Am I real or just an illusion? ~The Night Terror Incident

So much collab.

---

The young vampire landed in front of Ellen's house, followed by Kasen. Upon seeing the two arrive, the blonde witch put her hands on her hips and looked at them both, slightly annoyed. "What took you two so long? We've both been waiting here for a while now." she said, while pointing at Yuki and at herself.

Kasen shrugged. “Why were you waiting?” She make a movement with her arms towards her house. “You could’ve made yourself at home in the meantime. I don’t think the owner would mind.” She raised a finger. “She’s a bit crazy with her magic, but I heard she’s really nice.”

Flandre couldn't help but giggle slightly. Ellen, on the other hand, crossed her arms. "The owner in question is right here in front of you, you know?!" she stared at Kasen angrily.

“I know, that’s why I’m stating it.” The hermit raised a brow. “So, Miss Owner, can you kindly invite us in?”

Ellen turned around, saying something under her breath. She pushed the door opened and bowed, letting everyone else enter the house before her. "Come on in, my dear guests."

Ellen waited until all three of her companions entered the house, before entering herself, closing the door behind her. "Well, make yourselves comfortable. If you need me, I'll be upstairs." she headed towards the stairs leading to the second floor and climbed them.

As soon as the blonde witch disappeared from her view, a cold breeze passed through Flan's body, making her shiver a little.

A little hum escaped Kasen’s lips as she smiled. “Seems like this house has a haunting.”

A little giggle resounded through the room. Before long a blonde girl materialized in front of the girls, dressed in a blue and white maid dress, and a wide-brim hat on her head. "You're no fun, miss. How is a poltergeist supposed to do her job properly if people keep spotting her presence?" she sighed and tipped her hat. "So, we meet again. And this time you brought a third person. Do you have a love triangle now?" the poltergeist said, looking at both Kasen and Flan.

Closing an eye, Kasen smiled. “It’s hard for spirit-types to escape my eyes.” She extended her normal hand to the poltergeist. “I don’t think we had the opportunity to talk before. My name is Kasen Ibaraki and this is my sister Flandre.”

Yuki cheerfully waved her hand. “I’m Yuki and I have nothing to do with these weird--- I mean, I come from Makai and I’m here to help them!”

Kana stretched the oni's hand firmly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms.Ibaraki. I'm Kana Anaberal, Ellen's assistant on the shop." she looked towards Yuki. "So you're from Makai, you say?" she sighed and lowered her head. "I swear, that girl..."

Flandre seemed to be busy pondering something, before she finally said something. "Oh, you're Ellen's girlfriend, right?" she said, looking towards Kana.

The poltergeist fell silent for a few seconds, tilted her head and smiled. "Excuse me, what~?"

“Ooh, is that why she was so worried about getting here?” Yuki asked Flandre and then looked at Kana again. “Well, you’re pretty so she has good taste.” The something echoed in her mind and a mix of terror as she pointed at the potions decorating the shelves. “Is that why…?”

The oni said nothing, with a hand supporting her head, she watched the chaos unfold in silence.

Kana sighed. "Well, I appreciate the compliment, so thank you. And yeah. Those potions are exactly what you think you are. Ellen's... not the most conventional witch. Although I'm going to say one thing:" she lifted a finger. "I am not Ellen's girlfriend. I'm simply her friend. ... Her old friend, for that matter." the poltergeist looked somewhat down upon speaking the last sentence.

“You don’t sound exactly happy about it.” Kasen commented, one brow arched, a thoughtful glint in her eyes.

"No, it's not that I'm not happy, it's just..." she fell silent for a second then turned around. "It's nothing, just reminiscing. So don't worry about it."

“I won’t pry.” Kasen replied knowingly. She understood how painful the past could be at times.

“Uh… hm… I think talking helps instead of keeping this bottled in.” The Makai witch stated simply. “I say my thoughts out loud most times! Huh, sometimes people get mad but… I never feel bad about keeping things inside!” She said with a smile and then it faltered a bit. “Mai always keeps her true feelings inside. She ends up blurting out hurtful words because she doesn’t want to feel weak but…” She sighed. “She’s hurting herself more than she’s hurting others, everyone else accepted how she is… but she didn’t really accept herself.”

There was a pause.

“Ahahah… sorry, I’m rambling again!” Yuki apologized, one hand rubbing the back of her head, embarrassed.

Flandre gave Yuki a weird look.

On the other hand, a small laugh escaped from Kana's mouth. She looked towards Yuki. "It's okay, I don't mind your rambling." she sighed and turned around once more, a calm smile on her face. "Has anyone of your friends ever said 'Nice to meet you' and acted like if he or she hadn't ever seen you before?"

“No…” Yuki answered, pondering slowly. “But Mai acts like she doesn’t know me a lot of times…” She seemed a little dispirited as she reminded herself of that and she shook her head. “Do you mean that Miss Ellen has amnesia?”

“You should talk with her.” Kasen interrupted. “I don’t want to sound overly-positivistic, but it seems to me that she hasn’t been forgetting things as often.” She looked at Flandre as if asking for confirmation. “I don’t know since when exactly or why that happened.”

The blonde poltergeist raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Well, I'd be delighted if it turned out that her memory was returning to her. I'll be sure to talk with her at some point." she sighed and crossed her arms. "Regardless of that, I wanted to ask you something... I heard that there was some sort of attack on the human village some time ago... Was Ellen travelling with you lot by then? I... got kind of worried that she might have gotten injured or something worse when I heard about it."

As much as Kasen tried to convince herself that it was in the past, the memory of Ellen covered in blood, desperately trying to cling to life was still fresh in her mind. Her expression acquired a grim shadow to it.

“She was helping with the evacuation.” The hermit’s eyes looked at the ground. She still felt guilty that she had been so careless to the point of almost getting Ellen killed. “I was fighting against the culprit and Ellen came to help me. She…” Unconsciously, her hands tightened into fists. “She got severely injured because of my carelessness. If it wasn’t for her, I probably wouldn’t be here now.”

Yuki shifted nervously on her feet.

Flandre grabbed Kasen's arm and looked at her with teary eyes. On the other hand, Kana shifted her head down, her hat hiding her eyes. "I see..." after a few seconds of silence, she quickly raised her head, with a smile. "Well. I'm glad that you're both safe at the very least, Ms.Ibaraki. Give my regards to the person who healed Ellen, as well."

At that moment, a voice came rushing down from the stairs that led to the second floor of the house. "Okay, I'm ready~! Let's head back to searching for--" Ellen interrupted herself once she looked at the scene. "Hey, what's with the gloomy faces on you all?" she looked towards the poltergeist, and back to her companions. "Don't tell me, did Kana tell you one of her awful ghost stories?"

Kasen avoided meeting Ellen’s gaze altogether, quietly looking at the ground.

The blonde Makai witch looked from gloomy expression to gloomy expression. “Ah, huh… I huh, just told a really bad joke! Ahaha… I guess Makaian humor is a bit different from here, I need to be careful! Cultural differences and that sort of thing…” She scratched the back of her head nervously.

Annnnnnd ZM's back in action! Ready to post yet another epic collab with Dankiri!

---

Utsuho descended down to the steps of the Moriya Shrine, quickly running up them and barging the door open. "Sanae! I'm here, don't worry! I didn't mean to be gone for so long!" she yelled, looking around for the green-haired shrine maiden.

...

Not a sound was heard.

The hell raven stepped inside in confusion, wondering where someone was to talk to. "Hmm...maybe one of those two goddesses is here, too...?"

