Chapter 7
Destinations
Nitori didn't even wait for Nue and the others to return to either the workshop or the house. She came outside as soon as the group exited the elevator, presumably having heard it. "Mitori!"
Mitori stepped forward from the others and allowed her sister to embrace her. "Hi."
Nitori pulled away after a few seconds. "You had me worried, sis. What happened down there?"
"Went the wrong way running from a surprisingly nasty robot."
"Nasty robot? I thought there weren't any really tough ones left!"
"Surprised me, too," Mitori said. "I thought I'd head deep in, see if I could find some of that missing mythril. Wasn't expecting a giant robot head."
"A giant- what? That doesn't make any sense. Why would it be a giant head? Wait, why am I thinking about that?" Nitori embraced her sister again. "I'm glad you're okay."
Mitori waited until Nitori pulled away again. "Well, I don't know why there was a giant robot head, but I did find what I was looking for. The thing was using the mythril as plating. It fell down the shaft when those three," she indicated Nue, Yuugi, and Levia, "destroyed it, but we still got a fair amount of scrap. Should be some usable mythril in there."
"Wait," Nitori said, "you got- you have- bring it into the shop! Now!" She grabbed Yuugi, who held the most scrap, and pulled her along towards the workshop. "Come on come on come on!"
Mitori chuckled. "I thought she'd do that. Well, come on, let's get the rest of the scrap inside."
Mokou engulfed the Shade in fire, then cut through its middle with her sword. Then Kaguya struck, slicing through it vertically. Then Mokou slashed it through the neck, which was the final strike.
"Well, then." Kaguya said as she Shade's body faded. "That one was a lot tougher than the others."
"It happens sometimes," Mokou said. "Every now and then, a Shade shows up that's a lot tougher than the others. Usually, they don't fight any differently; they just take a lot more damage to kill. And no, nobody knows why that happens."
"I've realized how little is known about the Shades," Kaguya said. "I wasn't going to ask about that. I'm just going to ask what I was about to before you saw those Shades and attacked."
"And that is?"
"Why are we here? This area of the bamboo forest doesn't have anything of note. Or it didn't five hundred years ago, at least. But you seemed to know exactly where you were going. So why are we here?"
"You're here because you won't just leave me alone. I'm here to speak to Lady Nightbug."
"'Lady Nightbug'? Wait, you mean Wriggle? That firefly youkai?" Mokou nodded. "Since when is she 'Lady' Nightbug?"
"She's changed over the past five hundred years," Mokou said. "Apparently, her lineage is one of considerable power. She's only come into that power since the Radiance."
"What sort of power?"
"I don't know," Mokou said. "I just know she has a lot of it. That, and that her ability to command insects has? altered. She's more? aware of them, now. And aware of what they're aware of. It's like she sees and hears through all of them at once, or something."
"Ah, I understand. You want her help finding Utsuho."
"Yes. This location is where you come to if you want to speak with her. She's designated it as her official meeting area. Coming here is a signal that you're looking for her. She sees your arrival no matter where she is, and knows that you're looking for her. She'll be here as soon as she can."
"Why'd she let Shades show up here, then?"
"I would assume she's dealing with other Shades. It's getting late enough that she'll be awake and active. She tries to keep the forest clear of Shades, but even she can only be in one place at a time, regardless of how widely she can see and hear. With Shade activity on the rise, she can't clear them all out quite as quickly. It's not surprising that we'd run into a small group or two. Although I am surprised a group as large as the one we fought the other night managed to gather."
"Right," Kaguya said. "So more waiting, then?"
"For me, yes. You can feel free to leave at any time."
"We've been over this, Mokou. This is my fight, too."
"Then go fight it yourself."
"You don't think you can win on your own, do you?"
"Kanako said-"
"You know as well as I do that she assumed we'd be fighting her together. I don't care how well we fight; neither of us can take her alone."
"Then I'll find someone else to help me," Mokou said. "You can just leave. Just go."
"Not happening. Even if I didn't think we needed to do this together, I still need some way to find Utsuho."
Mokou sighed.
Why the hell can't she just leave me alone?
"Most of this is other metals," Nitori said. "Good ones, yes, but not as good as mythril. There is some mythril here, but only a very small amount. Enough for your gauntlets, Yuugi, but not enough for anything else."
"We gathered what we could," Nue said. "We would have brought more up if we could have."
"Oh, no, don't worry about that! The other stuff is good, too. I can get plenty of materials from all this. Yuugi, come here. I need a mold of your hands for the gauntlets. Need to make sure I get all the sizes right."
As Yuugi went over to Nitori, who immediately went to work, the door between the workshop and the house opened, and Hina came through. "You're back," she said.
"Oh, yeah," Nitori said, not bothering to look up from her work, "Hina's awake."
"Um, hi," Nue said. "Sorry about the whole beating-the-shit-out-of-you thing."
"I suppose I, too, have something to apologize for," Hina said, "so I apologize for being? unnecessarily aggressive. I hardly think it was necessary to react quite that strongly, though."
"I was told as much," Levia said. "Nue said I was overly quick to attack."
"You were. I have recovered, though. And don't worry; I won't seek vengeance or anything like that. It was a disproportionate response, but not an unprovoked one. That said, however, do try to be less aggressive should we meet again, or you may find your fortunes worsening."
