At the Youkai Forest, Nitori and Kogasa hide themselves under a thick bush, holding Sanae ‘hostage’. Ail’s excess energy release has caused an uproar between the kappa and the tengu, and both races are now in the edge of fighting against each other, even under the heavy rain that keeps pouring down from the black and scarlet clouds. Some tengu look around the bushes they are hiding under, but luck is on their side as a higher ranking tengu flies by and says “you two, come with me!” One of the low ranked tengu replies “yes ma’am!” then all three leave toward the waterfall. Nitori and Kogasa spring their heads from under the bush, and after spitting out a blade of grass, Nitori says “phew, that was close.” Kogasa adds “thank goodness nee-san didn’t start screaming again.” A muffled “get me OUT of here!” from under the bush startles the two girls, then pulling Sanae from underneath them Nitori places a finger in her mouth, shushing Sanae and saying “be quiet! Ail’s energy outburst has them all on edge. They’ll attack us if they find us!” Sanae says “I don’t care! I want to know what that lecher is doing up there?” Kogasa says “whoa, nee-san. You shouldn’t call him that.” Sanae angrily replies “oh, so you’re going to side with him?” Kogasa covers her head with her hands, and after Sanae stops yelling she peeks with her right blue-greenish eye, then says “I told you, I saw when that maid placed the knife on his neck. None of that ever happened!” Sanae scoffs and looks away, then says “you’re just trying to protect him because he’s your food supply.” Kogasa sweats and says “no~! Nee-san, you’re being mean.” Sanae sighs, then asks “alright then, tell me what happened?” Kogasa smiles, then gives Sanae a light hug around her neck, then says “ok, this is what happened. After the maid pulled the knife away, saying something about a spell, they talked and she gave him a kiss on the cheek. The chicken was so surprised I didn’t even have to try and surprise him at all. After that, he went inside the house, then I heard him talking to you, and you were screaming, then a small log hit his head.” Sanae looks away, looking slightly annoyed, then says “ha, he didn’t even go into his house that night, they did it out... side... wait.” Sanae remembers the day Ail was affected by Patchouli’s lust spell. She remembers how that night, while she was taking a bath, he opened a gap right into the bathtub. Sanae says “wait... He did get inside the house. He opened a gap to peep on me that night. Wait... does this mean that...?” Kogasa, sounding a little agitated, says “that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. There’s something funny about all that you just told us.” Nitori waves her left finger at Sanae and says “and Hina would never go for a human, or youkai. In fact, if he would have done something like THAT, he’d probably be dead.” Sanae thinks for a moment, then says “y-yeah... I guess you’re...” She punches the ground next to her, and with a frown she says “but that still doesn’t explain the OTHER things!”
At the Moriya Shrine’s gate, holding on tightly to the bushes she is trying to hide under so she doesn’t get blown away, Hina cries out “this is insane! He’s going to destroy himself!” Beside her, a familiar voice shouts back “AYAYAYAYA~! I can’t take pictures like this!” Surprised, Hina shouts “miss tengu? Since when are you there?” From beside Aya, Momiji struggles to reach Aya’s side using the bushes to pull herself against Ail’s energy waves, then shouts “should I report this, lady Aya!?” Aya shouts back “yes! Tell them it’s not the kappa, like I thought!” Momiji lets go of the bush she was holding on to, and as she’s blown away she salutes Aya and shouts “right away~!” After Momiji leaves, Aya manages to look to the scarlet clouds and shouts “I see rain falling, but I don’t feel the water! Can you?” Hina shouts back “it’s the energy pressure. Once he stops, the water will probably...” The energy pressure stops, letting the held up rain fall hard on the ground, getting both Aya and Hina soaking wet in just a second. After spitting some water, Aya says “ayayaya... I hope this scoop is worth all this.” Above them, Ail breathes heavily as his body gets used to the power stored inside. Suwako thinks he’s calming down, so with a concerned look on her face she gets closer to him and asks “Ail...? Are you alright now?” Silent, Ail raises his head with a twisted smile. Kanako shouts “Moriya, DOWN!” Suwako drops down just as Ail quickly lifts his arm and releases a fast and powerful blood-red and white beam. He misses Suwako, so he veers the beam before it reaches the shrine, making it head toward Kanako’s back, but the goddess is ready and waits for the very last moment to fly higher, allowing the beam to head straight to Ail himself, along with some more daggers from her, these with violet hilts. She smirks and says “this should bring him down a notch or two. What the..?” Kanako’s face fills with surprise when Ail allows the beam to his him directly, getting stabbed three times on the chest and once on the shoulder. He absorbs the beam entirely, then pulls out all the daggers, showing no signs of pain. He glares at Kanako with his angry blood-red eyes, then smirks. Suwako shouts “how is he doing this!?” Kanako shouts back “it’s like he’s possessed again!” Ail laughs then, with a crazed expression on his face, he answers back “you~ WISH! Kanako... I had so much faith in you. I would have trusted you with my life. Glad I didn’t though... And YOU TOO... Suwako... I thought you were my friends.” Tears roll down Ail’s cheeks, however he continues to stare with a crazed expression and smiling widely as he continues saying “you could have said something, you know. You could have just hinted me, and poof... I was gone... But this...” Ail’s tears dry up again as he shouts “you hurt Sanae, the one you call FAMILY! All to get to ME!” He kicks and punches wildly in the air while shouting “AND I’M NOT EVEN WORTH CRYING FOR!!!”
