~Hakurei Shrine~ > Kosuzu's Grand Bookstore

Absolution of the Requiem

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an unmatched sock: I'm on a roll with these updates! But I should try to not lose sleep writing them. Chapter 4 Gensokyo's Nonexistent Sea    Turquoise danmaku and black lightning filled the air over the mysterious ocean, as Reimu and Koishi chased the strange shadowy creature over the waves. The pitch-black thing stood out against the bright blue of the sea, so it wasn't hard to keep track of, but it was strategic in its attacks. Instead of waves of bullets, it would shoot screens of them with lightning between them to try and block their vision. However, the screens weren't thick enough to deter the duo, who flew through them with ease.    "Damn, this thing's fast!" Reimu cursed, trying to pick up the pace to keep up with it. Despite being able to see it easily, having to dodge every few seconds keeps putting precious distance between them. The occasional ocean fairy didn't help either, until she noticed that a few of them were jumping out of the water to ambush the shadow. In fact, it seemed to be having a harder time with the fairies than she did. She looked at where she thought Koishi was, but, once again, the satori was gone. Reimu rolled her eyes, focusing on the more important objective: finding where the shadow came from. She had turned just in time; an arc of black lightning was just about to hit her. After searching the waves for a bit, she found her quarry, and the chase was renewed.    Reimu noticed that the further they went, the foggier it seemed to get, too. It was very slight at first, but it quickly built up to the point where she had to fly close to the thing to keep it in sight. It turned, its single eye focusing on Reimu, before shooting a much wider screen, intended to make her dodge. She did, and caught the tail end of it as it splashed into the ocean! "Oh no! No no no no!" She kept flying forward, hoping she would catch a glimpse of it again. She saw a shape ahead in the fog, and her eyes lit up. She hadn't lost it after all! She just had to keep going, and then she would eventually- "Koishi?!"    Koishi turned, at first confused, then donning a bright smile replied with "Hiya, Reimu! When'd you get here?"    Reimu held up her index finger in a gesture to wait a moment. She turned and flew about twenty feet away from Koishi, enough so she would still be able to see her through the fog, and yelled furiously. At the sky, the fog, the ocean, herself, just to vent. She flew back to Koishi, face downcast and arms hanging. Part of her wanted to just stop flying and fall into the ocean, but she knew that she had an incident to solve. She was about to motion to Koishi that they should move on, but Koishi was staring off into the fog again. "Hey Reimu, what's that over there?"    At first, the shrine maiden couldn't see anything where Koishi was pointing. She squinted, and could see something very faint, off in the distance...perhaps a lantern? Her senses were on red-alert, the river shark still on her mind. She wouldn't be caught by surprise again, she reasoned, drawing her gohei. "This time, let's be a little more prepared," she mumbled, before taking out two little glowing orbs. She threw them to her sides, and they grew to double the size of her head, then stopped glowing to reveal their yin-yang pattern.    "Ooh, these look neat! Have you always had them?" Koishi asked, obviously forgetting when they fought at the Moriya Shrine. Reimu was getting tired of Koishi much faster than earlier, perhaps because she was spending so much time with her. Koishi reached a finger forward to try and touch one, but Reimu slapped her hand away.    The strange light was getting closer, and something was starting to become visible through the fog. Whatever it was, it had a short stature, and was holding the lantern above its head, by the looks of it. Reimu set her orbs to automatically shoot needles, before drawing some normal amulets herself, ready to beat back whoever was coming. Koishi kept looking at the orbs, before deciding she wanted familiars floating around her too. Two red hearts appeared at her sides, each with an eye in the middle of them. Unlike Reimu's yin-yang orbs, which hovered in place, Koishi's familiars were bouncing around an invisible sphere, much like a spell card of hers that Reimu would rather forget.    The light kept approaching, until the figure was merely a silhouette. It stopped in front of them, then turned and started going in the other direction, but slowly. "C'mon Reimu, I think it wants us to follow it!"    Reimu looked at Koishi in disbelief. "You do realize it's a trap, right? A mysterious light in the midst of thick fog? I think we should just keep going...whatever direction that might be in." She sighed. "It's a shame we lost sight of that blob-thing. By the way," she added, turning to Koishi. "Where did you wander off to while I was chasing tha-" Koishi was bounding off after the figure with the light. Reimu gave another exasperated sigh and a "Dammit, Koishi" before flying off after her to make sure she doesn't wander off too far. "I'm not sure why I'm going after her. I don't care for her anyway...I should just let her go off."    So, she followed Koishi, but the light had all but disappeared. "Come out, come out, wherever you aaare~!" Koishi called to the fog.    "Obviously, they're not going to respond."    "Come on! We promise we won't hurt you~!"    By now, the two had stopped, and Reimu folded her arms. "Well, I can't make that promise." A coil of mist brushed her leg, and she shook it off.    "Hellooooooooo~!" Koishi called again.    Reimu shook her head, and reached down to brush off another coil of mist. But this time, she felt something else, lightly grabbing onto her leg. Horrified, she looked down to see a blonde girl in a blue nightcap about to take a bite out of her calf! Reimu screamed in surprise, and bashed the girl in the head with her gohei. She didn't take the blow kindly, but she still got off her leg. She vanished back into the fog.    "Does everything that lives underwater want to eat me or something?!"    "Of course, Reimu! You're just so sweet, after all~!" Koishi prodded.    "Shut up, Koishi."    The mist was slowly receding, and the two noticed that the waves below them were becoming choppier, and the currents were swirling around one point, making the waves rotate. Out of the center of this wirlpool, the girl emerged again. It looked like she was wearing pajamas, the same dark blue as her cap, and one lock of hair hung in her face, shaped like a bolt of lightning. She held a staff made of what looked like driftwood, and a metal lantern hung on the end of it. Despite not being able to see the light's source, it was glowing brightly. Her eyes were a milky white, and looked glazed over. Reimu guessed that she was blind. That, and she was facing to the right of them. "Uh, we're over here."    The girl seemed taken aback, then called out "I know that, but this is my good side." Reimu could see her mouth moving afterwards, probably grumbling about not looking in the right direction, she figured. Reimu had to chuckle at this. She's trying so hard to look cool. I've seen fairies that pull this sort of thing off better.    She turned towards Reimu, and began throwing wave-shaped danmaku not just straight at her, but in a wide fan to try and cover most of her front. She didn't even seem to notice Koishi yet, who was floating just outside of the attack's range. "Hey, don't just fight her. I'm here too, ya know~!" At least, until then. Shinju spread the attack into two waves, some of them intersecting between Reimu and Koishi. Reimu was almost walled between two waves, but a small gap at the last moment provided her some relief. "Koishi, go further away from her so the attacks don't intersect!"    All Reimu heard was an "Okeydokey!" before about half of the bullets flying at Reimu in regular intervals stopped. Koishi must have been close, she thought. Part of her wanted to go ballistic, take out all of her frustration on this girl, but she realized this would be a bad idea. She needed to save her strength. So, she let loose with hundreds of needles spawned from her yin-yang orbs. Not all of them hit their target, but enough did that she could tell that the girl was being pushed back. Suddenly, the waves stopped, so Reimu made her orbs stop firing.    The girl was panting, obviously tired. "Hah...you surface dwellers are tough here, aren't ya? Well, let's see how you handle...umm...where'd I put it..." She began patting her dress, trying to find what Reimu could only guess was a spell card. Reimu had to double-take, however, as she saw a light come out of the lantern. It looked like a ghost from the Netherworld, except it was...well, glowing. "Shinju, are you sure you should be fighting them? You can't even remember where you keep your spell cards."    The girl, apparently named Shinju, turned to the glow. "Well, great, Hikari. Now my secret weapon - you - is revealed. You could have stunned them with a flash before they would have even known you were in there!"    The glow, named Hikari, sighed, despite not having any facial features. "You know I take it on myself to look after you. You're like an iron-headed little sister to me. Plus," she added, mumbling under her...um...breath? "You're my only means of moving around."    "I heard that, you know. Anyway, what do you know? It's not like you know where my spells are." Shinju folded her arms and looked away, brimming with stubbornness.    "Did you check under your hat?" Shinju's unseeing eyes shot open again, and she reached up, under her hat. She pulled out a few waterproof spellcards. If Hikari could have an I-told-you-so look, it would be even more noticable than her glow.    Reimu waved to get their attention. "Uh, hello? You kinda don't just stop duels to argue." She smirked. "Allow me to demonstrate." Feeling creative, she began twirling her yin-yang orbs around, shooting spirals of needles than fanned outward instead of flying straight. Shinju didn't have to move too much, but she couldn't tell that, so she overcompensated multiple times. Annoyed, she held one card up to the lantern, and Hikari read it aloud for her. "Light sign 'Ephemeral Light Trail'! Wait, you're making me fight now?!"    "Yes. I was going to use this card ANY!" She dodged, not even leaving enough room for a pinhead to fit between her and a bullet. "I was going to use it anyway. Now go!"    Hikari sighed again, then split into three glowing orbs. Each began flying around, leaving behind small flashes that turned into bullets. Once they all surrounded Reimu, they left behind a ring of bullets. Lateral movement impossible, Reimu looked past them to see Shinju channeling a column of water filled with danmaku towards her. She slipped under the ring, and flew off before the water turned into a wall and slammed into where she used to be. "Hikari! Why aren't you using your ability?! Our abilities combined are key to this spell!"    "Oh, right!" The three orbs coalesced into one again, and the area suddenly started to get darker. Hikari was plainly visible, but there was a rapidly growing sphere of darkness. Shinju was completely concealed, and so was Koishi. Reimu could barely see herself in this darkness, but Hikari was still clearly visible.    With the light now reduced, Hikari split again, and tried to form a triangle around Reimu once more. Reimu figured she would do the same thing as last time, but this time the Hikaris formed a complete sphere around her. She took a risk, and dove between the end of a third and the next Hikari coming to close it, and barely managed to squeeze out in time. She listened for the sound of rushing water, and tried to use this to determine where to shoot, since her coordination was mixed up from not being able to see.    She quickly figured the approximate location Shinju was, and let fly. From her left, she heard another noise, this time what sounded like a splash. She kept her orbs focused on where she thought Shinju might be, and started throwing amulets towards the splash. She heard sharp cries of pain from the amulets, so she must have hit! "Reimu, what are you doing?!" And, of course, she hit Koishi. She was surprised that her amulets were even having an effect on her. Oh well, serves her right for ditching her all those times. She knows she's not really this cold-hearted, but by this point and due to the cloud's influence, she didn't care.    The Hikaris were about to close in again, when the light suddenly increased like a flash, leaving Reimu blinded for a bit, blinking and rubbing her eyes to get readjusted. There was only one Hikari now, and she looked confused, as did Shinju. Clearly, they had never had a spell break before. Hikari realized the situation first, and rushed to alert Shinju. "What do you mean they broke my spell card?! It's just fine, look...huh?" The card looked duller, as if it lost its magic, for it had indeed lost it for now. "What, I have to recharge it now? Pbbbth."    "Seriously, Shinju, we should just leave. This won't end well, I can feel it."    "You know, you're too cautious sometimes. It's good for times other than when I'm looking for prey. In other words, just stop talking!"    "Hey Shinju," Reimu called, "Maybe you should listen to her. This is only going to end badly for you. And besides, I've already won. You're way too tired and weak to continue fighting me." She didn't quite know why she had to insult her, but it felt right. Which was wrong, and reminded her of her true task, and hatched a plan on how to end this fight. She dropped another small orb near her feet, which turned into another yin-yang.    The blonde girl turned towards Reimu in shock. "How dare you call me weak?! It takes a lot of strength just to survive in these waters, and not only have I survived, but thrived!" Reimu smiled, she had her right where she wanted her. "If it weren't for Hikari holding me back, I bet I would be feasting on your flesh right now, surface-dweller! I could beat you by myself with one hand tied behi-" She was cut off as a large object hit her square in the chest. Slowly, the yin-yang orb flew back to Reimu, winding down after a spectacular kick that would leave any soccer star applauding. Shinju was sent careening out of the sky, skipping on the ocean's surface like a pebble twice before sinking. Hikari was still floating where Shinju used to be, and turned to presumably look at Reimu.    "Look, I'm bad with directions, okay?" Hikari tried to explain. It sounded more like excuses to beg for her life. "I didn't know we were so close to the surface this time, and she said she smelled prey. I'm forced to tag along with her, you see? She has the lantern, and I can't be too far away from it for too long, and-"    "Then shouldn't you get going?" Reimu interrupted, drawing her leg back for another kick. Hikari caught the hint. "Oh Shinju! Wait up!" She flew in the direction Shinju was launched towards, then disappeared under the water. The strange whirlpool current had finally ceased, but...    "Ah crap, where are we?" Reimu looked in every direction, but couldn't see land anywhere. No clouds in the sky, no more waves in the sea, it was blue all around her, except for the sun.    Koishi ignored Reimu and started floating off, leaving Reimu behind. She soon noticed, and chased after her. "And just where are you going?"    "In the direction of the sun's rising. Why?"    "Well, for one, I don't think you should be calling the shots, here. Did you even fight back there?"    "Subconsciously, I made sure they'd lose. Nothing can stop us~!"    Reimu wanted to retort bitterly, but she couldn't come up with anything. She had no way of knowing whether or not Koishi had manipulated Shinju's subconscious, Hikari's subconscious, or both, so she only had her word on it. Koishi had also gotten rid of her bouncing heart familiars, but Reimu kept her yin-yang orbs handy. She felt like she'd be needing them more than Koishi would need hers, anyway. Since she had no other directional leads either, she simply had to trust Koishi. So, she nodded, and gestured for Koishi to keep going. Koishi smiled, and resumed her course.    Between spontaneous fairy attacks from the waves, Reimu would gaze into the water, curious as to what was below that surface. What kind of youkai live down there? How many could there be? Maybe she's ask Keine about oceanic youkai when she got back. After all, if anyone would know, it would be her, or maybe Murasa, or even Yukari. She imagined serpents that would wind around ships and drag them down, squid-like creatures that drag sailors one-by-one below the surface, demons who led ships off-course, never to be seen again...    She was startled out of another imagined situation with one of her possibly made-up ocean youkai by another small swarm of fairies, led by one that wore blue and an odd hat, almost like Daiyousei, but more oceanic. She was about as strong, too, and the two finished the fairies fairly quickly. For about ten minutes, not another fairy attacked. The air seemed unnaturally still. Reimu was starting to get bored, but Koishi seemed fine just moving forward. Suddenly, she stopped, and Reimu almost bumped into her. "Something's not right," was all Koishi gave as an explanation.    Reimu could feel it too, some strange disturbance, and it felt rather close. She could feel two, one seemed otherworldly and unfamiliar to her, while the other...    "Oh you've gotta be kidding me." Reimu floated forward ahead of Koishi, a look of almost disgust plastered to her face. Why, out of absolutely anyone I know, did she have to show her face here?! "Come on out, I know you're there. I should've figured you'd have your nose in things again."    The air changed from feeling dead to shimmering, as a purple slash appeared in mid-air. It widened into a grotesque, eye-filled smile, and the gap youkai herself, Yukari Yakumo, emerged. She yawned and stretched before addressing the ones in front of her. "Oh, hello, Reimu. Fancy meeting you way out here~. And you've brought along...um..."    "Koishi. You know, the younger Komeiji."    Yukari snapped her glove-covered fingers. "Right, her! I don't know how I could have-" She yawned again. "-forgotten her. Oh, excuse me. I'm a bit tired."     "A bit?" Reimu asked as Yukari almost nodded off right in front of them. "You look like you haven't slept in days. That's unlike you." Although she sounded worried, her sarcasm was easily detectable.    "Well, I haven't. I might as well get to the point, since I don't feel like being cryptic today." Reimu was surprised to hear this; she figured Yukari would take every opportunity to be mysterious. "I'm investigating a strange border fluctuation that involves this ocean, especially the ocean that lies out past here," she gestured behind her. She shielded her eyes with her hand. "My, it's bright today, isn't it," she changed the subject, opening a small gap behind her, bringing out her parasol to hover behind her.    "Too tired to even hold your umbrella today, eh? Well, whatever this disturbance is, Koishi and I will gladly take over investigation. You should go home and get some sleep."    "Hey, wait a minute..." Koishi interjected. "Reimu, didn't you say this ocean wasn't here before?" Reimu nodded, noting that Koishi actually remembered something for once. "Then wouldn't this whole ocean be considered a border thingy?"    "For once, she has a point." Reimu pointed her gohei at Yukari accusingly. "What is up with this sudden ocean, Yukari?"    Yukari raised her hands in a peaceful gesture, if anything to calm Reimu. "Although I would be suspect, it was not I who brought this ocean to Gensokyo. I can't say I disapprove of it, I feel as though underwater youkai would make a good addition to Gensokyo's populace. Plus, it gives a wider array of activities the Human Village can do. It's the best of both worlds. Even I'm not sure how the Great Hakurei Border was stretched to accomodate it. That's part of what I'm investigating."    "Underwater youkai, huh? Yeah, I've been attacked and almost eaten by two of them today, not to mention all of the water fairies that've been attacking us."    "Have you, now? Pray tell, what did they look like?"    "Uh...one had a shark fin on her back and had red hair, and the other was blonde and wore dark blue pajamas...oh, and she carried a wooden staff with a lantern containing a living light."    "Ah. Well, I've met Kuhai before. She's pretty good at what she does, I have to admit."    "Attacking humans for no reason?" Reimu said bitterly.    "No...well, I suppose, although I've never seen her in action. No, I meant her business. She makes some pretty bizarre drinks, but they somehow taste good. The second one I've only seen. If I'm correct, the 'living light' as you put it is a light spirit, or a phantom light. They would lead travelers and ships astray. I guess she was imprisoned in a lantern, and found by the other girl. I believe she's an anglerfish that was turned into a youkai, probably due to being in company with one for so long. I don't think that was the light spirit's true form, but the anglerfish girl and her seem inseperable."    "You seem to know a lot about these youkai. Maybe another time we can discuss exactly what might be living down there." She looked down for emphasis, now realizing how high up the three were flying. She also saw a black and white figure floating on the surface, like a star...    Yukari noticed Reimu's puzzling gaze towards the ocean, and looked herself. "Oh, right. Marisa showed up earlier. She tried to get past me, so I had to shoot her down. She hasn't moved since, but I know I didn't kill her~. It was her own fault, after all."    "Huh...right..." Reimu was surprised Marisa even got this far, since she went in the completely wrong direction back at the shrine. She shook herself out of it, and back into the current situation. "Alright, now let us pass. I have important business that I believe is ahead, and you're not going to stop me. Come on, Koishi." As she tried to move forward, though, Yukari threw a wall of kunai-shaped bullets from her fan, succeeding in making them fall back.    Yukari chuckled and began fanning herself. "I can still try. I'm sorry, but you're not getting..." Another yawn. "...Getting past me, Reimu."    Yukari proceeded to open with some of her more favorite of kunai-danmaku patterns, sending Reimu immediately on the offensive. Although, the waves were a lot less dense than Reimu remembered (and oh, how she remembered them). Koishi made her usual sweeping motions to dodge, while Reimu kept her cool and made as little movement as possible while firing needles once again from her yin-yangs. She knew how to beat Yukari, since she had done it before, so she was confident she could do it again. If anything, it should be easier, but that didn't mean she could relax.    After a short while, Yukari must have gotten bored, and decided to switch to a spell card, or so Reimu reasoned, since it seemed to happen far too quickly. She expected a card that she's seen before, but she wasn't entirely surprised when Yukari called out "Boundary 'Margin of Night and Day'!" It seems as though one of Yukari's favorite borders to mess with was also a spell card. Instantly, Yukari was encased in what looked like a block of night. When Reimu looked up, she could see stars over her, but the difference in light made it hard to see. Danmaku began flying from the shadows, some directly at her, some haphazardly. After a few seconds, she could hear Yukari snapping her fingers. The boundary shifted, and now the block of night was around Reimu! She could barely see the bullets heading for her, but somehow she could tell that they weren't nearly as dense. She simply had to remember the ones aiming right for her while keeping her eyes out for other stray danmaku. Her fingers snapped again, and this time it appeared on the side, and was slowly moving from left to right. The bullets increased intensity, leaving Reimu with less room to act, and the cloud of bullets around her kept condensing. However, the air around Yukari was starting to fizzle a bit, meaning the spell was almost broken. If the wall of night passed over her, she wouldn't be able to see any bullets around her. In between dodges, she threw amulets to try and speed it up, but the curtain of darkness passed over her anyway. Just as her vision faded, she closed her eyes, sure she would be hit by something. When she opened her eyes again, the spell had ended, and Yukari was shocked. "Th-there's no way that should have ended that quickly! How...wait..." They both looked behind her, and there was Koishi, with eight familiars all floating around her. Apparently she had been shooting Yukari in the back to try and help Reimu break the card.    "Wow...thanks Koishi. I probably would have gotten hit if it weren't for you." Maybe she is useful after all...    Koishi beamed, somehow creating another familiar to bounce with the others.    Yukari simply clapped. "I'm impressed, thus far. Although, it'll take more than that to beat me, even now!"    Before Reimu could think about what that meant, she pulled out another card. "This one here," referring to Koishi, "should be able to identify with this one. Understanding 'Barrier of Hate and Love'!" From each arm, a heart of either red or blue was shot, sending out either red knives or glowing blue spheres that would cross through gaps between each other. If two impacted, they turned into small white orbs. However, Reimu could tell that this was a toned-down version of one of her other spells, with an extra gimmick to make it slightly more difficult.    