Am I real or just an illusion? ~The Night Terror Incident

Here's a post. A collab rather. read it or something, dunno.

I'll edit this with BGM links when I'm not about to go to bed.

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Utsuho shuddered as she flew, the blood from Koishi creating a large red spot on her shirt. Feeling the wet fabric, it only made her move faster. "Koishi-sama...I should've paid more attention to you...I'm sorry..." she apologized.

Back in the ground, blue eyes followed Utsuho’s movement to the temple and then, knowing what that meant, they shifted back to the battle going on.

“Ghost…” She whispered with barely contained anger. “[Dipper Creeping Close].”

And in a blink, the sailor popped above a winged creature.

“DIE, MOTHERFUCKER!” The anchor swung down.

The amanojaku laid near a occupiced bed where she placed the inchling in a futon, she looked around frantically for any medical assistance. "Any doctors in the house?!"

The young vampire, whom had fallen asleep, woke up, yawned and rubbed her eyes. She looked at the frenetic amanojaku and stood up, walking towards her. "What's the problem...? You found someone on the village?"

Byakuren’s eyes rose from Ellen to look at the inchling. “Kyouko, please clean her wounds, I am almost done.”

The wolf eared girl fussed quickly about the inchling, cleaning her wounds.

Seija tilted her neck towards the young vampire. "I found someone... I don't know what happened to her but she fell unconscious..." She stopped quickly as she saw Kyouko quickly clean her wounds, and she sighed, patting Kyouko on the back. "Thank you."

“I’m just doing my job.” The yamabiko replied, sparing a look at Kasen. “I’m sorry, but can you…”

The oni waved her off, cleaning the blood from her face with a wet cloth. “I’m fine, don’t worry.”

Flandre rubbed her eyes a little more to clear her vision before looking towards the inchling. "Well. I'm glad that at the very least she's still alive..." she looked around. "Uh... Where's the crow girl and the ghost? Didn't they go with you?"

"They're still in the village, I should go and help them!" Seija suddenly rushed to her feet as she waved back to Flandre. "I hope that no one else gets injured..." As she said that, she suddenly rushed out of the temple, kicking off the ground and attempted to glide back to the village.

Kasen looked at Seija rushing off, her eyes went narrow as a lot of thoughts went through her head. ‘The winged bitch back stabbed ya, are’ya lettin’ her get away with that! Liars and cheaters, dishonorable scum, they should get axed!’

The hermit tilted her head down, fussing idly with bandages. ‘I need a bath…’

She stood up and walked outside, water bucket in hand.

Kyouko finished cleaning the inchling’s wounds as Byakuren moved to her. The girl didn’t seem as hurt as the blonde magician and that alone made her relieved.

She put her hands above the girl, healing magic seeping through her fingertips.

Shinmyoumaru smiled slightly in her state as she felt the healing magic go through her as her eyes slowly opened, she looked up to see a hand. "...Are you my guide to the afterlife?"

Kasen came running as soon as she heard the noise and her eyes automatically fell on the bloodied form in the raven’s arms. It seemed as if she had frozen on the spot.
The girl had been the one the closest to the winged creature, it would be stupid to expect she would be alright.

Byakuren looked at Okuu, urgency in her voice. “Quickly, lay her down.”

Nodding, Utsuho laid Koishi down in a vacant bed before holding one of her hands. "Please be alright..."

The monk stabilized the inchling and moved to the satori. “Koishi-chan…” Her voice full of worry as she looked at the girl.

The hermit stood in her place, shaking, trying to control herself and her oni side kept yelling in her ears.

She raised her head, eyes brimming with anger, the fell on the blue haired goddess that was passively standing there. “OI!” Her bandaged arm pointed at her. “What the hell are ya doin’ here, doin’ nothin’ while the Village is bein’ attacked!?” The paced quickly towards the goddess, standing in front of her completely unafraid of her. “Ya’re a goddess, don’t cha think ya should get yer divine ass movin’ and go help?! Or is it only fun to ya when ya’re working in the background, manipulating people like paws?!”

Flandre turned her attention from the gravely injured Koishi that the hell raven had brought in, over to the oni who had suddenly appeared in the room. "U-uh... Kasen? What has gotten into you?!"

Shinmyoumaru laid up slightly, she looked at the hermit who was chewing out the goddess in the room. "...Did I miss something?"

“Ibaraki-san, please cal---“ The monk started, only to get interrupted.

“NO! Don’t tell me to calm down!” Her eyes shifted to the monk for a second and then looked at Kanako again. “She’s a goddess! She should protect the people that pray for her! I see everyone fightin’, but not her! Yer people must be praying for ya, can’t ya hear them?! Or are ya a coward?!”

“Ibaraki-san…”

“Don’t try to defend her, she has a mouth.” Her eyes looked defiantly at the goddesses. “Three freakin’ gods wanderin’ about and not one is doin’ their jobs.”

"..." Shinmyoumaru just laid back down, and she slept down into her futon, pretending to drone out the ensuing argument.

The goddess stood silent, if because she had no arguments or because she didn’t want to reply to the oni was one’s guess, but whichever was the reason it made the oni’s anger escalate.

Without saying anything else, Kasen punched Kanako squarely on the face, sending her toppling to the ground.

Nazrin, who was just arriving to the room, sprang into action as she saw what was going on, she slang hersef to the oni’s back, trying to hold her off. Kanako hopelessly clang to one of Kasen’s legs in hopes that would do something.

“Ibaraki-san!” Byakuren’s voice was stern. “If not for you, then out of respect for the injured, stop what you’re doing this instant!”

Kasen said nothing, merely clenching her hands, she turned on her feet and stormed outside, almost taking the mouse and the dog with her.

Kanako rubbed her jaw before wiping a trickle of blood that began to leak out of her split lip. "Hijiri," she stated, not even feeling an ounce of rage from being assaulted. "I understand her frustrations. Don't you?"

The monk looked at the door from where Kasen had stormed off. “Yes, I understand it very well.” Her eyes looked down at the barely breathing form of the satori, voice full of anguish. “But… it’s in times like this we have to keep level headed, forget all our pains and frustrations and stand together.”

Flandre looked confused at the door from where Kasen had left for a few seconds before heading to the outside, in hopes of catching up to the hermit. 'Just what has gotten into her...? She's not like this normally, so why did she...?'

“Helpin’ humans? Ya sure are weird, Ibaraki.’ A blonde, red horned oni looked at her, laughing. “Oni and humans are enemies. Getting’ at each other’s throats is only natural.” She pointed at finger at Kasen’s nonexistent arm. “Didn’t they take your arm as souvenir? What are ya doin’ wantin’ to help’em now?”

“And do you plan to repeat what happened?” Kasen looked angrily at Yuugi. “Paint the snow red, with both human and oni blood?”

Yuugi’s smile died off. “No, we won’t do that ever again.”

“Then…!”

“We ain’t gonna help’em either.” She said sternly. “I admit, they have guts and I admire’em for that, but that’s where I draw the line.” A smirk formed on her lips. “Ya are free to go and help’em, I’m sure they’ll be delighted to see a murderous oni lendin’ em another hand.”

‘No… I atone for what I did… It’s all because I am an oni that I got into this situation… I’m going to do my best to protect them no matter what, it was us who were mistaken.’ And without another word she left Yuugi, and she left her kin.

Kasen tilted down her head, gritting her teeth, hands still balled, she couldn’t feel the snow slowly setting on her head and back as she sat behind the shrine.

Flandre walked over to Kasen from behind her, being as silent as possible. Once she got near enough, she suddenly covered Kasen's eyes with her hands. "Guess who it is~?" she said, with a small giggle.

“Flan.” The hermit put one of her hands over one of Flan’s, removing it slowly from her eye, but not letting it go. She remained silent.

The young vampire's smile disappeared as she stopped covering Kasen's other eye and sat next to the hermit. "... What happened to you back then? You're not normally like that..."

Kasen frowned, avoiding Flan’s gaze. “Isn’t that obvious?” Her eyes looked at the temple’s main complex where the injured were staying. “That woman is a goddess, what is she doin’ here? She should be helping her people!” Her voice started getting progressively angrier as she spoke. “But she’s stayin’ here, hiddin’ while others are fightin’!” She clenched her free hand, speaking through her teeth. “People are dyin’! People are gettin’ injured! And she’s here! I---“ Realizing how angry she was getting, she stopped talking, looking angrily at the ground.

"That's... uh..." Flandre lowered her head. "Well... Maybe she was here helping with the injured or something...?" she didn't really know what to say.

“She was standin’ there, doin’ nothin’.” She replied, teeth clenched.

The oni lowered her head, pulling her hair back with a hand between her locks, fingertips touching her horns as she forgot they were there. She lowered her hand again.

