Author's Note:

And we're back again! Sorry for the slightly longer than usual wait time on this one. I've been reviewing the outline for this next arc, and trying to make sure everything is where I want it to be. No promises on if my writing speeds up any. Actually, this was supposed to be a short chapter, but yet again it morphed into something long… The longer I work on this fic, the more I wonder if I'm actually one of those convoluted, long-winded writers. Does it feel too long or drag on for any of you? Hm…

Anyways, enjoy the chapter!

~ STAGE 10: At The Mountain's Foot ~

[START]

Luka dreams.

It's a memory like smudged watercolor. Faded, unclear imagery. A silent film without subtitles; yet she somehow knows the story. She watches it from a distance, an observer and audience member in a subconscious theater.

Mountainous terrain a distance away, angled hills, and trees. She's looking at the foot of a mountain. At one end, approaching the mountain, she can make out a crowd of murky silhouettes. Plentiful in number, yet their body language speaks caution. Fear, even. In spite of their vague forms, she recognizes them as a group of humans; youkai exterminators.

Another group, much smaller in number with their backs to the mountain, stands in opposition to the exterminators. Their stances are proud and bestial; decidedly non-human. She can make out the faint outlines of wolves' ears, birds' wings, and all other sorts of strange features decorating their various forms. Youkai, clearly.

… It's coming so clearly, but she still can't tell where she is in the memory. She can't identify herself or even what side she is on. The disconnect remains.

There's a sound like talking as the memory plays on. Humans, jeering and growling. They're demanding something from the youkai. What was it they were saying? Did it even matter?

There's a guffaw from the youkai, like a bunch of street punks. Taunts, delinquent and rowdy. Whatever the humans want, there is only one way they will get it. The youkai don't care otherwise.

She remembers. One desire, one thing all youkai know how to do. When the humans roar in anger and charge them, she feels it. Violence. Thrill. The natural ecstasy, that rushing sensation of facing a natural enemy. Nothing else matters at that moment.

The watercolor image loses its form. All silhouettes fade, swirling away like paint mixing together. There is nothing but that raw sensation, that monstrous instinct. 'Humans' and 'youkai'. 'Heroes' and 'villains'. 'Good' and 'evil'. These labels are but pleasantries; they are nothing but window dressing for the carnal conflict they both thrive amidst. Fight. Kill. Fight. Kill. Feed the conflict. Fuel the divide. The eternal contradiction is all there is.

… So the feeling says. But in that vivid, colorful chaos, why is there such a black pit sitting deep within her gut?

There's no time left for her to dwell on it. As soon as the feeling comes, the colors are torn from one another, like paint being ripped from stirring water. The muddied riot settles, and a figure is standing between the two parties. The humans back away immediately. She realizes a few of them have fallen, unmoving. The youkai, on the other hand, begin to cheer.

She looks at the newcomer, and for the first time in the memory, their image isn't some non-distinct impressionist silhouette. Their image is clear, like a freshly-taken photo. Haughty laughter shatters the silence of the play, and their mad grin lights up the scene. Their colors take shape; hair like burning ginger, billowing purple cloth at the waist, and a white blouse freshly painted red. She is a horned bandit, a fiendish devil, a little drunkard demon.

The girl's title comes to mind immediately: Shuten-douji. Also known as Suika Ibuki. An oni among oni.

"Didja really think you could just walk in on our turf and we wouldn't notice?" A chortle. "Typical humans."

The gathered exterminators all hesitate, their once burning bravado turning to unease. Before they can decide on their next move, the oni raises her hand.

"If you wanted to play with the others we took, ya shoulda just asked!"

In an instant, her colors disperse and reform faster than she can process. The devil is now right in front of them, and she swipes her hand playfully.

That's it. Merely a swipe.

—And yet. It's like a knife carved against the canvas of reality. The mountainous tapestry tears from the force, and a great quake erupts. Red ink splatters across it, and the humans all scatter like frightened ants. Shuten-douji's grin only deepens, her enjoyment of the carnage plain for all to see.

Unfathomable, irreconcilable evil. It's horrifying, too much for her to comprehend. Yet, it's also too familiar. She knows this person. But how? From where? She's still yet to grasp her place in the memory.

She thinks back to the earlier feelings. Does she really want to?

… No, no. Just a little deeper. She can find the truth… Just a little— "General, general!"

Pop. Like a bubble, there went the thought.

"Ah, sonnuva—CUT!"

