Chapter 8.1 - Divine Intervention

Divine Intervention
Santiago climbed over the brick wall and with a leap, flung himself over. He fell several metres to ground and landed on his feet, the gravel under his shoes rustling quietly. It was the dead of night, the only light came from the windows of the Scarlet Devil Mansion ahead of him. He had entered the back garden with no effort, security seemingly very light. With the absence of moonlight, hiding among the ledges and trees was easy. The biggest problem was that he had no idea of the layout of the mansion. Ælious, over in Canada, had managed to find several layouts via American internet but they were all different, most likely due to canon differences.

Santiago made his way to the back of the mansion, avoiding the patches of well-lit ground illuminating from the window. All ground floor lights were on while all of the lights on the floors above were turned off but what caught his attention was the large balcony on the floor above, indicating the presence of a door. Making use of the nearby gutterpipe, he climbed up to the platform and hopped over the barrier onto the balcony. There was a single outdoor table and three chairs but Santiago ignored them to concentrate on the balcony door. He knelt down on one knee at the door and pulled a long metal pin hidden in his belt buckle. Inserting the pin into the keyhole of the lock, he twisted it around, listening intently. The lock let out a quiet click. Santiago pulled down the door handle and quietly opened the door into a dark corridor. He silently shut the door behind him, entering the pitch black hallway with one hand on the rapier's handle at his waist.

Hailing from the nearby Barton City, Santiago was a former assassin but was infiltrating the Scarlet Devil Mansion to find a missing person called Edward, reportedly kidnapped by the Scarlet sisters earlier that year. Santiago was taking a huge risk with the operation, coming from a universe that followed conventional laws of science, not the most common of origins. However, he decided to take the challenge, the Scarlet Devil Household had been causing a lot of grief for both Barton City and neighbouring Arcania City forcing each and every person to pay monthly nationwide 'rent'. Even though this forced rent was also enforced in other Gensokyo territories, the two cities struggled to cope with their Doomsday placement in a small isolated subsection of Africa. In addition, this money usually completely left the African economy, to 'pay' for American research projects, ruining the standard of living. Santiago was hoping the job would be easy with reports that both the Scarlet sisters with on business elsewhere.

Santiago's break-in was shortlived however when he was grabbed from behind and quickly dragged down the corridor. A door opened and Santiago was pulled into a brightly lit room, down a flight of stairs to the right, before being flung onto the floor. Sitting up, Santiago looked up at his captor, to see a circle of people standing around him in the elaborate main hall of the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

"No trouble," grinned Koakuma, slapping her hands, "He's got no strength, probably a native."

"It's ironic that natives have no power in a world they used to own," commented Hong Meiling to Koakuma's right, with her arms folded. Her tone of voice was noticeably neutral and her expression showed no sign of sarcasm either.

"... Do natives normally dress like that?" questioned Patchouli Knowledge, unconvinced. She was standing to Koakuma's left, clearly unamused with Santiago's forced entry. "The black mask, musketeer hat and rapier. Reminds me of Zorro."

"What should we do with him?" inquired Izayoi Sakuya, behind Santiago.

"We ought to wait for Remilia to come back," suggested Patchouli.

"No," strongly stated a female voice behind Koakuma, "I'm taking him with me." Everyone turned to see a innocent looking girl, seemingly wrapped in a transparent rainbow coloured force field. She was followed by a young boy fitting the description Santiago was given of Edward. The girl walked into the circle between Koakuma and Patchouli. Santiago noticed a red bulky metal choker round her neck.

Patchouli frowned, "Why do you need a powerless helper?"

The girl offered Santiago a hand, "I want to take someone who has an opinion of his own, one that conflicts with Miss Suzumiya's. Santiago Miguel Rivera, will you join me?"

Santiago stood up of his own accord, ignoring the girl's offer. He turned to Edward, "You the Fullmetal Alchemist?"

Edward Elric, raised an eyebrow, "Yes?"

