Misplaced Sukima P-9

After rescuing Mystia, and taking her to Eirin to have her healed the day before, Ail and Reimu took care of her the whole day after, Ran even had to call off their training, since Ail was too distracted and worried, and kept opening gaps next to Mystia. One snore from her, and both Reimu and Ail would jump to check on her. Ran sighs and asks "aren't you two taking this a little too far?" Reimu turns to Ran then says with a smile "oh my, did Mima take Chen with her again?" Ran looks around hurriedly then notices Chen's not around, then she runs outside, shouting "Chen, Che~~n. Ooo, if that ghost has her in her arms again I'm gonna..." then she runs to the front of the shrine where Chen was sitting on the empty donation box, watching Kyo and Mima sparring. Ran runs to her asking "Chen, there you are. Did she hurt you?" Chen smiles and says "no, she just told me to watch. She said I give her good luck." Ran then watches them fighting and got impressed. Mima would shoot wave after wave of either stars, fire balls, or petal-shaped danmaku, and Kyo would either cut them, or reflect them straight back at her. Mima pulls out a spell card, Kyo shouts "well that's more like it!" Mima smiles and shouts "Darkness Sign, Lights-off Dance!" Six red lasers are shot from around Mima, creating a recoil of the lasers wherever they hit, moving around unevenly twisting in pairs, as if dancing, as well as four fireball danmaku that spread into smaller balls that scatter as they fall. Kyo has some trouble dodging the lasers and the recoil, but he kept on reflecting the fireballs as if they were nothing. For about 35 seconds they kept this up, then the spell card times out then Mima says "alright, that's enough." "Whew" says Kyo, "that was intense." Mima giggles and says, you didn't do so bad yourself, hunk... oh?" When they both look to Ran's direction, she was completely singed, spreading her arms and closing her eyes, then Kyo says "I think you overdid it again." Mima giggles again and says "whoopsies." Ran growls and shouts "whoopsies!? What's the big idea!? You could have hit Chen!" then Mima looks at them casually then says "but I didn't" then smiles. Ran growls again then chases after Mima, saying "when I get my hands on you, I'll TEACH you proper child care!" Inside the shrine, Ail was helping Mystia sit up, while Reimu gave her water. They both look at each other after listening to the argument then Reimu says "no self-control" then Ail nods quietly.

The next morning, Ail wakes up and hears Mystia singing a tune she called "Night Bird" however she would loudly shout "chin-chin" during the pauses this time. Ail opened his eyes widely then come out, look at the roof where Mystia was, then ask "oy~, what are you singing there?" When Mystia spots him, she smiles and lunges directly at him, clinging on to him and rubbing her face on his saying "I'm SINGING, as thanks to you and Reimu for taking care of me!" Reimu spots them then shouts "he~y, you two. Get a room!" Ail sweats a little, but Mystia immediately lets go of him and flies to Reimu, hugging her tightly as well. Ail asks "are you sure you should be flying like that already?" Mystia lets go of Reimu, smiles and nods saying "I already went and checked on my grilled lamprey stand." Reimu sits her on the table and offers her some cookies then ask "Mystia, do you remember who did that to you?" Mystia bites hard on the cookie and shivers a bit, gulping loudly, then says "it was... It was a woman with very dark hair... she didn't even talk to me. She just turned her hands into a huge spike, so I tried to fly away, but before I knew it, she broke my wing, so I couldn't fly, then she asked me where was the Hakurei Shrine, but I didn't answer, so she turned her hand into something big... after that I don't remember much." Ail then asks "but don't you remember what she looked like?" Mystia thinks for a bit, then says "I'm sorry, I was too scared, I can't remember anything else." Reimu says "that's alright. Thanks for the information, though. Now at least we know one thing. Our fears have become reality. It has taken human form." Ail looks back at Reimu and says "we're gonna have to keep some extra eyes out there." Reimu nods and says "after your training today, I want you to go and tell Yuka to keep here eyes open. Also, inform this to Remilia as well. I'll let Eirin and Mokou know as well." "And who should I tell?" said Marisa, surprising all three, making Mystia wildly flap her wings, slapping them on Ail and Reimu's faces. "Wow... you guys need to relax more, ze." All three stare daggers at Marisa as she just laughs.

