Another Misplaced Sukima P-16

And finally, Alice and Yuki made up. Yuki has come back to normal, and Alice it at peace with herself. A party was held that day in Alice's house with all of her Makai friends. It took some doing, but Luize managed to convince Sara to join in, even for just a little while. Yuki promised never to call Luize a 'fat hag' again; unless she wanted to play. After the party was over and Shinki and her children left, Alice felt a little lonely, but she reminded herself that from now on, she could visit them whenever she wanted. She is also expecting surprise visits by Yuki and Mai as well.

Kyo and Momiji train hard each day, however, even though they train by the waterfall where the tengu live, Kyo hasn't seen Luna at all. Medicine has stayed in touch with Kyo and has taken to visit the Youkai Mountain a lot more, playing all sorts of games with the tengu there. Suika found out about Kyo's loss to Momiji, thanks to a shady report in Aya's Bunbunmaru Newspaper, and has spread the word far and wide. Until his training with Momiji is done, he'll have to endure Suika's constant taunting. Momiji sees this as a good chance to teach Kyo some humility, and to help him learn control. Even though Aya and Luna haven't been seen, her newspaper is still being printed, and always, there is at least one article on Kyo's own training. Kyo has sworn, next time he sees Aya, he's going to sit on her back until she begs for mercy.

Sanae was pretty angry at Ail for not telling her about the first event happening, but after Ail explained what happened, she forgives him, and rather quickly. Budou and Suwako spent all that time rummaging through Ail's kitchen and found a golden colored cockroach, which Suwako's hat inexplicably ate. Even Suwako herself was so surprised, she tossed the hat away, thinking it had been possessed, even though she was a holy deity, a.k.a. goddess. Budou was brave enough to look inside the hat and noticed the roach was inside a small pocket inside the hat itself. Suwako also found many items she though she had lost long ago after finding the hat's inside pocket. After leaving Ail's house, Budou asked to stay with Sanae and Suwako for a few days. Ail didn't want her to go, but she was so enthusiastic about it, he COULDN'T say no to her, and so she left with them. When he entered his house again, he looked around and felt all alone.

Winter comes with it's chilling winds, covering the entire land of Gensokyo in a white cold blanket. Agava reunites with Rumia again, after recovering her eye, and although she claims she still wants to destroy Gensokyo, in her chest she feels a pain she's never felt before whenever she thinks of the few, yet fun innocent games with Flandre at the Scarlet Mansion. Rumia just asks her "is that so!?" every time she claims to be nothing but evil. This frustrates Agava to no ends, however the confusion in her mind keeps her from trying anything at the moment. She and Rumia now hide around the Forest of Magic, or the small forest beside the Hakurei Shrine's mountain, waiting for winter to end.

Ever since vomiting that large amount of blood, Meiling has been scared to eat like she used to, added to the fact that she has also been losing her appetite. Sakuya has asked her about it, but she continues to assure her that everything is just fine. She hasn't had another fit like the one before since that day, but she prefers not to give THAT a reason to happen again. Day after day in the cold winter months, she stands guard at the gate, suffering the harsh cold weather like never before. She now feels she's becoming weak, and that all of this suffering is punishment for her being so weak. She tries to train like she used to, but her body continues to fail her, frustrating her and making her feel less of a youkai.

Cirno spends most of her winter days with Letty. Sometimes Daiyousei will join them, but she constantly leaves with the other fairies to play pranks on humans, or even other youkai. Playing pranks on youkai does cost them a few days of pain, but for the love of fun, they continue to do so. "Letty... I can feel it again." says Cirno. Letty chuckles and says "Cirno, I told you it's probably nothing. Maybe you're eating something you shouldn't." Cirno looks at Letty with a confused expression and says "perhaps that tasty brown drink at the shrine." Letty giggles and says "see? You probably had too much and your body is reacting to it." They continue to walk down the frozen paths of Gensokyo when Cirno replies "you sure know a lot, Letty!" Although Cirno has no exceptional magic powers, even claiming to be the strongest in Gensokyo when she clearly isn't as strong as she claims, the little ice fairy feels something odd in the atmosphere, but being just a young fairy, nobody seems to listen to her, and she convinces herself that nothing is wrong after all.

At the Netherworld, Youmu battles an unknown threat, clad in a crystal colored armor. Although her sword can penetrate the armor with ease, whoever is inside is unaffected by Youmu's attacks tot he torso. Youmu's face is covered in blood. A cut on her cheek, her forehead, under her right eye, and another on her head, where her black ribbon used to be. All done by a three-prong long spear. Youmu is weak, her ghost half barely able to keep afloat. She uses her long sword to keep on her feet, while she uses her short sword to defend herself for as long as she can. Yuyuko realizes Youmu is in danger, and flies as fast as she can to her. "Yuyuko-sama... I must protect... prote-" The knight thrusts Youmu on the stomach with his spear just as she drops down her arm due to exhaustion. She coughs some blood just as the knight flicks her off the spear back to the ground. A barrage of colorful butterflies strike the knight, taking him by surprise, and momentarily knocking him to the ground. Yuyuko goes to Youmu and holds her head up, but as she tries to pick her up, she feels Youmu's body is limp, her head falling victim to gravity, with nothing to resist it's pull. "Youmu? Youmu!? You must wake up now, Youmu!" calls Yuyuko in vain, lightly shaking the half-human body of Youmu. She sobs as she gently places Youmu's head back down, and turns to face the vicious knight. Her eyes glow red as she angrily glares at the knight. Before he is able to lunge at her, Yuyuko sends a colossal amount of colorful butterflies his way. He tries to spin his spear to block the butterflies, but he only manages to stop a few of the thousands and thousands of butterflies headed his way. He gasps in horror after realizing he was defeated, so he runs as fast as he can to the gate back to the world of the living. Before he could escape, he is struck by so many butterflies, he looked like a cloud of dirt. He manages to escape just as the butterflies impact all over, destroying his lance, and almost destroying the ground as well. Just outside the gate, the knight flies away so fast, the Prismriver think they were looking at a shooting star. The three sisters look at each other, then shrug and continue to practice with their instruments.

