Border Of Life And Death Chpt 4- Hakugyokorou

Yukari's shoulders sagged as she looked up at the challenge before her; she had not used this entrance to Hakugyokorou in centuries, usually preferring to Gap straight to the gardens at the top, and the near-endless steps that led to them exhausted her just by sight. At the very least she wouldn't have to walk it, but even aided by flight, the journey took an unreasonable amount of time; on that one fateful day she had intercepted the shrine maiden's ascent, their entire battle had been and gone before the top was even in sight. Still, Reimu had completed the journey no less than three times during that incident, without complaint- and Yukari would not be outdone by a human.  

An hour passed, and the gardens at the summit were still out of sight. She flew on her back, almost reclining, in near-total stasis; youkai flight required no focus, and the gardens- though beautiful- could only hold her interest for so long before losing their lustre. An urgent voiced recalled her senses, having apparently been trying to do so for some time.

“Hey! I said, what are you doing here?” Yuyuko's servant called- a half-ghost who had taken over Youki's duties since the formation of the Netherworld; Yukari never much cared to remember her name. She was running the stairs instead of flying, but her nimble feet managed to keep pace.
“Mm, these gardens are beautiful... such a shame about the insects that buzz in your ear.”
“Don't under-estimate me!” Youmu answered, a savage grin darkening her face. “It's obvious you're up to no good- you can just appear at the top any time you want!”
“The quiet ones are happy to keep to themselves, but the noisy ones... if they don't buzz off, you have to swat them,” Yukari said placidly.
Youmu grabbed the hilt of her sword. “Fine. You'll answer me after I knock you out of the sky.”

---

“Back beneath the flowers, dead girl.”
Reimu's patience, always in short supply, was now more than exhausted. What should have been a lazy day watching petals in the breeze had instead been spent investigating the endless winter that denied her this pleasure. The search had ultimately brought her here, this supposed land of the dead, to find that the culprit- a ghost motivated by little more than morbid curiosity- had siphoned the power of Spring from Gensokyo with the aim of bringing bloom to the miserable tree behind her. This tree was massive, but utterly lifeless, and despite its size it struggled to stand out among the brilliance of it's brethren, each bolstered by an entire worlds' worth of Spring.

It was rare for a ghost to possess strength enough to take such a definite form as this one, but Reimu had dealt with ghosts before; her opponent's final spellcard broke, the end of a hard-fought battle, and the ghost was knocked back by the force.

As a ghost, she was weightless, and so instead of falling to the ground with a satisfying thump she only drifted away, hanging limp in the air like a ragdoll caught on a branch. Reimu would have to chase her down eventually to give her a thoroughly deserved telling-off, but that had to wait. She now focused on a more pressing matter: how to retrieve Gensokyo's Spring?

There was no doubt that the entire garden was thriving under the power of more than its fair share of Spring, but the ghost had implied she was channeling most of her ill-gotten gains into this gnarly old tree. Inspecting the tree closer, she felt a definite, if faint, trace of an ancient seal in place around it. This seal was without a doubt the reason the tree couldn't bloom, but as she probed further to try and glean why exactly it had been sealed in the first place she felt the magic weakening at an alarming rate. Her temper flared up- ancient seals were usually in place for a very good reason, and attempting to brute-force one open just to see some blossoms was incredibly foolish.

“Hey!” The ghost had drifted back into view. “You'd better help me draw all the Spring out of this- the seal's about to break!”
Her opponent, however, showed no sign of complying- or indeed, any sign she had heard Reimu at all. She hung in the air, as though suspended by a string, and floated- or, as Reimu realised too late, was pulled- towards the tree.

Reimu was struck by a sudden and powerful sense of foreboding, an intense feeling of present and imminent danger; and then, just as quickly, this sense of disquiet vanished, and all felt calm, peaceful... safe.

A voice of alarm rang in her mind that this wave of tranquility was unnautral, but was quickly silenced as she watched the ghost's serene journey through the air come to an end in the tree's spidery branches.

From trunk to tip, tiny buds appeared all along it's limbs, and grew rapidly into blossoms. The seal was breached at last, and the full force of the season rushed into the tree all at once. As it erupted into a full bloom, an astonishing splash of colour and vigour, Reimu understood why the ghost had been driven to such measures; the word 'beautiful' was too weak, too overused- sullied by it's use for inferior things- to be used now. The only word that sufficed, the only word Reimu could bring herself to utter, was “wow”.