"Was that intended as a threat?"
"Yes."
"Okay," Nue said, "let's try not to have another fight."
"If she doesn't attack me," Hina said, "there will not be one. I will be leaving now." She walked over to the door. "Should we meet again, do try to show me the respect due a god." She exited the workshop.
"I think I missed something," Mitori said.
"She got in our way earlier," Yuugi said, "and Levia beat the shit out of her."
"Prematurely," Nue said.
"And awesomely."
"Okay, got it," Nitori said. "Mold's ready. I'll get started right away."
"How long will it take?" Yuugi said.
"Should be done in two days. If you want to infuse them yourself, stop by at some point tomorrow. Otherwise, I'll see you the next day."
"I'll see you tomorrow, then," Yuugi said. "Nue, Levia, you two heading back to the village?"
"Yeah," Nue said. "We got the object from that thing in the Aerie," she produced the tablet, "and your gauntlets are being-what the hell?"
"What?"
Nue showed Yuugi the tablet. "There's a third piece in here."
"Huh. We haven't fought any Shades since the Aerie, though, so where'd it come from?"
"Somewhere in the Junk Heap would seem likely, but there weren't any Shades in there."
"Maybe there were some and the robots killed them. Anything like that happen, Nitori?"
"Might have," Nitori said. "A lot could've happened here between our abandoning the place and our eventual return. There could have been Shades at some point."
"That's probably it, then," Yuugi said. "I guess it's a good thing we went in there, then."
"I would have gone in eventually anyways," Nue said, "once I'd run out of more likely places. So we wouldn't have missed it entirely. Still, it is good that we found it." She returned the tablet to the nether. "Anyways, no, I don't think we have any more business here, so yes, let's return to the village."
"Thanks for finding my sister," Nitori said. "See you tomorrow, Yuugi."
"Yep," Yuugi said. She exited the workshop, Nue and Levia just behind her.
"An unusual sight, the two of you together."
Mokou and Kaguya both got to their feet. "I'd like to get rid of her," Mokou said, "but she insists on following me."
"Yes, I gathered as much."
Kaguya recognized the figure that emerged from the trees. "Wriggle. Or 'Lady Nightbug', as Mokou seems to call you now."
"Yes," Wriggle said.
Wriggle was certainly still recognizable, but there were changes. Wriggle no longer wore the outfit she used to prefer; she now wore a simple yet elegant black dress. Physically, she was?
Less weak-looking, Kaguya thought,
I guess I'd say. And far less likely to be called a boy. "We were little more than passing acquaintances, only having met at all thanks to my fondness for your friend Mystia's cooking, but even so, it's pretty clear you've changed."
"Indeed," Wriggle said. "I have come into my lineage as Queen of the Night."
"What sort of lineage?"
"The first of my line was Nisus," Wriggle said. "Her power and being have passed through her line, and have now become mine."
"I told you she'd changed," Mokou said.
"Indeed I have," Wriggle said. "I apologize for being unable to greet you sooner; as you thought, Mokou, I was dealing with Shades elsewhere in the forest. They've become far more numerous lately."
"I think everyone's noticed that, yeah. They're becoming increasingly problematic. Kanako's been having the same problem as you: too many of them in too many places at once."
"It is a problem. But that's not why you're here. You came to seek my help in locating Utsuho."
"Yes," Mokou said. "I need to find her."
"She is beyond my sight," Wriggle said. "She has returned underground, beyond my domain. My kind do not journey down that far."
"A smaller area to search, though," Kaguya said.
"I'm not going to confront her down there," Mokou said, "not when she'd have the other hell ravens as backup. They may not be all that tough, but I don't think I'll be able to afford any distractions. I'll be waiting until she's up here again."
"Wise, I think," Wriggle said, "but even so, what makes you think you can win? I witnessed your previous battle with her-my eyes are everywhere-and you did very badly."
"That's because I didn't fight skillfully," Mokou said. "If I do fight at my best, things will be different."
"You can't win alone, Mokou," Kaguya said, "no matter how well you fight."
"Kanako seemed to think otherwise."
"You know as well as I do that she meant both of us fighting together. She saw us come to her as a pair, and assumed we'd be fighting as a pair."
"I would agree," Wriggle said. "You'll need assistance to win against Utsuho."
"Not from Kaguya, I won't," Mokou said.
"Then I suppose that is your choice. I will notify you when she returns aboveground. You should work on your battle strategy until then, because you'll need more than yourself to win against her."
"You're back," Keine said as Nue, Yuugi, and Levia landed in front of her home.
"Yeah," Nue said, "we're back."
"Mamizou told me you were bound for the Aerie, but you were gone for far longer than I would have expected."
"We took a side trip to the Junk Heap," Nue said. "Proved fruitful, too; there was a piece there as well as one in the Aerie. And Nitori's working on a set of gauntlets for Yuugi."
"I see. So that's three pieces, right?"
"Four," Yuugi said. "I have one back at home."
"Halfway there, then," Tenshi said. "Any idea where you're heading next?"
"Not yet," Nue said. "We'll ask Aki and Mamizou in the morning if they have any clues. If nothing else, we'll just follow reports of Shade activity."
