Tangled Strings (Touhou SI)
- Thread starter Ylamona
- Start date
Ylamona
Konlulu~
There should be some, Alice's thorough but not that much.
For the door, just think of it as a SAN/Insight check. All the world's a stage but looking too much beyond it might caused you to slip and fall off.
Scarlet Mist 2
Ylamona
Konlulu~
'How slow..' Rina thought as she flew across the sky following Reimu while carrying a very bored looking Rumia 'Maybe I should try draft the start of my article for the incident?' Rina mused before she took out her smartphone to write on it.
'Red mist...no, scarlet mist covers the sky. Gensokyo, land of illusion, is blanketed in a thick scarlet fog that blocks the sun from shining through. The residents of this mysterious land, humans and youkai, are left in the dark, wondering about the cause and its implications. What does it all mean?'
Rina paused, frowning at her writing 'Yeah, no. Maybe start from the headline first? Or maybe I should just record my thoughts and everything first then draft later the article. It's the first time I am not alone in an investigation after all. Maybe I should also ask for Alice's opinion on it too later'
"Waa~" Rina just noticed that Rumia, whom she carried under the armpits, looked at her phone with sparkling eyes "So pretty and so shiny~" the childlike youkai said in wonder, almost made Rina forgot at how eerie the girl was for a bit when not bantering with Reimu.
"It is, right?" Rina said, putting away the phone in her pocket "Miss Alice gave me this, just the day after I made my first new steps in the newspaper industry"
"Alice did?" Reimu said from above, glancing down at them. Rina could see the curiosity in her eyes despite her neutral expression and wondered if Reimu knew Alice. Now that she thought about it, she never said Alice live beside being inside the Forest of Magic yet Reimu seemed confidently leading them there. Not to mention, Reimu didn't seem react much when she brought up Alice too. Is the miko has some sort of relationship with Alice? Are they friends? Or something else? Rina wondered if she made a mistake bringing up Alice now...
"Y-yes!" Rina said, feeling a bit nervous all of a sudden for some reason "Miss Alice gave me this and showed me how it worked. It can do many things"
"Waaa~" Rumia clapped her talisman-bound hands and looked at the smartphone with sparkling eyes "Can it make food? I am hungry~" the blonde said, drooling a bit
"Uhh, no, it can't make food" Rina said, feeling relieved "But it can take pictures better than what I can do with my camera, keep my writings and even records voices or events in some sort of moving image thing called video!"
"That's really something then" Reimu nodded, seemingly thinking to herself "I don't have to write things down and can record incidents and youkais, and maybe use that as evidence to solve the case faster or even blackmailing them" Reimu mumbled to herself, seemingly unaware or uncaring that both Rina and Rumia could hear her.
Rina will just...pretends that she didn't hear that last part. =
As the trio continued toward their destination, they flew over a massive lake. Its surface still like a mirror, regular mist covered the lake even when red mist mixed in. The Misty Lake, one of the notable location of Gensokyo as when people talked about the lake, they most likely talked about Misty Lake. One of the largest lake in Gensokyo, with water so fresh and cold. Rina sighed that she couldn't stop for a bit to look around for fairies, though she knew this is not the time to slack off. Not that the miko would allow it anyway.
Speaking of the miko, it seemed she suddenly slowed down. Rina wondered what happened, the miko seemed to looked somewhere into the distance, deep into the mist. It reminded Rina of a stray cat looking at something far away and trying to decide to chase after it or not, though she would never tell the miko that. Rumia seemed to suddenly giggled, as if knowing something she didn't.
Before she could ask, Reimu resumed her speed and flew past the lake. Rina just shrugged and followed behind, hoping that the lake still be there when the incident is solved. As they reached the end of the lake, something flew out from the mist. It was a small group of fairies, the kind that usually played around the lake. Though, Rina never saw this many of them in one place before, so many greater fairies too. One of them, a blue haired ice fairy that Rina recognise as Cirno, the self-proclaimed strongest fairy, was leading the group.
"Hold it right there!!!" the blue-haired fairy shouted at the three of them.
The hakurei miko who was leading them, stopped with a frown. Rina also stopped, wondering what happened and if the miko wanted her to interview the fairy or not too, probably not. Rumia looked at the group of fairies with interest, like looking at an interesting bug.
"What is it, fairies? I am already busy as it is, so make it quick" the miko, Hakurei Reimu, said impatiently.
"Quick!? I won't! Not after what you have done to us!" Cirno shouted back, "Do you know how much trouble you gave us!?"
Reimu frowned, trying to remember anything that warranted such accusation "What are you even talking about?"
"This red mist!" Cirno pointed to the mist around them "It's your doing, isn't it!? It's red and you just flew over here, so it must've been your fault!" Cirno accused, "You must've done something to the lake!"
"That...that is the most ridiculous accusation I've ever heard" Reimu rubbed her forehead, trying to make sense of the accusation "This is...a youkai's doing, and I am on my way to fix this problem. I have no time to deal with fairies"
"It's her then!" Cirno said, pointing at Rumia, "She looks like a youkai to me!" Cirno's face looked like she just solved a mystery, while the other fairies just cheered and agreed with her.
Rumia just laughed at the accusation while Reimu looked at Cirno as if the fairy just lost her mind. Rina, however, too busy recording everything on her phone to say anything. This might be a good material for her new article, even if not, there are fairies here!
"Are you kidding me?" Reimu scoffed, "Look, just get out of my way. I really have no time to play or dance with you" the miko said, starting to lose her patience, while Rina slowly stepped back with Rumia. She didn't want to get involved in whatever happened here and just record it all for later.
"You can't just run away! You might be a perpetrator and even if you might not, we'll still beat you just in case!" Cirno shouted, "We challenge you to a spellcard battle! If you win, we'll leave you alone! But if you lose, you have to take responsibility for the red mist!"
"Ehehehe, Reimu~ Being on the other side of your incident solving method is really interesting~" Rumia said, laughing and amused at the turn of event, while Reimu just gave her an annoyed glare before looking at the fairies in front of her.
"Fine, if this will make you shut up and get out of my way, I'll just beat you up here and now" Reimu said, floating a bit forward, "I will go easy on you, though, so don't cry when I beat you, okay?"
The fairies just laughed in response, "We'll see who will be the one crying! Two spellcards will be enough!" Cirno shouted as she and the fairies moved into a formation, "Let's go! We'll teach her a lesson!"
Rina stepped back and held her smartphone up, making sure to record this battle, while also prepared to dodge any stray shots. Another fairy, a green haired one with a side ponytail, also seemed to do the same. The two girls looked at each others before giving a nod of understanding and turned back into the ongoing fight.
"[Dream Sign Fantasy Seal]!"
"Predictable! [Ice Legion Sign Unstoppable Charge]!"
With awe, Rina watched as both spellcards crashed into each others. The miko's charms and rainbow-coloured bullets met with ice-armoured fairies and frozen bullets. Even if she could do a spellcard battle, she couldn't even compare with this one! The beauty, the power, and the complexity of both sides were just...amazing! The fairy's side was truly something, for a group of greater fairies to work together to create such beautiful formations. Rina knew recently the fairies started to become much more orderly in their own chaotic ways, but this might rival even tengus in term of coordination! The miko was also amazing. Each charms and bullets were carefully aimed and positioned to counter and defeat the fairies in front of her. While the miko herself easily dodged the ice bullets, it was as if she was simply float through them.
"...How beautiful" Rina said to herself as she recorded the battle, compared to her own pitiful showing against the miko, this is a real spellcard battle. She tried to find the right words to describe everything but came short, instead, she let her phone record the battle as she tried her best to find the right words to write the battle later. She didn't want to miss anything from this battle! Not only a rare opportunity to see the miko fight safely, but also seeing fairies fight like this!
"...zzz..." Rina then noticed the blonde youkai in her arms seemed to have fallen asleep, snoring softly. She could see the girl's face, peaceful and content as she slept, or perhaps she was just bored? Despite this was happening? Rina didn't understand how someone could just sleep through this, but she just shrugged, not wanting to wake her up.
In the end, most of the fairies defeated as both spellcards broken at the same time. While technically it was a draw, now there was only the ice fairy left, with others either just popped and reappeared somewhere else or too exhausted to continue
"No, it can not be! I alone is enough! Take this! [Icicle Sign Sword Fall]!" Cirno shouted as dozens of swords made of ice began to fall upon Reimu. While it was very beautiful as the swords seemingly danced in the air, the gentle glint of the blade looked as if snow falling to the ground, it was also very flawed even for Rina. The miko naturally saw it too as she simply had to float in one spot while attacking the ice fairy since for some reason, the spellcard had too obvious of a safe spot. It was flashy, cool, but also horribly ineffective due to this.
"H-hey! Stop staying in the safe spot and fight me properly!" Cirno demanded.
"You should've fixed your spellcard first" Reimu said with a sigh, not even bothering to move out of the safe spot "Look, the sun is already setting. I really don't have the time or patience to play with a stupid fairy anymore"
Without even using her second spellcard, Reimu broke Cirno's and won the fight...also caused an explosion that caused Cirno to be blown back down dramatically into the lake, which Rina noted that not even the miko herself expected to happen. Everyone just watched as Cirno slowly sink into the water, with her hand giving a thumbs up went last.
"Whoa, that's so cool!" "As expected of the shrine maiden!" "We'll have to try harder next times" "Did you get it, please tell me you got it!" "I am writing, I am writing!" "You're playing tic-tac-toe!"
The fairies cheered all of a sudden, both the audience who appeared midfight any of them them noticing or the ones fought Reimu. The miko just looked at them all with utter confusion. Rina, of course, didn't let the chance to observe the new sight of fairies that she never seen, the fact that it involved Hakurei miko was only the cherry on top. Even Rumia woke up and cheered at the fairies for no apparent reason other than it looked fun to cheer, though Rina could barely heard she muttered something.
"...a literal army...fairy with actual brain..-ice you crazy woman.."
"Reimu!" "Hakurei miko!" "You're so cool, can I have your autograph?" "Teach us how to do that please!" "That was a great fight!"
"What?" the miko said, looking at the fairies around her as she tried to keep her face neutral. Rina thought that the miko's face was kind of cute when she was being overwhelmed like this, she would never say that to her face though. Rumia, however, didn't have that fear, laughing at the sight of Reimu's predicament. Reimu turned toward the two, looking at the tengu reporter with a pleading and confused look on her face, before turning toward Rumia with a glare on her face.
Reimu's predicament lasted for only few moments before the green-haired fairy that Rina saw also watching the fight broke the fairies off Reimu with ease and led them away with apologetic looks at Reimu. A rare mature individual amongst fairy, Rina noted, though she was sure that the fairy seemed familiar, perhaps she observed that one before. Still, that left a still dazed Reimu who now hold a basket full of fruits courtesy from the fairies, most likely.
"Ehehehe, Reimu is populer~" Rumia said, giggling like a small child.
"..." the miko just stared at the youkai with an unamused expression
Rina, on the other hand, took out her smartphone and started to write down everything she had seen and recorded. A fascinating insight into a fairy society, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the miko in action and her relationship with fairies. Whether this was a new or old thing, it was remains to be seen. Truly, Rina already felt that her trip was worth it with this encounter and revelations with the fairies alone. And to think it's still the start of her investigation...
"...still, to see such a large gathering of fairies, and so cooperative at that, I've never seen anything like it before" Rina said, looking back at the spot where the fairies once gathered. It's a rare event, even for her, a tengu that specialised in reporting on the fairy. Despite the fact that she had seen them many times, this was the first time that she saw such a large group of fairies, not to mention with such an orderly fashion. She wondered what changed amongst fairies that made them so much more orderly, well, not that orderly but still more orderly than usual.
"Well, let's get moving again" Reimu, who looked like she's still in a daze from her experience, said with a serious look on her face. She held the basket full of food that the fairies gave to her, "You, tengu. Hold this"
"...e-eh!?" Rina almost dropped her smartphone, looking at the basket full of food and then back at Reimu "Why me?" she asked.
"Because I said so" Reimu replied, looking at the tengu reporter intimidatingly, "Hurry up, We don't have all day"
"I am not a pack mule!" Rina complained, but still, she took the baske while Rumia just giggled at the tengu's plight. Rumia, who was still being carried under her armpits, looked at her with amusement in her eyes, clearly enjoying herself. The tengu, on the other hand, was not amused at all. She was a reporter, not a pack mule! Though Rina of course didn't dare to voice that, she's still intimidated by the miko.
"...how unlucky.." Rina sighed as she followed after Reimu
"Is that all you got!? Don't make me laugh! Your spells are weak and your bullets are even weaker!" Marisa taunted loudly, grinning madly as she dodged the barrage of rainbow-coloured bullets that came from a certain red and white dressed miko, "Come on, Reimu! Is that really all you got!?"
The blonde witch flew through the sky, weaving through the bullets like a dancer, her broom in her hand and a grin on her face. The red mist around them didn't seem to affect her mood, and in fact, it only seemed to make her more excited with how it made the bullets seemed to be even more colourful. Her eyes were locked on her opponent, it was unusual for Reimu to just suddenly challenge her like this, but Marisa wasn't going to complain. In fact, she was quite enjoying herself, she never seen these variation of spellcards Reimu used and her best friend-rival seemed to be quite serious today.
Marisa saw as Reimu preparing to use her next spellcard, something Marisa only noticed because she knew Reimu for a long time, it was so obvious.
"Too late! [Constellation Sign MASTER SPAAAAARKKKK-]" Flying above the miko, Marisa unleashed her trademark spellcard. Her palm-sized artefact, hakkero, glowed as a huge laser of pure energy was unleashed toward the red-white miko.
In response, Reimu unleashed her own spellcard to counter Marisa's spellcard as countless huge rainbow bullets came out, colliding with the huge beam and weakening it just enough to allow Reimu to slip out of the way while more charms shot at Marisa. The witch simply grinned as she saw this.
[-Big Dipper!]" Marisa shouted as she pushed more energy into her hakkero. The beam pierced through the mist and hit the surface of the lake. Instead of simply went into the lake, it seemingly absorbed by the lake and shot as seven smaller but still powerful beams in the shape of big dipper constellation, one of which would collide with Reimu.
"Hah, I knew this spellcard worked! Hours listening to Alice ramble about magic sure worth it!" Marisa said with a grin, feeling proud of herself "I win, Reimu! Better luck next ti-"
Marisa stopped as she looked around and saw that the miko was nowhere to be seen. She looked at the surface of the lake, expecting to see Reimu floating there or something so she can rub her victory in the miko's face. But instead, she was gone. There was no trace of her, as if she just disappeared.
"What the hell?" the blonde witch said to herself, confused, as she looked around the lake. Surely, Reimu wouldn't just run away like that, would she? It's not like she lost or anything. And she's too prideful to do that anyway, right?
After a while Marisa just shrugged, deciding that it wasn't worth the trouble to worry about. Reimu could take care of herself, and probably be busy with this red mist incident too. If she decided to just go somewhere, it wasn't Marisa's problem after all, and might be good since it would mean she might be the first to go toward the most likely culprit of this incident.
"Whatever, that was fun but time to get going, to the totally not spooky mansion!" Marisa said to herself, flying off toward the direction of the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
'Red mist...no, scarlet mist covers the sky. Gensokyo, land of illusion, is blanketed in a thick scarlet fog that blocks the sun from shining through. The residents of this mysterious land, humans and youkai, are left in the dark, wondering about the cause and its implications. What does it all mean?'
Rina paused, frowning at her writing 'Yeah, no. Maybe start from the headline first? Or maybe I should just record my thoughts and everything first then draft later the article. It's the first time I am not alone in an investigation after all. Maybe I should also ask for Alice's opinion on it too later'
"Waa~" Rina just noticed that Rumia, whom she carried under the armpits, looked at her phone with sparkling eyes "So pretty and so shiny~" the childlike youkai said in wonder, almost made Rina forgot at how eerie the girl was for a bit when not bantering with Reimu.
"It is, right?" Rina said, putting away the phone in her pocket "Miss Alice gave me this, just the day after I made my first new steps in the newspaper industry"
"Alice did?" Reimu said from above, glancing down at them. Rina could see the curiosity in her eyes despite her neutral expression and wondered if Reimu knew Alice. Now that she thought about it, she never said Alice live beside being inside the Forest of Magic yet Reimu seemed confidently leading them there. Not to mention, Reimu didn't seem react much when she brought up Alice too. Is the miko has some sort of relationship with Alice? Are they friends? Or something else? Rina wondered if she made a mistake bringing up Alice now...
"Y-yes!" Rina said, feeling a bit nervous all of a sudden for some reason "Miss Alice gave me this and showed me how it worked. It can do many things"
"Waaa~" Rumia clapped her talisman-bound hands and looked at the smartphone with sparkling eyes "Can it make food? I am hungry~" the blonde said, drooling a bit
"Uhh, no, it can't make food" Rina said, feeling relieved "But it can take pictures better than what I can do with my camera, keep my writings and even records voices or events in some sort of moving image thing called video!"
"That's really something then" Reimu nodded, seemingly thinking to herself "I don't have to write things down and can record incidents and youkais, and maybe use that as evidence to solve the case faster or even blackmailing them" Reimu mumbled to herself, seemingly unaware or uncaring that both Rina and Rumia could hear her.
Rina will just...pretends that she didn't hear that last part. =
As the trio continued toward their destination, they flew over a massive lake. Its surface still like a mirror, regular mist covered the lake even when red mist mixed in. The Misty Lake, one of the notable location of Gensokyo as when people talked about the lake, they most likely talked about Misty Lake. One of the largest lake in Gensokyo, with water so fresh and cold. Rina sighed that she couldn't stop for a bit to look around for fairies, though she knew this is not the time to slack off. Not that the miko would allow it anyway.
Speaking of the miko, it seemed she suddenly slowed down. Rina wondered what happened, the miko seemed to looked somewhere into the distance, deep into the mist. It reminded Rina of a stray cat looking at something far away and trying to decide to chase after it or not, though she would never tell the miko that. Rumia seemed to suddenly giggled, as if knowing something she didn't.
Before she could ask, Reimu resumed her speed and flew past the lake. Rina just shrugged and followed behind, hoping that the lake still be there when the incident is solved. As they reached the end of the lake, something flew out from the mist. It was a small group of fairies, the kind that usually played around the lake. Though, Rina never saw this many of them in one place before, so many greater fairies too. One of them, a blue haired ice fairy that Rina recognise as Cirno, the self-proclaimed strongest fairy, was leading the group.
"Hold it right there!!!" the blue-haired fairy shouted at the three of them.
The hakurei miko who was leading them, stopped with a frown. Rina also stopped, wondering what happened and if the miko wanted her to interview the fairy or not too, probably not. Rumia looked at the group of fairies with interest, like looking at an interesting bug.
"What is it, fairies? I am already busy as it is, so make it quick" the miko, Hakurei Reimu, said impatiently.
"Quick!? I won't! Not after what you have done to us!" Cirno shouted back, "Do you know how much trouble you gave us!?"
Reimu frowned, trying to remember anything that warranted such accusation "What are you even talking about?"
"This red mist!" Cirno pointed to the mist around them "It's your doing, isn't it!? It's red and you just flew over here, so it must've been your fault!" Cirno accused, "You must've done something to the lake!"
"That...that is the most ridiculous accusation I've ever heard" Reimu rubbed her forehead, trying to make sense of the accusation "This is...a youkai's doing, and I am on my way to fix this problem. I have no time to deal with fairies"
"It's her then!" Cirno said, pointing at Rumia, "She looks like a youkai to me!" Cirno's face looked like she just solved a mystery, while the other fairies just cheered and agreed with her.
Rumia just laughed at the accusation while Reimu looked at Cirno as if the fairy just lost her mind. Rina, however, too busy recording everything on her phone to say anything. This might be a good material for her new article, even if not, there are fairies here!
"Are you kidding me?" Reimu scoffed, "Look, just get out of my way. I really have no time to play or dance with you" the miko said, starting to lose her patience, while Rina slowly stepped back with Rumia. She didn't want to get involved in whatever happened here and just record it all for later.
"You can't just run away! You might be a perpetrator and even if you might not, we'll still beat you just in case!" Cirno shouted, "We challenge you to a spellcard battle! If you win, we'll leave you alone! But if you lose, you have to take responsibility for the red mist!"
"Ehehehe, Reimu~ Being on the other side of your incident solving method is really interesting~" Rumia said, laughing and amused at the turn of event, while Reimu just gave her an annoyed glare before looking at the fairies in front of her.
"Fine, if this will make you shut up and get out of my way, I'll just beat you up here and now" Reimu said, floating a bit forward, "I will go easy on you, though, so don't cry when I beat you, okay?"
The fairies just laughed in response, "We'll see who will be the one crying! Two spellcards will be enough!" Cirno shouted as she and the fairies moved into a formation, "Let's go! We'll teach her a lesson!"
Rina stepped back and held her smartphone up, making sure to record this battle, while also prepared to dodge any stray shots. Another fairy, a green haired one with a side ponytail, also seemed to do the same. The two girls looked at each others before giving a nod of understanding and turned back into the ongoing fight.
"[Dream Sign Fantasy Seal]!"
"Predictable! [Ice Legion Sign Unstoppable Charge]!"
With awe, Rina watched as both spellcards crashed into each others. The miko's charms and rainbow-coloured bullets met with ice-armoured fairies and frozen bullets. Even if she could do a spellcard battle, she couldn't even compare with this one! The beauty, the power, and the complexity of both sides were just...amazing! The fairy's side was truly something, for a group of greater fairies to work together to create such beautiful formations. Rina knew recently the fairies started to become much more orderly in their own chaotic ways, but this might rival even tengus in term of coordination! The miko was also amazing. Each charms and bullets were carefully aimed and positioned to counter and defeat the fairies in front of her. While the miko herself easily dodged the ice bullets, it was as if she was simply float through them.
"...How beautiful" Rina said to herself as she recorded the battle, compared to her own pitiful showing against the miko, this is a real spellcard battle. She tried to find the right words to describe everything but came short, instead, she let her phone record the battle as she tried her best to find the right words to write the battle later. She didn't want to miss anything from this battle! Not only a rare opportunity to see the miko fight safely, but also seeing fairies fight like this!
"...zzz..." Rina then noticed the blonde youkai in her arms seemed to have fallen asleep, snoring softly. She could see the girl's face, peaceful and content as she slept, or perhaps she was just bored? Despite this was happening? Rina didn't understand how someone could just sleep through this, but she just shrugged, not wanting to wake her up.
In the end, most of the fairies defeated as both spellcards broken at the same time. While technically it was a draw, now there was only the ice fairy left, with others either just popped and reappeared somewhere else or too exhausted to continue
"No, it can not be! I alone is enough! Take this! [Icicle Sign Sword Fall]!" Cirno shouted as dozens of swords made of ice began to fall upon Reimu. While it was very beautiful as the swords seemingly danced in the air, the gentle glint of the blade looked as if snow falling to the ground, it was also very flawed even for Rina. The miko naturally saw it too as she simply had to float in one spot while attacking the ice fairy since for some reason, the spellcard had too obvious of a safe spot. It was flashy, cool, but also horribly ineffective due to this.
"H-hey! Stop staying in the safe spot and fight me properly!" Cirno demanded.
"You should've fixed your spellcard first" Reimu said with a sigh, not even bothering to move out of the safe spot "Look, the sun is already setting. I really don't have the time or patience to play with a stupid fairy anymore"
Without even using her second spellcard, Reimu broke Cirno's and won the fight...also caused an explosion that caused Cirno to be blown back down dramatically into the lake, which Rina noted that not even the miko herself expected to happen. Everyone just watched as Cirno slowly sink into the water, with her hand giving a thumbs up went last.
"Whoa, that's so cool!" "As expected of the shrine maiden!" "We'll have to try harder next times" "Did you get it, please tell me you got it!" "I am writing, I am writing!" "You're playing tic-tac-toe!"
The fairies cheered all of a sudden, both the audience who appeared midfight any of them them noticing or the ones fought Reimu. The miko just looked at them all with utter confusion. Rina, of course, didn't let the chance to observe the new sight of fairies that she never seen, the fact that it involved Hakurei miko was only the cherry on top. Even Rumia woke up and cheered at the fairies for no apparent reason other than it looked fun to cheer, though Rina could barely heard she muttered something.
"...a literal army...fairy with actual brain..-ice you crazy woman.."
"Reimu!" "Hakurei miko!" "You're so cool, can I have your autograph?" "Teach us how to do that please!" "That was a great fight!"
"What?" the miko said, looking at the fairies around her as she tried to keep her face neutral. Rina thought that the miko's face was kind of cute when she was being overwhelmed like this, she would never say that to her face though. Rumia, however, didn't have that fear, laughing at the sight of Reimu's predicament. Reimu turned toward the two, looking at the tengu reporter with a pleading and confused look on her face, before turning toward Rumia with a glare on her face.
Reimu's predicament lasted for only few moments before the green-haired fairy that Rina saw also watching the fight broke the fairies off Reimu with ease and led them away with apologetic looks at Reimu. A rare mature individual amongst fairy, Rina noted, though she was sure that the fairy seemed familiar, perhaps she observed that one before. Still, that left a still dazed Reimu who now hold a basket full of fruits courtesy from the fairies, most likely.
"Ehehehe, Reimu is populer~" Rumia said, giggling like a small child.
"..." the miko just stared at the youkai with an unamused expression
Rina, on the other hand, took out her smartphone and started to write down everything she had seen and recorded. A fascinating insight into a fairy society, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the miko in action and her relationship with fairies. Whether this was a new or old thing, it was remains to be seen. Truly, Rina already felt that her trip was worth it with this encounter and revelations with the fairies alone. And to think it's still the start of her investigation...
"...still, to see such a large gathering of fairies, and so cooperative at that, I've never seen anything like it before" Rina said, looking back at the spot where the fairies once gathered. It's a rare event, even for her, a tengu that specialised in reporting on the fairy. Despite the fact that she had seen them many times, this was the first time that she saw such a large group of fairies, not to mention with such an orderly fashion. She wondered what changed amongst fairies that made them so much more orderly, well, not that orderly but still more orderly than usual.
"Well, let's get moving again" Reimu, who looked like she's still in a daze from her experience, said with a serious look on her face. She held the basket full of food that the fairies gave to her, "You, tengu. Hold this"
"...e-eh!?" Rina almost dropped her smartphone, looking at the basket full of food and then back at Reimu "Why me?" she asked.
"Because I said so" Reimu replied, looking at the tengu reporter intimidatingly, "Hurry up, We don't have all day"
"I am not a pack mule!" Rina complained, but still, she took the baske while Rumia just giggled at the tengu's plight. Rumia, who was still being carried under her armpits, looked at her with amusement in her eyes, clearly enjoying herself. The tengu, on the other hand, was not amused at all. She was a reporter, not a pack mule! Though Rina of course didn't dare to voice that, she's still intimidated by the miko.
"...how unlucky.." Rina sighed as she followed after Reimu
"Is that all you got!? Don't make me laugh! Your spells are weak and your bullets are even weaker!" Marisa taunted loudly, grinning madly as she dodged the barrage of rainbow-coloured bullets that came from a certain red and white dressed miko, "Come on, Reimu! Is that really all you got!?"
The blonde witch flew through the sky, weaving through the bullets like a dancer, her broom in her hand and a grin on her face. The red mist around them didn't seem to affect her mood, and in fact, it only seemed to make her more excited with how it made the bullets seemed to be even more colourful. Her eyes were locked on her opponent, it was unusual for Reimu to just suddenly challenge her like this, but Marisa wasn't going to complain. In fact, she was quite enjoying herself, she never seen these variation of spellcards Reimu used and her best friend-rival seemed to be quite serious today.
Marisa saw as Reimu preparing to use her next spellcard, something Marisa only noticed because she knew Reimu for a long time, it was so obvious.
"Too late! [Constellation Sign MASTER SPAAAAARKKKK-]" Flying above the miko, Marisa unleashed her trademark spellcard. Her palm-sized artefact, hakkero, glowed as a huge laser of pure energy was unleashed toward the red-white miko.
In response, Reimu unleashed her own spellcard to counter Marisa's spellcard as countless huge rainbow bullets came out, colliding with the huge beam and weakening it just enough to allow Reimu to slip out of the way while more charms shot at Marisa. The witch simply grinned as she saw this.
[-Big Dipper!]" Marisa shouted as she pushed more energy into her hakkero. The beam pierced through the mist and hit the surface of the lake. Instead of simply went into the lake, it seemingly absorbed by the lake and shot as seven smaller but still powerful beams in the shape of big dipper constellation, one of which would collide with Reimu.
"Hah, I knew this spellcard worked! Hours listening to Alice ramble about magic sure worth it!" Marisa said with a grin, feeling proud of herself "I win, Reimu! Better luck next ti-"
Marisa stopped as she looked around and saw that the miko was nowhere to be seen. She looked at the surface of the lake, expecting to see Reimu floating there or something so she can rub her victory in the miko's face. But instead, she was gone. There was no trace of her, as if she just disappeared.
"What the hell?" the blonde witch said to herself, confused, as she looked around the lake. Surely, Reimu wouldn't just run away like that, would she? It's not like she lost or anything. And she's too prideful to do that anyway, right?
After a while Marisa just shrugged, deciding that it wasn't worth the trouble to worry about. Reimu could take care of herself, and probably be busy with this red mist incident too. If she decided to just go somewhere, it wasn't Marisa's problem after all, and might be good since it would mean she might be the first to go toward the most likely culprit of this incident.
"Whatever, that was fun but time to get going, to the totally not spooky mansion!" Marisa said to herself, flying off toward the direction of the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
A bit shorter and different than planned but I think I am fine with it. My writing seemed degrading a bit but eh here's stage 2 done. Critiques and corrections welcome as usual
- Pronouns
- He
That probably wasn't Reimu then.
Wonder if Alice just has dolls of her friends lying around.
Ylamona
Konlulu~
Next update might be a bit weird, not fun again, which I am really sorry since I knew some people dislike that. My muse simply uncooperative and set this way. Currently debating whether I should rewrite it so it return to fun touhou stuff or not
Alice: "Yes, but this one is not my doing"
Scarlet Mist 3
Ylamona
Konlulu~
"Whoever behind these barriers, they're good." Marisa observed while circling the mansion.
It was the third time she had circled the perimeter of the building. She could tell it was covered with many magical barriers and wards, ones of the best she ever seen. Which admittedly not exactly a long list, but still. What little did she know about barriers and wards from Alice showed her just how complicated the whole things are. Overlapping many barriers and wards into one cohesive defence, yet at the same time making them work individually should the need arise, quite the work of art if Marisa had to say. Not as weird as Alice's house but definitely the best she remembered so far.
"That one is for detection, that one is... anti teleportation? So people can't just sneak in? and that one is for... detection too? No, that one is for detection on the left side of the building. This one... is for detection too? Oh, that one is to prevent people from looking inside. Man, there are so many layers of this thing." Marisa observed the mansion, narrowly avoiding the almost undetectable wards and barriers.
"I can't even get to the mansion without tripping at least one of them, brute force probably useless too." Marisa grumbles at how hard it is to infiltrate the building. Even without the magic, the whole mansion seemed like a fortress. Unlike buildings back in human village, the whole place was made from solid stone and sturdy-looking wood, with barely any window and any windows would have sturdy steel bars in them. The tall walls and gate also meant that it was hard to enter without magic. And with magic, this thing probably could withstand even dozens of youkais assaulting it at once.
Though Marisa did see an obvious weak spot, too obvious in fact. The main gate into the mansion area. It was big and sturdy, probably enchanted too but compared to everything else it was an obvious weak spot, the most obvious one. Which is what makes Marisa suspicious, it was too obvious, and the person who put these barriers and wards must surely be aware of that. It was almost as if Marisa missing something, and that made her feel uncomfortable.
'Whoever made this definitely not an idiot, the barrier is not just strong, it was made to be efficient, to last long. There's also no stupidly obvious hole in the barrier, no obvious weak spots to be exploited except for this part. Yet the main gate left open, unguarded.' Marisa observed and contemplated her findings, 'too easy to be true.'
After some more time circling the mansion, trying and failing to find more information, Marisa decided to just risk it. She went through the gate and nothing happened. Then she went inside the garden, still nothing happened. Then she entered the mansion. Nothing happened. Marisa didn't know whether to be glad or suspicious. On one hand, the easy infiltration, on another hand, it was way too easy. Even with the barrier and wards, Marisa expected something to happen, yet there is nothing.
'Whatever, maybe I was lucky and everyone's busy with something else. Let's just explore and find who is responsible for the red mist. And maybe grab a few cool-looking things along the way.' Marisa decided, shrugging it off 'I could always escape anyway, what's the worse that could happen?'
"W-what happened here?" Rina asked, surprised by the devastation before her. "It's like a tornado passed through here, no, a giant monster rampaging through here."
Reimu looked at the scene and agreed with the description, the damage was extensive, the main gate was broken, many of the trees were uprooted and thrown quite a distance, the ground itself looked as if it had been gouged out and there were a couple of craters. It looked like there was also some sort of flood here too. She definitely didn't expect this after she went to Alice's place and got her information. It was as if the place had been hit by a natural disaster, though the mansion itself seemed fine.
'I don't think it's a coincidence this happened at the same time as the red mist incident, but I don't think the same person is responsible for both.' Reimu thought as she slowly floated down seeing many fairies in strange western dresses that she remembered Alice called maid dress trying to fix the mess. 'Did someone else already get here?'
"Reimu, be careful" Rumia suddenly said, breaking her thoughts with a tone Reimu never heard the small youkai used before.
"Stop right there! Who are you, and what are your intentions!?" a voice suddenly called out, surprising the three.
They turned around to the source of the voice and saw a red-haired girl in what looked like Chinese clothes, the girls looked exhausted and wounded, Reimu might even say the girl just barely clinging to life as several fairies tried to tend to her. There was a sense of power from the girl, though Reimu couldn't really tell how strong it was since the girl was so wounded, it was like looking at a wounded tiger, very pitiful yet still dangerous. Especially with how she glared at Reimu, it was like the woman was both scared of and angry at her.
"Wait, wait, we are not the bad guys here!" Rina suddenly said "I, we are just here investigating this incident! We mean no harm!"
"As I thought, you are a threat to the mistress' plan! So long I, Hong Meiling, the great gatekeeper of this mansion lives, I shall not allow anymore trespassers to enter!" The red-haired woman, Meiling, shouted before pointing at Reimu "Especially you, dishonourable scoundrel! Your trick might work once but no longer! I shall not hesitate to use lethal force if you resist!"
"Wait, wait, what did I do!?" Reimu shouted in confusion, the red-haired woman was clearly angry at her but she didn't know what she did to deserve it.
"Liar, you dare pretend to be innocent after what you did! You dare pretend to be oblivious of your transgression, your heinous crime!" Meiling shouted again, then coughed out blood, clearly weakened from her injury. "I, the great gatekeeper, Hong Meiling, shall not be swayed by lies and deceptions! You shall pay for action!"
"Stop, stop, stop!" Rina suddenly shouted "Can we talk about this first? I'm sure there is a misunderstanding somewhere!"
"Talk is over, you already proved to be hostile! Leave or die, I shall not be swayed!" Meiling shouted back, then coughed out more blood, "even if I have to die here, I shall not let you through, you have already caused too much chaos."
Rumia turned to Reimu and whispered to her while Rina trying to calm Meiling down. "Reimu, you have to beat her if you want to enter. But at her state, if you do then she might.."
Reimu frowned at the implication, this situation was too strange. Even if the woman all but admitted the mistress of the mansion was behind the red mist, it wasn't serious enough thing for now as far as Reimu was concerned so she didn't have any reason to resort to such drastic action. However something happened to this woman that badly injured her and she thought it was Reimu, which meant someone was impersonating her and she didn't like that. Pacifying this Meiling would be easy, but Reimu would still hesitate even with spellcard rule as permanent injuries or worse still possible.
'What a pain.' Reimu thought, it was like everything was going against her since that night.
"-then I will fight you in a Spellcard duel!" Rina shouted, surprising both Meiling and Reimu, "I, Akagi Rina, challenge you, Hong Meiling to a spellcard duel with our honour on the line!"
"What?" both Reimu and Meiling asked, confused by the sudden declaration.
"You are challenging me, to a spellcard duel?" Meiling asked, surprised "I don't have time to play games with you, leave or die."