The vibrant petals shimmered in the sunlight as the breeze made them dance, and even the surrounding splendour faded from her thoughts completely- utterly dull in comparison; a blemish in the background ruining something more perfect than perfect.

She closed her eyes; tshe didn't want anything to spoil this one perfect memory. Looking away would only invite the misery that nothing else in the world would ever be so beautiful. No, she thought; nothing better would ever come. Contented and peaceful, she sank to her knees. If only she could die right now, she thought, she would be able to do so with no regrets; this was inarguably the pinnacle of her life, and in death she could stay with the tree forever. Yes... if she died here, this perfect memory would never leave her. All she had to do was let go.

She slumped sideways, but her senses were already leaving her and she felt nothing. The sounds of the world grew faint, distant, part of a world she no longer inhabited. Her body became an anchor, a horrible trap preventing her from her perfect death... but she would soon be free of it's confines. The world became nothing as she sank... deeper... deeper-

A sudden change of pressure roused her; her senses snapped back into place all at once, bringing with them the uncomfortable sting from the scuffs on her knees and a dull throb where her face had hit the ground.  The sunshine dazzled her, all sights blurred by eyes unwilling to focus.

Her head swam as she felt out for the source of whatever magic had just taken her, but she found... nothing... not a trace of anything magical at all,. And the air, too- perfectly still, as though she were indoors, and all the ambient sounds of the world came oddly muffled as though heard through glass. The sudden cold fear that she was now an invited guest at the ghostly banquet gripped her, and she rapped a hand against the ground. It was reassuringly painful, but-

“If you have energy enough to do that, then stand up. You have no business dying at a time like this.”

The shock of hearing a voice so clearly against the muffled sounds of the world was enough to shake the last of the fog from Reimu's brain, and she scrabbled onto her knees. Standing with her back to Reimu was a youkai she had never seen before; she was projecting some kind of barrier around them both- from what harm, Reimu couldn't tell- but more strangely, Reimu couldn't feel any magical presence at all. .  “And who the heck are you, to be bossing me around like that?”
“...Later.” She spoke as though her focus was entirely elsewhere. “You came here for the Spring?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. She was stealing it.” She pointed at the oddly-manipulated Yuyuko. “Sure, it's pretty here, but-”
“Did you already battle her?”
“Yeah? ...Oh, hey, that's right! I already beat her! She has to give the Spring back now!”
“Clever. Very, very clever.”
“Huh?” Whoever this youkai may have been talking to, or about, Reimu felt the praise wasn't meant for her.

A few awkward moments of silence passed, with no party making any move. Reimu was not known for her patience, but in this situation she felt her irritability was justified. “So... Would you mind dropping the barrier please? I need to go beat her up again.”
“Ah, then I definitely can't lower the barrier. She's the only thing that can prevent the tree from killing us both, after all.”
The tree? Reimu looked at it through the barrier; no doubt, it was a beautiful sight, even through the shimmering haze of the anti-magic barrier... but it was nothing particularly special, surrounded as it was by so much splendour.  She wondered at the unnatural serenity that had washed over her, and remembered-

“There was a seal on it, but she was trying to- did it break?”
“The barrier weakened enough for Saigyou Ayakashi to bloom... but she's still here. We don't have long, though.”
“Jeez... I only wanted the Spring back. Pruning youkai cherry trees isn't part of my job.”
“Well, if I may? I happen to be quite fond of topiary, myself.”
“Hey, I haven't even started with you yet,” Reimu countered. “Showing up like this is pretty suspicious.”
“No, absolutely. Under any other circumstance I would wholly advise against trusting me. However, in this circumstance, your options are to trust me or die, and I certainly hope I'm the lesser of those two evils.”
Reluctant, Reimu had to acquiesce; whatever schemes this youkai may be pulling, the truth remained that she was out of her depth; the tree had managed to pull some glamour over her that she had been powerless to stop- and only the intervention of this youkai had saved her life. This tree seemed to be a common enemy; it was the smartest course of action to work with her, and then deal with her afterwards. With a sigh, she prepared for yet another battle.   

