible mess of static that no radio DJ worth their salt would air."
"Hmph, understandable..." Alex left the matter at that as he asked, "Then I guess you're out of luck. I doubt a dunk in the sauna's going to fix this."
"Hmmm, I like the way you think, but there IS another solution," Raiko swung her right hand up and created a Spell Card, catching Alex's attention right away. Having ensnared him with her intrigues, the drummer laid her motives out clear as day, "Face me in a Spell Card duel, and we'll see if that'll be enough to unravel the strings in your heart."
"Therapeutic fighting eh?" Alex grinned and swung his right hand up as he finally opened his eyes to stare down the eager Raiko, "I like the way you think!"
Raiko closed her eyes and found herself getting absorbed within her surroundings enough to swing her arms out as though wanting to embrace it all, "The skies are alight with the sounds of rising thunder. The clouds want to dance to the beat of their own drum, but are scared to do so."
She picked up her drumstick in the beat of the eye and threw another wink Alex's way, and suddenly her voice got a lot more boisterous and excited, "What say you, Alex Whiter?! How about we welcome the thunder's call with the echoing, primordial beat of battle?!"
For an instrument, Alex couldn't deny that the pressure she exuded was incredible. It took his breath away like a hurricane, and left nothing but the quiet gasps of excitement in its place. He grinned from cheek-to-cheek and already felt the tension leaving his body, and interjected his own fiery passion into Raiko's call to battle.
"Sure, why don't we play a song that even Raijin will listen to?!" Alex swung his body out to get into a battle ready stance while simultaneously throwing his own wind pressure to battle against Raiko's.
Her face remained relaxed as the colliding forces pushed her hair back, her smile tensing up with glee. She then thrust her Spell Card out before her chest and whipped her hands up to summon a drumstick in each one. She didn't waste a second pounding the Spell Card with a thunderous reverb and declaring its name as though announcing the opening song for a DJ rave party, "Lets get this party started with my first card! Metronome over Gensokyo!"
She pulled and twirled her drumsticks around once before tucking them in her pants. She then started off her Spell Card by taking the drum mallet on her right heel and gently pounding the drum she sat on.
A small glowy bongo drum spun into existence next to her body. Once fully materialized, it locked onto Alex's location and thrust right at him. He grimaced and flew to the right, appreciating that the bongo kept to a straight line instead of curving like most other bullets of its type had tended to.
The bongos banged themselves at a steady but hard enough rhythm to release physical soundwaves in the air, whose effects lingered even as the bongos vanished. Alex kept an eye on them but then twisted his head back towards Raiko. She kicked the drum with her other heel and summoned a second bongo to take its place.
Alex decided to bend his head back and perform a stationary loop-de-loop to get around the bongo, but stopped before ramming into the soundwaves it left behind. He then turned to Raiko, who beat to the rhythm of her drum quite literally, and summoned another bongo.
Now came the time to retaliate, which Alex started off by thrusting his hands out a few times rapidly to pepper her fireballs. She took the attacks without flinching and smirked through the smoke, which disappeared as the third bongo thrust by overhead.
Alex jerked himself to the left and tucked his stomach in with one dodgy breath, letting him evade the bongo in the nick of time but leaving him feel woozy for a moment. He staggered back and was nicked in the back by some of the first shockwaves, which sharply brought his senses back to normal.
Before the fourth bongo could trap him in, he wisely decided to dive down and attack from a safe angle. After peppering Raiko with a few more fireballs he evaded another bongo and kept his eye on the drummer's movements. She was keeping pace with her rhythm without wasting a millisecond between each beat of the drummer.
But Alex had seen enough Spell Cards to know that there was always another trick waiting in the wing. And those soundwaves were definitely involved somehow. For now though, they were just a nuisance, kind of like when he used to run into spider webs while climbing the mountains back home. In his opinion, those were the worst.
The pattern kept up a couple more times, with Alex bobbinh and weaving through the bongos without suffering a hit. His muscles were loosening up little by little, and what he was thinking about before was so far in the back of his mind that you'd need a microscope to identify it.
He found it funny, really, how just a day ago he dreaded the idea of Spell Card duels. But now he was enjoying this simple little match with Raiko. Maybe it was the friendly atmosphere between the two that did it for him. Everyone else had their ulterior motives to use or play with him like he was a type of ragdoll.