"I am not playing around. I, Akagi Rina, challenge you, Hong Meiling, to a spellcard duel, one where we can also fight with our fists. Our honour and pride on the line." Rina repeated "If I win, you have to believe us that miss Hakurei that with us didn't do this and let us investigate further. I swear upon my pride as a tengu, as a journalist and as a youkai that miss Hakurei did beat up before!"
Meiling frowned looking at Rina as if searching for a lie or trick, while keeping an eye on reimu.
Reimu herself also looked at Rina, surprised by the sudden challenge as she whispered to the girl. "Hey, what are you doing? Are you insane?"
"I-I I think I have a plan, maybe. I can't..I can't let whatever it was kept going, I don't know!" Rina stuttered before calming herself, "I just have a feeling, I must do this. Don't worry, I can handle it, I have to do this, trust me!"
"..." Reimu sighed, she knew it was a bad idea, her intuition screamed it was a good one instead. "Fine, do as you want."
"Then I, Hong Meiling, accept your challenge. I shall not show mercy so I expect you to not show any either." Meiling declared, getting up with a slight stagger. "But I warn you, if I see any sign of trickery or deception, I shall not hesitate to strike you down with full force."
"I, Akagi Rina, accept the your terms." Rina answered with a nod as she took out her sole spellcard "Then, shall we begin?"
The fight began without much fanfare, both of them got into a distance. Meiling was the first to attack, she charged headfirst at Rina and threw a flurry of punches as many danmakus shot from the punches. Reimu watched as Rina's barely able to dodge the danmakus, mostly through luck rather than any real skill in her opinion. The tengu then tried to retaliate by shooting her own danmakus which missed. Meiling then threw more punches and kicks, the tengu's clothes getting torn by the danmaku projectiles as she tried to dodge the barrage, at least she didn't get hurt.
Reimu sighed at RIna's pathetic attempts to fight back. She knew the girl wasn't good in a fight, but she didn't think the girl was that pathetic at it. Meiling was decent but also not particularly notable, just well-rounded so the woman basically outclassed Rina by a lot with the exception of speed as the tengu had the advantage in that. It was almost sad to watch, but Reimu hoped the tengu had a plan to turn the fight around. With only one spellcard, Rina basically at a disadvantage as if used it and it broke, she automatically lost. And she doubted Rina's single spellcard could break Meiling's spellcard.
"...Oh~ Is that so?~" Rumia suddenly said, surprising the miko.
"What?" Reimu asked, confused.
"The tengu is quite a kind girl, isn't she?~" Rumia said, giggling a little "I guess she's not that bad of a person after all~"
"What do you mean by that? What do you know?" Reimu asked, a bit annoyed. "You are not making sense!"
Rumia just giggled again and didn't answer, she just looked at the fight between Rina and Meiling.
'Damn you and your crypticness.' Reimu thought as she too watched the fight and saw Rina for some reason got closer to Meiling, instead of staying far away to exploit her superior speed. 'What are you doing?'
As she watched, Meiling seemed to get more aggressive and her attacks sharper, Reimu could see Rina was getting a lot of grazes and minor hits. As a martial artist, close quarter was definitely Meiling's forte which only made Reimu even more confused why the tengu would go close. If Rina wanted to go close combat, she might as well just forfeited since she would get her ass kicked.
"I have enough! I shall not show you any more mercy!" Meiling shouted as she used her spellcard "[Colorful Sign Fury Dance]!"
Reimu watched as Meiling's spellcard went off and the girl unleashed a storm of danmaku, forcing Rina to constantly be on the move, still trying to get closer. Despite the hits she received, the tengu persisted until she was close enough it was basically touching distance.
Rina barely able to threw a vial of green liquid at Meiling before she got punched by Meiling. Not fast enough to react to the vial of green liquid being thrown at her, Meiling was hit by the vial, and was soaked in the green liquid. Meiling stopped her assault, expecting it to be something bad but as moments passed, nothing happened. Then she felt a warm sensation throughout her body. To her surprise, her injuries started to heal at visible rate, quickly closed up and her muscles felt relaxed.
"What... What did you do?" Meiling asked, shocked at the sudden turn of events.
"I healed your injuries." Rina answered with a smile, as she quickly recovered and dodging Meiling's ongoing spellcard even if the pain on her face was obvious. "I noticed you're severely wounded, and that is a serious handicap. While I am a proud tengu, I refuse to win due to a handicap. I want a fair and square match."
"A-and..I want to show that we're not bad people who attacked you and that Miss Hakurei is innocent! The fairies liked her after all, that elixir even given by a fairy in case miss Reimu injured!" Rina exclaimed, "She can't be bad person if fairies like her, right!? So let's continue our fight, fair and square!"
Reimu could only look at the scene, baffled. The tengu was seriously fighting to heal the opponent? Trying to convince a youkai that she's not an enemy by healing them and appeal to emotion? She never would have imagined someone would be stupid enough to do that, but here there is one. A kind and foolishly brave one but still an idiot nonetheless in her eyes. She could see Rumia was smiling at the scene, probably thinking the same thing as her but was quite amused about it. Meiling, on the other hand, was obviously baffled by the sudden turn of events before the gatekeeper started to laugh.
"Ahahaha, this is the first time I met a person so brazenly challenged me just to heal my injuries. I shall honour your bravery, and your kindness, if not your idiocy." Meiling said, her posture relaxed as the spellcard ended "You win this match, I admit defeat. I'll at least hear you all out."
"E-ehh?! B-but I still have a spellcard, I can still fight." Rina exclaimed, looking very confused.
"A battle is more than spellcards. You have bested my heart, my resolve, with your act. It's my defeat." Meiling answered "Besides, you're in no shape to keep fighting, I already injured you badly even if I did not use lethal force. I have pride in my abilities, and I don't want to win due to such obvious handicap despite how ironic that statement is. And we already knew the result from the start anyway"
"T-thank you?" Rina said, unsure if that was a compliment or not.
"Wait, so does that mean you trust us now?" Reimu asked, confused.
"No, I am still suspicious of you, especially of you miss Hakurei." Meiling said, glaring at Reimu "But I trust miss Rina here, and her courage and determination to make things right. I maintained that I was attacked by you, or at least someone that looked like you. Not only you bested me in a spellcard duel, you then attacked me with lethal force"
"Hey! I didn't do anything! I swear on the gods!" Reimu shouted, annoyed at the accusation. "That was probably just someone pretending to be me, I have no reason to attack you!"
"That is something I cannot believe, at least not yet. Your doppleganger was clearly not an illusion, she had your skill and power. If it is a copy, it is a near-perfect copy." Meiling said, ignoring Reimu's shouts of protest "Though miss Rina here showed me that at least the fairies trusted you. They might be childish and playful, but they are not stupid...okay, they are but they can be a good judge of character sometimes"
"Hey! We are not stupid!" "We definitely are" "YOU are" "I don't think this miss Reimu is bad" "This one looked clean, not like the one before" "This one talks!"
A few fairies around them protested, though half of them were agreeing with the gatekeeper. Meiling just looked at them with a smile before turning to Reimu. "I still don't trust you but I trust them"
Meiling frowned and think for a while, looking at Reimu then Rina before sighing "Go ahead, technically you did win and mistress did say to let anyone who won through. Just...just know I am watching you and won't hesitate if you try anything funny, miss Hakurei."
Things have been weird but Reimu will just roll with it, she just wanted to solve the incident yet things seemed to not want to make it easy for her. What was this doppleganger thing about? Who would pretend to be her and attacked Meiling? Could it be the real culprit, trying to sabotage her investigation? If so, that was quite a d- despicable move. Well, no matter, she will find whoever it was and beat them black and blue, and get her answer from them but for now, she'll solve the red mist first.
It was the third time she had circled the perimeter of the building. She could tell it was covered with many magical barriers and wards, ones of the best she ever seen. Which admittedly not exactly a long list, but still. What little did she know about barriers and wards from Alice showed her just how complicated the whole things are. Overlapping many barriers and wards into one cohesive defence, yet at the same time making them work individually should the need arise, quite the work of art if Marisa had to say. Not as weird as Alice's house but definitely the best she remembered so far.
"That one is for detection, that one is... anti teleportation? So people can't just sneak in? and that one is for... detection too? No, that one is for detection on the left side of the building. This one... is for detection too? Oh, that one is to prevent people from looking inside. Man, there are so many layers of this thing." Marisa observed the mansion, narrowly avoiding the almost undetectable wards and barriers.
"I can't even get to the mansion without tripping at least one of them, brute force probably useless too." Marisa grumbles at how hard it is to infiltrate the building. Even without the magic, the whole mansion seemed like a fortress. Unlike buildings back in human village, the whole place was made from solid stone and sturdy-looking wood, with barely any window and any windows would have sturdy steel bars in them. The tall walls and gate also meant that it was hard to enter without magic. And with magic, this thing probably could withstand even dozens of youkais assaulting it at once.
Though Marisa did see an obvious weak spot, too obvious in fact. The main gate into the mansion area. It was big and sturdy, probably enchanted too but compared to everything else it was an obvious weak spot, the most obvious one. Which is what makes Marisa suspicious, it was too obvious, and the person who put these barriers and wards must surely be aware of that. It was almost as if Marisa missing something, and that made her feel uncomfortable.
'Whoever made this definitely not an idiot, the barrier is not just strong, it was made to be efficient, to last long. There's also no stupidly obvious hole in the barrier, no obvious weak spots to be exploited except for this part. Yet the main gate left open, unguarded.' Marisa observed and contemplated her findings, 'too easy to be true.'
After some more time circling the mansion, trying and failing to find more information, Marisa decided to just risk it. She went through the gate and nothing happened. Then she went inside the garden, still nothing happened. Then she entered the mansion. Nothing happened. Marisa didn't know whether to be glad or suspicious. On one hand, the easy infiltration, on another hand, it was way too easy. Even with the barrier and wards, Marisa expected something to happen, yet there is nothing.
'Whatever, maybe I was lucky and everyone's busy with something else. Let's just explore and find who is responsible for the red mist. And maybe grab a few cool-looking things along the way.' Marisa decided, shrugging it off 'I could always escape anyway, what's the worse that could happen?'
"W-what happened here?" Rina asked, surprised by the devastation before her. "It's like a tornado passed through here, no, a giant monster rampaging through here."
Reimu looked at the scene and agreed with the description, the damage was extensive, the main gate was broken, many of the trees were uprooted and thrown quite a distance, the ground itself looked as if it had been gouged out and there were a couple of craters. It looked like there was also some sort of flood here too. She definitely didn't expect this after she went to Alice's place and got her information. It was as if the place had been hit by a natural disaster, though the mansion itself seemed fine.
'I don't think it's a coincidence this happened at the same time as the red mist incident, but I don't think the same person is responsible for both.' Reimu thought as she slowly floated down seeing many fairies in strange western dresses that she remembered Alice called maid dress trying to fix the mess. 'Did someone else already get here?'
"Reimu, be careful" Rumia suddenly said, breaking her thoughts with a tone Reimu never heard the small youkai used before.
"Stop right there! Who are you, and what are your intentions!?" a voice suddenly called out, surprising the three.
They turned around to the source of the voice and saw a red-haired girl in what looked like Chinese clothes, the girls looked exhausted and wounded, Reimu might even say the girl just barely clinging to life as several fairies tried to tend to her. There was a sense of power from the girl, though Reimu couldn't really tell how strong it was since the girl was so wounded, it was like looking at a wounded tiger, very pitiful yet still dangerous. Especially with how she glared at Reimu, it was like the woman was both scared of and angry at her.
"Wait, wait, we are not the bad guys here!" Rina suddenly said "I, we are just here investigating this incident! We mean no harm!"
"As I thought, you are a threat to the mistress' plan! So long I, Hong Meiling, the great gatekeeper of this mansion lives, I shall not allow anymore trespassers to enter!" The red-haired woman, Meiling, shouted before pointing at Reimu "Especially you, dishonourable scoundrel! Your trick might work once but no longer! I shall not hesitate to use lethal force if you resist!"
"Wait, wait, what did I do!?" Reimu shouted in confusion, the red-haired woman was clearly angry at her but she didn't know what she did to deserve it.
"Liar, you dare pretend to be innocent after what you did! You dare pretend to be oblivious of your transgression, your heinous crime!" Meiling shouted again, then coughed out blood, clearly weakened from her injury. "I, the great gatekeeper, Hong Meiling, shall not be swayed by lies and deceptions! You shall pay for action!"
"Stop, stop, stop!" Rina suddenly shouted "Can we talk about this first? I'm sure there is a misunderstanding somewhere!"
"Talk is over, you already proved to be hostile! Leave or die, I shall not be swayed!" Meiling shouted back, then coughed out more blood, "even if I have to die here, I shall not let you through, you have already caused too much chaos."
Rumia turned to Reimu and whispered to her while Rina trying to calm Meiling down. "Reimu, you have to beat her if you want to enter. But at her state, if you do then she might.."
Reimu frowned at the implication, this situation was too strange. Even if the woman all but admitted the mistress of the mansion was behind the red mist, it wasn't serious enough thing for now as far as Reimu was concerned so she didn't have any reason to resort to such drastic action. However something happened to this woman that badly injured her and she thought it was Reimu, which meant someone was impersonating her and she didn't like that. Pacifying this Meiling would be easy, but Reimu would still hesitate even with spellcard rule as permanent injuries or worse still possible.
'What a pain.' Reimu thought, it was like everything was going against her since that night.
"-then I will fight you in a Spellcard duel!" Rina shouted, surprising both Meiling and Reimu, "I, Akagi Rina, challenge you, Hong Meiling to a spellcard duel with our honour on the line!"
"What?" both Reimu and Meiling asked, confused by the sudden declaration.
"You are challenging me, to a spellcard duel?" Meiling asked, surprised "I don't have time to play games with you, leave or die."
"I am not playing around. I, Akagi Rina, challenge you, Hong Meiling, to a spellcard duel, one where we can also fight with our fists. Our honour and pride on the line." Rina repeated "If I win, you have to believe us that miss Hakurei that with us didn't do this and let us investigate further. I swear upon my pride as a tengu, as a journalist and as a youkai that miss Hakurei did beat up before!"
Meiling frowned looking at Rina as if searching for a lie or trick, while keeping an eye on reimu.
Reimu herself also looked at Rina, surprised by the sudden challenge as she whispered to the girl. "Hey, what are you doing? Are you insane?"
"I-I I think I have a plan, maybe. I can't..I can't let whatever it was kept going, I don't know!" Rina stuttered before calming herself, "I just have a feeling, I must do this. Don't worry, I can handle it, I have to do this, trust me!"
"..." Reimu sighed, she knew it was a bad idea, her intuition screamed it was a good one instead. "Fine, do as you want."
"Then I, Hong Meiling, accept your challenge. I shall not show mercy so I expect you to not show any either." Meiling declared, getting up with a slight stagger. "But I warn you, if I see any sign of trickery or deception, I shall not hesitate to strike you down with full force."
"I, Akagi Rina, accept the your terms." Rina answered with a nod as she took out her sole spellcard "Then, shall we begin?"
The fight began without much fanfare, both of them got into a distance. Meiling was the first to attack, she charged headfirst at Rina and threw a flurry of punches as many danmakus shot from the punches. Reimu watched as Rina's barely able to dodge the danmakus, mostly through luck rather than any real skill in her opinion. The tengu then tried to retaliate by shooting her own danmakus which missed. Meiling then threw more punches and kicks, the tengu's clothes getting torn by the danmaku projectiles as she tried to dodge the barrage, at least she didn't get hurt.
Reimu sighed at RIna's pathetic attempts to fight back. She knew the girl wasn't good in a fight, but she didn't think the girl was that pathetic at it. Meiling was decent but also not particularly notable, just well-rounded so the woman basically outclassed Rina by a lot with the exception of speed as the tengu had the advantage in that. It was almost sad to watch, but Reimu hoped the tengu had a plan to turn the fight around. With only one spellcard, Rina basically at a disadvantage as if used it and it broke, she automatically lost. And she doubted Rina's single spellcard could break Meiling's spellcard.
"...Oh~ Is that so?~" Rumia suddenly said, surprising the miko.
"What?" Reimu asked, confused.
"The tengu is quite a kind girl, isn't she?~" Rumia said, giggling a little "I guess she's not that bad of a person after all~"
"What do you mean by that? What do you know?" Reimu asked, a bit annoyed. "You are not making sense!"
Rumia just giggled again and didn't answer, she just looked at the fight between Rina and Meiling.
'Damn you and your crypticness.' Reimu thought as she too watched the fight and saw Rina for some reason got closer to Meiling, instead of staying far away to exploit her superior speed. 'What are you doing?'
As she watched, Meiling seemed to get more aggressive and her attacks sharper, Reimu could see Rina was getting a lot of grazes and minor hits. As a martial artist, close quarter was definitely Meiling's forte which only made Reimu even more confused why the tengu would go close. If Rina wanted to go close combat, she might as well just forfeited since she would get her ass kicked.
"I have enough! I shall not show you any more mercy!" Meiling shouted as she used her spellcard "[Colorful Sign Fury Dance]!"
Reimu watched as Meiling's spellcard went off and the girl unleashed a storm of danmaku, forcing Rina to constantly be on the move, still trying to get closer. Despite the hits she received, the tengu persisted until she was close enough it was basically touching distance.
Rina barely able to threw a vial of green liquid at Meiling before she got punched by Meiling. Not fast enough to react to the vial of green liquid being thrown at her, Meiling was hit by the vial, and was soaked in the green liquid. Meiling stopped her assault, expecting it to be something bad but as moments passed, nothing happened. Then she felt a warm sensation throughout her body. To her surprise, her injuries started to heal at visible rate, quickly closed up and her muscles felt relaxed.
"What... What did you do?" Meiling asked, shocked at the sudden turn of events.
"I healed your injuries." Rina answered with a smile, as she quickly recovered and dodging Meiling's ongoing spellcard even if the pain on her face was obvious. "I noticed you're severely wounded, and that is a serious handicap. While I am a proud tengu, I refuse to win due to a handicap. I want a fair and square match."
"A-and..I want to show that we're not bad people who attacked you and that Miss Hakurei is innocent! The fairies liked her after all, that elixir even given by a fairy in case miss Reimu injured!" Rina exclaimed, "She can't be bad person if fairies like her, right!? So let's continue our fight, fair and square!"
Reimu could only look at the scene, baffled. The tengu was seriously fighting to heal the opponent? Trying to convince a youkai that she's not an enemy by healing them and appeal to emotion? She never would have imagined someone would be stupid enough to do that, but here there is one. A kind and foolishly brave one but still an idiot nonetheless in her eyes. She could see Rumia was smiling at the scene, probably thinking the same thing as her but was quite amused about it. Meiling, on the other hand, was obviously baffled by the sudden turn of events before the gatekeeper started to laugh.
"Ahahaha, this is the first time I met a person so brazenly challenged me just to heal my injuries. I shall honour your bravery, and your kindness, if not your idiocy." Meiling said, her posture relaxed as the spellcard ended "You win this match, I admit defeat. I'll at least hear you all out."
"E-ehh?! B-but I still have a spellcard, I can still fight." Rina exclaimed, looking very confused.
"A battle is more than spellcards. You have bested my heart, my resolve, with your act. It's my defeat." Meiling answered "Besides, you're in no shape to keep fighting, I already injured you badly even if I did not use lethal force. I have pride in my abilities, and I don't want to win due to such obvious handicap despite how ironic that statement is. And we already knew the result from the start anyway"
"T-thank you?" Rina said, unsure if that was a compliment or not.
"Wait, so does that mean you trust us now?" Reimu asked, confused.
"No, I am still suspicious of you, especially of you miss Hakurei." Meiling said, glaring at Reimu "But I trust miss Rina here, and her courage and determination to make things right. I maintained that I was attacked by you, or at least someone that looked like you. Not only you bested me in a spellcard duel, you then attacked me with lethal force"
"Hey! I didn't do anything! I swear on the gods!" Reimu shouted, annoyed at the accusation. "That was probably just someone pretending to be me, I have no reason to attack you!"
"That is something I cannot believe, at least not yet. Your doppleganger was clearly not an illusion, she had your skill and power. If it is a copy, it is a near-perfect copy." Meiling said, ignoring Reimu's shouts of protest "Though miss Rina here showed me that at least the fairies trusted you. They might be childish and playful, but they are not stupid...okay, they are but they can be a good judge of character sometimes"
"Hey! We are not stupid!" "We definitely are" "YOU are" "I don't think this miss Reimu is bad" "This one looked clean, not like the one before" "This one talks!"
A few fairies around them protested, though half of them were agreeing with the gatekeeper. Meiling just looked at them with a smile before turning to Reimu. "I still don't trust you but I trust them"
Meiling frowned and think for a while, looking at Reimu then Rina before sighing "Go ahead, technically you did win and mistress did say to let anyone who won through. Just...just know I am watching you and won't hesitate if you try anything funny, miss Hakurei."
Things have been weird but Reimu will just roll with it, she just wanted to solve the incident yet things seemed to not want to make it easy for her. What was this doppleganger thing about? Who would pretend to be her and attacked Meiling? Could it be the real culprit, trying to sabotage her investigation? If so, that was quite a d- despicable move. Well, no matter, she will find whoever it was and beat them black and blue, and get her answer from them but for now, she'll solve the red mist first.
Alice: "..Should I or should I not change to another route? Decision, decision"
A bit harsher and chaotic than I thought, sometimes I hate my muse, but here it is. Honestly the rough outline the same but things just go out of hands? If some people wanting a more orthodox Meiling encounter, just comment so I'll post that one instead as canon later
A bit harsher and chaotic than I thought, sometimes I hate my muse, but here it is. Honestly the rough outline the same but things just go out of hands? If some people wanting a more orthodox Meiling encounter, just comment so I'll post that one instead as canon later
Scarlet Mist 4
Ylamona
Konlulu~
"Whoa..." Marisa gasped in amazement at the sheer amount of books on the shelves around her. She'd never seen anything like it before. "This is incredible!"
The fairy maids didn't seem to share her enthusiasm. They were trying their best to drive her out of the library, shooting magic bullets at her, but Marisa was having none of it. She dodged and weaved her way through the barrage of projectiles, firing blasts of energy from her Mini-Hakkero to take down any fairy maid that got in her way. Marisa made sure to aim well, however, not to damage any of the books. After the experience she had with Alice's, she was quite scared to do something like that.
'I should've brought a bag to stuff some books into.' She thought, regretfully, as she flew down another aisle of shelves, taking a turn to the right as she saw a group of fairy maids approaching from the left. 'They probably won't miss a couple, right?'
Marisa glanced at the books on the shelves as she flew past them, hoping to catch a glimpse of a title that might be useful to her. She'd never seen so many books before; the library must have had thousands of them, perhaps even millions. The sheer size of the library itself was mind-boggling, too; Marisa had never seen such a large room in her entire life.
'It'd probably take me years to even read a fraction of these.' She mused, as she flew up and over the heads of a group of fairy maids, taking them out from behind before they'd even had the chance to realise what happened. She smiled, feeling a little pleased with herself. 'But it's probably worth a shot, right?'
Of course, she didn't forgot why she was here in the first place, to find the culprits of the red mist that enveloped Gensokyo. But as Marisa's eyes wandered over the books on the shelf, it was easy for her to forget about that. She was in a library, after all. What else could she do but look at the books?
As Marisa flew down the aisles of the library, she noticed that some parts of it were in a bit of disarray. It was as if there was some kind of battle, and the place was just fixed. Perhaps, a conflict between whoever the Scarlet Mansion's denizens against some invaders? It was weird to see the fairy maids actually fixing things up, however. Marisa was under the impression that fairy were nothing more than troublemakers.
'Who would hire fairies as maids anyway?' Marisa thought to herself, as she took a sharp turn to the right, firing a blast of energy at a group of fairy maids that were advancing on her.
Marisa flew, following the sound of rustling books and the sight of a few fairy maids running around, until she came to a stop in front of a girl, deep in studying a stack of books with her familiar, the demon girl, dutifully assisting her. She was dressed in a nightgown, with a nightcap atop her head. Thegirl had long purple hair and violet eyes, which were staring at Marisa with a look of annoyance.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" The girl demanded, with flat voice that hid nothing of her anger and annoyance. "I have no time to deal with a rat like you."
"Kirisame Marisa, ordinary magician ze. Here to stop the red mist" Marisa grinned, uncared of the other girl's attitude
"You broke into this mansion, into this library, and disturbed my reading, just to ask that?" The woman's eyes narrowed. "Leave. Now. I have no time to deal with an idiot."
"And this idiot knows you are the one behind the scarlet mist ze" Marisa shrugged, as she took out her spellcards "So, are we going to do this or not? I rather not mess up this library."
"An idiot and a fool." The purple-haired girl sighed. She waved her hand, and a red, glowing rectangle appeared in the air, hovering in front of her. She then snapped her fingers, and a number of books floated from their respective shelves, flying over to the rectangle. As each book came near the rectangle, it vanished into thin air. Within moments, there was no trace that the books had ever existed, and the rectangle had disappeared as well. The woman then snapped her fingers again, and the books reappeared, floating back to their shelves. "You're trespassing, and yet you have the gall to act tough. I have better things to do than taking care of black-white rat but so be it"
"Patchouli Knowledge, magician of seven elements. Prepare yourself" With a snap of her fingers, four spellcards materialised in her hands
"Four cards? Aren't you a bit too confident?" Marisa taunted, drawing out her own cards. "You sure you don't want to use more, ze?"
"I'm sure." Patchouli said, flatly as she waved the devil and fairies away "I'll beat you with only these cards, and not waste any more time on you."
Marisa was about to make a snappy retort, but before she could, the purple-haired woman held out one of her cards and rapidly chanted an incantation, causing the card to light up with a white glow. Quickly getting on her broom, Marisa took to the air, ready to dodge whatever was about to come her way. As soon as Patchouli finished the chant, the card in her hand burst into flames, and a swarm of purple orbs came rushing at Marisa. She smirked, and quickly dodged around them, weaving through the swarm of projectiles and making a beeline for the purple-haired girl.
"[Light Blast "Shoot the Moon"]!" Marisa shouted as she shot a straight laser at her opposing magician, which when hit something turned into vertical blast into the air. Internally, Marisa lamented that she couldn't use her stronger attacks like Master Spark because she didn't want to damage any of the books. But Patchouli didn't need to know that.
The two magicians clashed in the middle of the library, the air filled with the sounds of their magic and the smell of ozone. Patchouli launched a barrage of colourful orbs at Marisa, who in turn deflected them and fired a barrage of coloured stars at her opponent. The girl in the nightgown then retaliated by summoning a ring of elemental orbs around her, which she launched at Marisa. Marisa avoided the orbs, and then countered with a blast of magic from her Mini-Hakkero.
The battle between Patchouli and Marisa was fierce and evenly matched, both sides were unable to get an advantage over the other. Marisa was more skilled with spellcards and had the stamina to keep going, but was limited in power due to her unwillingness to damage the books. She was forced to rely on her agility and dodging to avoid Patchouli's attacks, while trying to get her own hits in. But, Patchouli has the advantage of using the library's built-in prepared magic, making it hard for Marisa to land a blow on her. Though Marisa noted that she didn't seem to be moving much, and her complexion worsened.
'No wonder Alice was strict about healthy lifestyle.' Marisa thought to herself as she dodged a fiery bullet 'This girl looks like she'd be knocked over by a stiff breeze. Even though her magic is strong, her body can't handle it for long.'
Marisa's eyes narrowed as she saw Patchouli's breathing become more laboured, and her movements more sluggish. She was clearly running out of steam, and it wouldn't be long before she was out of the fight. Marisa decided to press her advantage, and she launched a barrage of coloured stars at Patchouli. The purple-haired girl tried to dodge, but she was too slow, and she was hit by a few of the stars, knocking her off-balance.
Marisa smirked at the fallen magician "So, you give up, ze?"
"I'm not done yet..." Patchouli panted, trying to get up, but her body wouldn't cooperate. Her asthma was kicking in, making it difficult for her to breathe. "I can still...keep fighting..."
"You look like you're about to collapse. I think it's time for you to call it quits, ze."
Patchouli gritted her teeth, as she showed her last spellcard glowed and her chants finished "If you think this is over, then you're a fool. I still have a spellcard left. This one is my best and I won't hold anything back. [Five Elements "Philosopher Stone"]"
Five books, each with a different color, appeared in the air above the purple-haired girl, and began shooting a barrage of multicolored crystals at Marisa in different manners. Marisa quickly recognise Patchouli basically used five magics at once in this one. Each one basic but powerful, especially since she used five at once. Marisa would've been impressed, but she was too busy dodging and trying to find an opening in Patchouli's barrage of crystals
'Totally different compared to Alice or Narumi's magic' Marisa thought as she continued to weave through the storm of crystals. 'Magic is definitely wonderful, ze!'
Marisa was able to dodge most of Patchouli's attacks, but the girl was relentless, and her attacks were slowly taking their toll on the black-white witch. Marisa was starting to tire, and she could feel her stamina starting to wane. She was going to have to end this soon, or she was going to be in trouble. Everything set up, time to try the spellcard Alice helped her develop.
"You're great, Patchouli Knowledge, but I'm better! I have a spellcard that's sure to take you down!" Marisa declared, taking out her Hakkero. "Hear the rumble of my triumph! [Magicannon "Path of Dawn"]!"
A small and slow purple beam shot toward Patchouli who, with her laboured breathing, barely dodged the beam. It grazed her shoulder, leaving a painful, burning sensation. Patchouli frowned at the attack, but smirked at the black-white witch "You missed. What was the point of that?"
Marisa just grinned and said nothing. The beam continued to travel through the library, slowly and steadily, until it hit one of the reflective surfaces that Marisa had placed around the library earlier in the battle. It bounced off the surface, and continued to travel, hitting more and more of the surfaces, splitting into multiple beams, creating a net that slowly expanded.
"W-what?" Patchouli exclaimed, her eyes widening in shock as the beams of energy slowly approached her, cutting off her escape routes. She tried to dodge, but her exhaustion made her slow and clumsy. Marisa watched, smirking, as the purple-haired girl was hit by the beams of energy, knocking her to the ground.
"And that's that," Marisa said, landing her broom in front of Patchouli. "I win."
"You...cheater..." Patchouli gasped, her breathing laboured. "How...did you...do that?"
"Easy. I set up reflectors around the room before I approached you. It was a pain in the ass to do, but it was worth it." Marisa explained, shrugging. "It's all about setting up your traps and tricks beforehand, and using your environment to your advantage. Now, you gonna tell me what's up with the mist or not?"
Patchouli coughed, her breathing still laboured and the red-haired devil rushed to her side "I'm just a librarian. You're looking for the mistress of the mansion." She answered, before the devil shushed her and helped her stand up.
"Alright, where can I find her?"
"Upstairs, now leave miss Patchouli alone." The devil said, glaring at the intruder.
Marisa just held her hands up "Alright, alright. I'll go. And uh, good fight, Patchouli. You're pretty strong, ze."
Patchouli just stared at Marisa blankly, her breathing still laboured. The black-white witch just shrugged and left the library, leaving the purple-haired girl and the red-haired devil behind. Secretly pocketing a book that she thought was interesting on her way.
'That was fun,' She thought to herself, as she flew out of the library and up to the upper floors of the mansion. 'Now, let's see if I can find this mistress of the mansion. I hope she's as strong as Patchouli was, that was a good fight, ze!'
Meanwhile, in another part of the mansion, Rina watched as the head maid of the mansion, Izayoi Sakuya, clashed with the shrine maiden. The two girls fought with a flurry of bullets, the maid firing blades of energy and the shrine maiden countering with ofuda and needles. Both girls moved with grace and speed, their movements almost a blur. Despite the impressive display, however, Rima couldn't help but feel a bit out of place. After all, she was just a reporter, not a fighter.
The tengu was more interested in the various fairy maids that cheered for the silver haired maid. It's quite surreal to see so many fairies in one place under the employment of someone. Even if she was happy someone clearly recognised how great fairies are like her, she couldn't help but wonder what kind of person the owner of the mansion is to employ so many fairy. Not just to employ them, but also to train them so well it seemed. The fairies are still quite rowdy but definitely far more disciplined than she knew fairies are.
Rina turned her attention to the fight again, and watched as the maid seemingly disappeared and reappeared in a blur. 'Not even Aya-senpai can move that fast.' The tengu girl thought, amazed at the sight before her eyes. 'That maid... she's something else.'
As she watched the two girls clash, Rina couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. She was a tengu, after all, and she was supposed to be the fastest of all the youkai. But here was a human maid who could move faster than any tengu she had ever seen. She had never heard of a human being able to move that quickly before. It was amazing, and a little bit intimidating.
Still, Rina couldn't deny that the fight was exciting to watch. The two girls moved with grace and agility, and their attacks were fast and powerful. Even compared to the wonderful displayed with the ice fairies, clearly here both sides showed their masterful danmaku techniques. It was clear that they were both skilled fighters, and it was hard to tell who would come out on top. Rima couldn't help but cheer for the shrine maiden, mostly because of the fairies cheered for the good battle too. She completely ignoring Rumia who looked at her like she lost her mind.
"Go, miko-san! Go! Beat that maid!" Rina cheered, her voice lost in the sea of voices.
The tengu reporter couldn't help but smile a little. She had come to the mansion for a scoop, but she hadn't expected to find a fight like this. It was exciting, and it was giving her a lot to write about. She couldn't wait to get back to Youkai Mountain and write her article about the fight too. So many things happened, she could make a series of articles from this.
"Yo, you girls here too?" Suddenly, a voice came from behind Rina, making her jump in surprise. She turned to see a grinning blonde human dressed in western attires with wide-brimmed hat.
Rumia grinned and smiled at the newcomer "Marisa~ Trying to solve the incident?"
"Of course, ze. Well, Alice made me, but it's been fun! Just need to beat the culprit now!" The human, Marisa grinned, then looked at the tengu with a puzzled expression. "And you are? Reimu's new friend?"
"Ahahaha..." The tengu girl laughed nervously, waving her hand dismissively. "No, no. I'm just a... passerby miss Hakurei met. Akagi Rina, at your service!"
"Kirisame Marisa, ordinary magician, at your service too, ze!" Marisa grinned, offering her hand to the tengu girl with friendly grin, who took it and shook it. "Nice to meet ya!"
"Y-you too, Kirisame-san!" Rina stammered, taken aback by the human's friendliness and straighforwardness. She had never met a human who was so friendly and open with youkai, especially one that she had just met except for Alice. It was a nice change, though.
While the fight still ongoing, the group swapped stories about what happened so far, mostly Marisa. How she went investigating about the incident, how she deduced the culprit, how she broke in to the mansion, and the battle with the magician named Patchouli. It was fascinating to hear, and Rina quietly sighed at not being able seen those herself. Though Rina wondered how much of those were embelished by the human.
"-then I came here heard about the ruckus and meet you girls" Marisa grinned before looked at Rumia, or more accurately the talismans that covered the small youkai's body. "So, why you're wrapped like a mummy, ze?"
"Reimu~ She was worried about something~ Sooo protection!~" Rumia answered, with a giggle and sigh "Can't fly with them on though, soooo annoying~"
"Reimu is worried?" Marisa frowned, before shrugged "Eh, she probably worried about something silly."
Rina couldn't help but frown at that. She didn't know the shrine maiden that well, but she could tell that the girl was very serious. Her instinct as a tengu and reporter told her that it was something serious. Rumia herself seemed evasive too beneath her childish tone. The tengu wanted to ask more questions, but she was interrupted by a cheer from the fairies, as the miko finally managed to defeat the head maid.
"Alright, the way up opens so let's go- oh, Marisa" The miko said, surprised to see the human magician.
"Hey, Reimu! Nice to see you again, and investigating too. Finally not being a lazy bum?" Marisa grinned, giving the miko a quick hug. "Great fight as usual, ze. I heard you were worried about something."
"I... yeah. I'll explain later. Let's go, we should hurry." The miko said, a little hesitantly. "The culprit should be upstairs, let's finish this."
Marisa smirkd and pat the miko's shoulder "Relax~ With both of us here, there's nothing to worry about, ze! What's the worse that can happen?"
Suddenly, Rina felt that she want to sigh and facepalm. While she might not know the human that much, she knew from her experience as a reporter that these kind of words were bad omens. Marisa's declaration just now was a jinx, and she could only hope that the jinx didn't come true.