"You don't look particularly constrained," calmly pointed out Santiago. Despite, failing terribly with his task, Santiago had not lost his cool.

"Did you come to rescue me?" Edward shrugged with sympathy, "I really appreciate it but sorry, I came of my own free will. I had to keep it secret though."

"Free will? For a secret Gensokyo project?" The sarcasm in Santiago's voice was very obvious.

"I don't think we should be talking about this," protested Sakuya.

The girl interrupted. "Santiago, will you join me?" she repeated, again holding out her hand.

"Look, I don't know who you are. I only make friends if I have a reason." Santiago once again did not take the girl's hand. "And if they answer all my questions."

The girl's expression was getting more frustrated by the second, "I'll answer all of them." She grabbed Santiago's sleeve and as the force field began to cover him, he felt a flood of information enter his mind.

Her name was Sasaki.

Meanwhile, in District 9, Naluri had managed to get to ground level but was being closely followed. Rifle on her back she powered down the pavement, lampposts illuminating the entire road. Despite her efforts, Konata suddenly landed several metres ahead, blocking her path. In one fluid motion, Naluri pulled an old looking rocket launcher from thin air, perched it on her shoulder and pulled the trigger, a rocket hitting Konata square in the face. As Konata was clouded in smoke, Naluri jumped and fired another rocket straight down at the pavement, the explosion launching her high into the air, past Konata. Konata turned round, her characteristic smile unchanged and scratchless, swinging her right arm to clear the smoke and with a strong throw with her left arm, threw a small sickle pulled from her Hammerspace in Naluri's direction. Naluri turned in midair, her rocket launcher fading away, and summoned a golf club. With a heavy drive, she hit the rapidly spinning sickle away as she landed and continued to race away from her pursuers.

The sickle followed an odd curved path back to Konata who caught its handle with little effort.

Ritsu walked up to her. "You okay? The direct hit didn't exactly look painless."

Konata smiled back, "It's a Rocket Jumper. It does no damage but is excellent for rocket-jumping. She probably got it from Team Fortres-" Her smile suddenly disappeared, Ritsu also having a lapse of concentration.

"You...," Ritsu started, clearly unsettled, "You just got the Empress' message too?"

"Yeah," frowned Konata, "I'm going to confirm the news. Keep on Naluri's tail." Konata disappeared leaving Ristu behind, who was staring up into the starry sky.

"An alliance?" Ritsu murmured, "What are they doing?" She shook her head before walking off.

Naluri leant back on a wall in a dark alley, completely out of breath. She knew Konata and Ritsu would never let her leave the District. They had been toying with her all the way down the Ark and obviously had some ulterior motive. Before she could regain her composure, Ritsu came round the corner, fully aware of where she was hiding. Naluri looked over but did nothing. Unimpressed and not in the mood for talking, Ritsu glowed a light purple and shot towards Naluri, leaving a purple trail behind herself. But Naluri was ready. She summoned a torch-like object and threw it at the ground. A shining bubble shield surrounded her, capable of protecting any occupants from weak projectiles. However, a metal bucket hit Ritsu in the head mid-charge, throwing off Ritsu's balance but her momentum caused her to smash into and bounce off the bubble shield before landing face-down on the ground with a crash. While uninjured due to her unbroken shield, Ritsu was unnerved by the unexpected bucket.

She scrambled to her feet to see a male figure standing on the roof of the nearby building covered in some rainbow coloured force field. "Who are you?" Ritsu threatened, clenching her fists.

Santiago jumped down from the roof, revealing an innocent girl, also covered by the field, behind him with her hand on his shoulder. The girl spoke first, "I am Sasaki. Ritsu, I would like to have a talk with Miss Suzumiya."

Ritsu glowered, completely at a loss. For a whole year, thanks to Haruhi, she knew everything about the Colony. Now she was confronted by two people she knew absolutely nothing about. Saskai not referring to Haruhi as the Empress was a clear sign that she wasn't controlled. "Do I know you?"

"No, but Miss Suzumiya will know who I am."

