Chris and Marisa continued following the spider yokai through the forest.
The trees became thicker.
The webs became more common.
Then they finally reached a small clearing.
Someone was standing there.
A girl with blonde hair tied into a bun, brown eyes, and a black and brown dress. A yellow ribbon wrapped around her waist.
[Insert image of Yamame Kurodani]
She looked at the two newcomers.
Then smiled.
"Well, hello, new people."
Marisa raised her hand.
"Hey. Another clan member."
The girl blinked.
"Clan member?"
Marisa pointed toward the spider yokai leading them.
"You're with the Jorōgumo Clan, right?"
The girl laughed.
"Close."
She stepped forward.
"I'm Yamame."
Chris looked at her.
His Grimoire floated slightly behind him.
The pages moved on their own.
'Spider.'
Nidhogg's voice echoed in his mind.
'Tsuchigumo.'
Chris tilted his head.
Yamame noticed.
"Oh?"
She crouched slightly.
"He's looking at me like he knows something."
Marisa shrugged.
"He's been doing that all day."
Yamame looked at Chris again.
Then her smile widened.
"Cute kid."
Chris blinked.
"Thanks."
Marisa stared.
"You actually understood that?"
Chris nodded.
Yamame laughed.
"Well, that's impressive."
One of the spider yokai behind them spoke.
"Yamame, the matriarch wanted you to stay near the eastern web."
Yamame waved dismissively.
"I know, I know."
She looked back at Chris.
"But I got curious."
Marisa raised an eyebrow.
"Curious about what?"
Yamame pointed at Chris.
"Him."
Marisa's expression changed.
"…Why?"
Yamame's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Because normal humans don't walk through our webs without getting caught."
She glanced toward the forest behind them.
"And they definitely don't see the threads."
Chris looked at the webs.
"I can see them."
Yamame smiled.
"Yeah."
She leaned closer.
"You really are strange."
Chris didn't seem offended.
Instead, he looked at her.
"Are you a Soul?"
Yamame blinked.
"…What?"
Marisa covered her face.
"Oh boy."
Chris pointed toward her.
"You feel different."
Yamame stared at him for several seconds.
Then laughed.
"Okay."
She stood back up.
"I like this kid."
Marisa grinned.
"Yeah, he's weird."
Chris looked offended.
"I am not weird."
Yamame laughed even harder.
"Sure you're not."
And somewhere deeper in the forest, one of the spider webs trembled.
Yamame's smile faded.
She looked toward the trees.
"…Huh."
Marisa noticed.
"What?"
Yamame's eyes narrowed.
"Something's moving."
Chris's Grimoire immediately began flipping through its pages.
And Nidhogg spoke quietly inside his head.
'Something is coming.'
Yamame's expression changed.
"Everyone."
The spider yokai stopped.
"Get ready."
The forest suddenly went silent.
Too silent.
And Chris realized something.
They weren't the ones being watched anymore.
Something was watching the spiders.
The group kept walking through the forest.
Yamame walked beside Marisa now, while Chris stayed close to them. The spider yokai continued ahead, occasionally checking the webs around the path.
Marisa looked at Yamame.
"So, like, how does the spider thing work?"
Yamame looked at her.
"The spider thing?"
"Yeah. You said you aren't part of the Jorōgumo Clan."
"Oh, that."
Yamame scratched the back of her head.
"I'm a Tsuchigumo. We're not the same race as Jorōgumo, but we're similar enough that the two groups consider each other sisters."
Marisa nodded.
"So you're basically related?"
"Not by blood."
Yamame pointed toward the spider yokai ahead.
"But we've been around each other for a very long time. We trade, help each other, and sometimes fight together."
Marisa grinned.
"So, spider family."
Yamame laughed.
"Sure. Spider family."
Chris looked at her.
"You use webs too?"
Yamame shook her head.
"Not quite like them."
She lifted one hand.
A thin strand suddenly appeared between her fingers.
"But we can make them."
Chris stared at it.
His eyes glowed faintly.
'Different.'
Nidhogg's voice echoed in his mind.
'Her connection to the web is weaker than theirs. But her body is adapted to something else.'
Chris tilted his head.
Yamame noticed.
"You can see something again, can't you?"
