A Glimpse (Open)

[recon5]

As Chen's spellcard ended, her shots dissipated enough for her to notice that the creature was dead. She stretched, relieved that the creature was gone and more than a little surprised at how quickly the battle had ended. She didn't usually manage to defeat anything stronger than herself (the Hakurei shrine maiden or the black-and-white witch for example) without Ran's help and beating this one on her own made her feel good.

Wait... she hadn't won this on her own. She looked around a bit and spotted the dragon flying some distance away. Waving to it, she gave it her biggest grin, then when she was sure she had its attention she bowed deeply like Ran had taught her and shouted her thanks. Then she remembered the strange girl whom she'd decided to help and after a bit more looking around she spotted the girl and flew towards her.

As she got closer, Chen noticed that the girl seemed to be concentrating on something. Then she spotted an eye floating near the girl's body, trailing red strings that went around to the back. She was briefly puzzled but then she recalled something that Yukari had said about beings called Satori who had third eyes. From what she remembered, some of them could read minds while others could control the subconscious minds of others. She suddenly felt less than eager to find out which ability this girl had but her curiosity got the best of her almost immediately and she barely slowed her flight.

Chen eventually reached the girl and landed softly in front of her. She looked as young as Chen but the nekomata knew very well that appearance was not a good sign of actual age in Gensokyo. The third eye intrigued Chen the most, however, and she bent down to get a better look at it. She was a little surprised at first when she saw the red iris but then she began to wonder if the thing felt like a normal eye and she reached out to touch it before the girl could react.

Then she remembered her manners and stopped her hand just before her fingers touched the eye. She immediately dropped it to her side and bowed as deeply as possible while taking a step back to get out of the girl's personal space. "Sorry Ms. Satori! I couldn't help myself!"

She straightened and offered her hand for the girl to shake. "I'm Chen, shikigami of the Yakumo. What's your name?"

[shiningdrake]

Drake let out a roar of victory as the creature died in the firestorm he and the catgirl had put it through. This victory cry rang out through the forest. It also used his magic powers to make what looked like a lot of fancy fireworks that exploded in indescribable beautiful patterns... Okay, so it was a bit showy, but he always was happy to destroy such an abomination as that monster, and it could be considered a celebration of sorts...

He noticed the catgirl looking at him, grinning and waving... And bowing. He assumed she was thanking him for his help. At least, it certainly didn't look like she was complaining about his getting in the way, which would have been the other possibility he might think could end up happening.

Drake flew over in front of the girl who had been chased earlier, and then with a flash of light, he was human again. He was kneeling on his left knee. He rose up, and asked the girl "Are you alright? Do you have any idea why that monstrosity was chasing you?"

He also heard the catgirl introducing herself... Of which he was glad. He didn't like to be forced to think of someone by their race because he didn't know their name. He then realized that he should introduce himself. "I'm Drake. Really, I'm just a person who can't mind his own business, and always feels a need to intervene when he sees a fight. Especially when creatures like that are involved..."

That thing had been a creature of pure evil, he had been able to tell. Pathetic compared to what he was used to, as illustrated by the fact that they had been able to defeat it at all, but still...

Drake's thoughts then returned to who was in front of him right now. He noticed that the girl who had been chased earlier had a... Third eye? At least, an eye-like object that floated around her.

[Genshuku]

And then she made it, and was greeted by this Chen person (And a bunch of pretty lights with a triumphant person/dragonic being(ah, the questions) behind them. She knew something about Satoris, too (but normally, don't they just read minds and not manipulate the subconscious? Eh, who knows, she heard it from someone else and she herself only read books about them anyway). She seemed hesitant at first due to knowing their main ability, but came forth anyway.* Her third eye blinked at a thought only it seemed to get.**

It was then moved away as Chen moved her hand back, Shouki not being able to react quite so fast to Chen's spur of the moment but moving it away anyway. People who do things on the spur of the moment like that can be quite dangerous, even if she was trying to help before. You never know.

...