The fairy maids didn't seem to share her enthusiasm. They were trying their best to drive her out of the library, shooting magic bullets at her, but Marisa was having none of it. She dodged and weaved her way through the barrage of projectiles, firing blasts of energy from her Mini-Hakkero to take down any fairy maid that got in her way. Marisa made sure to aim well, however, not to damage any of the books. After the experience she had with Alice's, she was quite scared to do something like that.
'I should've brought a bag to stuff some books into.' She thought, regretfully, as she flew down another aisle of shelves, taking a turn to the right as she saw a group of fairy maids approaching from the left. 'They probably won't miss a couple, right?'
Marisa glanced at the books on the shelves as she flew past them, hoping to catch a glimpse of a title that might be useful to her. She'd never seen so many books before; the library must have had thousands of them, perhaps even millions. The sheer size of the library itself was mind-boggling, too; Marisa had never seen such a large room in her entire life.
'It'd probably take me years to even read a fraction of these.' She mused, as she flew up and over the heads of a group of fairy maids, taking them out from behind before they'd even had the chance to realise what happened. She smiled, feeling a little pleased with herself. 'But it's probably worth a shot, right?'
Of course, she didn't forgot why she was here in the first place, to find the culprits of the red mist that enveloped Gensokyo. But as Marisa's eyes wandered over the books on the shelf, it was easy for her to forget about that. She was in a library, after all. What else could she do but look at the books?
As Marisa flew down the aisles of the library, she noticed that some parts of it were in a bit of disarray. It was as if there was some kind of battle, and the place was just fixed. Perhaps, a conflict between whoever the Scarlet Mansion's denizens against some invaders? It was weird to see the fairy maids actually fixing things up, however. Marisa was under the impression that fairy were nothing more than troublemakers.
'Who would hire fairies as maids anyway?' Marisa thought to herself, as she took a sharp turn to the right, firing a blast of energy at a group of fairy maids that were advancing on her.
Marisa flew, following the sound of rustling books and the sight of a few fairy maids running around, until she came to a stop in front of a girl, deep in studying a stack of books with her familiar, the demon girl, dutifully assisting her. She was dressed in a nightgown, with a nightcap atop her head. Thegirl had long purple hair and violet eyes, which were staring at Marisa with a look of annoyance.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" The girl demanded, with flat voice that hid nothing of her anger and annoyance. "I have no time to deal with a rat like you."
"Kirisame Marisa, ordinary magician ze. Here to stop the red mist" Marisa grinned, uncared of the other girl's attitude
"You broke into this mansion, into this library, and disturbed my reading, just to ask that?" The woman's eyes narrowed. "Leave. Now. I have no time to deal with an idiot."
"And this idiot knows you are the one behind the scarlet mist ze" Marisa shrugged, as she took out her spellcards "So, are we going to do this or not? I rather not mess up this library."
"An idiot and a fool." The purple-haired girl sighed. She waved her hand, and a red, glowing rectangle appeared in the air, hovering in front of her. She then snapped her fingers, and a number of books floated from their respective shelves, flying over to the rectangle. As each book came near the rectangle, it vanished into thin air. Within moments, there was no trace that the books had ever existed, and the rectangle had disappeared as well. The woman then snapped her fingers again, and the books reappeared, floating back to their shelves. "You're trespassing, and yet you have the gall to act tough. I have better things to do than taking care of black-white rat but so be it"
"Patchouli Knowledge, magician of seven elements. Prepare yourself" With a snap of her fingers, four spellcards materialised in her hands
"Four cards? Aren't you a bit too confident?" Marisa taunted, drawing out her own cards. "You sure you don't want to use more, ze?"
"I'm sure." Patchouli said, flatly as she waved the devil and fairies away "I'll beat you with only these cards, and not waste any more time on you."
Marisa was about to make a snappy retort, but before she could, the purple-haired woman held out one of her cards and rapidly chanted an incantation, causing the card to light up with a white glow. Quickly getting on her broom, Marisa took to the air, ready to dodge whatever was about to come her way. As soon as Patchouli finished the chant, the card in her hand burst into flames, and a swarm of purple orbs came rushing at Marisa. She smirked, and quickly dodged around them, weaving through the swarm of projectiles and making a beeline for the purple-haired girl.
"[Light Blast "Shoot the Moon"]!" Marisa shouted as she shot a straight laser at her opposing magician, which when hit something turned into vertical blast into the air. Internally, Marisa lamented that she couldn't use her stronger attacks like Master Spark because she didn't want to damage any of the books. But Patchouli didn't need to know that.
The two magicians clashed in the middle of the library, the air filled with the sounds of their magic and the smell of ozone. Patchouli launched a barrage of colourful orbs at Marisa, who in turn deflected them and fired a barrage of coloured stars at her opponent. The girl in the nightgown then retaliated by summoning a ring of elemental orbs around her, which she launched at Marisa. Marisa avoided the orbs, and then countered with a blast of magic from her Mini-Hakkero.
The battle between Patchouli and Marisa was fierce and evenly matched, both sides were unable to get an advantage over the other. Marisa was more skilled with spellcards and had the stamina to keep going, but was limited in power due to her unwillingness to damage the books. She was forced to rely on her agility and dodging to avoid Patchouli's attacks, while trying to get her own hits in. But, Patchouli has the advantage of using the library's built-in prepared magic, making it hard for Marisa to land a blow on her. Though Marisa noted that she didn't seem to be moving much, and her complexion worsened.
'No wonder Alice was strict about healthy lifestyle.' Marisa thought to herself as she dodged a fiery bullet 'This girl looks like she'd be knocked over by a stiff breeze. Even though her magic is strong, her body can't handle it for long.'
Marisa's eyes narrowed as she saw Patchouli's breathing become more laboured, and her movements more sluggish. She was clearly running out of steam, and it wouldn't be long before she was out of the fight. Marisa decided to press her advantage, and she launched a barrage of coloured stars at Patchouli. The purple-haired girl tried to dodge, but she was too slow, and she was hit by a few of the stars, knocking her off-balance.
Marisa smirked at the fallen magician "So, you give up, ze?"
"I'm not done yet..." Patchouli panted, trying to get up, but her body wouldn't cooperate. Her asthma was kicking in, making it difficult for her to breathe. "I can still...keep fighting..."
"You look like you're about to collapse. I think it's time for you to call it quits, ze."
Patchouli gritted her teeth, as she showed her last spellcard glowed and her chants finished "If you think this is over, then you're a fool. I still have a spellcard left. This one is my best and I won't hold anything back. [Five Elements "Philosopher Stone"]"
Five books, each with a different color, appeared in the air above the purple-haired girl, and began shooting a barrage of multicolored crystals at Marisa in different manners. Marisa quickly recognise Patchouli basically used five magics at once in this one. Each one basic but powerful, especially since she used five at once. Marisa would've been impressed, but she was too busy dodging and trying to find an opening in Patchouli's barrage of crystals
'Totally different compared to Alice or Narumi's magic' Marisa thought as she continued to weave through the storm of crystals. 'Magic is definitely wonderful, ze!'
Marisa was able to dodge most of Patchouli's attacks, but the girl was relentless, and her attacks were slowly taking their toll on the black-white witch. Marisa was starting to tire, and she could feel her stamina starting to wane. She was going to have to end this soon, or she was going to be in trouble. Everything set up, time to try the spellcard Alice helped her develop.
"You're great, Patchouli Knowledge, but I'm better! I have a spellcard that's sure to take you down!" Marisa declared, taking out her Hakkero. "Hear the rumble of my triumph! [Magicannon "Path of Dawn"]!"
A small and slow purple beam shot toward Patchouli who, with her laboured breathing, barely dodged the beam. It grazed her shoulder, leaving a painful, burning sensation. Patchouli frowned at the attack, but smirked at the black-white witch "You missed. What was the point of that?"
Marisa just grinned and said nothing. The beam continued to travel through the library, slowly and steadily, until it hit one of the reflective surfaces that Marisa had placed around the library earlier in the battle. It bounced off the surface, and continued to travel, hitting more and more of the surfaces, splitting into multiple beams, creating a net that slowly expanded.
"W-what?" Patchouli exclaimed, her eyes widening in shock as the beams of energy slowly approached her, cutting off her escape routes. She tried to dodge, but her exhaustion made her slow and clumsy. Marisa watched, smirking, as the purple-haired girl was hit by the beams of energy, knocking her to the ground.
"And that's that," Marisa said, landing her broom in front of Patchouli. "I win."
"You...cheater..." Patchouli gasped, her breathing laboured. "How...did you...do that?"
"Easy. I set up reflectors around the room before I approached you. It was a pain in the ass to do, but it was worth it." Marisa explained, shrugging. "It's all about setting up your traps and tricks beforehand, and using your environment to your advantage. Now, you gonna tell me what's up with the mist or not?"
Patchouli coughed, her breathing still laboured and the red-haired devil rushed to her side "I'm just a librarian. You're looking for the mistress of the mansion." She answered, before the devil shushed her and helped her stand up.
"Alright, where can I find her?"
"Upstairs, now leave miss Patchouli alone." The devil said, glaring at the intruder.
Marisa just held her hands up "Alright, alright. I'll go. And uh, good fight, Patchouli. You're pretty strong, ze."
Patchouli just stared at Marisa blankly, her breathing still laboured. The black-white witch just shrugged and left the library, leaving the purple-haired girl and the red-haired devil behind. Secretly pocketing a book that she thought was interesting on her way.
'That was fun,' She thought to herself, as she flew out of the library and up to the upper floors of the mansion. 'Now, let's see if I can find this mistress of the mansion. I hope she's as strong as Patchouli was, that was a good fight, ze!'
Meanwhile, in another part of the mansion, Rina watched as the head maid of the mansion, Izayoi Sakuya, clashed with the shrine maiden. The two girls fought with a flurry of bullets, the maid firing blades of energy and the shrine maiden countering with ofuda and needles. Both girls moved with grace and speed, their movements almost a blur. Despite the impressive display, however, Rima couldn't help but feel a bit out of place. After all, she was just a reporter, not a fighter.
The tengu was more interested in the various fairy maids that cheered for the silver haired maid. It's quite surreal to see so many fairies in one place under the employment of someone. Even if she was happy someone clearly recognised how great fairies are like her, she couldn't help but wonder what kind of person the owner of the mansion is to employ so many fairy. Not just to employ them, but also to train them so well it seemed. The fairies are still quite rowdy but definitely far more disciplined than she knew fairies are.
Rina turned her attention to the fight again, and watched as the maid seemingly disappeared and reappeared in a blur. 'Not even Aya-senpai can move that fast.' The tengu girl thought, amazed at the sight before her eyes. 'That maid... she's something else.'
As she watched the two girls clash, Rina couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. She was a tengu, after all, and she was supposed to be the fastest of all the youkai. But here was a human maid who could move faster than any tengu she had ever seen. She had never heard of a human being able to move that quickly before. It was amazing, and a little bit intimidating.
Still, Rina couldn't deny that the fight was exciting to watch. The two girls moved with grace and agility, and their attacks were fast and powerful. Even compared to the wonderful displayed with the ice fairies, clearly here both sides showed their masterful danmaku techniques. It was clear that they were both skilled fighters, and it was hard to tell who would come out on top. Rima couldn't help but cheer for the shrine maiden, mostly because of the fairies cheered for the good battle too. She completely ignoring Rumia who looked at her like she lost her mind.
"Go, miko-san! Go! Beat that maid!" Rina cheered, her voice lost in the sea of voices.
The tengu reporter couldn't help but smile a little. She had come to the mansion for a scoop, but she hadn't expected to find a fight like this. It was exciting, and it was giving her a lot to write about. She couldn't wait to get back to Youkai Mountain and write her article about the fight too. So many things happened, she could make a series of articles from this.
"Yo, you girls here too?" Suddenly, a voice came from behind Rina, making her jump in surprise. She turned to see a grinning blonde human dressed in western attires with wide-brimmed hat.
Rumia grinned and smiled at the newcomer "Marisa~ Trying to solve the incident?"
"Of course, ze. Well, Alice made me, but it's been fun! Just need to beat the culprit now!" The human, Marisa grinned, then looked at the tengu with a puzzled expression. "And you are? Reimu's new friend?"
"Ahahaha..." The tengu girl laughed nervously, waving her hand dismissively. "No, no. I'm just a... passerby miss Hakurei met. Akagi Rina, at your service!"
"Kirisame Marisa, ordinary magician, at your service too, ze!" Marisa grinned, offering her hand to the tengu girl with friendly grin, who took it and shook it. "Nice to meet ya!"
"Y-you too, Kirisame-san!" Rina stammered, taken aback by the human's friendliness and straighforwardness. She had never met a human who was so friendly and open with youkai, especially one that she had just met except for Alice. It was a nice change, though.
While the fight still ongoing, the group swapped stories about what happened so far, mostly Marisa. How she went investigating about the incident, how she deduced the culprit, how she broke in to the mansion, and the battle with the magician named Patchouli. It was fascinating to hear, and Rina quietly sighed at not being able seen those herself. Though Rina wondered how much of those were embelished by the human.
"-then I came here heard about the ruckus and meet you girls" Marisa grinned before looked at Rumia, or more accurately the talismans that covered the small youkai's body. "So, why you're wrapped like a mummy, ze?"
"Reimu~ She was worried about something~ Sooo protection!~" Rumia answered, with a giggle and sigh "Can't fly with them on though, soooo annoying~"
"Reimu is worried?" Marisa frowned, before shrugged "Eh, she probably worried about something silly."
Rina couldn't help but frown at that. She didn't know the shrine maiden that well, but she could tell that the girl was very serious. Her instinct as a tengu and reporter told her that it was something serious. Rumia herself seemed evasive too beneath her childish tone. The tengu wanted to ask more questions, but she was interrupted by a cheer from the fairies, as the miko finally managed to defeat the head maid.
"Alright, the way up opens so let's go- oh, Marisa" The miko said, surprised to see the human magician.
"Hey, Reimu! Nice to see you again, and investigating too. Finally not being a lazy bum?" Marisa grinned, giving the miko a quick hug. "Great fight as usual, ze. I heard you were worried about something."
"I... yeah. I'll explain later. Let's go, we should hurry." The miko said, a little hesitantly. "The culprit should be upstairs, let's finish this."
Marisa smirkd and pat the miko's shoulder "Relax~ With both of us here, there's nothing to worry about, ze! What's the worse that can happen?"
Suddenly, Rina felt that she want to sigh and facepalm. While she might not know the human that much, she knew from her experience as a reporter that these kind of words were bad omens. Marisa's declaration just now was a jinx, and she could only hope that the jinx didn't come true.
Alternative route for stage 3 still opens if anyone didn't like it, but anyway Stage 4 done! After reading how much Sakuya could actually do with her ability, I sadly had to go with this for the latter part. I am not very confident at writing Sakuya either but yeah, just some easy one this chapter is
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- Pronouns
- He
Height Chart (temp)
Ylamona
Konlulu~
Height Chart (temp)
Average 10 years old/greater fairies= 133-140 (basically the standard) "Fairies can change their sizes from palm-sized to their max though"
Akagi Rina: 161 cm "I wasn't sure about this one"
Alice (Real): 133 cm/??? "Last I checked, my hair could reach at least four and a half metres. Currently it's barely two and half now though"
Alice Margatroid: 171 cm "No Rumia, I am not compensating"
Bree Sunkiller: 181 cm "She's tall, and classically looked like a cool woman. Inside is still fairy though"
Cirno: 142 cm "She's been growing, on average Deepwood-touched fairies around her height"
Daiyousei: 146 cm "She hasn't grown in comparison, maybe that's why Cirno called her dai?"
Eternity Larva: 145 cm/168 cm "Not as tall as Yuuka, definitely more heavy though in her big form"
Hakurei Reimu: 156 cm "She's on the 'fairly tall side'"
Hong Meiling: 170 cm "She's on the 'tall' side, also quite muscular"
Izayoi Sakuya: 167 cm "She's on the 'tall' side"
Kamishirasawa Keine: 170 cm "Slightly taller when full moon, no horn"
Kazami Yuuka: 148 cm/171-174 cm "She's..tricky to measure, might actually changes depend on season"
Kitashirakawa Chiyuri: 156 cm "Just slightly above Reimu"
Kirisame Marisa: 152 cm "She's on the 'fairly short' side?"
Koakuma: 157 cm "Probably"
Morichika Rinnosuke: 183 cm "The only right choice, definitely. Totally not me bullshitting, also he definitely ripped"
Patchouli Knowledge: 155 cm "Probably could be taller if she's healthier"
Rumia: 146 cm/163 cm "Unfortunately, she's not blessed with height"
Scarlet Sisters: 145 cm "How they are supposed to be five years different is beyond me"
Temporary height chart for most chars I think? Any input or suggestion welcome, it's far from final, not even in my own notes.
Average 10 years old/greater fairies= 133-140 (basically the standard) "Fairies can change their sizes from palm-sized to their max though"
Akagi Rina: 161 cm "I wasn't sure about this one"
Alice (Real): 133 cm/??? "Last I checked, my hair could reach at least four and a half metres. Currently it's barely two and half now though"
Alice Margatroid: 171 cm "No Rumia, I am not compensating"
Bree Sunkiller: 181 cm "She's tall, and classically looked like a cool woman. Inside is still fairy though"
Cirno: 142 cm "She's been growing, on average Deepwood-touched fairies around her height"
Daiyousei: 146 cm "She hasn't grown in comparison, maybe that's why Cirno called her dai?"
Eternity Larva: 145 cm/168 cm "Not as tall as Yuuka, definitely more heavy though in her big form"
Hakurei Reimu: 156 cm "She's on the 'fairly tall side'"
Hong Meiling: 170 cm "She's on the 'tall' side, also quite muscular"
Izayoi Sakuya: 167 cm "She's on the 'tall' side"
Kamishirasawa Keine: 170 cm "Slightly taller when full moon, no horn"
Kazami Yuuka: 148 cm/171-174 cm "She's..tricky to measure, might actually changes depend on season"
Kitashirakawa Chiyuri: 156 cm "Just slightly above Reimu"
Kirisame Marisa: 152 cm "She's on the 'fairly short' side?"
Koakuma: 157 cm "Probably"
Morichika Rinnosuke: 183 cm "The only right choice, definitely. Totally not me bullshitting, also he definitely ripped"
Patchouli Knowledge: 155 cm "Probably could be taller if she's healthier"
Rumia: 146 cm/163 cm "Unfortunately, she's not blessed with height"
Scarlet Sisters: 145 cm "How they are supposed to be five years different is beyond me"
Temporary height chart for most chars I think? Any input or suggestion welcome, it's far from final, not even in my own notes.
Scarlet Mist 4.5 Girls are Talking
Ylamona
Konlulu~
Bree Sunkiller was in the kitchen of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, her mission to work undercover there still ongoing until the Scarlet Mist Incident resolved. The mission so far had been going well though blending in with the maids technically a failure as Bree simply too competent compared to the initial average fairy maids, or tall. It had been a personal joy to train others in the way of housekeeping, and to put her skills in that field to use. Slight challenge here and there but they succeeded in their first mission. All that was left would be today, the day of scarlet mist and things have been quite chaotic.
She was just preparing some snacks to take out for the fairies on duty when she heard someone coming. Turning around she was not surprised to see Mei Mindhaze entering the room and gave her fellow compatriot a curt nod "Mei."
Mei was a poppy fairy, shorter than Bree and more petite in frame. She normally wore a yellow sundress with a pair of large red poppy flowers embroidered on it, and her red hair was done up in a twinpair of tails that went down to her shoulders. Though naturally today, she wore the maid dress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, the white apron tied neatly behind her back, and her tails were tied with blue ribbons. The shorter fairy sighed dramatically and flopped down on a seat near the table. "It's been done, Bree. The thing with Meiling was covered up, good thing I was quick"
"Everyone? Including Marisa?"
"Yep. Got her too. Marisa should wander around the mansion for a while head maid, the vampire, and the magician shouldn't notice Meiling disappeared for a bit too" Mei said, smiling smugly. She was very proud of her own work, though she sighed and frowned "Though it's mostly everyone was distracted by little vampire sister tantrums, so it was easy. And Today's sudden work was hard though so it's a bit sloppy"
Bree nodded, she understood her compatriot's feeling. The two should've gone from the mansion the moment project Argleton succeed with Meiling, but neither of them nor lady Alice expected the gatekeeper to be attacked and disappeared from her post for a some time. If she was alone, Bree most likely unable to keep things on track so she was glad for her compatriot's help. Bree might be the better maid and warrior between the two but for these subtle touches and manipulation, Mei Mindhaze was unrivalled amongst the fairies employed by lady Alice and perhaps even youkais at large
"How about yours, Bree?" asked Mei. She knew what the brunette's job would be today, they had talked about it before but she was not sure if the brownie would be able to pull it off or not, especially if something went wrong. The bigger fairy normally didn't really care much about being subtle, and the fact that it was about smuggling a lot of fairies inside the mansion too, gave the smarter of the two no small amount of concern. She would've done it herself if not for the fact the others respected Bree more, and she herself too busy making sure the mansion residents didn't realise anything.
"It is going well. I should be finished within an hour" replied Bree, turning back to the task of finishing up the food. It was a simple snack "The hardest part would be to keep everyone in check but since it's lady Alice's order, the others should listen"
Mei chuckled at that, "Heh, yeah. Still bit scary if we will have to fight that scary fake Reimu though. That one just...feel sad, also really brutal, poor Meiling. Though she should be fine soon enough, I guess"
"If it's our order, then nothing to be afraid of. Trust in lady Alice's plan, Mei. It should go well," Bree said simply. The tall fairy trusted her mistress's plans and had no fear of what would happen in the future. After all, she would always bet on lady Alice succeeding, something Bree learned over the years. Bree trusted lady Alice's planning and intellect, the same way Bree trusted her own spear and strength.
"Right, right, of course you are" Mei said, waving a hand at Bree. The poppy fairy sighed and closed her eyes, resting her head on the table, "Still didn't reassure me much though"
"You're thinking too much"
"It's my nature. I'm a thinker, not a fighter like you, Bree. You know how I think"
"Still, you're thinking too much, Mei"
The two fell into silence, and Bree continued to work as Mei rested. A few moments later, Mei broke the silence, "You know, I wonder why lady Alice didn't try to save Meiling or something"
Bree turned from her work, to look at Mei with narrowed eyes. The smaller fairy was still resting her head on the table. Her face showed a thoughtful expression, "I mean, I know it's hard to think about but she must know the gatekeeper is going to get attacked, right? I don't know, maybe she could've warned the gatekeeper and just tell her to pretend to be unconscious? That might work, right?"
"To open the gate, one need to defeat the gatekeeper. She'll be attacked regardless, especially since this attacked already showed how ruthless they are" Bree said, defeat the boss to open the door is simple logic anyone knew.
"Yeah, I get that. I just wonder if there is a way to make it, uh, more painless. You know what I'm saying, Bree?"
For few moments Bree didn't answer as she continued to work "Perhaps, perhaps it was a surprise"
Mei frowned and looked up, "Huh? Surprise?"
"Perhaps the attack on the gatekeeper while expected, happened not in the way lady Alice expected. Meiling did disappear for a time" Bree thought to what she heard other fairies said, how all of sudden the gatekeeper simply disappeared to thin air. Though she and Mei knew Meiling and the fake Reimu still there, alongside some trapped fairies. Just in like a world behind the mirror as lady Alice described in one of her story, there but not exactly there.
Mei nodded, "Yeah, that's true, that's true. Miss Yuuka was milling around when Meiling was attacked, maybe she supposed to help but the disappearance of both Meiling and the fake Reimu stopped that"
"Perhaps. I don't know" Bree truly didn't, she left those sort of things to Mei for a reason.
"Yeah. this thing just got too complicated too quickly. I wish we know why this happening and what that fake Reimu was. I mean it's a shapeshifter, right? It's definitely not Reimu" Mei sighed, closing her eyes again, frustration plainly visible on her face.
"You are thinking too much again. Just do the mission" Bree said, her tone gentle despite her words. Mei tended to think too much and get caught in her own thoughts. Bree preferred not to think so hard, and just follow lady Alice's plan instead, it worked better that way. After all, it was better to let the people who are better at those things handle it, the same way she trusted her spear and strength to the other fairy to plan on how to use them. Besides, Mei herself was smart, she would figure out the best plan in a moment's notice, a talent she was known for, so she would be fine
"I know, I know" sighed the poppy fairy, "Just don't like this unknown fireable" "variable" "unknown variable. Just what even is this fake Reimu?"
"...a god. At least similar to them" Bree answered after some thought, she was unsure about it but she figured that was probably the case. It was the closest thing she could compare it to based on her limited knowledge. She might've seen a lot, remembered a lot compared to average fairies but the fake Reimu certainly new to say the least.
Mei coughed in surprise and looked up, "A god? What makes you say that, Bree?"
Bree turned to Mei, looking at her compatriot in the eyes, "I've met one like this fake Reimu, once in the Deepwood. Not exactly the similar but the fake Reimu really reminds me of it. And not like the gods Gensokyo worshipped like honoured Aki sisters, they are far too humane and a person each. It was less of an entity than a force of nature, and it was...like a role, a concept or a character. It was more of an idea, a symbol than a living being, like us who are spirit of nature but they are far more intertwined with their role?" Bree paused, letting Mei process that information "I think this fake Reimu is something similar. A force, an idea or symbol or character, not a living creature like us"
"...That's one heck of a theory, Bree. If it was any other fairy, they would just say that sounds so cool, which it is. But I'm smarter than that, and that would be a lot of implications" Mei said after some thought. Bree was not surprised Mei understood the implications, the poppy fairy was the smartest one amongst lady Alice's fairies after all, though the taller fairy didn't understand herself what the implications Mei mentioned, "So what, a god spirit thing just decide to be Reimu and act like her for fun?"
"Perhaps, perhaps not. It is only a theory" Bree shrugged. It was only a theory, and it could be wrong. After all, Bree is just a fairy, not some great thinker. Mei was the one to go for that kind of thing
"...What would be the alternative beside this god thing, because I very much don't want to deal with one" The shorter girl said in whiny tone that Bree was not sure if Mei was joking or not, it is hard to tell with the poppy fairy sometimes.
"Too similar for regular youkai, those ofudas and powers the fake exhibited are too similar to the original. So a shapeshifter youkai would be improbable, so perhaps a doppelgänger of some sort" "Aren't those youkai" "Phenomenon, maybe. Alternatively, it is Reimu, just not ours" Bree mused. Mei nodded at that, agreeing with her. It would make sense
"Alternate Reimu...heh, I remember that time with the alternate Marisa" Mei chuckled. The poppy fairy grinned and looked up "Though I guess that makes more sense than a god. Still don't know why this Reimu decided to be all evil, but hey, maybe this one just is"
"Perhaps. As said, only a theory"
"I know, I know. Just, this is too much to think about. How does lady Alice do this all the time, it's hard to think. You really don't have to think about this, Bree?" Mei asked
"I don't think about it. It's a waste of time to think of things like this" Bree said, shrugging "Though it is good to think about these things, just don't overthink"
Mei sighed, nodding in agreement, "Yeah, yeah. Thanks, Bree" The poppy fairy closed her eyes and rested her head on the table again. She was quiet, and Bree went back to work, leaving the other to her thoughts. They had a job to do, and Bree was not going to fail at it. After a while, the brownie finished making the food, and Mei got up, stretching. Bree looked at her and nodded, "I'm going back to work. See you later, Mei"
Mei grinned, "Yeah. Try to stay out of trouble, Bree"
"Will do" Bree replied before she took the plate of food and tried to left the kitchen before Mei suddenly asked
"Say...if it's a god or spirit or whatever you call it..what god do you think it is" the red hair fairy asked curiously. Bree did not turn her back, she did not even hesitate as she left.
"Hero who stand against the darkness and monsters inside"
Mei, who watched the brunette fairy leave just shrugged "Must just be from of the animey story lady Alice told her, it's probably just a doppelgänger"
She was just preparing some snacks to take out for the fairies on duty when she heard someone coming. Turning around she was not surprised to see Mei Mindhaze entering the room and gave her fellow compatriot a curt nod "Mei."
Mei was a poppy fairy, shorter than Bree and more petite in frame. She normally wore a yellow sundress with a pair of large red poppy flowers embroidered on it, and her red hair was done up in a twinpair of tails that went down to her shoulders. Though naturally today, she wore the maid dress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, the white apron tied neatly behind her back, and her tails were tied with blue ribbons. The shorter fairy sighed dramatically and flopped down on a seat near the table. "It's been done, Bree. The thing with Meiling was covered up, good thing I was quick"
"Everyone? Including Marisa?"
"Yep. Got her too. Marisa should wander around the mansion for a while head maid, the vampire, and the magician shouldn't notice Meiling disappeared for a bit too" Mei said, smiling smugly. She was very proud of her own work, though she sighed and frowned "Though it's mostly everyone was distracted by little vampire sister tantrums, so it was easy. And Today's sudden work was hard though so it's a bit sloppy"
Bree nodded, she understood her compatriot's feeling. The two should've gone from the mansion the moment project Argleton succeed with Meiling, but neither of them nor lady Alice expected the gatekeeper to be attacked and disappeared from her post for a some time. If she was alone, Bree most likely unable to keep things on track so she was glad for her compatriot's help. Bree might be the better maid and warrior between the two but for these subtle touches and manipulation, Mei Mindhaze was unrivalled amongst the fairies employed by lady Alice and perhaps even youkais at large
"How about yours, Bree?" asked Mei. She knew what the brunette's job would be today, they had talked about it before but she was not sure if the brownie would be able to pull it off or not, especially if something went wrong. The bigger fairy normally didn't really care much about being subtle, and the fact that it was about smuggling a lot of fairies inside the mansion too, gave the smarter of the two no small amount of concern. She would've done it herself if not for the fact the others respected Bree more, and she herself too busy making sure the mansion residents didn't realise anything.
"It is going well. I should be finished within an hour" replied Bree, turning back to the task of finishing up the food. It was a simple snack "The hardest part would be to keep everyone in check but since it's lady Alice's order, the others should listen"
Mei chuckled at that, "Heh, yeah. Still bit scary if we will have to fight that scary fake Reimu though. That one just...feel sad, also really brutal, poor Meiling. Though she should be fine soon enough, I guess"
"If it's our order, then nothing to be afraid of. Trust in lady Alice's plan, Mei. It should go well," Bree said simply. The tall fairy trusted her mistress's plans and had no fear of what would happen in the future. After all, she would always bet on lady Alice succeeding, something Bree learned over the years. Bree trusted lady Alice's planning and intellect, the same way Bree trusted her own spear and strength.
"Right, right, of course you are" Mei said, waving a hand at Bree. The poppy fairy sighed and closed her eyes, resting her head on the table, "Still didn't reassure me much though"
"You're thinking too much"
"It's my nature. I'm a thinker, not a fighter like you, Bree. You know how I think"
"Still, you're thinking too much, Mei"
The two fell into silence, and Bree continued to work as Mei rested. A few moments later, Mei broke the silence, "You know, I wonder why lady Alice didn't try to save Meiling or something"
Bree turned from her work, to look at Mei with narrowed eyes. The smaller fairy was still resting her head on the table. Her face showed a thoughtful expression, "I mean, I know it's hard to think about but she must know the gatekeeper is going to get attacked, right? I don't know, maybe she could've warned the gatekeeper and just tell her to pretend to be unconscious? That might work, right?"
"To open the gate, one need to defeat the gatekeeper. She'll be attacked regardless, especially since this attacked already showed how ruthless they are" Bree said, defeat the boss to open the door is simple logic anyone knew.
"Yeah, I get that. I just wonder if there is a way to make it, uh, more painless. You know what I'm saying, Bree?"
For few moments Bree didn't answer as she continued to work "Perhaps, perhaps it was a surprise"
Mei frowned and looked up, "Huh? Surprise?"
"Perhaps the attack on the gatekeeper while expected, happened not in the way lady Alice expected. Meiling did disappear for a time" Bree thought to what she heard other fairies said, how all of sudden the gatekeeper simply disappeared to thin air. Though she and Mei knew Meiling and the fake Reimu still there, alongside some trapped fairies. Just in like a world behind the mirror as lady Alice described in one of her story, there but not exactly there.
Mei nodded, "Yeah, that's true, that's true. Miss Yuuka was milling around when Meiling was attacked, maybe she supposed to help but the disappearance of both Meiling and the fake Reimu stopped that"
"Perhaps. I don't know" Bree truly didn't, she left those sort of things to Mei for a reason.
"Yeah. this thing just got too complicated too quickly. I wish we know why this happening and what that fake Reimu was. I mean it's a shapeshifter, right? It's definitely not Reimu" Mei sighed, closing her eyes again, frustration plainly visible on her face.
"You are thinking too much again. Just do the mission" Bree said, her tone gentle despite her words. Mei tended to think too much and get caught in her own thoughts. Bree preferred not to think so hard, and just follow lady Alice's plan instead, it worked better that way. After all, it was better to let the people who are better at those things handle it, the same way she trusted her spear and strength to the other fairy to plan on how to use them. Besides, Mei herself was smart, she would figure out the best plan in a moment's notice, a talent she was known for, so she would be fine
"I know, I know" sighed the poppy fairy, "Just don't like this unknown fireable" "variable" "unknown variable. Just what even is this fake Reimu?"
"...a god. At least similar to them" Bree answered after some thought, she was unsure about it but she figured that was probably the case. It was the closest thing she could compare it to based on her limited knowledge. She might've seen a lot, remembered a lot compared to average fairies but the fake Reimu certainly new to say the least.
Mei coughed in surprise and looked up, "A god? What makes you say that, Bree?"
Bree turned to Mei, looking at her compatriot in the eyes, "I've met one like this fake Reimu, once in the Deepwood. Not exactly the similar but the fake Reimu really reminds me of it. And not like the gods Gensokyo worshipped like honoured Aki sisters, they are far too humane and a person each. It was less of an entity than a force of nature, and it was...like a role, a concept or a character. It was more of an idea, a symbol than a living being, like us who are spirit of nature but they are far more intertwined with their role?" Bree paused, letting Mei process that information "I think this fake Reimu is something similar. A force, an idea or symbol or character, not a living creature like us"
"...That's one heck of a theory, Bree. If it was any other fairy, they would just say that sounds so cool, which it is. But I'm smarter than that, and that would be a lot of implications" Mei said after some thought. Bree was not surprised Mei understood the implications, the poppy fairy was the smartest one amongst lady Alice's fairies after all, though the taller fairy didn't understand herself what the implications Mei mentioned, "So what, a god spirit thing just decide to be Reimu and act like her for fun?"
"Perhaps, perhaps not. It is only a theory" Bree shrugged. It was only a theory, and it could be wrong. After all, Bree is just a fairy, not some great thinker. Mei was the one to go for that kind of thing
"...What would be the alternative beside this god thing, because I very much don't want to deal with one" The shorter girl said in whiny tone that Bree was not sure if Mei was joking or not, it is hard to tell with the poppy fairy sometimes.
"Too similar for regular youkai, those ofudas and powers the fake exhibited are too similar to the original. So a shapeshifter youkai would be improbable, so perhaps a doppelgänger of some sort" "Aren't those youkai" "Phenomenon, maybe. Alternatively, it is Reimu, just not ours" Bree mused. Mei nodded at that, agreeing with her. It would make sense
"Alternate Reimu...heh, I remember that time with the alternate Marisa" Mei chuckled. The poppy fairy grinned and looked up "Though I guess that makes more sense than a god. Still don't know why this Reimu decided to be all evil, but hey, maybe this one just is"
"Perhaps. As said, only a theory"
"I know, I know. Just, this is too much to think about. How does lady Alice do this all the time, it's hard to think. You really don't have to think about this, Bree?" Mei asked
"I don't think about it. It's a waste of time to think of things like this" Bree said, shrugging "Though it is good to think about these things, just don't overthink"
Mei sighed, nodding in agreement, "Yeah, yeah. Thanks, Bree" The poppy fairy closed her eyes and rested her head on the table again. She was quiet, and Bree went back to work, leaving the other to her thoughts. They had a job to do, and Bree was not going to fail at it. After a while, the brownie finished making the food, and Mei got up, stretching. Bree looked at her and nodded, "I'm going back to work. See you later, Mei"
Mei grinned, "Yeah. Try to stay out of trouble, Bree"
"Will do" Bree replied before she took the plate of food and tried to left the kitchen before Mei suddenly asked
"Say...if it's a god or spirit or whatever you call it..what god do you think it is" the red hair fairy asked curiously. Bree did not turn her back, she did not even hesitate as she left.