"That works, too."
"Are you heading home, then, Nue?" Keine asked. "I think you should."
"Yeah," Nue said. "I'm heading there next. And Levia, since she's staying with us."
"I've got a room at the tavern," Yuugi said.
"Why doesn't that surprise me?"
"No need for you to head back there just yet, is there?" Tenshi said. "Nue's got someone to get home to; you're staying by yourself."
"Oh, I'm not heading back to the room," Yuugi said. "Come on, Levia, you can come with me. Give Nue and Byakuren some quality alone time."
"Where exactly will we be going?" Levia said.
Yuugi ignored her. "Nue, should I meet you at your place again tomorrow?"
"No," Nue said, "and if I'd known you'd be coming, I would have told you not to. I'll want to talk to Mamizou again, so I'll be heading for the tavern tomorrow morning, anyways."
"That works," Yuugi said. "Come on, Levia."
"Where will we be going?" Levia said.
"Yuugi's an oni," Nue said. "She's taking you drinking with her, of course."
"I see. I? I am not sure this is an activity I should participate in."
"Oh, come on," Yuugi said, "relax a little. Or is there something else you'd rather do for fun?"
"I was to exist only to bring the world to an end. Recreation is something I was never to partake in."
"Well, then, that's all the more reason to lighten you up. Come on!" Yuugi took Levia by the arm and led her away.
"?Right," Tenshi said.
"Well," Nue said, "I guess I'll be going, too."
"Let me know where you're going tomorrow before you leave, would you?" Keine said.
"Certainly." Nue turned to leave. "See you tomorrow, then."
"You're not staying with me tonight, Kaguya," Mokou said. She had returned home after meeting with Wriggle, and Kaguya, of course, had followed her.
"I don't really have anywhere else to go," Kaguya said. "Eientei's not exactly livable right now."
"Then go back to Seafront. Or go to the human village; I'm sure Byakuren will have a place for you."
"And require them to make last-minute accommodations? I'd rather not."
"But you're fine with making me accommodate you."
"I'll just sleep out here. You don't have to do anything."
Mokou sighed. "Fine. But just for tonight. Tomorrow, arrange to stay somewhere else."
"Do you have any plans for tomorrow, Mokou? We're stuck waiting until Utsuho shows herself, so what are you going to do tomorrow?"
"I don't know," Mokou said, "and even if I did, I sure as hell wouldn't tell you. You'd just latch onto me like you've been doing."
"Actually, I have my own plans for tomorrow."
"Oh, really? And what would those be?"
"I'm going back into Eientei," Kaguya said. "Eirin has to be in there somewhere, and I mean to find her."
"Oh," Mokou said. "Are you thinking of what you told Shizuha earlier?"
"I would search for Eirin anyways. But yes, I have no doubt that she can find a way to cure Gensokyo's land."
Mokou thought for a moment.
Well, it's better than doing nothing. And she'd never had a problem with any of the others in Eientei, just with Kaguya. Eirin in particular had been extremely helpful to all of Gensokyo, and her return would be greatly beneficial to everyone. Mokou doubted they'd find her, but it was better than doing nothing. "I'll search, too."
"Oh? I thought you wanted nothing to do with me."
"We won't be together. I'll be taking a different path than you."
"Well, I suppose that'll improve our chances," Kaguya said. "But don't pretend you're not working with me."
"I won't be working with you. We'll simply be doing the same thing. Don't expect me to actually help you."
"Right," Kaguya said. "Mokou, just a piece of advice: whatever has you so conflicted towards me, stop trying to hide from it. Face it and deal with it."
"I don't need your advice."
"I gave it to you anyways."
And I hope you'll take it. For your sake, and also for mine.
"Hello, Nue," Byakuren said as Nue entered. "How did things go today?"
"Very well, actually," Nue said. "We found one of the objects in the Aerie, and then took a trip to the Junk Heap."
"Ah, that's why you were gone for so long. What business brought you there?"
"I thought I'd see about having Nitori make a set of gauntlets for Yuugi. Of course, we ended up on a rescue mission, as Mitori was stuck inside the Junk Heap."
"It was good of you to help her, then. Although knowing you, I doubt you did it for free."
"Nitori's making the gauntlets without charge."
"I see," Byakuren said. "That was fairly generous of you, then."
Nue sat down next to Byakuren. "I couldn't just leave Mitori in there. If nothing else, you'd never have forgiven me."
"Well, I'm glad you helped, anyways. Where's Levia?"
"Yuugi took her to get drunk," Nue said. "Yuugi said she wanted to give us some time alone. Although I'm sure she also wanted a drinking partner."
"Probably."
"How have you been today, Byakuren?"
"The pain's been there most of the day, but it's mostly subsided for now."
"Small favors, I guess," Nue said. "Hopefully, you won't have to deal with it at all for too much longer."
"Hopefully," Byakuren said, "but please don't push yourself too hard."
"You know I'm not listening to you on that one."
"I know," Byakuren said, "but I'm still going to say it. I don't want you to get hurt on my account, Nue."
"And I don't want you to die. I'm going to do everything I can to prevent that."
"Which I'm grateful for, but even so, I can't help but worry about you."
