Scene #4383: Voyage of Fallen Shadows

Owner	Pose
Konoe Kanno	The world, this particular world, is as it appears. Desolate. Devoid of life. Not a single blade of grass, nor the chitter of a small animal, or the voice of a single man. There was nothing here. Nothing at all. This silent battlefield. Likely having been this way for centuries, is all that remains. At a seemingly random point in this barren warground, a natural warpgate has formed, allowing visitors(whyever would you come here?), to gain entry with no resistance. And it is several meters ahead, that the familiar red, gold, and white form of Konoe can be seen. She has her back to the warpgate, and doesn't seem to register that others may in fact be arriving. She only stares on ahead into this silvery grayscaled world, red eyes peering left, and then right at the endless array of ancient, black weaponry embedded into the ground, weathered tassels swaying in the empty winds. Her ears twitch, and the miko then proceeds forward at a slow clip, moving with an intent that says that she's looking for something, but she's not exactly sure what. The others are going to have to play catch up, once they finish taking in the immediate scenery of utter grayscale, being at complete odds with their own colorful selves.
Sarah Parsle	Sarah isn't quite grayscale, but let's just say she blends into this place a lot better than most. The ecto-youth arrives through the Warpgate, peering about at the envrionment with the practiced expression of someone who makes sure they're not about to facecheck into a high level instance. She doesn't have /that/ many lives, after all. Still, the young girl shuffles forward, trying to get within shouting distance of the kitty miko. "HEY! CA- KONOE!" Sarah yells. "WHAT THE CRAP ARE YOU DOING HERE?"
Kotone Yamakawa	The warp gate ripples for amoment as Kotone Yamakawa exits it and she pauses for a moment. She's wearing far different clothing from the last time Koonoe saw her but she seems not have changed much, otherwise. She pauses for a moment to lookover at Sarah and Konoe for amoment. "...I was about to ask the same question? Just what has you here...?"
Reimu Hakurei	Reimu also comes in through the random warp gate and she stares at the eerily silent desolate landscape, she remains silent. The red and white wearing miko sliwly flies through the grey scale air and she looks through the area. As she stares at the many weapons stuck in the ground, none of it seems familiar to her at all. Why would anyone want to come here though? After all, it's completely empty, but there might be more to find upon looking further into it. It can be very easy for anyone to spot her though. Red easily stands out against this background. As she flies along, she manages to spot Konoe along with everyone else. She raises an eyebrow and flies down to them. For now, she remains silent considering that everyone else is already asking Konoe the necessary questions.
Alice Margatroid	It doesn't take too long for the Dollmaker to get wind of the voice over her radio, a sigh coming to her as she makes her way to the warpgate, to the coordinates given. This place devoid of life sends a shiver down the Dollmaker's spine, something didn't set well with her in this barren place. With trained eyes, she scans the area in the skies, floating warily through the world until she spots the familiar cat. Not only does she spot the cat, she spies the dour human, the OTHER 'doll' and Reimu. "Hmm." she mutters, diving down towards the ground, feet tapping the dirt below her. "What a place for a party, huh?" she questions, Hourai and Shanghai float down to meet the Dollmaker's shoulders, hovering close by. "Another incident... your dear sister must be up to something not so nice... again."
Kirito	Kirito's not so sure he'd consider himself much of a friend of the person in question - it took him some cross-checking to remember just whose voice it was that spoke - but he's not the kind of person to just leave things hanging. Which is why he comes barreling through the nearest warp gate, fairy wings thrumming up a storm and pushing him onwards at great speeds. He comes to a skidding halt not far from Konoe and the others, gazing upon the surroundings with a mixture of curiosity... and horror. "Ooooooooooo-kay. Can't say I'm a fan of the location. What HAPPENED here?!" The Spriggan steps forward uncertainly, not at all comfortable with the situation. His wings vanish as he about-faces and tromps over to the Gensokyan gals, greeting them with a quiet nod and a grim look. Kotone he also recognizes and blinks at once. "No idea what to expect out here... or what's going on. Could definitely use some pointers if anyone has some. Whatever the case... I'll take front if some crazy monster decides to burst out of the ground or something. ... This places gives me goosebumps. Like anything could happen. Just too quiet..."