These also shot behind her, forming the same kind of pattern against Koishi. All of her familiars were shooting spreads of blue tear-shaped bullets, while she maneuvered through the gaps in the attack. She was having a much easier time than Reimu, it seemed, but then she noticed that Koishi's bullets were being redirected into another salvo, making it stronger. Koishi's power over the subconscious was useless when turned into fuel to make an enemy's attack stronger. Reimu didn't even get a chance to try and shout for her to stop before she had to try and evade a forest of Yukari's bullets. She found that the "Hate" side of the attack, ironically enough, had less, yet faster projectiles to worry about, and so preferred to stay closer to there to have more room to dodge the slower "Love" bullets. After what felt like an eternity, that spell broke as well. Even if Yukari wanted to try to dodge, she seemed too focused on maintaining the spells to do so.    "Hmph. Fine then. I didn't want to have to use this on you...especially since I'm so tired...but you leave me no choice." She then held up a bright violet spell card, one Reimu recognized well. It was her ultimate card: Danmaku Bounded Field. There was no mistaking it. "Yukari's Charade..." Reimu braced for one of the most difficulet, bizarre cards she's ever faced. Wait, did she just say charade? "'Somnolent Danmaku Field'!"    "What? Wait, don't you have another card like that?" Reimu asked.    Yukari glanced at her. "Yes, but I'm way to tired to use that. This will have to do." And then the spell card vanished. In its place was a purple vortex, which swirled in Yukari's hands. She held it close to her, and seemed to focus on it in her mind, shutting her eyes as she did so. Purple and blue arrowhead-shaped danmaku formed in rows, all pointed towards Yukari. Reimu knew the card well enough to stay clear of them, but she did notice a few differences. For one, Yukari wasn't making herself invincible, which was strange. Second, the bullets had definite gaps while they were still, which they didn't have in the more powerful spell. She looked past Yukari for the brief few moments the bullets weren't flying, to see Koishi also in the field. She waved to her, and pointed at Yukari. She seemed to get the message, and they both began firing upon the mysterious woman in the center of this danmaku vortex. Reimu was checking behind her every few seconds to make sure another wave of bullets wouldn't be striking her from the back.    Despite the pair's best efforts, Yukari didn't want to go down just yet. She focused greatly on the vortex one last time, and a massive spiral of bullets was generated from it. As it began swirling inwards, though, Yukari could feel the spell breaking. Reimu and Koishi were running out of available evasion room, and the air around Yukari was visibly turning red and compressing from the energy trying to be released from the spell. The bullets were millimeters from impact...when they phased out of existence, and the characteristic pop was heard.    In addition to being tired, Yukari now looked torn up, and finally said "Very good. I concede." And then added "Ugh, now I need to go change...my clothes are ruined..."    "That's it? You're just giving up? That's unlike you, when it's something you want." Reimu could hardly believe that she not only just beat Yukari again, but she did it unscathed in the end.    "Well, it's more of a...favor...that I'm here at all, but that's not important right now." She approached Reimu, her arm outstretched. "Here, take this." She dropped a spell card into Reimu's hand.    "Boundary 'Balance of Motion and Stillness'? Why are you giving me this? I can't use it."    "Think of it like a freebie, to use whenever you want," she said with a wink. "It's charged up enough for one use. I'm sure you'll need it, since your journey's far from over. Just make sure you use it when you're absolutely sure you'll need it."    "I, um...thanks, I guess." Reimu was at a loss for words. She knew what this card could do, but she had no idea why she'd need it.    "Hm hm...Oh, I should also mention. Further up from here is something even I can't stand. Beyond it is your destination." She grabbed Reimu's shoulder and sighed. "Good luck." With that, she covered her mouth with her fan and giggled, before falling backwards off of the gap she was sitting on. Another gap opened below her and practically swallowed her. A small, spooky hand came out of the smaller gap and closed the parasol before dragging it inside of the gap, which promptly sealed behind it.    Reimu still didn't know what to say, but she knew what she had to do. "Hey Koishi, come here, will you?"    Koishi left from playing with her familiars, and floated over to Reimu. "Yeeees~?"    "There's something important I need you to do. Very, very important, and you can't forget, alright?"    "Sure! I can help~!"    "Good. You see the drifting girl down there?"    "The one in black and white?"    "That's her. I want you to take her home. She lives in the Forest of Magic. Can you do that?"    "Of course I can~. Who do you think I am?"    Reimu crossed her arms, arching an eyebrow. "What was it I just told you to do?"    "Um..." Koishi seemed puzzled. "Get a scarecrow, paint it black and white, and leave it in the Forest of Magic?"    "No. Close, but no. Take the girl drifiting in the waves back to her house in the Forest of Magic. Got it this time?"    "Take the drifter back to her house in the forest. Got it~!"    Reimu nodded, then turned to leave. Koishi looked confused again. "Wait, where are you going?"    Reimu turned to look back. "I'm going to solve this incident. Make sure Marisa gets home safely."    At first Koishi seemed sad, then gave one of her usual smiles before flying downwards to the magician bobbing in the waves. Reimu watched her until she got halfway, then proceeded to where Yukari directed. She took one last look at the card she got, then pocketed it. "I hope I won't have to use it...but if I will, then I'll probably be glad I have it." After focusing back on her directive, she could see what looked like a crack in the very air further ahead of her. As she approached, she could feel more of the presence she felt in the Forest of Magic from that fairy. Her flying slowed as she got closer, in awe of how large it was. It was definitely a rift in reality, a rift that should not exist, except in the darkest of places. She was leaving Gensokyo, if she entered this chasm into who knows where. Yet, Yukari said that her destination lies on the other side. After flying around and seeing nothing for miles, she took a deep breath. No Koishi was leaving her mind clearer, and her task was at hand: once in, there was no going back. Tentatively, she reached a hand into the blackness. When she withdrew it and found that it was still intact, she took a deep breath and plunged into the inky, misty shadows.    "Stupid Yukari...with her stupid gap tricks...and stupid bullets..." She didn't know how long she had been floating, but she had been grumbling nonstop. Her broom was in her hand so it wouldn't drift away, and her mini-Hakkero was tucked under her shirt so she wouldn't lose it. The last thing she wanted to do was go diving for only her most prized possession. The witch felt cheated, and wanted another go against Yukari, who would not oblige. So, she tried to Master Spark her to provoke her into fighting. Instead, she opened a gap, caught the Spark, and then released it from another gap, using her own attack against her. This fried Marisa enough that she fell into the ocean, and stayed there since.    That is, until she saw two other figures fly up to where Yukari was. She couldn't tell who was fighting from this far away, but the amount of needle-shaped danmaku she could see only led her to guess Reimu. However, she felt fine floating there, and just watched the fight until the sun rose too far into the sky for her to see without burning her retinas. She could hear the waves around her, and an occasional yell from above, as well as the strange noises caused by danmaku. Then everything went silent. The temptation to look was immense, but the feeling of the sun's heat was a good reminder to not open her eyes. A few minutes later, she started to feel like she was being watched.    She couldn't shake the feeling, so she lifted her head out of the water to not look directly at the sun, when she realized that a shadow was blocking it. Her eyes opened to see a pair of legs floating over her stomach, with purple wires attached to them. She followed those up to the closed eye on her chest, then up further to see the face and hat which currently blocked the sun. "Well hi there~!"    Marisa coughed to clear her throat. "Koishi? What...what are you doing here?"    "Me and Reimu went on an adventure, and then we fought the lady up there, and she told me to...wait..." She brought a hand to her chin and looked down, puzzled. "What did she tell me to do again?"    Marisa noticed that Koishi's perplexed gaze had focused right on her breasts. "Hey hey, no need to stare. You need to think, look elsewhere, just not at me, ze."    Koishi looked back up at Marisa's face, then smiled. "That's right! I was to use you as a scarecrow in front of someone's house in the Forest of Magic~!" Koishi began clapping for herself. "Yaaay, I remembered!"    "Wait, Reimu told you to do that?!"    "Uh-huh! C'mon, let's go! I know a shortcut~!" Koishi yelled, grabbing Marisa's arm and pulling her out of the water behind her.    "Waaaaait!" Marisa shouted, but Koishi didn't register it. She was being dragged along for the ride now, whether she liked it or not. Koishi had started describing the adventure she and Reimu went on, and Marisa sighed, trying to tune her out. "Hopefully this will be over quickly. I feel bad that Reimu had to deal with her, but I certainly didn't want to be in her shoes."    "...And then we came upon the house of that doll lady. Reimu wanted the shortest way possible, which was through her house. I saw the whole thing. The girl had just gotten out of a bath when Reimu barged in..." Koishi began incorrectly recollecting, much to Marisa's curiosity and to Reimu's later dismay. As she was telling the tale, Marisa noticed they were going into some fog, and ahead of them was what looked like a light in the distance...

an unmatched sock: Dunno why I'm updating this, everyone's gonna be too busy with DDC to read this. Chapter 5 Darkness Matters?    A bed. A woman lay there, as if it were a coffin, and she was the body at the funeral. She was stark contrast to the darkness around her; her flesh was pale, and her robe white. The red designs and sigils not covered with a blanket seemed to glow from the white robes, as did the gold circlet that permanently hovered over her head, even horizontally. The darkness around her subtly moved, currents and eddies that were non-perceivable to the normal eye were all but clear in hers. In her lone, piercing red eye, fixed at some point on the ceiling or beyond. The darkness meant nothing to her. Nothing in this mortal plane meant anything.    Except her memories. Her ambitions. These are no doubt what keep her rooted here against her will. The short time she ascended was the happiest she had ever been, alive or otherwise. That was an easy decision. What was the most crushing moment in her existence? That is a much harder question. Her life was difficult, her afterlife a blur. Whenever she pondered this question, her mind would always wander back to her earliest memories, or stories of them that she couldn't quite remember.    Her mind wandered back, replaying each memory as if it were happening again...    She was raised in an orphanage, told by the aged woman who ran the house that she was simply abandoned on the doorstep, in snow and cold that would have killed her had she not found her in time. Needless to say, she never knew her parents. The first few years of her life, she remembers, were easy and simple. She picked up concepts much faster than other infants that the orphanage woman raised, such as walking and talking. The other children would shy away from her due to her unnatural features, or so she figured. Most of the other children didn't have white hair and oddly colored eyes. She was different, and so was shunned. Her loneliness would lead her to tears, the same crimson tears she wept even today. The woman, unlike everyone else, took a shine to her. She treated her like her own grandchild. However, other adults didn't quite like her as much. None who arrived willing to adopt would take her, even if she met all qualifications. The main thing she was missing for months was a name.    She began tapping her fingers together. She remembered that the woman gave her a name, but she couldn't quite place what the name was. Having a name was the best feeling she had at the time, since until then she was called "child", or, if it was the other kids, "weird girl", "red-eye", "freak", to name a few. As they got older, the names became more unique and demeaning. Even after taking a name, she still could not find a foster home, even though she liked the name. She brushed aside the mental block, and continued her reminiscence.    When it was time for her to go to public school, she was excited. The woman gave her her very own backpack, a notebook, and a box of pencils. She promised she would work hard in her studies, and one day be "the smartest girl ever!". She felt foolish at this notion, she knew so little back then. The other students were skeptical at first, but after assurance from their teacher, they accepted her. She had a small circle of friends, and always made sure to keep herself and others in line with rules and the like. Her teacher always complimented her on her behavior in comparison to the other children. She earned some jealousy and the "teacher's pet" nickname, but she didn't mind. As far as she was concerned, she was liked, and happy. This continued for two more years, in which she would gradually gain more acceptance. She thought she could be normal, like everyone else.    Upon her third year of schooling, the orphanage woman suddenly died in the middle of the night, a new moon, she recalls. She hadn't been ill, rather the opposite. Old age apparently caught up to her. This was the first time she had consciously discovered that she cried blood, as the tissues she wept into were soaked red in a manner of minutes. She went to the funeral, not entirely understanding that she was gone forever, or why she felt so sad and empty. That wouldn't become prevalent until a couple, both middle-aged, took over the orphanage. Since there were two of them, they could afford better food, clothing, and commodities, but it didn't fill the void, the woman was the closest thing to a mother she ever had. The couple didn't give her nearly as much attention as the other woman did, instead giving the other children extended play time while she was still working. She felt useful, at least, but she could feel the sadness in her heart weighing her down. Now, in the only place she knew as home, she felt alone. She watched the few who she made friends with at the orphanage leave with their new parents, witness new arrivals, and try to interact with those who remained.    School was her happiest place, where her intelligence was accepted and her looks were disregarded. Until she reached the center grades. She had accepted and moved on from the woman's death, and only wanted friends around her to support her. Few at the orphanage would speak with her anyway, and she was very shy in school after that day. She grew her hair to the point where it kept falling over her left eye, obscuring it from certain angles. She was beginning to see the darkness in people, as more of her friends were suddenly staying away from her, to the point where she only had a few friends left. Although, she had somehow made plenty of enemies. Older children would poke fun at her for no reason, even some that were her age would join in. Younger kids would shy away and stare at her, as if she were an otherworldly being.    The next year was the one that she was the most proud, yet ashamed of. Another child two years older than her had been constantly trying to provoke her. She ignored him, even when he would take her lunches or other stereotypical bullying moves. She could feel the anger boiling in her heart, compounding with the growing feeling of loneliness as more and more people kept ignoring her. She could count how many true friends she had on one hand with fingers to spare, and she happened to be with them on the day he was desperate for a reaction. He and his cronies were in the cafeteria, when they saw her walk in with her handful of friends. They sat down, and began talking about how their classes were going, and the older ones took new seats at the table behind them.    They would throw food, call names, all at her. They commented on how she always wore white and red, how she doesn't even know who her parents are, and how her hair was that of an old person's. She calmly ate and chatted, they had done this before, and this time would be no different, she simply had to tell them off, like usu- "Leave her alone, you bullies! Can't you see you aren't even affecting her? Go pick on someone your own size." She turned to her right, as her now red-faced friend just finished scolding the boys behind them. She didn't know what to say, but she was thankful enough that she could feel her eyes tearing up. She hadn't cried in a long time, but she didn't want to start now, not in front of the last people she felt that she could talk with. She could feel herself smiling, though. Upon seeing this, her friend returned the smile with a "What are friends for?"    At first, they were stunned, not expecting anyone else to stand up for her. She caught a glimpse of the group whispering to each other rather obviously, before the one broke into a snaggle-toothed grin. Thinking it was probably a stupid joke, she rolled her eyes and returned her focus to the sandwich in front of her, yet while keeping her ears trained on the group behind them. "You know, guys," she heard the leader say. "I heard the woman in the orphanage died because of that red-eyed freak over there." She dropped her sandwich in mid-bite, a sudden fury and disbelief replacing every thought in her brain.    She stood up and turned. "That's a lie."    "Oh no, the doctors who did the autos...a-tops..." He seemed to be having problems finding the correct word, looking physically perplexed as he tried to think of the word. "The thing that they do to find out why people die. They said it was because she was filled with so much sadness for this one little girl. A white-haired freak that had no one else to look out for her. She died overworked, trying to help her through some meaningless struggles."    This filled her mind with doubts. She was happy before she died, how could she have had any sadness for her, any more than for the other orphans who don't know their parents? There was no way she alone could have caused her death. She wouldn't hurt anyone...I wouldn't hurt her...ever... And just what was meant by meaningless struggles? School was important, and she worked hard to keep her grades high, and the woman volunteered to help her out of her own will. Or did she think it was her duty to help her, and it drove her over the edge?    "Yep." He sighed and leaned back a bit, a smug look plastered on his face. "The word is, she's a freeloader who practically bled her dry. Poor old bag, probably died without anyone to remember her..."    "I remember. You better shut your mouth about her," she retorted.    "Hmm...the description sounds a lot like you, now that I think of it. I should turn you in to the police for killing an old woman."    "I didn't kill her!" Her fists were clenched, and all of her willpower was directed towards not lashing out at him."    "Maybe they'll even give me a reward for turning in a murderer. I could be a hero! Bringing justice to evil sorts like yourself..."    She felt something snap, breaking free in her chest, as if her heart were shattered and removed from her body. She stared at him wide-eyed, only able to mutter the word that abated her visible anger: "...Evil..."    He smiled again, confident in his victory. He already had the perfect excuse for when she would run and tell a teacher. He felt like he was on top of the world. C'mon, cry, little baby!    However, the exact opposite happened. She lunged with a bloodcurdling scream, hands grasping his neck, her eyes wild with rage. He fell to the ground, his lackeys rising simultaneously, unsure whether to get involved or go get help. Her friends did the same. Soon, a crowd of students had gathered and formed a ring around the two. She was trying to strangle him, but he was stronger, and managed to wrench her arms away enough to breathe. Seeing her initial attack was denied, she reared a fist back, and plummeted it down with strength unnatural for a girl her size and age. The first blow landed on his eye, the second on his nose, the third to the cheek. In a burst of adrenaline, he pushed her off of him and got back to his feet. She was riding a similar energy high, though, and quickly rushed back in for the attack, her hair flying behind her as she charged. Her face was streaked with scarlet, her fury opening her bloodied tear ducts. She shrieked and reared back for another punch, and he covered his face. Instead, it was a sharp blow to the gut, which made him lower his arms. Another blow to the side of his face and he was scrambling on the ground, finding it hard to stand. Breathing heavily, she reared back and spat on him to rub in his loss. She felt no joy in this victory, simply that she made a point. She turned to walk out of the lunchroom when his cracking voice could be heard behind her. "You think you're so tough, don't ya?! Yeah, well you're nothing! Y-You surprised me! You're a zero! A ZERO!!"    She stopped and turned. Her hair had fallen over her left eye, completely obscuring it now, but its gaze could still be felt. He recoiled from the icy glare. "You're right. You can't even beat nothing. If I am zero, you are worthless. I should just get rid of you here. Everyone else would thank me for it."    His face was turning red now, being beaten not only in a fight but by a girl was humiliating enough, now she was threatening his life? "Big talk from a big amount of nothing!"    From that point on, her reputation changed. She wasn't the teacher's pet with the good grades anymore. She wasn't even seen as a hero for beating up a notorious bully single-handedly. She was now seen as a creature, a thing to be feared. The boy went to the school's nurse immediately, and explained what happened, not even omitting his taunting her into action. She was called down to the principal's office to explain just what happened from her point of view. As she spoke, she took note that her manner of speaking was now flat and empty, much like how she felt. Although he would also be disciplined for bullying, she was also given detention for beating a student. As per the school's regulations, she had to sign a form stating what she did, and present it to her legal guardians. When she received the paper, she signed it with only the word "Zero".    The principal looked at the form, confused, then back at her. "This isn't your name, young lady."    "The name I used to have died with the one who gave me it. I was called a zero. I find it accurate, and I choose it to be my name from now on. I am nothing more, nothing less."    "You can't just change your name whenever you want. Please, sign your real name."    "I already did sign with my true name."    "Then sign with your 'former' name. Then go and wipe that glowing gel off of your face."    She signed the paper, then went to the nearest restroom to see what the principal meant. Around her right eye, which wasn't at all obscured by her hair, were what looked like six glowing red slashes, all with equal distances between them, radiating out from that eye. On a whim, she tried to will them to fade away, and so they did. She didn't know what it meant, but she did know one thing: her life was now changed.    For the next year, her social life and performance in school sharply declined. She lost all desire to try anymore. Her friends avoided her for what she had done, and everyone else thought her psychotic or even a demon. She resented them all, wishing she could just get them away from her. Teachers were wary of her, some even averting their eyes completely, and she had to be escorted around the building to make sure another incident doesn't happen. She was feared and isolated, and she hated them all for it. Tears ran down her face every day, but she never visibly cried. It was because of them that her life was in ruins that she must single-handedly rebuild. She grew jealous of the happiness of others, angry that she could not also indulge in simple conversation. Any attempt to be friendly resulted in the same fashion, no matter what: with her being by herself all over again.    Finally, after two years, she decided she wanted a fresh start. High school was beginning, and she was going to a well-populated school. Its colors were white and red, and took students from many middle schools around the area. If she could just be friendly, she could start over, even get new friends and be...happy again. She could almost feel herself smile with the thought of possibly being happy again. Students were issued their uniforms, and classes began. She still referred to herself as Zero, but her tone was no longer emotionless, even if it was forced. No one knew her here. She found friends, ironically, during her lunch time, a rather diverse group. She slowly began to open up again, feeling as though she belonged.    