"Hero who stand against the darkness and monsters inside"
Mei, who watched the brunette fairy leave just shrugged "Must just be from of the animey story lady Alice told her, it's probably just a doppelgänger"
Just two smarter-than-average fairies talking. It's really hard to balance the 'experienced fairy', 'Alice's cultural influence', and 'fairies being fairy', not sure if I am even succeed of two gals just talking way past out of their depth with dubious accuracy. Anyway here, two of Alice's most competent fairies deep inside another group's place while Incident still ongoing. I need a bit more time for Stage 5 since there would be more characters involved there while also setting up for the next one, things not coming coherent enough so I might need a bit more time to essentially write two chapters at once. Hopefully it won't come to that.
Also again, these two despite everything, still fairies exposed to too many anime. Take what they said with a grain of salt
Also again, these two despite everything, still fairies exposed to too many anime. Take what they said with a grain of salt
Scarlet Mist 5
Ylamona
Konlulu~
As the group made their way up, RIna couldn't help but notice the destruction that littered their path. It was clear that a significant battle had taken place within the mansion, with various items and structures being destroyed or in need of repair. The fairy maids were hard at work, diligently repairing the damage that had been inflicted on the mansion. Or at least appeared to try, as much as Rina likes fairies, she had to admit they seemed to barely understand what they are doing beyond 'bring the broken stuffs together in a pile' and just sweeping away the dust.
Marisa whistled, "Wow, something really went down here ze. Do you think someone else beat us to the punch?"
"Seems likely," Reimu remarked, her gaze fixed on the devastation surrounding them with disinterest, "Or maybe whoever behind this fought each others, would've save me some troubles."
"You just want to go back and nap," Marisa retorted, earning a scowl from the miko.
"And you just want to steal something, don't you?" Reimu shot back.
"Well, I do want to get my hand on that library, ze," Marisa admitted with a mischievous grin, "But this is incident important too, ya know."
"Sure, sure," Reimu replied dismissively, rolling her eyes at her companion's predictable response.
After some twists and turns, alongside some grumblings from Reimu and teasing to said Miko by Marisa about being lost, the group found itself inside a large room in state of disrepair with a hole on the ceiling straight to the roof. It was most likely an impressive room for the owner though the group didn't care much about such and followed Reimu as she flew out of the hole, and the group found themselves in the roof.
"Welcome, dear guests. It seemed you all took quite the detour to reach us." Up in the air, a pair of girls greeted them. The one spoke was a girl with blue hair, wearing a white mob cap with red ribbon and a pink dress, her wings were like those of a bat and her eyes were red. Her voice is somewhat haughty and sounded like a noble trying to be formal, but also playful and a bit mocking. "But no matter, I am Remilia Scarlet, the Scarlet Devil herself, the Mistress of this Mansion, the one behind this scarlet mist. Beauitful, isn't it?"
"And I am her little sister, Flandre! Nice to meet you!" the second girl said cheerily, she has similar wing to her sister, though she has blond hair tied into single ponytail with a red ribbon to the side. Her eyes were also red, her dress was red instead of pink like Remilia and she hold a twisted black wand on her hand. Her wings aren't bat-like like Remilia but instead a pair of black limb with eight crystals of rainbow colors attached to the end of them. "Are you my new toys? You better not broke easy, okay!"
Curiously, the pair seemed to be slightly messy and their clothes in tatters, Rina noted. Their hair were messy and they looked tired, their skin slightly dirty. It was as if the sisters had just finished a long battle, yet their eyes were still alert and their demeanor still imposing. Rina couldn't help but wonder what kind of fight these two had been in before they arrived.
"Now, now, Flan~ Remember what I told you," Remilia chided, her tone playful but with a hint of seriousness, "Don't play too roughly with your new friends, got it? They are important, so make sure you treat them gently, okay?"
"I know, I know~" Flandre replied, her voice still filled with cheer, "We can have fun and play together, and then we can all be happy! Right?"
"Right!" Remilia agreed with a smile, her eyes filled with mischief yet hiding something else, similar to Rumia if Rina had to guess.
Marisa smirked at Remilia's words, her eyes full of challenge, "Oh yeah? Well, I'll be sure to give you both a good beating then ze"
"Please," Reimu said, her tone deadpan, "I can't believe I have to deal with two bratty vampires. Can you please stop talking and just fight already? I want to go home and nap."
Remilia chuckled, seemingly amused by the exchange. "My, my, how feisty. Very well then, let's begin this little game. But be warned, we won't hold back, so don't expect this to be easy, okay?"
"Bring it on!" Marisa said, grinning wildly, her grip on her broom tightening as she readied herself for the upcoming battle, her magic gathering on her palm, ready to be released at a moment's notice, before she paused "Wait, are we doing this one by one or together?"
"Oooh! Oooh! Can we fight together?! I want to play with two friends at once!" Flandre exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with excitement and childish glee, "It would be fun!"
Remilia simply looked at Reimu with questioning and playful gaze, letting her decide.
Reimu sighed and rubbed her temple, "I don't care, just get it over with already. I have things to do and places to be. Tag team or whatever, I don't care."
Remilia smirked and nodded, "Well, well, then. Since our dear Miko seems to be in a hurry, we shall oblige. Flan, are you ready to play with our guests?"
Flandre clapped her hands gleefully, her expression one of pure excitement. "Yay! Let's play!"
Meanwhile, Marisa and Reimu shared a look, determination and readiness in their eyes as they prepared for the upcoming fight. Rina couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation and nervousness as she watched the two teams get ready to clash. She knew this wasn't going to be an easy battle, but she had faith in her friends' abilities.
"Let's do this, ze!" Marisa yelled, charging forward with her broom in hand, her eyes narrowed with determination.
The sound of a bell echoed throughout the roof, seemingly signalling the beginning of their battle. Remilia and Flandre stood at the ready, their eyes focused on their opponents, as Marisa and Reimu rushed towards them, their movements in sync. As the four combatants clashed, the air filled with the sounds of explosions, and magic being thrown around with the moon shining behind the scarlet mist as a backdrop.
Pulling out her smartphone, after setting down Rumia in safe but good spot to watch, Rina started recording everything. This incident truly gave her many great things for her, and she wasn't going to let this chance slip by too. She even saw many fairy maids and regular fairies started to gather around the rooftops, watching the fight and cheering for anyone they liked really. It was less of a serious incident solving and more like a festival at this point, she noted. Though some things still bother her, like the mysterious Reimu that apparently attacked the gatekeeper, but she'll just focus on the battle for now.
"It seemed that we garnered quite the audience, shrine maiden," Remilia remarked, her voice full of amusement as she dodged another one of Reimu's attacks, "Are you sure you want to embarrass yourself in front of all these people? It might not be good for your reputation."
"Please," Reimu scoffed, her expression unimpressed, "I don't care about what these fairies think of me. Besides, I'm not the one who's going to be embarrassed here, vampire."
"Ooh, you're so cool, Reimu~" Rumia called out from her spot, her voice full of admiration, "Show them what you're made of!"
From Rina's observation, it seemed that this Remilia Scarlet is the more skilled of the two Scarlet sisters, but weaker overall. Not that it made the vampire any less scary in Rina's opinion. While not as fast as Aya-senpai, the vampire's speed matched that of a tengu, her speed no less than an oni, while her magical power probably ranked high in Gensokyo overall. Rina couldn't help but feel slight envy at the sheer power the vampires seemed to possess. She was a nobody compared to these monsters.
"Wow, you're pretty strong, human! I like that!" Flandre exclaimed, her voice full of excitement as she dodged Marisa's latest attack, her movements agile and graceful despite her apparent carelessness, as she split into four "It's been a while since I've had someone to play with like this!"
"Ha, you're pretty strong yourself, ze!" Marisa replied, her grin wide and her eyes sparkling with adrenaline, "But I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve!"
Flandre giggled, her eyes dancing with amusement, "Oh, I can't wait to see what you've got! Let's have some fun, shall we?"
Marisa nodded, her expression determined, "Oh, we will, vampire. We'll have a blast, I promise you that!"
Meanwhile, Flandre the sister was simply a brute, her power definitely stronger than her sister but also much less skilled or controlled. Rina watched as the vampire just conjured a large flaming sword and swung it randomly without any care for finesse or tactics or skills. It was truly like a kid swinging a stick. Yet, Rina had to admit that such simple tactic worked in its own way when backed by the vampire's considerable amount of power and magic. Marisa had to give her all just to dodge and avoid the attacks, only occasionally able to return one herself.
The four's battle was intense, their movements swift and their attacks powerful, as Rina recorded the entire thing with her smartphone. The fairies around them cheered and hollered, their excitement palpable as they watched the fight unfold. Both sides easily switched opponents at will and even occasionally partnered up again to unleash a combined spellcard. The night was truly a spectacle to behold, and Rina couldn't help but be amazed at the sheer power and skill displayed before her. She wondered what kind of power would be needed to reach such level.
"Hey, Rina~ Can you get these things off me?" Rumia called out to Rina, her voice a mix of boredom and annoyance as she gestured to the talismans that bound her in place, "I'm getting tired of being tied up like this."
Rina hesitated, her gaze flicking between the ongoing battle and the immobilized youkai of darkness, fear of the Hakurei maiden's wrath making her indecisive. On one hand, even if occasionally creep her out, Rumia had been cooperative and harmless, and she felt bad for her current situation. But on the other hand...
"I-I can't," Rina stammered, her voice trembling slightly, "Miss shrine maiden asked me to make sure you stay put, and I don't want to get on her bad side. She's already angry enough with the whole incident and all."
"Aw, come on, Rina~ I promise I won't do anything bad," Rumia pouted, her expression pleading as she tried to sway the tengu girl, "I'll be a good girl, I swear!"
"I-I'm sorry, Rumia," Rina apologized, her tone apologetic but firm, "I can't risk it. The shrine maiden is already on edge, and I don't want to make things worse for either of us."
Left unsaid was despite her became somewhat more comfortable around the shrine maiden, she was still afraid of the Hakurei maiden. Not as much as they first met, especially after knowing Reimu being Alice's friend too, but still the Hakurei maiden was a very intimidating figure. Not to mention how caring or afraid she was for Rumia. If anything happened to Rumia, Rina wasn't sure she could survive the shrine maiden's wrath. It was just too much to risk, she thought to herself.
"Fine, be that way," Rumia huffed, her expression turning sullen and pouting, "See if I care. I'll just sit here and be bored out of my mind while everyone else has fun."
Rina sighed and turned her attention back to the battle. She couldn't afford to get distracted, especially when recording the event. She had to focus and make sure she captured everything that was happening. Though she couldn't help but feel bad for Rumia.
The battle raged on between the four combatants, their movements swift and their attacks powerful. But, as time went on, they started to show signs of fatigue, their breathing heavy and their movements slowing down. Eventually, they came to a halt, taking a moment to catch their breath and assess the situation. They stood across from each other, the distance between them not too far or close, ready for another round of intense fighting. The audience of fairies and fairy maids continued to cheer, their excitement and enthusiasm undiminished.
"You've got some skills, shrine maiden," Remilia remarked, her eyes shining with admiration, "I'm impressed. You're not like the other humans I've faced before."
"Thanks," Reimu replied, her voice nonchalant, "But I'm not here to impress you. I'm here to solve an incident and protect Gensokyo from whatever danger you pose."
Remilia chuckled, her expression amused, "Oh, so confident. But you'll find that I'm not your average vampire. I'm the Mistress of this Mansion, and I won't be defeated so easily."
"Yeah, yeah," Marisa interjected, her tone lighthearted, "Enough with the chit-chat, ze. Let's get back to the action! I'm ready to kick some vampire butt!"
"Agreed," Reimu said, her eyes narrowing in determination, "Let's end this, once and for all."
"Yay, let's play more~" Flandre cheered, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
The four combatants prepared themselves, their eyes focused and their bodies tensed. The air was thick with tension as they readied themselves for another intense round of fighting. Rina watched with anticipation, her fingers poised to capture every moment of the upcoming clash. The crowd of fairies continued to cheer, their excitement and enthusiasm reaching a fever pitch. The blood red moon shone brightly overhead on clear sky, casting a pale red light over the land, and the night sky filled with stars twinkled with an eerie beauty. The wind rustled through the trees, creating a soft melody that seemed to echo the tension in the air.
"Flan, let's do that~" "Okay!" "[Scarlet Devil Sign "Scarlet Sisters"]!"
"Can't believe this would be useful.." "Let's go, Reimu!" "["Exorcism Master Spark"]!"
Two pairs unleashed their spellcard at the same time, their combined magic creating a spectacle of light and energy. The audience of fairies gasped in awe as they watched the two pairs clash, their attacks colliding in a dazzling display of power. Flaming scarlet crosses clashing against golden coloured beam and ofudas, the sheer force of their combined magic shook the very air around them. The battle was intense, with both sides giving it their all, determined to emerge victorious.
Meanwhile, Rina couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the sheer power and intensity of the battle. Her phone shook in her hands as she tried to capture every moment of the clash. She wondered how she could possibly describe the awe-inspiring display before her. She knew that words alone would not be enough to convey the sheer magnitude of the spectacle she was witnessing. But she had to try, for the sake of her readers and her own pride as a journalist, to do justice to the epic battle that unfolded before her. She watched as the two sides clashed, their magic colliding in a dazzling display of light and energy, the air crackling with the intensity of their power. The fairies surrounding them continued to cheer, their voices rising in a cacophony of excitement and awe, as Rina continued to watch.
Both sides seemed equal at first, before the golden beam slowly overpowered the cross. "What?!" The Scarlet Sisters exclaimed in unison, their expressions a mix of surprise and alarm as they watched their attack being pushed back.
Marisa smirked, her eyes narrowed in determination, "Not so tough now, are you, vampires?"
Reimu remained silent, her face focused and her gaze fixed on her opponents, as the combined spellcards pushed back the Scarlet Sister. The audience of fairies continued to cheer, their excitement reaching a fever pitch as they watched the two sides clash. The night sky was ablaze with the colors of magic and spellcards, as Rina continued to capture every moment of the intense battle on her phone. The air was thick with tension and the sound of the fairies' cheers echoed through the air. The battle was reaching its climax, and everyone could feel the intensity of the moment. The blood red moon shone brightly overhead, casting a pale red light over the land, adding an eerie beauty to the already intense spectacle. The wind rustled through the trees, creating a soft melody that seemed to echo the tension in the air.
"N-no way~" Flandre exclaimed, her eyes wide with shock as she watched their spellcard being pushed back before it completely broke and she saw the golden beam heading straight towards her and Remilia.
Remilia was silent, smiling in defiance as the spellcard approached her, a look of determination in her eyes. In a flash of movement, she reached out and grabbed Flandre, pulling her close and shielding her with her own body. The beam hit them, sending a wave of magic and energy rippling through the air. The impact was immense, sending both sisters flying backwards. The crowd of fairies watched in awe and concern as the vampires were sent hurtling through the air.
"Ha! I won, ze!" Marisa exclaimed, grinning widely as she and Reimu floated down back to the rooftop.
Reimu scoffed, "You mean we won. Don't take all the credit, Marisa."
As they walked to where the vampires fell, the fairies surrounding them cheered and applauded, their excitement and admiration clear, causing Marisa to grin even wider, waving to the cheering fairies. Reimu just sighed, rubbing her temple and feeling exasperated at the witch's behavior. Rina followed behind the two girls, her phone still in hand, ready to capture any further developments in the aftermath of the intense battle. Despite their exhaustion, both Marisa and Reimu couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction at their victory, though it was clear they were drained and in pain from the fight.
"Ow, ow, ow," Remilia groaned, her body aching as she slowly sat up, her clothes were scorched and her hair disheveled. A mess, but not really injured as per spellcard rules of non-lethal. "That was...quite something. I must admit, I underestimated you, humans."
Flandre giggled beside her, "That was fun! We should play like that again sometime!"
Remilia gave a weak chuckle, shaking her head in disbelief at her sister's enthusiasm, "I think I'll pass, Flan. Once was enough for me." She stood up, her legs shaky from exhaustion as she turned to face the victors. "Well done, humans. You've bested the Scarlet Devil, and for that, I commend you."
Reimu nodded, her expression neutral as she accepted the vampire's congratulations, while Marisa grinned and gave a thumbs-up. "Thanks, ze! So uhh...the Incident's done right? We can go back and relax now?"
"Ah, so eager to leave, Marisa?" Remilia teased, her eyes gleaming with mischief, "But yes, you are correct. With our defeat, I shall cease spreading the scarlet mist. Your little adventure is over."
"Yes! Finally! Alice gonna cooked some good meal to celebrate this!" Marisa exclaimed excitedly, her eyes shining with anticipation.
"Ugh, you and your stomach," Reimu grumbled, her expression one of annoyance mixed with amusement, "Can't you think of anything else for once?"
Marisa grinned cheekily, "Hey, a girl's gotta eat, ya know? And Alice's food is the best!"
"Hmph, I'll have you know Sakuya's meals are just as delicious, if not more," Remilia huffed, her expression smug, "She is the best maid in all of Gensokyo, after all."
Marisa snorted, "Yeah, right. As if anyone can beat Alice's cooking."
The two girls glared at each other, their competitive spirits ignited once more. Reimu sighed, rolling her eyes at their childishness, "Can we just get on with it? I want to go home and rest. My head hurts from this nonsense."
Meanwhile to the side, Rina watched with a smile as the two sides bantered and bickered. Despite the tension of the battle, it was clear that there was no real animosity between them now as if the battle itself was a game they played. It was a relief to see that the incident had been resolved without any serious harm, though her senpais might be slightly disappointed at the rather underwhelming end post-fight. Rina herself preferred this outcome than a true life or death situation. This way, everyone could walk away relatively unscathed and with a newfound respect for their opponents.
"...Today's not so bad after all" Rina sighed with a smile as she looked up at the blood red moon on the clear sky before she felt something was slight off. Maybe she was just exhausted from today?
Then she noticed all of a sudden, the fairies were gone, leaving the roof empty except for the six of them. No, not gone, she saw them in the corners and edges of the mansion, seemingly hiding and watching from distance. Suddenly nervous, she noticed that it seemed something was happening with the group too,
"Sakuya!" Remilia shouted, her voice echoing through the night air, yet no response came from the head maid. Frowning, Remilia tried again, her voice louder and more insistent than before, yet still no response came. A flicker of panic crossed her face as she glanced at Marisa, who shrugged in response.
"Hey, don't worry about it, ze. Maybe she's just busy cleaning up or something. Ya know, maid stuff."
Remilia huffed, her irritation clear in her voice, "Sakuya is the perfect and most loyal maid, she would never fail to respond to my call. Something is wrong here."
Reimu, who had been quietly observing the situation, suddenly spoke up, her voice tense and wary, "Something is definitely off here. We need to be careful."
Marisa raised an eyebrow, her expression skeptical, "What do you mean, ze? We won, didn't we? The incident's over, right?"
"I'm not so sure about that," Reimu replied, her gaze sweeping over the mansion, "Something feels wrong. Like we're being watched. And where are all the fairies?"
As if to answer her question, the sound of a bell rang out, echoing ominously through the night air. All heads turned to the source of the sound, and what they saw sent a shiver down their spines. There, standing atop the clocktower, was a silver-haired figure, her cloak billowing in the wind revealing an outfit similar yet different to that of Reimu's, a full body leather red outfit seemingly dyed in blood. In her grasp was the limp form of Sakuya, the head maid's body battered and bruised, her dress torn and her head bowed in unconsciousness. The figure's eyes glowed with a fierce intensity, her gaze locked on the group below. Blood red moon shined ominously behind her, casting a sinister shadow over the mansion.
"Oh no," Remilia whispered, her voice barely audible as she stared up at the Hunter holding her precious Sakuya captive, "Oh, Sakuya..."
Reimu's eyes widened in recognition as she saw the figure, her heart racing with a mix of fear and anger. She knew this person, the one she fought before, the one that defeated her soundly, the hunter. Despite the difference in appearance, Reimu knew deep down it was the same person. "You... How dare you!" she hissed, her hands clenched into fists as she momentarily looked at Rumia in the back with concern before she glared back at the figure.
Marisa, sensing the tension in the air, stepped forward, her eyes narrowed and her grip on her broom tightening. She glanced at Remilia, then back at the figure, "Who the hell is that, ze?"
"An enemy, Marisa," Reimu replied, her tone grave, "And a dangerous one at that. We need to be careful."
Flandre watched in anger as the figure casually threw Sakuya's body away, which caught by some fairies nearby, her eyes blazing with fury. Her wings twitched, the crystals attached to them glowing with a faint light as she focused her power. With a scream of rage, she created a crushing motion with her hands to destroy the figure that dared harm Sakyuya, yet to her shock, her ability failed. The figure was still standing, unscathed and seemingly unaffected by her power. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at the Reimu look-alike, her mind racing as she tried to comprehend what had just happened. "No way..." she whispered, her voice trembling with shock and confusion, "How..?!"
"...Vampires..." the figure spoke, her voice cold and devoid of emotion, yet the group felt the voice was familiar, a mix of Sakuya and Reimu "...Begone..monsters...your kinds...I'll kill...all of you"
"Y-you...! I won't let you do whatever you want again!" Reimu hissed, her anger and determination flaring but before she could, Reimu felt a hand on her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks. Turning her head, she was met with the sight of a familiar yet unknown figure, a woman with blonde hair and red eyes, her appearance similar to Rumia's yet different. The woman wore a black dress with red ribbon adorning her hair, her expression solemn and determined.
"You're..." Reimu trailed off, her eyes widening in recognition despite never seeing the woman, "You're ...Rumia? Why are you like that?"
"Reimu, please," Rumia, now in adult form and holding a sword of darkness covered in familiar talismans, spoke, her voice calm yet firm as she held the Miko back with her magic, "You're not ready to fight that thing yet. You need to stay back and let me handle this. I don't want you getting hurt again. Stay here, keep those vampires safe"
Before Reimu could even respond, Rumia quickly flew towards the Hunter who Marisa was currently fighting. Yet, it was clear that Marisa's attacks were ineffective as they simply phased through the figure.
"Why my attacks aren't working, ze?!" Marisa yelled, her frustration evident as she continued to unleash her magic on the unflinching Hunter, "This doesn't make sense! It's like Reimu's cheating with her phasing, but this is not Reimu!"
"Marisa! Get back! The hunter isn't someone you can handle!" Rumia shouted as she reached the witch, pushing her out of the way as the hunter finally moved and threw a familiar yin-yang orb at where the witch was moments ago. "Stay back and protect the others, this is not a fight for you"
"You?! Rum-" the witch didn't finish her words as Rumia glared at her, shutting the witch up. "Right. Whatever, ze. Just don't die or anything, ya hear!"
Meanwhile, Reimu was conflicted, torn between her desire to help and her fear of facing the Hunter again. She remembered the pain and humiliation of her previous defeat, the feeling of helplessness as the Hunter defeated her. Her instincts screamed at her to flee, to avoid another confrontation, but her heart ached at the thought of leaving her friend to face the danger alone and fulfilling her duty as Miko of Hakurei. "Rumia..."
"Oi, Reimu! What the heck, ze?!" Marisa exclaimed, her expression a mix of confusion and annoyance as she floated down beside the miko, "Since when did you have a copy that also looked like the maid?! And that girl, she has your ability to phase through attacks! This is cheating, ze!"
"I...I don't know," Reimu stammered, her voice trembling as she struggled to come to terms with the situation, "I don't understand either. She..they..was different when I fought with her before. She didn't even looked like me at all! Now I can see Sakuya's face and even her voice is mixed with Sakuya!"
"Well, whatever she is, we can't let her face that thing alone, ze!" Marisa declared, her resolve hardening as she stared up at the figure, "We need to help her! That hunter or whatever is dangerous, and we can't just stand by and do nothing."
Reimu hesitated, her fear and doubt warring within her, but finally, she nodded, her expression determined as she met Marisa's gaze. "You're right. We can't let Rumia fight alone. We need to help her, no matter what."
"That's the spirit, ze!" Marisa exclaimed, grinning as she brandished her broomstick, "Let's go show that hunter who's boss!"
The two girls flew up towards the battle, ready to join forces with Rumia but before they could do so, Rumia suddenly shouted "Run!"
Reimu and Marisa suddenly felt something was wrong and both quickly separated from each other, dodging an attack that aimed at where they once was. Looking around, they were surprised to see the hunter now stood right behind Remilia and Flandre. They didn't even see her move as she hold a silver sword up in the air. The vampires turned in shock, their expressions a mix of fear and disbelief as they saw the figure, the Hunter, behind them and ready to strike.
'That's just like the maid!' Reimu thought, her mind racing as she tried to turn and get to the vampire sisters, 'She's gonna use the time stop and kill the vampires! I can't reach them in time!'
Reimu watched in horror as the scene unfolded before her. She could see the hunter's blade descending upon Remilia and Flandre in slow motion, their expressions a mix of fear and determination as they tried to evade the deadly blow. But it was clear that one of them wouldn't be able to escape in time. The blade was poised to strike, its silver edge gleaming in the moonlight. Time seemed to slow down as the blade descended, inch by inch, closer to its target.
But then, just as all seemed lost, a blur of movement caught Reimu's eye, and a spear suddenly appeared, blocking the path of the blade and saving the vampire sisters from certain doom. A tall woman with brown hair done in a bun and blue eyes appeared, her lean yet curvy figure dressed in simple clothes and wielding the spear that had saved the vampires' lives.
"Hold it right there, you scum!" the newcomer exclaimed, her voice strong and commanding as she glared at the Hunter, her eyes filled with righetous determination. "You dare attack these innocent people in their own home? I, Bree Sunkiller, shall put a stop to your villainy!"
As the newcomer, Bree, confronted the Hunter away from the vampires, another voice rang out from behind the group, "Hey, hey! Don't forget about us!~" Turning around, Reimu and others saw a fairy girl with red hair in twin tails, dressed in a yellow sundress and wearing a mischievous grin. Beside her were a massive group of fairies, maids or otherwise, their expressions a mix of excitement and nervousness for the maids or simply excitement for the rest.
"Mei, Mei Mindhaze, at your service!" the red haired girl announced, her tone playful yet confident, "And we're here to help you girls out! Ain't that right, ladies?"
"R-right!" "Oh yes!" "Let's do it!" "It's time to beat the bad guy!" The fairy maids hesitantly agreed while other fairies cheered loudly, their enthusiasm unbridled. Some even had weapons, mostly from kitchen, but some had actual swords and spears and similar weapons.
Marisa, who now stood beside the vampire sisters, let out a low whistle, her eyes wide with amazement, "Wow, I didn't expect this, ze. It's like we have our own little army here."
"Where the heck did all of these fairies come from?" Reimu murmured, her brow furrowed in confusion as she surveyed the group before she shook her head and stared at Remilia, "Anyway, you two should get back and hide somewhere safe. For some reason, she targets you two specifically"
"Ah, yes, you're right," Remilia said, her expression solemn as she and Flandre began to move away from the battle, "We'll leave it to you girls to take care of this. Be careful, and don't do anything reckless."
"Yeah! Be careful, okay? Don't get hurt!" Flandre called out, her voice full of worry and concern as she waved to the group before she and her sister left to find a safe place.
"Right, let's do this then, ze!" Marisa exclaimed, her eyes shining with determination as she held her broomstick firmly in her hands, "We'll show this creep what happens when you mess with the best!"
"Be careful you two" Rumia said as she landed between the two, her eyes fixed on the hunter and her expression serious, "The hunter is not someone to underestimate"
"I know, Rumia" Reimu replied, her voice firm and steady as she stared at the figure, "But we can't let her harm anyone else. We need to stop her, no matter what."
"Well then, time to bring an end to this weird incident of a day, ze!" Marisa declared, her grin wide and confident as she brandished her broomstick, "Let's show this creep who's boss!"
Rumia and Reimu nodded in agreement, and together they turned to face the figure, the three girls ready to confront the unknown assailant and put an end to the chaos that had befallen the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
Marisa whistled, "Wow, something really went down here ze. Do you think someone else beat us to the punch?"
"Seems likely," Reimu remarked, her gaze fixed on the devastation surrounding them with disinterest, "Or maybe whoever behind this fought each others, would've save me some troubles."
"You just want to go back and nap," Marisa retorted, earning a scowl from the miko.
"And you just want to steal something, don't you?" Reimu shot back.
"Well, I do want to get my hand on that library, ze," Marisa admitted with a mischievous grin, "But this is incident important too, ya know."
"Sure, sure," Reimu replied dismissively, rolling her eyes at her companion's predictable response.
After some twists and turns, alongside some grumblings from Reimu and teasing to said Miko by Marisa about being lost, the group found itself inside a large room in state of disrepair with a hole on the ceiling straight to the roof. It was most likely an impressive room for the owner though the group didn't care much about such and followed Reimu as she flew out of the hole, and the group found themselves in the roof.
"Welcome, dear guests. It seemed you all took quite the detour to reach us." Up in the air, a pair of girls greeted them. The one spoke was a girl with blue hair, wearing a white mob cap with red ribbon and a pink dress, her wings were like those of a bat and her eyes were red. Her voice is somewhat haughty and sounded like a noble trying to be formal, but also playful and a bit mocking. "But no matter, I am Remilia Scarlet, the Scarlet Devil herself, the Mistress of this Mansion, the one behind this scarlet mist. Beauitful, isn't it?"
"And I am her little sister, Flandre! Nice to meet you!" the second girl said cheerily, she has similar wing to her sister, though she has blond hair tied into single ponytail with a red ribbon to the side. Her eyes were also red, her dress was red instead of pink like Remilia and she hold a twisted black wand on her hand. Her wings aren't bat-like like Remilia but instead a pair of black limb with eight crystals of rainbow colors attached to the end of them. "Are you my new toys? You better not broke easy, okay!"
Curiously, the pair seemed to be slightly messy and their clothes in tatters, Rina noted. Their hair were messy and they looked tired, their skin slightly dirty. It was as if the sisters had just finished a long battle, yet their eyes were still alert and their demeanor still imposing. Rina couldn't help but wonder what kind of fight these two had been in before they arrived.
"Now, now, Flan~ Remember what I told you," Remilia chided, her tone playful but with a hint of seriousness, "Don't play too roughly with your new friends, got it? They are important, so make sure you treat them gently, okay?"
"I know, I know~" Flandre replied, her voice still filled with cheer, "We can have fun and play together, and then we can all be happy! Right?"
"Right!" Remilia agreed with a smile, her eyes filled with mischief yet hiding something else, similar to Rumia if Rina had to guess.
Marisa smirked at Remilia's words, her eyes full of challenge, "Oh yeah? Well, I'll be sure to give you both a good beating then ze"
"Please," Reimu said, her tone deadpan, "I can't believe I have to deal with two bratty vampires. Can you please stop talking and just fight already? I want to go home and nap."
Remilia chuckled, seemingly amused by the exchange. "My, my, how feisty. Very well then, let's begin this little game. But be warned, we won't hold back, so don't expect this to be easy, okay?"
"Bring it on!" Marisa said, grinning wildly, her grip on her broom tightening as she readied herself for the upcoming battle, her magic gathering on her palm, ready to be released at a moment's notice, before she paused "Wait, are we doing this one by one or together?"
"Oooh! Oooh! Can we fight together?! I want to play with two friends at once!" Flandre exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with excitement and childish glee, "It would be fun!"
Remilia simply looked at Reimu with questioning and playful gaze, letting her decide.
Reimu sighed and rubbed her temple, "I don't care, just get it over with already. I have things to do and places to be. Tag team or whatever, I don't care."
Remilia smirked and nodded, "Well, well, then. Since our dear Miko seems to be in a hurry, we shall oblige. Flan, are you ready to play with our guests?"
Flandre clapped her hands gleefully, her expression one of pure excitement. "Yay! Let's play!"
Meanwhile, Marisa and Reimu shared a look, determination and readiness in their eyes as they prepared for the upcoming fight. Rina couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation and nervousness as she watched the two teams get ready to clash. She knew this wasn't going to be an easy battle, but she had faith in her friends' abilities.
"Let's do this, ze!" Marisa yelled, charging forward with her broom in hand, her eyes narrowed with determination.
The sound of a bell echoed throughout the roof, seemingly signalling the beginning of their battle. Remilia and Flandre stood at the ready, their eyes focused on their opponents, as Marisa and Reimu rushed towards them, their movements in sync. As the four combatants clashed, the air filled with the sounds of explosions, and magic being thrown around with the moon shining behind the scarlet mist as a backdrop.
Pulling out her smartphone, after setting down Rumia in safe but good spot to watch, Rina started recording everything. This incident truly gave her many great things for her, and she wasn't going to let this chance slip by too. She even saw many fairy maids and regular fairies started to gather around the rooftops, watching the fight and cheering for anyone they liked really. It was less of a serious incident solving and more like a festival at this point, she noted. Though some things still bother her, like the mysterious Reimu that apparently attacked the gatekeeper, but she'll just focus on the battle for now.
"It seemed that we garnered quite the audience, shrine maiden," Remilia remarked, her voice full of amusement as she dodged another one of Reimu's attacks, "Are you sure you want to embarrass yourself in front of all these people? It might not be good for your reputation."
"Please," Reimu scoffed, her expression unimpressed, "I don't care about what these fairies think of me. Besides, I'm not the one who's going to be embarrassed here, vampire."
"Ooh, you're so cool, Reimu~" Rumia called out from her spot, her voice full of admiration, "Show them what you're made of!"
From Rina's observation, it seemed that this Remilia Scarlet is the more skilled of the two Scarlet sisters, but weaker overall. Not that it made the vampire any less scary in Rina's opinion. While not as fast as Aya-senpai, the vampire's speed matched that of a tengu, her speed no less than an oni, while her magical power probably ranked high in Gensokyo overall. Rina couldn't help but feel slight envy at the sheer power the vampires seemed to possess. She was a nobody compared to these monsters.
"Wow, you're pretty strong, human! I like that!" Flandre exclaimed, her voice full of excitement as she dodged Marisa's latest attack, her movements agile and graceful despite her apparent carelessness, as she split into four "It's been a while since I've had someone to play with like this!"
"Ha, you're pretty strong yourself, ze!" Marisa replied, her grin wide and her eyes sparkling with adrenaline, "But I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve!"
Flandre giggled, her eyes dancing with amusement, "Oh, I can't wait to see what you've got! Let's have some fun, shall we?"
Marisa nodded, her expression determined, "Oh, we will, vampire. We'll have a blast, I promise you that!"
Meanwhile, Flandre the sister was simply a brute, her power definitely stronger than her sister but also much less skilled or controlled. Rina watched as the vampire just conjured a large flaming sword and swung it randomly without any care for finesse or tactics or skills. It was truly like a kid swinging a stick. Yet, Rina had to admit that such simple tactic worked in its own way when backed by the vampire's considerable amount of power and magic. Marisa had to give her all just to dodge and avoid the attacks, only occasionally able to return one herself.
The four's battle was intense, their movements swift and their attacks powerful, as Rina recorded the entire thing with her smartphone. The fairies around them cheered and hollered, their excitement palpable as they watched the fight unfold. Both sides easily switched opponents at will and even occasionally partnered up again to unleash a combined spellcard. The night was truly a spectacle to behold, and Rina couldn't help but be amazed at the sheer power and skill displayed before her. She wondered what kind of power would be needed to reach such level.
"Hey, Rina~ Can you get these things off me?" Rumia called out to Rina, her voice a mix of boredom and annoyance as she gestured to the talismans that bound her in place, "I'm getting tired of being tied up like this."
Rina hesitated, her gaze flicking between the ongoing battle and the immobilized youkai of darkness, fear of the Hakurei maiden's wrath making her indecisive. On one hand, even if occasionally creep her out, Rumia had been cooperative and harmless, and she felt bad for her current situation. But on the other hand...
"I-I can't," Rina stammered, her voice trembling slightly, "Miss shrine maiden asked me to make sure you stay put, and I don't want to get on her bad side. She's already angry enough with the whole incident and all."