"Between myself, Yuugi, and Levia, I think we have things under control."
"Just be careful, all right?"
"All right."
"And take some time to relax every now and then."
"That," Nue said, "is something I intend to do right now."
Levia set down her now-empty glass. "This? liquid is strange."
"Come on," Yuugi said, "surely you've had some sort of alcohol before."
"I was asleep until a few days ago."
"Oh, yeah. Forgot about that."
"What is the appeal of this 'alcohol' supposed to be? I understand that is has an appeal, but I am unsure as to what this appeal is."
"It varies," Yuugi said. "Some people like getting drunk, while others like the taste of various alcoholic drinks."
"There are many varieties, then."
"Very many. Some have more alcohol than others, and a lot of them have other stuff in them. Not that I really care about the details. I know what I like, and that's good enough for me."
"It is a pleasure, then. An indulgence."
"Yes," Yuugi said. "You have a problem with that?"
"Why would I? There is nothing inherently sinful about seeking pleasures of the flesh. Many believe such things need be shunned, but they are wrong. Sin occurs only when such pleasures are sought at the expense of the self or of others."
"Is that something from the religion you came from?"
"Even the followers of that religion often take stances against such things," Levia said. "They, too, believe such things to be wrong. They simply happen to be incorrect."
"So you won't be calling me evil or anything. Good to know." Yuugi emptied her glass, then signaled for another.
"There is nothing to hold against you," Levia said. "Although why anyone would want to hinder their senses is beyond me."
"You don't have to understand it," Yuugi said.
"Fortunate, as it is one of a great many things I do not understand. I was never meant to understand the ways of people. My purpose was to bring them to their end. At least, it was supposed to be. But now I find myself without a world to hasten to its end."
"Yeah," Yuugi said, "you are a bit of an odd case, aren't you?"
"I fight the Shades now, but I know this is only a delay. Sooner or later, I will have to face the fact that there is no purpose to my existence."
Yuugi was silent for a moment. "You know, Levia, for most of my life, I didn't have any kind of purpose. But then the Shades destroyed our home, and now I do have a purpose: I kill Shades. I find them wherever they are, and I kill them. That is my purpose now. And you know what? I was happier without a purpose."
"Most of your kind died," Levia said. "Anyone would rather that not have happened."
"It's not just that, though," Yuugi said. "I never felt like I needed a purpose. And now I know I was right to feel that way. I want this to be over, Levia. I want it all to end so that I can go back to not having any sort of purpose. You don't need a purpose in order to live your life."
"I? I do not believe I know how to live without a purpose."
"Well, that's not a problem," Yuugi said. "I can show you."
"I don't know how the other Celestials can stand eating the same things all the time," Tenshi said.
Tenshi and Keine were inside now, and Keine was preparing dinner. "Most Celestials became that way through 'enlightened living', right? That includes a denial of physical pleasures, which food could partially be considered as. For them, eating is purely for sustenance; they take no pleasure in it. If you take out the pleasure aspect, it makes sense that they'd have repetitive diets. You, however, never denied yourself such things. Normally, you would never have become a Celestial."
"Well, yeah, my 'ascension' was atypical. Doesn't keep them from thinking I should be exactly like the rest of them, though. Well, except Iku, maybe. Not that she's been very happy with me, either, but she does seem to understand better than the rest that I'm just not like them."
"There's a general tendency among people to assume that others are like them," Keine said, "and that's in places that can have vastly different people. In a society like the Celestials have, where everyone there is similar to begin with, it's easy to see how this tendency could be amplified."
"Doesn't mean I have to like it."
"Oh, of course," Keine said. "I'm not trying to excuse their attitude. I don't like that attitude, either, but I do understand where it comes from. If you put some effort into understanding them, too, you might get along better with them."
"Not likely. I'm too different from them. No matter how much I 'understand' them, I'll always be the odd one out, someone who, by their standards, shouldn't be there. There's a reason I've always preferred spending time in Gensokyo, you know. Well, multiple reasons. Heaven is pretty boring, after all."
"A lot of people these days would want boring," Keine said. "At least boring isn't dangerous."
"Yeah, I guess. Never been my thing, though."
"There's nothing wrong with that. Unless you cause trouble again, of course."
"Oh, come on," Tenshi said, "that was over five hundred years ago. I haven't caused any trouble since then."
"Only because the Shades have been around to keep things interesting enough for you."
"Yeah, maybe."
"Well, at least what you're doing now is helpful. Even if there doesn't seem to be any end to the Shades."
"Everything can end," Tenshi said. "The Shades are no exception. We'll find a way to get rid of them. Hell, Nue may be well on her way to doing just that."
"Or eliminating the Black Scrawl, at least, hopefully. Even just that would be welcome."
"Yeah, I guess it'd be better than nothing. But even I'd rather find a way to get rid of that Shades. Yeah, they keep things from getting too boring, but that's not worth the harm they cause. If there's a chance Nue can get rid of the things, I'm going to support her. And if she ever needs help, I'll be glad to give it to her."
"Just try not to get yourself killed," Keine said. "I don't want to lose you."
"Oh, you won't lose me," Tenshi said. "I'll be here for you."