“I… don’t want anyone else to die.” She started, eyes glaring at the floor. “Ellen got hurt because she saved me, the little satori got hurt because she stepped in to help and…” Her eyes softened. “I didn’t want any of them to get involved. Even if I was half-dead, I would keep fighting if that meant they didn’t get hurt.” She closed her eyes. “I…” Her hand touched her not-broken horn. “Did horrible things. What I did in the past has no excuse… I promised myself I’d change, that I would protect people and… my friend almost got killed…”


"But... If you hadn't brought Ellen here she would've died! You saved her as well! And... If Ellen stepped in to save you and Koishi also lent a hand... Then it's probably because they both cared about you and didn't want you to just die like that!" Flandre stood up and looked firmly at Kasen. "They don't care about you did in the past! No one does! I... I don't know how you were in the past, but I doubt you're the same person who did those horrible things you're talking about... I mean..." she put herself in front of Kasen, kneeled down and raised her head. "A horrible person who did horrible things wouldn't promise me to help me control my powers. And that same horrible person wouldn't have adopted me when I cut all bonds with my sister and ran away from home, right?" she smiled. "And most importantly, a horrible person wouldn't have been running around through the entirety of Gensokyo to help solve an incident and save the lives of pretty much every person living here." she fell silent for a second. "That's what I think, anyway."

Her hand fell atop Flan’s head, petting her. “It’s not what others think of me I’m worried about.” She smiled fondly. “I’m glad… I have friends like these. No one cared with the fact that I had horns or that I wasn’t who I pretended to be. They just cared about who I am and…” She chuckled lightly. “My friends accepted me faster than I accepted myself.” She looked at Flan in the eyes. “I’m worried… about what I think of myself.” She nodded negatively. “It’s not that I hate myself… I hate… what I did. I hate the fact I can’t change it. And because of that, I want to be useful. I want… people to live happily, without bloodshed. And I want to help that become true.” Her balled hand slacked. “It’s because of that that… I can’t stand… people being idle when death is allowed to prowl.”

WE BEGIN THE NEXT COLLAB WITH MURASA AND SEIJA, AND OTHERS WE DON'T CARE ABOUT!

In the sky above the war site that was the human village, the lone amanojaku floated above the village, briefly looking back at the village for a second. She sighed as she really had no reason why she returned to the village but she quickly floated to the floor. "Oi, Sailor, you here?"

There was no response, the only noises that could be heard in the Village were yells, screams and the sounds of explosions and danmaku zipping through the air.

"Nice language..." Seija sighed as she crushed the air in her hand and arrows circled around her body, in case any stray danmaku or an attacker struck her.

The captain panted as she avoided another beam. It was simply unbelievable to her that one person could put up a fight against five of them.

Momiji hugged the left side of her torso, blood covering her white clothes. She made no sound, but it was visible she was reaching her limit, yet, the tengu showed no intention on backing down.

Still baring down on the winged creature, were Keine and Ichirin, Unzan swinging down his massive fist against her.

Further down to her left, the nue was panting on the ground, wounds everywhere, and yet, she struggled to stand up and continue to fight.

“Nue, retreat!” Murasa yelled above the sounds as she prepared to attach the creature herself.

“No… way…”

“For cryin’ out loud, get yer ass movin’ out of here!” There was no anger in the captain’s voice, she was pleading her friend to retreat. “We can’t lose anyone else!” She added through gritted teeth.

Nue clenched her hands.

And then, she began to run towards the explosions and scream, her arrows began to lean closer to whatever was happening, she then comically tripped at the last second as her arrows shattered, she held her nose for a second.

The unidentified flying girl dragged herself along the deserted streets, trying to stop the bleeding on her arm even if the other bleeding wounds on her body made it a futile attempt.

She laid against one of the partially destroyed houses, trying to renew her strengths, her eyes shifting to the lightened sky above the battlefield.

Seija then shot up from the ground, looking at the flying girl dragging herself through the deserted streets, she sighed as she screamed out to her. "Oi, you alright?"

For a moment, Nue seemed prepared to attack her, but realizing who she was, she lowered her hand. “You’re… that trickster amanojaku…” She nodded negatively. “What are you doing here? It’s dangerous.”

"Oh really?" She remarked as she looked around, seeing the destroyed village. "It's not like you're fighting for tooth and nail to protect humans!" She then suddenly offered a hand to Nue, and she smiled. "If it's dangerous, we need to get you out of here."

“Thanks, but I can do that on my own.” The nue said, gratefully and then added with urgency. “If you know what’s happening, you shouldn’t have---“

And then another big explosion shook the ground, the light generated by it brightening up the skies as if it was day.

“Ah…” Nue looked at it, white with worry.

"Oh shit..." She looked at the explosion, but she shrugged it off for a second. "How many people are in the village right now?! Apart from me and you!"

The other girl didn’t take the eyes from the explosion. “Four more fighting the enemy…” She trailed off, obviously concerned with what had just happened. “We evacuated as many humans as we could but… I don’t know if there were more caught in the attacks.”

"Where are the other four fighting then?" She was just about ready to take to the skies again, but she waited as her foot tapped against the ground impatiently for Nue to speak. "And to the humans, sadly we're gonna lose a few, but there are loads at the Myouren Temple, I'd go there right now."

“Where do you think they’re fighting?!” She asked exasperate d, pointing with her hand at the explosion.

And then there was silence, the battle noises had ceased and the quietness that followed was blood curling. Nue seemed to be holding her breath, trying desperately to hear anything, something that would tell her that her companions were alright.

And then she quickly took to the skies, speeding towards the area where the explosion had once been, she looked back at Nue for a second before she soon arrived over at the area where Nue's companions had been fighting with an unknown being. Seija quickly looked down at the scene to get an idea what had happened.

There was a small crater in the center of the battlefield, a big ball of pink smoke stood in the middle, the misty pink form slowly dissipating into the air. On the other side of the crater, a white form was laying on the ground unmoving, near it stood another one, moving slightly, both covered by debris of all sorts. There was no sign of any flying creature.

"Oh shit!" She saw the small crater and she shot down to the ground, she had her hands to her side, ready to call a spellcard at literally any moment something moved in the crater, she was breathing heavily as she descended at the edge of the crater, she looked to see what was in the crater apart from the big ball of pink smoke.

In the middle of the crater stood nothing, rather, if anything had stood there it was whipped out by the explosion.

The pink smoke dissolved completely, revealing a sprawled Ichirin, panting on the ground, grime and sweat covering her blood spattered clothes. Next to her was the were-hakutaku, not looking any better than the nun, sitting on the ground, forehead supported on her knees as she breathed in, attempting to control her breathing. She seemed to have noticed Seija’s presence as she raised her eyes to the amanojaku, but she remained quiet.

She then leaped into the crater, quickly putting her index finger on the nun's neck, attempting to check her pulse, and after feeling a pulse; she attempted to slump the poor nun onto her back. "Don't worry, Yui Kawarau is here now..."

“H-hey, ouch… ghh… Let me go, you half-wit!” She pushed the amanojaku out of her, trembling slightly as pain shoot through her body. “I’m starting to worry because you’re here!” Despite being battered up, the nun seemed pretty much alive and sharp tongued as always.

Keine, on her hand, slowly stood up, a mix of disbelief and sadness on her face as the realization of how destroyed the Village was downed on her.

"I'm helping you! God, don't you people trust me?!" She looked down at Keine, slowly patting her on the back as she bent down. "It's not your fault, whatever the fuck you were fighting did this, with no regards for life..."

“I… know.” The hakutaku’s voice was quiet, as she looked around, having been snapped from her shock by Seija’s words. “But... I couldn’t even defeat it...” Her eyes darted frankly in all directions, then she turned to Ichirin. “Where’s Momiji and Murasa?”

The nun propped herself up, mimicking Keine’s movements. “I…”She looked at the other side of the crater, as she realized with a gasp. “They were on the other side of the crater!”

And without another word, the two rushed to the other side, their wounds laying forgotten as adrenaline, once again, kicked in.

"Hey, you two are still injured!!" She screamed as she quickly followed after the hakutaku and the nun. "You need to go back to Myouren Temple along with that other girl!"

“We’re not leaving them behind!” Ichirin said as she started searching for their missing companions.

“H-hey…” A familiar voice ringed. “Momiji is right here!”

Keine and Ichirin immediately followed the voice, finding Murasa under a pile of rubble.

When the two started removing the rubble from her, the sailor protested. “Ignore me, for god’s sake! I’m a ghost!” She stretched her arm, pointing at the other pile of rubble. “Momiji is right there.”

And they rushed to the tengu.

Seija just stood there dumbfounded by the current events, she pretended to take an crigette to her mouth and pretended to smoke it, to relieve some of the stress. "Good grief..."

Murasa glared at Seija, her urge to pummel the amanojaku only quelled by the situation she was in. She closed her eyes, turning green and blinking out of the pile of debris.

“Momiji!” Keine’s voice was urgent as she held the wolf tengu. “Please, stay with us! You’re going to be fine!”

Her clothes were completely red, not a sliver of white peeking through it, blood came in torrents from the corner of her mouth and her eyes were losing their focus. The wolf opened her mouth to speak, but only a gargled sound came out of her mouth and she coughed more blood. As her body shake, her hand clasped Keine’s blouse weakly, a request reflected in her unwavering eyes. ‘Please, put an end to the culprit. Make it regret what she has done.’ it said.

As the hakutaku nodded firmly, tears filling her eyes, Momiji smiled gratefully, the grip of her hand going slack as she closed her eyes, breathing for the last time.

Seija then tilted her neck for a second, and then she looked down at Momiji, she hadn't even spoke, but to herself, she thought about the aspect of death, she turned away from the group suddenly.

The rest of them were silent, there were quiet sobs coming from Keine but no one dared to speak a word.

“Let’s go back.” Murasa said, her voice barely containing her anguish, and she started walking away.