Her surroundings clarified, watercolor images dispersing with the memory. With a sigh, Luka was back in her 'normal' dream bubble. Sitting in a literal projection of a director's chair, she turned to look at the source of the sound: an errant bagel with an army helmet, rolling through the misty parting memories like a horror movie intern stumbling past a fog machine.

"Salutations!" It innocently chimed, physically poofing right through the cloudy image of Suika. "I come with a message!"

Luka grumbled, focusing on the image it just tore through, pulling it back together. "What is it, Lieutenant? I'm a little busy right now." She snapped as she mentally pushed 'Suika's' slowly drifting head back onto the body.

"Your wake-up call!" The bagel rolled around, its army helmet conspicuously remaining atop its head (?). "Remember? You wanted someone to wake you up when your internal clock felt like it was daytime. So you visualized me doing it since it was convenient and you were lazy and didn't feel like visualizing an alarm clock. Also I'm cute!"

"... Ignoring that you just insulted me, calling yourself cute isn't very cute."

The bagel hopped around. "But I'm a figment of your imagination, which means you think I'm cute! And that you're lazy!" It stopped suddenly. "Speaking of, if I'm just a random thought you're having, why are we having this conversation again?"

… … …

"I've definitely been in here for too long." Luka wearily snapped her fingers, dismissing the bagel.

With a sigh, Luka looked back at the image of Suika. The memory told her a few things but not much. She could only reflect on the events; she didn't have much of an idea on their meaning or the context that caused them.

More than those things, something else about it was bothering her.

Luka found herself reflexively clutching her hand at her breast. Though she still couldn't remember the full context, she somehow remembered that feeling of her heart pounding. An unspeakable thrill of fighting something she knew was a fated enemy. It wasn't a feeling like a carnivorous animal eating meat to survive. That rush was like an existential understanding, something understood and lived; like a life purpose. Was it encoded, like an instinct? Or conditioned, like a belief?

All she knew was that it was real. It wasn't being enforced on her conscious being, but she remembered it. Was it something all youkai felt?

"I can puzzle out the mysteries of the universe later. Time to focus." Back to the practical study of the memory.

Extending an index finger out, Luka traced out a straight line in the dreamspace as if she were writing on a whiteboard. Quite literally, as a physical black line formed and followed her fingertip. With a few quick strokes, she marked key points on the line as she went, before finally stopping.

The end result looked something like a timeline drawn in midair with a dry erase marker. Lucid dreaming was awesome. All the infinite creativity and reality warping nonsense she could ask for, all so she could use her dream bubble like a spare notepad.

Luka put her finger on the beginning node of the timeline, and slowly walked through it. One final review.

Early childhood memories obviously weren't going to be crystal clear, but she could firmly recall being raised as a kid in New York. She had already been adopted at an early age. Her dad was pretty transparent about that fact once she was old enough to think to ask. He'd adopted her as a newborn, practically. From there, her own account of her life was fairly solid. She went to school, graduated high school, and began working at her dad's pub as soon as she was able. The following years had no discernable gap in their recollection; an airtight mental alibi.

Problem: that meant the memory she'd just painstakingly reviewed didn't really have a place that it fit into. So, where the hell had it come from?

"Maybe some sort of, what's the word, 'dissociative amnesia'…?" Mm… Probably not. Even if there were gaps in her memory, if she just randomly disappeared in the middle of her life, her dad would've noticed. He would have said something. He might have been cagey about some things, but he wasn't the sort to keep secrets about Luka's own life or memory.

Unfortunately, that still didn't answer the underlying question. She walked back to the vision, its position in the timeline still unmarked.

"Seriously, what the hell is this? It can't just be a random dream my brain cooked up."

Thinking about it wasn't going to do her much good. If she wanted to figure it out, she needed more practical experience in that environment. And more importantly, she needed to find the main star of that memory.

Luka eyed the image of Suika Ibuki; sharpened fingernails stained with crimson, her demonic smirk still reflecting back at her. Bestial teeth that gave the impression she could shred a person to pieces like eating licorice. All her horrifying persona burned right into Luka's subconscious, staring through her like she was her next meal.

"... Please, don't be related to me." Luka clamped her eyes shut and sincerely prayed with all her heart.

Season 123, late in the summer. Though Gensokyo was another world, the seasons still felt the same. Hot, hot, and more hot.

Her home wasn't much cooler. The 400-square-foot tiny house, packing only a single floor and a whopping three rooms (counting a bathroom) barely had the room to disperse any kind of heat. It wasn't claustrophobic, and reminded her a bit of her apartment back home, but space wasn't in abundance. At least the couch was comfy. Luka could vouch for that, lying face-down on it like a bed.

