Meiling, the Scarlet Devil Mansion's (or SDM) gate keeper recently recovered from a terrible possession that almost claimed her life. Although she was saved and has recovered well, she still hasn't fully recovered and hasn't been able to stop a single intruder. Even some daring young humans from the village challenged her, and won. On this night, Meiling has been summoned by Sakuya to the main hall, where Remilia, and Sakuya herself wait for her. Meiling fears she's no longer useful to the SDM, and that the reason for the summoning it to fire her, or worse. She nervously walks toward the doors to the large room, hesitates, takes a deep breath after gulping loudly, then slowly pushes the doors open. Upon entering she sees Remilia sitting on a large red chair, drinking some red tea, and standing to her left is Sakuya, elegantly awaiting any order from her mistress. Meiling sweats and trembles as she walks closer to the pair, then stops halfway through, nervously bows, and awaits for either one of them to speak.
Remilia smiles and says "Sakuya, please give it to her." Sakuya replies "right away, my lady." then walks toward Meiling. The gatekeeper trembles, holding back her tears of fear. She thinks that Sakuya is going to really kill her for her uselessness. She shuts her eyes tightly and waits for her death. A few seconds pass, but nothing happens. She slowly opens her eyes and notices Sakuya holding a yellow envelope in front of her. She slowly lifts her head and looks at Sakuya's smile, then smiles back as she quietly takes the envelope. "Um... Lady Sakuya, lady Remilia? What-!?" Remilia smiles and says "Meiling. It has come to my attention that lately, you have been failing as gate guard, and you were even defeated by humans." Meiling whimpers "I'm so sorry, mistress! I'll work harder next-" Remilia stops smiling as she signals Meiling to stop talking. She looks at Sakuya, then clears her throat. Sakuya reacts a little surprised, saying "oh... oh, right, sorry my lady. Meiling, we understand this has been happening since that nasty incident during the first days of spring, when you were possessed by that spell." Meiling looks at them with wonder and thinks "what's this all about, I wonder?" Sakuya smiles, then says "since it seems you haven't fully recovered from that, our kind mistress, lady Remilia, and myself have decided to give you a three day payed vacation, starting tomorrow morning. Well, what do you think about that?" At first, Meiling stands there, just staring at Remilia and Sakuya, then smiles and squeals with glee, then asks "really, a vacation!?" Remilia and Sakuya smile and nod, then Meiling jumps in place and dances as she softly lands back on the floor. Sakuya says "in that envelope you will find your pay, a massage voucher from the kappa that expires in 3 days, and a permit that allows you a visit to Makai. The Hakurei maiden says you'll be sightseeing with a woman called Luize once in there." Meiling bows and says "thank you so very much! Oh, but... who's going to-?" Sakuya quickly says "we have hired the necessary hands for this task while you enjoy your time off. You may come back to the mansion to sleep and eat, but please, don't disturb the fairy maids too much." Remilia adds "oh, and Meiling..." Meiling looks at her mistress and waits for what she has to say. Remilia smiles and says "try to enjoy these days, but also, try and recover yourself." Meiling bows and says "o-of course, my lady." Sakuya says "you are dismissed" Meiling salutes them, then happily skips back to the door, then heads straight to her room.
DAY 1:
Meiling walks out of the mansion, taking a deep breath as she walks out the door, wearing a white t-shirt with rolled up sleeves, a pair of brown shorts, white socks and brown shoes; no hat. She looks up to the sky and says "a beautiful day to start my vacation." The takes out the massage voucher and says "I think I'll head straight to the kappa." she smirks and adds "this will be GREAT! Hoo hoo~!" She walks past the gate and notices Cirno and Daiyousei. She scratches her head and asks "so... you two are my replacements?" Cirno proudly expands her chest and bags hard on it with her little fist and says "who better than the strongest in all Gensokyo to take care of this gate!" Daiyousei smiles at Cirno and says "Cirno-chan is so brave. She already took care of an intruder, just as we arrived." Cirno proudly says "it was just too easy. He didn't even put up a fight!" Behind some bushes, Rinnosuke lies frozen inside a large ice-cube with a letter addressed to Meiling from Makai. Meiling smiles at the two fairies and says "well, you two have fun. I'm going to start my vacation." She flies away while shouting "see you later~!" Daiyousei stares as Meiling goes away, then turns her attention to Cirno, who sighs deeply. Daiyousei asks "Cirno-chan? What's the matter?" Cirno stretches and says "I wish I could go on vacation too." Daiyousei gets shocked, then shouts "but we only just started working!" Cirno places her finger on her bottom lip as she stares blankly at the sky, then says "oh yea... what are we supposed to do?" Daiyousei sighs and asks "are you still asleep, Cirno-chan?"
Before heading to the Youkai Mountain, Meiling goes to the Human Village and visit the school there. She lands next to the building and looks inside through the window. she thinks "oh, it's miss Keine... seems she's giving lessons now." Inside she looks on as Keine speaks of many past happening to the students, who all seem bored and about to fall asleep. Meiling continues to look inside and starts to yawn as she thinks "wow... they say I stopped here, but I don't even remember getting here." Mailing's eyes feel heavy, then she whispers to herself "wow... I wonder if this is a.. *yawn~* sleeping spell... I feel so... slee-" Meiling falls asleep while still standing and looking through the window, but Keine takes notice and launches a piece of chalk straight at her forehead, shouting "DO MY CLASSES BORE YOU SO MUCH!!?" Meiling rubs her head after being so rudely awakened and says "I'm sorry~!" Keine gets a better look and says "oh, it's you... Class, please excuse me for a minute." Keine walks outside and heads toward Meiling, saying "I'm sorry, miss, but I feel a bit offended when people fall asleep during my lessons... you know, maybe if you pay attention, you could learn a thing or two." Meiling smiles and says "it's alright. I'm sorry to have disturbed your class... it's just..." Meiling looks back inside and says "I was told I came to your school, but I can't remember what exactly happened that day... so I though-" Keine smiles and says "I see. You're trying to put the pieces back together, huh?" Meiling rubs the back of her head and chuckles nervously as she says "no, heh heh, not exactly... but close. I am barely ever away from the gates at the mansion, so, being away and not remembering it was driving me a little crazy." Keine replies "ahh, I see... hmm~" Keine's eyes fill sigh shiny stars as she says "oh well! care to join one of my lectures!? It's a good one!" Meiling sweats and says "er, no thanks. I have somewhere else to go right now... um, see you later miss teacher!" With those words, Meiling flies away, leaving Keine feeling a little disappointed and saying to herself "oh well. It's a shame really. She would have loved to hear about past martial artists."
Meiling walks by the river, and just before arriving to the waterfall she exhales and says "oh, I can't find the kappa anywhere. *sigh* Might as well do something else. Too bad about this voucher, though." "Voucher!?" asks a girl from behind a tree. Like magic, the girl materializes right in front of the tree and asks "you wouldn't happen to be miss Meiling Hong, right?" Meiling is awestruck, nervously pointing at the little blue haired girl, but manages to say "y-yes... how did you do that?" the little girl bows and says "I am Nitori Kawashiro, and I'll be your host today... the original host is tied up at the moment." Meiling asks "Nitori... ohh, you're that inventor! And what happened to the 'original' host?" Nitori looks away with a naughty smile and says "oh... best not worry about that." In a dark room, a beautiful kappa woman sits in front of a large monitor that has Nitori's name on it, and is playing various movies while the kappa has her wrists tied to the chair she is on. Back with Nitori and Meiling, the little kappa hands Meiling a peculiar silver belt and says "please put that on before we can continue." Meiling puts on the belt and asks "is this some sort of code, or some-" As soon as Meiling clips the belt on, Nitori grabs her and pulls her down the river. The second Meiling touches the water, a black bubble surrounds her as Nitori drags her deeper and deeper into the water. Inside the bubble, Meiling feels soothed and relaxed as some music plays for her while the picture of a flower field is displayed for her.
Upon arriving to their destination, Nitori places the black bubble beside her and says "destination achieved" and the bubble pops, then the silver belt un-clips itself from Meiling and flies straight back to Nitori's backpack. Meiling looks around as she gets up from the ground and says "whoa~! This place is amazing!" The floor is made of metal and the walls are covered by tubes, buttons and lights trailing along everywhere. Nitori stands proud and says "welcome to the kappa's domain. Please, come with me." Meiling nods, but continues to look around as she follows Nitori around. Nitori stops and stands in front of a solid white wall, then it opens like magic. She didn't even use a doorknob. Meiling asks "what sort of magic is this?" Nitori smiles and says "this is technology, my red-haired friend. In this room you will receive the finest massage, so please have your voucher ready." Meiling takes the voucher out of her pocket, then Nitori guides her to a smaller room inside the one they are in and says "please change into either those two really small towels or that conveniently placed green two-piece swimwear." Meiling blushes and asks "w-what for?" Nitori waves her finger at her and says "well you wouldn't want kappa oils and medicines all over you clothes, do you? Oh... one more thing. Err, when you're done, would you mind if I test a new invention with you?" Meiling smiles and asks "is it dangerous?" Nitori replies "not at all." Meiling nods and says "ok." Nitori bows as Meiling enters the changing room. A few minutes later, Meiling come out wearing the conveniently placed bikini and then Nitori pulls her to a hard-looking bed and says "please get on. The massagist will be here momentarily." Meiling lies on her stomach on the surprisingly comfortable bed, then turns her smiling face to Nitori and asks "so how does this work..? ACK!" Meiling's face can't hide her shocking surprise when she sees the large and bulky blue-haired lady massagist standing next Nitori. Nitori then says "I'll be outside if you need anything." Right before Nitori leaves Meiling shouts "wait, you can't leave me here with her... please~!" Nitori lets the door close behind her, sits on a chair that pops up from the floor, pulls a magazine from her backpack, then quietly reads while Meiling is getting her massage.
One hour later, Meiling comes out of the room looking amazingly well. Her skin shines with radiance, she looks so relaxed and happy and feels as though she's walking on air. Nitori smiles as she gets up and puts her magazine away, then says "well, looks like someone is feeling like a new youkai!" Meiling smiles and in a dreamy state, she says "the massagist inside told me to keep this while I help you with your new invention." Nitori smiles and nods, then signals Meiling to follow. Meiling follows her, looking as though she is floating in the air as she did. They arrive at a very large room with a small booth, a round pool in the center, and a painted wooden board in the water. Meiling, who is still in that dreamy state, asks "and what's all of this? It looks so wonderful~!" Nitori replies "glad you approve! This is my new invention. Please, get on that board over there by the water." Without wasting another second, Meiling gets inside the pool and paddles to the board then gets on top, lying on her stomach. She signals Nitori, who is inside the booth, by flipping her right-hand thumb, then through a microphone Nitori says "you are testing my newest in vacationing fun and entertainment. I call it 'Water Board Ride'. I will generate some waves in the water, and all you have to do is tell me if it's fun, or not. Simple, right?" Meiling, who is still in a dreamy state, flips her thumb up again, then Nitori, who smiles widely presses a button while saying "let the test... begin!"
Gentle waves rocks the board in which Meiling is on, startling her to the point that she clings tight on to the board. Meiling calms down after a bit and says "ah, this... this is kinda nice." Nitori says "ok, I'll turn it up a bit." The waves get a little bigger, then bigger still. Meiling shouts with excitement as she stands on the board and says "wow, this is amazing! Look, look! I can stand while doing this!" Nitori smiles and proudly says "this invention of mine is pure genius. Well I'm going to turn it off now." Meiling says "aww~", but then Nitori realizes she can't turn it off. Meiling wonders "huh... I though she said she was going to turn it off now..." From the booth, Nitori waves her hands while shouting "I can't turn it off!" Meiling shouts back "WHAT!?" The waves get bigger, and bigger still, then the room floods and a whirlpool forms in the very center of the room. The water forcefully gets Nitori out of the booth, so Meiling, who is still on the wooden board, paddles to her and gets her on to the board. Nitori gasps and says "thanks... now how do we get out if here~!?" Meiling sighs and says "there has to be a... what's happening?" The whirlpool starts sucking the water in, dragging the girls along for the ride. Nitori shouts "oh no, it's going to eat u~~s!!!". In an instant, the water drains completely, dragging the two girls with it.
Outside, Momiji sits next to the river, takes off her sandals and dunks her feet inside the water and says "ahh~ this feels great, after a long day's work... huh?" Momiji's ear twitches as she hears a rumbling sound coming from under the water. She's about to stand up when a blast of water, along with two screaming girls on a board head toward the Human Village. She spits out some water and shakes off as much as she can from her head, then says "so much for relaxing." Meiling stands on the board, doing her best to keep her balance, while Nitori rides sitting on her shoulders. Nitori panics and waves her arms around, shouting "look out, no, to the left, no, the right. WATCH OUT!" Meiling screams at the top of her lungs "how do we stop thi~~~S!!!" At the Human Village, Kyo and some young male villagers sit just outside the village's entrance when they spot the large wave, Meiling and Nitori headed their way. One of the young men says "whoa, look at that hot red-head." Another says "AWESOME! She's got a kappa on her shoulders!" Kyo says "wait, that's Meiling and Nitori! What the heck are they doing!?" Meiling shouts "somebody help u~s!" Kyo walk to where the wave is going to come through, stands there and waits. Just as the wave gets close enough to him, he activates his amplifier, his shield, and expands the shield, generating a powerful gust that disperses the water. He extends his arms and catches Nitori first, then sets her down on the floor. Nitori shakes a little, then says "catch the gate guard!" Kyo extends his arms again and catches Meiling just before she hits the ground. She trembles a little while clinging on to his neck, shutting her eyes tight as well. When she opens them, she realizes she's on Kyo's hands, safe from harm. Kyo sets her gently down on the ground and asks "what was that all about?" Behind him, Luna stares at him, her eyes red with rage and spitting fire from her mouth. Meiling and Nitori hug each other and try to warn Kyo, but are unable to speak. Kyo asks them "what? What is it now?" Luna shouts "what the HELL are you doing holding on to hot women like that, you PERVERT!!! You only do that with ME!, got it!?" Kyo tries to run away, but Luna already has him by the ear and is dragging him back home while shouting "how DARE you, you PIG! And she's barely wearing any clothes, UGH, when we get back home, you're gonna GET IT!" Luna turns around, smiles and says "please, don't take it too hard, miss. It just that we have to keep these men in line... you know, right?" Meiling blushes and nods. Nitori pulls out Meiling's clothes from her backpack and says "well, it was a pleasure being your host, but now it's time to go back and work on another invention... See ya!" then runs away before Meiling can say anything.
Meiling, who somehow managed to change back to her casual clothes without being peeped on, walks back to the mansion late in the afternoon. She stops at the gate to greet Cirno and Daiyousei and asks "everything ok here?" Cirno boasts "HAH! This is a piece of cake! I froze two witches, a demon, a vampire, another man with glasses, and some fairies." Meiling looks at the various blocks of ice and notices Patchouli, Koakuma and Sakuya, all side-by-side, and Alice and Rinnosuke at another side. The others were random fairies and other youkai. Meiling smiles and asks "and what about Marisa?" Cirno says "she had a permit, so I let her in." Meiling thinks "oh, she pulled that one on me so many times..." She looks at Cirno, smiles, then says I'll be taking these three with me, ok?" Cirno nods and says "if they are with you, I see no problem!" Meiling flips her thumb up, lifts up all three frozen friends as if they were nothing, then carries them inside with her.
Later that night, after Cirno got dismissed by an enraged head-maid, Meiling enjoys a meal with Remilia, Patchouli, and Sakuya, who joins soon after dealing with Cirno. Remilia asks "so how was your first day of vacation?" Meiling smiles and says "it was so much fun. A little messy, but what's fun without a little mess, right?" Sakuya smiles, then asks "and your training?" Meiling sweats and chuckles nervously then says "I promise, when I come back, I'll be a whole new gate guard. I won't let you down!" Remilia calmly says "it's alright, Meiling. Just recover your strength." Patchouli shivers and says "S-S-S-Sakuy-ya... p-p-please pass... the h-h-hot tea!" Meiling then asks "Oh yeah... is the little ice fairy coming back tomorrow?" Sakuya tries to hide her anger with a smile and says "no... we have another replacement in mind. hopefully she'll work better than the fairy." Meiling smiles, then continues to enjoy the rest of her meal. Later, after taking a nice bath, Meiling lies on her bed and thinks of the day. How relaxing it was to just go on by herself. No rules, curfews, just do whatever she wants. She smiles as she closes her eyes and says "tomorrow will be great."
Day 1 END
Characters and scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
Kyo and Luna were created by Willie G.R.
SEP 30 2009
written by
Willie G.R.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Terror Tenshi - Iku Nagae's Fears
Iku walks about the Clouds over Gensokyo, when a sudden chill crawls up her spine. She looks up to the heavens and feels a tremor that unsettles her heart. Fear takes her, then she feels her legs losing their strength. Quickly, she descends to Gensokyo to call for help.
At the heavens above, Tenshi Hinanai laughs maniacally while standing over the unconscious bodies of various celestials. Her eyes glow white, her smile twisted. She looks onward to the heavens and spots many large buildings. In a twisted tone of voice, she says "fi~rst, I rid myself of all you celestials, and then... THE~N I'll dance on the blood of the humans belo~W~~! This... yes, this will be my GREATEST achievement!... oh, but what to do with that lightning girl, Tenshi? Don't worry Tenshi, We'll deal with her soon enough! Hahahaha~!"
Iku lands at the Hakurei Shrine, calling for Reimu immediately. "Reimu~! Reimu, where are you!? It's and emergency! Reimu?" From the large red gate, carrying a broom, come Maribel and Renko. Iku gets a little nervous, bows to them and says "I-I'm sorry for the intrusion, but I need to speak to Reimu. It's a matter of great importance." Maribel bows to Iku and says "sorry, miss... uhh-" "Iku. Iku Nagae" says Iku, then Maribel continues "miss Iku. I'm really sorry, but miss Reimu went to investigate a new hot spring. She only left a few minutes ago." Iku's fear turns to despair. She grabs Maribel by her arms and shakes her violently as she shouts "WHAT!? But this is an emergency!!!" Renko smacks Iku with her broom, forcing her to release Maribel, then calmly says "sorry, miss Iku, but Reimu left and shaking Mary around like that won't help." Maribel tumbles around with spinning eyes, trying to recover herself. When she hears Renko call her 'Mary', she immediately recovers and shouts "my name is Maribel, not Mary! Maribel Han!" She turns to Iku, calms down and says "and this is my friend, Renko Usami. Nice to meet you." Iku trembles and says "we're all doomed..." Renko asks "lady, what's got you so excited?" Iku sits on the ground, hugging her knees then says "there's something very strange going on in the heavens, and I feel it's something really bad. I need Reimu's help. Only she is strong enough to help." Renko and Maribel look at each other and Maribel says "we know someone who's almost as good as miss Reimu." Iku looks at them asking "who? The witch? She's more trouble than you know." Renko says "no, no. It's this guy called Ail. He should be coming around by now... Ah, speak of the devil himself." Renko points up to the sky, toward the large red gate, and there is Ail, flying backward, lazily and slowly reaching the shrine. He turns around just as he reaches the gate, but he does so too late, and crashes against the large arc, managing to hook his leg to the top before falling down to the ground. Iku looks on, gets really depressed, then says "we're all doomed."
Maribel runs toward the hanging boy with a smile on her face and says "hello mister Ail. Caught on the arc again, I see." Ail bends his body in order to manage and look at Maribel, then says "hello miss Maribel. Heh, I'll be down in a second." Ail frees his foot from the arc, but forgets to fly, landing hard on the ground. He springs up, dusts himself, then asks "hey, where's Mima. She's usually trying to use me as a target whenever that happens to me." Renko, sounding annoyed, says "she said she wanted to go and have some fun..." Ail looks at Renko and says "is that so~?" Just as Rumia comes at Ail, using Agava as a blunt instrument to beat him up with, shouting "STOP STEALING MY LINES!", at the Human Village, some villagers scream "WAAAH~! GHOST!" and Mima can be heard cackling as well. Rumia snorts as she drags the unconscious Agava along with her, leaving Ail full of bumps and bruises on the ground. He rolls around while holding his head in pain. Maribel gets closer and says "mister Ail, someone here needs your help!" Ail recovers miraculously, springs on his feet and asks "my help? Who?" Maribel points at Iku with her hand. Iku gets closer to him, inspects him, then says "are you girls sure he's strong enough? He doesn't look strong enough to me." Ail smiles and says "don't judge a book my his cover, miss..." Iku sighs and says "sorry... my name is Iku Nagae. I didn't mean to offend you, mister Ail. It's just that something really dangerous is happening at heaven, and I don't feel you have the power needed to handle this case." Maribel smiles and says "he does look scrawny." Renko adds "doesn't look that sharp either" then whispers to herself "probably a pervert too." Ail, forcing himself to smile and trying to ignore the sudden barrage of insults says "fine, let's wait for Reimu, then. Although... Marisa does have more raw power." Iku says "no thanks. She tends to blast everything and anything without thinking of the consequences." Ail thinks "so picky" but says "ok then... let's wait for Reimu, then."
5 MINUTES LATER:
Iku grabs her hat, tears it in two and shout "argh! I can't WAIT anymore! YOU! Come with me!" Ail looks at her a little surprised and says "but I though I wasn't-" Iku, whose hat is completely restored and back on her head, turns to Ail and says "maybe if we combine our power, maybe we can pull this off." Behind her Maribel smiles and says "oh my, your hat is back." Ail says to Iku "ok. I will do my best." Behind him, Maribel jumps with glee and says "I'm coming too." Iku turns her attention to the clouds and says "we better hurry. Something is happening up there... something really bad." Ail replies "I see." His expression turns serious and says "I feel something... familiar..." Maribel jumps on Ail's back and clings on tight, saying "I said I'm going!" Iku shouts "THIS ISN'T FIELD TRIP!" Maribel pouts and says "but it's so boring here." Iku wants to reply something, but Renko beats her to it, saying "the more you try, the worse she gets." Maribel smiles and says "thanks Renko." Ail gets quite annoyed and says "fine, you're coming with us, but just one favor..." Maribel turns her head and places her chin on Ail's shoulder, then asks "yes? What favor would that be?" Ail forces a smile and says "please, get off my back."
Flying toward the Heavens, Ail carries Maribel on his arms as she happily hums and occasionally says "another adventure." Iku, sounding much more calm, turns her head to Ail and Maribel and says "please, forgive me, you two. I normally don't behave like I did back at the shrine." Ail stares back, smiles and says "it's alright. I understand. Whatever the situation is, it seems to be affecting you a lot." Iku smiles and says "I have the ability to read the atmosphere. Up there, it feels as though something will explode at any second. The feeling is getting worse." Ail watches as Iku's expression changes to worry, flies next to her and says "Maribel, speed-time. Miss Nagae, hold on tight to my arm." Without wasting a second, Iku grabs hold of Ail's arm as he speeds up, arriving at the Heaven's gates in almost an instant. Iku looks around quite impressed and asks "wait, we're already here?" Maribel giggles and says "mister Ail can fly as fast as miss Aya." Ail blushes and says "don't let her catch you saying that, ok?" All three get a good look around, then the sudden realization hit them. The gates to Heaven are destroyed, the buildings broken, some covered in blast marks, celestials all on the ground, some still unconscious, others barely able to get up by themselves. Some are even re-accommodating joints, and the few that are still able to walk are too afraid to get out of their houses. Iku looks around and says "this... What happened here?" Ail looks around and spots something written in blood by the gate. He reads "Ten... Ten-ko... Hi-nanai... was here. Who's Tenko Hinanai?" Maribel shouts "mister Ail, behind you!" Ail turns around as the blue haired woman, wearing peaches on her black hat smiles at him, letting her head drop on to her shoulder. She chuckles and says "did you hear that, Tenshi? He called you TENKO! But I'm not Tenko, dammit! I'm~ Tenshi!!! Relax, Tenshi. Let's just kill them! Good idea~, Tenshi!" She raises her sword above her head, but Ail fires a heavy barrage of lasers and exploding energy orbs, causing her to flinch and drop her weapon. Iku shouts "Tenshi! What's going on!" Tenshi continues to hover just above Ail, letting her head drop down as she says "well, well~ look who's here, Tenshi. Yes~, the oarfish is he~re, Tenshi." Ail jumps in front of Maribel and Iku, then generates a blue barrier. Tenshi frowns as she lifts her head and says "Tenshi... meddlers! Yes, Tenshi~~... We have to kill them too. Let's kill them now!" Ail watches as she gets her sword, and as soon as she bends down to pick it up, he concentrates one of his explosive energies, fires it at her, the explosion sending her flying back until she's out of sight.
