/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>46245469
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Master of Ki…?

I look past Meiling to the door of the shrine; loud moans audible. The gate guardian blinks, clearly anticipating a word or two. “He doesn't seem capable of punching mountains or walking on water… yet, anyhow.” I point out the obvious: heart clinching and beating strangely quickly—strain from running too much, perhaps? Unlikely.

Meiling sighs, scratching her hair, still embarrassed. I wonder if the experiences here will desensitize her to sexual intercourse: It is a boundless fountain of knowledge, and mating habits do give a high amount of insight into unanswered questions—example: does a fairy have a reproductive system, even though they're primarily—keyword—created from nature's forces and energies? Hardly one would ever get the chance of solving such question, but here I managed to do so… It's amusing also to sometimes hound her with minutiae details about such; if life were all research, Koakuma would never get close to the Voile, after all~ “Y-Yeah, he's not a master of that: Bodily Ki… Though I could teach him someday since he, alone, already got so far in fortifying his Mind Ki.” I raise an eyebrow, recalling the day we were imprisoned here; the man learned and understood magic in a superficial level quite easily, and if he's already—unconsciously, I gamble—a master of 'mind' in that sense… Hm, an apprentice after so long, one with his baggage, could be fascinating. “But that's what I meant: Mind Ki. He has mastered it!” An excited smile rose again on her face.

“Mind Ki, you say… Not through breathing exercises, hm?”

Her joy fades as quickly as it came, her gaze back on the shrine's door. The moans are louder. “No; he didn't achieve ai-ki through training, but through necessity… We already have it bad; can you imagine how it must be for him? Every day—four crammed into one—destroyed and played in mind and body, treated as nothing but a play-toy without will, that feels no pain or sadness, locked away… It's inhumane, Patchy.” My body halts at the sudden change in tone and posture, and I watch without surprise the sheer fury swimming in the guardian's eyes, muscles clenched to show what the zenith of martial arts looks like, red hair a flame of ire. One of the reasons Hong Meiling is so underappreciated in this Gensokyo springs from Spellcard Rules…

… To remember what could be without them.

Chilling, truly.

“So the man's Mind Ki was forged in fire through pain. What does that mean to you?” I call her attention; her intensity attenuating to give way to a more soft exterior. One year of empathy bred apodictic protection and care.

Was that part of Sekai's plan…?

“Means the motive I cannot speak to him is that his mind is shielded from everything that has caused him pain. Everything but a few feelings, people.” I can imagine what both are. “The moments I could talk to him were moments his mind was at peace and I matched one of the 'keywords' to connect our ki: first time he was watering plants and I talked about my favorite food… I was thinking about home at that moment, and so I connected to him.” The utter sadness that those words carry is just another reminder that a gilded cage remains a cage nonetheless—a thought that quickened my heartbeat, veins pulsating choler. Inside, the moans have ceased. “Next was when I talked about Sakuya while he cared for that little doll of his: a good friend—and it did reach him. Every subsequent time I tried talking to him, I was thinking of it as a test, using him as a way to get out of this place as soon as possible, like an object. It was never genuine, and so never reached him…” She finishes with a sigh, exhausted and struggling to not look towards the fake shrine.

A grueling year spent in this accursed place...

… I still haven't reached Sekai's World. When I leave, this freedom—this body of spectral flesh—won't follow. I frown, my mind overworking with nervous thoughts; all this information Meiling shared, whatever Sekai erased from our minds…

What does that child want from us? Messing my spell and creating these bodies; mending of the portal to reach her world; rendering me this freedom; cleansing our minds… And now, this discovery by Meiling.

What purpose do any of her words have without any kind of guidance…?

Suddenly, I pause, blink…

… And sigh: As I'd thought, it seems.

“Meiling.” She glances towards me, saddened and stressed, though curious at seeing my neutral facade turn strained, heart accelerating. “Everything we've done so far has been predetermined by Sekai through Remilia's ability to control fate.”

Because why give out any guidance if everything is already going to fall into place on its own?

“H-Huh…?” She ‘asks’, frowning.

“We cannot let it happen any further, not without answers.” Before she can speak, I march towards the fake shrine, determined. “There's no counter; our fates are written in stone… So, to get to the writer, we shall threaten to shatter the stone.” I phase inside, eyes on Anon Hakurei.