Scene #7393: Subterranean Animism 2

Owner	Pose
Sierra Kereson	OST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw694t9j9_U After the last excursion into the underground, the Elites looking into the situation surrounding the underground geyser have a new lead: The Palace of the Earth Spirits. Unlike their last endeavour, however, the group is actually led into the hole by two people this time around instead of going in with only the support team on the surface. One, the shrine maiden that had led them to the shrine and lounged in the hot spring (Reimu). One, a witch riding a broom wearing black and white (Marisa). Should a certain green knight be around, both of them will be keeping their distance from him. No explanation is given why off the bat, but they won't seem pleased for some reason. "What a weird mansion... The ground's so shiny around here." Marisa comments as she floats along a few feet above the ground, peering at the stone underneath her as it slowly becomes more refined, polished, as if there was a stone path leading to the western-styled mansion in the distance. <<"It's a little wet. I wonder if the person that made the geyser is in here.">> Patchouli (the quiet one with the tome) speaks through one of the dolls. "I don't see anyone who looks like they'd be in charge here." Reimu sounds skeptical as she glances around the outside of the mansion that the group is approaching. "All I've seen so far is a bunch of fairies and that cat." As if on cue, she points forward as a swarm of fairies and a two-tailed cat approach the group, floating around carelessly in the air. When the fliers notice the group, they begin firing off a dizzying array of spells all at once, the fairies slowing down considerably once they've fired off their initial spray of colorful bullets and strangely flickering flames.
Muramasa	Muramasa quirks an eyebrow at the new additions, but they aren't unwelcome. With the shrine maiden actually doing her duty, maybe things would be easier on them. Fat chance. But with the hot spring sealed off until further notice, no one would be relaxing until the situation was resolved, so it fell to all of them to venture back inside and set things straight once and for all. The red-haired Servant slings his haori over his shoulder, red holy shroud adorning his arm. "A Western-style residence, huh ... isn't this place supposed to be home to youkai? What kinda' youkai would have that sort of taste, I wonder." In short order, the group finds themselves accosted by lesser youkai once again, with little to no room for chitchat. The swordsmith pulls back, opening his magic circuits with a flare of blue light. Since egregious amounts of projectiles seemed to be the bog standard around these parts, he would return it in kind. "Trace on." "Sword Barrel Gatling!" The flaring crackles of wireframes rapidly forming edged weapons in the air rotates like the spell's namesake, and fires off a stream of blades at high velocity to meet the bullet hell head on.
Tamamo	"Oh, dear. Though better than a mountaintop, to be beneath a hot spring does bring its own bother. It is not the heat which troubles, but the mists. Would that I had the appropriate attire for the beach, or perhaps a mixed sauna." Tamamo no Mae has certain resemblance to a miko. In 'lighter' clothing, she even has the detached sleeves, though hers are primarily a deep blue, darker in dim lighting, unlike the red-white one. Still, the humidity bothers her. "Oh, perhaps the safari jacket... well, no matter." When they're attacked, she's not wholly surprised, having expected danger, though as she presses her hands to the back of the ornate mirror that defends her, light shining from every colorful bullet's impact, she turns toward Muramasa to ask, "Is this suddenness to be expected? An attack as a greeting?" Besides that, she does little to attack, tossing out a handful of quite baseline sealing talismans that fly towards her opponents. They wouldn't do much of anything to most targets, but they're an effective nonlethal takedown for weaker youkai. "In the western style, is it? Perhaps they came here from far away. Or else, perhaps they have that modern, non-traditional outlook."
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	That certain Green Knight is indeed around. He wears tightly fitting jeans, motorcycle boots, and a stretched tee featuring a skeleton with a bandana and two pistols. Its caption reads, across the top, SO YOU THINK YOU CAN COME INTO MY HOUSE, and across the bottom, OF COURSE YOU CAN, EVERYONE IS WELCOME. The axe is slung over his shoulder, haft resting between the metal spikes of his leather vest. The humidity doesn't seem to bother him despite drawing beads of sweat. Neither, then, does the barrage of colorful spells and flames, which impact him like hailstones striking someone running through a storm. Some draw blood, some ignite him, as he calls forth his armor. It seems to amuse him, this place, where greeting by-way-of-combat is the norm. Heavy armored plates envelop his body, followed by a massive harness over his chest and shoulders, all in green and black. A cloak of helleria grass and helleborne flowers sprouts from his back just as his grinning face is obscured by the helmet. "We shalt ifind theim," says Bercilak to Muramasa, spells impacting his armor plates, scorching them, those plates reforming and shining anew again. The axe is hefted. "And we shalt espy oure own selves thire smacchinge and thire strength!" Microthrusters on his armor fire, carrying him high into the air above the stream of blades. Landing in the tail end of that barrage, catching glancing blows which cut gouges into his armor, he slams the blunt end of the axe's head into the ground just as he lands. A shockwave erupts all around him, sending hardened clods of earth, loose stones, and plant matter up in pummeling blunt-force eruptions all around him. With the kind of laughter one might use for a pleasant joke, he darts between the firing fairies, often into their lines of fire, to bludgeon them with the cheek of the axe, throw them around with the haft, or pick them up and fling them into their allies' shots. "Verily," he calls to Tamamo. "'Tis most sportli, I wis! Bahaha."