Seija nodded slowly in agreement as she hadn't dare look Murasa in the eye, she slowly patted Keine on the back again, and she spoke softly. "We'll make sure that she receives a proper burial, and that we make the bastard pay..."

Keine merely nodded at Seija’s words, even if she didn’t say anything, her eyes asked for blood.

Calmly walking the snowy path amidst the sunflowers, the cloaked figure made her way to the only house visible in the distance. Despite the melting snow, an early reminder that Spring was slowly but steadily approaching, her feet made no sound as they connected with the mush under her.

However, as soundless as she might have been, it was apparently not silent enough to go unnoticed by Flower Youkai currently fussing over the yellow flowers as if the skies were brimming with sunlight. An almost imperceptible twitch of her head indicated she had taken notice of her presence, but it was all there was. The green haired continued her gardening, humming softly, silently prepared to lash back should she have changed her mind about their alliance, or so the cloaked figure guessed.

Looking casually at the scarlet sky, she decided to break the silence conversationally. “You act as though we’re in summer. Does this mist not bother your flowers in the slightest?”

Yuuka sighed, "Of course it bothers them. That's why I'm taking extra care to tend to them while this mist lasts. My intuition tells me it will clear up soon, though." She continued to keep her back turned to the figure, and picked up a watering can beside her. Peering in its open top, she noticed it was empty - again. Getting a bigger watering can was going to have to be high priority when she next went to the village. The youkai picked the conversation back up, "How's our fairy friend doing?"

“She’s alive. I very much doubt she is enjoying her quarters but her happiness is completely irrelevant for her purpose.” The cloaked figure crossed her arms. “In any case, her usefulness will soon come to an end.” A smirk formed on her lips. “That aside, must say I’m surprised there was no trap waiting for me here. May I assume that we aren’t going to backstab each other in the near future?”

The youkai did not answer what had been asked, but it was clear she wasn't ignoring it. She turned her head, to show her emotionless face. "Take off your hood."

The creature chuckled. “To confirm the very theory that brought you to that place? Very well, I shall amuse you.” She removed the hood from her head with no hesitation and looking at Yuuka was a light green haired woman, with a familiar pair of red eyes peering with the same intensity as the youkai's. “Was this the answer you were looking for, or perhaps there’s something more?”

"I already knew the answer, but it just wouldn't do for business partners to hide themselves from each other." She looked quizzically at the image of herself. "I'm going to be fairly direct now, and ask you questions until you're unwilling to answer any more. Let's start with what drives you. Why do you attack people, and drain their life?"

Yuuka’s reflection pondered for a bit. “I suppose that, ignoring my companion’s part in this, I drain their life essence so that I, myself can live.” She smiled. “I was a mindless invention of a wild dream, I was not made to wander away from that chaotic agglomerate of night time thoughts. You know very well it’s not a small feat to enter the Dream World with your corporeal body, the opposite is quite true as well. It gets trickier if you don’t have a body per se.” She chuckled. “Their life essence is one of the temporary fuels for my existence here. Soon, Gensokyo will accept me.” She stopped. There was clearly more to it but instead, she looked at the youkai in the eyes. “And you, what would a youkai that already knows the depths of the Dream World want with one of its dwellers?”

The Flower Master shrugged as she spoke, "Ever since the spellcard rules were introduced, life in Gensokyo has been incredibly boring. Particularly recently, with the lack of any interesting incidents, I've had nothing to do but tend to my flowers. I do love my flowers, but what I love more is..." She tightened her fist, "I love crushing weaklings, destroying those who don't have the desire to improve themselves, and the occasional early morning slaughter."

Turning to face the figure fully, she was clearly more focused on her own thoughts than who was in front of her. "I wanted to do something exciting, adventurous, destructive. And what could be more fun than finding a creature from the dream world, befriending them and going on a genocide together? Your priorities lie elsewhere, though, and I was foolish to think I could find anyone with the same values as me." She took a step forward toward the reflection. Even though it was just a mirror image of herself, somehow the real Yuuka was able to seem taller and look down upon them. She showed a large smile, revealing clenched teeth, and her eyes widened. "I'll take the opportunity now to say... we are not on equal terms." She tapped on the mirror, "If you come into my garden, you will do as I say. Your existence in Gensokyo currently rests on an unreliable source of energy, and it is not beyond my power to cut that off from you. However, if you have something diabolical planned, I'm open to helping you with that, in exchange for a single spell that I've been looking for in the dream world for a long time."

“You are right, we aren’t on equal terms.” She crossed her arms, looking smugly at the flower youkai. “Currently, you can’t hurt me. But you are right when you say you can cut off my sustenance. It would be interesting to see you fight against the entire Gensokyo, however.”
Passing around, looking at nothing in particular, the reflection continued talking. “For someone to have an impact in this world, someone has to exist in that world first.” A creepy smirk formed on her lips. “Do you see me as the kind of person who’s wants to exist just to sit down in the middle of the forest, reading books by the fireplace? If so, you are more naïve than anticipated.”

Her eyes fell on the original once again, face serene despite the crazed smirk, thinking quietly as her gazed dwelled on Yuuka’s own. “Catching golden fish is nothing but a game that little children play at the festivals. Hunting whales, however, is far more interesting, is it not? So tell me, is child play what interests you the most?”

"If you think there are any whales left in this world but me, then you are not very strong." she growled angrily. "I'll humour you by joining in with whatever game you are planning, but I can assure you that whichever side I am on will win. So convince me! Why should I help you secure your 'whales'?"

"Because it will be fun." The ripper stated simply, smiling. "You spend your time bored, tending to flowers, getting rid of weaklings that have no hope of defeating you and yet, you yourself, let outsiders rule Gensokyo." She started passing, admiring the yellow flowers of the garden. "Gensokyo needs no gods." A bigger smile formed on her lips. "Gensokyo needs chaos. How amusing would it be to see the hopeless faces of humans when those they believe in stopped existing?" Her eyes fell on Yuuka. "The living creatures of this world interest me. How they react, how they put their complete trust on something other than themselves. I'm not alive so I want to know what look they will have when everything is taken from them. When even those they hope will protect them are gone."

"I have no plans for who rules Gensokyo. I like the natural balance; idealism politics is dangerous for everyone who has to bear witness to it. You can compare the world to flowers - some grow tall and strong, others low and fragile. Some live short and rely on others, others live a long time and survive independently." She plucked a sunflower out of the ground and handed it to the creature, "Sunflowers are perhaps the most descriptive of flowers, since they state not only what they look like but also where they derive their primary source of energy. The sun is relied upon by all flowers, and is comparable to a God relied upon by people." There was a slight frown from Yuuka, "If you seize the sun, the flowers will wilt. I think it's fairly self-explanatory what would happen if you seize the people's Gods."

She leaned on her parasol, and shifted an eyebrow, "However, as nice as my theory may be, a new world order would at least keep me busy for a while. Count me interested, although allow me to keep my garden safe first."

The Ripper accepted the sunflower and she looked at it absentmindedly. “You’re not wrong. But I wonder… It is humans who created the gods. Without faith, gods, just like flowers, will wither and die. The sun needs no flowers to live, however, does it? Witches abhor the gods even if they’re human and yet they live. Aren’t humans closer to be the personification of the sun rather than the gods?”

"In that case, the analogy fails... but I understand what you're saying. My only concern is that Gods exist on faith, not strength. Even the weakest Gods will survive an attack if people have faith in them. So I'm curious as to how you're going to get around this." Her face remained expressionless.

“Yes, gods are thought forms, projections of mass belief. Thoughts and beliefs can be changed, moulded and, ultimately, wiped. To defeat a God, you only need to be stronger than them. It isn’t a hard feat, currently, if you play your cards correctly. One might not be able to destroy a god, but one can destroy beliefs.” She raised her eyes to Yuuka. “I can’t kill them but it is within my power to make them irrelevant. It’s very much in your power as well. There is no bigger feeling of helplessness when you see that in which you so strongly belief get crushed into nothingness in front of your very eyes.” The Ripper smiled. “I think you have as much interest as me in becoming a god, but I feel that witnessing the despair in the face of those who are more interested in hiding behind an idealized picture of divinity instead of growing strong themselves is a mutual interest.” She smelled the sunflower, eyes closed. “I have no sympathy for cannon fodder, insects that have no reason to exist, worms that were blessed with a soul and a body only to live in mediocrity. Call it scientific curiosity, knowing if there are more than one exception to the rule or if there are no other places for humans other than subjugation or extinction.” She passed a bit more, resting the sunflower on the tea table on the flower youkai’s porch. “Humans are extremely interesting, I find. I want to know what makes them tick.”

"From my experience, humans are slow creatures. I don't mean this in the sense they are stupid," she then muttered, " even though they are ," then quickly continued, "but rather in that because their life spans are so short they heavily rely on culture and longstanding institutions in order to foster stability. It is only with stability that self-improvement can be attained by the majority, since only a minority can function well in a chaotic environment."

Yuuka span, almost in a trance, "It's my belief that the humans can change to the point where they all wish to become stronger and break free from their shackles - but it must come slowly. If you force this upon them too quickly, first they will resist, and then they will destroy themselves. I feel that's a result you're comfortable with, though. The thing is, while I would love to see the humans squirm, I also recognise that the humans keep Gensokyo in balance and my life is going to be more annoying than fun if they're gone. How can I be assured that this isn't just a thoughtless experiement and my position won't be at risk?"

