Gensokyo...

Inside of Gensokyo, in what seems to be a forest-like area of some sort, a crack is shown to be onto a ground next to a rather large tree, and coming out of the crack is Amatsu and Kuro, and the crack portals closed. Kuro looks around, and Amatsu spoke out.

"Here we are. Gensokyo. And it may not look like much, resembling a normal forest of some sort, but the mystical presence inside of this world are very much real. But on the bright side, this area, no one has visited yet, well...except for one, and she will know about it."

Kuro looked uncomfortable at this, as he has his hands in his pockets, and his eyes shook a bit as he follows Amatsu into the forest, as Kuro spoke out.

"So...how dangerous is it? Being inside of Gensokyo for normal humans?"

Amatsu looks at Kuro, as he then spoke out.

"Very. Too the point that any normal human that steps in there, should they encounter an aggressive yokai, or any other being that is as powerful, could get killed immediately. But luckily, that is why you chose this, practicing so you can fight against them in case you need to deal with them."

Kuro nodded his head, as he continues to walk with Amatsu deep inside of the forest. He looked around and saw a ball of white with a trail of blue flames, as Kuro looked a bit freaked out, but Amatsu then spoke out to him.

"Do not worry. They won't harm you. Those are just vengeful spirits passing through."

Kuro looked a bit unease, but he nodded his head, as he continued to walk through the forest, and sees a swarm of human souls coming around and surrounding them both, yet Kuro stays close to Amatsu, as they continued to walk through the area that they are in. Amatsu smiled a bit, as this is what he has been hoping on, as this place is where the souls of humans often gather in a single place.

"Not to mention, it would be...somewhat of a good use for cover, as well as a perfect place for you to practice on what your weapons are able to do. So, let us go and see what they are capable of, especially in your hands."

Kuro nodded his head as he continues on, following Amatsu for a little while, before they eventually reach their destination, as they see that they are now surrounded by so many legions of souls, swirling around them like a twister of some sort. Amatsu smiled, as he spoke out.

"Perfect. This is where we need to be inside of."

Kuro nodded his head, as Amatsu spoke out again.

"Kuro, remember the 2 swords I gave you? Well, summon one of them , especially the iron sword. This will be your first weapon to use, due to it being much similar to the weapons of the human world in terms of design."

Kuro looked at his hand and spoke out in confusion.

"Ummm...how do I summon them?"

Amatsu looks at Kuro straight in the eyes, as he spoke out.

"Just will it into your hand, by mental command. And the same thing can be said for the plasma sword as well."

Kuro looked skeptical, but he looks at his right hand and sighed, as he closed his eyes, and held his hand out a bit, as he tries to mentally summon it into his hand. He concentrates a bit on this, as he tries to make it appear into his hand so he'll hold it. He flexed his fingers a bit, before he clenched it into a fist, and he then felt a handle of some sort. He opened his eyes, and was surprised to see that he has the iron sword in his hand, which he did not expect, as Amatsu spoke out.

"That is it. You have done it, Kuro. Now then...are you ready?"

Kuro looked a bit nervous at this, but he nodded his head as he then spoke out.

"Y-Yeah. So...do I...like, fight you or something, or do I attack someone else.""

Amatsu nodded his head, as he spoke out.

"Well, I do have a sword, so of course I will fight you. But I will limit my power so I do not accidentally break it. After all, you will need it on your journey when you are ready to go through Gensokyo."

Kuro nodded his head, as he spoke out.

"Okay. So...let's do it."

Amatsu, however, held his hand up, as he spoke out.

"Not yet. First, I will need someone to watch over the both of us in case one of us goes too far. And I know just how to summon for this occasion."

Kuro looked as Amatsu raised right hand and snapped his fingers, which then made someone appear, as a familiar voice spoke out.

"Oh, so it is my time to watch over, is it not?"

Kuro looked over and saw the who it is. It is none other then Aizen himself, and this time, he can see him in real life, and not in the dream. His face, just like Amatsu, oddly resembles that of Kuro's but has a demeanor that looks relaxed, yet arrogant, with long eyelashes that somewhat add to his already feminine-looking appearance. His robes are white, a red diagonal slash is shone present around his torso, tan gloves, red wristbands, golden through tan cloth across his body, and two golden sandles. And his left eye is shown to be a blue sclera of some sort.