Right after his training with Ran, Ail headed straight to the sunflower fields. To his amazement, there were some flowers blooming in the snow. He lands near the flowers and just stands there staring at them, wondering how were they alive in this cold. From behind him, a shadow approaches, then he points his finger right behind him then turns around and sees a small girl with a doll flying around her, dressed just as her. She had silver eyes and short blond hair. She wore a red and black dress, and had a red ribbon on her hair. The girls stares at him, then without warning, she blows a purple cloud straight at him. Ail instinctively flies away, then shoots her with his focused blasts, one after the other, blasting her hard, knocking her down. After some time, she wakes up and Ail says "you sure have guts, attacking someone you just met, without even a single 'hello' even" The little girl moans as she gets up then says "I am Medicine Melancholy. Ugh... what happened?" Ail kneels in order to meet her eyes then says "Miss Medicine, I am Ail, and if you attack me like that again, I am not holding back." Medicine chuckles and says "fine. I'll try to get rid of you later then." Somehow Ail didn't feel any safer with that statement, so he kept his guard up. "So what are you doing here, miss Medicine?" Medicine frowns then says "that's none of your business, but if you MUST know, I want to talk to Yuka." Ail forces a smile and says "what a coincidence, so do I!" Medicine glares at Ail, then says "then I'm leaving. I rather be dismantled before staying with you for another second. Bye!" and with that she walks away, vanishing from sight as she walks toward the thick mist. Somehow Ail felt a bit sickened by her attitude, but he just sighs, then goes looking for Yuka. While walking through the fields, a snowstorm strikes, cutting his visibility. Ail decides to sit by a small field of flowers while the snowstorm settles. To his surprise, right there, in the middle of that flower field was the very same blue flower he had revived for Yuka the first time they met. The snowstorm settles, so Ail decides to float closer to get a better look at the flower. "How? How are you alive and blooming like this, even in this cold?" "Amazing, isn't it?" said Yuka from behind. She smiles as she waves at Ail, then Ail floats to her. At Yuka's house, Ail explains "You know of that shadow that's running around, trying to kill others, right?" Yuka sits on the table, placing her elbows on the table, and resting her head on her hands, then she says "yes... it's been here. She's real trouble, you know?" Ail looks at Yuka then says "yes, she is, that is why I am here. She's taking human form, and is using very dangerous attacks. Reimu and I wanted to ask you to keep an eye out, and tell us of anything happens. Yuka continues to look at Ail, then she nods and says "you know, those flowers you revived, for some reason refuse to die. Even in this cold." Ail chuckles and says "is that so?" then he covers his head and looks around. Yuka looks at him curiously and asks "what are you doing?" Ail chuckles nervously and says "eh, I thought... it's nothing. Err... so can I count on you then?" Yuka smirks and says "fine. But this won't be for free. I'll be asking for a favor later, alright?" She smiles at him, seeming almost angelic, then Ail nervously nods and chuckles again. He goes out the door, and as soon as he closes it Rumia jumps on him, munching him hard and shouting "STOP STEALING MY LINES!!!" Ail screams in pain saying "alright, alright, I'm sorry, OUCH!!!"

A blue colored gap opens in front of the Scarlet Devil Mansion's gate, and out comes Ail, full of bite marks. The mist around the mansion was really thick. Ail was barely able to see past his nose, but he quickly realizes that Meiling wasn't at the gate, and the gate was open. He quickly enters the mansion then calls out "Meiling, Sakuya! Hello? Is anybody there!?" The mansion was silent, not even the fairy maids came. Ail's heart starts beating faster, fear taking over. He desperately keeps calling as he runs to the basement "Meiling! Sakuya! Flan! Remilia!?" As he got closer to the library, he started hearing voices. He smiles and opens the doors, however, what he found in the library shocked and surprised him to no ends. A light surrounds Ail then sucks him into the library. As it does, he screams "WHAT THE HELL!? WAA~~H!" At Entei, Reimu had just finished talking with Eirin and Kaguya, then finds Keine and Mokou being led by Tewi back to Entei. "So why did you call for us so suddenly?" asked Mokou, sounding quite annoyed. Reimu then says "Keine, you remember that shadow, right?" Keine nods as Mokou complains after being ignored, but Reimu glares at her, so she shuts up. Reimu then continues, "well it's taken human form. It's a she, and SHE was the one that harmed Mystia. From what Mystia said, she can also shape-shift at will. I already talked with Eirin and Kaguya and they agreed to help keep an eye out. Can I count on you two?" Keine replies "well of course, right Mokou?" Mokou pouts then says "fine..." Reimu then says "Good. If you see anything, don't get in the way unless you HAVE to, also, Mokou, since you are immortal, I'll ask you, same as Kaguya, to patrol the village from time to time." Mokou didn't seem to like the idea, but she noticed Reimu's eyes. She was genuinely worried. Just then, from the mansion they hear Kaguya and Eirin calling Reimu, then, just after bursting out of the door, they both shout "Udonge's missing!" Reimu calmly says "well we better go look for her. Any idea where she might be?" Eirin points to the left side of the gates where they see a black spot on the floor next to Reisen's medicine backpack. Reimu gets closer to investigate then gasps, saying "it can get others inside the shadows!"