“Your words hold truth.” The creature started pondering, the smile ever present. “If all the humans were gone this would be no different than my home.” Her eyes looked up as she searched her mind for a better term. “Or should I say cage? No matter, I digress.”

She met Yuuka’s gaze. “However, it was never my intention to destroy them completely, the Dream World is quite the tedious place when you have lived your whole life there, I have no intention to obliterate all that’s living, that would render my goals futile. Rest assured, that will not happen.” Her eyes closed as she stated what seemed to her an unarguable truth. “Humans are fickle beings, destroy one of their beliefs and they will be quick to replace it, clenching for something that will dull their despair. We only need to crush them one by one, their beliefs and their gods.”

The green-haired flower youkai sighed. "Alright." A pause. "I don't trust you, but I think if you don't keep your word I'm in a good enough position to put you down." She extended a hand, "Most importantly, I'm bored. Working against those do-gooders is more fun than working with them. What's the plan?"

“I would like to—“ The Ripper interrupted her own speech as she looked in the direction of the Village. There was something brightening the skies above it, as if an explosion had occurred. She hummed to herself in thought. “It seems the humans are already being entertained…” It was evident from her expression that whatever had just happened was unexpected to her, she faced Yuuka once more. “I guess that now, this has turned out to be a question of risking to break them or not… well, provided that they don’t break themselves in the meantime.” She smiled. “So, my dear associate, these are the choices…”

Welcome to Seija does fuck all for a collab, featuring Seija Kijin, Muarasa, Ellen and all those extras!

“Aight, a little to the right…” Murasa gestured for Uzan to drop what would become that new house roof. “Drop it.”

Kasen quietly observed the works to restore the Human Village with admiration. Only a couple of days had passed and they had started rebuilding houses and fixing crater, the Myouren people hadn’t spared much time to rest and heal and that alone earned them more respect in her book. It seemed that they had managed to enlist Suika and Yuugi’s help as well, but she was happy that she had managed to avoid them.

Still, it was strange for her, to see both humans and youkai working together for a good cause.

Seija however, had pretty much deserted the helping effort after half a day and she spent the rest of the days pacing around the entrance to the village, she was kicking a stone down the path as well.

Flandre hovered slightly while watching the reconstruction efforts alongside Kasen. She was happy that so many people -even youkai, for that matter- were willing to lend a hand to the destroyed village in order for it to come back to its normal state. However, as happy as she was, Flan couldn't help but be worried. Most of the injured were still in a state of coma, the supposed ripper had vanished without a trace, and most important of all, at least for her, Marisa's location was still unknown. Still, for the past few days, she tried to help as much as she could in the reconstruction, always with a smile.

"So this is the stuff I was missing... To be honest, I was expecting youkai preying on the already weakened humans, not helping them." a young female voice rang behind the two girls, with a giggle. "My stereotypes are probably outdated." her last sentence was accompanied by a small meow coming from the white cat sitting on the girl's shoulder.

The oni blinked for a few moments and then turned back to the voice, a wide grin on her face. “Ellen!” Kasen hugged the girl, surprisingly careful for the excitement in her voice. “Welcome back!” She added with a laugh while mentally adding that some self-control classes were due now that she had left her oni side run rampant. “It’s great to see you back to your feet.”

"Heh, can I begin the ship yet?" Seija smirked as she walked into the village, smiling at the two.

The young vampire was quick to join in the hug, which almost made the blonde witch fall down to the floor. "H-hey! Calm down, you two! You're going to break a bone or something!" she sighed as she managed to restabilize her body to avoid falling down. She hugged both the hermit and the vampire back. "I missed you two." once Ellen heard the amanojaku's snarky comment, she turned her head and winked towards Seija. "Jealous~?" she giggled.

"What the fuck..." She looked at Ellen with extreme confusion and she tilted her head, and then suddenly flipped her off. "Yeah, that's what you deserve."

“Why would you need a ship? We don’t even have a sea.” Kasen asked with a confused frown.

“Land rubes.” Murasa commented as she directed Unzan. “Yeah, that’s the next one.”

“Maybe it’s a flying ship like the Palanquin?” Nue interjected.

“Like you can just build a flyin’ ship, stupid.” The captain replied, getting progressively angry at how ignorant her friends were about nautical transportation.

“We’re in Gensokyo, I’m sure we could create one, idiot!”

“What didja call me?!”

“Hm… Right…” Kasen observed as the other two started debating theories on flying ships creation.

Ellen raised an eyebrow towards Seija's gesture. "Well, that wasn't particulary nice of you." the blonde witch closed her eyes. An idea had just popped into her mind. "Hmm... Say, miss... I wonder if you would be interested in stopping by my house at some point..." she opened her eyes and edged closer towards Seija, her voice adopting a somewhat seductive tone. "You see, I know a fair deal of special spells that would allow me to give you a very special treat~. " she stopped right in front of Seija. "I assure you that you and I would have so much fun together, Ms.Youkai~." she let out a giggle. "Oh, and don't worry about not being interested in female-female relationships... I also know some spells that can easily fix that small problem." she put herself slightly more closer and whispered on Seija's ear. " I'd make sure that you would enjoy every second of it... ♥ " the witch turned around, trying her best to not laugh and ruin everything.

"Wha?!" She shot up, going to grab Ellen by her neck, she smirked evily as she conjured a white arrow in her free hand, pointing the arrow at her neck, her cheeks erupted in a bright blush. "W-w-what are you saying, b-baka!"

Ellen laughed a little. "Oh please, you didn't think I was being serious, did you? To begin with, making me use those spells would cost you. A lot. And on the other hand, I have absolutely no interest in you." she winked at Seija. "Sorry to ruin your dreams~."

"Well then..." The blush died down quickly as it appeared and the arrow disappeared into nothingness, she then muttered a few curse words and lied back down next to the tree.

“For cryin’ out…” A mutter escaped Kasen as she nodded negatively, trying to deal with all the second hand embarrassment while ignoring the confused looks Flan was giving her.

"At least we have humour lady!" She conjured another small arrow and she flicked it, it travelled towards Kasen's head, the arrow was like a tiny pin compared to an ordinary arrow.


The blonde witch laughed a little more at seeing Kasen's negative reaction. "Oh come on, don't look at me like that~. I've been in bed for who knows how long, I needed to have a laugh."

The young vampire looked at Ellen, still confused. "So, uh... What were you talking about when you said all that?"

Ellen giggled a little. "I'm sure your big sister would be willing to tell you when you're older. Isn't that right, Kasen~?"

Kasen tilted her head, avoiding the tiny arrow while shooting Ellen a glare.

"Maybe you should teach her how females can like each other more than friends..." She smiled to herself as she said that, she also smiled at the childlike innocence of Flandre.

"It's not like she doesn't know that, we did read Mari-- Ah, I mean, no, forget that." Kasen averted her gaze to the side. "I still got a lot to live for... I don't wanna die just yet."

Seija sighed as she came closer. "So, how goes the reconstruction of the village?"

“Slower than we’d expect.” Murasa replied, temporarily interrupting her discussion with Nue. “Though, now that we have the oni and the Hakurei shrine maiden helpin’, it will probably go a bit faster.”

“Reimu is here too?” The hermit asked, color slowly draining for her face.

“Yeah, she went batshit when she got here. Ya were lucky to be in the temple…” The captain sighed, regretting the fact she had to deal with Reimu alone. She cocked her head, one brow arched in suspicion. “What’s with ya, anyways?”

“Ah… ahah, nothing. I just remembered… something…” And Kasen made a move to the temple.

"So, fuck, I have to help again, right? If I help, I might cause more damage." Seija chuckled to herself, looking around at the village. "Damn that thing..."

“No, no one asked yer help.” Murasa dead-panned almost immediately.

"Alright then..." Seija slumped next to a tree and she then bent down, stretching her legs and she looked up at the sky. "The sky sure is beautiful again..."

“Yeah.” The captain turned to Unzan again. “That stupid vampire should get her face punched in like a fuckin’ watermelon. If her life is that boring, I wouldn’t mind entertain her by shovin’ my anchor up her ars—“

“Language!” Ichirin’s angry voice pipped in.

The ghost merely rolled her eyes. “Up her rear behind?”

“That’s not the problem in that sentence and you know it.”

“Oh, fuck that! It’s her own fault for being a thoughtless asshole!” She finished annoyed, going back to the pink oversized cloud. “Yeah, get that wall first, big guy.”

“So, what else are we gonna do today?" Seija asked, clicking her fingers.

“I dunno what ya are gonna do, but we have work to do. So, shoo, shoo, go play with yer friends or somethin’.” Murasa replied, making a shooing gesture towards the amanojaku.

"I know you just wanna get rid of me, but you've gotta try harder than that, Miss Murassa."

“Ya’re wrong. I just want ya to stay out of the construction site before ya end up causing more trouble, as ya’ve said so yerself.” She glared at the amanojaku, visibly getting angry again. “And before I lose my temper and fuckin’ hitcha with my anchor for that smartass pun.”

"Can't I just stay under this tree and watch, I won't cause any trouble..." She smirked at Murasa in a mocking tone before she began to tug at the grass. "I'll just have fun with the grass then."