Maribel turns to Iku, who is trembling violently and losing what little color she had on her face. Maribel places her hand on Iku's back and asks "miss Iku? Are you hurt?" Ail turns around as Iku replies with a cracking voice "T... Tenshi... Th-this is bad. This is really bad!" Ail asks "that bad?" Iku says "yes... Tenshi is quite powerful, even though she doesn't show it. Ail, Maribel, we must go back and get Reimu." Maribel smiles and says "but didn't you see how easily mister Ail beat her just now?" Iku gulps, recovering herself from the fear running through her heart, then says "I no longer doubt his power, but we still need more help." Maribel asks "is she that powerful?" Iku nods. She's about to lead them back down when Ail says "I'll stay here while you look for Reimu." Iku shouts "WHAT!? Are you out of your mind!?" Ail chuckles and says "I think so, but still, someone has to fight her off if she comes back, right?" Iku hesitates, but Maribel quickly grabs on to Ail's arm and says "I'm staying too, and if you try to convince me again, what will happen~?" Ail sweats and says "fine, fine. Just keep that feather away from me!" Iku sweats as she stares at them and asks "are you two for real?" With Maribel still holding on to him, Ail unleashes 4 exploding energy orbs that push Tenshi away just as she flies back to them, but in doing so, Maribel screams "it burns, it BURNS!" She drops to the floor and writhes around. Her body starts glowing pink, causing Ail to lose his focus on Tenshi, who takes advantage of the distraction and sends a large keystone straight on to Ail's head, knocking him out. Maribel's body stops glowing and she stops writhing around, so Iku gets up and in front of Ail and Maribel and stances defensively. Tenshi smiles a most unnatural smile and says "look Tenshi... it's that oarfish. She wants to play, hehehehe. Yes Tenshi, I can see that. Let's play with her a little." Tenshi launches toward Iku, who spins, lifts her finger up to the air, while holding on to her hip with the other hand, and lightning comes crashing down on the celestial. When the lightning stops, Tenshi opens her eyes and looks at her arms. She cackles and shouts "I-I'm ok! Nothing happened! HAHAHAHAHA, this is GREAT! I can kill YOU, but you can't kill Tenshi~!" Iku thinks the worst is to come, so she covers her eyes with her forearms and hopes her death will be quick, but from behind her, a few small hearts zip past her, then explode near Tenshi, startling her.
Ail gets up just in time to see Maribel fire the heart-shape energy. He is surprised and wants to tell her something, but Tenshi recovers quickly and lunges at all three of them with her sword pointing straight at them. Ail makes a round shield that makes Tenshi slide away in another direction, then pulls one of his own spell cards and shouts "Mad Waves- Raging Splash!" The watery spell bombards Tenshi with many blue crystal-shaped danmaku, extra-large orbs, and then is swept away from the battle when the watery waves come in. Ail shouts "let's get her!" and follows after her. Iku and Maribel manage to trail along behind Ail.
Ail reaches Tenshi first, but is surprised when he sees Tenshi playing with his bullets like they were nothing. She giggles and laughs as she says "we-hee~! Tenshi, isn't this fun!? Oh yes, Tenshi! Hey mister, do that again! No? Aww. Guess Tenshi will have to kill you now, hehehehehe~!" Tenshi floats in the air, letting her hands, legs and head limp lifelessly as she hovers from side to side. Leaving her head limping downward, she raises her right arm, holding her sword, jerks her head upright, looking at Ail with those glowing eyes and that twisted smile and says "Tenshi will skewer you like a pig, then eat you up and spit you out!" Ail glares at Tenshi while signaling Iku and Maribel to stay away just as they are about to reach him. Just as Tenshi launches at him, Ail shouts "Brightness - Blinding Heart!" Tenshi's sword is just inches away from Ail's chest when the bright rings strike her hard, sending her back while screaming in agony! The rings look far brighter than usual as Ail uses twice the amount of energy he usually uses with the spell. Once the spell is finished, Tenshi's body, singed and limp, lies on the ground. Ail breathes heavily and kneels to the ground, trying to catch his breath, so Iku and Maribel, concerned for him, rush to his aid. "Mister Ail, are you alright!?" shouts Maribel as she and Iku run to him. Ail tries to say something, but he's completely out of breath. Iku gets closer to him as he manages to say "she's *pant* faking... *pant* use... *pant* card!" Iku walks bravely toward Tenshi, then pulls out a spell card, and waits. Ail loses his strength and falls down on the rocky ground, still breathing heavily, trying to get his breath back. Maribel kneels beside him and rubs his back, hoping that will help and says "come on mister Ail, you have to get up now. Don't go to sleep!"
Tenshi slowly hovers back to the air, her limbs and head limp, falling victims of gravity. She manages to accommodate her torso upright, then jerks her body, causing her neck to crack as her head flails around. She uses her free hand to grab herself by the hair and pull her face up to face Iku, smiling in a manner that makes Iku feel pure terror in her heart. "Well little oarfish, what's it gonna be?" asks Tenshi. She starts to bleed through her mouth as she continues saying "you can run... yes, run away from Tenshi... from heaven... and Tenshi will leave you alone" Tenshi gasps and says "or even better~!!! *giggle* Why don't you join me, Nagae?" Iku looks on with a brave face then shouts "Dragonfish - Dragon Palace's Messenger Swimming Shot" Using her usual stance, her fingertip is struck by lightning, causing it to expand, then spread around Iku in the form of slow-moving, yet powerful lightning orbs. Tenshi smiles and lets the lightning hit her, showing Iku how useless her attempts are. She even swallows one of the orbs, belches, then says "a little too spicy, Tenshi. Yes, Tenshi, but it tasted so good. Now, little oarfish... it's my turn." As if resisting herself, Tenshi's arm trembles as she reaches into her pocket. She says to herself "come on, Tenshi. We have to kill her so we can kill the rest of them~!" Tenshi continues to struggle with herself and whispers "no... stop... It's not fun anymore."
Iku freezes where she stands, watching as Tenshi struggles with herself and thinking "this is it... she's going to kill me. What should I do now? I can't win... there's no way I can win. If only Reimu were here... she'd stop you, Tenshi. Sad that all I got are these weak... but innocent humans. May their souls forgive me for bringing them to their doom." Iku snaps out of her thoughts when Maribel gets close to Tenshi and shoots more of those short-ranged pink hearts, causing the maddened celestial to back away. Iku shouts "RUN AWAY!" Maribel smiles as she continues her barrage and says "if I run away now, I'll regret it for the rest of my life... which won't be long if miss Tenshi here wins." Iku is surprised by Maribel's words and thinks "this human... She could be killed in the blink of an eye, yet she fights. Humans... such mysterious creatures." Ail manages to sit back up and backs Maribel up with some of his lasers. Iku thinks "he's not fully recovered, but he still fights on. Why do they fight, I wonder? Is it for their lives? Their homes? What?"
As Ail struggles to fire more lasers at Tenshi, he manages to shout "miss Iku! We need a little more power to finish her off." Iku smiles and nods, then gets close to Tenshi, who is covering her face with her forearms, unable to counter-attack. Iku stares at Tenshi for a moment, raises her arm behind her head as her sash wraps itself around her wrist, coiling itself and forming a drill. Iku launches her attack, but stops when Tenshi, in her normal tone of voice shouts "IKU~! Help me~!!" Iku hesitates, giving Tenshi the chance she needs to counterattack by unleashing a shock wave of energy that knocks Maribel out-cold, pushes Iku away, then heads toward Ail, but he manages to jump out of the way. Tenshi starts to laugh, then cry as she holds her head, shouting in her normal voice "get out of my head!" then in a twisted voice she answers herself "never, Tenshi~ You and I have a mission, remember?" While Tenshi continues to struggle with herself, Ail rushes to where Iku and Maribel are. Quickly, he checks Maribel's pulse, then sighs with relief, then he turns to Iku, who sits on the ground staring at Tenshi. Ail pats Iku on the shoulder and says "please keep Maribel safe... I'll handle miss Tenshi." Iku nods, then quickly picks up Maribel by her shoulders and drags her behind a large tree to their left.
Ail gets close to Tenshi, just as she stops struggling with herself. She smiles in a twisted manner, her eyes now glowing blood-red. She raises her sword once more and launches herself at Ail. He manages to bounce her back, using a magical attack similar to his Blinding Heart spell, however it only unleashes one single short-ranged ring. Tenshi continues to hover just above the ground when she strikes hard under her feet with her sword, causing large rocks to pop out from under the ground, knocking Ail off his feet. Ail quickly gets up and fires a blue laser, accompanied by small white orbs, taking Tenshi by surprise. Tenshi recovers from the assault and frowns, looking twice as menacing, then throws her sword at Ail. He dodges it, but doesn't see it coming back, so Iku shouts "behind you!". Ail gets out of the way as the sword spins close to him, heading straight back to it's master's hand. Ail kneels, then shoots various orange orbs at Tenshi, all exploding before reaching their target, releasing countless small orbs that overwhelm Tenshi, causing her to fall to the ground once more. Growling and scowling, Tenshi gets back on her feet and shouts "you are much more powerful than I remember... Tenshi, it's time to kill!" In her normal voice, Tenshi shouts "human, run away! She's going to-" In her crazed and twisted voice Tenshi says "that's enough out of you, Tenshi~! Human Ail, I hope you came prepared to die~~hehehehe~!" Tenshi flies back up, pulls a spell card and shouts "Scarlet Weather Rhapsody of All Humankind!" Ail readies himself with another spell card, but he is quickly blasted by a large red laser beam, accompanied by smaller laser beams. He screams in agony as the lasers continue to strike without any sign to stop. To him it feels like an hour has passed by the time the lasers stop. Iku runs toward Ail, hoping to be able to help him, but she finds herself in Tenshi's grasp, being chocked to her death. Still frowning, and in that twisted tone of voice, Tenshi says "before Tenshi comes back, I will kill you!" Tenshi's graps tightens with each passing second, cutting the air from reaching Iku, choking her to her death. Iku struggles to break free, but her strength fails. She feels as her hands and legs lose their strength, falling to the ground while Tenshi continues to strangle her with her hand. Iku's consciousness drifts away as her life is about to end, but then she feels her breath returning and realizes Tenshi's hand is no longer around her neck. Instead, Tenshi holds her own neck, strangling herself. Iku tries to get up, but her legs still feel numb, so she shouts Tenshi's name, hoping beyond hope to save her.
Tenshi continues to fight with herself, constantly shifting from her normal voice, the her crazed voice, and back again. Finally she seems to take control of herself and shout "that's IT! If you won't leave my head, then I'll make you leave by FORCE!" Tenshi grabs her sword and points it straight at her forehead. She chants in a strange dialect, causing the sword to engulf itself in a magical flame. Iku closes her eyes tight, turning away from Tenshi, who freezes as the sword continues to point straight at her forehead. Everything seems quiet for a moment, when Ail shouts "Light Sign - Within the Jewel's Core!" Ail body glows white as 7 blue and white stars with 8 sharp and pointy edges materialize around Ail and scatter at the speed of light, trailing sharp blue spikes that fall in straight lines at random directions, and followed by homing white petal-shaped bullets. Tenshi becomes crazed again and launches at Ail, but when she tries to cut him, the sword passes by him as if he wasn't even there. The sharp bullets strike Tenshi almost immediately, then the white petals follow, rendering her weak on the ground. Another wave of bullets forms, but this time, part of Ail's bright silhouette is consumed as each bullet wave is unleashed. Iku notices this and thinks "oh no... he's... he's sacrificing himself!?" then shouts "no~! Stop, you fool!" Tenshi's body is covered by the sharp crystal-like bullets as she lies on her back while on the ground, unable to move and trembling. Ail's spell cancels out just as a red spirit floats above Tenshi's forehead. It's taken away by a gust of wind that forms just where Ail was when his spell canceled out. Iku watches as that gust takes the red spirit far away to the Sanzu river.
Ail finds himself lying on his stomach inside a large dark room with a large platform in the middle. Sitting on that platform is Shikieiki Yamaxanadu, who is passing judgment on the little red spirit. "...and all you've been causing is trouble for all those around you, even as a spirit." Shiki scowls in such a manner that Ail feels a chill crawling down his spine as he sits up. Shiki then shouts "you will be sent to a higher jurisdiction, away from these lands. May your next judgment be fair and just!" With those words, strange creatures wearing white masks with a small opening on the right eye, and an uncovered left eye, demonic wings and tails, both hooded with brown cloaks, come from above surrounded by beams of light. They encase the red spirit in a translucent yellow energy orb and immediately go back the same way they came in. Ail stares with awe as they go away, wondering what was going to happen to that little red spirit. Shiki clears her throat, getting Ail's full attention as she says "those belong to a different world. Don't worry about that spirit. The judge in that world is fair and just. Now..." Shiki come down from her platform and walks straight toward Ail, stares at him and says "what to do with you, mister Ail? Seems you enjoy death, perhaps?" Ail looks around some more and then realizes he is shackled with golden chains. He tries to speak, but no words come out. Shiki stares at him and says "mister Anilan... You realize now what happened?" Ail nods, being unable to speak. Shiki sighs, then strikes him with her sword and shouts "REPENT! You idiot! What in blazes made you use that spell so recklessly!?" Ail closes his eyes and remembers what happened before. He raises his eyes to look at Shiki, but she was busy looking into a mirror. She sighs and says "I see... You don't even know where that spell card came from, huh? Well, it got you into a very messy situation, Anilan."
Shiki waves her sword, releasing Ail from the golden cackles, then says "look to your left." Ail obeys without delay and sees a very large spirit by his side, acting out how Ail feels, which is very nervous. Ail looks back to Shiki, who tells him "by some miracle, you have become half a ghost now. Maybe because you're half youkai? No, I don't think so. One thing is clear, you are not fully dead." Ail asks "but... what does this all mean? Hey... I can talk again!" Shiki smiles and says "while you've been here, time outside these walls has been stopped. You will return back to where you just were. You will speak of this to no one, and you will hide that card until the time is right. Did I make myself clear?" Ail nods then asks "but what about...?" Ail looks at his ghostly half. Shiki says "it will stay here with me until it recovers the energy you just used, then it will merge back, filling your own soul again." Shiki places her sword on Ail's left shoulder and says "you will experience changes, Ail. You personality, tastes, you might even consider loved ones as enemies, and enemies as friends... you might even become a completely different person. Ail, whatever happens, keep true to your heart; don't let yourself become what you are NOT!" Ail nods, however he feels empty for some reason. Shiki smiles and says "now go back to your friends. Remember, you are not to tell anyone about this. Understood?" Ail nods then feels as though he's being squeezed through a dark and tight tube. The darkness around him turns to light as he wakes up a few feet away from Tenshi.
Maribel cries while she shakes him, shouting "wake up mister Ail, please~!" Ail opens his yes and sees Maribel crying. He feels angry as he thinks "idiot! Worried about me?" then he remembers what Shiki said to him. He takes a deep breath, sits up and rubs the back of his head. Maribel gets really happy and hugs him tight while saying "mister Ail, you're alive!!! We though you were dead. You weren't moving,or breathing, or even... is something wrong?" Ail stares at her, but doesn't smile, or chuckle like he usually does and asks "what happened to Tenshi?" Iku pulls out the last sharp crystal from Tenshi and says "she's right here." Tenshi weakly chuckles and says "and I'm much better. Thank you so very much." Maribel continues to stare at Ail with concern and asks "mister Ail, are you sure you're ok?" Ail realizes he's not smiling, and even though he doesn't want to, he forces as smile and says "yeah, of course I'm ok. Why wouldn't I?" Maribel places her hand on his forehead and says "you feel really cold... are you sure?" Ail smiles again and says "of course. Don't worry, I swear, I'm ok." Iku helps Tenshi up and says "please, help me take her back to her home... I wish to accompany you back to the shrine afterward." Ail nods and says "ok. We can wait, right?" Maribel giggles and says "yeah. in the meantime, I wanna shoot some more hearts!" Ail sweats, but says nothing. He gets up and helps Iku carry Tenshi back to her house.
Back at the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu is scolding Mima for terrorizing the humans at the village, and giving Keine a scare that left her unconscious on the school floor. Iku and Ail, who's carrying Maribel, land next to the entrance. Reimu turns to them and says "oh, and where have you been?" As soon as she touches the floor, Maribel rushes to Reimu with sparkles in her eyes and pulls her inside, making her sit next to Renko and Mima, then starts telling everyone their tale. Ail is already turning away without saying a word, but Iku grabs his shoulder and says "hey... thanks for everything. I am so sorry I called you weak and...-" Ail raises his hand, signaling Iku to stop, then he says "it's alright, Iku. To be honest, I doubted myself quite a lot today as well. Oh well... live and learn, right?" He turns away and as he flies away he says "take care, now. If anything else happens, let me know." As he leaves, Iku stares at him and says "he sacrificed so much just to help us up there in Heaven, even though we've never even glanced his way. Ail, I owe you much."
Ail arrives to his house late in the afternoon. Immediately after opening his door he sees, on the brand new blue couch he just bought, a brown cloak, a white mask with the left-side eye uncovered, and a green oval crystal set in a pin. He grabs these items and stares at them for a moment. Under the cloak he finds a white orb of light. He touches it and Shiki's voice says to him "these items will help you along the way to your restoration. Remember what we talked about, and remember to stay true to your heart." Ail stares at the brown cloak a little longer, while the orb of light vanishes into thin air. He grabs the deadly spell card from his pocket and stares at it, then says to himself "so... I must act like my old self? This should be easy, but..." The next day, he wears the brown cloak with it's hood down, and around the neck he places the green oval crystal. He looks around, takes a deep breath and says "alright, time to do my daily routine, I suppose." and then flies away toward the Underground Cave. Iku, from above the clouds, watches him as he flies around and thinks "maybe I should pay attention to the humans a little more. They are... a very interesting lot."
The End
Characters, scenario and spell cards belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
Ail and his spell cards were created by Willie G.R.
SEP 29 2009
written by
Willie G.R.
At the heavens above, Tenshi Hinanai laughs maniacally while standing over the unconscious bodies of various celestials. Her eyes glow white, her smile twisted. She looks onward to the heavens and spots many large buildings. In a twisted tone of voice, she says "fi~rst, I rid myself of all you celestials, and then... THE~N I'll dance on the blood of the humans belo~W~~! This... yes, this will be my GREATEST achievement!... oh, but what to do with that lightning girl, Tenshi? Don't worry Tenshi, We'll deal with her soon enough! Hahahaha~!"
Iku lands at the Hakurei Shrine, calling for Reimu immediately. "Reimu~! Reimu, where are you!? It's and emergency! Reimu?" From the large red gate, carrying a broom, come Maribel and Renko. Iku gets a little nervous, bows to them and says "I-I'm sorry for the intrusion, but I need to speak to Reimu. It's a matter of great importance." Maribel bows to Iku and says "sorry, miss... uhh-" "Iku. Iku Nagae" says Iku, then Maribel continues "miss Iku. I'm really sorry, but miss Reimu went to investigate a new hot spring. She only left a few minutes ago." Iku's fear turns to despair. She grabs Maribel by her arms and shakes her violently as she shouts "WHAT!? But this is an emergency!!!" Renko smacks Iku with her broom, forcing her to release Maribel, then calmly says "sorry, miss Iku, but Reimu left and shaking Mary around like that won't help." Maribel tumbles around with spinning eyes, trying to recover herself. When she hears Renko call her 'Mary', she immediately recovers and shouts "my name is Maribel, not Mary! Maribel Han!" She turns to Iku, calms down and says "and this is my friend, Renko Usami. Nice to meet you." Iku trembles and says "we're all doomed..." Renko asks "lady, what's got you so excited?" Iku sits on the ground, hugging her knees then says "there's something very strange going on in the heavens, and I feel it's something really bad. I need Reimu's help. Only she is strong enough to help." Renko and Maribel look at each other and Maribel says "we know someone who's almost as good as miss Reimu." Iku looks at them asking "who? The witch? She's more trouble than you know." Renko says "no, no. It's this guy called Ail. He should be coming around by now... Ah, speak of the devil himself." Renko points up to the sky, toward the large red gate, and there is Ail, flying backward, lazily and slowly reaching the shrine. He turns around just as he reaches the gate, but he does so too late, and crashes against the large arc, managing to hook his leg to the top before falling down to the ground. Iku looks on, gets really depressed, then says "we're all doomed."
Maribel runs toward the hanging boy with a smile on her face and says "hello mister Ail. Caught on the arc again, I see." Ail bends his body in order to manage and look at Maribel, then says "hello miss Maribel. Heh, I'll be down in a second." Ail frees his foot from the arc, but forgets to fly, landing hard on the ground. He springs up, dusts himself, then asks "hey, where's Mima. She's usually trying to use me as a target whenever that happens to me." Renko, sounding annoyed, says "she said she wanted to go and have some fun..." Ail looks at Renko and says "is that so~?" Just as Rumia comes at Ail, using Agava as a blunt instrument to beat him up with, shouting "STOP STEALING MY LINES!", at the Human Village, some villagers scream "WAAAH~! GHOST!" and Mima can be heard cackling as well. Rumia snorts as she drags the unconscious Agava along with her, leaving Ail full of bumps and bruises on the ground. He rolls around while holding his head in pain. Maribel gets closer and says "mister Ail, someone here needs your help!" Ail recovers miraculously, springs on his feet and asks "my help? Who?" Maribel points at Iku with her hand. Iku gets closer to him, inspects him, then says "are you girls sure he's strong enough? He doesn't look strong enough to me." Ail smiles and says "don't judge a book my his cover, miss..." Iku sighs and says "sorry... my name is Iku Nagae. I didn't mean to offend you, mister Ail. It's just that something really dangerous is happening at heaven, and I don't feel you have the power needed to handle this case." Maribel smiles and says "he does look scrawny." Renko adds "doesn't look that sharp either" then whispers to herself "probably a pervert too." Ail, forcing himself to smile and trying to ignore the sudden barrage of insults says "fine, let's wait for Reimu, then. Although... Marisa does have more raw power." Iku says "no thanks. She tends to blast everything and anything without thinking of the consequences." Ail thinks "so picky" but says "ok then... let's wait for Reimu, then."
5 MINUTES LATER:
Iku grabs her hat, tears it in two and shout "argh! I can't WAIT anymore! YOU! Come with me!" Ail looks at her a little surprised and says "but I though I wasn't-" Iku, whose hat is completely restored and back on her head, turns to Ail and says "maybe if we combine our power, maybe we can pull this off." Behind her Maribel smiles and says "oh my, your hat is back." Ail says to Iku "ok. I will do my best." Behind him, Maribel jumps with glee and says "I'm coming too." Iku turns her attention to the clouds and says "we better hurry. Something is happening up there... something really bad." Ail replies "I see." His expression turns serious and says "I feel something... familiar..." Maribel jumps on Ail's back and clings on tight, saying "I said I'm going!" Iku shouts "THIS ISN'T FIELD TRIP!" Maribel pouts and says "but it's so boring here." Iku wants to reply something, but Renko beats her to it, saying "the more you try, the worse she gets." Maribel smiles and says "thanks Renko." Ail gets quite annoyed and says "fine, you're coming with us, but just one favor..." Maribel turns her head and places her chin on Ail's shoulder, then asks "yes? What favor would that be?" Ail forces a smile and says "please, get off my back."
Flying toward the Heavens, Ail carries Maribel on his arms as she happily hums and occasionally says "another adventure." Iku, sounding much more calm, turns her head to Ail and Maribel and says "please, forgive me, you two. I normally don't behave like I did back at the shrine." Ail stares back, smiles and says "it's alright. I understand. Whatever the situation is, it seems to be affecting you a lot." Iku smiles and says "I have the ability to read the atmosphere. Up there, it feels as though something will explode at any second. The feeling is getting worse." Ail watches as Iku's expression changes to worry, flies next to her and says "Maribel, speed-time. Miss Nagae, hold on tight to my arm." Without wasting a second, Iku grabs hold of Ail's arm as he speeds up, arriving at the Heaven's gates in almost an instant. Iku looks around quite impressed and asks "wait, we're already here?" Maribel giggles and says "mister Ail can fly as fast as miss Aya." Ail blushes and says "don't let her catch you saying that, ok?" All three get a good look around, then the sudden realization hit them. The gates to Heaven are destroyed, the buildings broken, some covered in blast marks, celestials all on the ground, some still unconscious, others barely able to get up by themselves. Some are even re-accommodating joints, and the few that are still able to walk are too afraid to get out of their houses. Iku looks around and says "this... What happened here?" Ail looks around and spots something written in blood by the gate. He reads "Ten... Ten-ko... Hi-nanai... was here. Who's Tenko Hinanai?" Maribel shouts "mister Ail, behind you!" Ail turns around as the blue haired woman, wearing peaches on her black hat smiles at him, letting her head drop on to her shoulder. She chuckles and says "did you hear that, Tenshi? He called you TENKO! But I'm not Tenko, dammit! I'm~ Tenshi!!! Relax, Tenshi. Let's just kill them! Good idea~, Tenshi!" She raises her sword above her head, but Ail fires a heavy barrage of lasers and exploding energy orbs, causing her to flinch and drop her weapon. Iku shouts "Tenshi! What's going on!" Tenshi continues to hover just above Ail, letting her head drop down as she says "well, well~ look who's here, Tenshi. Yes~, the oarfish is he~re, Tenshi." Ail jumps in front of Maribel and Iku, then generates a blue barrier. Tenshi frowns as she lifts her head and says "Tenshi... meddlers! Yes, Tenshi~~... We have to kill them too. Let's kill them now!" Ail watches as she gets her sword, and as soon as she bends down to pick it up, he concentrates one of his explosive energies, fires it at her, the explosion sending her flying back until she's out of sight.