She just wants to pique her curiosity, and her methods and reasoning was harmless. And it was interesting for him to see her Spell Card in action. There was no doubt in his mind that she could make something more complex to keep him on his toes, but that's not how she lived her life.
She was of simple mind and simple soul, and all she wanted was a simple life. What could drive a tool to desire freedom for themselves? There may never be an answer to that question. But Raiko's conviction to her personal freedom was as undying as the storm they fought inside, whose quiet thunderclaps she commanded to sound off with every drumbeat she made.
Soon Alex woke up from his trance and realized that there were twelve interwoven strings of soundwaves in the sky between him and Raiko, and no more bongos were flying his way. The drummer closed her eyes and with a resounding clap of the hands proclaimed, "This first reverb shall be in tribute of the sky, which blankets the world in its pristine beauty everyday!"
She pounded the drum with a firm downward swing of both her mallets. The soundwaves quickly transform into a sea of yellow Danmaku that, for the first time, looked like actual bullets! Alex floated around, trying to weave through these dangerous 'waters' and get closer to Raiko.
But the amount of bullets numbered the hundreds and kept closely knit together, forming a net that Alex got entangled in pretty quick. He took continuous damage for a couple seconds but chose to grin and bear it just because he had a clean shot view of Raiko's body.
She dangled her feet in front of her drum and paddled them playfully in the breeze while Alex trudged through all those bullets. Alex stretched one hand between some of them and launched out a body-sized fireball, then reeled it back in and pushed on through some more.
He only had to endure the bullets for a couple more seconds, luckily, and their disappearance was followed up with the quiet chirps of christmas bells. Raiko smiled from that melody, and then continued from the top. The bongos returned in full swing, but of course Alex had a much easier time managing against those.
The battle's brisk pace kept him relaxed, as did the soothing rhythm of Raiko's drum. He didn't feel ashamed to admit that he was purposefully delaying the duel just so he could relish in the atmosphere. But a prick in the back of his mind made him realize this was pretty selfish on his part.
He kept dodging the bongos some more, but his body started feeling heavier with guilt. Raiko twitched and snapped her right fingers out, leaving two out in an "L" as she casually commented, "Don't feel bad about this. Gensokyo's meant to be a place where you have fun and be free."
Alex kept his eyes on the drummer as she loosely sprawled her arms out and took a bow in dedication to the winds of freedom that whirled around her, "The shackles of obligation are yours to command, and to break. If your soul's crying for freedom..."
She swung her head up energetically and screamed, "Then answer its call!"
Alex thought about the message she was trying to reach him with and clutched his fists tight, cracking a smile before setting them on fire. After swinging past another of her bongos he started flying her way while exclaiming, "Heh, you're not bad for a set of taiko drums!"
He pounded the air and unleashed the full force of his resolve in the form of two screeching Phoenix head blasts of fire. Raiko was swallowed amongs the flames and started to sweat a little, but did not lose sight of the rhythm of her Spell Card. A bongo flew forward and crashed into Alex's body, but he recovered fast and did a side somersault to evade the emerging soundwaves.
Following that, he swung his right hand back and turned the static surrounding him into pure electricity. He thrust and spread his right hand out, sending an intricately weaved web of electricity into Raiko's body. Once more, Alex had to throw some silent praise her way for surviving this long against his attacks.
She kept the pace of her attacks going until there were a dozen strings of soundwaves prepared once more. She pounded the drum with both her mallets and filled the sky with bullets, with Alex in the center of them all. But there was no need to struggle against their onslaught this time. There was an opening in the top that he could safely attack her from.
He rose up there and clutched a bundle of flames in his right hand tightly, then grit his teeth and sent them out with all his might in the forth of a bright, sweeping wave. Raiko sat there and took the attack head on, this time leading to her Spell Card breaking.
Alex dropped down front and center with her drum and cautiously waited for her next card to come out, smiling the entire time. Raiko closed her eyes and began to reach for the corner of her shirt, pulling it right off with a single tug. At the same time, a ring of hexagonal drum plates attached together by a thin magic string surrounded her body.
The shirt fluttered down and landed atop her shoulders, staying there in a pure defiance of the laws of physics even as she thrust and crossed her arms together, a drumstick in each hand. The sweat dripping from her face flew aside, and her expression was just a little more wild than it was prior.
She hovered her drumsticks over the new drums and caught her breath. She was really getting into the duel now, and the intensity in her voice rivaled the screams of a heavy metal lead singer, "Can you show me the sound of your soul? Hold nothing back, I want to hear it scream!"