“Yeah, ya do that. At least grass won’t feel like shootin’ their brains out for listening to yer nonsense chatter.” She grumbled before looking back at Seija to emphasize her point. “And that’s only cuz grass ain’t got any brains.”


As her final remark, Seija once again pulled up her middle finger for a second as she quickly went back to tugging grass.

Murasa shrug it off and continued her work.

**Builds a shrine to worship the Blazing Kitty of Cakes**

**Offers ice cream to the shrine**

---

Little hourglass, broken by humans' hands, tenderly loving a handful of tiny, golden sand, again flipped itself.

Even the quiet, quiet gazes they exchanged, were speaking words they neglected on the surface. Did the rain drain what is left of their hearts and souls, vaporize their love altogether with their tears from the past?

Their positions changed, they changed, something changed- a broken point had caused two parallel lines to stray apart, had changed everything. The scent of rain lingered on as if waiting to fade. Rains fade, and rivers one day would also dry. Blinking, blinking, the earth watched as days came to pass. This rain was no longer the past's rain.



“You’re free to join in the fun.”

“It will be to die for.”

To die for!

Raising an arm and break into half the soundless little hourglass... What will the sand feel the moment they left for the new world behind the blackhole?



"Sounds fancy."

Just like the thing called love.

"I will join."

Or only, her love.

If the sand that was left can spring to the sky and vanish, would it not be better than to forever stream through those two pitch black universes?

Her golden dear one had given her the answer.

Now, let's go to the sky!



Muenzuka, the place where the cold winter winds would be the last thing sending chill down the spines of those that ventured there. Scarlet trees wavered ever so slightly, almost as if unscathed by the strong gusts, the green grass expanding under forgotten tombstones, untouched by the snow as if the place belonged to a different world, a different dimension altogether, where it was always autumn. And in the distance, a single, centenary cherry tree with her vast purple cherry blossoms, eternal and uncaring for the change of seasons.

The landscape, as beautiful as it was sent a sense of false calm to any incautious wanderer, who would, undoubtedly, be tempted to absorb, to enjoy the beauty of the landscape, lulled into a false sense of security, inebriated by the sweet scent of acer trees, no different from an insect falling into a flytrap.

However, anyone with a bit of sense and magical sensibility would notice, the thick miasma of grief, pain and guilt that permeated the air, as poisonous as the red Higan flowers that dotted the green grass like blood droplets that had remained, lost in time, to remind everyone of the true nature of the idyllic scenery.

Yes, a place shunned by most youkai, feared by humans. The place where lost and forgotten souls rested, ignored by all even by its peers that resentfully walked the spider lily infested Road of Reconsideration, forgetting that they had done so before when they had decided put an end to their mortal lives, and forgetting they no longer had a body and that they no longer needed to breathe, condemned to repeat an endless path to reconsider something they no longer could.

There was not a single sliver of hope, of happiness or acceptance, the thick mass of sorrow was like a fog that hid anything good behind its impenetrable curtain.

Marisa landed at the entrance of the graveyard, her boots connecting with the soft grass soundlessly. There was only silence, apart from the slight rustling of the tree leaves. She felt Alice landing at her side and she started walking, wandering aimlessly through the graveyard. Something in her had been telling her that the wretched sigil would react as she got closer, and after a few minutes of walking it got confirmed as the burning on her neck started and she winced slightly, walking left and right in an awkward game of Hunt the Thimble.

It was a common, ordinary tombstone, there was nothing interesting or noteworthy about it. Just an old slab of granite, its shine lost to time, with a faded engraving of the soul’s name.

“Layla Prismriver.” The witch read out loud, having removed the moss that had claimed half of it.

Giving two steps back, and without a shred of hesitation or even decency, Marisa pointed her hakkero at the grave, expertly making a shallow enough hole to see the remnants of what appeared to be a casket. Jumping unceremoniously into the hole, she started digging industriously.

Her gut was warning her already, that the three musicians wouldn’t sit idly through it.


The scent of higanbana corpses lingering on her steps, the path she treaded alongside that one who by now had gone quiet.

Red flowers, bright red flowers clouding the ground, as if on her way here, the sunset had somehow been flipped. The petal she clasped in her palms, hastily fell on the casket, as if embracing the sleep that was disturbed.

Pale white hands like carrying a fire on their own, diligently digging into pebbly ground, ground that was supposed to be unable to foster life to begin with, only capable of tearing blood from human hands.

"Do you want my help, Marisa?"

If even the tiniest drops of blood no longer escape her sight, perhaps, she had turned into an animal?

No less than a potato, and no more than a potates.

If you are a potato, from what eye are you looking to the world? (*)

“No.” The black and white answered without sparing a second. “Warn me if you see anyone coming.” False words, even as her hands clawed at the dirt she was keeping check on her surroundings, but she hoped this would keep the puppet master distracted.

If silence could be interpreted as an affirmative answer, then that's how they would be, now, and probably forever. Like potatoes, underground, silent, hidden behind thick skins, not facing each other.

The upstreaming wind carried the scent of rusty, dusty music, whispering into her ears the sugarcoated lies. Under the sunlight, she saw them moving forwards, ice cream and chocolate layered children, the incomplete pieces of the no less broken orchestra. (**)

Swirling trumpet shining as brightly as the child's smile.

"Such a coincidence, miss magician... Ah, no, miss youkai magician and miss human magician."

Such existence not belonging to any category, making remarks on species so casually. A part of her wondered, if they had to classify, which side of the river those three would be in, if rejected the sky of the "unchanging". This battle here, somehow, was human, and youkai, against ghosts, those who should not have left the gentleness of the pure land.

The feet of those two that float, and the feet of them that touched the ground, told a long story about the weight of life.

"How do you do, miss youkai magician?"

Grinning brightly, as if pulling her closer to "that side", hiding behind the trumpet that was the cause of pain. She could not have but questioned herself, what answer that child had taken from her silence that probably both sides expected.

How lonely, two pieces of the puzzles of three...

“Oh, so you did come.” Marisa commented casually, forcibly removing the top of the casket with loud creaks that could almost overcome her own voice. “I can’t tell if you’re crazy or stupid.”

And with a slam, the top of the decaying casket was tossed aside unceremoniously, raising with it dust from the ground. “But, since you’re here…” Her arms outstretched at her sides, she took a bow, then a humorless smirk. “How about a magic trick?”

Akin to the fires of hell, her neck burned but a mix of magic potion and customariness dulled the pain and black was the color that threatened to paint her heart once again.

With a violent push, her leg rammed itself down on whatever was under her feet making the sound of old bones cracking accompanied by decrepit wood and then, with a upwards jerk of her leg, she kicked something up, something black, something that reflected the light of the sky. Before the ghosts could reach it, the small hand mirror shone for a second, fleetingly gracing everyone’s eyes before the thief playing magician deftly moved her witch hat holding arm in a circle, catching the mirror inside of it in mid-air.

There was no expression on her face, but the look of defiance in her eyes shone brighter than the sun. Turning her hat upside down, she shook it up and down, proving that there was no longer anything inside of it.

“And. It’s. Gone. Ta daa!” And she put her hat back atop of the golden mess of hair, no amusement in her demeanor but an obvious sense of accomplishment shining through it. “I don’t do reruns.”

"...You really did it."

As shadowfrost casted its gloom, the spring on the children's smiles faded into winters, true to the season they were in. The dusts of their sister, what used to be their sister, flowed in the air, like a small animal with stealthy claws clutching in their hearts. Pseudo hearts, racing against the beats of humans.

"How cruel."

Piano playing red and yellow notes, their requiem the world sang for them.

Was this a dream?

Children of long, overdue winter days coming into spring, the winter day with flowers falling from the sky, above the clouds, together they faced the same opponent.

I saw deep red...

"Well, if it saves you the troubles though."

The breeze that flowed through their fingers, told a story about time. Their time that started because someone's time had ended. Time that left them behind in its haste, that kicked them to the sideway, away from the red rooftops and pitch black trains with pure white smoke, of memories that weren't supposed to be theirs to begin with.

"We are not going to leave corpses, anyway."

This is, the fight of two.

And the departure of two.

This dream, fostered by colorful bullets, ruffling the young leaves and scarlet flower buds, harboring the lives of golden notes waltzing together on five lines, monochrome as they used to be...

With sharp borders, they grazed, the lasers following no beat.

"'Campanella,' said Giovanni, turning toward him, 'we're going to stick together, okay?'" (***)

Like waves, the bullets threw themselves forwards.

"But there was no Campanella where Campanella had been sitting, only the black shining velvet seat." (****)

Her blue thin bullets appeared in thin air, formed scorching lines like sunbeams. There her sister leapt, above them all, forming a curtain of golden orbs, like a pack of untamed dogs out to hurt.

"Allegretto [La Campanella]".

The suns swayed, rolled and dashed, forming circles and pentagons. On her hands, the trumpet slept. She remembered them all- their lights together, their joy together, and their time together. If her music could arouse a time past, then there was...

There is...

"What, after all, is Campanella's wish?"


‘Aah ah… where have I heard this before…?’ Eyes closing into darkness, the witch listened to the song of the piano and of the bullets, of the rustling leaves and of the silence. ‘Such a beautiful song.’

It sang of happiness, of the moon and warm nights, of the tender breeze lazily puffing in the blossoming spring trees. It sang of passion and, above all, of a light, so warm and gentle it would make envious the sun.

