~Hakurei Shrine~ > Patchouli's Scarlet Library

Apocalypse Awakening - A Touhou + Left4Dead zombie rush fic thing...

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♛ Apher-Forte: A miserable past... of a God that is the true face of Suwako. A glorious past which was forgotten and betrayed, in its wake, those who are born later must carry their father's sin. The sin shall be repaid in full? Or shall the great fall once more from personal greed?

Esifex: And then Yukari shoves the two through a gap that leads to the heart of the sun. Whoops. ....which is why I don't put Yukari, Sakuya, or Yuyuko into my stories (or at least give them large roles) :x

♛ Apher-Forte: It won't be that easy, remember, Yukari is still classed a demon. Gods always are above demons, although certainly when it comes to Yukari, there are some lines being blurred. Also: this be the Panther's design

♛ Apher-Forte: I forgot to add it in actually, too lazy to edit. Originally it said this: The back muscles are very strong, double the times of human muscular growth to provide high flexibility. Human bodies relies 90% of the stronger lower and mid back to make some complex turning movements, such as when playing badminton, the back muscles allow for full flex of arms and high maneuverability. The Panther uses this strong growth to accelerate, turn and stop all the while keeping it on balance and allowing to make some complex movements humans can't do.

♛ Apher-Forte: Chapter 8 ________ The skies seemed to part, allowing some bland sunlight downwards to the shadowy streets, now stinking putridly with the odor of death. A thousand at least, if not more of the moving death around Yukari and Remu must have gathered: the infected. They slouched, and dragged themselves about the grounds lazily, they seemed sometimes strange and foreign to even their own kind. Bumping, pushing aside, and bumping again into one another, they made growling noises and all sorts of gurgling as they moved about, seemingly now blocked by an invisible wall around the four of them, including Kowasu and Kanako Hachisaka. They have explained their stories, yet something didn’t quite connect. Reimu noticed, since it is hard for her to not identify with something she has been trained to identify. “You said you are a Kami, then you said you are a Jizou, but at the end, you spoke that you consumed the darkness of mankind’s negative emotions and thus elevated to something else, what are you now?” Reimu questioned. “A God, a heavenly one, once you become a Kami, you cannot fall any ranks, even if you are banished. That, is a good rule that almost all old Kami abuse, the Mizukami abused it but became Kappas, there was once a spirit of forges, which forges the soul of swords and armor, it became a Kami that is sealed underground in distant Osaka, becoming the patron Jizou of the land. The same applies to me… I remain a God despite being sealed.” “Then how is it you can still wander about? The Celestials should have known you escaped…” “Celestials are the second most useless beings in all of heaven, if there is no need for their presence, or summoned, any Earthly affairs they won’t even meddle with, lest it should interrupt their meditation and other unimportant events.” Kowasu answered confidently, “Now, tell me… do you have the answer to my question?” “That I will be the ‘Houser’ for you?” Reimu asked. “Yes.” “Never. Not in a million years, I have pledge my faith to the Hakurei Family, and so long as I do, my faith shall never waver. In that God’s name, I command you to know your place, rescind your errors and repent, return to the path of light and blessed faith, abandon the darkness that you have accumulated, so that Nirvana may once again welcome you.” Reimu challenged, her voice clear and that made Yukari almost choke, it is hard seeing her so serious. “Your petty commands to me are useless, I outrank your God of the Hakurei, whomever he is, he is not here now and you have no power.” “Perhaps you do better to think so that way, so that I can have an easy victory.” Reimu returned the threat. “You want to do this the hard way?” “Why the hell not?” Reimu looked at Yukari, surely with her along, a Toad Kami cannot hope to defeat them. They were the strongest team in the Underground incident, and this is just a small challenge compared with that one where they faced off a powerful youkai bird capable of controlling nuclear fusion. “You are wrong in that…” Kowasu smiled, “But I need not make this effort myself… Kanako, whom I ate should be plenty enough for you.” “You keep saying you ate others… what exactly are you? How do Kamis eat other Kamis?” Yukari asked, even she seems blightened by the obscurity of Kowasu’s tale. “Oh you didn’t know? All the old Kamis, namely the ones in nature especially and those who hold special ranks, like a proper name given by a priest or blessed by Celestials and the heavens have the power to consume other Kamis. It is our default capability, we call it Kami unification of bodies. In the old days, there were so many Kamis and some are even duplicates, small gobs of light that some in the form of human bodies would attack one another, the strong one survives and takes the defeated as his own, and thus grow to become stronger… hence in essence, it was a free for all battle-royale. We are the last few, aside from the others like the greatest of demons, the Nine Tailed Fox, or the Eight Headed Snake that is sleeping deep below the sunken grounds.” Kowasu gave her explanation fully, she then closed her eyes, and from