Konoe Kanno	Konoe jumps! Who in the world? The kitty miko stops walking on ahead and turns halfway aside to regard the arrival of people. "...Sarah. Hello." And then comes Kotone. "And Kotone..." She looks up into the air, and spots a familiar figure descending. That makes her brows knit into a frown momentarily, before her expression relaxes a bit. "...Hakurei." And there's the obvious question of why she's even here. Well... that goes both ways. "I...just wound up here." Konoe says uncertainly, ears downturning a tad, and her twin tails curling beneath her robes. She turns to regard the desolate landscape once again, and proceeds to continue moving along. "...I don't know. I just feel like..." There's a pause, then she shakes her head, trailing off and not finishing the sentence. She's not even sure what she's saying anymore. Alice's arrival is met with a glance back, and a slight smile. At least before there was mention of her sister. Then she blinked slowly and tilted her head a bit. "My sister...?" Konoe blinks a couple more times. "...I haven't seen her in over two months. What does she have to do with anything?" Someone clearly hasn't been listening to the radio she past few months, and today as well. A silent breeze shifts the miko's hair, and she looks off into the distance. "....Why are all of you people here anyway? I didn't say anything." That's right. This was supposed to be an introspective journey for herself. She's been dead silent and missing all this time. And only now does everyone suddenly show up exactly where she is? ...Wait a second. The cogs turn. "...Did my sister tell you people where I was?" Then her hand comes to her face and she stops walking. "...That's impossible. We've been out of contact for months. Does she have some kind of spell on me? ...Wait, does that mean she's here?" The cat mumbles and mumbles to herself over Wakahirume, and as she does so, Kirito's statement is met with 'something'. As the silent battlefield stretches on, everyone will soon begin to make out movement all around them. It's faint at first, but then it gets just a little more tangible. They're human shaped 'shadows'. Shambling forms that don't even seem to notice the growing group. They make no sound, they have no features. They're simply transluscent black shades, wandering aimlessly. And their voices echo through the air, finally breaking the silence of this world. "Who are you?" "What do you seek...?" "Happiness?" "...Revenge?" "Love?" "Peace?" "Power?" "Truth?" "A blissful lie?" None of the shadows 'look' their way. They continue to shamble, fading in and out of sight. But the words carry on the empty winds...
Reimu Hakurei	Reimu glances directly at the various shadows. None of what they say seem to have any relevance to her since she mostly came here to find Konoe. The important question happens to be more on the nature of this place. The most that Wakahirume said was that this was something of a gift, but this does not seem like a gift for her. She lands on the ground and begins to walk closer to the shadows and upon noticing that they seem to be drifting. It's almost as if they are aimless spirits wandering through the place. She turns back to everyone else and calmly replies, "Your sister mentioned something about it being time, but she isn't here. I honestly don't know anything about this place, but something tells me that we might find out what's going on here if we keep going." She shifts her attention directly to Konoe and continues with a hint of joy, "Just lead the way, Konoe."
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa looks to Reimu s she arrive and to Alice, so far with them and Sarah? she knows everyone here. Her eyes linger on the Dollmaker for a moment. She's about to say something with Kirito arrives. "Alice I have been meaning to talk to you but it seems now isn't the time for such." She looks to Kirito for a momemt and hummms as she looks at Konoe andher response to everyone whom has arrived. "You just woke up here? "Yes she did, and I have no idea I know little of magic." Then the voices come, and the shadows too he shakes her head a bit. "I'm with Reimu, lead the way."
Sarah Parsle	"Your sister totally ratted you out." Sarah confirms. "Don't know why or how. Maybe she..." There's a pause. "Any chance she's vindictive enough to get us all in one place and drop a water bomb on us?" Sarah asks Konoe as an aside... And then the shadows rise. "Oh. Great. The natives." Sarah mutters. "I'd say I told you so, but I didn't actually get a chance to call it before it happened. Figures." She glances around, pondering for a moment as the voices speak out. "You think they're expecting us to actually answer this? What kind of schmuck will sit there waxing philosophical about the meaning of life to a bunch of people who aren't even listen-" There's a pause. She twitches. Another pause. "Don't you even dare." She says ominously. She shrugs and gets out the Cane of Pacci, looking around. "I'll watch your back, Konoe. Let's get this done. It's not like I have anything better to do."
Kirito	Left and right Kirito looks, growing troubled as the shadows catch his eye. ... ...he all but jumps when they start speaking. As it is, he shivers. "....Ghosts?" He murmurs aloud. He tightens formation, shifting closer to the girls... but doesn't draw his sword. After listening to the others' reactions to the shadows though, he gathers his courage (it's quite difficult to speak in a situation like this), and calls back, "What are YOU looking for?"
Alice Margatroid	Alice gives a minor shrug, giving the KittyMiko a smile back, "Never the mind, we're here to help if you need it. And I'm here to help even if you don't." she nods, "Yes, your sister did, over the radios, guess you've been taking a cat nap from it all, huh? She mentioned some sort of..." a pause is given as Kotone interrupts her train of thought, "Find me later then.." she gives a bit of a look around, giving a wave to Kirito when she sees him. "Yo." Alice slowly moves forward, her attention split between making sure that Konoe will be fine and everyone else. Though, when those shadows come to view and make their noise and words, it causes her to go on the slight defensive, her dolls moving in front of her with shield, sword and lance armed. "This doesn't feel right to me." she muttered, "Doesn't feel right at all."