"I appreciate that, Tenshi."
Tenshi came right up beside Keine. "Hey, no problem. I care about you, too, you know. A lot."
"And I care about you," Keine said.
"Sorry," Mamizou said. "Haven't heard anything new."
As planned, Nue went to the tavern promptly the next morning. Levia had never returned from her night with Yuugi, so Nue assumed she was still with the oni. She'd make sure to get them before leaving.
"Nothing at all?" Nue said.
"Unfortunately."
"Damn. Guess I'll have to hope Ari has something. Right, then. You know which room Yuugi's in?"
"First one at the top of the stairs, I think. Her and that Levia woman." Mamizou led Nue up to the room. "This one."
Nue was about to knock when the door was pulled open, revealing Yuugi on the other side. "Thought it was you. Morning, Nue."
"Hi. Is Levia in there?"
"Yeah," Yuugi said. "Not hung over, don't worry. She went fairly easy. Me, too, at least for an oni. Can't be hung over when we've got Shades to kill."
"If we have Shades to kill. Mamizou doesn't have any leads for us. Ari may have something, but I don't know."
"Well, then just let me rouse Levia," Yuugi said, "and we'll go see her."
Kaguya let herself drop the few inches to the floor-sleeping in midair was far more comfortable than sleeping on wood-and got to her feet. A quick look around the house confirmed what she'd expected; Mokou had already left.
She really
needs to start being honest with herself about me. Right. Well, she's probably at Eientei, and even if she's not, that's where I'm going. Kaguya found some food fairly easily.
Looks like she still likes chicken. Hmm? well, I guess she makes her own fire, doesn't she? Well, I can use a little fire, myself. Not that I need to cook this or anything. No need for an immortal to worry about disease. Kaguya immediately tore into the raw meat.
Tastes better like this, anyways. After finishing her meal, Kaguya cleaned up quickly, then stepped outside.
Time to head for Eientei, then. She took off towards her old home.
"You know," Yuugi said as she, Nue, and Levia exited the tavern and began making their way to Ari's house, "if Ari doesn't have any information for us, maybe we should head for Facade."
"Facade?" Nue said. "Why?"
"I was there a couple weeks ago, looking for Shades to kill. Turns out their ruler had just died. From the Black Scrawl."
"Another victim of it," Nue said. "But how does this help us?"
"Their queen was ill. I shouldn't have to tell you that they put every resource they had into finding a cure."
"But they failed."
Yuugi nodded. "True, but if the objects really are the key to curing the Black Scrawl, then their research might have turned up clues to the location of one or more of them."
"I guess it's worth a try. Probably a good idea to check the area for Shades, anyways. I think that's a good idea."
"What is Facade?" Levia said.
"It's where the kappa live," Nue said. "Their old village was destroyed, and like the tengu, they eventually decided to build a new one. Unlike the tengu, though, they moved a long distance from their old village. The tengu still live on the mountain, but the kappa now live in the middle of the desert."
"Desert."
"Yeah," Yuugi said. "They found a nice, big oasis, and built their new village around it. And they're good at drawing out groundwater, too. It's a fine place for them, I think. They looked like they were doing well two weeks ago, at least. Well, aside from having lost their queen."
"I may not do so well," Levia said. "I am of the water; a desert is no place for me."
"The kappa do fine."
"I am not a kappa."
"Well, I guess," Yuugi said.
"Would you not be able to survive?" Nue said.
"I would survive," Levia said, "but I could not function in such a place for long. If the kappa city is built around an oasis, I would be fine there, but unless they were nearby, I would be unable to accompany you in your search for Shades. After more than an hour or two in the desert, I would be too weak."
"That's not good," Yuugi said. "Are you staying here, then?"
"I can accompany you to the city. I will go at least that far with you. And if the Shades are decently close to it, I will be able to accompany you into battle. If not, though, I may have to remain in the city."
"If you've gotta, then you've gotta."
Just upside-down right now, it would seem. Kaguya approached Eientei.
Should be easy to find the entrance if it's just upside-down. Just find where the door looks like it is, drop to the ground, and walk in. Kaguya did exactly that, and found herself in the main hall. Although as previously, it was different than it should be.
Fewer halls this time instead of too many. Okay, right or left... right. She made her way over to the right corridor, only to find herself in front of the left one.
Right. Whatever. She entered the corridor.
Ari had several books open in front of her when the group entered, and was quickly paging through one. She looked up only briefly as they entered before returning to the book. "Nue, Yuugi. And Levia, I assume. One second; this may be... damn, nothing here." She moved to the next book. "This one next. Chlorination..."
"'Chlorination'?" Nue said.
"Found things in various books. Some things that simply now take on new significance, others that are passages, sections, or even entire books that weren't there before, that I do not remember. I have taken contributions from others, but these are not those. These managed to show up without me knowing at all. Not the first time one of my lives has found previously unknown material, and in fact fairly normal. The one in whose care I place the Chronicle during my absense from life-Keine now, various others before she was born-often adds to it. This new material was no doubt added by Keine-during the period after my life as Akyu, I believe-but I doubt she knew some of the contents of what was added. I don't know who added it, or why, but I have found papers." She indicated a small pile off to the side of her desk. "Those papers. They make frequent reference to something called 'White Chlorination Syndrome'. Sounds like the name of a disease, so I've been checking records of illnesses. Nothing so far, unfortunately."
