As Kyo and Youmu sized each other up, ready to start their sparring match, Ail sat next to Yuyuko, who was whimsically smiling at him as they watched the fight begin. Kyo lunges toward Youmu, the energy around his right hand looking like a small blade, while the energy at his left arm looked like a small round bubble. Youmu jumps high up in the air and comes down holding her sword tightly, virtually cutting the air as she came down hard on Kyo, who dodged her at the last second. Ail opened his eyes wide, then looks at Yuyuko and asks "that sword she has... it just cut the air, didn't it?" Yuyuko's whimsical smile remains as she answers "well of course. That sword is the... err, what did she call it now...? Oh, right, the Hakurouken. It can cut through anything, even a person's thoughts. And there's the long one... err... Roukan~... Roukanken... yes, Roukanken. That one can even cut ghosts." Yuyuko kept smiling at Ail, who now had a pale face filled with panic. "PLEASE, you MUST STOP THEM! She's gonna kill him! Eh?" Yuyuko was now sitting behind Ail, smiling whimsically then shushed him and said "don't worry, this is just a sparring match. Nobody is going to die." As she finished saying that, she positioned herself behind Ail, pressing her chest against his back. Ail's face sines red and his nose starts blowing off steam, then Yuyuko, as if petting a new pet, started petting Ail, playing with his hair as she did and said "just relax and watch." however, Ail couldn't relax too easily as she kept squeezing him against her chest constantly. Ail felt as though he was going to have a massive nosebleed soon, as his nose kept blowing hot steam, and his face burning bright-red.
Youmu was very frustrated. The energy around Kyo's hand wouldn't get cut. "Argh! What's the matter with me!? Am I this weak?" Kyo smirks saying "ready to give up? Go on, I won't stop you!" "NO!" shouted Youmu as she unsheathed her long sword. "I'm just getting started with you" Kyo smirk widens to a smile and says "good. Cuz I was just warming up." After saying this, the right hand energy expanded, and the energy blade had a more solid form. Again they clash, Youmu's swords couldn't cut through the energy that was coming from Kyo's arms. "Dammit, what the hell. I can't cut through this energy! Am I really this weak... or is he that strong?" Youmu though to herself as she and Kyo kept their eyes locked on each other. Youmu growls a little, pushing Kyo back, making him grunt and breaking their lockup. "I underestimated you, Kyo! I might as well use a little more power on you, then. She started shooting danmaku at Kyo, however Kyo simply smirks again and uses the bubble-like shield around his left arm to block and reflect her shots. Youmu's eyes open widely when she realized her own shots were coming back to her. She had some trouble dodging them, but was successful. Now a little winded, both fighters size each other up once more before lunging at each other again. Back at the ghostly shrine, Yuyuko said to Ail "I'm hu~ngry!" Ail's face was still red, however, something about her tone of voice brought great fear to his heart. "I wonder what you taste like?" asked Yuyuko, drooling over Ail's shoulder. Without a second thought, Ail jumped away from her. She slowly floats toward him with that whimsical smile of hers saying "you can run all you want, but I'll keep coming at you~!" Ail somehow knew she wasn't lying. He started to back away, facing her as he did, shooting his danmaku at her, however she just kept coming saying "I'm still coming for you~~!" Ail tried to fly now, however he'd fall down hard every three or four seconds of hovering, then Yuyuko taunted him saying "ooh, so close, yet so far. I'll just have to help you a little" and still smiling her sweet whimsical smile, Yuyuko unleashes many butterfly-like energies at Ail. He, of course, realized they were quite dangerous and did his best to dodge them all, then continued running and shooting, however, without realizing, his flying would last a little longer each time.
By now, Hakugyokurou was the sight of two great battles that looked like fireworks display all around. A blond girl with short hair, golden eyes, wearing a black uniform with white and red trims, a black hat with a crescent moon decorating the peak, and a violin floating around her floats close by and notices the spectacle. "Merlin, Lyrica, come quick, check this out!" shouted the girl. Two more girls came by. One had blue eyes and short light-blue wavy hair, wore a pink uniform with blue and black trims, similar to the blond girl's, and a pink pointy hat with a blue sun decorating the tip and had a trumpet floating around her. The other had short brown hair and brown eyes, a red uniform with pink and black trims, similar to the others, a red pointy hat with a green shooting star decorating the tip, and a winged keyboard floating around her. "What is it, Lunasa? Whoa... Lyrica, Lyrica, look, look!" said the girl in pink. The girl in red looks in awe at the spectacle then says "wow... we should play something." Lunasa and Merlin lift their arms up happily agreeing but then Lunasa asks "but what should be play?" All three think for a bit, then Merlin says "why not play our favorite theme, Phantom Ensemble" All three cheer and grab their instruments and begin to play. As both battles went on, it appeared as though they were fighting at the rhythm of the music being played. Suddenly, the ghosts build a small stage under the three girls and they all sit in neat lines listening to the music and enjoying the show.