The pressure she exuded before was nothing compared to what she showed now. The storm clouds fell to her beck and call and became dark grey, summoning lightning bolts that purposefully evaded her. Alex's eyes widened and he fell silent, and Raiko humbly boasted to further the awe he felt, "Even lightning counts as a rhythm! Now...lets put on a spectacular show!"
Her Last Word appeared a second later, which broke from the ripple of lightning crashing down behind her. She declared its name loud and proud "Last Word! Heart's Beat and Thunder's Clap!" and instantly readied her Danmaku for battle.
Eight bongos were summoned in eight separate "corners" surrounding the two, and the lightning crashed into each one and spread out to form a cage. After all, what is a concert without a stage? The tenser atmosphere and tighter arena was to Alex's liking, just so long as Raiko and him retained that casual attitude between them.
But in an odd turn of events, Raiko not only pounded away at her drums, but sang in a coarse, broken English.
"Let's play our revenge beats!"
"I'm sorry what?" Alex dryly murmured in the one moment of freedom he had before the Danmaku made their appearance known. Each bongo danced to the rhythm of Raiko's strange song and released strings of red notes that also danced.
The notes crossed together in a pretty simple interweaving pattern starting off, but the deeper into the song Raiko got the more notes ended up being added. Blue and then yellow notes danced down their own paths, making even moving a struggle.
Alex couldn't go more than a few inches without worrying about running into Raiko's Danmaku. He looked to her in hopes of finding a pattern, but as the lead singer she was too focused on her unintelligible song to give any indication of such.
It came down to Alex to figure things out on his own based on the surroundings if he wanted to prevail. If nothing else, the notes were a unique touch compared to the hundreds of knives he'd seen with every other Spell Card in Gensokyo.
Alex shuffled his hands around in the air while sending fireballs at Raiko, and had no choice but to stay still until the notes allowed him passage. Ironically, for someone who valued freedom so much, Raiko's Last Word sure did rely a lot on making him dance to the beat of her drum.
Suddenly, Raiko changed up her tune just a bit by banging two drums at once, and the lightning from the clouds was coerced to become a twirling pinwheel around her body. She flung it straight towards Alex, whom after biting his lower lip flung himself through the hole in the center.
The static it released frazzled the hairs on his skin, and as he stood up and patted them down he took many notes to his body. He peered at Raiko from the corner of his eyes and saw her flash a quick smirk, so he gave her one back. Then he raised his left hand up and launched a lightning bolt back with enough force to make his arm recoil.
A glint of light shone from Raiko's eye, and without missing a beat she swung her drumstick down upon her drum and struck back against the lightning simultaneously to deflect it. She smiled at the effort, but there was no need to act superior towards him over an honest error. At least, that's how Alex chose to interrupt her attitude.
So if electricity was a no-go, he'd just have to go with plain ol' fire. Not that that was any issue. Fire was the perfect element to represent the 'screams of his soul' that Raiko desired to hear. He floated around the notes and was not afraid to do silly things like tuck his legs in to dodge them as he slowly peppered away at the drummer with fireballs.
The duel, as enjoyable as it was, would have to reach its climax eventually. It was a song and dance that had lasted only a short time, yet felt so much longer for Alex. And as strange as the lyrics to Raiko's song were, Alex could feel himself resonating with it on a deeper level than the drummer had likely intended.
What he was really curious to know about, however, was if Raiko would find satisfaction through this duel. He wasn't the best judge of his own emotions, but right now the turmoil in his heart had pretty much settled down to be as threatening as a kitten. If that wasn't enough to satiate Raiko's curiosity, then he sure as hell didn't know where to go from there.
Alex couldn't help but let out a slight chuckle at how silly it was. She was the one playing music, yet he was the one being reviewed. Coercered by his eagerness to learn how he had been judged, Alex picked up the pace on throwing fireballs and kept on weaving between the notes.
Getting distracted with these thoughts meant it took him a moment to recognize that he'd taken a lot of hits from the notes. Heck, it was possible he might even lose this battle! Raiko was too cool a customer to let such things as 'fatigue' wear her down and reveal her weakness. Of course, that might have to do with her once being an instrument that's seen plenty of use.
Then, like the sudden clap of thunder echoing across the vibrant skies, the battle was over. Raiko banged down extra hard on her drums, and her Danmaku vanished all at once. She hung her head and panted with visible exhaustion, and her face was drenched in sweat.
