~Hakurei Shrine~ > Patchouli's Scarlet Library

The Dissoluteness of Vengeance-Hiatus

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Schneeless: Whew, this took a while to write! I've quite enjoyed writing it though, and I hope you guys will enjoy reading it! As always, criticism is welcome! Chapter 7 After the attack of the Scarlet Devil Mansion? Yukari Yakumo stepped out of her gap and closed it behind her. The sunlight was harsh, forcing her to open her parasol to block it. The white stairs leading up to the temple reflected the sunlight, causing even more strain on her eyes. The temple itself was quite large and grand, but not overly so. The roof was built in a traditional eastern style and was held up by several wooden pillars. As Yukari walked up the stairs, Kyouko was seen sweeping the main gate, looking quite bored. Once Kyouko saw Yukari approach however, she stopped sweeping in surprise and simply stared at her. Yukari seemed amused. ?Oh continue your sweeping, yamabiko. I have no business with you.? Kyouko shook her head and approached Yukari, sweeping along the way. ?THE TEMPLE IS NOT OPEN TO GUESTS CURRENTLY!? Kyouko clamped her mouth with one of her hands in embarrassment at her outburst. ?Sorry? but Hijiri is kinda busy at the moment- HEY! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU?RE GOING?? Yukari was already walking past Kyouko as she was talking. ?I?m sure Hijiri will have enough time to hear what I have to say~? Kyouko stomped her feet and swung her broom at Yukari, gasping in surprise as the gap youkai caught it with one hand and snapped it in half. ?Now now, Kyouko. There?s no need to make this ugly, is there?? Kyouko grumbled as she picked up the other half of her broom. ?No?? ?Good girl. I promise I won?t tell Hijiri about this.? With that, Yukari continued to walk toward the temple. Once she entered, she found herself in a large hallway with doors leading to rooms on each side. Various youkai peeked out of their door and quickly closed it once they saw Yukari. At the end of the hallway, it leads to two other hallways that contain even more rooms. ?Stupid Shou and her pagoda.. always losing- Hey! What are you doing here?? Nazrin quickly walked toward Yukari and glared at her. ?My my, so aggressive.? Nazrin pointed a rod at her and said, ?I have a reason to. You can?t be trusted in this temple. Tell me why you?re here, now!? ?I have an important message for Hijiri. That is all I will disclose to you.? The two stared at each other for a while, until Nazrin sighed and turned around again. ?Fine, but I?ll be leading you there. Don?t want you to do anything suspicious.?    The two youkai walked through the numerous hallways, doors closing quickly as the youkai residents caught sight of Yukari. Finally, they reached a large entryway without a door. Once Yukari entered the room inside, she looked behind her to see that Nazrin was already gone. Looking back at the room, she saw around a circle of youkai meditating. Several candles surrounded them, creating a few lines of smoke. Byakuren sat in the middle, her eyes closed. If she knew that Yukari was in the room, she showed no signs of it. Yukari stood at the entryway for a while, observing the meditating youkai, until Byakuren and the youkai finally rose up. They stretched and chattered with one another quietly. However, once they saw Yukari, everyone went silent. They quickly left the room through another door until only Byakuren and Yukari remained.  Byakuren sat back down cross-legged and said, ?What brings you here, Yukari?? Yukari walked toward Byakuren and sat down in front of her in a seiza position, putting her parasol to the side of her. ?I have some important news to tell you Hijiri.? ?Just Byakuren is fine. What do you have to tell me?? Yukari took a moment before responding, ?Seija manipulated Reimu into killing Marisa. Once she was free of the influence and looked down at Marisa?s body, she flew into a rage and killed Seija as well. She was about to attack me but I managed to gap away in time. However, her parting words were that all youkai would die.? Byakuren frowned. ?That? is tragic. But why didn?t you stop Reimu, Yukari?? Yukari sighed. ?She was too strong. I have no idea how she suddenly got so much more powerful, but she was able to effortlessly push me away and send me flying. I also came too late? I only came when Reimu just killed Marisa.? ?What do you suggest we do about her?? ?First of all, the youkai must overcome their pride and work together to find a way to defeat Reimu. She was powerful enough to force Mokou and Keine, the Moriya Shrine residents, and the hermits onto her side. With them, Reimu and her allies attacked and destroyed the Scarlet Devil Mansion.? Yukari sighed. ?Even though her allies were either sealed or deserted her, she is still so overwhelmingly powerful. I can't use any of my border magic on her, nor can I gap within a few