Maribel turns to Iku, who is trembling violently and losing what little color she had on her face. Maribel places her hand on Iku's back and asks "miss Iku? Are you hurt?" Ail turns around as Iku replies with a cracking voice "T... Tenshi... Th-this is bad. This is really bad!" Ail asks "that bad?" Iku says "yes... Tenshi is quite powerful, even though she doesn't show it. Ail, Maribel, we must go back and get Reimu." Maribel smiles and says "but didn't you see how easily mister Ail beat her just now?" Iku gulps, recovering herself from the fear running through her heart, then says "I no longer doubt his power, but we still need more help." Maribel asks "is she that powerful?" Iku nods. She's about to lead them back down when Ail says "I'll stay here while you look for Reimu." Iku shouts "WHAT!? Are you out of your mind!?" Ail chuckles and says "I think so, but still, someone has to fight her off if she comes back, right?" Iku hesitates, but Maribel quickly grabs on to Ail's arm and says "I'm staying too, and if you try to convince me again, what will happen~?" Ail sweats and says "fine, fine. Just keep that feather away from me!" Iku sweats as she stares at them and asks "are you two for real?" With Maribel still holding on to him, Ail unleashes 4 exploding energy orbs that push Tenshi away just as she flies back to them, but in doing so, Maribel screams "it burns, it BURNS!" She drops to the floor and writhes around. Her body starts glowing pink, causing Ail to lose his focus on Tenshi, who takes advantage of the distraction and sends a large keystone straight on to Ail's head, knocking him out. Maribel's body stops glowing and she stops writhing around, so Iku gets up and in front of Ail and Maribel and stances defensively. Tenshi smiles a most unnatural smile and says "look Tenshi... it's that oarfish. She wants to play, hehehehe. Yes Tenshi, I can see that. Let's play with her a little." Tenshi launches toward Iku, who spins, lifts her finger up to the air, while holding on to her hip with the other hand, and lightning comes crashing down on the celestial. When the lightning stops, Tenshi opens her eyes and looks at her arms. She cackles and shouts "I-I'm ok! Nothing happened! HAHAHAHAHA, this is GREAT! I can kill YOU, but you can't kill Tenshi~!" Iku thinks the worst is to come, so she covers her eyes with her forearms and hopes her death will be quick, but from behind her, a few small hearts zip past her, then explode near Tenshi, startling her.
Ail gets up just in time to see Maribel fire the heart-shape energy. He is surprised and wants to tell her something, but Tenshi recovers quickly and lunges at all three of them with her sword pointing straight at them. Ail makes a round shield that makes Tenshi slide away in another direction, then pulls one of his own spell cards and shouts "Mad Waves- Raging Splash!" The watery spell bombards Tenshi with many blue crystal-shaped danmaku, extra-large orbs, and then is swept away from the battle when the watery waves come in. Ail shouts "let's get her!" and follows after her. Iku and Maribel manage to trail along behind Ail.
Ail reaches Tenshi first, but is surprised when he sees Tenshi playing with his bullets like they were nothing. She giggles and laughs as she says "we-hee~! Tenshi, isn't this fun!? Oh yes, Tenshi! Hey mister, do that again! No? Aww. Guess Tenshi will have to kill you now, hehehehehe~!" Tenshi floats in the air, letting her hands, legs and head limp lifelessly as she hovers from side to side. Leaving her head limping downward, she raises her right arm, holding her sword, jerks her head upright, looking at Ail with those glowing eyes and that twisted smile and says "Tenshi will skewer you like a pig, then eat you up and spit you out!" Ail glares at Tenshi while signaling Iku and Maribel to stay away just as they are about to reach him. Just as Tenshi launches at him, Ail shouts "Brightness - Blinding Heart!" Tenshi's sword is just inches away from Ail's chest when the bright rings strike her hard, sending her back while screaming in agony! The rings look far brighter than usual as Ail uses twice the amount of energy he usually uses with the spell. Once the spell is finished, Tenshi's body, singed and limp, lies on the ground. Ail breathes heavily and kneels to the ground, trying to catch his breath, so Iku and Maribel, concerned for him, rush to his aid. "Mister Ail, are you alright!?" shouts Maribel as she and Iku run to him. Ail tries to say something, but he's completely out of breath. Iku gets closer to him as he manages to say "she's *pant* faking... *pant* use... *pant* card!" Iku walks bravely toward Tenshi, then pulls out a spell card, and waits. Ail loses his strength and falls down on the rocky ground, still breathing heavily, trying to get his breath back. Maribel kneels beside him and rubs his back, hoping that will help and says "come on mister Ail, you have to get up now. Don't go to sleep!"
Tenshi slowly hovers back to the air, her limbs and head limp, falling victims of gravity. She manages to accommodate her torso upright, then jerks her body, causing her neck to crack as her head flails around. She uses her free hand to grab herself by the hair and pull her face up to face Iku, smiling in a manner that makes Iku feel pure terror in her heart. "Well little oarfish, what's it gonna be?" asks Tenshi. She starts to bleed through her mouth as she continues saying "you can run... yes, run away from Tenshi... from heaven... and Tenshi will leave you alone" Tenshi gasps and says "or even better~!!! *giggle* Why don't you join me, Nagae?" Iku looks on with a brave face then shouts "Dragonfish - Dragon Palace's Messenger Swimming Shot" Using her usual stance, her fingertip is struck by lightning, causing it to expand, then spread around Iku in the form of slow-moving, yet powerful lightning orbs. Tenshi smiles and lets the lightning hit her, showing Iku how useless her attempts are. She even swallows one of the orbs, belches, then says "a little too spicy, Tenshi. Yes, Tenshi, but it tasted so good. Now, little oarfish... it's my turn." As if resisting herself, Tenshi's arm trembles as she reaches into her pocket. She says to herself "come on, Tenshi. We have to kill her so we can kill the rest of them~!" Tenshi continues to struggle with herself and whispers "no... stop... It's not fun anymore."
Iku freezes where she stands, watching as Tenshi struggles with herself and thinking "this is it... she's going to kill me. What should I do now? I can't win... there's no way I can win. If only Reimu were here... she'd stop you, Tenshi. Sad that all I got are these weak... but innocent humans. May their souls forgive me for bringing them to their doom." Iku snaps out of her thoughts when Maribel gets close to Tenshi and shoots more of those short-ranged pink hearts, causing the maddened celestial to back away. Iku shouts "RUN AWAY!" Maribel smiles as she continues her barrage and says "if I run away now, I'll regret it for the rest of my life... which won't be long if miss Tenshi here wins." Iku is surprised by Maribel's words and thinks "this human... She could be killed in the blink of an eye, yet she fights. Humans... such mysterious creatures." Ail manages to sit back up and backs Maribel up with some of his lasers. Iku thinks "he's not fully recovered, but he still fights on. Why do they fight, I wonder? Is it for their lives? Their homes? What?"
As Ail struggles to fire more lasers at Tenshi, he manages to shout "miss Iku! We need a little more power to finish her off." Iku smiles and nods, then gets close to Tenshi, who is covering her face with her forearms, unable to counter-attack. Iku stares at Tenshi for a moment, raises her arm behind her head as her sash wraps itself around her wrist, coiling itself and forming a drill. Iku launches her attack, but stops when Tenshi, in her normal tone of voice shouts "IKU~! Help me~!!" Iku hesitates, giving Tenshi the chance she needs to counterattack by unleashing a shock wave of energy that knocks Maribel out-cold, pushes Iku away, then heads toward Ail, but he manages to jump out of the way. Tenshi starts to laugh, then cry as she holds her head, shouting in her normal voice "get out of my head!" then in a twisted voice she answers herself "never, Tenshi~ You and I have a mission, remember?" While Tenshi continues to struggle with herself, Ail rushes to where Iku and Maribel are. Quickly, he checks Maribel's pulse, then sighs with relief, then he turns to Iku, who sits on the ground staring at Tenshi. Ail pats Iku on the shoulder and says "please keep Maribel safe... I'll handle miss Tenshi." Iku nods, then quickly picks up Maribel by her shoulders and drags her behind a large tree to their left.
Ail gets close to Tenshi, just as she stops struggling with herself. She smiles in a twisted manner, her eyes now glowing blood-red. She raises her sword once more and launches herself at Ail. He manages to bounce her back, using a magical attack similar to his Blinding Heart spell, however it only unleashes one single short-ranged ring. Tenshi continues to hover just above the ground when she strikes hard under her feet with her sword, causing large rocks to pop out from under the ground, knocking Ail off his feet. Ail quickly gets up and fires a blue laser, accompanied by small white orbs, taking Tenshi by surprise. Tenshi recovers from the assault and frowns, looking twice as menacing, then throws her sword at Ail. He dodges it, but doesn't see it coming back, so Iku shouts "behind you!". Ail gets out of the way as the sword spins close to him, heading straight back to it's master's hand. Ail kneels, then shoots various orange orbs at Tenshi, all exploding before reaching their target, releasing countless small orbs that overwhelm Tenshi, causing her to fall to the ground once more. Growling and scowling, Tenshi gets back on her feet and shouts "you are much more powerful than I remember... Tenshi, it's time to kill!" In her normal voice, Tenshi shouts "human, run away! She's going to-" In her crazed and twisted voice Tenshi says "that's enough out of you, Tenshi~! Human Ail, I hope you came prepared to die~~hehehehe~!" Tenshi flies back up, pulls a spell card and shouts "Scarlet Weather Rhapsody of All Humankind!" Ail readies himself with another spell card, but he is quickly blasted by a large red laser beam, accompanied by smaller laser beams. He screams in agony as the lasers continue to strike without any sign to stop. To him it feels like an hour has passed by the time the lasers stop. Iku runs toward Ail, hoping to be able to help him, but she finds herself in Tenshi's grasp, being chocked to her death. Still frowning, and in that twisted tone of voice, Tenshi says "before Tenshi comes back, I will kill you!" Tenshi's graps tightens with each passing second, cutting the air from reaching Iku, choking her to her death. Iku struggles to break free, but her strength fails. She feels as her hands and legs lose their strength, falling to the ground while Tenshi continues to strangle her with her hand. Iku's consciousness drifts away as her life is about to end, but then she feels her breath returning and realizes Tenshi's hand is no longer around her neck. Instead, Tenshi holds her own neck, strangling herself. Iku tries to get up, but her legs still feel numb, so she shouts Tenshi's name, hoping beyond hope to save her.
Tenshi continues to fight with herself, constantly shifting from her normal voice, the her crazed voice, and back again. Finally she seems to take control of herself and shout "that's IT! If you won't leave my head, then I'll make you leave by FORCE!" Tenshi grabs her sword and points it straight at her forehead. She chants in a strange dialect, causing the sword to engulf itself in a magical flame. Iku closes her eyes tight, turning away from Tenshi, who freezes as the sword continues to point straight at her forehead. Everything seems quiet for a moment, when Ail shouts "Light Sign - Within the Jewel's Core!" Ail body glows white as 7 blue and white stars with 8 sharp and pointy edges materialize around Ail and scatter at the speed of light, trailing sharp blue spikes that fall in straight lines at random directions, and followed by homing white petal-shaped bullets. Tenshi becomes crazed again and launches at Ail, but when she tries to cut him, the sword passes by him as if he wasn't even there. The sharp bullets strike Tenshi almost immediately, then the white petals follow, rendering her weak on the ground. Another wave of bullets forms, but this time, part of Ail's bright silhouette is consumed as each bullet wave is unleashed. Iku notices this and thinks "oh no... he's... he's sacrificing himself!?" then shouts "no~! Stop, you fool!" Tenshi's body is covered by the sharp crystal-like bullets as she lies on her back while on the ground, unable to move and trembling. Ail's spell cancels out just as a red spirit floats above Tenshi's forehead. It's taken away by a gust of wind that forms just where Ail was when his spell canceled out. Iku watches as that gust takes the red spirit far away to the Sanzu river.
Ail finds himself lying on his stomach inside a large dark room with a large platform in the middle. Sitting on that platform is Shikieiki Yamaxanadu, who is passing judgment on the little red spirit. "...and all you've been causing is trouble for all those around you, even as a spirit." Shiki scowls in such a manner that Ail feels a chill crawling down his spine as he sits up. Shiki then shouts "you will be sent to a higher jurisdiction, away from these lands. May your next judgment be fair and just!" With those words, strange creatures wearing white masks with a small opening on the right eye, and an uncovered left eye, demonic wings and tails, both hooded with brown cloaks, come from above surrounded by beams of light. They encase the red spirit in a translucent yellow energy orb and immediately go back the same way they came in. Ail stares with awe as they go away, wondering what was going to happen to that little red spirit. Shiki clears her throat, getting Ail's full attention as she says "those belong to a different world. Don't worry about that spirit. The judge in that world is fair and just. Now..." Shiki come down from her platform and walks straight toward Ail, stares at him and says "what to do with you, mister Ail? Seems you enjoy death, perhaps?" Ail looks around some more and then realizes he is shackled with golden chains. He tries to speak, but no words come out. Shiki stares at him and says "mister Anilan... You realize now what happened?" Ail nods, being unable to speak. Shiki sighs, then strikes him with her sword and shouts "REPENT! You idiot! What in blazes made you use that spell so recklessly!?" Ail closes his eyes and remembers what happened before. He raises his eyes to look at Shiki, but she was busy looking into a mirror. She sighs and says "I see... You don't even know where that spell card came from, huh? Well, it got you into a very messy situation, Anilan."
Shiki waves her sword, releasing Ail from the golden cackles, then says "look to your left." Ail obeys without delay and sees a very large spirit by his side, acting out how Ail feels, which is very nervous. Ail looks back to Shiki, who tells him "by some miracle, you have become half a ghost now. Maybe because you're half youkai? No, I don't think so. One thing is clear, you are not fully dead." Ail asks "but... what does this all mean? Hey... I can talk again!" Shiki smiles and says "while you've been here, time outside these walls has been stopped. You will return back to where you just were. You will speak of this to no one, and you will hide that card until the time is right. Did I make myself clear?" Ail nods then asks "but what about...?" Ail looks at his ghostly half. Shiki says "it will stay here with me until it recovers the energy you just used, then it will merge back, filling your own soul again." Shiki places her sword on Ail's left shoulder and says "you will experience changes, Ail. You personality, tastes, you might even consider loved ones as enemies, and enemies as friends... you might even become a completely different person. Ail, whatever happens, keep true to your heart; don't let yourself become what you are NOT!" Ail nods, however he feels empty for some reason. Shiki smiles and says "now go back to your friends. Remember, you are not to tell anyone about this. Understood?" Ail nods then feels as though he's being squeezed through a dark and tight tube. The darkness around him turns to light as he wakes up a few feet away from Tenshi.
Maribel cries while she shakes him, shouting "wake up mister Ail, please~!" Ail opens his yes and sees Maribel crying. He feels angry as he thinks "idiot! Worried about me?" then he remembers what Shiki said to him. He takes a deep breath, sits up and rubs the back of his head. Maribel gets really happy and hugs him tight while saying "mister Ail, you're alive!!! We though you were dead. You weren't moving,or breathing, or even... is something wrong?" Ail stares at her, but doesn't smile, or chuckle like he usually does and asks "what happened to Tenshi?" Iku pulls out the last sharp crystal from Tenshi and says "she's right here." Tenshi weakly chuckles and says "and I'm much better. Thank you so very much." Maribel continues to stare at Ail with concern and asks "mister Ail, are you sure you're ok?" Ail realizes he's not smiling, and even though he doesn't want to, he forces as smile and says "yeah, of course I'm ok. Why wouldn't I?" Maribel places her hand on his forehead and says "you feel really cold... are you sure?" Ail smiles again and says "of course. Don't worry, I swear, I'm ok." Iku helps Tenshi up and says "please, help me take her back to her home... I wish to accompany you back to the shrine afterward." Ail nods and says "ok. We can wait, right?" Maribel giggles and says "yeah. in the meantime, I wanna shoot some more hearts!" Ail sweats, but says nothing. He gets up and helps Iku carry Tenshi back to her house.
Back at the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu is scolding Mima for terrorizing the humans at the village, and giving Keine a scare that left her unconscious on the school floor. Iku and Ail, who's carrying Maribel, land next to the entrance. Reimu turns to them and says "oh, and where have you been?" As soon as she touches the floor, Maribel rushes to Reimu with sparkles in her eyes and pulls her inside, making her sit next to Renko and Mima, then starts telling everyone their tale. Ail is already turning away without saying a word, but Iku grabs his shoulder and says "hey... thanks for everything. I am so sorry I called you weak and...-" Ail raises his hand, signaling Iku to stop, then he says "it's alright, Iku. To be honest, I doubted myself quite a lot today as well. Oh well... live and learn, right?" He turns away and as he flies away he says "take care, now. If anything else happens, let me know." As he leaves, Iku stares at him and says "he sacrificed so much just to help us up there in Heaven, even though we've never even glanced his way. Ail, I owe you much."
Ail arrives to his house late in the afternoon. Immediately after opening his door he sees, on the brand new blue couch he just bought, a brown cloak, a white mask with the left-side eye uncovered, and a green oval crystal set in a pin. He grabs these items and stares at them for a moment. Under the cloak he finds a white orb of light. He touches it and Shiki's voice says to him "these items will help you along the way to your restoration. Remember what we talked about, and remember to stay true to your heart." Ail stares at the brown cloak a little longer, while the orb of light vanishes into thin air. He grabs the deadly spell card from his pocket and stares at it, then says to himself "so... I must act like my old self? This should be easy, but..." The next day, he wears the brown cloak with it's hood down, and around the neck he places the green oval crystal. He looks around, takes a deep breath and says "alright, time to do my daily routine, I suppose." and then flies away toward the Underground Cave. Iku, from above the clouds, watches him as he flies around and thinks "maybe I should pay attention to the humans a little more. They are... a very interesting lot."
The End
Characters, scenario and spell cards belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
Ail and his spell cards were created by Willie G.R.
SEP 29 2009
written by
Willie G.R.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Abduction - Marisa's Collecting Date
Ail sits around his house, placing some new shelves for his kitchen. After he's done, he admires his work, then immediately prepares some tea for himself. After sitting on the floor of his new living room, he happily sips on his tea, when a knock on the door disturbs his peace. He ignores the first set of knocks, but the knocking continues, so he finally asks "yes, who is it?" From outside a girl answers "it's Marisa. I came over to play, ze." Ail says "not to be rude, but I kinda want to relax, so if you don't mind-" The moment he looks to his left he jumps in place, startled by the presence of Marisa just next to him, staring at him while he drinks his tea. Marisa says "oy, you really need to learn to relax, daze." Ail places what's left of his tea on the floor and says "sorry, I haven't been able to fix the utterly destroyed chairs, so you'll have to sit on the ground. Marisa sits uncomfortably close to hims and smiles. Ail calmly asks "so why did you come here? I though you only go to Reimu's to play." Marisa smiles and gets a bit closer and says "oh, I just wanted to visit, you know. See if you're ok, or if you needed something. You know... like a friend, right?" Ail looks at her suspiciously through the corner of his eye, but says nothing and just sits there. Marisa gets even closer now and passes her hand around his back. Ail sweats a little and asks "what are you doing, Kirisame?" He feels a cold, octagonal item on his bare skin under his shirt. He freezes as Marisa says "you and I are going out to have some fun, zei~!" Ail trembles as he nods, then Marisa summons her broom, then both leave the house, headed for the Bamboo Forest.
At Entei, Reisen is alone at home, enjoying her moment of blissful peace. She lies on her stomach in the living room, enjoying the cool breeze entering through the main door, which she has open at the moment. She takes one blissful deep breath and says "ahh, what a nice day. The only thing that could ruin this is if a witch captured a friend and forced me to give her stuff in exchange for his or her safety. Then master would punish me for helping the crook, regardless." She sighs contently and says "ahh, so good something like that will never really happen." Just as she finishes her sentence, Marisa, who is standing to her left, says "wish granted, ze! Now get up, or Ail gets it!" Reisen's ears twitch, but she doesn't even look up. Marisa smirks and says "fine, I'll give a demo." Ail shouts "OW~ Hey, that's too hot!" Marisa replies "and that's just a taste, daze!" After hearing Ail's voice, Reisen opens her eyes, her iris contracted to the point of a dot, then springs up and says "you evil witch! What are you doing to him!?" Marisa smiles with evil intent and says "ok, cut the chit chat. I know you have valuable and rare moon stones. Just lend me one and I'll let the little man here go." Reisen firmly says "no! first I'll stop you and save Ail, then I'll kick you out-" Ail waves his arms as Marisa presses her Hakkero against his skin and activates it again. He shouts "don't do it! She's bluffing!" Marisa smirks and begins to chant her love spell. Ail trembles, but refuses to give in. Reisen shouts "alright, stop! I'll go get one..." and then she goes to the storehouse, looking sad as she takes one of the moon stones and gives it to Marisa. The witch smiles as she takes the stone, and without any warning, she strikes it hard against a very sturdy looking table by the door, chipping off a piece of the rock. She takes the small piece and says "thanks for your kind contribution, daze!" then winks and summons her broom, leaving the area speedily, Ail shouting "HELP ME, EIRIN~!!!" Eirin and Kaguya enter though the door just as Marisa and Ail leave. Eirin looks up as they leave and asks "what's going on?" then spots Reisen, shaking nervously, holding the broken moon stone in her hand. The atmosphere around her turns dark and thick, but she suddenly smiles and says "oh, my poor Udonge! That must have been such an awful experience for you." Reisen looks up and asks "M-Master? You're not going to punish me?" Eirin replies "not this time. I understand the situation was out of your control. Here, come sit on Master's lap and let me take you worries away." Reisen jumps with joy as she rests her head on Eirin's lap, happily shouting "Master!" In reality, Reisen lies on the floor, smiling and sighing happily while Kaguya stares at her and Eirin stands beside her with an empty injection and saying "crap! I used the sweet dreams serum by mistake!"
While on Marisa's broom, flying above the Bamboo Forest, Ail angrily shouts at Marisa "that was UNFORGIVABLE! Poor Reisen's probably being punished so badly right now, and all thanks to me!" Marisa calmly says "relax, ze! Just concentrate on looking good while we reach our next goal." Ail smirks and says "this has gone FAR enough!" He tries to open a gap, but realizes he can't. Then he tries a barrier, but fails as well. His eyes get covered under a shadow as he asks "what did you do to me?" Marisa smiles and says "what do you think I am? Stupid? I borrowed some charms from Reimu before getting you. Oh, and don't bother flying." Ail sweats and says "so I've become useless after all." Marisa says "aww, cheer up. The effects of the charms will ware off by night." Ail asks "well, can you at least tell me why are you doing all of this?" She smiles at him and says "I'm collecting ingredients to create an immortality potion." He stares back and asks "again!? Marisa, haven't you tried enough times already?" Marisa quickly replies "no." Ail says "bah, immortality! You know, if you do succeed someday you'll just end up miserable and alone." Marisa says "pipe down. Just stand there and look pretty. I'll do the thinking, daze." Ail sighs and says to himself "so useless."
They arrive at the Moriya Shrine, where Sanae is contently sweeping some leaves from the courtyard. She looks up and shouts "oh, hello you two... what the-?" Marisa smiles while she holds Ail tightly close to her. Ail looks miserable and pathetically waves his fingers at Sanae, saying "hey... Sanae. How are you?" Sanae shivers a little when she asks "i-is there a reason why you two are... so close?" Marisa smiles and says "it's just because we are SUCH good friends, zei~." Sanae looks away and says "oh... I see." Kanako and Suwako join Sanae. Suwako looks at Ail and says "wow, you look so miserable!" Ail responds "thanks..." Kanako says "see? This is what happens when you choose the wrong partner!" Marisa gets a little angry and shouts "HEY! I'm a PERFECT candidate for Ail, I'll have you know!" Ail scoffs, then Marisa growls, lifts up his shirt and says "whatever, enough of this!" Sanae shouts "hey! What's the meaning of this!?" Marisa smirks as she shows the goddesses and priestess her Hakkero, placed directly on Ail's skin. She says "alright, down to business. If you don't want to see a mess, I suggest you cooperate. If you don't" Marisa's Hakkero starts burning Ail's skin. He shouts "hey, hey, HEY~ That hurts, you idiot!" Marisa stares at him and says "that's the whole point, da~ze." Sanae shouts "Ail, don't just stand there! Do something!" Ail sighs, looks down to the ground and says "I can't. I've become useless." Suwako asks "she sealed you powers?" Kanako says "ooh, I like how this girl thinks." Sanae shouts "don't encourage her!" Marisa smiles and says "thank you for that compliment. Now, miss Yasaka. I need that mirror of yours. Just for a little while, ze." Kanako looks at the mirror in her chest quite uninterested, points at it and asks "you mean this mirror here? That's all?" Marisa smiles and says "I'm a girl of simple needs." Ail angrily shouts "then could you turn off the dammed Hakkero!? I think you're leaving a mark!" Marisa chuckles and says "ah, sorry." Still looking uninterested, Kanako takes the mirror from her chest and calmly hands it over to Marisa. Just as Marisa takes the mirror, Sanae jumps to the air and shouts "I won't let you get away with this! Sanae Windy Kick!" Sanae launches herself toward Marisa, unleashing a powerful kick that passes just above Marisa's head, missing the target, and crashing against one of the large logs at the courtyard, knocking it down and falling to the ground, the giant log falling a few feet beside her. Suwako looks toward the mess and says "she missed." Kanako nods and says "well, she IS you granddaughter." Suwako shouts "and what is THAT supposed to mean!?" Both goddesses start fist-fighting while Marisa smiles and says "well, thank you very much. Now it's time for us to go. Come on Ail." Ail looks worriedly toward the mess and says "but wait, we should help- OUCH, fine, I'm going, I'm going! *sigh*" After Ail and Marisa leave, Suwako holds Kanako in a head-lock and asks "that wasn't the real one, right?" Kanako smiles and says "of course not. The real one is in my bra." Suwako lets go of Kanako and holds her stomach, sticking her tongue out. Kanako looks at her curiously and asks "what's the matter with you now!?" Suwako says "*urk* gramma cleavage!" Kanako's face turns red, then she grabs Suwako by her cheeks and stretches them as much as she can and shouts "at least I HAVE cleavage, you sick toad!" From farther away, Sanae shouts "is anyone going to help me!?"
