Part 11: You Blame Yourself
Voile had been made a mess of with the battling. Remi is beaten, but it was no walk in the park. The miko was battered, much more than other times she fought with Remi. Both were hovering in the air, barely maintaining their composition and panting in exhausting.
Remi spoke up. "... where... were you... huff... WHERE-"
"You blame yourself."
All activity stopped. Voile stood silent, no one uttering a word. Sakuya and Koakuma both looked on in shock that Reimu would say such a thing.
"... How dare you talk to me... with such tongue..." Remi uttered in rage.
Reimu made her way closer to Remilia. "It's not hard to see. How easy you were to anger. How you didn't answer my question as to why you didn't alter her fate. Let me guess... you couldn't."
The two floated down to the ground. Remi stared at the ground.
"... It doesn't make sense! I tried to save her, there was no reason for her to die! She shouldn't have! She... I just... don't understand any of it. How could she die, WHY did she die?!"
Reimu just stood there. Remi began collecting herself.
"... Just... Leave. There's nothing to look into. Her death was an illness. No one knows what kind it is. I have a fairy sending a sample of her blood to Eintei. Eirin will inspect it. In other words, you're done here."
Reimu nodded. She began making her way to the exit. "Come on, Marisa, you heard her."
Marisa followed. That is, until they were intercepted by Meiling. The front half of her suit was slightly wet.
"Mistress, there's something you must see!" She said. Everyone made their way to the main entrance to be greeted by a soaking Komachi. She was breathing hard.
"Komachi?" Sakuya questioned. "Why are you- you should be taking Pat-"
"The river..." Komachi interrupted, "... It's... It has a sinkhole in it."
"What?" Remi said in disbelief. "It's a bottomless damned river, how can it have a sinkhole?!"
Komachi coughed up water. "... Damned if I knew. It also turned black... I think..."
Reimu sighed. "Komachi, you show up half drowned from a bottomless river turned black and now has a sinkhole, can you please get to the point?"
Komachi grinned a bit. "So impatient... I'll enjoy taking you across the river... thing is- *Cough* ... the black river, it was like... there was something in it, other than souls of the damned. Like the river weren't black, but it had... something in it. I mean, otherwise, you'd see little black water droplets on me."
"Hold on, you fell
into the river? You had a- nevermind," Marisa said. "Okay, so the river might not have turned black. But why would you think there was something in it?"
"Because... When I looked into the river... I thought I was just hallucinating, but... I saw two red dots, like eyes, staring back at me. Next thing I know, I fell in. I seem to have ended up in Misty Lake somehow."
"But..." Remi spoke up, voice trembling, "... Where's Patchouli's soul?"
That question struck shock into everyone. What had happened to her soul? The river was no longer accessible.
"... I have her," Komachi responded. I was only barely able to save it. It's in my body. I'm afraid it'll be here for a while."
Remi was discomforted by the answer, but overall relieved. "... Very well. I'm going to... go to bed. It's been a long day. I need to rest."
Remi turned around and motioned Sakuya to follow her. "Oh, and Komachi," she said with her back turned. "... Thank you."
She made her way to her room as the others watched. As soon as Remilia was gone, Komachi sighed.
"... I'm so sorry..."
"It's alright," Meiling reassured, "at least you saved-"
"I didn't."
Those two words rung in the ears of everyone in the room.
"... I didn't save her... that thing in the water... it took her. It took her into the water."
By god, I finally got back to it. I finally have a plot map mapped out. Sorry for the
excruciatingly long pause... not that anyone cared. Anyways, feel free to comment, critique, or PM and I will get to it.