Armored Gensokyo 40

Chapter 40: Rising Force
==========================================================================================
“So, what do you think mister Hustler saw?”

Cirno shrugged.

“Heck if I know. Whatever it was though, I trust him on it!” She grinned. “He overreacts to stuff a lot, but he’s a good person!”

“Er…right…” Not for the first time, Daiyousei wondered if she’d ever really understand Cirno’s way of thinking. Quick to trust, bright-eyed, and with a penchant for mischief, there was, nonetheless, something in her that was different to other fairies. Where other fairies were singleminded, and more than a bit scatterbrained, probably only the three fairies living near to the Hakurei shrine and possibly Lily White were of a similar type. She’d asked Keine about it once after class had ended, and the hakutaku had theorized that in the case of the Three, it might have been from living close to such a powerful spiritual source for so long, first the Forest of Magic, and then the shrine, that had let them ‘grow’ as it were. Lily, though, she believed had more to do with her connection to the season of spring, perhaps tapping into it unconsciously.

Even she had been at a loss to explain Cirno, however. Not even the matter of age had been able to narrow it down, as any normal fairy would have had to live for much, much longer than Cirno had to approach that level of strength, and yet the self-proclaimed Strongest had not only managed it in her relatively short time, but was continuing to grow with every new day Daiyousei spent with her.

Dai, however, might not have known the how, but she knew why Cirno was as strong as she was, and why she continued to push herself even further under the title of Strongest.

…after all, Cirno was not the only unexplained anomaly among fairies.

Daiyousei was simply better at keeping an unassuming, harmless profile.

Shaking off the uncomfortable chill that came with those thoughts and the memories that accompanied them, she moved up alongside Cirno.

“Cirno, I’ve been meaning to ask…how do you know what he’s saying?”

“Eh?”

“Well, it’s just…aside from you, no-one’s actually heard mister Hustler speak, so…”

“Huh?” Cirno blinked, looking honestly surprised, “Really? You guys can’t tell what he’s saying?”

“Um…no?”

“Huh.” The ice fairy said again, as though the revelation was something new to her, a thoughtful look crossing her face. “You know, now that you mention it, you’re right…”

Flipping onto her back in mid-flight and staying there, she folded her arms contemplatively, missing Daiyousei’s squeak of alarm at the daredevil action.

“Yeah, mister Hustler doesn’t really talk much, does he?” Frowning, she looked up at the sky above. “To be honest, I never really noticed. He always made perfect sense to me!”

“…huh?”

She flipped over again, right side up this time, gesturing with her hands.

“It’s like…I don’t know how to explain it, but I can tell exactly what he’s thinking just by looking at him. The way he moves, the way he acts…it’s like he really is talking!” She hesitated. “Just without, y’know…actually talking…”

“Er, body language…?” Daiyousei offered.

“Yeah, that!” Cirno grinned. “Like, he has this kind of thing he does with his head when he’s getting all caught up in thinking about weird stuff again, and the glow changes color!”

She shrugged.

“To be honest, it never really bothered me too much. I know what he’s saying, and he knows what I’m saying, so what’s to worry about?”

“I…I guess so.”  The lake fairy hesitated.

In her opinion though, there might still be a lot to worry about, even though she could understand what Cirno meant by body language. After all, even she herself was beginning to pick up on some of the mannerisms of the colossal machine after the last few weeks. But for Cirno it was more like she could actually read and understand the enigmatic intelligence that lurked within, translating its’ very thoughts into something she could reply to. Where Daiyousei, Kanako, and indeed everyone else, could only read and react based on that cold exterior, and what little emotion it betrayed, somehow, Cirno could see past that, interacting more with the very mind behind the metal, often taking it completely by surprise.

Not only that, but…

She remembered again that moment when the maid and the Administrator had lunged back in to resume their clash…and she remembered both Cirno and Hustler moving in to interrupt them. Whether it was intentional or by accident, the fact remained that for their own reasons, both fairy and machine had arrived at nearly identical courses of action.