Even if you DO know, you never know. Because she did things on the spur of the moment. It's nice piecing things together like that.

But of course, she couldn't help herself. At least she asked for her name, (though she knew she was going to do that, why interrupt?) which she gave. (Along with which kind she was, because for some reason there was two.) Oh, and to the other guy as well, because he asked too. At least he had a straight head. And she might as well not pause for the other question...which she didn't know, as even though she could read minds...

"That's OK. My name is Shouki, the kind of satori that can read minds. I would have read that...thing's*** mind to figure it out, but really, it's mind was one of the reasons I really had to get away from it. I could have fought back...heck, I might have been able to win.**** But, I can't just 'stop' reading minds."

...Oh come on, not even a thanks? She HAD to give a thanks. It wouldn't be right if she didn't. After all, she was technically the damsel in distress.

"...Thank you for helping me out."

And she gave a small bow to back that thought up.

At the thought of his wondering what that thing was, Shouki decided to explain (and the eye decided to stare at him) what it was.

"Ah. That's my third eye. It's part of me, and..."

She glanced at it, and noticed it's staring at Drake.

"...it seems to have a mind of it's own, but I can't read it for some reason*****."

She wondered if someone else had sent it for a second. It was a worrying thought, so she cast it away. The eye was too busy staring at Drake to show any inner thought of worry, though it normally would have done so.

*(*blink* And I thought curiosity killed the cat. Oh ho ho.)
**(The one just above, dood.)
***(*blink* It's OBVIOUSLY Dark Matter from the Kirby series. Why don't you kn--oh, right. That.)
****(*blink* Rainbow Sword. You know, I wonder if it's gone for good...nah. There's probably like, a thousand copies coming from a heart of darkness named Zero or something. Hm.)
*****(*blink* Information Overload, dear.******)
******(*blink* These stars are disorienting you. Don't deny it.)

[recon5]

Chen's hair and tails stood straight for a moment when Shouki mentioned 'mind reading' and a soft "Nyah?" escaped from her mouth before she could calm herself. She'd never doubted Yukari's stories of the 'Satori' but she hadn't expected to meet one herself. The thought of her mind being read made her feel a bit nervous but she realized that it wasn't exactly an unpleasant experience as she hadn't noticed it at all when Shouki did it earlier. She didn't really have anything to hide and it wouldn't hurt for someone new to discover just how amazing her mistress Ran was.

Any remaining unease quickly disappeared as Chen's natural curiosity took over again. The Satori had begun to address Drake as Chen was thinking and her mention of the third eye having a mind of its own made the nekomata suddenly interested in seeing if she could talk to the eye itself. Then she had the idea of 'thinking to' the eye, which would let her find out if it could read minds like Shouki could. It wasn't the most sensible of ideas but she wasn't a very sensible person by nature- one of the reasons she needed Ran as much as she did.

She bent down and peered at the eye intently. She wondered if she would need to phrase her questions in a certain way but then she thought that the eye would probably understand her if it could indeed read her mind.

Hey there, Mr. Eye! Can you hear me? If you can, could you please let me know by blinking twice?

[shiningdrake]

"A mind reader? Hm..." Drake didn't precisely have anything to hide. The thing was, he knew about things that most people would think impossible. Time travel, travel between worlds, some of the history and other things about different worlds. The sheer power of the enemies he was often forced to face, the power he had so he could face those enemies... All of it would probably seem utterly insane to most people. Well, granted, some people think the idea of mind reading was insane, but...

Well, whatever. He wasn't interested in trying to fight with Shouki. Hopefully that was what would matter. He started thinking about the creature again. He doubted it was something frequently seen. Creatures that were literally evil incarnate were hardly common anywhere he had been before, at least in any place that wasn't outright twisted by evil, which he didn't sense anywhere nearby.

"Shouki, I'll be honest... That creature may have had something to do with me." Drake said, unsure of himself, "I didn't send it or anything, I didn't even know such creatures were anywhere nearby, but I do have enemies that would certainly be able to employ something like that..."

