Author's Note: For the start, I'd like to apologize to everybody that was waiting so long for another chapter to this story. The story was on the temporary hiatus while I was writing my Sanae trilogy (duology for now.) and I kinda wasn't really feeling up to write another chapter. I know that is a pretty weak excuse, but I didn't really want to make my story quality suffer because of it, because as I'm sure some of you know, if you force yourself to create something then it will most likely be of poor quality, but if you create something with passion then it will be most likely be of a very good quality. I wanted to write this chapter at start of January, but unfortunately I got sick and was laying for almost a week on the bed with high temperature, severe headache and sore throat alongside runny nose, it was really painful experience... I'm feeling much better now, thankfully, so I jumped on my PC and started writing this chapter. I haven't really written anything for a bit, so it might be a bit rusty. Thank you for reading my ramblings, and please enjoy the chapter!
-Yukari?
The girl smiled, but from shrine maiden's perspective, she looked "sad" because of her hanging upside-down.
-Why yes, that's me. I'm also not her, though.
Reimu was confused.
-Not her? What do you mean?
Yukari averted her gaze.
-It's a long story and I prefer to not explain everything in some shady alleyway, my dear.
She then disappeared back into her gap, and soon it closed behind her.
Then another gap appeared on the wall next to the shrine maiden where the gap youkai walked out from.
-I'll tell you everything, but first we should head for my apartment where nobody can overhear us.
Another gap appeared to the right side of Reimu.
These things didn't change at all. They always creeped out the shrine maiden, and they still do. Why would you even have portals that have giant eyes staring at you from inside? And the fact that they have tiny, cute ribbons on both edges didn't help the situation.
-It's a bit of distance from here, so we have to travel using multiple gaps in a row. Unfortunately, I don't have the power to travel that long distance using just one gap with this body.
So Yukari doesn't have access to her full power? That didn't sound good. Reimu just hoped that it was just something temporary.
The shrine maiden and gap youkai travelled to the youkai's apartment using the portals. Thankfully, Yukari always remembered to open the gaps in isolated places, so nobody would suspect anything.
The youkai's room looked fairly normal? Well, that's what Reimu thought. She had no clue what was really "normal" for this world. If she had to be more precise, it seemed to look like an average schoolgirl room, at least Sanae's room back in Gensokyo looked similar to this, and she used to be a high schooler.
-Here we are. Welcome to my little humble kingdom. It isn't anything fancy, but at least rent's cheap, and it's pretty close to the university, so I can't really complain. Make yourself at home.
The shrine maiden nodded and sat on the couch.
She observed the youkai walking over to the small kitchen and opening the refrigerator.
-Would you like something to drink? Unfortunately, I don't have sake, so don't get your hopes up.
Reimu felt offended. What did she see her as? An alcoholic? That was Suika's role. But then again, she couldn't lie that she could use something strong to drown the noise away in her head.
She nodded.
-That would be nice.
Yukari looked at the shrine maiden, she had a surprised look on her face.
-My, no angry comeback to my rude comment? That's very rare for you to be so docile, Reimu.
She, in fact, made a comeback. Just didn't vocalize it, but Yukari had a valid point. She just didn't feel like herself anymore these days. In fact, instead of being the usual loud-mouthed, carefree person that she was, she preferred to be a more quiet, serious person here.
She can't be blamed really, she was stuck in a foreign place without any of her powers, and even the familiar faces that she met here felt much different from usual.
She couldn't really afford to be carefree here, not when she could even die with just a single mistake here.
Suddenly, her train of thought was broken by a hand waving in front of her face.
-Earth to the shrine maiden. I brought you, your drink, but you kept staring at the wall. You didn't even respond back to me.
Reimu quickly apologized.
-Sorry. Thank you for the drink.
She then accepted the glass from the youkai.
Yukari sighed.
-I can see that you're awfully stressed about all of this. I wanted for us to catch up about things before moving up to the topic at hand, but I can see that this just won't work at all.
She then sat next to the shrine maiden on the couch.
-Ask me anything you'd like to know.