her lips, a song slipped out. “What…is…” Yukari looked over to Reimu, whom shrugged in ignorance. “Four children stood by the river playing rocks, For the Sun rose and the Moon set, For the rain that falls and the grass that browns, Six dragons pass the heaven’s eight great gates, Fall came, and pain subsides the screaming children. To take unto oneself the pain unbearable, To feel the sorrow that no man can bear, To take the agony that no soul can attach to, Light and dark feed the eternal well, Ache upon the holy, sorrow upon the wealthy, Seven inches grass grew restively upon the mountain of Suwa, Also the children play, a flute of tuneless memory, They suffer a hunger that none can endure, To take unto oneself the pain cannot fade.” * The song* had no particular tune, it just sounded like a murmur, using some of the oldest Japanese words ever constructed, which sounded remotely Chinese in origin. “Kin!” Kowasu yelled, her right fingers rolled into a strange hold, with the index finger and middle finger pressing against each other, and pressing down to the thumb lightly. The last two fingers held up while the left hand index finger pointed upwards, while the middle floated down and the ring finger is pressed tightly against the raised thumb; the pinkie raising as high which connected with her right thumb’s joint. The look of an old jutsu summoning ceremonial signage which is practiced by all Izuna* before the newer standardized gohei and dances which is practiced by Reimu; the sign normally means something bad. Reimu understood this part very well, it was what her grandmother used to do, and even then, the ritual finger movements and signs were a dying trait passed to not-so-many people. The newer generations of Izuna are called Shrinemaidens, to give it a more neutral name than ‘a woman who can cast spells’. Some of the older generations defected for such a position and became like the very shunned ‘mediums’ and ‘Joujutsushi*’. The Hakurei family was shrunken because of such disagreements, and few downing to the numbers that include Reimu and her family, are left to take the reins of the Hakurei family profession. As she hymned the last syllable, so did the entire world seemed to shift back into the darkness as Kowasu’s background seemed to grow with insane energy. The true power of an elder Kami, displaying in all full strength, this is the height of all dangers in this world. “Reimu… if you are gonna do something, you best do it now…” “Holy Sign: Omnidirectional Demon Binding Circle!” Reimu declared, and a talisman glowed as bright as day in her right hand before dissipating, casting upon the floor which Kowasu stood on a magic circle which has a six sided star encircled in a big circle and a smaller one. It rotated, and gaining speed as light erupted from the ground into a massive energy filled spectacle of seven colored lights. The power was so immense, yet, as Yukari looked, she can’t stop the sweat rolling down her forehead. “What is this… insane power…?” She questioned under her breath. The spell which Reimu casted has an effect on any spiritual entity, and it is so powerful in its uncondensed form that it can seal away even the most stubborn of demons. If not, it certainly can delay them a lot, enough for her to do a proper sealing. Yet, the light struggled, it spread like liquid across the air, spraying in every single direction as the darkness behind Kowasu grew and grew. “Is that…?” Reimu looked, her fear creeping to a chill running up and down her spine morbidly. “Her true… form?” Yukari continued. “Ladies, please… this is nowhere near my true form, must I remind you only Kanako Hachisaka will face the two of you?” Kowasu, hidden behind the light and despite the tremendous noise surrounding her from her ‘release’ through her ‘song’ spoke loudly and clearly. From the light, it shattered, this time like glass as the sparkling fragments spread across and flew everywhere. Yukari and Reimu took a few steps back, noting that the slowly disintegrating demon binding circle now weakening, and from it… a large creature appeared. As the light completely subsided, Reimu and Yukari feasted upon their eyes the gruesome sight as Kowasu’s mouth opened, disconnecting her jaw somehow, and a large worm like creature appeared. It has legs in its multi-segmented body, and small whiskers of hair and spikes seemed to protrude from its rough and exoskeleton frame of a skin which has a red and black contrast. The segments are completely black, while inside them, light blood boiling in crimson red, glowed with red light. Its face was at first a shiny black blob, but as it reared, it exposes its multi-layered mouth which has a funnel like design. Large and grotesque, it is a scary sight to behold, with teeth sharp and grinding in its funnel like hole which seemed to rotate endlessly in a gruesome circle. From its throat, it looked like a tunnel that led to eternal darkness, save for the fire that erupted from within. As it finally opened its eyes, Reimu and Yukari can tell this is no mere creature to defeat. Despite its grotesque design, it is a Kami, and by that alone, it ranks above them. It finally crawls out completely from Kowasu’s throat, looking angrily at the two. Then, Kowasu smiled and spoke, “Did you know I have an urn inside my stomach? You should take note of that, I am the only Kami who took a fragment of the Celestial’s workings within me. Meet the newly improved Kanako Hachisaka…” “Reimu….?” Yukari looked, questioningly. “I know… it is the ‘Insect Poison*’. A kind of