"Aw, come on, Rina~ I promise I won't do anything bad," Rumia pouted, her expression pleading as she tried to sway the tengu girl, "I'll be a good girl, I swear!"
"I-I'm sorry, Rumia," Rina apologized, her tone apologetic but firm, "I can't risk it. The shrine maiden is already on edge, and I don't want to make things worse for either of us."
Left unsaid was despite her became somewhat more comfortable around the shrine maiden, she was still afraid of the Hakurei maiden. Not as much as they first met, especially after knowing Reimu being Alice's friend too, but still the Hakurei maiden was a very intimidating figure. Not to mention how caring or afraid she was for Rumia. If anything happened to Rumia, Rina wasn't sure she could survive the shrine maiden's wrath. It was just too much to risk, she thought to herself.
"Fine, be that way," Rumia huffed, her expression turning sullen and pouting, "See if I care. I'll just sit here and be bored out of my mind while everyone else has fun."
Rina sighed and turned her attention back to the battle. She couldn't afford to get distracted, especially when recording the event. She had to focus and make sure she captured everything that was happening. Though she couldn't help but feel bad for Rumia.
The battle raged on between the four combatants, their movements swift and their attacks powerful. But, as time went on, they started to show signs of fatigue, their breathing heavy and their movements slowing down. Eventually, they came to a halt, taking a moment to catch their breath and assess the situation. They stood across from each other, the distance between them not too far or close, ready for another round of intense fighting. The audience of fairies and fairy maids continued to cheer, their excitement and enthusiasm undiminished.
"You've got some skills, shrine maiden," Remilia remarked, her eyes shining with admiration, "I'm impressed. You're not like the other humans I've faced before."
"Thanks," Reimu replied, her voice nonchalant, "But I'm not here to impress you. I'm here to solve an incident and protect Gensokyo from whatever danger you pose."
Remilia chuckled, her expression amused, "Oh, so confident. But you'll find that I'm not your average vampire. I'm the Mistress of this Mansion, and I won't be defeated so easily."
"Yeah, yeah," Marisa interjected, her tone lighthearted, "Enough with the chit-chat, ze. Let's get back to the action! I'm ready to kick some vampire butt!"
"Agreed," Reimu said, her eyes narrowing in determination, "Let's end this, once and for all."
"Yay, let's play more~" Flandre cheered, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
The four combatants prepared themselves, their eyes focused and their bodies tensed. The air was thick with tension as they readied themselves for another intense round of fighting. Rina watched with anticipation, her fingers poised to capture every moment of the upcoming clash. The crowd of fairies continued to cheer, their excitement and enthusiasm reaching a fever pitch. The blood red moon shone brightly overhead on clear sky, casting a pale red light over the land, and the night sky filled with stars twinkled with an eerie beauty. The wind rustled through the trees, creating a soft melody that seemed to echo the tension in the air.
"Flan, let's do that~" "Okay!" "[Scarlet Devil Sign "Scarlet Sisters"]!"
"Can't believe this would be useful.." "Let's go, Reimu!" "["Exorcism Master Spark"]!"
Two pairs unleashed their spellcard at the same time, their combined magic creating a spectacle of light and energy. The audience of fairies gasped in awe as they watched the two pairs clash, their attacks colliding in a dazzling display of power. Flaming scarlet crosses clashing against golden coloured beam and ofudas, the sheer force of their combined magic shook the very air around them. The battle was intense, with both sides giving it their all, determined to emerge victorious.
Meanwhile, Rina couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the sheer power and intensity of the battle. Her phone shook in her hands as she tried to capture every moment of the clash. She wondered how she could possibly describe the awe-inspiring display before her. She knew that words alone would not be enough to convey the sheer magnitude of the spectacle she was witnessing. But she had to try, for the sake of her readers and her own pride as a journalist, to do justice to the epic battle that unfolded before her. She watched as the two sides clashed, their magic colliding in a dazzling display of light and energy, the air crackling with the intensity of their power. The fairies surrounding them continued to cheer, their voices rising in a cacophony of excitement and awe, as Rina continued to watch.
Both sides seemed equal at first, before the golden beam slowly overpowered the cross. "What?!" The Scarlet Sisters exclaimed in unison, their expressions a mix of surprise and alarm as they watched their attack being pushed back.
Marisa smirked, her eyes narrowed in determination, "Not so tough now, are you, vampires?"
Reimu remained silent, her face focused and her gaze fixed on her opponents, as the combined spellcards pushed back the Scarlet Sister. The audience of fairies continued to cheer, their excitement reaching a fever pitch as they watched the two sides clash. The night sky was ablaze with the colors of magic and spellcards, as Rina continued to capture every moment of the intense battle on her phone. The air was thick with tension and the sound of the fairies' cheers echoed through the air. The battle was reaching its climax, and everyone could feel the intensity of the moment. The blood red moon shone brightly overhead, casting a pale red light over the land, adding an eerie beauty to the already intense spectacle. The wind rustled through the trees, creating a soft melody that seemed to echo the tension in the air.
"N-no way~" Flandre exclaimed, her eyes wide with shock as she watched their spellcard being pushed back before it completely broke and she saw the golden beam heading straight towards her and Remilia.
Remilia was silent, smiling in defiance as the spellcard approached her, a look of determination in her eyes. In a flash of movement, she reached out and grabbed Flandre, pulling her close and shielding her with her own body. The beam hit them, sending a wave of magic and energy rippling through the air. The impact was immense, sending both sisters flying backwards. The crowd of fairies watched in awe and concern as the vampires were sent hurtling through the air.
"Ha! I won, ze!" Marisa exclaimed, grinning widely as she and Reimu floated down back to the rooftop.
Reimu scoffed, "You mean we won. Don't take all the credit, Marisa."
As they walked to where the vampires fell, the fairies surrounding them cheered and applauded, their excitement and admiration clear, causing Marisa to grin even wider, waving to the cheering fairies. Reimu just sighed, rubbing her temple and feeling exasperated at the witch's behavior. Rina followed behind the two girls, her phone still in hand, ready to capture any further developments in the aftermath of the intense battle. Despite their exhaustion, both Marisa and Reimu couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction at their victory, though it was clear they were drained and in pain from the fight.
"Ow, ow, ow," Remilia groaned, her body aching as she slowly sat up, her clothes were scorched and her hair disheveled. A mess, but not really injured as per spellcard rules of non-lethal. "That was...quite something. I must admit, I underestimated you, humans."
Flandre giggled beside her, "That was fun! We should play like that again sometime!"
Remilia gave a weak chuckle, shaking her head in disbelief at her sister's enthusiasm, "I think I'll pass, Flan. Once was enough for me." She stood up, her legs shaky from exhaustion as she turned to face the victors. "Well done, humans. You've bested the Scarlet Devil, and for that, I commend you."
Reimu nodded, her expression neutral as she accepted the vampire's congratulations, while Marisa grinned and gave a thumbs-up. "Thanks, ze! So uhh...the Incident's done right? We can go back and relax now?"
"Ah, so eager to leave, Marisa?" Remilia teased, her eyes gleaming with mischief, "But yes, you are correct. With our defeat, I shall cease spreading the scarlet mist. Your little adventure is over."
"Yes! Finally! Alice gonna cooked some good meal to celebrate this!" Marisa exclaimed excitedly, her eyes shining with anticipation.
"Ugh, you and your stomach," Reimu grumbled, her expression one of annoyance mixed with amusement, "Can't you think of anything else for once?"
Marisa grinned cheekily, "Hey, a girl's gotta eat, ya know? And Alice's food is the best!"
"Hmph, I'll have you know Sakuya's meals are just as delicious, if not more," Remilia huffed, her expression smug, "She is the best maid in all of Gensokyo, after all."
Marisa snorted, "Yeah, right. As if anyone can beat Alice's cooking."
The two girls glared at each other, their competitive spirits ignited once more. Reimu sighed, rolling her eyes at their childishness, "Can we just get on with it? I want to go home and rest. My head hurts from this nonsense."
Meanwhile to the side, Rina watched with a smile as the two sides bantered and bickered. Despite the tension of the battle, it was clear that there was no real animosity between them now as if the battle itself was a game they played. It was a relief to see that the incident had been resolved without any serious harm, though her senpais might be slightly disappointed at the rather underwhelming end post-fight. Rina herself preferred this outcome than a true life or death situation. This way, everyone could walk away relatively unscathed and with a newfound respect for their opponents.
"...Today's not so bad after all" Rina sighed with a smile as she looked up at the blood red moon on the clear sky before she felt something was slight off. Maybe she was just exhausted from today?
Then she noticed all of a sudden, the fairies were gone, leaving the roof empty except for the six of them. No, not gone, she saw them in the corners and edges of the mansion, seemingly hiding and watching from distance. Suddenly nervous, she noticed that it seemed something was happening with the group too,
"Sakuya!" Remilia shouted, her voice echoing through the night air, yet no response came from the head maid. Frowning, Remilia tried again, her voice louder and more insistent than before, yet still no response came. A flicker of panic crossed her face as she glanced at Marisa, who shrugged in response.
"Hey, don't worry about it, ze. Maybe she's just busy cleaning up or something. Ya know, maid stuff."
Remilia huffed, her irritation clear in her voice, "Sakuya is the perfect and most loyal maid, she would never fail to respond to my call. Something is wrong here."
Reimu, who had been quietly observing the situation, suddenly spoke up, her voice tense and wary, "Something is definitely off here. We need to be careful."
Marisa raised an eyebrow, her expression skeptical, "What do you mean, ze? We won, didn't we? The incident's over, right?"
"I'm not so sure about that," Reimu replied, her gaze sweeping over the mansion, "Something feels wrong. Like we're being watched. And where are all the fairies?"
As if to answer her question, the sound of a bell rang out, echoing ominously through the night air. All heads turned to the source of the sound, and what they saw sent a shiver down their spines. There, standing atop the clocktower, was a silver-haired figure, her cloak billowing in the wind revealing an outfit similar yet different to that of Reimu's, a full body leather red outfit seemingly dyed in blood. In her grasp was the limp form of Sakuya, the head maid's body battered and bruised, her dress torn and her head bowed in unconsciousness. The figure's eyes glowed with a fierce intensity, her gaze locked on the group below. Blood red moon shined ominously behind her, casting a sinister shadow over the mansion.
"Oh no," Remilia whispered, her voice barely audible as she stared up at the Hunter holding her precious Sakuya captive, "Oh, Sakuya..."
Reimu's eyes widened in recognition as she saw the figure, her heart racing with a mix of fear and anger. She knew this person, the one she fought before, the one that defeated her soundly, the hunter. Despite the difference in appearance, Reimu knew deep down it was the same person. "You... How dare you!" she hissed, her hands clenched into fists as she momentarily looked at Rumia in the back with concern before she glared back at the figure.
Marisa, sensing the tension in the air, stepped forward, her eyes narrowed and her grip on her broom tightening. She glanced at Remilia, then back at the figure, "Who the hell is that, ze?"
"An enemy, Marisa," Reimu replied, her tone grave, "And a dangerous one at that. We need to be careful."
Flandre watched in anger as the figure casually threw Sakuya's body away, which caught by some fairies nearby, her eyes blazing with fury. Her wings twitched, the crystals attached to them glowing with a faint light as she focused her power. With a scream of rage, she created a crushing motion with her hands to destroy the figure that dared harm Sakyuya, yet to her shock, her ability failed. The figure was still standing, unscathed and seemingly unaffected by her power. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at the Reimu look-alike, her mind racing as she tried to comprehend what had just happened. "No way..." she whispered, her voice trembling with shock and confusion, "How..?!"
"...Vampires..." the figure spoke, her voice cold and devoid of emotion, yet the group felt the voice was familiar, a mix of Sakuya and Reimu "...Begone..monsters...your kinds...I'll kill...all of you"
"Y-you...! I won't let you do whatever you want again!" Reimu hissed, her anger and determination flaring but before she could, Reimu felt a hand on her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks. Turning her head, she was met with the sight of a familiar yet unknown figure, a woman with blonde hair and red eyes, her appearance similar to Rumia's yet different. The woman wore a black dress with red ribbon adorning her hair, her expression solemn and determined.
"You're..." Reimu trailed off, her eyes widening in recognition despite never seeing the woman, "You're ...Rumia? Why are you like that?"
"Reimu, please," Rumia, now in adult form and holding a sword of darkness covered in familiar talismans, spoke, her voice calm yet firm as she held the Miko back with her magic, "You're not ready to fight that thing yet. You need to stay back and let me handle this. I don't want you getting hurt again. Stay here, keep those vampires safe"
Before Reimu could even respond, Rumia quickly flew towards the Hunter who Marisa was currently fighting. Yet, it was clear that Marisa's attacks were ineffective as they simply phased through the figure.
"Why my attacks aren't working, ze?!" Marisa yelled, her frustration evident as she continued to unleash her magic on the unflinching Hunter, "This doesn't make sense! It's like Reimu's cheating with her phasing, but this is not Reimu!"
"Marisa! Get back! The hunter isn't someone you can handle!" Rumia shouted as she reached the witch, pushing her out of the way as the hunter finally moved and threw a familiar yin-yang orb at where the witch was moments ago. "Stay back and protect the others, this is not a fight for you"
"You?! Rum-" the witch didn't finish her words as Rumia glared at her, shutting the witch up. "Right. Whatever, ze. Just don't die or anything, ya hear!"
Meanwhile, Reimu was conflicted, torn between her desire to help and her fear of facing the Hunter again. She remembered the pain and humiliation of her previous defeat, the feeling of helplessness as the Hunter defeated her. Her instincts screamed at her to flee, to avoid another confrontation, but her heart ached at the thought of leaving her friend to face the danger alone and fulfilling her duty as Miko of Hakurei. "Rumia..."
"Oi, Reimu! What the heck, ze?!" Marisa exclaimed, her expression a mix of confusion and annoyance as she floated down beside the miko, "Since when did you have a copy that also looked like the maid?! And that girl, she has your ability to phase through attacks! This is cheating, ze!"
"I...I don't know," Reimu stammered, her voice trembling as she struggled to come to terms with the situation, "I don't understand either. She..they..was different when I fought with her before. She didn't even looked like me at all! Now I can see Sakuya's face and even her voice is mixed with Sakuya!"
"Well, whatever she is, we can't let her face that thing alone, ze!" Marisa declared, her resolve hardening as she stared up at the figure, "We need to help her! That hunter or whatever is dangerous, and we can't just stand by and do nothing."
Reimu hesitated, her fear and doubt warring within her, but finally, she nodded, her expression determined as she met Marisa's gaze. "You're right. We can't let Rumia fight alone. We need to help her, no matter what."
"That's the spirit, ze!" Marisa exclaimed, grinning as she brandished her broomstick, "Let's go show that hunter who's boss!"
The two girls flew up towards the battle, ready to join forces with Rumia but before they could do so, Rumia suddenly shouted "Run!"
Reimu and Marisa suddenly felt something was wrong and both quickly separated from each other, dodging an attack that aimed at where they once was. Looking around, they were surprised to see the hunter now stood right behind Remilia and Flandre. They didn't even see her move as she hold a silver sword up in the air. The vampires turned in shock, their expressions a mix of fear and disbelief as they saw the figure, the Hunter, behind them and ready to strike.
'That's just like the maid!' Reimu thought, her mind racing as she tried to turn and get to the vampire sisters, 'She's gonna use the time stop and kill the vampires! I can't reach them in time!'
Reimu watched in horror as the scene unfolded before her. She could see the hunter's blade descending upon Remilia and Flandre in slow motion, their expressions a mix of fear and determination as they tried to evade the deadly blow. But it was clear that one of them wouldn't be able to escape in time. The blade was poised to strike, its silver edge gleaming in the moonlight. Time seemed to slow down as the blade descended, inch by inch, closer to its target.
But then, just as all seemed lost, a blur of movement caught Reimu's eye, and a spear suddenly appeared, blocking the path of the blade and saving the vampire sisters from certain doom. A tall woman with brown hair done in a bun and blue eyes appeared, her lean yet curvy figure dressed in simple clothes and wielding the spear that had saved the vampires' lives.
"Hold it right there, you scum!" the newcomer exclaimed, her voice strong and commanding as she glared at the Hunter, her eyes filled with righetous determination. "You dare attack these innocent people in their own home? I, Bree Sunkiller, shall put a stop to your villainy!"
As the newcomer, Bree, confronted the Hunter away from the vampires, another voice rang out from behind the group, "Hey, hey! Don't forget about us!~" Turning around, Reimu and others saw a fairy girl with red hair in twin tails, dressed in a yellow sundress and wearing a mischievous grin. Beside her were a massive group of fairies, maids or otherwise, their expressions a mix of excitement and nervousness for the maids or simply excitement for the rest.
"Mei, Mei Mindhaze, at your service!" the red haired girl announced, her tone playful yet confident, "And we're here to help you girls out! Ain't that right, ladies?"
"R-right!" "Oh yes!" "Let's do it!" "It's time to beat the bad guy!" The fairy maids hesitantly agreed while other fairies cheered loudly, their enthusiasm unbridled. Some even had weapons, mostly from kitchen, but some had actual swords and spears and similar weapons.
Marisa, who now stood beside the vampire sisters, let out a low whistle, her eyes wide with amazement, "Wow, I didn't expect this, ze. It's like we have our own little army here."
"Where the heck did all of these fairies come from?" Reimu murmured, her brow furrowed in confusion as she surveyed the group before she shook her head and stared at Remilia, "Anyway, you two should get back and hide somewhere safe. For some reason, she targets you two specifically"
"Ah, yes, you're right," Remilia said, her expression solemn as she and Flandre began to move away from the battle, "We'll leave it to you girls to take care of this. Be careful, and don't do anything reckless."
"Yeah! Be careful, okay? Don't get hurt!" Flandre called out, her voice full of worry and concern as she waved to the group before she and her sister left to find a safe place.
"Right, let's do this then, ze!" Marisa exclaimed, her eyes shining with determination as she held her broomstick firmly in her hands, "We'll show this creep what happens when you mess with the best!"
"Be careful you two" Rumia said as she landed between the two, her eyes fixed on the hunter and her expression serious, "The hunter is not someone to underestimate"
"I know, Rumia" Reimu replied, her voice firm and steady as she stared at the figure, "But we can't let her harm anyone else. We need to stop her, no matter what."
"Well then, time to bring an end to this weird incident of a day, ze!" Marisa declared, her grin wide and confident as she brandished her broomstick, "Let's show this creep who's boss!"
Rumia and Reimu nodded in agreement, and together they turned to face the figure, the three girls ready to confront the unknown assailant and put an end to the chaos that had befallen the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
Not the most satisfied with, especially with the latter half but I've gone ten drafts at least and it hits most of the plot I wanted. Pacing a bit of mess, slight overload of things especially since there are so many chars but I guess this is the limit of my writing skill for now. Not to myself in the future to revamped this if possible. Anyway, Stage 5 cleared and Stage 6 began, a bit of a rush and put together again, but I pretty much putting this out now than being burned out trying to chase something I couldn't achieve so I do apologise for the quality.
Bree: "Smuggling all those fairies before this began was worth it, maybe"
Mei: "Not sure why we're all here but lady said just make sure the vibe stays positive so, I am sure it will work out"
Remilia: "Why there are so many fairies?! What the hell is happening?!"
Flandre: Both shocked, confused and excited that her ability fails
Reimu: Too focused on the hunter, and why Rumia is big, to care
Rumia: "Damn it Hunter, you stole my possible take over of the incident and hurt Reimu!"
Marisa: "....Alice's food will have to wait longer huh? Sucks"
Bree: "Smuggling all those fairies before this began was worth it, maybe"
Mei: "Not sure why we're all here but lady said just make sure the vibe stays positive so, I am sure it will work out"
Remilia: "Why there are so many fairies?! What the hell is happening?!"
Flandre: Both shocked, confused and excited that her ability fails
Reimu: Too focused on the hunter, and why Rumia is big, to care
Rumia: "Damn it Hunter, you stole my possible take over of the incident and hurt Reimu!"
Marisa: "....Alice's food will have to wait longer huh? Sucks"
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Interesting the difference between the fights, how casual with Remilia and how serious it is with the hunter that copies the abilities of those it fights. You copied the first part of the chapter one after another and the latter part together with the author note. Looking forward to the next chapter.
Scarlet Mist 6
Ylamona
Konlulu~
'Strange, what's going on?' Marisa thought as she saw the Hunter dodged the many attempts of fairies throwing things at her before locked in a melee with the strange brunette, Bree, again.
Despite her outward attitude, she wasn't reckless or happy-go-luck as people thought, even if she acted like it from time to time. One should not underestimate a magician, no matter how eccentric they are. Kirisame Marisa might acted like a foolhardy witch, but that's because it would make her enemy underestimate her and admittedly fun. In truth, she was smart enough to be a magician to begin with, which was built through countless experiments and hours of study to match her friend-rival Reimu who despite didn't train as much as her, always able to keep up and even exceed her.
'Calm down Marisa. I must first observe the situation and gather all the information before I act' She told herself as she looked at her surroundings. 'Right, calm and think. We need to do something about this situation'
The Hunter, Reimu's evil clone or whatever she was, currently engaged in an intense fight against the brunette spear-wielder with her own sword and gohei-like whip. Despite her unfamiliarity with melee weapons, Marisa knew enough from being around Alice to see how the two fought. The spear woman fought gracefully, like a well-oiled machine. Her movements were precise and calculated, each thrust and parry executed with an almost surgical precision. She seemed to anticipate the Hunter's attacks, and her own strikes were delivered with a deadly accuracy.
On the other hand, the Hunter fought like a wild animal, all raw power and savage fury. Her attacks were brutal and relentless, each swing of her sword or lash of her whip fuelled by an almost primal rage. She seemed to have no regard for her own safety, and her strikes were often reckless and dangerous. Yet, that didn't mean the hunter is unskilled, she's quite skilled even. Just, it was like she's using skill with instinct and not much thought. Perhaps something she got from also being that maid, Sakuya too? Unclear, but a possibility.
'Not enough data to go by, tch. Reimu knew her apparently but didn't tell much beyond this Hunter had different form and not looked like her, or hybrid of her and Sakuya.' Gears began to work in her head as she observed the two women's fight, her eyes sharp and focused.
'That Hunter has two abilities, phasing through things like Reimu and time manipulation, like the maid. She also has their physical prowess and appearances, she also defeated them both before. So what's the common point?' She mused, her mind racing with possibilities, 'Is the Hunter stealing their power? Or was there something else at play?'
The hunter managed to kicked Bree off before she guarded herself against the big Rumia's attack, isn't that a question of its own Marisa thought. Sword of silver and sword of darkness clashed. The hunter's silver sword glowed ominously while Rumia's sword of darkness emitted a black aura that seemed to devour the very light around it. Despite that, the Hunter still able to also shot countless ofuda covered knives at Reimu who tried to flanked her from afar, which the Miko managed to evade by some hair's breath. While Marisa herself very much still watched from afar, occasionally throwing few beams to cover her friends or trying to test if her attacks would go through or not.
The hunter, as expected by Marisa despite her hoping otherwise, simply phased through her attacks like they're nothing or dodged them with contemptous ease 'Tch, of course it's not that easy. This is the one that defeat Reimu before after all, and we saw how it's also able to defeat the scary maid too in real battle. How would one defeat someone that can manipulate time and floated out of reality?!...Wait'
Marisa blinked as she looked back at the fight. While Rumia and Reimu, alongside some extremely brave and most coordinated fairies she seen, barely able to lock the hunter in combat as the hunter occasionally phase through or most likely time manipulation to escaped, they actually did able to do it in the first place. Unlike their first, short, encounter which the Hunter unfazed by her own attacks and simply bypassed them with time manipulation to reach the vampires. Yet here she is, actually locked in combat with her friends and those fairies.
"Oi, what's going on now, ze?" Marisa muttered in confusion, her brow furrowed in puzzlement. "Why isn't that freak just time stopping or whatever to escape? It did it before, why not now, ze?"
"Simple, we're suppressing her," a familiar voice cut in, and Marisa turned to see the fairy, Mei, grinning smugly. "Or at least Bree did. That tall woman over there, she's suppressing her. That's why she can't use her powers as she wanted. Good to see someone else also using their brains too instead of just rushing in, it's quite refreshing, really"
Marisa's eyes widened in realization. "I see! So that's why she's not just phasing through our attacks, ze! But how is that spear woman doing it?"
Mei smirked, "Gravity, you know what that is right?~"
"Yeah, the force that makes things fall to the ground, ze," Marisa said, her expression thoughtful. "But what does that have to do with suppressing her?"
"You see," Mei explained, her eyes sparkling with excitement and smugness that Marisa already want to punch off her face, "With strong enough gravity, you can distort space-time itself. And since that Hunter seems to rely on manipulating time and space, Bree is using her gravity to disrupt that power"
"Same with the miko's ability to float away from reality to avoid attacks, Bree simply anchored the hunter back to reality with gravity~" Shrugging, the fairy gave a small, genuine smile. "I don't know how that works, to be honest. Bree just weird like that, and I didn't understand what she said about the logic of it"
Marisa nodded slowly, her mind racing as she processed the information. "I see... that make sense...I think, ze. But still, we need to find a way to actually defeat her, not just hold her off. Any ideas?"
"Good thing that you asked~" The fairy smiled brightly before shrugging, "I don't know~"
Marisa stared at the fairy, her expression deadpan. "You were acting so smug, and now you're saying you have no idea how to beat her, ze?"
The fairy shrugged, "What, you expect fairies of all people to know how to fight a time manipulating, intangibility freak? I thought you were supposed to be the one solving incidents and all that?"
"Ugh... I guess you have a point, ze," Marisa sighed, her frustration evident. "Well, any information is better than nothing, I suppose. So, what can you tell me about that thing? You seemed to know quite a bit, ze."
The fairy grinned, her red eyes sparkling with amusement, "Well, I don't know much, but I can tell you what I've heard, okay~?"
Marisa, while nervously watching her friends fighting the Hunter, listened carefully to what the fairy said. Apparently the hunter had been active for a while, hunting down youkais and beasts alike while killing the ones that endanger humans and spares 'innocent' youkais. Reimu fought the hunter before few days ago to save a kitsune or something, but lost completely. The hunter disappeared for days before apparently attacked the gatekeeper of the mansion as an evil copy of Reimu. When Marisa said she never seen any gatekeeper, Mei said that the Hunter apparently brought their prey to 'somewhere', or at least trapped them inside some sort of alternate space. Then she fought the maid while Reimu and Marisa fought the vampires, which then brought them here with the hunter being a mix of Reimu and Sakuya.
"..Wait, if the hunter take form of defeated foes, did this Meiling also took her form?" Marisa asked to herself before Mei just shook her head in response, "No? Weird..but anyway if what you said it's true then..."
Marisa looked at the crimson sky with blood red moon, "..We're trapped inside the hunter's space.."
"Yep, some fairies tried to escape and can't. It seems we can't escape or even contact outside world until the hunter is defeated" Mei shrugged, "Or at least that's what I've been told"
Marisa sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Well, that's just great, ze. Trapped in a weird space with a time-manipulating weirdo that can turn intangible, fighting her to save two vampires that we tried to stop over an Incident... and no way to contact the outside world or get help. This is just perfect, ze"
Thinking as hard as she could, while still assisting her friends fighting the hunter with few beam here and there, Marisa tried to come up with a solution. "So, we need to defeat the Hunter, right? But how do we do that when even suppressed, she could fight all of us and has some nigh-immortal regeneration, ze?"
Marisa's first solution was of course, simply firepower. If they're fighting something that can regenerate, then simply overwhelmed them with more damage than they could healed. She had her mini-hakkero, and Reimu could use her amulets. Surely between them they could do enough damage to take the Hunter down, right? A simple, straightforward solution, though it would require everyone else to keep the Hunter busy while some used their strongest attacks. Other ideas came to mind but Marisa simply didn't have enough information to formulate a clear plan.
The witch shook her head in frustration. "Well, I guess we'll have to go with the classic brute force method, ze. It's not the most elegant solution, but it might be our best bet. Now we just need to find a way to distract her long enough for Reimu and I to fire our strongest attacks, ze"
While the fight was going on, Marisa noticed that Bree and Rumia were slowly getting pushed back, and the Hunter seemed to be adapting to their tactics. She needed to act quickly, or they would lose their window of opportunity.
Marisa flew over to her and Reimu, her voice urgent. "Reimu! We need to hit her with our strongest attacks together. It's the only way we can hope to take her down, ze. Using that "
Reimu nodded despite raisung an eyebrow, her expression determined. "Right. But we need a distraction, or she'll just dodge or phase through them like before"
Marisa's eyes fell upon the fairy, "Mei, right? Can you help us out here, ze?"
The fairy nodded, a mischievous glint in her eye. "Sure thing! Just tell me what you need me to do"
"Great, we need to keep the hunter busy so Reimu and I can blast her with our strongest attacks. Can you distract her for us, ze?" Marisa asked, her voice filled with urgency.
The fairy grinned, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "I thought you wouldn't ask! Just leave it to us~"
The fairy flew up and joined her fellow fairies, who were already swarming around the Hunter like a cloud of buzzing insects. They shot small bullets at the Hunter, trying to keep her occupied and off-balance while still fighting off the assault of Bree and Rumia. The Hunter, despite all her skills and power now bogged down, while trying to attack her foes.
Marisa watched the chaos unfolding before her, a grin spreading across her face. "This is our chance, ze! Reimu!"
"Got it!" Reimu nodded, her face set in a determined expression as countless ofudas floated across the sky around the sky of Scarlet Devil Mansion.
Meanwhile, Rina took cover inside a nearby clock tower, her eyes wide with fear as she watched the chaos unfolding before her. She had never seen anything like it in her entire life, and she had to admit that she was both confused and amazed by it all. The sight of all those fairies swarming around the Hunter, firing bullets at her and keeping her occupied, was both terrifying and awe-inspiring.
"...What a terrifying being" Rina suddenly heard someone said, and she looked up to see the vampire mistress of the Mansion, Remilia herself, standing beside her with a solemn expression. "To contend, nay, defeated the Hakurei miko and Sakuya. Now able to fought against everyone, even that equally terrifying devil of darkness... All by herself."
Remilia turned towards the reporter, a sad and solemn smile on her face. "What do you think of this, Miss Akagi, Miss Reporter? Of this being that hunted me and my sister?"
"I.." Rina hesitated, not sure what to say "I..don't know, I feel scared of her but also amazed at her. It's like she's the living embodiment of human spirit. Like the heroes of old tales.."
"Indeed" Remilia nodded, her voice soft and thoughtful. "It's like the heroes of old, willing to stand up against even the mightiest foe. Against gods, against monsters, against the very world itself. I can see Fate supported her, yet also curse her. A cruel fate, a cursed being, yet one full of determination to overcome even Fate...such a terrifying farcical being"
"What?" Rina asked, her eyes wide with confusion. "What do you mean by that, Mistress Scarlet?"
"Please, just call me miss Remilia," The vampire mistress of the mansion said, a gentle smile on her face as she turned to look at the reporter. "And to answer your question, I can see Fate. And I can tell that this being's Fate is...empty, hollow, or at least different than any other being that I have seen before. There is no past or future, just an eternal present. A being that defy fate and destiny itself. Yet at the same time, it is cursed to be bound by it, of fighting and killing. It only know such thing, and nothing else. An empty existence"
Rina didn't understand what Remilia was saying, but she could feel the weight of the vampire's words "So, can everyone stop her?" Rina asked, her voice trembling. "Can we defeat this...monster?"
"I...don't know. I can see many possible outcomes for her, many of which ended in her defeat. Yet, I can't see a future where she is truly dead, or killed. It is always just a temporary setback, or a victory that leads to her escaping, or a battle where no one emerges victorious" Remilia shook her head, her expression grave. "We must overcome her in some manner, not simply brute force but its raison d'etre"
"Raison...what?" Rina asked, her brow furrowed in confusion. "I don't understand"
"Reason to exist" Remilia sighed as she looked at the battle, "We need to overcome her reason to exist, or I am afraid she will always come back. Even if we managed to defeat her, somehow, perhaps even the regeneration was merely expression of such thing. I can't claim to know for certain"
"What I do know that I and Flan simply can't defeat her or even fought her, no matter what the moment we became her targets." Remilia sighed, "As long as she's alive, we are targets, we are fated to be hunted by her. How shameful of me, to be unable to protect my sister like this"
"Miss Remilia..." Rina trailed off, not sure what to say to the vampire mistress. The two women fell silent, watching the battle unfold before them with a mix of fear and curiosity.
As they watched, they saw the Hunter unleash a powerful attack, a blast of energy that sent shockwaves rippling through the air. The fairies were knocked back, their numbers dwindling as the Hunter's assault intensified. Bree and Rumia struggled to hold their own, their weapons clashing against the Hunter's blade and whip-like gohei. Marisa and Reimu were still charging their ultimate attacks, but it was clear that they wouldn't be ready before the Hunter broke through.
Suddenly, a familiar figure emerged from the shadows. It was Meiling, the gatekeeper of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, her green beret and dress a stark contrast to the chaos around her. She moved with a fluid grace, her movements precise and calculated as she leaped into the fray, her hands glowing with a brilliant light.
"Sorry I'm late, everyone!" Meiling shouted, her voice filled with determination. "Let's take this freak down!"
With that, she launched herself towards the Hunter, her hands glowing with a bright, fiery aura. The Hunter, caught off guard by the gatekeeper's sudden appearance, was forced to shift her attention away from Rumia and Bree, giving them a chance to regain their footing.
"..What a mess this Incident turned to be but seeing everyone worked together like this.." Remilia muttered, a small smile on her lips. "Perhaps it's not all bad"
Rina nodded, her eyes wide with awe as she watched Meiling fight alongside the others. "Yeah, I guess there's something beautiful about it, too"
The battle raged on, the air thick with the scent of magic and the sound of clashing metal. Both sides were evenly matched, each fighter giving it their all in a desperate struggle for survival. Despite their best efforts, however, the Hunter seemed to have the upper hand as she kept regenerating from every blow that was inflicted upon her. It was as if she was invincible, a force that couldn't be stopped no matter how hard they tried.
"A little more...come on...come on!" Marisa gritted her teeth, sweat pouring down her face as she focused on channeling energy into her mini-Hakkero. The device was glowing brightly, its power growing by the second as she poured all of her magical energy into it. Beside her, Reimu was also gathering her own energy, her body surrounded by a shimmering aura of divine light. Together, the two of them were preparing to unleash their ultimate attacks, the only hope they had of defeating the seemingly unbeatable Hunter.
As everyone distracted, a large eye-shaped hole opened up in the sky, inside countless red eyes staring from the dark portal. Then, without any warning, a giant pale white hand descends from the sky toward the Hunter and seemingly crushed her to the rooftop of Scarlet Devil Mansion. The impact shook the very foundations of the building, sending shockwaves rippling through the air. Everyone present felt the tremors, but Rumia simply grinned and laughed as she spread darkness to the mansion and reinforced it both withstand the hand continued pressing down on the Hunter and bound said Hunter.
"You're late, Yukari!" Rumia shouted, her voice filled with a mix of amusement and frustration as she saw the Hunter continued to struggled despite the titanic hand pushed her against the roof and even counter attacked as the hand quickly sporting massive gashes on its surface. Despite that, the hand persisted as the Hunter seemingly twisted and severed repeatedly herself, "Reimu! Marisa! You better be done by now or this won't work for long!"
"Got it, ze!" Marisa shouted, her voice echoing through the night. With a final burst of effort, she unleashed the full power of her mini-Hakkero and to the array of ofudas that surrounded Reimu, pouring every ounce of her magical energy into the blast. Reimu, too, released her pent-up energy, a massive wave of divine light that swept across the battlefield. The two attacks combined, forming a blindingly bright beam of pure energy that shot towards the Hunter like a meteor. An attack that heralded the end of fantasy.
""Let's All Return to Nothingness [Fantasy Sign "Final End Spark"]!"" Marisa and Reimu shouted in unison, their voices echoing across the sky.