By now, Kyo and Youmu had reached their limit. "You... you're pretty good" said Youmu, trying to catch her breath. "You... aren't so bad... e-either" replied Kyo, who was almost out of breath. "Decisive blow" shouted Youmu. Both lunged toward each other and struck while passing by each other. Both stood still for a moment and without turning both say at the very same time "you're good", then the fall to the ground, panting. Yuyuko was slowly and whimsically going after Ail who was now starting to sweat. He was still shooting danmaku at her, but she just kept coming. Ail was getting tired and worried. She really looked hungry, drool dropping from her mouth. Suddenly he felt something strange. It was as if his body become as light as air. He jumped up and was suddenly flying. "I-I'm flying, I'm FLYING!!!" He started to spin and twirl in the air, completely forgetting about Yuyuko. Right then, the music stopped playing and the three players headed to the ghostly shrine. Yuyuko smiled at Ail and floated up to meet him. When he realizes she's within reach, he panics but she lifts her right hand saying "that's enough for today. You have done admirably!" He looked confused, then Yuyuko grabs his arm and says "come on, let's go eat now. I am so hungry." and she then pulls him back to the ground, and enter the shrine. "Youmu, you better get up and fix up some dinner... I'm hu~ngry~!" said Yuyuko in a very sweet tone. Youmu and Kyo stand up shakingly. They both look at each other and laugh as they see their messed up and dirtied clothes and faces. As Youmu heads to the kitchen Ail tries to run to her saying "let me help you!" however Yuyuko grabs his shirt and pulls him to her lap, embracing him like a mother would embrace her child and says "no, no. Guests shouldn't cook at the host's house." and then begins to pass her fingers through his hair, making Ail's face turns bright red again. Kyo enters just a bit after Youmu, bows to Yuyuko saying "may I be allowed to help Youmu, with all due respect?" Yuyuko looks at Kyo seriously, then opens a fan saying "go ahead, then." Ail was about to complain, but she again embraced him quite tightly and quietly says "rest. Even half-youkai need rest after that." then suddenly, as if under a spell, Ail falls completely asleep while sitting on Yuyuko's lap.
Yuyuko wakes up Ail as soon as the meal was served and presented the Prismriver sisters to him. "So?" asks Ail "why exactly are you helping us like this, out of the blue like that?" Yuyuko swallows two rice balls, chewing them contently while looking at Youmu. Youmu gasps and says "because idly would Yukari send live humans over here, unless there was some reason... is that right, Yuyu-sama?" "Good girl, Youmu" replied Yuyuko, Youmu immediately thanking her lady for the compliment. After eating, Yuyuko explains "the moment I felt your presence, I knew there was something to you two, but knowing my friend, Yukari, was the one that sent you here in the first place, then I was certain. She sent you here to learn to use your special abilities." Ail looks at Yuyuko a bit puzzled... she wouldn't stop eying him as she said all that. Suddenly, she grabs Ail again, making him sit on her lap, embracing him once more. Kyo smirked and gave Ail the thumbs up, however Ail tried to flip him off, but Yuyuko slapped his hand tenderly saying "no, no, no. Don't be rude." Ail lowered his head as Kyo quietly chuckles and heads outside. For two more days they trained hard. Yuyuko made Ail fly with weighs all over his body, and other... more unrealistic items of incredible weight. Kyo and Youmu sparred harder each day, both increasing their strength and agility, not to mention that Kyo was now able to expand and shoot the energy from his arms at a desired target. Even better, it would home in to the target he was thinking about. The Prismrivers would play music every time they trained. The last theme they played, they called "Border of Life", and made Ail feel very uneasy around Yuyuko for some reason. On the morning of the third day, Ail and Kyo were saying their goodbyes to their new friends. Yuyuko, patting Ail on the head said "I am very proud of you. You passed all the tests with ease. You should be able to take care of yourself from now on. And you, Kyo, should be able to take care of yourself as well. Just don't forget to train." "I'll be training hard too, so make sure to be ready when we meet again, got it?" added Youmu while looking at Kyo. Kyo smiles and waves, nodding at Youmu. Yuyuko held on to Ail's shirt and looked at him in the eyes, then let him go, smiling at him. They reach the gate between the world of the living and the dead, Ail grabs Kyo by his arms and flies in, both descending back to the world of the living. "Hey, Ail." Ail snaps out of a trance and looks at Kyo who continues "what was the deal with that ghost-lady and you?" Ail keeps quiet for a moment, thinking about what Yuyuko said to him one night when she was holding him again. She said "if I had a child, I am sure he would be like you. Please don't die too soon and come visit sometime, alright?" Ail then answers Kyo, still lost in though "that's what I'd like to know..."