In a way, Daiyousei pondered, it was a lot like the way his partner, Lana, and Sakuya were similar. But where in their case, the two women were too similar to each other to ever really get along without clashing, Cirno and Hustler were...complementary, in a way.

They both thought in ways that were polar opposites of one another, but regardless of their reasoning, their final decision was often very much the same. Cirno with her boundless drive and endless energy, and mister Hustler with his mysteries and his cold logic...Daiyousei had to smile at that.

They certainly balanced each other out very well, even if neither of the two realized it. At the very least, it certainly promised to be quite a healthy rapport, especially if they began to pick up habits from one another. Mister Hustler could be a little less wary and closed off, and Cirno...perhaps she could start thinking of herself for once, and not just of the people around her.

Functionally immortal she might be as a fairy...Daiyousei's hand clenched over her chest, biting her lip as she felt an old sensation in the deepest parts of her stir in response to her brooding. Immortal Cirno might be, but the Lake Fairy couldn't help but worry whenever she was hurt on behalf of someone else, often Daiyousei herself.

She was the reason Cirno called herself 'the Strongest', after all, though to this day less than five people were aware of THAT particular secret...

“Ah, there’s the mansion!” The ice fairy’s excited cry jarred her from her dark thoughts, Daiyousei looking up in alarm, the dark feeling forced back down.

Sure enough, as the forest ahead began to thin, the telltale scarlet stone walls of the SDM were coming into view. Shaking off her unease, she moved up alongside Cirno as they emerged into open air, looking around cautiously.

“Be careful, Cirno! Remember, we're supposed to be warning them to look out for anything weird...”

“So?”

“W-well, who knows, maybe that thing mister Hustler sensed is already nearby!”

“Pffft naaaaaah.” Cirno chuckled and gave an offhand wave. “You saw the pictures, no way something like that would be sneaking anywhere. We'd probably hear that coming miles away!”

And Daiyousei has to admit she's right there. None of the reports paint a picture of anything more than a raging juggernaut of destruction hellbent on pulverizing everything in range, so why would such a thing try being stealthy now?

She isn't sure what bothers her more, the fact that Cirno is right, or the fact that Cirno is right despite not having been able to read half of the words in Aya's report. Then again, she's always been remarkably insightful in the weirdest of moments to begin with, so ultimately she just shrugs and moves on.

“L-let's just go find miss Meiling, okay...? Even if we do hear it coming, I still don't want to be around here...”

“Yeah, that shouldn't be too hard.” Cirno snickered, rounding the corner of the wall. “Just follow the snor-BLARGH!”

There was a crash, and Daiyousei fell backwards with a yelp as a green and red blur crashed down, slamming the ice fairy into the ground.

“Cirno!” Flailing wildly, the green-haired fairy desperately called up her own danmaku, eyes shut in panic. “G-get back, you...you monster!”

“Monster?!” A new voice responded, sounding annoyed. “Just because I'm doing my job properly for once is no excuse to insult-oh wait, Dai, is that you?”

“Eh?” Cracking open one eye in surprise, the lake fairy found the mysterious blur resolving into the familiar figure of Hong Meiling, the gate guard looking back at her with a mildly surprised expression.

“Miss Meiling...you...what?”

“Heyooooo.” Meiling waved sheepishly. “Sorry about that. There's been a weird feel in the air for the last hour or so...when I heard voices I figured it was better to hit first and ask questions later.”

“...you were sleeping and moved on instinct didn't you.” Daiyousei deadpanned. This was not the first time the gate guard had gone from sleeping to striking without fully regaining consciousness, and she rather doubted it would be the last.

A chill in the air, and Meiling hopped nimbly backward, narrowly dodging several vicious looking stalagmites of ice that burst upward from beneath her.

“Hup...whoops, sorry about that, Cirno.”

The ice fairy sat up, spitting out dust with a grimace.

“Accidentally clobbering me is one thing, but then you have a freaking conversation on top of my head!” She glared. “And after we came all this way to warn you guys, too!”

