One Random Sukima 5

The full moon rises from the east, turning more red as it continues to rise in the skies. Eirin, Kaguya, Reisen, carrying the unconscious Tewi, and Rika, walk hurriedly toward Entei. Rika asks "Please, can someone tell me what's the matter? Why do we have to hurry..? I want to look at the Moon. It's so beautiful!" Rika stops to admire the moon, but Eirin pulls her hand and says "Rika, please trust us. It's very dangerous to be outside at nights like these. The mansion's not far. I'll explain more there, but now we must hurry." To their left, some of the bamboo shoots rattle violently. Eirin points her bow and arrow at that direction, signaling Rika with her head to continue walking. A sudden roar, followed by a loud squeal, and then sounds of flesh being torn and consumed. Kaguya shouts "Eirin!" then everyone starts running, Rika following their lead, until they all reach the Entei mansion. Kaguya says "phew! Last time I stayed outside on a night like this, I died five times, remember Eirin? Oh, my clothes got so messy." Kaguya is about to open the door, when Eirin points her arrow toward it and shouts "PRINCESS!!" then gestures her weapon to the left. Kaguya silently nods, then backs away from the door. The door begins to rattle on it's own, causing tension to rise, and even Tewi, who wakes up just now, senses danger, and immediately crawls to Reisen's back, using her hair to hide under. Rika stands next to Eirin, getting ready for a fight. Eirin says "please, just say back." Rika replies "I want to help, to make amends for the trouble I caused earlier." Eirin smiles, then silently nods. The door rattles more violently, then stops. Eirin and Rika continue to stare at the door, then, with a loud bang, the door bursts open and Yukari, with half her body inside her gap, bursts out with her hands in the air and shouts "YOU FOUND ME~~!" Eirin fires her arrow, turning it into a red beam that strikes Yukari right on her chest, making her scream in pain, then drop down, leaving her body hang limp while still in her gap. Rika says "oh... miss Yukari!" Eirin says "oh great... it's her." Rika shouts "oh no~! She's dead! You killed miss Yukari." Eirin calmly says "relax. She's just fine." Yukari springs up, gets out of her gap, gets close to Eirin, and angrily shouts "hey, that HURT, you hag!" Eirin smiles dangerously and in a sweet tone of voice she says "my, this ancient wrinkled woman dares call me a hag, how amusing." Yukari says "ancient!? I'll have you know, I am 19 years old!" Eirin smiles and says "oh, and you dare call me old? I'm 17 years old." Yukari shouts "I'm 15" Eirin replies "well I'm 13." Yukari shouts "Oh YEAH!?" Kaguya, Reisen and Rika watch the childish battle, looking at the quarreling women with disbelief and disappointment, while Tewi just rolls on the ground, laughing herself to tears.

After calming down and getting safely inside the Entei Mansion, Reisen prepares some tea, sets it on the table, along with some rice cookies, but before Rika joins in, she asks "miss Yukari, how could you do that to me? And on such a dangerous night like tonight!" Yukari smiles, takes a sip of tea, then says "this place is not for the feint of heart. If you want to live here, you have to prepare yourself for everything. Anything can happen, be it something good, or something bad." Rika stars at Yukari and angrily says "I understand what you are saying, but you left me defenseless out there! What if something happened to me?" Yukari says "fu, fu, fu~! Darling, you're not defenseless. You'd had your spell card with you all the time in your right pocket." Rika whispers to herself "spell... card?" She rummages through her pocket and finds it, right where Yukari said it was. When she looks at it, she sees an image of a yin-yang orb, however, there are chains on it. Yukari looks at it and says "oh my... it's sealed? I wonder why is that?" Rika stares at Yukari for some time, then, before she asks, Yukari says "spell cards is what we use here to show our strength and power, without going overboard. Without them, we couldn't use any spells at all, however, you shouldn't rely on them all the time, deary. Now, as to why your spell card is sealed like that... I'm afraid I am not sure myself." Rika turns her attention to her spell card and thinks "Oath Keeper?" Yukari asks "something wrong?" Rika turns her attention back to Yukari, then says "no, it's nothing." Yukari covers her mouth upon opening her fan, then silently smiles. Eirin says "well, it's too dangerous to go out tonight, so, miss Rika, you may stay here if you like." Rika bows, almost striking the table with her forehead, then says "oh, please, I don't want to be a bother." Eirin smiles and says "you won't be a bother. Besides, it looks like you have nowhere else to go, unless this youkai has an idea?" Yukari looks away, pretending not to hear anything. Rika then says "well... I guess you're right." Eirin smiles and says "great! If you need anything..." Eirin smiles in such a wickedly evil fashion as she looks at Tewi, that it makes the entire room tremble in fear, then continues saying in a dangerous undertone "...ask little miss TEWI. She will help you, as payback for tricking you like that... got it!?" Tewi gulps and nods, then Rika calmly says "alright. Thank you very much for your hospitality." Eirin smiles casually, and says "no need for thanks. It's the least Tewi can do for you." Rika giggles and smiles angelically. Everyone, except for Yukari, seem to hide their eyes under their hair as they stare at Rika's smile, then all of them start bleeding through their noses. Rika panics and asks "oh my! A-are you alright!? What happened?" Only Eirin answers after wiping her nose, her eyes still hidden under he hair as she says "it's nothing, sweetie. It's nothing."

