Gensoukyou:Shingyoku

Background
Throughout nearly all of Human-kind’s history with youkai, they have been in a constant struggle. The youkai would slaughter any humans that they were able to, and men fought to preserve themselves against them and each other. This is a tale of such trials.

--The Hakurei Clan-- 

The great Hakurei clan, a clan of spiritualists who specialize in youkai extermination, has always been held in high regards for their superb skill in their art. They were often called upon to help those plagued by youkai which were too powerful for most other spiritualists to deal with. On one such occasion, sometime after a branch was established in what would become Gensoukyou, a request came in to help deal with a dragon. A small group was dispatched to handle the problem, among them a spiritualist by the name of Daichi. While it is customary for most of the Hakurei clan’s spiritualists to be miko, there existed a few who broke that mold, they were very similar to onmyouji, in fact.

--Desperation-- 

The group eventually found the dragon and engaged her with the intent of sealing her away so that she could no longer cause any trouble. However, they were not prepared for the dragon’s raw power, and many of them died very quickly, leaving only Daichi remaining. With very little other options remaining, Daichi did something very dangerous. He baited the dragon into attacking and took her into himself before sealing her there. Angered, the dragon began to rage about inside of him and there was a large internal conflict between them. It was easier for him to deal with her this way, as there was no physical threat, but the dragon’s will was equal to his, and he could not dominate her completely; and likewise, she could not dominate him. A complete stalemate, by all accounts.

--The Merge-- 

Something strange began to happen, however, over time, they almost blended together, most likely due to the nature of the way Daichi brought the dragon into himself. Alarmed at this apparent fusing, he pulled back away from the dragon within him, and she appeared to do likewise. But, it was a little too late. They had begun to change fundamentally inside, becoming almost the same entity. But, at the same time, they were still separate and had separate minds. There was a seam where they were meshed, and if they separated, they did become their former selves for the most part, but they could not remain separate indefinitely. When they remained together, their personalities melded completely; the dragon’s hot-headed nature was soothed by Daichi’s collected nature, and Daichi’s nature became more open and forthcoming. Balance was achieved between these two beings. They could resume their former selves by splitting, but eventually, something drew them back together again, as though they were dependant on each other for survival.

--Return to the Hakurei Clan-- 

They made their way back to the shrine, unsure of what this change would mean for them. Certainly, the Hakurei clan exterminated youkai, but they were not quite a youkai anymore. Indeed, the clan was unsure of what to do, and it took much explaining to pacify them, but the Hakurei god saw an opportunity here. With the changes to the body, mind, and soul of those that had merged, they would not be destroyed by god’s touch, as might have happened otherwise. They could prove to be a powerful vessel indeed. As such, the Hakurei god made an arrangement with the being in which it would become the living Shintai of this branch of the Hakurei clan. The Hakurei god created orbs, similar in appearance to the new being where it would reside. It is here that they stayed, making sure that the orbs were not used by anyone not meant to use them. Certainly, only a member of the Hakurei clan could make the orbs respond to them, but some members were not ready to wield such power.

--Reimu Hakurei-- 

It stayed within the Hakurei orbs in a sort of hibernation, only awakening to test any who tried to wield the orbs. None passed its test, and thus none were allowed to wield the orbs. However, one day, after a particularly long hibernation cycle, a very young miko had taken up the orbs and was trying to use them. Certainly, this was a Hakurei miko, but the being was confused; where were the rest of the clan members? It manifested itself to test this miko, but was swiftly beaten. Additionally, it was chased away entirely before it could explain, unable to stand against the considerable power of the young miko.

It was no longer needed, it seemed. Its purpose had been fulfilled since the young miko had passed its test. What was it to do now? It roamed at random but always came back to the shrine, curious as to how things were going. One can still find it wandering about, occasionally.

Personality
Shitousei Bougaibutsu: Shitousei alone is still the hot-headed, somewhat temperamental dragon she’s always been. She doesn’t hesitate to pick fights and won’t admit when she’s wrong. However, she has long since embraced the fact that she is now a single entity with the human she merged with all those years ago. She has gained something new from her experiences, though. No matter how much she tries to deny it, her conscience seems to get the better of her more often, and she sometimes finds herself protecting the occasional human against her “better judgement”. Bringing up this fact makes her angry, though, and only her other half can really get away with doing it.

Daichi Hakurei: Daichi alone is a very reserved, polite individual who is still comparable to the man who sealed away that dragon all those years ago. He has a streak of protecting humans whenever he is able to, a part of which that seems to have rubbed off on his counterpart. Despite that, he still has to smooth things over for her when she upsets someone by saying something she shouldn’t have. He is a quick thinker, using logic and reason in contrast to Shitousei’s brashness.

Shingyoku: Together, the entity known as Shingyoku seems perfectly at balance, often speaking in a calm, echoing voice in which can be heard both the individual voices of Daichi and Shitousei. And, as might be expected, its personality is a perfect blend of the aforementioned pair.

Power/Combat
Shitousei: As a dragon, she has the ability to breath fire, but she does have something else that she can do regarding fire. She’s able to become a living fire, transmuting her physical body into an entirely different state. Beyond that, she possesses arcane ability, wielding various spells in a similar manner to a magician. However, she likes to fight physically, so her magical abilities aren’t seen very much.

Daichi: He is a pretty typical example of a priest, wielding ofuda and ritual needles. He is trained mostly in defensive abilities and barriers, however, possessing very little outright offensive capability compared to his other half. Instead of attacking, his strategy is generally capture and containment while whittling away at the opponent’s spirit in order to win. However, he is also very skilled in the summoning and channeling of gods, understandably for a living Shintai.

Shingyoku: While merged, they are understandably more balanced in their fighting styles and possess the relative capabilities of both halves. However, they will often switch between each other during a fight to maximize the effectiveness of their offense and defense respectively.

As the avatar of the Hakurei orbs themselves, Shingyoku has very similar properties, one of which is being incredibly destructive to youkai. When exuding power, it's possible that a youkai simply touching Shingyoku may become severely wounded.

Spellcards
Opposites 「Sword and Shield」

Opposites 「Gentle and Fierce」

Opposites 「Positive and Negative」

Synergy 「Perfect Balance」

Yin-Yang Sign 「Shade and Sun - Together as One」

Divinity 「Task of the Wayward Spiritualist」

Fear 「Return of the Lost Dragons」

Merge 「Infinite Rotation」

Major
N/A

Minor
- Reimu Hakurei: As the owner of the Hakurei orbs, it tries to keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn’t screw anything up. But...at the same time, its actually a little afraid of her due to what happened when it tried to test her, so it does not show itself to her.

Trivia
-While they can both manifest simultaneously, they are not as powerful individually this way. They need to appear in either their merged form or have one of their halves unmanifested to be at their full strength.