Marisa and Ail land on the village, Marisa quickly making her broom disappear. Ail asks "so we're robbing the villagers now?" Marisa punches him on the head and says "no, you idiot! Besides, I'm borrowing, not stealing!" Ail rubs the bump on his head and asks "then if you're just 'borrowing' what do you need me for!?" Marisa smirks and says "are you kidding? Hanging out with you has been a blast, and besides, if you weren't such a good hostage, nobody would lend me a thing." Ail says "well you do tend to hoard everything in your house, you know?" Marisa strikes him on the head again and while he rubs his new bump, she walks toward a small stand and says "whatever. Come on, even you should be hungry by now." Ail shouts "I'm not hungry! I wanna go home!" His stomach grumbles loudly so Marisa stares at him mischievously and then says "oh, and you're buying!" Ail sighs and says "fine, but I get to pick what to eat!" Marisa replies "fine, as long as it's not just sweets!"
A few hours later, Ail and Marisa casually walk around the village, discussing about the meal. "I never did trust chefs. They wield knives a little too well." says Ail while holding the back of his head with his forearms. Marisa replies "Sakuya's much better than that. Still, that was a really good trick, Ail." Ail yawns and says "thanks. I still say it was luck. I mean, a piece of string shouldn't hold back a sharp knife, when you really think about it." Marisa says "better not think too much. You'll only end up hurt." Ail nods then asks "oh, did you leave the money?" Marisa, sounding almost annoyed, says "yeah, yeah. I stuck it right under the seat. They should be finding it about now... left that waitress a good tip... she had her eyes on you, you heart-breaker." From the distance, a young girls voice shouts "thank you~~! Come again~~!" Ail sweats and says "don't call me that. Besides, it's probably just a crush." Marisa extends her arm, signaling Ail to stop, and says "we're here." They stop in front of Akyuu's mansion. Ail asks "so you're borrowing something from Akyuu?" Marisa smiles and says "she has a good record of some ingredients I need. Now, positions, Ail." Ail sighs and says "just make it quick. Besides, it'll be night soon, so I'm leaving as soon as I get my abilities back!"
Ail and Marisa sneak inside the Hieda house and arrive at the many archived scrolls and books. Marisa pulls Ail close and says "don't even think of leaving now. Come on, help me look around." Ail lazily scans the area and then asks "what exactly are we looking for?" Marisa says "there should be a book or a scroll with information on the Forest of Magic and it's many magical plants and mushrooms." Ail reaches for a green book with really old pages. He doesn't even look at it and asks "is this it?" Marisa looks at Ail quite impressed and says "whoa... You should help me raid Patchouli's library. Yes, that's the one." Ail fakes a chuckle and says "just leave Patchouli alone." Marisa says "ahh, but we have to go there next. That's our last stop, I promise." "Who's there!?" asks a child. Marisa panics and crouches, then forces Ail to do the same. Hiding under a table, Marisa whispers "crap, it's Akyuu. Ok, you be a good hostage now, and help me get out of here.!" Ail sighs and asks "do I have a choice?" Marisa jumps from under the table, shouting "HA~~! Don't you try and stop me! I have a Hakkero, and I'm certainly not afraid of using it!" Akyuu smiles and says "ah, miss Marisa, and mister Ail, what a pleasant surprise. What are you doing here?" Marisa replies "just looking for information." Ail sighs and waves at Akyuu. Akyuu says "oh, but you can't take that book outside, miss Marisa, you know that, right?" Marisa reveals her Hakkero pressed against Ail's skin and says "either you let us go, or I'll splatter your entire collection with his blood. Oh, and we just ate, so it might get a little more messy." Akyuu gasps and says "no! Fine, fine, just take it. But PLEASE take good care of it. I don't wanna write that all over again~!" Marisa looks away quite annoyed and says "fine, fine. I'll return this eventually. Let's go Ail." Ail looks quite bored as he waves at Akyuu again, then says "I just wanna go home~!"
At night, Marisa and Ail fly above the Misty Lake, when Ail says "FINALLY! Night! I'm outta here! Later!" He tries opening a gap, but it's so small only his fingers would fit in. Marisa smiles wickedly and says "looks like you're coming with me after all." Ail gets sad and says "so useless" Marisa grins and says "you're not useless. You are QUITE useful, you know. You've made so many friends, it's made it easy for me to collect what I need. Now come on! On to the the Scarlet Devil Mansion's library!" Ail sighs and says "I just wanted to finish fixing my house, maybe get some new chairs, but no~! I had to get abducted by a crazy witch!" Marisa places her face close to his and says "not crazy... INSANE~, zei~!" Ail sighs, sounding very annoyed, then asks "and what do you need from the library?" Marisa smiles and says "nothing really. Just want to borrow some books." Ail looks at her in disbelief, face-palming himself quite hard.
Meiling stands guard at the gate, when she spots Marisa and Ail walking toward her from the Lake. She smiles and says "oh, mister... Ail?" She looks at Marisa almost disgusted, as she holds Ail tightly close to herself. Sounding almost annoyed Meiling asks "what is she doing here?" Ail waves nervously as Marisa says "oy! We came to visit, ze." Meiling stares at them and placed her index finger on her bottom lip, then asks "and, uhh... why are you-?" "We're just REALLY good friends, zei~. That's all." abruptly says Marisa with a smirk. She squeezes Ail closer and whispers "act a little more natural!" Ail smiles normally as he waves at Meiling and says "we won't be long." Meiling lets them inside, but doesn't say a word. Almost immediately after going through the gates, Ail opens a gap next to Meiling and whispers "ple~ase, help me~!" The gap closes off just as Meiling looks around. She knocks on her head and thinks "I'm starting to hear things now."
Still holding on tightly, Marisa pulls Ail to the basement, and straight into Patchouli's library. Immediately after entering, they are greeted by Koakuma. "Good evening mister Ail... and, er... Marisa?" Ail manages to smile, then wiggles his fingers in an odd pattern. Koakuma smiles and says "lady Patchouli will be most pleased by your visit... but, umm. Any particular reason why you two are so... umm, close?" Marisa smiles and says "it's because we're really good friends." She presses her Hakkero tightly to Ail's skin, forcing him to say "r-right! Of course we are." Koakuma smiles and bows as she politely points them toward the library and says "right this way, then... oh, please excuse me. I have to report our schedules to miss Sakuya. Sorry for the inconvenience." Marisa smiles and says "please, don't mind us, ze." Koakuma bows once more, then says "ah, please tell lady Patchouli I'll be right back." Koakuma hastily leaves the room, heading straight to the upper floors, thinking "oh, he gave the signal. Must find Sakuya!" Marisa and Ail continue their way through the library, reaching Patchouli as she reads some books on her desk. She looks at them and says "my, so you two became a couple so suddenly?" Ail relaxes a little and says "we're just being good friends today. We've been having a blast, haven't we, Marisa?" As Ail says this, he holds his right hand pinkie straight up, pointing at Patchouli and looking at Marisa, who looks back to him suspiciously, but then smiles and laughs.
Patchouli raises her eyebrows, then buries her face back into her book while asking "and why have you come here in such a splendid night? To my understanding, there are no romantic spots in this area." Marisa smirks and says "enough of this! I have Ail here at point black of my Hakkero. If you don't want a splattered mess on all your books, you better do as I say!" Ail's face turns white, then blue, then purple, then green, as Marisa activates the miniature reactor again, burning his skin as she did. Patchouli calmly raises her head and says "I'll make you a deal. You let him go, and I will let you take all the books you want. I won't even call Sakuya. What do you say?" Marisa smirks and says "deal! Besides, I'm done with this guy, so you can have him, daze." Marisa lets go of Ail and immediately heads to the farthest shelves, flying on her broom. Ail walks close to Patchouli, then trembles as he sits next to her and says "th-thanks, m-miss Patchouli." Patchouli almost smiles as she says "oh, it's alright, and you can call me Patchy if you like." Still trembling a little, Ail smiles and nods at her. After a few minutes, Marisa flies toward them and says "hey, Patchouli, thanks for the nice haul. I'll return these eventually, daze." She looks at Ail and says "see, Ail? You're not useless. Just more human without your powers." Marisa looks above their heads and spots Koakuma, Sakuya, and quite a few fairy maids. She shouts angrily "hey~! I though we had a deal!" Patchouli calmly replies "yes, we do. I'm not bothering you at all, and I didn't call for Sakuya either, so I haven't broken the deal." Marisa sighs and says "so that finger-wiggling was a code after all. FINE! Who's first!?"
A battle breaks out above Patchouli and Ail, who is feeling better now. Patchouli looks at Ail and says "you haven't recovered fully yet. Stay down here and you'll be safe." Ail sighs and says "sorry about this, Patchy." Patchouli replies "oh, it's alright. This happens more often than you think." Above them, Sakuya launches various knives at Marisa, while Koakuma continues her danmaku barrage, both accompanied by the fairy maids who add their danmaku tot he barrage. Marisa scoffs and says "is that all? Watch THIS! FINAL SPARK!" The enormous beam of light flies straight to Koakuma, who yelps and falls down hard,then she continues to move it around, knocking every single fairy maid fromt eh air, but still misses Sakuya. Ail is about to rush to their aid when Patchouli says "just one more minute. Don't rush it." Sakuya angrily shouts "hey, you didn't have to go all out in them like that!" Marisa stares at Sakuya mischievously and asks "and what are you going to do about it, ze?" Sakuya glares at Marisa as her eyes glow red. She pulls a spell card from her chest, under her clothes. Marisa smirks and says "don't use too many, or you'll lose your padding!" Sakuya's eyes glint, smiling dangerously at Marisa, then shouts "Maid Secret Skill - Killing Doll!" Sakuya stops time and unleashes a massive barrage of randomly placed Daggers, then, after restoring time, she showers Marisa with countless more daggers. Marisa dodges all the daggers with great skill, even smiling. She points her Hakkero at Sakuya and shouts once more "FINAL SPA~~RK!" Marisa's massive beam of light strikes Sakuya, knocking her, and all her knives away, and opening a hole on the wall to the outside, large enough for her to escape trhough. Marisa flies next to the hole and with a smile, she turns around and says "well, you did your best, but in the end, it wasn't good enough. And just so you don't go thinking of chasing me..." Without looking where she is aiming, Marisa shouts "FINAL SA~RK!" sending the beam of light toward the still unconscious Koakuma. Realizing this, Marisa shouts "crap! I though there was nobody there!" Ail jumps between the beam and Koakuma and summons a quick barrier, however it's too thin and breaks away quickly. To their luck, the beam ends shortly after his barrier breaks, singeing Ail only a little. Patchouli rushes to Koakuma, inspects her and sighs with relief, saying "she's ok. Thanks Ail." Ail turns around, dusts himself and says "no problem." Marisa quickly hides her Hakkero under her hat and darts away through the hole she made, however, she did not measure the size of that sack she has, breaking it and dropping all the books as she tries to escape. "CRAP, CRAP, DAMMIT!" shouts Marisa, Ail turning his attention to her. The witch swoops down and manages to grab three of the books, then leaves quickly, cursing as she reaches the lake. Ail turns around again and receives a big hug from Koakuma, as thanks for saving her. Patchouli smiles at Ail and says "thank you for saving her." Ail bows, then Sakuya bows gracefully, saying "we owe you one, mister Ail." Ail smiles and says "no, I think we're even." Sakuya smiles and pats him on the head, and so ends the busy collecting day with Marisa.
Five days later:
Ail visits Marisa's house, which is undergoing some repairs after her immortality potion blew up half of her house. Ail smiles and casually asks "so the potion failed?" Marisa sighs and says "yeah, yeah! Go ahead and have a good laugh." Ail says "I would, but word is, you and Reimu helped Flandre out last night. So one good deed deserves another." Marisa stares at him suspiciously and asks "how much do you want?" Ail replies "don't worry, I don't plan on charging a thing, just gonna ask you to keep me out of your selfish plans next time." Marisa looks surprised and says "deal... um... How did you know about Flandre?" Ail says "Yukari told me. Well, I think I'll help them over there by the kitchen. You should help too, you know." Marisa asks "hey, what about your house? Aren't you going to work on it?" Ail smiles and says "well, after I returned home that day and found the fairies had destroyed almost all my work, AND considering you might visit again, I added a few magical defenses, so anyone that tries to harm me, or the house, is going to have a big surprise... besides." Ail smirks and says "I have a second reason to come help you." Marisa suspiciously asks "and that would be?" Ail calmly replies "to see your house destroyed, and to look at your face while I help." Marisa summons her brooms and chases Ail around, swinging the broom wildly and shouting "Ail, that's NOT FUNNY! Come back here! Let me HIT YOU!" Ail laughs as he ducks and jumps, avoiding Marisa's angry swings.
The end
Characters, spell cards and scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
Ail was created by Willie G.R.
SEP 23 2009
written by
Willie G.R.
At Entei, Reisen is alone at home, enjoying her moment of blissful peace. She lies on her stomach in the living room, enjoying the cool breeze entering through the main door, which she has open at the moment. She takes one blissful deep breath and says "ahh, what a nice day. The only thing that could ruin this is if a witch captured a friend and forced me to give her stuff in exchange for his or her safety. Then master would punish me for helping the crook, regardless." She sighs contently and says "ahh, so good something like that will never really happen." Just as she finishes her sentence, Marisa, who is standing to her left, says "wish granted, ze! Now get up, or Ail gets it!" Reisen's ears twitch, but she doesn't even look up. Marisa smirks and says "fine, I'll give a demo." Ail shouts "OW~ Hey, that's too hot!" Marisa replies "and that's just a taste, daze!" After hearing Ail's voice, Reisen opens her eyes, her iris contracted to the point of a dot, then springs up and says "you evil witch! What are you doing to him!?" Marisa smiles with evil intent and says "ok, cut the chit chat. I know you have valuable and rare moon stones. Just lend me one and I'll let the little man here go." Reisen firmly says "no! first I'll stop you and save Ail, then I'll kick you out-" Ail waves his arms as Marisa presses her Hakkero against his skin and activates it again. He shouts "don't do it! She's bluffing!" Marisa smirks and begins to chant her love spell. Ail trembles, but refuses to give in. Reisen shouts "alright, stop! I'll go get one..." and then she goes to the storehouse, looking sad as she takes one of the moon stones and gives it to Marisa. The witch smiles as she takes the stone, and without any warning, she strikes it hard against a very sturdy looking table by the door, chipping off a piece of the rock. She takes the small piece and says "thanks for your kind contribution, daze!" then winks and summons her broom, leaving the area speedily, Ail shouting "HELP ME, EIRIN~!!!" Eirin and Kaguya enter though the door just as Marisa and Ail leave. Eirin looks up as they leave and asks "what's going on?" then spots Reisen, shaking nervously, holding the broken moon stone in her hand. The atmosphere around her turns dark and thick, but she suddenly smiles and says "oh, my poor Udonge! That must have been such an awful experience for you." Reisen looks up and asks "M-Master? You're not going to punish me?" Eirin replies "not this time. I understand the situation was out of your control. Here, come sit on Master's lap and let me take you worries away." Reisen jumps with joy as she rests her head on Eirin's lap, happily shouting "Master!" In reality, Reisen lies on the floor, smiling and sighing happily while Kaguya stares at her and Eirin stands beside her with an empty injection and saying "crap! I used the sweet dreams serum by mistake!"
While on Marisa's broom, flying above the Bamboo Forest, Ail angrily shouts at Marisa "that was UNFORGIVABLE! Poor Reisen's probably being punished so badly right now, and all thanks to me!" Marisa calmly says "relax, ze! Just concentrate on looking good while we reach our next goal." Ail smirks and says "this has gone FAR enough!" He tries to open a gap, but realizes he can't. Then he tries a barrier, but fails as well. His eyes get covered under a shadow as he asks "what did you do to me?" Marisa smiles and says "what do you think I am? Stupid? I borrowed some charms from Reimu before getting you. Oh, and don't bother flying." Ail sweats and says "so I've become useless after all." Marisa says "aww, cheer up. The effects of the charms will ware off by night." Ail asks "well, can you at least tell me why are you doing all of this?" She smiles at him and says "I'm collecting ingredients to create an immortality potion." He stares back and asks "again!? Marisa, haven't you tried enough times already?" Marisa quickly replies "no." Ail says "bah, immortality! You know, if you do succeed someday you'll just end up miserable and alone." Marisa says "pipe down. Just stand there and look pretty. I'll do the thinking, daze." Ail sighs and says to himself "so useless."
They arrive at the Moriya Shrine, where Sanae is contently sweeping some leaves from the courtyard. She looks up and shouts "oh, hello you two... what the-?" Marisa smiles while she holds Ail tightly close to her. Ail looks miserable and pathetically waves his fingers at Sanae, saying "hey... Sanae. How are you?" Sanae shivers a little when she asks "i-is there a reason why you two are... so close?" Marisa smiles and says "it's just because we are SUCH good friends, zei~." Sanae looks away and says "oh... I see." Kanako and Suwako join Sanae. Suwako looks at Ail and says "wow, you look so miserable!" Ail responds "thanks..." Kanako says "see? This is what happens when you choose the wrong partner!" Marisa gets a little angry and shouts "HEY! I'm a PERFECT candidate for Ail, I'll have you know!" Ail scoffs, then Marisa growls, lifts up his shirt and says "whatever, enough of this!" Sanae shouts "hey! What's the meaning of this!?" Marisa smirks as she shows the goddesses and priestess her Hakkero, placed directly on Ail's skin. She says "alright, down to business. If you don't want to see a mess, I suggest you cooperate. If you don't" Marisa's Hakkero starts burning Ail's skin. He shouts "hey, hey, HEY~ That hurts, you idiot!" Marisa stares at him and says "that's the whole point, da~ze." Sanae shouts "Ail, don't just stand there! Do something!" Ail sighs, looks down to the ground and says "I can't. I've become useless." Suwako asks "she sealed you powers?" Kanako says "ooh, I like how this girl thinks." Sanae shouts "don't encourage her!" Marisa smiles and says "thank you for that compliment. Now, miss Yasaka. I need that mirror of yours. Just for a little while, ze." Kanako looks at the mirror in her chest quite uninterested, points at it and asks "you mean this mirror here? That's all?" Marisa smiles and says "I'm a girl of simple needs." Ail angrily shouts "then could you turn off the dammed Hakkero!? I think you're leaving a mark!" Marisa chuckles and says "ah, sorry." Still looking uninterested, Kanako takes the mirror from her chest and calmly hands it over to Marisa. Just as Marisa takes the mirror, Sanae jumps to the air and shouts "I won't let you get away with this! Sanae Windy Kick!" Sanae launches herself toward Marisa, unleashing a powerful kick that passes just above Marisa's head, missing the target, and crashing against one of the large logs at the courtyard, knocking it down and falling to the ground, the giant log falling a few feet beside her. Suwako looks toward the mess and says "she missed." Kanako nods and says "well, she IS you granddaughter." Suwako shouts "and what is THAT supposed to mean!?" Both goddesses start fist-fighting while Marisa smiles and says "well, thank you very much. Now it's time for us to go. Come on Ail." Ail looks worriedly toward the mess and says "but wait, we should help- OUCH, fine, I'm going, I'm going! *sigh*" After Ail and Marisa leave, Suwako holds Kanako in a head-lock and asks "that wasn't the real one, right?" Kanako smiles and says "of course not. The real one is in my bra." Suwako lets go of Kanako and holds her stomach, sticking her tongue out. Kanako looks at her curiously and asks "what's the matter with you now!?" Suwako says "*urk* gramma cleavage!" Kanako's face turns red, then she grabs Suwako by her cheeks and stretches them as much as she can and shouts "at least I HAVE cleavage, you sick toad!" From farther away, Sanae shouts "is anyone going to help me!?"
Marisa and Ail land on the village, Marisa quickly making her broom disappear. Ail asks "so we're robbing the villagers now?" Marisa punches him on the head and says "no, you idiot! Besides, I'm borrowing, not stealing!" Ail rubs the bump on his head and asks "then if you're just 'borrowing' what do you need me for!?" Marisa smirks and says "are you kidding? Hanging out with you has been a blast, and besides, if you weren't such a good hostage, nobody would lend me a thing." Ail says "well you do tend to hoard everything in your house, you know?" Marisa strikes him on the head again and while he rubs his new bump, she walks toward a small stand and says "whatever. Come on, even you should be hungry by now." Ail shouts "I'm not hungry! I wanna go home!" His stomach grumbles loudly so Marisa stares at him mischievously and then says "oh, and you're buying!" Ail sighs and says "fine, but I get to pick what to eat!" Marisa replies "fine, as long as it's not just sweets!"
A few hours later, Ail and Marisa casually walk around the village, discussing about the meal. "I never did trust chefs. They wield knives a little too well." says Ail while holding the back of his head with his forearms. Marisa replies "Sakuya's much better than that. Still, that was a really good trick, Ail." Ail yawns and says "thanks. I still say it was luck. I mean, a piece of string shouldn't hold back a sharp knife, when you really think about it." Marisa says "better not think too much. You'll only end up hurt." Ail nods then asks "oh, did you leave the money?" Marisa, sounding almost annoyed, says "yeah, yeah. I stuck it right under the seat. They should be finding it about now... left that waitress a good tip... she had her eyes on you, you heart-breaker." From the distance, a young girls voice shouts "thank you~~! Come again~~!" Ail sweats and says "don't call me that. Besides, it's probably just a crush." Marisa extends her arm, signaling Ail to stop, and says "we're here." They stop in front of Akyuu's mansion. Ail asks "so you're borrowing something from Akyuu?" Marisa smiles and says "she has a good record of some ingredients I need. Now, positions, Ail." Ail sighs and says "just make it quick. Besides, it'll be night soon, so I'm leaving as soon as I get my abilities back!"
Ail and Marisa sneak inside the Hieda house and arrive at the many archived scrolls and books. Marisa pulls Ail close and says "don't even think of leaving now. Come on, help me look around." Ail lazily scans the area and then asks "what exactly are we looking for?" Marisa says "there should be a book or a scroll with information on the Forest of Magic and it's many magical plants and mushrooms." Ail reaches for a green book with really old pages. He doesn't even look at it and asks "is this it?" Marisa looks at Ail quite impressed and says "whoa... You should help me raid Patchouli's library. Yes, that's the one." Ail fakes a chuckle and says "just leave Patchouli alone." Marisa says "ahh, but we have to go there next. That's our last stop, I promise." "Who's there!?" asks a child. Marisa panics and crouches, then forces Ail to do the same. Hiding under a table, Marisa whispers "crap, it's Akyuu. Ok, you be a good hostage now, and help me get out of here.!" Ail sighs and asks "do I have a choice?" Marisa jumps from under the table, shouting "HA~~! Don't you try and stop me! I have a Hakkero, and I'm certainly not afraid of using it!" Akyuu smiles and says "ah, miss Marisa, and mister Ail, what a pleasant surprise. What are you doing here?" Marisa replies "just looking for information." Ail sighs and waves at Akyuu. Akyuu says "oh, but you can't take that book outside, miss Marisa, you know that, right?" Marisa reveals her Hakkero pressed against Ail's skin and says "either you let us go, or I'll splatter your entire collection with his blood. Oh, and we just ate, so it might get a little more messy." Akyuu gasps and says "no! Fine, fine, just take it. But PLEASE take good care of it. I don't wanna write that all over again~!" Marisa looks away quite annoyed and says "fine, fine. I'll return this eventually. Let's go Ail." Ail looks quite bored as he waves at Akyuu again, then says "I just wanna go home~!"