Konoe Kanno	"......." Yeah, none of this made sense. Not these shadows, not the questions they were asking. And especially not the apparent fact that Wakahirume told everyone where this place, and her by association, was. "Time? ....Time for what?" Konoe asks warily, peering about at the shadows. Should they answer those questions? It didn't seem like it was necessary. And so she didn't say anything either, ignoring them as she regarded the others. Sarah's question is met with a slow blink. "...Um." Gather them all in one place and drop a water bomb on them? "...I...don't think so?" Sure, she may have nearly burned Gensokyo to the ground with a magical sun, but.. "I was not napping." Konoe grumbles in Alice's general direction, and then turns away, peering on ahead. It was time to move. And so she moved on ahead, rising up off the ground just a bit to begin flying forward at a decent clip. But Kirito throws a question back at the voices on the wind, and surprisingly, there's an answer. "Freedom." One voice, among a sea of them answers. It sounded like an older man. "Courage." Another voice says, this one sounding like a child. "My son's safe return." Says another, this one a middle aged woman. "For this war to finally cease..." Says another voice, this one seeming to be an old lady. "...The end of the Sun Goddess' tyranny." Another distant, aimless voice says. And that one gives Konoe a moment's pause as they travel through this dead land. "Sun Goddess?" She starts, half asking the wind. "Do you mean mom? Did something happen here?" The cat goes on to ask, looking left and right warily. Silence follows. And then there is a shifting sound of metal from all around, as those blackened ancient weapons are drawn out of the barren earth. Chipped katanas and spears mostly, floating in the air, held by the vague shadowy forms of many different individuals. Voices rise up with an anger that's never been heard before now. "...The Sun Goddess' children still live..." "The Gods must die." The shadowy voices chant over and over, in a monotone that betrays an anger and a grudge long held on to. "The Gods must die. The Gods must die. The Gods must die." Surrounded on all sides now, those weapon wielding shades take up an organized military formation while chanting, spearmen in the front, and swordsmen in the back. And then they charge, with clear intent to run their polearms through every last one of those in the group. The Gods must die. Oops.
Reimu Hakurei	Reimu sighs and flies into the air, "I honestly should have expected this by now. It's been this way through most of my life." From there, four red and white orbs materialize around the young miko and they align behind her. She glances around them and she waves her gohei, which results in her sending a stream of red talismans marked with the kanji for seal on them. The four orbs begin to emit blue homing amulet shots directly toward each individual shadowy figure. As she flies through the air, she grits her teeth. She honestly does not know if these are just angry souls, so she doesn't even know how well the amulet shots will work. Normally, situations like this wouldn't be trouble for her alone, but now she has others with her. She shouts out from above, "If you need emergency aid, than shout for me immediately!"
Alice Margatroid	"Konoe... I don't like the look of this." as those shadows start talking in response to Kirito. There's a pair of dolls appearing out of a small spell circle, Alice's Utsuho and Marisa dolls. Now with dolls in the cardnial directions, she slowly takes flight along with Reimu, "I'll back you up." she comments, pulling Hourai and Shanghai up front, both the doll's weapons out in front, sending out small streams of lasers towards some of them, "Wakahirume. What are you even up to?" Dispersed in with those laser shots are shard shaped danmaku in all seven colors, "This is my cat you're talking about! I'm not about to let you run her through like eel on a stick!" she chides the shadows for even drawing weapons, floating closer towards Reimu. "Let's get rid of them, shall we, Reimu?" she gives a brief smile towards the Miko before sending out more lasers and shard danmaku. The Utsuho doll slowly tries inching its way forward in front of Alice, "Unyuu?"
Kirito	Oops indeed. "Me neither." He agrees with Alice Margatroid. Kirito's blood chills when he starts receiving answers... and he starts piecing together a few fragments of what might be going on here. It's an old battlefield, these are ghosts incapable of moving on... they have a grudge... ... and Konoe just blurted out something incredibly stupid. He actually puts a hand on his sword BEFORE the weapons start rattling, beating them by a half-second... but he only draws it once the shades retrieve their fallen weapons... but seeing the sheer SCALE of what they're facing... he hesitates instead of just diving in. "Is there any reason we shouldn't retreat?!" There's no loot to be won here. No prize to claim. He doubts beating down ghosts will quell their troubles... meanwhile, real weapons are being branded at them all. He eventually raises his weapon high though, taking a stance suitable for spellcasting... not swordsmanship. What? He almost NEVER uses magic! Golden words swirl around him in spinning rings that lock into place and glow with matching runes as he speaks in the nordic spell-language of Alfheim Online, "Þeír hræða nótt dýpt, renn helvegr!" Or, roughly translated, 'Frighten them, depth of the night, and chase them along the roads of Hell.' The golden rings lock into place and fade as a surreal light engulfs the Spriggan's body... then thick winds and obscuring mystical light. It curls upwards like a tornado, masking a silhouette that glows briefly within the maelstrom... an ENORMOUS silhouette, some great bipedal goat-beast with a thrashing, muscular lizard-like tail. The special effects die off with a final snap of winds, revealing... Is that... Kirito? It's a towering furred beast with rippling, tightly-packed muscle, great claws, an elongated toothy maw... curling golden ram horns, and crimson, gleaming eyes that shine from within. The creature claws at the ground, preparing to charge... snorting plumes of smoke and hellfire from its nostrils. Then, with a bestial roar, the creature just CHARGES the oncoming army, seemingly intending to just BOWL THROUGH THE LINES and break the formation with huge, sweeping strikes from its arms and claws!