After about 30 minutes they arrived at the Hakurei shrine, landing softly. Reimu comes out, her gohei at hand, then sees the two boys. "Oh, it's you... is it?" said Reimu. Kyo rapidly replies "well of COURSE it's us. We're right here, aren't we?" Sounding almost disappointed, Reimu says "as rude as ever, I see." Kyo clenches his fist, but before he said anything Reimu continued "so the ghosts give you a hard time?" Ail was still lost in though, so Kyo answered "it was rough training, but we mastered it. Something happened with him" points at Ail "and the ghost princess. He's completely lost inside his world now." Reimu looks at them with a face that said "What a pain" however she wouldn't really say it. Ail is suddenly alerted by something moving around the bushes that surrounded the shrine. He slowly get closer to the bushes, feeling some strong power behind them. On the background, Kyo and Reimu were arguing about the chores, Reimu saying "well if you're going to stay here, you know the drill... here, sweep." and Kyo replying "what!? You lazy shrine maiden, we just came back from heavy training! Give us a break!" They continued arguing on, however Ail was more interested in the power behind the bushes. Suddenly, a little girl, reeking of sake, jumped from the bushes. "HI~~~~!" Ail just stood there looking at her. She had two large brown horns, one adorned with a blue bow, the other with a ribbon. She had knee-long orange hair done into a ponytail at the bottom. She wore a tattered pink blouse, a long purple skirt and wore three chain accessories, one a circle, another a triangle and the other a square. To their eyes, she looked like a child. Ail stood there and smiles saying "you must be Suika, right? Suika Ibuki? Reimu's told us all about you!" Suika looks confused at Ail. "OH, forgive me, I am Ail, and that one arguing with Reimu is Kyo, my friend." Smiling, Suika extends her arm saying "nice to meet cha! So, Reimu talked about me, huh?" Ail smiles back, shaking her hand and says "yes. She said you were a crazy little drunkard powerhouse that annoyed her to no ends." Suika laughed hard saying "oh yeah, that's me alright." Kyo comes by asking "who's the little runt?" Ail started to sweat saying "err... you shouldn't have said that" "Runt, huh? I'll show you runt" said Suika as Ail finished his sentence and moved away. She punched Kyo right in the kisser, sending him spinning to Reimu, falling on top of her in a very suggestive manner. "HEY!! Get OFF ME~~!!!" shouted Reimu *Click, click* A camera shutter was heard, then two large crow wings stretched as a woman yelled "Ayayayaya!" and flew above the shrine. Semi-long black hair, red eyes, had a red tokin adorned with white feather puffs and wore a white blouse and a short black skirt. "Ha-ha~~! With this, I'll show all my readers the TRUTH about the shrine maiden and the two handsome men from the outside world, WAHAHA~!"
"Aya, you BITCH!!! Just wait 'till I get my HANDS ON YOU!" shouted Reimu as she tried to get Kyo off of her. Aya smirks evilly and says "now that's not the way to talk to your betters, miss shrine maiden. See ya" and with that, she signals them goodbye, then flies away at great speeds. Without thinking, Ail lifts off after Aya. "Hehehe, that was just too easy. Now to report the truth!" said Aya. Ail got beside her without her notice saying "and what kind of truth would that be? A little white lie, or a made up lie?" Aya smirks and says "well, you think you can keep up with me that easily? Let's see about that!" Magically, her wings vanish, leaving a few feathers fluttering down to the ground. Ail tells her "well if you try that, all you'll achieve is flashing me with your panties for a few seconds... while I catch up, that is." Aya gets a bit annoyed "tck! Cocky aren't we. I'll be so far ahead, you won't get the chance!" Suddenly, Aya takes out a card-like piece of paper, and starts flying so fast, she looked like a white lance flying in the sky. After a minute she goes down to some trees and lands on the higher branches, snickering and saying "that slowpoke will never find me now." She takes out the photos from her pockets and starts looking at them, giggling and saying "how juicy" and then someone pulls the photos from her hands saying "thank you very much." It was Ail. He smirks as the puts the photos into one of his pockets, and zipping the pocket. "What took you so long? I thought you said I wouldn't be able to keep up?" Aya smiles saying "for a human, you really are something else. Fine, you win." She was going to take out one more photo, however Ail already had it along with her camera. Aya despairs saying "No... not my camera!" "Fine" said Ail, throwing the camera back to her while looking at the picture. It was a picture of him on Kyo's arms, with the three large gashes on his chest, right after Remilia had attacked him. All his friends surrounded Kyo and him, looking quite worried. Looking at the picture he said "you really are everywhere, aren't you?" Aya chuckles as Ail continues "I really worried everyone, huh? It was after all this... that I started to truly learn what I am capable of." Ail looks very serious suddenly. Aya tells him "you can go ahead and keep it then. I wouldn't know what to write about that anyway." Ail nods, however he intercepts a large sword that split the picture in half, letting it fall to the ground. Holding the large sword was a girl with short white hair, dog ears and a white tail, wearing a red Tokin like Aya's only without the accessories, a long sleeved white shirt and a large black shirt under it, and also had a large round shield with a red leaf print that looked like Aya's fan.