“Ugh…” Came a groan of someone who seemed very pained about something. A thumb could be heard as dragged steps made their way to the door.

The toad goddess opened the door looking miserable. There were bags under her eyes, her hair didn’t seem to have met a comb in the last couple of days and her frown only seemed to prove that, indeed, the goddess had seen better days.

Eyes squinted at the light of the sun, which seemed brighter to her for some reason, she looked at Utsuho, taking a few moments to focus her vision on the hell raven.

“Yeah…?”

"Oh, the frog goddess...you don't seem very well," Utsuho observed, putting a hand on Suwako's forehead. "Are you sick, or something? Maybe I can make you something to eat to make you feel better!"

“I… ugh… drank too much…” The goddess rubbed her head. “And I ate some fried onion rings… I think? They were round… maybe tiny donuts? I don’t know anymore… uuugh… my head hurts…” She looked pretty queasy. “But… I’ve had worse…”

"Hmm, you should probably get some rest then..." the hell raven asked in concerned. "A-Anyway, have you seen Sanae?"

“Sanae? Yeah, she was around…” Her face suddenly grew serious. “She went to visit Momiji’s grave.” Her eyes averted Utsuho’s. “…I tried to cheer her up but it didn’t work.”

"O-Oh..." Utsuho trailed off, looking down guiltily. "I-I wish I could've been there for her, but...the mistress's sister..."

She clenched her fists, angry at herself. She felt terrible, feeling as if she let Sanae down in her time of need.

"Don’t blame yourself.” Suwako’s eyes raised to meet Utsuho’s once again. “Sanae needed some time alone to think and collect herself.” A sad smile formed on her lips. “As ironic as it sounds, there is no kind of miracle that would remove your heartache from losing a friend at the snap of a finger.” She rubbed her forehead. “And as much as we want to help, people need time to understand what loss means and how it affects their lives. We can be there to support them, but it’s only their own mind that will decide to step forward and move on.”

"Y-Yeah...you're absolutely right," Utsuho responded, fire suddenly flashing in her eyes. "What I'll do is make Sanae happier so she can move on as best she can! That's a great idea~!"

“Did something happen to the girl?” Suwako asked curiously. “Sanae hardly spoke of what happened…”

"Hmm? You mean...Sanae herself?" Utsuho asked.

“I mean, to your mistress’ sister.” Suwako looked down. “I know what happened with our Sanae…”

The hell raven closed her eyes, her worry for the shrine maiden only increasing more. "W-Well, the mistress's sister...she nearly died...I almost lost her..." she explained, biting her lip and feeling tears well up in her eyes at the memory. "I found her in time, but...she was in so much distress...she was in so much pain...she sounded like she was losing hope every passing second..."

“I see.” Suwako closed her eyes, smiling a bit in an almost exact copy of Kanako’s standard expression. “But you saved her, didn’t you?” She opened one eye. “There’s no need to cry now, she’s safe and you did a great job. I’m sure your mistress will be pleased.”

"I-I know, but..." Utsuho opened her eyes, hot tears streaming down her face. She lunged toward Suwako and hugged her, burying her face in her chest.

"I-I was so scared!" she sobbed. "I-I can't help but cry...I-it's too much for me...sniff..."

Suwako gently petted the girl’s head, a tone of understanding in her voice. “It’s never easy to see our loved ones in danger. We start questioning ourselves on what could’ve happened… on what would change if we failed to get there in time… But the past is the past and the future is so full of possibilities.” She smiled. “Cry your worries out, let your fears fade away with each of your tears. The past is unchanging and the future is within our grasp, we have the power to mold it. Your choices, henceforth, are what matter.”

Utsuho whimpered, wiping her eyes with her hands as she tried to stop the tears from falling. "G-Goddess...you're so wise for someone so small..." she stuttered, trying to compose herself.

Suwako chuckled. “Well, I may be small, but I’m way older than you.” She bonked Utsuho lightly on the head. “Don’t call your elders short.”

The brown-haired girl pouted and rubbed her head. "I-I said small, not short!" she retorted. "Also, you seem to be feeling better, too."

“Yeah, huh…” The goddess rubbed her own head. “Serious talks work wonders with hangovers…” She chuckled. “What kind of goddess would I be if I didn’t even manager to comfort one person?”

Utsuho couldn't help but chuckle as well. "Man, I love this shrine...all three of you have helped me out so much..."

“That’s why we’re here!” The goddess stated, her hands on her waist, chest puffed out proudly. “To help everyone who seeks help!” Then she resumed her relaxed stance. “You know you’re always welcome here, whenever you need help, we’ll always be around to lend a hand.”

The hell raven smiled tearfully. "T-Thank you..." she uttered, not knowing what else to say as she embraced the frog goddess.

“Yes, yes. Now run along, go do your job as friend.” The goddess broke the hug and looked at the raven with a smile. “I’m sure you’ll be able to help more than we could.”

"I don't know about that, considering how much you two mean to her, but...I'll try!" Utsuho declared. "Thanks for everything, frog goddess!"

And with that, she flashed Suwako a determined smile and made her way out of the shrine, wanting to locate Sanae.

---

Unaware to Sanae’s footsteps, Aya stood quietly in front of Momiji’s grave, eyes blurred by tears.

Slowly, her mind and heart started accepting that her friend was gone and she would never see her again. It was a fact, she could argue and cry and scream all she wanted but facts can’t me changed.

The wolf tengu’s death couldn’t be undone. The fact she was the one who forcibly made her leave the mountain would also stay true. The higher gods out there, surely, had decided she had to be punished.

No, that’s what she wanted to convince herself of. The truth was that all her transgressions were drops of water, slowly but surely filling the glass. And has it finally overflowed, the tidal wave that resulted had washed everything away, taking away not her but her friend.

Sanae quietly moved to stand next to Aya, looking at Momiji's grave, then at the black-haired tengu. "Aya..." she whispered.

“I wonder how it will be… from now on…” The tengu’s voice shook as she forced a smile through her tears. “I have no one to scold me each time I misbehave… ahaha…”

"Mm, well..." the shrine maiden trailed off, trying to think of something comforting and proper to tell her friend. "I told you this before, did I not? Momiji wouldn't want you to dwell over her death. She'd want this occurrence to strengthen you as a tengu. She'd want you to put an end to the tragedies that have been transpiring."

Sanae placed her hand on Aya's arm, squeezing it gently. "And besides...you have me, Hatate, Nitori...everyone, really. We all want to help you get through this...and we want to get through this ourselves..."

“I understand that… and I thank you all for it, it’s just…” A nervous hand slid through her hair as the tengu, once again, forced a chuckle. “Ahaha… I think it will take some time… to take it all in… and to start thinking how to keep moving.”

Her eyes fell on the grave and there was a moment of silence.

“It’s… strange… that I’m asking this but…” Her eyes shifted to Sanae, there was something else in then now, other than sadness, shining coolly inside. “Do you know who did this?”

Sanae shook her head sadly. "I know who's responsible for her death...or at least I think I know who's responsible...but I can't exactly tell you her identity since it's still a mystery to me..."

She stared back into Aya's eyes, noting that not only grief and sadness were apparent, but...the ascension of growing rage as well.

“The one who attacked the Village… Someone with wings, someone no one has met before.”

The tengu’s analytical mind started working. “I wonder if Miss Reimu knows her. If she isn’t from Gensokyo, then there aren’t a lot of places left to look for.”

"From what I know, Reimu doesn't know who she is, either," Sanae explained, putting her hand on Aya's shoulder. "...What are you planning, Aya...?"