Sarah Parsle	Sarah heads right along with the others, looking at the situation with a kind of long gaze. "This is a hell of a place." She looks around at the shades all about them, the way they seem to practically exude grief and pain. "What even happened here?" Still, there is that response. "Welllll. Looks like there's some loose ends out there." Sarah says, gesturing with the Cane. "I'm not a god, punks. She isn't, either! Stop being assholes! Oh wait, you can't not be assholes, you're ghosts." While everyone else gets out big murderface guns, Sarah just points her cane at the closest ghost. DOIP. Maybe even spirits might be put off their game with the power of flips.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa says "I'll come find you at a better time for that Alice." Kotone meanwhile pulls a small pair of devices from her pocket and lets both of the small flying camera drones take flight. She'll link up to them in short order while she carriers on with everyone else. She wonders now for a moment as she looks to the voice o she tries to. Then they come under attack and Kotone is forceds to leap least she get run through she'll land on one of the poilearms for amoment and flip off it. She draws a pistol at the apex of her jump and opens fire, hopeing she can do something to disrupt these ghost or at least distract them.
Marisa Kirisame	Did someone say big murderface guns? The bleak landscape suddenly grows approximately twice as bright. Then three times, then four. Colors across the entire prismatic spectrum blaze into being, filling the world with a veritable rainbow of raw, magical power. Curiously though, the colors are focused into thin beams, and they dance around the ruined world like falling stars-- it's almost as if they're not really being aimed, or... Or maybe they're just... A deterrent? OR MAYBE JUST A LIGHTSHOW!?!? If that's the case-- then this can only be the fault of ONE PERSON. "Who the hell took my cat!?" A voice calls from BEHIND THE CLOUD WALL. Marisa Kirisame, WITCH OF LASER, makes her (fashionably late) arrival, descending from on high like some kind of valkyrie of terrible, freem-y might. She sweeps down, alighting over the ground as TERRIBLE SHADOWS swing their TERRIBLE WEAPONS at the others down in range. "Wow, this place kind of sucks," she ASTUTELY OBSERVES. "Hey Konoe! I heard you'd gotten yourself lost, but this is a hell of a place to do it in!"
Konoe Kanno	As it turns out; using holy amulets on dead things is pretty effective. Reimu's barrage of shots don't even need to strike the weapons coming at her in order to banish these spirits. Many are taken down just from the talismans passing through their shadowy forms. They disperse and their weapons fall to the ground just like that. But they don't stop there. There is no panic, no questioning. Instead, the angry shadows of warriors from a time long past adapt. Using their spiritual bodies, they rise up into the air, and begin to weave and veer around Reimu's, and even Alice's shots. Some more of them are taken out in the crossfire by various lasers and amulets, but a large number of others start flying, hurtling towards Alice and and Reimu with swords and spears to bear. All aimed to stab and slash at the two Gensokyo natives. ...As well as those dolls. That Utsuho doll in particular seems to be a collision course with the end of a lance! Or several dozen, really Meanwhile, down on the ground, Kirito, our resident PROTAGONIST SWORDSMAN, decides...NOT TO USE HIS SWORD!? No, he instead raises it high and casts some sort of spell. Arcane words are uttered, and then there is a peal of light as golden rings envelop the avatar, giving way to... a towering beast of a creature, with gleaming eyes, rippling muscle, and cruel looking horns. And it charges. Right into the fray. It's almost comical to the casual observer, seeing a giant ram beast charge into a literal ghost army, and then followed by loads of weapons flying this way and that, shattered and useless as the broken fragments or swords and spears fly aside into the barren earth, never to rise again. The remaining forces opposing the Black Swordsman adapt by beginning to avoid Kirito, whatever he's become, and split into two companies, each one moving to take either side of him as they start to attack at the same time, swords slashing, and spears thrusting up at him. Konoe meanwhile stands by with Sarah, looking terribly, awfully confused. What in the nine rings of hell happened here!? And why was a shadow army suddenly trying to off them all!? There were no answers! But the cat took a deep breath, and remained unmoving. She stayed by Sarah and produced an array of ofuda, each one lighting up in flames. She doesn't look terribly pleased to be doing this, but... Well, when the girl with the DOIP ROD points it at the nearest ghost and causes it to spin upside down, throwing it off, Konoe follows up by just firing an amulet at it, dispersing it without any fanfare. "Keep doing that." She says to Sarah, aiming to just firing off talismans precisely each time Sarah spun a ghost. No point in throwing out a huge light show, right? They're gonna have to start moving though because the ghosts adapt by staying back and throwing their lances at the two like javelins! Konoe jumps aside with a muffled 'eep!', and then glares at the ghost that did it, tossing an amulet it's way. Damn it, these things were stubborn. Kotone meanwhile fires at the shadows, and while her shots do nothing to their bodies, they do affect their weapons. If she notices, every time a shot strikes a weapon, it breaks, and its wielder disperses. This happens for several others, the numbers thinning out as they persue the girl. And then there's Marisa. Marisa and her light show. The thing beams dance across the landscape, striking a weapon and shattering it here and there, causing the shadow wielding it to vanish as well. This goes on and on and on, before the witch herself finally appears, descending from the sky. And Konoe just looks up and frowns. "...Why do you people keep saying I'm your cat? When did that happen?" No really, when? But now wasn't the time for that. "....Forget about that. Just....help clear this up. Reimu and Alice could probably use the help. We're fine down here." Sigh.
