Ibuki Suika, tied firmly to the roof of the vehicle, was initially frolicking and grumbling like a rogue. After a series of loud negotiations through the metal roof, both parties reached a somewhat begrudging agreement. The Oni King remained lashed to the luggage rack, but Remilia and the others allowed one of her hands to remain free. This was a mechanical necessity; Suika needed to reach her Ibuki Gourd to drink, and a sober Suika was often more troublesome than a drunken one.
Inside the car, Flandre Scarlet could feel the heavy, mountain-like aura of the Oni radiating through the ceiling. She looked up, her red eyes filled with a flicker of concern. "Is it really okay to leave her up there like that?"
"What could possibly be the problem? With Ibuki Suika's tough hide, nothing on this road could even leave a scratch on her," Yukari Yakumo spoke up, her voice smooth and utterly unconcerned. She fanned herself slowly, the silk of her fan clicking softly in the quiet cabin. Could a few lengths of rope really restrain an Oni King? Definitely not. The reason that fellow was willing to stay outside in the wind was simple: she knew she was in the wrong. With the suffocating stench of alcohol she carried, an enclosed car would have made everyone else miserable.
The convoy continued its westward trek after leaving the town behind. The landscape was vast and lonely, but before they had traveled very far, a figure appeared on the road ahead. The man was waving his arms incessantly, his movements frantic and desperate.
"What's going on?" Zhang Wei muttered, his hand subconsciously moving toward the weapon holstered at his side. Many of the other guards in the following trucks did the same. Highway robbery was hardly news on Terra, especially in the lawless wilderness between cities. However, looking at the size of their convoy, normally no one would have the guts to attempt a robbery.
Filled with a mixture of doubt and tactical caution, the convoy ground to a halt. The dust from the road swirled around the man as Zhang Wei rolled down his window, warily sizing him up. The man was dressed in simple, rugged outdoor gear, looking like someone who had spent a significant amount of time surviving in the wastes.
"My name is Leo, and I am a Catastrophe Messenger," the man shouted, his face pale and etched with anxiety. "You cannot go any further! According to my judgment and the readings from my instruments, a small-scale Catastrophe will occur thirty kilometers ahead shortly. If you are heading west, you must hurry up and take a detour!"
"A Catastrophe!" Hearing those words, every guard in the convoy felt their heart tighten. To the people of Terra, a Catastrophe was a primal terror, far more horrifying than an enemy army. In a war, there was a margin for error, a chance to survive or hide. Encountering a Catastrophe without a mobile city to hide in truly meant certain death or a fate worse than it.
"Is there a specific time for this eruption?" Before Zhang Wei could ask his own questions, Yukari Yakumo leaned over and spoke with an air of clinical curiosity.
"According to our estimates, it will strike within these two days," the man replied, his voice trembling slightly. "Because the timing is variable, we cannot guarantee that your vehicles won't happen to be passing through the epicenter when the Catastrophe erupts."
"Our?" Zhang Wei caught the plural.
"That's right, I have two companions," Leo replied, wiping sweat from his brow despite the cool air. "They went to the other side of the impact zone to stop travelers heading in from that direction."
Hearing him speak so sincerely, the atmosphere in the convoy shifted from suspicion to heavy hesitation. Zhang Wei signaled for Dropper and Flandre Scarlet to join him. They spread a map across the hood of the lead vehicle. The Catastrophe Messenger helped them mark the estimated general range of the atmospheric disturbance.
After reviewing the charts, the group breathed a small sigh of relief. The danger zone wasn't massive, and there happened to be an old service road that could serve as a detour. Zhang Wei looked at Dropper, and they both nodded; a detour was the only logical choice.
But then, Yukari Yakumo reached out and gave Flandre's shoulder a subtle, firm squeeze. Flandre looked up, caught Yukari's knowing gaze, and instantly understood the hidden intent.
"You guys go ahead and take the detour," Flandre said, her voice bright and innocent. "I haven't seen what a Catastrophe looks like yet, so I want to go see it!"
Zhang Wei stood there, completely dumbfounded. "My God... do you even know what you're saying? You want to see it because you've never seen one? Don't you know that most people can't run away fast enough when they hear that word?"
He turned his head sharply toward Remilia, his eyes pleading. His expression screamed: You're her older sister, talk some sense into this child!
But Remilia was also tilting her head, her curiosity piqued by the descriptions of these world-altering storms. She adjusted her hat and said calmly, "Since Flandre wants to see it, then let's go see it. It sounds like an interesting phenomenon."
Zhang Wei felt his vision go dark for the second time that day. The younger sister was a force of nature, and the older sister was apparently just as reckless. But at this point, the Gensokyo group had clearly made up their minds. After several minutes of fruitless persuasion, Zhang Wei and Dropper gave up. They couldn't force them to leave. They decided to lead the main convoy on the detour, leaving behind one driver and a single vehicle to take Flandre's group toward the danger zone.