Aya nodded negatively. “Don’t worry, Miss Sanae, I’m not going to fight whatever that creature is.” She looked down. “Not alone, at any rate. But if I can at least know who she is or where she comes from, that alone would be enough help. That’s something I should be able to do.”

Time to finally free someone from her capitivity!

Collab with Dani. Every single BGM is a track from the Guided Fate Paradox OST because Yousei Teikoku <3

---

The green-haired sprite shifted her eyes towards the voice's source. She rubbed them a little and blinked a few times before letting out a small chuckle. "It's okay, Ms.Shrine Maiden. It's not like we were in a hurry or anything." she stood up and politely bowed. "Please excuse the messiness of the room, but we kind of couldn't clean it at all. Regardless, please make yourself at home~." she said cheerfully, although with a slight sarcastic tone.

Reimu didn’t reply to the remark, she focused on the bars around the sprite.

“When I deactivate this, it will probably get the Ripper’s attention. So I hope you have some kind of power to show you the way out.” She commented, raising on her hand two seals.

"Well, I..." Dai rubbed her chin, looking towards the shrine maiden. "I don't think I have anything of the sort..." she looked towards Layla, and back to the shrine maiden. "Don't you have anything? I mean, you had to get here somehow, right...?"

“I had to summon a god’s help to get here.” The maiden lowered her arm. “This is a pretty vast place, anyone would get lost here.” Her eyes followed Dai’s to the other cage. “I don’t think I know your friend.”

The sprite looked towards the cage Layla was in. "Oh. Her name's Layla, she's uh..." she bit her lip. "A poltergeist who also got captured by the Ripper. That's pretty much all I know about her. ... She doesn't seem to remember anything else, either."

“A poltergeist I don’t know.” Reimu completed the sentence, eyes full of suspicion. “What exactly aren’t you telling me?”

“I…” Layla started to speak. It had never been in her nature to lie and yet, she was so very scared, to the point her words didn’t leave her throat.

“I talked with Yuyuko, the Ripper said it had no interest in ghosts, so why is a poltergeist here?” The red-white pressed on, her suspicious growing bigger.

Dai shook her arms, panicking, and trying to grab Reimu's attention. "So, uh! How about you break these cells first, Reimu? We can all talk about this after we get out of this place!" she sighed. "I mean, Layla's not dangerous at all, so surely you can trust her in the meantime, right?"

“Surely, I see no good reason not to trust someone I don’t know who is, in all likelihood, involved in the Incident, perpetrated by at least one unknown culprit. I’ll go right ahead a free her because I’m sure there will be no ill consequences coming from those actions whatsoever.” The sarcasm dripping from the shrine maiden was enough to drown an elephant.

Her eyes shone dangerously. “A lot of people have died because of this coward weasel, I’ll make sure anything behind this will be banished from existence.”

The sprite lowered her head and spoke in a rather low tone "Layla is not..." before cutting herself short and biting her lip again.

*BGM: Toki no Shizuku (The Guided Fate Paradox)*

“I am… the one who unleashed that creature into your world… I…” Layla started, voice trembling, hugging her legs and shivering.

Something in Reimu seemed to snap, but the miko remained in her place, her aura doing the talking for her.

“All I… wanted was for my family to be reunited and… Oh, I was so selfish… I… don’t deserve to be forgiven. This is divine punishment.”

The calmness in the maiden’s voice was unnerving. “No, you don’t deserve to be forgiven. And what you’re facing now isn’t divine punishment.” The tone of her voice seemed to suggest that what she was planning to do with the captive girl would be way worse than what was happening now.

Layla simply sobbed, nodding in affirmation, nodding in agreement to what the red and white was saying. She had no idea what to say or do. For a brief time when she had helped the small sprite she had had hope. Hope that she could help them change this situation. But what else did she expect? How foolish could she have been to the point of believing for a second that others would be as forgiving and lenient as the green haired fairy.

"Don't do anything to her!" the sprite screamed, looking towards the shrine maiden. She backed down a little once she noticed Reimu's fierce aura shifting its attention towards her. "Just... please..."

“Why shouldn’t I?” Reimu asked, eyes still locked with Dai’s.

"She... She's not really at fault. The Ripper tricked her, that's all..." Dai lowered her head slightly.

Crossing her arms, the miko stared at the fairy. It was as though she wasn’t concerned that the Ripper could arrive at any moment. “How did it trick her and why shouldn’t she be punished?”

The sprite stood silent, looking at the shrine maiden with a sad look on her face, taking small glances towards Layla.

“You don’t know why, she doesn’t either.” The shrine maiden’s glared focused on the poltergeist. “You’re going to stay quiet? It’s your existence that’s on the line and she’s doing a better job trying to defend you than you are.”

Layla stood quiet.

“If you want to die here, you can just say so and we’ll finish it up right now.”

“I don’t…” Reimu’s brow raised as the poltergeist started talking, her voice a mix of sadness and rage spoken between clenched teeth. “I don’t want to die. I do not wish to die…. My sisters, they died before me… they were all that I had.” Tears were trailing down her face. “They broke us apart when father passed, I… kept his magic mirror… and it told me that it would help me have them back. And with its help I created them, the poltergeists, to my sisters’ image. I was… so very happy… so… very… happy…” Her hands covered her face, fingers between her bangs. “Why… why was I so selfish? That should’ve been enough… that… But they weren’t them. They… were different. And when they really died… I knew, I knew they were gone and all I had were illusions. I should have been happy. That should’ve been enough! ”

Reimu listened quietly, her expression unchanging, something about her seemed to show she was understanding where the conversation as going, perhaps due to experience or perhaps because of her intuition.

“People knew… I had created them, people though I was a witch… they shunned me, they hated me… they wanted me burned. But I could endure it, for them… I would… when they died… I could no longer bear it… I had all that I could and yet I felt I had lost everything.” She clenched her hands, eyes filled with anger. “They wanted me burned so I burned! The children, they would live. They were immaterial. But I’d burn. Because that was all that I deserved.”

“You killed yourself.” Reimu commented in a matter of fact way.

“Then, I woke up in a place I did not know… And the mirror spoke to me once again. It said that this time, in this world, god had given me an opportunity to be reunited. I believed in it… I believed because the only reason why I was not burning in Hell was divine intervention. And so I helped the creature… I helped it and kept ignoring them, the children that had kept me company, the children that had loved me unconditionally even though I was too blind to see them as mere illusions... They did not deserve that, deep down I knew it but I was too far gone…”

“And now…”

The poltergeist’s voice calmed down. “Now, I have helped the devil in your world. I do not wish to die. I wish to help you stop it, I wish to atone… to you all and to them. But how am I supposed to ask for understanding? How am I supposed to defend myself? To justify my actions and beg for forgiveness? I cannot. My words cannot change what has already happened.”

The ascended fairy looked towards the shrine maiden. "Reimu, please... She really wants to help... She's the one who made it possible for me to contact Star. I know that what she has done is very grave, but uh... Can't you spare her...? At least, until the incident is over."

The shrine maiden’s anger seemed to have subsided a bit, but it was apparent that wouldn’t be the last they’d say about the issue.


“Sentient objects created in the Dream World can’t take a physical form, especially in another world. Which means, your soul is connected to the Ripper.”

Layla nodded. “Yes.”

“That means, you can’t leave this place. You can’t be in Gensokyo at the same time as the Ripper… and even if you were there and he was here, you would easily be manipulated.”

The poltergeist looked down, but for once her look of determination didn’t waver. “That’s true.”

Reimu’s eyes met Dai’s. “That’s that, you’ll have to leave first.”