Suwako covers her face with her hat, feeling ashamed. She knows it’s not her fault, but she could have easily stopped all of it, but no; like Kanako, she wanted Sanae back with them again. She clenches her teeth and still hiding under her hat she shouts “Ail, I’m sorry! I... we were being selfish, and I swear, if I had known this would happen...!” Kanako interrupts Suwako by shouting “don’t let him taunt you, you foolish frog!” Suwako shouts back “Kanako, stop it already!” Ail floats in mid air, letting his feet, arms and head fall victims of gravity. He remembers the first time he met Remilia. She wanted his blood and caused some troubles for it. He thinks “it’s my fault.” Then he remembers how he and Kyo entered her mansion without permission, and how he almost killed Flandre by copying her own power. He remembers being possessed, but still he thinks “it’s all my fault.” After that, he remembers meeting Sanae, the goddesses, then fighting Marisa. The image of Marisa’s Master Spark repeats itself in his mind. At that time, he couldn’t hear her declare her spell, but the image of the spell burns into his mind, regardless. Ail drifts back into consciousness and realizes Suwako is once again close to him, looking worried and asking “Ail? Are you alright? Ail, answer me.” Ail straightens out, then joins both hands together as if holding something, concentrating the blood-red energy between them. Suwako backs away, joining Kanako again and both goddesses watch as the energy takes the shape of an octagon. Suwako gasps in horror, but Kanako beats her from shouting “that’s the witch’s Master Spark!!!” Ail grabs hold of the octagonal-shaped energy and points it straight at the two goddesses, firing a wide, fast and powerful blood-red beam. Suwako and Kanako manage to push each other away, effectively dodging the beam in time, however Ail smiles as the beam splits into 8 thinner beams just as it’s about to hit the shrine itself. 4 beams home in on Kanako, who flies away from them as fast as she can, while Suwako flies straight to the lake, jumping from log to log, avoiding the beams, making two beams crash against the large logs. Kanako knows leading the beams toward Ail will be of no use, so instead, she summons a large log and rides it as it heads straight at him. Ail doesn’t move, and doesn’t seem he’s going to move at all. Kanako stares at him and thinks “is he really going to let me smash his head so easily? Hmm... I could end this now...” At the very last moment, Kanako veers the log away from Ail, but manages to blast him with an extra-large green orb, striking his head and cancelling his spell. Ail reacts to this by generating various extra-large blood-red orbs of his own and sends them all straight at Kanako, blasting her log to pieces, but still missing her directly. Suwako and Kanako regroup above the red gate and stare back at Ail, who stares back at them with determination and hatred.