The Catastrophe Messenger, Leo, watched this with a face so red his neck veins looked ready to burst. He had never seen anyone so irresponsible with their own life. "So what if you're Sarkaz?" he hissed under his breath. "Sarkaz are even more likely to become Infected in a storm! Fine! If you're determined to seek death, go find it!" He cursed them several times and returned to the road to continue his thankless job.
As the car drove toward the darkening horizon, Yukari looked at the driver. The man's knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel. "Are you very nervous?" she asked.
"Of course I'm nervous!" the man choked out. "Every year we hear the stories. One Catastrophe can create thousands of Infected. People lose their homes, their families, their lives. Even if you escape the wind, the dust gets into your lungs. If you become an Infected... your life is over." By the time he finished, he was as pale as a ghost.
Flandre reached out from the back seat and patted his shoulder gently. "Don't worry," she said with a reassuring smile. "We will protect you."
Suddenly, Ibuki Suika's voice boomed from the roof. "Wait! Stop the car!"
"What's wrong, did you find something?" Eirin Yagokoro looked out the window. Suika had already shredded her ropes like they were made of wet paper. She hopped down and sniffed the air.
"The smell isn't right," the Oni said, her eyes narrowing. "The 'Awe' here is much thicker than outside. There are... strange things floating in the air."
"Originium Dust," Flandre identified. She had read the intelligence reports carefully. The driver nearly collapsed against the steering wheel in terror.
"Suika, disperse those things around the vehicle!" Remilia commanded, noticing the driver's shallow breathing.
Suika gave a casual wave of her hand. A sudden, invisible pressure rippled outward, clearing the air around the car. The driver let out a long, shaky breath as the atmosphere suddenly felt "clean" again.
Flandre turned to the others and explained in Romanian, ensuring the driver wouldn't understand: "On Terra, a Catastrophe isn't just a storm. It's a secondary disaster where highly active Originium erupts alongside natural phenomena. It's infectious and it ruins electronics. We shouldn't risk this man's life just for our curiosity."
Remilia nodded, looking at the shivering driver. "We have no need to make others pay for our curiosity. Mr. Driver, park the car here."
The man slammed on the brakes before she even finished the sentence. "Should we... should we retreat?" he asked, looking at the sky. The clouds were so thick and dark that noon had turned into an artificial midnight.
"Drive back to the Messenger," Flandre instructed. "We'll watch from here and walk back when it's over." The driver hesitated for only a second before the instinct for survival took over. He thanked them profusely and sped away, leaving the group alone in the wilderness.
Suika sat down on a rock and took a long pull from her gourd. "Little Flan, tell us more about this horror while the show starts."
Flandre began to recount the grim reality of Oripathy. She described how the Originium Dust enters the bloodstream, how it causes the body to slowly crystallize from the inside out, and the excruciating pain that defines an Infected's final years. She noted that there was no cure, only expensive suppressants that most people couldn't afford.
The group turned their gaze toward Eirin Yagokoro. The Hourai Pharmacist listened with a clinical, detached interest. "The Reunion Movement is full of these people, isn't it? I'll begin my research as soon as we reach them," she said, her eyes reflecting the growing storm.
"It's coming!" Suika suddenly shouted, looking up.
The environment shifted with a violent suddenness. Fine, shimmering crystals began to grow on the nearby trees and shrubs like a rapid frost. Eirin walked over to a blade of grass and plucked it. She rubbed the tiny, vibrating Originium particles between her fingers, observing how they ate into the organic matter.
Then, the wind arrived—a howling gale that carried a light, stinging rain. But along with the water, shards of Originium the size of a pinky finger began to fall from the sky, clattering against the ground like black hail.
Most would have been screaming or running. Instead, Remilia and Patchouli had produced two elegant chairs and a small table. They sat in the center of the Catastrophe, sipping hot black tea while the Originium shards bounced off their magical barriers. Flandre and Suika were running around nearby, picking up the larger crystals and crushing them into fine powder with their bare hands to see the sparks they produced.
"Didn't you say this stuff was infectious?" Suika asked, letting out a massive yawn as a shard of Originium shattered against her forehead. "I don't feel anything."
"Maybe because we aren't Terrans?" Flandre suggested, throwing a crystal into the air. "Our bodies aren't built the same way."
"You don't say, that's really a possibility!" Suika laughed, taking another drink.
Eirin walked through the storm, her expression thoughtful. "Yukari, have you collected enough?"
"My Gaps are practically overflowing with active dust," Yukari replied, appearing from a crack in space with several jars. "This will keep me busy back in Gensokyo for a long time."
As the Catastrophe raged around them, the Scarlet Devil family continued their tea party, completely unfazed by the end of the world unfolding in the sky above them.