"You're supposed to be looking into the shades and the Black Scrawl. Is this related?"
"There are several factors pointing to this."
"The time matches up, at least," Nue said, "if these are indeed from shortly after Akyu's death."
"True, but not really much of a factor in that conclusion. It is from the contents of the papers that I drew that conclusion. References are made towards black marks on the skin."
"The Black Scrawl."
"Possibly. They're mentioned in conjunction with something called a 'Gestalt'. I have not yet found anything about what a Gestalt is, but one paper does mention it in conjunction with White Chlorination Syndrome. In addition, there are mentions of mindlessly aggressive creatures."
"Shades."
"Perhaps, although they are not called by that name. They are instead referred to as 'Legion'. I believe they are related to the Shades, though. The name difference may simply be because of the fact that if these papers are, as I believe, from shortly before the Radiance, then the term 'Shades' was not in use yet. And the name 'Legion' didn't come into use because these papers, quite clearly, were intended to remain secret. Why they turned up in my records, I do not know."
"You are on the trail of information related to the origin of the Shades," Levia said.
"Yes."
"What about those black objects?" Nue said. "Have you found anything related to them?"
"No, unfortunately. You're hunting Shades for them, though, right? Mamizou may be able to point you towards recent Shade activity."
"We already talked to her," Yuugi said. "She had nothing. We're probably gonna head to Facade. That's far enough away that Mam probably wouldn't know much about it, 'specially since it's not really super-common for any kappa to leave the place. Doubt she's heard much from there. And their queen recently died from the Scrawl, so they were researching it pretty heavily."
"A good plan, then. I, meanwhile, will continue my research. I'll let you know if I find anything."
Kaguya had been walking forward, so she wasn't really sure how she'd managed to back into Mokou.
More weirdness, I guess. She turned to face the other immortal. "Hi, Mokou."
Mokou sighed. "Of course I run into you this quickly."
"Well, I did tell you I was coming here."
"And I left first and went in first. I thought we'd stay seperate. Damn place has a sick sense of humor," Mokou muttered.
"I somehow went backwards by going forwards," Kaguya said. "Anything like that happening to you?"
"No, but everything was upside-down for a bit. And sideways. And randomly rotating. And the other stuff this place tends to do." Mokou walked over to a nearby door and opened it. "There is one good thing about it, though. Since everything keeps changing, you can't follow me very well." She passed through the door, closing it behind herself.
Kaguya went over to the door and opened it, but there was no opening behind it, only a wall.
Well, we'll cover more ground like this anyways. She continued down the hall, actually going forward this time.
Let's see if there's anything over this way.
"So you're off to Facade, then?" Byakuren said.
"Not just yet," Nue said. "Yuugi's headed to Nitori's to do the infusion for her new gauntlets. The current plan is to head out once she's back, but given how far away Facade is, that may put us back here pretty late. Late enough that we'd be tempted to spend the night in Facade."
"Feel free to do so."
"I'm not sure I want to leave you alone for too long," Nue said.
"I will hardly be alone. You know as well as I do that almost anyone in the village will be willing to aid me if I need it."
"Yeah, but I still don't like leaving you. Hell, I'd stay in the village all the time if I could, but that won't help save you from the Black Scrawl."
"I don't like it when you leave, either," Byakuren said, "but I know why you're doing this. And even now, you're not only thinking about me. If you were, you wouldn't have gone looking for Mitori. Yes, you found one of the objects there, but you didn't think you would."
"I couldn't just leave her. As I said before, you'd never have forgiven me."
"I don't think that was the only reason you did it."
"Probably not. Spending time with you has had its effect on me, after all."
"Anyways, you don't need to worry about spending the night elsewhere. All I ask is that if you do find Shades there, please be careful. As I said last night, I don't want you getting hurt for my sake."
"I know," Nue said. "I'll be as careful as I can."
Okay, Kaguya thought,
once again I find myself thinking: this is weird. Kaguya was in what would have been a featureless corridor, except that the walls were... strange. Kaguya wasn't at all sure how to describe the way they looked. And they were sort of pulsing. Not all at once; the pulses seemed to travel down the corridor at fairly frequent intervals.
Also, Kaguya wasn't actually on the visible floor; she was standing on some surface she couldn't see, about a foot above the visible floor.
Kaguya walked forward for a time, and then without warning, she walked straight into a wall that hadn't been there before. She took a step back and looked around. The corridor behind her was normal, nothing like the strange, pulsing one she'd been walking through. The corridor simply turned a corner, and Kaguya had walked into the wall where it turned off to the side. Also, she was walking on the floor again.
Right, Kaguya thought.
Moving on. She turned the corner and continued down the corridor.
Nue and Byakuren stood and turned as someone flung the door open. "Mamizou," Nue said. "What's going on?"
"Shades are approaching the village!"
"Which way are they coming from?"
"South."
"I'm going," Nue said. "Byakuren, stay in the village. Be ready in case more come. You up for it?"
"I am," Byakuren said.
"Then let's get moving."
