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Ibara snapped back from her thoughts, turning back to Yuuka, with a sly smile,"I think you may have had the right idea with that plan of yours." The oni rubbed at the top of her head,"The problem is, usually I don't get back until I am close to dieing from exhaustion, and for me to get tired it's usually a long painful road." She mused the later,"If I can weaken myself before I even start to fight, then maybe I can stay on that edge long enough to make some sort of progress."

"I don't know what sort of Reins you wanted to put on this," Ibara brow knitted in thought,"I think you just lacked time." She turned to where she had been in the ground after the master spark at blank point. "Back there, when I was closer to the sanzu than anything, i was in the caves... Where I spent who knows how long in the dark until Yochi found. I hadn't thought of those caves in an eternity. I think that's where I hide." The oni's statement was somewhat ambiguous, but it was best she could explain the darkness she had found after she passed that thershold of sanity and well being. "Maybe those caves still hide something." She said this tapping her temple.

"My plan is to start this out, but under my terms. I want to start weakened, to be sure I don't stand a chance in hurting any of you, and maybe get you and me some time to figure out what these dark corners hide." She looked back at the three that stood not far from her."Of course, willfully finding a way to incapacitate myself is a bit too masohistic by my standards."

"Thought you where a proud Rulska- Whateve-mermaid," Ibara teased,"Your healing can come in handy, besides more muscle power. If you do well, I will pay you with some drinks, womans. What's your name, by the way?" She was trying to relax herself, she didn't know what awaited her after this.

Yuuka had an idea of what Ibara was planning. Many years before, she had spent time in a dream world of her own, before being rudely interrupted by the red-white and black-white. The dream world can be a powerful tool indeed, and despite its name, is every bit as real as Gensokyo itself. Could Ibara somehow be tapping into this dream world in her mind when under the influence of the Monster?

"So, your plan entails keeping a weakened Monster at bay while you can seek out the end of the tunnels in your mind?" Yuuka shrugged her shoulders with a sigh. "I suppose any plan is better than none at all... However, know that whatever you find at the end of that tunnel may not be what you want."

Yuuka didn't like the idea of hurting Ibara any further, especially after having such a close call moments before. However, with the Rusalka's healing ability close at hand, perhaps their injuries wouldn't escalate to that point again.

Selkie gulped as Ibara told them to give all that they had. "O-okay I-Ibara." She said, taking a spell card out of her satchel and releasing it in the air. "This is for you!!! Heavenly Lights "Twelve Arrows behind the False"!" She said aloud. She pulled back her bow and pointed her index finger forward. She released it, sending a false red energy arrow into Ibara. When she released the arrow, twelve curving red lasers that all flew around above Selkie in a divine look pattern appeared. After a second, they all fired at Ibara in a sort of turn pattern, where one would fire less than a second earlier than the others and such. She closed her eyes before the real arrows hit Ibara and tried to hold back some tears that were welling up inside her.

Sylpheed nodded. She had only fought Keine recently, and was hopefully not to old with fighting, since she lost against the teacher. "Okay then, here I go." She said. She took a spell card out from in her dress at the chest part and threw it in the air. "Poseidon's Ocean "Protection Serpent"!" In her raised hand a golden trident formed. From behind her, a large white serpent made of danmaku slithered out. Before Sylpheed threw her trident, she said to Ibara, "And by the way, my name is Sylpheed." She then pulled back and hurled the trident at Ibara. As it left her fingers, the snake lunged at Ibara's feet, and would explode with large white and blue bubbles.

Ibara saw Selkie's spells ready, and she figured she could just stand and take it and not lose it terribly. Of course, then she noticed Yuuka was missing from the line of attack.

Next thing she knew, Yuuka's nails where digging into her wrists as her arms were restrained behind her. She gave a small gasp of both surprise and pain, a small drop of swear beaded at her cheek, before she smiled a bit through the uncomfort, turning her head enough to look at the gardener."I will make sure to look well-" Was her phrase, before panicking at the arrows coming towards her.