Less comfortable was a utility she was sorely missing. Fun thing about getting transported to another world with technology roughly two centuries in the past: people always forgot to mention air conditioning wasn't invented until one century ago.

So there she was, in the shade of her house, melting away instead of starting her day. She actually had a back-up plan in this turn of events: a small, battery-powered table fan Rinnosuke had let her borrow for a bit for the hot season. Something she could cool off with before she went out into the scorching sun.

The problem? Someone else was using it.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaa~"

So said Reimu as she lazily made noises into the fan blades, making all sorts of distorted voices. She'd been hogging the fan for the last fifteen minutes.

"That's supposed to be mine, y'know." Luka loudly mumbled into her couch. "At least let me feel the air for a second."

"Just a momeeeeeent~" Reimu said in another distorted voice. "Waaaaaaaaaaaaa~"

Luka contemplated flinging a pillow at her. It didn't really require clarification that Reimu squatting in her home wasn't some normal thing. Unfortunately, it couldn't really be helped.

"I let you crash here after the whole earthquake business out of the kindness of my heart." Luka recited like she was reading off of a receipt. "Then when your shrine gets busted up a second time, I let you extend the stay. And here you are, stealing my fan on top of all that."

Reimu squirmed a little, but stayed where she was. "How was I supposed to know that Yukari would break it down like that? I thought the Celestial—"

"Back off from the fan, it's hard to hear you like that."

"Hmph." Reimu flopped onto her back. It was easy to tell the heat was getting to her, too. "I thought the Celestial was being honest when she said she'd rebuild it. To be honest, I wasn't sure what the problem was with her renovating the shrine…"

"Wasn't she the one who started the earthquake that leveled it in the first place, if what you told me is true?" Luka shrugged. "I wasn't there for any of it, so it's not like I can judge, but still. It's kinda sacreligious to let another divine being rebuild your shrine, isn't it? I can't say I blame Yukari for once." Reimu grumbled, but didn't argue with her point.

As their exchange implied, the last few months had been messy for Reimu. To sum it up, natural disasters rocked the region for a bit. While most of it ended up just being nasty weather, a few places got hit harder than some. Specifically, the Hakurei Shrine, which imploded following a killer earthquake that rocked the mountain it was sitting atop.

Luka didn't really get involved with it, since it didn't seem to be related to her story. From the sounds of it, things got pretty complicated.

"How's the second round of repairs going?" Luka asked. "I heard you got someone else to work on it."

Reimu spread out on the floor like a starfish. "She's supposed to be almost done, but she's only really gotten halfway. At this rate, the month's going to end before the shrine's back to normal…"

Luka frowned, and straightened herself to a sitting position. "Can't you ask her to hurry it up? Or at least reach out to her?"

"Like I know where she is." Reimu said. "She's weirdly elusive, and keeps running off to go play when she should be working. Of course, knowing her, she'll eventually finish it up, so it's not like I'm in a rush."

Of course you're not in a rush. You're not the one lending out a bed… Luka thought. For someone who supposedly kept saving the day in Gensokyo, Reimu's personality was totally different from what she imagined an expert youkai-exterminator to be. It definitely took all types to make a world, didn't it?

Reimu rolled back to the fan and Luka flipped open her phone. The time was listed, showing a paradoxical 8 PM that always made her want to take a second glance back at the sun outside. It was still set to New York's time zone, after all. Right, I think Japan's something like eleven or twelve hours ahead of New York… ? It was something like 8-in-the-morning, then.

"Aaaaaaa~" Reimu was back at it again. And Luka had enough.

Luka got up and lightly nudged Reimu with her foot. "Oi. Hey. You've had enough of that for one morning. Don't you have places to be, jobs to do?"

Reimu made an annoyed sound, like a cat being picked up suddenly. "Don't you?"

"Yeah, and I'd like to cool down for a bit before I subject my fragile city-girl body to the unforgiving heat of the Japanese countryside." Luka nudged her a little harder. "C'mon, country-girl. Move over already!"

Reimu grumbled and rolled over, and Luka promptly took her spot in front of the fan. Phew… That feels so much better…

… … …

"Aaaaaaaaaaa~"

"Hey, no fair, don't steal my spot just to start doing it yourself…"

Heh.

After the brief cooldown, Luka started getting ready to leave.