Back at the Scarlet Mansion's Library, bookshelves and books were floating everywhere. The floors and walls were replaced by white light, as far as the eye could see. Ail flies around, wondering what was going on, and suddenly he feels as though he had just been run over by a turbo-powered steamroller on his back. "BIG BROTHER~!!!" It was Flandre, who had just hugged him so hard and tight, he almost lost his lunch, with the addition of some bones. He trembles a bit, recovering from the impact then pats Flandre on the head saying "hey Flan... ow. What's going on here?" Flandre lets him go, then looks at Ail quite seriously then says "it's terrible. Miss Patchouli and miss Koakuma were doing another experiment, and this happened." Flandre guides Ail to where the rest were. They were all floating around Patchouli who was crying. "Ah, Ail, so glad you could join us" said Remilia, sounding casually. "As you can see... we're in a bit of a fix. Think you can get us out?" Ail nods and opens a gap to the Mansion's entrance. Remilia and Flandre both enter quickly, followed by Meiling, and Sakuya, who were pulling Patchouli in with them, and trying to console her at the same time, then quite a few fairy maids followed, then Ail realized Koakuma was missing. After he enters the gap, joining the others at the entrance, Ail closes the gap and asks "where's Koakuma? And what happened to the library" Patchouli, who had just calmed down tried to talk saying "she... she... *sob* she's GO~~NE!!" then starts crying again. Sakuya and Meiling both look at Ail, looking quite annoyed. Remilia then says "I'll tell you what Patchy told me... you see they were trying a transportation magic, and apparently it worked, since Koakuma teleported herself to Patchy's room, followed by Patchy soon after. Patchy left the room and headed to the library and realized Koakuma wasn't following her, so she went back, then saw a black spot right where Koakuma was standing a few seconds before. Patchy went back to the library in a rush, then realized Koakuma wasn't there either, so she did a spell that removes the floors and walls, but didn't see Koakuma... so she started to cry like that." Patchouli wails "I killed her~! My poor Koakuma~!" Ail closes his eyes and in almost a moment says "I don't think she's dead. It's very faint, but I can feel her energy. Take me to miss Patchouli's room, please." Sakuya, acting properly says "mister Anilan, what kind of request is THAT. You do NOT ask to go to a lady's room so bluntly!" Ail looking quite embarrassed says "I need to see the black spot... where Koakuma disappeared?" Just as Sakuya says "oh~" Patchouli grabs Ail by his hand and pulls him hard saying "hurry, hurry! Come and get my Koakuma back here!" Remilia and Flandre look at each other, then at Sakuya and Meiling, then shrug and follow them to Patchouli's room. "Meiling, you go back to the gate" said Sakuya, but Meiling complains "aww~, but why can't I go help?" There was a glimmer in Sakuya's eyes as she pulled a dagger out of nowhere and says "are you disobeying my orders?" Meiling raises both hands in the air and panics saying "n-no sir, I mean ma'am" then runs back to the gate.

On the way to Patchouli's room Ail tells Remilia about the shadow "...so Reimu and I wanted to ask you to keep an eye out, now that that monster can take human form AND cause such harm." Remilia thinks for a bit then says "I'll inform Sakuya and Meiling of this, however, if you can't bring Koakuma back, I'm not helping you." Flandre only stares at her sister from the corner of her eyes, then Ail, sweating a bit and forcing a smile says "o~kay... I better find her, then." Arriving at Patchouli's room, Ail immediately spots the large black stain in the middle of the room. He gets close and kneels next to it, touches it then immediately backs away. "It's... it's the shadow's work..." Patchouli looks at Ail confused, then shakes him up a bit asking "what? What do you mean, make some sense!" Ail holds his head, trying to stop the room from spinning then says "the shadow... it has the ability to trap others inside shadows!" Patchouli touches the black stain, still not understanding Ail, then she opens her eyes wide and says "this is... an entry point?" Back at Entei, Reimu kept investigating the black stain and said "if I channel some power here, I can enter this place... but how to return from there?" Eirin, looking really worried, however, trying to hold her worry back, she says "ma-maybe there is... and exit. Maybe." Reimu, sounding quite casual, says "Eirin, you're worried, don't bottle that. You're smart enough to know that's not healthy." Eirin lets out a loud puff, then starts to shiver, then asks "c-c-can you s-save her?" Reimu looked back at Eirin, looking quite serious and says "right now I wonder if I could enter and save myself. No choice... I'll have to go in and hope for the best." At the Scarlet Mansion Ail kneels close to the black spot then says "I'm going in. She's in there, I can feel it!" Patchouli says "but even I can't feel her presence in there... what makes you so sure she's in there?" Ail looks back and says "because my heart says so." Just then, Sakuya enters the room and says "my lady, mister Ail. Letty Whiterock just told Meiling that Cirno got swallowed up by a black hole on the ground." Ail steps on the center of the black stain and says "don't try to clean this yet. Wait until I come back with them, ok?" and then closes his eyes. Suddenly the dark stain expands like slithering snakes and wraps itself around Ail, then pulls him in. Back at Entei, Reimu was being sucked in as well and says "if I'm not back in an hour, call Ran and Ail, and tell them to get Yukari and Marisa. They'll know what to do!" then gets completely consumed by the dark snakes, and swallowed into the black stain.