Yuyuko's eyes continue to glow bright red as she floats from one side to the other around Youmu's body. Even Youmu's ghost half is starting to fade away now. There is time to save Youmu, but Yuyuko is in a berserk state and isn't thinking straight. An ominous wind blows around Yuyuko as she stares at Youmu's body. She stops floating around and bends down, reaching again for Youmu's head. From behind them, a violet gap opens up, and Yuyuko attacks it without hesitation, firing a thin magenta beam, followed by 15 butteries. Another gap opens in front, and again, Yuyuko quickly attacks with a barrage of butterflies. Five more purple gaps open up at the same time around them. Yuyuko looks around nervously, waiting for something to come out of either gap, but a sixth gap opens behind her, followed by a white laser that knocks her to the ground. While she's on the ground, Ail jumps out from one of the first 5 gaps and lands next to Youmu, immediately using a strange green energy that emanates from within him, and goes inside her. Quietly, Yuyuko gets up and looms behind Ail, glaring at him, raising her arms above her head, preparing another attack, but she quickly stops when she notices Youmu's ghost half turning a bit more solid, and Youmu moaning softly. She swoops down and hovers next to Ail, placing her face as close to Youmu's as she possibly could. Youmu slightly opens her eyes and sighs "Yu--yuko--s-sama". Yuyuko's eyes turn back to their normal maroon color as she drops and kneels down next to Youmu and passes her fingers through her hair, shushing her and saying "no, don't talk now." She looks at Ail and asks "why are you here, and when did you get here?" Ail smiles and says "a little while ago... you went berserk and gave that knight a good scare. After that, you attacked me as well." Yuyuko gasps, but Ail immediately shakes his head and says "don't worry about it. Youmu is safe now, you are back to normal, and all is well again." Yuyuko stares at him and asks "did you know what was going on?" Ail smiles again as he meets her eyes and says "I actually came here to visit, since Budou is still with Sanae and the goddesses. I arrived just as you filled the skies with those butterflies." Yuyuko stares at Youmu now and says "he fought dirty. She tried her best and more, but he attacked from the back. Never the front." Ail smiles and grabs Youmu, who's injury is now healed, then heads to Hakugyokurou followed closely by Yuyuko, who holds Youmu's ghost half.

At the Moriya shrine, Suwako is entertaining Budou by diving down underground and running around, making it look like her hat is scurrying all around the snow, creating fun shapes as she did. Budou giggles and says "make a flower, big sis!" Suwako smirks and says "one snow flower, coming up!" She jumps high on to the air and dives down to the ground, as if diving underwater. Her hat moves around quickly, making Budou giggle and clap her hands. Suwako pops from underground and bows, then from the shrine, Sanae calls "Budou~! Look what gramma got for you~!" Beside Sanae, with a forced smile, accompanied by a suppressed scowl, Kanako holds a large plate with grapes on it. Budou gasps with excitement and immediately flies to Kanako. She stops in front of Kanako, smiles and says "gramma Yasaka, may I have the plate, please?" Kanako is unable to keep annoyed by Sanae's comment and smiles while blushing and saying "such a polite young child! Here you go." After handing the plate to Budou, and watching her sit on the snow, eating one grape after another so contently, Kanako's nose bleeds a little. Sanae says "my, she sure loves those grapes, doesn't she?" Suddenly, Kanako grabs Sanae's right ear and says "oh yes, momma Sanny... now, what was that you called me?" Sanae laughs as she says "ow, ow, hahaha, I'm sorry! Ouch, hahaha." Suwako watches them for a moment, then smiles and says "ahh, what a tender mommy-granny moment." Both stare angrily at Suwako, but the clever goddess points at Budou, who was also watching them. Suwako smirks and says "now, now. Please be a good example for little Budou, you two."