Drake shuddered. If a Dark One indeed was here, then he hoped it was either one that was relatively weak, or that whatever little game it was trying to play wouldn't result in this world ending. If it also had something to do with how he had lost his powers, then it was definitely a powerful one. Well, whatever...

If Shouki was reading his mind closely at this moment, she'd probably think he was utterly insane. Of course, if I really was insane on that level, then this moment would be a hallucination too. Drake noted, almost laughing out loud. There was also the possiblity that she wouldn't think he was insane... In which case, she'd probably become very worried about how anything as powerful as the enemies Drake was thinking of could exist.

[Genshuku]

The eye stopped staring at Drake (perhaps it lost interest) and looked at Chen, knowing exactly what she was thinking. Shouki looked at the eye to see if it really did blink twice (while wondering why she never thought of that).

And it did.* Hey, now she had a way to 'talk' to this thing. Perhaps thanks might be in order later.

Meanwhile, Chen's mind was an open book that she happened to be reading without even willing to do so. It was sad, getting pummeled by someone, twice, in fact. At least battles weren't lethal here, most of the time.

But the one she really wanted to read was Drake's mind. She always enjoyed books, about things that even this world would call a fantasy. His mind was full of plenty of these tales. Insane? No, the tales of his mind were too complete for them to be simply fabricated by his subconscious. It was almost distracting. But apparently, he expected Gensokyo to be a little more down-to-earth than it was. But, the last thing she expected that would happen was evil itself making a visit.

...Maybe it had something to do with K--

Thought process interrupted by giant spell circle overhead, glowing red. The circle seemed to be a long distance communication, and as it appeared exactly where the monster was defeated, it wasn't friendly. It sounded sinister, obviously.

"As I expected, heroes came from nowhere in order to put an end to the abomination I sent to capture the mind reader that I wanted. Yawn.** I'll just get another, but for tonight, you have a break...Shouki.*** What I wasn't expecting was someone breaking the barrier between Gensokyo and the other worlds AGAIN. It was great the first time, but then some brat came through the second and now YOU. It's annoying. And...Chen. Odd, I have nothing to say to you. Well, besides a little hello to Yukari, but that really isn't to you."

It paused for a moment, and then spoke again.

"Of course, there are things that should be concerning you more than this little event. Like..."

The spellcircle projected a large image of a spot in the Forest of Magic, that had an unfamiliar (well, to Chen and Shouki anyway. Everything was unfamiliar to Drake here) castle inside it, looming above the trees.

"That. I can't even plan things if otherworld gods are going to destroy the world. Hm. Incidentally, perhaps all of these breaches have to do with Drake's entry?**** Fufufu. But I'm done here. Well, for now. Unless you want to use some silly hero words, before I go. I actually have a moment to spare. Yes, I can hear you. And before you ask, having a mind reader to bend at your command is VERY very handy."

It then waited for people to speak. Shouki couldn't read it's mind, for it was talking to them through some spell circle. No one even knew what the person behind it looked like. Naturally, she was going to think that most of what it said was a total lie. Of course, it was probably a good thing she couldn't read it's mind.

*(*blink* I can't HEAR you when you say it like that, but I can READ you...oh what the heck, I'll bite.)
**(He said Yawn, but he didn't Yawn, dood.)
***(Rather disturbing, when the villain already knows your name, dood. Not even Laharl can pull that one off.)
****(Think what you want, dood.)

[recon5]

All this was quite confusing for Chen. However, she knew that Yukari was always interested in border crossings especially if they had somehow escaped her notice. They must have, thought the nekomata, or else Yukari would have mentioned them already. The castle felt like trouble too and even if none of this turned out to be important the mysterious voice had offered greetings for Yukari and they would have to be delivered.

While Chen really wanted to ask the voice more about these things, her duty as a shikigami was clear. She had received information that would definitely concern Yukari and she would have to deliver it before anything bad happened because she failed to get it through. Turning her back on everyone she flew off towards Mayohiga with all the speed she could muster. She fervently hoped that Yukari would be alert enough to understand what she had to say.