At the Scarlet Devil Mansion's gates, Ail greets Meiling, whose shift is just about done. "Meiling, how are you?" Meiling opens her eyes widely, then excitedly, she says "Ail! You're back! I'm so glad to see you're safe!" Ail smiles and says "I'm glad to see you too." For a moment, they stand there, just smiling at each other, then Meiling asks "what's the matter... aren't you coming in?" Ail scratches his cheek and says "well... you see... I've come to challenge your mistress, and... Well I don't want to get you in trouble, so..." Meiling smiles, then says "I won't get in trouble... my shift is over now. You came in after I left. See you later." With a smile on her face, Meiling enters and closes the gate, then quickly enters the mansion. Ail waits for a bit before jumping over the gate, then quietly following inside. Once inside, he hears Patchouli arguing with someone. "But you can't think things so logically. If you do, you'll just continue to fail." A familiar voice answers "I... I just can't think like that, Patchouli. I need to know how, and why it works like that." Patchouli growls, then says "look, it's too dangerous for you to go back to the shrine, so you can stay here. Maybe I can help explain some more, but right now, I am hungry, and I'm sure you are too." The footsteps get closer, so Ail presses himself against a wall, hoping that his presence will go unnoticed, but to his surprise, his boots start glowing blue for a moment, then he turns completely invisible. He thinks "thank you, Nitori!" Soon after he turns invisible, Remilia passes by him, looking quite content alongside Sakuya, then Meiling comes from behind them, then, from the basement stairs come Patchouli and Koakuma, accompanied by Renko, to Ail's surprise. Ail thinks "so, Renko wants to learn something here, huh? Wonder what it is? To think she and Patchy couldn't see eye-to-eye just a few weeks ago." Ail continues to sit against the wall for about an hour or two, then everyone comes out of the dinning room, all headed back the way they came. Remilia stops in front of where Ail is hiding. Sakuya asks "my lady, is something wrong?" Remilia smiles as she glances at Ail. Ail knows she sees him as clearly as he can see her, then nods. Remilia says "Sakuya, Meiling. Come with me to the tower, please. She turns to Ail, then says "I'll wait for you there." then winks. Both Meiling and Sakuya look at their mistress confused, but follow her regardless, Sakuya asking "my lady, what is this all of a sudden?" After they are gone, Ail gets up, then gets shocked by his own boots, as the the invisibility feature turns itself off, probably becoming useless in the process. Ail blows out a bit of smoke from his mouth and whispers in an angry undertone "Nitori~!"

Ail reaches the clock tower without delay, and upon opening the door, he sees Remilia standing at the very top of the tower itself, expanding her arms toward the sky as she looks up at the red full moon. As if sitting on the air, to her left is Meiling, and as elegant as ever, to her right, is Sakuya, and both immediately turn their attention to Ail. Still facing the moon, Remilia says "Anilan, I am so glad to see you again. You've been gone for some times... 3 weeks? A little more, a little less?" Ail bows and says "I am glad to see you too, lady Remilia." Remilia replies "I see you've picked up some manners. Now tell me, are you sure you want to challenge me during such a beautiful red moon like this?" Ail thinks "she already knows. Alright, this saves some explaining." Ail stands firm and says "yes. I truly wish to do this." Remilia spins in place, stopping when facing toward Ail with a content smile on her face, then says "what are the conditions?" Ail says "same as the first time we fought." Remilia's content smile turns twisted and wicked, then she says "I see. Tell me something. Are you not satisfied from last time? Perhaps you think I LET you win? Or is it, perhaps, something else?" Ail bows his head and says "please forgive my insolence in asking this, but didn't you hold back last time?" Remilia slowly glides down from the tower as she says "yes, I did, but do not mistake THAT as letting you win. I was aiming to defeat you without killing you, and you beat me, never-the-less." Ail says "at first, out of my own arrogance, I though you were disrespecting me, demeaning me, thinking I am weak." Ail places his left hand on his chest, making the tip of his fingers glow bright white, then says "but after thinking for some time, I feel the one being disrespectful, is me... thinking I am all that because I defeated you last time." Remilia's smile vanishes as she looks neutrally at Ail. Ail says "fight me at your full power, lady Remilia. Allow me to prove to you and myself that last time my victory was no fluke." Remilia continues to look into Ail's eyes and says "understood. I will not hold back. Sakuya, Meiling!" Both Meiling and Sakuya float farther away. Remilia says "I have asked them to act as witnesses to this battle, knowing they are dear friends to both of us. I also asked Patchouli to stay inside at all times." Ail nods and says "I understand, and agree. She wouldn't like this one bit." Remilia smirks, then Raises her hands and says "five spell cards each. The conditions, if I win, you become a servant to me and MY servants... if YOU win, you'll have unrestricted access to the mansion at any time. Agreed?" Ail bows his body, then stances ready for the fight. Remilia continues to smirk as she raises her hand above her head, unleashing a small, but intense red energy orb, then, as soon as she releases it, she shouts "BEGIN!"