Meiling blinked, then cocked her head.

“Warn us...?”

“Yes!” Daiyousei nodded emphatically, before hesitating. “Or, well...we're not sure...”

“Remember our buddy Hustler?” Cirno pushed forward, Meiling twitching involuntarily at the mention of the armored colossus. The process of helping with the cleanup, and indeed the occasional conversation with Lana Nielsen had gone a long way to easing the tension, but given the circumstances of their first meeting...it would be a while yet before the gatekeeper felt full comfortable with the inscrutable machine.

“He's a little hard to forget, yeah...”

“Right! We were hanging out with him at the mountain earlier and then when he was testing some gizmo or the other, he thought he saw something weird! He figured it might be important, so we volunteered to come tell you guys about it.” Cirno folded her arms proudly. “So there!”

Meiling stared at her blankly for a moment, then wordlessly turned to Daiyousei, who sighed.

“...he thinks it might be the same creature that tore up the Underground recently and wanted to contact miss Nielsen to be on the lookout. But since he couldn't reach her with that weird link they have, Cirno volunteered to bring the message.”

“Ohhhhhhhh.” Meiling nodded in comprehension, before her expression clouded. “Yeah, I heard something about that, it was a real mess down there...and you say Hustler thinks it's come up to the surface now?”

“Yep!” Cirno nodded cheerfully. “He didn't say where it was, though, but he seemed pretty worried about the mansion.”

“Hmmm...” Meiling frowned. “...all right then, I'll keep an eye out. If you two want to go in to talk to Nielsen, then sure, go ahead. Watch out, though, I think she and Sakuya were going at it again this morning.”

Cirno gave a dismissive wave, grinning.

“That's like, half the reason we wanted to stop by in the first…place…”

She trailed off, realizing that the other woman wasn’t paying attention anymore, instead looking off into the depths of the forest with an intent gaze.

“Hey, you awake still? Or did you like, fall asleep while I was talking-”

Meiling held up a hand to stop her, eyes never leaving the woods. There was something out there, she could feel it…Too far to see, but there, just at the edge of perception, a faint vibration through the ground, a metallic scent on the wind…

And that strange, whirring whine, gradually getting louder. It was far enough away that any normal person would just have mistaken it for some kind of wildlife, but Meiling was nothing like that. Before she had found her way to the Scarlet Devil Mansion to begin with, she had been a bit of a wanderer, roaming the world to train herself and experience as much of it as she could. She'd seen quite a lot in that time, and after joining the SDM had occasionally followed the newspapers of the time (it wasn't something she could help, given that they had often been vital to keeping the rain off of her on more stormy days, at least until Remilia had caved and grudgingly had a smaller alcove built for her), and then, the arrival of more 'modern' individuals like the Moriya Shrine group had brought still more knowledge with them.

By no means did this make her any kind of bookworm, but when you lived in the same country as a group that made giant robots and screwed around with nuclear fusion, you tended to pick up a few things.

And with a slowly mounting dread at the fact that the sound was now loud enough for Cirno and Daiyousei to start looking around in confusion, Hong Meiling realized that one of those things was the sound of a gatling gun spooling up to fire.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twenty minutes earlier…

Beowulf gave a grunt as the sunlight of the surface struck him full in the face. Both he and Yuugi were finally approaching the exit to the underground, and several cracks in the tunnel walls allowed for the light to shine down through them, all capable of ruining your night vision if you happened to be looking right at the cracks when you passed.

“…you know, for a guy made out of metal, you don’t really have much in the way of fancy sci-fi stuff, do you?” Yuugi grinned nearby, watching him blink sight back to his eyes.

“…no.” He grumbled. “Regrettable as it is, it seems my senses are no better nor worse than your own, it seems. But more importantly…”

A dull fading hum, and the light of his boosters died, the blue Alt Eisen Riese dropping to the ground beneath, rock crumbling as he skated forward, bleeding off his speed. Straightening up, he craned his head back, looking around.