"What are you doing today, anyways?" Reimu asked.

"Some personal business." Luka said as she slid her jacket on and patted down her pockets. Everything seemed accounted for. "I might be gone for a bit, so feel free to crash here as long as you don't go breaking anything."

Reimu looked curiously at her. "Where are you going?"

"It's nowhere important, really."

It was tempting for Luka to let her in on the whole situation. It wouldn't have hurt to bring a shrine maiden along for the trip, especially considering her destination. But, given the circumstances, Reimu had enough on her plate. Luka really didn't want to ask for help from someone who was already having a rough time. It wasn't like she was going to be chasing down fights, anyways. She'd be just fine.

"Is that so?" Reimu had a look like her gut feeling was telling her to say something, but she relented. "Well, take care then."

With a nod, Luka grabbed her things and departed.

Her destination was far, but the trek was thankfully uneventful. Most of the small fry were cooling down after the recent incident, and the few that attempted to bug her (like the occasional fairy) really weren't all that tough. It was mostly a straight shot with a long walk.

Thankfully she didn't need to worry about finding her destination. It was pretty hard to miss, as far as landmarks went. One of the same landmarks she'd seen while flying around with Reimu and Marisa back when she first arrived.

North from the human village was a mountain that rose even to the heavens above. The place was rather infamous among the villagers, as she'd learned when asking around:

'Don't get any foolish ideas, young lady. That is no mere mountain. It's no place for humans, that's for sure.'

'It's dangerous! Only the most skilled and brave of youkai exterminators would dare step food on it!'

'Yea, the mountain is like a nest for the frightful creatures. Who knows what sort of horrible things go on in there?

If the village could be thought of as the 'capital for the humans', the way the villagers spoke made Luka imagine the mountain as the capital for the youkai. It had earned a fitting and simple nickname: the 'Youkai Mountain'.

That was the public gossip, anyway. Luka could only gather vague superstitions from the villagers, unfortunately. Grisly tales and cautionary bedtime stories, like a Hans Christian Andersen compilation without the Catholic guilt. Not that helpful for finding practical information. For that, she had to go to another source.

For the trip, she'd packed a small bag of various essentials. Luka shuffled through the bag's contents. A small wooden lunch box, a metal flask filled with water, a newspaper clipping with Suika's picture, a pouch full of money (just in case)… Come on, where was it? Finally, Luka produced a folded-up sheet of paper. Unfolding it revealed a map of the mountain, carefully sketched by a pacifistic human detective who had climbed it not too long ago. It was nice having friends.

The map wasn't as in-depth as she would have liked, but it told her enough. The mountain was divided up into smaller territories, each run by different species of youkai. Because of that, there were small gaps that a savvy human could slip through to avoid unnecessary conflict.

"They've probably changed the patrols up a bit." She remembered Hiro's explanation as he drew a red line through the map. "Actually, I'm pretty sure a few of them knew where I was while I climbed, but as long as you stick to this route, you should just barely avoid trespassing and making someone mad. I think. Um, you're sure about this, right?"

She was sure. It was either this or wasting her time in the village for another year.

She arrived, standing at the foot of the mountain. Looking up, she could see it in all its glory. Angled hills and trees, a forest covering the landscape. Just a short distance ahead, poking out from the forest's center, a tall stone monument signposted into the land itself, a great waterfall running down it. The Youkai Mountain, right in front of her.

… Yeah. She recognized it. This was definitely the place in her dream. This was where she would have the best chance of finding Suika Ibuki.

Unfurling the map again, Luka glanced at the red path drawn out. The first steps of her trip led her through the surrounding forests of the mountain, and over a specific path past the surrounding river basin near the mountain. Supposedly, that route would bypass a smaller village of youkai that lived in the water. 'Kappa', apparently. Hiro had scribbled a note to 'ignore their cuteness, and cover your butthole!' with a doodle of a scary-looking turtle next to it.

… Yeah, not touching that one. Luka pocketed the map. She had a bit to do before she tackled that mess. Firstly, figuring out where specifically to look for Suika. She figured the mountain was a good place to look, but seeing it in-person made her realize the sheer size of it. Trekking it on-foot wasn't going to cut it. She needed to narrow down her search.

Maybe I can get away with asking people, since it's just the foot of the mountain. That dangerous thought entered her head.

Hiro's map noted the forest as a kind of gray zone, something that wasn't 'officially' treated as full-on youkai territory. Basically, humans could wander it, but they had to accept they could get attacked at any time.