“I'm going to transfer the Spring into you,” the youkai explained, frustratingly placid in the face of such a dangerous foe. ”But I can't do that through this barrier. I need to lower it.”
“No problem. I'll just seal it before it can charm me again. I know what's coming, now.”
The youkai paused for a second, clearly conflicted about Reimu's inclusion in this plan. “You won't have time to hit it hard. Use the quickest seal you know,” she instructed; the words came slowly, each carefully considered. “I can always put another barrier up if it takes you again, so fight fearlessly. But more importantly- more than anything- don't seal the girl, under any circumstance. Everything hinges on that.”
“Hey, she attacked me, I'm not gonna just-”
“You need to tell me you understand, and quickly. Unless you'd prefer to discuss it when you're a permanent resident here?”
Reimu grumbled, but she had no real choice in the matter. “Oh whatever. I'm sick of this place.”

With a curt nod, the barrier fell, and Reimu was immediately airborne. The warmth of Spring and the clarity of sound were oddly noticeable after the barrier's dampening effect, but she shrugged this from her mind; quicker than her opponent could react, she launched an assault of magic against it- a hashed-together seal and some danmaku for good measure, which collided with the tree with enough force to knock loose some of the newborn blossoms. For a fraction of a second, Reimu saw the impressed look on her unknown partner's face, then smugly sped off, expecting a counter attack.

The pressure of the tree's magic upon her grew, and even as she fired off another volley some small part of her felt tremendous regret at damaging something beautiful beyond words; but being defeated by a youkai whose only power was “being pretty” was unthinkable, and the cacophony of soft voices willing her to die fell upon deaf ears.

Her companion, meanwhile, had projected a wide magic circle around her feet and was rooted in some deep focus. As far as Reimu could tell, the spell was having no effect- or rather, no effect beyond giving the tree an easy target; the petals scattered into the wind by her blasts were flying pointedly at the both of them, reinforced with magic and sharp like tiny knives. Reimu dove towards the ground, towards the youkai's station, and scattered the cloud of petals heading her way- before zooming back upwards and around the tree; her distraction proved successful, and the entire cloud of blossoms now targeted her.

She flew around the tree in laps, scattering any petals that got too close; but there were too many, the flurry of activity only serving to shake more blossoms loose, and she was soon overwhelmed. The sharpened edges scratched at her clothes and skin like a hundred tiny papercuts, leaving her sore and stinging all over.  No longer able to bear it, she projected a quick barrier of her own and incinerated those petals closest to her, but this reprieve came at a cost; they changed target again, now intent on interrupting the spell.

The pressure of the battle eased off Reimu enough for her to realise the petals weren't being shaken loose at all- the tree was withering as the life of Spring was being drained out of it, and the brilliant flowers that had mesmerised her were the first casualty. The end of the battle in sight, she flew forward, beating the cloud of blossoms to their target. Channelling the power of the Hakurei Orb, she erected a great barrier around the oblivious youkai and herself, and the petals struck against it full-force, evaporating into smoke as they were incinerated.

As the last pink petals sacrificed themselves fruitlessly, and the tree became once more withered and grey and lifeless, Reimu felt a sudden warmth;  every balmy morning Gensokyo had missed out on now filled her body, and the pressure from the tree vanished completely.

The magic circle dissipated, and after a moment of stillness the youkai spoke, audibly exhausted. “A shrine maiden who protects youkai? No wonder you never get any donations.”
“Pft,” she said, dismissing her own barrier. “I just didn't want to owe you, that's all.”

Freed of the tree's influence, the ghost girl drifted slowly to the ground, like a person falling through space. Without a word, the youkai walked over to her and cradled her. Reimu spluttered. “Hey, hey! Don't just walk off like that's the end of it!”
The youkai shrugged non-committally, and didn't take her eyes from the ghost girl. “You have what you came for, and you aren't dead. Isn't that enough?”
“Wh- no, it's not enough! To begin with, I don't know who the hell you are or where you got that kind of power. Start talking!”
“This world is for the dead, you know. If you stay too long, you won't be able to leave.”
“Well, you're still here.”
“I'm no more mortal than she is.” But then she looked up, and for the first time spoke to Reimu directly. “You have my word that I will return the favour, but this really is a bad place for it. Besides which, Gensokyo still misses it's Spring.”

Reimu was exhausted, and her original mission was complete; she was loathe to leave the situation as it was, but nonetheless the youkai was correct, and she was looking forward to a nap in the Spring sunshine. “For your own sake, you'd better.” She flew away in a bluster, grimly anticipating the excitable fairies celebrating the bounty she carried.

“...Thank you, Reimu,” Yukari spoke softly once the shrine maiden was well out of sight. She cuddled into Yuyuko, tightly, nuzzling her. “Ah, my little flower princess... how close I came to losing you again...”