Sierra Kereson	<<"That's how youkai are. The one that owns this place has a bad reputation even here. She's the most hated person in the underground, and she controls lots of vengeful spirits!">> Suika (the drunk oni) chimes in through another doll in response to Muramasa. <<"Even though she's really mild-mannered, but... You'll see!">> "I'm still pretty sure there's nothing to worry about." Reimu replies to Tamamo, squinting at her closely while weaving in mid-air around the incoming shots. "It's not like the earth spirits up there have been causing too much trouble." <<"Not yet, but a geyser shouldn't have them spilling out up here, either.">> Alice (the dollmaker) speaks through another doll with an annoyed tone. <<"But since you're down there, anyway, you might as well keep going.">> "That's right. Maybe we'll find something valuable while we're here. Money, smacchinge...?" Marisa stares at Bercilak blankly, then at the rest of the group. "Do... Do you actually understand any of that?" She shrugs, but does seem rather awed by the tech all over his armor. "Or maybe something cool could fall off..." True to their name, the lesser youkai, while capable of putting out a flashy array of damaging shots, aren't really all that powerful on their own. The fairies fizzle and fall into the depths (or just onto the ground) on impact with just about anything, and the cat... The cat's actually decent at weaving through the incoming attacks. It suffers a few cuts from the gatling blades, it gets punted indirectly by a flying fairy getting smacked right into it, and it inadvertently headbutts a few of the fairies practically enveloped by the sealing paper. Despite all this, it still manages to keep flying and looking not too much worse for wear. Perhaps seeing what the score is already, it lets out an uneathly meow before escaping into the mansion's grounds. As the group draws closer to the mansion, it becomes obvious that the place is well maintained with its stained glass windows, checked flooring, and even some decorative suits of armor. What's strange about the mansion's condition, however, is that there doesn't appear to be a single maid or butler in sight. There were a couple of sentient brooms in the underground city last time, but the only human-sized person that's shown up around this mansion is coming right out from the front door. "Visitors? How unusual. I can't believe humans could even make it all the way down here. My cat must have caused you some trouble on the way." The girl in the blue shirt and pink skirt with purple hair speaks, the red eye over her heart staring right at each person. Somehow, it feels as though she's constantly looking at each person directly despite the presence of everyone else in the group. "I'm Satori, the master of the Palace of the Earth Spirits." She dips into a brief curtsey. "And you..." Her gaze fixes on Reimu. "It seems you're looking for a fight without a good reason for it." Already feeling some heat coming her way, Reimu shrugs and nods a moment later. "Oh, you catch on pretty quickly. I really don't have a good reason." "You're thirsty, too. Why don't I put on some tea for..." Satori narrows her eyes, turning slowly to Marisa. "... Vengeful spirits? Oni? Hot springs? Burglary!?" She keeps staring daggers at the witch who is doing a terrible job at nonchalantly looking over at the cave's ceiling overhead. "There's no use hiding it from me. I can hear everything you're thinking." With that, Satori's third eye is once against focused intently on each person simultaneously. They might even feel (or not) her probing around in their surface thoughts, gauging their reaction to that revelation.
Muramasa	With a brief conversation with Tamamo and Bercilak on the way regarding the uncivilized nature of the underground's inhabitants, he was perfectly fine with the cat youkai fleeing the scene. "Is that so," he says to Suika, red eyebrow raising in a high arched quirk. "Wonder if she deserves all the talk of the street." Then again, considering how all the residents he'd met thus far acted, it meant they were either totally wrong about her, or one hundred percent correct, and she really was just that much worse. The Saber-class Servant sighs in a somewhat put upon manner, but keeps his back straight and his shoulder square as they continue onwards, Marisa and Reimu continuing to show off their increasingly hedonistic attitudes. He was /this/ close to releasing his pent up old man energy on them with a stern talking to when another weirdo showed up from out of nowhere. Or, more specifically, from within the residence. "Some kinda' psychic, huh. I don't really appreciate you rooting around in my head ... but ... " He felt a distinct and uncomfortable wriggling in his temples, but he wasn't sure if it was because of the mind reading, or a headache brought about by so many untoward thoughts revealed to the group. "Is that really all you two can think about?" He had no ability to resist the mental intrusion, and some part of him quivered at the idea of someone looking deeper than the surface. He'd already had enough uncomfortable secrets come out of the bag recently.
Tamamo	"Oh, yes, most of it," Tamamo says to Marisa. "He is cursed, you see." Soon enough, they're on their way. Met by the palace's claimed-to-be master, Tamamo's reaction is rather relaxed. "Satori, is it? Are you a buddhist, then? A pleasure. I am Tamamo no Mae." Goddess of the Sun. Looking at her surface thoughts is fairly easy, though one might assume that it's solely because of how unguarded she's acting. There are definitely defensive enchantments of various kinds surrounding her and her mirror, but none for this particular sort of eavesdropping. She's thinking about the prices of swimsuits bought in winter, the Zen Buddhist concept of kenshou, that cats can't beat foxes in any respect, and slowly sliding her thoughts and attention to a sterner look toward Reimu and Marisa. "Now, now. Burglary, really? There is a great difference between unattended treasure and another's things, please recall." She doesn't really know them, but she didn't come here to watch crimes.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	Bercilak responds to Satori. "Nay, thy cat went a-caterwawed!" He chuckles self-satisfiedly, and Muramasa is nudged with an elbow, in that 'get it?' kind of way. "I saith unto thee, I liken wel thy armurie." He does mean it, she can tell. The suits of decorative armor he finds pretty cool. "Ah, ah! Mineself subsequentli! MINESELF SUBSEQUENTLI!" When she says she can read minds, he jumps up and down, waving a gauntleted hand at her. His mind is like an open book... that someone made a complete mess of. The most recent memory from this world is him, leaping from a hole with his eyes closed, to strongarm Reimu into helping by closing up the hot spring, even as they flung copious danmakus at him for his perceived intentions. Searching for something traumatic is... difficult, mostly because this man has no sense of self-preservation, responding to life-threatening situations with reckless glee. But that can still be of use, no? Say, for instance, his battle with a titan, who now he is enamored of. "I am Bercilak of the High Wasteland, cleped als the Green Knight. No want hath I of thy tresours." That is true! "But bade I yon maiden conveie forth with us," he says, gesturing to Reimu. "That she might guard her stacioun and her hom lasse necligentli." "We lest toknoue wherefore devels conveie aboveforth," he says, pointing upwards. "And ofaxe thee hau might we halt the daungeringe of Reimu's hom." There is a pause. Then, a burst of raucous laughter and a CLANK of fist against heavy harness. "But so hop I thou lest ifighte, for thy world is oversportli to me in hits wildenes."