However, she still could not escape what she had done. Within a couple of weeks, a rumor was floating around the school of a demon who cried blood that would beat others out of spite. She had recognized it as being about her, but she simply ignored it and continued her attempts to socialize, actively avoiding those she recognized. Eventually, a prank began called the "demon test", which was any method to induce crying, to check for bloody tears. Although Zero's eyes were unique, they were never suspect, until now. One day in lunch, one of her friends decided they should all do it to each other for some teenage-stupidity reason or another. She tried to get out of it, until she was cornered with an accusation that it was her. Her only hope was for the bell to ring before it got to her turn. They started going around the table, spraying a bottle of water into their eyes, done by the person next to them who went previously. Finally it got to Zero, and she needed just a few more moments. The bell rang, Zero giving a sigh of relief, but it took the girl next to her off-guard, and she reflexively pulled the bottle's trigger.    She opened her eyes to see the table and any passersby staring at her. She reached up...and instead of feling cold water, felt something thicker and warmer. She lifted her hand out, and saw the bloodstains on it from her tears. She looked aghast at the crowd, as if begging them to not leave her. Those who didn't start shuffling away stared, and the ones who left began talking to their friends. The girl next to her, distracted by the bell and the crowd, finally turned to see Zero's face and promptly screamed. "She's the demon!" Her outcry and failed attempt to get up and leave startled the others around her into action, all of them fleeing from her. She stood, reaching out to someone, anyone. The room was empty in a matter of seconds. For the first time in a long, long time, she collapsed onto the table, loud sobs filling the air.    She didn't go to school for the next week, unsure what everyone's reaction would be to her. When she finally coaxed herself to return, she discovered that her fear was realized; most of her peers were going out of their way to stay away from her. Her friends abandoned her, her teachers refused to acknowledge her, and she was all but alone, once again. If despair was quicksand, she felt neck-deep in it. She simply did her work in school and went back to the orphanage she still hadn't left yet, but now she actively tried to push others away. Any who tried to interact with her were given a cold shoulder or an icy glance. If she interacted with less people, the chances that they could hurt her or she would hurt them would drastically decrease, or so she believed.    The next year, however, she made a fatal error. A boy in her class, despite knowing who she was, tried to come in contact with her. He said that even if she was a demon after all, he wouldn't mind. She tried to push him away, but the more she tried to distance them, the faster he would run to close that distance. Eventually, she humored him, and went on a date with him. After they learned more about each other, she felt as though she might be able to connect with him, if he was willing to try as well. After that date, however, they rarely saw each other outside of school. They took every opportunity to be together in school, leading to them being late a few times to classes. Zero felt happier than ever, she finally found someone who actually cared for her, and she might actually care about him.    After about a month, he seemed to be fatigued more than usual. He said his parents were giving him trouble and the work from classes picked up a bit, but it wouldn't stop them from seeing each other. She heard about how others weren't too fond of him dating the "demon", but he was adamant about liking her. She felt like she could truly open up to him, that perhaps she wasn't zero after all. He kept no secrets, and she didn't hesitate to talk around him. However, she held back on asking him one thing. One day, right after the final bell, she finally felt it to be the right time to ask. "Why don't you hide?"    "Heh heh...excuse me?"    "You heard me. Everyone else hides from me and ignores me due to my looks." She looked at her right hand, as if it were the most interesting thing to focus on. "It's why I have to be alone..." she muttered.    "But you don't have to be alone," he responded, apparently having heard her. He turned her face to look directly at him and smiled at her. "You have me. That's one more than nothing."    "But why do you stay? Everyone else would have left me by now."    "Because..."    Her memory began to fade. Her eye shot open with sudden realization that there were tears streaming down her face. These accursed tears. The room was just as dark as before. She always hated remembering this. It was their last conversation, after all. She wiped them away, even as more took their place.    She wasn't sure how she had heard. He was found in a pile of garbage, multiple stab wounds to the chest, an X carved over his heart. Rumors were abound, the most popular that she was the killer, even if evidence proved the opposite. Some spoke of an all-women gang called the Crystal Girls, which she thought sounded more like a young girls' dance troupe than a vicious gang. Others said it was some kids in the school who feared for his life if he stayed with Zero. Regardless, he was apparently holding a note. It apologized, and said it was for his own good, that his soul not be damned by the creature.    The creature.    Not even seen as a demon anymore. Just as a creature. One whose fate was not to be determined by her own hands, but by others who claimed to be better. She seethed for retribution, but there was no point. It didn't matter. The last thing she had to make her happy was gone forever. Everything that had made her happy had been taken away from her eventually, and could only be replaced with suffering loneliness. So why even hang on to such petty emotions? She might as well forsake them.    Two years later, she graduated, earning no honors, not even a mere mention. She felt more like a footnote. Upon graduation, she was evicted from the orphanage, told that once a child graduates from high school, her fate is her own, a policy she had never heard of before, and most certainly was not enacted upon others who were there. She willingly left, though. She could finally be truly alone, no one to pretend to care for her, no one to pretend to care for. She preferred the darkness of alleys compared to bright shelters for wanderers. Darkness was always there to comfort her from the heat, and blanket her at night.    She applied to jobs and colleges, but even if she had the credentials, they found some excuse to not accept her, something she never understood. Now it seemed like fate was conspiring against her. This only helped her spiral further into loneliness, a pit that not even the longest rope could scrape the bottom, and she simply fell deeper. She learned how to be manipulative, and managed to convince a bartender to let her eat whatever scraps were left behind by his customers. She had a source of food, which she only tended to once a day, after dinner. She would also partake in leftover alcohol, which at first helped her forget her worries. The sickness afterwards hardly affected her.    It was at this bar that she made another fatal error. She walked in, earlier than usual, scanning the tables for uneaten food. There were still customers, most of which took one glance and went back to what they were doing. One table of five, however, continued to watch. She walked up to the bartender, and gave him the usual price, which was only a few dollars that she happened to find (or 'liberate', or somehow scam from the unknowing). She walked to a table with a half-eaten BLT and multiple whiskey bottles, one of which was still over half full, and indulged herself.    As she ate, she noticed the tallest woman in the group (at least, they all looked like women) go and talk to the barkeeper. They both simultaneously glanced at her, so she knew they were talking about her. She looked at the group, who were all dressed similarly. One with emerald-colored eyes was also staring at her, and met her gaze. She winked and seemed to giggle and blush a bit before turning away, something that made Zero raise an eyebrow. Did she know something that she didn't? As she looked at each of the four sitting at the table, the one closest to the door stood and walked outside, giving a sidelong glance at her. She was starting to feel uncomfortable, an odd sense of foreboding filled her. It was a kind of fear she had never felt before. She had only finished half of the remains of the sandwich, even though she drank what remained of the bottle. She got up to leave, taking the tray to the counter, ignoring the woman who was there.    She turned to leave, catching what looked like the bartender nodding to the other woman. She looked once more at the table of three, the one girl still staring at her with a smile on her face. She looked back at the door, only to see the brown-haired woman who walked outside leaning on it. She wished she could just walk through her, but decided that the only way through was to try and convince her to move. "Pardon me, you seem to be blocking the door."    She chuckled. "What 'bout it?"    "I'm trying to leave. Please move out of the way." Despite living alone, she still remembered her manners, all the while mentally flogging her with harsh, demeaning words. She knew better, and held her tongue.    "No dice, girl."    Her eyes widened. How dare she be denied by this woman she never met before?! The foreboding feeling returned, and she could feel three presences behind her. Turning, she saw the blonde-haired girl who winked at her, who looked about the same height as her, another girl with black hair in a ponytail with a menacing air about her, and a third with a hat covering hair that looked dyed pink with her arms crossed. They all wore nearly the same outfit, with slight variations between each. "I'm just leaving. Don't mind me. No one else seems to have a problem doing so."    "I'm afraid..." the pink-haired one spoke, not taking her gaze off of her, "...that you're not going anywhere." She reached into one pocket, unfolding her arms. Under where they just were was a brooch, half a green-blue, half purple, and shaped like a crystal.    Despite her surprise, Zero managed to stifle a gasp. She didn't know the Crystal Girls were real, since she hadn't seen one yet. Yet, here were five of them, the pink-haired one looking rather important. And they were encircling her.    "Heh...so this is the girlfriend of that kid we offed two years ago? Doesn't look like much." So they were responsible after all!    "You...you're the ones who took him away..."    The woman raised an eyebrow. "Yep, you're her alright. And, unfortunately..." She sighed, shifting her position to look more menacing. "You're a disturbance to the peace. We keep getting complaints about you. Ya don't seem too terrifying, though, 'cept for those eyes of yours. I wonder what they all saw in ya..."    The blonde then leaned over and whispered something to the leader. She shot an irritated glance at her, then rolled her deep blue eyes. "Alright. Now, you've got a couple options. You can delay the inevitable, or you can embrace it. What's it gonna be?"    "Delay." She didn't know why she chose that, but it seemed like the best option. She would rather have more time to figure out how she could get away. There was a larger gap between people near the closest wall, so if she could break into a sudden run, or distract all of them somehow, and get really, really lucky...then maybe she could get away.    "Alright then. She's all yours, kid."    Before Zero could decipher what was going on, the blonde had wrapped her in an uncomfortably close embrace, their bodies pressed against each other. Zero opened her mouth to protest, her face reddening at this sudden display. But before any words could escape, the blonde planted her lips firmly on Zero's. While the blonde was trying to lean into it, Zero was trying to lean away, to push her away, something. Yet, part of her finally felt...sated. A more intimate form of emotion, yet at the worst possible time. After a short, shocked moment, she finally released the white-haired girl, who stood there shocked at what happened, her face looking like it was blending in with her eyes. Her face felt numb, and her hands turned shaky. The whole ordeal lasted seconds, but to Zero it felt endless.    The gravity of the situation quickly flooded back to her, and her teeth and trembling hands clenched at this indignity. Long had she awaited her first kiss, but not with a member of the group that took away the person she wanted to share that moment with, let alone another girl. Unparalleled anger rose within her, the only thing that she believed still held her fragmented heart together. She tried to charge at the offending party, but the tall woman had returned and gotten behind her. The brunette and her quickly each grabbed an arm to prevent her from attacking, when the three in front of her suddenly gasped. The pink haired one looked behind her, then back at the captive girl. "Your eye...humans aren't able to do that..."    Although she knew what she meant, Zero was too focused on ripping apart the blonde girl to realize her eye had those six glowing marks around it. "So she's a special girl after all...some sort of mutation, maybe..."    The leader regained her composure, and announced after clearing her throat that their task was at hand. "These sorts of freaks pop up now and again. To keep peace and happiness, she must be eradicated!"    Still being held by the two others, she gradually stopped struggling. E...Eradicated?! No...I refuse to die here!    And yet...what more can life do to me? Every chance it had, it denied my happiness. Perhaps in death there will be an end to this heartache.    Or maybe I can still find it...as long as I live, I have hope that one day I can overcome these trials life's been throwing at me. She didn't know why she made that pledge, but she felt confident that she could overcome it.    Seeing Zero's struggles stop, the leader motioned her two accomplices to let her go. "I knew there was a reason we targeted you, I just didn't know what at the time. Now that I do, it only makes it feel that much more justified." She sauntered up to zero, putting one hand under the shaking girl's chin to have their eyes meet. "Now, be a good girl, and this will all be over qui-"    She was cut off by a swift uppercut that sent her reeling back onto a table. The black- and blonde-haired girls rushed to get her back up, while the tall one and the brunette tried to grab Zero again. This time, she expected it. She lunged to her left in a quarter-circle, so the brunette would be blocking the tall one to buy her a few precious moments. She feinted a blow to the side, and punched her straight in the face. She was pushed aside by the tall one, who was already in a fighting stance. She swung for Zero's face, but she managed to duck under it, and delivered yet another forceful blow, this time to the woman's right breast. As tender as it felt from the blow, she knew it must have been a weaker spot on her otherwise well-protected body. The tall woman got back up, and again tried to hit her. Yet, despite her reach, she couldn't manage to land a hit on Zero. She saw that with each advance, her stance was weakening, and dove for her legs. She spread her arms, hitting each kneecap, and forcing the woman to fall forward. A quick stomp to the spine kept her from getting back up.    Suddenly, she felt arms wrap around her from behind; it was the blonde girl again. As she struggled, she could barely hear what she was trying to whisper. "Stop...trying...help...survive...gun..." was all she could hear through her fury. After a stroke of brilliance, she jumped backwards, taking the girl behind her by surprise, and her weight combined with the shock of sudden movement dazed her enough so Zero could get out of her embrace. She saw the pink-hair rubbing her jaw and glaring at her as she stood up, and returned it with comparable malice.    The leader's expression quickly reversed, however, as Zero heard a click from her left. The blonde called out to warn her, but the sound was drowned out by the consequences of her not being fully aware of the situation.    BANG    Her shoulder arched back, as something small and fast ripped right through her clothes and into her shoulder. She could feel a dull pain start there, and shoot down her arm, and she covered it with her other hand. She looked at her hand. Blood covered her palm, somehow different than her tears, but she still knew it was hers. She looked up, at the black-haired woman. She was holding two identical pistols, gleaming in the low light of the bar. Realization struck like a falling tree; she had been shot. Anger flared up again, and she tried to charge forward. Another gunshot stopped that, this time in her lower-right abdomen. Then another forced her back even further. And another. And another.    She didn't even have to check, she knew she was bleeding profusely. Her entire body throbbed as her recoils sent her backwards into the wall. One hit her just below her knee, and her entire leg buckled beneath her, and she collapsed, slumping against the wall. She was breathing heavily, a small amount of blood trickling out from her mouth, in addition to her tears. The most she could say was a few grunts, exhausted pants, and coughing. Her vision was starting to fail her, and she started losing feeling in her extremities. She didn't think she would die, but she would be horribly injured. She just had to blot out the pain...focus on surviving...    The black-haired girl finally lowered her weapons, and the distinct sound of a knife being drawn came from the leader. It was very intricate, and from the hilt was a gold chain, with a crystal not unlike the one on her brooch: half was purple, half was a turquoise color. This crystal was whole, and only one piece, despite its unnatural coloring. The gang slowly drew around the bleeding girl, trying to bear the pain, her eye-marks still glowing brightly. She spun the knife so the blade faced down, and raised it above her head...    Zero could hardly see what was going on, but she knew the group had gathered around her. She wished they would leave. She saw something glint in the light, and looked up to see what it was. What she saw was the leader holding something over her head for only a moment, before her arm began driving downwards. She expected the blow to land at her heart, and prepared for her end. However, she felt the stab not through her heart, but instead through her left eye. A sudden wrenching sensation flooded her body, and she couldn't help but scream in agony. The woman had just yanked her eye right out of its socket.    Empty lids opened, but not an image could be seen through them. In one eye, all she could see was the white of her hair, and in the other, nothing but painful blackness. She could feel large amounts of blood being emptied from her open socket. This, combined with the wounds she already received, were overloading her nervous system. She couldn't keep back all of the pain, and she could feel consciousness slipping away. In some last bid to survive, she stood one last time, before the knife was once again driven into her, this time into her chest, puncturing her heart. This time, the knife was left there, and Zero could only take a few stumbling steps before falling on her knees, then to her side, forward enough so that she was leaning on the knife. Her life was flashing before her eyes. All she could see was endless suffering. Between memories, she could see nothing but darkness, which became more frequent...until that was all she saw.    Her memories suddenly began cascading back to her, faster than she could sort through to make understandable. There was a field of red. Rusted coins. Scales. A bright light. A pit. A funeral. Then blank, as nothing of particular importance happened for a long time. Then, a hand, extended, inviting...    Her eye snapped open at the feeling of being pushed lightly from behind. She had turned on her side without knowing it, so she must have fallen asleep. She flipped on her back and sat up, looking for whoever had the gall to intrude on her. Light was shining in from the doorway, illuminating the room, and before her was a fairy maid with bright red hair and oddly yellow eyes. "Yes, what is it?"    "My queen, apologies for disturbing you, but this is important!" The maid's little arms were trembling, yet their motions were stiffer than usual.    "Possession? You've returned early. Don't tell me the shrine maiden defeated you in such a short time single-handedly." She thought that her elite minions were more powerful than that, even if they are completely dependent on their powers...and obviously, her.    The possessed fairy shook her head. "Although she did defeat me, unlike how we predicted, she wasn't alone!"    "What?!" This made her sit straight up in her bed, and she started getting onto her feet. "Not alone...who else was with her?"    The fairy seemed to struggle in remembering. Eventually it gave up and shrugged. "I can't remember. I do remember that the shrine maiden kept talking to someone while she chased me over the ocean..."    "Chased you across the ocean?!" Her eye widened in fury, and the fairy instantly recoiled. "You didn't lead her here, did you?!"    "N-no, my queen! I lost her in a strange fog, probably given off by some ocean youkai..." Upon seeing her sigh with relief, she felt brave enough to continue. "B-but she's probably on her way, still...and...I think we have only a few hours until she gets here."    She sat back down on her bed in thought, before realizing the servant was still staring at her. "Get out of the maid, and let her get back to her duties."    "As you wish, my queen." The fairy suddenly turned dumbstruck, her eyes going blank as the formerly invading consciousness left. A trail of darkness drifted from the small creature's back, slowly coalescing into a shadowy orb, as the fairy's eyes turned back into their normal brownish-red color. When the turquoise petals reformed and the eye opened on the shadow, the fairy, slightly smaller than the orb, dropped to the ground, still unconscious.    She looked at the fairy, then up to her servant. "You could have at least dropped her outside. You know how I hate dealing with these things. Now return to a more manageable form."    The eye blinked once in compliance, and shrank down to the size of the fairy's head, and flew over to its queen.    She gently grabbed it with her thumb and forefinger, and brought it to a glass bowl. She opened the top, and released it into the bowl. She reverted its knowledge down to basic instincts, so it was no more intelligent than a fish, which it now acted like, lazily floating back and forth. She had nowhere else to keep them, and she didn't want to compromise their current forms. Recreating them would mean starting from scratch, and she didn't have time nor patience to do so. That dealt with, she turned to the fairy on the ground. She grabbed her by her wings, and simply dropped her outside of her door.    With that ordeal over, she quickly calculated how much time she might have before the shrine maiden arrives, if she even makes it. But before she could do anything, she heard footsteps from the hallway, followed by knocking. "This better be important," she muttered, before opening the door.    In the doorway was a girl with long, silver hair in a ponytail, and the same color eyes staring directly into her lone eye. "A report. The shrine maiden has breached the Ingress. I am resuming my post now, and will update with further developments."    "Hmm. Do your best to drive her off. If that's not possible, then stall her for as long as possible. We still need time..."    "Understood."    The angel's eye narrowed skeptically. "If you're here, how do you expect to return to your post in enough time to cut off the shrine maiden?"    The girl's mouth turned into a slight smile. "The form before you is an illusion. The information has been successfully relayed. With no more purpose, this illusion will fade and return. As previously stated, I shall update you with further developments as they occur. Have a good day, my lady." With that, she turned into a small orb of white light, and began drifting back down the hall where she first arrived.    Good luck. Now finally free of distractions, she reentered her room, and closed the door. She sighed. Her memories could wait. She knew the shrine maiden was relentless, and would arrive sooner or later. As such, she had to look presentable for this inevitability. She opened another door in her room, this one leading to a private bathroom. She walked to the shower, and started the water. As it heated up, she disrobed. A luxury I could never truly appreciate in my life...but I can use it as much as I want now. She stepped under the water, letting it cleanse her body as steam rose. If her calculations were correct, she should be completely finished and waiting in the main hall for the maiden with plenty of time.    Through a small gap between the curtain and the wall, she could see a white dome shape on the counter next to the sink, its small eyes gazing transfixed on the ceiling. Her mask. A false visage of happiness. It was always denied me. Why should I hunt for it? It's no more real than that mask. She looked down at the drain, the water swirling into it. In the end, darkness is all that matters. There are some parts I find a tad...distasteful. I'm not sure why I wrote them. It just felt...right, for the situation. It's a lot darker than what has been happening thus far. Feel free to tell me what you think. Criticism (especially of the constructive variety) is welcome.