When Reimu wakes up, she was inside a large dimly lit room, surrounded by what looked like black tree roots, and through those roots, a red beam would pass at a speedy rhythm, then she covers her nose and says "I wish I didn't have a nose... it's smells like rotting corpses." "Whatever you do, don't look down there... it's not pretty." Reimu raises her sight to see who was there. Reimu widens her eyes and exclaims "Ail!? did you get captured!?" Ail helps Reimu up then says "I'm here looking for Koakuma and Cirno." then Reimu responds "I'm looking for Entei's moon rabbit. What do you mean not to look down there?" Ail points to her left, and about five feet away from them there was a pit. Reimu went to look down but Ail stops her. His face looked almost sick when he said "don't... I almost lost my lunch when I looked." Reimu asks "what's down there? Ugh, why does it smell so bad?" Ail suddenly turns around just as he says "it's full of corpses. Some are even moving down there. Did... did you hear that?" but Reimu was already looking down and saw countless corpses. Youkai, human, vampires, dragons... some of the corpses were really moving around there. All had their eyes removed, their teeth shattered or completely removed as well. Reimu's face turns a bit green then says "that's... not a pretty sight." Suddenly they hear Cirno's voice yelling "you're just afraid of me cuz' I'm the strongest! RELEASE ME AT ONCE!" then Reisen's voice followed "you idiot, don't agitate her!" then Cirno responds "I'M NOT AN IDIOT! I am a genius!" Reimu and Ail quietly move toward the source of the voices. After walking for only about 2 minutes, they see a trembling Koakuma, next to Cirno, who was struggling, and Reisen, who just kept staring to her left. They were all separately tied by snake-like shadows. Ail and Reimu were about to rush in, but hide behind one of the dark roots when they hear another voice. "Three innocents. Your blood will give me the power I need to break that barrier and escape this place!" Ail and Reimu peek to see who it was. It was a woman with long wavy black hair that seems to slither on it's own, her eyes were dark blue, glowing in the darkness. She wore tight black clothes covered by an unbuttoned blue jacket and wore greyish-blue shorts, thick black boots that reached half-way to her knees. She also wore two black straps with a red sphere on each. One was on her neck, the other around her waist, like a belt. Reimu looks at her and whispers "those are power amplifiers!" Ail whispers back "then we better be extra careful." Back outside, Letty, Patchouli and Eirin stayed next to the black stains on the floor, all wondering if they too should go in, however in an instant, all three vanish at the same time, all three getting even more worried.

Reimu and Ail kept listening to the woman, who was just floating above the corpse pit, just laughing and saying "it's almost time. Soon I'll be out of here and you... well, you'll all die for a just cause." She suddenly lunges at them. Koakuma tried her best to get away, Reisen kept looking for some way out, but Cirno stops her saying "you weak coward!" The woman stops then says "weak? I am stronger all of you put together. I am even stronger than that shrine maiden!" Cirno glares at her then says "hah! Don't make me laugh. I am the strongest in all Gensokyo. That's why you tied me up. You can't beat me!" The woman snaps her fingers and Cirno is free. "Well, little ice fairy. Let's see if you truly are as strong as you say you are!" Reisen shouts "RUN, GET HELP!" Cirno smiles and says "I'm going to save you, just you watch!" Without warning, the woman had turned her hand into a mallet and knocked Cirno back against the hard wall. Cirno falls dazed on the floor and staggers up, her eyes spinning an barely able to keep her balance, Cirno kept saying "that was a cheap shot... I'll get you as soon as you stop moving this room!" Reisen spots Ail and Reimu, then gets an idea. "Good job little one, you stalled her long enough for our friends to get here!" The woman laughs hard and says "you mean the maiden and the boy? I knew they were there the whole time. They just don't interest me. Reisen's eyes begin to glow, then suddenly the whole area was surrounded by many copies of Ail and Reimu. The woman panics and shouts "what? They can multiply!?" The copies started moving around as the woman went and slashed one by one, having turned her hand into a saber. Ail and Reimu rush to their friends and using some charms, Reimu frees Koakuma and Reisen. "I'm so glad you're all ok." said Ail with a smile. Koakuma was still shaking a bit and said "l-l-look" behind them, the woman was angrily snarling then says "disgusting moon rabbit! That was a nasty trick... now here's mine!" The woman turns her arm into a large spike and lunges it straight at Reisen, but Ail had already activated his spell card "Brightness, Blinding Heart!" This time, along with the rings, white and blue danmaku balls followed. The woman screams as the bright rings of light burn her upon impact. She turns into a shadow and slithers around, avoiding the rest of the rings and danmaku balls. "Ail turns to Reimu and the others and shouts "RUN, NOW!"