Sierra Kereson	"No." Reimu and Marisa answer Muramasa in unison. "They're teling the truth, for once." Satori answers Muramasa as well, then clears her throat while putting on the barest attempt of an impersonation. "'This is such a pain, maybe I should give up the hot springs.' 'How does she know what I'm thinking?' 'She's creepy. Everything'll be fine if I beat her, right?'" Satori turns to Muramasa again, her tone returning to normal while Reimu and Marisa mutter to each other, possibly forming a plan of their own. "That is why the oni said what she did about me. I can sense your own discomfort, too. It's always the same when people hear about my powers." A beat. "... So the youkai on the surface are involved to. But..." She turns to Tamamo next. "... I thought you were forbidden from coming down here. At least you seem more agreeable than those two and the ones I can't even read. She glances at the dolls in particular. "A pleasure to meet you as well. I don't think there's much swimming to be done down here, though, and there aren't many foxes down here these days... Hm. Where is that cat, anyway?" She glances around briefly, then stares at Bercilak silently for several moments at his pun. She turns away for an uncomfortably long moment, even coughing once while facing away. She might be suppressing something, only turning back around once her expression is sufficiently neutral. "Nobody wears them, but they're popular with some of my pets." She explains, and there's a moment where it looks like she might almost be smiling, especially at how oddly eager he appears to be. That moment fades quickly, though. "But if you're all really just looking to stop the geyser, don't let me stop you." There's a slow look around at each person, yet her gaze settles on Reimu and Marisa once again. "... Those two, on the other hand." Satori stares right at Reimu and Marisa again as they begin floating. "Mind readers really do set you both off, don't they? I can see it... My mind-reading third eye will show me your very heart!" She begins floating, and colorful patterns can be seen forming behind her as the eye on her chest glows eerily. "'Right now, I'm not thinking about anything else but fighting her!' 'I just want to finish up my business here and go back up to the hot spring!' An image of battle... Fire, onmyo, giants, undefeatable patterns... I think I can use these. Your trauma, your suffering..." OST CHANGE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g84Ik1le1-k It looks like a fight is about to break out between Satori and the pair from the surface. What does everyone do?
Tamamo	"Oh, was I?" Tamamo can't remember being forbidden anything. Not by mutual agreement, at least. "I do not recall." Putting that aside, "Oh, but it will be Summer soon enough, no? I have hardly prepared." So, she really was reading minds. The earlier talk makes sense, then, but it's still not any of Tamamo's business. "Does the air not seem overly...? No, I suppose you must have long since become accustomed." Something or other is happening, to which Tamamo immediately blames youthful impatience and a strange culture of constant magical combat. "Well... this, too, is a greeting, is it?" She spreads her hands in gesture of (slightly mocking) helplessness. "I suppose we must, or else continue with neither answers nor guidance." She's still a little curious what that's about. Fire? Giants? Her mirror is at the ready, floating in the air near her. Her sleeves hide yet more talismans.
Muramasa	Muramasa, at the nudging, snorts loudly. Thankfully, despite the tension, the conversation goes smoothly .. to a point, that is. "Is that unexpected? Intruding inside of others heads is a lot like groping someone hither and thither for a pat down. Some weirdos like it, but some things aren't for stranger's eyes. Or, in your case, third eye." Of course, considering all the untoward things on Reimu and Marisa's minds, he couldn't precisely blame her for doing it. He was simply a private sort of man. Unfortunately, as is the Gensokyo way, the three residents are quick to pick a fight. Muramasa pinches the bridge of his nose. And Bercilak by his own word, was not opposed to partaking in it. "Well, we could leave them behind to reap what they'd sewn ... " But. That's not what an Ally of Justice would do, is it? "Tch. It just can't be helped. Trace on." Holding his hand out, he projects a simple but elegant sword, a hand-and-a-half tachi with a blade longer than most, holding it with the tip pointed towards the ground. " ... our suffering? Being so cryptic suits a psychic, I suppose."
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	Bercilak turns his head, upon hearing Satori's vocalization of Reimu's thoughts. He assumes they're her thoughts, because it's a lazy thought and it has to do with the hot spring. "Is that springe al-sum thou ithinke of?! Ofhere me nau, Muramasa, for I shalt sheu thee mine justisri." He'd said that he might give her access to the spring again, if she proved she was worthy of being a shrine maiden. That thought doesn't... really prove that. To him, it kind of proves the opposite. "'Tis no wondre thou'rt irriten bi her iminde-redinge. Thou'rt the most sluggish shrine maiden e'er hath I ofhered!" He laughs contemptuously. "'Shrine maiden?' Bah. Idel-maiden, mo ilike! WeretI thee, I wouldst be ashamed for others toknoue mine ithinkinge, als." His axe is tapped lightly against the floor of the mansion. Trees, thick of trunk and sturdy, sprout outside, all around the mansion, bracing the cave as one would with timber in a mine shaft. It should help counteract any instability caused by tremors from the geyser. "Thy hom nau is guarded, ayenst terre-mote. But the spring aboveforth shalt I akepe closed, oth that I espy from thee ani bihowing of theim other than yourself. And if thou lest mine assisting ayenst oure host, sixtisom dais of meditacioun, of prayer, of servicies to thine maiden officeship I demaund of thee." "Elles that, 'tis oure host which shalt hath mine assisting." He is standing in the midst of battle, refusing to move, and will assuredly get blasted for it. He doesn't care.
Sierra Kereson	"So you really aren't from around here. Hm... Interesting. It must be nice out there." Satori sounds a smidge bitter as she replies to Tamamo, taking a slow breath after a moment before shrugging her shoulders. "I've lived here for years with my pets. It'd be embarassing if I couldn't take even this amount of heat." "It isn't, no. I've gotten used to it, anyway." She answers Muramasa next. "That's what a satori's power is, and I'll see every though of yours so long as this eye never closes." "What's wrong with wanting to take it easy for once?" Reimu's the one to actually respond to Bercilak, snapping a bit as she prepares her talismans whiel Satori continues preparing her own spell cards with little input beyond a raised eyebrow. "This is... What, the eighth time something weird's happened?" <<"Nine.">> Alice clarifies, sounding mildly exasperated. <<"It would have been resolved sooner if you had taken care of it sooner.">> "Nine! But fine, you want me to focus? I'll focus." Reimu still sounds irritated, but calmer than moments ago. "It looks like this goes deeper than our mind-reader here, anyway. The geyser going out of control won't be good for anyone back home, and I've never let not having a vacation or enough visitors stop me from protecting them before." "Hm. So she can be honest, even if it's a little..." Satori actually chuckles briefly as she holds her arms out to her sides, her tone and expression vaguely taunting without her outright saying what she's thinking. "Very well... Sleep with the trauma that always wakes you up!" As with most of the other youkai that have shown up in this underground labyrinth, Satori goes on the offensive after that somewhat nonsensical one-liner. Rather than just generating colorful patterns with floating orbs and flames and leaving it there, however, her attacks go a step surpass those of the lesser youkai seen earlier. In addition to the swarm of colorful bullets homing in on each person (and that Reimu and Marisa struggle to avoid by flying in manic patterns), there's a personal element to each attack leveled at the Elites gathered: A swath of flames and burning debris hurled towards Muramasa, a pair of giant fists coming down on Bercilak, and a rain of enchanted arrows coming down on Tamamo. Stranger still, however, is that none of these attacks feel like they're fake. The flaming chunks of skyscraper? The giant crushing fists? The enchanted arrows? All of it feels all too real, as though something's dragging those very memories out to lash out at them.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	Reimu's answer is good enough for the Green Knight. He turns his attention away from her, to face Satori once more. Despite being huge himself at seven and a half feet packed into bulky futuristic armor, he is quite agile when he needs to be. The first fist he evades with a full-out sprint, laughing gleefully. "AH," he cries, ducking under it at just the last minute. "Thou espied mine batail with the beauteous serpent Sylvi! Bahaha!" He jukes the other, but gets clipped in the shoulder, the force of the blow denting his armor and making a concerning crack. It moments, the wound and the damage are mended, and he continues his blitz. He breaks right suddenly, attacking not Satori but one of her decorative suits of armor. A crisp, clean snap of the haft pops a helmet from its display, and a crack of the cheek sends it hurtling towards her. With a blast of his suit's thrusters, he takes to the air, knocking the helmet down and forcing it onto Satori's head. Left, right, left, he rings her bell with three sideways swipes of the butt of the weapon's head.