"Miss Aya, are you alright?" asked the girl, as she kept pressing her sword against Ail as he kept holding it back with his hands, however it was starting to slip. Aya desperately says "Momiji, stop, he's a friend!" Momiji stops just in time, as the blade was about to slip and cut Ail. "Sorry about that" said Momiji, while bowing in apology. They get off the trees and back to the ground where Momiji apologizes once more. Ail says "it's alright, I'm well, and you were just protecting your friend, is all, so no hard feelings." Momiji's tail starts to wag rapidly, then she blushes when she realizes this. After saying their goodbyes and heading back their ways, Ail notices a field of sunflowers under him, and suddenly, he couldn't fly anymore. He felt as though something was pulling him down, then he falls hard on the ground, damaging various sunflowers. From behind the other sunflower patch, a woman ominously watches Ail as he gets up. She had shoulder-length green hair, red eyes, a red plaid skirt and matching waistcoat over a plain white shirt. She was also carrying a parasol with her. She glared at Ail with a smile on her face, however the atmosphere around her suggested otherwise. She slowly walks to where Ail is, however stops on her tracks looking very surprised. Ail gets up and realizes he landed on the bed of sunflowers. "Crap, the sunflowers..." He backs away a little and points his hands at them, then suddenly they spring back to life. He dusts his hands saying "well, that should do it." then he spots the woman. "Oh... hello" said Ail, but was interrupted by the woman who said "boy, how did you do that?" Ail looks at her and says "I just shared some of my own energy with them." The woman looked impressed then said "and why did you do that? They're just flowers after all." Ail replies "they may be JUST flowers, but they still have life and feel pain as well." The woman opens her eyes wide and says "it's not everyday you meet someone so... special. My name is Yuka. What is your name, young man?" "My name is Ail. A pleasure to meet you, miss Yuka" said Ail while bowing his head then continued as he lifted his sight "now I better head back. My friends are probably starting to get worried." Yuka looks at him saying "wait a moment. Before you go... could you help this little plant come to life?" "I'll try" replies Ail as she hands him a dry potted plant. He concentrates for a moment, then suddenly, the plant starts to come to life before Yuka's eyes. The plant was a beautiful blue flower on a large stem. Ail opens his eyes and hands the plant over to her, then heads back to the shrine flying again. Yuka gazed blankly at Ail's direction, blushing a little, then she looks at her plant and smirks. "Just a moment." Ail had turned around and looked seriously at Yuka and says "you wouldn't happen to know why I-?" "No." interrupts Yuka quickly, with a smile on her face. Ail looks at her with doubt, but just waves and flies away. Yuka, then, heads to the plants Ail had just revived and says "you sure got a special one."
Back at the shrine, Kyo and Suika had made peace with each other and were drinking sake, while Reimu thanks Ail for retrieving the photo's from Aya. Soon after it was night already. They all ate, had a few laughs and went to sleep. The next morning, Cirno, Mystia, Rumia and another girl that had very short teal hair, bug-like antennae, wears a white shirt with stylized short sleeves, knee-length baggy pants and a black cape that is red inside called Wriggle Nightbug, were all gathering by Kyo and Ail at the shrine to hear about the outside world. Ail had drawn them a Nintendo DS and was telling them how it worked, while Kyo would tell them about sports cars and gyms and about the movies. "I am a genius, so I'm going to build my own Nintendo DS" said Cirno, trying to impress the others. Just as the girls left talking about all that they had just heard, Reimu came to them and without saying a word, she hands them a note that reads:
"Dear boys,
You must go to the Scarlet Devil Mansion and resolve an incident that's been occurring there for almost 500 years.