feet from Reimu.? Byakuren placed a hand on Yukari?s hand and said, ?I can talk to her. It seems the best way to solve this.? Yukari shook her head. ?No, she?s beyond reason. She would attack you in a heartbeat.? Byakuren stared right into Yukari?s eyes. ?Trust me, Yukari. I?ve reasoned with plenty of youkai-haters. I?ll stop her rampage.? Yukari shook Byakuren?s hand off, picked up her parasol, and stood up. ?That?s what Remilia said too. Look what happened to her. Blinded. Two of her servants dead. One of them on the brink of it. Reimu barely needed her allies to take the mansion residents down. She destroyed the mansion completely in a single hit. She could?ve done that when they were still in there as well. Please Byakuren, don?t do this. Come with me.? Byakuren stood up as well and shook her head. ?I will reason with her, Yukari. Force will not solve anything.? Yukari clamped her hands on her parasol, the first signs of frustration creeping up on her. ?Very well. When your friends are dead and your temple is destroyed, you will regret trying to ?reason? with her.? With that, Yukari opened a gap and exited the temple, leaving Byakuren shocked at Yukari?s sudden outburst. --- The next day... It was a very bright morning when Kyouko woke up. Yawning, she stood up and rubbed her eyes, trying to clear the sleepiness away. Once she was fully awake, she left her wooden mat in search for her broom. The room was very ordinary and was bare of any personal decorations. The only furniture in the room was a wooden mat and desk that had a chair that might break at any minute. Picking up her broom that was leaning on her desk, Kyouko sighed, ?Another day of sweeping the main entrance... great. I hope I can talk with Mystia today...?  Leaving her room, she closed the door behind her and began to traverse the numerous hallways of the temple. Several other youkai waved at her as she passed by. Finally reaching the main entrance, she began sweeping the floor with her broom, whistling. The white floor had barely anything needing cleaning. Eventually Kyouko simply sat down at the top of the stairs to the temple, bored out of her mind. Suddenly, Kyouko felt someone sitting next to her. When she looked to both sides of her however, no one was there. Standing back up, she began to hold her broom like a baseball bat, ready to attack any intruders. ?Boo!? ?GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!? Kyouko dropped her broom and began flailing her arms, until she saw Koishi staring at her. Kyouko scratched her head in embarrassment, ?Oh Koishi.., it was just you? haha? sorry.? As Kyouko bent down to pick up her broom, Koishi cocked her head and asked, ?What are you doing?? Kyouko stood back up, broom in hand, and replied, ?Oh! I?m? I was just cleaning the main entrance.? ?Do you like doing it?? Kyouko answered that question almost immediately, to her surprise. ?No! I hate it! I wish I could just do something actually useful! I-wait? Wait wait wait no I didn?t say that please don?t tell Miss Hijiri-huh?? Kyouko looked around in confusion as Koishi suddenly disappeared. Shaking her head, she went back to sweeping the entrance, hoping that Byakuren doesn?t find out about her outburst. After several minutes, Kyouko heard someone walking up the stairs of the temple. No not someone, a lot of people. Curious, Kyouko walked to the top of the stairs and looked down. Reimu walked up the stairs with a horde of villagers from the Human Village carrying pitchforks and torches and screaming war cries. Kyouko quickly stepped away and attempted to run back in the mansion but she was suddenly rooted to the ground by several seals. She tried to yank herself out of it, to no avail.   ?Where do you think you?re going, youkai?? Reimu stood at the top of the stairs triumphantly. Behind her, the humans started to shout out profanities. ?DOWN WITH THE YOUKAI!? ?GENSOKYO BELONGS TO THE HUMANS!? ?FILTHY YOUKAI!? Kyouko continued to struggle, eventually breaking of the seals and stumbling forward. Catching her breath, she looked behind her to see Reimu and the mob of humans slowly approaching her. Turning back, she began to run into the temple again. She had to warn the rest of the youkai in the temple before it was too late!    However, Kyouko ran into Reimu as she teleported in front of her. Stumbling back, she was suddenly encircled by angry humans, all looking down at her with hateful eyes. Kyouko spoke in a very frightened voice. ?R-Reimu? What? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?? Two humans made way for Reimu as she approached, gohei in hand. Reimu snarled, ?You?ll find out soon enough.? Raising her gohei, she swung it down at Kyouko. ?HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLP-Huh?? The gohei stopped at her throat as Reimu looked down at her in confusion. Where did she go? Suddenly, two humans collapsed on the floor and an invisible Koishi picked up Kyouko, running away from the temple with her. It took only a second for Reimu to figure out what happened. Shaking her head, Reimu turned back to the temple and said, ?EVERYONE! CHARGE THE TEMPLE!? --- Total chaos spread rapidly. The humans swarmed the temple like ants and put it on fire with their torches. The youkai practitioners cowered as the humans beat them with their clubs and pitchforks. Reimu watched this all with satisfaction. As she entered the temple, a man rushed up to her. He said, ?Miss Hakurei! We have found the location of the witch!? Reimu grinned evilly. ?Lead me to her.? The man nodded. ?As you wish Miss Hakurei!? The man turned back and started to move into the numerous hallways.      Reimu followed quickly behind him. She began to take out her gohei and several needles in case anything happened. Suddenly, an anchor went flying toward the man. It was a direct hit, and sent him flying toward the other end of the hallway, smashing him against the wooden wall. When the anchor disappeared from his body, his head was crushed and bleeding in multiple places and his arms and legs were bent in all the wrong places. Murasa walked confidently toward Reimu and called out, ?You?re not getting past me, crazy shrine maiden!? Reimu threw a handful of needles at the captain and growled, ?I?m not crazy!?  Using her ladle, Murasa created a small shield of water that stopped the needles. Laughing, Murasa spun her anchor around a few times before throwing it straight at Reimu. Raising her hands, Reimu created a barrier that took the hit from the anchor directly, leaving huge cracks in it. Panting, Reimu yelled and slowly that barrier started to envelop the anchor in a rainbowish light. Murasa looked at her anchor in confusion. ?What the hell are you-? The anchor started to move until it was pointed at Murasa. It took Murasa too long to figure out what was about happen as it soared toward her and hit her body directly. She took hold of the still glowing anchor in her hands and threw it slightly in front of her. Clutching her stomach with one hand, Murasa looked up at Reimu and said menacingly, ?You?re going to pay for that red-white?? Shouting out a war cry, Murasa prepared to leap toward the shrine maiden, only to find her feet stuck to the ground by several seals. ?W-what? What did you-? Reimu teleported in front of the ghost and threw an explosive seal at her. It exploded right on her face, shutting her up. ?Just shutting you up, captain.? Taking out two handfuls of needles, Reimu threw them one by one at the helpless ghost, each of them causing a scream to be elicited. Instead of blood coming out, Murasa's body began to slowly become more transparent. When Murasa began looking like a pincushion, Reimu stopped her relentless assault and raised her hands. Slowly, she began chanting a few incomprehensible words. Murasa knew what those words meant. ?No... NO! LET ME GO! STOP!? Reimu didn?t stop however. After about thirty seconds of chanting, an elaborate sealing circle began to form under the ghost. After a minute, it started to circle under her and envelop Murasa in a white light. Murasa stopped her panicking and looked down at the circle that would exorcise her. She then turned her gaze toward Reimu and glared at her. ?Hijiri?s going to give you hell once she finds out about this, Reimu.? Reimu continued chanting. Clenching her fists, Murasa can only watch once her body starts to get sucked into the seal. Crying out in anger, she glared at Reimu one last time before she was gone. Once Reimu stopped chanting and the circle disappeared, only the anchor left any clue that the captain was here. Smirking, Reimu continued on her way to Byakuren, trusting her intuition to lead her. The screams and cries of the youkai made her feel like she was on top of the world. She closed her eyes briefly to better listen to them. It was because of this that Nazrin managed to sneak up behind her and smash both of her dowsing rods onto Reimu?s head. As Reimu collapsed on the floor, Nazrin jumped on her back and started to smack her relentlessly with her rods. ?You?ll pay for sealing away Murasa!? Nazrin snarled. As she was about to impale Reimu?s head with her rods, Reimu grabbed them and smashed Nazrin on the ground in front of her. Standing back up, Reimu dusted herself and smirked, ?Is that all you got, you little rat? I?ve been impaled by Remilia?s Gungnir! Your rods are nothing!? Placing the end of one her rods on the floor, Nazrin picked herself up shakily. Once she was standing up, she turned back and ran away with surprising speed into the endless hallways. Reimu rushed after her blindly. She thought the hallways would never stop. After several more minutes however, she came to a large entryway that lead to the room Byakuren was in. As she entered, a calm voice called out, ?Reimu. I must talk with you. Now.? Byakuren sat in the middle of the room in a meditating