And just like that, it was all over. The chaos had dissipated, leaving only the aftermath of the entire thing behind. Reimu wasnât terribly surprised to be honest, even if it was a bit of a shock to her system to see even something that had been on as grand a scale as this end so easily. This was pretty much how it worked with incidents at home, too; things just got resolved and forgotten about with a drinking party. (Usually at her shrine. And also usually leaving all the clean-up work to her and her alone, too.)
Of course, this battle had been much deadlier than the ones typically found in Gensokyo, and as such wasnât without its scars. Brown-hued eyes scanned the torn apart landscape, Reimu biting her lower lip gently as she sat on the ground. She had been all too abruptly dropped from the sky earlier, given that her powers had been capped again, which sucked. The fall hadnât been great for her still injured leg, either; she winced even as she just thought about it, feeling a throb of pain course through the burnt and bruised limb.
All she had really learned from this was that flying seemed to be a dangerous way to spend the time in this place, honestly.
...Even for someone who was so spiritually gifted, it was hard for Reimu to process the sheer, overwhelming amount of chaos, death and destruction raining down upon the city, given that she was still just a human in the end. Buildings were falling, things were on fire, people were crying out-- only to be silenced by the cold embrace of death a mere moment later. Her heart ached and broke in her chest as she watched the horrific scene from within a complicated trap of barriers that she had conjured forth to keep herself safe; an ability that had been granted back to her at the start of the end, allowing her to observe despite the hazy fog clouding her brain. A mixture of the focus needed to maintain these barriers and the sheer numbness from watching these traumatizing events meant that she couldnât of been reached even if one tried-- both in the literal, physical sense and in the emotional one.
There was so much going on. Too much. The shrine maiden felt completely and utterly numb; it was an unusual feeling for her. Normally, the girl often felt too much, hiding how much she truly cared underneath a cold, hostile and occasionally even violent exterior (and usually some sake, too). But right now... she couldnât manage to scrape together even a scrap of a feeling, nor would even a single tear drip from her eyes. The maiden simply floated there, watching the city as if she were watching a movie on a television screen, seeing things crumble and fall to dust right before her eyes but feeling absolutely nothing in her heart or soul despite her morals knowing she should be feeling everything.
It was just too much for one person to handle.Â
It had been days that she had been like this, watching in complete silence as things collapsed and burned all around her. The red-white miko had worn nothing but a blank expression; one almost could of mistaken it for a serene, bizarre sort of calm during the storm. Her purification rod- the proper one, this time- was clutched in her hands with an iron, white-knuckled grip, but that was the only sign of the stress that was currently weighing heavy on Reimuâs mind.Â
In a way, she looked more like a broken and discarded doll than a human, in that moment. She was used to fighting, sure; it happened in Gensokyo all the time. But she wasnât quite as used to the literal end of the world, nor was she used to the fights being so deadly in nature. Not since the spell card rules that she herself had put into place all those years ago.
Finally, when a week had passed, a ghost of a feeling began to pass through her pale body. It was cold at first, shooting through her heart like an icy spike-- but it turned unbearably hot incredibly fast, the shrine maiden beginning to feel her blood boil just underneath her skin.
How dare they?
How dare they?Â
So many were perishing here on this battlefield, and while Reimu could hardly call this place a home, she wasnât about to stand by and watch so many innocent people continue to fall into deathâs embrace. Not any longer.
A powerful quake shook through the protective barriers she had enacted all around herself, before they suddenly burst in a destructive wave, sending mystical shards in all directions as Reimu herself rushed forth out into the fray using her flight abilities. Her heart pounded and beat in her chest louder than a drum, louder than thunder even, and yet she didnât hesitate to drop in from the sky to try and rescue civilians as best she could from all this madness.
She had already stood by and watched for far too long already, and too many lives had disappeared due to her inaction. So, right now? She wasnât going to let anything stop her.
[1:04 A.M.]: I MAY BE ABLE TO ESCORT YOU TO ARCHIMEDES. ITâS A BIT DANGEROUS HERE, BUT I CAN SEE THE AREA. AS LONG AS CERTAIN AREAS ARE AVOIDED, YOU SHOULD BE FINE.