Chris nodded.
"Your energy."
Yamame smiled.
"Interesting."
Marisa looked between them.
"Okay, now I'm curious. What's different about your kind?"
Yamame's smile became a little mischievous.
"Want me to show you?"
Marisa immediately grinned.
"Absolutely."
Yamame raised one finger.
"Fair warning."
A faint purple mist began gathering around her hand.
"I don't recommend getting too close."
Marisa's grin slowly disappeared.
"…Why?"
Yamame smiled.
"Because I manipulate disease."
Marisa took one very deliberate step backward.
"Ah."
Chris just stared at the purple mist.
His Grimoire began humming.
Yamame looked at it.
"…And apparently your book doesn't like me."
Chris shook his head.
"It likes you."
The Grimoire stopped humming.
Yamame blinked.
"Really?"
Chris nodded.
"It says you're interesting."
Yamame laughed.
"Well, I like your book already."After a while, the trees became even thicker.
The path they had been following suddenly opened into a wide clearing.
Chris looked around.
There wasn't just one path.
There were dozens.
Some went between the trees. Others disappeared behind rocks or under thick roots. A few seemed to loop back toward the clearing.
Yamame stopped.
"Now we're here."
She pointed around them.
"This place has a lot of paths. If you weren't raised here, or you're not a Jorōgumo or Tsuchigumo, you can get lost pretty easily."
Marisa looked around.
"How many people actually get lost?"
Yamame shrugged.
"Many."
She said it like it was completely normal.
"Normal people who wander into this forest get lost all the time. We usually send them back before they can attract attention from the H.E.R.O."
Marisa blinked.
"The hero?"
Yamame stared at her.
"H.E.R.O."
"Oh."
Marisa rubbed her chin.
"What does that stand for?"
Yamame gave her a look that said she couldn't believe she had to explain this.
"Hazardous Entity Recon Operation."
Marisa's expression changed.
"…That's a very human name."
"Because humans made it."
Yamame started walking again.
"They're an organization that deals with supernatural things. They manage supernatural incidents, keep supernatural beings hidden from the public, and make sure humans don't find out what's really living around them."
Chris listened quietly.
'They hide us?'
Nidhogg answered inside his mind.
'More accurately, they hide the supernatural world from humanity.'
Yamame continued.
"They were founded during the seventeenth century, after the Salem Witch Trials in America. At first, they were mostly concerned with witches and other supernatural beings in the West."
Marisa raised an eyebrow.
"And then?"
"They spread."
Yamame shrugged.
"Europe. Asia. Eventually the rest of the world."
Marisa looked toward the trees.
"So there are humans outside Gensokyo who actually know about yokai?"
"Some do."
Yamame's expression became more serious.
"But knowing about us and proving we exist are two different things."
She pointed toward one of the paths.
"That is why we don't play games with them."
Marisa nodded slowly.
"Fair."
Chris looked at the maze of paths.
"So…"
He pointed toward three different paths.
"Which one?"
Yamame smiled.
"This one."
She pointed to a path that looked completely ordinary.
Marisa stared at it.
"They all look the same."
"Exactly."
She walked ahead.
"That's why outsiders get lost."
Marisa followed.
Chris followed her.
After a few steps, Marisa glanced back.
"…Wait."
She stopped.
The clearing behind them was gone.
She looked at Yamame.
"Okay."
A pause.
"I officially hate this forest."
The group kept going deeper into the forest.
Marisa stayed close to Yamame now.
She had stopped making jokes about getting lost.
Chris, meanwhile, wasn't paying much attention to the path.
His Grimoire floated beside him.
The pages began flipping.
Slowly at first.
Then faster.
Chris stopped walking.
Marisa looked back.
"Chris?"
The Grimoire glowed.
Three pages turned.
New symbols appeared across them.
Nidhogg's voice echoed inside Chris's mind.
'Three new abilities.'
Chris looked at the first page.
A simple web-like symbol appeared.
'Web Making.'
A thin strand of energy formed between his fingers.
Chris stared at it.
He pulled his fingers apart.
The strand stretched between them.
Yamame noticed immediately.
"Oh?"
Marisa leaned closer.
"Can you make spider webs now?"
Chris nodded.