Ail grabs Cirno, who was still challenging the woman even though she was still quite dizzy. Koakuma had to fly to keep up while Reimu and Reisen went ahead of them, reaching a dead end rather quickly. "There's no way out. The exit is shut!" said Reimu, while touching the wall, hoping to find the exit. Koakuma shrieks and starts shooting large blue and white danmaku balls, along with some knives behind them. She then flies behind Ail and Reimu. "You fools!" said the woman. Did you really think I'd let you escape that easy?" Reimu shouts "fine, miss shadow, I'll just get rid of you here and now!" Ail holds Reimu's shoulder and whispers "wait, if you do that, this whole place might collapse with us in it." The woman opens her dark blue eyes wide then says "you shall address to me as MISTRESS Agava! Yes... That's what the yamas used to call me. Agava." Reimu forces Ail's hand off and says "well, Agava, I'm still going to beat you!" Agava shoots small black balls at Reimu. They were barely visible, however Reimu dodges them as if they were nothing. "If that's all you have, then you better just give up now" said Reimu, quite relaxed. Agava gets mad, raises both hands above her head then a large black ball forms just above her, then she launches it at Reimu and the others. It looked like a direct hit however, Reimu had made a barrier around her, and Ail made a barrier for himself and Cirno, Reisen, and Koakuma. Reimu laughs and says "THIS is the best you have... allow me!" Reimu shoots a barrage of charms at Agava, who screams loudly then suddenly, she stops moving, staying suspended in mid-air. Reimu turns back and says now, let's look for that exit. Ail was impressed, then turns around, puts Cirno on the ground, then starts to look for an exit. They look everywhere, but were unable to find a way out. Reimu sighs and says "I was afraid this would happen. Hopefully Yukari will be able to come and get us." Reimu sits with her back against the wall then Koakuma shouts "miss Reimu, mister Ail, I think I found something." Koakuma pulls hard on one of the dark roots, but Reimu shouts "wait, Koakuma, stop!" and just like that, the root breaks off, followed by large dark blobs that fall from the ceiling. Ail was able to grab Koakuma in time and pull her to safety. They all run back the the dead end where the cave-in stops. "Sounding quite annoyed, Reisen says "great, back where we started, with that... THING floating over there." Cirno confidently says "I'm not scared. If she wakes up, I'll just freeze her again." Ail pats her on the head then says "but how are gonna get out of here?" Cirno, sounding very confident again says "we'll get out before we even KNOW how we got out!" Reimu sighs, placing her hand on her face.

Ail closes his eyes and remembers Ran telling him that her master could open gaps that went through dimensional barriers, then he started to wonder if he could also do that. Just then, he opens his eyes and sees Reimu looking up against the wall, and behind her, Agava quietly preparing to slash her with her blade hand. "REIMU!" shouts Ail as he rushes straight at her, and just as Agava slashed, he pushes Reimu out of the way, receiving the shadow blade on his stomach. Reimu turns around after hitting the ground and see's Ail's blood splashing like water. Ail struggles to keep his balance, but Agava was just about to slash again. Just then, Cirno and Reimu, one from the left, the other from the right, respectively, both shoot at Agava; Cirno, freezing the blade hand, Reimu knocking her out of the way. Ail couldn't move. Reisen tried to get closer, but Ail places a barrier then nods. Reisen and Koakuma look at him as he closes his eyes, then a spell card materializes on his hand. "M-Mad Waves... Raging Splash!" Ail shoots various extra large blue danmaku balls at his side vertically and many scattered blue crystals head fast toward Agava, followed by the large balls that spread as they headed toward her, after that it's all followed by watery waves that release more blue scattered crystals as it heads toward Agava, however Ail gestures his hands to encase the waters all around Agava then shouts "CIRNO! Freeze her!" Reimu immediately shouts "PERFECT FREEZE!" Without hesitation Cirno pulls out her spell card and shouts "Freeze Sign, Perfect Freeze!" Clusters of ice head directly to to water ball Ail had made, then freezes instantly. The ice block with Agava inside falls down to the corpse pit, then Ail drops to his knees and lightly holds his belly. Reisen rushes to him and gets a good look. Reimu looked rather worried, but when Reisen looked back at her, concern in her red eyes, she kneels down next to Ail. "We need to get him to my master. The cut is too deep." said Reisen, then Reimu shouts "and how the hell do we do THAT!?" Reisen looks down, then Reimu apologizes, then Ail closes his eyes. Both Reisen and Reimu shake him up a bit and Reimu says "don't you DARE die now, you hear!?" Koakuma shouts "LOOK!" A blue gap had opened right behind him. It leads back to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Reimu shouts "Cirno, Koakuma, get in!" and so they do. Reisen and Reimu then follow, holding Ail by wrapping his arms around their necks. When they pass through, the portal closes, then Ail grunts "I did it!"