an unmatched sock: Chapter 6 Beacon in the Eternal Night    Reimu looked at the card Yukari gave her again. She still had no idea what she meant about anything after that battle. When was she to know when she'd absolutely need to use it? And what did she mean by "a place even she couldn't stand"? Sure, it was incredibly dark and misty, and the atmosphere felt completely alien to her, but it didn't seem that bad. The atmosphere somehow actually reminded her of Makai, except it didn't make her sick. She felt anxious, and it almost felt like her powers were somehow affected, but that was the extent of it.    She paused and turned to look behind her. Through the mists and darkness, she could barely see the hole that led back to Gensokyo. If she didn't go completely straight, she'd never find her way back. This, too, felt like the first time she went into Makai. However, this place seemed completely devoid of life and landmarks. She almost missed Koishi. At least she'd have someone to talk to, even if it was yelling for abandoning her.    Reimu stopped and looked about, trying to get her bearings. Yet, there was nothing but darkness as far as the eye could see, with nothing else but curling mist to catch her eye. No horizon, no ground below nor sky above, just an empty black void. Shuddering, Reimu pushed onward, further from the only light she could see, further into the inky fog.    She found it odd that the air of this place was perfectly breathable. The mist seemed to be having no ill effects, and the air seemed perfectly fine, if maybe a bit stale. She wondered if anything even lived here, or if it was possible, in all of this emptiness.    As she travelled, the mist only thickened. If she turned around, she wouldn't be able to see the entrance. She would have to rely on instinct and only go straight ahead. Still, the entire place was lifeless and eerily silent. Just to break it, and curious as to what may be out there, she cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted "HELLOOOOO!" Not even an echo greeted her. She sighed and trudged onward through the mist.     After a while, the mist began to thin a bit. This comforted Reimu at first, until she saw something flit away out of the corner of her eye. If it was possible, it almost seemed to get darker in that strange place. Yet, no matter how dark it seemed to get, she could see herself perfectly. It's as if she was standing against a big black sheet of paper. She hadn't even noticed, until she lifted a hand to brush away some hair out of her face, and could see every detail of her hand as clear as if she were outside in the sun.    Now, the strange shapes in the shadows had small multicolored lights on them, always a pair, like eyes. If she looked directly at them, they would disappear, but she could feel them all staring at her. The feeling of being surrounded worried Reimu, who was now really starting to wish for companionship. Soon, they gained small voices, and could be heard whispering in the dark. She held her gohei closer to her chest, unsure if any wards, spiritual or otherwise, would help her in this world. She looked at her sides, and sighed in relief that the two yin-yang orbs were still floating next to her. She decided her best bet was to move forward, and hope she got out of here soon.    One figure, with purple eyes, seemed curious enough to not move away as Reimu approached, but it stayed outside of her field of vision nonetheless. "H-hello? Who's there?" The figure did not reply, but the purple glows went out and came back, reassuring Reimu that they were eyes. It seemed to move closer, staying at her eye level. Eventually, the mist parted, and a fairy floated before Reimu. This didn't look like an average fairy from Gensokyo, despite its fashion sense being accurate, and the similar wings. Her hair was the same color as her eyes, and she dressed all in black, with odd markings on her dress in different colors, much like the fairies of Makai. However, she had normal complexion for a fairy. Her expression was very distracted, as if focusing on a point far behind Reimu. She looked like she had experienced mental trauma.    Reimu extended a hand and gave a half-hearted smile as a show of good will, confident that this wasn't a hostile fairy. Many other eyes began focusing on the two from the shadows. The fairy looked down at her hand, then back at her face. "You're...trapped...too?" she asked quietly, as if not used to speaking.    "Trapped? Oh...uh, no...at least I hope not..."    "Any who enter...are lost...you are not the first, nor will you probably be the last...to be consumed by darkness..." She floated up to Reimu, and put a tiny hand to her forehead. "Yet...you carry the darkness...given life..." She returned to where she was, and tilted her head to the side. "What...are you?    Reimu was creeped out, to say the least. It's not often that fairies would approach her without fear, let alone speak with her. Her face hadn't changed at all during the conversation, and her voice sounded more like a whisper. And what was with all of this 'trapped' business, and 'darkness given life'? "Uh...I-I'm Reimu Hakurei, the shrine maiden of Gensokyo."    The fairy's eyes widened instantly at her name. "R-Reimu...Hakurei?!" The other pairs of eyes began flying off, and the fairy in front of her flew back a few dozen feet before unleashing swirls of danmaku. Reimu managed to slip to her right just in time, as a pink sphere roared past her. She returned fire with needles from her orbs until the fairy went down, where it vanished into the darkness.    "That's just weird. Non-hostile fairies don't usually suddenly attack like that...wait!" She turned every which way, but could find no trace of where she had come from, or what way she had to go. "Crap! No no no no no! I don't want to be trapped here! I don't want to become like these freakish fairies!" As she said that, she saw another pair of eyes drift away from her, towards where the fog looked especially thick. Without hesitation, she followed them, until the fairy revealed herself, a blue-eyed one, in a similar style of dress. She conjured three rings of energy spheres, then directed each ring to target Reimu one after the other. Although she didn't have to dodge far, another fairy performed the same attack, and then another, and then another, severely limiting her movement, as each one traveled faster than the last, while slower bullets peppered the air around her. As she brought the last one down, a green-eyed fairy began throwing kunai danmaku in a random spread in front of her. This one was tougher than the rest, but vanished as suddenly as it came for seemingly no reason.    The mist was thick around Reimu know, who was constantly on the alert, in case one of these fairies were to try and take a bite of her. However, all of the fairies' eyes that peppered the shadows slowly vanished, until she was all alone again. She didn't feel anything for a while, until she could feel the presence of something...unnatural, even in this place. She could practically taste the curses on whatever it was, and felt like she had to brush her teeth. She looked around, her eyes darting every which way, trying to find the source of this cursed presence. Finally, it felt strongest directly in front of her. Yet, despite her squinting and trying to wave away the fog, she could see no more than a silhouette of the being.    She was tempted to try and speak to it, since it looked more human than the fairies. Yet, the amount of curses it exuded were giving her reason to hold back. "I believe that it is customary for a visitor to introduce herself when intruding upon someone else's territory." The figure spoke quickly and flatly, and her voice echoed faintly.    Although she heard her, Reimu was still rather skittish, and called back out to her "Who's there? I can't see you from here!"    "Hmph. Perhaps you should train yourself to see in the dark. I can see you quite clearly." Her tone was almost bragging, yet she made no move, nor did she follow up with any other comment.    Reimu could feel her anger flaring, or perhaps it was jealousy? All of her emotions were mixed up, probably from being with Koishi. "I can see perfectly fine in natural darkness! This place isn't natural!"    The figure sighed. "I can assure you that this place is natural, but I will assist you in your visionary problems nonetheless." Reimu could see her (at least she thinks its a her by the way it sounds) lift her arms to her sides, and the fog cleared away, leaving nothing but darkness between them.    Now that Reimu could see her clearly, she could probably figure out how much of a threat she is. Her shirt is silver, with red decorations on the front. The back of her sleeves went down to her wrists and ended in points, while the sleeve under her arm only went to a little past her elbow. She wore a gold skirt that was longer in the back than in the front, exposing her legs from the knees down in the front, concealed by brown leggings with a lighter brown crossed pattern that covered her feet, too. Her silver-colored hair extended down to her waist, some of it in a ponytail on an angle from the back of her head, and two locks of hair on the side of her head had decorations like hers, except the figure's decorations were dark blue. Her skin was pallid, yet somewhat metallic. Her eyes also had the silver color scheme. She seemed very robotic in expression, as if waiting so she could respond. Yet, Reimu couldn't get a good feel on how powerful she was. She could sense a lot of potential, but how much of it is realized?    "So...who are you? And just where the hell am I?"    She blinked once before opening her mouth, as if formulating the answer. "I am Tearfang. I am the spirit that resides in the sword which shares the same name."    "So you're a tsukumogami?"    "Accurate, but not exact. Although the sword and I are one and the same, and rely on each other to exist and have power, I have always resided within the sword. Passage into the realm you call Gensokyo awakened me. I can survive without being near the sword, and it can exist without me near. Full potential cannot be realized unless we are together," she explained.    "Alright...I don't fully understand, but whatever. You never answered where we are."    "Although not your original phrasing, no. We are in a dimension between dimensions, known as the Ingress. It can only be opened by the one who controls the rifts, unless that power is transferred to one the controller deems necessary to wield it. Its use is listed as classified information."    "The one who controls the rifts...does that person live in that black cloud?"    Tearfang visibly tensed. "H-how do you know of that?"    "The cloud attacked us and made me feel like crap. I'm looking for the one responsible, and I'm gonna kick her ass once I find them."    "Wait...you're...you're Reimu Hakurei, the red-white shrine maiden!"    Reimu folded her arms and smiled crookedly. "The one and only. What's the matter? Scared?"    Tearfang regained her composure, and returned a small, yet confident, smile. "Not a chance. And I'm not going to go into the actual statistics."    "Tell ya what. If you just lead me out of this place, I'll let you slide with a less severe beating."    The sword girl tilted her head confusedly. "You only wish to leave? Splendid. Follow me, and I will take you back to the rift you entered from." She began flying towards Reimu, off to her left.    Reimu swung her gohei out, blocking Tearfang's path. "That's not what I meant. I meant to take me to your boss, the other end of this...Ingress, or whatever."    "I'm afraid that would directly contradict the orders I was given." She turned to face Reimu. "So, I offer you an alternative: I will lead you back the way you came, and you can return to your dwelling."    Reimu's arm didn't lower. "I like my offer better. So, lead the way, or get out of my way."    Tearfang's eyes narrowed, a slight frown forming on her face. Without warning, she thrusted her hand forward, intending to point-blank Reimu with danmaku. Reimu managed to duck to her right as it sailed past her head. "Very well. I suppose I am forced to drive you off now, since you will not comply. Do know, however, that you have a minimum 57% chance of losing."    "Oddly specific, but I'll take those odds." She barely finished the statement when arrowhead bullets began pouring from Tearfang's hands. This attack seemed more like suppression than an actual attack, and her intuition was only confirmed as Tearfang shot a line of knife danmaku directly at her, and another two lines at an angle, trying to catch her overcompensating. She didn't even have time to return fire yet, as another shower of arrowheads rained around her. Seeing a slight gap in her attack between the knives and the arrowheads, she charged her yin-yang orbs with powerful pink talismans, and let fly. Their spread wasn't terribly effective, but they made up for that by being stronger than, say, her homing amulets.    Tearfang now had to dodge, and couldn't focus her line of knives directly at Reimu without adjusting her aim, which would give her a gap to slip through. As she pondered this, she suddenly felt sharp pain in her right arm as she accidentally flew into a stream of talismans. She grunted, irritated that she le herself get distracted by her own calculations. A minor wound like that would heal quickly, but she decided to cut her losses and attack immediately. She raised one arm slightly, and a glow appeared in her hand. It slowly turned into a white, phantasmal spell card. With the most emotion she's shown yet, she yells "Mirage Sword 'Impeccable Facade'!" The darkness around them transformed, showing strange images, figures and faces, that looked real but seemed fake.    Reimu snapped herself out of the now-entrancing scenery as Tearfang charged at her from the left, holding an ornate, white sword. However, she was too fast, and Reimu didn't have enough time to react. She tried to move, but she saw the sword go clean through her. She closed her eyes, expecting her torso to disconnect from her legs at any moment. Yet, neither pain nor blood came to greet her. She looked to her sides, and saw a mist-like slash running through her on one side and leaving her on the other. Slowly, the slash moved from her, leaving Reimu both confused and relieved. Tearfang, still holding the white sword, waved her other arm out to her side, and the slash solidified to be the same color as the sword that created it. The slash slowly moved behind her, until it came to rest, and began firing kunai danmaku from the corners of the slash, aimed at her, and walls of oval-shaped danmaku rained from the body of the image. Before the bullets reached her, she swapped the talismans with homing amulets, so she could focus on dodging, and set her orbs to fire at Tearfang.    She didn't care about dodging, she knew she was protected temporarily by the spell card, so she could focus on trying to bring down the miko in front of her. However, she could feel her hold on that slash slipping away, until it faded from view. Without hesitation, she spawned another, similar sword, crossed her arms in front of her, and charged forward. Reimu knew the swords would do nothing, but she didn't know if Tearfang would stop or tackle her, by the way she was barrelling at her. She tried strafing to the right, but Tearfang kept on target. When they were mere feet apart, Reimu instinctively threw her arms up in front of herself, bracing for Tearfang's impact. She heard the swords clang as they would have connected, but didn't feel the impact of Tearfang running through her. She opened her eyes, and saw no one in front of her. Suddenly, Tearfang appeared from behind her, floating back to her original spot, homing amulets still pelting her spell shield. This time, there were two slashes, in an X, running through her. These, just like the first one, started drifting towards her sides, meaning she would either have to get close to Tearfang, or try to run, neither of which she believed would work well. These slashes tried the same pattern, but this time, she was being assailed on two sides instead of just one. Yet, she had fought these types of attacks before, so they weren't too unfamiliar to her.    Tearfang could feel the spell's shield weakening, and decided that she couldn't hold back any longer. She casually tossed the two swords into the air, which spun and hovered for a bit, before floating blade-down. With a slight motion and a sound like an unsheathing blade, each sword split into three separate ones, which encircled Reimu. This time, she ignored them, and tried to throw as many needles as she could to break the spell sooner. All six swords swung at the same time, with the same results. Reimu felt a bit light-headed when all six blades intersected in her abdomen, but that faded quickly as the six slashes arranged themselves into a hexagram and solidified, with her being the center. Tearfang waved both of her arms, and all of the slashes began focusing their fire on Reimu in the middle. Paranoid and dodging every which way, Reimu felt around for the card Yukari gave her, but she couldn't find it, at least not with all of this haphazard flying. She felt one arrowhead strike her leg, a stinging blow that quickly turned red. She winced in pain, then focused again on dodging and having her orbs shoot amulets. The small thuds from when each amulet struck the shield slowly grew louder as the shield decreased, until all bullets disappeared from Reimu's vision, and she halted her orbs from firing. Tearfang and the six swords were the only ones left.    Tearfang looked aghast as Reimu hardly looked scratched from the battle. Granted, she was mostly unharmed as well, but that technique should have worked to scare her off. A sharp crack startled her from her wonderings, as the swords began breaking apart. Light shone from the illusional blades, and all six of them shattered simultaneously. Tearfang almost doubled over from the shock as it felt like most of her power was drained with the swords' shattering. She took one last look at Reimu, then turned and fled.    Unlike most of the defeated fairies from earlier, Tearfang didn't eventually fade into the shadows, which made her easy to see for a long distance. With this realization, Reimu took off after her, the only lead to possible escape. Many fairies either fled from them or shot at her, ignoring Tearfang. Reimu mostly ignored the fairies, preferring to keep Tearfang in her sight than battle pointless fairies.    Tearfang started slowing down, confident she lost the shrine maiden. "You're not getting away that easily!!" came from behind her, causing her to gasp and turn. Both confirmed and annoyed, Tearfang began adding her own danmaku to what the fairies were throwing at her. However, hers weren't attacks; they were cover with which she might be able to escape. Every time she looked behind her, though, Reimu was there, and getting closer. She picked up speed, and began charging a large burst of bullets. She looked behind her, and saw one last fairy try to barrage her with large green oval-shaped bullets, and acted. She stopped and raised her arms, throwing a mass of giant silver bubbles. Yet, as she looked ahead, there was a bright light, a beacon in the darkness. She cursed under her breath, took a moment to consider the irony, then darted to her right, hoping the shrine maiden might follow.    After going around the silver spheres that sprang out of nowhere, Reimu peered ahead, not seeing Tearfang anymore, but instead seeing a glow in the distance. She caught movement in the corner of her eye, and turned to see Tearfang flying almost directly away from the light, occasionally glancing at her, as if begging her to follow. Reimu smirked, then proceeded with all haste towards the glow. As she got closer, she noted that it looked about the same size as the one she entered from, and she would have thought it was the same one, if it wasn't for the massive, swirling storm outside of it. If she were on the ground, she would have been jumping around for joy. She settled with a quick "Yes! Finally!" and a midair victory twirl, then resumed her course; her journey was rapidly ending.    However, her intuition was telling her otherwise, and that she wasn't clear of danger yet. As the thought crossed her mind, she thought she heard a grunt of exertion behind her. Deciding to listen to her instincts, she turned in a quarter-circle, and saw a silvery blade pass right by her face, the arm and body of Tearfang following. The sword girl halted her movement, and turned back to face Reimu. There was something different about her, but she couldn't quite place what it was. Tearfang shook her arms slightly, and her hands became visible once again. Realization struck Reimu that somehow her sleeves had elongated about a foot past her fingertips, and became flexible swords attached to her hands. She hadn't realized that Tearfang could do this, but she did realize that she may have misjudged just what she was capable of.    Tearfang looked ready for a fight, her fists clenched and her body angled challengingly. "Foolish girl. I led you in a complete circle. This is the rift from which you entered."    Reimu's expression changed from surprise to skepticism quickly, and she folded her arms. "Really. A circle, huh? Then why are there clouds out there? The sky had been clear for days back in Gensokyo, and the sky was completely clear when I entered the Ingress. Now you're telling me a massive storm brewed in the short time I was here?" To her, it felt like hours, but there's no way it could have been.    "Yes. Storms have a tendency to form rather instantaneously. As previously stated, this isn't where you thought it would lead. It merely leads back to where you started."    Reimu thought for a moment, before remembering what could be a crucial piece of evidence. "If it is where I entered, then why are you blocking my progress?" She smiled smugly, figuring she cornered her.    Tearfang opened her mouth to respond, when her eyes shot wide. She apparently hadn't been expecting this sort of question. Her eyes darted around, and she started stammering, trying to come up with a response.    "So? You gonna let me pass, or wha-"    "Silence!" she spat. "My directive was to allow no intruders to assault the palace, least of all the red-white Hakurei maiden! Your passage can only be assured with my defeat!" She shifted her stance, looking over her shoulder, ready for whatever Reimu might throw at her. Her sleeves also changed, forming the flexible blades that had almost sliced her head open.    "Wait...palace? What palace?"    Tearfang's eyes narrowed, and she looked away while pursing her lips. Probably annoyed at herself for giving away too much information. Without another word, she sprang forward, sending a flurry of knives with tiny bullet trails at Reimu. She expected this sort of sudden attack, and ducked to her right just as the knives flew by, and had plenty of room to spare. She set her orbs to fire needles, but Tearfang charged her again before she could even start shooting. It was the same pattern, which Reimu expected, but this time a circle of feather-like danmaku radiated from where Tearfang would have impacted with Reimu. She set the orbs to firing, then prepared for whatever Tearfang would have to throw at her.    Tearfang was no fool, and decided that trying to fly straight through her shots would only result in her loss. She adopted a zig-zagging flight pattern to both confuse Reimu and get her in close. Reimu saw what she was doing, and constantly tried to readjust her aim, while preparing for her attack. When Tearfang got close, Reimu dodged to the side, and drew four large amulets. They swirled in the air near her, then set a course for Tearfang, constantly gaining speed. Luckily, she took flight from these amulets and started moving evasively. The amulets kept returning, and Tearfang was becoming annoyed with their tenacity. Reimu pushed her farther by shooting needles directly at her.    With no other possible moves, Tearfang began flying in a wide arc, the amulets hot on her trail, managing to keep pace with her. The streams of needles were constantly popping up right in front of her, and it was only a matter of time before she would be hit. She charged towards Reimu one last time, but didn't bother charging any danmaku, since it was already following her. She swung wide to Reimu's left, leaving her confused. A few needles managed to hit their mark at such a close range, but Reimu was too focused on her. She could hear whirring behind her, and as she turned, she became very concerned. Her own amulets were flying directly at her, and she didn't have a chance to escape. She simply threw her arms up in front of her in an attempt to block them. All four directly hit their user, leaving a small cloud of smoke around Reimu. Although her own attacks wouldn't harm her as much, they still hurt.    The cloud of smoke offered other possibilities, though. As it cleared, she could see Tearfang charging at her, and waited to fire, a huge gamble, considering how fast she was going. Once she was a few feet from the smoke cloud, Reimu unleashed a torrent of needles all focused at her. Off guard, Tearfang had no choice but to take a few hits before she could start defending herself. She began striking and chopping at the incoming needles with her sleeve blades, knocking them out of the air, and slowly advancing. Reimu had to admit, her form and speed were impressive. She might even be able to out-perform an oni in a fight, although brute force was definitely out of the question.    Reimu snapped out of her admiration when she noticed how close Tearfang was. If she cut off the attack and tried to escape, there'd be no hiding from Tearfang. No, fleeing wasn't an option. She did have another idea, however. As Tearfang entered melee range, Reimu threw another group of four large amulets. As they reached full size, Tearfang tried to halt her assault. Her hesitation caused her defense to lower, and the needles began striking her with full force. She finally managed to stop as the amulets moved forward, but she had nowhere to go. Reimu swooped out of the cloud as the four amulets once again exploded.    Reimu dusted off her hands and was about to turn towards the gap when she heard from the smoke "Illusion sign 'Dance of Swords'!" Again the scenery changed, and the rift vanished from view. Her attention returned to Tearfang, who had surrounded herself with twelve swords of different colors as the smoke cleared. The swords were arranged chromatically, forming a circle around Tearfang. Reimu expected her to charge at her again, but instead she started a strange, exotic-looking dance. It was very graceful and flowing, and it seemed to influence the swords around her. They began clashing, twirling, all simultaneous with her movements. Reimu reminded herself that this was a duel, not a show, and looked around for what would be thrown at her. She noticed twelve spheres of energy around her in equal intervals just as they began firing swords at her. Something was wrong, though. Their aim wasn't exact, and the first twelve swords met in a circle around Reimu. It didn't give her much room to maneuver, but they soon dispersed, and another ring took its place. After what must have been the tenth ring, the outermost swords suddenly spun around and drove right at Reimu. She could tell that these were accurate, and jumped aside as they all struck where she just was. She had no idea why she kept turning off her orbs from firing, but she reset them to homing amulets as another ring of swords tried to impale her. These ones came close enough to her head that she could see a few black strands fall from where they cut through a small amount of hair.    As the last group of swords passed by her, she looked at Tearfang, who was watching the spectacle and grimacing that she hadn't hit her yet. The homing amulets were doing much more damage to the spell shield this time than on her last spell, and she prepared for however Tearfang might try to upgrade the attack. She started her dance over again, and the same rifts opened. This time, as each sword clashed around Tearfang, bullets of the colors of the striking swords would rain out. This time, the encircling blades gave Reimu a little more room, which she saved for if a bullet were to fly in her direction. None did, and the last ring of swords was starting to fan out. Tearfang noticed this, and somehow stopped all non-sword bullets midflight. She commanded them to fly in Reimu's direction, causing her to have to take care while dodging the swords so she wouldn't fly into a stray sphere. As the last few swords and bullets passed, Tearfang's card broke again, with the same results as last time. All twelve swords shattered in a rainbow explosion, and Tearfang was left clutching at her sides and breathing heavily.    "Had enough yet?" Reimu taunted.    "I've made many miscalculations thus far...intimidation tactics don't work nearly as well as I'd hoped...and I've been splitting too much of my power..." She took a deep breath, and floated straight up again. Reimu could notice some slight tears in her skirt and on her shoulder, but it looked like hardly anything to worry about. "No more fooling around." She put her hands together and closed her eyes, as if praying, and where her sleeves touched, a white light was forming. It grew to about the size of her palm before floating in front of her. Her eyes shot open, and the light turned into another spell card. "Physical Manipulation 'Doppelganger'!"    The spell card slowly mixed back with the light, and then began expanding. Four tendrils of light split from the main core, and another sphere formed on top. These solidified and took more defined shape, into arms, legs, and a head. Once it finished, the light slowly faded, and floating before Reimu...was another Reimu. This clone, however, looked far different from her. It had dark blue skin and white hair, and her outfit turned sky blue. Her sleeves and even the paper charms on her gohei were black. Reimu was looking at a negative version of herself. Every visible detail was correct. The clone floated there and stared at Reimu before turning to Tearfang. In an eerily similar, yet hollow voice to Reimu, it asked "Master, what is your command?"    "Incapacitate the one who shares your image." She didn't even look at the clone to address it.    The clone turned back to Reimu before drawing several black and blue ofuda amulets, the exact opposite of Reimu's. However, instead of going at the same speed, they flew like amulet danmaku, five talismans in a spread, and three spreads. It wasn't hard to dodge for Reimu, who retaliated by throwing her own amulets. After a brief exchange of fire, the clone faded out of existence, her eyes slowly closing as she started falling. Everything but the gohei vanished, and it tumbled down into the darkness. "...Was that really it?"    Tearfang grunted in response. "No." She raised her arms again, and two Reimu clones sprang forth from nowhere. "I decided to spare you the theatrics and proceed directly to the fighting." These two had the same pattern of attack, but this time Tearfang threw in some silver and gold arrowhead bullets. Now facing what looked like a wall, Reimu had little time to set her orbs to fire homing amulets again. When she did, she saw that they were aiming for the clones, not Tearfang. She knew if she waited long enough, the spell would collapse on itself and end, but she didn't want to have to wait that long. Soon enough, those clones were also brought down, and they fell in similar fashion to the first. Reimu watched the gohei spin into the shadows, and shivered at the thought of falling all that way. She reset her orbs to fire pink talismans, and tried her best to focus only on Tearfang. Grimacing, Tearfang summoned five clones to all fire upon Reimu. Instead of simultaneously, however, they fired in succession, so Reimu had to keep moving to avoid getting hit. The unlucky clone in the middle was defeated, and Reimu could see Tearfang straining to keep the spell active and fire danmaku at the same time. In Reimu's small time of distraction, however, she let herself get hit again, this time on her right arm, by one of Tearfang's arrowhead bullets. Seconds afterward, the spell broke, and the clones all faded out of existence. Unlike the previous ones, these ones released mist, which completely shrouded Tearfang from view.    As it billowed out, Reimu kept alert for any more bullets. Instead, she heard a shriek as Tearfang was charging ballistically at her, one arm poised to strike with her blade sleeve. As her hand started moving forward, Reimu ducked backwards, and purely by instinct kicked upward. Tearfang's arm grazed mere inches from her head, but her leg managed to connect to Tearfang's jaw, sending her flying backwards while Reimu performed a backflip. She brushed a stray hair from her face as Tearfang righted herself, one hand to her cheek. Even if she didn't look too angry, Reimu could tell she was seething. "Very well." She held one hand out, and in it was a silver spell card. "I didn't want to be forced to use this. Yet you leave me with no more alternatives. Executioner 'Blade of Judgment'!!!"    The card flashed brilliantly before dispersing in a wide cloud of kunai bullets. Soon after, Tearfang slashed with her arm, and a wave of knives flew out. Another slash, and a wave of swords mixed with other blue bullets. Reimu couldn't see Tearfang past this barrage, and had to focus on weaving through them, charging her yin-yangs with homing amulets so she wouldn't have to aim. Once the fog of bullets cleared, Reimu looked up, and felt her heart sink. Above her was a massive sword, looking like the others, but easily larger than most trees. The point faced her, and Tearfang held it up with her arms over her head. She threw her arms at Reimu, and the sword followed suit, intent on crushing the shrine maiden.    Reimu began panicking, and searching for a certain spell card. She hardly ever used it along with her homing amulets, but this was an exception. At last, she found it. She held it over her head and declared it: "Dream sign 'Evil Sealing Circle'!" From the card, two intersecting red and blue squares radiated out, and Reimu held her arms out to her sides. Once their outer edge hit the sword, the sword began dissolving, but Reimu could feel the circle lose strength. She poured her energy into the circle, and could see Tearfang was doing the same with the sword. Now it was just a battle of willpower. Glancing at the sword, Reimu could see that it was slowly shrinking, the danmaku in the blade being burned away by her spell card, but didn't give up. She wouldn't be able to outrun or avoid any of the blade where she was, and focusing on the circle meant she couldn't move. Eventually, the hilt of the sword began melting away, but Reimu couldn't keep the spell active any longer. She dropped her arms, and the circle vanished. She braced for impact, but it never came. She managed to sustain the card long enough for that sword to dissolve, but there was no way she could do it again, and the scenery hadn't changed, which meant Tearfang's card was still active. She remembered her orbs, and smiled inwardly. While she was busy, they kept firing. A glance at Tearfang proved her right; the spell was greatly weakened! She just had to keep fighting for just a short while longer, and she would win.    What she didn't expect, however, was for Tearfang to split into two. Unlike Reimu's clone, both Tearfangs looked the same. The amulets flew as if confused, since both were equally distant from where Reimu was firing them, and they couldn't decide which one to hit. Now, each Tearfang was conjuring a massive sword, but they looked smaller than the original one. Reimu looked back and forth between them. Both had spell shields, so theoretically, damaging one would end the spell sooner. But what if it didn't? Could she take that chance? She looked at the swords, their shape finally becoming solid, and realized she had very little time. She gasped in epiphany, and flew right between each Tearfang. Her assumption was right; they were too busy calculating and focusing to realize her plan. The swords finished, the Tearfangs brought their arms down, and the swords flew towards Reimu's position. Just as she had planned.    She darted to her left, back towards her original position. The swords didn't change trajectory, and now she was well outside of their range. Each Tearfang watched in horror as the other's sword was heading straight for them. As they collided, Reimu heard two perfectly similar pained yells from the two who were just hit. Reimu deactivated her yin-yangs, and noticed the scenery changing from its strange mirage-like state back to the misty darkness it used to be. The two Tearfangs floated where they last were, the swords vanishing as if they never existed. Both sword girls were hunched over, clutching one arm in the same manner as the other, even panting simultaneously. Slowly, they drifted together, and fused into one girl once again, her clothes in even worse condition than earlier. If she was on the ground, Reimu had no doubts she would have collapsed by now.    Reimu wasn't in nearly as bad of a condition, but she certainly didn't feel as good as she did when she entered. Even still, she felt confident from another victory. "So, you ready to give up, or what?"    Tearfang swallowed, and shook her head. "I never surrender. But I will concede, in accordance with my orders, and how these spell card duels function."    Neither made another move. "So," Reimu said, clapping her hands together to help break the silence. "Why aren't you leading me yet?"    "I cannot simply abandon my post. However, I can give you this information. That storm conceals what you seek. Your destination lies at the eye."    "Awesome. I can just fly above it and..."    "I'm afraid that's impossible. The storm is far too massive, and you will be lucky if you reach the eye by nightfall, if you survive the decreased air pressure and oxygen levels. Go under, and all manner of ill weather awaits you. Even I cannot predict what will happen."    "So I have to go through the storm to get there quickly and safely." Reimu sighed. "Why can't, just once, this be a bit easier..."    Despite her obvious pain, Tearfang managed a small laugh. "Now why would anything be easier? It would be more difficult to drive you away if the rest of your journey were to be simple."    "You say that as if you've been watching and studying me. For a very long time."    "I am unable to disclose this information to you. But I do have permission to tell you this; be thankful I am the only one here to stop you. Anyone else..." she gestured to the storm. "...and not even the hag with the gaps can save you then."    That line again...implying Yukari's powerless here...at least I think she's referring to Yukari...but my powers are fine, so what does it mean? Reimu shook away her thoughts. Those weren't important right now. What was important was finding the culprit. She proceeded towards the rift, pausing only once to glance at Tearfang, who nodded, and exited the Ingress.    The sun was blinding at first, emerging from the strange darkness. She looked back, and saw Tearfang rush off, probably to patch herself up and resume guarding. The rift looked completely unnatural, like someone took a patch of nighttime and sewed it haphazardly to the air. But, that was behind Reimu now. Her next destination was within the swirling mass of clouds ahead of her. As she watched it spin, she could see flashes of lightning illuminating the clouds. "At least Tearfang told the truth. Flying over this thing would take too long, and I imagine the storm would only be worse under the clouds. So, looks like I'm going through..." She picked a spot where the clouds opened slightly, as if expecting her. She steeled her resolve, and flew into the storm.    Tearfang watched the shrine maiden pass back into Gensokyo with disdain. She would have stopped her, but somehow she was too powerful. Not many beings were more powerful than her that she had faced, but she couldn't find any error when replaying the memory of the battle. Everything was flawless and played by the rules. Was she just that powerful?    Her musings were interrupted by a small orb drifting lazily towards her. Tearfang happened to glance at it and notice its proportionally large, single eye. It was no bigger than her palm, which she held out for it to rest on. It floated over her hand, and silently gazed at her, blinking once. Tearfang returned the stare, as if some form of telepathy. "Mistress wishes for me to return to the palace? A surprising order, considering her condition, but very well. Thank you for delivering this message." The orb nodded, and Tearfang returned the nod. "The message is appreciated, Dark Matter. I will depart at once." Tearfang glanced at the shrine maiden once more, who was looking back at her. She turned and flew towards the Ingress portal that led directly to the palace, far off to the right of the one before the storm.    As she left, the Dark Matter stared at her. Once she was out of sight, it turned towards the storm, seeing the last of the shrine maiden be consumed by it. Silently, it flew through the rift, and followed her into the clouds...