Down by the Youkai Mountain, Nitori, Sanae and Kogasa continue to hide as more and more tengu seem to be patrolling the area. It’s just a matter of time before they are found now, so Sanae and Kogasa are forming a plan, just in case. Nitori looks to the waterfall and notices Momiji flying in a hurry towards a superior. The wolf tengu bows to the crow tengu, then whispers something in her ear. The superior shouts in a commanding tone “everyone! At ease! It seems the disturbance isn’t being caused by the kappa after all. However, there IS someone using this out of control energy up in the mountain. Keep to your posts and do not let ANYONE reach that shrine until the goddesses subdue this individual. Did I make myself clear?” All the underlings straighten up, salute their leader, then all shout “yes ma’am!” Nitori whispers “phew! Finally we can get out of here!” Sanae adds “finally. Geez, today is really becoming a nightmare. First Ail, then this strange energy, then the tengu... and now I can’t head back home!” Momiji notices the small group, and realizing Nitori is with them she decides to go down and greet them. Before she lands she calls “Nitori, miss wind priestess!” Nitori and Sanae look up, greeting Momiji after she lands, then the wolf tengu stares at Kogasa and curiously asks “and who are you?” Kogasa sticks her tongue out and says “how rude. You should tell me your name first, miss Momiji!” Momiji stares back at Kogasa with surprise, then the karakasa says “well, whatever. I’m Kogasa Tatara! Nice to meet you miss Momiji!” Momiji sweats as she forces a smile and extends her hand, saying “y-yes. Nice to meet you miss Kogasa.” Sanae suddenly yells “argh, I can’t take this! I’m FORCING my way through!” Momiji grabs Sanae’s shoulder, preventing her to charge to the shrine and says “sorry, but it’s too dangerous right now. You can’t go there.” Sanae snarls at Momiji’s hand and forces herself free from her grip, and instead of trying to go to the shrine, she goes to the log and sits on it, tapping her fingers on her cheeks. Momiji asks “did... I do something?” Nitori lowers her head a little and says “err, I need to ask you something...”
At the Hakurei Shrine, Chen sits next to Budou, rubbing her back as she sobs on the shrine’s floor calling for Ail. Meanwhile, Ran approaches Reimu after helping Rika serve tea and snacks for all 4 of them. Reimu, in a serious tone of voice says “as much as it hurts to say, Ail is on his own.” Luna smiles dangerously and says “that’s all very nice and well. Now tell us what’s going on! Kyo and I sent Ail to hell from what you’re saying!” Reimu signals Luna to lower her voice, pointing at Budou with her eyes. She takes a sip of tea and says “you could say that, though it’s not your fault. Shikieiki told me yesterday that Ail would have to undergo a few trials in order to learn a lesson... As to what lesson, she didn’t say.” As Reimu continues to speak, at Hakugyokurou, Yukari has a gap opened on top of the battle at the Moriya Shrine, so she, Youmu, and Yuyuko can watch. Reimu’s voice says “she told me that these trials would test his heart, mind and spirit in the most brutal way, so as to prepare him for something. To help him grow, she said.” The scene changes to the Myouren Temple, where Shou, Byakuren and Nue stand on the roof of the temple, looking toward the Youkai Mountain, Byakuren looking dreadfully worried, placing her hands on her chest. Reimu’s voice continues “this may sound cruel, but while Ail goes through this, none of us can help him. Shiki made me swear not to interfere, or she’d have my head.” The scene changes back the small table at the Hakurei Shrine’s living room, where Luna looks worried at Reimu and says “great, Kyo’s gonna feel responsible for it!” Reimu nods and calmly says “and that is why I’m telling you this now. Tell Kyo about it. Also tell him that I don’t really give a care about how long they’ve known each other, if he tries to interfere, I will be there to stop him, and so will the yama.” Luna clenches her teeth and bangs on the table with both hands, then gets up and says “if you’ll excuse me... I’ll be relaying these horrible news to Kyo, then. Good day.” She storms away, leaving her tea untouched on the table. Reimu sighs and says “Ran, you realize we are also missing one last shadow, correct?” Ran bows her head and says “lady Yukari searched everywhere after dealing with miss Yuyuko’s shadow, but she couldn’t find her.” Rika asks “miss Reimu, do you really think that after all this time she’s still alive?” Reimu looks at Rika with strict eyes and says “I don’t think so, I’m sure of it! And if she’s like the other shadows, her powers and abilities are the opposite of Sanae’s.” Reimu stares into her tea and remembers Shikieiki’s last words before she left. In Reimu’s mind, Shikieiki says “don’t look so grim, Reimu. You know that each and every soul is bound to go through heavy trials, even if just once in life. Just like you, when you had to train by yourself in order to be able to use your charms and amulets to defend yourself from the many youkai attacking the shrine. To be able to use the shrine’s yin-yang orbs; to learn how to fly.” Reimu chuckles and in a sarcastic tone says “oh, those where the days.” Shiki giggles and says “don’t worry. I’m sure he can pass all these trials. It’s part of life, after all.” Reimu returns from her memories and takes another sip of tea as Rika asks “miss Reimu, are you sure you’re alright?”