At the Hakurei Shrine, Maribel cries because her cat ears disappeared during the night, so Mima is trying to make another apple that will turn her back into a cat-girl. Renko keeps telling her friend "just let it go~. Besides, isn't flying and shooting those hearts enough?" Maribel clenches her fists and swings them beside herself while pouting and saying "I don't wanna. I want to have cute cat ears too!" Reimu watches them through a small gap on her door. Her face is pale, her eyes look a little dim, and she's sweating a lot. She closes the door to her room again and thinks "I must meditate some more... these feelings, this sensation... it's just too much. Why am I feeling like this? What's with all these dreams of Ail and Budou, and those eyes...?" Reimu sits on the very center of the room, crosses her legs and expands her arms. She takes a deep breath, and as she exhales, a vision of Budou looking sadly at Ail, who was crying by her feet fills her mind. From behind both of them, Reimu herself comes and and strikes them both with her bare hands. Everything turns too bright for her to see the rest, but all she hears is wicked laughter from a woman's voice she's never heard before, and a large pair of aquamarine eyes looking at her. Reimu gasps and holds her chest as she breathes heavily, sweating so much that it drips down to the floor. She bends down until her forehead touches the floor, then slowly gets back up. The excessive sweating stops, her color returns, and Reimu is able to stand up. She takes another deep breath and says "I must save them... is that it?" From outside, she hears Marisa being as loud as ever in the living room, cheering Maribel up with fake stories of herself beating Reimu. Reimu places her hand on her forehead and thinks "she's being annoying. I better do something about that." She comes out of her room and says "Marisa, you are being loud!" Marisa replies "is that any way to greet a guest, ze...? Oy, Reimu... what's the matter?" Marisa immediately notices something's wrong with Reimu, but Reimu smiles and says "nothing. Just feeling a little sick, but I'm ok now." Marisa stares suspiciously at Reimu for a moment. Maribel and Renko look at Marisa,then at Reimu as well, but then look to each other and shrug. Reimu smiles and says "stop looking at me like that. I told you, I'm fine." Marisa looks away and says "fine, but if you feel something's wrong, you tell me right away, zei." Reimu quietly nods then asks "so, anybody else want some tea?"

Other than those events, and some minor incidents involving three mischievous fairies and a doll maker, winter was quiet and calm. Budou asked Sanae to let her go back to Ail's house on her own, and so she did. She returned to Ail's house on her own during a light snowstorm. Ail was proud of her, of course, but though he'd give Sanae and the goddesses a piece of his mind when he saw them again, but then he noticed Suwako had been following Budou from underground the whole time. Both Suwako and Ail nod to each other before Suwako headed back home, where Kanako had a vengeance battle against her and Sanae for calling her gramma, taking advantage of Budou's presence. Although beaten, Suwako and Sanae continued to smile, admitting those were the best two weeks of their lives, even after the beating. Snowstorm after snowstorm, struck the land of Gensokyo over and over, so Ail used his powers to help humans, fairies and youkai alike, whose houses had been buried by the snow, their doors and windows frozen solid, or simply, helping those whose food supplies had run short find some more. Finally, on the last week of winter, when the snowstorms had subsided, and the roads were becoming visible again, Mima asked Renko and Maribel to get some ingredients from Eirin's clinic, however she didn't give them the money to pay. Thankfully, Ail was visiting Entei that day...

Eirin places a vial with some dark-blue colored liquid in it and says "that'll be 50 thousand yen, please." Renko and Maribel open their eyes widely in surprise, then Renko shouts "WHA~T!? Isn't that a little too much?" Eirin smiles and calmly says "the ingredients used to make this compound are exceedingly rare, and the work put into this, so it comes out just right, is very exhausting. 50 thousand yen. No less." Maribel and Renko look at each other quite worried. Maribel whispers to Renko "so did miss Mima give you the money?" Renko shakes her head and whispers back "look, why don't you just forget the whole thing?" Maribel whispers back "no way! There has to be something we can do!" Eirin continues to smile, however the atmosphere around her was getting dangerous, and it was just a matter of time before Renko and Maribel would overstay their welcome at the clinic. Maribel quickly asks "can we work for it?" Eirin ponders, but before she replies, from behind the two girls comes Ail and hands Eirin the money. "This should cover it, am I right?" asks Ail. Eirin smiles, rests her back on her chair and says "that'll do just fine. Been working your butt off, I see. No injuries?" Ail nods, then says "not one." Maribel happily gasps and exclaims "mister Ail! We haven't seen you by the shrine in some time!" Ail turns around with a grin on his face and says "well, Budou and I have been visiting early in the mornings." Renko asks "where did you get so much money?" Ail smiles and says "been helping out around a lot, and saving what I've earned." Eirin chuckles and says "ahh, the responsible parent." Ail turns around and glares at Eirin, then smiles and says "I guess you could say that." Maribel then asks "so where is little Budou." Before answering, Ail grabs the vial and hands it to Renko, then looks at Maribel and says "*sigh* she went to visit the Moriya Shrine again." Maribel smiles mischievously and says "oh, you miss her huh?" Ail blushes a little, and nods with a smile. Before they leave, Eirin says "come back soon, and remember to tell that evil spirit, that chemical is only good for three days."

Ail decides to escort Renko and Maribel back to the shrine, and they didn't mind the company at all. They talk about their winter days as they continue their way. They are about to exit the Bamboo Forest, when suddenly, a girl holding an eggplant colored umbrella with a large tongue sticking out, and an eye above the tongue springs out from the bamboo shouting "BOO~!" She has short turquoise hair, her left eye is red, while her right one is blue, and she wears a turquoise vest with long white sleeves, a light-blue skirt, and a pair of wooden sandals. Maribel and Renko look with curiosity as Ail shouts and waves his hands around, then shoots a single bullet straight at the girl, which strikes her forehead. Ail stops and stares at the girl, who yelps and falls on the ground after the bullet hits her. She rubs her forehead, but takes her hand away when she feels the burn from the bullet. Ail panics again and shouts "aah, I'm so sorry!!" The girl's eyes fill with tears, then she runs away crying. Renko reprehensibly says "Ail, how could you do that!?" Maribel adds "that was so mean, mister Ail!" Ail sweats and says "w-wait, she just surprised me, that's all... ohh... WAIT!" he shouts as he chases after the girl that had just surprised him.

