~Beyond the Border~ > Rumia's Party Games
RPG - Waking Up From the Dream (Story Thread)
Rabbit:
"Soran, look! I can see buildings."
Her voice cut through the fog in his mind like a silver bell. His vision, previously edged with grey, finally resolved when he looked up and saw what Yumemi was talking about.
"Where are we?" he slurred.
"What has happened to you? This is the town nestled deep in the forest that you lead us towards. We discussed this hours ago."
Soran stared, uncomprehending. He had lead them to a town in the middle of nowhere seeking shelter. He struggled to remember the specific reason for coming to this place. The twin sisters of dream had told him the way but they had never explained why they were going, only that it was important to the common mutual interest of their little group. His eyes fixed on a small building in the distance, in the mountains above.
"Good, we've made it", Soran said, "I think we should be safe here from pursuers. We can blend in among the people of this town. What is that building in the distance?"
Yumemi looked in the direction he pointed, "I can't be sure but I sense a gathering. There is powerful spiritual energy coming from that place. Judging where we are and our surroundings I would guess that it's a shrine of some sort."
Yes. A shrine is correct. Bring us closer, there is something we must know.
"Alright but my body is so ugh..."
The ground rushed up towards Soran's vision. His hand shot out to break his fall.
"Soran? Soran! H-hey, hang in there..."
She saw Soran slump to the ground and kneeled to support him.
"Are you alright? You need to stop collapsing like you have some kind of wasting ill-"
Whatever witty comment she had intended to make died in her throat when she looked at Soran's face. A miasma of some form of black energy rolled off his face like smoke and both eyes were filled with blood in her sight. His expression held no pain or exhaustion. Yumemi stared in disbelief as the signs filled her magic-enhanced sight.
"You're a demon."
His expression did not change, "You noticed. As expected of a genius scientist."
Yumemi's face hardened.
"Did you expect me to say something else? Perhaps give a rant on how I plan to escape confinement and wreak havoc on the world? You can rest easy, I am on a mission of my own and have an interest in seeing your precious contractor alive so rest easy. Besides, you need me as much as I need you."
"What do you mean?"
"What happened Yumemi? Is something wrong?" Soran was brushing himself off and trying to stand.
"...nothing. It's nothing. In any case, if we are going to be here for a long time we should at least find some kind of shelter. Check around the town. We should split up to cover more ground and meet somewhere a bit more central."
The shrine...
"A-alright", Soran murmured.
E-Nazrin:
A Distant Train Station, ~1:56 PM, Day 2
Participants: Team Drillkumo, Team Star GPS: E-mouse, Sanasanasan
It took us a while to get back to the train station. I'm afraid I was a good part of the problem; between being out of shape and never really walking this much in a day and plushie-maintaining Ran and Chen, the walk was... unpleasant.
But, we arrived just before 2 PM, whereupon I collapsed onto one of the benches with a long sigh.
Yukari shook her head.
"Yes, yes, I'm pathetic." I grumbled back at her.
I closed my eyes for a moment. Oooh, another nap sounds good right now.
Yukari was antsier. "When's the next train arrive?" she asked, probably of Sana and Renko.
"Ah... well, there's one at 1:55..." Renko answered. A pause. "Er, wait, that one already left."
I could feel Yukari glaring at me. Since I didn't really have an answer to her anger, I tried not to respond to it for a while, but eventually helpless guilt won out. I opened my eyes again and frowned up at her.
"Hey, I'm sorry! It's not my fault I can't keep up with all of you!"
She nodded, with a false smile. "I know. But I do believe you could have gone a bit faster if you tried."
I grimaced and averted my eyes. She was right. It's just, it was hurting so much, I didn't...
"That's a bit... harsh." Sana^n cut in. We both looked at him, to see a raised eyebrow and a frown.
Renko agreed. "Yeah. It's not like we knew we were just barely going to miss the next train, anyway."
That... is an extremely good point. Actually, come to think of it...
"For that matter," I added, "If it had been delayed at all, it wouldn't have mattered either way."
Yukari glared at me for a moment, then sighed. "All right, you're right. But I hope that the next one is soon...?"
Renko turned to look at the train schedule. "Says... about 2:15? About 20 minutes."
Yukari sighed again. "I suppose we don't have much choice."
She sat down on the bench next to me, an irritated frown on her face.
"... still worried, huh?" I asked, calmly.
Yukari glanced over. There was a moment of silence, before her scowl softened. "... yes. Reimu may be tough, but we've been away for a long time..."
I nodded. "It shouldn't be... too much longer. We'll find them again soon enough."
Our little chat was interrupted by the station intercom.
"Please excuse the interruption. The next train for the Nagano-Karuisuwa line has been delayed. It is now due to arrive by 2:25 local time. We apologize for any inconvenience."
We were silent for a long moment.
"Curse you, irony gods!" I cried, pumping a fist in the air.
CRACK.
"Owowowow..."
-----
I spent the next few minutes trying to quell the pain in my arm. I probably could have stopped it quickly by letting Ran and Chen return to normal, but that wasn't a good idea in public. The station was fairly crowded, anyway.
... I say 'I,' but... Yukari actually cut in to help massage my muscles after a little while.
"Why...?"
She shrugged. "Not much better to do, is there?"
Wh... Yukari...? Acting sweet-hearted? To ME? This didn't make sense.
... and come to think of it, there was one time sink Yukari always had...
"Even sleeping?"
She hesitated.
"... I'm not particularly tired right now, in fact."
"That's a rarity."
Yukari looked around at the crowds. "There's not much space to lie down here, anyway."
"... good point."
I leaned back on the bench and closed my eyes. This... felt good. My arm was already hurting less...
"... thanks."
"Oh, you'll owe me for it, of course~"
I smiled. "Of course."
We were silent for a while. Yukari eventually stopped... massaging my arm... still can't believe that... and I stretched out my joints, just a little. They popped quietly, but not so painfully. More of a stretch than a dislocation.
"Ahh."
"Ara, did I make it worse?"
I opened my eyes and smiled at her. "Not at all."
.... how am I getting away with this?
I shifted uncomfortably and pulled my arm out of her grasp. She let it go, smiling.
"... so, what do I owe you?"
"I haven't decided yet, but I'm sure it'll be entertaining~"
After a moment, her smile faded. She looked out at the crowds... no, at Sana and Renko, standing nearby with uncomfortable expressions on their faces.
---
"... no, you're better at being serious." she said, quietly.
"... what do you have in mind?"
"Remember what this trip was for in the first place?" Yukari asked.
... that's right. Renko hadn't caught on to the implications of Maribel... not being home.
"... should I be blunt?"
"I'll leave that to you~"
... hmm. She needs to know, and fairly soon. She needs to understand the danger, and what her friend's gotten into. But to hear that Maribel's been kidnapped by the enemy that destroyed all of Gensokyo... would it hurt her more to figure it out herself, or to hear it outright?
... the latter can't be taken back, and she might be worrying about it herself already. I can't exactly describe the situation in full in public like this, either...
"... hey, Renko."
She jumped slightly. "Ah... y, yes?"
"Any idea where Maribel was today?" I asked, trying to sound casual. And failing.
Renko let out a nervous laugh. "Ah, that's right, we never did see her today, did we?" She frowned. "It looked like nobody'd been in her apartment for a while."
Renko turned away from the rest of us. "I... hope nothing's happened to her."
... I wonder if she was worrying about it before or after I asked.
"... hm." I replied, noncommittally. Closed my eyes again.