((And Chen has left the RP, unless Kaosu wishes to port her back or something.))

[shiningdrake]

Drake growled, and said "Silly hero words huh? All I have to say is that I will destroy you. I can't stand those that would toy with the lives of others. Don't worry, I'll be coming for you, and your death will be painful." Drake's eyes had changed somewhere during this speech. He was angry. Very angry.

Drake didn't bother trying to do much else to it at the moment however, there wasn't much he could do. He turned to Shouki, "It might be a good idea if we would travel together. If any more monstrosities come after you, it's best if you're not alone, and who knows, if we find whoever is responsible for my losing my powers, you might be able to tell. That's not that important right now though..."

He glared back up at the magic circle, "Mostly, I want to prevent monsters like that from winning the little games they try to play with people's lives." He looked back at Shouki, his eyes returning to their normal green. "So, what do you say? Should we work together to beat that monster at its own game?"

[Genshuku]

And Chen was gone before Shouki could even say goodbye. But the news she had for Yukari (and the greeting, though that was of minor importance compared to the actual news). And of course, what this thing was saying. She knew the world was ending, but for all Chen knew it looked like the two were related. After all, Chen was Chen.

On Drake's speech, the circle replied:

"Yes, silly hero words, just like that. Typical hero. (The voice seemed hardly fazed.) Unlike most villains that don't know their right from left, I didn't put my base in an obvious location, like the crazy gods that have taken up residence here have seemed to do. So, hero from another world, where do you plan on finding me? The 'darkest area'? The one 'with the most evil in the air'? Well then, I bid you good luck to finding me then! Not even the tengu population have found it*. Matter of fact, if it wasn't for at least one of these breaches, I would have captured the satori without the tiniest bit of fuss. But, her influence has made that impossible for me. I should have got her sooner...but, why am I saying all of this to you anyway? I'll bid you adieu then. Farewell."

And the spell circle vanished. It didn't sound like (s)he/it was in charge of the castle, by the sound of it. Shouki managed to reply.

"...That does sound like a good idea. I actually know where the castle is, I picked it up a while back from some odd looking people, even for Gensokyo.** It would be a good thing if you got your powers back though, it would make things easier."

...Oh wait it came back, in quite a hurry

"Two presents, by the way. The first, your little friend shall not come unto any harm by my hand in any way for 24 hours. And to prove I'm being truthful, I'll be an ass with the second to make up for the future chases~"

The circle then exploded, a huge black kind, that not only hurt, but was nigh instantaneous and was filled with, you guess, evil thoughts. There was no possible way Drake could have gotten in it's way to make Shouki avoid it, who could not see it coming (though was well prepared for something like this, and had guarded against it by getting her sword in the way and bracing herself. Luckily, it only lasted about 2 seconds before everything was gone. It was of a high concentration, and if Drake didn't somehow dodge it, he would have a strong feeling of dread and agony come to him, though his hero mind would be able to resist this quite nicely.

On the other hand, Shouki almost dropped like a fly to it. She managed to stay standing, though it was obvious that had hurt her internal mind. Her eye even cringed (before, it was reading up in Drake's mind, and recognized the Tales universe. Perhaps it should play some of that too).

*(They are pretty good at finding things like that, you know.)
**(*blink* Grunts off task. I feel sorry for their owner. At least the owner didn't tell them any specifics.)

[shiningdrake]

Drake sighed, "Well, that's the first I've heard that a hero typically threatens a very painful death the first time he meets the evil creep he's talking to." He grinned at the last part about location "And don't worry, location hardly matters. Trouble finds me even when I'm not looking for it."

Drake thought of something then. He looked straight at the magic circle. Maybe if he could read it, he could trace it... Even if the idea would have worked, it disappeared before Drake could get a good look. He turned towards Shouki as she began responding to what he had said.

