/jp/ - Otaku Culture

(Part 1/2)
Anon’s day started normally. Rising from a bed he never had the luxury to sleep in even in the Outside, he made himself presentable before heading out to clean the courtyard. The natural flora never needed much tending, but the middle of the autumn season brought more work to keep him distracted. Expecting a scenery of yellow and brown, the entire area was instead bathed in an eerie red.

This wasn’t right. There were courses for immediate nighttime attacks, but this was far different. The sky would be clear, with stars scattered like tiny shards of glass. Not this cloudy atmosphere dominated by the majesty of the full moon. Yukari could be sadistic, but she never made the sky glow red, either. Something was going wrong. Or maybe, just maybe-no time to think about it, if there’s a chance, then it’s time to take it!

His heart was racing. For the first time in more than half a year, Anon set foot past the shrine grounds. The barrier was gone. The barrier was gone! Running as fast as he could, Anon came to set of doors standing conspicuously at the end of a stone path. Pushing through, the sight of an empty, sterile 4-way intersection nearly brought him to tears. A place outside of Yukari’s illusion, but still saturated in that crimson aura. He racked his brain, -C’mon, think! What did Yamashiro say about the exits? What did Ran tell you about the safe measures? Nobody briefed him before starting the breach, so he was left in the dark. The baths or the attraction area! From there, the front entrance should be nearby, then he could find Sanae or Marisa, anybody that could finally free him from this prison.

Going with his gut, the human turned right, his juban leaving him exposed. The door was unlocked, but it wouldn’t budge. Damnit, there was no time for this! After a few unsuccessful pushes, Anon backed up and slammed into the door, shoulder first. Finally, it cracked open enough to reveal the horrible sight within.

The attraction area wasn’t just lit red, it was stained. Anon quickly discovered that it wasn’t a thing blocking the door, it was people. Pale and listless tengu were laying about, moaning for help. Their bodies were piled in some places, wolves clearly stopped in a brave assault and crows caught while fleeing for their lives. In the center of the large room, a massive hole in the ceiling shined its infernal light on a small girl. Her white dress dyed red, her wings unfurled and her blue hair flowing freely in the wind. She held a kappa in her arms, mouth clamped over her neck. Mid-feeding, Remilia made direct eye contact with Anon. There was no sanity, no recognition, no anger. It was bloodlust, a feeling some ancient instinct in the human’s brain warned him of. Slamming the door shut, Anon darted to the opposite side of the hallway. Whatever the hell was happening, Remilia wasn’t in the right mind to help him. Not after sucking all of those girls dry.

The humid air hit him before the scent of iron. Large pools made to accommodate groups of women looked to be filled with wine instead of water. The room’s silence turned into suspense, shooting through Anon’s spine when he noticed what was floating in each pool: Hands, legs and heads belonging to humans, while wings and tails suggested youkai weren’t spared either. Red, semi-circle gashes adorned each limb. Taking careful steps around the pool perimeter, Anon found the only whole body in sight. It had a camouflage print left on the tattered remains of its clothes. Large bites were taken from the exposed chest and belly, leaving behind a cratered canvas of skin and blood crudely framed with fabric. The head was missing, giving Anon a guilty sense of deniability over the victim’s identity.

Further down the baths, a figure began rising from the blood-pool. Even bathed in warm lifeblood, the jiangshi held her arms out stiff and slowly waded her legs towards Anon. Her charms were kept dry, likely an enchantment by Seiga. What worried him, more than her visage, was the writing on her forehead. Instead of her master’s ancient calligraphy, one crude command adorned the paper tag.

“Eat.”

There was nothing he could do against the undead creature but pray she couldn’t open doors. Scrambling towards his entrance, Anon’s heart skipped a beat when he nearly slipped into the baths. He was too weak to help the kappa. Too weak to help the tengu. All he could do was try to help himself. Leaving the deadly waters behind him, Anon locked the door with the single bolt that would never stand up against Yoshika’s full power. Every action could mean the difference between life and death.

This is only canon today. Or not.