youkai which can be bred by purists of the shamanic ways, by placing insects inside a stuffed urn, forcing them to consume each other in hunger and in order to survive, the last one that lives becomes the collected essence of all poison that each unique insects have… Kanako, the fire worm, must have consumed all the Kamis and youkai that Kowasu has consumed before…” Reimu explained, a hail of sweat now circling her forehead. “Looks like we have to fight for this one…” “Yeah…” ++++++ Special notes (Note: Izuna – taking a note from Itako Izuna, is an old way of calling shrinemaidens, Izuna no Hime, which they are normally referred as are mediums, capable of summoning spirits, gods, and demons to enter their bodies to perform supernatural tasks. They became rarer and rarer as times move on to the newly male dominated side, the Omyouji which serves the high courts, the royals etc became more dominant to call for services of the supernatural kind. Most of the Izuna are said to have retreated upper North of Japan by 1200s to 1400s rooting themselves there as the local priests and shamans capable of spiritual healing and such. Most of them are good, but courts are predominantly male led, and thus frown on most of the Itako Izuna being women.) (Note: Joujutsushi – literally translating to Curse Mediums, men and women who specialize in curses and summoning bad spirits to do ill will against others for a price. Normally called shamans, their services are widespread in the old days. It was said in the Heian period they originated from, several chapters in obscure history describes such mediums to have meddled with royalty affairs, causing entire bloodlines to disappear overnight by forcing evil spirits that corrupts the mind to enter the bodies of the cursed. The cursed then take their own lives in suicides that include hundreds, if not thousands. Such mediums are frowned upon by the Izuna, and usually is the Izuna who helps elevate the problem from the cursed. Their favorite tools include breeding youkai insects, youkai fetuses, youkai animals as their carrier of curses, it is said their services can still be acquired today in rural Japan.) (Note: Insect Poison – the legends to this is wide and vary, but among them is an entry very interesting in during the Heian era. This entry describes how a cursed Joujutsushi attempted to merge the strongest poison that nature can offer. Being that it is done in a time where there is no sophisticated chemistry or biology aid, the shaman put all the scariest creatures by several numbers into a great urn and gave it some heat and humidity. Inside the urn, it grows to a dastard 40 over degrees, and in the humidity the bugs get hungry easily and began to consume each other in desperation for survival. Eventually, even rats and poisonous snakes were thrown in the mix to keep the dangerous boil going as long as possible into the sealed urn. At the end of 99 days, a ceremony was performed to break the seal of the urn, and the shaman released a powerful youkai that is under his control capable of making the strongest poisons. Its venom is said to be hundreds of times stronger and deadlier than any snake, spider or centipede combined. This creature is named the ‘Yu Du’ in Chinese translation, written in Kanji, the ‘Yu’ is ‘insect = Chong’ written above ‘Urn = Bei’ meaning Insect in an Urn; while the Du translates to poison signaling its properties. This creature is said to have polluted all the waters of one Heian family well, and it was said a city fell overnight as the poisons were drank by the unsuspecting city dwellers and the royals. Of course, it was noted at the end even the wretched shaman’s family was killed in the process, in his remorse, he sealed the creature in a cave in the mountains, hoping that in 100 years the creature would dissolve into nothing as it rots hungrily alone in the dark cave. ) (Note: Song - Commonly referred to as En Rei. In ancient times, this was called upon as the 'poem of enlightenment' which is used by normal non-spiritual power wielding villagers as the last line of defense against youkai and demons. By using these words, arranged in such an order that to have each character a special spiritual power (although small) that the words become a sort of verbal sword which can cut evil spirits bond to the earth. Some families employ this as passing rites for their family whom have recently passed so that they may pass into Nirvana in peace. It was the poor man's and laymen's choice of spiritual service. There are a few similiar poems available, the one written here is half fictional, half real in reference. You can actually find this in some specialized Chinese prayer items shop that sells prayer beads, mantras and monk robes. To this day, hardly anyone knows about them, but it was popular in the old days up till before world war 2. My grandma actually have a copy of this which is how I learned from, some words in the second paragraph were taken from there. "- Ren ren shuo bu neng ren zhi tung, shi ren shuo bu neng ren zhi ku, shou ren shuo bu neng ren zhi ai" is one such line. It translates to "to endure the pain none can endure, to take the sorrow/hardship than none can bear, to accept the pain (of the heart) than none can accept." It was followed by a bunch of mumbo jumbo about grass roots and such, which I don't clearly remember. It helped me go to sleep in the very old days when I used to live in a village where they say an evil spirit kidnaps children when they sleep.

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