She wondered how that policy worked for half-youkai. Why'd she have to get stuck with the complicated backstory, again? Heck, the halfling thing was just a cover story, too. Dressing up a chicken in a wolf costume wouldn't make it smell any less like food to a starving wolf.

… Screw it. She was just going to wander the woods and ask around. If they bought the half-youkai bull, cool. If not, whatever, she'd improvise. Luka accepted those options and marched into the dense treeline.

The trees huddled together, shutting out sunlight like a thick curtain. Dark, damp, depressing; Luka was reminded of a horror movie set. But nothing jumped out at her like she was expecting. For a forest supposedly filled with youkai, there really wasn't anything scary waiting to ambush her. Like a clown, or a skeleton with a trumpet.

Eventually, as she marched through the gloomy treescape, something came into view. A small, square-like building, roughly the same size as her house. Tucked away in the dense foliage, greenery growing around it, at first glance it looked old and abandoned. As she approached, Luka heard a commotion coming from the inside. Something like people talking; energetic yet restrained chatter. She stood next to it and put her ear to it, but it was hard to make out anything specific.

"Maybe there's a door somewhere…" With that thought aloud, she slowly circled the building, and something caught her eye: an ornament that looked like the head of a dragon, expression fierce and maw gaping wide like it was about to breathe fire. Next to it, a pair of sliding doors: an entrance. She could hear the commotion a bit more clearly, but still not enough to determine what was going on in there.

Well, I'm not hearing deathly screaming, so…

Deciding it was as good of a place to start as any, Luka slid the door open. She then stopped herself from slamming it back closed again.

An intense smell overwhelmed her senses. A complex sort of scent, something she was sure some old fart would call 'aromatic', 'tantalizing', 'good stuff'. Luka called it what it was: tobacco. And she hated it; the stuff always reeked like rotten ashes. There was a reason she hung up a 'no smoking' sign back home.

Naturally, the nicotine hell-gas was absolutely filling the place. Smoke clouded her vision like a thick layer of mist, almost making it hard for her to see past it. It flowed out past her and out the now-opened door, slowly making the rest of the interior visible.

A large, flat main room made up most of the space. Sliding doors on the sides that she assumed led to separate rooms. Filling the room were scattered groups of people, all huddled around each other in their own circles. Petite girls wearing green camouflage jeered and talked amongst each other. Young women with tiny pairs of wings spoke casually. At the center of each group, she could make out familiar sights and sounds: the clatter of dice rolling, the flapping of cards hitting a table.

A youkai gambling house. That was what she'd just walked into.

As if to prove her guess right, she heard loud cheering from one of the circles. "Yahaha!" A winged woman let out a screeching laugh, pumping her fists in front of a small bowl as the others around her slumped in defeat. "Triples again! I'm on a hot streak tonight, ladies!"

"Gh…" One of the others glared. "How do you keep rolling like that? You've got to be cheating somehow!"

Uh oh.

People drunk off their own luck paired with the sore losers caught up in it. Luka recognized that recipe.

"Oho?" You wanna pick that fight? Not my fault you keep losing!"

"Why you—"

Both of them stood up like they were ready to fight. The entire establishment seemed to turn to the commotion, like they were readying for it to escalate. But before any feathers went flying, the smoke in the room began to stir and surround the two.

"Fuuu…"

She heard the exhale, like a dragon's breath. Turning to it, Luka saw an older, mature-looking woman with wisteria-colored hair calmly materialize, walking out from the smoke like she'd been there all along. Dressed in beautiful robes with vibrant shades of red and purple, Luka was reminded of a poisonous flower. Something pretty to behold, but not to be touched carelessly. In her hand, a thin golden dragon unfurled into a rather extravagant pipe, its maw frozen wide open as it puffed out more smoke.

It was then that Luka realized no one else in the room was smoking. All of the smoke, every last cloud of it, was coming from her.

"Now, now." Her voice was soothing, calming, and clearly had an effect on the two arguing patrons. They stopped dead in their tracks, frazzled and seeming embarrassed by her sudden appearance. "This is an esteemed place of recreation. It would be rude to the other guests if you two were to start a fight, no?"

"U-Uhm…" The high-rolled stammered. "But, she…"

"She, uh…"

Seeing their hesitation, the elegant woman took a drag from her pipe and exhaled again. Steely clouds flowed out from her, circling all three of them. It felt like the entire building hushed for her.