“Where are we, exactly?”

Her sandals touching the ground with a clack, Yuugi landed beside the metal figure, hands on her hips.

“This? It’s one of the older tunnels that used to connect the city back there with the surface, before we decided to cut ties completely.” She rapped the wall with her knuckles, watching a few chips of rock flake off. “They haven’t gotten anybody out to try to restore it, and most people prefer a lot of the other routes…but this is the closest exit to where we want to go.”

“I see…” Beowulf looked around, not really meeting her gaze. One of his hands came up, palm uncurling hesitantly as he moved it into the path of one of the sunbeams. The black metal of his fingers gleamed, metal rasping with the motion as he simply stood there, looking at it.

“…It’s warm.” He said quietly, almost to himself, red eyes dimming behind the armored faceplate, before turning his hand over, claws curling up slightly, as if to catch the light in his palm. The metal ex-Einst stood there for a moment, simply looking at it, feeling the unfamiliar warmth of it on his steel skin.

“…Beowulf?”

Beowulf started, eyes sharpening and looking around in surprise. Yuugi was there, staring at him in a mixture of puzzlement and concern.

“I…sorry.” He replied awkwardly, gaze flickering around. “I was simply…thinking about things.”

“That why your hand’s shaking?” The oni replied flatly.

The metal claws clenched into a fist reflexively, Beowulf belatedly attempting to cover it up, but in truth, Yuugi hadn’t needed to see the faint tremor that rattled the jagged fingers in the sunlight. The other man’s anxiety and unease thrummed across every fiber of that peculiar connection the two of them shared, and frankly, she was surprised it had taken Beowulf as long as he had to finally stop.

Definitely a stubborn one…she reflected with a wry smile, though the question of whether that was the oni or Einst in him was still up for debate.

Already seeing him preparing to speak, even with his face hidden behind the armored mask, the Rumored Unnatural Phenomenon sighed and shook her head.

“I already know what’s bugging you…it took a while to sort through, but it wasn’t until that straightaway two turns back that I finally figured it out.”

She tilted her head at something past him.

“It’s that, isn’t it?”

To his credit, Beowulf showed no surprise at being found out, only a faint look of resignation in the glowing red eyes as he turned.

Three hundred meters on, the tunnel sloped gently upwards to reveal the bright blue sky of the surface. A bit higher than Yuugi remembered, since as she recalled, there used to be trees blocking a sizable portion of that view…but still, the surface world nonetheless.

“…it is.” Beowulf affirmed finally, voice heavy. “I have your memories, and some knowledge of my own of ‘a’ surface world, perhaps the one the original Beowulf was from…but it’s not the same.”

Tightening his fist, he looked ahead at the waiting exit.

“Since I awoke in this place, the Underground is all I knew. Lady Satori, Reiuji, Rin, Yamame and Kisume, Parsee...” He looked at her, before turning to look back at the blue sky with a lost gaze. “You all are my 'world' as it is now...what's out there now, that is a new world entirely. And more than anything else, that...scares me.”

Yuugi bit her lip, cursing herself. They should have thought of this problem long before it ever had the chance to get this bad. This innate 'fear' of the surface...it was a common enough problem, especially with the younger residents of Old Hell, those born after the exodus to the subterranean city. Spending their whole lives since birth buried beneath the ground, there were many of them that still weren't able to overcome the innate fear of a place they'd only heard of by word of mouth. Of course, not all of them were like that, many of the braver souls taking advantage of the newly reopened routes to begin exploring once more.

But they'd messed up with Beowulf.

As he'd been 'born' a fully fledged adult, couple with the knowledge of Gensokyo and the Underground he'd obtained from Yuugi, they'd all naturally assumed this wouldn't be a problem.

But once again, the Rumored Unnatural Phenomenon was reminded that though Beowulf might have this knowledge, and memories of battle and strength...they were not truly his own, and in many ways, he was truly a child, still testing the waters of his new lease on life. So she simply fell silent, struggling to find something to say. This sort of thing had never been her strong point, and it frustrated her to no end when she found herself trapped in such a situation where her vaunted might was useless.