Above the Moriya Shrine, Ail is having trouble aiming because of the heavy downpour of rain that continues to fall on him, blinding him every time water sprinkles into his eyes, fueling his rage every time. Suwako and Kanako easily dodge each and every barrage of blood-red orbs he keeps sending, however, Suwako looks agitated. She desperately shouts “Kanako, we have to stop him! If he keeps getting angry like this, he’s going to end up a cursed spirit!!” Kanako looks worriedly toward Ail, but doesn’t say a word until Ail stops shooting and closes his eyes, then she shouts “look, now’s our chance!” She pulls out a spell card and shouts “Divine Husk - Divining Crop" immediately unleashing green, red and blue sets of large oval bullets that shrink to small shards just as they reach Ail, but not a single bullet makes it past a strange aura that surrounds him. Suddenly, the blood-red energy around Ail spreads out around him and takes the shape of countless small shards that surround him, making the pattern of a star inside a circle, then the shards rain down toward the two goddesses with great speed. At the SDM, Remilia furiously grabs the crystal ball with both hands, violently shaking it in the air and shouting “that’s my spell, you thief!!! That’s scarlet Netherworld!” Back above the Moriya Shrine, though the spell continues to rain down on the goddesses, Ail is floating in the center of it all with his eyes closed. Inside his mind he remembers the second battle he had with Remilia. He remembers how he couldn’t hear the full spell declarations, thinking he was going deaf. While inside his memory, a familiar voice says “Ail, you have to calm down. You are using way too much power. Your body’s going to break in pieces. Hell, your heart is about to explode.” Ail calmly asks “Mima...? Mima, is that you? Where are you? Where am I? What am I doing?” Mima replies “Ail, we are inside your mind. Please, just listen to me! You need to?“ Ail calmly says “oh... that’s right. Someone hurt me. The pain is unbearable. But I’m sure it’s all my fault again. I should let myself die.” Mima angrily shouts “what kind of talk is that!? Ail, what about those that care about you. What about B?“ Above the shrine, Kanako has managed to cancel Ail’s spell by now, waking him up after she stabs him again with a dagger on the shoulder. Looking as though he’s calm, he takes the dagger and pulls it out without flinching. He stares at the blood on the blade as rain water cleans it away, and slowly wakes up. Kanako shouts “Ail, you listen to me, and you listen good! Stop this right now before you seriously hurt someone.!” Ail stares back in a somber state but doesn’t reply. Kanako continues “do you know WHY I want Sanae to leave you so badly!? Ail, use your head! Ever since you came into Gensokyo, all you’ve caused is trouble after trouble. Every life you’ve touched falls into the abyss all thanks to your foolishness!” Ail clenches his teeth and slowly reaches for his head with his hands, trying to cover his ears. Kanako continues “sure, you’ve saved them all and brought them back from the darkness, but you mere PRECENSE makes them fall into the abyss once more! Do you think I’d want Sanae with someone as dangerous as you!?” From below, Suwako shouts “Kanako, what the hell are you trying to do!?” Suwako flies straight up to Kanako and grabs her by the neck of her shirt, pulling her close to her own face and angrily saying through her teeth “you’re going to drive him insane! Stop that!” Kanako whispers “I’m trying to make him see the error of his way of thinking! Look, he stopped attacking!” Suwako shouts “but he’s not calming down at all!”
Ail holds his ears tightly, writhing around while hovering in place and in a crazed voice shouting “it’s all my fault... It’s all my fault!! No, no, that’s a LIE! Kanako is LYING!” From his own body, a thick, powerful, but slow blood-red and white beam heads toward both goddesses. Confidently, Kanako moves just slightly as the slow beam passes by. Suwako, however, stares with fright, and just as the sound of thunder echoes loudly all over the mountain, causing the entire shrine to rumble slightly, Ail’s beam suddenly explodes in multiple areas, catching Kanako off guard. Kanako holds her arm, screaming in pain and shouting “it burns! What the hell is this!?” The clothes around Kanako’s arms melts as her skin continues to burn, but thanks to the heavy raining, her skin soothes just as the area around it starts turning red. Suwako manages to narrowly dodge the shower of oval bullets that follow after the successive explosions, and after escaping the last one she immediately heads toward Kanako, grabs her arm, and inspects it thoroughly. She looks at Kanako with a frightened expression and says “he’s cursing. Kanako, that’s a curse. Don’t let it touch you.” Kanako pulls her arm back to her chest, and with a tear in her left eye she shouts “thanks for the advice!” Ail has risen higher on the air, and as he flies around, exploding orbs of blood-red energy drop from his very body. He looks down and with a crazed voice, he shouts “you’re going to pay! You lied about me, hurt