Her eyes shifted to the loser, as did the room's pressure. "Honorable patron, your diligence is truly appreciated. But to make such accusations, it can leave quite a foul taste in your fellow players' mouths." She stepped forward, resting her free hand on the winning player's shoulder and leaning in closer to them. "Not to mention, this is only the beginning of your stay here, is it not? Even a player on a hot streak might find themselves humbled, should they grow drunk on the sweet drink of victory. Why not settle this debate in a game?"

The two women mumbled to themselves before sheepishly seating themselves. Satisfied, the woman left them. Looking at how she carried herself as she effortlessly defused the situation, even managing to keep both patrons in the building, Luka had a feeling she was looking at the owner of the place.

The owner's eyes scanned the den, looking over each game, before noticing the shifting smoke leaving the front door. Her gaze shifted, and locked onto Luka. Well, that made things easy. Luka slid the door closed behind her and approached her.

"Another newcomer, I see." The woman smiled formally and bowed. "Allow me, Sannyo Komakusa, to welcome you to the temporary home for the Komakusa gambling den. Have you come for a game?"

Another light 'fuuu', and Luka felt the smoke flowing her way, gently brushing against her face.

"Um, no thanks." Luka gently waved the smoke aside and covered her nose. "I'm actually just passing through." Eugh, enough…

The woman raised an eyebrow but seemed undeterred. "Oh? Is there anything I can interest you in while you're here, then?"

Luka nodded. "Actually, yeah. If you don't mind, I'd like to ask you about something. Or, I guess someone." She reached into her bag (shuffling past her money pouch) and fished out the newspaper clipping of Suika, holding it for Sannyo to see.

Sannyo tilted her head and leaned forward to look at it. Almost immediately, the older woman's face twisted into something unpleasant. It was a form of disgust, but a familiar sort; like looking at a cockroach that lived in the walls of her apartment. Sannyo definitely recognized her.

Sannyo composed herself quickly. "... Forgive me for intruding, but may I ask why you're interested in this woman?"

"I'm trying to find her." Luka pocketed the photo. "I, uh, heard she hangs around the mountain sometimes. Did I hear wrong?"

"No, you are correct." Sannyo said. "She's quite well-known around these parts, though not for entirely good reasons."

Bullseye. Her dream research paid off. Though, the look on Sannyo's face was a little troubling. What was that 'not for entirely good reasons' part supposed to mean?

Luka decided to press her. "Can you tell me where she is? I could take any kind of hint right now."

Sannyo seemed to hesitate on her answer. There was something else hidden behind her expression, but Luka couldn't figure out what it was. "Perhaps. Why don't you follow me? It would be a little inconvenient to have this conversation over all the patrons' games."

"Sure. Lead the way."

The owner gestured with her fan and Luka followed her, a trail of smoke following them as they walked. The patrons didn't seem to pay Luka much mind, most of them being too entranced by their games to be bothered with the newcomer strolling in. She did, though, catch a few suspicious looks snuck her way when she wasn't looking. Only that, but it made her feel uneasy. For some reason, she didn't feel totally welcome.

Eventually, Sannyo arrived at one of the side room doors and slid it open, gesturing for Luka to step in. She obliged, stepping in to see a relatively empty room. No other people around to overhear their conversation. The only other occupants were a small playing table with some ornate wooden boxes lying on it. Once she was in, Sannyo gently closed the door and let out a monstrous sigh.

"To start with," She turned, and Luka almost jumped. She showed a glare that looked downright murderous. Forget something as delicate as a poisonous flower, now she had a sort of scrunched-up scowl that perfectly matched the dragon on her pipe. "Yeah, I know where the little pissant oni is. Even if she ain't all that popular with me these days." She growled, smoke leaking through her teeth like there was a fire raging in her. "I'll ask again: why are you lookin' for her?"

… Why do I get the feeling if I answer this poorly I'm going to wake up with cement shoes?

"Uh…" Luka fumbled her words. The total 180 in Sannyo's mannerisms had unfocused her. "Well, I know her… probably…"

"You 'know her', eh?" You're an associate of hers, then?" Her glare harshened.

Aw crap, why did I say it like that?! "No! Total strangers! I barely even know her!"

Sannyo studied her, eyes locked like a wild dog waiting for a flinch. Luka froze, trying her best to not instinctively break eye contact. Crap, she'd probably only just made herself even more suspicious.

"I'm, uh, detecting some hostility towards her." Luka tried to shift the conversation from herself. "Did she do something to you?"