Reimu Hakurei	Reimu's eyes widen and she quickly tries to think of a way to get out of the sudden barrage of bladed weapons. She immediately shouts to Alice, "Head down!" And she proceeds to swiftly descend down away from her current position. At that point, the four red and white orbs arrange themselves in front of her body as she faces upwards. All four of them begin to unleash a veritable barrage of red needles directly upward. The torrent of needles sails through the air up toward her original position right as the onslaught of blades jet toward it.
Alice Margatroid	Well, seemed they could fly, so much for /that/ advantage, but could they really keep up with danmaku from both Reimu and her? The Utsuho doll goes "unyuu" again as Reimu shouts an oder, and with a nod, the dollmaker drops down to try and graze past the lances, though the Utsuho Doll takes quite a few hits from it. "Well, didn't expect to have to use a spellcard this early but if I don't use it..." a spellcard whips out, "Hey, Reimu. Watch out." ... wait, was that Marisa. Well, time for a light show anyways, right? "Doll Mimicry! Mega Flare!" comes the dollmaker, the card dispersing and the Utsuho doll quickly moving in front to the point of pushing Shanghai and Hourai out of the way. "UNYUU!" the warning klaxons from that familiar spell fill the air for a brief moment, then... nothing. The Utsuho doll took a lance that was aiming for Alice, before exploding violently, pushing the dollmaker and her dolls out of the way. "Augh...he..hey!" ... "My doll..."
Kotone Yamakawa	The fight is well underway and Kotone can only wonder what's going on, against things like ghosts? Kotone knows her usefulness is limited, her shots do nothing butshe does notice that thier weapons canbe harmed. She'll shigt her tatics about and try to start shooting the weapons rather than them, and if she has to she'll get up closewith them as Kotone has an idea. "Alice! I may need some covering fire I have an idea!" That's going to need Kotone to have to holster her weapon, why? She's going to go in and /try/ to get up clsoe touse hewr inate strength to overpower the ghost and break their weapons up close.
Kirito	Ancient weapons are snapped like twigs by the Gleam Eyes' strength, but Kirito didn't count on the shadows being truly insubstantial. How are they moving weapons if they're just... wisps? That's COMPLETELY UNFAIR! The Great Beast growls and frustratedly claws through the ranks, only to get stabbed and skewered in answer. Strange glowing lines scar it where the weapons strike, though Kirito doesn't seem to be flinching from the blows. But after a minute of flailing, the beast glows... and shrinks. Down, down, down... back to human-scale! Then it's once again the Black Swordsman amidst the army. "Why are you so angry at the gods, warriors?!" He wastes little time activating one of the few Area-of-effect sweeping Sword Skills for his favored weapon, a whirling emerald slash that sends gales of wind every which way! But he doesn't go further on the offensive, instead stepping forward with his weapon at the ready. He's hoping they'll answer.
Sarah Parsle	The battle is joined! Sarah is glad to have Konoe around to help. She can tell because Sarah nods to her. "All right, let's do this." With a tagteam effort, Sarah stops a ghost before Konoe blasts them with an ofuda. This lasts precisely until they switch up their tactics. The hucked spear slshes past Sarah, drawing a line of blood as she is cut. "Gggh!" She grunts, and she falls back on the defensive."This is stupid!" She calls out. Still, she doesn't stop dpoiping, letting Konoe take the lead on indicating the next target.