He started to say "Ah, good" but didn't get past "Ah..." before the magic circle appeared again. He glared at it. It was still playing games. He couldn't figure out what the second part of it was... Until it was too late. A split second before the circle exploded, Drake attempted to jump towards Shouki, but was barely able to get in the way at all.

He ended up being blasted by that power without even being prepared. He felt... No! His mirror image that had been sealed inside him was breaking loose! Drake was suffering as if he had cast Blood Pain, but he hadn't.

Drake fought the monster that was rising with all his being. He would not let it run free, destroying everything! "N-no!!!" Drake stuttered. The creature wouldn't be surpressed. Drake felt the creature control him, get him off of the ground. Drake was still in complete agony. "Sh-Shouki... R-r-run..." he stuttered before the creature gained full control of his body.

"It's useless now!" the hollow voice hissed. "I'm free, and I can destroy her!" Drake railed even harder against the creature, but it kept moving towards her. The creature drew its swords. The longsword was now blood-red, rather than fiery orange. The shortsword was now pure black. Drake's eyes had changed color as well. They were like his dragon eyes he got when angry, but black rather than gold, and the slit pupil glowed crimson with insanity, rather than fiery dedication to justice.

The demon had risen. Drake couldn't stop it. Drake stopped struggling for a moment. The creature rose up into the air, and prepared to swoop down in a vicious attack on Shouki. As it prepared to launch, Drake fought in a single vicious burst of determination, distracting the creature, and making it fall slightly, and not attack Shouki. Drake continued fighting the creature, with more success than before.

However, he was only keeping it from attacking Shouki. He wasn't regaining control. If something didn't happen soon, Drake would lose. The strength of the will of insane demons was surprising. Drake was also determined, but this creature was insanely strong as well... The only way Drake was going to get out of this was if Shouki attacked him. Well, assuming someone else didn't randomly appear and do so...

Drake wasn't sure why, but being beaten in combat made the demon go down again. Made Drake become utterly exhausted as well, but the creature stopped, which was what mattered...

[Genshuku]

He never had even thought about the dark power within him, and it was too enveloped in various memories for her to detect it. Perhaps she shouldn't have been busy looking at other things and instead looking for things like AN ENTIRE DARK SIDE.* Shouki would have been busy facepalming herself if the being hadn't started to speak again. But unlike the other thing, this thing had two minds, one of evil (less concentrated than the other one) and the other, where she had became lost in Lala-Land. If she took quick glances at the dark mind to read it's thoughts, and then go to the other mind for recovery...

This might just work. She was tired of running, and probably wouldn't be able to keep another chase going on for much longer, her legs had already become tired, but her sword arm remained able. Of course, she would have to keep from doing lethal damage to the body, because if she did too much damage, she could accidentally kill both. Then, she would be unable to forgive herself. After all, he saved her (along with the now departed Chen).

Perhaps if she knocked around his head, he could get his brain back? Well, might as well make sure by browsing the mind...but quickly, of course?

....Eh, nothing besides light magic seemed to work just right. Looks like it was time to face evil, with a little support from an ally.

She still had her sword out, so before the demon was fully able, she quickly lunged to slash a non-lethal area of him. It was OK if he was hit in a place that wouldn't kill him, but she can't just nick him either. It was time to show that she was NOT quite that helpless normally, but it was the circumstances of the earlier even that had rendered her powerless.

If the demon decided to block before she got there, she would simply attack an unblocked area. How does she know he's going to block (if he does)? Mind reading, of course.

If the demon attacked as she got there, she would block it or dodge, depending on the speed of the attack and when it happened, whatever was right for the situation (if she can't dodge, she'd block). And if she managed to dodge, why he was probably VERY open right now, leading to a rapid succession of attacks.

*(Right over her head, dood.)

[shiningdrake]

Drake couldn't stop it anymore. The demon wrested control from his grasp again. Shouki was attacking now. Drake could tell what the demon was about to do. It would try to block the attack with the shortsword whole moving, then slam Shouki with the longsword, while moving. That was actually one of Drake's techniques, he liked to try blocking and dodging at the same time.