--

A good hour or more had passed since Yukari's encounter with Youmu, but finally the end was in sight. No one could deny that the Netherworld steps were beautifully decorated, but the gardens of Hakugyokorou were beyond comparison; an explosion of colour, pinks and purples and reds from the countless cherry trees in full blossom, shedding their petals to the gentle wind and obscuring the paved walkways under a blanket of Spring.  A small house sat in the middle of it all, charmingly quaint by itself, but it too sang with splendour as the falling blossoms rested upon its roof.

On the step leading up to this house sat Yuyuko, oblivious to Yukari's approach. Her reverie persisted for a few awkward seconds even after Yukari broke the silence with a “Hello Yuyuko”.
“Oh... good evening Yukari,” she eventually answered- but her attention was still elsewhere, and the response happened on auto-pilot.
“Look at the sky, vapour-brains... It's barely past noon.”
This at last brought about a response, and Yuyuko snapped to focus. She gave the sky careful consideration, finally coming to the conclusion that Yukari was indeed correct. “But how strange... you're normally sleeping at this hour.”
“Well, speaking of sleeping- you need to have a word with your gardener.” She took a seat next to Yuyuko. “I caught her slacking off on my way up here. I came in through the Barrier, even though I can just Gap to the top; she should have stopped me for acting so suspiciously. She needs to be more alert for people who are up to no good.”
“Are you up to no good, Yukari?” she asked, with a small playful laugh.
“No more than usual.” Poor Youmu was certainly no longer in any fit state to be alert for anything, not after the ruthless and unreasonable assault Yukari answered her challenge with; normally she would limit herself to keep the fight both fair and fun, but there was no time for fun today. Still, Youmu was tough, and Yukari was sure she would survive... And if she didn't survive, at least she didn't have far to travel.

“Anyway, I'm here for an important reason.”
“Yes, it must be important if it's keeping you awake. You can normally sleep through anything.” Yuyuko had a manner of speaking truths- that, from another, would seem tactless at best- in such a way that it was impossible to tell how rude she actually intended to be. Even after a thousand years of her company, Yukari struggled to tell if there was any genuine malice in most of what Yuyuko said.
“I've found something that I have been trying to find for a very long time,” Yukari continued, deciding not to pursue Yuyuko's intended meaning. “Or rather, someone.”
“Oh, I see. That's nice,” was the half-interested reply.
Yukari gave her dearest friend an incredulous look. “Do you have any idea what I'm talking about?”
“Yes, yes!” She beamed at Yukari, nodding vigorously as an adult might to a young child. “You were looking for someone, and now you've found them. I'm very happy for you!”
“You're a fine one to talk to me like that,” she said, but she never quite could be stern with Yuyuko, instead bumping into her playfully. “It was a long time ago, so maybe you won't remember. It was when we were discussing the creation of Gensokyo that I mentioned it.”
“But Yukari, you already did that. You made Gensokyo a long time ago. Do you remember?”
“...What I said to you back then,” Yukari said, restrained, as she wondered if this conversation was worth having after all, “is that a place like Gensokyo is more than I could manage by myself. I would need to find someone who could be trusted to look after it in my stead... someone who would champion Gensokyo's cause. Well... I've found her.”
“Ohhhhh...” Yuyuko turned her head to Yukari, her eyes wide with wonder. “You mean you've found... the chosen one...”
“No! Absolutely not!” Her voice was full of hurt. “This is the result of centuries of tireless work on my part, and I won't have fate take the credit for it.”
Yuyuko giggled; only she could get under Yukari's skin in quite this manner. “It was my idea to start with, anyway.”
So Yuyuko did remember, after all. “That's hardly a fair assessment. Your contribution was to idly say 'wouldn't it be nice if there was a place like Hakugyokorou but for youkai'... and you'd forgotten you'd said it less than a minute later. The actual work and preparation was wholly down to me.”
“Not true! You told me 'it's unworkable', but then I suggested you let a few humans in.”
“A conclusion I could have arrived at myself quickly enough... and besides which you only mentioned that because I was in Hakygyokorou despite not being a ghost. I met with shrine maidens and gods and youkai all in order to make your dream a reality, and all the while you sat up here enjoying flower-viewing parties and chasing butterflies.”
“A joint effort, then. We found the chosen one together.” She tilted her head back, eyes shut and a gentle smile, apparently satisfied with this conclusion.

