Blossom of Bodhisattva (Touhou)

[Subterfuge]

Commission requested by @Dragontrapper

—

There were many strange occurrences in Gensokyo, and many even stranger beings. There were oni who could break the moon, shrine maidens who could pass between realities, and vampires who could change fate… one of those was likely a lie, but then, what was fantasy but an ever-growing series of lies until you reach a book deal? Insanity of course, but insanity was nothing but a boon in Gensokyo, after all, when one witnessed the impossible daily, to restrain yourself to what merely made sense was much the same as trying to give a Hakutaku a normal cup size.

It simply just wasn't done of course. But, the author digresses and chooses to instead paint a scene, of a relatively normal day within Gensokyo.

—

Our subject for today's tale is one Cirno, an Ice Fairy, an odd moniker to be certain as she was the only Ice Fairy. Perhaps that was why she was, by definition, the strongest. But at the moment she wasn't using her strength, she was using subtlety, indeed, she was making her way around the back of the newly rebuilt shrine, a pair of leafy twigs held beside her as she crab-walked past Myouren and the class he was teaching. He noticed of course, but there was very little he didn't. The rest of the class failed to see her of course, because ice fairies do not sneak, therefore she couldn't actually be there to be spotted.

Such was the way of Gensokyo.

She slipped across the grounds, past the sleeping Shou, the sloshed Ichirin, the seeking Nazrin and the sly Mamizou. There, she found her target. A small shed, wooden if the reader must know, with a simple wooden lock made of kappa-forged iron. It was shatter proof, freeze proof, unmeltable, and was laden with charms to be immune to any spell. It was, for all intents and purposes, completely impossible to get past it without the key. This posed a problem, a conundrum, and the Ice Fairy stared up at it, thinking whatever thoughts her childish mind could summon forth. If only Dai was here, she briefly thought, she always came up with the best plans. But then she remembered, indeed, one of Myouren's lessons!

And a smile came upon her face, a very smiley smile, as she realized she had indeed been a good student, and recalled one of the lessons he had imparted upon her. "Form is no different from emptiness. Emptiness is no different from form. Form is precisely emptiness, emptiness is precisely form." She didn't know what that meant, or how it applied in any way to this situation. But she remembered it, so it must mean it was important.

Nodding to herself, and with a blizzard raging in her heart, she sprung to action.

And if anyone were to be looking at the shed, they would have seen a small ice fairy leap back, let out a battle cry, then charge headfirst through a glass window.

Truly, her wisdom knew no bounds.

And in the shed, she found her prize.

—

Myouren looked up from his teachings, "to best teach today's lesson we shall take all one large step back."

At this, he received looks of confusion, as, after all, one was meant to walk forward on the path, not backward. Had he gone senile in his old age? They didn't know, but they wouldn't dare whisper such things, Yukari was nervous around this man, and that meant that what didn't make sense to them must make perfect sense to him! So they did indeed do so, all taking long steps back.

Myouren smiled, then picked up a particularly small child and gently placed him back further, then nodded. Then, with a visage of calm acceptance he looked towards the back of the temple, where the simple wooden shed… exploded.


View: https://youtu.be/irEzFWOitHI?t=5

Cirno came screaming, both literally, and figuratively out of the shed, her hands holding onto the throttles of Byakuren's motorcycle for dear life, her feet danging in the air behind her as she went roaring past the past between Myouren and his students. The Bodhisattva watched her go, idly wondering how he was going to punish his sister for this.

Distantly, a dull thud sounded from the direction of the shed.

The kappa-made lock was fine. It would grow legs and spawn an incident later of course.

But that was not a tale for today.

Nor is the tale of how Cirno somehow rode the bike all the way into New Hell and toppled the local government therein.

Study these words, and you shall proceed upon the Eightfold-path.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbm4nxk6XP0

—

"I, Sariel, shall defeat you foul devil!"