Drake prevented it from blocking, struggling in a single burst, distracting the demon, and Shouki's attack hit, causing the demon to flinch. This was one of his favorite techniques for fighting off possession, and it almost always worked. I will not let you win! Drake thought. The demon said "Fool, I'll win despite your feeble efforts!" Obviously, the demon was completely arrogant. Drake waited for his next opportunity to stop the demon's attacks.

[Genshuku]

Elsewhere, a demon on a chair made a note.

But back over here, Shouki had landed the first hit, thanks to Drake's help she didn't have to do more than just...well, hit. But it was going to take more than just a hit to get rid of it. So...

...Of course, she was going to hit it again and again and again. Because that's just how it seemed to work. Even if their little conversation was internal, she replied to it, in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Are you all counting me out, here? WE will beat you, and WE will do it TOGETHER. We will win despite YOUR futile efforts. Just because I had to run away from something that was my literal weakness does not mean I can't simply beat the everliving crap out of you. To prove that, I'll keep you in line. Heck, I'll do it while chatting to Drake, here."

She seemed quite confident, now. Quite unlike before, when she was being chased by that...thing. After landing the first blow, she followed up with a second, of course keeping the momentum of the sword up to increase damage, but still trying not to completely kill the guy. In case her attack was blocked, she knew what was coming, and in case he blocked, she would quickly jump back (giving this was Gensokyo, she jumped back very very far), and while he was still swinging at the air, she would prepare to thrust her sword at him* (again, in a non-lethal spot).

And as she did this, she did exactly what she said she would do.

"Call me crazy, but I think that demon from earlier was telling the truth. He was certainly being an ass with his second present. I could probably wait by the castle for you, if you wanted. I even heard the denizens are nice over there."

*(Looks like this dood. Pay attention to the first move Dante uses. Where he pretty much zooms toward the enemy, to the point it's disorienting to the enemy.)

[shiningdrake]

Drake looked at Shouki admiringly. She reminded him of Alicia... Who really was able to "beat the everliving crap" out of Drake, with her insanely fast and precise moves. Yes. he thought to her, we'll do it together. His eyes returned to the burning golden ones for a split second, before turning dark and insane again. The demon was finally weakening. It wasn't over yet though.

The demon laughed out loud "You will never beat me! Never!!" Despite its fierce words, Drake felt it becoming slightly afraid. It didn't want to be imprisoned again. Drake heard Shouki talking about waiting at the castle. He thought to her I'm not sure... If you're sure you'll be okay, then I suppose...

He focused back on trying to keep the demon from harming Shouki. It was weak, and he knew Shouki wanted to show it that they could take it out easily, but he refused to let his guard down. The demon would go down soon, Drake felt it, but until it did so completely, it wasn't releasing its hold. Drake had an unfortunate feeling that before it went down, something freaky was going to happen...

[Genshuku]

And Shouki read it. The emotion of evil fear also allowed her to get a good grip on it's mind without slipping away. And now, it was time to taunt the evil (because mindgames are fun).

"You can't hide your true thoughts from me. You don't want to be locked up again. Alas for you, your evil tendencies are what shall keep you locked in forever more."

She then noticed...well, something freaky. In any case, she'd better finish this up, and be prepared for anything...freaky. Whatever freaky was, he didn't quite seem to know, so neither did she.

Well, it wasn't down yet, might as well finish the job. After the stinger, she attacked with a 360 slash (full circle), now that she was close to the enemy. The attack was quite powerful, and if it was actually guarded against, it would almost break the guard, if not actually break it. If he dodged, she wasn't dizzy, and could block accordingly.

Her third eye also had a look of confidence, if one bothered to take a look at it.

"I'll be fine. If I can beat this demon up, I should be able to get there easily. But I also heard that the castle has some forces that we should be fighting, and those are pretty tough from what I heard. It might take more than just me, you, and whoever else is already there to beat them. Sadly, I really don't know anyone...but that isn't important right now."

The eye seemed to give a short look of loneliness, before resuming it's confident look.