"Maybe she just went on a trip?" Sanananananana suggested.
... I didn't think of denial.
Renko eagerly leapt on the idea. "Ah! Yes, it's been a while since she visited family abroad..."
"Without telling you?" I asked.
"Well..." she frowned again. "It has been a few months..."
Not the closest of friends anymore, eh...?
"Come to think of it, the only reasons I can think of where she wouldn't call you are A: kidnapped by aliens, or B: went somewhere where there are no phones." Sanasan said.
NOW we're on the right track.
Renko shifted uncomfortably. "Well... something probably came up. Maybe her parents don't want to pay for long-distance..."
"And you don't use the internet?" I countered.
She shook her head. "Not really."
... actually. "I suppose that makes sense, come to think of it... otherwise you'd have probably heard of Touhou, and, well..."
Renko managed another nervous laugh.
"Wait, I use the internet and I haven't heard of Touhou until now..." Sana noted.
I grimaced. "Touche."
Again, we were interrupted by the station intercom, repeating the same message.
"Please excuse the interruption. The next train for the Nagano-Karuisuwa line has been delayed. It is now due to arrive by 2:25 local time. We apologize for any inconvenience."
The announcer sounded kinda bored, actually.
... our conversation trailed off. I decided to leave the rest of this quibble until we got on the train... I think I WILL have to be blunt, in the end.
... how to break the news, though...
-----
Returning Train Ride, ~2:30 PM, Day 2
Participants: Team Drillkumo, Team Star GPS: E-mouse, Sanasanasan
This time the train was semi-crowded, but the occupants were... somewhat unexpected. The multitude of seifuku miniskirts surrounding us as we got on left me feeling fairly uncomfortable. Rather than risk feeling like a skirt-trailing pervert, I was inclined to try and avoid the main crowds. Especially when the girls kept giving our shikigami-plushies looks of intrigue and approval.
Sana^n and Renko seemed willing to go along with this, fortunately. I was a little worried that we might not be able to... have our talk during the ride, but it seemed like the highschoolers favored congregating in cars with one another, despite this making them more crowded than they had to be. By some fluke, the last car of the train was completely empty, and the school crowd in the next one was small - but talkative. About as perfect conditions for a chat as we could hope for, considering the circumstances. The only real inconvenience was that people were too close by for me to get away with letting the shikigami return to normal...
Which would explain the sigh as I collapsed onto the train seat and flopped my head back. "Haaaaaaa. Oh man, I needed that sit-down again..."
Madame awesome-hat and her battery sat down on the other side of the train, silently. Renko didn't seem particularly comfortable, clearly thinking about something. She didn't even put a protective hand on the shopping bag Sana put down between them.
... that's probably my fault.
I was tempted to stretch my arms, but then I remembered the joint-popping incident outside, and decided against it. Yukari sat down to one side of me, wearing a small smile. The usual for her, really. Though she did take it upon herself to take care of the plushikigami this time.
Anyway... we've got some privacy again. I think... it's time to drop the bomb.
I sighed again, and looked over at Renko and Sauna. Grimaced for a moment. "Welp. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to be an asshole for a minute here."
As expected, that got their attention. "Huh?" Sana asked, simply looking confused. Renko... was worried.
I smiled, sadly. "Well... let me put it this way. Yukari and I wanted to check on Maribel because we were... worried about her well-being."
Sana was a little more worried now. "...Well-being?" Renko just looked even more uncomfortable.
"... Renko. I think you know where I'm going with this."
She nodded, slowly. "....Something happened to her?"
I nodded back, and spoke softly. "... yeah. D'you remember last night? When we were running away from a bunch of goons trying to capture people from Gensokyo?"
She lowered her head a little. "... yeah."
... guilt. I sighed. "Told you this was going to be an asshole move." Shook my head. "Well... the thing is, remember how I said Gensokyo collapsed due to its magical power source getting swiped? I'm... still not really sure how it happened, but... one of the main defenses Gensokyo had from the outer world was a gigantic border-barrier that made it impossible to get in or out." I considered for a moment. "But you knew that, didn't you?"
Renko nodded. That was silly of me, wasn't it?
... now the real nastiness. I took a deep breath, and sighed again. "Now, the thing about that is... you'd probably need some way to circumvent that border to get at the mana spring."
Yukari shifted from beside me. I knew this because I had realized that her leg was brushing up against mine.
Geh!
I shuffled away a little and looked at her. She was wearing a rather blank expression, but it reminded me... "... and even if you didn't, Gensokyo's strongest would use borders like that to defend it."
Renko and Sana didn't reply, simply looking downcast.
... well, blunt it is. I gave them a pained smile. "And who do we know from out here that's been able to interact with borders?"
Renko closed her eyes. "You... you mean Maribel, don't you?"
Her voice was shaking. I think I can see tears in her eyes...
... why do I want to hug and comfort her? I... shouldn't try to get away with that, should I? But for something like this...
Well... I'll try standing up at least...
CRK.
Ow, damnit! I crumpled back into my seat. Damn plushie ruination!
... I sighed, looking down at the floor. "Yeah. I'm fairly sure Maribel got kidnapped for research purposes or something. Thanks to Touhou, her power would be known, even if she was never found in person before then." Looked up at Renko. "... and that those 'thieves' mentioned investigating borders after we cornered them..."
I noticed Sana had moved much closer to the hatty girl, with one hand on her shoulder. Good. At least he was covering the comforting part, even if he still looked mostly confused.
He proved the source of his confusion with something I had taken for granted.
"Um... her power? What?"
I gently placed my palm over my eyes. Ergh, that stings. I have to stop doing that...
"Um... I never told you, did I?" Renko said. She laughed nervously for a moment. "We, well... the reason I know about the borders we kept looking for is because Mary... Mary could see them."
"What?! That's how you knew where they were?!" I looked again. He was properly freaked out, now.
Renko nodded, hanging her head. "Yeah. I remembered where she usually saw them, and sometimes... I thought I could feel something, but it's thanks to her that I had any leads..."
"Not that you need any now." I muttered.
An uncomfortable silence. After a moment, Renko took a deep breath and looked up at me.
"... where is she."
... well. I wasn't expecting that sort of determination from one of the peaceful outworlders of Touhou. But... I guess after some of her earlier antics, maybe I shouldn't be too surprised.
I shook my head, winced, regretted it for a moment, and replied, "I don't know. Like I said, she probably got kidnapped by those goons or something. But where they have her or..." I trailed off. Ugh... another piece of nastiness. But I have to. "... or whether she's okay, I don't know."
Renko clenched her hands. And teeth. "Where. Is she."
"Ara ara..."
All heads turned to face Yukari, who was looking a little amused at the whole procession. I guess she's feeling a little better now that we're on our way back to finding Reimu.
"You're quite determined to find her, aren't you?" she asked Renko, smiling. I think I saw hat-girl nod back out of the corner of my eye. Yukari returned it, and her smile faded for a moment. "I don't think you have to worry. Kikuri wouldn't throw away someone so valuable." She smirked. "She wouldn't be foolish enough to lose her only lead to fighting me or Reimu on even terms."
"So... she's okay?" Renko asked, slowly.
"Probably." I said, turning back towards her. Slowly, this time. "Yukari has a point."
"Then we can save her?"
... I grinned. "We can sure as hell try." ... returned to being serious. "But I don't think we're up to it right now. With the power she's packing and how vulnerable we are right now..." I shook my head. "For the moment, we need to avoid drawing attention. And find out what she's up to... and what she wants..."
"'Don't think we're up to it right now'?"