Nitori looked up from her work as Yuugi entered the workshop. "Hey, Yuugi. Here for the infusion?"
"Yep," Yuugi said. "You ready for it?"
"Yeah. There's actually a pretty wide range of the forging process infusion can be done during. The more important parts are timing, duration, and that work on the weapon continues throughout said duration."
"Just tell me what to do."
"Come over here." Yuugi did so. "Have you formed familiars before?"
"Yeah," Yuugi said. "Not my preferred style, but I've used 'em. Just for danmaku, though."
"The process for forming them is the same," Nitori said. "What matters is that you've done it before. Familiars are formed by sending energy from yourself into a single point. You'll be doing the same thing here. Not to the same extent, though. With familiars, the energy is forced into a coherent form, usually a simple spherical shape. Forcing the form requires additional energy, but without that form, the energy would simply dissipate as soon as you released your focus. Here, this is not a concern, as the energy is going into an object, which already has a form. The level of energy used for a familiar would, in fact, harm the weapon. The amount of energy used in the infusion is important, as is the timing."
"Just tell me what I need to do."
Nitori showed her the in-progress gauntlets. "We'll be alternating between the two gauntlets. When I tell you to start, gather your power, your energy, and send it into the gauntlet I'm currently working on as you would send it into a single point to form a familiar. When I tell you to stop, stop. We will repeat this several times with each gauntlet. I'll let you know when we're done. Are you ready to begin?"
"Whenever you are," Yuugi said.
"Then let's begin."
Levia was already engaged with the Shades. "Have care," she said as Nue landed beside her. "These ones are a new type."
There were several known varieties of Shades. Fairy-types and human-types were the most common, while tengu-types, the shot-happy magician-types, and the large and strong oni-types were less common. But as Nue looked over this group of Shades, she saw that Levia was right. There were human-types among them, but there was also a new kind. They looked much like human-types, although more lithe. The most striking difference was something completely new. It looked like some piece of clothing, although it was clearly part of the Shades and not something being worn. It had the appearance of being wrapped around the arms, looping around behind the head, but it seemed to come apart from either arm freely-although never from both at once, Nue noted.
One of the new Shades swung its? thing at Nue like a blade. She caught it in her trident and gave the Shade a laser to the face.
It's a weapon, then. It's what this type is armed with. And like all Shade 'weapons', it seemed to be a part of the Shade, rather than a weapon it was wielding.
The human-types were as simple as always, but the new types were proving more difficult. "These ones are more agile," Levia said.
Nue formed several green UFOs and coordinated their attacks on one Shade such that there was only one way it could evade. Which, of course, brought it right into the path of Nue's thrown trident. "Not going to matter. They're still fairly easy."
"Most are. My current opponent is proving to be a different matter."
"Unusually tough Shades do show up occasionally. You deal with it; I'll handle the others."
Tenshi crashed down on a keystone, crushing several shades. "Starting without me?"
"I guess that means fewer others to handle," Nue said, running her trident through one. "Careful, Tenshi! These are a new type!"
Tenshi cut through one with her sword. "Not a problem!"
Only five were left. Nue repeated her earlier trick, using lasers to force one to dodge into her trident. This one didn't die, though, so Nue licked it into the ground and impaled it through the head.
Levia lashed at her opponent with her whip, but the Shade struck it to the side with its weapon. Levia charged and punched, but the Shade leapt over her. Nue ran in to impale it, but it ducked under the attack and kicked her.
"Damn," Nue said stepping back. "Usually even the tough ones don't fight this well." She struck but the Shade knocked her trident to the side with its weapon. Levia came in with another punch, only for the Shade to leap over it to the side while lashing out with its own weapon.
Tenshi sent keystones into all three of the Shades facing her, all human-types, knocking them to the ground. Then she thrust her sword into the ground, quickly opening up a fissure underneath them. As they fell in, she slammed it closed, then spun to see the one remaining shade perform a leaping evade of a punch from Levia. And then it lashed out with...
That's- Nue fired a beam at the Shade as it landed, but it reacted quickly enough to evade, leaping backwards as it fired a few shots of its own. Levia simply sweapt the shots away with her whip. "This one has skill."
"Yeah," Nue said. "First Shade I've seen that seems to actually know how to fight. I don't think it'll last too long against both of us, though. Let's-"
"Step aside." Nue and Levia turned to look as Tenshi pushed them to the side. "Tenshi, what are you-" Nue started to say, but then quieted herself.
Tenshi stopped a few feet away from the Shade, her sword drawn. "She desires to fight it alone," Levia said. "Her emotions are? complex. But strong."
"Yeah," Nue said. "Did you see the look on her face? I don't know why, but this just became personal for her."
"So we allow her to fight alone?"
"I'll intervene if she's about to be killed," Nue said, "but aside from that, yes, I intend to let her fight alone."
Tenshi faced the Shade, sword at the ready.
Focus. Think clearly. Don't let feelings get in the way. Control them. Use them. Lashing out in fury only gets one killed. The Shade made the first move, lashing out with its weapon. Tenshi met the strike with her sword, allowing the Shade's weapon to wrap around it. She yanked her sword back, pulling the Shade towards her, and gave it a kick to the face. She pulled her sword free and threw it into the Shade's torso, then called it back to her.