The resulting explosion was like a supernova, a blinding flash of light that enveloped the entire area. The ground shook, the air crackled with energy, and everything within the blast radius was vaporized in an instant. The entire part of the mansion where the Hunter was, from the rooftop to the very ground behind it, disappeared into the white flash of nothingness, leaving behind a massive crater that stretched down into the earth. The sound of the explosion was deafening, and the shockwave it created was so powerful that it sent the nearby fairies and Rumia tumbling through the air like leaves in the wind.
As the dust settled and the light faded, silence fell over the battlefield. The only sound was the faint rustle of debris settling and the distant echo of the explosion. Everyone looked on in stunned disbelief, their eyes wide and their mouths agape.
"..Did we do it?" Marisa asked as exhaustion set in and she leaned against her broom. She felt drained, her body weak and shaky from the exertion of the battle. Her hands trembled as she held her mini-Hakkero, and she could feel her heart pounding in her chest.
"I don't know," Reimu replied, her voice soft and tired. "That was the strongest attack I've ever used, and I'm not sure if even that was enough to defeat her."
They both looked down at the crater where the Hunter had been, their eyes searching for any sign of her. But there was nothing, just a gaping hole in the ground that stretched down into the darkness below. The Hunter was nowhere to be seen, and Marisa felt a sense of unease settle over her. Had they really done it? Had they defeated the seemingly invincible Hunter once and for all?
"I think..." Marisa started to say, but her voice trailed off as she noticed something moving in the shadows of the crater. It was faint, barely visible in the dim light, but it was there. A flicker of movement, a glint of silver. And then, with a sudden rush of motion, the Hunter burst out of the shadows.
The Hunter...the being was simply unrecognisable now, it would be hard to even call them human. A beast, what came out was more of a beast of darkness and scarlet mist than any semblance of humanity, despite the vaguely human-like form. Its form was a shifting, swirling mass of darkness and scarlet mist, trying to form the shape it was before but failed. It was as if its very essence had been distorted, twisted by the power of the attack that had vaporized its body.
"...How?.." Marisa muttered in disbelief. Despite the fact that it was barely able to even keep its form together, the Hunter was still moving, its body slowly regenerating and reforming as it staggered forward. Its movements were jerky and uneven, and its form was constantly shifting, but it was still alive, still fighting. "How...how is it still alive?! How is it still moving, ze?!"
"..Monster..it's nothing but a monster..." Reimu muttered as she saw the Hunter's regenerating form. It was a sight that filled her with a mix of horror and awe, and she felt a shiver run down her spine. She had never seen anything like it in her life, and she was unsure of what to do next. Even her and everyone's full power seemed to be ineffective against this being.
"Indeed, monster. This thing is a monster, a monster of humanity" Suddenly, a new voice cut through the tense atmosphere as mist filled the area around them. A figure emerged from the mist, her veiled hat obscuring her features as she calmly played a koto and walked toward them. It was a sight that was both eerie and beautiful, and Marisa found herself transfixed by the woman's presence while whatever became of the Hunter seemingly immobilised, thin invisible threads bound it close. "No times for greetings alas, but this Satsuki Rin shall grant you a miracle tonight"
With a graceful sweep of her hand, the mysterious girl pierced through the Hunter's misty body and seemingly pulled out a small ball of scarlet light before throwing it at Reimu. The Miko barely able to react before it quickly went inside her body. "That was what it stole from you, and a bit more~"
"And this one for the maid~" The girl did it again as she took another ball of blue light from the Hunter who unable to move as the light shot toward the mansion and disappeared into where Sakuya was, "There we go~"
Marisa and Reimu found themselves unable to do anything but watch as the girl continued to pull out more and more balls of coloured lights from the Hunter's body. With each pull, the Hunter's body became less and less solid, until it finally collapsed into a pile of mist and scarlet light. A lost human soul, Reimu realised.
"Phew, finally done," The girl sighed, before turning to look at them with a smile, "Good job you two, this one couldn't possibly do it without your help~ Now all that was left was for you to perform a rite for it, Reimu. Banish it from this mortal realm, return it to where it belong. You should be able to do it, right?"
"Eh..? Ah, yes, I can" Reimu nodded hesitantly, "I can do it, but what about you and this Hunter thing? Why does it do this, what is its goal?-"
"We have no time to answer such things, find me if you desire such things later" The girl shook her head as she looked up at the sky, her expression solemn, "The dawn has come, the end of this incident, the end of this night of madness and lunacy in sight. Rejoice, for you have succeeded, Reimu and Marisa. The threat has passed, and Gensokyo is safe once more...for now at least~"
As Marisa and Reimu watched, the girl seemingly disappeared into the mist, leaving only the two and the lost soul still slowly attracting scarlet mist into itself to form its body again. Marisa felt a sense of relief wash over her, knowing that the nightmare was finally over, yet she couldn't shake off the exhaustion that weighed heavily on her shoulders. Reimu too, was panting and tired, her clothes soaked in sweat and her hair dishevelled. The two exchanged a look, a mixture of relief, exhaustion, and determination in their eyes. With a nod, Reimu began her rite as Marisa watched, her gaze fixed on the lost soul that was slowly taking form once more.
"...It's done..she's returned to...wherever she should" Reimu said as the lost soul dissipated and seemingly gone for good. Marisa sighed in relief, her shoulders sagging as she felt the adrenaline leaving her body. It had been a long, hard-fought battle, but it was finally over.
"Reimu?"
"Yeah, Marisa?"
"You need a bath. You smell terrible, ze," Marisa said with a laugh, trying to lighten the mood.
Reimu rolled her eyes, but a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "You don't exactly smell like roses either, Marisa."
Marisa shrugged, her laughter dying down. "I guess we're both due for a soak...and a lot of rest"
"Yeah"
"...Good job, Marisa. You did great," Reimu said, her voice sincere and warm. Marisa felt a surge of pride at Reimu's compliment, and she couldn't help but smile. Despite the exhaustion and the bruises, she had never felt more alive.
"You too, ze," Marisa replied, "You did great, too. We make a good team, huh?"
Reimu smiled, "Yeah, we do"
As they made their way back to what was left of the mansion, the blood red night faded away revealing the morning sky, a beautiful dawn greeted them. The sun's golden rays bathed the land in a warm, comforting glow, and the air was filled with the sound of birds chirping. It was a peaceful, serene moment, a stark contrast to the chaos and danger they had just faced.
"Hey, Reimu," Marisa suddenly asked, her voice soft and tentative. "What do you think that girl meant by finding her later?"
"I don't know," Reimu replied, her voice equally soft. "But I have a feeling that we haven't seen the last of her"
Marisa nodded, her mind racing with questions and theories. Who was that girl? What was her role in all of this? And what did she mean by 'find me later'? But as they reached the mansion and saw others waiting for them, those questions were pushed to the back of her mind. For now, they just wanted to rest and recover from the battle that had just ended. The questions could wait for another day....
"Wait Reimu, where did you got that cool coat?!" "Huh, what do you- why am I wearing this?! I can't take it off" "..Was it that light ball? Damn it, I'll have to check if that maid got one too!" "Wait! Marisa!-"
"And so the Scarlet Mist incident came to a close, the truth shall remain forever buried only known to those who knew it" Alice said as she closed a book, "As far as anyone knew, the Hakurei Maiden and the Ordinary Magician stopped the Scarlet Devil's mist and returned peace to Gensokyo. This was the story of the two incident resolution specialist, the beginning of the two who would continue to solve more Incidents in the future. The End"
"We're leaving it like that?" Yuuka who was sitting beside her with her tea in hand asked, her expression unimpressed, "That's it? No further explanations, no nothing?"
Alice nodded, sipping her own tea, "Well, we can have some after credit, but this is where the story of the Scarlet Mist officially ended"
Yuuka shrugged before taking a sip of her tea, "So, what will happen to them now?"
"Well, the usual of course" Alice smiled, "After some rest, the two of them will celebrate the victory with a grand party at what remains of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Oh and perhaps Rumia will finally come clean with Reimu, though I doubt it."
"Hmm, I see~" Yuuka nodded, her expression thoughtful, "I guess that's as best as this can be"
Alice sighed, "Indeed, the best laid plans of mice and men, it never go as planned. In the end, it wasn't a simple incident caused by Remilia to test the Spellcard Rules it was supposed to be, but the best outcome possible was achieved in the end"
"Well, I didn't fight that hunter enough I say~"
"Last time I checked, you were left in two pieces after fighting her"
"It was a draw!~" Yuuka pouted as Alice chuckled, "She didn't kill me so it's a draw~!"
"Whatever makes you happy, Yuuka"
As the two friends continued to chat and drink tea, the world outside continued to move on. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and the people of Gensokyo were busy going about their daily lives as the Scarlet Mist disappeared. But for those who knew the true story of the Scarlet Mist incident, there was a sense of relief and satisfaction that came with its end. The Incident was solved, and Gensokyo was safe once again. At least, until next time~
Despite her outward attitude, she wasn't reckless or happy-go-luck as people thought, even if she acted like it from time to time. One should not underestimate a magician, no matter how eccentric they are. Kirisame Marisa might acted like a foolhardy witch, but that's because it would make her enemy underestimate her and admittedly fun. In truth, she was smart enough to be a magician to begin with, which was built through countless experiments and hours of study to match her friend-rival Reimu who despite didn't train as much as her, always able to keep up and even exceed her.
'Calm down Marisa. I must first observe the situation and gather all the information before I act' She told herself as she looked at her surroundings. 'Right, calm and think. We need to do something about this situation'
The Hunter, Reimu's evil clone or whatever she was, currently engaged in an intense fight against the brunette spear-wielder with her own sword and gohei-like whip. Despite her unfamiliarity with melee weapons, Marisa knew enough from being around Alice to see how the two fought. The spear woman fought gracefully, like a well-oiled machine. Her movements were precise and calculated, each thrust and parry executed with an almost surgical precision. She seemed to anticipate the Hunter's attacks, and her own strikes were delivered with a deadly accuracy.
On the other hand, the Hunter fought like a wild animal, all raw power and savage fury. Her attacks were brutal and relentless, each swing of her sword or lash of her whip fuelled by an almost primal rage. She seemed to have no regard for her own safety, and her strikes were often reckless and dangerous. Yet, that didn't mean the hunter is unskilled, she's quite skilled even. Just, it was like she's using skill with instinct and not much thought. Perhaps something she got from also being that maid, Sakuya too? Unclear, but a possibility.
'Not enough data to go by, tch. Reimu knew her apparently but didn't tell much beyond this Hunter had different form and not looked like her, or hybrid of her and Sakuya.' Gears began to work in her head as she observed the two women's fight, her eyes sharp and focused.
'That Hunter has two abilities, phasing through things like Reimu and time manipulation, like the maid. She also has their physical prowess and appearances, she also defeated them both before. So what's the common point?' She mused, her mind racing with possibilities, 'Is the Hunter stealing their power? Or was there something else at play?'
The hunter managed to kicked Bree off before she guarded herself against the big Rumia's attack, isn't that a question of its own Marisa thought. Sword of silver and sword of darkness clashed. The hunter's silver sword glowed ominously while Rumia's sword of darkness emitted a black aura that seemed to devour the very light around it. Despite that, the Hunter still able to also shot countless ofuda covered knives at Reimu who tried to flanked her from afar, which the Miko managed to evade by some hair's breath. While Marisa herself very much still watched from afar, occasionally throwing few beams to cover her friends or trying to test if her attacks would go through or not.
The hunter, as expected by Marisa despite her hoping otherwise, simply phased through her attacks like they're nothing or dodged them with contemptous ease 'Tch, of course it's not that easy. This is the one that defeat Reimu before after all, and we saw how it's also able to defeat the scary maid too in real battle. How would one defeat someone that can manipulate time and floated out of reality?!...Wait'
Marisa blinked as she looked back at the fight. While Rumia and Reimu, alongside some extremely brave and most coordinated fairies she seen, barely able to lock the hunter in combat as the hunter occasionally phase through or most likely time manipulation to escaped, they actually did able to do it in the first place. Unlike their first, short, encounter which the Hunter unfazed by her own attacks and simply bypassed them with time manipulation to reach the vampires. Yet here she is, actually locked in combat with her friends and those fairies.
"Oi, what's going on now, ze?" Marisa muttered in confusion, her brow furrowed in puzzlement. "Why isn't that freak just time stopping or whatever to escape? It did it before, why not now, ze?"
"Simple, we're suppressing her," a familiar voice cut in, and Marisa turned to see the fairy, Mei, grinning smugly. "Or at least Bree did. That tall woman over there, she's suppressing her. That's why she can't use her powers as she wanted. Good to see someone else also using their brains too instead of just rushing in, it's quite refreshing, really"
Marisa's eyes widened in realization. "I see! So that's why she's not just phasing through our attacks, ze! But how is that spear woman doing it?"
Mei smirked, "Gravity, you know what that is right?~"
"Yeah, the force that makes things fall to the ground, ze," Marisa said, her expression thoughtful. "But what does that have to do with suppressing her?"
"You see," Mei explained, her eyes sparkling with excitement and smugness that Marisa already want to punch off her face, "With strong enough gravity, you can distort space-time itself. And since that Hunter seems to rely on manipulating time and space, Bree is using her gravity to disrupt that power"
"Same with the miko's ability to float away from reality to avoid attacks, Bree simply anchored the hunter back to reality with gravity~" Shrugging, the fairy gave a small, genuine smile. "I don't know how that works, to be honest. Bree just weird like that, and I didn't understand what she said about the logic of it"
Marisa nodded slowly, her mind racing as she processed the information. "I see... that make sense...I think, ze. But still, we need to find a way to actually defeat her, not just hold her off. Any ideas?"
"Good thing that you asked~" The fairy smiled brightly before shrugging, "I don't know~"
Marisa stared at the fairy, her expression deadpan. "You were acting so smug, and now you're saying you have no idea how to beat her, ze?"
The fairy shrugged, "What, you expect fairies of all people to know how to fight a time manipulating, intangibility freak? I thought you were supposed to be the one solving incidents and all that?"
"Ugh... I guess you have a point, ze," Marisa sighed, her frustration evident. "Well, any information is better than nothing, I suppose. So, what can you tell me about that thing? You seemed to know quite a bit, ze."
The fairy grinned, her red eyes sparkling with amusement, "Well, I don't know much, but I can tell you what I've heard, okay~?"
Marisa, while nervously watching her friends fighting the Hunter, listened carefully to what the fairy said. Apparently the hunter had been active for a while, hunting down youkais and beasts alike while killing the ones that endanger humans and spares 'innocent' youkais. Reimu fought the hunter before few days ago to save a kitsune or something, but lost completely. The hunter disappeared for days before apparently attacked the gatekeeper of the mansion as an evil copy of Reimu. When Marisa said she never seen any gatekeeper, Mei said that the Hunter apparently brought their prey to 'somewhere', or at least trapped them inside some sort of alternate space. Then she fought the maid while Reimu and Marisa fought the vampires, which then brought them here with the hunter being a mix of Reimu and Sakuya.
"..Wait, if the hunter take form of defeated foes, did this Meiling also took her form?" Marisa asked to herself before Mei just shook her head in response, "No? Weird..but anyway if what you said it's true then..."
Marisa looked at the crimson sky with blood red moon, "..We're trapped inside the hunter's space.."
"Yep, some fairies tried to escape and can't. It seems we can't escape or even contact outside world until the hunter is defeated" Mei shrugged, "Or at least that's what I've been told"
Marisa sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Well, that's just great, ze. Trapped in a weird space with a time-manipulating weirdo that can turn intangible, fighting her to save two vampires that we tried to stop over an Incident... and no way to contact the outside world or get help. This is just perfect, ze"
Thinking as hard as she could, while still assisting her friends fighting the hunter with few beam here and there, Marisa tried to come up with a solution. "So, we need to defeat the Hunter, right? But how do we do that when even suppressed, she could fight all of us and has some nigh-immortal regeneration, ze?"
Marisa's first solution was of course, simply firepower. If they're fighting something that can regenerate, then simply overwhelmed them with more damage than they could healed. She had her mini-hakkero, and Reimu could use her amulets. Surely between them they could do enough damage to take the Hunter down, right? A simple, straightforward solution, though it would require everyone else to keep the Hunter busy while some used their strongest attacks. Other ideas came to mind but Marisa simply didn't have enough information to formulate a clear plan.
The witch shook her head in frustration. "Well, I guess we'll have to go with the classic brute force method, ze. It's not the most elegant solution, but it might be our best bet. Now we just need to find a way to distract her long enough for Reimu and I to fire our strongest attacks, ze"
While the fight was going on, Marisa noticed that Bree and Rumia were slowly getting pushed back, and the Hunter seemed to be adapting to their tactics. She needed to act quickly, or they would lose their window of opportunity.
Marisa flew over to her and Reimu, her voice urgent. "Reimu! We need to hit her with our strongest attacks together. It's the only way we can hope to take her down, ze. Using that "
Reimu nodded despite raisung an eyebrow, her expression determined. "Right. But we need a distraction, or she'll just dodge or phase through them like before"
Marisa's eyes fell upon the fairy, "Mei, right? Can you help us out here, ze?"
The fairy nodded, a mischievous glint in her eye. "Sure thing! Just tell me what you need me to do"
"Great, we need to keep the hunter busy so Reimu and I can blast her with our strongest attacks. Can you distract her for us, ze?" Marisa asked, her voice filled with urgency.
The fairy grinned, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "I thought you wouldn't ask! Just leave it to us~"
The fairy flew up and joined her fellow fairies, who were already swarming around the Hunter like a cloud of buzzing insects. They shot small bullets at the Hunter, trying to keep her occupied and off-balance while still fighting off the assault of Bree and Rumia. The Hunter, despite all her skills and power now bogged down, while trying to attack her foes.
Marisa watched the chaos unfolding before her, a grin spreading across her face. "This is our chance, ze! Reimu!"
"Got it!" Reimu nodded, her face set in a determined expression as countless ofudas floated across the sky around the sky of Scarlet Devil Mansion.
Meanwhile, Rina took cover inside a nearby clock tower, her eyes wide with fear as she watched the chaos unfolding before her. She had never seen anything like it in her entire life, and she had to admit that she was both confused and amazed by it all. The sight of all those fairies swarming around the Hunter, firing bullets at her and keeping her occupied, was both terrifying and awe-inspiring.
"...What a terrifying being" Rina suddenly heard someone said, and she looked up to see the vampire mistress of the Mansion, Remilia herself, standing beside her with a solemn expression. "To contend, nay, defeated the Hakurei miko and Sakuya. Now able to fought against everyone, even that equally terrifying devil of darkness... All by herself."
Remilia turned towards the reporter, a sad and solemn smile on her face. "What do you think of this, Miss Akagi, Miss Reporter? Of this being that hunted me and my sister?"
"I.." Rina hesitated, not sure what to say "I..don't know, I feel scared of her but also amazed at her. It's like she's the living embodiment of human spirit. Like the heroes of old tales.."
"Indeed" Remilia nodded, her voice soft and thoughtful. "It's like the heroes of old, willing to stand up against even the mightiest foe. Against gods, against monsters, against the very world itself. I can see Fate supported her, yet also curse her. A cruel fate, a cursed being, yet one full of determination to overcome even Fate...such a terrifying farcical being"
"What?" Rina asked, her eyes wide with confusion. "What do you mean by that, Mistress Scarlet?"
"Please, just call me miss Remilia," The vampire mistress of the mansion said, a gentle smile on her face as she turned to look at the reporter. "And to answer your question, I can see Fate. And I can tell that this being's Fate is...empty, hollow, or at least different than any other being that I have seen before. There is no past or future, just an eternal present. A being that defy fate and destiny itself. Yet at the same time, it is cursed to be bound by it, of fighting and killing. It only know such thing, and nothing else. An empty existence"
Rina didn't understand what Remilia was saying, but she could feel the weight of the vampire's words "So, can everyone stop her?" Rina asked, her voice trembling. "Can we defeat this...monster?"
"I...don't know. I can see many possible outcomes for her, many of which ended in her defeat. Yet, I can't see a future where she is truly dead, or killed. It is always just a temporary setback, or a victory that leads to her escaping, or a battle where no one emerges victorious" Remilia shook her head, her expression grave. "We must overcome her in some manner, not simply brute force but its raison d'etre"
"Raison...what?" Rina asked, her brow furrowed in confusion. "I don't understand"
"Reason to exist" Remilia sighed as she looked at the battle, "We need to overcome her reason to exist, or I am afraid she will always come back. Even if we managed to defeat her, somehow, perhaps even the regeneration was merely expression of such thing. I can't claim to know for certain"
"What I do know that I and Flan simply can't defeat her or even fought her, no matter what the moment we became her targets." Remilia sighed, "As long as she's alive, we are targets, we are fated to be hunted by her. How shameful of me, to be unable to protect my sister like this"
"Miss Remilia..." Rina trailed off, not sure what to say to the vampire mistress. The two women fell silent, watching the battle unfold before them with a mix of fear and curiosity.
As they watched, they saw the Hunter unleash a powerful attack, a blast of energy that sent shockwaves rippling through the air. The fairies were knocked back, their numbers dwindling as the Hunter's assault intensified. Bree and Rumia struggled to hold their own, their weapons clashing against the Hunter's blade and whip-like gohei. Marisa and Reimu were still charging their ultimate attacks, but it was clear that they wouldn't be ready before the Hunter broke through.
Suddenly, a familiar figure emerged from the shadows. It was Meiling, the gatekeeper of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, her green beret and dress a stark contrast to the chaos around her. She moved with a fluid grace, her movements precise and calculated as she leaped into the fray, her hands glowing with a brilliant light.
"Sorry I'm late, everyone!" Meiling shouted, her voice filled with determination. "Let's take this freak down!"
With that, she launched herself towards the Hunter, her hands glowing with a bright, fiery aura. The Hunter, caught off guard by the gatekeeper's sudden appearance, was forced to shift her attention away from Rumia and Bree, giving them a chance to regain their footing.
"..What a mess this Incident turned to be but seeing everyone worked together like this.." Remilia muttered, a small smile on her lips. "Perhaps it's not all bad"
Rina nodded, her eyes wide with awe as she watched Meiling fight alongside the others. "Yeah, I guess there's something beautiful about it, too"
The battle raged on, the air thick with the scent of magic and the sound of clashing metal. Both sides were evenly matched, each fighter giving it their all in a desperate struggle for survival. Despite their best efforts, however, the Hunter seemed to have the upper hand as she kept regenerating from every blow that was inflicted upon her. It was as if she was invincible, a force that couldn't be stopped no matter how hard they tried.
"A little more...come on...come on!" Marisa gritted her teeth, sweat pouring down her face as she focused on channeling energy into her mini-Hakkero. The device was glowing brightly, its power growing by the second as she poured all of her magical energy into it. Beside her, Reimu was also gathering her own energy, her body surrounded by a shimmering aura of divine light. Together, the two of them were preparing to unleash their ultimate attacks, the only hope they had of defeating the seemingly unbeatable Hunter.
As everyone distracted, a large eye-shaped hole opened up in the sky, inside countless red eyes staring from the dark portal. Then, without any warning, a giant pale white hand descends from the sky toward the Hunter and seemingly crushed her to the rooftop of Scarlet Devil Mansion. The impact shook the very foundations of the building, sending shockwaves rippling through the air. Everyone present felt the tremors, but Rumia simply grinned and laughed as she spread darkness to the mansion and reinforced it both withstand the hand continued pressing down on the Hunter and bound said Hunter.
"You're late, Yukari!" Rumia shouted, her voice filled with a mix of amusement and frustration as she saw the Hunter continued to struggled despite the titanic hand pushed her against the roof and even counter attacked as the hand quickly sporting massive gashes on its surface. Despite that, the hand persisted as the Hunter seemingly twisted and severed repeatedly herself, "Reimu! Marisa! You better be done by now or this won't work for long!"
"Got it, ze!" Marisa shouted, her voice echoing through the night. With a final burst of effort, she unleashed the full power of her mini-Hakkero and to the array of ofudas that surrounded Reimu, pouring every ounce of her magical energy into the blast. Reimu, too, released her pent-up energy, a massive wave of divine light that swept across the battlefield. The two attacks combined, forming a blindingly bright beam of pure energy that shot towards the Hunter like a meteor. An attack that heralded the end of fantasy.
""Let's All Return to Nothingness [Fantasy Sign "Final End Spark"]!"" Marisa and Reimu shouted in unison, their voices echoing across the sky.
The resulting explosion was like a supernova, a blinding flash of light that enveloped the entire area. The ground shook, the air crackled with energy, and everything within the blast radius was vaporized in an instant. The entire part of the mansion where the Hunter was, from the rooftop to the very ground behind it, disappeared into the white flash of nothingness, leaving behind a massive crater that stretched down into the earth. The sound of the explosion was deafening, and the shockwave it created was so powerful that it sent the nearby fairies and Rumia tumbling through the air like leaves in the wind.
As the dust settled and the light faded, silence fell over the battlefield. The only sound was the faint rustle of debris settling and the distant echo of the explosion. Everyone looked on in stunned disbelief, their eyes wide and their mouths agape.
"..Did we do it?" Marisa asked as exhaustion set in and she leaned against her broom. She felt drained, her body weak and shaky from the exertion of the battle. Her hands trembled as she held her mini-Hakkero, and she could feel her heart pounding in her chest.
"I don't know," Reimu replied, her voice soft and tired. "That was the strongest attack I've ever used, and I'm not sure if even that was enough to defeat her."
They both looked down at the crater where the Hunter had been, their eyes searching for any sign of her. But there was nothing, just a gaping hole in the ground that stretched down into the darkness below. The Hunter was nowhere to be seen, and Marisa felt a sense of unease settle over her. Had they really done it? Had they defeated the seemingly invincible Hunter once and for all?
"I think..." Marisa started to say, but her voice trailed off as she noticed something moving in the shadows of the crater. It was faint, barely visible in the dim light, but it was there. A flicker of movement, a glint of silver. And then, with a sudden rush of motion, the Hunter burst out of the shadows.
The Hunter...the being was simply unrecognisable now, it would be hard to even call them human. A beast, what came out was more of a beast of darkness and scarlet mist than any semblance of humanity, despite the vaguely human-like form. Its form was a shifting, swirling mass of darkness and scarlet mist, trying to form the shape it was before but failed. It was as if its very essence had been distorted, twisted by the power of the attack that had vaporized its body.
"...How?.." Marisa muttered in disbelief. Despite the fact that it was barely able to even keep its form together, the Hunter was still moving, its body slowly regenerating and reforming as it staggered forward. Its movements were jerky and uneven, and its form was constantly shifting, but it was still alive, still fighting. "How...how is it still alive?! How is it still moving, ze?!"
"..Monster..it's nothing but a monster..." Reimu muttered as she saw the Hunter's regenerating form. It was a sight that filled her with a mix of horror and awe, and she felt a shiver run down her spine. She had never seen anything like it in her life, and she was unsure of what to do next. Even her and everyone's full power seemed to be ineffective against this being.
"Indeed, monster. This thing is a monster, a monster of humanity" Suddenly, a new voice cut through the tense atmosphere as mist filled the area around them. A figure emerged from the mist, her veiled hat obscuring her features as she calmly played a koto and walked toward them. It was a sight that was both eerie and beautiful, and Marisa found herself transfixed by the woman's presence while whatever became of the Hunter seemingly immobilised, thin invisible threads bound it close. "No times for greetings alas, but this Satsuki Rin shall grant you a miracle tonight"
With a graceful sweep of her hand, the mysterious girl pierced through the Hunter's misty body and seemingly pulled out a small ball of scarlet light before throwing it at Reimu. The Miko barely able to react before it quickly went inside her body. "That was what it stole from you, and a bit more~"
"And this one for the maid~" The girl did it again as she took another ball of blue light from the Hunter who unable to move as the light shot toward the mansion and disappeared into where Sakuya was, "There we go~"
Marisa and Reimu found themselves unable to do anything but watch as the girl continued to pull out more and more balls of coloured lights from the Hunter's body. With each pull, the Hunter's body became less and less solid, until it finally collapsed into a pile of mist and scarlet light. A lost human soul, Reimu realised.
"Phew, finally done," The girl sighed, before turning to look at them with a smile, "Good job you two, this one couldn't possibly do it without your help~ Now all that was left was for you to perform a rite for it, Reimu. Banish it from this mortal realm, return it to where it belong. You should be able to do it, right?"
"Eh..? Ah, yes, I can" Reimu nodded hesitantly, "I can do it, but what about you and this Hunter thing? Why does it do this, what is its goal?-"
"We have no time to answer such things, find me if you desire such things later" The girl shook her head as she looked up at the sky, her expression solemn, "The dawn has come, the end of this incident, the end of this night of madness and lunacy in sight. Rejoice, for you have succeeded, Reimu and Marisa. The threat has passed, and Gensokyo is safe once more...for now at least~"
As Marisa and Reimu watched, the girl seemingly disappeared into the mist, leaving only the two and the lost soul still slowly attracting scarlet mist into itself to form its body again. Marisa felt a sense of relief wash over her, knowing that the nightmare was finally over, yet she couldn't shake off the exhaustion that weighed heavily on her shoulders. Reimu too, was panting and tired, her clothes soaked in sweat and her hair dishevelled. The two exchanged a look, a mixture of relief, exhaustion, and determination in their eyes. With a nod, Reimu began her rite as Marisa watched, her gaze fixed on the lost soul that was slowly taking form once more.
"...It's done..she's returned to...wherever she should" Reimu said as the lost soul dissipated and seemingly gone for good. Marisa sighed in relief, her shoulders sagging as she felt the adrenaline leaving her body. It had been a long, hard-fought battle, but it was finally over.
"Reimu?"
"Yeah, Marisa?"
"You need a bath. You smell terrible, ze," Marisa said with a laugh, trying to lighten the mood.
Reimu rolled her eyes, but a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "You don't exactly smell like roses either, Marisa."
Marisa shrugged, her laughter dying down. "I guess we're both due for a soak...and a lot of rest"
"Yeah"
"...Good job, Marisa. You did great," Reimu said, her voice sincere and warm. Marisa felt a surge of pride at Reimu's compliment, and she couldn't help but smile. Despite the exhaustion and the bruises, she had never felt more alive.
"You too, ze," Marisa replied, "You did great, too. We make a good team, huh?"
Reimu smiled, "Yeah, we do"
As they made their way back to what was left of the mansion, the blood red night faded away revealing the morning sky, a beautiful dawn greeted them. The sun's golden rays bathed the land in a warm, comforting glow, and the air was filled with the sound of birds chirping. It was a peaceful, serene moment, a stark contrast to the chaos and danger they had just faced.
"Hey, Reimu," Marisa suddenly asked, her voice soft and tentative. "What do you think that girl meant by finding her later?"
"I don't know," Reimu replied, her voice equally soft. "But I have a feeling that we haven't seen the last of her"
Marisa nodded, her mind racing with questions and theories. Who was that girl? What was her role in all of this? And what did she mean by 'find me later'? But as they reached the mansion and saw others waiting for them, those questions were pushed to the back of her mind. For now, they just wanted to rest and recover from the battle that had just ended. The questions could wait for another day....
"Wait Reimu, where did you got that cool coat?!" "Huh, what do you- why am I wearing this?! I can't take it off" "..Was it that light ball? Damn it, I'll have to check if that maid got one too!" "Wait! Marisa!-"
"And so the Scarlet Mist incident came to a close, the truth shall remain forever buried only known to those who knew it" Alice said as she closed a book, "As far as anyone knew, the Hakurei Maiden and the Ordinary Magician stopped the Scarlet Devil's mist and returned peace to Gensokyo. This was the story of the two incident resolution specialist, the beginning of the two who would continue to solve more Incidents in the future. The End"
"We're leaving it like that?" Yuuka who was sitting beside her with her tea in hand asked, her expression unimpressed, "That's it? No further explanations, no nothing?"
Alice nodded, sipping her own tea, "Well, we can have some after credit, but this is where the story of the Scarlet Mist officially ended"
Yuuka shrugged before taking a sip of her tea, "So, what will happen to them now?"
"Well, the usual of course" Alice smiled, "After some rest, the two of them will celebrate the victory with a grand party at what remains of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Oh and perhaps Rumia will finally come clean with Reimu, though I doubt it."
"Hmm, I see~" Yuuka nodded, her expression thoughtful, "I guess that's as best as this can be"
Alice sighed, "Indeed, the best laid plans of mice and men, it never go as planned. In the end, it wasn't a simple incident caused by Remilia to test the Spellcard Rules it was supposed to be, but the best outcome possible was achieved in the end"
"Well, I didn't fight that hunter enough I say~"
"Last time I checked, you were left in two pieces after fighting her"
"It was a draw!~" Yuuka pouted as Alice chuckled, "She didn't kill me so it's a draw~!"
"Whatever makes you happy, Yuuka"
As the two friends continued to chat and drink tea, the world outside continued to move on. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and the people of Gensokyo were busy going about their daily lives as the Scarlet Mist disappeared. But for those who knew the true story of the Scarlet Mist incident, there was a sense of relief and satisfaction that came with its end. The Incident was solved, and Gensokyo was safe once again. At least, until next time~
Stage 6 Ended, my head hurts, I think I am feeling a bit burned out both from writing and other things, but at least I reached EoSD Ends! ...Extra? What Extra Stage?
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Hieda's Record: Alice Margatroid
Ylamona
Konlulu~
Name: Alice Margatroid
Race: Human
Ability: Use of Magic
Residence: Forest of Magic
Likes: Dolls, stories, happy ending, people being happy *1
Dislikes: Misbehaving children, anything that disturbs her during certain moments
Appearance: She possesses multi-coloured eyes *2 and medium blonde hair donel, tall compared to gensokyo's average fitting. Usually spotted wearing long blue dress with red ribbons and white capellete, alongside similar red ribbon as a hairband. Often carrying a locked grimoire and accompanied by her dolls.
Personality: Those who met her usually described her as elegant, graceful, easily make them feel relaxed and at ease. Well-mannered and polite, she can feel slightly unapproachable in a way, like an unreachable flower on a mountain top, but most seem to agree that she is a kind person, perhaps too much for her own good. Certain correspondents report that Alice to be "motherly" and "overly doting" , not afraid of showing her care and often feel as if treating others as her children *3. She is also considered to be a bit mischievous by some, and some others also say that she can be childish at times.
Description: A mysterious magician that resides in the Forest of Magic, she is a human that just happens to be a magician as profession. Her house is located deep inside the Forest of Magic, hidden from the prying eyes and away from most people. However, the magician herself freely admits that she ensured that anyone that lost inside the Forest will find themselves to her house through magic so she could guide them back out. *4 She usually stays in her house but in somewhat rare occasions, will visit the village. Her doll performance and cooking ability are widely known both in the village and around Gensokyo, which often becomes a special event whenever she decides to put up a performance or cooking in the village. *5 It is rumoured that she will help anyone that needs her, even if she doesn't admit it herself. Some even claimed to have been saved by her, but the magician refused to comment. Seems to possess knowledge about technology of Outside world Otherwise, not much known, or at least recorded about Alice so far.
Ability: She has the ability to use magic, specialises primarily to using dolls. Using magical strings or other means, she seemingly give life to the dolls and have them moving around. Her mastery of such thing is to the point that some people jokingly said people won't even notice if the person they talked to is actually Alice's doll. Long distance manipulation seemed to be difficult and each of the dolls seemed to be handcrafted by Alice's herself. She also possess some skills in many other fields of magic, though self-admittedly not as good as 'playing with dolls'.
*1 According to her, "Everyone deserved a chance of happiness and a happy ending."
*2 It seems to change each times across many colours, though many reported they never really noticed it. So far the colours that reported are red, blue and yellow.
*3 Said correspondents refused to be named for this instance, but also very insistent for this to be included, they were quite persuasive.
*4 So far, this claim has been proven true but it is inadvisable to intentionally get lost in the Forest to meet her.
*5 Sometimes, the whole village seemingly stopped to watch this 'telenovela' plays she did, and some people rumoured to have fought over the food Alice-made.
Race: Human
Ability: Use of Magic
Residence: Forest of Magic
Likes: Dolls, stories, happy ending, people being happy *1
Dislikes: Misbehaving children, anything that disturbs her during certain moments
Appearance: She possesses multi-coloured eyes *2 and medium blonde hair donel, tall compared to gensokyo's average fitting. Usually spotted wearing long blue dress with red ribbons and white capellete, alongside similar red ribbon as a hairband. Often carrying a locked grimoire and accompanied by her dolls.