I guess that wouldn't be that bad to catch up with her, but Reimu wasn't really in the mood to do so, so she was thankful that Yukari got straight to the point.
-What did you mean that you're "also not her?"
The youkai chuckled.
-This isn't my body, dear. The spirit, the soul are indeed mine, however the physical form isn't. This body is of "Maribel Hearn", my human vessel when I wish to play around in the Outside World.
Reimu raised her eyebrow.
-Human vessel?
Yukari nodded.
-Indeed. She has similar aptitudes to my regular body, however because she's a human and not a youkai, her power is severely limited, her body wouldn't be able to handle the full power. I'm afraid that I lost connection to my original body temporarily, caused by the Hakurei Barrier shattering at the most unfortunate moment.
The youkai continued.
-As you surely know, I hibernate at winter. That's when I switch over to the dear Maribel here. During that time I failed to notice the Gensokyo being at the crisis and when I finally noticed, it was already too late, since the magical discharge from the barrier managed to sever my connection with my original body. I couldn't switch back in order to repair the damages in the barrier. I could only hopelessly watch as the barrier slowly crumbles, and I'm sure you know the rest of the story from Marisa.
Reimu nodded.
-After some time has passed, I managed to contact Ran and Chen and instructed them to get my original body somewhere safe, so I wouldn't worry about anything happening to it. They are now hiding at a secret place with my body, where they await my further instructions.
Reimu tilted her head questioningly.
-Further instructions? Does that mean you have some kind of plan to return back to your body?
She nodded.
-Of course. It's a complicated process, so I can't really explain it to you, but rest assured that I'm close to getting it through. I haven't been just playing "schoolgirl" as the young vampire so shamelessly put it.
The shrine maiden nodded. She was actually glad to hear that, having Yukari back at full power would be really helpful in restoring Gensokyo. This also brings the point of how she could restore back her Hakurei powers.
She wanted to ask her that, but suddenly a portal appeared next to her.
From it came a woman.
She had a long, blonde hair and yellow eyes. She was wearing a yellow-orange tabard adorned with a constellation pattern of stars. She was also wearing a green skirt, black boots and a three-point hat.
She looked around the room and her gaze fell on the duo. She smiled.
-Yakumo, and if that isn't the Hakurei shrine maiden!
Yukari grimaced at the sight of her.
-Okina. What do you want this time?
The smile didn't leave her face.
-I'm visiting you. Is there a problem with that?
Her gaze then fell on the table, where there were two glasses filled with drinks.
-My, you didn't prepare any drink for your old friend?
-Freeloaders such as you don't deserve hospitality.
She finally dropped her smile at this comment.
-How rude of you. Have you already forgotten that it was I that allowed you to take care of this situation?
-I haven't, but that doesn't mean that we will become buddy-buddy with each other.
Okina chuckled.
-As if I would like to become your "buddy" after you pulled that stunt last time.
She then looked seriously at the Yukari.
-You're running out of time, Yakumo. The other sages are already pressuring me to stop playing around and solve this problem already.
The youkai averted her gaze at this.
-I can't keep taking the hits for you, you know. I will give you one week to solve this. If by that time, it isn't done, then I will take over for you.
The youkai then sighed and nodded.
-I understand.
Okina nodded.
-That's good to hear.
She then looked at the duo again.
-Yakumo and Hakurei shrine maiden. I bid you farewell.
She then disappeared back into her portal, which closed soon after.
That was Okina Matara. A hidden god and one of the Sages of Gensokyo. She met her back in the Four Seasons Incident, where she created an incident just to search for a successor for her servants. At first, Reimu lost to her, but next time, thanks to the help of Yukari, she managed to defeat her. Well, somewhat, since Okina was holding back anyway and could have defeated her at any point in the battle.
Somehow, also seeing the Yukari being hard-pressed by the Okina in the conversation was amusing to her. You could say that she tasted her own medicine.
-What a pain in the ass. Even though I worked alongside her for so many years now, I still can't stand her.
But still there was something off about all of this, that Reimu had to ask Yukari.