In a flash, Remilia sends the red energy toward Ail, turning into a small lance while in the air. It goes so fast, Ail is unable to see it at all, but to his luck, she misses him by inches. Ail sweats a lot after realizing he didn't even see that attack, but composes himself, stances ready, then realizes Remilia is nowhere in sight. He looks around and thinks "where is she? Is she invisible... no.." A sudden blur catches his eyes, then he thinks "she's moving fast. Faster than I can follow... Calm down Ail. Take a deep breath... you can do this. Focus!!" He closes his eyes and hears Remilia's wings flapping all around. Remilia smirks after Ail closes his eyes, then swoops in to attack, but Ail reacts just in time, grabs Remilia by her hands and pushes her away, causing himself to spin for a moment, so he uses the momentum to fire a pair of white lasers at her after stopping. The momentum allow his lasers to fly fast enough to graze Remilia, who is able to react at the very last second, and avoids being hit directly. Remilia smiles and says "impressive, but can you keep this up for long?" Ail smiles back and says "I was just about to ask that same question." Remilia drops her smile and says "tch. You're getting cocky. Let's take care of that." Remilia unleashes a barrage of those small lances straight at Ail. Using a barrier, he manages to escape the barrage, then shoots various small orbs at Remilia. She dodges those orbs as if it were child's play, then unleashes 5 more lances, then swoops toward Ail, along with the lances. Before Ail is able to react, three of those lances strike his shoulders, and before he is able to recover, he is struck hard by Remilia's head, and is sent flying hard toward the large clock tower, his back breaking open a large hole on the wall. Remilia quickly pulls out a spell card and shouts "Devil Sign - World in Nightmare!" Remilia turns into a bat, just as Ail gets up, holding his back in pain, then starts shooting speedy red knives and slow-moving red orbs all around her. The knives move in a straight line, surrounding Remilia, and moving toward where Ail is. He yelps when he see's the speedy red knives moving toward him, so he starts to fly away from them as fast as he can, also avoiding the large red orbs that come from the center of the attack. He tries to fight back, but Remilia's bat form is impossible to hit. She laughs as Ail notices this particular detail, but then Ail pulls out his own spell card and shouts "Light Sign - Holy Dance!" As a large round barrier of light safely encases Ail within it, 8 lasers spread and trap Remilia within two of them, just as Remilia turns back into her vampire form. Remilia continues her attack, but tries to find a way out, however, the lasers prevent her from even going upward as they move left, right, up and down, so she intensifies her attack, hoping to break that barrier and cancel Ail's spell. From the barrier, trios of white orbs are expelled, all forming small triangles, as they head toward Remilia, who is barely able to dodge the assault. Roughly 20 seconds pass and neither show signs of slowing down. Remilia intensifies her spell, making her knives move faster and the orbs hit harder. Ail's spell now adds light-blue petals in straight lines going along-side the lasers. Meiling and Sakuya look at each other, then Meiling asks "should we stop them?" Sakuya replies "we'd be the targets if we did that." Just after saying that, a blinding flash lights up the entire lake, as both spell cards defeat each other at the same time. The explosions cause the floor below to break, causing both Ail and Remilia to fall inside the main hall.

