/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>46465406
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“Thousands of years, you say.” I give her a gaze of knives and Meiling's reaction follows accordingly, her face paling as perplexity settles.

My chest tightens with the quickly fading adrenaline and lightheadedness, but I push through; our time is much more limited than I'd thought. Taking action is a must. I put together my hands and drew from my worn-down well of magic for a teleport.

“H-Huh, I think she's stronger than the Kung Fu masters I know, heh…” I sigh, but ultimately decide blaming Meiling for being unaware of the effects of her technique on an emergent goddess inside her own world would be asinine. Forming the teleport takes longer than expected—owe that to the burning magic well—, heart throbbing at watching the crack slightly increase with the seconds, Meiling promptly readying her combat stance… Still, Meiling's burnout is obvious: the blood loss finally showing its effects with shallow-than-normal breaths and trembling arms and legs, signs of diminishing supply of adrenaline.

Taking on Sekai again with all these piled up would be suicide…

But we don't need to. “We're leaving this place today.” I mutter, the teleport opening between us. Meiling waited for me to go first before following; her eyes laser focused on the growing golden crack, dust of the same color falling in cascades and coating the grass. The golden pillar loomed in front of us, protecting the two people inside like most precious treasures, and the destroyed shrine was beautifully covered in moss, plants, and flowers of all shapes—a testament to nature's victory in the face of the horrors women like Yukari can concoct. I wasted no time and snatched the gilded key from around my neck and plunged it against the pillar, the information contained in the key draining into the structure of the pillar and, within a second, turning the massive monument into swiftly crumbling iridescent dust, giving us access to Yukari and Anon stuck in slowed-down time, which meant Sekai still has control here and Sakuya's distance manipulation wasn't coincidental.

Good.

“Brat, this is my last warning: bring us to thy world, or your father perishes!” I yell, hiding the difficulty in standing from Meiling, her emerald eyes firmly on the fracture hundreds of kilometers away from us.

Sekai doesn't answer, and I tsk’d, nervous.

“… So be it.” I kneel by Anon, ignoring his nudity and placing my hands on his chest, molding the last rune of death into existence slowly, taking as much time as possible as to pressure the goddess into hearing us…

Why aren’t you doing something, Sekai?!

“Lady Patchouli?” Meiling calls, her tone worried. She knows we don't have a way to fight back should Sekai not interfere and let her father die, a thought that conflicts directly with the nature of all this ordeal; it was all premeditated! Sekai did all this to get to her father, using us as vehicles…

So why doesn’t she answer?!

… What'd it mean if she’d let her father die? Have I misunderstood something? Has Meiling's technique offset something beyond Sekai’s control?! B-But that doesn't align with what's already established! It'd be a catastrophe if I'd kill an innocent man for things I don't understand, Anon even more…

Here and now, hands on his chest, carving his death, it dawns on me that, even though highly omnipotent, Sekai can commit mistakes.

Her entire plan was flawed; I understood that during our war…

… I look into Anon's eyes, a light there I didn't see when I first came here one year ago.

One year watching as, slowly, that darkness was subsided—not erased but reshaped into strength that kept him alive and human—a hope so unparalleled one would have a hard time thinking of him as a simple man.

And I may end up killing him for nothing, dooming mine and Meiling's souls, then the entirety of Gensokyo—

—A hand falls on my shoulder—powerful and heavy, yet very soft. Calming. I turn my eyes away from Anon and toward Meiling, my frown creased, just now noticing my trembling hands, wide eyes, and clenching heart. The shame… Meiling bears a soft smile. “Lady Patchouli… Patchy, you are the smartest person I know, and your confidence has often inspired me. I don't understand your plan or Sekai's, but I trust that what you're doing is the best for us, and Sekai that she loves Anon too much to let him die.” Her hand squeezes tighter, her smile fading into something ironclad. “Don't lose this battle! You're taking us out of this place today! And I beg you, Lady Patchouli, that when we leave… Let me teach you the ways of the Ki so we can heal your body!”

W-What?

My eyes wide; using Ki… to heal my body? I never thought of that, nor asked Meiling if it was even possible. The way she talked, it was.

With steady hands again, I turn back to the rune of death as it reaches its final stages. “A chance to gain more knowledge? Hm. Satisfactory… Thank you, Meiling.”

“Anything for you, Lady Patchouli~!” Her face softens. “… With you, this hell was bearable.”