You favorite lady
Yukari Yakumo"
Reimu adds "and she made me promise not to butt in. Not that I would be able to. There's something fishy going on in the subterranean caves again and me and Marisa are going to investigate... I was hoping Ail could go... but... it's such a pain, really." Ail and Kyo look at each other, then they look at Reimu and Kyo asks her "this wouldn't be that crazy vampire's home, would it?" Reimu smiles saying "why yes, I'm so glad you remembered. Now you won't let down your guard for a second, right?" Kyo gulps, however, Ail looked dead serious, his eyes filled with great determination. Kyo looked a little worried, however Ail said "don't worry, we're not going to die." Even Reimu looked a little scared of Ail at that moment. Marisa arrives shouting "Reimu, come on, let's go play underground, ze!" Reimu sighs loudly then flies away with Marisa. Ail looks at Kyo and says "you can stay if-" but Kyo places the palm of his hand right in front Ail's face and says "and let YOU get stronger still, and probably have all the glory? No way!" Kyo smiles at Ail and Ail nods then grabs Kyo by his arms and both fly away toward the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Suika, still yawning, gets out of the shrine asking "where is everyone?" She then looks inside and sees Reimu's spare clothes. She smiles as she heads back inside, humming.
Cirno once told Ail that she lived by a lake, and that there was a big red building where vampires lived on an island, so it was easy for Ail to find the Scarlet Mansion once he found the lake. Kyo and Ail landed near the lake and saw Cirno working diligently on something. "Hey, Cirno. What are you doing there?" asked Ail, and Cirno answers "I told you, I am a genius." She continued working while telling them "I am building that Dees you told me about." Kyo and Ail both look at each other, then head to the direction of the mansion just as Kyo finished saying "Cirno, it's not Dees, it's D-S." Pausing for a moment, Cirno turns, glaring at Kyo, then absent-mindlessly she says "I knew that" and continued working on her project. Once the two boys reached the Mansion's gate, they saw a woman with aqua eyes and long scarlet hair, wearing a green beret with a star on it that reads "Green Dragon", and wore a green dress that looked just like traditional chinese clothing. "Hello, humans" said the girl. Ail steps up saying "Hello, my name is Ail and this is Kyo. We've come to solve-" Ail abruptly stops as the girl smiles at them saying "you may not pass. Please turn around and leave." then she prepares a fighting stance "or you'll have to deal with me." Ail stands his ground and said "We don't wish to cause any harm, however we cannot go back." The woman surrounds her hand with very colorful energy and repeats "please, turn around and leave. I do not wish to harm humans." Kyo balls both hands into fists, and surrounds them with white energy, however, keeping the energy formless around his arms and says "Ail, you go inside. I'll handle miss... err..." The woman smiles, her eyes filled with excitement at the sight of Kyo's energy then says "I am Meiling Hong, and you look like a worthy opponent. Are you humans?" Kyo smirks, stances and says "maybe" Meiling eyes her opponent, smirks back and says "good, then I won't feel sorry for not holding back!" Suddenly, both run toward each other, throwing punches at each other, and blocking just in time. The fight was incredibly fast. Ail had a hard time following them both. Meiling tried to surprise Kyo with a kick, however, Kyo surprised them both by blocking her kick with his, which was surrounded by energy as well, revealing her leg to be surrounded by that colorful energy that was around her arms as well. Meiling and Kyo back off for a moment then Meiling says "not bad. This might be interesting. I haven't had an even match ever since my special training." Meiling flies up, Ail thinking this would be bad, however Kyo jumps to the highest branch of a nearby tree, then nods at Ail. Ail walks to the mansion's entrance, but Meiling shoots many colorful crystals at him, however he glares at them, then somehow, they turned around. As soon as he did this, an image of Yukari smiling filled his head; however he ignores this and enters. Meiling dodges her reflected shots then Kyo says "so dishonorable, ignoring your opponent like that. Your devotion for your job is ADMIRABLE though!" Kyo jumps from the branch and reaches Meiling, who blocks his attacks, however the impact from his kick sent her crashing down. She landed on her knees, smirking back at Kyo as she got up and just as soon as Kyo landed, she lunges forward for her next attack.