They werenât lying; the glasses they had previously used in the TV World allowed them to see. The areas that still looked a bit cloudy were the toxic areas, they assumed.
TO: SHIROGANE NAOTO
FROM: REIMU HAKUREI
>[thanks.]
>[Iâm in fibonacci right now]
>[near my house I think. 121]
It was a short and simple response, sure, but Reimu didnât need the entire city knowing exactly how much of a bad shape her leg was in. She was trying to stand right now since she had finished sending the message, using a wall to lean on and balance herself, but it was... difficult. And painful.
>[is there anywhere that isnât currently a complete hell zone? I need somewhere to heal and I donât think somewhere thatâs raining fireballs is a great place to do it]
While most of the littler fire balls fizzled out before hitting the ground, they sure didnât fizzle out before hitting the flying shrine maiden, leaving a nice and painful burn on her leg and almost knocking her out of the sky. She had only barely managed to come to a rather rough crash landing, and sheâd be walking with a limp for a while. Dammit, she had just been trying to get a better view of the situation over here...
OBSERVED PHENOMENON IN SPIRALEâS WARDS FROM 4/20-4/21
FIBONACCI
Balls of fire rain down from the sky like meteors. Most fizzle out before hitting the ground, but the large balls that do topple buildings and leave craters, and thatâs not to say what they do to any who might be struck directly. While they are not constantly falling, the meteor showers that happen roughly every six hours are among the more dangerous disasters.
COTES
Sweltering heat has given Cotes desert-like conditions, with plant life and streams drying out. Even in the dead of night the heat persists, and this drought may pose problematic for the water reliant (aka everyone).
GOLDEN
A powerful winter storm has moved in and focused on Golden, freezing over all of the flooding from earlier. While some might be tempted to skate or throw snowballs, the continuous snowfall and chaotic winds make the conditions very dangerous. If any areas lose power, heating will also become an issue.
ARCHIMEDES
The fog from branches has seeped into sections of Archimedes, making portions of the ward extremely deadly. Furthermore, Denizens and Mistborn have wandered in with the mist and prove to be immediate dangers to any that cannot defend themselves.
Spyro can smell the tension in the air, smoke puffing out of his nostrils. He feels useless that he canât breathe fire to help. but he certainly charged through a few of the shades. Looking around, though, he tried speaking to someone who would listen.
âI know weâre dealing with two bad groups here â but how do we know these Stars guys arenât lying about this âerasingâ thing so we help them instead?â
He hated not having a correct coarse. Villains were always so obvious before. First and foremost though, he wanted to help the civilians get to somewhere safe.
âThe unfortunate truth is that we donât have any way to know that theyâre lying, and we also donât have any way to know that theyâre not lying either. Weâre going to have to pick a side and stick with it, for better or for worse.â
Those words were something that the shrine maiden hated that she had to utter. In almost any other circumstance in almost any other world, she would of been able to handle this; she would of been able to trust her intuition to tell her where to go, what to do.
But Reimu didnât have that luxury here.
She seemed tense, keeping a careful watch on their surroundings to make sure nothing happened to them even while they tried to discuss what was going on. No, she didnât know this dragon, but given the current situation she wasnât nearly as picky with who she talked to as she normally would have been.
Reimu hadnât planned on going home for very long. As per the usual routine she had slowly started settling into before all of this began, she had spent most of her day in the Cotes ward, but had just finished heading back to Fibonacci in order to take a breather at her residence for a bit and assess the situation some more. Unfortunately, she hadnât made it all the way back yet when gravity began to warp all around her.Â
The maiden gasped as she found herself flung up into the air with little warning as she took her next step, scrambling to grab and cling onto something that was more grounded than she currently was- no matter what that thing was. Her hands found their way to a lamppost, grabbing onto it for dear life; while she could fly, she didnât trust herself to rely solely on that during all of this.Â
Great. How long was she going to be stuck here before gravity returned to normal? Her grip was like steel and wasnât likely to break, but being stuck like this was bothersome at best.Â
disaster report is here, so hereâs an event starter call! Reimuâs frequent locations can be found here for reference, and Iâll be capping this at 3 with castmates exempt!