Ail gets up, looking a bit surprised at Remilia. He turns his attention to the collapsed roof and says "Wow... did we just do that?" Remilia spring up, using her hands, landing on her feet, then shouts "AAAHHHH MY ROOF!!! She clenches her teeth and turns toward Ail as her face turns red and her left eye starts twitching. She points at him and says "you're gonna pay for that!" Ail sweats and waves his hands as he says "alright, alright. We got a fight going on now." Remilia smiles again as she prepares herself for melee battle, then says "right. After you're my slave, I'll make you rebuild the entire roof by yourself." Ail prepares himself as well with a smile on his face, then says "first you'll have to beat me, lady Remilia." Ail takes the offensive and rushes to Remilia, trying a kick behind her knees, but Remilia jumps out of the way just in time and swipes her claws at Ail's shoulder, leaving three cuts. Ail quickly backs away, then uses his barrier and turns it into a hammer which he swings straight at Remilia. She stops the hammer from falling with her two hands, then pushes it back, but before being able to recover, Ail is right in front of her and blasts her with two focused exploding orbs that send her flying against her chair, then he pulls out a spell card and shouts "Brightness - Overwhelming Heart!" Large bright white rings expel from Ail's heart and expand along with large white orbs trailing along, scattering aimlessly after reaching 5 feet of distance. The rings also start moving around unevenly between each other, making them harder to avoid. Remilia stands firmly on her feet, waiting for the rings to be close enough, then pulls a spell card from her pocket and shouts "Divine Spear - Spear of the Gungnir!" Remilia cuts her forearm and uses the blood to create a large spear then tosses it at Ail. Both spells clash, and for a moment, it seems Ail's rings are strong enough to push Remilia's spear back, but Remilia tosses three more, as quickly as she can, then breaks through Ail's rings and strikes him directly, sending him flying back against the door and sliding down to the floor. She smiles and thinks "this was way~ too easy" then prepares another spear, quickly launching it toward Ail. Just before the lance hits, Remilia sees a blur heading left, then moving behind her, but before she can react, Ail spin-kicks her back and sends her spinning in the air, flying straight toward the wall just above the door. Remilia, still stuck to the wall, rubs her head and looks on as Ail, who's leg is still in the air, spins in place, screaming "someone STOP ME~!" He continues to spin faster and faster, looking like a small tornado in the room, then his boot blows black smoke, and slowly, he stops spinning. After the spinning stops, his eyes spinning in place and smiling quite silly, Ail tries to keep himself from falling down, stumbling aimlessly and speaking gibberish. Remilia, after popping herself off the wall, casually walks to him, grabs his shoulders, then slaps him on the face. Ail manages to return to normal, then says "thanks." Remilia smiles and says "you can thank me by NOT HOLDING BACK! Now come on!!"

Inside Patchouli's library, Renko, Koakuma and Patchouli feel the tremors from the battle. Patchouli gets up and angrily says "rawr! How can we READ with all this NOISE!? I'm going up there. I don't CARE what she said to me!" Renko asks "want me to come?" Patchouli turns to her, placing her hand in front of her, signaling Renko to stop, then says "no, you continue your studies. Koakuma will help you if she can. I won't be long." Patchouli turns around and hovers toward the exit as she says "and please, if you see Marisa, DON'T confront her. She's too much for you, so let her take anything she wants!" Renko gulps and lowers her head a little. Koakuma walks closer to Renko, just as Patchouli slams the doors shut, then places her hand on Renko's shoulder and says "please, don't think ill of her. It seems she worries for you." Renko says "I know, I know. But sometimes I feel she's demeaning me. She should be a little more sensitive." Koakuma sighs and says "she's who she is, miss Usami." Renko sighs angrily, and buries her face inside the book she was reading before, then says "fine... err, Koakuma, could you tell me what's this symbol for?" Koakuma smiles and says "certainly." The two stay studying symbols and magic spells, while Patchouli, unwisely goes and investigate the battle noises from above.