Personality: Those who met her usually described her as elegant, graceful, easily make them feel relaxed and at ease. Well-mannered and polite, she can feel slightly unapproachable in a way, like an unreachable flower on a mountain top, but most seem to agree that she is a kind person, perhaps too much for her own good. Certain correspondents report that Alice to be "motherly" and "overly doting" , not afraid of showing her care and often feel as if treating others as her children *3. She is also considered to be a bit mischievous by some, and some others also say that she can be childish at times.
Description: A mysterious magician that resides in the Forest of Magic, she is a human that just happens to be a magician as profession. Her house is located deep inside the Forest of Magic, hidden from the prying eyes and away from most people. However, the magician herself freely admits that she ensured that anyone that lost inside the Forest will find themselves to her house through magic so she could guide them back out. *4 She usually stays in her house but in somewhat rare occasions, will visit the village. Her doll performance and cooking ability are widely known both in the village and around Gensokyo, which often becomes a special event whenever she decides to put up a performance or cooking in the village. *5 It is rumoured that she will help anyone that needs her, even if she doesn't admit it herself. Some even claimed to have been saved by her, but the magician refused to comment. Seems to possess knowledge about technology of Outside world Otherwise, not much known, or at least recorded about Alice so far.
Ability: She has the ability to use magic, specialises primarily to using dolls. Using magical strings or other means, she seemingly give life to the dolls and have them moving around. Her mastery of such thing is to the point that some people jokingly said people won't even notice if the person they talked to is actually Alice's doll. Long distance manipulation seemed to be difficult and each of the dolls seemed to be handcrafted by Alice's herself. She also possess some skills in many other fields of magic, though self-admittedly not as good as 'playing with dolls'.
"Alice, ze? She is the greatest! She's a great cook, a great friend, a great magician, a great person! Also her food is delicious and her house is cosy and warm and... and-" (Kirisame Marisa, magician)
That just sounds like you are praising her because she gives you free food and a place to stay.
"Alice...she's nice? Yeah, she is. Always nice to everyone, always kind to everyone. I'm not sure if I should say anything else...oh her food is like nothing else in Gensokyo. Though she can be a bit much sometimes. Especially if you are her friend, then she gets a bit too much and-" (Hakurei Reimu, Shrine maiden of Hakurei)
Please don't sound like a girl complaining about her mother, and why the mention of food again?
"Miss Alice? She's smart, she helped me with my newspapers and stuffs. She's also strong too. Also her cooking is something else. Oh, and she's also very good at many other things" (Akagi Rina, Tengu)
Then I suppose I must offer my thanks to her, your articles sometimes proved to be very valuable.
"Oh, that magician that came around the village once a while and put a puppet show? Her shows are amazing, the dolls are like alive and moving on their own. Also the stories just very 'wild' if you know what I mean? And she's also a very nice person, she even gave us treats after the show, they are very delicious" (Butcher)
Her shows are indeed 'wild', overly dramatic but in a good way one might say. It seems to be quite the hit amongst adult populations.
"That woman was a little bit weird, a lot really, but she saved me when I once lost in the Forest of Magic. She even gave me some food, they are really delicious. A bit awkward, but still really nice, I guess" (Flower shop worker)
Please be careful to not visit the Forest of Magic, it's dangerous for the inexperienced and experienced alike. Also please don't accept food from strangers.
"When I was in rather dark period of my life, I met her once. It was just random meeting but she managed to lift my mood and give me the courage to keep on living. Really thankful for that. Also she made delicious snacks, though a bit plain in taste, it was still very good." (Anonymous)
There were many more similar testimonies to this, though the magician herself refute such claims.
"Ah yes, the magician with the dolls. She is a nice young lady, very polite. She knows her manners, unlike certain other people I won't mention" (Morichika Rinnosuke, Shopkeeper of Kourindou)
My condolences.
That just sounds like you are praising her because she gives you free food and a place to stay.
"Alice...she's nice? Yeah, she is. Always nice to everyone, always kind to everyone. I'm not sure if I should say anything else...oh her food is like nothing else in Gensokyo. Though she can be a bit much sometimes. Especially if you are her friend, then she gets a bit too much and-" (Hakurei Reimu, Shrine maiden of Hakurei)
Please don't sound like a girl complaining about her mother, and why the mention of food again?
"Miss Alice? She's smart, she helped me with my newspapers and stuffs. She's also strong too. Also her cooking is something else. Oh, and she's also very good at many other things" (Akagi Rina, Tengu)
Then I suppose I must offer my thanks to her, your articles sometimes proved to be very valuable.
"Oh, that magician that came around the village once a while and put a puppet show? Her shows are amazing, the dolls are like alive and moving on their own. Also the stories just very 'wild' if you know what I mean? And she's also a very nice person, she even gave us treats after the show, they are very delicious" (Butcher)
Her shows are indeed 'wild', overly dramatic but in a good way one might say. It seems to be quite the hit amongst adult populations.
"That woman was a little bit weird, a lot really, but she saved me when I once lost in the Forest of Magic. She even gave me some food, they are really delicious. A bit awkward, but still really nice, I guess" (Flower shop worker)
Please be careful to not visit the Forest of Magic, it's dangerous for the inexperienced and experienced alike. Also please don't accept food from strangers.
"When I was in rather dark period of my life, I met her once. It was just random meeting but she managed to lift my mood and give me the courage to keep on living. Really thankful for that. Also she made delicious snacks, though a bit plain in taste, it was still very good." (Anonymous)
There were many more similar testimonies to this, though the magician herself refute such claims.
"Ah yes, the magician with the dolls. She is a nice young lady, very polite. She knows her manners, unlike certain other people I won't mention" (Morichika Rinnosuke, Shopkeeper of Kourindou)
My condolences.
"You probably heard too many good things about her but be careful little one~. That woman is dangerous, though not in a way that will harm you physically, it's far, far more insidious than that~ Too kind, too understanding, and soon you won't leave her Garden at all~ I won't deny her food is the best in all Gensokyo though~" (Kazami Yuuka, Youkai)
That sounds ominous.
"Ah, that weird girl? She's cool and told a lot of stories. Really nice, she even gave me food and they are really tasty. Though she can be a bit much really, my bosses are always grumbling one way or another because of something related to her? Me too, though that's mostly because I never seen someone actually swim into Higan and came back, also...nah, can't tell you that, I want to live" (An off-duty shinigami)
That sounds very ominous coming from a Shinigami.
"...She was a bleeding heart despite her attempts to look otherwise, very clumsy and often misunderstand things. She was very shy around strangers despite pushing others to socialise more, even accompanied them if needed despite her own embarrassment plainly visible. She could be very childish and immature, easily flustered or angered but very apologetic afterwards. Even when she couldn't cook, she always tried to make the birthday cake by herself, even if we ran out of bandages each time. After school, she could be found just drawing in the park or back in her room, she often both downplayed her drawing and plainly looking for any compliments of them, they were okay. When weekends or holiday came, she always wanted to go to bookstore but too afraid to go there alone, but she was there she looked like a kid in a toy store. She always complained about going outside yet she always go along, citing she was worried which was quite ironic in hindsight as she was the one often be sick or inconsiderate to others sometimes" (Yakumo Yukari)
Further attempt at clarification was refuted by the source and so is the existence of this testimony .
That sounds ominous.
"Ah, that weird girl? She's cool and told a lot of stories. Really nice, she even gave me food and they are really tasty. Though she can be a bit much really, my bosses are always grumbling one way or another because of something related to her? Me too, though that's mostly because I never seen someone actually swim into Higan and came back, also...nah, can't tell you that, I want to live" (An off-duty shinigami)
That sounds very ominous coming from a Shinigami.
"...She was a bleeding heart despite her attempts to look otherwise, very clumsy and often misunderstand things. She was very shy around strangers despite pushing others to socialise more, even accompanied them if needed despite her own embarrassment plainly visible. She could be very childish and immature, easily flustered or angered but very apologetic afterwards. Even when she couldn't cook, she always tried to make the birthday cake by herself, even if we ran out of bandages each time. After school, she could be found just drawing in the park or back in her room, she often both downplayed her drawing and plainly looking for any compliments of them, they were okay. When weekends or holiday came, she always wanted to go to bookstore but too afraid to go there alone, but she was there she looked like a kid in a toy store. She always complained about going outside yet she always go along, citing she was worried which was quite ironic in hindsight as she was the one often be sick or inconsiderate to others sometimes" (Yakumo Yukari)
Further attempt at clarification was refuted by the source and so is the existence of this testimony .
*1 According to her, "Everyone deserved a chance of happiness and a happy ending."
*2 It seems to change each times across many colours, though many reported they never really noticed it. So far the colours that reported are red, blue and yellow.
*3 Said correspondents refused to be named for this instance, but also very insistent for this to be included, they were quite persuasive.
*4 So far, this claim has been proven true but it is inadvisable to intentionally get lost in the Forest to meet her.
*5 Sometimes, the whole village seemingly stopped to watch this 'telenovela' plays she did, and some people rumoured to have fought over the food Alice-made.
Alice: "There is a reason why I limit my exposure to the Villages..."
Anyway, some Akyuu style stuff entry done, maybe. This time with something similar to eyewitness stuff too. Writing this was hard
Anyway, some Akyuu style stuff entry done, maybe. This time with something similar to eyewitness stuff too. Writing this was hard
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Scarlet Mist Extra 1 The Witches' Gathering
Ylamona
Konlulu~
"-then I was like 'we should do our ultimate attack Reimu!'"
"Hmm..."
"So we were like preparing, but the Hunter was strong and fought the others-"
"Uh huh."
"-blam! Giant hand just hold her down and big Rumia did her weird darkness thing-"
"Yes, go on."
"and the Hunter was like, 'argh I can't move!'"
"Sure, sure"
"Then I said, 'you're done!' and we did the thing you taught us, that ultimate attack!"
"Really?"
"Yep, and then it was like, 'boom!' so the hunter was like defeated and everything!"
"Very nice."
"...You, why are you here?" Patchouli, the Unmoving Library, the magician who boasted that her library possessed the greatest number of books in Gensokyo, asked with irritation in her voice as she glared at Marisa. The purple haired magician looked visibly tired, more than usual anyway. Though it didn't lessen the intensity of her glare as she put down a book on the table before taking a seat.
"What? That's how you treat your guests, Patchu? For shame," replied the blonde, the one and only, Kirisame Marisa. The witch with the ever-present grin looked positively relaxed in the library, sitting cross-legged on a chair, and leaning her back to the table, making her look as if she was the master of the place.
"You are not a guest. A guest is invited and welcome, you are an intruder. Alice is a guest, unlike you," Patchouli pointed to the blonde girl on the opposite side of the table. The doll maker, Alice Margatroid, simply nodded and gave a polite smile in greeting to Patchouli. She sat on the chair like a lady should, with the proper manners and poise as she perused the books on the table, "And don't call me that!"
"Come on, Patchy! You know that Alice and I are a package! We're the best of the best, the strongest duo, the ultimate combo, the-"
"Marisa, dear..." Alice cut Marisa off, giving the witch a warning look before her voice turned sweeter, "Do pardon her, Patchouli. She was simply worried about you and looking for any reason to visit you."
Marisa squawked in indignation, "Alice! Come on, that's not true!" Her face turned red, but she didn't deny Alice's words. The blonde doll maker chuckled at the reaction.
"Worried? About me? Why? Nevermind that, there's no reason for her to be worried. I am perfectly alright on my own. I don't need your or anyone's worry," Patchouli retorted in a huff as she took the book again, pretending to read it. Marisa and Alice shared a look and a knowing smile before the witch shrugged.
"Just want to check on my friend, that's all. Can't believe that a great magician like you is so petty," Marisa grinned as she leaned her back forward, facing Patchouli. Her words made the purple-haired magician raise an eyebrow as she put the book down once again.
"Friend? What friend?" Patchouli's eyes narrowed as she looked at Marisa, "We barely know each other, we just met two days ago."
"Ah, but didn't we share a great battle together? We were both there on the day the Hunter came and even had a party afterward together. If that is not the mark of friendship, I don't know what else would," Marisa said with a tone that made her seem older and wiser. Patchouli was not fooled however and quickly gave her a retort.
As the two magicians bickered, Alice simply shook her head as she perused the books on the table. They were not particularly interesting for her as most were related to herbs, astrology, and alchemy. Not her field of interest. However, they were not the reason for her to visit the library or the mansion, as she was simply here to visit Patchouli. The dollmaker was here to help with the repair of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, she possessed quite the expertise for it after all. Remilia was certainly impressed and intrigued by her offer to help, and so readily agreed to it. Though the dollmaker idly wondered why the little vampire seemed quite jittery around her.
"Heave-ho!" " Heave-ho!" "Come on, move this rock!" "Hey, where is the magic glue?" "It's not glue, it's concrete!" "Hey, let's sing a song to help with our work! One and two..." "Heave-ho, lift and go. Patch the wall and make it whole. Heave-ho, lift and go. Make the wall strong like before. Heave-ho, lift and go...".
The fairies worked diligently, repairing the mansion after the Hunter's attack. The others were rather dubious at first at letting the fairies handle the repair and reconstruction, but as the head maid is currently still healing and Alice reassured them she will help out using her dolls too, the residents of Scarlet Devil Mansion acquiesced. And so the mansion was filled with the sounds of repair, the loud noises of fairies diligently working to the surprise of many. Though many of them were actually Alice's contracted fairies in disguise which helped guide the fairy maids on working while Alice's dolls handle the more intricate stuff or be the supervisor.
'It seemed the brain fog on the Remilia and others still strong enough to make them underestimate fairies still, despite Bree's performance during that night and the general increased competence of the fairy maids after Bree taught them,' Alice mused, wondering if it was simply bias ingrained into the mind of most people or something else.
"-I have more than fifty books on the subject!" "-And how many have you actually read?"
"-At least twenty!" "-Which means, thirty are not! So I am still right!"
"-Well, I have at least read the ones I have!" "-How about the books you don't have?"
Alice shook her head as she listened to Patchouli and Marisa's argument. It has been an hour yet the two were still going at it, arguing about the most trivial of things. It was not as if she didn't appreciate the two's interaction, as it was probably the first time in a long while she saw the purple-haired magician interacted with someone besides her own familiar or fellow resident of Scarlet Devil Mansion, someone who are more or less equal to her even if she wouldn't admit it. Marisa, despite her brashness and seemingly lack of care, was someone who cared for people and would help others. Patchouli meanwhile, needed someone who could push her out of her comfort zone, a friend who could act like an equal instead of servants or subordinates besides Remilia.
Alice knew Marisa was not the type of person to sit around and do nothing. The blonde would rather be on the move and do something. And yet, the black-white witch had stayed around the library for an hour, arguing with Patchouli. The dollmaker knew the other blonde was truly worried about the resident magician of Scarlet Devil Mansion, despite barely knowing each other. But then again, it was in Marisa's nature to care for people.
"Marisa, Patchouli, would you like something to eat? It's midday already and I don't think either of you had a proper breakfast," Alice interjected, smiling as she looked at the two magicians.
"I appreciate your offer miss Alice but I don't need food as a magician and-" "Food, yes! Yes, please, I want one!" "-I don't-" "Ah come on, I don't want to eat alone. It's going to be a waste of food if you don't try at least one bite. It's Alice's food, Patchy! It's delicious, like you never had before! Come on, let's have lunch together, the three of us. It's gonna be fun, I promise!"
"I- Fine. Just one bite." Patchouli relented, her shoulders drooping in defeat as Marisa gave a celebratory shout, much to Alice's amusement as she took out a basket and opened it, revealing an assortment of unique food and drinks.
"I came across new ingredients recently and had the chance to experiment with them," The blonde explained, taking out a plate from the basket and placing it on the table. There were sandwiches, each filled with different ingredients, from the usual vegetables, meats, and cheese to the exotic like a slice of meat that had an eerie blue glow, a green leaf that seemed to be moving on its own, and a piece of fruit that smelled delicious and sweet.
Despite the two's wariness about some of the ingredients, Marisa and Patchouli barely able to contain themselves as the aroma of the sandwiches wafted to them, making their mouth water and stomach growl. The black-white witch was the first one to reach out and take one of the sandwiches, the one with the eerie blue glow meat and took a bite of it.
Marisa's eyes widened as she chewed the sandwich, savouring the taste and texture. The meat tasted like beef, it was juicy and tender, had a hint of spiciness and sourness, making a pleasant mixture of flavour that seemed to kick her tongue awake. And the bread, it had the crunchy and chewy texture of freshly baked bread that made her want to take another bite as soon as possible. Overall, it was a satisfying bite, and she wanted more.
"Wow, Alice! This is amazing!" Marisa exclaimed with her mouth full of food, not caring about manners at the moment, "You have to try this, Patchy! You need to! Come on!"
Patchouli, seeing Marisa's reaction, reluctantly reached for a sandwich, the one with the green leaf that seemed to be moving on its own and took a bite of it. Her eyes widened as she chewed the sandwich, savouring the taste and texture. The leaf was surprisingly crispy and sweet, the taste seemed to explode in her mouth as she chewed, making her feel as if she was eating a dessert instead of a sandwich. It was strange, the taste and texture, yet it was a pleasant experience. Paired with the meat and vegetables, the flavour mixed and mingled, creating a unique taste profile that was both delicious and refreshing. And the bread, it was a perfect complement to the filling, the crust was crispy while the inside was soft and fluffy. It was a satisfying bite, and she wanted more. Before she knew it, Patchouli had finished the sandwich and was reaching for another one.
Alice smiled in satisfaction as she saw the two magicians enjoying her cooking. Though her smile dropped a little when she heard Marisa talking with her mouth full. She gave the black-white witch a pointed look, making the other blonde realise her faux pas as she stopped and swallowed the food before apologising. The blue-eyed blonde gave her a smile in forgiveness, and the three resumed their meal. The sandwiches were delicious, each one having its own unique flavour and texture, making a satisfying meal.
"Phew, that was a great meal," Marisa said as she leaned back on her chair, patting her stomach, "Thanks for the food, Alice. It was delicious as usual!"
"I am glad that you enjoyed it, Marisa," Alice replied, smiling, "It was a bit experimental but I'm glad that it turned out well."
"Indeed, that was a pleasant meal. I thank you for your hospitality, Miss Alice," Patchouli said, giving a small smile of her own, "Your food certainly more than simply sustenance. It was a delight to eat."
"Of course, Alice is the best, ze! No one could beat my Alice!" Marisa declared proudly as if she was the one being praised, making the dollmaker shake her head in amusement while Patchouli rolled her eyes.
"Flattery will get you no more food, Marisa," Alice said with a chuckle as she put the empty plates and utensils back into the basket, "But I am glad that the both of you enjoyed it, and please, you can simply call me Alice, Patchouli. No need to be so formal with me."
"...Alright, Alice. If that is what you wish," Patchouli replied, nodding before she let out a sigh, "I suppose I should offer a proper tour of the library after this. As a way to show my appreciation and to pay back the favour for the meal."
"Really? You're letting me- I mean us- see your library?! Awesome!" Marisa's eyes lit up in excitement, "Come on, let's go! I want to see the place!"
"Who invited you again? I was talking about Alice," Patchouli said, shaking her head, "But I know better than to argue with you. So come on, I suppose the three of us will have a tour of the library."
"Oh, you're the best! I know that I can count on you, Patchy!" Marisa grinned as she stood up, "Come on, let's go! I can't wait to see the place!"
Alice simply smiled and shook her head as she stood up, following Patchouli and Marisa. The three of them left the guest room and went into the Library proper. It was a massive space that was clearly expanded using space expansion magic. Rows upon rows of shelves filled with books of all kinds lined the walls and stretched as far as the eye could see. The ceiling was high, with a dome-like shape that made the place seem even bigger. Despite the size, the library was well-lit, with candles floating in the air, illuminating the area.
"Welcome to the Scarlet Devil Mansion's library," Patchouli said as she led the two through the library, "I know you two have been here but this time I will give a proper tour to show you the true wonders of this library"
The three of them walked past the shelves, with Patchouli pointing out the different sections of the library and the types of books they contained. From the books on magic, astrology, alchemy, history, geography, science, mathematics, and many others. Patchouli explained the classification system she used, the way the books were organised, and the reason behind it. Marisa, to Patchouli's surprise, seemed to listen intently to the explanation. The black-white witch listened and asked questions, genuinely interested in the subject. Alice meanwhile, simply smiled as she followed the two magicians, occasionally giving a comment or two.
"And the most impressive thing about this place I suppose is simply the amount of books it has," Alice remarked as she looked at the shelves, "Humanity only achieved the printing press and the ability to make books on a massive scale a century ago, so most of the books here are hand-made copies. To create a book is not merely writing, but the process to make the paper, binding the pages, creating the cover. All in all, the amount of effort needed to make a single book is not a small matter. To have this many books is not a small feat at all, and we haven't even touched the knowledge inside, especially magical ones. To have this much knowledge in a single place is a great achievement in and of itself."
Marisa looked thoughtful, "Yeah, you're right Alice. I didn't really think about it that way, but you're right, I guess ze. All these books were made by many people, from different places and times, all gathered in a single place. It's like the ultimate treasure trove of knowledge."
"And treasure is a good way to describe it. Even in the current age, this entire library is practically priceless," Alice said as she looked at the books, "It's truly a testament to your ability Patchouli, to gather and preserve this much knowledge is no easy task even if you have centuries and magic."
Patchouli looked surprised before she averted her eyes, blushing a little as she coughed into her hand, "Well, it's nothing special really."
"Don't be so modest, Patchy!" Marisa said with a grin, "You're amazing! Seriously, ze!"
"Indeed, though I must ask, how many books are here?" Alice asked, looking at Patchouli, "You are the owner after all, surely you would have a rough estimate. I could see no end to it."
"Well-uh, I-" Patchouli stammered, seemingly lost for words as she tried to come up with an answer as Marisa cut in.
"Oh, clearly it's uhh, what came after a million Alice?"
"...A billion?"
"Yeah, that's it! A billion books! Maybe more, this place is so big it looks endless to me!" Marisa declared, nodding to herself while Patchouli looked at her with mouth open "Right, Alice?"
"A slight exaggeration perhaps but there are indeed many books here. Not even several lifetimes would be enough to read it all," Alice said, shaking her head with a smile, "It's quite a mystery how Patchouli managed to acquire so many books, even with her long lifespan and connections. I wonder, how did you do it?"
"I... " Patchouli looked around and suddenly looked confused, her eyes darting from one shelf to another,
"Huh? You're okay, ze?" Marisa asked, looking at the purple-haired magician in concern, "Hey Patchy?"
"Ah, it appears we reached some sort of resting area" Alice suddenly said, looking at the space ahead. There was an open area between the shelves, with a few tables and chairs scattered around, illuminated by floating candles, "How about we take a quick break? It has been a wonderful tour, Patchouli."
"...Ah, yes, of course," Patchouli replied after a moment of hesitation, nodding as she led the other two to the rest area. They took a seat at one of the tables, with Patchouli sitting across from Marisa and Alice.
"Seriously, are you okay, Patchy?" Marisa asked as she leaned forward, looking at the purple-haired magician, "You looked like you just saw a ghost or something."
"I am fine," Patchouli replied, shaking her head, "It's just... I don't remember having this resting area here. It's new."
"What? Come on, you're kidding, right?" Marisa said with a grin, "Well, with a place this big, it's not surprising if you forgot about it. But man, this library really is something else, ze. You're lucky to have it, Patchy!"
"That is true, did you two know that there used to be a massive library in the Outside world?" Alice said, changing the subject with a smile, "It was called the Library of Alexandria, and it was considered one of the greatest libraries in human history. It was said to contain hundreds of thousands of scrolls and books from all over the world, gathered and preserved by the scholars and rulers of Alexandria. Unfortunately, it was destroyed by a series of wars and conflicts, leaving only ruins and legends behind."
"That sounds big?" Marisa asked, tilting her head as she looked at Alice.
"Big? It was said to be massive, with a collection of knowledge that was unrivalled in its time," Alice replied with a smile, "The Library of Alexandria was considered a wonder of the ancient world, and its destruction was a great loss to humanity."
"Really?" Marisa asked, looking at the rows of books, "Well, this place is even bigger, I guess. And it's full of magic and stuff too, so it's even more awesome than that Library of Alexandria!"
"Perhaps, that's the tragedy of it. We can't know for what was lost to time, to truly measure it," Alice replied, shaking her head, "But that's not the point. The point is that the Library of Alexandria was a symbol of the power of knowledge, and the importance of preserving it. It was a testament to the human desire to learn and to share their knowledge with others. And in Gensokyo, sealed away from the outside, this library is the closest thing to it, the greatest collection of knowledge that we have. And that's something to be proud of, don't you think, Patchouli?"
"..Eh? Ah, right, yes," Patchouli nodded after a moment of hesitation, seemingly snapped out of her own thoughts, "It's certainly a great accomplishment, and I'm proud to be able to contribute to it."
"Yup! That's right!" Marisa said with a grin, "You're the best, Patchy!
By the way, Alice, have you seen Reimu's new coat jacket thing? It looked so awesome, Reimu was bragging about it all day yesterday!"
"That doesn't sound like Reimu," Alice said, raising an eyebrow as she looked at Marisa, "Are you sure you weren't the one doing the bragging?"
"Hey, I was just excited for her, okay?" Marisa said with a pout, "She got a new coat, and she looked super cool in it! You would agree with me if you saw her! The maid, Sakuya, also got a cape too! It's so cool and I think they are magical too, ze"
"Ah, I suppose they are, spirit dress in a way is magical equipment," Alice remarked, which caught the attention of Patchouli and Marisa.
"Eh? Magical equipment? You know something about it, Alice?" Marisa asked with interest, leaning forward.
Patchouli also seemed interested, "I've tried to find what it was in the library, but I couldn't find anything. Any attempts to analyse it also failed beside the confirmation Sakuya could summon and unsummoned her coat"
"I see, well, Spirit Dress is simply a term I used, probably not the actual term. What the two got is a type of magical equipment that is usually tied to the person's soul or self, though more of the latter. In simpler terms, it's a magical gear that is worn not physically but internally as it would adapt to each person differently. One might even say, it's in a way the embodiment of the person themselves, though it does have the basic shape or theme to follow it seems" Alice took out of cup of tea from nowhere and sipped it, "They empower and protect the wearer, and usually has a unique effect on top of that, which again, influenced by the wearer too. In general, you can easily recognise a spirit dress by the fact no one can take it off normally, also it just fits and feels like the person"
"Whoa, that sounds amazing," Marisa said, her eyes wide, "Do you think I can get one too?"
Alice chuckled, "Perhaps, it's not impossible"
"That's interesting and explains some things I found from Sakuya's cape," Patchouli remarked thoughtfully as she looked at the shelves, "Though I couldn't remember reading about such things in any of my books. If I may, Alice, how do you know about it?"
"Oh, I just came up with that explanation" Alice casually admitted, "The term 'Spirit Dress' is just something I made up when I came up with too"
"...Wait, came up with it?" Marisa asked, blinking.
"Yes, it's just something I came up with," Alice replied with a mischievous grin.
"You just lied about it, ze? With a straight face and everything?" Marisa asked, looking at the blonde doll maker in disbelief, "That's just mean, ze. You got me all excited for nothing!"
Patchouli sighed, "That is quite rude, though I must admit that was an amusing jest, I can't deny that"
"Oh, it wasn't a lie," Alice replied with a chuckle, "It was the truth, didn't it align with what you have found Patchouli?"
"I-....huh? It..." Patchouli frowned as she thought about it, "Yes, actually. Your explanation aligns with what little I could find from the cape like I said..?"
"And you felt the same from Reimu's coat, didn't it, Marisa? " Alice asked, looking at the black-white witch.
"Yeah, now that you mentioned it," Marisa replied, nodding, "So you're saying that what you said is the truth? But you also just came up with it? Huh? Eh? What?! How- what- how does that work?!"
"That's a secret for me to know and you to find out~" Alice said with a smile, "Now, if we're done taking a break, how about we continue the tour? I would love to see more of your impressive library, Patchouli."
"...Very well, let's continue. Though there aren't many things left to see" Patchouli nodded after a moment of hesitation, while Marisa grumbled under her breath, clearly still trying to wrap her head around what Alice said and did. The three of them continued the tour, with Patchouli leading them through the library, this time not explaining about the contents of the library but about the library itself. How the lighting was done by magic, the space expansion, the preservation of books, and other such things. Marisa listened carefully once more while Alice chimed in occasionally to give her own opinion on the subject. Patchouli seemed to relax more as the two talked, and the three of them continued their walk.
"And that should be all for today's tour," Patchouli said as she stopped in front of a large door, "This is the entrance to the library, the same one you two used earlier. Or rather, Alice did, and Marisa sneaks in behind you. However I would appreciate it if you two didn't come here uninvited or without my knowledge."
"Of course, Patchouli. We would not do such a thing, and if we must visit again, we will inform you first," Alice replied with a polite nod, "Thank you for the tour, it was truly enlightening."
"Yeah, thanks, Patchy!" Marisa said with a grin, "It was fun hanging out with you, ze! You're pretty cool, even though you can be a bit of a stick in the mud sometimes."
"I'm not a stick in the mud," Patchouli grumbled, "And please don't call me that. But thank you, I suppose."
Alice chuckled as she looked at Marisa, "Now then, Marisa, didn't you say you had some errands to run? You should leave now, I think, while I stay here and work with Patchouli and the others," Alice reminded the blonde witch.
"Huh? Really? Did I say that?" Marisa asked, tilting her head before nodding, "Yeah, I guess I did, ze. Alright, I'll leave then. See you later, Alice! And you too, Patchy! Don't be a stranger now, you two!"
"We won't, Marisa. Now, off you go. I'll be fine," Alice replied with a smile, "And don't forget to come and visit me sometimes, alright? I'll be waiting for you."
"Of course! I'll be sure to visit you often, Alice!" Marisa replied with a grin before she turned and walked away, leaving the library with a wave, "See you later!"
Alice and Patchouli watched as the black-white witch left the library, disappearing through the door. Once she was gone, Alice turned to Patchouli with a smile, "She's a handful, isn't she? But I do enjoy her company. She's a good friend."
"...She is loud, and annoying, and rude," Patchouli huffed, looking away.
Alice chuckled, "Not incorrect, though I must reiterate, she was actually quite worried about you. Asthma is not something she was familiar with after all, her reactions when I explained to her were quite a sight."
"Really? She was?" Patchouli asked, looking surprised, "I mean- ahem, not that I care. But why would she worry about me?"
"Because she cares," Alice replied, "She might not show it explicitly at times, but she does. She was worried about you, and she wanted to make sure you were alright, especially since she felt responsible for pushing you so hard during your fight."
"I- well-" Patchouli stammered, looking flustered, "as you can see, I'm fine. There's no need for her to worry."
"I know, and I'm sure Marisa knows too," Alice said, "But that doesn't mean she won't worry anyway. That's just how she is. She cares about her friends, and she wants to make sure they're okay."
Patchouli nodded, "I... I suppose. Though I wouldn't consider her my friend. She's merely an acquaintance."
"Perhaps, but I believe that could change, given time," Alice replied, "And her concern is not misplaced. I won't push anything for now as we barely know each other, but I do hope you will allow me to examine you sometime in the near future, Patchouli. Asthma is a serious condition, and I would hate for you to suffer from it needlessly. Perhaps one day, I could help you find a way to cure it. Or at the very least, mitigate its effects."
"I... appreciate your concern, but it's not necessary," Patchouli replied, shaking her head, "I have lived with this condition until today. I know my limits and what I can and can't do. I can manage."
"And I know you can, but it can be better. You can be better," Alice replied, looking at the purple-haired magician with a determined gaze, "You don't have to suffer alone, Patchouli....but as I say, I won't push anything for now. We barely know each other. I merely wish to offer my help, if you're willing to accept it. Think about it, okay?"
"...I will," Patchouli replied after a moment of hesitation, nodding slowly, "I will... think about it."
"Good," Alice replied with a smile, "Now then, I'll go back to work then. It's a rare thing for me to help with something as big as this mansion, so I should do my best. I will see you again, Patchouli."
"Very well," Patchouli replied, nodding again, "And... Thank you, for your concern."
"You're welcome. And please, feel free to visit me anytime. I'm always happy to have guests," Alice replied with a smile before she turned and left the library, disappearing through the door. Patchouli watched her go, her expression thoughtful as she pondered the dollmaker's words.
"...Friends, huh?" Patchouli muttered as she turned around and walked back into the library, disappearing among the shelves, "I'll... think about it. Maybe."
"Hmm..."
"So we were like preparing, but the Hunter was strong and fought the others-"
"Uh huh."
"-blam! Giant hand just hold her down and big Rumia did her weird darkness thing-"
"Yes, go on."
"and the Hunter was like, 'argh I can't move!'"
"Sure, sure"
"Then I said, 'you're done!' and we did the thing you taught us, that ultimate attack!"
"Really?"
"Yep, and then it was like, 'boom!' so the hunter was like defeated and everything!"
"Very nice."
"...You, why are you here?" Patchouli, the Unmoving Library, the magician who boasted that her library possessed the greatest number of books in Gensokyo, asked with irritation in her voice as she glared at Marisa. The purple haired magician looked visibly tired, more than usual anyway. Though it didn't lessen the intensity of her glare as she put down a book on the table before taking a seat.
"What? That's how you treat your guests, Patchu? For shame," replied the blonde, the one and only, Kirisame Marisa. The witch with the ever-present grin looked positively relaxed in the library, sitting cross-legged on a chair, and leaning her back to the table, making her look as if she was the master of the place.
"You are not a guest. A guest is invited and welcome, you are an intruder. Alice is a guest, unlike you," Patchouli pointed to the blonde girl on the opposite side of the table. The doll maker, Alice Margatroid, simply nodded and gave a polite smile in greeting to Patchouli. She sat on the chair like a lady should, with the proper manners and poise as she perused the books on the table, "And don't call me that!"
"Come on, Patchy! You know that Alice and I are a package! We're the best of the best, the strongest duo, the ultimate combo, the-"
"Marisa, dear..." Alice cut Marisa off, giving the witch a warning look before her voice turned sweeter, "Do pardon her, Patchouli. She was simply worried about you and looking for any reason to visit you."
Marisa squawked in indignation, "Alice! Come on, that's not true!" Her face turned red, but she didn't deny Alice's words. The blonde doll maker chuckled at the reaction.
"Worried? About me? Why? Nevermind that, there's no reason for her to be worried. I am perfectly alright on my own. I don't need your or anyone's worry," Patchouli retorted in a huff as she took the book again, pretending to read it. Marisa and Alice shared a look and a knowing smile before the witch shrugged.
"Just want to check on my friend, that's all. Can't believe that a great magician like you is so petty," Marisa grinned as she leaned her back forward, facing Patchouli. Her words made the purple-haired magician raise an eyebrow as she put the book down once again.
"Friend? What friend?" Patchouli's eyes narrowed as she looked at Marisa, "We barely know each other, we just met two days ago."
"Ah, but didn't we share a great battle together? We were both there on the day the Hunter came and even had a party afterward together. If that is not the mark of friendship, I don't know what else would," Marisa said with a tone that made her seem older and wiser. Patchouli was not fooled however and quickly gave her a retort.
As the two magicians bickered, Alice simply shook her head as she perused the books on the table. They were not particularly interesting for her as most were related to herbs, astrology, and alchemy. Not her field of interest. However, they were not the reason for her to visit the library or the mansion, as she was simply here to visit Patchouli. The dollmaker was here to help with the repair of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, she possessed quite the expertise for it after all. Remilia was certainly impressed and intrigued by her offer to help, and so readily agreed to it. Though the dollmaker idly wondered why the little vampire seemed quite jittery around her.
"Heave-ho!" " Heave-ho!" "Come on, move this rock!" "Hey, where is the magic glue?" "It's not glue, it's concrete!" "Hey, let's sing a song to help with our work! One and two..." "Heave-ho, lift and go. Patch the wall and make it whole. Heave-ho, lift and go. Make the wall strong like before. Heave-ho, lift and go...".
The fairies worked diligently, repairing the mansion after the Hunter's attack. The others were rather dubious at first at letting the fairies handle the repair and reconstruction, but as the head maid is currently still healing and Alice reassured them she will help out using her dolls too, the residents of Scarlet Devil Mansion acquiesced. And so the mansion was filled with the sounds of repair, the loud noises of fairies diligently working to the surprise of many. Though many of them were actually Alice's contracted fairies in disguise which helped guide the fairy maids on working while Alice's dolls handle the more intricate stuff or be the supervisor.