Renko's boy... Sauna spoke up, sounding nervous.
"Doesn't that imply that we can actually rescue her?"
"Not in our current condition." I replied. Considered for a moment. Smiled. "But... gotta try, right?"
Sana^n gave me a... half-hearted smile. "I... I guess."
... my own smile faded a little. "Thinking about it... most of the Gensokyo crew, and their batteries, still have some amount of power. The mage I talked to about how these mana links work said that they can be strengthened based on... how close they are, emotionally."
"Hmhmhm..."
... Yukari's quiet laugh there sparked thoughts that... no. No, that's not happening. I'm not important enough for her to care about. Or strong enough...
I sighed. Whatever. "And I'm sure there's some way around Kikuri, if we look for it. Some of Gensokyo's residents have frighteningly abusable powers, if we could just get them linked to someone strong enough to handle it... or enough people to handle it..." A thought. I grinned. "Or get the ones they're linked to strong enough, maybe..."
Yukari laughed again, more openly this time. She reached up and flicked at my hair with a finger. "Really, Jeremy, you've already forgotten about yourself getting stronger right after we arrived? I'm disappointed."
I DID forget. But that... was that really me? The Drill... or... tamashii da... damnit.
Although...
"... yeah, you're right. That'll work, won't it? And for that matter..." I brushed a hand over the Drill, "Maybe we can find some external help." I looked at Renko, tilted my head, and smirked. "D'you think a Yoshitsuna would help our odds?"
Renko grinned nervously at my half-joke, and countered with one of her own. "I dunno," she said, voice wavering a little, "My weapon mastery isn't that great."
I grinned back. I guess that'd be a factor, but the stats alone would be... oh man, I'm being silly.
Saunasan brought up a more serious point.
"A Yoshitsuna? Where in the world would we get one of those?"
I shrugged. "No idea. It was a bit of an over-the-top example, really. But... there ARE some magical artifacts from Gensokyo. A lot of them have lost their power after leaving the border, but considering how I'm not a corpse, at least some of them can still work outside, or at least help with mana provision."
I turned and tilted my head at Yukari. "And after finding out Touhou is real, I'm not exactly adverse to believing other 'games' might be."
Sukima shrugged at me. "Maybe."
A brief silence, and suddenly: "I WANT TO JOIN THE PARTY."
Renko's little shout had earned her the turn and blink. "What?"
Sana agreed. "What?!" But he also understood her meaning a bit better than I had. "That's crazy! It's... it's going to be really dangerous, isn't it?!"
I glanced at the door to the train car. No one had really noticed Renko's outburst. Phew.
Back to the matter at hand. "Probably." I admitted. "But I'm hoping we'll be able to hold back and lay low until the Gensokyo crew is in good enough shape to really stand up to her. So, the real danger wouldn't be for a while."
... I frowned. "And... I'm being a douchebag again, but... there might not be a better choice. Renko, you've been connected with Maribel for a while, now, right? You're even referenced in Touhou... now I'm a little surprised you weren't kidnapped, yourself."
Both of them stared at me. I sighed. "I'd have expected Kikuri to want to clean up after herself for something as important as getting Maribel's powers. Or to grab a little extra in the process. I'd have honestly expected you two to be inseparable..."
The enhatted physicist shook her head. "Well... while we were at the University, maybe... but Mary's grades started dropping, and her parents got upset, so..."
I frowned. "Well, that sucks. Though... it's kinda convenient how..."
Yukari cut in.
"So, did you at least make out before she left?"
...
Damnit, Yukari.
I covered my face with a hand, both out of exasperation and, admittedly, to hide a grin.
"Huh?" Sanasana asked.
Renko, on the other hand, caught her implications, and stammered, "W-we weren't THAT kind of friend!!"
"Fufufu... is that so? Come now, there's no need to be shy about it, I think every girl in Gensokyo has had her moments..."
"I don't live in Gensokyo!" physics-hat countered, rather quickly all things considered, "YOUR ARGUMENT IS INVALID!!"
"Yukari, as much as this conversation amuses me, could we not turn this train ride into a shouting match about lesbians?"
"Nonsense, if she's going to be staying with the others of Gensokyo, well..."
I rubbed my forehead, still grinning. Damnit, Yukari.
"But I suppose it doesn't matter so much, if she's gotten linked to a man anyway..."
"Uh..."
I moved my hand aside enough to see Sana, looking about as clueless as his tone had suggested.
"....what's that supposed to mean?"
I stared at him.
"... how old are you?"
He frowned. "Seventeen....why?"
... I shook my head, slowly. "Then I hope you're acting."
"Fufu... really, Sana. Did you already forget what makes mana links stronger?"
"Oh." Sana paused. Blinked. His face turned bright red. "OH... D, do you really have to do....THAT to make your links stronger? Because I'd rather not...."
... I stole a brief glance at Yukari...
"No WAY!" Renko cut in. "We're doing fine, aren't we?!" She glanced behind her, out the train window. "It's... 2:47 PM, 0.03 degrees south and 0.02 degrees east of Maribel's apartment!"
I blinked. Her ability still works?
"I'm still at my best, even without having to... to go that far!" She was blushing, too. Yukari had accomplished much.
... although.
"Are you sure that's your best?" I asked. Physics-hat gaped at me in disbelief. "I mean... your ability is basically acting like a living GPS, right? Are you sure you can't do better than that?"
I brought up a hand to stroke my chin for a moment. Ugh, need a shave. And it's stinging a little from plushieblah. But that's not the point.
"I mean... I know that would be of limited use normally, but what if it's just a small expression of some bigger power? You do it by tracking where the stars are, right? So... if it isn't just stars... oho. To know where any person is somehow..."
Renko's eyes widened. I smirked at her. Let's see, what else... "Or maybe it's about the stars, but if you could do more than just triangulate from their location... hmm... moving them would have some really nasty consequences and is difficult to make use of... but maybe..." Ah! A grin. "Come to think of it, this is going to sound scary as hell, but there's a raven girl from Gensokyo that has power over nuclear fission and fusion. She can effectively make miniature stars. If your power would let us contain and control one to use as a miniature power source..." A dark chuckle. "Hmhmhm, perhaps that'd even pull off the micro-sized nuclear power sources from the Foundation books..."
A brief silence. Finally, hat-girl recovered her voice. "Is... is that sort of stuff even possible?! I can't do that stuff!"
Yukari answered her. "Gotta try, right?"
Wh... I turned and raised an eyebrow at her. "... wasn't expecting you to steal my lines."
She shrugged at me, smiling. "It was appropriate." It turned to a smirk. "And I must say, I'm finding this quite clever..."
...
M... my face is burning. I turned away from her. Blarg, I don't take compliments well. And... from Yukari? YUKARI?! No, no, she must be being sarcastic...
Renko, thankfully, interrupted my panic. "But wouldn't that sort of power depend on Sana? I'm supposed to get 'mana' or whatever from him, right?"
I looked back at her and noticed Sana looking uncertain, his expression... difficult to describe, but could probably be summed up pretty well with a colon-s internet smiley.
Anyway. "Where am I gonna get all that mana from?" he asked.
"I don't know," I replied, "But we'll figure out something. An extra pair of hands around is always a help, and..." ... there's got to be something they'd be especially useful for... "... you'd be able to recognize Maribel if... when we find her." A second thought. "For that matter, were you staying in that ka... kawurisawa town?"
"Karuisuwa." Yukari corrected.
"Whatever."
Sana nodded. "Yeah, we both live there."