Deep inside the Bamboo Forest, the girl sobs as she wipes her forehead with a small white napkin. She shivers after touching the burned spot again, then says "h-humans are so *sob* mean!" From above her, Ail hovers and listens to her. He quietly comes down and says "hi..." The girl gasps and was about to run away when Ail shouts "no wait, I just wanted to say I'm sorry!" The girl stops and stares at him as he says "you just surprised me, and I kinda lost control there... sorry..." She continues to stare at him curiously. He smiles and says "I'm Ail... what's your name, miss?" Her cheeks turn a little pink, and before telling her name, she asks "you followed me to say you're sorry? That's mean! I'm a youkai, not a human!" Ail nods and says "well, that's no reason to NOT apologize either way." The girl pouts then says "fine... My name is Kogasa Tatara, and you better be prepared. You will be my meal for a long time, you scaredy cat!" Ail bows, smiles and says "I hope to see you soon, then." Kogasa sticks her tongue out at him, which almost made him laugh, since she almost looks like that umbrella she carries. As she flies away, she thinks "that human... was he making fun of me? Maybe he wants me to lower my guard so he can kill me... but..." She turns around and watches as he finishes waving at her with a smile, then turns away and heads back to the other two humans. She smiles and says "well, kind or not, I found a good source of food."

Renko, Maribel and Ail continue the walk to the Hakurei Shrine after the little incident with Kogasa. They were close to the stairs to the shrine, when suddenly, from one of the trees to their left, Agava jumps, shouting "RA~!" and clinging on Ail's face. She pulls her body up, trying to pull his head off and grumbling "you~! I'm going to destroy you, and then, I'll take on that shrine maiden, and then, free myself from this cursed lifestyle I've had to get USED TO!" Ail doesn't even bother to fake a surprise and sounding a bit annoyed, he says "get off, or I'll get you off the hard way, little Agava!" Agava trembles when Ail threatens her, then gets off him. She pretends not to be scared by saying "you are just lucky I don't have my full powers, or you would be so~ sorry, mister!" From behind her, Rumia says "is that so~? Well, first you would have to beat me~." Ail smiles and says "hello Rumia, it's nice to see you. And Agava, I'm glad to see that eye of yours is ok." Agava puffs her cheeks and says "what do YOU care?" Ail's smile vanishes and tries to say something, but Agava speaks before he can say anything "don't you DARE feel sorry for me, you pathetic excuse for a HUMAN! I am AGAVA! I am evil and hatred made manifest in a body. This CURSED charm may have weakened me, but that does not mean I am any different! I will find a way to get this thing out of me, and I'll make SURE to give you plenty reasons to feel sorry!" Agava storms away, hiding her desire to cry. Ail continues to stare at her with concern, but just sighs and says "Rumia, could you-?" "Already on it." quickly replies Rumia, then trails after Agava. Renko notices Ail's concern and asks "what's the matter?" Ail looks toward the stairs and says "I feel anger and confusion. Pain, and lot's of it." Renko looks at Maribel and whispers "Mary, do you know what he's talking about?" Maribel shrugs and says "no clue, but please call me Maribel already, Renko." Renko hides her face under her hat and says "you know I can't pronounce it right."

A day later, at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Sakuya is getting more worried about Meiling's condition. She refuses to admit it, but something is wrong with her, and Sakuya intends to find out. She heads outside and walks directly to Meiling's post in front of the gate. Meiling's eyes are dark all around and look empty, although she is barely able to keep them open. Her face is pale, her skin looks as dry as sand and clings on to her bones. Sakuya gasps at the sight of Meiling, looking like an undead corpse guarding the gate. "Meiling!?" exclaims Sakuya. "Is... Meiling, you look terrible!" Meiling suddenly opens her eyes as much as she could and tries to smile at Sakuya as she weakly says "S-Sakuya. No... it's ok. I'm fine. Really." Sakuya grabs Meiling's skinny arm and tries to pull, but Meiling resists. "Sakuya~... stop. Why are you doing that?" sluggishly asks Meiling. Sakuya gets angry and shouts "Meiling, you are sick. You HAVE to get inside now!" Again, Meiling replies to her "I'm not. I'm just fine as ever... Really." Sakuya shouts back "don't lie to me! You haven't been eating at all lately, and you're always locked up in you room! You're not even sleeping well, and don't think I haven't noticed. Meiling, just come back inside with me and we'll get that doctor to take a look at you!" Meiling struggles, sluggishly saying "no~! S-Sakuya, I am fine. Please let me... urk!" As they struggle, Meiling suddenly pulls her hand back with such force, she sends Sakuya flying toward a tree, then grabs hold of her stomach and vomits another large pool of blood. She starts to cry as Sakuya walks closer, shocked at the sight of Meiling. She gets nervous as she asks "M-Meiling... wh- what's going on with you?" Meiling cries and sobs "p-please, miss Sakuya. D-don't fire me... I swear I'll get better soon *sob*." Sakuya gets angry and shouts "why didn't you tell us about this earlier!!?" Meiling cries some more and tries to stand up, but only manages to fall back to her knees. Sakuya sighs then kneels down beside Meiling, lightly pats the back of her head and says "come inside. We'll go get you the doctor, and no arguing." Sakuya wraps Meiling's arm around her neck, pulls her up, and takes her back inside. As the door to the mansion closes behind them, Meiling weakly asks "who-who's going to-to, guard the--gate?" Sakuya just sighs and can be heard calling the fairy maids.