'It seemed the brain fog on the Remilia and others still strong enough to make them underestimate fairies still, despite Bree's performance during that night and the general increased competence of the fairy maids after Bree taught them,' Alice mused, wondering if it was simply bias ingrained into the mind of most people or something else.
"-I have more than fifty books on the subject!" "-And how many have you actually read?"
"-At least twenty!" "-Which means, thirty are not! So I am still right!"
"-Well, I have at least read the ones I have!" "-How about the books you don't have?"
Alice shook her head as she listened to Patchouli and Marisa's argument. It has been an hour yet the two were still going at it, arguing about the most trivial of things. It was not as if she didn't appreciate the two's interaction, as it was probably the first time in a long while she saw the purple-haired magician interacted with someone besides her own familiar or fellow resident of Scarlet Devil Mansion, someone who are more or less equal to her even if she wouldn't admit it. Marisa, despite her brashness and seemingly lack of care, was someone who cared for people and would help others. Patchouli meanwhile, needed someone who could push her out of her comfort zone, a friend who could act like an equal instead of servants or subordinates besides Remilia.
Alice knew Marisa was not the type of person to sit around and do nothing. The blonde would rather be on the move and do something. And yet, the black-white witch had stayed around the library for an hour, arguing with Patchouli. The dollmaker knew the other blonde was truly worried about the resident magician of Scarlet Devil Mansion, despite barely knowing each other. But then again, it was in Marisa's nature to care for people.
"Marisa, Patchouli, would you like something to eat? It's midday already and I don't think either of you had a proper breakfast," Alice interjected, smiling as she looked at the two magicians.
"I appreciate your offer miss Alice but I don't need food as a magician and-" "Food, yes! Yes, please, I want one!" "-I don't-" "Ah come on, I don't want to eat alone. It's going to be a waste of food if you don't try at least one bite. It's Alice's food, Patchy! It's delicious, like you never had before! Come on, let's have lunch together, the three of us. It's gonna be fun, I promise!"
"I- Fine. Just one bite." Patchouli relented, her shoulders drooping in defeat as Marisa gave a celebratory shout, much to Alice's amusement as she took out a basket and opened it, revealing an assortment of unique food and drinks.
"I came across new ingredients recently and had the chance to experiment with them," The blonde explained, taking out a plate from the basket and placing it on the table. There were sandwiches, each filled with different ingredients, from the usual vegetables, meats, and cheese to the exotic like a slice of meat that had an eerie blue glow, a green leaf that seemed to be moving on its own, and a piece of fruit that smelled delicious and sweet.
Despite the two's wariness about some of the ingredients, Marisa and Patchouli barely able to contain themselves as the aroma of the sandwiches wafted to them, making their mouth water and stomach growl. The black-white witch was the first one to reach out and take one of the sandwiches, the one with the eerie blue glow meat and took a bite of it.
Marisa's eyes widened as she chewed the sandwich, savouring the taste and texture. The meat tasted like beef, it was juicy and tender, had a hint of spiciness and sourness, making a pleasant mixture of flavour that seemed to kick her tongue awake. And the bread, it had the crunchy and chewy texture of freshly baked bread that made her want to take another bite as soon as possible. Overall, it was a satisfying bite, and she wanted more.
"Wow, Alice! This is amazing!" Marisa exclaimed with her mouth full of food, not caring about manners at the moment, "You have to try this, Patchy! You need to! Come on!"
Patchouli, seeing Marisa's reaction, reluctantly reached for a sandwich, the one with the green leaf that seemed to be moving on its own and took a bite of it. Her eyes widened as she chewed the sandwich, savouring the taste and texture. The leaf was surprisingly crispy and sweet, the taste seemed to explode in her mouth as she chewed, making her feel as if she was eating a dessert instead of a sandwich. It was strange, the taste and texture, yet it was a pleasant experience. Paired with the meat and vegetables, the flavour mixed and mingled, creating a unique taste profile that was both delicious and refreshing. And the bread, it was a perfect complement to the filling, the crust was crispy while the inside was soft and fluffy. It was a satisfying bite, and she wanted more. Before she knew it, Patchouli had finished the sandwich and was reaching for another one.
Alice smiled in satisfaction as she saw the two magicians enjoying her cooking. Though her smile dropped a little when she heard Marisa talking with her mouth full. She gave the black-white witch a pointed look, making the other blonde realise her faux pas as she stopped and swallowed the food before apologising. The blue-eyed blonde gave her a smile in forgiveness, and the three resumed their meal. The sandwiches were delicious, each one having its own unique flavour and texture, making a satisfying meal.
"Phew, that was a great meal," Marisa said as she leaned back on her chair, patting her stomach, "Thanks for the food, Alice. It was delicious as usual!"
"I am glad that you enjoyed it, Marisa," Alice replied, smiling, "It was a bit experimental but I'm glad that it turned out well."
"Indeed, that was a pleasant meal. I thank you for your hospitality, Miss Alice," Patchouli said, giving a small smile of her own, "Your food certainly more than simply sustenance. It was a delight to eat."
"Of course, Alice is the best, ze! No one could beat my Alice!" Marisa declared proudly as if she was the one being praised, making the dollmaker shake her head in amusement while Patchouli rolled her eyes.
"Flattery will get you no more food, Marisa," Alice said with a chuckle as she put the empty plates and utensils back into the basket, "But I am glad that the both of you enjoyed it, and please, you can simply call me Alice, Patchouli. No need to be so formal with me."
"...Alright, Alice. If that is what you wish," Patchouli replied, nodding before she let out a sigh, "I suppose I should offer a proper tour of the library after this. As a way to show my appreciation and to pay back the favour for the meal."
"Really? You're letting me- I mean us- see your library?! Awesome!" Marisa's eyes lit up in excitement, "Come on, let's go! I want to see the place!"
"Who invited you again? I was talking about Alice," Patchouli said, shaking her head, "But I know better than to argue with you. So come on, I suppose the three of us will have a tour of the library."
"Oh, you're the best! I know that I can count on you, Patchy!" Marisa grinned as she stood up, "Come on, let's go! I can't wait to see the place!"
Alice simply smiled and shook her head as she stood up, following Patchouli and Marisa. The three of them left the guest room and went into the Library proper. It was a massive space that was clearly expanded using space expansion magic. Rows upon rows of shelves filled with books of all kinds lined the walls and stretched as far as the eye could see. The ceiling was high, with a dome-like shape that made the place seem even bigger. Despite the size, the library was well-lit, with candles floating in the air, illuminating the area.
"Welcome to the Scarlet Devil Mansion's library," Patchouli said as she led the two through the library, "I know you two have been here but this time I will give a proper tour to show you the true wonders of this library"
The three of them walked past the shelves, with Patchouli pointing out the different sections of the library and the types of books they contained. From the books on magic, astrology, alchemy, history, geography, science, mathematics, and many others. Patchouli explained the classification system she used, the way the books were organised, and the reason behind it. Marisa, to Patchouli's surprise, seemed to listen intently to the explanation. The black-white witch listened and asked questions, genuinely interested in the subject. Alice meanwhile, simply smiled as she followed the two magicians, occasionally giving a comment or two.
"And the most impressive thing about this place I suppose is simply the amount of books it has," Alice remarked as she looked at the shelves, "Humanity only achieved the printing press and the ability to make books on a massive scale a century ago, so most of the books here are hand-made copies. To create a book is not merely writing, but the process to make the paper, binding the pages, creating the cover. All in all, the amount of effort needed to make a single book is not a small matter. To have this many books is not a small feat at all, and we haven't even touched the knowledge inside, especially magical ones. To have this much knowledge in a single place is a great achievement in and of itself."
Marisa looked thoughtful, "Yeah, you're right Alice. I didn't really think about it that way, but you're right, I guess ze. All these books were made by many people, from different places and times, all gathered in a single place. It's like the ultimate treasure trove of knowledge."
"And treasure is a good way to describe it. Even in the current age, this entire library is practically priceless," Alice said as she looked at the books, "It's truly a testament to your ability Patchouli, to gather and preserve this much knowledge is no easy task even if you have centuries and magic."
Patchouli looked surprised before she averted her eyes, blushing a little as she coughed into her hand, "Well, it's nothing special really."
"Don't be so modest, Patchy!" Marisa said with a grin, "You're amazing! Seriously, ze!"
"Indeed, though I must ask, how many books are here?" Alice asked, looking at Patchouli, "You are the owner after all, surely you would have a rough estimate. I could see no end to it."
"Well-uh, I-" Patchouli stammered, seemingly lost for words as she tried to come up with an answer as Marisa cut in.
"Oh, clearly it's uhh, what came after a million Alice?"
"...A billion?"
"Yeah, that's it! A billion books! Maybe more, this place is so big it looks endless to me!" Marisa declared, nodding to herself while Patchouli looked at her with mouth open "Right, Alice?"
"A slight exaggeration perhaps but there are indeed many books here. Not even several lifetimes would be enough to read it all," Alice said, shaking her head with a smile, "It's quite a mystery how Patchouli managed to acquire so many books, even with her long lifespan and connections. I wonder, how did you do it?"
"I... " Patchouli looked around and suddenly looked confused, her eyes darting from one shelf to another,
"Huh? You're okay, ze?" Marisa asked, looking at the purple-haired magician in concern, "Hey Patchy?"
"Ah, it appears we reached some sort of resting area" Alice suddenly said, looking at the space ahead. There was an open area between the shelves, with a few tables and chairs scattered around, illuminated by floating candles, "How about we take a quick break? It has been a wonderful tour, Patchouli."
"...Ah, yes, of course," Patchouli replied after a moment of hesitation, nodding as she led the other two to the rest area. They took a seat at one of the tables, with Patchouli sitting across from Marisa and Alice.
"Seriously, are you okay, Patchy?" Marisa asked as she leaned forward, looking at the purple-haired magician, "You looked like you just saw a ghost or something."
"I am fine," Patchouli replied, shaking her head, "It's just... I don't remember having this resting area here. It's new."
"What? Come on, you're kidding, right?" Marisa said with a grin, "Well, with a place this big, it's not surprising if you forgot about it. But man, this library really is something else, ze. You're lucky to have it, Patchy!"
"That is true, did you two know that there used to be a massive library in the Outside world?" Alice said, changing the subject with a smile, "It was called the Library of Alexandria, and it was considered one of the greatest libraries in human history. It was said to contain hundreds of thousands of scrolls and books from all over the world, gathered and preserved by the scholars and rulers of Alexandria. Unfortunately, it was destroyed by a series of wars and conflicts, leaving only ruins and legends behind."
"That sounds big?" Marisa asked, tilting her head as she looked at Alice.
"Big? It was said to be massive, with a collection of knowledge that was unrivalled in its time," Alice replied with a smile, "The Library of Alexandria was considered a wonder of the ancient world, and its destruction was a great loss to humanity."
"Really?" Marisa asked, looking at the rows of books, "Well, this place is even bigger, I guess. And it's full of magic and stuff too, so it's even more awesome than that Library of Alexandria!"
"Perhaps, that's the tragedy of it. We can't know for what was lost to time, to truly measure it," Alice replied, shaking her head, "But that's not the point. The point is that the Library of Alexandria was a symbol of the power of knowledge, and the importance of preserving it. It was a testament to the human desire to learn and to share their knowledge with others. And in Gensokyo, sealed away from the outside, this library is the closest thing to it, the greatest collection of knowledge that we have. And that's something to be proud of, don't you think, Patchouli?"
"..Eh? Ah, right, yes," Patchouli nodded after a moment of hesitation, seemingly snapped out of her own thoughts, "It's certainly a great accomplishment, and I'm proud to be able to contribute to it."
"Yup! That's right!" Marisa said with a grin, "You're the best, Patchy!
By the way, Alice, have you seen Reimu's new coat jacket thing? It looked so awesome, Reimu was bragging about it all day yesterday!"
"That doesn't sound like Reimu," Alice said, raising an eyebrow as she looked at Marisa, "Are you sure you weren't the one doing the bragging?"
"Hey, I was just excited for her, okay?" Marisa said with a pout, "She got a new coat, and she looked super cool in it! You would agree with me if you saw her! The maid, Sakuya, also got a cape too! It's so cool and I think they are magical too, ze"
"Ah, I suppose they are, spirit dress in a way is magical equipment," Alice remarked, which caught the attention of Patchouli and Marisa.
"Eh? Magical equipment? You know something about it, Alice?" Marisa asked with interest, leaning forward.
Patchouli also seemed interested, "I've tried to find what it was in the library, but I couldn't find anything. Any attempts to analyse it also failed beside the confirmation Sakuya could summon and unsummoned her coat"
"I see, well, Spirit Dress is simply a term I used, probably not the actual term. What the two got is a type of magical equipment that is usually tied to the person's soul or self, though more of the latter. In simpler terms, it's a magical gear that is worn not physically but internally as it would adapt to each person differently. One might even say, it's in a way the embodiment of the person themselves, though it does have the basic shape or theme to follow it seems" Alice took out of cup of tea from nowhere and sipped it, "They empower and protect the wearer, and usually has a unique effect on top of that, which again, influenced by the wearer too. In general, you can easily recognise a spirit dress by the fact no one can take it off normally, also it just fits and feels like the person"
"Whoa, that sounds amazing," Marisa said, her eyes wide, "Do you think I can get one too?"
Alice chuckled, "Perhaps, it's not impossible"
"That's interesting and explains some things I found from Sakuya's cape," Patchouli remarked thoughtfully as she looked at the shelves, "Though I couldn't remember reading about such things in any of my books. If I may, Alice, how do you know about it?"
"Oh, I just came up with that explanation" Alice casually admitted, "The term 'Spirit Dress' is just something I made up when I came up with too"
"...Wait, came up with it?" Marisa asked, blinking.
"Yes, it's just something I came up with," Alice replied with a mischievous grin.
"You just lied about it, ze? With a straight face and everything?" Marisa asked, looking at the blonde doll maker in disbelief, "That's just mean, ze. You got me all excited for nothing!"
Patchouli sighed, "That is quite rude, though I must admit that was an amusing jest, I can't deny that"
"Oh, it wasn't a lie," Alice replied with a chuckle, "It was the truth, didn't it align with what you have found Patchouli?"
"I-....huh? It..." Patchouli frowned as she thought about it, "Yes, actually. Your explanation aligns with what little I could find from the cape like I said..?"
"And you felt the same from Reimu's coat, didn't it, Marisa? " Alice asked, looking at the black-white witch.
"Yeah, now that you mentioned it," Marisa replied, nodding, "So you're saying that what you said is the truth? But you also just came up with it? Huh? Eh? What?! How- what- how does that work?!"
"That's a secret for me to know and you to find out~" Alice said with a smile, "Now, if we're done taking a break, how about we continue the tour? I would love to see more of your impressive library, Patchouli."
"...Very well, let's continue. Though there aren't many things left to see" Patchouli nodded after a moment of hesitation, while Marisa grumbled under her breath, clearly still trying to wrap her head around what Alice said and did. The three of them continued the tour, with Patchouli leading them through the library, this time not explaining about the contents of the library but about the library itself. How the lighting was done by magic, the space expansion, the preservation of books, and other such things. Marisa listened carefully once more while Alice chimed in occasionally to give her own opinion on the subject. Patchouli seemed to relax more as the two talked, and the three of them continued their walk.
"And that should be all for today's tour," Patchouli said as she stopped in front of a large door, "This is the entrance to the library, the same one you two used earlier. Or rather, Alice did, and Marisa sneaks in behind you. However I would appreciate it if you two didn't come here uninvited or without my knowledge."
"Of course, Patchouli. We would not do such a thing, and if we must visit again, we will inform you first," Alice replied with a polite nod, "Thank you for the tour, it was truly enlightening."
"Yeah, thanks, Patchy!" Marisa said with a grin, "It was fun hanging out with you, ze! You're pretty cool, even though you can be a bit of a stick in the mud sometimes."
"I'm not a stick in the mud," Patchouli grumbled, "And please don't call me that. But thank you, I suppose."
Alice chuckled as she looked at Marisa, "Now then, Marisa, didn't you say you had some errands to run? You should leave now, I think, while I stay here and work with Patchouli and the others," Alice reminded the blonde witch.
"Huh? Really? Did I say that?" Marisa asked, tilting her head before nodding, "Yeah, I guess I did, ze. Alright, I'll leave then. See you later, Alice! And you too, Patchy! Don't be a stranger now, you two!"
"We won't, Marisa. Now, off you go. I'll be fine," Alice replied with a smile, "And don't forget to come and visit me sometimes, alright? I'll be waiting for you."
"Of course! I'll be sure to visit you often, Alice!" Marisa replied with a grin before she turned and walked away, leaving the library with a wave, "See you later!"
Alice and Patchouli watched as the black-white witch left the library, disappearing through the door. Once she was gone, Alice turned to Patchouli with a smile, "She's a handful, isn't she? But I do enjoy her company. She's a good friend."
"...She is loud, and annoying, and rude," Patchouli huffed, looking away.
Alice chuckled, "Not incorrect, though I must reiterate, she was actually quite worried about you. Asthma is not something she was familiar with after all, her reactions when I explained to her were quite a sight."
"Really? She was?" Patchouli asked, looking surprised, "I mean- ahem, not that I care. But why would she worry about me?"
"Because she cares," Alice replied, "She might not show it explicitly at times, but she does. She was worried about you, and she wanted to make sure you were alright, especially since she felt responsible for pushing you so hard during your fight."
"I- well-" Patchouli stammered, looking flustered, "as you can see, I'm fine. There's no need for her to worry."
"I know, and I'm sure Marisa knows too," Alice said, "But that doesn't mean she won't worry anyway. That's just how she is. She cares about her friends, and she wants to make sure they're okay."
Patchouli nodded, "I... I suppose. Though I wouldn't consider her my friend. She's merely an acquaintance."
"Perhaps, but I believe that could change, given time," Alice replied, "And her concern is not misplaced. I won't push anything for now as we barely know each other, but I do hope you will allow me to examine you sometime in the near future, Patchouli. Asthma is a serious condition, and I would hate for you to suffer from it needlessly. Perhaps one day, I could help you find a way to cure it. Or at the very least, mitigate its effects."
"I... appreciate your concern, but it's not necessary," Patchouli replied, shaking her head, "I have lived with this condition until today. I know my limits and what I can and can't do. I can manage."
"And I know you can, but it can be better. You can be better," Alice replied, looking at the purple-haired magician with a determined gaze, "You don't have to suffer alone, Patchouli....but as I say, I won't push anything for now. We barely know each other. I merely wish to offer my help, if you're willing to accept it. Think about it, okay?"
"...I will," Patchouli replied after a moment of hesitation, nodding slowly, "I will... think about it."
"Good," Alice replied with a smile, "Now then, I'll go back to work then. It's a rare thing for me to help with something as big as this mansion, so I should do my best. I will see you again, Patchouli."
"Very well," Patchouli replied, nodding again, "And... Thank you, for your concern."
"You're welcome. And please, feel free to visit me anytime. I'm always happy to have guests," Alice replied with a smile before she turned and left the library, disappearing through the door. Patchouli watched her go, her expression thoughtful as she pondered the dollmaker's words.
"...Friends, huh?" Patchouli muttered as she turned around and walked back into the library, disappearing among the shelves, "I'll... think about it. Maybe."
Alice: "It seems things pushed too hard. As expected of Patchouli, she would notice the inconsistencies...all in all a good day still"
Not the 'real' Extra stage per se but it's not like Flandre go rampage again suited for it. For now, it just tackling the aftermath so to speak, next will be the Hakurei folk (Rumia) which lead to Rin...hopefully? We'll see what the muse brings me
Not the 'real' Extra stage per se but it's not like Flandre go rampage again suited for it. For now, it just tackling the aftermath so to speak, next will be the Hakurei folk (Rumia) which lead to Rin...hopefully? We'll see what the muse brings me
- Pronouns
- He
Ylamona
Konlulu~
She is, but that one more about the 'Library of Scarlet Devil Mansion'.
Think about it, how big it is, even in the most minimal size, it's still a sizable library stocked full of books. Books are not cheap, or easy to come by the older era you are. SDM library being vaguely 'big' meant it has way more books than many kingdoms in medieval era or even renaissance era. Time stop maid or not, if you have that much books something is off...and that's not counting Marisa remarking 'hey, there are a lot of books here', making there even more books there.
tldr: Patchouli almost realises that SDM's library didn't have much canon explanation but managed to get distracted by Alice
- Location
- Painting, Peach's Castle
Well, it is worth noting that the giant library isn't...quite as impressive as it seems.
I mean, yes it is filled with literature, history, and research (all magical and mundane) that both Remilia and Patchouli gathered from many sources...
But books in general have been increasingly more and more common as time went on.
And Patchouli asked the Library to be added to the Mansion...less than a hundred years ago. Around the time where Books weren't just common, they had become ubiquitous.
Which means the vast majority of those books are likely mundane, which easily explains why it's so big. Heck, it probably isn't even in the top ten biggest.
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Ylamona
Konlulu~
Normally perhaps, but remember, Marisa was there in this fic stage 4 and remarked there might even millions there. It's big, really big with enough grimoires and magic book that randomly touching one is a danger.
- Pronouns
- He
Also, some of those books are alive and try to eat you iirc.
So there's that.
Ylamona
Konlulu~
Well, if it's any consolation, The Library was most likely was far smaller 'originally', at least sensible enough for the explanation, until both Marisa and the Hunter came who distorts things 'slightly'.
Oh and yes, Hunter did visit Patchouli too but I can't find a way to make the scene fit or create a chapter for it/referencing it. I was trying to have that here but I realised it just doesn't fit for the tone so I changed it to 'Marisa wonder about asthma' bit.
Oh and yes, Hunter did visit Patchouli too but I can't find a way to make the scene fit or create a chapter for it/referencing it. I was trying to have that here but I realised it just doesn't fit for the tone so I changed it to 'Marisa wonder about asthma' bit.
I suspect ZUN was reading Harry Potter at the time...or maybe book eating the reader alive was a more common troupe than I thought.
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- Location
- Painting, Peach's Castle
...Still probably not top 20, New York state is currently...well, 20 Million books.
And even still, it's likely primarily mundane. Because that's just how many modern books are around, it's absolutely nuts.
It's definitely big enough that someone could camp out in it without being caught though.
- Location
- California Conservation Corps
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Oh easily. Launching search parties to find lost Freshmen was basically a right of passage at my old University Library. And that library wasn't particularly famous or notable, other than being the library for a decently large state research university.
Ylamona
Konlulu~
That's the thing, isn't it? Current modern times instead of at most in the 1900s, and those are not private/personal collection but a massive organisation/government. And I very much doubt Patchouli's library accept just any kind of books either, maybe some things she/Sakuya found neat but probably not so many...slop so to speak. Then not to mention the books about magic, which most probably came from time before printing press/personal creation of some magicians somewhere. Even if we lowballing it to only one in a thousands, it's still high enough that you have to ransack Europe for a while or get really lucky with things.
Alice: "Not that it matter much as there are now at least a billion books here and significant amount of them are handwritten magical masterpieces that probably didn't exist...I'll just distract Patchouli enough until she forgot, it's not like this is a bad thing for her, totally not because I would benefit too from this convenient R&D sources. We'll just say Patchouli somehow came across a lair of kleptomaniac witch that terrorised Europe or something"
The Nameless Theatre of Light
Ylamona
Konlulu~
In time before the Scarlet Mist incident, before the vessel of had been world lost into the Woods, before the Hakurei shrine maiden became the last of her bloodline, there was a small fairy in the magical Land of Illusions. This fairy had no name, no special power, and no home. But one day, as the sun was setting, the fairy saw a group of her fellow fairies excitedly flying towards the Forest of Magic.
Curious as a fairy always do, the nameless fairy followed them, her wings fluttering like leaves in the wind. Lacking in wits and wisdom, the fairy was easily drawn into the excitement of the other fairies and soon found herself in the middle of the forest, where the trees were tall and the magic was thick.
The fairies gathered around a strange hole in the ground, whispering and giggling to each other. The nameless fairy, unable to resist the temptation of discovering what lay within, joined them in their descent. The rabbit hole was dark and deep, and the fairies laughed and played as they flew down into its depths.
After a long, confusing journey through the hole, the nameless fairy and her companions emerged in a strange and wondrous place. It was a magnificent theatre, filled with all manner of fairies and other strange creatures never seen before in the land of fantasy. A place of black and white, with only the colors of the audience's wings and dresses bring color into the room, and the light of the stage shining bright like a candle.
At the front of the theatre, a strange figure stood on the stage. It was a man, tall and thin, with an owl's head instead of a human one. He wore a long, black cloak that seemed to absorb all light, and his eyes glowed with an otherworldly light. The fairies shivered at the sight of him, for he was unlike anything they had seen before. He had a mysterious and alluring aura that drew them in like moths to a flame, and his voice was soft and melodic, echoing throughout the theatre as if it were coming from every direction at once. The man introduced himself as the Playwright, and he told the fairies that they were welcome in his theatre.
"The play we'll show tonight is a tale of courage, of friendship, of love, of the strength of the bonds between people, and of the power of hope and determination to overcome even the greatest of challenges. Tale of a human and monsters, of choices made, and of the consequences of those choices. A tale of a world, torn by war, where monsters and humans live in fear and hatred of each other, and where the fate of both races hangs in the balance. Now, please sit tight, enjoy, and remember: every choice has a consequence, and the smallest act of kindness can have the greatest impact." The Playwright bowed, and the curtain rose, revealing a stage that seemed to stretch on forever. The nameless fairy, along with the other fairies, found herself drawn into the story that unfolded before her.
The fairy watched as the play began, and she was immediately struck by the sheer scale of it. The stage was immense, stretching out as far as the eye could see, and the sets were so elaborate and detailed that it was like watching a living painting. Everything seemed to draw the fairies in, like they were the part of the story itself.
As the play unfolded, the fairy was captivated by the story of a young child who had fallen into the world of monsters. The child, with their innocent and kind heart, had to navigate through a strange and dangerous world filled with monsters and other creatures. They had to use their wit, courage, and compassion to overcome the obstacles in their path, and the fairy found herself rooting for the child as they journeyed on, feeling their emotions as if they were their own. Especially true when the fairies saw the child failed and this restart again, they felt the pain and frustration of the human. But the fairy also saw the kindness and compassion that the child showed to the monsters, even when they were afraid or angry. The child's willingness to forgive and understand, their wits and ingenuity to solve puzzles, and the bonds they formed with the monsters, the Determination they showed in the face of adversity. The little, nameless fairy felt them all, and the play made the fairies to think that they could be just as brave and compassionate as the child, and that they, too, could make a difference in the world.
As the play reached went on, the border of the story and reality began to blur, with the audience becoming increasingly involved in the action. The fairies found themselves cheering, gasping, and even shedding a tear or two as they watched the story unfold. It was a magical, emotional, and transformative experience for the nameless fairy and the others. As the play reached its climax, the child faced a powerful and terrifying monster that had been causing trouble throughout the underground. The fairy held her breath as she watched the child confront the monster, using their Determination even in the most hopeless situation to fight back against it.
After a long and intense battle, the child emerged victorious, having defeated the monster through their bravery and kindness. The fairies cheered and celebrated, and the nameless fairy felt a sense of pride and joy, feeling the success like it was her own.
The curtain fell and the audience erupted into applause. The nameless fairy felt a sense of awe and wonder as she looked around the theatre. The nameless fairy that has no goal, no ambition, and no home, felt that she found something important. She found a purpose in the story that had just unfolded. She wanted to be just like the child in the story, kind, brave and determined. She wanted to make a difference in the world and bring joy and happiness to others. She didn't know how she would do it, but she knew that she had to try.
"That's all for now, children of the nature and dear audiences. I hope you enjoyed the show, as much as the actors and I have enjoyed performing for you. Now, it's time for you to go back to your homes and spread the joy and inspiration that you have found here." The Playwright bowed once more, and the fairies slowly began to leave the theatre, still buzzing with excitement and wonder from the play. But the nameless fairy lingered, feeling a strange pull towards the stage and the Playwright.
As the other fairies fluttered away, the nameless fairy approached the stage, her small wings fluttering nervously. The Playwright, noticing her hesitation, beckoned her forward. "Come closer, little one," he said in his soft, melodic voice. "What is on your mind?"
The fairy, still unsure of herself, hesitated for a moment before finally speaking. "I want to be like the child in the story," she said. "I want to be brave and kind, and to bring happiness to others. But I don't know how."
The Playwright smiled warmly, his strange owl eyes sparkling with understanding. "You have a good heart, little one. And you know that you don't know. Wisdom is not about the knowledge you have, but the knowing that you don't. You have taken the first step on your journey by admitting that you don't know. The rest will come in due time."
He gestured towards the stage, where the sets from the play were still standing. "Just like the child, just like many other heroes, the first step of the journey is often the hardest, and it is often taken in the dark, with no clear path or destination in mind. But with a little help, a little guidance, and a lot of determination, anything is possible."
"...I don't understand," the fairy admitted.
The playwright laughed, a soft, tinkling sound. "That's quite all right. Look at your peers, the fairies. They are impulsive and whimsical, following their instincts without a thought for the consequences. But you, and others that attended the show, willing to sit through the show until the end. You all enjoyed the performances without so much as a peep, and that shows me that you are willing to learn and grow." He paused, then continued, "And the fact that you sought me out, asking for guidance, shows that you are further ahead than most."
The fairy nodded, though still a little unsure. The Playwright smiled and placed a gentle hand on the fairy's shoulder. "Come again tomorrow night, little one, and every night after that. You will see more tales that will inspire and guide you, and perhaps you will find the answers you seek"
As the little fairy that could left the theatre, she saw as the theatre itself seemed to be fading, disappearing back into the darkness of the rabbit hole. But the memories of the play, and the words of the Playwright, stayed with her.
Curious as a fairy always do, the nameless fairy followed them, her wings fluttering like leaves in the wind. Lacking in wits and wisdom, the fairy was easily drawn into the excitement of the other fairies and soon found herself in the middle of the forest, where the trees were tall and the magic was thick.
The fairies gathered around a strange hole in the ground, whispering and giggling to each other. The nameless fairy, unable to resist the temptation of discovering what lay within, joined them in their descent. The rabbit hole was dark and deep, and the fairies laughed and played as they flew down into its depths.
After a long, confusing journey through the hole, the nameless fairy and her companions emerged in a strange and wondrous place. It was a magnificent theatre, filled with all manner of fairies and other strange creatures never seen before in the land of fantasy. A place of black and white, with only the colors of the audience's wings and dresses bring color into the room, and the light of the stage shining bright like a candle.
At the front of the theatre, a strange figure stood on the stage. It was a man, tall and thin, with an owl's head instead of a human one. He wore a long, black cloak that seemed to absorb all light, and his eyes glowed with an otherworldly light. The fairies shivered at the sight of him, for he was unlike anything they had seen before. He had a mysterious and alluring aura that drew them in like moths to a flame, and his voice was soft and melodic, echoing throughout the theatre as if it were coming from every direction at once. The man introduced himself as the Playwright, and he told the fairies that they were welcome in his theatre.
"The play we'll show tonight is a tale of courage, of friendship, of love, of the strength of the bonds between people, and of the power of hope and determination to overcome even the greatest of challenges. Tale of a human and monsters, of choices made, and of the consequences of those choices. A tale of a world, torn by war, where monsters and humans live in fear and hatred of each other, and where the fate of both races hangs in the balance. Now, please sit tight, enjoy, and remember: every choice has a consequence, and the smallest act of kindness can have the greatest impact." The Playwright bowed, and the curtain rose, revealing a stage that seemed to stretch on forever. The nameless fairy, along with the other fairies, found herself drawn into the story that unfolded before her.
The fairy watched as the play began, and she was immediately struck by the sheer scale of it. The stage was immense, stretching out as far as the eye could see, and the sets were so elaborate and detailed that it was like watching a living painting. Everything seemed to draw the fairies in, like they were the part of the story itself.
As the play unfolded, the fairy was captivated by the story of a young child who had fallen into the world of monsters. The child, with their innocent and kind heart, had to navigate through a strange and dangerous world filled with monsters and other creatures. They had to use their wit, courage, and compassion to overcome the obstacles in their path, and the fairy found herself rooting for the child as they journeyed on, feeling their emotions as if they were their own. Especially true when the fairies saw the child failed and this restart again, they felt the pain and frustration of the human. But the fairy also saw the kindness and compassion that the child showed to the monsters, even when they were afraid or angry. The child's willingness to forgive and understand, their wits and ingenuity to solve puzzles, and the bonds they formed with the monsters, the Determination they showed in the face of adversity. The little, nameless fairy felt them all, and the play made the fairies to think that they could be just as brave and compassionate as the child, and that they, too, could make a difference in the world.
As the play reached went on, the border of the story and reality began to blur, with the audience becoming increasingly involved in the action. The fairies found themselves cheering, gasping, and even shedding a tear or two as they watched the story unfold. It was a magical, emotional, and transformative experience for the nameless fairy and the others. As the play reached its climax, the child faced a powerful and terrifying monster that had been causing trouble throughout the underground. The fairy held her breath as she watched the child confront the monster, using their Determination even in the most hopeless situation to fight back against it.
After a long and intense battle, the child emerged victorious, having defeated the monster through their bravery and kindness. The fairies cheered and celebrated, and the nameless fairy felt a sense of pride and joy, feeling the success like it was her own.
The curtain fell and the audience erupted into applause. The nameless fairy felt a sense of awe and wonder as she looked around the theatre. The nameless fairy that has no goal, no ambition, and no home, felt that she found something important. She found a purpose in the story that had just unfolded. She wanted to be just like the child in the story, kind, brave and determined. She wanted to make a difference in the world and bring joy and happiness to others. She didn't know how she would do it, but she knew that she had to try.
"That's all for now, children of the nature and dear audiences. I hope you enjoyed the show, as much as the actors and I have enjoyed performing for you. Now, it's time for you to go back to your homes and spread the joy and inspiration that you have found here." The Playwright bowed once more, and the fairies slowly began to leave the theatre, still buzzing with excitement and wonder from the play. But the nameless fairy lingered, feeling a strange pull towards the stage and the Playwright.
As the other fairies fluttered away, the nameless fairy approached the stage, her small wings fluttering nervously. The Playwright, noticing her hesitation, beckoned her forward. "Come closer, little one," he said in his soft, melodic voice. "What is on your mind?"
The fairy, still unsure of herself, hesitated for a moment before finally speaking. "I want to be like the child in the story," she said. "I want to be brave and kind, and to bring happiness to others. But I don't know how."
The Playwright smiled warmly, his strange owl eyes sparkling with understanding. "You have a good heart, little one. And you know that you don't know. Wisdom is not about the knowledge you have, but the knowing that you don't. You have taken the first step on your journey by admitting that you don't know. The rest will come in due time."
He gestured towards the stage, where the sets from the play were still standing. "Just like the child, just like many other heroes, the first step of the journey is often the hardest, and it is often taken in the dark, with no clear path or destination in mind. But with a little help, a little guidance, and a lot of determination, anything is possible."
"...I don't understand," the fairy admitted.
The playwright laughed, a soft, tinkling sound. "That's quite all right. Look at your peers, the fairies. They are impulsive and whimsical, following their instincts without a thought for the consequences. But you, and others that attended the show, willing to sit through the show until the end. You all enjoyed the performances without so much as a peep, and that shows me that you are willing to learn and grow." He paused, then continued, "And the fact that you sought me out, asking for guidance, shows that you are further ahead than most."
The fairy nodded, though still a little unsure. The Playwright smiled and placed a gentle hand on the fairy's shoulder. "Come again tomorrow night, little one, and every night after that. You will see more tales that will inspire and guide you, and perhaps you will find the answers you seek"
As the little fairy that could left the theatre, she saw as the theatre itself seemed to be fading, disappearing back into the darkness of the rabbit hole. But the memories of the play, and the words of the Playwright, stayed with her.
I think I was barely lucid and fresh of a dream when I wrote this? Cleaned it up as much as I could and I do like it enough so here it is. Something a bit light that showed some things in less weird ways like usual? At least I think I restrained myself well enough