"W-wait... Does that mean that we have to leave Layla here...?" she looked towards the poltergeist. "But... What if the Ripper comes back and does something to her..."

“I’m not leaving either.” Reimu pointed out simply.

"Oh... Okay then, that should simplify things then." she let out a sigh of relief, and pondered for a few seconds. "... But I don't know the way out of the Dream World."

With an exasperated sigh, the miko rubbed her forehead, trying to think of something.

“The culprit could’ve chosen a more convenient location to jail his hostages in…” The grumbled and then looked to the cages and sighed again. “There’s no other option, I guess...”

From the sleeve of her clothes she produced an ofuda and started folding it until it had a similar shape to a stylized human. She closed it inside her clamped hands and whispered something, words that probably even if the fairy listened to them wouldn’t understand.
The air seemed to shift a bit and so did Reimu’s features. Somehow, her expression seemed to belong to another person, someone else other than the miko.

“When I free you, this little one will show you the way out. Follow it and don’t stray. It will auto-combust after a set time, never stop following it.” Her strangely calm and even voice said. “Do you understand?”

Dai looked at Reimu with a puzzled look, but eventually nodded. Still, she looked kind of concerned. "Are you two going to be okay?"

“We’ll do our best.” Her eyes looked at the poltergeist. “I’m sure she won’t be in any danger as long as she remains here. Don’t worry.”

Reimu raised the ofuda seals she had prepared before and sent them towards the sprite’s cage, cutting off the green bars disappearing with an electrical sound.

“Run along.” She looked at Dai. “And don’t lose your way.”

The green-haired sprite nodded silently, before running to the outside, following the little familiar's directions.

The continuation of the collab!

---

"That's quitter talk! Please..." Utsuho pleaded, both her hands on the door. "I thought that I wouldn't be able to rescue my mistress's little sister, but I managed to pull it off and defy the odds. If I could be able to do that...then I feel that if we all work together, we can stop this threat and save many more people! Sure, we definitely won't be able to save everyone, and we might even lose a few of our own, but...it wouldn't hurt to just give it our all again! So...please..."

Patchouli supported her head on her hand. “The culprit is not a person. It is an object. Whether it was unleashed by someone or not is not relevant considering the state of things. It is a mirror.” Her eyes fell on the hand mirror on her lap. “I have never seen an object with an aura such as this. In short, it is not from Gensokyo.” Her tone of voice lowered as she started talking to herself. “How would someone find such an object and establish a connection between it and the Ripper is oddly unfitting. However, should she know what and where it is from…”

"Oh, interesting..." Sanae began to muse. "The ripper isn't a human...a mirror..."

She then had a thought. "The Kanako image I saw a while ago...it all makes sense..."

“I have what may be what started this Incident in my possession. However, it is likely it is just a part of it. It might help with locating the culprit in the world it is hiding.” Her fingers tapped the glassy surface. “Now, where that may be… Only the most well-travelled of Gensokyo may know. Since it was her that entrusted me with this, Marisa is bound to know something. I doubt, however, that you will be able to find her in time.” She closed her eyes, pragmatism speaking above everything else. “You should think of someone else.”

Sanae closed her eyes and began to contemplate. Things were getting more and more dire and if they were going to move elsewhere, they'd have to move fast.

...

Just what has Reimu been up to recently? Surely she'd have figured something out by now, Sanae mused. But just where was she?

Then another voice spoke on the seal.

“Patchouli-sama, I want to get out!”

“Be quiet, Koa. I am pondering.”

“I haven’t seen the light of day for weeks! Someone send help---“

And then complete silence.

“Well… I suppose that is the end of that.” The maid commented casually.

"Reimu," Sanae spoke. "Where is she?"

Sakuya titled her head slightly. “We have not seen her. If I recall it correctly, you went after her after the battle.”

"Yes, I did. She and I got into an argument before she broke down," Sanae explained. "Then she vowed to put an end to this madness, which then I warned her to be careful and that we'd all help her out without a second thought. That was the last I've seen of her."

The shrine maiden sighed. "I hope she's alright..."

“I wonder if she is.” The silver haired said. “That girl is hardly the epitome of prudence as it is, if she broke down…” She nodded negatively. “At any rate, is there anything else I can do for you?”

"Hmm...I'm not sure...is there a way Miss Patchouli can help us pinpoint where Reimu might be, or...?" Sanae wondered.

The purple magician’s voice came in again.

“You all seem to be under the impression that magic is something that grows on trees.” A pause. “Technically they do, but you got what I meant. It requires a lot of my magic and I am no positive if I should be spending it on that. Also, that would require you to have something that has belonged to her.”

"We can run by her shrine and pick up a sock, or something!" Utsuho piped, her energy clearly regained. Unfortunately, she clearly missed the point.

“Good. I am sure that werewolf girl can help you track her with that. Godspeed.” Came Patchi’s blunt reply.

"Yeah, let's do it!" came Utsuho's cheerful response.

"Yeah, let's not," Sanae scolded. "This is serious. We'll just have to find her on our own. I'm not sure if going to such lengths would even work."

“Do you have any other leads?” Sakuya asked.

"The only other person or youkai I think would know about Reimu is Yukari. Perhaps we should go to her?" Sanae suggested.

“I suppose you have found your answer, then.” The maid smiled.

The arahitogami smiled back. "Thanks for giving us your time. And thank you, as well, Miss Knowledge."

“Not at all. You are always welcome.” Sakuya bowed slightly with a smile. “I wish you good luck.”

"You can count on it!" the hell raven assured Sakuya, turning before leaving the area. Sanae bowed back and smiled before she turned to hurriedly follow her friend.

Cookies, you say? Pfft, I eat cookies for dinner!

---

The blonde witch tilted her head. "You know I was joking when I said to knock her out, right?" she sighed. "Well, I guess it's time to get back to work. I want to get done with this as much as anyone else at this point."

The poltergeist giggled. "Don't go getting yourself killed now." This prompted Ellen to scratch the back of her head slightly, before nodding and heading outside.

“Right…” Kasen sighed, collecting her thoughts and she looked at Ellen. “Any idea where to check?”

"Well, not at all." Ellen crossed her arms. "But we kind of uh... Went through the entirety of Gensokyo by this point, so..." she turned her head slightly to look at Kasen. "I guess our only option is to look on those places you didn't want to visit."

The oni’s brow twitched. “It’s not like I didn’t want to visit them, I don’t want you two to visit them.”

"Well, then you're just going to have to deal with it!" Flandre said. "'cause we're going wherever you are."

The blonde witch nodded and giggled slightly. "I'm pretty sure Flan's willing to glue herself to you if need be, so you pretty much have no choice but to let us go with you to those scaaaaaaaaaary places, Ms.Hermit. Besides, there's that whole "One for all, all for one" thing."

“Honestly…” Kasen nodded negatively. “I know you’re joking, but it’s not that I think they’re scary or that you can’t handle whoever may appear to face us.”

She crossed her arms. “Those places are known for their strong influence on people. People and youkai souls alike linger there. They stay because they’re bound to this world by strong feelings. Some stay for love,” Pink orbs gave Ellen a meaningful look. “but most stay because of grudges, of dread and guilt… and then those feelings turn them into wraiths. And the more there are in a place, the worst it becomes to overcome their influence.” A sigh escaped her lips. “I’m not worried about Marisa in that regard, she’s a human and on top of that, this sort of thing seems to affect her even less than other humans. But to youkai that already struggles with her emotions…” She looked at Flandre. “and witches that have fragmented memories…” Her eyes shifted to the blonde witch. “Suffice to say, you’re literally the kind of people that shouldn’t go there to begin with.”