... yet another thought. "... aren't we a bit far from Tokyo, though?"
Renko shook her head and provided the obvious explanation. "We're off this semester. Why do you ask?"
Whatever, back to the real point. "If you've been living there, you know what the place is like, right? If we're going to lay low and avoid attention, we're going to need to fit in at least a little. I can guess a few basics that we'll need to make sure of in terms of social antics, but I've spent all my life in the US, so I'm not familiar with the nuances of... I want to say 'suburban' Japan." Thought. "Especially if there's anything unusual about the town."
Sauna-auna frowned. "Unusual? I haven't really noticed anything unusual..."
Renko playfully bonked him on the head. "What? Do you live under a rock or something when you're not with me?"
I bit my tongue. Yukari didn't.
"Ara ara, so you do stick together already... heehee, how sweet~"
Here we go again...
Sa(na^x) shifted uncomfortably. Renko just sighed. "Aren't you bored of that joke yet?"
"'Joke?'" Yukari repeated, innocently.
I spoke up; I wasn't as amused this time. "I think we have more important stuff to do than tease them, Yukari."
"Awww, but they have to admit it eventually~"
"I'd think they'd have to do that on their own." I muttered back, deadpan.
Well... there MIGHT be a loophole around that, I guess... unstable morality with that, but if we had to...
..... Koishi. Manipulation of Subconscious.
... there I go again, scaring myself. But maybe... maybe. A trump card. Only if we have to. Only if we have to...
Renko muttered something under her breath and sighed again. "Anyway. I'm sure you already know this, but this town's called Karuisuwa. From what I hear, it's supposed to be named after some deity..."
... Suwa.
Why the FUCK hadn't I noticed before?!
"Suwa." I repeated, aloud. "The goddess part is the 'Suwa' part, right?"
She blinked. "Huh? I don't know, actually. I'm no theology major."
I gave her a look of obvious disappointment. "I would have expected you to know, given your interest in Gensokyo."
"So?" Renko said, frowning. "I only wanted to go to Gensokyo because it's new territory. Think of it!" her voice turned breathless, "An entire world that was hidden for centuries doesn't excite you?!"
"It does," I admitted, "Especially with the way Gensokyo seems to operate." Shook my head. "But that's not my point. My point is 'Suwa.' One of the goddesses that moved to Gensokyo a... few years ago?"
I looked over at Yukari. She nodded. "I was quite impressed by their determination to get in, honestly."
"Yeah..." I shook my head again. "Anyway, two goddesses and their priestess went to Gensokyo from the outer world a few years ago.
One of them was... is named Suwako."
"Huh? Suwako...?" Renko trailed off for a moment. "So....she came from here?"
Shrug. "Apparently. She had to leave the outer world since people were losing faith in her. Well, it was more the other goddess that took over her shrine that did anything about it..."
I trailed off, myself.
"... and we saw her this morning... probably linked to that Awamaka girl..."
Sana the not-boyfriend's eyes widened. "Wait, met her? We met a goddess? There's goddesses here?!"
... still worried about Kanako... why would she do that? Trying to survive? Offered something? After sparking MoF's Incident, I'm still wary of her being power-hungry... but no. I should answer him. We'll find out sooner or later...
"... yeah, there's goddesses here." I confirmed, with a nod. "Suwako herself should be pretty easy to spot, she's got this big, yellow frog-eyed hat that's pretty much unmistakable. And there's at least a few others that should have made it out, too... did I see Minoriko floating around earlier...?"
"Wow..." Renko breathed, awed. She shook her head a little and recovered her composure. "We'll have to talk to them sometime."
"Oh yes, we will." I replied, darkly. Kanako...
"Anyway," madame awesome-hat went on, "A few months ago, it was really quiet here. Then some no-name yakuza from the big cities came to town. I think they got rejected and wandered over here or something."
I raised an eyebrow. "... Yakuza? In an out-of-the-way place like... Kawurisuwa?"
"Karuisuwa."
"Right, right. That's pretty weird... but I guess it shouldn't be surprising after overhearing one yelling about it on that first train..." Frowned. "But why they'd be staging open warfare in town rather thoroughly escapes me." Sighed. "Oh, I hope we didn't fuck this up too badly..."
Renko nodded. "They started out with petty stuff, but they're starting to become a lot more active. It's actually a little worrying..."
"Very worrying." I agreed. "We're going to have to find some way to get them to leave us alone."
"Well, I guess Reimu's already tried the violence approach." Yukari quipped, sounding less than pleased.
That's right, we did overhear a bit of a run-in on the first train. How'd I forget? Whatever. "Yeah in our condition that would be a bad idea."
"...You guys fought against the yakuza?" Sauna asked, "Didn't you guys just come like yesterday?"
Uh... huh. I guess he didn't figure out what that little crash on the train's roof was. Then again, it wasn't the most obvious thing. Guess I'll have to explain.
"You remember that crash on the roof while we were on our way to Maribel's?" I asked. Slow nods. "I overheard someone up there making death threats to someone that 'messed with the yakuza' or something like that. Somehow I forgot that detail until now... and when I yelled up out the window, Deodorant..." Er... "... one of the other mana batteries we brought out answered me. Since the people he's linked to would have to be nearby, they probably got into a fight."
I frowned. "... but that IS a little fast, isn't it? We just arrived... and we didn't make too big a deal about appearing at the shrine. How'd they know, and why'd they get involved so quickly...?"
"How're we supposed to know?" Renko asked, indignant. "We just met you guys yesterday!"
I grimaced. "True. Still, it's weird... it's like they knew we were there, and the only people we met before going to town were....."
...
Really, Akamawa. Are those relics really that valuable...?
There's something going on here...
Yukari interrupted my thoughts with a sigh. "It's not unlike Reimu to pick a fight when she sees something she doesn't like. I'm not sure if she understands that we aren't in Gensokyo anymore... these aren't spellcard duels."
... though I suppose that'd work too. Still, I'm not liking this...
"So, uh... we're going to be with people that are fighting with the Yakuza?" Saunasan asked. "Isn't that... dangerous?"
I nodded a little. "Apparently. But considering how they were still alive after... whatever the hell happened on the roof of that train, I get the impression we'll at least be able to stand up to them. Assuming they're all right..."
Yukari scoffed. "A dunk in the lake would be nothing to Reimu. To any of them, really..." She trailed off. She'd thought of something, but she didn't want to say it.
... I took a guess. "... unless they were injured beforehand?"
A sad laugh. "Yes... perhaps." Sukima's voice turned grave. "Which is what we'll be checking up on... it's been quite a while."
I nodded. "Here's to hoping we can find them."
"Oh, that shouldn't be difficult." Yukari replied, "There was a party to go to at Tourist Helper, remember?"
... derp. That's right. But maybe... "Assuming that hasn't gone under attack or anything?"
"I think we'll be able to tell if those yakuza attack it like they tried on the train."
"... touch?."
"Uh... Party?" Sana asked.
... guess they haven't heard much, huh?
"Apparently there's some plan to go to a... shop or something one of the other batteries knew about in town." I explained, "Some sort of party in the afternoon for... hell if I know, survival's sake?"
"Ara ara, you need a reason to have a party?"
Yukari certainly didn't sound so down now. She's quick about that, it seems.
Renko was almost as puzzled as her boyto... friend. "Huh? We never heard about this."
"You didn't exactly stick around long after arriving." I grumbled. Er, that was a little mean. I sighed. "It didn't come up for a little while, after some of the crazier things from that morning got settled. I don't remember seeing you two when Soniwa showed up..."