Yamame looked genuinely impressed.
"That could be useful."
The second page turned.
A strange purple mist appeared around the symbol.
'Poison Mist.'
Chris quickly closed his hand.
The mist disappeared.
Marisa immediately pointed at him.
"Don't use that inside the forest."
Chris nodded.
"I won't."
Yamame laughed.
"Good. I like you already."
Then the third page turned.
Nothing happened.
No glow.
No mist.
No web.
Just a symbol.
Chris stared at it.
Nidhogg was quiet for several seconds.
Then he spoke.
'Path Walker.'
Chris tilted his head.
"What's that?"
Nidhogg answered.
'I don't know yet.'
Marisa blinked.
"You don't know?"
'The ability has no clear description. It appears to interact with paths themselves.'
Chris looked around.
The forest suddenly felt different.
The countless paths around him seemed to stand out.
Some felt normal.
Others felt twisted.
Some seemed to lead somewhere that wasn't physically possible.
Chris looked at one particular path.
His blue eyes glowed.
'That one.'
Yamame stopped.
"What?"
Chris pointed.
"That path."
Yamame's expression immediately changed.
She walked over and looked at it.
Then she looked back at Chris.
"…How did you notice that?"
Marisa glanced between them.
"What's wrong with it?"
Yamame didn't answer immediately.
She looked at the path again.
"That isn't supposed to be open."
Chris's Grimoire flipped by itself.
The symbol for Path Walker glowed.
Nidhogg spoke again.
'Interesting.'
Chris took one step forward.
The forest seemed to bend around him.
Yamame grabbed his shoulder.
"Wait."
Chris stopped.
Yamame stared at the path.
"…Let's find out where that goes together."
Marisa grinned.
"Well, now I'm curious."
Yamame sighed.
"I knew you were going to say that."
The three of them stood before the strange path.
And for the first time since entering the forest—
Even Yamame wasn't sure where it led.
The group finally reached the main gate.
Unlike the winding paths behind them, this place was surprisingly open.
A massive wooden gate stood between two old trees, covered in spiderwebs. Several spider yokai stood nearby, keeping watch.
Yamame stopped.
"This is the main gate."
She pointed beyond it.
"The matriarch lives inside. But I heard she's having a conversation with two important people."
Marisa raised an eyebrow.
"Two?"
Yamame nodded.
"That's what I heard."
One of the female spider yokai stepped forward. Her eyes moved from Marisa to Yamame, then finally to Chris.
She paused when she saw the Hakurei pendant around his neck.
"…He's a Hakurei."
Chris looked up at her.
The woman folded her arms.
"We can let him in."
Marisa smiled.
"Great."
"But…"
The woman looked toward the gate.
"It might cause a problem."
Yamame frowned.
"Because of the clans?"
"Partly."
The spider yokai looked back at Chris.
"A Hakurei entering during negotiations could be taken as a political statement."
Marisa scratched her head.
"Even if he's just a kid?"
"Especially because he's a Hakurei."
Chris looked down at the pendant.
'So this thing really matters.'
Nidhogg answered quietly.
'It seems so.'
Yamame crouched beside him.
"Don't worry about it."
Chris looked at her.
"You didn't do anything wrong."
She stood again and looked toward the gate.
"Besides, if the matriarch is already talking with important people, she can decide what to do."
The spider woman hesitated.
Then stepped aside.
"You can enter."
Marisa walked forward.
Chris followed.
But just before he crossed the gate, the webs above them trembled.
The spider yokai all looked upward.
Yamame's smile disappeared.
"…Someone knows he's here."
Marisa glanced at Chris.
"That's probably bad."
Yamame sighed.
"Very."
Chris looked at the enormous doors ahead.
His Grimoire began quietly humming.
And somewhere beyond those doors—
A conversation about the future of two clans had just gained a very unexpected participant.
Meanwhile, inside the clan's territory.
Reimu and Yasaka stood before the clan's leader.
The woman sat calmly, her spider legs resting behind her like a living throne. Her eyes moved between the two Hakurei.
Reimu crossed her arms.
"I understand that your clan and the Nekomata Clan have problems, but that is no justification to go to war with them."
The woman narrowed her eyes.
"They have crossed into our territory three times."