The blonde vampire sighed. "Do you have any better idea, then? Because honestly..." she looked up to the sky. "I'd rather not rely on that hag showing up to lend us a hand in regards to finding Marisa at this point... And the more we stay around here, the more chances we're giving to Marisa's sigil to act up and... ... well, kill her." she shook her head. "So, unless you have a better idea that it doesn't involve taking the risk of going there..."

Ellen put her hands on her hips. "And don't even think of trying to go by yourself. Again, that's not going to happen."

“Rude as always, Scarlet young sister.” A voice sounded out of nowhere as a gap opened in front of them, the aforementioned hag hanging from it as if it was a window. “Here, I was, thinking that I should help you…” She closed her eyes, her voice acquiring a dramatic propriety to it. “But now my very heart was so forcibly pierced by those cold words…”

“Stop with the act already, it’s disgusting.” Kasen deadpanned, eyeing the other youkai with utter annoyance.

“Fu~ So finally, the hermit turned into an oni. That took more time than anticipated, there’s only so much time you can carry on with masquerading without hurting someone with your lies.” Yukari chuckled over her fan.

The oni said nothing, but her annoyed glare didn’t leave the other’s face.

“I know where Marisa is.” She fanned herself. “And yes, she is, indeed, in one such places.”

Flan glared angrily at Yukari, clenching her fist. "Don't call me by that name, please. "

The blonde witch scratched her head and let out a small nervous laugh while looking at both Kasen and Flandre. "A-anyway. First things first, is Marisa safe? Or... is there some intimate stuff going on over at wherever she is~?" she said, with a childish smile.

Yellow orbs stared at the witch. “If she wasn’t safe and there were intimate things happening… Well, I’ve seen a lot of things in my years, but that would be crossing a very serious boundary.” She retracted her fan. “She’s safe. For now.” Her fan tapped her chin. “However, that might be something temporary. You’re not the only ones making a move.”

Flandre's ears perked upon hearing Yukari's last sentence. "What do you mean by that?! Is there someone else going after Marisa at the moment?!"

Ellen crossed her arms, and pondered for a few seconds. "Is it the winged freak from Makai? Or the ripper? ... Anyone we should worry about, actually?"

Yukari hummed pensively. “No, I don’t think you need to worry about who she’s facing at the moment. However, there’s no telling what kind of attention the colorful spectacle will gather.”

The oni’s eyes narrowed, something seemed to have crossed her mind.

Ellen shifted her eyes towards Kasen. "Something the matter, Ms.Hermit?"

"Well, it doesn't matter!" the young vampire said excitedly. "Just take us to Marisa already so that we can end this!"

“I would, I really would, but… you insulted me and now I’m too sad to even open a new gap.” Yukari made a mock sad face. “So…” And the gap closed, her voice lingering behind. “Have fun!”

Both Flan and Ellen stood silent for a few minutes, watching the place where the gap had been. Finally, the young vampire muttered a few words. "... I'm going to kill that hag. I mean it."

The pink haired oni, on the other hand seemed calm, looking thoughtfully at the sky and talking more to herself than to the other two. “She’s right, we might see something. Marisa’s danmaku is colorful… if she uses her spell cards in any of those places, then… taking the radius into account, hmm… if we stand on the Youkai Mountain we should be able to spot something.”

Flan looked at the hermit, still looking somewhat annoyed. "Uh... Well, you have a point. Marisa's spells are certainly flashy..." she sighed and took flight. "Sooo, back to the Mountain, then!" upon finishing talking, she quickly grabbed Kasen and Ellen by their clothes and headed towards the mountain as fast as she could.

Just your usual collab with Dani. Nothing to see here, moving on.

---

Time was something she had grown used to ignoring. While oni were naturally belligerent, she had trained herself to become patient and learn the perks of waiting. For Kasen, time was a merely a concept that didn’t affect her in the slightest. The same, however, couldn’t be said about her companions. There was no clue in her mind that would point her to how much time it had gone bye, but by the look on their faces, she would guess a lot.

“Anyone spotted anything yet?” The hermit asked rather rhetorically, more to break the silence than anything else.

The young vampire continued to stare at the distance, not bothering to give an answer. Ellen turned around to look at the hermit. "If we had seen anything we would have told you, don't you think?"

Kasen sighed. “I know, I’m just trying to get you two to be less hissy about it.”

She looked at Ellen. “This is actually better than— what is that?” She pointed at a darkish blue beam contrasting against the bright sky and automatically grabbed the back of the young vampire’s shirt before she had the opportunity to zip away. “Is that Marisa’s?”

Flan struggled to break free from Kasen's grasp. "Let me gooo!"

The blonde witch sighed. "I have no idea, but it could very well be." she rubbed her chin. "Alternatively, it could be that Gengetsu girl and we would probably be facing a quick death if we went there to check~." she added, with a cheerful tone and a smile.

“Well, I guess it doesn’t matter if it’s one or the other, we’ll have to check regardless.” Kasen she eyed Flandre sternly. “If everyone of us behaves and doesn’t get ditched.”

Flandre crossed her arms and pouted. "Fine, fine... Can we at least hurry up? I don't want to barely miss catching up with Marisa again!"

Kasen nodded. “Follow my lead.” The hermit sped up through the skies, leading the way.

’Muenzuka, huh…’ She frowned. ‘Of all the places to be… What are you thinking?’

She looked at the other two. “That’s Muenzuka. The aura there is… poisonous to say the least, especially for youkai. If you feel anything at all, you warn me.”

The young vampire nodded. "But, uh... Wouldn't it be dangerous for you as well? Will you be okay?"

“Don’t worry about me, they have no effect on me.” The hermit came to an abrupt stop as she looked down where the beam had come from. She felt the young vampire bump into her.

Quickly turning behind, she put a finger in front of her mouth. “Ssh! Let’s go down!” She whispered as she pointed to the trees near the cemetery.

Both Ellen and Flandre quickly landed behind the trees. Once the hermit came down as well, Ellen spoke. "What's the matter? Why are we even hiding?"

Near them were two unconscious poltergeist looking all kinds of fried. A bit further was a pretty battered and tired Marisa, smirking to an annoyed Alice who was encapsulated in what seemed to be an oversized soap bubble. The sphere brimmed with the color of rainbows and twitched slightly as little ripples formed on its surface. Inside of it were constellations, shining as if the bubble was the sky itself.

“Oh.” Came Kasen’s realization as she was reminded of the spell they had found on the black and white witches’ desk.

Ellen looked at the scene in front of her, eyes widened and looking very confused. "Uh... Anyone else has the feeling that we might have come in a bad time?"

“No, you’re not.” Kasen crossed her arms. “And again, this feels awkward…”

The hermit looked at them. “Let’s retreat somewhere close by. We don’t want them to run off again… and I personally don’t want to stay here creeping out either.”

Flandre looked at the hermit, then back at the scene, before speaking in a low tone. "Sure..."

The continuation.

---

Dai giggled slightly before quickly flying over to the witch and grabbing her. "It was a joke, you know. My home is nowhere near here. What were you doing over in that rock, Miss Witch?"

“Ah…” She scratched her cheek. “That’s was mean...” Though, she seemed relieved for some reason. “I, huh… I’m searching for someone.”

As friendly as the fairy looked, she didn’t know anyone, what would assure her that the girl on front of her wasn’t with Gengetsu.

“I’m Yuki!” A smile gracing her lips, she extended her hand towards Dai. “It’s a pleasure to meet someone friendly for a change!”