At the main hall, Remilia continues to move around Ail with great speed, making it hard for him to follow, but He is able to block the attacks just as Remilia gets close. Ail thinks "I can't keep this up. If this goes on, she'll eventually get me." Remilia, while moving around, thinks "I got him on the ropes. Now all I need to do is tire him out, and win this." Ail's senses are getting accustomed to Remilia's speed, making it easier for him to follow, and just as he launches at her, Remilia launches at him, both holding energy orbs in their hands, and when they are inches away from each other, they stop and look to their right. Their eyes widely open and their pupils shrinking to the size of marbles. A large lump on the small carpet moves on it's own toward the door. Even Meiling and Sakuya, who are still on the broken roof, witnessing the fight, look on in surprise. At the end of the carpet, out comes Yuki, who immediately realizes her cover is blown, springs up to her feet, rubs the back of her head with her right hand, and nervously smiles and chuckles. She looks at Ail and Remilia, then says "er, I am not here... you can't see me. It's a spell. Yes... you THINK you can see me, but you can't. A pile of books drop from under her skirt on to her feet. She smiles widely, sweating and trembling a little, then starts to wave her hands in front of herself and says "I am not here~!" then manages to slowly slither back under the carpet. Sakuya, looking annoyed, rolls the carpet along with Yuki in it and says "this carpet needs cleaning. I'll be back in a second." She places the carpet on her shoulder, then vanishes in an instant, then comes back almost 2 seconds later, places the carpet back in it's place, elegantly bows, placing her right arm on her abdomen as she says "all clean, my lady." then flies back up to the broken roof. Remilia face-palms hard and says "if these interruptions keep up, we'll never finish this." Ail nods and says "I agree. I guess we better stop playing around then, agreed?" Remilia smiles and pulls out a spell card from her pocket, then says "agreed." Ail smiles back and pulls out another spell card, then stares at Remilia. Just outside the mansion's gates, Yuki lies on the floor with her entire back and butt covered in daggers. She lifts up her head, crying streams of tears from both eyes and whimpers "uuu~ pincushion."

Remilia releases her spell card as it glows red and floats in front of her, then she shouts "Scarlet Bat - Vampirish Night!" After Remilia declares her spell card, Sakuya says to Meiling "she needs to change those names, don't you think?" Meiling quietly nods with a smile on her face, then both receive a red dagger on the shoulder just as Remilia shouts "I HEARD THAT!" Ail gets surrounded by various bats that shoot red daggers at him, surrounding him in daggers that come from all directions. Ail tries to declare his spell card, but the number of daggers is overwhelming. Remilia laughs and asks "what's the matter? Too much for you?" Ail looks around, then spots an opening just above Remilia, so he rushes above her, getting stabbed on the left shoulder, then manages to declare his spell. "Light Sign - Within the Jewel's Core" 7 blue and white stars with 8 sharp edges materialize around Ail, then each tip scatters at the speed of light, all trailing sharp blue spikes that scatter in straight lines of 5, and homing white petals. Remilia moves around as much as she can, but the number of danmaku from Ail's attack overwhelms her, however she continues her assault, but realizes the daggers aren't even touching Ail at all. She looks on surprised and says "tch, invulnerability, huh?" Ail smiles at her and says "more or less." Remilia continues to dodge what she can, then Ail, after 10 seconds of activating his spell, starts dodging the daggers as best he can, getting grazed by around legs. As both fighters concentrate on each other, the doors to the main hall open up, Patchouli shouting angrily "Remi, what's going on... here?" Patchouli opens her eyes widely, the pupil shrinks, then she begins to tremble. She whispers "no... stop this..." She lifts her trembling arm and points at them with her finger, then shouts "STOP IT, you two!" She coughs violently, losing her concentration, but she composes herself and tries once more, but Meiling gets behind her and wraps her arms around Patchouli's shoulders. Patchouli struggles and says "Meiling, let me GO! I have to stop them!" Meiling calmly says "mistress' orders. Nobody's allowed to interfere." Patchouli starts crying as she commands "Meiling, I ORDER YOU to let me go!" Meiling sighs and says "please forgive me, and just watch, lady Patchouli." Patchouli stops struggling, having some trouble breathing as she cries, then angrily whispers "idiots." Remilia and Ail are covered in cuts and bruises all over. The right side of Remilia's face is covered in blood, and Ail's left and right arms are full of cuts and burns, bleeding through the cuts on his shoulder. Remilia's spell times out, so she starts moving around freely, trying to avoid Ail's spell, but she is struck various times by the scattered spikes, getting stabbed on the back and arms by 3 or 4 of the spikes in the groups. Ail's spell card times out just as the homing white petals are about to strike her, and immediately, Ail and Remilia start moving around the room at amazing speeds. Sakuya, Meiling and Patchouli are having a very hard time trying to follow them, and all they can hear is the reaction of energies every time the battlers clash against each other.

