Aftermath

[Clownpiece]

“Think that’s the last of them?” Reimu’s voice rang through the otherwise disturbingly silent forest. She stood tall, almost proud, amongst the many, many mangled darkling corpses that littered the ground around them. While they rampaged, they had been twisted, menacing monsters, but now that death had taken them, they seemed to be little more than warped beasts, burnt and skewered with far too many needles. Though even the warm glow of the early morning daylight didn’t make them seem any less grim. 

“I haven’t heard any more...” Clownpiece answered tiredly, her body aching with new wounds, and her eyes straining against the soft light spilling through the canopy. It wasn’t like that observation helped to any reasonable degree, as her senses were just as normal as the miko’s. Still, it never hurt to have a second opinion. Her response faded away to nothing, dispersing through the trees around, and for a few brief moments, the unnatural silence took hold again.

“Hah, finally,” the shrine maiden sighed, her shoulders slumping and her demeanor becoming casual once again. With a flick of her wrist, the sealing needles in her hand disappeared.

“Um...” The white-clad fairy began hesitantly, eyes scanning nervously over the corpses scattered around her feet.

“What now?” The star-spangled fairy took over, nudging one of the bodies with her foot to make sure it was dead.

“Well I wanna head back to the shrine and relax. But...” she paused for a moment. “I should probably check up on the village. Make sure they’re doing okay.”

“You don’t need our help for that, do you?” Clownpiece asked, making it very obvious she’d rather go home and sleep. Reimu turned to regard the two fairies, one dressed in red, white, and blue, and the other clad in white. For a few moments, she stayed silent, as if deciding whether she should force them to come along.

“Nah,” she finally said, shrugging. “You’d find a way to mess everything up, anyway. Probably by setting something on fire.”

“Come on!” The blonde girl responded indignantly. “Who doesn’t love a good fire?”

“Fires are nice, when it’s not your stuff that’s burning.” Reimu shot back, glaring at the yellow-haired fairy. “Which is the bit you seem to have an issue with.”

“Hmph...” Clownpiece sighed unhappily, detritus crinkling beneath her feet as she slowly lifted her weight off of it and into the air. “See you back at the shrine, then.”

“Sure.” Reimu said simply, also lifting into the air, preparing to fly off in the other direction. “Oh! And if that doctor guy looks fine, send him back to the village. Or carry him. We’re probably gonna need him.”

“Fine!” The hell fairy called back as she took off towards the shrine.

---

A soft, wooden thunk sounded beneath Clownpiece’s feet as she gently touched down on the shrine entrance, almost overshadowed by the welcoming sounds of nature. It was a far cry from the ominous silence that had pervaded the forest in the wake of the darkling attacks. Birds chirped, leaves rustled, and even the wind itself seemed to feel friendlier. It was certainly a welcome change.

A light thump sounded from off to the hell fairy’s side, which she instinctively turned to face, as her brown-haired friend landed next to her. Unable to learn it sooner, due to her being nearly killed by Yuuka, Clownpiece had only learned about the fairy’s name during their fight against the twisted monsters. Liberty Belle was what she called herself, and Clownpiece felt closer to the fairy for knowing it. Old wood creaked beneath the fairies’ light tread as they made their way inside.

“I’m home!” The star-spangled fairy called out as she forced the worn-out door open with a clatter, her voice echoing through the almost empty shrine. Truth be told, she was hoping for a response from the doctor. It’d at least mean she wouldn’t need to deal with him, and could just foist him off on Liberty and make her carry him back to the village. Of course it wasn’t that simple. The old human still lay, unconscious, where they left him, covered by the blanket Reimu had tossed on him before they’d left, and surrounded by dried blood that had yet to be cleaned. Clownpiece sighed tiredly.

“I... I can clean up the blood,” Liberty timidly volunteered after a moment, floor creaking as she stepped towards one of the supply closets.

“Yeah, do that...” The blonde hell fairy said, trailing off. She may have just wanted to sit down and rest, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t dread the boredom that was about to come. “I’ll heal him, I guess.”