OBSERVED PHENOMENON IN SPIRALEâS WARDS FROM 4/17-4/19
FIBONACCI
The properties of gravity are in influx. At times it is so heavy that it is difficult to move, and others it is completely absent and allowing even the heaviest of objects to float in the sky. While this might be the most fun, be wary of falling debris or falling yourself if it suddenly shifts back to normal. It is much safer to remain in locations where there is a ceiling.Â
COTES
Constant earthquakes of varied intensity wrack Cotes at random intervals. Many are light and barely noticeable, but several times per day they will be strong enough to risk knocking over less fortified buildings. The school district has a foundation strong enough to function as a safe zone.Â
GOLDEN
Rising sea levels have brought widespread flooding into the sector, making it difficult to access wires for those that are not aquatically inclined. The constant rise and fall of water also means that people are needed to help evacuate the NPC citizens. The Spiral Dome is the safe zone in Golden, anti-flooding provisions executed to keep everyone inside safe.Â
ARCHIMEDES
Storm clouds swirl around Archimedes and it isnât wracked only by heavy winds but also extreme rainfall and daunting lightning strikes. Visibility is extremely low due to the dark canopy above, and with power outages it can be very difficult to traverse the ward without portable light sources.
...Reimu hadnât been here all that long. She really hadnât. And, so far, she had no reason to trust the Stars in the slightest. But, she didnât have any reason to trust this bizarre other group, either. A clear look of unease was written all over her face and body language; without her intuition, she had no idea who to trust on this one, which was a fact that made her uncomfortable at best.
Sheâd have to watch this from afar for a bit before making a decision on what to do.
For a lack of a better word, the marai was lounging on the grass next to the sidewalk near one of the parks in the cotes ward. There was an easel next to her, and a number of paintings and drawings scattered about.
âExcuse me, miss! Yeah, you!â
âHi! Arenât your robes pretty! Would you like a portrait? Only a thousand Dust, Iâm pretty fast too!â
A portrait? Reimu would be lying if she said her curiosity wasnât piqued as she tossed a glance over in the strangerâs direction, but at the same time, she wasnât exactly rich. She wasnât sure if she could spare any money at all...
âUh, sorry, Iâm going to have to pass.â The maiden decided not to think on it any longer, even though the paintings did look all flowery and overall, very appealing to the eye. She had just been passing through, after all.
â± : THAT RED AND WHITE WILL ALWAYS STAND OUT TO HER. itâs easy to slip back into the habit of checking up on the shrine maiden surreptitiously; yukari supposes she should eventually make herself known to reimu, or at least send some sort of message or what have you. in the meanwhile sheâs been content with swiping miscellaneous food and drink from the girlâs residence via what little ability she has left.
it all goes as usual until sheâs finally caught red-handed, albeit not quite literally: this tea sheâs reaching for is more of a deep amber in color.
âah, i was wondering when youâd finally take notice.â her voice is clear through the gap, even without the rest of her visible.
When she had first noticed food and beverages disappearing around the household at seemingly random intervals, Reimu had felt her heart sink into her gut, a groan escaping her lips. Sure, she could of passed it off as the work of her roommates, but even without her full intuitive ability the girl still knew better than to just brush it off as something mundane; she lived in a world of the fantastic and mysterious most of the time, and she had a good head on her shoulders. She knew when something was up, and was almost entirely certain she knew what (or more specifically, who) was behind this.
And so, when she finally spotted the hand coming out of the gap making a reach for the tea she had only just prepared for herself, Reimuâs first instinct-- rather than to scream, or make any sort of noise for that matter-- was to reach out at a blinding speed and grab onto Yukariâs wrist with a bone-crushing grip. Well, not quite bone-crushing given that she was a human, but the shrine maiden was still peeved to find her suspicions confirmed.
For a few moments, she stared in silence into the gap as Yukari spoke to her, before sighing and letting go; watching the almost eldritch pattern of eyes in there got nauseating for her fast, and she had to glance away before she answered.
âEven here, you have nothing better to do than steal my food?â
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