Silence fell over the two, awkward and uncomfortable.

Then, after a moment, Beowulf's red eyes looked across at Yuugi, the Deva's arms folded as she looked ahead at the exit, gnawing her lip as she tried to think of something. She missed his gaze, Beowulf turning away as she looked back quizzically, but it was enough.

Behind the mask, the glow of the ex-Einst's eyes hardened. Straightening up, he clenched his fists and took a deep breath. The heavily armored claymore launchers shifting as he squared his shoulders, Beowulf fixed the blue sky with a resolute gaze and lifted one blue and black boot from the ground. His gaze never wavering, he brought it down with a crunch, taking a heavy step forward.

“Huh?” Yuugi blinked. “Wait, what are you-?”

With a grunt, Beowulf did the same with his next leg, taking another step forward. And then another. And another.

“I said it scared me.” He growled finally, strain evident in his voice. “I never said that was going to stop me.”

The Rumored Unnatural Phenomenon could only stare in disbelief.

Fighting his body's natural resistance, the phobia that fought to paralyze his every move, Beowulf put every ounce of strength into it, almost moving his armored shell through sheer force of will alone. His boots leaving crushed footprints with every step, he almost gave a grim laugh at how he must seem, an ungainly spectacle in blue and black moving as though he was wading through molasses.

But he didn't care.

He wasn't sure what it was, but seeing that troubled look on Yuugi's face, and knowing that he was the cause of it...bothered him, somehow. He hadn't been awake for long, but in the short time he'd known her, aided in part by their strange connection, Beowulf was certain that Hoshiguuma Yuugi should never wear that kind of expression.

Not only that, but on some deeper, inexplicable level, Beowulf realized he was actually angry. Not at her or anyone else, but at himself. Like a baby bird terrified to leave the nest, here he was, shaking at the thought of leaving the safe underground world.

That anger fueled something inside of him, transforming into a savage determination that powered his every step, instinct warring with bloody minded obstinacy.

Behind him, the Rumored Unnatural Phenomenon felt her lips curling into a grin, a mixture of pride and delight in her eyes.

“Heh heh...now THAT'S more like it!” She crowed, starting after him. “Just walk it off, Wolfy...the first time's the hardest, after this you'll be just fine!”

“We shall...see...!” He gritted back, forcing a bark of laughter. It seemed he was rapidly approaching the limits of how far he could push himself on will alone. Beowulf had to admit, in any other situation, it would have been novel to experience this truly strange phenomenon. There was literally nothing physically wrong with him, and yet, because of something as simple as a phobia or a fear, it felt as though every step weigh thousands of tons. Logically, he knew it was all in his head...but from what little he remembered of being human, logic meant very little in the face of instinctive fear such as this.

“Wait a minute...” Yuugi stopped, a suspicious look on her face. “When you rattled off all those names before, why wasn't I one of them?!”

Behind the metal mask, a ghost of a smile crossed Beowulf's face, her words providing a stroke of inspiration.

He slammed his legs down one last time, fists at his sides. Less than a hundred meters to go.

“That is...an easy question...” the ex-Einst replied, sounding honestly confused at her inquiry. Planting his feet firmly on the ground, Beowulf turned to look back.

“I thought your importance to me was great enough that I did not need to restate it.”

Yuugi stopped short at that, caught off-guard by the blunt statement.

“O-oi, you...”

Any further action on her part was lost in the next few moments, the long angular pylons at Beowulf's back snapping up with a telltale whine. Shoulder fins rotating and locking into place as his thrusters rumbled to life in a surge of air, the former Regisseur of the Einst fixed his red gaze on the blue sky ahead. He'd already realized that this was as far as his humanity could take him, knowing there was only so far that simple willpower alone could move his armored hull.

It was Yuugi's question, though simple to answer, that had reminded him that if humanity wasn't enough...perhaps a more oni approach to matters was called for.