"Something like that." She sucked on her pipe and let out a passive-aggressive puff. "Let's just say she's left me with more than a few debts I doubt she's gonna pay up on."

"I-I see." Luka didn't dare ask for any further details. She just wanted to leave as soon as possible. "Well, erm… Can you tell me where she is? It'd really help out."

Sannyo looked at her and Luka felt all of that hostility suddenly shift onto her. "Might I ask why you're so interested in such a 'total stranger'?"

Urgh. This lady was going to seriously grill her? Luka tried to maintain a poker-face. "It's a bit complicated. I mostly just have some important questions to ask, that's all."

"Lemme guess, personal investigation? Parenthood, heritage, something like that?" Sannyo narrowed her eyes. "That's what you're looking for, right, Miss Luka East?"

Luka winced. "You… know who I am?"

"'Course I do. A few people in the mountain heard your name for a solid day or two when that tengu covered your story the first time. Most never bothered to commit it to memory, but I've got a very good mind for remembering stuff. It helps me know what customers to expect when they walk in." She regarded Luka pitifully. "Given your story, I'm surprised you didn't come here sooner to start asking around. You've got the airs of a lost puppy."

"I—" Luka felt her ears getting hot. No, focus. "Okay, cool, you know why I'm here, you know where she is. So, if you can just tell me where to go, I'll be on my way—"

With a snapping motion, there was suddenly a dragon pipe pointed right in her face, and Luka nearly jumped back.

"Not. So. Fast." Sannyo's eyes stabbed through her. "What is your relation to Suika?"

Luka blinked. "If you're thinking I'm gonna say 'daughter' or 'cousin', that's probably a hard no. Probably."

"'Probably'?" The glare cut a little deeper.

"Probably!" Luka insisted. "Look, like I said, it's complicated and I don't know everything, okay?! For right now, it's just a distant acquaintance thing!"

"That so?" Sannyo huffed. "I'm not so sure I'm willing to part with information on those kinds of terms."

"What terms would be acceptable, then?" Luka fought back the urge to yell. Come on, she was so close!

"Hm-hm." A smirk spread across Sannyo's face. "Well, let's see. You're in a gambling den. My gambling den, to be precise. Why don't we make a game out of it?"

"I'm not really the gambling sort…" Luka wasn't stupid enough to play that game. The house always wins. That was an old, tested, and still true saying. "Can't we work with something else?"

"See," Sannyo's tone went ice-cold. "I wasn't asking."

The woman softly blew out smoke from her mouth, and it quickly encircled Luka. Just enough to form a ring around her, but not yet constricting on her.

"Say. You call yourself a half-youkai, yes?"

There it is… "Er. Y-Yes, what about it?"

"—You hesitated." Sannyo glared.

"Huh? No, I'm just organizing my thoughts, I'm—"

"I had a feelin'. Just wasn't sure until now. You're a human pretending to be some sort of youkai, aren't you?"

The smoke ring started closing in on her, and Luka's blood froze. Stay calm, breathe…! "Hold on. Where are you getting that conclusion from?

"It's the way you carry yourself." Sannyo's eyes were discerning. Penetrating, shining with a malicious light. "You don't act like a youkai, or even a half-youkai. You act like a normal Outsider, wandering into our mountain territory like you know you don't belong." It wasn't just a glare anymore—Sannyo was visually dissecting Luka. Not just metaphorically, but physically too. "Not to mention, I can tell how weak you still are. You've still got the presence of a normal, full-blooded human to my eyes. Now why would that be, if you're supposed to be a half-youkai, hmm?" She leaned in, as if waiting for an answer.

Luka didn't know how to respond. What was she supposed to say to any of that? Actually, she almost agreed. Sure, she wasn't normal. She knew that by now. But Luka really hadn't refuted an ounce of her humanity yet, nor had she embraced any kind of supposed youkai-ness. She was just Luka. And apparently, that was enough to reek of human to this lady.

To think Kotohime had cooked up the half-youkai backstory to make her life more convenient. As if it was going to be that simple…

In the end, Luka stayed silent. Sannyo took her silence as an answer. She sucked on her pipe with an evil smile on her face. "Not to worry, 'half-youkai'. I'm not so crass as to act on you myself. Tearing you up in the middle of my den would just be messy, and besides, we have a clear 'no-food-allowed-indoors' policy." Her eyes shone, her smile a toothy serpent's grin.

Something about that smirk, that cocky attitude that gloated how Luka was trapped with no way out—Luka felt a switch in the back of her head click.