Yukari looked searchingly at her spectral company; was she playing dumb, or had she really not caught onto the point yet? This was the constant struggle of conversation with Yuyuko, and the only way to be sure was to corner her. “That was the last step, you know,” she began. “The job is complete. I've done everything I intended to do.”
“Yes, we did a good job, didn't we?”
“...We did,” she conceded, “but more importantly- I don't need to be here any more. My time here is done.”
“Oh... Oh!” she said, snapping to attention. “That's the kind of thing humans say... it's strange, coming from you. What you mean is, you're going to die, isn't it?”
“It's not really proper to call it death when talking about youkai. But since we're talking in human terms, that's a close enough comparison. Yes,” she said, averting her gaze dramatically. “I'm going to die.”
Yuyuko gasped. “Oh... how wonderful!” She clapped her hands together in excitement. “I've been looking forward to this day for so long!”
Yuyuko's unique perspective on death had somewhat skewed her value of life, but Yukari couldn't help raise an eyebrow at this regardless.
“Well,” Yuyuko continued, “That means you can spend all your time here, instead of disappearing home all the time. We can even spend winter together!”
“...How many dead youkai have come here before now?” ukari asked, realising too late her mistake; comparing her death to that experienced by humans only made sense for humans that were still alive- of course Yuyuko would get the wrong idea.
“I was about to ask! I've never seen a youkai ghost before, I wonder what they're like?”
“We're supernatural beings already. We don't have ghosts,” she explained. “And besides which, I have no intention of coming here for the rest of eternity.”
“Hmm... No, Yukari, you really haven't thought this through properly... After all, only ghosts are supposed to be here. If you don't leave a ghost behind, how will you visit me?”
“I won't. That's what I'm trying to tell you. I will no longer... exist, not in this form. This is my farewell to you.”

Even the trees seemed to hold still so that Yuyuko could process this in peace; a narrow frown hardened her face as she stared at Yukari, deep in consideration. Yukari let her come to terms in her own time, returning the stare but her face neutral.

Yuyuko stood delicately, and turned away. “But then... what am I to do?”
Asked so dispassionately, Yukari was unsure how to answer. “It's not like you normally do much anyway. Keep doing that.”
“I can't follow you, Yukari. I can't move on. I have to stay here. You know this.”
Yukari couldn't meet her gaze on this; she turned her chin up in feigned haughtiness instead. “You love it here. I made certain of that.”
“But I love it most when you're here to enjoy it with me.” Yukari would have preferred to see Yuyuko angry than this blankness, this thorough despondence. “You're going to leave me, and I'll be alone, here, forever,” she continued.
“Tsk. You're hardly alone. You have-”
“I won't have you. You won't be able to visit me, and I won't be able to join you where you go. That's as good as alone.”
“...I should hope you're familiar enough with my work,” Yukari said, the words coming unusually slow and thick, “to know that I would never leave so many loose ends-”
“Well! I won't keep you,” Yuyuko cut in, suddenly and falsely chipper. “You've never been one to rest on your laurels, and as you say, you have no reason to stay here any more. Take care, Yukari.”

Yukari let her drift away; most of the ghosts that had gathered to eavesdrop on their conversation floated after her, but a few stayed to watch what Yukari did next. “Silly girl,” she said with a sigh. “Humans value their farewells, and that wasn't a very good one. I hope she doesn't regret it later. ...Since you're all listening in on me anyway,” she said, addressing the ghosts- some drifted away as nonchalantly as spectral orbs could, but most showed no shame- “you may tell her that if she feels she has made any mistakes, I will forgive them so long as she treats the guest I invited here with the highest respect.”

She turned away, and the ghosts lost all interest in her, returning to their lazy drifting. But she did not walk back towards the endless stairs; she passed between the trees bordering the grounds and instead walked deeper into the gardens. The opportunity to speak with her had been welcome, but Yukari had not come to Hakugyokorou to see Yuyuko.

-

Hidden away behind the house, invisible amongst the splendour of the flowers celebrating the coming of Spring, Saigyou Ayakashi remained imprisoned in endless winter. Few who came here ever noticed it, despite its size; even Yuyuko had taken centuries to notice its forlorn and wretched appearance. A ring of cherry trees stood guard around it, stealing away any attention it might otherwise receive.

Wards, spells, and barriers surrounded it, butYukari shrugged these off as she emerged from the thick blossoms into the empty ring. With an air of calm, she raised her hand and fired a shot- only one; she liked to build up to the cruelty of the barrage- at the tree. It exploded in the canopy and the branches swayed, groaning with age, but it was undamaged.