position. Shou and Nazrin stood on each side of her, ready to defend Byakuren. Ichirin and Unzan stood behind the monk, looking angrily at Reimu. Reimu walked slowly toward Byakuren and said, ?About what, youkai?? Byakuren stood up and looked Reimu in the eyes. ?You said it yourself. Reimu, you must stop your rampage. We mourn Marisa?s death, and we know how much it pains you to know that you killed her, even if you were manipulated into doing it.? Byakuren took a few more steps toward Reimu. ?But that is not a reason to go and kill every youkai in Gensokyo. It was Seija, Reimu. Not us, not the mansion residents, not the underground, it was purely Seija. It is your duty as a shrine maiden to take down the youkai that are actually harmful and beyond redemption.? Finally, the two stood face to face. ?Do you understand, Reimu?? A few seconds of silence passed as the two continued to stare at each other. With a yell, Reimu suddenly swung her gohei at Byakuren?s head. It hit her hard and sent her stumbling back. Byakuren, still clutching her face, looked at Reimu with disapproving eyes. ?I see? Yukari was right? you are beyond reason.? Reimu laughed and teleported in front of Shou and Nazrin. Faster than the eye can blink, Reimu drove her gohei into Shou?s gut, causing her to scream. Nazrin shouted out, ?NO! BACK OFF!? Shrieking in anger, Nazrin kicked Reimu away, along with her gohei, which caused Shou to collapse on the ground. ?Shou? Shou!? SHOUUUUU!? Nazrin immediately knelt on the ground and began shaking Shou?s body. Byakuren rushed toward Reimu and grabbed her from behind. Grunting, she threw Reimu on the ground, causing the shrine maiden to faceplant the floor. Grabbing her by the neck, Byakuren threw her again and watched as she hit the wall on the other side of the room. Looking up, Byakuren yelled out, ?YUKARI! TAKE EVERYONE AWAY! I?LL HANDLE HER!? Gaps formed under the buddhists and closed as they fell into it. The sounds of battle quieted away as Yukari gapped the humans and the youkai practitioners to different places. Closing her eyes, Byakuren began to chant a few words under her breath. Outside of the temple, a huge magical barrier surrounded it, preventing anyone from coming in or going out. Once she was done, Byakuren opened her eyes to see Reimu coming at her with her gohei. Getting into a combat stance, she blocked the incoming gohei with her arm, causing it to break in half. Reimu looked down at her half of the gohei in shock. ?H-how? I reinforced it-? Byakuren took a few more steps and punched Reimu in the stomach, causing Reimu to drop her half of the gohei and stumble back. Reimu clutched her stomach and coughed out blood. Gasping in pain, she summoned a barrier to protect herself against Byakuren?s onslaught. Eyes burning with righteous anger, Byakuren kicked the barrier, shattering it in a single hit. Grabbing Reimu by the shoulders, Byakuren kneed her in the chest. Reimu screamed in pain and tried to break free. She managed to kick Byakuren in the leg, with released her from the angry monk?s hold. As she fell on the floor, Reimu attempted to crawl away from the monk, to no avail. Byakuren grabbed the back of Reimu?s shrine maiden outfit and forced her to look at her. ?All we wanted was peace. We were never going to endanger humans. But you? you attacked the temple, killed countless youkai, and injured one of my closest friends, even after I tried to reason with you. Humans never change, do they??  Reimu spat at the monk, causing her to be thrown across the room again. She hit the wall hard, and as she slid down toward the ground, Byakuren was already walking toward her. Standing back up very shakily, Reimu began to chant a few words under her breath. Byakuren stopped, curious at what the shrine maiden was doing. It proved to be her undoing. Suddenly, Reimu was covered head to toe with a rainbowish light. With renewed vigor, Reimu charged Byakuren and roundhouse kicked her in the face. Byakuren quickly recovered and attempted to punch Reimu, but she dodged it like it was nothing. The monk began to unleash a flurry of punches and kicks that would?ve hit any other opponent, but Reimu evaded it effortlessly. Reimu caught one of Byakuren?s legs and twisted it, causing the monk to wince in pain. Picking up her body by the leg, Reimu spun around in circles and threw Byakuren at the wall. *CRACK* Byakuren hit the wall hard. As she slid down toward the ground, she struggled to stand back up. ?Any last words, youkai?? Reimu walked confidently toward the fallen monk, knowing victory was near. She was no longer glowing. Byakuren looked up at Reimu and said in a surprisingly calm voice, ?Reimu. Would Marisa really want this?? The question took Reimu off guard. ?...Yes? she?? Byakuren stood back up and put her hands on Reimu?s shoulders. ?Are you sure? Would she want you to kill every youkai in Gensokyo?? Reimu?s face was conflicted. ?I? SHUT UP!? She kicked Byakuren in the chest, sending the monk tumbling toward the ground once again. Reimu was furious. ?You think you can just talk with me and make everything all right.? She picked up Byakuren by her throat and stared right into her eyes.  ?Let me tell you something, Byakuren. You think you understand. You think you know everything that?s wrong with people. You think you can just fix everyone.? Byakuren took hold of Reimu?s arm, slowly breaking it. ?No? I never said that.? ?Perhaps, but I?m sure it?s what you think!? Before Reimu?s arm was broken, she smashed the monk onto the wooden floor, causing the planks to break. Fueled by desperate energy, Byakuren jumped up feet first and landed in front of the crushed wooden planks. Yelling, Byakuren and Reimu charged each other and began to fight each other with all their strength. Byakuren?s body crackled with golden energy. Using a combination of both her physical enhancements and magic, she had the upper hand most of the time in the fight. Reimu however, glowed only slightly with rainbowish light. She no longer had the energy to become totally intangible, but she still kept up with Byakuren?s sheer power. She threw needles and ofudas to keep Byakuren at bay and barriers to protect herself. Byakuren backed Reimu into a corner and began unleashing a barrage of attacks that broke every barrier Reimu attempted to summon. Suddenly, Reimu summoned a Yin-Yang Orb and fired it at Byakuren. It hit the monk on the head and caused her to stagger back. Seizing the opportunity, Reimu summoned five more Yin-Yang orbs and sent them flying toward the recovering monk. Two of them hit the head, another two hit the chest, and the last one hit Byakuren in the gut, causing her to clutch her stomach in pain. Throwing a few explosive seals in a circle around Byakuren, they all detonated at the same time, causing the monk to be lifted into the air. Flying, Reimu rushed toward Byakuren and elbowed her in the ribs, cracking a few of them. Byakuren was sent falling down toward the floor, cracking the wooden planks under her. Reimu landed on the ground next to the monk and stared down at her. ?Any last words, youkai?? Byakuren sat back up shakily, coughing up blood all the while. ?Don?t? do? this?? Reimu simply laughed as she took out a couple more needles, ready to finish the job. ?Time for you to- gah!? Byakuren suddenly leapt toward Reimu and clung on to her, muttering a few words. Golden light began to surround her, and when she was done, she was almost blinding. ?YOU WILL NOT HURT ANYMORE YOUKAI!? Byakuren yelled out. Air started to blow into the room, causing their hair and clothes to be blown back.    With one final yell, Byakuren exploded into a mass of golden, magical energy. The sound was deafening, it was like a bomb was dropped onto the temple. The golden energy destroyed the entire temple and a huge cloud of smoke was left as the light cleared. --- The temple residents watched this all as Yukari created a magical image of what was happening. Shou cried out, ?No! NO! She can?t be?? Yukari closed the image and began opening a gap, ?I have to check the temple. Stay here everyone.? With that, the gap youkai disappeared into her gap and closed it behind her. She walked out of another gap onto what was the main entrance of the temple. As the smoke cleared, she could see Byakuren on the ground, motionless. Reimu was no where to be found.    The gap youkai rushed toward the monk and knelt beside her. Her clothes were torn and part of her hair was singed. Yukari picked her up and opened another gap in front of her. As she walked into it and reappeared in her house, Shou immediately rushed over to Yukari and took Byakuren from her. The temple residents placed her on the bed they were all sitting on and began to check if she was still alive. Ichirin said, ?I can feel a pulse? but it?s faint. Extremely faint. I don?t know?? Shou interrupted her, ?We can bring her back. We brought her back once, we can do it again. We-? Yukari walked over to the buddhists and looked down at Byakuren. ?She?s in a magic coma. She let out so much magical energy that her body is beyond exhaustion. Byakuren?s body will need years to recover. ?Years?? ?Never if you don?t take care of her properly while she?s in that coma. I?ll be going now, I have? other matters to attend to.? With the temple residents gawking at her, Yukari left the room in search for her own room. On the way there, unanswered questions kept popping in her mind. How did Reimu survive that? I know she?s still alive, I can feel it. That blast? it would?ve killed anyone, even me. And why? why can?t I find where she is now? Once Yukari opened the door to her room, she went inside and got onto her bed. Sleep? I haven?t had sleep ever since Reimu killed Marisa. Maybe it?ll help- The moment her head hit the pillow, she was already snoring.

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