Marisa Kirisame	"Uhhh because you are?" Marisa answers in that distinctly lackadaisical manner that can only be hers. "I mean, I put a collar on you and everything. That means you're my cat. And Alice and I feed you and house you, so that's like, double cat. Anyway, you better tell us why you ran off to here of all places! 'Cause this place is just plain weird!" Buuuuut given that there are EXPLOSIONS over there, Konoe is probably correct in that Alice and Reimu need more lasers than she does. "Don't get yourself skinned! I'll be back once we clear the air." With that, Marisa turns upward once more. The stale air blowing across her face does nothing for how unsettling this place is when you really look at it. Dead land, dead trees, ghosts, spectres. It's like the underworld, but somehow even less alive. Well. She can worry about that later. Reimu and the others in the sky would suddenly find themselves SURROUNDED BY LASERS. Lasers and bolts of green, exploding magic. They're all aimed for the ghosts, of course. Shooting Reimu or Alice would just be unneighbourly! "What're you complaining about?" She asks as she zooms behind the puppeteer, "Your dolls blow up all the time! Don't you even have a spell card for that?"
Konoe Kanno	Reimu and Alice suddenly descend at the last moment, and Reimu lets loose a volley of needles upwards. It's a good trick. It pierces through shadow after shadow, dispersing them and leaving weapons to just fall back to the earth. The few that manage to avoid getting shot through however, are headed right for Alice! And they stab at the Utsuho doll at the vanguard. But then.... BLAM That explosion blows a large number of those ghostly weapons away. Those that make it out of the explosion are then taken out by a volley of well timed lasers, and the aerial shadow squadron is completely cleared up right then. Now, that leaves... Kirito, whose giant form was adapted to. The split army attacks at his sides, keeping defensive as they move this way and that, avoiding giving the beast the front. But the Black Swordsman eventually shrinks back to his normal form, and engages in a weapons battle, using sowrd skills to blow the shadows away. They are unprepared for this new development, and are summarily swept wave after wave. Konoe meanwhile decides to speed things up, by deploying several waves of ofuda, brow twitching at Marisa's answer. But she ignores that for now, and fires off her amulets, destroying most of the javelin throwers that Sarah had helpfully spun over. The rest were taken out by Kirito by proximity. It may not be necessary for Kotone to go diving in headfirst, because as the numbers dramatically thin out, the battle seems to slow down to a pause, as a lone shadow stands before the group, looking as if it had worn some kind of commander's samurai armor in life. It stares directly at Kirito. And then it answers. "Times have changed..." It says, with it's featureless body, merely a shadow with an outline of a shape. "...We no longer need to serve the gods unquestioningly..." It's form slowly began to melt away, as it's sword cracked a bit. "...Man can stand on their own two feet. The Sun Goddess..." CRACK. The blade shatters. "...Is not....welcome.....any..." After that, things seem to finally return to silence. The shadows have receded, broken weapons lie all about. Konoe lets out a sigh, and then frowns. "...Why are they so angry at mom?" She couldn't even begin to guess. But then, there's a chuckle on the wind. "Hmhmhm..." A familiar voice in fact, as it was the same one who spoke over the radio; Wakahirume. "That's..." The cat frowned and stepped forward, leading the way and following the sound of that chuckling, until finally, they arrived at a clearing where no weapons seemed to be embedded into the ground. And there, in the center, stood Wakahirume. She was the same as usual. Long white hair, red streaks, white dress, four tails... Yep, it was her. And upon everyone's arrival, did she finally turn around to face the arrivals. "Welcome, welcome. Dear sister..." She glanced at the Gensokyo natives. "...You three." And then Sarah, Kirito, and Kotone get looks after. "...And our little interlopers from last time." "So....what did you think?" She smiles mysteriously. "A wonderful world, no?"
Reimu Hakurei	Reimu looks directly at the four tailed descendant of Amaterasu with a pretty clear frown on her face. She cheerfully asks in a manner that would be considered too upbeat for what just happened, "Why would we say that?" In all honesty, she would be upset but there is a lot more to this than it seems. For now, she walks forward and nonchalantly asks, "Anyway, what's going on here exactly? Those seemed to be angry spirits that held a grudge against Amaterasu, but judging from the look of those blades, they seemed to have been here for a long time." She shrugs her shoulders slightly and continues, "Even though this is normal for me, I'm also wondering why they are here and why you asked us to come though."
Alice Margatroid	"Well, yes, but it takes weeks to build a new mimic doll." she muttered, "AND I keep having to go into hell to get some material I need, and I end up having to do chores for her to get it anyways!" she scoffs, "And I don't like the underground." she humphs, though with the aerial squad defeated, she dives down in front of Kotone and summons a small wave of shield dolls to bring her the cover she needs. "Alright, Kotone, do what you need, we'll be the shield for your sword!"
Kirito	He's... an interloper. Well, Kirito's been called much worse. He mostly brushes off the label aafter making his way to the.. calmer zone, though he hasn't sheathed his blade. It's held loosely in his hands. Meanwhile, Battle Healing's doing wonders on his hit points... unseen to others, the meter steadily refills as time passes... "That was seriously uncool." States the boy swordsman in a snorty tone full of distaste and irritation. "There happen to be a story behind the unfriendly welcome party? They don't seem to have realized..." That they're dead.