At the tengu's mountain, Kyo continues his training with Momiji. "You're swinging that blade too wildly. FOCUS!" shouts Momiji, as Kyo swings his sword in the air. Momiji watches for a moment, then says "don't forget you have a shield. A defensive item, yes, but it can also become a weapon in the hands of a true warrior." Kyo elegantly swings his sword, twirls around, turning his shield sideways, making it look as though it was cutting the very air around him with it. His energy sword now has a more sword-like shape, and looks as solid as a real blade, and his shield can now cover his entire torso, and upon closer inspection, it looks as though the shield has a maple leaf design on it. He swings left, right, spin, defend, and thrust. He's getting tired, but he continues to train, regardless. Momiji continues to watch, then suddenly shouts "that's enough! Time for rest!"

After flying down the mountain, Momiji and Kyo sit by the river, drinking some tea. Momiji takes a sip, smiles and says "I am quite impressed. Not only have you changed, from an arrogant fool, to a humble, yet skillful swordsman, but your skill and your focus have improved so much in just a few months as well. Again, I am impressed." Kyo smiles and says "well, I have a good master." Momiji giggles and says "HAD a master." Kyo looks at Momiji very surprised, then she continues saying "I have taught you all I can. Now it's all up to you to improve your own skills. Just don't forget what you have learned these past months, and you'll do just fine." Kyo smiles while looking at the water as it drags a few large chunks of ice, along with smaller pieces down it's path. He turns to Momiji and says "then I want to thank you for helping me like you did. But what if I decide to attack you now?" Momiji casually responds "by now I know all you moves and techniques. If you want to challenge me again, you'll have to train on your own for a while." Kyo smirks and chuckles, then asks her "any word on Aya and Luna?" Momiji lightly shakes her head, then says "nothing. *sigh* I do miss Aya a lot." From behind them, Aya says "aww, I've missed you too, Momiji!" Luna, sounding truly happy says "I see you really were worried about me." Momiji's ears perk up and her tail wags from side to side uncontrollably as she and Kyo turn around. "Miss AYA~! You're back!" shouts Momiji excitedly as she runs to Aya and gives her a hug. Kyo smiles and looks at Luna for a moment. The white glove in her hand looks as though it's shining, and she changed her brown slip-ons for tengu slippers. Kyo blushes when he looks into her silver eyes. The hatred and pain that once dominated her eyes has been replaced by kindness and love. Kyo continues to stare at her, making her blush. "What is it?" she asks. Kyo shakes his head, rushes to her, then gives her a big hug saying "I was so worried about you, you fool!" He pushes her back, while still holding her waist and asks "what did you do? What did they do to you?" Luna smiles and says "it's ok. They only helped me recover myself... but." Aya whistles and a pair of crows come to her with Luna's gun-blades on their claws. Aya smiles as she hands the blades over and says "but now the both of you can work together, and help each other improve even more. Luna, you need to settle things with Sakuya, and you, Kyo, now that you have learned some humility, you can really work on those powers of yours." Momiji adds "and improve those skills as well."

Aya, Momiji, Kyo and Luna now stand at the base of the waterfall, facing each other with a smile. Aya smirks and says "and now you two are on your own, and I hope you only walk forward from now on. And remember that even though you are on your own, you still have each other." Luna an Kyo chuckle and blush, then Kyo says "Momiji, Aya... I'm sorry about before. Thank you for all you have done for us." Luna smiles and nods, then says "I couldn't have said it better myself." Momiji giggles and then says "like I said to Kyo earlier, don't forget what you have learned here and you'll do just fine." Kyo and Luna bow, then Kyo offers his arms to Luna, but she says "wait, I want to try flying for myself." Kyo surprised asks "y-you can fly!?" Luna giggles and says "catch me if you can!" then lifts off to the air at great speeds. Kyo watches awestruck for a moment, then smiles, bows to Aya and Momiji one last time, then as he flies up, he shouts "HEY, wait for me!" He can fly fast, but not as fast as Luna. She giggles and flies around him, sticking her tongue out and flying away just as Kyo tries to grab her. Momiji and Aya watch them as they head to the village, then Momiji says "it all happened just as miss Reimu and mister Ail predicted." Aya smirks as she lightly shakes her head and says "nah. I think it turned out better than that."

Having caught up with Luna, Kyo smiles and says "wait, we're not going to the shrine now. I got a little surprise for you." Luna looks at him curiously, then lets him lead. They land at the human village, next to one of the villages exits, beside a large two-story house with a light-blue roof. Kyo smiles and says "welcome to your new home." Luna gasps and smiles as Kyo presents to her the new house. She hugs him, unable to say anything due to sheer excitement. Kyo blushes as she hugs him, but immediately recovers himself and says "let's go inside." Luna suddenly exclaims "WAIT!" She looks into Kyo's eyes and asks "can we go look for Medicine first?" At first, Kyo was confused at her request, but after looking into her eyes he realized she really wanted to see Medicine, so he smiles tenderly and nods.