Sanae, betrayed me, and now you want to kill me. You’re even making me think I am bad... I’m not bad!! I won’t kill myself! I won’t let myself die!” Ail remembers again about Kanako’s mirror, and the way Sanae looked at him after looking into it. He ignores Suwako, then goes after Kanako, shouting “you’re going to pay for what you have done!!” Kanako flies away from him as fast as she can, avoiding the many blood-red beams Ail shoots at her. Suwako panics, shouting “no, Ail! Don’t kill her!” She flies after him and pulls a spell card from under her hat and shouts “Divine Tool ? Moreya’s Iron Rings!” Using the momentum of the speed she’s going, she tosses various iron rings to her front and underneath herself. Ail is just about to catch up to Kanako, shouting “I GOT YOU NOW!” when thunder and lightning strike together, startling Ail and making him stop abruptly. 5 iron rings strike him hard, one on the legs, two on the chest, one on the back, and the last one on the back of his head, forcing him to fall to the ground below. Ail manages to keep himself from crashing on the ground, then looks up at the two goddesses. Both are right on top of him, so he summons the red energy to him, and in a sudden outburst the energy rises up forming a giant red cross, and at the same time, he fires blood-red spears at them using the blood from the knife wounds. At the SDM, Remilia stares in complete shock at the crystal ball as Ail combines two of her spell cards. Patchouli, though sounding calm, trembles and sweats lightly as she says “Scarlet Devil, and Spear of the Gungnir. He’s combining two very powerful spells. Look... his skin is turning red.” Remilia changes her expression, looking seriously into the magic ball, then says “his body can’t handle the stress. He is going to die.”
At the Hakurei Shrine, the rain from the Youkai Mountain finally reaches the shrine. Budou starts crying and calling for her papa again while Chen tries to calm her down with a light hug, and Phredia hovers next to Budou’s face, glowing aquamarine. Reimu and Ran stand on the shrine porch, watching the rain as it falls on the ground hard, making a loud noise as it crashes on the ground and on the shrine’s roof. Reimu senses something from behind her and quickly turns around. Ran turns around after Reimu and says “I see. I believe it’s for the best.” Reimu nods and says “It’s really hard to see her like that. Almost makes me want to cry with her.” Phredia flies in circles just above Budou and Chen, placing both in a deep sleep. Phredia flies toward Reimu, who instinctively raises her hand to chest-height, allowing Phredia to rest on it. Ran smiles sadly toward Reimu and says “at this rate, his body will be destroyed in no time.” Reimu sighs and places Phredia against her chest, then says “no... I don’t think so.” She looks up to the ceiling and says “this might not end well, but he’ll survive. You’ll see. You hear me, Mima? He’s going to survive.” Mima materializes out of nowhere, revealing herself as she sits next to the small table holding her hat against her chest, then asks “you really think so?” Rika is placing a blanket over Budou and Chen as she tenderly says “if miss Reimu says he’s going to live, I believe he’ll live.” Mima manages a weak smile and slowly calms down. She looks at Reimu, lightly gasps, then asks “Reimu? What are you...?” Reimu is sitting on the floor with her legs crossed under her skirt and Phredia resting on her lap as she closes her eyes and places her hands together in prayer while holding an amulet. While still concentrating, Reimu says “I’m going to try something. Remember, that bracelet of his has a blessing from my shrine, so perhaps...” Above Marisa’s house at the Forest of Magic, Alice holds Marisa’s broom, and Marisa shouts from the ground “fine! If you’re not giving my broom back, I’m going to your house and taking all your books!” Alice tosses the broom back at Marisa and says “stop whining so much and let me watch!” Marisa angrily enters her house while grumbling “watch what? That battle’s too far away anyway, so how can she ‘watch’ anything?” After Marisa closes the door behind her, Shanghai startles Alice after shouting “grandma! What’s wrong?” Alice turns around and sees Shinki with her eyes closed while still floating. Alice exclaims “mom, what’s wrong?” Mai, Yuki and Alice all surround Shinki, all looking very concerned at her, but Shinki calms them down, saying “shh shh, it’s alright. I’m only praying for his safety.” Mai asks “you mean Ail?” Shinki smiles whiles still concentrating and says “yes. It’s even easier with the blessing in that bracelet of his.” On the Myouren Temple’s roof, Minamitsu holds Byakuren by her shoulders as she says “so much pain. He’s suffering.” Shou stands up and closes her eyes, saying “miss Hijiri, I’m going to try and help him. I don’t know how much I can do, but at least I can help keep him alive.” Byakuren lifts her head to look at Shou, then smiles and says “thank you so much.” Behind them, Nazrin sits next to Ichirin and says “I told you guys, he’s an insane human... but to overdo it the way he is now...?” Nue smiles and says “nobody’s perfect.”