Alex tilted his head, drooped his arms down by the hips, and had the most puzzled look on his face as he looked straight at the drummer. She lifted her head up, wiped the sweat from her brows with one of her sleeves, and eased into a laid-back demeanor once more.
"That was a lot of fun. I greatly appreciate you participating in the show, Alex Whiter."
"...So did I win or...?" Alex was honestly too bewildered to think of anything else to say but that.
"Huh? You timed out my Spell Card, so victory is yours," As she put her shirt back on and saw that he was still confused, she waved one of her drumsticks out and remarked, "Haven't you faced a timed Spell Card yet?"
He awkwardly crossed his arms against the chest and stuttered, "O-Oh right, those ARE a thing..."
He then shook his head and waved a hand out to ask, "So how was that performance? You satisfied, Raiko?"
Raiko leaned her head back and let the glistening sweat trickle off her smiling face. Her judgment required a little more patience on Alex's part as she hummed to herself in thought. She then poked her head up just a bit so Alex could look into her eyes as she waved one finger out and remarked, "I see now why your rhythm confused me the first time. Your mind, body and soul were in harmony...but those other souls are not, are they?"
Alex stiffened with a cold sweat coming from his forehead, and his eyes trembled. Not only was this drum strong, she was perceptive to boot. Maybe...too perceptive. Still, she came all this way to figure out this one truth, so Alex felt obliged to at least tell her a little bit more.
"...I've got no idea honestly..." He laid a hand upon his chest and looked down at himself. This quiet, somber voice was very unlike him, which piqued Raiko's interest, "The souls inside of me were once living beings who sacrificed their lives for me...Maybe they're in disharmony because they regret that now?"
He bit his teeth down with scorn in his heart and clutched the part of his shirt around there in his fist, "I wish they'd speak up and tell me what's bugging them, but they've all been asleep for a couple years now..."
"Hmmm, I doubt that's it," Raiko pointed one of her drumsticks down at Alex's chest, "If even one tune is out of harmony with the others, then a song goes from a symphony to a cacophony."
"What?"
"Those souls you house are helping to carry the burden of your disharmony. If that's not a sign of loyalty, then what is?"
Alex couldn't deny she had a point, but it was difficult to stave off the guilt in his involvement. Raiko was so connected with his emotional rhythm, however, that she knew what to say right away, "Whenever you're scared, or angry...Then scream. There'll always be that one special person who'll listen."
She then laid her drumsticks to rest by her hips and kicked her legs up to cross them. With a humble bow and a delightful smile she said, "Until we meet again, Alex Whiter, I hope you follow the rhythm of your own heart."
She prepared to depart for destinations unknown, but upon passing him by left him with a bit of an obvious warning, "Oh but...you might not want to stick around in here. Who knows how nasty Raijin may be today?"
After letting her put some distance away from him, Alex heeded her advice and descended out of the clouds. There was something a little odd about them sticking around like this when the rest of Gensokyo seemed so at peace, but that was the least of his concerns.
He folded his arms against his chest and mumbled Raiko's advice, "That one special person who'll listen..."
Now it felt right to let himself think about that whole "being a father" matter for a bit. Relaxing and closing his eyes, he knew what the right course of action was, "Maybe if I talk to Shina..."
"Talk to me about what?"
"GAH!" Shina's sudden interjection gave Alex a mini-heart attack, and as he held a hand against his throbbing chest he slowly turned around and saw her smiling face staring him down.
In the old days he'd give her crap for sneaking up like that, but right now he was more concerned about the fact that she was there, "I thought we agreed to meet at the Underground?"
She stood upright and giggled, "I was on my way over, but then I saw ya duelin' someone in the clouds and thought I'd check it out."
With her arms tucked back she leaned out and eagerly inquired, "Raiko right? That's who you fought? How was it?"
"...Fine really," He looked away and crossed his arms, since giving Shina free access to look at his face would cause her to start prying, "But I couldn't find an entrance to the Dream World. We'll have to try elsewhere."
"That's a bummer," Shina appeared in good spirits despite the bad news, "I didn't have any luck at the Shining Needle Castle either."
"The inchling didn't give you trouble?"
"Sukuna was a delight!" Shina insisted on him using a first name basis, but no amount of guilty pouting from her would get him to yield on how he used nouns.
Shina then leaned out a little more and took a quick peek at Alex's face before asking, "Soooo, what'd ya wanna talk to me about?"