At the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu and Ail are having a small conversation after he tells her about the events in the Netherworld. "...but she's ok, right? Both of them?" asks Reimu as she sits on the shrine's porch, while Ail stands in front of her. Ail nods and says "Youmu recovered in just two days, and Yuyuko hasn't gone berserk again." Reimu stares at him seriously, then says "that aside, I have been getting very a bad feeling lately. Tell me, has anything happened to Budou lately?" Ail scratches his head, looking a little sad and says "not really. She has become a little more confident, and she's been going out on her own a lot more. She's even visiting the Moriya Shrine on a regular basis." Reimu glares at Ail and asks "anything else?" Before Ail answers, his bracelet screeches, making Ail and Reimu cover their ears. The crystal turns purple, then an image of Meiling lying on her bed comes into view. Reimu and Ail look at each other, and without saying a single word, both head to the skies and fly straight to the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

At the mansion, inside Meiling's room, Sakuya and Remilia watch with worry as Eirin and Patchouli try over and over again to save Meiling. Eirin injects a green liquid on Meiling's arm, then Patchouli reads from an orange book "free this body from the bonds of darkness~" Meiling's body shines white for some time, but then the spell fades away, and Meiling coughs out the medicine once more. She hyperventilates as she repeats "don't... fire me... Help... help me." Patchouli, sounding a little irritated says "this possession has become too strong. We need an exorcist!" Remilia asks "someone like Reimu?" Patchouli nods and says "Remi, that's a great idea!" Eirin sighs and says "then I can't help anymore. At least some of the supplements I gave her should keep her alive a little longer." Sakuya growls, then punches hard against the wall as she says "the FOOL!" She rubs her fist and says "if she only said anything sooner." Patchouli calmly says "it is probable we could have done something, but perhaps not." All look at Patchouli with interest as she says "this possession is really strong now, yes, but I highly doubt would would have been able to do anything before. I was hiding deep inside her heart, so if we tried anything, we could have easily killed her. At least now we can safely exorcise this without threatening her life." Remilia smirks and says "then I guess I'll go get Reimu now." The door opens up on it's own, revealing Koakuma,and two guests. Remilia angrily says "Koa! How dare you bring guests here without my permission!" Koakuma bows and says "my apologies, my lady, but they said they could help." When the two guests come closer, they were non-other than Reimu and Ail. Reimu smiles and says "Hakurei Reimu at your service. You may donate at the shrine after I'm done here. All in the room were awestruck. Reimu gets close to Meiling and pulls out various charms. Remilia angrily asks "how did you know? were you spying on us!?" Ail calmly says "I'll tell you later. Let's help Meiling out before that, though.

After hours of attempts, Reimu gives up and says "this is beyond my own skills. We need another maiden. One with a little more knowledge on exorcising." Remilia angrily asks "what do you mean by that!? Don't you know how to exorcise things?" Reimu sighs and says "it's not that simple. My teachings as a shrine maiden were more on being offensive than defensive." Sakuya sighs as she opens the door and heads outside, followed by Remilia, Reimu and Eirin. As they head out, Reimu says "there are defensive and offensive types of maidens. I am offensive, so my knowledge in exorcising is basic. I'm better at expelling things the hard way anyway." Their voices fade in the distance, and Remilia can be heard saying "does that explain why you are so moody all the time? *smack* Ow!" Inside the room, Patchouli approaches Ail and says "I haven't seen you since winter. Is everything alright?" Ail smiles and says "had a very busy winter." Patchouli looks away, not believing what he said, then Ail says "Patchy, there is something else. Something I wish to ask you about." Patchouli turns her head as Ail asks "that night, when me and Remilia had that fight over my freedom last autumn... did she let me win?" Patchouli smiles and says "you better ask her if you want to know." Patchouli closes the door behind her, then Ail and Koakuma get closer to Meiling. Koakuma looks at her and says "poor Meiling. Must be terrible for her." Ail grabs Meiling's hand and says "yeah. If I had only come visit sooner, though." Suddenly, Meiling grasps Ail's hand with incredible force, making him kneel on to the floor in pain. Koakuma gasps as Meiling immediately attacks Ail with a barrage of punches and kicks, finishing her combination by sending him flying through the wall next to the door. He falls unconscious, coughing out blood on the floor, then Meiling slowly walks out of her room, her pupils shining violet as she stares around. She jumps out a window, then flies away. Koakuma gets closer to Ail, now that Meiling was gone. She looks at the blood and says "oh, no. This isn't good. I better call for help." From the left side of the corridor, Flandre shouts "BIG BROTHER~!" In a matter of one minute, everyone returned, finding Ail gravely injured on the floor, Flandre looking nervously at him, and Koakuma hovering nervously around them. "What happened here!? Where's Meiling!?" shouts Reimu.