At night, Marisa and Ail fly above the Misty Lake, when Ail says "FINALLY! Night! I'm outta here! Later!" He tries opening a gap, but it's so small only his fingers would fit in. Marisa smiles wickedly and says "looks like you're coming with me after all." Ail gets sad and says "so useless" Marisa grins and says "you're not useless. You are QUITE useful, you know. You've made so many friends, it's made it easy for me to collect what I need. Now come on! On to the the Scarlet Devil Mansion's library!" Ail sighs and says "I just wanted to finish fixing my house, maybe get some new chairs, but no~! I had to get abducted by a crazy witch!" Marisa places her face close to his and says "not crazy... INSANE~, zei~!" Ail sighs, sounding very annoyed, then asks "and what do you need from the library?" Marisa smiles and says "nothing really. Just want to borrow some books." Ail looks at her in disbelief, face-palming himself quite hard.
Meiling stands guard at the gate, when she spots Marisa and Ail walking toward her from the Lake. She smiles and says "oh, mister... Ail?" She looks at Marisa almost disgusted, as she holds Ail tightly close to herself. Sounding almost annoyed Meiling asks "what is she doing here?" Ail waves nervously as Marisa says "oy! We came to visit, ze." Meiling stares at them and placed her index finger on her bottom lip, then asks "and, uhh... why are you-?" "We're just REALLY good friends, zei~. That's all." abruptly says Marisa with a smirk. She squeezes Ail closer and whispers "act a little more natural!" Ail smiles normally as he waves at Meiling and says "we won't be long." Meiling lets them inside, but doesn't say a word. Almost immediately after going through the gates, Ail opens a gap next to Meiling and whispers "ple~ase, help me~!" The gap closes off just as Meiling looks around. She knocks on her head and thinks "I'm starting to hear things now."
Still holding on tightly, Marisa pulls Ail to the basement, and straight into Patchouli's library. Immediately after entering, they are greeted by Koakuma. "Good evening mister Ail... and, er... Marisa?" Ail manages to smile, then wiggles his fingers in an odd pattern. Koakuma smiles and says "lady Patchouli will be most pleased by your visit... but, umm. Any particular reason why you two are so... umm, close?" Marisa smiles and says "it's because we're really good friends." She presses her Hakkero tightly to Ail's skin, forcing him to say "r-right! Of course we are." Koakuma smiles and bows as she politely points them toward the library and says "right this way, then... oh, please excuse me. I have to report our schedules to miss Sakuya. Sorry for the inconvenience." Marisa smiles and says "please, don't mind us, ze." Koakuma bows once more, then says "ah, please tell lady Patchouli I'll be right back." Koakuma hastily leaves the room, heading straight to the upper floors, thinking "oh, he gave the signal. Must find Sakuya!" Marisa and Ail continue their way through the library, reaching Patchouli as she reads some books on her desk. She looks at them and says "my, so you two became a couple so suddenly?" Ail relaxes a little and says "we're just being good friends today. We've been having a blast, haven't we, Marisa?" As Ail says this, he holds his right hand pinkie straight up, pointing at Patchouli and looking at Marisa, who looks back to him suspiciously, but then smiles and laughs.
Patchouli raises her eyebrows, then buries her face back into her book while asking "and why have you come here in such a splendid night? To my understanding, there are no romantic spots in this area." Marisa smirks and says "enough of this! I have Ail here at point black of my Hakkero. If you don't want a splattered mess on all your books, you better do as I say!" Ail's face turns white, then blue, then purple, then green, as Marisa activates the miniature reactor again, burning his skin as she did. Patchouli calmly raises her head and says "I'll make you a deal. You let him go, and I will let you take all the books you want. I won't even call Sakuya. What do you say?" Marisa smirks and says "deal! Besides, I'm done with this guy, so you can have him, daze." Marisa lets go of Ail and immediately heads to the farthest shelves, flying on her broom. Ail walks close to Patchouli, then trembles as he sits next to her and says "th-thanks, m-miss Patchouli." Patchouli almost smiles as she says "oh, it's alright, and you can call me Patchy if you like." Still trembling a little, Ail smiles and nods at her. After a few minutes, Marisa flies toward them and says "hey, Patchouli, thanks for the nice haul. I'll return these eventually, daze." She looks at Ail and says "see, Ail? You're not useless. Just more human without your powers." Marisa looks above their heads and spots Koakuma, Sakuya, and quite a few fairy maids. She shouts angrily "hey~! I though we had a deal!" Patchouli calmly replies "yes, we do. I'm not bothering you at all, and I didn't call for Sakuya either, so I haven't broken the deal." Marisa sighs and says "so that finger-wiggling was a code after all. FINE! Who's first!?"
A battle breaks out above Patchouli and Ail, who is feeling better now. Patchouli looks at Ail and says "you haven't recovered fully yet. Stay down here and you'll be safe." Ail sighs and says "sorry about this, Patchy." Patchouli replies "oh, it's alright. This happens more often than you think." Above them, Sakuya launches various knives at Marisa, while Koakuma continues her danmaku barrage, both accompanied by the fairy maids who add their danmaku tot he barrage. Marisa scoffs and says "is that all? Watch THIS! FINAL SPARK!" The enormous beam of light flies straight to Koakuma, who yelps and falls down hard,then she continues to move it around, knocking every single fairy maid fromt eh air, but still misses Sakuya. Ail is about to rush to their aid when Patchouli says "just one more minute. Don't rush it." Sakuya angrily shouts "hey, you didn't have to go all out in them like that!" Marisa stares at Sakuya mischievously and asks "and what are you going to do about it, ze?" Sakuya glares at Marisa as her eyes glow red. She pulls a spell card from her chest, under her clothes. Marisa smirks and says "don't use too many, or you'll lose your padding!" Sakuya's eyes glint, smiling dangerously at Marisa, then shouts "Maid Secret Skill - Killing Doll!" Sakuya stops time and unleashes a massive barrage of randomly placed Daggers, then, after restoring time, she showers Marisa with countless more daggers. Marisa dodges all the daggers with great skill, even smiling. She points her Hakkero at Sakuya and shouts once more "FINAL SPA~~RK!" Marisa's massive beam of light strikes Sakuya, knocking her, and all her knives away, and opening a hole on the wall to the outside, large enough for her to escape trhough. Marisa flies next to the hole and with a smile, she turns around and says "well, you did your best, but in the end, it wasn't good enough. And just so you don't go thinking of chasing me..." Without looking where she is aiming, Marisa shouts "FINAL SA~RK!" sending the beam of light toward the still unconscious Koakuma. Realizing this, Marisa shouts "crap! I though there was nobody there!" Ail jumps between the beam and Koakuma and summons a quick barrier, however it's too thin and breaks away quickly. To their luck, the beam ends shortly after his barrier breaks, singeing Ail only a little. Patchouli rushes to Koakuma, inspects her and sighs with relief, saying "she's ok. Thanks Ail." Ail turns around, dusts himself and says "no problem." Marisa quickly hides her Hakkero under her hat and darts away through the hole she made, however, she did not measure the size of that sack she has, breaking it and dropping all the books as she tries to escape. "CRAP, CRAP, DAMMIT!" shouts Marisa, Ail turning his attention to her. The witch swoops down and manages to grab three of the books, then leaves quickly, cursing as she reaches the lake. Ail turns around again and receives a big hug from Koakuma, as thanks for saving her. Patchouli smiles at Ail and says "thank you for saving her." Ail bows, then Sakuya bows gracefully, saying "we owe you one, mister Ail." Ail smiles and says "no, I think we're even." Sakuya smiles and pats him on the head, and so ends the busy collecting day with Marisa.
Five days later:
Ail visits Marisa's house, which is undergoing some repairs after her immortality potion blew up half of her house. Ail smiles and casually asks "so the potion failed?" Marisa sighs and says "yeah, yeah! Go ahead and have a good laugh." Ail says "I would, but word is, you and Reimu helped Flandre out last night. So one good deed deserves another." Marisa stares at him suspiciously and asks "how much do you want?" Ail replies "don't worry, I don't plan on charging a thing, just gonna ask you to keep me out of your selfish plans next time." Marisa looks surprised and says "deal... um... How did you know about Flandre?" Ail says "Yukari told me. Well, I think I'll help them over there by the kitchen. You should help too, you know." Marisa asks "hey, what about your house? Aren't you going to work on it?" Ail smiles and says "well, after I returned home that day and found the fairies had destroyed almost all my work, AND considering you might visit again, I added a few magical defenses, so anyone that tries to harm me, or the house, is going to have a big surprise... besides." Ail smirks and says "I have a second reason to come help you." Marisa suspiciously asks "and that would be?" Ail calmly replies "to see your house destroyed, and to look at your face while I help." Marisa summons her brooms and chases Ail around, swinging the broom wildly and shouting "Ail, that's NOT FUNNY! Come back here! Let me HIT YOU!" Ail laughs as he ducks and jumps, avoiding Marisa's angry swings.
The end
Characters, spell cards and scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
Ail was created by Willie G.R.
SEP 23 2009
written by
Willie G.R.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Another Misplaced Sukima EXTRA
Reimu sits by the Sanzu river, watching the water flow it's course. She continues to stare until everything else around her becomes distant and almost none-existent. She replays Ail's pleading over Budou over and over. She whispers to herself "maybe... I should consider quitting." SikiEiki places her hand on Reimu's shoulder and says "the Hakurei maiden lost her nerve? Suicide is never the right option, you should know that. Or perhaps you want to escape? No matter how far you run, you'll never get away." Reimu jumps up and mumbles incoherently. Siki stares at her with a smile until Reimu realizes where she is. The maiden looks around, seemingly lost and asks "wha- Siki? Where am I? What am I even doing here?" Reimu realizes Komachi is standing next to Siki, smiling and waving her hand. Siki says "I see. Something is bothering you, and you're just looking for answers? Well, you came to the right place, Reimu. Come, let's have a nice chat."
Siki, Reimu and Komachi walk away from the Sanzu River, back to Reimu's shrine. Siki asks Reimu "so, are you sorry for what you did?" Reimu's heart skips as she says "y... yes. I... I did something so horrible. I feel just awful." Siki smiles and says "well you shouldn't." Reimu shouts "how can you say that so calmly like that!? I literally wiped out an innocent, just because I wouldn't listen!" Siki calmly asks "and will you be inclined to listen now?" Reimu stops walking and stares at the yama and her shinigami. Siki says "you have learned much more from this experience, Reimu Hakurei. All of these events happened for many reasons, each one as powerful as the other. Agava is no longer a threat. Ail is free to continue his life as he sees fit." Reimu continues to stare at them for a moment, then continues walking with them as Siki asks "speaking of Agava... Reimu, why did you assign Rumia to be Agava's guardian?" Reimu sighs and says "Rumia has the power of darkness, thus, has the ability to turn Agava's shadows to nothing if she wanted to. Also... I made it so she can remove that charm on her head, but only if there is need." Siki replies "oh? Isn't that dangerous?" Reimu replies "no. The charm will go back to her as soon as her deed is finished." Siki then asks "and what about Agava. Although she has changed... having that much power back, she might try something, don' you think?" Reimu quickly replies "Rumia would never have been able to restore that much power if that shadow hadn't truly changed. But that's something even Rumia doesn't know. See, if Agava's heart changes, so does the charm, and thus, becoming an entity of good, she can have more of her powers. However..." Siki and Komachi look at Reimu with the corner of their eyes as she says "only I have the authority to completely remove that charm, and more importantly, if Agava does revert, so will the charm, locking away her powers once more." Komachi grabs Reimu and squeezes her head between her breasts as she say "HA HA~ That's my Reimu, always thinking ahead!"
Walking close by to the village, where Rumia, Flandre and Agava are playing tricks to the villagers that wander outside, encasing them in darkness, laughing mischievously, and making them run in fear for a good laugh. They all ignore this as Siki asks "speaking of 'change of hearts'; Reimu, did you notice anything after the incident with little Budou?" Reimu's face turns pale and says "please... don't mention that." Siki smiles and says "Reimu, feeling guilt for your mistake proves you have a kind heart. It hurts, but don't think less of it just because of that." They come across Byakuren and Shou. Reimu gulps and backs away, thinking Byakuren or Shou would want payback, however, to her surprise, Byakuren smiles and says "miss Reimu, I am so glad to see you again, and so calm too. Huh?" Byakuren notices Reimu's guilty expression and says "oh, miss Reimu, I'm not mad at you. Although that attack did hurt a lot." Reimu looks to her eyes and say "but..." Byakuren says "I see. It's not only that, huh? Cheer up, Reimu. Soon, Ail and Sanae will come back with the little one. You'll see." Reimu says "but... what if he never forgives me for that? What if I misused my powers and authority... all because I wouldn't listen?" Byakuren smiles and says "Reimu... these things sometimes need to happen. Even if they hurt, you shouldn't let that get you down. I am certain mister Ail knows this as well." Reimu smiles and says "I see. He did mention something like that... the dummy." Byakuren chuckles and says "see? So stop beating yourself like that. Cheer up and be glad to have been part of such important events." Reimu gasps and asks "w-wait, how did you-?" Byakuren says "oh my, I'm sorry miss Reimu. Shou and I have some important business to attend to. See you around" Before Reimu is able ask Byakuren anything, she and Shou hurry away toward the Forest of Magic.
Climbing the stairs to the mansion, Reimu asks "Siki, what was it you wanted to ask me before?" Siki says "you know what I was going to ask, so why not answer right away?" Reimu sighs and says "yes, I sensed something different about him. Even that deadly spell card of his changed." Shiki says "oh yes. He can use it to his heart's content now, and even though he's no longer invincible while using it, it won't kill him." Reimu suddenly asks "was he really going to..?" Siki says "he was willing to give up his very existence for that youkai, Reimu. His love for her was as real as you and I." Reimu lowers her head and says "I... I see." Komachi says "miss maiden, don't go getting all sad now. That little one saved his life after all." Siki adds "I never told him, but if he ever used that spell again he would have lost his life... his soul... in short, it would have been like he never even existed." Reimu says "oh... So that too would have been my fault?" Siki bangs Reimu with her sword and says "Reimu, LISTEN to what we are saying!" Reimu looks at Siki, while rubbing her head. Komachi then says "if none of this ever happened, you would have never learned to listen to others... although you still need to work on that." Siki adds "and Ail would be running around with a very dangerous spell that you and that ice fairy could have used with ease!" Komachi adds "not to mention he would still be split in half!" Siki adds "which would have eventually led to you having to seal him away for good." Reimu asks "why?" Siki sighs and says "even with that blessed bracelet or the little youkai, he would have succumbed to the evil desires in his heart, and you would have had to seal him away for good." Reaching the top of the stairs, Reimu stands under the large red gate, staring at Siki. The yama covers her mouth with her sword and says "it was only a matter of time before those desires would overcome him, and he would have destroyed this, and every world, dimension, and even existence itself. Budou was keeping all those desires at bay, yes, but only after losing her as he did, he realized who he was and what he truly wanted. That's why his heart changed so much. That's why he became whole gain."
The shrine is empty since Mima, Renko and Maribel are visiting the village. Reimu invites the yama and shinigami in for some tea and while they drink they continue their conversation. Reimu sighs and says "I think I'm starting to understand." Komachi asks "and how do you feel now?" Reimu looks at her tea-cup and says "I do feel a little lighter. Siki, tell me, is-?" Siki replies before Reimu is able to finish "she's alive, Reimu. It's a gift for Ail, and Sanae." Reimu looks at her curiously, so she adds "you see Reimu, after... that incident, he wanted nothing more than to see you suffer. I don't know exactly how, but something made him forgive you. A memory? A promise? Perhaps he feels he owes you, or maybe his love for you and his friends? Maybe a combination of all of that...? Er, Reimu, is something wrong?" Reimu blushes and asks "err... love?" Siki strikes Reimu on the head with her sword, shouting "REPENT!" then says "you know by now he loves you like a sister. Don't go confusing things now." Reimu rubs her head and says "that thing hurts a lot!" Komachi says "you'll get used to it!" Siki rapidly strikes Komachi, saying "don't encourage her!" Reimu starts to laugh, causing the yama and shinigami to stare at her curiously, then after a while, they also join in the laugh.
It's noon and Siki and Komachi are about to leave, but before they do, Reimu asks "Siki, wait! Are the events finally over? Will we have a good future?" Siki says "never rest on thoughts of the future, Reimu... and no, there is still one more event that needs to be overcome." Reimu asks "is it a secret?" Siki smiles and says "that wind priestess, Sanae, has to make sure Ail's heart stays in the right track." Reimu asks "but I though you said he changed for the better." Siki says "yes, he has. That dark future the four of them visited has become a mere memory, however there is much doubt in him now, and only that girl can help him; and in doing so, help keep a bright future." Reimu stares at Siki with curiosity, so Siki adds "don't worry... there are many paths, but all are leading to that bright future, Reimu." Reimu smiles then asks "Siki, you said something about me and Cirno being able to use that spell card of Ail's. Can you tell me why?" Siki says "it's a holy spell, Reimu. You should be able to use most of his spells because of this." Reimu continues to look at Siki, then asks "and Cirno? She's an ice fairy, not a god or a holy deity." Siki smiles and says "of everyone around here, she has the biggest heart, Reimu. In fact, it's she who will... No, I better not say any more." Reimu says "oh, come on! Tel me~!" Siki smiles and says "just continue to guide her. She is the strongest fairy after all." With that, Komachi smiles and waves at her as she says "see you later Reimu!" then flies away along with Siki.
At night, Maribel, Renko and Mima return from town, along with Kyo and Luna. Kyo and Mima have a drinking contest, which they lose the second Suika joins in, already drunk and shouting her head off. Renko continues to read many books she borrowed from Marisa, who arrives just as Suika yells "I WI~N!" Marisa walks to Reimu and asks "so, are you feeling better, daze?" She sits down between Maribel and Luna while Reimu replies "yeah... Had a chat with the ya... with SikiEiki. A very enlightening conversation." Luna says "I'm glad. Miss Reimu, I never thanked you properly, or miss Aya, for all you did for me." Reimu smiles and says "no need. I'm just glad you calmed down so much. Now, you realize you have to talk to Sakuya, right?" She replies "yes... I understand. I want you to understand we will have to fight again, however..." Maribel says "this time it won't end so bloody!" Luna smiles as she lightly chuckles and says "yeah. That is what I am hoping." From above the shrine, Suwako shouts "hello everyone down there~!" As soon as they land, Reimu gets a little nervous, but manages to smile at them and say "well... hello. Welcome Kanako and Suwako." Kanako and Suwako smile at her, then join in the little circle of friends and Suwako says "someone wants to say 'hi' to you guys." Suwako places a strange orb with a peculiar frog design in it's center, then from inside it, Sanae's voice echoes, saying "lady Moriya, are you at the Hakurei Shrine yet?" Reimu asks "Sanae, is that you?" Sanae responds "ah, Reimu, how are you?" Reimu replies "much better... how about you... and Ail?" Ail replies "I am well, Reimu. I am glad to hear you're feeling better. I was a bit worried about you." Reimu says "me? You worry about yourself and Sanae... and getting Budou back as well!" Sanae laughs and says "you won't believe what his mother is making him wear right now!" From behind Sanae, Ayalina is heard saying "but you look so handsome!" Ail shouts "no way I'm wearing that, mom!" Sanae sighs and says "he does look good in jeans." Reimu asks "jeans? What are those?" Suwako says "a really tick pair of long pants. Usually blue." Sanae says "Oh, I'm feeling a little dizzy, so I better go now. Glad to hear from all of you!" Kanako then shouts "Ail, you better behave with my Sanae, or I'll hunt you down!" Ayalina shouts "who is this? How dare you call my boy a pervert. Oh, if I ever get my hands on you-!" The frog inside the orb vanishes, signaling the communication has been cut off. Suwako looks to Reimu and says "they were so worried about you. They said you looked so sad when they left." Reimu looks at everyone present with a smile on her face. Marisa says "there's my Reimu, ze." Reimu chuckles and says "careful Marisa. Someone could take that the wrong way." Suwako and Kanako both smile, then Suwako says "well, seems everything is coming back to normal." Amidst the conversations, Maribel's voice stands out when she says "look, look!!! I can shoot bigger hearts now!" Outside, Rumia watches as massive explosions quiet everyone inside the shrine. She smiles, turns to face behind her and asks "is that so~!?" as she surrounds herself in darkness while her eyes glow crimson while still smiling innocently.
Another Misplaced Sukima - The End-
Characters and scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
Ail, Kyo, Agava, Luna and Budou were created by Wilie G.R.
SEP 21 2009
written by
Willie G.R.
Siki, Reimu and Komachi walk away from the Sanzu River, back to Reimu's shrine. Siki asks Reimu "so, are you sorry for what you did?" Reimu's heart skips as she says "y... yes. I... I did something so horrible. I feel just awful." Siki smiles and says "well you shouldn't." Reimu shouts "how can you say that so calmly like that!? I literally wiped out an innocent, just because I wouldn't listen!" Siki calmly asks "and will you be inclined to listen now?" Reimu stops walking and stares at the yama and her shinigami. Siki says "you have learned much more from this experience, Reimu Hakurei. All of these events happened for many reasons, each one as powerful as the other. Agava is no longer a threat. Ail is free to continue his life as he sees fit." Reimu continues to stare at them for a moment, then continues walking with them as Siki asks "speaking of Agava... Reimu, why did you assign Rumia to be Agava's guardian?" Reimu sighs and says "Rumia has the power of darkness, thus, has the ability to turn Agava's shadows to nothing if she wanted to. Also... I made it so she can remove that charm on her head, but only if there is need." Siki replies "oh? Isn't that dangerous?" Reimu replies "no. The charm will go back to her as soon as her deed is finished." Siki then asks "and what about Agava. Although she has changed... having that much power back, she might try something, don' you think?" Reimu quickly replies "Rumia would never have been able to restore that much power if that shadow hadn't truly changed. But that's something even Rumia doesn't know. See, if Agava's heart changes, so does the charm, and thus, becoming an entity of good, she can have more of her powers. However..." Siki and Komachi look at Reimu with the corner of their eyes as she says "only I have the authority to completely remove that charm, and more importantly, if Agava does revert, so will the charm, locking away her powers once more." Komachi grabs Reimu and squeezes her head between her breasts as she say "HA HA~ That's my Reimu, always thinking ahead!"
Walking close by to the village, where Rumia, Flandre and Agava are playing tricks to the villagers that wander outside, encasing them in darkness, laughing mischievously, and making them run in fear for a good laugh. They all ignore this as Siki asks "speaking of 'change of hearts'; Reimu, did you notice anything after the incident with little Budou?" Reimu's face turns pale and says "please... don't mention that." Siki smiles and says "Reimu, feeling guilt for your mistake proves you have a kind heart. It hurts, but don't think less of it just because of that." They come across Byakuren and Shou. Reimu gulps and backs away, thinking Byakuren or Shou would want payback, however, to her surprise, Byakuren smiles and says "miss Reimu, I am so glad to see you again, and so calm too. Huh?" Byakuren notices Reimu's guilty expression and says "oh, miss Reimu, I'm not mad at you. Although that attack did hurt a lot." Reimu looks to her eyes and say "but..." Byakuren says "I see. It's not only that, huh? Cheer up, Reimu. Soon, Ail and Sanae will come back with the little one. You'll see." Reimu says "but... what if he never forgives me for that? What if I misused my powers and authority... all because I wouldn't listen?" Byakuren smiles and says "Reimu... these things sometimes need to happen. Even if they hurt, you shouldn't let that get you down. I am certain mister Ail knows this as well." Reimu smiles and says "I see. He did mention something like that... the dummy." Byakuren chuckles and says "see? So stop beating yourself like that. Cheer up and be glad to have been part of such important events." Reimu gasps and asks "w-wait, how did you-?" Byakuren says "oh my, I'm sorry miss Reimu. Shou and I have some important business to attend to. See you around" Before Reimu is able ask Byakuren anything, she and Shou hurry away toward the Forest of Magic.
Climbing the stairs to the mansion, Reimu asks "Siki, what was it you wanted to ask me before?" Siki says "you know what I was going to ask, so why not answer right away?" Reimu sighs and says "yes, I sensed something different about him. Even that deadly spell card of his changed." Shiki says "oh yes. He can use it to his heart's content now, and even though he's no longer invincible while using it, it won't kill him." Reimu suddenly asks "was he really going to..?" Siki says "he was willing to give up his very existence for that youkai, Reimu. His love for her was as real as you and I." Reimu lowers her head and says "I... I see." Komachi says "miss maiden, don't go getting all sad now. That little one saved his life after all." Siki adds "I never told him, but if he ever used that spell again he would have lost his life... his soul... in short, it would have been like he never even existed." Reimu says "oh... So that too would have been my fault?" Siki bangs Reimu with her sword and says "Reimu, LISTEN to what we are saying!" Reimu looks at Siki, while rubbing her head. Komachi then says "if none of this ever happened, you would have never learned to listen to others... although you still need to work on that." Siki adds "and Ail would be running around with a very dangerous spell that you and that ice fairy could have used with ease!" Komachi adds "not to mention he would still be split in half!" Siki adds "which would have eventually led to you having to seal him away for good." Reimu asks "why?" Siki sighs and says "even with that blessed bracelet or the little youkai, he would have succumbed to the evil desires in his heart, and you would have had to seal him away for good." Reaching the top of the stairs, Reimu stands under the large red gate, staring at Siki. The yama covers her mouth with her sword and says "it was only a matter of time before those desires would overcome him, and he would have destroyed this, and every world, dimension, and even existence itself. Budou was keeping all those desires at bay, yes, but only after losing her as he did, he realized who he was and what he truly wanted. That's why his heart changed so much. That's why he became whole gain."