Muramasa	For once in this outing, Muramasa seems relatively pleased with the Shrine Maiden and her Witchy associate. At least she could get it together at the last second, which is better than nothing, he supposed. Narrowing his gaze at Satori, he shifts his stance, pulling the blade to be perpendicular to the ground after switching both hands to grasp onto the blade's hilt. The youkai goes on the attack, everyone's pieces having been said. Ordinary flames, perhaps, he would not have dealt with. But the creeping feeling that ran up his spine threatened to tear him out of the moment, as it wasn't a simple fireball being chucked his way. It was a flame redder than red and hotter than heat. A burning piece of rubble, steel and concrete molten like a slurry of mush as it throttles at him like a rocket. And in that instance, he wasn't standing there. He was a little boy, knee deep in boiling mud and surrounded by everything, and everyone, that the flame consumed. "Agh!" The burning rubble strikes infront of him and washes his body in the flame and heat, blowing him back. It dawned on him what she meant. Whether or not she had all the context, or had simply glazed over the most sensitive and tender parts of his two sets of memories, he didn't know. He didn't care. With a masterful stroke, the air is split by his sword. The vaccum sucks the flame inside and smothers it, reaching out to capture her in a cut that far surpassed the range of the blade itself. "Ganryu. I'll borrow it for a bit."
Tamamo	"What is..." Tamamo's eyes widen. That's... familiar, but it wasn't a 'surface thought' by any means. She hasn't thought about it at all. Today, at least. She's tried not to. The difference from the previous bullets-in-hell shooting is so startling that she's slow to defend herself, a more instinctive self-preserving reflex saving her at the last moment, and even then, only partially. Her mirror is a strong enough, materialized blessing so as to take more than a few arrows, even enchanted, to pierce. She's lucky, at that, that she wasn't any slower. The projectiles graze her, drawing blood as bright red as any other's. For all her knowledge of wards, her pain threshold is nothing amazing. She's not quiet in being struck. She recovers, then, and the character of the spells around her changes. The air crackles, the magic thick enough to be visible almost without the aid of enhanced vision. It's wholly different from the set of skills a youkai exterminator should have--the signs she makes are for warding against the onmyouji who exterminate, and from a perspective of great familiarity. Her thrown response isn't like the previous sealing talismans, but something at odds with the character of the very surroundings. The effect is obvious, and it's unclear whether it's necessary to speak the name. "Frigid Heaven." A cessation of heat. A slowing of movement. An upending of all magic natural to the area. A well-aimed curse, it won't be much issue to those 'on her side,' though they'll still see the ice that forms.
Sierra Kereson	Five targets, five sets of traumas. Or... Four and one completely unintended reaction. "... You humans can be so strange." Satori genuinely doesn't seem to know how to even react to Bercilak's himself-ness as he seems to take joy in the fight and her use of what she had assumed would set him off. His use of the helmet is a novel one, and she's prepared to begin darting around to evade it when she feels an unearthly cold chilling her to the core. "What kind of...?" She can't quite tell it's coming from Tamamo right away, but she can certainly guess based on what she's seeing of each person already. Identifying the source of the curse slowing her reaction time down and actually doing anything about it are two different matters entirely, however, and she can only surround herself with more of that flaming rubble, floating suits of armor, and disembodied limb to defend herself. Chunks go flying, chunks become new weapons entirely, and limbs fall apart as Muramasa and Bercilak engage her in melee. That opens her up to some shots from Reimu and Marisa as they find openings to pelt her with talismans and lasers. "Not bad at all. I didn't think humans from the surface could be so strong. But how long can you keep this energy up?" Finding an escape route, Satori air-dashes sideways as she starts to spin in midair, more of those homing shots coming out of her in frequent waves and smashing into the flaming debris, the disembodied limbs, the armored archer. The debris becomes an entire building, the limbs merge into a single massive foot, the samurai splits into a squadron of onmyo armed with bows. "Are you getting tired? Perhaps you should sleep, and leave the underground while you still can." All at once, the massive attacks come crashing down. The burning building is flung right at Muramasa, the giant foot stomps down upon Bercilak, and the archers fire their enchanted barrage at Tamamo more like a flood than a rain.
Muramasa	Having copied the legendary swordsman's techniques, Muramasa dives, lunges, thrusts, and slashes repeatedly at her, working in conjunciton with Bercilak to drive her back while Tamamo utilizes her counter-cursing. The same method used to divert the power of the onmyouji. Squaring up between Tamamo and the green knight, that left Reimu and Marisa to take up long range bombardment, something he supposed they were skilled at. " ... how many times will I have to relive that day .. I wonder." A giant tries to step on Bercilak. An unending hail of arrows comes for Tamamo no Mae, and for Muramasa .. for Shirou Emiya, a skyscraper aims to trap him under its weight. Like a great missile, its been consumed by that flame from the inside out. Kicking against the ground, he bounces away from his allies and becomes a blur, using his superhuman agility to leap up and begin scaling the building by running along it, somehow avoiding being scorched alive as he darted through the inferno, leaping off of it after having scaled it to its end, in order to come down on top of Satori with the full force of the sword, pouring his magical energy into it to perform Reinforcement magecraft and strengthen the otherwise brittle blade for the sharp overhead technique that could even split a boulder in two. "SEIYAAAAAAAAAH!!"