Calm down. Focus. Think your way out of this, Luka.

The smoke surrounding her... Sannyo's smoke seemed to move weirdly. Was it some kind of ability? Controlling the smoke, or the air around it? It only seemed to happen when she focused on it… If that was the case…

My pistols… If I can get her talking, distract her a little…

"Aw, really? That's too bad, I brought snacks for everyone." Luka joked, imagining herself at the gallows.

It wasn't just empty humor. She needed to lock down her own nerves, make herself smile in the face of danger. All to get Sannyo focused on talking instead of smoking…

"I wouldn't be so sure. A few of our patrons can be pretty greedy." She chuckled.

"How unfortunate." Luka tried to sound disappointed. "Okay. You've made your terms clear. Though, if we're going to play, we have to make the stakes clear, right? No sense in gambling if there's no stakes."

"But of course." Sannyo turned around, raising up two hands like she was weighing them as a scale. Seeing a chance, Luka folded her arms, subtly sliding one hand into her jacket to try and work her way to a pistol… "On your part, if you win, I'll gladly give you your information and let you leave. Simple, with no catch."

"And if I lose?" Come on, she was almost there…

"Hm-hm…" Another chuckle. "Well, I tell every patron in the building about the human who brazenly walked in here and I'll let them sort you out in their own way. I bet the kappa and tengu would love to hear about that."

Luka got chills thinking about that. She'd dealt with low-level youkai like fairies, but she'd never handled proper ones before. They looked like humans, sure, but even ordinary humans could be cruel and cold if given motivation. If she'd learned anything in her two years of living in Gensokyo, it was that youkai were supernaturally powerful. What happened if the two were combined together? The last thing she wanted was an angry casino mob of that coming down on her.

… She just needed to get her pistols. Cause a commotion, get out. She could figure the rest out later.

"Well, that's a little harsh, but understandable. Just one question." Luka felt it, it was right there… "Why exactly challenge me to a game when you just kill me? I mean, sure, no fighting in the casino, but it's not like anything's stopping you from dragging me out back, mafia-style."

"Oh, you're going to question it?" Sannyo, still with her back turned, walked over to the table in the room and ran a hand across it. "I'm giving you an out, and you're going to dare to ask me why? You're a funny little human, girl." She puffed her pipe, playfully blowing out smoke. "A word of advice: you'd be wise not to make such brash comments when dealing with youkai. It spoils the fun. If you're really craving an answer, let's just say I'm venting a little frustration, that's all."

Come on, almost—got it!

Right as she grabbed her pistol, she felt something brush against her hand. Something light, like air. Creeping up from behind her, into her jacket.

"Fuuu…" She heard Sannyo exhale.

… She didn't dare move her eyes to look at what was touching her hand. The only thing she looked at was Sannyo, who turned back to look at her, the same confident smirk on her face.

Luka could smell it. Smoke, all around the both of them.

Sannyo smiled, puffing a bit more smoke her way. "Of course, if you'd like to cut to the chase, we can certainly do that. Only if you feel you're willing to accept the consequences, of course. No need to be in such a rush."

—Shit. She's more observant than I expected. And there's no mistaking it, this smoke is her ability. I don't know what it is, but if I seriously go for my gun…

It was just a gut-feeling, like a survival instinct. Luka felt like the woman standing in front of her could have killed her without even trying very hard, Spellcard rules or not. Forget causing a commotion. She'd barely serve as a passive diversion.

Reimu's words echoed in Luka's mind. If the weak picked a fight with the strong and lost, it was their own fault.

Luka hadn't realized it, or maybe she'd just willfully ignored it up until now. But she had stepped up to the youkai's mountain, carrying herself as an outsider. No matter what supposed title or species she wore on her, she was trespassing. And to the youkai of the mountain, that was enough of a declaration of a fight as they needed.

No dancing around it. She was going to have to accept the challenge. And figure out how to not die along the way.

"... Alright." Luka steeled herself. "Fine. Let's play."

Sannyo grinned eagerly. "That's the spirit. Now let's decide on a game."

Author's Note:

And with that, we slowly march our way into the sort of storytelling I've been wanting to do for a while. My writing might not show it, but I'm actually rather fond of action scenes. Specifically, fights. Fights are fun to plan out and can encapsulate many different things. It doesn't even have to be two people throwing punches in a scripted sequence. So far, we've only had things like that. I think I can push myself a little further, now.

What do I mean, exactly? Stick around for next time, and we'll see if I can pull it off. Thanks for reading!