Such a delicate melody, heartfelt, coming from the depths of that heart that had existed and maybe still did.

Sight still shrouded in black, her arm stretched to the side calling for her broom to become, once more, an extension of herself. The bamboo object twirled from its resting place to its owner’s hand, almost as if encompassing the music.

Those feelings, so passionately conveyed into black and white keys, so sincere…

It angered her.

Golden orbs, finally peering through the veil of darkness they had voluntarily cast upon themselves, were stark in contrast with the gentleness of the initial notes, cold and unwavering they stood, refusing to be swayed by the warmth of the piano.

‘If you can sing so honestly about your light…’

Icy. She felt icy.
Not her body.
Her heart, it was ice cold.

‘How dare you to try snuffing mine away?!’

With no fear, no restraints, no thoughts and no plans, both broom and witch whizzed through the bullets, their recklessness akin to a storm. Like thunder they moved carelessly onto their enemies, intemperance their only master.


The heartfelt sunbeams danced like bees in a waltz, flying fiercely but elegantly towards their target. But she cared for no stings or burns.

Allegretto! Allegretto!

The bullets were rocks as they hit her, beams like sunlight burning through her coat and skin, and yet the speed held the witch in place.

Oh, unseeing abandon, this isn’t not enough!

Fangs bared and yellow eyes working in a fury, following the intense brightness of the golden orbs rapidly approaching.

Allegro! Allegro!

The broom swerved and veered in an S, gaining speed, the pulse of the zipping sun miniatures making it quake with instability, their impossible temperature biting the magician’s face like angry hounds.

Hand out-stretched with a card between its fingers, eye closed in a wince, voice tempestuous.

“Black Magic [Event Horizon]!!”

An unlike its name, a myriad of colorful magical circles materialized themselves around the caster, each of them spouting colorful, bright starts, the sigils quickly converging on the magician as if hugging her, only to grow apart in a petal pattern, turning the sky into a vibrant flower.

The starts flung themselves against their targets, an impenetrable mantle crashing down on their enemies from all sides, a nonsensical pattern from someone who was giving her command to anger.


How colorful, the sky that shattered into countless pieces, rained down atop their heads, as if a galactic meteor had finally reached out to their nights of prayers.

Golden bullets crashing to the ground, tearing new caskets for the old air. Dusts raged up in an army, blocking what was left of her visions that were already far too easily clouded in colors.

Slash, slash, stab, thrush, arrows of colored fury aimed at them, like a--

Her mind went blank.

"Wha, dodge!"

Red overlapped with her sight, dark red vermillion, like the sleeves of her child sister thrashing in anger as she flapped and flopped and dodged, like a piece of phloem tattered in the wind. Like her blood gushing through her arms, neck, the top of her cheeks, as fake as their lives were.

Her sharp darts in the shape of the sounds surrendered before that ridiculous rain filled with violent intentions. They were supposed to buy time, they were, and yet their hourglass were already broken to begin with.

"To your left!"

The moment she wobbled behind, her child sister dashed on her feet to charge ahead, like flying, like fading, into the barrage of bullets. That child had taken back her place in the lead- the primo had soared back to its stage. In the symphony, the keyboard reclaimed its reign.

"Hey, snap out of it! Sister!"

The blade-like nails of her child sister plunged into her wrist, pulling her out of the way of a gleaming sun orb. A patch of her hair burnt to a crispy color, she lashed out a thunderous wave, her voice as bullets crashed and clashed and boomed like popcorns was clearer than anything.

If the river of blood that dripped from her heads was not a lie, it almost seemed like someone was crying blood.

"Sister, I want to live."

Their backs glued against each other's, she struggled to recall the image of her child sister facing the enemy herself like this time.

"So please, let's start."

The hands clasping together like a prayer, behind the arms that waved like a pair of wings. There was an arrogantly sly voice coming from somewhere, shouting at the enemies she no longer had in her eyesight, "Gotta be stronger, good friend!"

Under her eyelids, the melody of two lost children flowed through her dear trumpet. Campanella and Giovanni had parted ways at Coalsack.

Even Presto agitato was preceeded by Allegreto.

Flames lit at home, sapphires gleaming covered in soft sweet lemon chiffon, notes dampered in the smoke, the melody leaping from yesterday to the now, the sight of two little fingers intertwined in a promise--

"Merlin, please help..."

"Fantasia [Moonlight Sonata]."

"...us."

---

SPOILER: Click to show

(*)
(Potatoes have no faces, silly Alice.)
(Also, silence where? She just said no. Get your brains together, woman!)
(Bug Banner: "Don't try to mess with Bug's brain. That thing doesn't exist.")
(Pretending is fun tho~)
(But I'm not kasha's zombie : ( I need no pretending to have brain!)
(Go away, Bug, praise the potato overlords!)
(No, Lord Ginseng is better.)
(Praise the light!)
(All hail the Lord of Light! May he grant salvation to us children!)

Proto you are forever our inspiration

(**) (And this remained incomplete, the irony xD)
(Forever incomplete, forever, FOREVER)

(***),(****): Excerpts from Night on the Galactic Railroad, Kenji Mizayawa, 1927

La Campanella

Piano Sonata

LET THE SHIPPING COMMENCE!!

“Fuck, it’s so boring now...” Seija sighed as she continued to pull grass, by the time she had stopped her eternal torture of grass, there was a giant dirt circle where she had pulled from.

“Y’know what’s borin’? Listenin’ to yer complains all this time!” Murasa grumbled, annoyed. “I swear, if I wasn’t already dead, I’d have shot myself in the head!” She squinted her eyes, analyzing if the house in front of her was done.

“Oooh~ I heard if ya do that, some spirit comes out and fights for ya!” She chuckled as she slowly stood up, brushing dirt off her legs and smiled at Murasa. “But then again, maybe you’re the spirt who fights for someone, like me!”

“Oh, definitely!” The sailor turned around to Seija with a smile. “I can’t wait to throw my undead life in front of ya in order to protect and serve you!” Her eyes went half-lidded as she rolled then. “Pffft.” She waved the amanojaku’s remark off as she continued to another house to check the damages. “If anythin’ else, the poor rubes that get close to ya are the ones who need protectin’.”

“Like you?” Seija came up behind her, she was still smiling as she lifted up a hand, and attempted to put said hand onto her right shoulder. “Oh, you are truly my knight shining armour!”

The sailor rolled her eyes again and then looked at Seija’s hand and then at her eyes. “Why are ya still here?” There was no anger or annoyance in her voice this time, it was a genuine question. “The hermit and her merry group of friends have already left, but ya’re still here.” She crossed her arms, eyes still locked with the amanojaku’s. “Ya have nowhere else to go?”

She looked down at the floor suddenly as she sighed. “Yep, I’m what you call a hobo, kicked out of my castle and on the run, maybe I’ll go back to Satori or something...” She then looked at Murasa, hope filled in her eyes. “And what about you? What are you gonna do when this all ends?”

“The same ol’thin’ as always, I guess.” Murasa’s eyes clouded a bit as memories coursed through her mind. “I have no plans, I have no personal goals. I was just a hate filled creature when Hijiri found me, causin’ people to suffer… that was the only thought in my mind.” A sigh she didn’t know she was holding escaped her lips. “I’m happy where I am now, I like serving Hijiri, she deserves to have loyal friends’round her.” A smile crept on her lips. “She was the only one foolish enough to give a lowlife like me a chance she didn’t deserve.”

“I guess we were on the same boat, I bet you think of me the same people once thought of you right? We were once the same...” She took a step back, her smile has dissolved into a straight and emotionless face.

Murasa merely laughed, a creepy smirk forming on her face. “Ya say some funny thin’s. Nay, ya wrong.” There was an odd shadow covering her emerald eyes as if they were the depths of the ocean itself, dim and murky. Something about her aura felt off for a moment and she chuckled, a pleased, amused tone taking the place of the serious one she had used up until then. “I was much worse.” Her slack hand twitched slightly as if, for a moment, she wanted to clench it and her eyes looked at the ground, her smirk disappearing completely as well as her tone, she clamped her jaw, apparently collecting herself. “No, we ain’t the same.” She looked at Seija’s eyes, the murkiness in her orbs gone. “I can’t be redeemed of my actions.”

Seija titled her neck and looked at Murasa, she just began to tap her foot suddenly. “You were worse? What did you do then? Why are you unredeemable then?” She glared her, her red eyes glared deeply into Murasa’s eyes.

Murasa frowned, suddenly reminded that those were memories she didn’t want to relive. “That’s all ya need to know. I dun feel like talkin’ about it.” She turned around, starting to walk away, at the same time running from the things she didn’t want to admit she had done. “It’s gettin’ dark, we should head back.”

“Well, where the fuck are you gonna go? Wherever you go, I’m going to follow you... as a friend of course!”

“Of course y’are, I dun wanna see ya wander’bout the Village to destroy what we’ve rebuilt.” The captain walked towards the Temple. “And we’re gonna head back to the Temple, of course, where else?”

“I have no idea...” She followed closely behind Murasa, she was attempting to walk besides her. “We should stop our stupid bullshit arguments and at least find some common ground right?”

“Aight, then, you stop doin’ dumb stuff that I’ll stop complainin’ about the dumb stuff ya do.” The sailor deadpanned. “That’s our middle ground.”

