Armored Gensokyo 33

Chapter 33: Original Generation

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The temperature in the room dropped several degrees following Reimu's statement, Satori taking a step forward.

“You...how do you know that name?!” She stammered. “I only caught vague references to that word, and I certainly didn't tell you about it, so how...?!”

Reimu strode towards Beowulf, a grim look on her face.

“I'm the Shrine Maiden of Hakurei. Knowing about threats to Gensokyo and the barrier is my job. And considering that there's absolutely no way an Einst can connect to the rest of its' race through that barrier, I'm not surprised it couldn't restore your mind.”

“...about threats...?” Beowulf asked, confused at the abrupt change of direction, before he stiffened in alarm, Reimu reaching up to catch him by the jaw.

“Wh-what are you-?!”

Brushing aside his bangs with her thumb, she drew him down, staring intently at his face.

No, not his face, Satori realized belatedly, but instead...

“You know what those markings are...?!”

After a moment, Reimu suddenly tensed, releasing Beowulf and taking several steps backwards, her expression pale.

“You...how the hell did Yukari manage to...?!”

“Wh-what is it?” Beowulf blinked, still bewildered. “Do you know something about me?”

Reimu was silent for several minutes, unable to take her eyes off of him. Then, very slowly, she eased her hand away from her spellcard pocket and let out a long breath.

“No.” She said finally. “No I don't know anything about you, as the being named Beowulf...But I know what you are. And more importantly, what you were.”

Puzzled, Satori risked a quick look into the shrine maiden's mind, to see just what it was that had spooked her so-

And almost immediately recoiled, stunned beyond belief by what she saw there.

“Reimu...you...”

The shrine maiden gave a wan smile.

“Like I said...part of my job description. Both the threats to Gensokyo from within...and from without.”

“But how-?”

“Yukari is very well connected.” Reimu replied cryptically, “Generally, she handles outside problems, but you pick up a thing or two from putting up with her as long as I have.”

“Blah blah, we know all that,” Marisa waved dismissively, grinning mischievously as she leaned on her broom. “Now get to the good part! I wanna hear about this guy!”

Beowulf inched away from the witch slightly. The somewhat predatory gleam in her eye, and the way she was idly tossing and catching that octagonal device of hers did not seem to bode well for him at all...

“I don't know what you were before coming here, but what I do know,” Reimu said finally, “is that you are an Einst.”

“And...just what is an 'Einst'?” Beowulf asked hesitantly.

Reimu grimaced.

“I don't know the details, but from Yukari's ramblings, what I can say is that essentially, they do what I do.” She scratched her head in irritation. “I'm not quite sure how to explain it, but...basically, what I and Yukari do for Gensokyo, they do for...well, literally everything else.”

“So...something along the lines of being universal keepers of the peace?” Satori hazarded a guess.

“To hear Yukari tell it, it's more like a multiverse, honestly.” She jerked a thumb up towards the ceiling. “Our new resident at the SDM and Youkai Mountain proves that much at least.”

“So what, they're basically an interdimensional group of peacekeepers?” Marisa raised an eyebrow. “Well, if they're anywhere as eager to do their job as you are, how bad could they be?”

“Har har.” The shrine maiden replied dryly. “I wish it was that simple.”

The witch's eyes narrowed.

“What are you getting at?”

“The Einst do the same job as me...but on a much larger scale...and they're much, much more obsessive about it.” She said grimly, watching Beowulf carefully. “They don't exactly believe in precision, if you get what I mean.”

“..heh, sounds like they're the complete opposite of you then.” Marisa's tone was light, but Reimu knew her friend understood.

Yukari's occasional discussions with Reimu about the wide and wonderful worlds outside of Gensokyo had given the shrine maiden a glimpse of things far beyond any human's normal reach...and perhaps even beyond some youkai as well. She knew that there were other forces out there that served the same purpose as the Hakurei, to maintain the balance of their respective domains. Be it a world, a dimension or even the multiverse, there was always something that would serve to make sure it all stayed in line.

But the Einst...

Reimu had rarely seen Yukari lose her temper before, if ever. But on those days she reappeared from her long sojourns wandering across the boundaries, and the subject of the Einst came up...

Yukari Yakumo despised them with a hatred that was almost palpable. The guardians of multiversal order, whenever an imbalance arose within any realm of existence, they would move in en masse to eradicate it completely, and raze the entire dimension to dust, restarting it all again from the very beginning. They were brute force taken to the extreme, uncaring and unyielding, a blunt slab of iron where Yukari prreferred a surgeon's scalpel.

And worse still, considering the sheer power contained in Gensokyo, a wonderland of beings that should have vanished with the natural order of the world, and therefore in itself an anomaly that denied the Einst's black and white definition of balance, it seemed as though these multiversal enforcers had been keeping a wary eye on them as well.

