Gah! I'm sorry I took so long... There are several quick references in this chapter, done at the request of several people over IRC.
Chapter 4
Caged Prey
Light filled the room. There was nothing but pure light, enveloping her... Burning her. But then it faded. And there she stood, bruised, hurt, beat up... But alive. And angry. Oh, how she was angry. She had come here to seal Makai away again, and she would do it. Of course, the preparation for sealing it would require a lot of power... Power that right now, she could only get by exterminating youkai. Well, technically, she was just supposed to be doing stuff in service to her god, but this would be the quickest method, and she wasn't allowed to leave the gate for any longer than necessary.
As her head cleared enough for her to notice anything besides her own thoughts, Reimu looked around. The room was filled with the shattered remains of what had once been the eye creature... Though it didn't really look like anything that had ever been living. Underneath the exterior, which had looked alive, she saw now that it had been made of stone, with many magical symbols in it.
The voice from before rang out again now, "Quite impressive. I was unaware that humans from the other side of that gate were nearly powerful enough to destroy Yuugen-Magan. Some of the most powerful magic known to our magicians was used to create that construct, but you still managed to destroy it with nothing but a bouncing ball for a weapon. However, if you think that is the most we have, you are sorely mistaken. If you value your life, you
will leave."
Reimu called back up to the voice, "Why would I listen to a youkai, demon, whatever you call yourselves here? I'm here to restore the seal, and you'll stay out of my way if you know what's good for you!" The response came back with almost a hint of derision in it. "You really expect me to believe that you came back to restore the seal when you broke it yourself? And all of this pointless destruction... What sort of fool do you think I am?"
Reimu laughed. "The kind that's going to get turned into part of the new seal of course!" The response came back, "What?!" Reimu didn't respond, instead merely walking toward the door that was on the opposite side of the chamber from where she'd come in. It seemed to have a magical barrier in front of it, so she viciously slammed the yin-yang against it several times.
"What, you think you can just knock down a wall of magic? Ha!" It was obvious that the voice's source didn't think that it could be done. However, Reimu continued, not bothering to answer what she thought of as a filthy youkai, and soon enough, it broke. "You were saying?" There was no response.
There was another hallway on the other side of the doors, with crystals like the ones from earlier hovering near the ceiling, in pairs every ten feet or so. Danmaku immediately began blasting toward her, and she dived to the side as she sent the orb to bounce around inside the hallway. Slowly, she saw the force of the assault that was still directed toward the area of the doorway lessen more and more, as the yin-yang encountered the crystals, as it bounced.
Once the orb found its way back to her, she decided to make it quicker for what remained. She jumped in front, and sent it flying back into the hallway, even as she ran forward, swinging her gohei wildly to counter the shots coming her way. It went ahead of her, but once she caught up to it, she began her assault, slamming it toward one crystal after another. Some attacks grazed her a few times, but after that last battle, this was nothing.
"Oh, I'm sorry, " Reimu taunted, expecting the voice to be listening, "Was that all of the other stuff you were talking about, that was supposed to stop me? I'm so very sorry for not dying." The response that came was cold. "Not only do you invade without provocation, but you mock those who you intend to turn into victims? Keep talking if you wish, I have nothing to say. You are going to die, one way or another. Even if you escape, our Goddess will not forgive you."
"Your Goddess? Oh of course, I'll make sure to watch out for sudden smitings out of nowhere." No response. And thus, she continued on. As she came closer to the end of the hallway, she realized that there was some strange noise coming from the other side of the door she saw there. She prepared herself as she opened it, and was surprised at just how loud it suddenly seemed. Red light flashed over and over again, annoying her. More crystals were scattered about, though not as many as had been in the hallway... More worrisome though, were the many youkai that appeared to be waiting there... And the huge amount of danmaku that immediately came toward her.
"Shit!" Reimu exclaimed, as she immediately sent the orb forward, bowling over a good number of her enemies, and immediately began swinging her gohei wildly, trying desperately to deflect the attacks as she backed away. She vaguely heard the ever familiar voice speaking, but not to her. "The intruder must not be allowed to advance or escape. Take her down, at any cost!"
"Do you really think you can defeat the Hakurei Maiden?!" Reimu called. "Do your worst!" The voice stopped speaking for a few moments, and a few of those who she was fighting looked slightly scared. However, they didn't stop, and she continued fighting for her life. She had backed down pretty far into the hallway now, and the yin-yang orb came rolling down, bowling many of the youkai there out of the way, who in turn served to interfere with their comrades.
It wasn't long before Reimu had won the battle. "Hakurei..." the voice came again. "Even in Makai, we know that name... It's been a long time since any of them were foolish enough to invade Makai however. Few showed such malice, instead deciding to actually act as one in their position should."
"Who are you to tell me how I should act?!" Reimu snapped back. "You're nothing but another youkai, to be turned into power for the seal!" The response came angrily "Obviously you can't tell for yourself, so someone has to tell you! I know your god has no love for us youkai, but from what I know, he's hardly so bloodthirsty that you could be doing this for him! You're a brat who doesn't know her place! I feel sorry for your world if you have the place of their guardian."
"You know nothing of my god! It is at his instruction that I'm renewing the seal! I was told to do it immediately, and that is what I'm doing! It isn't as if you youkai matter anyway. Why don't you all just die already?!" "I don't think I'm inclined to do that at the request of an insane little girl. Go home to your parents, as I assure you, their punishment will be far less painful than mine."
"My parents are dead!" Reimu shouted back. There was no response. "I see. Then there is nothing else. Either way, flee and hope you can elude your judgment, or continue and walk right into it. That is the choice you've had this whole time, and it still stands." Reimu made no response. Instead, she continued to do what she had come to do.
She went forward and broke the crystals without incident, before really looking at the chamber she was in. It was surprisingly well-lit, and everything appeared to be carved from marble. There were doorways all around the edges of the chamber, which all appeared to be glowing with red energy. Looking through one of them, she saw what appeared to be a youkai, in chains. Well, she'd take what she could get.
She broke through the barrier, and smashed the youkai with the yin-yang. "Attacking those who can't even defend themselves?" the voice came. "Truly, are there no depths you won't sink to. "Shut up." was Reimu's only response, as she continued, going from door to door and killing the prisoners within.
That was, until she found a prisoner who wasn't a youkai. A young girl in red, with short, brown hair. However, Reimu didn't see any way to break the restraints without hurting the girl. She noticed that there was a nameplate in the wall next to the door, which said "Madotsuki". Odd... Most of the other doors didn't have anything like that.
Reluctantly, Reimu moved on, and continued. The next prisoner with a nameplate next to the door was a huge bee-like monster, apparently called "Hibachi" And then another human. A boy with short hair, named Shinji. Once again, there didn't appear to be any way to free him without harming him, so she moved on. The last one was a man named Ellis, who... For some reason, didn't appear to be restrained, though he was locked up.
Reimu released him, and said "You're free to go. I've taken care of the youkai on the way here, just head that way until you reach a portal." The man thanked her... And then went on some long weird story that she didn't really pay attention to during the time between his starting and her getting sick of it and sticking an ofuda on top of his mouth. It wouldn't come off, and she simply said "Go." He did.
"Amazing how you treat even your own kind. What do you expect him to do if he can't get that off?" Reimu shrugged. "That's not my problem. I let him out, anything else from there is his problem." There was no response, but she did hear a sound that sounded quite reminiscent of a palm connecting solidly with a face.
And finally, there were no more of those doors left. The only door left was a huge one, on the opposite end of the big room from where she'd come in. She guessed that was the way out of this place... She walked forward, and opened the door...