Kuro blinked, as he spoke out.

"Huh, didn't expect to see you again. Aizen, right?"

Aizen nodded his head, as he spoke out.

"Hello, Kuro. It is nice to meet you again, and this time in person. How are you doing?"

Kuro nodded his head, as he spoke out.

"Umm...I guess a bit good."

Aizen nodded his head, as he spoke out.

"That is good. Besides, it feels much better too see you in the real world. It makes my appearance confusing inside of the Dream realm that you are in."

Kuro looked a bit unsure of what to think of this, as Amatsu then spoke out to Aizen.

"As much as I would like you both to become more acquainted with one another, that will be when we begin the journey for him. Aizen, I need you to ensure that Yukari does not find out about this place, or she will know what will happen and it will interfere with Kuro. Can you do this?"

Aizen looks at Amatsu with eyes of uncertainty, despite the arrogant look he still has, as he spoke out.

"I shall try, but I cannot be too sure that I will be able to hold her off forever."

Amatsu lowered his head, and spoke out.

"Of course. She is someone that is not to be underestimated in any sort of way. Just do whatever you can to ensure that this place is hidden from even her own eyes."

Aizen nodded his head, as his eyes glowed and a golden forcefield appeared and surrounded the area in a golden dome that is able to fog up a person's perception should they ever see it. Aizen then spoke out.

"This is all that I can do, Lord Amatsu. But I do not expect for Yukari Yakumo to be fooled forever. She will find a way to bypass this. It is only a matter of time, should she notice it."

Amatsu closed his eyes and nodded his head a little bit, as he then turned around to look at Kuro, as he held the iron sword in his hand, and gripped it with both of his hands, as he took a defensive stance, and Amatsu spoke out.

"Well, that is quite a perfect stance you are taking, even though I did not say what to take."

Kuro kind of sweat dropped a little bit, as he is unsure whether to take it as a tone of mocking him, or a tone of appreciation of some sort. Nevertheless, his eyes narrowed a little bit, as he dug his feet to the ground a bit, in order to feel strong and sturdy in a way. Amatsu then summoned his light sword and points it at Kuro, as Kuro looked uneasy, as Amatsu then spoke out.

"Whenever you are ready, Kuro, make your first move."

Kuroka looked down at the ground, and took a deep breath, as he tried to calm his nerves, before he looks at Amatsu directly. He took a step back, and readies the sword, before he then ran forward and swung it, as Amatsu then raised his light sword to block the iron sword, and Amatsu stood still in place, not sliding a single step back, not even by a centimeter, but nevertheless, Amatsu smiled a bit at Kuro, as Kuro then jumped back, and swung his sword again, this time at a different direction, but Amatsu then blocked the attack and attacks back himself, and Kuro blocked it, but the force of the sword strike launched Kuro off of his feet and he landed hard into the soft ground. He grunted a bit, as he stood up, and he then spoke out.

"Geez...you hit hard."

Amatsu chuckled a bit, as he spoke out.

"Well, it is just to show that the strength of a Yokai is not to be underestimated, especially to a Yokai God like me. So of course I would hit hard. It is so I can show you just how difficult your fight against the Yokai will be difficult if they are comparable to me, even if they are now as strong as I am."

Kuro looked a bit unsure, especially since he is now in pain from what had happened, but he still stood up got ready to fight. His limbs shook a little bit, but he sighed and took a deep breath, as he looked at Amatsu and rushed at him, this time he jumps into the air and swung the sword down, as Amatsu blocked the sword while holding it with one hand, the other just behind his back, as he then swung his sword and launched Amatsu back, who almost fell flat onto his back, but luckily balanced himself and landed onto his feet, as he ran at Amatsu and swung his sword again, and Amatsu blocked it against, as he stepped back and quickly goes into a stabbing position, only for Amatsu to sidestep out of the way, as he swung the sword to try and knock the blade off of Amatsu's hand, only for Amatsu to reverse that attempt and swung the iron sword off of Kuro's hand, as it spun and sank into the ground. Amatsu chuckled a bit, as he spoke out.

"You are going to need to do better than that if you want to defeat me. What you did is way too predictable.Even a lower Yokai would know better than that."

Kuro looked embarrassed and facepalmed a bit at what he had tried to do, as he shook his head a little bit, before Amatsu spoke out.

"But, I will give you credit for at least trying."