Inside the Scarlet Mansion, Ail realizes the mansion was a LOT bigger inside than outside. "Interesting" he said. "They use magic to make the mansion bigger than it really is." Ail, then, spots three fairies and a devil girl wearing a long black dress with white long sleeves, a pair of wings on her back and head, and had long red hair and red eyes. All of them notice him as well and immediately attack, surrounding him in smoke. Just before the smoke clears he says "My name is Anilan Inmodo Leuch, however call me Ail, please." The smoke clears revealing a smaller blue barrier, just like the one in Satori's mansion, surrounding him again as he continues "I am here on important business and wish to speak with the mistress of this mansion." As he spoke, again, an image of Yukari smiling, and now laughing, filled his head once more, however he just ignores it, looking rather serious at the maids and devil girl. The barrier vanishes and from the next floor a voice says "I am sorry, but the mistress is not available at this time." It was Sakuya, the maid of the mansion. As she slowly comes down the main stairs she looks at the devil girl and says "Koakuma, lady Patchouli needs you in the library." As if something had just struck her, Koakuma shrieks, then flaps her wings flying away as speedily as she could saying "Co~~~mi~ng!" Sakuya gets close to Ail and asks "and why would you come here? You know what will happen!" Ail smiles, however his smile seems twisted for a second, then back to his regular polite smile, then he says "We were asked to come here and solve an incident that has been occurring here for nearly 500 years. Any ideas what could that mean?" Sakuya flinches for a moment then composes herself quickly saying "I haven't a clue... but from the looks of it, you're not leaving until you're done, am I correct?" Ail nods just as Kyo enters a little battered up saying "what, you still here? I though you'd have this solved by now~~hello miss Sakuya..." Kyo gazes upon Sakuya, blushing, his eyes turning into pink hearts, then bonks Ail saying "you're not bothering miss Sakuya, are you!?" Ail rubs his head, looking rather annoyed saying "of course not!" Kyo backs up saying "whoa, whoa, calm down, I was just joking. What's wrong with you!?" Ail apologizes saying "sorry. You just caught me by surprise is all." Sakuya looked at Ail suspiciously and then said "look, why don't you go to the library first? Just follow the same path Koakuma took That will lead you to the basement, where the library is. I need to go have a word with the gatekeeper, so I'll trust you'll be on your best behavior." Kyo smiles and says "well of course. We would never do anything bad, right Ail?" Ail looks a little pale, his eyes were turning dark, but hides it saying "well of course" then smiles. Outside Sakuya finds Meiling trying to stand up, but she was in a complete daze. Sakuya approaches her then pushes her down. "Calm down Meiling. I need you to recover as fast as you can. Something's not right with that Ail and I am going to need your help..."
Ail, who had been very quiet, and Kyo reached the library. Kyo looks at Ail and asks again "bro... are you sure you're alright? You've been acting strange ever since you read that letter." Ail smiles and says "it's nothing to worry about." They reach a desk at what they suspected was the center of the library. "Hello~!" said Ail loudly, and from behind comes a woman with long purple hair and purple eyes with lots of ribbons tied to her hair and clothes. She wore what looked like light-purple pajamas and a matching night-cap with a golden crescent moon on it. "What are you doing in my library" asked the woman. Ail bows his head saying "My name is Ail, and this is Kyo, my friend. We came here looking for clues to an incident." "Well, Ail and Kyo, my name is Patchouli Knowledge, and this is my library. Please don't touch any of the books here." Kyo scratches his head saying "that was blunt." Ail then tells her "we were sent here to solve an incident that has been occurring for almost 500 years. Any ideas what this means?" Patchouli looks at Ail saying "you should be resting, you know? Yes, I know what it means, however in your current state, you shouldn't get involved." Kyo looks at Ail, who was starting to emanate red energy and smiling in a twisted way, and says "Ail, bro... are you sick?" Ail's red energy disappears then he looks normal again and says "yeah... why?" Suddenly Ail feels massive energy and starts to run to it. Patchouli and Kyo look at each other surprised, then Patchouli opens her eyes wide saying "we have to stop your friend, NOW!" and Kyo didn't even ask and just dashes to Ail, however, just as he reached, an invisible barrier had formed, blocking all paths to him. "This isn't good. You friend is not in the best of states right now... he could get killed!" said Patchouli with real concern in her voice. Kyo punches the barrier with his energy, shouting "Ail! Ail, come back!"
Ail got out of the library, his eyes turning dark, and continued down the basement. A door caught his attention. It had some locks on it, but there was something banging loudly from inside, and suddenly, bursting through the door comes out a blond girl. She had vampiric scarlet eyes, and was wearing a red dress and vest with a pink shirt underneath, a poofy pink had with a ribbon attached, a side ponytail under the ribbon, and her wings looked as though were made of iron and prism shards of different colors. Ail returns back to normal saying "whoa... what a strong little girl!" The girl looks at him and giggles. "Wow, you're new. Wanna play?" Ail looked very surprised and said "err... I can't now... My name is Ail and I-" The little girl interrupts him mocking him "blah, blah, blah. Look I've been locked in there for almost 500 years. You are strong, and I want to play with you. You look like you don't break, like the witch and the red and white one." From very far away a faint voice screams "don't call me red and WHITE!". Ail then looks at the little girl and asks "break? What do you mean, little girl?" The little girl pouts and says "don't call me little girl. My name is Flandre... Flandre Scarlet and I want to play danmaku with you!" then she starts shooting very powerful blasts as Ail. He dodges them with ease, then his eyes darken as he shouts "HEY, that's not PLAYING. If you just want to battle, then just say so." Flandre looks at him funny saying "but this is playing. It ends when you break" she finished saying with a smile on her face, however Ail's eyes were turning blood-red, then he smiles back, a very twisted smile and says "well then... game on!" Sakuya and Meiling hear the blasts from outside. Meiling recovers in seconds and Sakuya shouts "shit, something happened sooner than hoped." As both run inside, Meiling thinks of Flandre for some reason. In the library Kyo and Patchouli were working together to bring down the last barrier blocking the door. They both try to hurry as the blasts were getting more intense.