It was only the fact that the same power which made Gensokyo a danger to the balance, also made it a devastating opponent to the forces of the Einst, and their monstrous lord, the Regisseur she'd heard Yukari cursing about several times, that had kept them at bay. For Yukari to have managed to get her hands on a human-Einst hybrid, and arrange for him to be thrown into Gensokyo under such circumstances, resulting in such a being as the one before her now...

She didn't know what game the youkai of boundaries was playing, but it was a complicated and terrifying one.

Beowulf looked down at his hands, confusion and fear crossing his features.

“And I am...one of these things?”

“...that's where it starts to get a little complicated.” Reimu sighed, scratching her head. “To restart a world, usually the Einst select two candidates to act as the new 'original seed', one male, one female, and both of them being partly Einst themselves.”

“A new Adam and Eve, in other words.” Satori supplemented, “Though I do not understand why they would add their own genetics into the mix...”

Reimu shrugged.

“I think Yukari said something about it being a way of ensuring they were strong enough to survive or something. It's probably not important. Regardless,” she nodded at Beowulf, “Those markings on your face prove it. Whatever you were before, you were set to be the progenitor of a new human genesis, once the Einst completed their destruction.”

She gave an ironic smile.

“So it looks like you're a bit of a celebrity, mister Beowulf.”

Reaching up, he prodded the strange markings gingerly.

“I...see...?” He hazarded, “So then...my strange body...and that monstrous form of mine...all of that is due to the Einst influence?”

“Well...I wouldn't call it a 'strange' body, exactly...” Marisa smirked, looking him up and down. “I'm a bit hazy on mythology, but I think they misinterpreted 'Adam' as 'Adonis', honestly...”

“Keep it in your pants, magician girl.” Reimu replied dryly, Beowulf looking  from one to the other with a confused expression. “Besides, remember what I said about being 'strong enough'? There's a reason they made an augmented Adam AND Eve, if you get my meaning.”

Satori blushed and looked away with a cough at the implications, whereas Marisa's grin turned to a grimace.

“Oh. Well...damn, that's...a pretty interesting mental image.” She winced, one hand reflexively going to her hip as she considered that. “...I guess that explains why humans seemed so much tougher back in ancient times, huh...”

“A tough world needs a tough species for survival, I think Yukari said.” Reimu shrugged.

“Er...excuse me...” Beowulf interrupted, having been going over everything in his mind so far. “So...if I'm not a human...nor an Einst...nor a youkai...then what, exactly, am I?”

An awkward silence fell at that. Even Reimu wasn't quite certain what to tell him. Partly human, partly eldritch alien deathmachine, cut off and alone, in a strange new world...

“Well, that's an easy one to answer!” A new voice rang out with a whoop, a shadow falling over them. “You're an oni!”

Satori and the others barely had time to take to the air in alarm, as what looked like a piece of a mountain came smashing down in their midst, Beowulf's head snapping up in alarm before he was buried beneath the colossal boulder, driving him through the first floor, and into the foundations below with an earthshaking impact.

“Who the f-” Reimu cursed, spinning around. “...oh of course, it WOULD be you.”

Landing atop the roof, Hoshiguuma Yuugi gave a jaunty wave, wearing nothing but a towel hanging around her neck, and a kimono tied at the waist, both doing little more than the minimum necessary to preserve her decency. Judging by the water still clinging to her skin, and the fine mist trailing behind her hair as she shook it out, the Rumored Unnatural Phenomenon had headed straight here from the baths. Her left arm was bandaged from shoulder to fingertips, indicating that they'd already reattached it, and the sling around it was probably to keep her from doing the kind of recklessness she'd just done.

“Yo, miss armpits!” Grinning, she sidestepped the wrecking-ball sized Yin Yang orb that sailed past.

“I SWEAR TO GOD, THE NEXT PERSON TO BRING UP THAT NICKNAME AGAIN-”

“My mansion...” Satori whimpered, staring at the gaping crater in the side of it. “One room was bad enough, but there goes part of the main atrium too...”

“...oi oi, I dunno about you guys, but didn't she just drop like, half a building on that Beowulf dude?”

“Bah, don't sweat it.” Yuugi waved airily, dropping down to walk on the cracked floor, causing interesting things to happen to her chest as she moved. “Oh, by the way Satori, I borrowed one of your spare kimonos on the way here. It was a bit small, so I had to make do.”

Completely unbothered by the oni's borderline nudity, Satori simply gave a despondent sigh.

“...why are you even out here? I thought you were taking it easy for the evening...”

Yuugi shrugged, missing the bitter looks from Marisa and Reimu at the 'effects' of that motion.

“I know the sound of a Master Spark when I hear one. And where this witch goes...” She jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “...fun usually follows. Plus I figured it was a fair bet to figure out our newbie here would probably be at the center of any excitement.”

“...and so you dropped an asteroid on him, thereby knocking out two floors of my home.” Satori replied flatly.