The shrine is empty since Mima, Renko and Maribel are visiting the village. Reimu invites the yama and shinigami in for some tea and while they drink they continue their conversation. Reimu sighs and says "I think I'm starting to understand." Komachi asks "and how do you feel now?" Reimu looks at her tea-cup and says "I do feel a little lighter. Siki, tell me, is-?" Siki replies before Reimu is able to finish "she's alive, Reimu. It's a gift for Ail, and Sanae." Reimu looks at her curiously, so she adds "you see Reimu, after... that incident, he wanted nothing more than to see you suffer. I don't know exactly how, but something made him forgive you. A memory? A promise? Perhaps he feels he owes you, or maybe his love for you and his friends? Maybe a combination of all of that...? Er, Reimu, is something wrong?" Reimu blushes and asks "err... love?" Siki strikes Reimu on the head with her sword, shouting "REPENT!" then says "you know by now he loves you like a sister. Don't go confusing things now." Reimu rubs her head and says "that thing hurts a lot!" Komachi says "you'll get used to it!" Siki rapidly strikes Komachi, saying "don't encourage her!" Reimu starts to laugh, causing the yama and shinigami to stare at her curiously, then after a while, they also join in the laugh.
It's noon and Siki and Komachi are about to leave, but before they do, Reimu asks "Siki, wait! Are the events finally over? Will we have a good future?" Siki says "never rest on thoughts of the future, Reimu... and no, there is still one more event that needs to be overcome." Reimu asks "is it a secret?" Siki smiles and says "that wind priestess, Sanae, has to make sure Ail's heart stays in the right track." Reimu asks "but I though you said he changed for the better." Siki says "yes, he has. That dark future the four of them visited has become a mere memory, however there is much doubt in him now, and only that girl can help him; and in doing so, help keep a bright future." Reimu stares at Siki with curiosity, so Siki adds "don't worry... there are many paths, but all are leading to that bright future, Reimu." Reimu smiles then asks "Siki, you said something about me and Cirno being able to use that spell card of Ail's. Can you tell me why?" Siki says "it's a holy spell, Reimu. You should be able to use most of his spells because of this." Reimu continues to look at Siki, then asks "and Cirno? She's an ice fairy, not a god or a holy deity." Siki smiles and says "of everyone around here, she has the biggest heart, Reimu. In fact, it's she who will... No, I better not say any more." Reimu says "oh, come on! Tel me~!" Siki smiles and says "just continue to guide her. She is the strongest fairy after all." With that, Komachi smiles and waves at her as she says "see you later Reimu!" then flies away along with Siki.
At night, Maribel, Renko and Mima return from town, along with Kyo and Luna. Kyo and Mima have a drinking contest, which they lose the second Suika joins in, already drunk and shouting her head off. Renko continues to read many books she borrowed from Marisa, who arrives just as Suika yells "I WI~N!" Marisa walks to Reimu and asks "so, are you feeling better, daze?" She sits down between Maribel and Luna while Reimu replies "yeah... Had a chat with the ya... with SikiEiki. A very enlightening conversation." Luna says "I'm glad. Miss Reimu, I never thanked you properly, or miss Aya, for all you did for me." Reimu smiles and says "no need. I'm just glad you calmed down so much. Now, you realize you have to talk to Sakuya, right?" She replies "yes... I understand. I want you to understand we will have to fight again, however..." Maribel says "this time it won't end so bloody!" Luna smiles as she lightly chuckles and says "yeah. That is what I am hoping." From above the shrine, Suwako shouts "hello everyone down there~!" As soon as they land, Reimu gets a little nervous, but manages to smile at them and say "well... hello. Welcome Kanako and Suwako." Kanako and Suwako smile at her, then join in the little circle of friends and Suwako says "someone wants to say 'hi' to you guys." Suwako places a strange orb with a peculiar frog design in it's center, then from inside it, Sanae's voice echoes, saying "lady Moriya, are you at the Hakurei Shrine yet?" Reimu asks "Sanae, is that you?" Sanae responds "ah, Reimu, how are you?" Reimu replies "much better... how about you... and Ail?" Ail replies "I am well, Reimu. I am glad to hear you're feeling better. I was a bit worried about you." Reimu says "me? You worry about yourself and Sanae... and getting Budou back as well!" Sanae laughs and says "you won't believe what his mother is making him wear right now!" From behind Sanae, Ayalina is heard saying "but you look so handsome!" Ail shouts "no way I'm wearing that, mom!" Sanae sighs and says "he does look good in jeans." Reimu asks "jeans? What are those?" Suwako says "a really tick pair of long pants. Usually blue." Sanae says "Oh, I'm feeling a little dizzy, so I better go now. Glad to hear from all of you!" Kanako then shouts "Ail, you better behave with my Sanae, or I'll hunt you down!" Ayalina shouts "who is this? How dare you call my boy a pervert. Oh, if I ever get my hands on you-!" The frog inside the orb vanishes, signaling the communication has been cut off. Suwako looks to Reimu and says "they were so worried about you. They said you looked so sad when they left." Reimu looks at everyone present with a smile on her face. Marisa says "there's my Reimu, ze." Reimu chuckles and says "careful Marisa. Someone could take that the wrong way." Suwako and Kanako both smile, then Suwako says "well, seems everything is coming back to normal." Amidst the conversations, Maribel's voice stands out when she says "look, look!!! I can shoot bigger hearts now!" Outside, Rumia watches as massive explosions quiet everyone inside the shrine. She smiles, turns to face behind her and asks "is that so~!?" as she surrounds herself in darkness while her eyes glow crimson while still smiling innocently.
Another Misplaced Sukima - The End-
Characters and scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
Ail, Kyo, Agava, Luna and Budou were created by Wilie G.R.
SEP 21 2009
written by
Willie G.R.
Another Misplaced Sukima P-21
Three nights before:
Rumia floats around casually, while Agava trails behind her, pleading her. Agava grabs Rumia by her shoulders and turns her to face her. She smiles as innocently as ever and waits. Agava kneels and places her hands together, as if praying and desperately says "come on, Rumia, just help me out here a little bit. Come on~!" Rumia smiles as she stares back, then covers herself in her darkness, but before encasing herself completely, Agava shouts "I know you are the guarding of this... this charm! I'm begging you, please, help me take it OFF!" Rumia gasps, losing concentration and her darkness vanishing in an instant. She tries to fake a smile and nervously says "i-is that so~? Heh heh." Agava grabs her hands and says "look, I've changed. I swear, I have changed." Rumia looks at her suspiciously and says "prove it to me." Agava takes a sudden deep breath of air, but is unable to think of anything to say. She lets go of Rumia's hands and places her own on her thighs while looking down on the ground as she continues to kneel. She sighs and says "I don't know how." Rumia hums and says "well, if I can see proof of this, I can cut you a break. Bu~t if you trick me~" Rumia's eyes glow crimson while she smiles in a most wicked fashion and says "I'll make sure to make you suffer so much, you'll beg for a death that will never come." Agava sweats and backs away from Rumia. She gulps, then nods and says "you can be scary sometimes, you know that?" Rumia smiles like she usually does and says "is that so~?"
Present time at night:
At the Nameless Hill, Marisa waits above the cave where Kyo, Luna and Medicine are in, impatiently waiting for them to come out. "Waah~ so BORED! When are they coming out?" "Marisa~!" shouts a girl from above. Marisa looks up and sees Sanae, holding on to a small half-full vial and asks "What are you doing here? You looking for a fight?" asks Marisa offensively. Sanae shakes her head and says "here, take this. It's an anti-venom. It should protect you too from the poisonous flowers." Marisa looks at Sanae suspiciously and sniffs the contents of the vial, then gulps it without hesitation, then asks "and who are we fighting here?" Sanae asks "you really don't know?" Marisa tips her hat, then smiles at Sanae and says "so the knight's here, huh?" Sanae nods, then flies toward Marisa, shouts "take cover!" then lies on her stomach on top of the cave's entrance. Marisa looks at her curiously and asks "cover? From what?" The entrance to the cave bursts into flame, sending large chunks of stone flying in different directions. The small tremor causes Marisa so fall on her face, but she quickly recovers. Rubbing her nose, she gets up and asks "what the heck was THAT!?" In front of them, the crystal knight hovers in the air, ready to attack, but Kyo comes quickly from behind and strikes him with his energy shield, followed by Medicine and Luna, who shoots multi-colored daggers and poison clouds at him. Sanae gets up and shouts "after him!" The knight flies away to the open fields, where countless poisonous flowers bloom. He hovers above the flowers as he looks on to Aya and Momiji, both guarding any possible escape routes for him. Marisa smiles and says "alright guys, let's finish this quickly and set Reimu's mind at ease!" Kyo shouts "now you get it!"
At the Hakurei Shrine, Yukari looks inside the vacuuming gap and says "fu fu fu~! This is going to be very~ interesting." Mima shouts "hey! This isn't funny! I better go in and get them!" Yukari shouts "no! If you enter now, you'll shatter the entire barrier in a heart-beat. There's a reason why I specifically said 'only two can enter', remember?" Mima sighs and like Suwako before, she says "never as planned, dammit!" Kanako, who is forcefully washing Suwako's mouth out with soap, turns to Mima, releasing Suwako and threateningly says "watch it, young lady, or you'll be next!" Mima covers her mouth with her hands, then a large explosion and Reimu's angry shout at Ail startles all of them. Yukari feels something is wrong and shouts "hey, you two!? Can you hear me!?"
Inside the barrier, Renko and Maribel looks around, both hugging each other and trembling. Around them, various gaps like Yukari's and Ail's are visible, some blue, some green and very few with a sickly yellow color. "M-M-Mary~!" nervously says Renko. Maribel replies "R-Renko... wh-what just happen? Where are we?" Yukari's voice echoes all around them "can you two hear me?" Maribel immediately shouts back "miss Yukari, help us!" Yukari asks "Renko, do you remember what Mima and I talked about?" Renko shouts back "yes! But I want to get out of here... I feel sick in here!" Yukari replies "remember what I told Mima. Now, you HAVE to close those gaps you see around you in the right order. First green, then blue, then yellow, understand?" Maribel asks "what are you talking about?" Renko says "Yukari told us how to fix the barrier, so now *urk* we have to fix it ourselves." Maribel asks "Renko, are you ok?" Renko replies "this place is making me feel sick." Maribel says "then go back outside and let miss Mima come in." Renko quickly says "no, Mary! If either one of us goes out, we both do, and it'll take Yukari another day before she can open this place up again. We have to do this now, Mary." Maribel nods and says "then what should I do?" Renko says "you should be able to close the gaps, since you have already helped Ail before with HIS gaps." Maribel remembers the energy flow she felt every time she helped Ail. She concentrates her energy and feels just like when she helps Ail. She looks at Renko and with determination, she says "ok Renko. Tell me how to do this!" Renko says "both you and I will concentrate on closing the gaps, but we must do so in a specific order. First the green ones, then the blue ones, and last, those yellow ones." Maribel holds on to Renko and flies with her to the gaps. Renko says "concentrate on closing them. Let's start with that first green one." Maribel flies with Renko, close to the large green gap to their left, then extends her hand, getting it close to it. She closes her eyes along with Renko's, who can feel the energy flowing through her as well, then slowly, the gap starts closing. After it closes up, Maribel opens her eyes and excitedly shouts "we did it, we did it!" Yukari's voice echoes and says "congratulations! Now please, hurry! Somethings wrong out there... Ran's gonna need your help!"
From the bushes, Agava watches while Ail, Shinki, Alice and Budou whisper something to each other. Quietly, she waits, then notices Flandre on the bushes beside her own. "Flandre?" she whispers to herself, while staring at the blond vampire. She notices the angry expression on her as she looks straight at Ail. Agava hesitates, but something inside her gives her enough strength and courage to go straight to her. She walks closer, until she is just a few feet away, then whispers "Flandre?" Flandre aims her hand straight at Agava, who flinches and crouches to the ground shouting "please, don't shoot!" Flandre's face twists in anger upon looking at the shadow being and angrily shouts "YOU! After I'm done with big... with Ail, I'm coming after you!" Agava manages to ask "wh-why?" Flandre loses her temper, rushes to Agava, grabs her by the jacket and shouts directly at her face "thanks to you, I hurt Meiling! And thanks to HIM-!!!" Flandre notices Ail and all the other are gone. She scoffs and says "then I'll take care of YOU first after all." Agava trembles and says "don't blame him for something I did." Flandre gets shocked and releases Agava. She stares back at her and says "y-you're not going to trick me again!" Flandre opens her hand straight at Agava and says "first I'll break your head, then I'll break your arms, and your legs, and then, I'll deal with that Ail!" Agava whimpers, closing her eyes tightly, then says "fine... do your worse. Just don't blame that idiot anymore." Flandre stops from blowing Agava's head and asks "why are you protecting him? He's your enemy." Agava says "Flandre... I don't know why, but being with you... I don't know, but I think I've changed... for real." Flandre looks at her with disgust, but says nothing. "I was the one that caused you to lose control again, Flandre. I'm sorry." says Agava. Flandre now looks at her with curiosity as she continues her tale. "I made you read a spell, out of my desire to get rid of the charm inside me, that caused you to lose all control, and that's why you hurt that girl. So if you have to deal with someone..." Agava stands up and bravely prepares herself for the worst and shouts "you deal with ME!" Flandre hesitantly trembles, unable to decide whether or not to blow Agava to bits. She walks closer to Agava and says "I have decided I will not blow you up, but you'll have to be my playmate until I get bored of you."
Reimu flies just above Agava and Flandre, and spots Rumia watching from one of the trees, however she ignores them and continues her way. A sudden burst of energy sends chills down her spine, strengthening her resolve as she says "Budou's starting her offensive. Ail you idiot, what have you done!?" She flies straight through the gates to Makai without wasting another second. Agava, Flandre and even Rumia, feel the energy Reimu just felt, however, they fell another source. Agava looks at Flandre and says "there is one more thing I have to do before I can stay with you. Can you wait?" Flandre smiles and says "no. So I'll go along with you and play with whoever is using this much power." Agava smiles, then both she and Flandre fly toward the source of the energy. Rumia encases herself in darkness and follows them to the Nameless Hill, where a mighty battle is being waged.
The knight attacks with many spells, all non-elemental. Kyo blocks with his shield as Momiji tries to catch the knight off-guard, but he disperse another magical attack, sending Momiji flying back. Aya gets angry and charges at him, generating a small tornado behind her, but the knight swings his arm and knocks her far away. Kyo takes this chance to get close and engages in melee combat with the knight. Both are evenly matched, so Kyo backs away and says "I was hoping to save this one for later, but..." Kyo pulls out a spell card from the pocket in his black pants, surprising Momiji, who says "no fair~!" and Aya, who shouts "don't be all show, little man!" Kyo shouts "Flames of Elegance!" Kyo thrusts his sword in the air about 10 times per second, causing the tip to catch fire. The fire dances around, then spread into a group of at least 15 pairs of dancing flames, all homing on the knight as they continue to dance with each other. The knight tries to avoid the flames, but he makes a mistake, and one of the pairs strikes him right on the chest, giving Luna and Medicine the chance to attack. Medicine spits out a green cloud of smoke that ignites as soon as it touches the fire around the knight, then Luna swings her blade, sending the knight straight down to the ground, however the knight keeps afloat, just inches away from the ground, expels a burst of energy that douses the fires, then laughs as it flies back up. Aya shouts "that was a good try... now what!?"
Marisa and Sanae stand on the ground, both preparing a spell each. Marisa says "those patterns... I've seen them before" as she watches the knight shoot more of his magic. Sanae snaps "concentrate!" Marisa says "oh, right!" From behind, Flandre shouts "Forbidden Barrage - Catadioptric!" Various bouncing blue danmaku orbs of different sizes overwhelm the knight, who immediately falls to the ground as soon as he's hit. He gets back up and immediately receives a 'Masters Spark' in the face, followed by Sanae's 'Orochi of Ancient Times'. After the attacks are done, then knight continues to stand, as if nothing even touched him. Both Marisa and Sanae gasp in shock, but then, from inside the armor, a high-pitched voice shouts "help! He~~lp! I can's get out! Someone get me out of here!" The knight's eyes glow red after staring at Flandre for some time, then an ominous voice echoes all over as it says "murderer~! You will pay for my brother's life!" Everyone present cover their ears, as the echoing voice make them feel as though their ears would explode at any time. Sanae shouts "LOOK OUT!" then pushes Marisa out of the way, as a large beam flies just past them at the speed of light. Flandre looks at the knight with a brave face, so the knight flies toward her, and in an instant, he has his hand around her neck. Agava shouts "what the-!? I'll save you Flandre!" She pulls out her spell card, but the knight knocks her back like she was nothing at all. Agava falls just past the poisonous flower fields, next to Rumia's feet. she spring up and shouts "Rumia! Please, I need more power! He's gonna kill her!" Rumia stares seriously at Agava, her eyes glowing crimson with intent."
Back inside the barrier, Maribel and Renko are just closing the last of the yellow gaps. After closing it, Maribel slowly descends and places Renko by her side, who immediately drops to the ground, holding her stomach. A violet gap opens in front of them as Yukari says "Maribel, Renko, thank you for your hard work. Now please, help me save my Ran!" Maribel asks "what? What's wrong with Ran?" She looks inside the gap and sees Ran in in a park of the outside world being chased by a multitude of people. Maribel gasps and shouts "miss Ran!" Renko gets up and jumps inside the gap, saying "don't just stand there, Mary!" Maribel follows Renko in, both landing right between Ran and the humans. One of them asks "what the hell?" Their leader says "more devilish work! I told you! The devil himself is upon us. We just show him we are powerful when we stand as one. Come and let us cleanse these demons!" The crowd cheers "YEAH!" As the people elaborate, Renko and Maribel rush to Ran, who sits limp next to the bathrooms. "Miss Ran!" shouts Maribel. "Are you ok?" Ran struggles to lift her head and says "I feel... so, so weak. I want to... to sleep." Renko inspects Ran, then pulls a dart out of her neck and says "tranquilizer." Maribel looks on as the crowd of people get closer and asks "what do we do now?" The crowd stops as various daggers rain from above. Renko looks up and shouts "CLOSE YOUR EYES!" A blinding flash incapacitates the entire crowd as Yukari falls down, grabs hold of Maribel's arm, opens a gap and shouts "get in!" Maribel and Renko grab hold of Ran and jump inside the gap with her, followed quickly by Yukari as the gap closes. Back safely in the shrine, Mima helps Maribel up, while Suwako and Kanako help Yukari, Renko and then Ran. Mima looks to the skies and says "it's almost dawn."
Inside Makai, Reimu and Ail meet face to face in the forest he helped restore. Reimu is beyond herself with rage, but manages to calmly say "you have messed too many lives today, Ail, and all for that youkai. Once we're done here, I'm sealing off Makai for good, and you inside." Ail replies "Reimu, you have the wrong culprit! Just go to the Nameless Hill. You'll find the knight there!" Reimu scoffs and says "again with that. Ail, the energy disturbance is coming from here. More specifically, from Budou herself. I can see it, you know? She's just a few yards away right now." Ail pulls out a spell card and shouts "I'm not letting you NEAR HER, Reimu! Earth Sign - Forestall Heartbeat!" The heart-shaped formation of leaves and white colored danmaku that beat like a heart go straight to Reimu, followed by a pair of lasers that trap her in the middle of it all. Reimu smiles, pulls a spell card and shouts "Barrier - Extending Barrier!" Her spell card pushes back Ail's attacks as if nothing at all, then strike Ail with force. Reimu thinks she's won, but Ail surprises her with a pair of white lasers, blasting her back against a tree. Ail gets up and says "you're tired, Reimu. Just stop this now. You need your strength to fight the knight." Reimu gets up, rubs the back of her head and says "Ail, you're really pushing my limits. Stand down, now." Ail pulls another spell card, but Reimu already declares hers as she pulls out her own, shouting "Wild Exorcism Dance!" Ail watches as she dances, then spots the many charms headed his way. He gasps and quickly shouts "Light Sign - Holy DANCE!!!" Just as the charms reach him, his orb of light prevents them from touching him directly, however, after enough charms cling on to the orb, both spells cancel each other out. Reimu hears an explosion coming from Gensokyo and shouts "NO~!" Ail wonders what is wrong with her. "Why is she screaming toward the gate?" he thinks. Reimu turns around with her eyes covered in tears and shouts "you idiot! Gensokyo... it's going to be destroyed because of your stubbornness." Ail shouts "Reimu, you are under a SPELL!!" Reimu growls and says "you love for that youkai has blinded you, Ail. You are allowing Gensokyo to be destroyed." Resolve fills Reimu's eyes when she says "I am going to seal away all your powers. You have meddled with Gensokyo's affairs for the LAST TIME!" Ail gasps as Reimu pulls out three spell cards. She looks at him with determination in her eyes as the spell cards in her hand glow pink. Ail pulls out another spell card and says "you refuse to listen, even though I speak the truth. Reimu... Good bye, Reimu."
Reimu shouts "Fantasy Heaven!" and immediately, 7 white orbs surround her. Ail is about to declare his spell, when Reimu, who's speed increases considerably, punches him right in the face, knocking the spell card right out of his hand. She punches him again, then kicks him to the air where she follows with a spin-kick. On the ground, Ail tries to recover, but Reimu strikes him with her gohei, then stomps on him and says "this is it, Ail. After this, you'll be just another powerless half youkai... WHOA-!" Ail manages to push her away, but Reimu skilfully touches his hand, activating the last orb. Ail panics and runs to his spell card, running away from the large amulets headed his way. The amulets are fast, but Ail is faster, and manages to grab his spell card just in time, but trips and falls. He manages to turn around with a smile, ready to declare his spell, but his smile vanishes when he hears "PAPA! HAKUREI SIS! Don't fight! Don't-" A terrible feeling of despair fills Ail's heart as he watches the amulets intended for him strike Budou on the back. Reimu opens her eyes and gasps, then in a terrified tone of voice, she says "no! This is too strong for her!" Ail wants to shout to the heavens, but his breath fails him, watching with horror as Budou's body vanishes right before his very eyes. He gets up and holds her. She looks at him with fear in her violet eyes and whispers "papa... I'm cold" Ail closes her eyes and says "shh, shh, it's ok. Just sleep now." He manages to encase her inside a peculiar barrier that looks like a large ice cube, glowing blue, just as her body completely vanishes, leaving only the little white bow she wore on her teal hair on Ail's hands.
Shinki arrives just as Budou vanishes, despair filling her heart. Ail kneels on the ground, holding tightly on to Budou's bow as he remembers something his mother told him. Ayalina's voice echoes in his mind "oh, that poor woman." Ail's child voice asks "mom, why is that woman on TV crying so much?" Ayalina's voice replies "because she lost something very important, my son." Ail asks "what is that?" Ayalina replies "her child..." Ail replies "ohh... But why does she cry so much, mom?" Ayalina replies "there is no greater pain to a father, or mother, than to lose their own child, Anilan." Ail says "umm~ But... why?" Ayalina replies "I pray you never have to go through something like that, but someday, my child, you will understand." Ayalina's voice fades as Ail comes back to reality. He fells anger and hatred toward Reimu. His thoughts dwell on causing her harm... killing her even, but Byakuren's words reach him, saying "Whatever happens, understand her feelings too. Promise me that much... promise me!" He is crying so much by now, he can barely see his own hands. He places the bow on his chest and starts to sob. Shinki kneels next to him and gently places her hand on his shoulder. Reimu gets closer, almost crying herself, then softly says "Ail... I'm sorry. I... Look... the energy she was emanating is gone now. I can restore Gensokyo now." Ail continues to stare blankly toward the spot where Budou disappeared, his tears continuing to flow without pause. His bracelet screeches so loud, the echo reaches all the way to Pandemonium, and a red image of the crystal knight, holding Flandre by the neck, hovers just above the crystal. Shinki and Reimu cover their ears as the screeching continues without any sign of stopping, however Ail continues to stare as if nothing else is happening around him.