Ail and Flandre were battling fiercely, however to Flandre, it all seems like a game. She giggled and laughed until one of Ail's red magic balls hit her, blowing on impact. "Ow~, that hurt! You play rough, huh?" said Flan as she stopped in place, then she gestured her right hand, as if she was grabbing something. Suddenly Ail feels great pain in his head. "Gah! what the HELL!" Flandre giggles and with a mean smile on her face she says "now, when I close my hand, you will break. It was fun playing with you, now... wh-?" Ail gestures his right hand as if he had just caught something in the air, then suddenly Falndre stopped what she was doing and holds her chest and starts screaming in pain. Ail's eyes turned black and blood-red, his teeth jagged, and his fingers had very long sharp claws. He was squeezing an energy on his hand, and every time he did, Flandre would scream. "I don't hear you giggling, LITTLE GIRL!!! What's the matter, does it hurt!? DOES IT!?" yelled Ail in a twisted tone of voice. Soon-after, Patchouli and Kyo managed to break the barrier on the library door and as soon as they came out, they were joined by Sakuya and Meiling. They heard Flandre's screams. "What's going on!?" asked Sakuya, and both Kyo and Patchouli answered "Ail's gone mad!" Flandre screams again, this time she started to cry and Meiling hurried faster than the others arriving at the scene quickly. Ail had Flandre begging to stop, however all he did was laugh in a warped, twisted manner and repeated "I thought you said this was FUN! WELL!!? IS IT!!?" Flandre would cry "No~! It hurts! Sakuya, Marisa, get me out of here!" Ail, now his tone sounding ominous, said "when I close my hand, you will break. That's what you said, didn't you?" Flandre sobs, now calling for her big sister. Meiling was going to punch Ail, however he twists his head without moving his body, now facing her and said "go on... I'll just clench my fist and punch you back... oh, but wait, if I do that, the little monster dies, doesn't she?" "AIL!!!" shouted Kyo. This shocked Ail, making him turn his sights back to Flandre again. He was about to ball his hand into a fist, but Kyo got in the way, making Ail release the energy, letting Flandre go. Immediately Meiling rushes to her yelling at Ail "IDIOT, look what you did to her!! I'm here little sis." Flandre weakly hugs Meiling back. Sakuya says "Meiling, take her to the mistress' room on the double! I'll teach this monster a lesson." Meiling rushes back to the first floor with Flandre in her hands. Sakuya takes many daggers into her hand and turns to Ail, however Patchouli holds her shoulder shaking her head a little, then Sakuya realized both Kyo and Ail were fighting. Ail's eyes looked emptily at Kyo, who was fighting with all his might to subdue his friend. "C'mon Ail, wake up, what the hell is wrong with you!" said Kyo as he landed a punch straight at Ail's face. Ail's blank stare wouldn't even flinch. Then suddenly, he lunges at Kyo who grabs hold of both his arms. Kyo kept yelling at Ail, trying to make him snap out of it, but Ail's blank stare wouldn't change, then suddenly, as if using his last breath Ail says "K-Kyo... H-help... me." Suddenly a portal opened behind Ail and started to suck him in. Kyo tries to hold on to Ail, however he slips and lets him go. Kyo almost entered the portal behind Ail, however it closed really fast. Ail could only see the image of Yukari, laughing softly with her fan covering her mouth and looking straight at him as he floated away inside the portal.
Back at the mansion's basement, Kyo was banging his fists hard on the ground, screaming Ail's name and shouting angrily. After he calmed down, Sakuya places her hand on his shoulder and asks him to follow her, however when all three turned around, there was Yukari covering her mouth with that fan, hiding a very sad look on her face. Sakuya grasps Kyo's shoulder the second she felt he was going to charge at Yukari. They all looked on at Yukari, hoping for answers.