At the human village, Kyo, Luna and Medicine explore the new house. Luna is impressed, since the inside is already fully furnished, and most of it to her liking. Medicine explores the second floor, saying "wow, how can a house have another house on top of it!?" Kyo asks Luna "so, what do you think?" Luna is still awestruck, but manages to say excitedly "everything... is just wonderful!" Kyo smiles and says "so glad you approve." Suddenly Medicine shouts from the second floor "hey, something's going on around the school!" Kyo immediately ask "what do you mean!?" An explosion rattles the floor, and after helping Luna keep her balance, Kyo rushes out the door with Luna by his side. They fly over a few houses and land at the small village plaza, near the school. Kyo looks with amazement and shock, then says "M...Meiling?" Luna gets a little annoyed and asks "Meiling? Who's that?" Kyo says "she's the gate guard of the vampire's mansion! But what is she doing? She's usually very friendly and kind too!" They watch in horror as Keine gets in front of Meiling and asks "you! What are you doing here?" Without any hesitation, Meiling moves her arms in an arc, then joins them together as she sends a powerful wave of qi energy that sends Keine flying backwards, straight at one of the houses, breaking the wall as she impacted. Kyo gasps, then turns to Luna and says "Luna, let me handle this, please." Luna looks at him a little angry at first, but she sighs and calms down, then says "ok. Just be careful."

Meiling starts walking slowly toward the school, swaying as she did. Kyo jumps in front of her and immediately asks "Meiling, what's the matter!?" Meiling lifelessly stares at Kyo, whispering "help...me~... Don't... fire me~! Help me~..." Kyo gasps when he notices her pupil shining violet and says "Meiling... Come on! Snap out of it! Look, it's me, Kyo!" Meiling stances, ready for battle, and lunges her fist straight at Kyo's torso. He twirls out of the way and stances, ready to fight. Meiling unleashes her qi all around her limbs, so Kyo covers his own with his energy and says "Meiling, I don't want to fight you. Snap out of it, please!" She whispers "I... ca~nt..." then sends a kick straight at Kyo. He blocks it with his arm, crouches, and kicks her legs, but as she falls, she flips and lands back up, runs toward Kyo, and launches a blast of energy after joining her wrists together and opening her hands with her fingers clenched against the palm of her hands, while keeping her palms open straight. Kyo waits for the energy to reach him, then punches it, sending it upward, then back-flips out of the way just as Meiling jumps and tries to swoop down with her foot, cracking the ground after landing. Kyo stares at her as she sluggishly straightens her body, then faces him. She suddenly rushes at him, and tries to combine various punches and kicks, but Kyo matches them perfectly, then twirls behind her, and pushes her forward, causing her to lose her balance and fall on her face. She struggles to get up, and manages to do so. Kyo was about to continue the fight, but all she did was continue her way to the school. Kyo lowers his guard, realizing she only wanted to go to the school, then shouts at Keine "WAIT, STOP!" just as she rushed toward Meiling. Keine walks to Kyo and shouts "she's going to destroy everything!" Kyo says "trust me... she won't!" Just then, Reimu, Sakuya, Eirin and Ail fly straight to town, spotting Kyo and landing next to him. Kyo looks at Ail and shouts "What the HELL happened to you!?" Ail tries to smile while holding his torso with his left arm as he says "nothing.... a good night's rest wont *gasp* cure." Reimu asks "what happened here? Aren't we supposed to stop her?" Kyo says "no. If we do, she's going to destroy everything here, or die. Her body is too damaged, and even the slightest impact could damage her internal organs. Can someone tell me how that happened?" Luna walks next to Kyo, and bows to all, then looks at Sakuya and says "Sakuya..." Sakuya bows and says "we can talk later."

As Reimu and Sakuya explain about Meiling to Luna and Kyo, Agava watches from close by, then quietly follows Meiling. Arriving at the school, Meiling breaks the doors open with ease and heads inside. She walks to the center of the room and opens her eyes, which started to glow purple now. The desks all fly away against the walls, then suddenly, from the ceiling, a purple colored book with black pages materializes and slowly floats down, landing on the ground. Agava watches as the book slowly drops down, then waits to see if it's safe to go in. Meiling suddenly kneels down on the ground, and stays staring at the book. Agava hesitates for a moment, but when she hears the others were coming her way, she rushes in, grabs the book and jumps out an open window, using the houses as cover as she runs toward the Forest of Magic. When the others enter, they are met by a dieing Meiling. Her eyes still glowing purple slowly close as she continues to whisper "help me, don't fire me." Each time she repeated this, her voice faded more. Sakuya panics and shouts "someone do something! Reimu, save her!" Reimu looks away and says "it's too late." Ail, still holding his torso in pain, walks toward Meiling and gets his right hand as close as he could to her, then suddenly, the image of Pandemonium started to shine, and a light-blue aura surrounds Meiling. Ail takes a few breaths and says "this... should keep her *gasp*... alive." From outside the school, Sanae shouts "can someone tell me what's going on here!?" Reimu smiles and says "we found the exorcist." Sanae cautiously enters and looks around, spotting Ail beside Meiling. She gasps when she looks at them and asks "what happened? Both of you are...?" From behind her, Budou screams "PAPA AIL!!! You're hurt again!" She rushes to Ail, but doesn't jump on him and says "oh, papa, you are so lucky the sparkles are curing you." Reimu says "Sanae! We need your help. See, Meiling's-" Budou screams loud, then runs toward Sanae, hiding her face in Sanae's belly and saying "save her. She's got the black in her heart! Save her mama Sanny!" Sanae looks confused, then Reimu says "exaclty. Meiling's been possessed, but my skills are no good. The possession is too strong." Keine and Sakuya try to take Budou away from Sanae,but she doesn't want to let go, so Keine kneels down and says "little one, you need to let her go. So she can save that girl over there." Budou looks at Keine and asks "are... are you a mama too?" Keine blushes, but giggles and says "oh my, no." Reimu chuckles and says "well, you are a teacher, so... that's like being a mother, don't you think?" Keine smiles and says "maybe a certain maiden needs a lesson?" Sakuya angrily shouts "could you stop that? Please, miss Sanae, just help her already!"