Remilia and Ail continue their high-speed melee battle, Remilia using her claws for both offense and defense, trying to strike Ail and blocking his attacks, while Ail covers his arms in a barrier and blocks Remilia's claws and tries to strike her directly. Both rush to each other at amazing speed, then both strike hard against each other, clashing their right arms, causing an energy wave that turns off all the lights in the room, leaving only the eerie light of the red moon to light the room. Afterward, Remilia backs away to where her chair was, and Ail stands on the carpet where Yuki was hiding under. Remilia takes a few breaths, then sighs and says "you sure have improved a lot from last time." Ail bows and says "thanks. In all honestly, these boots of mine are enhancing my abilities a little." Remilia says "good. It's been some time since I got a good sport... other than Reimu, that is." Remilia takes out another spell card form her pocket and says "before we continue, I have a question for you." Ail nods and says "please, ask away, lady Remilia." Remilia smiles, closing her eyes and looking down on to the floor, then raises her head, looking neutrally at Ail, and asks "why is it that I can't seem to change your fate? You see, I can see where your fate lies, and I can change it, and although I do not have total control over this, it's almost impossible for me to even see yours. Tell me, how this even possible?" Ail closes his eyes as he pulls a spell card from his pocket, then says "it's because I love going against fate. I use my entire will for this. If fate wants me to die, I will go against it and live on. That's just one example." Remilia smiles and says "I see. I am quite impressed. It even seems to me that you've been doing this long before learning you're half-youkai." Ail nods, then Remilia says "alright then. I'll let you know right now, you current fate is to become my servant and stand by my side for ages to come. Can you change this? Can you use that will of yours and prevent this from happening?" Ail bows and smiles, then says "I already felt this and am currently doing all I can to go against it." Remilia smiles wickedly and says "good. Then come at me, and show me this will of yours. I wish to experience it's full power!!"

Remilia and Ail declare their spell cards at the same time, both cards floating just above their heads, Remilia's glowing scarlet, while Ail's glows blue. "God Devil - Remilia Stoker" "Mad Waves - Raging Waves" After the declaration, Sakuya, who continues to sit on the broken roof, Meiling, and Patchouli, who stand in the hall, watching the fight, all think "those names are just laughable." Remilia unleashes 25 red lasers all around her, trapping Ail between two of them as she unleashes a wall of red knifes that scatter all over, coming non-stop toward Ail. Ail shoots 6 pairs of 8 extra-large orbs in straight lines. To his right, and left, two of those lines stand vertically, while the last two position themselves horizontally under Ail, then from the orbs a wall of blue crystals scatter quickly toward Remilia, clashing against Remilia's knives. Afterward, the orbs spread as they fly toward her, followed by waves of water that release even more blue scattered crystals. The orbs and waves open a path for the crystals, and although Remilia tries to release enough daggers in time, various of the crystals reach her, all exploding violently on contact. Remilia shouts in pain, but continues her attack, regardless. Ail also continues his attack, both of them repeating the spell patterns, getting faster each time. By the 4th strike, Remilia's had enough and her spell cancels out, while Ail's times out just then." Remilia pants and says "water... it's so annoying!" Ail asks "should we stop?" Remilia smiles, then gets up on her feet and says "we still have ONE more spell card. Ail smiles back and says "wouldn't have it any other way, lady Remilia." She smiles wickedly at Ail, then he smirks back, and both become a blur to the others once more, as they move as fast as possible, trying to strike each other with either high-speed melee tactic, or quick danmaku play. Orbs, lasers, knives, daggers and shock-wave after shock-wave is all the three witnesses can see. Remilia and Ail stop for a moment, then shoot various orbs at each other, both covering their faces with their forearms as the barrage strikes, then rush at each other very quickly, locking each others hands, pushing against one-another. Remilia asks "why aren't you using those gaps of yours?" Ail replies "want this to be as fair as possible." Remilia smiles and says "you are certainly a rare breed. That's very commendable of you." Ail smiles, but a sudden pressure against his fingers makes him shout in pain. Remilia squeezes his hands tightly, then lets go of his right hand, lifts him up in the air by his left, spins him around very violently, then flings him against the corner. The impact makes the whole floor rattle, the wall crack, and a large chunk of roof to weaken. Ail is dizzy and unable to recover in time. Remilia smiles and says "I'll do this quickly!" Remilia launches at him as he is unable to move, bearing her fangs and claws, ready to strike hard, but to Ail's luck, the large chunk of roof falls a few inches away from him, blocking Remilia, who yelps just before crashing against the chunk of rock, cracking it and turning it to pieces in the process. Remilia stumbles in a circle with her eyes spinning, trying to speak, but saying gibberish, then sits on the ground a few feet away form Ail.