"Goddang it!" Alex bit his lip and briefly spat empty air before trying to look away from her and saying with a straight face, "O-Oh I was just thinking a bit about ummm...where we're going to live after this is all over?"
"Oh gosh, I hadn't even thought of that!" Shina slapped the side of her face and let out an exaggerated gasp. Alex didn't feel right pacifying her curiosity with a half-lie, but maybe now wasn't the time to bring up something she's probably thought nothing about.
After she slapped him on the back of his neck she congratulated him with a firm thumbs-up, "Way to go for taking initiative Alex! We'll probably hafta live with my mom for a bit, but..."
"Well that sure won't be awkward..." Alex barely grumbled through his teeth.
"Awww it'll be fun! You'll get to take part in family game night, and then we can cuddle ourselves to sleep in my ol' bed!"
Alex squirmed a little at how nonchalantly Shina was taking this matter. Even from her, he had expected some degree of seriousness. He could have thrown that in her face by saying "We're WAY past the point of cuddling now!", but that'd just be rude.
"Shina, focus. We'll cross that bridge later, after we find Hecatia."
"Oh right! Yeah, we gotta find her now!" She snapped back to attention quickly, and Alex then breathed a sigh of relief.
"You're looking for me? Like, what a coincidence! So was I!" A quiet valley girl's accent was the last thing Alex was expecting to hear in Gensokyo, especially considering WHO he'd find out the voice came from.
There was a red-haired, red-eyed woman of average height and build just floating like she'd been there the entire time. Her appearance was fairly modern, with her clothes a short three-colored plaid skirt and a black t-shirt with Welcome ❤ Hell written on the front, which was worn off her shoulders. Alex could properly describe it as clothes you'd find out of the local Hot Topic, but never to this person's face. She wore a collar with chains attached, each one leading to a different orb representing the Moon, the Earth, and a hellish red planet for the Otherworlds, the last of which sat atop her head while the other two were floating aloft. This goofy looking person...was the one Alex and Shina were looking for.
Hecatia Lapislazuli ~ THE Goddess of Hell
The Goddess of Hell kept floating there with an unassuming smile. Alex froze up as he was drawn into her ruby eyes, where he saw a glimpse into a realm far beyond his reach. Even amongst other goddesses and Youkai, Hecatia stood on her own plateau. What frightened Alex the most about her, however, was that he could not sense her power, and yet it overwhelmed him like a divine tidal wave.
Shina leaned into Alex's ear and he could feel her trembles of fear as she whispered, "A-Alex...What's up with her? I can barely stare at her aura..."
"There'll be time for chit-chat later, cause like, I kinda need some help?" Hecatia's lacksy-daisy attitude was followed up by something sudden and ominous occurring behind her.
The storm clouds trembled, a thunderous boom split the skies wide open, and Alex and Shina felt the same overpowering sense of dread descending from behind the Goddess.
Calamity, ruination, fear and rage...Rage, a pure, pure and terrible rage. This was a force of nature at work, a storm of malice that desired to purify the world. Wild, uncontrolled, the storm manifested itself as a feral beast resembling a kitsune.
Its body was nothing but a mass of golden fur stained by a toxic black fog, with little in the way of a face beyond a couple tiny slits for eyes. It landed upon the empty air on all fours, and drained the atmosphere of its bountiful life. Seven violet tails spread out behind the kitsune, but none of them were made of flesh. No, they were comprised of an intangible, intoxicating, malice that corrupted the clouds and turned them to an ashen black. And finally, near the heart of the creature's body was a series of tiny, tiny human hands cradling the skeleton of a baby.
Hecatia's non-pulsed attitude around this monster was baffling to Alex, who knew EXACTLY who and what this thing was. But why now? Why again? And why her? Alex could blame the mastermind for all these questions he had, but pointing his rage at them now would only be a waste. All his rage was but a dwarf star to this person's red giant.
The creature's mouth tore apart, with strings of flesh coming undone until the hollow, vapid void within could bellow a ghastly wail that tore apart the dimensions, "CHANG'E...! GRRRHH...CHANG'EEEEE!"
Shadow Junko, the Incarnate Malice
And as Alex and Shina plugged their ears and tried to cower from the creature's pain and agony, Hecatia held her head up high until a shadow covered her glistening red eyes, and murmured in a monotone voice, "You better hope you can save my friend, Sarajin's successor..."
Next Time: The Shadow over Gensokyo