Tamamo	This time, Tamamo was ready for it. Yes, it got so much worse, but her defenses were prepared. Despite the deluge of projectiles that really shouldn't exist here, but seem to, they crash against her mirror, or else into the air around her, exploding against talismans that disappear in the flash, or sparking against briefly visible symbols that mark otherwise invisible wards. She doesn't attempt to dodge, faced against that rain of sharp-pointed magic, but weathers it with defenses recast before they can fully fail. She has no shortage of power, though this sort of work must be draining in some sense. Talismans are resources that take time to make, after all, unlike, according to some company she's kept, swords. "No, no, do not worry for me. Should you not worry for yourself? Such miracles as you attempt, the impression upon reality of that which may have been, does it not become draining? If not, perhaps, you will not mind should your strength be shared." The frost continues. No, it even becomes worse. There's more than just heat that it saps, but energies of other kinds. Not just motion, but all action must eventually come to a stop, when all is encased in ice. The situation makes it all the harder to notice when another curse is slipped inside. Rather, it's a Charm, which is a particular kind of curse, carried through on Tamamo's voice. It subtly robs the spirit of the chosen listener, to help ensure that it's Tamamo who remains wholly ready to continue, and Satori who tires and calls for sleep.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	Ah, isn't this wonderful? What a nice memory that was, pitting his strength against a foe stronger even than himself. Being able to cut loose, fully, is such a rare opportunity. How did he counter that attack, on that night? That's right... "AHHH! THOU AWORTHEN ME WITH THIS SPORTE, MINE HOSTE!" The foot crashes upon him, and he takes the brunt of its attack head-on, rushing beneath it to pit his physical strength against her mystical strength. Bellowing in triumphant glee, he is brought briefly to one knee, before he musters his willpower and lifts off, driving a fist into the heel of the construct to throw it off. Captializing on that opening, he smashes past the defensive wall that disembodied appendage forms, tromping down the hallway and darting to the right in pursuit. He is kicked, several times, his balance wavering but his pursuit undaunted all the same. One direct hit strikes him in the back, launching him forward, but his axe is buried in a wall to stop his flight. As the limb winds up for another kick, he reaches out with his hand, grasps it, his fingers digging in with bone-crunching strength. With a roar that can only come from exertion of the most dire sort, he musters all of his strength to hurl Satori's conjured attack back at her, wrenching the axe from the wall to continue his plodding chase, the cheek of his axe expertly used to deflect and absorb the barrage levied against him. Muramasa and Tamamo, simply by virtue of being near him, find that wounds which they suffered begin to mend themselves. "SO MAIDEUX, I SHALT NOT TIRE WHANNE MINE ADVERSAUNT MAKEN SWICH AFIN HUNTE! Bahahaha!" The axe is gracefully swung from side to side between those deflections, the beard of the weapon hooking against all manner of furnishings--armor suits, coats of arms, paintings, busts, you name it--and flinging them her way in his own form of 'kitchen sink' danmaku.
Sierra Kereson	Is Muramasa running up the building? He's running up the building. Somehow, he managed to avoid the entire thing, and Satori can't help but be impressed at that swift display. "You humans really are something. You're more like oni, aren't you? Except..." Satori once again pulls in her defenses as she mentally readies herself to have to weather those attacks rather than evade them entirely. Her preparation helps to an extent as she feels herself being drained yet again by that ice steadily encasing her, the cold and the charming magic sapping away her energy and feeding that energy right into Tamamo. It's a potent energy, to be sure, and the divine fox might even feel traces of what Satori had been feeding off of for her own attacks earlier: Fear. Weighing her options, Satori opts to focus her remaining defenses into not getting cut in half. Even with the remnants of the building congealing into a dense brick before her, however, Muramasa's boulder-splitting slash carves right through that physical barrier and slams right into her, tearing apart those defenses right at the moment as Bercilak launches his own array of makeshift projectiles. Chunks of ethereal flesh, suits of armor, and even hard corners come flying at Satori, joining the lasers and talismans being launched by the two locals. Moments after impact, there's a strangely shining explosion, followed by Satori floating to the ground. "That could have gone better... I took you too lightly since you're... Well, some of you are human." Satori lets out a tired grunt as she comes down from her flight to let her feet rest upon the ground, signaling an end to the fight. She lowers her arms with what's left of the mind-torn entities fading into the ether, then starts rubbing the side of her head in that vaguely injured-but-conscious way. "I think I've seen some of these attacks before..." Reimu remains in the air, but she retracts her talismans as the fighting comes to a close. <<"Hey, hey, those were my moves before! t'd be nice if you'd remember some of them.">> Suika slurs a bit, but it's understandable enough. "I picked things that looked the strongest from the depths of your heart. Yours as well." Satori gestures to the Elites, then waves at them to follow her as she opens the doors to the mansion and leads them into the foyer, polished floors and stained glass windows shimmering even in the darkness with only dim flames lighting the way. There's quite a few animals watching the group, hiding in dark corners and within suits of armor. "Anyway. You've come here about the geyser, right?" She closes her eyes, letting her third eye look from person to person before she takes them to the courtyard. It's a fairly standard courtyard, complete with a grand fountain filled with clean water, leafless trees nearly as tall as the mansion's doors, wide benches that look good as new, and even flower boxes filled with a variety of strangely colored flowers. Also, a massive hole right in the center of it all. It's dug out a bit on the sides as if someone had tried to even it out before giving up partway through due to how big it is. More intense heat comes from the hole as well, and the only respite from all that heat is the breeze that somehow continues to blow throughout the never-ending underground cavern. "You can get further underground from here. I think one of my pets could have had something to do with the vengeful spirits, so... That's where you'll find her. If you have any other questions, though, ask away."