Ritsu paused, staring at Sasaki, before vanishing. At the same time, Naluri's bubble shield collapsed.

Santiago and Sasaki walked up to Naluri. "How are you doing?" asked Santiago.

Naluri's breathing stabilised, "A bucket?"

"Buckets are easy to use as kicking projectiles if they're just laying around," he stated as though it was common knowledge.

"So... Who are you?"

Santiago did not answer, expecting Sasaki to do so instead. However, she did not reply immediately. She stretched out her free left hand towards Naluri's shoulder. Naluri, not keen on lowering her guard just yet, caught Sasaki's wrist before her hand came down. However, this only aided Sasaki in making direct contact with Naluri, the force field covering Naluri completely. "You're an odd one," commented Sasaki, "You're like a black hole completely surrounded by divine energy. My powers don't affect you."

Naluri let go of Sasaki's wrist, the field fading off her, "Who are you?" Naluri asked once more with a firmer tone.

Sasaki lowered her left arm, "I am Sasaki and this is Santiago. We come from Gensokyo."

"Gensokyo?" Naluri scowled with suspicion, "How is that possible?"

Sasaki raised her left arm and rubbed her fingers, "With this."

After a moment of confusion, Naluri realised what Sasaki was talking about, "Your force field?"

"It's the Hakurei Barrier but in liquid form. It allows me to pass through the Hakurei Barrier and as it's portable, it would allow me to pass through the Sonic Barrier too. As it's liquid, it lets me cover small objects with it. Even so, the barrier significantly dulls my powers so the most I can do is hide something inside from Miss Suzumiya's view. This means that Miss Suzumiya's powers greatly overshadow mine. I did notice your distinct lack of divine energy though, as you were nearby, so we flew here as quick as we could. I assumed that Miss Suzumiya would attempt to keep you in order since her powers don't affect you."

"Haruhi's powers don't affect me?" grunted Naluri, "That's news to me. No wonder they've been bothering me all this time. How did you get it in liquid form?"

"Are you aware of transmutation? Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, managed to transmutate the solid barrier into liquid."

"But if your barrier's in liquid form, can't you just like... shake it off?"

Sasaki pointed to the metal ring round her neck, "This ring is covered by the solid version of the barrier, to which the liquid version is attracted to so it always covers me. It also means I can't remove the ring, or more precisely, the solid barrier around the ring. It was a failsafe produced by Reimu to prevent me from simply allying with Miss Suzumiya as I would have to ask Reimu to remove it.

"Okay," interjected Naluri, "You've been talking all this time as though you have the same powers as Haruhi."

"I do. Or did," clarified Sasaki, with a sorrowful tone, "Though it was not my choice, I too have godlike powers like Miss Suzumiya. However, I made the mistake of not getting involved in the conflict on Doomsday. I was hoping Miss Suzumiya or even Kyon would take the opportunity to stop the conflict." Sasaki sighed, "So here I am. I have Gensokyo's backing but one out of three is not good enough."

Naluri looked at Santiago, "And your reason?"

"While she may not have been the one to start the conflict, Haruhi is now the cause of the entire world's suffering," explained Santiago in a determined voice, "Both Gensokyo and Yamaha are on edge because of her. She's the reason the barriers won't come down. They don't trust her. And with good reason too. She's far too trigger happy."

"Fair enough," nodded Naluri, standing up straight, "I'm tired of running away but I have a favour to ask of you, Sasaki. I'm looking for a friend of mine."

"... She didn't happen to be called Rokiahi, did she?" inquired Sasaki, full of curiosity.

Naluri's face lit up, "You know her?"

"I stumbled across her on Doomsday in the US," revealed Sasaki, "She was just like you, a black hole to divine energy. I was imprisoned not long after so I'm not sure if she's still in the US but considering Gensokyo's shutdown of flights and shipping, I'd say she'd still be there."

Naluri extended a hand to shake with a smile, "My name's Naluri. I hope I can be of use."

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