-If Okina can restore the Gensokyo, then why won't you allow her to do so?
Yukari looked at the shrine maiden.
-Oh, trust me. She might not be a bad person per se, but you definitely don't want to live in "her idea" of Gensokyo. You know about the incident she did, do you really think she has "right" idea about dealing with things?
Well, she had a point here.
-Besides, the idea behind Hakurei Barrier was mine. I'm the one that proposed that idea, and it was approved by the rest of the sages. That's why, I'm also the person that takes care of Hakurei shrine maidens.
Reimu was aware of that, she was actually glad that this topic came in, because she was about to ask about that before she got interrupted by the hidden god.
-I can't use my powers anymore. Is there a way for me to get them back?
The youkai didn't look surprised at the mention of the shrine maiden losing her powers.
-I'm actually well aware of that. As matter of fact, there is a way for you to restore back your connection to Hakurei God.
-There is?
Yukari nodded.
-Indeed. All you have to do is to contact them and complete a trial using the go-shintai object of the shrine, in this case it would be your Yin-Yang Orb. A normal person wouldn't be able to use it, however since you have Hakurei blood in yourself, then you should be able to use it without any problems. That's how your mother have done it.
Reimu was surprised to hear Yukari talk about her mother.
-My mother?
She nodded.
-Yes, she was a very gifted and talented woman, perhaps even one of the strongest Hakurei shrine maidens in the history. I'll tell you more about her when it will be more peaceful.
The shrine maiden wanted to hear more, but Yukari was right, there was no time to waste for now.
-As for the location of the Yin-Yang Orb, I'm afraid that I don't know yet. The Hakurei Shrine here was looted by the government soon after they got their information from many youkai and humans.
Reimu nodded, at least she knew how to get her powers back now. She should relay the information to the residents of the mansion later on, so they can start the search for it.
There were still a few questions that she wanted to ask.
-Yukari, do you know what happened to me? Marisa had some kind of crazy theory, that I might not even be the "original Reimu" here.
The youkai grimaced at this.
-That's because she's correct. The Reimu of this world is most likely already dead.
What? Dead?
-I can see that you're surprised, but let me explain. I have no direct evidence that she's dead, but the Hakurei Barrier could only shatter if she somehow lost connection to her powers, so she wouldn't be able to maintain it anymore. I instructed Ran to search for her, but she has confirmed that she haven't found her anywhere. She just disappeared without any trace, either stuck in some other dimension or buried few feet underground by somebody.
That made sense. But it still didn't make her feel better, hearing about her "dying"
-As for how you got here. You should probably ask your "friend" that sent over the message to the maid from the mansion.
A friend? So she knows who that is?
-How do you know all of this? And if you know who that is, then why don't you just tell me directly who is he?
Yukari chuckled.
-I have been monitoring the mansion thanks to a few devices from here and using the gaps to infiltrate the inside. I know every conversation that you did with them, that's also how I knew that you were "back." Why I was doing that? Well, you don't want to leave children with enormous power unattended, do you? I had to make sure that they wouldn't do anything that would jeopardize my plans.
She continued.
-As for their identity, it's she, not he. I would have told you her identity, but I guess, I do owe her for that thing we did in the past. I wouldn't want to ruin her "plan" with this. You have nothing to worry about, though, she can be trusted.
Reimu wasn't really pleased with that answer, but every little bit of information helps, so hearing that, the mysterious person could be trusted is useful too.
The shrine maiden looked at the window and saw that it was evening already.
-I have to get back to the mansion. I promised Sakuya that I would return back not long after meeting Marisa, and I'm already late.
Yukari then stood up from the couch.
-Well then, I will be going with you too. I admit that I'm not keen about meeting up with them, especially that little vampire that seems to be misunderstanding my intentions, but there's no doubt that their abilities will prove to be invaluable in our plan to restore Gensokyo.
She offered her hand to Reimu.
-Shall we take "The Fabulous Yakumo Transportation" again? Don't worry, I got a special coupon for every stop being for free!
The shrine maiden actually smiled at this and accepted the hand of youkai.