The sound of screeching metal filled the air, and you had but a moment to watch, then sigh, as a belch of smoke erupted from the side of the cannon as… blue swords began hurtling out of its barrels. The noise is indescribable, a droning roar loud enough to shatter what few fragments of glass remained intact on the floor. The sheer light emanating from the cannon washes out the room and leaves it as nothing more than blinding white and blue strobes, as streaks of pure power crash through everything in their path.

And through it all, Nue laughs - a run, a skip, a jump from one pew to another to an empty plinth, then from there to a ricochet off one of the walls - nimble acrobatics letting her stay just one step ahead of the torrent of destruction. A grin grows on Nue's face as she runs… and then it grows more, and more, and more. Her head nearly splits in two, her mouth spreading wide enough that it reaches either ear, with razor sharp teeth filling the gap.

You, meanwhile, just took a few passive steps away from the impending conflict, your hands held low by your side enough to have the two women prioritize each other as the greater threat.

And then Nue flares her strange wings, reversing her momentum in midair in an instant, and with a twirl of her trident, begins her own riposte.

'Nue Sign - Undefined Darkness!'

A wave of darkness roils forward… although, looking closer, that isn't quite correct. What Nue conjured forth was not merely some mystical fog - it was the absence of definition of light itself. There wasn't merely a smothering of the light, it was no longer in existence at all, all that remained was a choking, cloying, infinite darkness. The void made manifest.

And then the fog surged forward, its formless, twisting shape resisting all attempts at identification, any tiny fraction of similarity to any earthly shape warped and shattered from moment to moment. The blades of light, which had torn through mundane materials like so much sand and air, were swallowed whole by the gaping maw of the void, and vanished from existence in mere moments.

But as the void descended upon the angel, she was not idle.

In fact, she was smiling.

'Genesis Sign - Let There be Light!'

The barrels shifted, interlocking, becoming one. Then a light, impossibly bright lances forth from the front of the cannon and into the darkness. The two meet, and for the barest, briefest of moments it seems the forces are evenly matched. Then a sound, singing, infinite voices from infinite direction, without word, yet with all of them at once, fills the air. And the darkness dissipates, Nue twisting out of the way, her body more smoke than form as the rear wall of the church simply ceases to be, masonry dissipating into nothing as you hear a loud ripping sound. Turning your head, you watch as the beam continues on for a half mile before slamming into… nothing, it then dissipates, leaving a floating hole of white amidst the purple landscape, floating in the air about a half mile wide.

"Your darkness can never defeat the light!" Sariel roars. "Foul Dark Lord!"

Nue blinks, then blinks again, pausing mid-flight. Then you see her… shrug? It's difficult to tell, given the fluidity of her form at the moment. And then she dives. In between eyeblinks, the distance between Nue and Sariel vanishes into nonexistence, the impossible speed sending shockwaves throughout the ruins of the building, more bricks and masonry collapsing as the roof begins to sag.

A rippling chime like that of a church bell rings out, the angel having brought her cannon up barely in time to block the swing of Nue's trident - the prongs catching on either side of the barrel.

But the voidspawn must have expected this - with a twist, she pulls at her trident, attempting to wrest the gun out of the angel's hands. Sariel flows with the movement, her wings opening widely, as she slams a buffet of air through the church. Your robes move around you, but little else. While Nue skids back. The angel then swings the gun around, using it like a bludgeon, Nue narrowly ducks underneath it, then yelps as it jerks back, far faster, the heated barrels pressing against her side.

Nue leaps back, skidding across the ground, trident held at her side, one hand on the floor. "Not bad little angel." She says, her eyes black and limitless.

"You are not a poor opponent yourself," Sariel states.

They stare at each other, saying nothing for several moments. Then, ever so slowly, like a tiger noticing someone had wandered into their den. They both turn to look at you.

You smile. "I do not engage in combat."