"Saniwa."
"Whatever. After that... guy finished with the suspiciousness of handing over the deed to the shrine and some inexplicable oodles of cash, the rest of the crew apparently decided to meet up at some Tourist Helper place in town for a party sometime in the afternoon, after taking care of shopping for relatively normal clothes and the like."
Still really worried about that Saniwa guy. There's something to him... I'm going to have to look up his history, when I get the chance.
"...Oodles of cash?" Renko asked, curiously. "So some guy just gave you a place to stay and lots of money...for no reason?"
I sighed. "I have no idea what the hell was going through that guy's head. He finds a small army of battered weirdos squatting in his ancestral shrine, so he decides to hand it over to them, hand over a bunch of money, and make a bet on our success staying there. It doesn't make sense."
... a hand on my shoulder.
"Now, now, Jeremy. He did say none of his family cared about the shrine anymore, didn't he?"
... I pulled away from Yukari a little, nervous.
"W... well, yeah, but then why not just sell it?"
"Or perhaps he was more interested in setting up that bet..." gap-chan mused.
I turned enough to frown at her out of the corner of my eye. "And put THAT much faith in a bunch of random hobos? If he was going to throw that sort of cash at challenging Awamaka's shrine for those... relics, whatever they are, then why not just hire some people that actually know how to run a modern shrine?"
She shrugged. "Convenience?"
"Sounds pretty suspicious, if you ask me." Renko added.
I turned back towards her in time to see Sana^n nodding slowly. I repeated the gesture, and went on with another complaint. "Not to mention some of the stuff he did there. You don't just HAVE that sort of cash just lying around, and that girl that showed up to deliver it came out of fucking nowhere. And then there's the way he's betting on relics... I'm honestly wondering if he knows about us."
Cluelessman stared at me for a moment. "...How could he know? You just got here yesterday..."
"Touhou." I pointed out, "Most of them WERE in their usual outfits from the games, and he did see us in person before deciding. If he can actually use magic himself, then I wouldn't put it past him to be able to detect that just from being nearby, which he was." I sighed. "But it's also possible that he's just a senile, superstitious old coot, and we can't take it back if we confront him about that directly... but I'll be watching for if he slips..."
Sananananana and Renko shifted uncomfortably, but didn't have any real response to that. Then again, I couldn't think of much else to add at the moment, either. Ugh... there's a lot I need to look into about this whole mess, but right here...
I shook my head. "But I guess that isn't a worry for right now, is it? Right now, it's enough that you two understand what's going on." I smiled. "... and that you're willing to help."
Renko nodded. "Mary needs my help, so..."
... heh. She's brave.
I groaned as I leaned back in my seat. Owwww, spine. Shikigamiplushies are a pain to keep up with... am I EVER going to be able to keep up with the Yakum--
No, don't think like that.
"... anyway, I guess there's not much to do right now aside from wait to get back to--"
"Karuisuwa. Karuisuwa. Next stop, Karuisuwa."
I blinked up at the train intercom. "Well, that's convenient."
I think I heard Yukari moan slightly as she stood up, but I'm not entirely sure. "Let's get going, shall we?"
ES-Anthy:
The Hallways of the shrine-11:15PM-Day 5
Participating Teams: Team Michigan, Team Makai
Sara and Anthony of Team Michigan were walking in the hallways of the covenant base, talking to each other and getting to know each other better. "So, back in Gensokyo you were the actual gate guard of Makai?" Anthony questioned, cocking his head to one side, and in his fashion of walking involving going backwards while in-front of Sara.
"Yea I was, and I did that each day for my life in Gensokyo and I enjoyed it" Sara replied, giving Anthony an odd look to go along with Anthony's odd walking.
"Man, that sounds pretty radical" Anthony said, being amazed from this fact of now he is linked to the previous gate guard of hell. The two continued to walk for a bit and talked more, eventually coming to a corner and rounding it, in which Anthony with his not looking forward ended up crashing into a group of people.
Unaware of the two who were walking in the same direction, Anthony and Sara had unwittingly bumped into Owl-I mean, Lolibear and Shinki of the Makai group...Oh wait...
Anthony who was unaware of the sudden Lolibear and Shinki around the corner ended up running into the two causing a collision and Anthony being on top of a god of makai and her loli.
It had all went along so fast (or rather too fast) for Lolibear to really say or do anything to avert the collision, and by the time she had regained her senses she found herself underneath someone, Shinki apparently on top of her and the goddess being underneath someone herself.
"Ow..." Shinki groaned a bit as Lolibear beat her fist on the floor several muffled screams (perhaps profanities, but we're not entirely sure) emanating from beneath the goddess.
Sara, on the other hand was watching the three person pileup "Anthony, this is why you don't walk backwar-" Sara was saying until she realized who was under the pile, in which Anthony was quickly tossed off to the side into a wall and followed up with Sara helping up Shinki and the Lolibear.
"W-why me..." Anthony muttered as he was resting up against a wall he was recently flung into.
(BGM for the scene)
"S-s-shinki I f-finally found you again!" Sara squealed as she tightly hugged Shinki, finally finding her mother after all of this. Anthony was still a bit too disoriented from getting sent into the wall, while Sara continued to huge Shinki tightly, her face one of joy from finding her lost family.
Shinki, for a moment, wasn't sure if it was really Sara hugging her, Having seen no trace of her daughter ever since they managed to cross over from Makai. "S-Sara..." The goddess breathed for a moment before she brought the gatekeeper in front of her and stared at her for a good few moments. "Sara...is that...really you?"
"I-it is" said sputtered, looking up from her hugging position, her eyes on the verge of crying in joy.
"Sara...we thought..." Shinki choked, hugging Sara as close to her as she possibly could. "We thought we'd never see you again..."
"I d-did too....but, but I'm h-here now" Sara was saying, choking back slightly on her tears rolling down her cheeks.
Lolibear took in a gasp of air as the goddess was lifted off her beating on her chest to apparently get her lungs to start working properly again from being crushed slightly. "Geeze...I thought I was dying." Lolibear then looked around for a moment and caught a glimpse of Shinki hugging onto someone...crying. "Ah! Shinki what's wrong?"
"Fukuma-chan...Sara she's..." Shinki turned to Lolibear a smile on her face, yet that same face drenched with her joyful tears. "She's alive..."
Anthony at the moment was still dazed, slowly focusing his eyes back to the scene, but still messed up a bit.
Lolibear froze, the reality of someone who was thought to be dead now being turned inside out with their very appearance before her. This was...how do you say, a miracle...or at least it seemed like one to Shinki and Lolibear. "I...I don't believe, Sara..." She said her eyes wide with disbelief. "How...how did you find us...where were you...?"
Sara moved her head to speak to Owlbear "I..I was somehow able to g-get out of Makai when the barrier of Gensokyo collapsed, I was picked up by some odd priestess, along with miss Byakuren and Youki..." Sara said, wiping away her tears "T-then earlier today t-that priestess just dropped us l-like we were nothing to her....but, this one p-person was able to link to us, n-named Anthony."
Sara was still crying a bit, looking around slightly "Wait....w-where is he?..." Anthony, the person Sara was looking for was slowly getting up, swaying back and forth slightly from still being disoriented going head first into the covenant wall.
Both Shinki and Lolibear couldn't fathom how much Sara had to go through on her own...it was truly a miracle that she managed get through all of her hardships unscathed. However there was one aspect of Sara's comments that caught Lolibear off guard "He?"
Lolibear turned and looked up to see just the person she was referring to. "...Are you, Anthony...?"