[Steel Beowulf ver. Tempesto]

“It doesn't matter how far that sky is...” He growled, thrusters roaring to life. “I have but to reach it!”

The words sprang to life before he knew it, some long dead fragment of his previous self resurfacing briefly. He didn't know where they came from, or what their significance was...but at this moment, he knew, they were right.

“Mark IV, Beowulf, launching!”

The cave floor rupturing beneath his boots, blue white fire erupted from his back and Beowulf charged. Skating across the ground at first, leaving twin trenches in his wake, the blue Alt picked up speed, sheer mechanical momentum overriding whatever resistance still plagued him.

Straightforward and blunt, brute force over all else...that was the oni way, wasn't it?

The slope angling up towards the light, he swung his legs up in a half leap, slamming down on both feet just before the exit-

-to give a fierce growl, crouching down as his momentum caught up to him, rock and earth buckling beneath him. Mask snapping open to reveal the scarred visage, sharpened fangs gritting together in sparks, Beowulf gave vent to a savage roar, burying his phobia behind sheer, raw fury and, putting every ounce of strength into his legs, kicked off, hurling himself skyward as the ground sank into a colossal crater with the force.

It took a moment, his eyes shut tight against the bright light, to muster the courage to reopen them, to see that sky he’d thrown himself into…but when he finally did, Beowulf realized it was all worth it.

The world came to life around him, people and places from his dim, uncertain banks of knowledge suddenly clarifying into certainties, the realm of Gensokyo spreading out beneath him.

“The Forest of Magic, Youkai Mountain, the Bamboo Forest…” He muttered in astonishment, feeling the familiarity settling in like an old friend. “These are all places I know through her…but now that I can see them, that I am here myself, with my own eyes, my own sense of self…”

He could feel the air rushing past, whistling as it passed over his armor. The warmth of the sun far above, brightening the blue metal of his body. For a moment, Beowulf just hung there, trying to process it all at once. Maybe it was that his knowledge had only come through what he had learned from Yuugi, and as a result, it had never felt truly ‘real’ to him. Tales and sights of a distant place he knew of, but did not truly know. Combined with his brief, sheltered existence beneath the earth since his awakening, perhaps that was at the root of his phobia.

“…it is only natural to fear the unknown, is it not?” He murmured.

Now though, feeling the air rattling around him, the cry of birds, and the heat and light of the sun overhead, a sea of green rushing past beneath him…now, Gensokyo, the surface world, was ‘real’ to him. He was here, in the flesh, part of it, and in that knowledge, there was nothing more left for the child to fear.

Beowulf had finally, truly arrived in the Eastern Wonderland.

His vision blurred, edges tinted with green as a HUD sprang to life. As if in response to his realization, navigation markers pinged up on his compass, identifying many of the locations he had recognized, and many more he did not.

“…it seems I may have been a bit hasty in saying that my senses were no better than that of a normal individual.” He said, staring at his new view in perplexity. Eyes falling on the nearest mark, however, his expression hardened.

The Scarlet Devil Mansion.

Truly, Yuugi had been right about this exit opening out near to their destination. Looking back, he realized he had left her behind in his charge towards the sunlight, and for a moment, the former Regisseur hesitated.

On the one hand, he could wait for her to catch up…but on the other, he would be lying to himself if he said the feeling of conquering his phobia, of finally, really, feeling as though he was a part of this world now, combined with the desire to meet and do battle with the first new person from the surface since his awakening was not giving him a significant thrill.

…the Mansion was right there, after all…and he was certain Yuugi would catch up momentarily anyway…

“…”

Beowulf was silent for several moments, the wind rushing past the only sound on his flight.

Then, coming to a decision, he gave a firm nod, mask snapping shut again, and he kicked his thrusters into overdrive, autocannon coming up as he sighted towards the distant, tiny figures at the mansion gate.

Yuugi had said this would be a battle of skill, after all…so there was really no need to hold back.

Red eyes narrowing, Beowulf opened fire.