an unmatched sock: Hey look, I'm not dead. I'm just very busy and the next update to the story probably won't be for a while. Oh well, life is life. Chapter 7 Nocturne of a Grand Typhoon    Reimu performed a midair roll to dodge an arc of black lightning from another strange dark eyeball-like creature. It looked like the creature with the turquoise eye and petal-like things, but they didn't have the protrusions the first one had. They also fought more like sentries than sentient beings, and weren't terribly strong. The fairies within the storm were tougher, but there were a lot more of those eyes. She had lost track of how many of each she had shot down recently. Whatever they are, they attacked me first, so if I even needed justification, I have it! she thought as she struck the orb with a needle directly in the eye. It dispersed, leaving no trace it was ever even there.    Reimu wasn't sure how long she'd been in the swirling mass of clouds, but she at least knew she was going in the right way thanks to the direction the clouds were spinning in. Despite the hostility, she was much more comfortable here than in the Ingress. The main downsides that she could figure were the rain and dampness she felt, constantly watching out for lightning, the hostile creatures...    "How is this better than the Ingress again?"    In addition, whenever she saw an eye, she could feel herself start to go into a frenzy. It was too coincidental for there not to be a correlation between her crappy mood and these things. She would feel better every time she took one down, but more would always fill their place, and her attitude would only get worse the more of these eyes she saw. The fairies didn't affect her, but that didn't mean they weren't affected. She noted that these fairies also wore outfits like the ones in the Ingress, but these seemed more determined to drive off intruders, while the others were fighting seemingly out of self-defence.    She ducked to escape under a barrage of bullets released from a cluster of fairies, when before her eyes, a fork of lightning crashed into two of them, rendering them unconscious and scattering the others. If she didn't keep moving, she might wind up getting fried like one of those fairies. She quickly shot down the remaining ones and continued forward.    She flew unchallenged for a few minutes, giving her some time to wring out her sleeves, which were starting to become a hindrance with their weight. She was about to take off her hair ribbon to do the same thing when she felt like she was being watched. Now that I think about it, I've felt this since I left the Ingress... She turned around, and managed to catch a glimpse of another, smaller eye dart behind a small wall of clouds. Confused, Reimu floated over to its small shelter, holding a few amulets just in case. It glanced up at her, and Reimu noticed just how small it was. It wasn't even bigger than her hand. In a really strange sense, it was almost sort of...cute. Cautiously, she reached for it, but it sped off past her in the direction she was originally going.    She decided against chasing after it, since she still didn't know what these things were. She turned to look back one last time, and took a deep breath. Her hair had been matted to her head from the rain, and she pushed a few loose strands out of her eyes. She turned back to continue in where she believed was the correct direction, and saw what must have been twenty of those eyes all staring at her. Not a single one blinked. None of them moved. All of them had to be at least her size. Reimu didn't dare move either. How...how did they all manage to sneak up on me like this? she wondered as she snapped out of her initial shock. Slowly, she flew towards the largest gap between them, trying to watch all of them simultaneously so none of them could try anything to catch her off guard.    Yet, despite her diligence, a small group tried to rush her while her back was turned. Her yin-yangs were already set to fire homing amulets, so she didn't hesitate. The first few fell, then the next, but they couldn't fire everywhere at once. Reimu felt herself get struck in the back by something large, but it didn't burn like danmaku did. She reached behind her, but her hand met no resistance, only cold nothingness, even if it did block some of the rain. She brought her hand back in front of her, and saw it was pitch-black, which slowly faded back into its normal skin color.    Did that thing just...charge at me? And where did it go? She looked around frantically, but saw nothing. Suddenly, she felt a searing pain in her skull, a headache that made her want to vomit and scream at the same time. It was like she was severely dehydrated, which wasn't possible. The thought of dehydration immediately led to thoughts of tea, and how she would rather be back at the shrine than out here in the middle of nowhere. It would be better at home, wouldn't it?    Reimu's eyes widened. "Who's there?" No one answered her call. She looked around, and saw no one. Not even a fairy or an eye. I must be imagining things...    Yes...I'm a wreck, aren't I? Maybe I should just go back home...    "Gah!" Reimu yelped as her headache grew more intense. Whatever was causing it seemed linked to those strange thoughts that didn't seem like her own.    I'll probably catch a cold out here in the rain. I'm sure the sword girl would be glad to lead us back to the other portal.    ...Us?    Silence. The strange suggestions ceased, and Reimu became suspicious.  Those thoughts were definitely not her own. When she thought to herself, she usually hears her voice, too. This one sounded...off, somehow. And that eye that disappeared...    Maybe I should just go home.    Yes. It is a good idea.    Now why would I respond to myself in my own thoughts?    Again, it became silent. Whatever it was, it wasn't too bright, but it still had some sort of telepathic hold on her. She couldn't bring herself to move forward, but moving back she was just fine.    I thought so.    Silence! the voice spat. It sounded completely different now, not even trying to masquerade as her thoughts anymore. I was tasked to drive you off, and that's what I will do! And there's nothing you can do to sto- Reimu felt a slight shock as the voice suddenly stopped talking. As it spoke, Reimu could form a mental image of one of the eyes, speaking to her through telepathy, since it had no mouth. Its hateful expression turned to one of surprise, then its eye narrowed. Wait...you're that red-white we were told was coming...    Reimu audibly grimaced. WHY DOES EVERYONE CALL ME THAT?! she shouted mentally.    She could see the eye wince in pain. Hey, no need to be that loud! I'm only doing what we were created to do. Influence weaker minds.    Reimu could feel herself getting irritated as this thing refused to leave her alone. And now it has the audacity to call her mind weak? Well, if I'm so weak-minded, come fight me directly. I should lose, shouldn't I?    Very well. This logic seems sound. Is our influence that bad at all? With that, Reimu saw a thin black mist come out of her shirt, through where her heart would be. It coalesced back into its orb-like form, and tried shooting a small wave of black pellet-shaped bullets. Reimu smiled and stepped aside as the bullets flew right past her. She drew two large amulets, and set them at the eye. Both impacted, creating a small explosion. Once the smoke cleared, there was not even a trace of the eye.    Reimu dusted her hands off. "Too easy. I figured it wasn't that bright." A boom of thunder drowned out the sound of her back-patting, and she took the hint and proceeded. Her headache had gone away, and she felt so much better having dealt with that thing. It made her happy, in a way. A sort of mental oasis, quickly shrouded by black fog.    Advancing quite a ways further with no resistance, Reimu found herself in a clearing, with one hole above her that let sunlight through. It's too small to be the eye of the storm, Reimu figured. A protrusion of clouds further ahead of her parted, revealing another person, which surprised Reimu. She didn't think anyone else besides fairies and those eyes would be in this raging typhoon. As Reimu got a closer look, she became more and more puzzled. She looked familiar, but...    The girl waved an arm, and the rest of the clouds obscuring her vanished, revealing red hair, yellow and green clothes, and a baton in her left hand. Reimu gasped as she recognized who she was. It was a faint, distant memory...but she was sure of it. "No way...You're that youkai from the mountain, who tried to pass herself off as a human...Orange! That was your name!" As she said this, she noted several inconsistencies with her memory. For one, she originally found Orange on a mountain...why would she be so far out to sea? And since when were her eyes dichromatic? Her right eye was a sickly yellow color, while her left was the bright orange color she remembered.    Orange seemed taken aback. "I...am surprised you recognized me. I did not expect to see you here, Red-Whi-"    Reimu glared at her, as if daring her to finish. "However..." she said, changing the subject. "This doesn't seem like your kind of hangout. You do seem more powerful, though. Much more than...what did you call yourself when we met the first time? A 'stage one boss'?" Reimu folded her arms. "Just what does that mean?"    Orange shrugged, and Reimu thought she saw another inconsistency with her shadow on the clouds behind her. Especially since light would be coming in from above them, not from her...    "Anyway...you seem to be in the way. Again. If you learned anything from last time, you should just let me pass."    Orange twirled her baton and assumed a fighting stance. "Nope. If you want to pass, you gotta beat me first." She swung the baton backwards, and Reimu thought she saw something dart out of the way of her arm right before it would strike. To test her intuition, she threw a lone amulet at where the thing would be exposed, with no danger of hitting Orange at all. The youkai swiftly deflected the amulet with her baton before realizing her mistake. She just guarded what was supposed to be empty air.    Reimu grinned slyly and proceeded to bombard Orange with needles from her orbs. Orange retaliated with well-aimed barrages of plain white bullets. "Tch. Too easy," Reimu taunted as she effortlessly wove through the bullets. Orange smiled and spun her baton, which Reimu noted that she didn't do before. The bullets split, turning into clusters of tiny multicolored bullets that managed to almost encircle Reimu completely before they dispersed. However, Orange was definitely taking hits, while Reimu was dodging everything, not letting anything get closer than grazing distance. Orange lifted an arm, and white kunai began circling her. However, their spread was too thin, and Reimu easily slipped through them, managing to throw a few amulets that directly hit Orange, one between the eyes.    Orange righted herself after the blow, and held aloft an unsurprisingly orange spell card. "Image sign 'False Being'!" Orange threw her baton into the air, which shot two orange orbs of light to her sides. Two translucent Oranges appeared next to her, and they began shooting red and orange danmaku. Halfway, they turned from normal danmaku into multiple different types of bullets, ranging from kunai to pellets and even stars. The real Orange's hair, strangely enough, turned blue. This made targeting her easier, but those false Oranges were now going off to her sides, continuing their barrage. After they almost tripled their distance from the real Orange, another two fakes were created, doubling the bullets Reimu had to dodge.    Reimu looked up from where the enemy bullets were flying to see the distortion that meant the spell was about to break. However, in the distortion, a strange, large shape could be seen behind her. In her wonder, she almost let herself get skewered with a kunai. She jumped to her right, but the bullet still cut through her sleeve and struck her forearm, making Reimu shriek in pain. She didn't know why bullets were so painful to her, while it took dozens of hers for an enemy to feel something even out of a spell card, but by now she had simply come to accept it. Once she regained her composure, she resumed her assault, despite the addition of two more ghostlike Oranges.    Mere seconds afterward, the duplicates all slumped over, as if run through with a blade. The real Orange's hair turned back to normal, but it didn't even look like she had a scratch. Reimu couldn't help but feel disappointed in herself for letting herself get hit right before the spell ended, but there was nothing she could do to change that. Her gaze shifted back to Orange, who was still floating there, transfixed. She dropped her baton, which fell through the clouds until it could not be seen. For a second, Reimu wondered if she went too hard on the poor girl before remembering that she was, indeed, a youkai. At least, that's what she thought, until the image of Orange in front of her became distorted with static and slowly faded out of existence. In her place was another giant eye, this one as big as Reimu's head, and it looked a lot more stable than the others she had seen. "Hey! You look like the one that possessed Yoake!" Upon saying this, she immediately made the connection between how the first orb changed Yoake's eyes yellow, and that the fake Orange had a yellow eye.    Instead of turquoise petals and eye, this one was orange. Its choice of masquerade was fitting, to say the least, Reimu thought. The orb's eye narrowed, and it shot a bolt of black lightning laced with orange oval-shaped bullets before turning and flying off into the clouds. When Reimu looked to see where it went, it was already out of sight, but she knew the general direction it was travelling in. "I've gotta be halfway there by this point..." With no other options besides to give up, she once again flew into the clouds. These were darker, and the rain was heavier here. Within seconds, her clothes were soaked through again. The sudden gusts of wind causing goosebumps across Reimu's arms, she proceeded further ahead.    Her first fairy encounter in this new storm was much stranger than earlier. These were flying in lines and formations, and their danmaku, consisting mostly of blue bullets of various shapes, left very little maneuvering room. An occasional shadow orb would create more problems, since they weren't as patterned as the fairies, and their shots were faster.    Reimu sneezed, then had to focus once again as a torrent of large oblong cyan-colored bullets rained down on her. She darted left, into a different column of space, where the bullets weren't as dense. A bolt of lightning in her previous position followed by the loudest peal of thunder she ever heard made Reimu sigh in relief once her ears stopped ringing. The fairies before her scattered after the lightning struck. "What, these things live in the storm, but they can't handle a little lightning? That doesn't make sense," she said with a sniffle. She was starting to get annoyed at how heavy her clothes felt, but could do nothing about it. The wind felt like it was cutting right through her clothes, enough that Reimu was really wishing she had a blanket. An umbrella would just blow away in this storm. Reimu snickered at the thought of Kogasa being thrown haphazardly around in the storm.    As she continued onward, a blonde fairy drifted out of the clouds, and stopped about fifty feet from where Reimu was floating. This was one of the larger fairies, with huge wings. She often saw them carrying larger flowers, like sunflowers. This one was also carrying a flower, a large black rose, which complimented her dress quite nicely, Reimu admitted. However, she also knew larger fairies were more powerful, and tended to be annoying to take down. She reset her yin-yangs for needles, and tried to score as many hits as possible before the fairy began firing. And yet, she couldn't finish it off before bright red energy balls began radiating from her in a clockwise motion. As Reimu maneuvered between them, the fairy switched directions, this time shooting orange bullets. The danmaku kept increasing speed as it ran through the rest of the spectrum: yellow, green, blue, then violet being the fastest. Finally, the fairy gave up, and tried to fly away, leaving tattered cloth and small amounts of blood in her wake. Reimu wasn't just going to let it get away, however; she threw a handful of amulets that spread out, then closed in, all striking the fairy at the same time. The fairy dropped, as so many had prior.    Reimu didn't have to travel too far to face a very imposing wall of dark clouds. She had no doubt that beyond this was what she was trying so hard to find. The only deterrent was the amount of lightning that was surging through the wall. Before she could even begin figuring out what to do, she became aware of a figure passing through the clouds. It looked younger than her, and was clad in some sort of bluish-purple mantle to hide her body. Yet, Reimu could clearly see the ghostly tail behind her, which drifted to her left as she stopped. Behind her V-shaped visor, a bluish-purple eye and a yellow eye glinted with an almost protective malice.    As she - at least, I think it's a she... - floated into view, Reimu could see that her tail wasn't the normal pale color that ghosts and spirits often took. Instead, it was pitch black, like her very spiky hair. Her cloak parted as Reimu assumed she was reaching for something, and noticed that she was wearing violet armor, over a traditional shirt that she couldn't quite identify under the armor. From within the cloak, she drew a lead-colored sword, and pointed it towards Reimu. However, she couldn't see her arms; she only had floating hands! She regarded Reimu with silence, but her body language wasn't that of someone who would let her pass.    Reimu smirked and drew more amulets, waiting for the swordsgirl to make a move. "I can deal with silence. Just makes beating you that much faster," Reimu taunted.    The girl took the bait, and charged at Reimu, snarling. The slash was easy to dodge, and the girl tried to rush back to where she was, making herself an easy target. All of the amulets Reimu threw hit home, even though they didn't seem to phase the girl one bit. Seeing that her charge attack didn't work, she held her sword straight up, and began charging blue lightning in it. Once it glowed, Reimu knew this would be devastating if she let it hit. The girl swung her sword in a wide arc, and multiple balls of energy flew out, burning right through the clouds. She swung again, releasing more waves of energy. Reimu used this opportunity to start unleashing her own danmaku, intent on beating her quickly and moving on. The girl, however, began weaving through Reimu's shots as her sword lost its glow. Once the remaining energy faded, Reimu would have a clear shot at the spirit, and she intended to make as much use of it as possible.    The last energy orb vanished from her field of vision, and Reimu began focusing her fire onto the girl in front of her. She made few mistakes, but the ones she did make were rather...stupid, ones that Reimu knew she wouldn't have made. One needle managed to break the necklace the girl was wearing, gold with a purple jewel. It sailed below the clouds, probably never to be seen again. This angered the swordsgirl, who pointed her sword once again at Reimu. This time, a purple light gathered at the tip, and multiple purple lasers shot out, which spread out instead of moving in a straight line. Ugh...not curved lasers... From her dealings with recent youkai, Shou especially, Reimu had learned to hate curved lasers, and made sure to deal extra punishment to those who used them. Few of the lasers actually moved in her direction, but enough that she didn't feel safe sitting still. Once the laser barrage ended, Reimu looked up to see the girl charging at her again. Once she was close enough, Reimu casually sidestepped her and whacked her in the back of the head with her gohei. The girl didn't take too kindly to this, and as she backed up, her other disembodied hand drew a purple card from within her cloak. She held it and her sword aloft before softly speaking. "'Cloudbreaker'."    Reimu tilted her head. Cloudbreaker? Is that the name of the spell? As if to answer her question, the warrior slashed through the clouds around her, which transformed into bullets of myriad colors. The constant slashing of clouds quickly cleared the area, but also filled it with an avalanche of danmaku. Reimu could hardly see in front of her to fire at the girl, and had to rely on only the otherworldly sound of her sword cutting through cloud to make bullets to determine her shot. There was no set pattern to the bullets' flight, but Reimu was starting to feel comfortable dodging around them and predicting which would be threats and which wouldn't. The girl, however, would always start on the left, then slash to the right. Reimu could tell the spell was weakening, as the bullets increased in volume. To her surprise, most of the bullets only came close to her, and she didn't have to dodge nearly as much as time went on. Soon enough, the spell broke, and the girl was left floating in front of her, exhausted. "Is that it?"    The girl blinked and gave a half-smile. "You're...strong." Her voice was so soft that Reimu had to strain to hear her. She held up her sword in front of her, aiming directly at her own chest. Reimu's eyes widened, realizing the girl aimed to kill herself rather than be bested. She chuckled in response to Reimu's reaction. "But your emotions will only be your downfall. Heh heh...see ya." She stabbed herself right in the chest, but her face gave no reaction. Her skin began to darken and lose its defining features, until the cloak, armor, and sword all fell away, leaving a pitch-black mass in front of Reimu. It gathered itself into a sphere, only the size of her head, and grew multiple violet, petal-like things on its back, and an eye of the same color opened, staring blankly at Reimu. It turned and flew through the wall of clouds, never taking its eye off of Reimu. Once it was obscured, a hole opened in the clouds, leading through to a bright area. She instantly perked up at the thought of being back in warm sunlight, and shivered, remembering that she was soaked and still getting rained on.    Without any more hesitation, she flew through the gap in the clouds, and into a giant, dark grey cylinder, the sun overhead and the ocean sparkling below. Reimu took a deep breath, elated that she finally found the eye of the storm. She basked in the sun's rays, letting them warm and dry her. As she wrung out her hair and clothes, she looked around.  She wasn't even halfway up the eye, but she certainly wasn't close to the ocean. It really would have taken too long to fly over the storm than go through it. She was glad she made the right choice, even though she didn't feel her best right now. As the thought crossed her mind, she sneezed, and decided it was time to continue.    She began scanning the storm for any unnatural clouds that looked darker than usual. Right in the center of the eye, a lone black cloud sat silently and completely still. "It's about damn time. I didn't fly over some random ocean, into the midst of a weird dimension, and through a freaking hurricane just to find nothing. Time to end this." She took one more moment to bask in the sunlight and to take a deep breath, and proceeded towards the cloud with fervor. Her speed slowly decreased as she realized the cloud was further away than she thought...and also a lot larger! After a few minutes she was finally within a few feet of the cloud.    Simply being near it made her head swim. She could feel emotional rollercoasters of sadness, fear, despair, hatred, and more rolling over her, enough that she had to float a short distance back or be overwhelmed. This might be harder than I thought...hmm...I could just charge in, try to barge through the clouds...but they seem so unnatural, they'll probably try to repel me somehow. What to do... She began flying slowly around the cloud, looking for anything out of the ordinary. "Come to think of it...didn't that girl mention something about a palace?" she wondered aloud.    "Oi! Who's out there?!" Now startled out of her train of thought, Reimu drew her gohei and looked around for the source of the noise. She didn't see anyone or anything but the clouds around her. "Well? Ya gonna speak up, or am I gonna have to come out there?"    "I'm here on business. Who're you?"    "Business?" Slowly, a grey cloud floated down from over the black one. With the black cloud as a background, this cloud looked almost pure white. "That doesn't really answer my question. But, whatever. Anyway..." The clouds parted, and a woman floated out, not too much taller than Reimu. "G'day. Name's Izumi Wondjina. Now that you know me, who the devil are you?"    "Reimu Hakurei. Original resident shrine maiden. Professional incident resolver. You should know why I'm here." She took the time during conversation to size Izumi up. She wore a bluish grey sleeveless dress under a rather fancy grey coat. The coat's sleeves look like they'd be hot in the summer, but she noticed the air got considerably moderate once she showed up. She wore light grey stockings that vanished under her dress, which might be considered fancy, yet indecent without them. White circles with two smaller black circles within them as if they were eyes ringed the base of her coat, looking like they had some significance. Her sky-blue eyes contrasted greatly with the grey feeling around her, and looked to have a mix of youthful vigor, wisdom of many years, and a sense of duty and caring. No doubt her light grey hair betrayed her true age, let alone her age to be determined by appearance. Yet the one detail that caught Reimu's eye the most was her headgear. Perched on top of her head, tilted slightly back, was a tornado-shaped hat, the base of its impact forming where the hat met her head. The more she looked at it, the more she was convinced the tornado was actually turning.    