Inside the portal, Ail floated on aimlessly, his sight blank, however his mind was spinning with countless thoughts. What Yuyuko had told him, what Satori and he spoke of when he went underground, what had happened when Remilia tried to kill him, and how he almost destroyed Flandre just now, and how he felt hatred toward his friend, even if it was for just a second. Subconsciously, he closed his eyes and suddenly felt ground under him. After what felt like hours to him, he opened his eyes and saw three peculiar silhouettes. "Shh, shh, he's waking. Suwako, get out of the way." said a woman. "Sorry" said a childlike voice, and then the frog-like silhouette backed away. "Sanae, how's it coming?" asked the woman's voice. "almost. Just a little bit more" said a younger woman. The woman then says "young man, you better sleep some more", then Ail felt very sleepy and everything went dark once more. Again it felt as though hours had passed, and then, finally, Ail fully wakes up. He was inside a shrine, but it wasn't Hakurei Shrine, nor Hakugyokurou. "Where am I?" asked Ail softly as he rubbed his eyes, then a young woman comes in saying "you are at the Moriya Shrine. You've been unconscious for over a month now." Ail's eyes open widely "a month?". Ail looks up at the girl. She looked like a shrine maiden. She wore a blue and white outfit, with light-blue polka-dots and stripes covering the blue areas. She had dark green eyes and long green hair adorned with a snake shaped hair clip and a frog's head clip. "You must be Ail, correct? I am Sanae Kochiya, wind priestess. Ail lightly bows then asks "what happened to me? I remember... doing something terrible, then everything went black after that." Behind Sanae, a tall woman enters carrying a jar with something red glowing inside. She wore a red shirt with long white sleves and a mirror on the chest, a long black skirt with a red flower print on it and was held by a rope belt. Has puffy intense blue hair and dark red eyes. Sanae says "this is miss Kanako Yasaka, and what she's holding is a little spirit that was trying to control you." Kanako looks at Ail who lowers his sigh and says "you were lucky, young one. If the Hakurei Maiden had found you, you'd still be in the hospital breathing through tubes. She is still furious, though. I would suggest hiding."
Outside the Moriya shrine, the trees were orange and leaves were falling in great numbers. It was now autumn and the days were growing quite cold. "How can I ever repay you for all you have done?" asked Ail. Kanako, who was a bit drunk, placed her hand on Ail's shoulder saying "now don't you worry about that. We took some of your money and bought many drinks... to drink for your QUICK -hic- recovery." Sanae looked appalled saying "miss Kanako!" however Kanako just flapped her hand in the air at Sanae saying "now, now, Sanae. The drinks worked, he's fine now, see?" Ail laughs when Sanae scolded Kanako again, then a small blond girl came by and asked "what's going on... oh, the boy woke up!" She wore a small pruple dress with frog prints on it and large white sleeves stitched on to the torso. She had green eyes and wore on her head a light-brown wide-brimmed hat with two frog-like eyes on the top and wore high white stockings and black shoes. "Lady Suwako" exclaimed Sanae. "Welcome home." Ail looked at Suwako, and to his eyes, she looked like a small child, however he could feel there was more to her. "Ail" continued Sanae "this is Suwako Moriya." Ail opened his eyes wide, then immediately bowed down. "Forgive me, I didn't know you were the goddess of this shrine!" Suwako gigles and says "so polite... however there are two gods here" as she pointed at Kanako, who was now sitting drunk on the floor and waving at Ail. He bows to her, and Kanako wraps her arm around his neck, inviting him to drink. "Err... n-no sorry, I'm weak to drinks." Kanako looked dissapointed and said "eh? You too? Look Sanae, just like you... you two need to drink more... Here's to that!" and she drinks another full extra-large cup of sake. Ail and Sanae look at each other, then they blush and turn away. Suwako notices and calls Ail to her, then she jumps, wrapping her arm around his neck and lowering him, then says with a smile "if you want to earn the rights to date my granddaughter, you better start behaving, alright?" then she lets him go. Ail's eyes did not lie. He was completely surprised about what Suwako had just said, then Suwako looks at him a little annoyed saying "hey, I'm a goddess, not a kid!" Ail still looking at her starts to laugh hard and apologizes, however the laughter was ended abruptly by a witch in black and white. "And so, here is where you have been hiding all this time, ze? You know, we've been looking for you ever since that little mess at the mansion." Ail looks up and right above him he spots Marisa smiling, saying "daze!" then she continues "I don't know what happened exactly, but I do know you made my little sister Flan cry... and I'm here to collect some payback, zei~!" Ail knew that smile. Marisa was aiming for a battle; a real battle. Suwako and Sanae were going to say something, however Ail raised his hand and said "it's time I payed for the damage I have caused... even if it wasn't fully my fault." Ail smiles back at Marisa and says "besides, I've been dieing to see her Master Spark, first-hand."
To be continued...
Characters, scenario and theme songs belong to ZUN
Ail and Kyo were created by Willie G.R.
JUN 19 2009
written by
Willie G.R
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