Amatsu then looks at the sword, and all of a sudden, it sprang out of the ground and spun into the air, before it stabbed the ground next to Kuro's feet at the right side, as Kuro then grabbed the sword and pulled it out of the ground, before he raised it up and goes into a defensive position, as Amatsu spoke out.

"Alright, let's get to work on making you more efficient at using the blade. Come on."

Kuro nodded his head, as he stepped back, before he ran forward and swung the sword at Amatsu, who dodged the attack, and swung it at Kuro, which then stunned at Kuro's neck, yet did not touch it. Kuro looked and began to sweat at what almost happened, as Amatsu then spoke out at Kuro.

"That was way too open. Don't use large swiping to attack me. You are leaving a lot of blind spots that an opponent could take advantage of from you."

Kuro was getting frustrated a little bit, because he is not succeeding in this, as Amatsu then spoke out.

"Then again...it is obvious that you are not much of a combat-sort of person that has gotten into fights before. It seems that we will need to start by showing you the basics, Kuro."

Kuro looked down a bit, as he sighed at what Amatsu has decided to say to him. He nodded his head, nevertheless, as he looks at the Yokai God and nodded his head, as he readies his sword, and Amatsu does the same thing also. Amatsu sighed calmly, as he prepares Kuro to fight back against him, so he can survive inside of the world of Gensokyo.

"Okay, so, shall we start with the basics?"

Kuro nodded, as he raised his sword and waited for Amatsu's instructions. However, as that is happening, for many passing minutes, Aizen is shown to be in deep thought about something. He has his arms crossed a bit, as he recalled on why it is that Amatsu had wanted Aizen, as well as some others that he knows of, in order to watch over Kuro. Honestly, he wished he wasn't told why, mainly because the reasons are just straight up insane.

But as he thought about it, he then sensed something. Aizen's head snapped up a little bit from what he is sensing...or rather...who he is sensing. And it did not take long for him to realize who it is that has appeared. He looked from beyond the dome, and despite the golden color that would normally make seeing difficult, he saw just fine, and he could see who has suddenly arrived.

It was none other than Yukari Yakumo, and it seems that she is still looking for Kuro. But she did not seem to notice the gold dome yet, especialy since it is surrounded by the vengeful spirits who covered it. But Kuro could tell that Yukari is already getting suspicious of the vengeful souls and she is waiting for them to do something. He clenched his fist, as Aizen spoke out.

"Lord Amatsu. She is here, the Gap Yokai. I suggest you make this lesson fast."

Amatsu, hearing this, looks at Aizen and sighed, realizing what is about to go down, as he thanked spoke out to Kuro, rather annoyed.

"So that is how she wants to play it, huh? Okay. Look, now we just need to finish the disarming techniques. Kuro, get ready and do not hesitate, not even once."

Kuro looked and nodded his head quickly, as he then ran forward at Amatsu, as he swung his sword and clashed with Amatsu's sword, as the blades grind against each other, with Amatsu and Kuro staring at each other in the eyes, as they pushed against one another, although Amatsu is holding back so that he can give Kuro a chance to be able to try and disarm his weapon.

Then, Kuro began to turn his arm a bit in a circular motion, as Amatsu began to see that he is doing it, and before anyone but Amatsu knew it, the sword was flung out of his hand, which then hit a tree and ignites it. Seeing this, Amatsu's eyes glowed and transformed the air around the tree into ice to extinguish the flames. Amatsu smiled a little bit, as he then spoke out.

"Perfect, Kuro. That is very good. Now then, let us leave before Yukari finds us."

Amatsu then made a portal underneath Kuro, which he fell into, as Amatsu sank down into the portal, and Aizen just teleports away, the golden forcefield disappeared, as the vengeful spirit scattered everywhere. Yukari Yakumo looked and saw the area, and it did not take her long to realize why the vengeful spirits had gathered around here.

"So...that is how you hid away like this."

Yukari smiled a bit, as he closed her fan, and she spoke out.

"They are both very persistent in hiding, I will admit, it is impressive that they are able to evade me. It is not often I can find others that are capable of avoiding me this much."

Yukari Yakumo then made a gap, as she spoke out.

"But no matter. I know we will meet in person. It just will not be now. It will only be some other day and time. Of course...I am fine with that."