Izumi sighed. "Yeah, we figured you'd be comin' here." Her voice had a slight accent to it, one unfamiliar to Reimu, although she's sure she had heard it before. "Good on ya for making it through all you've gone through to get here, though. Journey's more important than the destination, eh, mate?" Reimu raised an eyebrow in response. "Ah, well, 's a pity your journey's not over yet. See, I was told to guard this place, and whip up this typhoon. Best I've ever made, too. Might almost call it a perfect storm. Much easier and more fun maintaining this than making this thing fly around." She pointed her thumb over her shoulder, regarding the black cloud.    Well, she's friendly enough. I guess that counts for something, Reimu thought to her self. "Uh, that's all fine and dandy, but I kinda need to get into that cloud. So, if you don't mind..."    Izumi held up a hand. "'Fraid I can't let you do that, mate. Ya gotta get through me first if you wanna get in. That's why I guard." She broke into a smile. "But, if you come back in a couple days, visiting hours will be from two to three PM at five hundred yen," she joked.    Reimu folded her arms and glared. "Right, and I'll be sure to wear the panda costume. No. Whatever, I'm going in." She passed Izumi, who dropped the smile and watched her pass. This'll just be too easy, Reimu thought once again. Right outside of the cloud, however, Reimu suddenly felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end, and her intuition screamed at her to move. She jumped back just as a bolt of lightning crashed out of nowhere right where she was just floating. Or, maybe not.    "Didn't I just say you couldn't get in without going through me?" Izumi was holding what looked like a maestro's baton in her right hand, but it was more jagged near where Izumi's hand was, and it glowed brightly. "Now, you gonna step back, or will I have to try and fry ya again?"    "Well how was I supposed to know you could control lightning? I thought you were some sort of cloud youkai!" Reimu yelled, not sure why she felt so hostile.    "Well perhaps if you had listened to my name, you would know. Wondjina. I'm a storm spirit, mate. High pressure, low pressure, heat waves, cold snaps, rain, sleet, snow, and everything in between. Not very often I cause disasters anymore, but certainly not impossible."    Reimu mentally slapped a palm to her forehead. Right. Should have been able to tell by the tornado hat she had some sort of weather powers that weren't limited to just clouds. Instead, she almost got fried. She sighed at the thought of yet another fight. "I suppose now's the time I need to beat you up so I can get what I want."    Izumi smiled defiantly. "We'll see about that. Oh, and sorry, this really is no way to treat a guest, I'm just following orders. No worries, eh, mate?" She raised the baton, gripping it between her thumb and first two fingers, holding it aloft and to the side. Clouds began to gather around them, heeding the call of their controller. Once a ring of clouds formed around them, Izumi began waving the baton in a simple rhythm, one Reimu could follow easily. Since the fight hadn't started yet, Reimu decided to take an extra precaution and draw another two yin-yang orbs along with the first two, four being most she can stabilize and control at a time without them bouncing anywhere. And with nothing solid around besides possibly the black cloud and something in the ocean, those orbs would be lost if she tried that technique.    Keeping the rhythm, Izumi points to a cloud behind and to the right of Reimu. It emits a small boom of thunder, and it was then Reimu noticed she was hearing a lot of storm-like noises, but it almost sounded like an orchestra. However, she didn't get to listen for long, as the cloud shot a small stream of white feather-shaped bullets. Izumi does the same again, this time pointing her baton at another cloud directly to Reimu's left with the same result. Izumi closes her eyes and focuses for a second, her hand in the air, as if holding something, before she brings her hand down in a pulling motion. Her arms raise again, and the cacophany of storms begins anew, this time with a more vigorous tempo, and Izumi is motioning towards many different clouds, rapidly reducing Reimu's maneuvering room with rapid streams of bullets.    Without wasting any more time, Reimu set her orbs to needles, all four trained on Izumi. With that much firepower, she didn't even have to focus on throwing anything and could focus primarily on dodging. The wind was really picking up around them now, its shrill whistle complimenting the deep booms of thunder. The clouds around them slowly dispersed as Izumi reached into her jacket pocket. "Rain sign 'Downpour'!" Upon declaration, the area became darker,  and many of the clouds around them turned into shapes that vaguely resembled instruments. Reimu was cut off from admiring the change of scenery as a massive gale of wind began pushing her to the side. She found that she could fight the wind and make headway, but if she stopped moving she would continue to be blown to her left. Izumi raised her baton again, and multitudes of clouds gathered behind her. She began conducting once again, and Reimu kept her eyes trained on her, even though she couldn't keep them open for too long due to the wind.    At first, it was only a few bullets, but soon there were dozens upon dozens, all flying at her from the clouds in front of her. The worst part is that they were also being blown by the wind, so the dense bullets weren't even moving in a straight line. Soon enough, actual rain also began falling, soaking Reimu once again. She rolled her eyes. "I really don't want to have to put up with this. I've had enough rain in the past hour alone, I don't need it in the middle of a fight!" She began looking around for options, when suddenly the wind shifted direction, sending Reimu hurtling to her right, unfortunately into a rain bullet, and almost into another one. She felt it strike her thigh, and yelped in pain. She quickly righted herself and began fighting the wind again and dodging. While she was maneuvering, she drew three large amulets. She was primed to throw them when she could hear the sound of the spell finally weakening. Even if it didn't hurt her that much, Reimu was angry now, and let them fly. As soon as they started their flight, the card ended, and it became instantly brighter. The rain and the rain bullets both vanished, and Reimu got to see a very surprised storm spirit take the brunt of her amulets without a spell to shield her.    There was a slight buzzing noise as the three amulets exploded, and the smoke cleared to show Izumi waving it away with her baton hand and coughing. "Really? A sneak attack right as soon as that spell ended? That just ain't fair." The smoke completely cleared, and Izumi held her baton aloft again, her other arm behind her back. "A'right then, no more Ms. Nice Wondjina. Looks like it's time to, as they say in the outside world, 'bring the rain'!" She held her other arm aloft in the same manner as the other, and Reimu noticed she was now holding another baton that looks similar to the first one. She brought them both down at the same time, and a bolt of lightning arced behind her.    Reimu now realized her mistake, as now Izumi began pelting the area with yellow bullets, occasionally puncturing it with a lightning strike. Now Reimu had to especially keep on her toes, or one bolt of lightning would probably take her out of the sky. She noticed that a bolt would only be coming at her if she felt her hair stand on end, like earlier in front of the black cloud, which she now noticed was directly behind Izumi. She knew she wouldn't be able to just barge past her, so she had to keep fighting. As time went on, Reimu could feel the air also getting colder. If this meant anything like it did before her first spell, then her next one will have to do with the cold. Just as her teeth began chattering, Izumi drew another spellcard, holding it and a baton in one hand. "Maestro's Tempo 'Thunderous Whiteout in 6/4'!"    Reimu had no idea what '6/4' meant, but she braced herself for whatever might come her way. She felt the wind begin blowing again, making the cold air combined with her damp clothing even colder. She resumed fighting the wind, resetting her orbs to homing amulets so she knew all of her shots would hit. Izumi gestured for what should be the first beat, and two lightning bolts crashed to Reimu's sides. She swung her arms out sideways, and two bolts came in from the sides. She did this once more out, then twice in, the lightning changing position slightly, just enough that Reimu couldn't sit still if she tried. She then raised her arms, and two more bolts arced in from behind her, once again walling her in. She knew she had a definite box, but it would be too easy if it were just this...    As she thought this, she felt something cold land on her nose before dropping down the front of it. She risked looking up, and saw snowflakes begin falling. "Oh come on! It's summertime!" she exasperatedly yelled. As she yelled, small white danmaku began fluttering from Izumi's position, and it too was being blown by the wind. It was a lot slower than the rain from earlier, but with the limited space she had, she really had to keep her eyes out, especially after a flash ignites in front of her. Temporary blindness in a danmaku battle will only resolve poorly for the blind one...unless you're fighting Mystia.    Izumi, now in a trance, couldn't even see how her attack was faring or how weak her spell could be getting. All she could do was keep the snow falling, perhaps she could chill the shrine maiden out of trying to attack them. She took a risk and broke her concentration slightly to see how she was faring, and nearly gasped and lost all concentration. Her spell shield was draining rapidly, and Reimu didn't even look scratched from the constant attack. In fact, she was counter attacking by throwing amulets to speed up the process. Within seconds, her attack was shut down, and the temperature quickly rose back closer to room temperature. Before she could even ask how Reimu didn't even get hit, a stray amulet struck her hand, causing one of her batons to start falling towards the ocean. "Oh, shit! No no no no no no no!" she yelled as she frantically dove after it.    Reimu smirked as she saw an amulet hit Izumi's hand and force her to drop one of her lightning-causing batons. She watched it fall for a few seconds before registering that Izumi was diving after it. She followed, trying to reach the baton first.    The Wondjina began creating warm updrafts to slow the descent of her precious baton, simultaneously creating a tailwind to help her move faster. She was muttering to herself out of concern, and didn't notice Reimu rapidly catching up to her. She reached her arm out, and grasped the point of the baton, and another hand caught the grip of the wand. "Hey! Let go!"    Reimu shook her head, both of them still falling, and now trying to pull it out of the other's hold. "No way!" she yelled back.    Izumi shrugged. "Suit yourself." Reimu's eyes narrowed suspiciously, before she felt her hand start to tingle. It quickly escalated and spread through her body until she could hear a slight crackling in her ears. She felt like every part of her was being stabbed with a needle by an amateur acupuncturist. Her vision swam and she started making strange sounds, made stranger by her teeth chattering again. She desperately wanted to let go, but her hand wouldn't listen to her. As fast as it started, the sensation ceased, and Reimu could finally let go. Her entire body was still tingling uncomfortably, and she was having problems staying afloat, let alone focused. Soon her head started to clear, and then she noticed a cool rain was falling on her, reviving her senses and fixing her now frazzled hair.    The two managed a ceasefire until they resumed their positions at the cloud. "What, are you trying to kill me? You've got lightning flying everywhere and you're electrocuting me with that baton, and I'll probably get hypothermia or pneumonia from the cold and damp."    "Oh, relax. The lightning's just really convincing danmaku. And I wouldn't just kill ya, unless I had good reason. With how dirty you've been fightin', though, I feel as though a bit of pain is justified."    "And what's the big deal with getting me soaking wet with all of this rain?"    "You're implying I wouldn't have dried you off after the battle. Weather ain't just rain, mate."    "Fair enough." They finally resumed their original positions. Reimu cracked her neck and sighed. "Alright, now where were we?"    Izumi cleared her throat, and reached into her other jacket pocket. "Like I said, weather ain't just rain." The air suddenly began heating up, and the sun's rays grew intense. "Heat Wave 'Parched Earth'!"    The air almost immediately distorted from the sheer heat, and Reimu could feel it permeate through her damp clothing, drying it rapidly. She reset her yin-yang orbs to needles again, and kept her eyes trained on Izumi for what she would throw at her. Instead, she felt a strong blast of heat at her back, and then a half-circle of red energy orbs flew past her, her in a very fortunate gap between in the pattern. She turned, and saw a sphere of condensed heat, which radiated bright red bullets consistently. She turned back to Izumi to see her conducting again, and wondered how she didn't get tired or sweaty from this attack. She wiped her forehead, and moved slightly between two more bullets. This is too easy...what's she got pla- her thoughts were cut off as a stream of arrowhead-shaped bullets, ranging chromatically from red to yellow, like a ray of sunshine turned into danmaku, just like the beach girl from earlier...    She maneuvered again through a wave, and turned to confirm her suspicions. From the sun above them, bright rays of danmaku were streaming down, adding to not only the brightness of the attack, but the difficulty and heat of it too. The angles of sunlight would block some paths through the heat wave behind her, so now she was assaulted on two sides. The heat waves were easy enough to slip through after a certain point, but the random rays of sunlight made dodging while maintaining accurate fire difficult. Two rays intersected right in front of Reimu, pinning her in place, and a bullet from a heat wave was moving in to strike. She began feeling around for spell cards, even the one Yukari gave her, which she had forgotten about until now. She couldn't find any in time, as the ball of energy slammed into her back. The blow combined with the oppressive heat forced her to stagger for a bit. The other blows she'd taken merely grazed too close and lightly hit; this one was direct, and she was foolish enough to just sit there and get hit.    All of the bullets cleared, and Izumi looked on as Reimu tried to steady herself. "Ya all good? I can only hold off the danmaku for so long, you know." Reimu nodded, still hunched over slightly. She cracked her back, and Izumi nodded in return. "Right." The wave and streams of sunlight began anew, then disappeared right away. Confused, Izumi looked down at the spell card, which was a dull grey and orange, instead of its former vibrant colors, an obvious indicator that the magic in the card had run out. "Huh. Not every day someone times one of these out." She put it back in her pocket. "What 'bout you?"    Although the heat had cleared, Reimu still ached from getting hit, and she could feel the sweat all over her body. "I actually preferred the rain. At least being damp from rain didn't make me feel...so...ew." She wiped more sweat from her brow, secretly grateful her sleeves were detached.    Izumi grinned. "Well, I hope you've enjoyed my little show. But now, " she drew another card, this one a multitude of colors. "It's time for the grand finale! Extreme Weather 'Perfect Storm'!"    As she declared it, Reimu could have sworn she saw Izumi's eyes glow a bright blue. Even more dramatic than before, Izumi raised her batons, and a swirling mass of clouds gathered above them, the sun gleaming in the eye of this miniature storm. The storm spirit once again resumed conducting, and Reimu instantly had to jump out of the way of a small lightning bolt. She didn't have much time to start shooting needles again, as all hell broke loose in the cloud. Alternating waves of heat and cold brought with them rain and snow bullets, the sun also shooting rays of sunlight again. Reimu almost panicked as a wall of dense danmaku fell almost right on top of her, and only with a short zig-zagging motion did she manage to escape it.    The wind, now switching directions rapidly, at least helped Reimu cool off before she began frantically diving to escape lightning and sun rays and all sorts of weather. Izumi was staring blankly ahead as the weather kept wreaking havoc in front of her, yet her motions for which weather phenomenon should attack next were flawless and completely in beat. At her command, the rain began taking on the shape of music notes, the sun rays began appearing like quarter rests, even the wind began to flow in currents not unlike a music staff. The sky was her orchestra, and she was its master.    Again, Reimu would have been left gawking at this display if only the bullets weren't aimed at her. There were so many ways this attack could be easier, but she was already in the thick of it, and had no choice but to deal with it or risk getting herself hurt. She pushed against the wind and narrowly dodged a bolt of lightning, yet by doing so cornered herself between two small snow-like bullets, the only bullets to have not changed into something that resembled music, not counting the lightning. She rose, both bullets scraping her shoes as she slipped between them. She felt surrounded, and then remembered she never reset her orbs. She didn't know why they automatically shut off after a spell or simple danmaku attack, probably as a defense mechanism so they didn't keep attacking after the battle had been won. Decisive victory is one thing; overkill is something to be expected of weak youkai.    She ducked under another ray of sunlight and practically had to dance around the music rain. As she switched her orbs back on in a slower zone, she suddenly heard a "Hold still!" from Izumi. The temperature rapidly decreased, leaving Reimu shivering. This also solidified the rain into hail, which fell much faster, and the slow snowflake bullets all but vanished. She trained her orbs on Izumi's position, then flew out of the way of another bolt of lightning. She would be able to dodge most of this attack easily, even with the wind, if it weren't for that lightning.    Although Reimu didn't even hear the spell shield break, all of the bullets in the area disappeared, leaving only Izumi and Reimu. The spirit looked around worried, then turned her attention back to Reimu. This time, her eyes were glowing bright blue as she glared at the shrine maiden. She spread her arms to her sides, and a great tornado began roaring around them, filled with danmaku, severely limiting Reimu's safe areas. She began conducting violently, and the full fury of the storm around them was unleashed, every kind of weather imaginable roaring around them.    Reimu then noticed how most of the densest bullets were spawning further from Izumi this time. There were almost no bullets around her. Although it was sort of underhanded, she did have an idea on how to end this. After she twirled out of the way of the next lightning bolt, she charged forward. Izumi began dropping the bullets in a way to try and block Reimu's advance, trying to predict where she would be. As she approached, the sound of the spell weakening to its breaking point could be heard. Perfect.    Lightning arced behind Izumi and thunder pealed around her, giving her a menacing appearance as her arms flailed to keep the storm matched with her. Two bolts flew from her batons, mixing into one large bolt as Reimu got too close.    She almost expected this, and threw a large amulet up as a shield. It didn't hold, but it gave Reimu enough time to lunge over the bolt, crossing her right arm over to her left side as she did so. She got into point-blank range of Izumi, where she could easily cast one more lightning bolt and be done with the battle. Her batons were already crackling with another burst, but before she could even try to throw the bolts, Reimu brought her hand holding her gohei back across with a resounding thwok.    The card instantly broke, and Izumi was hovering, doubled over, with more battle damage than Reimu noticed earlier. She turned back around, showing large red marks on her face. "Did...did you just try to bludgeon me with that thing?!"    "It may seem like it, but I actually didn't. I can use my gohei to shoot danmaku that, at that range, could probably end most spell card durations in one hit. The main problem is getting close enough so they won't be able to dodge or counterattack."    "I see...right. I was too focused on my card to try and maneuver around your attack." Despite the small tears in her eyes, she began smiling. The smile turned to laughter, until Reimu couldn't help but start smiling too. "I haven't had that much fun in a long time!"    "I thought you said manipulating this storm was fun, though?"    "Well, yeah, but that's as far as a bunch of clouds go. I mean getting into some sort of brawl and then losing, of all things! Well, against someone I figured I might stand a chance against."    Reimu's expression shifted to a puzzled one. "Huh? What do you mean by that?"    Izumi shook her head. "Oh no no, nothing against you, mate. It's just that...well, I seem to be too predictable for the others in the palace. Whenever we spar, it usually winds up with me losing, but that has helped me lose gracefully, I think." She looked down at her batons, one of which was broken on the end. "Gonna have to get this repaired..."    "So, just what is this palace? First the girl in that dark, misty place accidentally said something about it, now you. So what's up with it?"    "Well, figuring as you're already here, and I bet you want to get in, why keep secrets anymore. The cloud itself is a front. Just a disguise. Inside of it is a palace, where we began our...erm..."    "Assault on Gensokyo?" Reimu finished sardonically.    "That sounds a bit harsh, but...for lack of a better term, yes. Of course, I was necessary to provide the cloud-like disguise, but it was blackened by that substance you've run into numerous times now."    "Substance?"    "Yeah, the black blobs with the single eyes that fly around and shoot lightning. She calls them "Dark Matter". Basically living darkness. No one knows how she makes them come alive, or how she keeps them on such a tight leash. She's probably listening to our conversation right now using those things."    "Uh...alright. So, you said you were guarding here. Since I beat you, you should probably unlock the door and let me in."    "Well...funny thing about that, right there." She began scratching the back of her head, looking guilty. "I sorta...dropped the key while I was scouting about. The door was unlocked all this time. That's why I was so eager to go into combat. Believe me, ordinarily, I'm not this violent. If anything, I want to help others. I've grown up from my days causing inclement weather when I was in a foul mood. Catching people off-guard with a typhoon in the dry season, for instance. Maybe instead, I could teach people how to better prepare themselves in case of such an event." The two were approaching the black cloud by this point in the conversation, and slowed down.    Reimu almost felt bad for the Wondjina. A good twenty lightning bolts away from almost. "Well, nothing's going to stop you from teaching, as long as you're not going to use it as a diversion to eat humans."    Izumi was taken aback. "I don't know who you think I am, but I don't even like the taste of flesh, mate! Sure, I've tried human. Never liked it. I'll be perfectly under control."    Reimu nodded and grinned. "In that case, just don't go doing anything to get me angry - or the other resident teacher of Gensokyo, for that matter. Unless you like having your skull feel like it's shattered for a week."    Izumi raised an eyebrow. "Not sure what you mean, but alright. Well, you should probably get a move on, since I'm sure you're dying to fix this incident and go home."    The thought of home, solid ground, and a nice, warm cup of tea reminded the miko that she had a job to do. She solemnly nodded, Izumi returning it with a soft, yet almost sad smile. She's not that bad after all. Maybe a bit talkative, but she means well. Probably the friendliest person I've seen today.    Izumi lifted the baton that wasn't broken, and a hole appeared in the clouds, showing nothing but darkness, with what looked like the glint of a large, probably heavy gate at the front of a stone wall. The two silently flew into the hole, approaching the gate. As they reached it, Reimu turned back around. "Say, when you brought up that 'Dark Matter' or whatever, you kept referencing a 'she'. Just who are we talking about?"    Izumi grasped the cold iron ring attached to the door, and began pulling it open. As soon as it was a large enough opening for Reimu, she stopped and peered around the door. "I thought you'd have figured it out by now. 'She' is the one known as a hollow angel, the one in charge of Gensokyo's new reign of despair, Jozero Kubomitenshi."