Muramasa	His knees bend as he lands on the ground, having slashed through Satori's defenses. The longsword in his hand, colloquially known as the "Drying Pole" promptly explodes into motes of light, scattering from his grip. He felt something in his body pulling, sore and hot, and realized that he must've over-filled himself when he was performing Reinforcement. Yet, he finds himself in luck, as Tamamo is kind enough to bless him and soothe the pain, as well as the loss of energy, from his rushed-job to bring about enough power to bear for the previous attack. "We're lucky you underestimated us then, huh." he says, plainly, just happy to have finished fighting. The group continues on inside until they come to a central courtyard, a nice bit of greenery to relax in. Besides the giant gaping hole, that is. Muramasa frowns, looking Satori's way after staring into the deep, dark hole. "So there's a possibility we might be coming up on our last battle here. That's comforting, in its way. Before we descend, I'd like to take care of something, if you don't mind. I'll be back soon." Stepping aside, he makes for one of the bathrooms he'd spied earlier. When nature calls, right? .... although, after he enters, it certainly doesn't sound like he's using the toilet. In fact, it doesn't sound like a bathroom in there at all.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	>I took you too lightly. "Bahaha! Wori not, mine host. If e'er thou lest ifighte ayen, glathe wouldst I be to yeve one unto thee." He seems fine with the fight being over. Shouldering the axe, he stomps his way over to her, following as beckoned. "Verily," says Bercilak with a nod, the visor of his helmet reflecting his surroundings as dents, burn marks and scoring on his armor mends itself. "Gramercy thereof," he says gratefully, gesturing to the hole in the earth. Since she's already got a garden here, and since that geyser is right here... a little more braces couldn't hurt. The haft of his axe taps against the ground, and more leafless trees sprout within the cavern, forming supports which brace the weight of the cavern's ceiling to guard against tremors from the geyser. He pauses, looking over his shoulder at Satori. One of those leafless trees of his own make, mysteriously sprouts leaves, and flowers, which blossom into peaches. "A yeft from me, for thy oversportli herborage todai. A greter hoste I hath not espied in som time!" He gestures to his fellows. And to Reimu. "Muramasa, Tamamo, Reimu and Marisa als, hath thy ietinge, owhils thou cannst." He makes for the hole, but then... there is an opportunity to test the shrine maiden. "Reimu, I ofaxe thee thy ithinkinge of thy felaues. Thy sothful awening of theim that bilive with thee." He gives Satori a meaningful look, silently asking her to be a lie detector.
Tamamo	With her power gradually restoring itself, a set of tactics implemented in old magic and her inherent nature, Tamamo is worse off than she was at the start, but her reading of the situation quickly tells her that it's not nearly so precarious as Muramasa's situation. A fantastic strike, but the word 'overextended' flashes to mind. A moment of concerned worry, purely instinctive, and she resolves to push herself to channel a little healing, fortune, and mana his way, enough to cover for the moment. But then, it seems that Satori has had enough. This, too, is fine. Her demeanor is immediately calmed, her clothing surreptitiously straightened, and she follows along with the rest. "Is armor without its warriors in fashion, then?" That's half-directed to Bercilak, even though she's catching less than usual of what he's saying, at this point. To Satori, "If it is a pet of yours that may be the source of some trouble, so you suspect, then is it that you know of what trouble they may be causing? However much you may know should be helpful, I think." Outwardly, she's totally over the spellcard duel. Inwardly, she's going to need another fifteen minutes, minimum, and not spent inside an underground sauna.
Sierra Kereson	"Most humans don't even make it this far. Not alive, anyway. If you're this strong, though, then you might be able to find whatever it is you're looking for. The source, the heat... It has gotten hotter lately, even for me." Satori nods as Muramasa steps away, looking towards where he's going even before he heads that way. "Take whatever time you need before you go. We don't get many visitors here, anyway." As he heads into the bathroom, however, she raises an eyebrow. "What a strange ability he has..." Marisa, meanwhile, looks somewhat grossed out. "You're calling that an ability now?" Satori just shakes her head. Bercilak's gift of extra stability, trees, and even peaches has Satori at another loss for words. She approaches one of the trees, placing her hand against it lightly while some of the animals from earlier peer out from their various hiding places. "How thoughtful... A-ah. Thank you." She clears her throat, then turns right back to the hole while "This should make up for the damaged decor." It probably doesn't take mind-reading powers to notice she's not being completely honest there. Tamamo might just have an easier time of it, though! His question to Reimu, meanwhile, gets a completely blank sare from the shrine maiden and the witch. Sighing lightly, Satori provides a brief translation: " 'What do you think of the youkai you live with?' And no, I can't turn it off." Reimu, of course, still looks mildly weirded out. "What do I...? Oh. They don't live with me, but they sure do like coming over like they've got nothing better to do." Every doll makes a variety of protesting noises. Reimu: "... But they're alright. They're not causing any more trouble than they did when we first met, so it's easier to just let them be." Satori gives Bercilak a knowing nod at that, but doesn't say anything further. Instead, she turns to Tamamo with a slow shake of her head. "I'm afraid not. One of my hell ravens, Utsuho, is in charge of managing the flames of Hell. It's normally quite... Normal, but it's gotten much hotter lately." A beat. "Did I say that already?" She shrugs, then continues. "It's probably her doing, if the heat and the geyser's gotten so much worse that even the people on the surface have noticed it. I haven't seen her in a while, so please look after her if she's gotten into any trouble. But..." She pauses, looking from person to person once again. "There shouldn't be any spirits showing up there. That would normally be Rin's domain. One of my cats. You might have seen her already. She's a mischievous one, so be careful around her. Both of them. Once you're finished, though..." She finally takes her hand off the tree. "I'll have some tea ready." She pauses again, then stares right at Marisa with a non-plussed expression and a tired sigh. "And no, you can't search the house." The witch snaps her fingers. "Damn."
Sierra Kereson	OST CHANGE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itdlSbcH-hE Once everyone's ready to descend into the hole, it becomes immediately clear why it's so hot: This is the lava zone. On the plus side, it's really easy to see where everyone's going with lava flowing just about everywhere. Unfortunately, even the wind doesn't help make it any more comfortable since the wind itself is grossly warm and still a bit damp from the geysey still going off in the near-ish distance. "Whew... It's so hot, I could die here!" Marisa complains, fanning herself with her hat while letting her broom handle the work of actually moving her along. Alice: <<"Are the dolls okay?">> Marisa: "Yeah, but it's so hot I wouldn't be surprised if they burned up." Alice: <<"I think the dolls themselves will be fine, but it would be bad if the gunpowder inside caught fire.">> Marisa: "Why the hell did you stuff gunpowder in 'em?!" As with previous areas, the group is also accosted by more of the local youkai. Flaming wisps charge at people directly, floating yin-yang symbols fire off magic balls all over the place, and that two-tailed cat even makes its return, accompanied by a swarm of zombified fairies that surge towards everyone that explode in bursts of magic fire when struck. "What a pain... That cat keeps creeping up on us, but I can't keep it down for long." Reimu complains, firing off a barrage of talismans that the cat avoids by swerving around a pillar and using it as cover. Aya (the tengu): <<"Hmm. Perhaps that cat isn't a normal cat?">> Alice: <<"Marisa, are you throwing around some kind of cat food?">> Marisa: "Maybe it wants to play with these dolls?"