"I DO!" a new voice calls out, and as one, the three of you turn back to see…

Cirno, her wings flapping madly behind her as… the ground underneath her was a void, there were a lot of those around now, now that you look at it. This 'reality' as it was was coming to pieces. Still, the fairy had a cocky grin on her face, her hands on her hips. "He's stronger than Reimu, so he could kick your butts. But he doesn't need to, he beats people without fighting! But I do, and so… I'll fight you for The Boss!"

The… Boss?

You open your mouth to speak, to dissuade the fairy from this action. But she was already flying past you, arms raised above her head, snowball forming.

A streak of light shot forward, even as Cirno's own shadow rose up to devour her. And then the little fairy was torn apart - the backlash of the two opposing energies slamming into each other annihilating her even more thoroughly than either would have on its own. Of Cirno, all that remained were a few droplets of pure, icy water, dripped onto the ruined floor.

A moment passes in silence.

You stare down at the puddle, then idly prod it with your staff. She would be back, fairies could never truly die. But that was besides the point. You look up, at Sariel, currently attempting to hide the gun behind her back, and Nue, idly playing with a lock of her hair as her mouth shrunk and her eyes regained their usual color. "Do neither of you know restraint? There are holes in the universe and one of my followers is a puddle."


View: https://youtu.be/I-jG-feo5-k?t=37

"Well said."

You could sense her approach for some time, but only now, turning back behind you, do you see Shinki, the lord and ruler of this realm, with your own sight. And she does not look pleased.

Arrayed behind her is a grand host of her legions, stretching into the distance - tens of thousands of devils, all armored and equipped for war. Terrible spells are held mere syllables away from completion among the hosts of spellcasters, horrific runes line the weaponry and armor of the frontline soldiers.

The world of Makai has reacted to this intrusion, and it has not come unprepared.

You smile. "Good evening." She stands a touch shorter than you, but she was grand. Her dress is a brilliant red, adorned with white frills just a shade more peach colored than her hair. Six jagged wings of purple, like that of a bat, extend from her back. Red lines of purest power crisscrossing them like veins. Her blue eyes aren't staring at you at all, they are flicking between Sariel and Nue, though at your words, she finally looks at you.

"Good evenin-" She starts, then halts, her teeth clacking together. Her eyes flick up and down your form, then she takes a step back.

Her eyes pass then for a moment to Sariel, "you will aid my Devil's in repairing the realm." She then lifts a finger to point off in the distance where… You could indeed see another small army of Devils wearing strange yellow helmets and moving construction equipment, tying ropes into the edges of reality and beginning to pull them back together again.

Sariel stands there for a moment, then gingerly places the giant gun onto the altar and… flies off.

"You are helping," Shinki then says, looking at Nue.

Nue stares at her, "why?"

"Because I shall lock you in a hole so deep, so forgotten, you will forget even yourself." Shinki hisses.

"... Aight." Nue replies, then flies after Sariel.

Then, Shinki looks at you. "And what, exactly, is one of your kind doing here? My realm was sanctioned and separated. If you have come here to destroy it know that I will not allow my children to suffer with a passive hand."

You smile, then shake your head.

—

[] [It is time for the Devils to aid the world above]
The misconduct of the Lunarians threatens the balance of the world. A counterbalance is necessary.

[] [We must discuss your wayward daughter, both of them]
Alice Margatroid's actions speak for themselves, but the one called "Koakuma" is no mere succubus.

[] [We must discuss the angel in your service]
Sariel, the Angel of Death, teetering on the razor's edge between her God's graces and the realm of the fallen of her kind.

[] [I was sent here to… wed… you]
Buddha works in… mysterious ways. And does not answer your questions.

—

A silence filled the air then, as Shinki stared at you, mouth agape. Then you heard a loud pop and turned around to see Cirno floating in the air, water dripping from her clothes with a dazed look on her face. The fairy looked this way and that for a moment, before settling on you with a rather concussed expression. "Did I win?"