“Eh, it was only a small rock. And besides,” She leaned over the edge with a grin, “You're tougher than that, aren't you!?”

Rock shifted far below, the cracked boulder splintering apart as the rubble shifted. With a crash, two long, sleek pylons snapped up, blasting aside the debris. Green tendrils erupted around them, scything and whipping as they lashed upwards, clawing at the edges of the hole. Yuugi didn't even flinch as she saw the dark figure shuddering at the center of it all, reaching up towards her.

Whirling around each other, they knitted together in a writhing tapestry of artificial muscle and bone, hardening into midnight blue armor, five clawed, black steel fingers biting into the rim of the shattered floor. Forming as it rose, the human shadow vanished amidst the tangle, the two pylons shaking and twisting as they shifted, powerful vernier thrusters surging along their length, the back of the figure bulging and shuddering as new, enhanced metal musculature formed. Massive, heavy shoulders snapped into place as the figure hauled itself into the light, racks of claymore launchers retracting behind armored shutters with a hiss. The burning red core flashed once, before dark blue and white armor slammed shut over it, locking into place. The deadly stake punched out over the knuckles of the right hand, fingers flexing as the ammunition chamber spun into place, matched by the five-barreled vulcan on the left wrist.

The tendrils vanishing deep within the pristine steel armor, first one metal leg, then the other, stepped back onto solid ground. Gold eyes flashed within the empty visor, the smooth white faceplate restored, as a razor-edged blue horn slid out of the armored forehead.

The blue Alt Eisen Riese towered over Yuugi, its' massive height allowing it to climb back out with ease, before it slowly shrank to a more normal height of around nine feet.

Leaning forward, it stared at her, fists clenching.

“I remember you.” Beowulf growled, the mask hissing open to reveal a face that, though still scarred, was a far cry from the feral visage that had screamed back at her before.

“Good, because let me tell you...” Her eyes roved over his new frame, the gleaming, polished blue and white armor a far cry from the alien, mutated red and black. “I sure as hell don't remember you looking like this.”

Beowulf blinked.

“I...what?” He looked down at himself. “...this...is different.”

“I concur.” Satori replied dryly. “Though I am less concerned about your appearance than I am the fact that you have retained that particular ability of yours.”

Yuugi slapped the puzzled man-machine on the back with a force that made Reimu wince.

“Nah, I'm not surprised. Besides, I think I like this look better than your old one!”

“I...um...thank you?” He hazarded.

“Not surprised...Yuugi, were you...expecting this?” Satori's eyes narrowed.

The oni seemed to contemplate the question for a bit, then shrugged.

“Not really. It's just a feeling I got. Besides...” She rapped her knuckles on the blue chest. “If that little wakeup party was anything to go by, I'd say this guy definitely qualifies as an oni, if nothing else.”

Inspecting his new armaments with great interest, Beowulf focused for a moment, and in a flicker of retracting armor, he was human again.

“Hm.” He said, feeling oddly pleased with himself. At least that was one thing he'd figured out...

“By the way...” A vice closed on his neck, Yuugi headlocking him. “...I call dibs on this guy.”

There was a long pause.

“...what?” Reimu managed to say at last.

“Hey, he's tough as nails, almost killed me in the best fight I've had in DECADES, and as far as I'm concerned, might as well be an honorary oni.” She grinned fiercely, “Like hell I'm letting him get spirited off by you lot upstairs!”

“...I probably should have seen that one coming.” The shrine maiden sighed. “Though considering you're the best person to be nearby if he goes mad again, I suppose it's a good idea.”

She gave the oni a weary look.

“Look, just try not to break everything again, okay? I like my onsen WITHOUT unnecessary explosions, thank you.”

“No promises!” Yuugi grinned, Satori giving a weary sigh.

“At any rate, I suppose watching over one more borderline monster can't be too much different to my normal job.” The mind reader pressed a hand to her face in exasperation. “And as you say, it would probably be safer for him to remain down here. Yuugi is hotheaded, shameless and reckless, but at the very least, she's still a Deva, and therefore has at least some sense of responsibility.”

Plus, with Yuugi's peculiar connection to the former Einst, Satori would feel a lot more comfortable with the two of them staying together. Add to that the fact that Beowulf himself was fairly similar to an oni, Yuugi would probably be the best guide for him.

...and that was without taking into account the disturbing knowledge she had seen in Reimu's mind, about the markings on his face, and the 'rank' they signified.

...Combining the vague snippets of the former Beowulf's memories she had encountered, and that knowledge, Satori suspected that she would be quite content to keep Yuugi near to their new resident.

“Er...” Beowulf managed to work some space into Yuugi's grip, a thought that had been bothering him for some time finally making itself known. “What you said earlier...about me being a progenitor of some sort....what exactly does that mean?”

Another thought occurred to him.

“And how exactly was I supposed to go about doing that with this 'Eve' person?”

There was a long, long, uncomfortable silence.