Koakuma reunites with Patchouli, but their celebration had to wait. Remilia held her hand on her mouth and turned away from Ail. Flandre calls out to Ail, but he wouldn't wake up. Reisen shouts "I need a towel, a thick cloth... anything to stop the blood!" Sakuya nods, then grabs Remilia and leaves. As Sakuya takes Remilia back to her room, Remilia says "his blood smells so tasty! Thanks for getting me out of there, Sakuya" Sakuya looks at Remilia and says "you're welcome, my lady." Sakuya returns to the lobby with a towel then hands it to Reisen who gently places it on the wound. Reimu, looking quite grim gets up and says "Cirno, do me a big favor. Go to the shrine and tell Kyo to meet us at the clinic, got it?" Cirno salutes Reimu then says "I'm on my way." Just as she headed out, Letty spots her and joins her. Reimu was trembling a bit then said "no choice. We'll have to carry him to Entei." Reisen was about to complain, but when she though about it, she knew there was no other choice. Meiling enters the mansion saying "I'll carry him there", but just then, a sleepy Yukari and Ran pop from a gap just behind them. Ran gasps, and Yukari opens another gap without saying a word. Reimu nods then says "Meiling, help us here." Meiling grabs Ail and carries him into the gap that lead to the clinic, Reisen following closely. Mumbling, Yukari tells Ran "go with them. Don't worry about me. They need you, Ran." Ran hesitantly nods, then gets out of Yukari's gap. Reimu and Yukari stare at each other, then Reimu asks "was the portal before yours?" Yukari smiles and says "not entirely." then Reimu and Ran both head to the other gap, Reimu saying "Thank you" to Yukari, who yawns and gets back into her own gap, closing both as she did. Koakuma looks at Patchouli and says "he'll be alright... right?" then Flandre hugs Sakuya then looks at Koakuma, then smiles and says "well of course. He's as tough as red and white sis!" They all smile, but couldn't help but feel worried.

As fast as she could, Mima flies in the air, holding Kyo by his arms. "Can't you go any faster!?" shouted Kyo, then Mima sounding angry answers "maybe I should let you fall. You'd get the MUCH quicker, right hunk!?" Kyo pouts and says "alright, I'm sorry. I'm worried, that's all." Mima kept quiet, looking very disappointed toward the clinic. As soon as they land, Kyo storms into the clinic, but sees Reimu, looking sadly down to the ground. "what happened?" asked Kyo. Reimu raises her sight to meet Kyo's eyes then says "she cut him. She missed me and cut him instead. I must remember to thank Meiling... she just left. She brought him here safely." Kyo went to see Ail, but Reimu says "Eirin put up a barrier until she's done." Kyo sits beside Reimu and says "don't blame yourself. Ail would do stupid things like these back home. Taking the hit for someone he cares about. I felt pretty bad the first times he did that for me... but then he would say to me 'Kyo, this was my choice. I could have let you take the hit, but I chose not to.' At first is just made me mad, but then... well that's just how he is." Reimu lifts her head then smiles, then Kyo says "are you really that worried?" Reimu stops smiling and just looks at the wall, then Marisa enters saying "of course she is, ze! That's one REALLY stupid question!" They all laugh for a bit and then Kyo asks "hey... where's Mima?" Reimu looks quite surprised and asks "Mima is here?" Kyo says "yeah, she's the one that brought me here." Marisa looks at both of them and says "well, she wasn't outside when I came here, daze!"