“Right, I can surely stop my dumb stuff, just keep me far, far away from Utsuho...”

“Yeah, because now it’s not yer fault, it’s the birdbrain’s.” The sailor glared at the other girl.

“Do you want me to say it’s my fault... I can admit my faults, I did that earlier! Let’s drop this subject!” She threw up her hands as she sharply spoke at Murasa, now speeding up her power walk, attempting to get a head of the sailor.

“Yeah, yeah.” The sailor smacked the back of Seija’s head as she passed by her. “This time’round, if ya cause problems to Hijiri, I will tie ya sorry ass to my anchor and throw it to the Sanzu!” She added with a menacing voice.

There was a quiet slap as she tilted her head back as she glared at her, but she smiled still at her “Just killing me won’t get rid of Yui!”

“Yui doesn’t exist to begin with.” Murasa dead-panned.

“And neither does Murasa, what’s to say we just exist in some’s child mind?” She glared at Murasa, annoyed at her dead panning.

“What I mean is, ya can’t simply become someone else just by changing yer name. That’s dumb. Changin’ requires work and effort, it ain’t that easy.” The sailor glared at the amanojaku. “And ya haven’t changed all that much from what I’ve seen, so there’s that.”

“I’ll... Prove you wrong... It’s not like you’ve changed a bit in your life time...” Seija muttered.

“Ya dun know me. Ya only realized who I was after ya came here, so I don’t think your opinion on how I have changed or not matters much.” Murasa stated in a matter of fact way.

“..Let’s just get to the temple, I’m sure we could have a debate in private...” She continued to rush, not looking at Murasa as she power walked to the temple.

“Talk in private, she says. There’s no one’round here…” Murasa sighed, walking to the Temple.

Collab with Dani. And stuff.

Featuring the only time when Star and Luna will be useful in the entire RP.

---

The two light fairies landed in front of the shrine's door. "Do you think she'll be home?" the moonlight fairy asked.

"Probably. I mean, what are the chances that she actually went and tried to solve the incident without anyone prodding her?" Star began to knock on the door. "Heeey! Red-white! We need to talk to you! It's very important!" she waited for an answer, but there was none. "... We have a really big donation to make, you know!" still no answer. Star turned to face her companion. "You're not muting my voice, are you?"

Luna shook her head, before talking. "Well, I guess we should take all this money and bring it to that other shrine with the green-haired girl! I'm sure they would be willing to accept it!" she turned around and started to walk away from the shrine. Star soon followed her. "This'll probably work, if what the other fairies said is true. She can't stand watching people go to that other shrine, according to them."

Reimu tiredly climbed the stairs to her shrine. She had been working nonstop for some days and had been driven out of the Village by Byakuren who insisted she was causing more trouble than helping in her sleep deprived state.

Reaching the top, she saw the two fairies walking around near the shrine and frowned. “Hey, what are you two doing here?” Her voice went dangerously low. “If you’re preparing another one of your stupid pranks, I’ll throw you into the Sanzu myself.”

Both fairies let out a small scream once they noticed Reimu. Luna was the first one to speak in a hurried tone. "Oh, you weren't inside the shrine? Well that probably means you didn't hear anything we said which is great and all. Anyway, we were just passing by so we'll be taking our--" her mouth was covered by Star's hand, interrupting her.

"Luckily for you, red-white, this time we don't have any pranks to make, not that I'd want to make any without Sunny around. We came here because we something veeeeery important to tell you, you see~." Star pulled off an innocent smile while looking at the shrine maiden.

The shrine maiden scratched her head annoyed. “Yes, yes, I’m sure you do.” Then she glared at Star. “If it’s really that important then start talking because I’m in no mode for fairy nonsense.” She crossed her arms, still glaring at the fairy, waiting for her to spill it out.

"Uh... Y-y-yeah..." Star sweated a little upon seeing Reimu glaring at her. "Anyway, so we found out this thing about the incident..." Star slowly began to explain everything Dai had told her through... telepathy? She wasn't really sure how to call it, but it's not like that was actually important.

The shrine maiden had remained quiet through all the conversation, her face turning serious once she head a mention of the dream world and then it clicked in her mind. “That winged psycho…” Her eyes went hide. “I remember now, I faced her in the Dream World!” She gritted her teeth, regretting having listened to Yuyuko a let the creature roam free once again.

“Argh!” She ruffled her hair nervously. “Where on earth is that dumb Marisa when I need her?!” Her eyes turned to the fairies again. “Can you still communicate with Daiyousei?”

Star rubbed her chin. "I dunno. I haven't heard her since the conversation ended, but then again I haven't asked either..." she raised her head and talked to the air, like if doing that would somehow make the green-haired fairy hear her words better. "Hey! Dai! Can you hear me?"



Inside her own mind Star could hear a few, quiet, distorted words. The voice shut up for a while before speaking once more, this time much clearer. "I'm here. Although I don't know for how much longer me or my friend can keep this going. What is it?" Dai's voice asked.

The starlight fairy looked at Reimu. "Apparently I can still talk to her, want me to ask her something?"

“Did she see anyone with angel wings there?” Reimu questioned, as she crossed her arms once again, thinking. “Or anyone blonde with a maid outfit.”

Star passed over the question to the green-haired sprite, by screaming the question to the air. "I don't think I saw anyone like that here. The person who threw me into the cell was cloaked, so..." The starlight fairy looked back at the shrine maiden and shook her head.

Putting a hand on her chin, the miko thought for a while. “Marisa probably knows something already…” She said, more to herself than her fairy companions. Her eyes stared at them once again. “Have you seen her around?”

This time, Luna was the one to answer. "Not at all. The last time we were aware of the black-white's whereabouts, it was when we asked Dai and Cirno to go after you both because we thought that you were the ones who put Sunny in a coma." she sighed "That was weeks ago, though."

“Why would we even…” Reimu frowned. “You’re always hanging around Marisa, how come that now that I want to know where she is, you’re useless?” She sighed in defeat and looked in the direction of the Lake of Blood and then she narrowed her eyes, never removing them from the place, and then in a cold voice. “Who betrayed Daiyousei?” It was a blank voice, devoid of any emotions, as if anticipating the answer.

The black-haired fairy passed over the question once more, but her answer were quiet, distorted words that eventually became clear once more. "It was a woman with green hair, red eyes... I think her name was... Yuuka Kazami?" Star looked at the shrine maiden and gave her Dai's answer.

“Yuuka…” Reimu repeated. Her eyes closed for a bit as if she was considering her options. She turned on her heels and started walking towards the temple. “I’ll investigate this. Thanks for warning me.”

The starlight fairy waved at the shrine maiden. "Glad to help! We'll take care of the shrine while you're away!"

Luna looked at her friend. "... What are you thinking, Star?" she only received a small giggle as an answer.

"Star. I'm gonna be cutting off the connection. Thanks for lending me a hand, and I'll try to contact you again should something come up... Once again, thanks." and with that, the sprite's voice suddenly vanished from Star's mind.

"Stay out of my shrine!" Came Reimu's half-hearted and tired yell as she slammed the sliding door of her shrine.

FORBIDDEN LOVE GO!
Murasa followed Seija, not making much of an effort to keep up with her as the amanojaku furiously walked into the empty altar room as if she already knew the house.

‘Makin’ yerself a lil’ too much at home, huh?’ The ghost questioned the other in her mind, her brow twitching slightly at how shameless Seija could get.

Calmly, as if not to make too much of a ruckus, the sailor slid the door close and turned at the annoyed black head, who was now impatiently tapping her foot. Murasa crossed her arms, arching one of her brows. “Whaddya want to talk about anyways?”

“I think you should know Miss Murasa.” The amanojaku smirked Murasa and she conjured a white arrow and span it around in her hand, almost acting like a self-made compass. “We should talk about our next steps, are we gonna get involved in any more fighting?”

“Haa… weren’t ya, like, angry about me tellin’ you to stop pretending someone ya’re not just a minute ago?” She frowned. “Tryin’ to keep up with ya is hopeless, ain’t it?” She sighed. “’nyways, I think it’s more than likely we get into another fight, we need to get rid of those bastards.”

“My mind is like hell, it’d take more than a ghost to understand it.” She brushed off Murasa’s words, she was still smirking at her, in a taunting way.

“Yeah, apparently.” The ghost dead panned. “What exactly do ya want? I mean, why do ya keep annoyin’ me in specific?” She made a wave with her arm indicating another part of the temple. “Ichirin or Nue are just as annoyable, do them next.”

“Maybe I’ll gather all of you Myourens folk around the campfire and I can annoy the shit outta them too...”

The sailor could feel her temperament seething as she saw the amanojaku actually pondering that. “Oi.. Ya wanna get kicked outta here too?”

“My my, aren’t we getting steam, wouldn’t it better to contain your anger like me? It’s much better, and less chance of me eating one of your world famous anchors.”

A twitching hand slid down the captain’s face as she clenched her jaw and spoke between clamped teeth. “Is there… a purpose to this dumb conversation?”

“There is a purpose, but first....” She stopped smiling and it slowly morphed into a serious face, her teeth grinded against each other. “You need to lower your anger, I haven’t done anything wrong yet...”

“Ya’ve done plenty wrong ‘till now.” Murasa stated, frowning. “And ya’re wastin’ my time! I have more stuff to do than to listen to yer crazy ramblin’s about nothin’ at all!”