"I'm Daiyousei, it's a pleasure to meet you." the fairy stretched Yuki's hand. "By the way, I don't think sitting on a rock is a good way to look for someone." she laughed slightly.

Yuki chuckled a bit herself. “Yes, regularly it really isn’t. But I was searching for her with magic.” Her smile died a little. “I couldn’t find her, I don’t know if it’s because I was focused enough or because of something else…” She frowned. “Then again there are a lot of factors to account for… Maybe it’s the forest itself or maybe I can’t use my magic properly here…” A gasp escaped her as she realized it.

“By the flames, what if I can’t use my magic properly here?! Then how will I stop her?! Wait, but Lady Alice can use her magic here, right? Maybe it’s not that! She was from Makai too, right? It should be okay! Ahaha, yes, everything is okay!” It was blindingly obvious that in her panicked state, she had forgetten that Dai was there. “Ahaha…” She let out a tiny whine as she pulled her hat down. “…what am I going to do if I my magic is useless here…?”

Dai stared at the witch for a few seconds. "Wait, you're from Makai?" she stopped "... That place actually exists? I thought it was just a ghost story."

“Ah…” The witch realized her mistake. In a flash, she was holding Dai’s hands. “Yes, but please don’t tell anyone!” Her pleading eyes could outmatch a puppy’s.

"U-uh!" The fairy was clearly confused. What was wrong with her? "Okay, okay! Just... Calm down! What's so bad about it anyway?!"

The blonde inhaled. “The… one I’m searching for is also from Makai. If she knew I was here it would be bad. She’s… probably after Lady Alice. Do you know her?” Her eyes lightened up with hope. “Have you seen her?”

The fairy pondered. "Alice? You mean the creepy do--" she stopped herself from finishing the sentence. "Uh. I mean. The puppeteer? Yeah, I know her. But I haven't seen her. ... In a long time, actually."

“Yes! Exactly, the creepy puppet-- !” The witch pointed excitedly but quickly deflated. “You haven’t seen her lately…” A look of worry clouded her eyes. “I see…” She clenched her hands.

‘If I was Lady Alice, where would I go…?’

“Hey, is there anywhere where ghost or lost souls linger? No, wait... huh, does she have a home? I mean, of course she has a home. I should probably check there first... that's what a normal person would do, right?"

The fairy rubbed her chin, thinking. "Well. I know her house is around the forest. But I just don't know where exactly it is. As for the first question..." she stopped for a second. "Well, there's the Netherworld, and... I remember hearing some stories about this cementery or something outside of the forest... No fairy dares to get anywhere near there though so I dunno if it actually exists."

“Hm… I guess that if I fly I could see where her house might be… I mean… the forest didn’t seem to be too big…” The blonde looked completely lost. “Or maybe the Netherworld if you know where it is and it’s not too far away…”

She frowned, a hand idly rubbing her bruised neck.

‘Maybe I should’ve followed them…’

Dai tilted her head. "Well, I know where the gate to the netherworld is. But I don't think going there would be a good idea. You might just never come back alive, it being a ghost place and all that." she watched Yuki rubbing her neck. "... Is something wrong?"

Her eyes were downcast for a couple of seconds.

“Ah, yeah. I just huh, seem to have gotten in someone’s bad side, ahaha… I suppose people from here and people from Makai would have a completely different point of view about certain things.”

She looked at Dai and forced a smile. “That and I guess was never really good at making friends, ahaha...”

There was a moment of silence and then she proceeded. “If the Netherworld is that dangerous, I’d rather not risk it…” She could feel cold sweat trailing down again. “Even if I want to protect Lady Alice, going to that kind of place without knowing anything about it would be suicidal…” She sighed. “I don’t know if I should just stay put and keep trying to find the rabid one with magic…”

'I kind of need to go back to searching, but I feel bad leaving her like this...' "Okay, I have an idea." she said firmly. "What if I lend you a hand in looking for that person you're looking for?"

“Thank you.” Yuki smiled. “But, it’s probably better for you not to get involved.” The relaxed and cheerful expression suddenly turned serious. “The one I’m looking for is who caused all that destruction in your human village.”

The blonde sat down on the grassy ground. “She’s from Makai, just like me. It’s my job to make sure she won’t hurt anyone else.”

'So the winged person the youkai mentioned is from Makai, huh...' "Well, I understand how you feel. But considering it's the same person that caused damage to Gensokyo, it's also kind of personal to me. And besides..." she giggled. "I don't see how you're going to stop anyone without knowing how to get out of the forest."

The witch chuckled and closed her eyes. “If I can locate her, I can get out of here without any problem.” She sighed. “I know it’s personal but… You can get killed. Or worse.” Frowning, she continued. “It’s our fault she escaped from her prison. It’s our fault she did all of this.”

"Don't worry about me getting killed. I'm an ascended fairy." she said, putting emphasis on her status. "As long as nature exists, I can just revive." she stopped. "... Just who exactly is this person anyway."

“You can respawn, but…” The witch looked at her. “Can you escape imprisonment in the Dream World?” She looked down. “Being sent into nothingness, wandering years after years, completely lost. If that happened… and you wanted to take your own life but couldn’t… Isn’t that a worse fate than anything else?”

Her eyes met Dai’s.

“Gengetsu is able to blink between realities. Here… and the Dream World. It was supposed to be her cage but she now can use that against people instead. She’s an expert in the Dark Arts, to the point that what she did wasn’t simply black magic… It was something else entirely, something that had to be contained.”

The fairy lowered her head. "Well... You have a point. I've been imprisioned in the Dream World already and... I certainly don't want to go back there anytime soon." she raised her head firmly and looked at the witch. "But regardless of that. If this winged person is as dangerous as you say, then that makes it even more stupid to go alone, don't you think? Strength in numbers and all that."

“Ahaha, it’s really stupid to go alone, yeah…” There was a sliver of sadness in her eyes as she was reminded of something. “But, even if I don’t look like it, I’m pretty strong!” She flexed her arm and then looked at Dai with a serious expression. “If you’ve been captured, you should know how it is. Why do you want to risk the same fate?”

“Ah…” Yuki felt silent as she remembered the time Makai was attacked. “I understand. I guess that it’s unfair to stop you from going.” She smiled. “Then, all I have to do is make sure she doesn’t hurt you.”

From her expression, the witch looked very optimistic about it.

The fairy raised her head and nodded. "Don't worry, I can fend for myself. But thank you, regardless, Ms.Yuki."

“Don’t let your pride overwrite your judgement, Miss fairy.” Yuki said with a faint smile. “Gengetsu was banned from Makai. She was banned from a place full of demons and practitioners of all kinds of shady magical arts.” She went quiet. “And now she has grown stronger… They killed her sister too. Mugetsu was the only person in the world she cared for.”

The sprite laughed slightly. "Alright, alright. I'll be careful. Stop acting like you're my mom." she sighed. "So her sister got killed. I guess that means she's now mad and more easy to go on another killing spree, huh..."

“She was mad when she destroyed the village. Now she’ll either go after Lady Alice or the person that killed her sister.” Yellow eyes starred at the sky. “Both for the same reason – revenge. Lady Shinki, Makai’s ruler, was the one who sealed her in the Dream Word. She can’t get to Makai so… the easiest way is to go after what Lady Shinki loves the most, her daughter. Gengetsu must blame her for everything that happened. ‘Nothing like this would’ve happened if she hadn’t sealed us!’ is probably what she’s thinking.” Her eyes closed up. “And if she finds the girl that killed her sister once again… She won’t restrain herself at all.” She sighed. “I should’ve followed them… now I’m worried…”

"'Them'? Oh, right. You had to get to Gensokyo somehow. And let me guess..." she pointed at Yuki's bruised neck. "One of those people is the same person who tried to strangle you?"