Eirin, Ran and Reisen were doing their best. Since Ail's wound was a shadow wound, they needed his shadow on the wall as they treated the wound. Ran's hands were getting tired, holding an old flash light of Eirin's, but she kept holding on to it. Eirin was applying the last stitches, Reisen sighs saying "finally, we're done". In his mind Ail saw SikiEiki. "You did good, Ail." said Siki "but your training is not yet complete. You STILL need to guard the shrine maiden, and there's more for you to do before you leave." A woman's voice said "listen to the yama, young Ail. Don't give up. If you give up now, fate will play a cruel hand, and there will be nobody left to change that hand." Siki looks up and says "you too, huh? See Ail? You have may friends to back you up now. Their love will be all the reward you'll need. I am sure you will understand what I mean." Ail unconsciously mumbles "I...already do." Ail starts to remember all the wonderful beings he's met since entering Gensokyo, Kyo and his family as well. Even Medicine passes through his mind, making Ail smile and giggle a bit, then suddenly he wakes up. "Dude, you REALLY gave us quite a scare there!" said Kyo, just as Ail started to regain consciousness. "How's Reimu, is she ok?" said Ail, then Reimu says "relax, I'm right here, and completely unharmed, thanks to you, you idiot!" Ail sits up and smiles, then rubs his face and says "and Reisen, and Cirno... Koakuma?" Marisa enters and says "by some miracle, you were able to open a gap back to the SDM, so they are all fine, ze." Ail asks "the SDM?" then Reisen enters and says "The Scarlet Devil Mansion. Good morning." Ail smiles and asks "for how long was I out?" Reimu pats him on the head and says "just one day. You recovered overnight, thanks to Reisen and Eirin." Ail closes his eyes for a moment then keeping them closed he asks "what happened to Agava?" Reimu looks at ail a bit puzzled then says "you don't remember, huh?" Ail opens his eyes, looking at Reimu quite confused then she says "you unleashed a new spell card, and you and Cirno froze that wicked shadow. She fell to that disgusting corpse pit." Ail jumps out of bed, as if nothing, grabs his shirt then says "you realize that she's bound to get free." Reimu nods and says "I know. But both spell cards together will have an added effect, so that ice won't thaw out until spring, or perhaps later." Eirin comes in and says "this treatment is on the house... as thanks for bringing Udonge back." Ail bows his head then just before they leave, Kaguya was outside, then looks at Ail, however she kept quiet since Marisa, Reimu and Kyo, stared daggers at her, so she just continued her way to the clinic. Ail laughs as they fly, holding Kyo by his arms and then says "you know, even if we don't like each other that much, I'm glad I met Kaguya as well as everyone here in Gensokyo."

When they arrive at the shrine, they are greeted by Ran, Chen and Mima, who again takes Chen, then runs away from Ran immediately. For three and a half weeks, the furious snowstorms raged on, however Ail and Ran would still train under the weather. Kyo and Mima tried to train, however... Mima just froze, and Kyo was blown away by powerful gusts. This happened more than once, so they decided to drink instead of train, until the weather settled. After the weather settled, Ran and Ail's training became more and more intense and Ail learned many ways to use danmaku, making lasers now, as a common attack from him. Even his focused shots changed a little, becoming much stronger, the blasts wider, and accompanied by either spread white danmaku balls, or homing lasers. His gaps through barriers were also improving. He could open gaps to different places, dimension, even gaps to impossible places, however he still hadn't reached Yukari's level. During a meditation training, Ran says "I am amazed that, even though you're so bad with math, you can still open gaps very accurately. I still wonder how is that even possible." Ail smiles and says "it's probably because of my heart. It can do wondrous things, you know." Ran chuckles and says "right now, I'm very inclined to believe you." Suddenly, Ail opens a gap right behind them, however this one sucks him in by force. Ran opens her eyes just as he screams when the gap sucks him in. "Oh no... I wonder where he went?" said Ran casually.