Muramasa	Muramasa returns sometime later, his upper body drenched with sweat and his haori clenched in hand. In the other, he now held a sword that held a mirror sheen, polished to such a degree that it could reflect perfectly without any distortion whatsoever. It was a short thing, though, being closer to a nodachi instead of a tachi. It was clearly a magical instrument of some kind, judging by the feeling it radiated. "Alright, I'm ready to go. Also ... sorry about the bathroom ... it should be back to normal by morning, or so." Obtusely, he didn't seem to realize how that sounded without critical context, as he moves on and slaps Bercilak's big green shoulder pauldron, moving to descend. And, when they do, they get attacked again in short order. "You again?!" Slinging his haori over one shoulder, he projects a large black mallet in hand and swings wide, driving the cat off even as he's pelted with a barrage of magic that sends him tipping over. "Why you...!" "This'll make you scram!" he says, stabbing at the creature with his new mirror sword, which releases a miniaturized lightning strike. "Git!"
Tamamo	Tamamo does not comment on anything involving a bathroom. That would be horribly rude. She does notice a new sword, but only because it is remarkably well-polished. New swords seem to appear all the time around... three of the five Servants she's met, so this is probably mostly normal, too. Or... is it? Has she been led astray on the subject of magical sword-makers and-slash-or retrievers? While thinking about other things, and pushing memories of onmyouji archers further into the recesses of memory, Tamamo is attacked by zombie fairies. The particulars of how usually-immortal fae can be zombified aren't something she has any time to consider, instead having to spend her time trying to avoid their grasp. Who knows what might happen if she was bitten? It would complicate all sorts of things if she turned into a fairy. Instead of biting, they explode. She's not sure if that's worse, but she does avoid the worst of it, trusting more to leaping movements that are the first to betray her superhuman physique. It's not even flying, just powerful physical motions, sending her from point to point, catching herself, and moving again, not quite having the time to perfectly situate her mirror or set up new defenses. "Would a normal cat be flying? This seems unlikely, no?" Not that she's gotten a good look at it. And most other things here do seem to fly, but... she's pretty sure no one she's met down here qualifies as 'normal,' anyway. If they were normal, they wouldn't be here. "If these are greetings, it is awfully shy, to never quite get to the point of exchanging names, no?" More sealing talismans should deal with the fae who haven't quite reached her. She saves a little more energy, for now.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	>The yokai who hang out with me are alright. It's better than complete apathy, he supposes. <J-IC-Scene> Bercilak says, "Bah! Thou awene me the crevil, yet 'tis Muramasa who ihedes withinne the laterin." Muramasa's slap to his pauldron is borne with a chuckle, when the swordsmith returns. Tamamo's musings about the suits of armor do give him pause, though--he hadn't previously noticed how so many of them appear to house little animals. More of their host's pets, no doubt! Time to head down below, then. The local youkai are handled with much the same boisterous, yet expert aplomb that Bercilak made use of earlier. Thruster-assisted shoulder checks and brutal knees are thrown in with equal frequency to masterful haft strikes, trips and thrusts of the axe's blunt eye. That cat certainly isn't a normal cat. It does indeed keep creeping up. This is not a problem at all for Bercilak, who quite enjoys persistent opponents. Battered by the explosions of zombie-fey, laughing all the while, he directs his nanites to Muramasa. FRIENDLY NANOPROGRAM: Punisher of the Wicked The already masterful swordsman finds his blade strikes even truer than normal, his reflexes boosted further even than his legendary status would ordinarily confer, his mind suited all the better to reading the feints and subtle tells of his opponent... in this case, a cat. Get! Shoo! Hewing a great fissure into the earth, thorny cacti erupt from below the chasm his axe made. They frustrate the approach of those fae and wisps, swatting with prehensile, thorny protrusions at any who dare cross the prickly field.
Sierra Kereson	EARLIER "Don't worry. That sounds worse to them than it does to me." Satori reassures Muramasa. Reimu, Marisa, and the surface support team are all judging him very, very hard. NOW Tamamo will notice that the zombified fairies are... Actually mostly fine. The ones that get wrapped up don't even explode, but the ones that get struck or shot do. Even the ones that run into Bercilak's VALLEY OF CACTUS burst, although theyir shots end up getting blocked considerably by thecacti themselves. Either way, though, they're a little beat up by the time they hit the ground, but they're not literally exploding nor do they have any kind of undead energy radiating off them at all. Upon even closer inspection, she can see that they're all just costumes and face paint. Self-made, if the inconsistent quality is any indication. Aya: <<"According to what Miss Satori said, that cat may be holding the key to something.">> Yes, it's that goddamn cat again. Muramasa can almost see it smirking at him even as he moves forward to bash it right in its smug cat face, the creature deftly flipping around in its flight to narrowly avoid getting blasted right into the nearby flames. The lightning-imbued blade, however, zaps the everloving crap out of that cat, and it's only made worse by the addition of Bercilak's nanite-imbument. Weirder still, however, is that the cat doesn't screech like a cat normally would on getting attacked. Instead, it lets out another one of those strangely echoing meowls and does a flip in midair, then bursts into flames. OST CHANGE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTyFUgSM-DU "Tada! Havin' fun in the Hell of Blazing Fires, bro? Really feels like you're gettin' fired up!" The red-haired girl (Rin) that appears from those flames strikes a pose, somehow managing to do it even with a covered wheelbarrow in tow. She's wearing a black dress with green trim, has two black tails coming out from behind her, and she also has a set of cat ears and human ears for some reason. "A cat's a cat, but don't make the mistake of thinkin' I'm just your ordinary housecat! I've been living here ever since this place turned into Hell." Another pose. "Orin, Hell's Traffic Accident! Nowadays, I can catch corpses and spirits and control them, ferry 'em around. All my hard work has really paid off! But unlucky for all of you, getting hot and bothered won't help ya any. The hellfires here'll take your body AND soul once you're a corpse." She sniffs the air, then grins a cheeky grin once again as she hops onto the edge of the cart to squat in place. "Oh yeah. You wanted to find out about that geyser, right? I heard you talkin' about it before at Miss Satori's place!" She shakes her head immediately afterwards. "If she touches you, you'll melt right away, and looking in her eyes will drive you mad if you can even bear to look at her! But you don't have to worry about any of that. If I find a corpse, I'll wheel it in this cart all the way to Hell!" She strikes another pose not unlike someone trying too hard to be like a cat, then grabs onto the cart's handles as flames start to fan out from around her like flower petals. "And you look like some really strong corpses for the biggest fires we'll ever see!" All at once, the flames expand outwards rapidly, homing in on the Elites from multiple directions as if trying to limit their means of avoiding it. Reimu and Marisa both take flight once more, trying not to get singed too badly as they counter with their own barrage of talismans and lasers that add yet more blinding colors to the already terribly bright battlefield!