“You guessed right.” Yuki said. “I made her mad.” She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t regret making her mad. Reality is what it is.”

"Just... What did you do to make them so mad?" she asked, looking kinda worried. "I mean, getting to the point of trying to kill you on the spot is uh..."

“I refused to help Marisa Kirisame.” Yuki stated. “I understand that my words towards her were hurtful for people who are her friends but…” She narrowed her eyes. “To a lot of us in Makai, she was one of the main reasons why we lost our home.”

"Marisa, huh...?" 'She's probably still in trouble, isn't she?' "Well, I'm Marisa's friend as well. Or at least I think I am. So I can probably understand how that person was feeling but... I can't help but wonder. What exactly happened in Makai?"

“She and a bunch of her friends invaded Makai. They wreaked havoc and we tried to stop them. They were too strong for us. Lady Shinki thought they were going to destroy our world and she used all her power to restrain them but…” She clenched her hands. “Lady Shinki is too powerful, to the point she can’t control her powers properly. It got out of hand and… Makai was engulfed in a sea of flames. It was close to getting completely razed.” Her jaw clamped and she started talking through her teeth. “I know… that they were not the only ones to blame… I know that but…”

The grass under her started to crackle as embers danced on them, starting a small fire. “They walked away… they brought this on us and cheerfully walked back to Gensokyo, while we struggled to keep our home… our lives. Lady Shinki and Lady Alice may have forgiven them but… Seeing our home in that state, watching Lady Shinki suffer with guilty, watching everyone trying to cope with it despite the odds being overwhelmingly against us…” Flames started surrounding her, getting bigger and bigger. “Because I can’t forget Lady Shinki’s pained expression… I can’t forgive them!”

"H-hey!" the sprite cried out to the witch as she surronded herself in flames. She jumped towards the makaian girl and grabbed her arm, trying to get her to stop. "Hey, just... Just calm down! You're going to burn down the forest!"

What came right after that was a weak, green glow coming out of Dai's hands, which quickly died out.

“Don’t touch me, you’re going to get hurt!” The witch had stepped back in a flash as soon as the sprite touched her arm, as if she had been the one burned. “I… uh…” For a second she felt dizzy and sleepy but it quickly passed, as did her flames.

The witch looked at her hands and then back to Dai.

“What's... going on?”

The fairy looked confused to Yuki and then back to herself, going back and forth a few times. "I... I dunno. I was just trying to make you stop but I saw something glow and..." she shook her head. "Nevermind, it may have been my imagination. But... Are you feeling better now?"

“I… yes…” Her brows frowned in confusion. “Why… am I feeling better?”

"Uh... I guess that I did something? But regardless, at least you won't be burning the forest down..." she was as confused as the witch, if not more.

The witch closed her hand and looked down. “I’m sorry. I’ll try to be more careful in the future.”

The way she was saying it almost seemed like that sentence had been repeated countless times before

"It's... It's okay, don't worry about it that much." Dai scratched the back of her head. "Anyway, I wanted to ask something... Would you mind if I went to my home for a second to pick up some spellcards? I live on the lake nearby so I wouldn't take too long and in the meantime you can uh... Keep trying to find that winged person with that spell of yours, I guess?"

“No, not at all.” The witch forced a smile. “Take your time.” She sat down again.

Alive after 10 billion years, ready to continue the human village sub plot.


Back at their bases of operations, Seija leaned on one of the many pillars in the Myouren temple, smirking as she thought about everything that has happened "I cannot believe how depressed I was acting in the past!"

The sailor arched a brow and chuckled in confusion. “Why exactly were ya depressed anyways? ‘Sides the ‘I have no place to go’ deal.”

"Well, a while back; I was hanging around with Yuuka, bad move but it ended with my legs getting shattered, hermit lady in the underground took me under her wing and I recovered..." She smirked at Murasa, but behind that smirk, Seija was still hurt by the whole ordeal, but acted strong.

“Ah, yeah, I remember yer mentionin’ Yuuka at some point. She’s a shitty person who shouldn’t be trusted and ya should find better friends. I think yer terribad at choosin’ peeps, really. Well, I guess Koishi isn’t ta bad, but she’s a complete weirdo who forgets about people as fast as people forget her.” She slumped her anchor over her shoulder.

"Weird friends make for intresting stories for when it ends really, but can you classed as a friend or a person who just puts up with me?" She looked at Murasa with a pleading look to give her apporaval.

“Ugh…” The sailor could feel one of her brows twitching. “Stop with those damn pleadin’ mutt eyes, do ya even have any idea how desperate that makes ya look?” She sighed. “If I wasn’t willin’ ta help ya out and be yer friend, I’d have hauled yer ass outta my sight a long time ago.” Her eyes averted Seija’s gaze, pondering as she muttered her realization. “…I guess that makes be a huge-ass weirdo as well, yeah.”

"Thank you, that's all I needed to hear!" She smiled brightly as she had dragged Murasa into her trap.

The ghost saw herself getting dragged into a tight hug and her expression automatically fell. “…And there it is… painful and instant regret.”

"Now, I guess this is your Ghost Dipper spell card only reversed am I right?" She smirked as she latched her left arm around her neck, quickly dragging herself into a gigantic hug, as Murasa has prepared herself for.

The captain sighed despite herself. “Sometimes, I hate my life.”

"Don't worry, you don't need to, you're already dead." Seija smirked.

The sailor was about to roll her eyes and groan at the amanojaku’s words when an uncannily quiet voice pipped a tearful

“Murasaaa….”

Raising her brows, the sailor starred at the yamabiko, clinging to her clothes, trembling with tear filled eyes.

“Woah, da hell happened to make ya this quiet?” Despite her comical words, her tone retained seriousness.

“That… scary… youkai entered the temple and… I wanted to stop her… and she was so scary and…”

Eyes narrowing dangerously, the captain ran inside, making no more questions.

"Scary youkai?" Seija looked at the yamabiko, raising an eyebrow as she began to walk up to her with intense curiosity in the subject.

The sailor’s steps came to a halt as she got to the entrance of a room, in front of her was the parasol wielding, green haired youkai, a calm smile on her face as a shorter, greenish haired satori stood at her side, invisible to the mighty youkai’s eyes.

“Naught youkai should stay out of the temple. It’s unsightly to have you here.” Koishi said, a smile also on her face, a creepiness to it. “You may try to hide your thoughts… but I’m not like big sis…” Her voice lowered its pitch. “And I could see you hurt her…”

A quiet chuckled escaped the flower youkai. “As such, you seek revenge? I suppose, sisters will be sisters. The foolishness may run in the family.”

“Ahaha… You’re funny!” Koishi twirled a knife on her hand. “That’s definitely not why I stopped you.”

And so, Seija's eye darted around the room, in her sights was her long-time rival of sorts, Yuuka, she tiptoed slowly behind Murasa, trying not to catch the attention of the youkai. "Fuck..." She whispered into Murasa's ear as she was visibly afraid.



“I won’t let you help Mister Rips. I won’t let you poison the Sun god God Lady and… Hmmm…” The young girl put a thoughtful finger on her chin.

“Yeah… Stay back.” Was the sailor’s only reply

“I guess that since I’m here, I’ll beat you up for hurting big sis after all~!” She continued cheerfully as reality around them started to twist and turn.