“...Fine, what do you want to talk about since clearly, I am not worth listening to...” She frowned back at her, a frowning contest between the two “And clearly, the Ripper is a priority right?”

Murasa threw her arms forward in frustration. “Ya are the one who said ya wanted ta talk!! I thought ya wanted ta talk about somethin’ serious!” If she had eaten the sun god instead of Okuu, she was sure she would be burning down the tatami under her this instant. “I wouldn’t mind listenin’ to ya if ya want to talk about whatever problems ya have! But I ain’t gonna waste my time jokin’ around about stuff, cuz I ain’t in a mood to freakin’ joke!”

“...And I got what I wanted...” With that, she did the same but then began to walk withdraw from Murasa’s anger and wrath, walking to the side of her, and walking outside of the temple.

“Oh, no, no!” The captain grabbed the back of Seija’s shirt, stopping her from moving away further. “Ya ain’t gonna guilt trip me about screamin’ at ya!”

“You didn’t even guilt trip me, you know, this is a regular thing with us, we were meant for each other!”

“’Meant for each other’? The hell are ya talkin’ about…” The sailor’s voice trailed off as the implications downed on her and she immediately let go of Seija, her jaw semi-slack, her expression a comical mix of confusion, awkwardness and whatever expression people do when they’re about to have a heart attack. For the first time in ages, it seemed that ghost was frozen to the ground.

“Oh, look at that, I broke you... Sorry!” She chuckled at Murasa’s expression. “Instead of being a guardian, you should become a clown!”

There was no warning or time to react, out of the blue, one ghostly hand got a hold on Seija’s head and promptly swung it hard against one of the temple’s pillars. The amanojaku’s head connected to it painfully enough to draw blood and let her seeing stars. There were no words exchanged or sounds other than rushed, furious footsteps making their way out of there.

Having collided with the pillar with such force she collapsed to the floor seconds later, bleeding from the point of impact, but she smiled as she laid there knocked out.

We bring you, Gensokyo High School Love Edition, buy now!

Someone started poking at Seija’s face insistently, two voices seemed to ring both close by and far away at the same time.

“You think she’s dead? That’s so scary…”

“She isn’t dead.” A pause. “Why are you scared of all the people?”

“Corpses are scary though…”

She remained lying on the floor, twitching as her face was touched, and then she lashed out, going to grab the two fingers touching her face.

"Oi, this face is for Yui only..."

“Wah, she moved!”

“I told you she was alive.” The owner of the fingers stated. “Why exactly are you on the floor? You’re in people’s way.”

"Ughhh... My head, what the fuck happened..." She let go of their poor fingers as she rubbed her forehead, there was the slight drop of blood on her fingers, most of it lied on the pillar where she had collided, her nose had also been crooked slightly.

The nue now on clear focus looked at the pillar, then back at the amanojaku. “If I had to guess, you made Murasa angry.”

“Woah, that’s even scarier…” A blue haired girl wielding a parasol commented with a shiver as she looked at the huge dent the pillar was now displaying.

"Yeah, all I did was say something, and then BAM!" She whacked her fist into her right hand, replicating the sound of her head hitting the pillar. "How long was I out for?"

“Yeah, you must’ve said something nice~” Kogasa said with a chuckle.

“How should we know how long you were out for? We just randomly found you there.” The nue’s eyes fell on the blood scattered on the floor. “Dirtying the floor.”

"We're in a temple full of injured people, of course there are gonna be dirtiness, you god damn clean freaks..."

“We let it slide when they didn’t get hurt out of stupidity.” Nue stated bluntly.

"Oh thanks for your kind words..." She also responded bluntly as she began to look around, something was beginning to eat away at her, something called guilt.

A smirk grew on the Nue’s features. “Feeling guilty? Well, I have no idea where she ran off to so, good luck with that.” She patted Seija’s shoulder as she walked past her.

She quickly dragged up her middle finger as Nue walked away, she also mouthed 'fuck you' aswell as she began to walk into the general direction of the temple exit.

“Where are ya going?” The little parasol wielding youkai asked, looking at her.

"Going to find Murasa, what do you think?"

“How exactly are you going to find her? She can be anywhere.” The youkai shrugged. “She lives here, she’ll probably get back here. Probably angrier.”

"I would use my trademark words, but she'd kill me, at this point, I wouldn't be surpised if I did, I told too many lies that she'd never believe me..."

“What did you tell her anyways? I mean, it’s easy to get her moody but getting her that angry…” Her eyes looked at the pillar once again.

"If you even chuckle, I have permission to bring your face into the floor, and you'll be the fucking umbrella that was left behind..." She glared at Kogasa as she suddenly came behind her, cracking her knuckles. "...And by the way, I said I love her..."

“WHA?! Wow!” The bake looked surprised and slightly embarrassed now that she knew the answer. “Wait.. how? How did you get a crush on her? Did you guys know each other before this?”

"...I guess the crush sorta happened, it's a crushing feeling that I most likely broke her heart with my words of poison..."

“No, huh, you probably said something really stupid after that, didn’t you?” The bicolored eyed girl shrugged with condescendence. “Who would even slam someone’s skull against a pillar after they had confessed?”

"Well, I guess I said it at a really bad time and she thought it was a joke and well, that's how I ended up." Seija grumbled.

“Wow, you’re really terrible with social interactions, aren’t you?”

"Yeah, I'm surprised I've been keeping up this chat without you getting pissed off at me..."

“Weell… I’m usually the one who people get angry at so…” The light blue haired girl said with a nervous chuckle. “I get you, somewhat.” She looked at her eyes. “Just be honest with your words. If there’s something Murasa admires is honesty.”

"Sorta hard when two things you've said to her became lies, and I think she doesn't tend to forgot what you did, no matter what you do to fix that, but yet, you've been through a crush phase right?"

“No, I haven’t.” Kogasa shrugged. “But I doubt you didn’t say something to make her think you were joking. She’s pretty level headed when you’re speaking seriously with her. Her reaction is weird.”

"That's Murasa for you..." Seija sighed. "I guess I have to go and find her, and tell her how I feel about her..."

The youkai girl twirled the parasol in her hand. “Good luck with this then. Give her some roses when you apologize.” She chuckled as she started walking away. “That always works.”

"Right, I'll keep that in mind..." She began to wander into the village, in hopes of finding the captain who cannot handle love.

The village was slowly returning to its normal activity even though it there was an evident sense of fear and suspicion lingering in the air.

Seija wandered the streets full of unfamiliar faces for hours without finding any signs of the sailor.

Speaking to an elderly woman was Kosuzu, an awkward expression on her face as she tried to discuss something with her, at her side stood a tall woman with glasses, passively listening to the conversation as she smoked from a pipe.

The old lady shot Seija a nasty look and she started leaving.

“Ah…” Kosuzu started and then sighed deeply.

The tall woman looked at Seija, a pleasant smile on her lips. “Pay that woman no mind. It’s only natural some will suspect youkai more than usual after the latest events.” She took a puff from her pipe.

The librarian nodded negative as she watched the woman leave. “It doesn’t mean I’ll just let it happen without doing anything…”

“Yes, I suppose.” The woman’s eyes didn’t leave Seija’s. “I can’t see I’ve seen anyone with that description, did you?” She looked at Kosuzu.

The short girl looked at Seija. “You mean Miss Murasa? She was wandering about near the forest, said she was going to get some wood.” Kosuzu pointed. “I haven’t seen you in a while, are you alright?”

"...I've been in a lot more shit since we last met, but I hope you are doing well..." The amanojaku merely thought to herself for a while, thinking why she had gone to the woods alone. "And who's the tall woman?"

“I’m just a regular in Kosuzu’s shop, pay me no mind.” The woman waved her off with a smile.

“You didn’t go off and beat more bar owners, did you?” Kosuzu frowned a bit with concern.

"Well, no; it was something worse than that..." Seija said, eyes downcast.

“Killing people is wrong.” The woman said, a finger raised explicatively.

“What?!” Kosuzu looked shocked from Seija to the woman.

The woman laughed. “Calm down, it clearly isn’t that.” She took a puff from her pipe once again, her eyes twinkling slyly. “Love at first sight doesn’t exist. Love takes time, and love takes work. At the very least you have to know the other person.” The smoke from the pipe rose up. “Be honest, talk with her, get to know her. No harm will come if things are done in the correct sequence.” Her smile grew a bit. “There is no such notion as building a house starting with the roof.”

"How the fuck do you even-..." She sighed as she glared at the smoking woman, she had hidden her face in the safety of her hands, although there was the bright pink blush.

The librarian seemed to be confused for a bit. “Oh! You like someone?” She sounded cheerful. “Who is it?”

The woman interrupted the excited girl. “Create the pillars to support your relationship first. If the pillars are strong enough then, it will be natural that it grows to something greater.” Her hand lightly touched Seija’s shoulder. “She will listen to you if you speak from your heart.”

"Well, if a pillar can become one from a house, I guess I just need her more than ever..." She suddenly nodded at the woman and she bolted towards the forest, leaving the poor confused people in her dust.

Kosuzu looked at the woman. “That’s unfair, I wanted to know more about it!”

The woman chuckled, looking at Seija rushing off. “That has nothing to do with us.” She turned away and went off her way as the librarian begrudgingly tagged along.