At an unknown field of peach trees, there were two girls. One had long flowing sandy blond hair and had golden eyes. She wore a dark blue dress with a strap to the left over a long-sleeved white blouse, and a loose belt with a gold mirror-shaped buckle. She was eating some peaches while the other, looking very serious had light blue hair tied into a ponytail with a yellow ribbon, and brown eyes. She wore a dark red dress with a strap on the right side over a white short-sleeved blouse and a loose belt with a gold sword-shaped buckle. "Toyohime... are you going to keep eating peaches all day?" asked the blue haired girl. Toyohime replies "but they are just so good, Yorihime. You should eat more." Just then, a blue gap opens right next to them, Ail falling to his face just as he went through. It quickly closes behind him. He gets up and rubs his nose saying "not one of my best landings... where am I?" Ail turns around and sees the two girls. They both stare at him quietly, then Ail politely bows and says "hello, my name is Ail... excuse me, but could you tell me where I am?" Toyohime says "Hello, Ail. I am Watatsuki no Toyohime, and this is my sister, Watatsuki no Yorihime, and you are at the Moon." Ail bows again and says "hello miss Yorihime, miss Toyohime" Toyohime giggles saying "Actually we're both married, so it should be missis..." Ail bows and says forgive me... so the moon huh? oh well, I better be getting back to Genso-" Ail pauses for a moment and looks up. He sees the Earth right above them then he shouts "THE MOON~!!!?" Ail starts running in circles waving his arms around repeating "the moon, the moon, I'm in the moon, this is so awesome, the moon!" Toyohime giggles and says "my, he's really excited, isn't he, sis?" Ail laughs and then says "this is nice and all, but now I don't know how to get back home... I mean I don't even know how I got here. Oh well, maybe Yukari can help me." Just like a trigger to a gun, mentioning the name of Yukari made Yorihime unleash her sword and stab it on the ground. Many swords surround Ail, stopping him on his tracks. Ail looks at both girls and says "err.. was it something I said?" Yorihime glares at Ail and says "that youkai tried to invade the moon twice already. If you are friends with her, then that means she's coming back to try and invade the moon, right?" Somehow, Ail was right next to her and said "invade the moon? By myself? Look, I came here by accident. I don't even know how I got here!" Yorihime gets quite surprised and shouts "how the heck did you get free from there!? Fine, I'll stop playing games." Yorihime whistles. Ail is now running like mad while 6 moon rabbits with guns chase him around, shooting at random and saying "look at him run" "wow, he looks funny" "can we keep him?" Toyohime taps her sister on the shoulder and asks "sis, what if he was telling the truth?" Yorihime looks back at her sister, sighs and says "you know we can't risk it." As Ail runs, he somehow opens another gap that sucks him in, and vanishes as soon as he gets back in. The moon rabbits all Aww~" then head back with their heads lowered.

After floating inside the gap for a bit, Ail sees a light, then suddenly "URK!" he lands on his face on the cold snow. He gets up, shakes his head and asks "where am I now?" From behind him he hears two girls calling for him. For a moment he though it was the Lunarians, but when he turns around he sees Reimu and Ran, and sighs with great relief. Back inside the shrine, Reimu asks "you've been gone for HOURS! Where have you been?" Ail points up and says "the moon" Ran, Reimu, Mima and Kyo look at each other then start laughing hard and rolling on the ground. Ail was a bit annoyed by that, but he just sighs and says "I'm just glad to be back" and then Chen gets on his lap and asks "did you bring something from the moon?" Ail rummages through his pockets and pulls out a really large peach. Ran and Reimu stop laughing and Reimu asks "wait, you weren't kidding, right?" Ail looks at them disappointed and says "why would I lie about that? I even met Yorihime and Toyohime... Toyohime was nice, but Yorihime was a real piece of work. I mean, I only mentioned Yukari and she surrounds me with swords." Reimu and Ran sweat, then Reimu says "you really went to the moon, alright... but wait, I thought Yukari said you couldn't reach the moon through gaps." Ran was as surprised as Reimu and says "it IS impossible. There's no WAY! There's not even a full moon today! Even with a full moon, it's impossible." Reimu points at Ail and says "but he met the Lunarians, so he was there!" then Ran points at Reimu and says "maybe it was someone else!" then Reimu gets closer to Ran and says "but he brought a peach!" then Ran says "peaches grow everywhere!" and so on, and so on. Ail got tired of listening so he gets up and heads outside, just as Chen got off his lap, eating the large peach.

Ail walks around the back of the shrine for a bit and stops to look at the bit of half-moon visible through the winter clouds. Mima comes floating just above the snow then says "Reimu told me you used an amazing power to save them from that Agava. A new spell card. She was quite impressed." Ail keeps looking at the moon and says "it wasn't my power that saved us from her..." Mima smiles and asks "and who's was it?" Ail looks at Mima, smiling back and says "Cirno's." Mima continues to smile, then Ail says "I just distracted her. It was Cirno who froze her. If it wasn't for her, we'd all be dead." Mima says "correction, young man. If it wasn't for you AND the ice fairy. Don't forget that." Ail lets out a small laugh and says "before this is all over, We will be needing Cirno's help again." Mima and Ail quietly smile at each other then Mima says "so you went to the moon. How was it?" Ail looks back at the moon and says "I think I want to go back there again." He turns around to look at Mima with a grin on his face and says "it was quite a lot of fun."

To be continued...
Characters and scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
Ail and Kyo were created by Willie G.R.
The "Darkness Sign - Lights-Off Dance" and "Mad Waves - Raging Splash" spell cards were created by Willie G.R. (Any similarities are strictly coincidental) Some assistance by Snapshot2010

JUL 3 2009
written by
Willie G.R.