Sakuya feels a great urge to go and aid her mistress, but if she did that right now, Remilia would never forgive her. Patchouli takes the away a book she was using to avoid seeing Remilia's impact from her face, looking at the dazed battlers, then says to Meiling "see? This is why I wanted to stop them. They're gonna end up hurt, or DEAD!" Meiling sighs and says "Mistress Remilia gave us strict order, lady Patchouli. You know we can't go against her orders." Patchouli sighs and says "I know... I know. I'm sorry." After some time passes, Ail and Remilia recover from the daze, then Ail says "whoa... that was fun.... let's do it again!" Remilia angrily shouts "NO! That HURT. Let's just get on with this!" Ail nods and says "right. Have at you!" Immediately, Ail unleashes his focused orange energy orbs that explode on contact. Remilia quickly moves away, avoiding both the orb and it's blast, then fires a small lance toward Ail, who uses the walls to bounce himself away from it, just as it strikes where he was just standing. Remilia tries to surprise him by standing right where he's about to land, and trying to claw him as hard as she can, but Ail manages to get an impulse and arc just above Remilia's attack range. Remilia smirks and pulls out one more spell card, then Ail stands firmly on the ground and pulls out his last one as well. Remilia says "we do this at the same time. Whichever cancels out first loses. Agreed?" Ail nods and says "agreed." They declare their spell cards at the same time, both cards glowing, Remilia's floating next to her, glowing scarlet, while Ail holds his on his hand as it glows white and green. "Scarlet Gensokyo" "Earth Sign - Earth Spirit Heartbeat" Remilia blasts blue extra-large orbs in arcs that release a wall of red orbs that, for a moment, stay floating in mid air, but very suddenly start moving around at a fast pace. At the same time, Ail unleashes a massive amount of white and green crystals that shape a heart around him, momentarily protecting him from Remilia's fast bullet barrage. The crystals scatter, beating at the rhythm of Ail's heart, then Ail shoots various blue orbs from his hands straight at Remilia, at the same time as he unleashes the two pair of white lasers that encase Remilia between them, however, since he's not on the ground, no vines come to help. They both continue their assault on each other, Remilia unleashing that heavy barrage of red orbs, and Ail unleashing that equally heavy barrage of crystals, however, Remilia is getting tired, as Ail continues to assault her with his homing blue orbs as well. Ail notices Remilia is getting tired, so he decides to move a little, making his laser strike her at the same time as the barrage of crystals and blue orbs. Remilia screams as her spell cancels out, then falls down to the floor quite hard, her body expelling some steam. Sakuya immediately shouts "It's over! Ail wins!" Immediately, Ail stops shooting, then takes a deep breath and sits down hard on the floor, closing his eyes. Patchouli, Meiling and Sakuya rush inside.

Neither Ail or Remilia move at all, both have their eyes closed. Patchouli's heart starts beating fast, as a cold fear takes over her. Sakuya places her hand on Patchouli's shoulder and says "relax, they are fine. Just exhausted themselves." Ail smiles and opens his eyes, then says "that was one hard battle." Remilia sits up as if nothing had happened to her and says "bah! You just got lucky. You were mine back there!" Ail jokingly says "dream on~!" Both start laughing, then Patchouli gets angry, her face turning red when she screams "that's not funny! You two could have been killed. What where you thinking!? And look at the roof, it's a mess. This entire room... There's blood everywhere! How are we going to *cough cough*" Patchouli starts coughing violently, then drops on the floor too. Meiling says "take it easy, lady Patchouli. They are alive and well. Isn't that good enough?" Patchouli stops coughing, then thinks for a moment and smiles as Meiling helps her back up, then says "yeah... I guess so." She lets her arm hang limp in the air as Meiling continues to hold her, then Meiling says "miss Sakuya.." Sakuya replies before Meiling says anything else "yes please. And make sure to cover her up well. It's chilly tonight." Meiling smiles and nods, then in a motherly tone, says "come on, lady Patchouli. Let's go to your room." Patchouli continues to smile with her eyes narrowly open, walking beside Meiling as she helps her to her room, then weakly says "please... take me downstairs before. I need to check up on Renko." Meiling giggles as she grabs Patchouli and carries her out the room and says "alright. But then you're going to bed, alright?" Sakuya stares at them as they leave through the door and thinks "what's with this mother-child atmosphere?" Ail and Remilia get back up, then they walk toward each other, shake hands, and Remilia smiles as she says "well, I guess you won. You may continue to visit the mansion as you have all this time. Feel proud of yourself. Your powers, along with some 'luck', have earned you victory. This proves your last victory was no fluke... my friend." Ail smiles, narrowing his eyes, and says "glad to hear that... Remi." Remilia lets go of his hand, then places both hands on her waist and says "however, I will still be expecting payment for the damaged roof." Ail scratches his left cheek, smiling embarrassed, then says "heh heh heh, I guess I don't have a choice there, huh?" Remilia frowns and says "I wasn't kidding when I said you had to pay for that." Ail bows with a smile and says "that's fine. I'll even lend a hand whenever I can." From behind him, Ail feels as though he's being run over by a bull as he flies toward the ground, landing hard on his face. Remilia casually says "ah, Flandre. Thanks for not interfering with out fight." Ail grumbles in pain "hi... Flan... chan." Flandre hugs Ail for some time, rubbing her cheek on his back, then gets back up and says "I am so glad you won, because if you didn't, I'd have to kick your butt." Remilia looks confused and asks "what do you mean?" Flandre, with an innocent and angelical smile on her face says "well, big brother and I had a battle earlier, and he beat me, and if you had beaten him, then that mean he's not stronger, but I am weaker, and then I'd be REALLY mad. *giggle*" As Sakuya and various fairy maids begin to clean and rebuild the room, Remilia looks surprised at Flandre, then at Ail, who is still on the floor, unable to get up, then grabs him by his shirt and shouts "HEY, you didn't tell me you fought my sister before!" Ail's head fall limp as his eyes spin and a silly smile covers his face. Remilia looks at him a little worried, then says "er, Sakuya... please prepare one of the guest rooms. Seems mister Anilan will be staying the night." Flandre looks innocently as she asks "Onee-sama, what's wrong with him?" Remilia lets go of Ail, letting him drop to the floor, then grabs Flandre and give her a big hug as two fairy maids grab Ail's legs and drag him out to the hall, then says "Flan... it's been so long since you called me that." Flandre giggles, then smiles innocently, tilting her head a little to the left and says "well I didn't feel like it."