Yukari then goes through a Gap, as she goes back to her Shikigami, who are waiting for her. She then went through the other side and she is inside of the household...that is a mess. Yukari looked a bit confused at what has happened, until a voice spoke out.

"Uwawawawawa..."

Yukari looked and turned around and saw that Chen is ok the ground, with a pan over her head and she looked like she had been hit a little too hard by that. Yukari looked and saw Ran approaching, her clothes are also a mess, as Yukari spoke out.

"Ran, what has happened?"

Ran pinched her nose a bit, as she spoke out.

"Chen thought that she would be able to cook some eggs all by herself, without any sort of practice and training in being able to do it. And as you can see, it lead to a mess."

Yukari looked around, and saw burnt eggs all over the floor, as Chen mumbled a bit in distress.

"Uwaaaaa...there goes my lunch."

Yukari sighed a bit, as she held her face at seeing Chen's clumsy antic once again. Clearly she is causing more messes that Yukari allows it to happen. It is a wonder at how Chen does not get seriously hurt in the mess-ups that she has done.

Elsewhere...

Kuro is shown to be back inside of his house, as he landed down onto the floor, due to the fact that the portal appeared onto the ceiling, and he fell hard onto his bottom, painfully. He rubbed his rear and spoke out.

"Augh, could you have made the landing softer?"

Amatsu appeared before him and spoke out to him.

"I could have, but it is amusing to see what happens to you."

Kuro looked a little bit annoyed at Amatsu, as Aizen spoke out.

"That was very close. Yukari had almost spot us."

Amatsu nodded his head and spoke out.

"Yes, of course, Aizen. We just lucky you manage to spot it in time and held her sight a bit to prevent her from seeing us all."

Aizen nodded his head, as Amatsu then spoke.

"I do not wish for Yukari to know about what I am planning...at least not yet."

Kuro looked at Amatsu, as he spoke out.

"What do you mean?"

Amatsu grunted a bit, as he spoke out to to Kuro.

"I mean that...I have no doubt that Yukari is going to find out about what my goals are in this world. She will in time, no matter how much I need to hide it. The only reason that are avoiding her, is because of the fact that she could get in the way of finding the objects we seek. But when we do...I don't think there will be a need to hide anymore. However, that does not mean that others will be in the way."

Kuro looks at Amatsu for a bit, as he spoke out.

"So...after we get the orb...then we allow her to approach us or something?"

Amatsu looks at Kuro and spoke out.

"Well, only as long as she doesn't approach us too soon. Or rather...approach you too soon. For it will not take her long to know about the ritual that resides within your mortal mind."

Kuro sighed, as he hugged himself for a little bit, clearly not forgetting that fact about him, and is unsure if he can take it, having an idea of a ritual inside of his kind, and being powerless and unable to do anything about it. He then looked at the other objects on the floor, as he spoke out.

"So...the other objects, what do I do with these?"

Amatsu looks at Kuro, and spoke out.

"Oh, these are others that can be useful for your journey, and they are used outside of fighting enemies."

Kuro nodded his head, as he spoke out.

"Okay. Like...what does the cloak do?"

Amatsu smiled a bit, as he spoke out to him.

"I am very happy you asked. Here, let me show you."

He then goes to pick up the cloak, before he then goes to Kuro, and puts it around him, and spoke out to Kuro.

"Put the hood over your head. You'll like it."

Kuro looked a bit unease at this, but he does it anyway, and puts the hood over his head. All of a sudden, Kuro now sees that he is now no longer inside of his home. Instead, he is now inside of a realm that...seems too different to be considered Gensokyo. Inside, he is inside of a realm that is filled with greenish hexagonal pillars with no bottom, and is surrounded by stars of some sort, like he is in space. In front of him, there is an archway of some sort that is made of trees and bark, and the archway has what seems to be planets of some sort at the other side, one that is golden and grey, and another that is green and blue. Kuro looked around, and Amatsu appeared inside of the pocket dimension, as Kuro then spoke out.

"Umm...Amatsu...what is this place?"

Amatsu looks at Kuro, and spoke out to him.

"This is a sort of world that I have made, all on my own. It is also where Aizen resides in, as well as another one that I have made, but he will he used soon."

This made Kuro blink his eyes, as he spoke out to Amatsu.

"Wait a second...if you have a world of your own, why not use that to train me?"

Amatsu looks at Kuro and spoke out to him.