Sarah Parsle	The attack of the shades gets finally repelled in a blaze of overwhelming bullet spam, doip, and ofuda. Sarah relaxes a little in the aftermath, rubbing at the wound she took. "Well, that sucked..." But it ends, and Waka appears to taunt and be mysterious. "Oh yeah. It's great, if you like being murdered for no reason. Reminds me of visiting your place, Bubbly." She replies to Waka. "So what's the deal?"
Kotone Yamakawa	With Aid from Alice? Kotone with protected well by Alice's magic? She's able to dive in and bring down some of the remaining ghosts and htier weapons. However as she turns to charge the Samurai like one? He stops attacking and moves to speak? The dead are speaking and Kotone heeds his words and halts her attack for the moment. She's safely protected by the barrier that Alice has mad,she gives Alice a thankful look, but she's also paying attention to the Samurai ghost. Then she shows up Kotones eye narrow, the ghosts will had to be strong to hang on like this,didn't it? But why had he turned with the others? "Wonderful? I see a boneyard with the angry restly dead still hating the Sun Goddess..."
Marisa Kirisame	"That just means you get to make the next one even better!" Marisa grins like some kind of terrible magical wolf. Or shark. Or a cheshire cat. All of the above? "Come on, just see it as a learning experience. Maybe give the next Utsuho a FULL SUIT OF ARMOR or something cool like that!" Or an OVERDOLL SUIT so she can wear an armor-doll like a suit of armor. Hm. Now she's getting ideas. ...Hold on, is that Wacky? It is! "Hey, Wacky!" Oh God, she's fixating. The witch glides lazily on over, shedding bold, green pixie dust like she'd just stepped out of a straight-to-DVD Disney movie. "What the hell're you and Konoe doing in a place like this? Shouldn't you be curled up in a sunbeam somewhere?" Marisa is evidently taking this at face value. Also getting right up in Wacky's face. Taking things at Wacky's face's value? "So what gives?"
Konoe Kanno	Wakahirume chuckles at the array of questions put out before her, and the reactions at hand. Yes, this was amusing. But maybe not in the way one might immediately think. "What's going on here, you ask?" She directs to Reimu first, shrugging her shoulders. "Who can say... perhaps the remnants of a time long forgotten. Shadows of the past who refuse to accept that they no longer draw breath." Well that was vague. Kirito is next, and at his demeanor, Waka just huffs in amusement. "A story? Oh my, you people seem to think that /I/ orchestrated this little party." She raises her hands defensively, though still smiles as if something was funny. "I have no control over those shadows. They attack me just the same as they attack you, if you so much as breath at them wrong." And they breathed at them wrong. THANKS KONOE. And then there's SARAH. ...THE INFERNAL DOIPER. The descendant of Amaterasu twitches a brow a bit at the girl's presence, but manages to keep her cool. "Bubbly?" What kind of dumb name was that!? Konoe, however, steps up after Sarah asked her question, following it up with; "Yes, what's going on here? Why are you here? And where's mom? And the others too?" Wakahirume reaches over and puts a hand to Marisa's forehead, stepping back as she pushed the witch away lightly. PERSONAL SPACE. And then...she laughs. "Mother? The others? ....Hehehehehe.....hehe....." She's still not answering. Konoe frowns, getting annoyed now. "Stop laughing and talk! You obviously know something! This isn't a game!" Wakahirume immediately stops laughing then, and she dons a grim expression. "No, dear 'sister'. The only one playing a game here is you." She gestured to Reimu, Alice, Marisa, Kirito, Sarah, and Kotone. "And it's a game you've dragged all of these people into for a while now." Her arm lowers. "What you're looking at; is your home." She spreads her arms and smiles. "Welcome back home, dear sister. Congratulations on finally ceasing your little game of house, and returning to where you belong." Wakahirume eyes the others, and then sighs. "...There's little time left." And oddly...her own form begins to waver slightly. As if it's existence was fraying. Anyone who happened to be looking at Konoe would notice the exact same thing happening to her. But it was gone after a second. Waka gestures idly and shakes her head. "My time's running out. I need to conserve my energy. And so... I'll see you people another time." At that, her body fades away into a shimmer of magic particles, leaving the group behind with the silence of the ancient battlefield around them. "Remember, 'sister'. Everything is lost, unless you do." With those words lingering in the air, Konoe just stood there and blinked slowly, before bringing a hand to her head, rubbing it frustratedly. "That made no sense! What in the world is going on here!? Where is everyone! Get back here and explain yourself, Wakahirume!" The cat shouts into the air. ...But no one came.
Reimu Hakurei	Reimu glances directly at Konoe and she manages to catch the sight of Konoe vanishing. She bites her lip and inwardly wishes that she was a better liar for once in her life, but unfortunately, that's not the case. She walks directly over to Konoe and taps her on the shoulder to see if she is still there. After all, she literally flickered there. This is going to be quite the bombshell to deliver but it has to be said immediately. "Konoe, your body started to waver like Wakahirume's form just now."