Yasaka spoke calmly.
"And your people crossed into theirs twice."
The leader's eyes moved toward her.
"They attacked first."
"And you retaliated," Yasaka replied.
The woman stood.
"You speak as though I should simply forgive them."
"No," Reimu said. "I'm saying you should stop before this becomes a war."
The leader's spider legs slowly shifted behind her.
"You're asking my clan to simply accept what happened?"
"I'm asking you to settle it."
Reimu stepped forward.
"You have territory disputes, trade disputes, and old grudges. None of those are worth starting a war that could drag every other clan into it."
The woman stared at her.
"You speak like someone who has never led a clan."
Reimu's eyebrow twitched.
"I don't lead a clan."
Yasaka sighed.
"That's exactly what she's trying to tell you."
Reimu looked at her.
"Don't make it sound like I'm secretly running one."
Yasaka smiled.
"You are a Hakurei. You already have more responsibilities than you admit."
Reimu ignored that.
The spider leader looked between them.
"Then what do you propose?"
Reimu thought for a moment.
"A meeting."
The leader frowned.
"With them?"
"Yes."
"And if they refuse?"
"Then I'll drag them here."
Yasaka stared at her.
"Reimu."
"What?"
"You cannot simply drag an entire clan leader to a diplomatic meeting."
Reimu shrugged.
"I can try."
The spider leader stared at her for several seconds.
Then, unexpectedly, she laughed.
"You really are a Hakurei."
Reimu sighed.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
The leader's smile faded as she looked toward the entrance.
"But there is another problem."
Reimu's expression became serious again.
"What?"
"The Tanuki have already called their warriors."
Yasaka's eyes narrowed.
"How many?"
"Enough."
The room became quiet.
Then, from somewhere outside—
A loud crash echoed through the forest.
Reimu turned toward the door.
Marisa's voice could be heard in the distance.
"HEY! CHRIS! DON'T TOUCH THAT!"
Reimu closed her eyes.
"…I left him with Marisa."
Yasaka slowly looked at her.
"You did."
Reimu's face went pale.
"Oh no."
A loud CRASH! echoed through the building.
The doors flew open and slammed against the wall.
Everyone in the room turned.
The clan leader's young daughter, who had been standing beside her mother, stared at the destroyed doorway.
Two figures stood in the opening.
Marisa brushed some dust off her hat.
"Hi, Reimu."
Reimu's eye twitched.
Her voice went dangerously calm.
"Marisa."
Marisa smiled.
"Yeah?"
"I told you to stay in Gensokyo!"
Marisa pointed at Chris.
"I did."
Reimu blinked.
"…What?"
"I stayed in Gensokyo."
She pointed at herself.
"I'm still in Gensokyo."
Reimu stared at her.
Then at the forest outside.
Then back at Marisa.
"We are outside Gensokyo!"
Marisa paused.
"…Oh."
Reimu's tick mark practically appeared on her forehead.
"YOU FLEW ACROSS THE BARRIER!"
"Technically, Chris did most of the navigating."
Chris stood beside her, completely calm.
The clan leader's daughter looked at him.
Then at Marisa.
Then back at Chris.
"…Who is the little Hakurei?"
Reimu immediately walked over and grabbed Chris.
"My responsibility."
Marisa raised a finger.
"Technically, he came with me."
"That's not helping!"
Yasaka covered her mouth, trying not to laugh.
The spider clan leader looked at the broken doorway.
Then at Marisa.
Then at Reimu.
"You said this was a diplomatic meeting."
"It was," Reimu replied.
She pointed angrily at Marisa.
"Until she arrived."
Marisa looked offended.
"Hey, I brought important information."
Reimu narrowed her eyes.
"What information?"
Marisa smiled.
"I found the entrance."
A long silence followed.
The leader slowly looked toward the massive web-covered forest outside.
"You found the entrance that my clan deliberately hides?"
Marisa nodded proudly.
"Yep."
Reimu slowly covered her face.
'I'm going to kill her.'
Chris tugged on her sleeve.
"Reimu."
She lowered her hand.
"What?"
"Don't kill Marisa."
Marisa grinned.
"See? The kid gets me."
Reimu stared at her.
"…Unfortunately."
To be continue
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