Following the trusty sailor's advice, she continued to huddle back into a corner, crouching and putting her hand over her head and forming a ball, on top of that, she even closed her eyes and began muttering silently to herself "It's not real... It's not real..."

Suddenly, it seemed as if they were in the middle of a rotting swamp, the sky was dark and the gases emanating from the thick, puddles of stagnated water were purple in color. In the middle of the sludge that once had been liquid, skeletons and decomposing bodies floated as sick bubbles bubbled slowly and disgustingly under them.

Yuka closed her parasol and chuckled once more, her eyes calmly darting from one side to another, inconspicuously trying to locate the satori. “Did you think this would scare me?”

Koishi hopped to the nearby puddle and picked a skull from it. “Nah, silly!” She made herself visible to Yuka. “I’m showing you the depths of who you are.” Her smile grew bigger as she used the skull as a puppet to relate her words to Yuuka.

Threads of blonde hair peeped from the bony surface, there were obvious remains of what had once been a hat, one that struck the flower youkai as familiar.

“So… you’re only trying to make me angry.” Red eyes narrowed at the satori.

Murasa looked away from the other two and back at Seija. “This will prolly be yer only change to pay the bitch back. Ya ain’t alone now, y’know?”

She continued to stay huddled, but there was a twitch as she slowly raised herself up, smirking at Murasa even if there were dried tears all over her shirt, suggesting she was crying, she even looked at Yuuka head on, she cut her wrist through the air, summoning arrows.

"Guess who's back Yuuka."

The little satori didn’t even move as arrows started to rain, her expression unchanging as if that had been something she had anticipated. Smile plastered on her face, she saw Yuuka dodge them, one of them slashing her arm.

The green haired woman looked at the amanojaku, a smirk forming on her lips. “It seems all the canon-fodder has gathered here. I’m surprised you’re still alive at all, maybe I should’ve used a little more than just 0,01% of my strength.”

"It takes a lot more to kill me, I've gotten stronger since our last fight." Seija returned the smirk too "And these aren't cannon-fodder Yuuka, they have names."

“Yeah, and ya shouldn’t have come here, asshat. Get ready to have yer ass pummeled into the ground.” Murasa’s smirk mirrored Seija’s. “Ya gonna have a real bad time.”

So uh. Lots of stuff is going to happen. Lots. Oh what fun.

Collab with Dani.

---

The hermit rested her head on her hand, sighing. While Ellen and Flan were discussing something, she was feeling even more awkward about the whole thing.

’We should probably interrupt them. As awkward to them as it would be, they could discuss their relationship issues someplace else.’ She looked to the scenery and breathed and exasperated sigh. ’Somewhere that isn’t a graveyard…’

Through the corner of her eyes, she looked at the other two, who were excitedly talking about something.

‘And I was worried they would be influenced by this place… In the end, they’re the only people I know who can still be cheerful where wraiths and ghosts roam.’

“Alice!!!”

Kasen eyes went round as she recognized the voice, and she stood up from her hiding place.

“Is that Y---“ And they went rounder still as she spotted Gengetsu. “Oh no…”

The two blondes stopped their conversation as soon as they noticed Kasen rising up. "What's the matter, Ms.Hermit? Is the couple teasing over yet?" the blonde witch asked, while taking a peek to see what made Kasen rise up. As soon as she saw the winged devil from the village, her usual childish expression soon switched to one of terror. "... Excuse me for saying what I'm going to say, especially in front of children, but... Oh shit."

Before they had any chance to react, Gengetsu unleashed her attack, clearly aiming at Alice, but as the hermit expected, Marisa didn’t move out of the way.

“You idiot, mov---!“

The explosion muffled her voice, it muffled everything but the sound of heavy objects being destroyed, along with trees and whatever stood in the beam’s path.

“Ah…” The pink haired woman stood there, awestruck.

Flandre stared at the ongoing explosion for a few seconds, eyes open wide. She then lowered her head, in silence, and clenched her fists. Her Laevateinn appeared on her hand, and she quickly took flight in the explosion's direction... Only to slam herself face-first onto a magic barrier almost immediately.

"Are you stupid, Flan?!" the blonde witch yelled. "You did see how stupidly powerful that attack was, right?!" the young vampire stood in midair with her head lowered, not even bothering to look towards Ellen. "That winged devil doesn't even work under the spellcard rules! Do you want to end up just like I did, or worse?!" Silence. Clearly, the blonde vampire didn't have any intent of answering the question. Instead, she kept staring towards the point where the explosion generated.

The hermit herself didn’t move from her place, she didn’t even hear what the witch had said.

If it was that girl, if it was Marisa she had to have something up her sleeve. She was an idiot but, not the kind that would get in harms’ way without a trump up her sleeve.

She tightened her fist, her body already seething with the urge to step in.

And in the middle of the dust, Marisa was still, somehow, standing.
Blood was trailing down her ears and nose, but she seemed completely unscathed by the attack.

“H-how…?” Nor hermit nor oni had any idea of how she had managed that.

Ellen rubbed her eyes to make sure she was not seeing hallucinations. Indeed. The black-white witch had somehow survived that huge blast. 'Not that she's completely fine... But uh...' she scratched her head. 'I should probably remember to ask her how exactly did she survive that.'

A relieved smile formed on the young vampire's face upon seeing that Marisa was somehow still alive. She turned her head slightly towards her companions. "Think this is a good opportunity to go and lend her a hand?"

Kasen nodded.

“Yeah, let’s go!”

The oni made a move but then stopped. Marisa’s eyes were glowing under the shadow of her hat, there was electricity dispersing from her feet to the ground and blood, trailing down her mouth.

“Don’t tell me…” Kasen was struck with realization, a conclusion that didn’t make her any less worried.

The word stopped in her mouth as the witch in front of her started raising her hands in a mechanical fashion, eyes cold and expressionless.

Then something shot out of her palms, the sheer energy of it sending gusts of wind blowing the hermit’s hair astray. A crystal like substance tore the air as it impacted heavily on Gengetsu, tearing off her wing and slamming her onwards against the trees and ground.

Tiny droplets started raining on Marisa and her surroundings. That hadn’t been crystal, that was just water.

A cool sweat drop trailed down her face. She knew Marisa was strong for a human, but she had never anticipated this. It proved her right.

The blonde witch scratched her cheek. "Uh... Hey, Ms.Hermit? Remind me to not piss off Marisa. Ever." She said, with a nervous laugh. On the other hand, the young vampire was already rushing towards the black-white witch, Laevateinn in hand and screaming out her name.

“You! Grab Alice and run!” Came Yuki’s urgent voice.

And so the witch did, without a word, she grabbed the puppeteer’s hand and tugged her with her, summoning her broom to her hand and flying off in a matter of seconds.

Oblivious to the vampire moving in, the makaian witch slowly approached Gengetsu, there was no hesitation or fear in her steps. Stretching her arm to the side, she snapped her fingers, and almost instantly a fire red sigil appeared under Gengetsu’s fallen form.



The other was clenching the place where her left wing had been, her hand coated in blood, her breath hitching slightly in pain but no sound escaping her lips. As soon as the sigil lightened up, however, her eyes went wide. For the first time she had taken notice of who was in front of her, and her eyes frantically looked around for something else. When they failed to find it, her body seemed to relax.

A chuckle escaped her lips and she looked at the unfazed witch. “Of course you came here alone, there’s no way your little friend would agree to help you save Gensokyo. So…” She smirked. It was a broken smirk, a leer of someone that had lost all reason to smile or feel glad. “I assume you came here to die?”