Alice Margatroid	The shield dolls stay around Kotone as she listens to Waka-chan's own talking. A frown is given and she slowly approaches Konoe, "This can't be her home, her home is with Marisa and I. We feed her, let her use our beds... se's got a home and a shrine out in Gensokyo, not this barren wasteland you think is home." she frowns a bit more at this, watching the wavering form... then Konoe's own, causing the dollmaker to emit a surprised shock and float closer to her. "Konoe, we need to get you out of this place, it's doing something to you..." she mutters, "We can figure out what's going on with Wakahirume when we're not having you fade out and in like that too..."
Reimu Hakurei	Reimu glances directly at Konoe and she manages to catch the sight of Konoe vanishing. She bites her lip and inwardly wishes that she was a better liar for once in her life, but unfortunately, that's not the case. She walks directly over to Konoe and taps her on the shoulder to see if she is still there. This is going to be quite the bombshell to deliver but it has to be said immediately. "Konoe, your body started to vanish like Wakahirume's form just now." The young miko immediately grits her teeth and awaits the oncoming meltdown. After all, this is quite possibly the worst time to learn this, but it's better that she knowws now rather than later.
Kirito	"Highly doubt you would have ravaged the army, but the alert was a bit lacking in detail." Kirito criticizes lightly. He's paying Wakahirume little attention after that, having heard this is... Konoe's 'home'? This blasted, barren landscape? How long ago was this place ruined? Why has nothing grown, not even grass? He looks sideways at the confounded Konoe.... and grimaces. Something tells him Wakahirume's not joking about any of this. "We'd better get investigating."
Marisa Kirisame	"Waugh!" Personal space!? What kind of outdated monster still believes in something like personal space!?!? Apparently Wakahirume does. "Waugh!" Marisa waughs, getting so unjustly shoved back. But just in time to see Wakahirume... flicker. And to see the same happen to Konoe, just out of the corner of her eye. The witch's permanent smirk twitches a little bit. Her brow furrows. ...Time is running out? "Hey, damnit, no running off without explaining!" Marisa yells after Wakahirume. "The last time this happened, I ended up exploding your house AND shooting your mom! So get back here and actually exposit or I'll end up breaking even more stuff until I figure things out!" Well. This is still a Touhou Game, after all. Marisa growls as Wakahirume vanishes completely, scrubbing at her scalp through the floppiness of her hat. "Ugggh. Konoe, your sister is as frustrating as always. You have any clue what the hell she was going on about. And why the both of you've got a case of the flickers?"
Sarah Parsle	"Bubbly." Sarah replies to Waka's snark. She doesn't explain herself, going quiet with a contemplative expression as she says her piece and vanishes. "Don't bother. Would you even listen to her if she did explain?" Sarah shrugs. "Face it. This is one of those things she needs to find out on her own. That's why Bubbly did this. Maybe she called us up to help make sure Konoe makes it. After all, /we're/ suffering for her sister, right?" She grunts. "Whatever. I'll help out." She says. "This sounds like a puzzle that's going to need some figuring out."
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone just listens for themoment as Wakahirume says they all hav ebeen dragged into a game and there's something else wrong? She's not sure what the truth is here butthey clearly need to finds out. She looks and moves towards Konoe frowning. "Konoe you started to Derezze...."
Konoe Kanno	With Wakahirume gone, and not coming back, Konoe growls, and then takes a deep breath, then she sighs. "....What?" She grumbles at Reimu upon being poked, half glaring at her. Why in the world is she getting poked now of all times!? But then she's told just what happened to her. "........" The reaction is a confused tilt of the head. "Huh?" She intones dumbly, not at all seeming to register it. "What are you talking about? I'm not disappearing. I feel fine." Her ears flick, and she furrows her brows at the other miko. But then Alice comes and says the same thing. "...Eh?" No really, why are people suddenly telling her this? She didn't notice anything. ...Ah, poor her. "Well..." She looked around, and then back to Alice, nodding. "There's no reason to stay here right now." Kirito gets a nod. "Um... I think we should come back another time." She manages a small smile. "But thank you for coming along, Kirito." She remembered his name. Even if he was kind of a show off way back then. Never mind that. Never mind. Sarah gets a look after, "Another puzzle...?" Konoe hangs her head a bit and moves to float after Alice. No need to stick around here anymore, especially if she did start to....fade away. Or derezz, as Kotone put it. She shivered a bit. "I...I feel okay! Really, I didn't notice anything!" She says to Kotone and Marisa as well. "And I don't know what in the world is happening here. I've never seen this place before in my life." The ancient battleground gets one last look. "...We'll need to investigate more another time." And then she heads off to the warpgate with Alice and the others. Another time indeed.