Down at the library, Meiling carries Patchouli to Renko and Koakuma, who panic and spring up from their chairs, knocking them down, then Patchouli lets her head drop down, looking neutrally at the girls, then says "don't worry. It's only my asthma. I'll be fine in the morning. Just wanted to tell you that Ail will be escorting you back to the shrine in the morning." Renko nods quietly, then picks up both chairs as Patchouli addresses to Koakuma. "Koa, please go to the main hall and recover the books the black and white one tried to steal." Koakuma looks confused and says "but... we haven't seen Marisa at all, right miss Renko?" Renko nods and says "it's been pretty calm in here." Patchouli calmly says "oddly enough, this time it wasn't Marisa. Well, please, get to it." Koakuma flaps the wings on her head as she salutes Patchouli while saying "right away, lady Patchouli" then quickly flies toward the library's exit. Meiling says "well, is that all miss Patchouli?" Patchouli nods, then Meiling says "then off to bed you go." As she gets carried away by Meiling, Patchouli adds "oh, miss Renko, please ask Koakuma to take you to one of the guest rooms when you get tired, alright?" Renko quietly nods and watches as Meiling carries Patchouli, then hears the door closing shut, sits back down, opens a book, and after a long and loud sighs, she says "I'll never be able to do this."

At Entei, Rika is unable to sleep, so she exits the room she's sharing with Reisen, then heads to the living room and sits there, looking out the window, admiring the countless stars in the sky. she sighs and thinks "this is going to be a very interesting place to live in. The people here have such amazing powers and abilities... I hope I can serve my new master well enough. First I have to meet her, though." Rika takes out her spell card from her pocket and stares at it while thinking "this spell card... With it I could use spells and powers to defend myself. But this one is sealed... I wonder why?" From behind comes Tewi, wearing a collar with a chain attached to it and says "thanks for not pulling on the chain." Rika gets startled and hides her spell card immediately, then turns to Tewi and smiles, then says "miss Tewi. Did I wake you up? I'm sorry." Tewi sweats and thinks "is this girl for real?" Rika says to her "please, don't bother yourself for me. I know that miss Eirin said you had to serve me, but I don't want to be a bother." Tewi stares at her in disbelief, then says "even after all i did to you?" Rika says "that was a pretty mean trick, but... it was harmless, so I forgive you." For a moment, an image of Reisen fills Tewi's mind, but she just ignores it. Rika then continues "tomorrow I get to meet my master. I hope I can serve her well." Tewi gets closer, then says "you are too kind... are you an angel?" Rika lets Tewi sit beside her, then start brushing the rabbit's hair with her fingers, then says "no, I don't think so. Why do you ask?" Rika looks at Tewi and notices she's fallen asleep, so she quietly smiles and continues to stare at the stars through the windows, letting the rabbit sleep against her shoulder through the rest of the night.

To be continued...

Characters, spell cards and scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
Ail and Ail's spell cards were created by Willie G.R.
Rika was created by snapshot2010

OCT 27 2009
written by
Willie G.R.