"Y-yea I am" Anthony sputtered, still swaggering a bit from head contact with the wall.
Sara responded, "Yea, t-this is the person who helped me and Youki-san" Sara was able to calm down a little.
"Ah!" Lolibear said running up to Anthony and shaking his hand with great fervor. "Th-thank you!"
Shinki also turned her head to glance at the person who essentially saved Sara's life, "Yes...thank you, Mr. Anthony...we owe you so much for saving Sara..."
"Oh you're welcome" Anthony said, going along with the hand shake, "I'll help whenever I can, and don't worry about me so much, I don't need anything special for saving someone or bringing people back together" he responded, scratching the back of his head with his free hand. "Oh, and you don't really need to be formal or anything with me, just Anthony will do" he said with a grin on his face.
"I see, but still I give you my greatest thanks for finding my little Sara." Shinki answered with a warm smile as she hugged Sara to her a little more. She didn't want to let the gatekeeper go...not yet...not after having came so close to losing her...
Sara continued to hug Shinki as well, not wanting to leave this moment of joy. Anthony smiled as he watched this moment of family reunion.
"Yes we've searched everywhere for her...we didn't know where to look..." Lolibear said.
"This is nice..." Anthony muttered, only thing that was bothering him was his past memories of never having a mother, his face was slightly saddened for a bit but he shook it off quickly, "Well, I don't know if it's amazing or not, but don't worry about how she got here anymore, just be glad that you're all together" Anthony replied, putting on a big old smile.
"Indeed..." Shinki agreed, almost breaking into tears again at the thought of Sara suffering alone without her mother to hold her close and keep her safe. But now...she didn't have to suffer alone anymore...she had not only her mother and family, but also Anthony and his group as well. "We must cherish this moment...and every moment we have together...always."
"Yea..." Anthony muttered, his memories were getting to him a bit more, but he continued to shake them off, his face showed his slight depression from time to time but he kept fighting it off with a smile.
Sara continued to bury her head into Shinki's chest, still crying a bit, and hugging all the tighter.
"I've decided..." Lolibear said looking toward Anthony a smile on her face. "Anthony, you...are now one of us."
"W-wait, what do you exactly mean?" Anthony asked, a little confused since he doesn't exactly know what the entiredy of team makai is.
"Exactly what it says~" Lolibear says with an even wider smile. "...I know you said you didn't need anything special for saving Sara but, I still think you deserve our loyalty. Anyone who saves a member of my family deserves nothing more than my unwavering friendship."
"T-thanks" Anthony muttered, unable to put in the appreciation he has, "I g-guess that kinda makes me part of the family?" he asked, jokingly.
"Of course, why not~" Shinki smiled with a bit of a chuckle chasing her words.
Anthony's face lit up slightly at the mentioning on those words "Oh t-thanks, I wasn't exactly expecting that answer" he said, blushing slightly.
"Hey Shinki maybe Anthony can be the uncle of the family, we don't have many uncles do we?" Lolibear said as she tugged on Shinki's robe in a playful manner, the goddess giggling in response to her antics as she placed her hand on Lolibear's head and gently ruffled her black hair.
"Yea, I guess Uncle can be the right term, at times" Anthony said, adding a little emphasis on the end of that line.
"Yay~" Lolibear chirped, the childishness of her current form pretty much making itself obvious now. "Sara, Sara we have an uncle now~!"
Sara pulled her head out of where it was, finally done with her tears, she was smiling a bit as well "Heh, that is nice, I guess our family is just getting bigger and bigger" Sara said, chuckling a little bit "So, how does it feel Uncle Anthony" Sara said, still giggling a bit.
"Oh, you don't need to say that" Anthony said, blushing a bit from the awkward feeling of suddenly becoming an uncle at the age of about seventeen.
"Oh, but its fun to say that Uncle Anthony" Sara said jokingly, having a grin on her face.
Shinki smiled to Anthony before noticing one aspect about all of this, "Oh, where were the two of you headed before?" The goddess asked, curious as to what they were up to before all of this had went down. "Excuse me if I'm prying..."
"Well, if you want to know we were honestly just taking a small walk around the base, and getting to know each other" Anthony explained, "Well that, and I was eventually gonna make my way to the garage where we parked that one van we sto- I mean barrowed..." he stuttered a bit on the last part, trying to not seem like a criminal.
"Ah I see," Shinki said with a nod before turning to to Sara with a smile. "It is, isn't it?"
"Just as it's fun to say Father Bear~" The goddess added as she looked over toward Lolibear who froze with a considerable blush on her face. "...Hm, or should I say, Mother Bear."
Sara got a little mischievous grin on her face for a bit, then quickly disappearing, she went up to Anthony and hugged him tightly, saying "Oh uncle Anthony, won't you give me a piggyback ride?" she was giggling all the while.
"W-w-what wait wait for a minute" Anthony was surprised by the sudden getting hugged and asking for a piggy back ride, his face became a deep red, and then he noticed his temperature, "oh crap..." he thought "Oh uh c-can we d-d-do this another time S-sara?" Anthony said, becoming frantic from being still in her hug, which was rather tight.
"Why not right now Uncle Anthony?" Sara said, holding on tighter as Anthony tried to wriggle out slightly, and his face was becoming a deeper shade of red.
"W-well I have my r-r-reasons" Anthony stuttered, realizing he was doomed at that moment, since his temperature just went up a little bit too high, and as soon as that hit, he went up in a poof of smoke, changing into his/her female form.
"...D-dammit..." Ana muttered, still in a hug from Sara, still giggling, remembering Anthony's/Ana's condition.
"Whoops, I kinda forgot that" Sara said, still giggling slightly.
"Araaa~ What happened?" Lolibear said tilting her head to the transformed Anthony.
"Hmm yes that is rather curious." Shinki added
"...Shady drugs and me being a bit too eager to change back into a guy..." Ana muttered, slightly embarrased. "Which all of this now turned me into some Ranma knock off..." Ana continued to mutter, her face completly red from showing this infront of her new family.
"Ah yes that...doctor." Shinki said remembering how kooky Eirin's drugs were in a nutshell. "But it's nothing to be embarrassed about, we all have our quirks here and there~" For some reason I feel the need to put emphasis on that ahoge...
"I guess so..." Ana said, brightening up slightly, Sara decided to let go of Ana, she still had a bit of a grin on her face from earlier.
"Well, at least it makes you an Uncle and an Aunt" Sara said, giggling still.
"Well...that's always interesting..." Ana said, rubbing her chin a bit "Ahem, either way thanks for accepting me into your family, and being kind about my, condition..." Ana said, scratching the back of her head while saying this.
"Yeah just like how, I'm a Papa Bear and a Mama Bear~" Lolibear said with a slight blush. "Oh it's no problem," Lolibear added.
"Thanks" Ana replied, though her voice was fine, her face looked like one of wanting something, but she was holding back on this. Ana remained silent for a bit, before finally asking "...uh, Shinki, I want to ask you for something..."
"Hm?" The goddess said with a slight tilt of her head.
"...I know it's kinda odd just going out and saying this but...can I have a hug?" Ana asked, her face still slightly red.
Shinki however, didn't seem to mind Ana's request unto her and gave the blushing girl her usual smile as she stepped toward her. "Of course you can have a hug~" She said as she wrapped her arms around Ana and hugging her close in a warming embrace.
"T-thanks" Ana stuttered slightly, quickly following up with hugging Shinki back, resting her head on Shinki
"Heh...right now it looks like Ana is more of a daughter than an aunt" Sara said, chuckling a little.