She had no choice but to stand her ground. Selkie's spell hurt enough to make her a bit dizzy, but Ibarra stood her ground berly. She was just recuperating from the first spell when the second came head on. Ibara's instinct made her struggle with Yuuka momentarily as the snake exploded into a shower of danmaku in her face...
It was big shock to not be able to move for a second, before realizing it was someone behind her thet was stopping her movements. The oni forcefully stepped back, ramming her weight into Yuuka with all her migth despite it being tough on her restrained arms.

The sudden revival of the Monster had startled Yuuka, but she quickly regained composure and shifted her weight, forcing Ibara's body back into place, though not before the rearing motion had caused Ibara's head to slam into Yuuka's face, giving her a bruise. Horns or not, an Oni's head was still hard as bedrock.

Unfortunately, holding Ibara in place also meant that Yuuka herself was also in the line of fire. The watery explosions from first the serpent, and now the two tridents had done some damage to Yuuka by way of splash damage - no pun intended. The edges of her skirt began to fray as some of the danmaku grazed around her, while direct hits left welts and bruises along the lower half of her body (though, still hidden by her skirt). She gritted her teeth, digging her fingernails into Ibara's skin even further as her grip tightened. "Hurry up, Ibara..."

She released her grip with one hand and reached into her shirt for a spell card of her own, keeping it on hand in case she needed it...

The several Selkies began to lift off the ground and form into a circle in mid air, the real Selkie floating in the middle of the cicle. They all drew back their bows and pointed the at Ibara. On their bows formed arrow shafts that were the same color as the seal behind them, and on the tip of the arrow appeared a star of the same color too, showing that her spell was almost fully charged.

Sylpheed listened to what Yuuka said to Ibara, she told her to hurry up. Sylpheed saw Ibara begin to try and figure out who to attack first. She pushed off the ground and jumped to the side, away from Selkie. "Hey!" She called as she formed a trident in mid air. "Over here!!" She threw it at the oni and formed two more in each of her hands and hurled them both near where the oni was. She was trying to distract the oni from Selkie so she could finish her spell.

The oni had been thinking of heading for Selkie when Sylpheed caught her attention. Enraged enough to not care, the bartender punched two tridents, causing long gashes on her fists. The third she caught and was about launch back when Yuuka called for her own spellcard.

Just as the youkai of flowers had wanted, the wines and weeds made Ibara feel as if rusted. The oni tried her best to out power the greenery that soon bound her limbs, but had little success. In the end she crushed the trident in half in her own annoyance.

Yuuka soon took hold of her, just to top it off. The oni struggled, eventually settling for stomping on the floor and squirming against her grasp. She was already weak from the danmaku attacks and now the flowers the rusted her movements.


Ibara shivered a bit, rubbing at her arm as she felt cold for the first time in ages. Wearing these more skimpy clothes with short sleeves and soft fabric didn't help much. Ignoring this, she continued her way, eventually noticing the tunnels begun to widen, opening into a large chamber.

Unsure of how far she had walked, the one horned oni begin to poke about. Looking at the empty room. Eventually she settled for walking with a hand on the wall, looking for a deriving tunnel, a bit on edge due to the passage of time.

She found no exit but a smooth surface. With a slight cringe of surprise, Ibara moved to run both hands on the surface. It looked like a mirror, but it's texture hinted to a sort of mineral that had been made in the cave itself. She out both hands and tried to squint into the mirror. With how dark it was, it was hard to see much.

Slowly, the oni drew closer to the crystal surface. Soon, the figure of a pair of orange eyes peering back at her was easy to make out. Though once it was all clear, she could perfectly.

While she stood on this side, with oni-like clothes and one horn, the reflection stood with her usual pants and shirt with suspenders. Ibara moved her angle to try and see if this was her reflection.

It was impossible with how cold her arms where....