“Good afternoon,” she called with a savage smile as the branches settled. “It's me again. Did you miss me?”
It couldn't speak, but the swell of its hate was answer enough. “It's been quite a while since that incident with the shrine maiden, hasn't it? I'm sorry for leaving it so long; I've had a lot of work to do since that day.”
The tree's roots, unchanged from the days of its sudden and expansive unnatural growth, protruded from the ground at the base of the trunk, thick legs snaking away and burrowing deep out of sight. She perched on one of these, the tree unable to protest such a dominant act, and reclined against the thick trunk with casual disdain. “I admit, that was clever of you,” she said in regards to that day; “I'm surprised you were able to notice that little loophole I put in your seal.” She smiled; it wasn't a developed enough youkai to have emotions, exactly, but the tree certainly knew when it was being provoked. The spikes of malevolent magic directed at her, rendered impotent by her seals, pleased her to no end. “Settle down, dear. I don't want to leave you with the false impression that you outsmarted me- that loophole you exploited was quite deliberate. A means to unseal herself, should I ever be unable to do it for her. I thought of everything.”

Even the small victories were fun, and the chance to rub salt into its wounds after foiling its plans so near to success was too sweet to refuse; but she didn't have time to sit and savour it. “Well, I can't sit and chat forever. There's work to do.”

She alighted from the giant root, her dominance once again reasserted, and strode a few feet away, turning on her heel to face the tree again in it's full image. “Oh my, Reimu did a good job of this seal, didn't she?” She hadn't expected it to be quite so powerful, created in the heat of the moment, but it was moot anyway; she would dispell it once she had finished her business. It would, however, provide valuable insurance against any mishaps while she worked. “Naturally, it pales in comparison to my own seal. I was in a rather indelicate mood that day, so I really put my all into it.” The seal she had made was all but impenetrable, save by its creator; but that was the problem, quite unintended, and although it had been necessary at the time, it was now critical that she reopen some loopholes.

Weakening a seal was a far trickier process than outright breaking it, not least because of the delicacy of her work; Reimu's seal would not hold for long if her own became too weak, and allowing Saigyou Ayakashi even a second of respite was unthinkable with Yukari so vulnerable while she worked. And if it were to gain control over Yuyuko again...

She quickened her pace, changing and manipulating the countless magical boundaries that defined her spell to her satisfaction, until- finally- the seal was perfect. With a wave, she broke Reimu's seal like a cobweb; she wanted no sign of any human interference.  

“And so, finally,” she said, her voice heavy, “my revenge is complete. I hope Reimu's interference didn't spoil the surprise too much, but that can't be helped. Did you notice? While you were unsealed, did you get a chance to realise where you are? Or was the shrine maiden too distracting?” She grinned savagely. “I had always intended for this seal to break eventually. Once Yuyuko and I are no longer part of this world, you will be free to bloom as much as you wish. Here in this land of death, not a single living eye will ever see you.”

“But, of course, the shrine maiden makes me look quite the fool, doesn't she?” She shrugged. “It's not much of a land of death if someone so vibrantly and incessantly alive as Reimu can come here any time she wants. The stupidity of humans is something I've come to expect, and yet they still find ways to surprise me. Why, just earlier today I met a most surprising human...” She cackled with laughter, no longer able to hold it back. “Ah, human magic poses you no threat, correct? Without me around to stop you, you can happily just kill anyone who tries. Well... I really encourage you to try your best with this one. It's amazing what a little fear can inspire in people.”

Yukari remembered the cold and dreadful feeling of encroaching death she had felt the first time she encountered Saigyou Ayakashi, unsettling even though she had no reason to fear it... Byakuren's own encounter promised to be quite the show. “It's a shame I'll miss it,” she said, “but I kept my promise. That's enough for me.” She walked closer again, and her voice dropped to a murmur. “Every single thing I do is for her. Every- single- thing. Your fate was sealed the moment you took her from me. Enjoy your final days.”

She cackled and leapt away, propelling herself with a final barrage, ferocious enough to scatter the petals in the neighbouring trees with its impact, and fell into a Gap. She had originally planned to speak with the new gods on the mountain, but there was no longer time for that; she just had to hope that Reimu would fill them in on their role when the time came. Instead, the gap took her to the one location she was most wary of, a location she couldn't reach by any other means.

The sealed land of Makai welcomed her as the other side of the Gap closed.