"W-what?" Ana was a little surprised from Sara's comment, making Ana think of Shinki of more as a mother, her face was blushing deep red as well from this idea.
"Ah it does seem that way doesn't it~" Shinki said to Sara, "Of course, having another daughter is never a bad thing..." She added as she patted Ana's head gently as she continued to hug her.
"Aah, w-w-well..." Ana was blushing deep red, stuttering to get words out, but was unable too, and decided to just enjoy the hug, smiling as well with it.
"Ara, so we're having another daughter?" Lolibear asked Shinki as she tugged on her robe.
"Hm, perhaps, that's all if Ana wants it." Shinki answered as she looked to Ana while hugging her still. "You don't mind do you? Being our new daughter?"
"W-well...I don't mind...I never really had siblings before..." Ana said, still studdering a bit
"Hmm, if Ana becomes my sister, does that mean her other form is my brother?" Sara questioned, bringing a hand to her chin.
"Ah, yeah that makes sense." Lolibear nodded in response to Sara's question. "Hee, Yuki and Mai will be happy to know they have a new brother...and a new sister~" Lolibear added
"This...this is nice" Ana muttered, happy with the image of being a part of a large family in her mind. Ana continues to rest her head on Shinki, the recent thoughts added to her mind making her much more at ease.
"...Shinki...can I call you....mother?" Ana said, looking up to Shinki from the hug.
"Of course, Ana..." Shinki said smiling down on the girl who hugged her. "You're a part of our family now, I see no reason why you can't call me 'mother." For a moment, Shinki paused...remembering what it was like when she hugged Alice this way...
"Thank you...mother" Ama said quietly, the usage of the term new to her as she continued to hold onto Shinki, enjoying this moment greatly.
"Hey, Ana~" Lolibear chimed in catching the attention of the goddess that was still hugging the girl in question. "Since you're a part of our family, why don't you come and meet the rest~?"
"Ah, that's a great idea, Fukuma-chan." Shinki agreed as she turned to Ana with a smile. "Do you want to meet your new sisters, Ana-chan~?"
"yea, I want to meet them" Ana replied, with her face still half buried into Shinki.
"That would be grea!t" Sara cheered as well, finally getting to see the rest of her family again.
"Yes, I'm sure everyone will be thrilled to see their loveable sister again." Shinki replied to Sara as she looked to Lolibear "Shall we go?"
"That we should," Lolibear answered as she turned to walk back to where the rest of the Makai group was located. "Hee, I wonder what everyone will say when they not only see their sister again, but discover they have a new one too~?"
"W-well, t-thanks again, s-so much" Ana muttered as she squeezed Shinki one more time before getting out of the hug, following Lolibear to the rest of team Makai is.
Sara walked up next to Ana, putting an arm around Ana's shoulder "Don't worry so much Ana, I should still be thanking you for doing this" Sara replied, a grin on her face "besides, I've always wanted a brother as well as more sisters" she added on.
It took about a few moments, but eventually, Lolibear and the gang arrived at the living quaters of the strange Shrine/Inn combo they resided in. "Ah, here we are-" Lolibear said as she turned to Ana with a smile. "Don't worry, we're nice folks even though we're all demons~" She said as she opened the door to their room...
"I hope so..." Ana muttered, shaking a little bit but not enough to truly notice, while Sara still had her arm around Ana.
"Don't worry Ana, you got me as well and I'll make sure you're good with all of us" Sara stated, giving Ana a quick hug before both of them enter the room.
Lolibear lead the group inside the room, the lot of them coming to see that Mai, Yuki and Luize reading a magazine together and Yumeko dusting around the room, apparently not ready to drop her maid qualities even for being in the outside world. "Oi, we're back~" Lolibear announced to everyone who looked up to see her and Shinki enter the room.
"Ah, Miss Shinki, Miss Owl-" Yumeko started before Shinki stopped her midsentence. "Erm...Miss Fukuma-chan, I take it you had a nice walk together?"
"Yeah, I bet they had a really nice walk together~" Yuki giggled before she took a glance up and saw something familiar waltz in with them. "Wha!?" She gasped evoking the attention of Mai, Luize and Yumeko. "S-Sara!?"
Yumeko raised an eyebrow and looked forward to see that Yuki's eyes were not telling any fibs in what they saw. "Sara...you're...alive?"
"Sara-chan~" Luize squealed running up to the gatekeeper and hugging her tightly, tears forming from her closed eyes. "W-where were you all of this time...w-we missed you oh so much..." She sobbed
"Yes...we...we had no idea where to look for you after the collapse of Makai..." Mai added walking up to Luize's side.
"Yuki, Mai, Luize, Yumeko...I'm finally back, it, was a tough road, b-but...I'm finally w-with all of you again" Sara said, starting to tear up a bit, hugging Luize, Ana stepped back a bit to give Sara and her sisters some room, she watched on with a smile on her face.
"Ah, you will have to thank Ana here," Shinki said as she motioned toward Ana, the lot of them looking up to her. "She saved Sara from all of the hardships she had to endure, she helped here where we could not and for that I would like that everyone give her your thanks."
"Y-yea, just don't worry too much about giving thanks, I'm glad enough just helping" Ana said, stuttering a bit with other thoughts flowing through her mind at the time.
"W-wow...I didn't expect so many sisters..." Ana mutters quietly, her mind was slightly adrift thinking about family and things like that.
Sara continued to hug her sisters, crying a bit in joy while doing so, eventually somehow pulling them all together into one big group hug.
As Sara hugged everyone in her group hug, Yuki was first to note, on what Ana had said. "Sisters...?"
"Ah right, should you tell them Shinki?" Lolibear said with Shinki nodding in response.
"You see Yuki...Ana is now a part of our family." Shinki explained a smile spreading on her face at the thought of having a new daughter. "Fukuma-chan, saw that since she saved Sara then she should be a member of our family."
"We...we have a new sister now?" Mai said just as astonished as Yuki was at the news.
"So it seems, Mai." Yumeko commented with a smile, a chuckle chasing behind her words.
"Y-yea, that's me..." Ana muttered, blushing a bit in embarrassment.
"Well, i-it's nice to meet y-you all...my sisters..." Ana said, a smile growing on her face.
"W-wow this is, like...the best day ever~!" Yuki chirped with profound glee. "Not only do we get to see our Sara again, we even now have a new sister too!"
"Ah, I mean, I'm Yuki. Nice to meetcha Ana~" The crimson witch greeted to Ana with a smile. "And this here is Mai, me and her are pretty tight." She then motions to the ice witch who waved to her a faint smile on her face. It should be noted that Mai doesn't always smile...at least not to those who she doesn't quite know.
"Hello Ana." Mai added.
"Hello Yuki, Mai, it's nice to meet you two" Ana spoke, sounding a bit more confident.
"I-I'm Luize, it's a pleasure to have a new sister in our family." Luize said, smiling through her tears. She's still caught up on seeing Sara again it seems. "Ah sorry I'm...still a tad bit choked up from seeing Sara-chan again..."
"Hello Luize, it's nice to meet you as well" Ana said, smiling more.
"I'm sure it's alright, Luize." Yumeko stated as she soon stepped forward and curtsied in greeting to her newest sibling. "Greetings, Miss Ana. I am Yumeko, Miss Shinki's and Miss Owl-" Shinki coughed evoking Yumeko to stop and rephrase her greeting. "Miss Fukuma-chan's maid. It is a pleasure to have you within our family, I hope you will come to enjoy our company as much as we'll enjoy yours."