an unmatched sock: So now that my first semester at college is finally done (still not sure why I chose engineering when I also like free time), I decided it was high time to finally post the next chapter. Now that it's over, I can write more. Hopefully I can get a lot done on the story during this time. Also why does no one comment. I mean my writing can't be that great and I have no idea what people think about it. I can't improve without feedback! Chapter 8 Final Requiem    The door slammed shut behind her, leaving her alone once more in a massive, opulent hall. She couldn't even see the ceiling, it was so high above her, black marble columns stretching the entire height of the room. Torch sconces hovered on each pillar in each row, no flame present. The extra light was not needed, as there was enough coming through the stained glass windows that rested between each column, despite the place being hidden in a black cloud. Statues, hidden by the shadow of the window behind it, stood in proud poses down the hall, each side mirroring the other, creating a perfectly symmetrical hall. At ground level, doors were scattered about, leading to who knows where. The end of the hall wasn't even visible.    Reimu took a deep breath and proceeded forward. The hall seemed mostly deserted, but Reimu kept her eyes and ears out. She would occasionally hear small scratching or shuffling noises, but they sounded muffled, as if it were through one of those doors. A few were ajar, one on her right wide open.    As she began to peer into the door, she suddenly heard a loud snap and a yelp from above her. She looked straight up, and at first saw nothing. Rapidly, a massive golden chandelier fell from the darkness of the ceiling, right over her! She tensed up, as if watching to see what would happen, before suddenly hearing Hey genius, that thing's probably gonna cave your skull in without even a dent, and that's just head trauma. MOVE! She recognized the voice as her own thoughts, and snapped back to attention. She dove and rolled to the side, the chandelier crashing down right where she was. It had to be six times her size at least, she figured once she regained her senses.    She stared at it, mouth agape, the thing that could have easily killed her. She didn't even notice the sudden rush of fairies of multiple sizes, hair colors, and styles of maid outfit fly out. They gathered around the large chain at the top of the lighting fixture, and as one began to pull it back up. A dozen fairies descended from above, one looking ashamed, probably the one who accidentally dropped it. They took their place in hoisting the thing, and Reimu simply watched as the creatures began making headway against gravity, slowly dragging it back to the ceiling.    Reimu was startled out of her trance of staring at the fairies slowly pull the chandelier up as she felt something small tug on her sleeve. It was a fairy, one with bright red hair and brownish-red eyes. "Excuse me, but what business do you have here?" she asked in a small voice.    Still somewhat bewildered, all the fairy got as a response was a "I...um...uh..."    The fairy sighed and straightened a ruffle in her apron before turning back to the strangely dressed one in front of her. "Well? We are very busy preparing, and we don't have time for visitors today. Please state your business here before I have to force you out."    Hearing the fairy's attitude and challenge brought Reimu back to her senses. "Is that so, huh? Well, I'm here because this place is involved in an incident. One that affects me personally. And by that I mean I feel like crap, and I would rather be home, but I need to solve it. As such, here I...I..." She sneezed, cutting off her sentence. Despite covering her mouth, the fairy still had to wipe away a little bit of sneeze that got on her. "Ugh. Sorry. Anyway, here I am."    The fairy still looked irritated as she wiped her hands on a handkerchief. "Very well. Just please be on your way...and try not to sneeze on anything. It's hard enough to clean this whole place without you dirtying it, red-white."    Reimu opened her mouth to tell her off, then reconsidered. If anything, this fairy just seemed to be doing her job, not being openly hostile. Plus, she didn't say that she couldn't go farther in. "I'll try not to. Thanks."    The fairy began straightening her outfit again, and replied with a distracted "Yeah." Reimu walked past her, her orbs still following close behind. The fairy glanced at them, then went back to fixing her shirt. Suddenly, she froze as realization struck. "Wait...Wait a minute...that's the girl Her Highness said to not let in!!" She looked about frantically before flying through the nearest door, and pulling out a large gong on wheels into the middle of the hall. She hefted the mallet, and put her entire body's worth of force behind the swing.    Reimu suddenly heard a loud crash behind her, and she wheeled around to see the fairy she just talked to recovering from the recoil of the swing. The fairy flew up a ways and cupped her hands around her mouth. "EVERYONE! SEAL THE DOORS! MAKE SURE THE HAKUREI MAIDEN DOES NOT REACH THE END OF THE HALL! MAKE SURE HER ONLY EXITS ARE FROM WHENCE SHE ENTERED, OR BY SHINIGAMI'S ESCORT!" Reimu was both impressed at the formerly quiet fairy's vocal range and a bit creeped out that a fairy would give a command to kill her if need be. Even though the spell card rules prevented death, making it an empty threat.    Now on full alert, Reimu brought out her gohei once more, but all she could hear was the slamming and locking of doors. The sudden attack she expected never came, and she was alone in the hall. She began floating, confident that even if she couldn't see her enemy, she could dodge it. Nothing came out to greet her, so she continued further down, her senses on high alert. Nothing yet, so far. She considered herself lucky. After proceeding down a ways, she could see a few shapes in the distance, trying to hide behind a pillar. She shook her head before setting her orbs to fire homing amulets.    "Hah!" Reimu turned, and leapt out of the way from an attack from behind, a shotgun burst of danmaku. The two unfortunate fairies weren't as lucky, and while one was overwhelmed with amulets, Reimu filled the other one with thrown needles. While she dealt with those two, another pair began firing rings of bullets, intending to catch her off guard after already being caught off guard. Another, larger fairy flew between them and began firing aimed kunai shots at her.    Reimu performed a midair roll to escape two bullets trying to close in on her, and barely managed to graze past the kunai. "These fairies are almost too prepared..." She focused down the larger one, only to have two more fairies who also shot bullet rings replace her. With the volume of bullets doubled, Reimu moved to the middle to spread the amulet damage evenly. The inner two went down, and a few needles put the outer two down.    The air finally cleared of danmaku, and Reimu pressed onward. The hall only got colder as she moved forward, until she could see her own breath. It was a deathly chill, and she could feel it already seep into her bones. A line of fairies flew ahead of her, firing rapid aimed shots, trying to force her into a wall. She knew this type of attack pattern like the back of her hand, and made only slight movements to counteract this maneuver. A large fairy with a rose, much like the one she saw outside, flew into view. Knowing a general idea of how long it takes fairies to respawn after dying meant this probably was the same one. Unlike last time, however, she shot small laser sections in a rotating pattern around her. As she did, another line of fairies tried to ambush her.    Reimu flipped over a laser, unleashing a torrent of amulets at the large fairy, who hardly seemed fazed by the onslaught. Extra amulets took down the fairies behind her, though, so that was a plus. The fairy stopped firing, and simply floated there and watched Reimu fly past. She used all of her magic trying to keep her away, and Reimu couldn't take her down, so now she had to wait either for Reimu to shoot her down or for her magic to recharge. After Reimu passed, she flew to a door that was still ajar on the left, closing it behind her.    Although the battle kept her moving, staying still made Reimu realize just how cold it had gotten in the hall. "It must have d-dropped twenty degrees or s-so..." She folded her arms, shivering, trying to keep herself warm. She was certain by now that she would catch a cold from all she's been through today. She breathed into her hands to keep them from going cold when she noticed the hall get considerably darker. She looked up and felt her heart sink.    Staring back at her was a massive orb of Dark Matter, large enough that it obstructed the hall. Its piercing red eye had its gaze fixed on Reimu, regarding her coldly and silently. It blinked once, slowly. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something was different about this particular eye. She could see intelligence in the three with flower petals, but this one...this one was far beyond even all three of their capabilities combined. Faintly, she could pick up a strange energy that she hadn't felt in what felt like a long time...    The eye narrowed, as if challenging her to pass. Reimu finally regained her senses, and reset her orbs to needles. If she was going to do any damage, she'd make the eye bleed. She could feel her emotions in turmoil now more than ever, but one thing was clear: kill this thing, and she could go home. No, wait, not kill. Danmaku was made to avoid killing. Just beating it senseless should be enough. She pointed her gohei at the orb. "So you're the leader of these things, then?"    It blinked again, not moving from its spot.    "I'll take that as a yes. Now, I'll give you two options. Call off your little Dark Matter things and let me be, or get ready to be beaten within an inch of your sorry life."    The eye narrowed, and a slight breeze could be felt. Reimu couldn't help but think it was...laughing? At her? It backed up, and blinked once more, its eye narrowing. Thousands of smaller Dark Matters began flying out from all sides of it as it moved backwards, in no pattern Reimu could decipher.    She began rolling and ascending to dodge the onslaught of darkness. She took a chance and glanced behind her, seeing the Dark Matter simply fade into nothingness a certain distance past her. They acted like bullets, even though they weren't. Reimu was finally directly above the giant eye, which hadn't even shrunk from releasing part of its own substance to attack her. She didn't even bother throwing any amulets or needles, preferring to let gravity do all of the hard work. The danmaku started impacting the incoming projectiles, collapsing them before they could even strike.    As her danmaku finally made it to the main eye, Reimu thought she saw the entire orb fade, and inside was something bright white. Now curious along with angry, she decided to end this faster, and dropped a handful of large amulets. They didn't even need to start homing as they created an explosion directly on its eye. Reimu descended where she originally flew from, and sighed, confident the battle was over and she could move on. "Dark Matter 'Miracle Matter'!" Or, maybe not.    Wait, was that a woman's voice?    The smoke cleared, and the eye was still floating there, its gaze still transfixed on Reimu. From the eye itself, a small, glowing white orb came into view before morphing into an icosahedron. On each face was a single red eye, which stared endlessly. It began whirling at a strange angle, each face rotating past Reimu in a random, yet cycling order. Another flood of Dark Matter rained from the main eye, and the Miracle Matter began rotating around the main eye. As it circled, it would shift into random elements, releasing flurries of bullets of fire, ice, earth, and more. Reimu could hardly see past the dense barrage, and she had to remember that small movements would win. She fired blindly in front of her, and only when she heard strange tapping did she feel relieved. A small hole in the wave of bullets confirmed her suspicions; the Miracle Matter was invincible to her shots, but most were still hitting the giant eye.    The eye...    Maybe if I can hit it directly, it would end this card? she thought, squeezing through a cluster of Dark Matter and a few icicles. She dropped another yin-yang, and waited for another hole to open in the attack. The bullets let up slightly as an even larger wave was released, and Reimu took the chance. She reared back and let fly as the new wave descended upon her.    She weaved left and right until she saw a fireball intersect with a small gap of Dark Matter. She tried to fly over it, only to be face-to-face with another Dark Matter orb that was moving faster than the rest. She braced for impact, but instead heard the card break, and she opened her eyes to see the giant eye closed, its entire form quivering as the orb Reimu kicked was returning to its smaller, easier-to-transport form. The eye opened fully, and then shattered like glass, scattering on the floor. Instead of dissipating, however, this eye imploded, leaving behind a dazzling white light that forced Reimu to shield her eyes. She slowly opened them, readjusting to the light. She could barely see a figure in it, and the shape of the still-whirling Miracle Matter. The figure gave a "Hmph" and began floating backwards.    The glow from the figure gave away the wall in the back, and Reimu smirked; there was nowhere for the culprit to run now. Gripping her gohei tightly, she landed and began walking towards the glow.    As she approached, the glow also descended to the ground, and Reimu had to cover her eyes again. "I've finally found you."    The glow slowly faded, until Reimu could see who her adversary was. She was tall, and very pale. She seemed paler with her white robes and white hair, which curiously transitioned sharply to red near the ends of her hair. Her robes had plenty of red decorations and trim on them, including a tabard at her waist that held the image of a single vertical eye, with a red drop coming out of the lower corner. Her sleeves looked much longer than necessary, held on by threads attached to the shoulders of her robe. At the end of each sleeve are several red feathers. She also wore a mask, with two little black dots for eyes and a strange, almost V-shaped mouth. The rest of the mask is plain white. Behind her back is a cape, white near the top, and oddly shaped red further from her body. She also wore two necklaces, one a gold, intricate chain, the other a half-blue, half-purple crystal on a thin string. Something about her was...ethereal, but Reimu couldn't put her finger on it. It was probably due to the light she was radiating earlier. Miracle Matter was still floating next to her, but it was much smaller now.    "Nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide. I'll make you pay for what you did to Gensokyo."    "For what I did to Gensokyo, or what I did to you?" the woman retorted. Reimu wondered if she had telepathy, since it didn't even look like she moved, even behind the mask. "In a way, it's telepathy. The Dark Matter within you is transmitting your thoughts directly to me. However, I am speaking to you physically, not mentally."    "So you are the culprit, then! Get rid of this Dark Matter stuff and just leave peacefully, and I won't have to beat you up too badly."    "You never did answer my question."    "You asked a question?"    "Yes. Are you here to punish me for what I did to Gensokyo, or what I did to you? I won't hide it. I am the cause of Gensokyo's newfound despair. Hiding it now would be pointless."    "For what you did to Gensokyo, duh! I keep the peace around here, and right now you're disrupting it!"    The woman chuckled drily. "That's not what your thoughts say."    Reimu scowled. "What's that supposed to mean?"    "What I mean is that your thoughts and recent memories show you only care for yourself. You just want to feel better, and you only want those who would be an annoyance in their current state to you to get better. You could care less about how the other half of Gensokyo feels about this. You're only looking out for yourself."    "Don't compare me to someone selfish like you." Her scowl turned into anger, and she could feel a slight headache from the Dark Matter affecting her. "I don't go about doing as I please to entire populations because I feel like it."    "And yet here you are, trying to convince me that 'your way' is better. I am simply sharing my gift of loneliness and gloom that has been a major part of my afterlife."    Reimu's eyes narrowed skeptically. "Afterlife?" Practically before her eyes, the dots of what she's heard and been through connected. "That's right...I felt a holy energy back in the Forest of Magic, Yuyuko said she found an angel at her place that attacked her, and the girl outside told me about a hollow angel...it's you!"    "Hmph. It took you long enough. Yes, I am the angel of which you speak. My duty is to eliminate happiness, since it has always been denied me."    "Take off your mask. I want to see the holy face I'm going to be pummelling in." She pointed her gohei at the angel.    "Are you sure?"    "Of course. So help me, I'll gouge out one of your eyes if that's what it takes!" She could feel her fury peaking, the Dark Matter further stimulating it and a headache.    At first the woman just stood there, then she started laughing, a full-bodied, ironic laugh, the complete opposite reaction Reimu expected. It sounded unearthly in and of itself, which unnerved her. "Stop laughing! This is serious!"    The woman finally stopped, and stood back at her full height. "Of course it's deadly serious. But, if you insist..." She brought a hand out of her sleeve, and reached towards her mask.    "What's that supposed to mean, 'deadly se-'" She abruptly cut herself off as the mask was removed. Behind it was a stern, unloving face with only one eye, its sclera red, iris black, and pupil white. The other eye, her left, was covered with a white bandage of sorts, neatly covering her eye without obstructing her eyebrow or cheek. "I...uh..."    "-didn't expect me to have only one eye already? I figured as much," she finished for Reimu. "I am Jozero Kubomitenshi, ruler of Dark Matter, the one forsaken of joy and happiness." As she spoke, the three colored orbs of Dark Matter materialized around her, and floated about her in a similar state to Miracle Matter. "My drive in life and death is to eliminate that which was denied me."    Reimu regained her composure, and felt her Dark Matter's influence intensify. "Yeah, but you forgot one thing in coming here. You messed with me. And doing that will only end poorly for you!"    "So confident, even against one with the powers of heaven and darkness. I have known of you for a long time, Reimu Hakurei. Your relationship to the youkai of boundaries, the kleptomaniac witch, your incidents. How you can't live with youkai, but you can't live without them, either, despite the irony that an oni and an evil spirit freeload off of you. How you would much rather be home instead of solving an incident anyway, remaking the tea said evil spirit took from you earlier today." She smirked inwardly at Reimu's reaction. "That's right; we know all about you."    Reimu was taken back by her words, which she thought had no claim until they involved Mima. That spirit's been a well-kept secret since before the Scarlet Mist incident, one that very few remember or have discovered. The only other two who actively knew of Mima were Marisa and Suika due to proximity. As far as she knew, not even Yukari knew about her, as unlikely as it would be. The other unnerving part was how she said 'we' in her last statement. "You know, you really shouldn't just spy on people without their knowledge. Even with their consent, it's still not great to do."    "Says the shrine maiden who makes a living off of barging into people's houses and attacking them without taking a moment for any considerations."    "I take plenty of considerations."    "The only one you're justified in doing this is the underground incident with that idiotic, dangerous hell raven. Did the attack on the shrine atop the mountain have to result in conflict? Or how about the Buddhist saint sealed in Makai? Of course not. They were simply because you fear the unknown, and your response to fear is volence."    As she spoke, Reimu could feel as if something was wrong. She looked over her soulder to see a lone orb of Dark Matter hurtling towards her. Automatically, she threw a needle and vaporised it. "Case and point," Jozero confirmed.    "That's an exception, it was self-defense! Who just throws things at people behind their backs?"    "But Dark Matter is still an unknown to you, is it not? It would have gone right through you. But that fact remained unknown. So, in your fear, you reacted with violence."    "Anger is another thing that often results in violence, you know. And you sure know how to make someone angry. So, I give you one last chance: back down now, call off your weird shadow balls, and leave quietly, or things are about to get loud and ugly."    Jozero chuckled again, this time in a much darker fashion. "Let me ask you something. Do you know how depressing it is to be the only one at your own funeral?" Her expression darkened further. "No? I thought not. Well, it is. Traumatizing, even. And I simply won't lie down after all the hardships I've faced to some selfish shrine maiden who claims to be an agent of the greater good." She unclipped her gold necklace, lifting it above her head and clipping it again. Before Reimu's eyes, the delicate chain shifted into a solid, shining circlet, which floated effortlessly over her head. She held her arms to her sides, tilting her head back, and her cape unfolded by itself into a pair of wings. These looked to be made of shapes instead of feathers, a white trapezoid-like shape near her back, three hexagons on each side from the innermost shape, and two red ovals floated a short distance off of each hexagon. The wings looked wholly unnatural in their shattered state as they slowly beat back and forth, not even needed for her to fly; they simply served as decoration. "All my life, I was not allowed to feel joy. I would have given everything for a genuine smile. A simple feeling of being around those who care about me...I was either too young to realize and didn't know what I had, or someone, somewhere conspired against me to eliminate any such possibility. Well, no more. I will not back down. This is my destiny. I shall return this world to zero, to nothing, for if I cannot feel even love, then no one else ever shall again!"    A harmless wave of energy signalled the beginning of battle. Reimu immediately started with focused needles, and Jozero retaliated with constant streams of Dark Matter. The two shots hit in the middle, leaning in Reimu's favor. As the needles were about to overcome the stream, Jozero vaulted over it and Reimu, coming to rest behind her. She shot clusters of Dark Matter, forcing Reimu on the defensive. She immediately noticed that the other Dark Matters that were originally around her weren't with her anymore, and twisted to the side as an arc of black lightning nearly struck her in the back. Assaulted from two sides, she couldn't afford to waste effort, so she kept her attack focused on Jozero. It didn't even look like she was taking hits during this exchange.    She was drifting constantly to her left, staying just out of the stream of needles. She made sure to spread her shots out, keeping them from gathering too much in one spot. However, she misjudged an angle, and almost ran into an arc of lightning from her familiars. In her hesitation, the needles caught up, and she could feel her power weaken slightly. Not enough that she felt pain, but enough that she knew she should retaliate with due force. She jumped back to her original location with her creations, and held aloft a white spell card with a red eye in the middle of it. "Hell sign 'Condemnation of the Righteous'!"    The card released a phantasmal shell of Dark Matter that encased most of the hall. The floor vanished, and the outside of the orb was red with black clouds. Three black rings spun and whirled around the orb like a gyroscope, some sort of structure that kept it from collapsing. Whatever it was, Reimu knew she was in Jozero's world now, and she had no choice but to fight her way out of it.    From behind her, white bullets were forming and travelling towards Jozero, who took a position higher than Reimu. They weren't moving too fast, but as they hit the top, they froze, turned red, and then fell even faster. "Got anything other than flanking attacks?" Reimu yelled as she rolled between bullets.    "If you insist," the angel replied. Spheres of round, red bullets began emanating from her, forcing Reimu even further on the defensive. The card overall didn't seem that difficult, but Jozero was being tenacious, and the card wouldn't go down. Reimu ducked under a stray red bullet, and in doing so noticed Jozero charge a wave of large red bubbles to send with the wave of smaller ones. Reimu cursed when she saw them start flying, and tried to lay on more needles to make the card end. The wave seemed impassable, and Reimu couldn't pick out a good spot to slip through. As they neared, she panicked, and quickly reached for one of her spells. She found one, and quickly declared it: "Spirit sign 'Fantasy Seal -Blink-'".    All bullets around them vanished, and Reimu used the opportunity to directly land spirit attacks on Jozero, creating small multicolored explosions with each hit. After a rapid barrage with one left for good measure, the smoke cleared, but the card was still active. Jozero looked around, as if expecting more, and seeing nothing, raised her arms again, creating another wall of bullets. Reimu began throwing amulets in haste, forgetting completely about her yin-yangs. However, she heard the spell break, and was instantly overcome with relief.    Jozero scowled. "I figured you weren't as powerful as observations would suggest. You needed to use a spell to not only get rid of my shots, but also to practically break the card."    "Hey, one of the rules of danmaku is that there must be a way through the pattern, no matter how difficult. That card is a violation!"    "On the contrary. The large bubbles are easily avoidable. The actual bullet is quite a ways inside the bullet...so to speak. It is merely an intimidation tactic."    Reimu hadn't even considered that possibility, she simply countered it with her own spell. She could find someone or something to blame later, but for right now,  she had to admit that Jozero knew how to play mind games. She just had to prove herself craftier and stronger.    "However, that was but a taste." She held her arms out to her sides again, and Reimu thought she could see something glowing against her bandaged eye. The very air around them shuddered and shimmered. "My power is far greater than what little you have experienced." With that, six phantasmal slashes appeared behind her, and Reimu realized it looked the same as what was on her bandage. Red, blood-like bullets began pouring out of them randomly, putting Reimu on the defensive again. She reset her orbs to homing amulets, and began trying to weave through the bullets, staying in one place.    As the attack continued, Reimu realized that Jozero was different from other incidents. Normally, the culprit was happy to be doing what they were doing, and fought her with a smile. Jozero had smiled once, a very sarcastic smile, and hasn't shown the slightest emotion except hate and scorn since. This battle was serious, and her failure could very well mean disaster for Gensokyo. She grit her teeth and pressed on, intent on, if anything, just defeating her and going home.    Jozero cut off the barrage and held aloft another card "Forbidden Power 'Consumer of the Mind'!" Jozero brought her hands together, the card between them. A red glow appeared, and then a massive sphere of bullets was released. The bullets stopped in random intervals, and, before Reimu's eyes, vanished. From the end of each of the slashes around Jozero, a spread of three bullets was aimed for Reimu, the two on the sides of the aimed center bullet ensured that Reimu wouldn't be making too small of movements.    Reimu had already forgotten the locations of most of the invisible bullets, and was running out of time to move. She leapt to her left, and stopped just short of an invisible bullet, close enough to feel its heat on her body. She noticed from this that the air was very cold, but her movements were keeping her warm. Was it evil spirits or regular ghosts that were very cold? I can't remember... Her musings were cut short by having to dodge again, almost slamming her face into a suspended bullet like a spider web in a doorway.    Reimu observed how Jozero hadn't moved much since her first card, simply relying on bullet density to keep her at bay. Now, she seemed entirely focused on the card, and Reimu noted that the bullets all were a certain distance away from her. After another barrage, she took a chance and darted forward, managing to make her way through a path by sheer luck. As she approached, she flipped, aiming a kick directly at Jozero's ribs.    Mere fractions of a second from contact, Jozero spun to the side, completely avoiding the attack and forcing Reimu to stop her forward acceleration. She couldn't stop in time, and managed to land foot-first on a bullet. Even through her shoes, it stung, and made her be thankful she could fly. She tried again, this time bringing her gohei back to smash it against her face. Jozero made no move, simply watching her with an empty look like before. She got closer and closer, and brought the gohei across, intending for a well-placed hit to end the card.    Thwap! came the sound, but not the one she expected. Jozero had blocked her arm with her own, completely stopping it mid-swing. Glaring at her, she grabbed Reimu's arm and threw her to the side, directly into a pair of bullets in rapid succession. Soon after, Reimu's homing amulets ended the card, and Reimu struggled to rise to her feet. She was really starting to lose motivation, and home seemed like the best place to be right now. She could resolve the incident when she's good and ready.    "Pathetic shrine maiden. It's hard to believe this is the defender of the land. I could have taken it over thrice by now, and you wouldn't have been able to touch me." Her words sparked a flame in Reimu, who charged back into the fight, keeping her amulets loaded to her yin-yangs. "How typical, using your anger to fuel your attacks. Mortals are the same now as they've always been..." Reimu grunted in annoyance, and began releasing larger amulets as well. After almost a dozen of them were flying, Jozero simply stood there defiantly. Right before they were to impact, Jozero held another card in her hand "Shattered Wings 'Crimson Flight'!" She folded her wings in front of her, and the amulets all struck the white of her wings, grinding down to nothing, causing a smoke-filled explosion as the amulets naturally detonated.    Unable to see her adversary, Reimu began another assault with amulets. Surely she could weaken this card, since it was just declared. She moved forward, giving Jozero less room to maneuver. She was glad she did; right as she reached the edge of the smoke cloud, a large wall of red lasers shot to each of her sides, and would have hit her if she was any further back. The lasers extended outward, fanning the smoke away, and revealing Jozero. The lasers were in the same pattern as the outer shards of her wings, crossing and creating an impassable wall as they fanned out. Reimu had to fight the awe taking her over at the sight of the angel.    With hardly any sign beforehand, Jozero rocketed forward, trying to tackle Reimu, her wings widening the zone of impact. Reimu dove to the side, barely escaping Jozero's manic charge that left small red danmaku feathers in its wake. Jozero managed to catch herself on a pillar, and proceeded to try attacking Reimu again. She bounced from pillar to pillar, leaving trails of feathers, which worried Reimu. It was easy enough to dodge Jozero's charge, but she rapidly had to start being cautious about her surroundings to avoid any danmaku around her. To top it all off, Jozero was outrunning her amulets, making this card take even longer than it needs to.    The glow faded from Jozero's wings as she approached her original point, feathers finally stopping their fall. She floated silently, her hands together, and her wings folding in front of her. Slowly, the glow was recharging, and a small orb of red light could be seen at her wings. Eager to get rid of this card, Reimu swapped back to her needles, and charged closer to her. She weaved through whatever remaining feathers there were, and in doing so, managed to hit the red shapes of Jozero's left wing. As they struck, Jozero winced, and pulled her wing back slightly. Reimu gasped and threw another barrage of large amulets, this time aimed at her wings. They connected right before the lasers finished charging, and the card instantly ended. As the amulets exploded, she could hear Jozero wail in pain, followed by a crash as she hit the ground.    Reimu landed to assess the damage. Some of the red segments on her wings were now missing, and a couple looked cracked. One was half broken. She counted four left on her right side, and two and a half on her left. Jozero rose, gritting her teeth and glaring at Reimu. She opened a black rift behind her, and stepped into it. As it closed, Reimu realized it was a portal to the Ingress. "So you control the rifts..." she muttered.    "Only temporarily, unfortunately. It is rather useful," came a voice from nowhere. Reimu wheeled around, careful not to let her be caught off-guard again. "It should wear off in a day or two. But that's more than enough time I need."    Reimu's intuition told her to look up, and she saw a large orb of Dark Matter hurtling toward her like a meteor. She barely jumped out of the way, landing on all fours before seeing the orb move towards her again. She scrambled to her feet, and flew out of its way again. "Time is never on the side of mortals. I never realized it until after my own mortality was at hand." The Dark Matter was relentless in its pursuit, dogging Reimu with no regard for crashing into anything. She fired needles behind her, trying to keep a good distance between them. "In death, I was given life anew, one to spend in paradise. Oh wait," she added sarcastically, "I never got to truly experience paradise.  Happiness was denied me yet again! Why?! Why am I not allowed to be happy?!" Reimu could hear the escalation in her voice, trying vainly to keep from breaking down crying.    The blob chasing her finally vanished, and Reimu stopped to catch her breath. She turned back to where Jozero had disappeared, only to see her again holding a spell card. "I have had enough of this lifestyle! If I want to change, I must take action, and it starts by tearing you down, then your precious Gensokyo! Crystal Shards 'Superimposed Memories'!" she yelled, bringing her arms straight out to her sides again, the crystal on her necklace glowing brightly. This time glaring intently at Reimu, a small sphere of energy gathered in front of her, before drifting towards the exhausted miko, picking up speed. Halfway through its flight, it split into a dozen similar orbs, which slowed down around Reimu. At first she was confused, until she noticed the spheres were collapsing on themselves. Her eyes widened, and she jumped away as the spheres exploded. Jozero was shooting these constantly now that Reimu knew what they did, and they weren't too difficult to dodge.    Jozero grimaced, and made a motion around the crystal she wore on her necklace. It began to glow even brighter, causing large, crystalline bullets to fly from behind her. It was always four at a time, but they were spaced so the explosive shots would be able to work best. Reimu looked and saw that she was only shooting one bullet at a time, and thought that a point-blank approach would work best. As she moved forward, the angel's halo radiated a ring of gold energy, which turned into a sphere, preventing Reimu from taking advantage of any safe areas closer to her. "Oh come on!" she yelled as she ducked past another barrage of explosions. If it weren't for the fast crystals constantly trying to impale her while she dodged explosions, this card wouldn't be that bad. Yet, she could feel an immense amount of energy in this card. She smiled inwardly, figuring this meant that this is her last card.    With renewed vigor, she sidestepped an explosion and simultaneously turned the streaming crystals around, switching back to her powerful pink talismans, the second time she's used them since the Moriya incident, the first earlier that day. She got as close as she dared to the holy sphere around Jozero, and continued her defensive maneuvers. As they hit, she could swear she heard tearing from the other side occasionally. Just as she was relishing her victory, the holy sphere expanded, forcing Reimu back even further. Now in range of the explosions, she had to focus on pure dodging, hoping the card would end soon. The sphere quivered, and the bullets all suddenly vanished. The holy energy faded, and only the angel was left floating there.    Reimu noticed just how broken she was now: her clothes were slightly torn, her right sleeve was almost completely detached and the left lost a few threads that held it to her robe. The base of her robe was frayed, and her wings looked more cracked now. Jozero was panting, before suddenly falling into a coughing fit. When her head lifted again, Reimu noticed a trickle of red down her cheek, coming from her eye. Despite what she had been through and what Jozero had done, let alone the glare she was getting, she almost felt sorry for her. "So, you giving up yet? I'm getting tired, and I really want this incident to be over with now. So make with the adhering to my demands and get rid of all this Dark Matter." Almost.    Despite her apparent condition, Jozero managed to force a small laugh. "You really think...it's that easy?"    "That's typically how these fights go. Loser agrees to the winner's wishes. And I don't lose."    "You are foolish and arrogant. My power is absolute...and nothing will stand in my way. Now," she continued, standing back to her full height. "Face the wrath of the darkest powers of heaven! 'Greatest Divine Evil -Eternity Without Hope-'!!" She didn't even hold a card, but it was obviously a declaration.    Reimu scrambled backwards as a massive explosion of bullets flared around Jozero. Her only path between very tight gaps, she rocketed through them, only to see the three colored Dark Matters whirling around Jozero, creating bullets of their respective colors, one slow wave following a quick wave, so the slow waves pile onto each other while the fast ones prevent Reimu from carefully maneuvering. She would also create a mock heart, broken in half, of red bullets, which would split into five tiny white bullets and spread out, adding to the flak Reimu had to dodge. She didn't even have time to start shooting at her.    The three black rings in the sphere of Dark Matter they were in were rotating at insane speeds, cracked in some places. Reimu rolled through a wave of bullets from a broken heart, and barely squeezed through two waves of orange bullets before finding herself in a more comfortable position. She finally managed to set her orbs to needles before having to duck to her right to avoid another wave. She tried to move back to her left, but had to hesitate as a violet wave passed by, allowing another orange bullet to strike her in her hesitation, in the right arm. By now, that sleeve had been torn apart from battle damage, so Reimu chucked it to the side. She had more at home, and it would only interfere in its tattered state.    Now fed up, Reimu felt around for another card, knowing that this spell wasn't even close to going down. She glanced at the title, and was overcome with gratitude that it had recharged. "Spirit sign 'Fantasy Seal -Concentrate-'!" A group of multicolored orbs sprang to life from her once more, incinerating bullets coming her way. They all flew forward, converging on where Jozero was. The bright light as they impacted forced Reimu to look away, and when she looked back, the three Dark Matters were nowhere to be found, and Jozero was lying on her back, her arms spread to her sides. She looked in even worse shape than before. Her halo had visibly cracked, some of the bottom of her robe was torn away, and her left sleeve was in shreds, but still wearable.    "My power..." Reimu heard in her head, the voice of Jozero ringing clearly. "My visage...my darkness..." Her words cut into Reimu's thoughts, and she covered her ears in a futile attempt to stop it. "This is why I have to be alone." The headache cleared, and Reimu looked back at Jozero. "But I don't have to be alone..." Large black tendrils were flailing from her sleeves, five on each side. They twisted themselves into hands, which Jozero used to start rising again. This time she physically spoke: "If everyone suffers with me, then I won't be the only one!!!"    She used the massive Dark Matter hands to propel herself at Reimu, rearing one arm back to try and punch her. Reimu had no doubt if this connected, she would be sore for a week. Jozero is beyond serious at this point: now she's desperate for victory. Reimu swerved out of the way of the fist, delivering a strong kick into Jozero's ribs like she planned to earlier. Jozero was sent reeling backwards as Reimu righted herself again. Once she regained equilibrium in her flight, she snarled at Reimu, and the shrine maiden noticed that more tears were streaming down her face, one dripping onto her robes. She was fairly certain it was blood by this point, which revolted her.    Jozero flew at her again, this time open-palmed. Reimu jumped to the side, not bothering to counterattack, instead resetting her orbs to homing amulets. When she turned back to Jozero, she saw her tear out a huge chunk of a column and chuck it at her. She flew straight up, and Jozero flew to meet her. The slab met another column with a deafening crash, rubble spewing everywhere. She looked around, not seeing the angel anywhere. A yell from above her startled her back into the fight, only to see Jozero plummeting towards her, both fists above her head, intending to smash Reimu into the ground.    Yet, her swing would probably only go so far, so if she got into a perfect position behind her...    Her plan formulated, Reimu jumped back as Jozero brought the fists downward. Now behind her, Reimu let loose a barrage of larger amulets in succession. Jozero, realizing she missed, turned to see the ofuda racing towards her. Reimu saw the first directly strike her face, and the rest of her became buried in amulets before they all detonated, sending Jozero plummeting to the floor again.    The environment they were sealed in was starting to become unstable, and Reimu was exhausted by now. "Just how much more can she take...before she goes down?" She looked back to see the unmoving form of Jozero, face down on the floor, shards of marble around her. "Good...stay down." She turned to leave, only to hear quiet laughter behind her. She wheeled around to see the angel starting to rise to her feet again...Wait, where are her feet?!    She stared wide-eyed at her legs, most of which were exposed from the robe being torn. The slight amount she could see around her thigh was normal skin, but from the knee down, it was gradient to invisible. Her legs completely disappeared before they made it a quarter of the way down her shins. She was also noticing other details, as well. For one, her left arm had what she heard was called a 'tattoo' of a green, thorned vine wrapping around her arm, an eye on its end in her palm, completely offsetting her color scheme of white and red. The vine was faintly glowing, and looked like it lifted slightly off of her arm. The halo now had completely broken, but still floated above her head. Her wings had obvious cracks, and more segments were missing. She tore off the remaining shreds of the left arm's sleeve, leaving the mostly intact right sleeve, and threw it to the wall, where it slid onto the ground. Her laughing had become more manic, and she turned to reveal blood sliding down the entire right half of her face, and she simply laughed.    She rose into the air again, power rippling around her, distorting the air around her. "She's gone insane...why won't she just go down and stay down?! Most people aren't this tenacious in the face of defeat, let alone once they get to the condition she's in!" She didn't have much time to dwell on these thoughts, however, as three green energy orbs began swirling around Jozero's left arm. They turned into three green lasers, twirling like a drill, white kunai bullets sprouting out of them like thorns before flying on their own path outwards. Although it was easy at first, Jozero waved her wings in front of her, scattering red feather danmaku in wide, dense arcs, leaving Reimu very little breathing room. The kunai finally passed, and the last of the arcs was about to fly past when Jozero moved her left arm in a slashing motion. A red laser spawned from nowhere, slicing right through the feathers and where Reimu just was. Because of the strange angles these lasers were being shot from, she had a difficult time guessing where they'd fly. One singed her ponytail, and she breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn't moved into it.    She went to reset her orbs to homing amulets as Jozero began gather power for her next attack only to see that her orbs had been firing continuously since she tried to get into melee. It looked like parts of Jozero's wings and even skin were cracking drastically, and beams of light were shooting out of her. They didn't seem harmful, but Reimu was nonetheless worried. As they fought, Reimu could see eyes coming out of nowhere, watching the battle intensely. Behind Jozero were three of different colors, but in every direction was an eye staring at her or the angel, no doubt wondering who would win this battle.    Another cactus-like drill flew from her arm, followed by a similar attack to the broken heart from earlier; this time, the heart's bullets flew off like birds, a couple staying behind to try and drop small bullets on Reimu. As she focused on avoiding them, Jozero began releasing large amounts of Dark Matter at ridiculous speeds. Reimu could see why, too: her form kept cracking, and more and more beams of light shone forth from her. The attack suddenly ceased, even though Jozero looked like she was still trying to fire. The beams slowly began consuming her, until, as one, they all went out, and the angel dropped to her knees.    Jozero looked around, confused, and Reimu stared at her bewilderment, a smirk plastered on her face. "Told ya I'd win." Only now did she truly see how much Dark Matter had gathered to watch this fight. There must have been thousands upon thousands of eyes, switching their gazes between her and their ruler.    Jozero, however, didn't look at all relieved. She looked at her left arm, and to her surprise, the tattoo began to fade. Reimu's arrogance shifted to concern as the panicked-looking angel stared at her now blank arm. Faintly, Reimu could hear a high-pitched ringing that seemed to be coming from nowhere. Jozero finally looked up, her expression begging for help. She extended her arm towards Reimu.    The shrine maiden hesitated, unsure if this was a ploy to get her to lower her guard or not. She could barely make out that Jozero's arm was trembling, and it seemed to be getting worse. Filled with a sudden sense of compassion, she extended her own arm, and began walking towards her.    Without warning, Jozero doubled over, gasping and clutching at her chest, and was then flung backwards by an unseeable force. The light returned, far more intense than before, completely bathing the angel and forcing Reimu to shield her eyes. She could hear a pained shriek from the glow, something that didn't usually happen with the people who cause incidents. Emitting light and randomly dispelling energy after their last attacks was one thing, panic and multiple explosions of light were completely different. I have seen people recover from worse, so I guess there should be nothing to worry about...    Reimu could tell the glow was fading, but didn't uncover her eyes yet. Just as she was about to, she heard a small tink of something hitting the floor. She lowered her arm to see a half-broken halo bouncing off of the floor before stopping, resting on the ground. The only other signs that someone was in the room with Reimu were the amount of Dark Matter (who looked just as, if not more, shocked at this turn of events) and a half-shredded sleeve against the wall. Reimu stared at the halo for what felt like an eternity. Nothing dared move.    Eventually, the orange-petaled Dark Matter advanced, moving towards the halo, looking as sad as a one-eyed ball of darkness could. The other two colored ones followed shortly after, and the entire host of the entity flew in closer to the remains of their leader. A sad hum filled the air, and Reimu couldn't help but feel guilty. She looked down at the ground to avoid any glances from the crowd, and saw a patch of darkness over her heart not unlike what she saw on that fairy in the Forest of Magic what felt like so long ago. Slowly, it left her body, coalescing back into the shape of the rest of them before joining in their mourning.    I don't understand, though...The spell card system was designed so killing like this wouldn't happen...and can angels even die anyway? They're already technically dead, I think...what went wrong? We were still following the rules...or at least I was...ugh. If only she had only listened to me instead of trying to fight her way out...    Her musings were interrupted as she felt like she was being watched. She turned to see the three colored Dark Matters glaring intensely at her. Slowly, the other orbs around them followed suit, and an angry buzzing filled the air, like of a swarm of bees, except they sounded much larger. The multitude of darkness began gathering around the multicolored ones, soon losing the physical shape they had. The cluster grew, until it dwarfed even the orb of Dark Matter that Jozero was in when she and Reimu met.    Two long arms twisted out of the mass of darkness, the three eyes staying at the top, acting like a head. The body rounded itself, shaping itself like a snake, its arms now growing hands. Reimu braced herself as this new behemoth turned its gaze onto her. It emitted a loud hissing noise before trying to swipe at Reimu with one of its claws. She floated over it, setting her yin-yangs to needles. She at least knew their collective weak point was their eyes, so she had a clear target. She didn't want to be involved in any other fights, but she couldn't blame these things. It did seem as though she murdered their leader in cold blood.    She tried circling to the side and gain altitude, firing needles the whole way. If I could just get to its three eyes, I might be able to take it down, too... The creature, however, could see what she was doing. It fired multiple blasts of black lightning, forcing Reimu on the defensive. As she dodged, a massive fist made contact with her back, and she could feel its force rattle her bones as she was sent flying. She felt herself hit the ground at the base of her spine, rolling backwards over her head. She bounced along the floor a few times before finally smashing into a wall, creating hairline cracks in it from the force. Reimu slowly peeled off of the wall, and moaned in pain. Her entire world was spinning, but she needed to concentrate, or this thing would probably kill her in its blind fury. Her vision finally stopped swimming, and she saw the beast charging her, and she shakily rose to her feet before lifting off of the ground again.    Reimu ducked under a tail swipe from the creature, only to have to jump to her right to avoid another giant fist. She began zig-zagging between the pillars, hoping to put some distance between them. She heard a screech as the nightmarish beast was hurtling between the columns with ease, managing to gain ground. It climbed partway up a pillar, then leaped off. Reimu could feel that she wasn't moving as fast as she ought to, and her body seemed to be rebelling against her for forcing it to move after taking a blow like that. The creature brought both hands down, palms open, to try and swat at Reimu. She saw it coming, and tried to dodge out of the way. However, the beast managed to shift itself in midair slightly, bringing one of its hands down on top of Reimu, pinning her to the ground with a crash.    Too dazed to think, let alone dodge, she could barely make out the sight of the creature rearing back a fist to smash her head. Well, this is bleak...no way out, and I don't think I could take another hit like that...I better be prepared... Just as it was about to bring its hand down and Reimu was in the midst of mentally calling one of her most powerful cards, a faint light shimmered to her right. The monster halted its attack, its attention diverted. Reimu tried to wriggle out of its grip, but to no avail. Slowly, the light increased, until Reimu couldn't handle the temptation and looked. Standing there, whole and untarnished, was Jozero, a white light still enveloping her. Slowly, she opened her lone eye, her formerly stone-cold gaze no longer prevalent.    And she smiled, a lone, clear tear running down her cheek. I was going to post this sooner, but not doing so helped me edit to make it better, and I decided to upload it now. Merry Christmas, dear readers.  (I'll try and get you something better next year don't worry  :ohdear:)

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