Muramasa	Muramasa's frown grows even more annoyed as that goddamn cat turns into that goddamn little girl. Wait, little girl? "Good grief. So you know about the one causing all the mischief down here? ... why are you doing that?" Indicating to her exaggerated posing he stops, and then seems to just roll with it, moving right along. She looked like a kid, so he supposed if the shoe fit ... "We'll just have to push on through and see for ourselves how terrible this fiend really is. " Holding the mirror sword up, it seemed to shimmer as he swung it through the oncoming volley of magical attacks, absorbing what he could capture with his swift and precise swordplay and launching them right back at her! His body is burned from being pelted by what he was unable to reflect, the hellfire potent, but the Servant presses onwards with a wince. And with his mallet in hand, he aims to smack her right upside her head and give her a great, big lump that would need to be addressed with a suitable sized ice-pack. "DORYAH!"
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	>You'll melt right away! >You'll go mad just looking at her! >You guys look like you'd make good corpses! This place is great! Around every corner, there's someone looking to fight you. And always in the most unassuming forms. He's never had his life threatened by a cat before. "BAHAHAH! Smite me thanne, if thou durst, liti forth-bringere," says the Green Knight, pointing at her cart as those flaming petals pick up. "Smite me, and see if thou'rt strengthi ynogh to quell me!" The flames scorch and blacken his armor, setting the synthetic weave beneath the plates ablaze. He is quick to take cover behind the cacti, though this seems an intentional part of Rin's plan, as the force of her attacks ends up stabbing him with the needles of the plants blown asunder. Their razor-sharp needles scrape gouges into his armor, too. The needles are pushed out by rapidly repairing fabric and the healing wounds beneath it. Scrape marks are filled in, green stripes forming amidst fields of scorched black. Soot crumples off of the armor, which now seems only slightly worse for wear. "Hm. An attempt most honourable--but this dai shalt thou quell me not, I trow," says Bercilak, cracking his neck as fiery blasts continue to impact him. He begins marching through his cacti as Muramasa charges in to bonk her. Twirling the axe around for dramatic effect, plodding head-on through her assault, he chuckles, lifting the axe. The monomolecular green edge gleams menacingly in the fiery depths. It looks like he's going in for the kill... And then those thrusters fire. He jukes around and behind Muramasa, twirling just in time to bar Rin's escape with a forceful -thwack- of the haft against her back. "Verily, he spekes sothli--thou'rt behavinge as a liti shit." A swift flick of an armored finger against the back of her head. "Smite that off!"
Tamamo	Tamamo is distracted for awhile by the zombie-costumed fairies, going so far as to pick up a sealed one in her hands, having made the little thing reasonably safe in the process. She's saying something about how she 'finally understands' 'creepy cute.' She doesn't understand Rin, though, and looks in her direction almost dispassionately. "Now, I think that is quite enough of that, yes? There has been a bit too much play, no?" Not that one could ever convince a cat of that, youkai or otherwise. When the spirits come at her, Tamamo allows for hole in her own defenses, fires burning against her, just so she can reach the spirit with her hand. Contact. Physical contact to the immaterial, the mystical, opening a sympathetic connection to the originator. The red strings of Fate connect her to Rin, just for a moment. Tamamo grabs them with her will, works her blessings in reverse, and even as her hand burns, she pulls them into a precise snarl. There is no particular physical sensation for having one's Fate changed. There is often no way of knowing what has happened at all. But at precisely six points within the day, if not within the next three minutes, there will be some misstep, and Rin will do something exactly wrong.
Sierra Kereson	"Aren't you the curious one? I'm doing these things 'cause I'm a cat. It's simple logic!" Rin sounds confident enough about that, at least, although the double-ears might still be kind of weird all around. "Yeah, the one that controls the geysers is further in. If you're thinkin' about meeting her, though, you better think twice!" Although Rin's words are more of a warning, she sounds like she's bragging about someone else's power. "She got really powerful lately, and it's like she can do anything!" Alas, Rin's fighting ability is not nearly as great as her talking ability, at least in the context of trying to fight off five people at once. She's certainly agile, flipping about with the dexterity of a cat that's also capable of flight just to make her even worse to get a bead on. Indeed, she certainly seems to know this as well, but something goes wrong. Several somethings go wrong. In the middle of one of her cat-like cartwheels, her foot snags on an exploded chunk of cactus, embedding the sharpened plant matter into her foot. That throws her off long enough that the mirror sword sends Rin's flames back at her forces her to thrash about to put the flames out instead of noticing the multi-pronged attack coming her way from Bercilak and Muramasa. The bonking is merciless, and the howls of pain can probably be heard through most of the underground. It's enough that even Reimu and Marisa hold back in firing on Rin further, especially as she finally settles down with... More laughter. Her head's sore and her back feels like an old person's, but she's still laughing. "Good job! Wouldn't've thought I'd lose to..." Rin starts counting off on her fingers as she looks from person to person. "... Two humans? Three? Some of you smell too weird to be human or youkai." Her gaze flits to Muramasa and Bercilak briefly as she says that, but only for a moment before she starts rubbing the bump on her head. "Anyway. If you're lookin' for the one in charge of the geyser, she's down at the core of the underground, probably. I wouldn't recommend it for any human or youkai, but for people as strong as you?" Rin hops right back onto the cart and starts balancing precariously on the front of it. "You might have a chance. We animals of the deep get more powerful by eating ghosts and spirits, you know? The stronger the corpse, the stronger we get!" She strokes her chin lightly, looking a bit more troubled after that. "But somehow, she was able to swallow up a god. Better be careful she doesn't eat you up, too!" It might look like she's looking at Tamamo as she says that, but it could just as easily be a coincidence. "You better be prepared if you're going down there. If you're not, though, don't worry too much because I'll be there to pick up your bones~"