"T-thanks Yumeko" Ana said, smiling a bit more, but her eyes started to tear up slightly,"It's...nice to meet you all...a-and to have a family l-like this..." Ana spurted out, starting to tear up a bit "I...could n-never imagine h-having a family l-like this" Ana said, her tears trickling down her face, with her smile still there. "B-before...I only had my f-father....b-but now...I h-have all of you..." Ana said, the tears of joy not stopping any time soon, she pulled all of the sisters into a group hug.
"T-t-thank a-all of y-you...so...s-so much" Ana went on, crying more as she hugged all of her new sisters tightly.
"It's okay, Ana." Shinki said returning the hug, "You may not have had a family before, and I'm sorry that was the case...but now, you have us to be your family."
"T-thanks...M-mother" Ana mutters, choking on her tears.
Even though the lot of them were not as close to the other members as Team Gensokyo, now was pretty much the only moment that marked the Makai group being as close to another as they've ever gotten. Needless to say, this was one of the more...happier moments Lolibear and her group had ever experienced...
As they say, one doesn't always have to be related to you by blood to be within a loving family that cares.
trancehime:
Outside Saniwa Shrine, 5:20 AM, Day 6
"What did you see?" VIVIT asked, noticing a very downtrodden Hirowaza, sitting on the ground right by the shrine's doors. Hirowaza had been thinking about what he saw earlier, and decided not to burden anyone with it. Instead, he had been reflecting on the previous transgressions and felt that he had a debt to pay everyone. They had allowed him to do his job, and as a result he felt like he had an obligation to do that in return. Furthermore, he had assisted in defending against Mima. Hirowaza had decided from then on that he was going to do his personal agenda in secret, but the horrendous apparition he had seen earlier complicated things. It was going to make keeping secrets a lot harder. Hirowaza eyed Meira suddenly appearing by one of the post. Meira was about to ask the same thing that VIVIT did a few moments ago, but Hirowaza had started to say something.
"I saw something terrible," Hirowaza said, gravely. "It told me I was going to die early. I'm not entirely sure what to make this. I want to help others, but I must also cope with my fate... And now this." he continued, looking at his blade in a sad manner, could almost be considered rather melancholic. Meira and VIVIT just stared at Hirowaza, amazed. "I don't believe you," Meira said. "That must be someone weaving magics to scare you." VIVIT nodded in agreement, but it was as if she could comprehend something like that. Hirowaza shook his head. "I want to think it is someone fiddling with arcana to demoralize me," he said, sounding rather argumentative. "But I fear this is actually truthful. You have seen the terrible power I wield." Hirowaza said. VIVIT clasped her hands in fear. She had opened her mouth to say something, but Meira walked to Hirowaza and kicked him over. Hirowaza fell backwards, not uttering a sound. He stood up to his feet and dusted himself.
"You disgust me," Meira said. "You're here to use them?"
"No," Hirowaza said. "I did not know about many of these revelations until recently."
"Don't make me hit you again."
VIVIT could not bear to see this happening. "The both of you, stop it!" she yelled, causing a booming resonance around the area. It could wake up someone who hadn't achieved REM sleep yet if they were sleeping, and it would definitely scare anyone who was awake. "Don't fight! Let's solve the problem rationally and in a sensible way!" Upon hearing this, Hirowaza turned around and did not face VIVIT and Meira. "You did not explain the origin of your powers to us, and now you are musing about this curse that looms and threatens to kill you." VIVIT continued. She approached Hirowaza and patted his shoulder. Meira simply sighed and tapped her foot impatiently.
"It comes from... here." Hirowaza said, tapping his head. "Descended from a line of exorcists. Special ones. There is apparently a rival family that I've been locked into eternal combat with. The living one had apparently saved me, and I do not believe I can bring myself to kill her as prophecized from the lore."
"That's bullshit," Meira said bluntly. "You're daft."
"Think whatever you want of me," Hirowaza said. "If you--"
"Stop whining and do something about it."
"..."
Hirowaza looked down on the ground,
"...Touche."
Nemo★Ma:
Saniwa Shrine 4:30 AM
"So that's how you did it." Said Meiling as GA-05 looks at his "Senpai", whose condition is getting better.
"Eh? Huh?" The boy turned around, "Heh, that's what I should do, either I die protecting her in this mission, or my boss will kill me if I failed it again. Ahh, that's only joking!" he saw Meiling's expression and then added.
"You are not as reliable as her, not even by 1/10." Meiling sighed.
"Say, you have known GA-04 for a long time, right? Since you are a Gensokyo Resident." GA-05 took out two golden dices from his shirt pocket and rolled them on the bed-side table.
"Hah, Eleven." He looks at the result.
"Well, I haven't see her that much in the Mansion, She come to the Mansion sometimes to preform healing actions when there are fairies wounded." MeiLing started, "She normally lives on the edge of Magical Forest. However, she proves to be very nice. Actually I have never saw her get angry before, not even once."
"Whoa.. That's highly unusual." The boy rolled the dice again, however one of them rolled down the table and .. "Eh?" he looks on as the 2nd dice roll all the way down the table and falls on Amarillo's head, then went all the way down into her blanket.
"Honestly I didn't met her before this mission, she was erased from our database and is no longer treated a "military unit". " The boy said as he gave up the idea reaching for the second die, then he looked on the table, "Ha, another six." He murmured.
"Giving her nature, it's better to keep her off any battlefield before she get herself killed by some assassin." Meiling replied. "And I see you like dices and coins...."
"Well, One must respect the randomness and luck of life." GA-05 tried to take the die back when a weak voice interrupted his actions.
"That will make it... Twelve.. then." Amarillo holds up the second dice and showed the numbers on it. "I envy your luck."
"Ah, I'm sorry, If I get here sooner..." GA-05 is shocked, "Whatever, now you need rest, you have lost a big portion of blood.."
"... ... I know, and Lily's potential power awakes yet another function of that spear, too bad it's broken now." Seeing the boy's confused eyes, she added "Telepathy is handy in this situation. "
GA-05 take the 2nd dice from Amarillo and put that inside his pocket. "Please assign the mission." he said.
"Mission? Just ensure everyone is alive, anyone that's from gensokyo and their partners, that is." Amarillo try to get up but failed to do so. Not only because of Lily is sleeping using her body as a pillow but -
"Owowowow~ That hurts~" She lean back due to the sudden pain, "it's far more than I thought. Heh." She saw the blood on Lily's wings and dress, then added, "and more blood than I thought too."
"So that if I arrive a bit sooner I can stop this by-" The boy continues.
"By what? Launching a reckless attack in front of that Mima? She is from Gensokyo too, mind you." Amarillo's tone rised a bit higher, "We cannot afford to break the balance more. Also, I saw you has a partner too, so stop abusing ATA Commands."
"What is ATA Command?" Meiling asked, but GA-05 didn't reply.
"Ash to Ash Command, bringing the maximum damage with the maximum price." Amarillo explained, "like that reckless charge he pulled out as his final attack a while ago. That attack have 50% chance of the attacker being killed because of-"
"OK, I get it." GA-05 sighed more, "I get it, just standard defense stance will do, right?"
"Whatever you mean." Amarillo lean back and lied down "Guess i have no choice but to sleep more."
"It seems Eirin applied something called "Phoenix's Tail" on you." Meiling looks at the bottle on the deskside table.
"Not that again." Amarillo sighed, "It has brought me more trouble than its benefit."
(Part 1/3 Finished.)