Siki and Komachi watch in awe as Ail's ghost half glows pure white, then zips away toward Makai. Komachi says "something horrible just happen, Siki-sama. Siki closes her eyes and says "a mis trial." Ail's ghost half reaches Ail and immediately merges with him. The card Ail had in his hand just before glows blue, so Reimu picks it up and says "he was willing to give his life for her..." She inspects the card and says "but this..." Ail says with a cracking voice "go and find Sanae and Marisa... the culprit is with them." Reimu looks at him surprised and asks "Ail? Are you alright?" Ail repeats "go and find Sanae and Marisa... the culprit is with them." Reimu continues to stand there so Shinki shouts "didn't you hear!? Go! they need you!" Reimu concerned asks "but what about..." Shinki shouts "JUST GO!" Reimu leaves back to Gensokyo a little hesitant, but as soon as she exits the speedy gate, she can see the energy disturbance all around. She gasps in horror as she realizes that Ail was telling the truth. She hyperventilates and says "but... but... I am... shrine maiden... how...?" The energy disturbance grows stronger, helping Reimu snap out of her horrible realization, so she flies up and immediately heads to the Nameless Hill.
Back at the Nameless Hill, Rumia's eyes glow crimson as she says "you have proven to me that you really have changed. I release 12% of your former powers, for the time being, to prove your worth. Remember my warning, little shadow. It would be very wise not to take it lightly." Agava nods as she kneels down in front of Rumia. Her body grows to that of a human teenager, having 14% of her powers back. She smiles at Rumia, who, for a moment, though Agava would throttle her, but Agava only bows and says "thank you." Immediately, she shouts "Shadow Morph" and turns into a shadow bird. She flies straight toward the knight, trailing massive shadow orbs as soon as she is in range of him. Stills as a bird, she surrounds Flandre with her shadow body and says "I'm going to save you, Flan." The massive shadow balls smash on the knight, who releases Flandre, allowing Agava to take her away, turning back to normal after 20 seconds. She places Flandre on the ground and says "I'll be right back!" Aya kicks the knight back to the ground, where Momiji and Marisa strike him with their weapons, sending him flying toward Luna, who slices half of the helmet, then kicks it toward Kyo, how uses his shield to smash him back down, where Sanae places many pink charms on him, preventing him from moving from that spot. Agava flies close and pulls our another spell card, then shouts "Shadow Sign - Binding Darkness" Everything turns pitch-black around Agava and the knight for a few seconds, then, after the darkness clears, massive black orbs surround the knight, then all constrict against him, cracking open a small compartment on the chest of the armor. After the spell is done, Reimu, who is flying just above all, looking in disbelief, shouts "NO! This can't be! But, the energies! The disturbances! I VAPORIZED YOU!" Sanae shouts "Reimu, calm down. What happened!? ... Reimu?" Marisa flies toward her friend and says "now it's not the time, ze! Go down there and finish this!" Agava flies away as Reimu, accompanied by Marisa, floats down next to the knight. From inside the armor, a high-pitched voice shouts "get me out of he~re!" Another voice echoes from the armor itself, saying "just... finish it..." Reimu looks to Flandre and signals her to get close. Reimu places an amulet on the chest of the knight, revealing a crystal the beats like a heart. Reimu says "Flandre, break that." Flandre immediately grabs the eye of the crystal and clenches her hand, cracking the crystal and causing the amulet to explode, shattering the crystal into pieces. Again, from inside, a high-pitched voice shouts "what's going on out there!? Get me out of here, dammit!!!"
Reimu stares at the armor while the others surround her, looking awestruck at Reimu's face. She looks as though she wants to shout something. Reimu snarls, then angrily pulls the armor apart in pieces, finally removing the torso and revealing inside a fairy similar to Lily White, only dressed in black, instead. Reimu grabs the fairy by her dress and pulls her close to her face and shouts "SPEAK!" Marisa gasps "Lily Black?" The fairy sighs and says "yeah, yeah, you caught me." Reimu shakes her and shouts "SPEAK, you miserable fairy! How did you do that to me without me realizing it!?" Lily Black pouts and says "I used an ancient holy spell that diverts energy flow from it's actual source. I didn't want you finding me out, but... here you are, heh heh." Reimu tosses the fairy toward the poisonous flowers and rushes to her angrily, but Sanae grabs her from behind, locking her arms around Reimu's shoulder and using all her strength, just to keep her away from Lily Black. Reimu screams in a rage, then calms down, kneeling on the ground, breathing heavily. Aya rescues the fairy from the poisonous flowers and says "you have a lot to answer for, little fairy." Marisa crouches next to Reimu and asks "Reimu, what's wrong? Why are you so upset?" Reimu sobs and says "I killed her! Ail told me, but I didn't listen. I killed her!" Marisa asks "what are you talking about!?" Sanae gasps and shouts "oh no!" then flies away as fast as she can. Marisa gasps and asks "Reimu *gulp* who did you kill?" Reimu launches herself to Marisa, crying uncontrollably as she hugs her friend for support. Marisa sighs and pats her back as Kyo sits on the ground feeling defeated. Luna kneels beside him, joined by medicine and Agava, then Kyo says "we failed... after all of this... we failed?" Agava asks "what? We beat the knight... why is everyone so sad?" Rumia comes and pulls her shoulder and quietly shakes her head, then Flandre says "remember your promise!" Agava nods then says "alright then. Let's go." Agava stands next to Flandre and notices she's now two feet taller than her and says "hey... you should call me senior now, don't you think?" As they fly away along with Rumia, Flandre says "no~. You call me senior,and I'll call you playmate." Agava replies "aww, come on!"
Sanae arrives to the Makai forest, where Ail sits against a tree, placing his head on his knees while Shinki sits beside him, brushing his hair with her hand, comforting him. She gets closer to them and spots Budou's bow in Ail's hand, then start to cry as well, kneeling beside him, brushing the bow in his hand with the tip of her fingers. Daytime reaches Makai by the time Ail and Sanae calm down. Shinki stands next to Yumeko, who came looking for Shinki, worried for her lady. Shinki says "I'm sorry Ail, I tried to hold on to her, but she got so strong. She freed herself from my hand, saying something about your energy being eaten and was flying so fast... I couldn't keep up." Ail faintly says "it's alright, Shinki." By now, Cirno, Sara and Alice arrive at the forest. Cirno asks "you, blond maid! Did you hurt Ail!?" Yumeko smiles wickedly and says "no, you little runt!" Cirno gets close and asks "Ail, green miko!? Why are you so sad? Did they hurt you?" Ail and Sanae manage to smile and both pat Cirno on the head and Ail says "it's alright Cirno. It will take time, but we'll be alright." Sanae sighs and says "lady Moriya and lady Yasaka will be quite mad. I better go." Ail stands up and helps Sanae up, then says "let's go then." Shinki says "Ail, I'm really sorry..." Ail smiles and says "it's alright Shinki. It's not your fault." Alice tries to divert the conversation by asking "so she didn't seal us in here?" Ail says "I told you she wouldn't." Ail and Sanae look at Shinki, bow their heads, then smile at her, then Ail says "time to go back now."
Two days later:
At Byakuren's temple, Ail meets a woman with orange-yellow hair with black stripes and golden yellow eyes with a giant cloth circle attached to her back and wearing a lotus ornament on her head. She wears a burgundy-orange-white dress with a tiger pattern by the abdomen, white frilly pants and black shoes. He politely asks "is miss Hijiri here?" The woman looks to him and asks "are you Ail?" Ail nods as the woman slowly walks closer to him. He says "I want to thank her for helping me so much." The woman replies "she's very weak right now. She can't have visitors." Ail looks down and says "ah... C-could you tell her that I am sorry for getting her mixed up in all of this?" As he finishes his sentence, the woman strikes Ail with her claws right across his face and calmly says "lady Hijiri helped you out of the kindness from her heart, as well as all you friends. Apologizing to her like that is like spitting at her face, mocking her sacrifice!" Ail looks at her with his left eye, since he can't open his right, due to the stinging pain of her claw mark. She says "this curse will follow you until you understand all the sacrifices made for your sake are not to be taken lightly. All came from the heart, mister Ail, and you have to understand this. I'll tell lady Hijiri you were here, but if you want to insult her sacrifice, then you do so on your own." The marks on his face start bleeding, causing panic to Ail. The blood stops as soon as it started, and when Ail looks back up, the woman is gone. He walks away, holding his face in pain, back to his house.
At the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu stands next to Ail, who finishes telling her about the claw marks. She smiles and says "I see. That's Shou Toramaru, and she's quite loyal to Byakuren." Ail says "you don't say?" There is a moment of awkward silence between them for a moment, then Reimu starts to cry and says "Ail, I'm so sorry! If I had just listened..." Ail sighs and calmly says "you did what you thought was right, Reimu." Reimu shouts "Ail, I did something terrible! Hate me, shout at me, GET ANGRY! Don't just act like it's nothing!" Ail calmly replies "all those thoughts crossed my mind, Reimu. But I could never hate you. You've been there for me and Kyo since the very beginning, in you own, special way, that is." He turns to her and says "besides, hating you will not bring Budou back... but I know something else that will." Reimu looks at him confused, then wipes the tears off her eyes and asks "what?" He replies "Shinki tells me there is a Makai parallel to hers, however to access it, I need to go to the outside and look around a well known icy mountain." Reimu looks at him surprised, then says "the spell... it was meant to seal your powers away. She couldn't have..." Ail shouts "there is hope, Reimu!" Reimu turns her sight away, then Ail says "besides, if there should be someone apologizing for all this is me..." Again, Reimu looks at him quite puzzled. Ail turns away from her and says "all of this happened because of me, Reimu. You see, after I helped Renko and Maribel enter, Yukari and I saw certain barrier on Maribel, so we decided to try and open them. What a stupid decision that was." Reimu asks "is that why she can use those heart bullets?" Ail nods and says "the thing is, I stopped when Yukari admitted to me she wanted to experiment with Maribel and her powers, but when she followed me during that incident with Tenshi in the Heavens, I accidentally placed a gap in her heart, and couldn't close it. She absorbed enough magic to have an endless supply herself, and that's not all. After Makai, Shinki's power went inside of her, giving her even more power. That's why she's flying like a pro without any practice or anything." Reimu shouts "Ail... that's so irresponsible!" Ail continues "then there was that disturbance in the gate back here that took us to the future... all because she has so much magic in her.... Anyway, after the goddesses possessed the two girls, somehow she And Renko shared some of that power, so it's only a matter of time before Renko gains abilities of her own.
Reimu smacks Ail at the back of his head. He laughs and says "I'm not done, Reimu. Yukari and I had a little conversation after I came back from that future and realized my bracelet is... or was, somehow connected to Maribel, so it's been her powers that have been warning us about all of these events. Now, only the godly blessings remain in here." Reimu asks "does she know?" Ail says "I told her yesterday, so she closed that gap on her own. She lost those cat-ears in the process, but she was just so mad that I didn't tell her about that before, she just snorted at me." Reimu says "you're lucky that wasn't me." Ail laughs then says "if I hadn't done that, Reimu... *sniffle* Budou would have never become a youkai, we would have never been to Makai, that knight would have never found a way here... I'm sorry for everything, Reimu." The claw-marks start bleeding again, mixing his tears with the blood. Reimu says "stop regretting everything, Ail. You won't be able to live with yourself like that. Besides, without Budou, you would have never experienced that love you shared, Maribel would probably be whining about how she doesn't have powers like ours, and Agava would have probably stayed the same wicked little monster. Add to all of that, you showed me the love you have for Gensokyo is second to none. You even helped save us from a horrible future." The bleeding stops as Ail's eyes fill with determination and purpose, then says "yes, you're right. Besides, if I didn't do it, fate would have done it for us anyway, right?" Reimu chuckles along with Ail, then asks "so, when are you leaving?" Ail quickly replies "tomorrow."
The next morning, Cirno, Orin, Marisa, Sanae, Reimu, Yukari, Kanako, Suwako, Maribel, Renko, Mima, Kyo, Luna and Medicine all wait for Ail by the Hakurei Shrine. Ail walks up the stairs wearing a white mask that covers his entire face, except for his left eye, and an old-looking brown cape that looks thick. He looks at all of them and says "thank you all for everything you have done. I truly appreciate it." Kyo says "good luck, buddy." Ail bows, then Cirno and Orin both rush to hug him. Marisa tips her hat to him, Maribel and Renko walk to him and Maribel says "I thought about it and decided I want to thank you." Ail asks "why?" She answers "because thanks to you I have all these wonderful powers. Yes, many bad things happened before, but now that I know about this, I can help and control this." Ail says "I see... I'm sorry to have kept it a secret." Maribel then says "oh, look at what I can do now!" She magically grows cat ears and a tail, then magically takes them away. Ail laughs and says "that's a nice trick.!" Renko adds "I'll be looking for my own ability now. Hopefully it's something subtle, you know?" Ail smiles, although his smile is hidden by the mask. He says "you two are so different, yet so alike." Mima gets close to him and says "if you need help out there, use our mind link to let me know, and I'll come and help you, alright?" Ail nods as Yukari opens the gap to a small village next to the mountain. He's about to enter when Sanae shouts "hold it! You're not going ANYWHERE without me!" Ail looks at her surprised and says "Sanae, this might be too dangerous and-" "Zip it" says Sanae. "Besides, I have lady Yasaka's and lady Moriya's divine protection, and I miss Budou as much as you!" Suwako jumps to them and says "you may act like a mother and father but-" Kanako knocks Suwako out of the way, grabs Ail by the shirt and says "if you dare play 'husband' with her, I'll personally kill you!" Ail sweats as Sanae blushes and pushes the goddesses away, scolding them both. From the shrine stairs come Youmu and Yuyuko. Yuyuko walks to Ail as fast as she can, crying as she did, then kisses him on his left eye and says "come back alive, Ail. Please come back alive!" Youmu quietly stands and listens to Ail respond "of course I will. That's a promise... but why-?" Yuyuko shushes him, then points him to the gap to where Sanae is standing next to. He walks to her, nods, then both head inside the gap. Yukari closes it and says "I have such a strange feeling... I've never felt like this for a human before." Reimu says "that's because I've never left Gensokyo like that." Yukari looks at Reimu, hugs her and says "don't go~!"
That day, Maribel and Renko visit Yukari's house to check up on Ran. They arrive through Yukari's gap, startling Ran as they come out of it, shouting "hello~! Miss Ran!?" Maribel walks straight toward Ran and asks "miss Ran, how are you feeling? Are you alright? Nothing wrong?" Ran yawns then says "I'm alright, miss Maribel. You don't have to worry so much." Maribel sighs with relief and says "good. I was so worried." Renko adds "but you don't look that well to me!" Ran says "it's that tranquilizer... It's effects still haven't worn off completely." Chen walks into the room and says in a commanding tone "don't bother miss Ran!" Yukari comes from inside her gap and says "Chen, that's no way to speak to our guests. They are just as worried about Ran as you are!" Chen gasps and bows her head, then says "I-I'm sorry." Maribel smiles and says "it's alright, miss Chen." Renko adds "we didn't mean to worry you." Renko, Ran and Yukari sit by the table while Chen and Maribel prepare some snacks at the kitchen. Renko looks at Yukari and asks "lady Yukari, why was Ran all by herself in the outside world?" From the kitchen Maribel asks "yeah, I'm curious about that as well." Yukari casually says "the barrier doesn't only work from the inside, you know. If it was that simple, we wouldn't have needed your help in the first place." Both Maribel and Renko say "oh" then silence. Maribel and Chen place the snacks and tea on the table and as everyone takes some tea and cookies, Maribel asks "lady Yukari? What about my powers?" Yukari says "don't worry, you won't lose them. You'll just stop gaining more." Maribel then says "ok, that's good, but... Do you feel even the slightest guilty for doing all of this to me?" Yukari smiles and says "fu fu fu fu, regret is for those who doubt themselves."
The End...?
Characters, spell card and scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
Ail, Kyo, Agava, Luna, Budou and their spell cards were created by Willie G.R. (any similarities are strictly coincidental)
Assistance with the creation of this chapter and Kyo's spell card by snapshot 2010
SEP 20 2009
written by
Willie G.R.
Rumia floats around casually, while Agava trails behind her, pleading her. Agava grabs Rumia by her shoulders and turns her to face her. She smiles as innocently as ever and waits. Agava kneels and places her hands together, as if praying and desperately says "come on, Rumia, just help me out here a little bit. Come on~!" Rumia smiles as she stares back, then covers herself in her darkness, but before encasing herself completely, Agava shouts "I know you are the guarding of this... this charm! I'm begging you, please, help me take it OFF!" Rumia gasps, losing concentration and her darkness vanishing in an instant. She tries to fake a smile and nervously says "i-is that so~? Heh heh." Agava grabs her hands and says "look, I've changed. I swear, I have changed." Rumia looks at her suspiciously and says "prove it to me." Agava takes a sudden deep breath of air, but is unable to think of anything to say. She lets go of Rumia's hands and places her own on her thighs while looking down on the ground as she continues to kneel. She sighs and says "I don't know how." Rumia hums and says "well, if I can see proof of this, I can cut you a break. Bu~t if you trick me~" Rumia's eyes glow crimson while she smiles in a most wicked fashion and says "I'll make sure to make you suffer so much, you'll beg for a death that will never come." Agava sweats and backs away from Rumia. She gulps, then nods and says "you can be scary sometimes, you know that?" Rumia smiles like she usually does and says "is that so~?"
Present time at night:
At the Nameless Hill, Marisa waits above the cave where Kyo, Luna and Medicine are in, impatiently waiting for them to come out. "Waah~ so BORED! When are they coming out?" "Marisa~!" shouts a girl from above. Marisa looks up and sees Sanae, holding on to a small half-full vial and asks "What are you doing here? You looking for a fight?" asks Marisa offensively. Sanae shakes her head and says "here, take this. It's an anti-venom. It should protect you too from the poisonous flowers." Marisa looks at Sanae suspiciously and sniffs the contents of the vial, then gulps it without hesitation, then asks "and who are we fighting here?" Sanae asks "you really don't know?" Marisa tips her hat, then smiles at Sanae and says "so the knight's here, huh?" Sanae nods, then flies toward Marisa, shouts "take cover!" then lies on her stomach on top of the cave's entrance. Marisa looks at her curiously and asks "cover? From what?" The entrance to the cave bursts into flame, sending large chunks of stone flying in different directions. The small tremor causes Marisa so fall on her face, but she quickly recovers. Rubbing her nose, she gets up and asks "what the heck was THAT!?" In front of them, the crystal knight hovers in the air, ready to attack, but Kyo comes quickly from behind and strikes him with his energy shield, followed by Medicine and Luna, who shoots multi-colored daggers and poison clouds at him. Sanae gets up and shouts "after him!" The knight flies away to the open fields, where countless poisonous flowers bloom. He hovers above the flowers as he looks on to Aya and Momiji, both guarding any possible escape routes for him. Marisa smiles and says "alright guys, let's finish this quickly and set Reimu's mind at ease!" Kyo shouts "now you get it!"
At the Hakurei Shrine, Yukari looks inside the vacuuming gap and says "fu fu fu~! This is going to be very~ interesting." Mima shouts "hey! This isn't funny! I better go in and get them!" Yukari shouts "no! If you enter now, you'll shatter the entire barrier in a heart-beat. There's a reason why I specifically said 'only two can enter', remember?" Mima sighs and like Suwako before, she says "never as planned, dammit!" Kanako, who is forcefully washing Suwako's mouth out with soap, turns to Mima, releasing Suwako and threateningly says "watch it, young lady, or you'll be next!" Mima covers her mouth with her hands, then a large explosion and Reimu's angry shout at Ail startles all of them. Yukari feels something is wrong and shouts "hey, you two!? Can you hear me!?"
Inside the barrier, Renko and Maribel looks around, both hugging each other and trembling. Around them, various gaps like Yukari's and Ail's are visible, some blue, some green and very few with a sickly yellow color. "M-M-Mary~!" nervously says Renko. Maribel replies "R-Renko... wh-what just happen? Where are we?" Yukari's voice echoes all around them "can you two hear me?" Maribel immediately shouts back "miss Yukari, help us!" Yukari asks "Renko, do you remember what Mima and I talked about?" Renko shouts back "yes! But I want to get out of here... I feel sick in here!" Yukari replies "remember what I told Mima. Now, you HAVE to close those gaps you see around you in the right order. First green, then blue, then yellow, understand?" Maribel asks "what are you talking about?" Renko says "Yukari told us how to fix the barrier, so now *urk* we have to fix it ourselves." Maribel asks "Renko, are you ok?" Renko replies "this place is making me feel sick." Maribel says "then go back outside and let miss Mima come in." Renko quickly says "no, Mary! If either one of us goes out, we both do, and it'll take Yukari another day before she can open this place up again. We have to do this now, Mary." Maribel nods and says "then what should I do?" Renko says "you should be able to close the gaps, since you have already helped Ail before with HIS gaps." Maribel remembers the energy flow she felt every time she helped Ail. She concentrates her energy and feels just like when she helps Ail. She looks at Renko and with determination, she says "ok Renko. Tell me how to do this!" Renko says "both you and I will concentrate on closing the gaps, but we must do so in a specific order. First the green ones, then the blue ones, and last, those yellow ones." Maribel holds on to Renko and flies with her to the gaps. Renko says "concentrate on closing them. Let's start with that first green one." Maribel flies with Renko, close to the large green gap to their left, then extends her hand, getting it close to it. She closes her eyes along with Renko's, who can feel the energy flowing through her as well, then slowly, the gap starts closing. After it closes up, Maribel opens her eyes and excitedly shouts "we did it, we did it!" Yukari's voice echoes and says "congratulations! Now please, hurry! Somethings wrong out there... Ran's gonna need your help!"
From the bushes, Agava watches while Ail, Shinki, Alice and Budou whisper something to each other. Quietly, she waits, then notices Flandre on the bushes beside her own. "Flandre?" she whispers to herself, while staring at the blond vampire. She notices the angry expression on her as she looks straight at Ail. Agava hesitates, but something inside her gives her enough strength and courage to go straight to her. She walks closer, until she is just a few feet away, then whispers "Flandre?" Flandre aims her hand straight at Agava, who flinches and crouches to the ground shouting "please, don't shoot!" Flandre's face twists in anger upon looking at the shadow being and angrily shouts "YOU! After I'm done with big... with Ail, I'm coming after you!" Agava manages to ask "wh-why?" Flandre loses her temper, rushes to Agava, grabs her by the jacket and shouts directly at her face "thanks to you, I hurt Meiling! And thanks to HIM-!!!" Flandre notices Ail and all the other are gone. She scoffs and says "then I'll take care of YOU first after all." Agava trembles and says "don't blame him for something I did." Flandre gets shocked and releases Agava. She stares back at her and says "y-you're not going to trick me again!" Flandre opens her hand straight at Agava and says "first I'll break your head, then I'll break your arms, and your legs, and then, I'll deal with that Ail!" Agava whimpers, closing her eyes tightly, then says "fine... do your worse. Just don't blame that idiot anymore." Flandre stops from blowing Agava's head and asks "why are you protecting him? He's your enemy." Agava says "Flandre... I don't know why, but being with you... I don't know, but I think I've changed... for real." Flandre looks at her with disgust, but says nothing. "I was the one that caused you to lose control again, Flandre. I'm sorry." says Agava. Flandre now looks at her with curiosity as she continues her tale. "I made you read a spell, out of my desire to get rid of the charm inside me, that caused you to lose all control, and that's why you hurt that girl. So if you have to deal with someone..." Agava stands up and bravely prepares herself for the worst and shouts "you deal with ME!" Flandre hesitantly trembles, unable to decide whether or not to blow Agava to bits. She walks closer to Agava and says "I have decided I will not blow you up, but you'll have to be my playmate until I get bored of you."
Reimu flies just above Agava and Flandre, and spots Rumia watching from one of the trees, however she ignores them and continues her way. A sudden burst of energy sends chills down her spine, strengthening her resolve as she says "Budou's starting her offensive. Ail you idiot, what have you done!?" She flies straight through the gates to Makai without wasting another second. Agava, Flandre and even Rumia, feel the energy Reimu just felt, however, they fell another source. Agava looks at Flandre and says "there is one more thing I have to do before I can stay with you. Can you wait?" Flandre smiles and says "no. So I'll go along with you and play with whoever is using this much power." Agava smiles, then both she and Flandre fly toward the source of the energy. Rumia encases herself in darkness and follows them to the Nameless Hill, where a mighty battle is being waged.
The knight attacks with many spells, all non-elemental. Kyo blocks with his shield as Momiji tries to catch the knight off-guard, but he disperse another magical attack, sending Momiji flying back. Aya gets angry and charges at him, generating a small tornado behind her, but the knight swings his arm and knocks her far away. Kyo takes this chance to get close and engages in melee combat with the knight. Both are evenly matched, so Kyo backs away and says "I was hoping to save this one for later, but..." Kyo pulls out a spell card from the pocket in his black pants, surprising Momiji, who says "no fair~!" and Aya, who shouts "don't be all show, little man!" Kyo shouts "Flames of Elegance!" Kyo thrusts his sword in the air about 10 times per second, causing the tip to catch fire. The fire dances around, then spread into a group of at least 15 pairs of dancing flames, all homing on the knight as they continue to dance with each other. The knight tries to avoid the flames, but he makes a mistake, and one of the pairs strikes him right on the chest, giving Luna and Medicine the chance to attack. Medicine spits out a green cloud of smoke that ignites as soon as it touches the fire around the knight, then Luna swings her blade, sending the knight straight down to the ground, however the knight keeps afloat, just inches away from the ground, expels a burst of energy that douses the fires, then laughs as it flies back up. Aya shouts "that was a good try... now what!?"