"Because then, it would tip off Yukari where I reside in and will find a way inside of this world in order to get to me or you. And before you ask about how nonsense it is, it isn't. Yukari's control over boundaries allows her to achieve impossible feats, and this is no different. And even the cloak itself cannot be safe from her vision. So...if you feel like you are being watched, just mentally call me so I can block her sight temporarily for you to escape inside of my realm."

Kuro nodded his head, as he then took off the hood of the cloak, and vanished back into view, as Kuro then spoke out.

"Okay. So...what is next?"

Amatsu then took out a backpack and unzipped it, and spoke out.

"This backpack...the interior of it is far larger than I could ever make it. You could fit an entire town inside of it, if you want to. And luckily, the backpack cannot be weighed, no matter how much you put into it. You will need this if you want to carry the other objects."

Kuro nodded his head, as he then spoke out.

"Well, I guess that is something. What about the ring?"

Amatsu looked and smiled at this, as he spoke out.

"Think of this as a backup storage. You can use it to store objects into itself, as long as it is not a living being. It does not work on sentient creatures."

Kuro nodded his head, as Amatsu then spoke out.

"Oh...I almost forgot."

He then clapped his hands and a map that is colored black appeared, with white lines around it, as Amatsu then spoke out.

"You best take this. It is a map that shows all of Gensokyo. You may need it so you can know where you are traveling."

Kuro took the map and nodded his head, as he puts it inside of the backpack, and he then spoke out.

"Okay...and...I remembered that you mentioned something about Shikigami's. What are Shikigami's?"

Amatsu looks and spoke out to Kuro.

"Well...too put it simply...Shikigami are summoned spirits that are used to protect and serve their master, similar to how a Witch is to a familiar...if you know what those are."

Kuro shook his head, and Amatsu blinked.

"Are you serious?"

Kuro did not say anything, and Amatsu facepalmed a bit, as he shook his head, as he then spoke out.

"Of course. Well...in the world of Gensokyo, a Shikigami isn't summoned, but made, and often need to possess a vessel, mainly a Yokai, in order to interact with the world that they exist in. For example, when I made Aizen, I had to construct a host for him to host so that he can operate and serve me with his power. And as a Shikigami, he follows my every command and order that I give to him, for he is bound to me."

Kuro looked a bit uneasy at the thought of being bound to someone. He does not want to know what that feels like. He then shook his head, as he then spoke out.

"Well...anyway. You said you gave me some powers, right? What did you give me?"

Amatsu looks at Kuro and spoke out.

"Oh...that. Well...I'll mention some of them, but not all of them, for you need to get familiar with your weaker powers first, other wise you will end up getting to overconfident and you might end up making a mistake. First one is that you can use Astral Projection. You know what that is, right?"

Kuro, who is familiar with this power, nodded his head.

"I...I do."

Amatsu nodded his head, as he spoke out.

"Good. Than you know what you can do with it. And through Astral Projecting, you can use it to enter and travel through Gensokyo. But be aware, it does not mean that you are able to survive. There will be some beings in Gensokyo who can destroy your soul. So keep that in mind."

Kuro sweat dropped a bit, but nodded his head, as Amatsu spoke out.

"Well, the other power that I have decided to give to you is that...errr, you can...somewhat fly in the air in a way."

This made Kuro surprised and blink, as he spoke out.

"Wait, what? I can actually fly?"

Amatsu nodded his head, as he spoke out.

"Well, only because of a blue field around you. It is more like manipulating your own personal gravity into a field that makes yourself able to fly."

Kuro looked down at himself, and he closed his eyes, as a blue field forms around him, as he then flies up into the air. But he flew up a bit too fast, as he hits his head onto the ceiling, and fell down.

"Augh!!!!"

Amatsu looked flabbergasted at this, before he pinches his nose a little bit and shook his head, as he spoke out.

"Haaaa...guess we're gonna need to practice on flying. This is going to be a very long day."

Amatsu shook his head, as Aizen spoke out.

"Do you think he will be ready to aid you in your hope of getting this object?"

Amatsu looks at Aizen and spoke out.

"He will be...Aizen. I need to keep on trying on training him to use his power."

Aizen nodded his head, as he looked at Kuro, who is rubbing his head due to the fact that the crash to the head hurts him for a little bit. This will be a very long time for Amatsu.