The Shade leapt back a ways and began firing rotating streams of shots. Tenshi cut her way through them, approaching the Shade. Nue, meanwhile, formed two green UFOs, positioning them such that their beams formed a barrier to protect herself and Levia from the shots without interfering with the battle.
Tenshi's progress slowed as she drew closer to the Shade, having a denser volume of shots to deal with. So she sent a keystone forward, which plowed through the shots and impacted the Shade, knocking it down. The shots stopped, Tenshi rushed in and attempted a stab through the chest, but the Shade was too quick. It rolled to the side and leapt to its feet. It grabbed Tenshi by the arm and swung her overhead, attempting to slam her into the ground. Tenshi impaled it through the head as she passed over it and drove it to the ground as well, landing on top of it.
The Shade grabbed Tenshi with both hands and threw her away as it did a backwards roll, landing on its feet and spinning around to face Tenshi. Tenshi hit the ground, rolled, and sprung to her fet, quickly charging at the Shade again.
Keine landed next to Nue and Levia. "Villagers are safe in the schoolhouse," she said. "What's going on here?"
"Only one left," Nue said, "but it's a tough one, and on top of that, it's the only Shade I've seen that fights with any level of skill. Also, there was a new type of Shade. The tough one is one of them, but the others were regular Shades, just a new type. They weren't tough or skilled like this one."
"Why's Tenshi fighting it alone?"
"Because she desires to," Levia said. "I know not why-her emotions are mixed, complicated-but Tenshi considers her battle with this Shade to be personal."
"We'll step in if Tenshi loses," Nue said, "prevent the Shade from killing her, but aside from that, I think we should let her have this one."
"?Fine," Keine said.
Tenshi again allowed the Shade's weapon to wrap around her sword, and as she'd done before, she pulled the Shade to her, kicking it while pulling her blade free and stabbing the Shade in the face.
May fight skillfully, but at least it doesn't seem to learn. The Shade fired several shots as it charged. Tenshi countered the shots with some of her own, and the Shade she impaled on her blade. She swung her sword overhead, slamming the Shade into the ground behind her. The Shade lashed out with its weapon, wrapping it around Tenshi's leg as it hit the ground and pulling Tenshi off her feet. Tenshi didn't hit the ground, instead reacting quickly enough to remain suspended in the air, in a horizontal position. She pulled her sword free of the Shade and spun around in a kick with the wrapped leg, spinning the Shade around and slamming it into the ground again.
The Shade didn't loosen its grip at all. It fired several shots into Tenshi at point-blank range, knocking Tenshi back, itself getting pulled along with her. Tenshi reacted by pulling her leg in, yanking the Shade closer. She took hold of it and shot up into the air. The Shade quickly released its hold on Tenshi's leg, but was unable to escape her grip as she rose higher. Eventually, she spun around vertically several times and hurled the Shade into the ground, following up by crashing down on top of it on a large keystone. The keystone disappeared just in time to allow Tenshi to see the Shade's body fade. "Die, you piece of shit."
"Stop and switch," Nitori said.
Yuugi did so. "How much longer?"
"You're about halfway there. Getting bored?"
"Not really. I've never done this before, after all. No, it's not exactly the most exciting thing ever, but it's not too bad. 'Sides, I thought about taking up smithing myself once, several hundred years ago. Back before the underground was unsealed. Decided against it, but I still think it's interesting to watch one at work."
"Glad someone appreciates the craft," Nitori said, "instead of just the result. Okay, start."
"Got it."
"Well," Nue said, "that was interesting."
Tenshi just stood there for a minute, then walked over to the three of them. "Are you all right?" Keine asked.
Tenshi went over to her. "Keine."
"Tenshi. Are you all right?"
"Do I look all right?"
"Not unscathed, but nothing serious for a Celestial. Physically, you're fine. But you don't look 'fine' at all. What's going on, Tenshi?"
Tenshi was silent for a moment. "Keine, I have to go."
"'Go'?"
"I have to go back to heaven."
"You have to? why?"
"That Shade," Tenshi said. "We've had ones like fairies, of humans, of tengu, of oni, of magicians. But this one was different. A new type."
"What type? What was it?"
"It bore characteristics of my kind," Tenshi said. "That Shade was like a Celestial."
I again find myself having to apologize for taking so long with a chapter, but I have a good excuse this time: I was without my computer for most of a month. Got it back now, obviously. I found time on other computers to get online, but I wasn't really able to do much writing. Anyways, as is so often the case, stuff happened in this chapter. A lot of it more relaxed. Nue and Byakuren, um, spent time together, as did Keine and Tenshi. And it looks like something may be starting to develop between Yuugi and Levia, too. And then, of course, there's Mokou and Kaguya. Those of you who read Orphan, my previous fic, probably recognized my depiction of Wriggle. No, that's not meant to imply a connection between the two stories, because there is none. Much like Byakuren's sealing scene, I simply liked that version of Wriggle enough that I decided to use it again. It looks like Are, meanwhile, has found some new clues. Too bad they just raised more questions. Also, now there are celestial-type Shades. That can't be a good sign. Anyways, next up is Facade. Should be fun. And, of course, feedback is encouraged and appreciated.