Marisa and Sanae stand on the ground, both preparing a spell each. Marisa says "those patterns... I've seen them before" as she watches the knight shoot more of his magic. Sanae snaps "concentrate!" Marisa says "oh, right!" From behind, Flandre shouts "Forbidden Barrage - Catadioptric!" Various bouncing blue danmaku orbs of different sizes overwhelm the knight, who immediately falls to the ground as soon as he's hit. He gets back up and immediately receives a 'Masters Spark' in the face, followed by Sanae's 'Orochi of Ancient Times'. After the attacks are done, then knight continues to stand, as if nothing even touched him. Both Marisa and Sanae gasp in shock, but then, from inside the armor, a high-pitched voice shouts "help! He~~lp! I can's get out! Someone get me out of here!" The knight's eyes glow red after staring at Flandre for some time, then an ominous voice echoes all over as it says "murderer~! You will pay for my brother's life!" Everyone present cover their ears, as the echoing voice make them feel as though their ears would explode at any time. Sanae shouts "LOOK OUT!" then pushes Marisa out of the way, as a large beam flies just past them at the speed of light. Flandre looks at the knight with a brave face, so the knight flies toward her, and in an instant, he has his hand around her neck. Agava shouts "what the-!? I'll save you Flandre!" She pulls out her spell card, but the knight knocks her back like she was nothing at all. Agava falls just past the poisonous flower fields, next to Rumia's feet. she spring up and shouts "Rumia! Please, I need more power! He's gonna kill her!" Rumia stares seriously at Agava, her eyes glowing crimson with intent."
Back inside the barrier, Maribel and Renko are just closing the last of the yellow gaps. After closing it, Maribel slowly descends and places Renko by her side, who immediately drops to the ground, holding her stomach. A violet gap opens in front of them as Yukari says "Maribel, Renko, thank you for your hard work. Now please, help me save my Ran!" Maribel asks "what? What's wrong with Ran?" She looks inside the gap and sees Ran in in a park of the outside world being chased by a multitude of people. Maribel gasps and shouts "miss Ran!" Renko gets up and jumps inside the gap, saying "don't just stand there, Mary!" Maribel follows Renko in, both landing right between Ran and the humans. One of them asks "what the hell?" Their leader says "more devilish work! I told you! The devil himself is upon us. We just show him we are powerful when we stand as one. Come and let us cleanse these demons!" The crowd cheers "YEAH!" As the people elaborate, Renko and Maribel rush to Ran, who sits limp next to the bathrooms. "Miss Ran!" shouts Maribel. "Are you ok?" Ran struggles to lift her head and says "I feel... so, so weak. I want to... to sleep." Renko inspects Ran, then pulls a dart out of her neck and says "tranquilizer." Maribel looks on as the crowd of people get closer and asks "what do we do now?" The crowd stops as various daggers rain from above. Renko looks up and shouts "CLOSE YOUR EYES!" A blinding flash incapacitates the entire crowd as Yukari falls down, grabs hold of Maribel's arm, opens a gap and shouts "get in!" Maribel and Renko grab hold of Ran and jump inside the gap with her, followed quickly by Yukari as the gap closes. Back safely in the shrine, Mima helps Maribel up, while Suwako and Kanako help Yukari, Renko and then Ran. Mima looks to the skies and says "it's almost dawn."
Inside Makai, Reimu and Ail meet face to face in the forest he helped restore. Reimu is beyond herself with rage, but manages to calmly say "you have messed too many lives today, Ail, and all for that youkai. Once we're done here, I'm sealing off Makai for good, and you inside." Ail replies "Reimu, you have the wrong culprit! Just go to the Nameless Hill. You'll find the knight there!" Reimu scoffs and says "again with that. Ail, the energy disturbance is coming from here. More specifically, from Budou herself. I can see it, you know? She's just a few yards away right now." Ail pulls out a spell card and shouts "I'm not letting you NEAR HER, Reimu! Earth Sign - Forestall Heartbeat!" The heart-shaped formation of leaves and white colored danmaku that beat like a heart go straight to Reimu, followed by a pair of lasers that trap her in the middle of it all. Reimu smiles, pulls a spell card and shouts "Barrier - Extending Barrier!" Her spell card pushes back Ail's attacks as if nothing at all, then strike Ail with force. Reimu thinks she's won, but Ail surprises her with a pair of white lasers, blasting her back against a tree. Ail gets up and says "you're tired, Reimu. Just stop this now. You need your strength to fight the knight." Reimu gets up, rubs the back of her head and says "Ail, you're really pushing my limits. Stand down, now." Ail pulls another spell card, but Reimu already declares hers as she pulls out her own, shouting "Wild Exorcism Dance!" Ail watches as she dances, then spots the many charms headed his way. He gasps and quickly shouts "Light Sign - Holy DANCE!!!" Just as the charms reach him, his orb of light prevents them from touching him directly, however, after enough charms cling on to the orb, both spells cancel each other out. Reimu hears an explosion coming from Gensokyo and shouts "NO~!" Ail wonders what is wrong with her. "Why is she screaming toward the gate?" he thinks. Reimu turns around with her eyes covered in tears and shouts "you idiot! Gensokyo... it's going to be destroyed because of your stubbornness." Ail shouts "Reimu, you are under a SPELL!!" Reimu growls and says "you love for that youkai has blinded you, Ail. You are allowing Gensokyo to be destroyed." Resolve fills Reimu's eyes when she says "I am going to seal away all your powers. You have meddled with Gensokyo's affairs for the LAST TIME!" Ail gasps as Reimu pulls out three spell cards. She looks at him with determination in her eyes as the spell cards in her hand glow pink. Ail pulls out another spell card and says "you refuse to listen, even though I speak the truth. Reimu... Good bye, Reimu."
Reimu shouts "Fantasy Heaven!" and immediately, 7 white orbs surround her. Ail is about to declare his spell, when Reimu, who's speed increases considerably, punches him right in the face, knocking the spell card right out of his hand. She punches him again, then kicks him to the air where she follows with a spin-kick. On the ground, Ail tries to recover, but Reimu strikes him with her gohei, then stomps on him and says "this is it, Ail. After this, you'll be just another powerless half youkai... WHOA-!" Ail manages to push her away, but Reimu skilfully touches his hand, activating the last orb. Ail panics and runs to his spell card, running away from the large amulets headed his way. The amulets are fast, but Ail is faster, and manages to grab his spell card just in time, but trips and falls. He manages to turn around with a smile, ready to declare his spell, but his smile vanishes when he hears "PAPA! HAKUREI SIS! Don't fight! Don't-" A terrible feeling of despair fills Ail's heart as he watches the amulets intended for him strike Budou on the back. Reimu opens her eyes and gasps, then in a terrified tone of voice, she says "no! This is too strong for her!" Ail wants to shout to the heavens, but his breath fails him, watching with horror as Budou's body vanishes right before his very eyes. He gets up and holds her. She looks at him with fear in her violet eyes and whispers "papa... I'm cold" Ail closes her eyes and says "shh, shh, it's ok. Just sleep now." He manages to encase her inside a peculiar barrier that looks like a large ice cube, glowing blue, just as her body completely vanishes, leaving only the little white bow she wore on her teal hair on Ail's hands.
Shinki arrives just as Budou vanishes, despair filling her heart. Ail kneels on the ground, holding tightly on to Budou's bow as he remembers something his mother told him. Ayalina's voice echoes in his mind "oh, that poor woman." Ail's child voice asks "mom, why is that woman on TV crying so much?" Ayalina's voice replies "because she lost something very important, my son." Ail asks "what is that?" Ayalina replies "her child..." Ail replies "ohh... But why does she cry so much, mom?" Ayalina replies "there is no greater pain to a father, or mother, than to lose their own child, Anilan." Ail says "umm~ But... why?" Ayalina replies "I pray you never have to go through something like that, but someday, my child, you will understand." Ayalina's voice fades as Ail comes back to reality. He fells anger and hatred toward Reimu. His thoughts dwell on causing her harm... killing her even, but Byakuren's words reach him, saying "Whatever happens, understand her feelings too. Promise me that much... promise me!" He is crying so much by now, he can barely see his own hands. He places the bow on his chest and starts to sob. Shinki kneels next to him and gently places her hand on his shoulder. Reimu gets closer, almost crying herself, then softly says "Ail... I'm sorry. I... Look... the energy she was emanating is gone now. I can restore Gensokyo now." Ail continues to stare blankly toward the spot where Budou disappeared, his tears continuing to flow without pause. His bracelet screeches so loud, the echo reaches all the way to Pandemonium, and a red image of the crystal knight, holding Flandre by the neck, hovers just above the crystal. Shinki and Reimu cover their ears as the screeching continues without any sign of stopping, however Ail continues to stare as if nothing else is happening around him.
Siki and Komachi watch in awe as Ail's ghost half glows pure white, then zips away toward Makai. Komachi says "something horrible just happen, Siki-sama. Siki closes her eyes and says "a mis trial." Ail's ghost half reaches Ail and immediately merges with him. The card Ail had in his hand just before glows blue, so Reimu picks it up and says "he was willing to give his life for her..." She inspects the card and says "but this..." Ail says with a cracking voice "go and find Sanae and Marisa... the culprit is with them." Reimu looks at him surprised and asks "Ail? Are you alright?" Ail repeats "go and find Sanae and Marisa... the culprit is with them." Reimu continues to stand there so Shinki shouts "didn't you hear!? Go! they need you!" Reimu concerned asks "but what about..." Shinki shouts "JUST GO!" Reimu leaves back to Gensokyo a little hesitant, but as soon as she exits the speedy gate, she can see the energy disturbance all around. She gasps in horror as she realizes that Ail was telling the truth. She hyperventilates and says "but... but... I am... shrine maiden... how...?" The energy disturbance grows stronger, helping Reimu snap out of her horrible realization, so she flies up and immediately heads to the Nameless Hill.
Back at the Nameless Hill, Rumia's eyes glow crimson as she says "you have proven to me that you really have changed. I release 12% of your former powers, for the time being, to prove your worth. Remember my warning, little shadow. It would be very wise not to take it lightly." Agava nods as she kneels down in front of Rumia. Her body grows to that of a human teenager, having 14% of her powers back. She smiles at Rumia, who, for a moment, though Agava would throttle her, but Agava only bows and says "thank you." Immediately, she shouts "Shadow Morph" and turns into a shadow bird. She flies straight toward the knight, trailing massive shadow orbs as soon as she is in range of him. Stills as a bird, she surrounds Flandre with her shadow body and says "I'm going to save you, Flan." The massive shadow balls smash on the knight, who releases Flandre, allowing Agava to take her away, turning back to normal after 20 seconds. She places Flandre on the ground and says "I'll be right back!" Aya kicks the knight back to the ground, where Momiji and Marisa strike him with their weapons, sending him flying toward Luna, who slices half of the helmet, then kicks it toward Kyo, how uses his shield to smash him back down, where Sanae places many pink charms on him, preventing him from moving from that spot. Agava flies close and pulls our another spell card, then shouts "Shadow Sign - Binding Darkness" Everything turns pitch-black around Agava and the knight for a few seconds, then, after the darkness clears, massive black orbs surround the knight, then all constrict against him, cracking open a small compartment on the chest of the armor. After the spell is done, Reimu, who is flying just above all, looking in disbelief, shouts "NO! This can't be! But, the energies! The disturbances! I VAPORIZED YOU!" Sanae shouts "Reimu, calm down. What happened!? ... Reimu?" Marisa flies toward her friend and says "now it's not the time, ze! Go down there and finish this!" Agava flies away as Reimu, accompanied by Marisa, floats down next to the knight. From inside the armor, a high-pitched voice shouts "get me out of he~re!" Another voice echoes from the armor itself, saying "just... finish it..." Reimu looks to Flandre and signals her to get close. Reimu places an amulet on the chest of the knight, revealing a crystal the beats like a heart. Reimu says "Flandre, break that." Flandre immediately grabs the eye of the crystal and clenches her hand, cracking the crystal and causing the amulet to explode, shattering the crystal into pieces. Again, from inside, a high-pitched voice shouts "what's going on out there!? Get me out of here, dammit!!!"
Reimu stares at the armor while the others surround her, looking awestruck at Reimu's face. She looks as though she wants to shout something. Reimu snarls, then angrily pulls the armor apart in pieces, finally removing the torso and revealing inside a fairy similar to Lily White, only dressed in black, instead. Reimu grabs the fairy by her dress and pulls her close to her face and shouts "SPEAK!" Marisa gasps "Lily Black?" The fairy sighs and says "yeah, yeah, you caught me." Reimu shakes her and shouts "SPEAK, you miserable fairy! How did you do that to me without me realizing it!?" Lily Black pouts and says "I used an ancient holy spell that diverts energy flow from it's actual source. I didn't want you finding me out, but... here you are, heh heh." Reimu tosses the fairy toward the poisonous flowers and rushes to her angrily, but Sanae grabs her from behind, locking her arms around Reimu's shoulder and using all her strength, just to keep her away from Lily Black. Reimu screams in a rage, then calms down, kneeling on the ground, breathing heavily. Aya rescues the fairy from the poisonous flowers and says "you have a lot to answer for, little fairy." Marisa crouches next to Reimu and asks "Reimu, what's wrong? Why are you so upset?" Reimu sobs and says "I killed her! Ail told me, but I didn't listen. I killed her!" Marisa asks "what are you talking about!?" Sanae gasps and shouts "oh no!" then flies away as fast as she can. Marisa gasps and asks "Reimu *gulp* who did you kill?" Reimu launches herself to Marisa, crying uncontrollably as she hugs her friend for support. Marisa sighs and pats her back as Kyo sits on the ground feeling defeated. Luna kneels beside him, joined by medicine and Agava, then Kyo says "we failed... after all of this... we failed?" Agava asks "what? We beat the knight... why is everyone so sad?" Rumia comes and pulls her shoulder and quietly shakes her head, then Flandre says "remember your promise!" Agava nods then says "alright then. Let's go." Agava stands next to Flandre and notices she's now two feet taller than her and says "hey... you should call me senior now, don't you think?" As they fly away along with Rumia, Flandre says "no~. You call me senior,and I'll call you playmate." Agava replies "aww, come on!"
Sanae arrives to the Makai forest, where Ail sits against a tree, placing his head on his knees while Shinki sits beside him, brushing his hair with her hand, comforting him. She gets closer to them and spots Budou's bow in Ail's hand, then start to cry as well, kneeling beside him, brushing the bow in his hand with the tip of her fingers. Daytime reaches Makai by the time Ail and Sanae calm down. Shinki stands next to Yumeko, who came looking for Shinki, worried for her lady. Shinki says "I'm sorry Ail, I tried to hold on to her, but she got so strong. She freed herself from my hand, saying something about your energy being eaten and was flying so fast... I couldn't keep up." Ail faintly says "it's alright, Shinki." By now, Cirno, Sara and Alice arrive at the forest. Cirno asks "you, blond maid! Did you hurt Ail!?" Yumeko smiles wickedly and says "no, you little runt!" Cirno gets close and asks "Ail, green miko!? Why are you so sad? Did they hurt you?" Ail and Sanae manage to smile and both pat Cirno on the head and Ail says "it's alright Cirno. It will take time, but we'll be alright." Sanae sighs and says "lady Moriya and lady Yasaka will be quite mad. I better go." Ail stands up and helps Sanae up, then says "let's go then." Shinki says "Ail, I'm really sorry..." Ail smiles and says "it's alright Shinki. It's not your fault." Alice tries to divert the conversation by asking "so she didn't seal us in here?" Ail says "I told you she wouldn't." Ail and Sanae look at Shinki, bow their heads, then smile at her, then Ail says "time to go back now."
Two days later:
At Byakuren's temple, Ail meets a woman with orange-yellow hair with black stripes and golden yellow eyes with a giant cloth circle attached to her back and wearing a lotus ornament on her head. She wears a burgundy-orange-white dress with a tiger pattern by the abdomen, white frilly pants and black shoes. He politely asks "is miss Hijiri here?" The woman looks to him and asks "are you Ail?" Ail nods as the woman slowly walks closer to him. He says "I want to thank her for helping me so much." The woman replies "she's very weak right now. She can't have visitors." Ail looks down and says "ah... C-could you tell her that I am sorry for getting her mixed up in all of this?" As he finishes his sentence, the woman strikes Ail with her claws right across his face and calmly says "lady Hijiri helped you out of the kindness from her heart, as well as all you friends. Apologizing to her like that is like spitting at her face, mocking her sacrifice!" Ail looks at her with his left eye, since he can't open his right, due to the stinging pain of her claw mark. She says "this curse will follow you until you understand all the sacrifices made for your sake are not to be taken lightly. All came from the heart, mister Ail, and you have to understand this. I'll tell lady Hijiri you were here, but if you want to insult her sacrifice, then you do so on your own." The marks on his face start bleeding, causing panic to Ail. The blood stops as soon as it started, and when Ail looks back up, the woman is gone. He walks away, holding his face in pain, back to his house.
At the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu stands next to Ail, who finishes telling her about the claw marks. She smiles and says "I see. That's Shou Toramaru, and she's quite loyal to Byakuren." Ail says "you don't say?" There is a moment of awkward silence between them for a moment, then Reimu starts to cry and says "Ail, I'm so sorry! If I had just listened..." Ail sighs and calmly says "you did what you thought was right, Reimu." Reimu shouts "Ail, I did something terrible! Hate me, shout at me, GET ANGRY! Don't just act like it's nothing!" Ail calmly replies "all those thoughts crossed my mind, Reimu. But I could never hate you. You've been there for me and Kyo since the very beginning, in you own, special way, that is." He turns to her and says "besides, hating you will not bring Budou back... but I know something else that will." Reimu looks at him confused, then wipes the tears off her eyes and asks "what?" He replies "Shinki tells me there is a Makai parallel to hers, however to access it, I need to go to the outside and look around a well known icy mountain." Reimu looks at him surprised, then says "the spell... it was meant to seal your powers away. She couldn't have..." Ail shouts "there is hope, Reimu!" Reimu turns her sight away, then Ail says "besides, if there should be someone apologizing for all this is me..." Again, Reimu looks at him quite puzzled. Ail turns away from her and says "all of this happened because of me, Reimu. You see, after I helped Renko and Maribel enter, Yukari and I saw certain barrier on Maribel, so we decided to try and open them. What a stupid decision that was." Reimu asks "is that why she can use those heart bullets?" Ail nods and says "the thing is, I stopped when Yukari admitted to me she wanted to experiment with Maribel and her powers, but when she followed me during that incident with Tenshi in the Heavens, I accidentally placed a gap in her heart, and couldn't close it. She absorbed enough magic to have an endless supply herself, and that's not all. After Makai, Shinki's power went inside of her, giving her even more power. That's why she's flying like a pro without any practice or anything." Reimu shouts "Ail... that's so irresponsible!" Ail continues "then there was that disturbance in the gate back here that took us to the future... all because she has so much magic in her.... Anyway, after the goddesses possessed the two girls, somehow she And Renko shared some of that power, so it's only a matter of time before Renko gains abilities of her own.
Reimu smacks Ail at the back of his head. He laughs and says "I'm not done, Reimu. Yukari and I had a little conversation after I came back from that future and realized my bracelet is... or was, somehow connected to Maribel, so it's been her powers that have been warning us about all of these events. Now, only the godly blessings remain in here." Reimu asks "does she know?" Ail says "I told her yesterday, so she closed that gap on her own. She lost those cat-ears in the process, but she was just so mad that I didn't tell her about that before, she just snorted at me." Reimu says "you're lucky that wasn't me." Ail laughs then says "if I hadn't done that, Reimu... *sniffle* Budou would have never become a youkai, we would have never been to Makai, that knight would have never found a way here... I'm sorry for everything, Reimu." The claw-marks start bleeding again, mixing his tears with the blood. Reimu says "stop regretting everything, Ail. You won't be able to live with yourself like that. Besides, without Budou, you would have never experienced that love you shared, Maribel would probably be whining about how she doesn't have powers like ours, and Agava would have probably stayed the same wicked little monster. Add to all of that, you showed me the love you have for Gensokyo is second to none. You even helped save us from a horrible future." The bleeding stops as Ail's eyes fill with determination and purpose, then says "yes, you're right. Besides, if I didn't do it, fate would have done it for us anyway, right?" Reimu chuckles along with Ail, then asks "so, when are you leaving?" Ail quickly replies "tomorrow."
The next morning, Cirno, Orin, Marisa, Sanae, Reimu, Yukari, Kanako, Suwako, Maribel, Renko, Mima, Kyo, Luna and Medicine all wait for Ail by the Hakurei Shrine. Ail walks up the stairs wearing a white mask that covers his entire face, except for his left eye, and an old-looking brown cape that looks thick. He looks at all of them and says "thank you all for everything you have done. I truly appreciate it." Kyo says "good luck, buddy." Ail bows, then Cirno and Orin both rush to hug him. Marisa tips her hat to him, Maribel and Renko walk to him and Maribel says "I thought about it and decided I want to thank you." Ail asks "why?" She answers "because thanks to you I have all these wonderful powers. Yes, many bad things happened before, but now that I know about this, I can help and control this." Ail says "I see... I'm sorry to have kept it a secret." Maribel then says "oh, look at what I can do now!" She magically grows cat ears and a tail, then magically takes them away. Ail laughs and says "that's a nice trick.!" Renko adds "I'll be looking for my own ability now. Hopefully it's something subtle, you know?" Ail smiles, although his smile is hidden by the mask. He says "you two are so different, yet so alike." Mima gets close to him and says "if you need help out there, use our mind link to let me know, and I'll come and help you, alright?" Ail nods as Yukari opens the gap to a small village next to the mountain. He's about to enter when Sanae shouts "hold it! You're not going ANYWHERE without me!" Ail looks at her surprised and says "Sanae, this might be too dangerous and-" "Zip it" says Sanae. "Besides, I have lady Yasaka's and lady Moriya's divine protection, and I miss Budou as much as you!" Suwako jumps to them and says "you may act like a mother and father but-" Kanako knocks Suwako out of the way, grabs Ail by the shirt and says "if you dare play 'husband' with her, I'll personally kill you!" Ail sweats as Sanae blushes and pushes the goddesses away, scolding them both. From the shrine stairs come Youmu and Yuyuko. Yuyuko walks to Ail as fast as she can, crying as she did, then kisses him on his left eye and says "come back alive, Ail. Please come back alive!" Youmu quietly stands and listens to Ail respond "of course I will. That's a promise... but why-?" Yuyuko shushes him, then points him to the gap to where Sanae is standing next to. He walks to her, nods, then both head inside the gap. Yukari closes it and says "I have such a strange feeling... I've never felt like this for a human before." Reimu says "that's because I've never left Gensokyo like that." Yukari looks at Reimu, hugs her and says "don't go~!"
That day, Maribel and Renko visit Yukari's house to check up on Ran. They arrive through Yukari's gap, startling Ran as they come out of it, shouting "hello~! Miss Ran!?" Maribel walks straight toward Ran and asks "miss Ran, how are you feeling? Are you alright? Nothing wrong?" Ran yawns then says "I'm alright, miss Maribel. You don't have to worry so much." Maribel sighs with relief and says "good. I was so worried." Renko adds "but you don't look that well to me!" Ran says "it's that tranquilizer... It's effects still haven't worn off completely." Chen walks into the room and says in a commanding tone "don't bother miss Ran!" Yukari comes from inside her gap and says "Chen, that's no way to speak to our guests. They are just as worried about Ran as you are!" Chen gasps and bows her head, then says "I-I'm sorry." Maribel smiles and says "it's alright, miss Chen." Renko adds "we didn't mean to worry you." Renko, Ran and Yukari sit by the table while Chen and Maribel prepare some snacks at the kitchen. Renko looks at Yukari and asks "lady Yukari, why was Ran all by herself in the outside world?" From the kitchen Maribel asks "yeah, I'm curious about that as well." Yukari casually says "the barrier doesn't only work from the inside, you know. If it was that simple, we wouldn't have needed your help in the first place." Both Maribel and Renko say "oh" then silence. Maribel and Chen place the snacks and tea on the table and as everyone takes some tea and cookies, Maribel asks "lady Yukari? What about my powers?" Yukari says "don't worry, you won't lose them. You'll just stop gaining more." Maribel then says "ok, that's good, but... Do you feel even the slightest guilty for doing all of this to me?" Yukari smiles and says "fu fu fu fu, regret is for those who doubt themselves."
The End...?
Characters, spell card and scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
Ail, Kyo, Agava, Luna, Budou and their spell cards were created by Willie G.R. (any similarities are strictly coincidental)
Assistance with the creation of this chapter and Kyo's spell card by snapshot 2010
SEP 20 2009
written by
Willie G.R.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