Keine, Kyo and Luna leave the school and help Eirin tend to some wounded villagers, and help rebuild the few walls taken down by Meiling's assault. Inside the school, Reimu holds on to Budou as Sanae grabs three charms from one of her sleeves. She asks "Budou, what do you see in her, and where?" Budou cries as she looks at Meiling and says "the poor nice lady. She has a very big black blob on her chest, and it's spreading to her arms and her head." Sanae smiles at her and says "thank you for being so brave, little Budou. This will make it easier for me." Ail smiles at Budou, then turns to watch Sanae perform the exorcism from one of the desks, still holding on to his ribs. Sanae places one charm on Meiling's forehead, one on her right shoulder, and the other on the left. She rummages around her clothes, but can't seem to find what she is looking for. She spots Ail and exclaims a triumphant "ah-ha~!" then goes to him, pulls his robe aside, opens one of the pockets in his pants, then pulls out five pink charms. Ail watches with surprise and says "well, that was sneaky of you." Sanae giggles, then heads back to Meiling, placing the charms on the floor around Meiling. She pulls out her gohei and chants in a strange dialect. The charms on Meiling begin to glow, and slowly move toward her chest. Very suddenly, the three charms started spinning around Meiling's chest, then Budou desperately shouts "the black wants to take her life!" Sanae opens her eyes and stops the chant. She takes one of the charms from the ground and places it directly onto Meiling's chest, then the other three charms stop spinning, grab hold of the dark energy, and safely pull it outside Meiling. Once out, Sanae touches the dark energy with her gohei, causing a powerful reaction between light and darkness, and very suddenly, the energies fly out the window, and heads straight to the sun, vanishing from sight and though. Sakuya gasps as Meiling body falls on the floor, then rushes to her. Sanae exhales and smiles, then asks "Budou, how is she now?" Budou smiles and says "mama Sanny you're amazing! There is no more dark inside of her! It's like a miracle! But she does need to eat." Sakuya giggles and says "don't worry, I will make sure she eats plenty." Reimu takes a deep breath of relief and says "that was a close call. Thank you for saving her, Sanae."

Ail opens up a gap to Meiling's room in the Scarlet Devil mansion, and Sakuya, taking a good hold of the weakened Meiling, enters and immediately is greeted by Koakuma and Remilia. Kyo asks "Ail, buddy, are you sure you're going to be ok like that?" Ail nods and says "don't worry. Eirin already injected me with some medicine. I'll be just fine by tomorrow morning." Ail turns to Sanae, then smiles and says "Hey, Sanae, could you take care of Budou for today?" Sanae smiles back and nods saying "of course. You just get better, alright?" Ail opens up another gap, this time to the Moriya shrine. Before going with Sanae, Budou signals Ail to get closer. He manages to kneel down, and after asking "what is it, Budou?" Budou kisses his cheek and says "now papa will get better even sooner." Ail smiles, then watches as she and Sanae enter the gap the the shrine. Kyo and Luna wave as they go back to their house, then Ail asks Reimu "do you want me to get you home through a gap?" Reimu shakes her head lightly and says "no thanks. I have something to do here before I go." Ail shrugs, but after doing so, sharp pain from his ribs strikes him hard, making him grunt. He sighs, open a gap back to his room, then enters it, waving at Reimu.

After everyone had left, Reimu goes to Keine's school. Inside, Keine places the last desk back in it's place and says "you were right, Reimu." She turns around and faces Reimu and continues saying "that little youkai is quite amazing. So young and yet she can clearly see another's life energies with ease." Reimu then asks "don't you think she's dangerous?" Keine ponders for a moment, then says "no, I don't think so. She's innocent, kind, sweet, and amazingly cute and powerful, but I don't think she's a danger at all." Reimu takes a deep breath and says "then I hope you are right. I understand those visions now, but it's not something I really want to do." Keine saddens a bit and asks "what if these visions you're having are fake?" Reimu looks seriously at Keine and says "if they are, I'll be glad, but..." Keine walks to Reimu and says "you're going to have to talk about this to him. Maybe he can help you." Reimu looks at the afternoon sky and replies "maybe... but love has a way to blind others to the truth." Keine keeps silent after Reimu's comment, staring at the shrine maiden as she look at the sky, lost in her own thoughts.

To be continued...
Characters and scenario belong to ZUN
Ail, Kyo, Luna and Budou were created by Willie G.R.
Assistance with this chapter by snapshot2010

SEP 9 2009 (HAPPY ⑨ DAY)
written by
Willie G.R.