Back at the Moriya Shrine, Ail continue combining both of Remilia’s spells, causing a vacuum effect on the goddesses with “Scarlet Devil”, and firing more than one “Spear of Gungnir” at the same time, using the blood from his wounds. His skin is turning purple, his hands swell up, his entire body hurts, but he doesn’t stop; he continues to attack, regardless of the pain. Above, Suwako and Kanako struggle with all their might as they avoid being sucked into the large cross, and managing to dodge the bloody spears, and just like that, it all stops. Suwako looks down and asks “what’s going on now?” The rain subsides, now only a light sprinkle falls, allowing the goddesses to see Ail’s bracelet forming an aquamarine barrier around him, effectively trapping the blood-red energy inside of it, and regulating it so it doesn’t kill Ail. Suwako gasps and shouts “the bracelet!” Kanako shouts back “let’s do it!” Both goddesses close their eyes, cross their legs, and expand their arms as if in meditation. Back down below, Ail struggles against the bracelet, grunting “what... is going on... here!?” His bracelet does the familiar droplet sound, and now, all the symbols in it start to glow in order. The frog, the snake, the tiger, Pandemonium, and last, the yin-yang orb symbol inside the crystal. Ail panics and tries to take the bracelet off, shouting “I won’t let you kill me!” The aquamarine energy molds itself into Ail’s shape, then compresses itself until it’s right on top of his skin, then gets absorbed, restoring Ail’s natural skin color, though Ail feels as though he has been squeezed by an industrial trash compactor. He kneels on the ground, trembling and unable to move. Kanako rushes toward him, shouting “let’s take him out now!” Suwako shouts in a panic “no wait!” As she rushes to him, she prepares various large green orbs, all in straight lines of 5, and using the momentum, she fires all straight at him. Ail raises his head just as the large bullets hit the ground next to him, raising thick curtains of dust. Kanako smiles, having made a direct hit, and landing after the last three lines of bullets strike him she shouts “finally! This was more of a hassle than I would have imagined. Still, we took care of him. Right Suwako..? Suwako?” Kanako looks up just as Suwako crashes backward against her. Both goddesses recover quickly and look up, spotting Ail, who glares back at them with glowing blood-red eyes, and in a mad tone of voice he says “this is incredible... You got everyone else against me! Who ELSE saw that lying crap?” Kanako unwisely replies “does it matter? Ail, you’re an outsider. One that’s like a catastrophe magnet! You should just leave so we can all live in peace!” Ail starts sobbing, clenching his teeth and scowling in order to hide his sadness. Memories of the lust spell reach his mind, and remembers when Mirida, Nia and Kikiru made him judge that contest, however, instead of seeing Mirida as she was back then, he sees her as the undead vampire he fought the day before. In his mind he shouts “no! It’s all my fault! I killed her!” Mima’s voice desperately says “no, it’s not! It was that shadow!” Ail asks “and who CREATED those shadows!?” Mima replies “no, don’t block me off! Ail? Ail, are you listening!?” At the Hakurei shrine, just after Reimu opens her eyes and gets up from the ground, Mima sighs loudly and says “he’s not listening.” Reimu looks outside, admiring how the heavy rain falls hard on the ground, then says “we’ve done all that we can.” The rain subsides, then Reimu looks up and notices a large gap between some of the clouds, showing a bit of sunlight shining through, then smiles and says “and I think it’s more than enough.”
Above the Moriya Shrine, Ail hovers in place, remembering the small fight he had with Aya. He remembers taunting her, and calling her “slow” then remembers the spell she used afterwards. While the image of Aya’s “Illusionary Dominance” spell runs over and over in his mind, a translucent image of Sakuya glaring at him, while her “Misdirection” spell mixes with Aya’s, runs through his mind. Outside his thoughts, just as Suwako is about to try and catch him, he darts away at speeds that rivals that of Aya’s. Down by the gate, Aya takes a few pictures as Ail leaves a trail of blood-red beams as he zigzags above the goddesses, then says to Hina “that’s my ‘Illusionary Dominance’ spell. But I didn’t see him use a spell card. Did you?” Hina shakes her head and says “I am not sure how, but I think he’s copying them from memory.” Aya stares curiously at Hina as she says “every time he uses a spell, I see many curses looming over his head. It’s just a guess, but...” Aya looks back up and starts taking pictures after she gasps and says “wait, that’s not my spell alone!” As Ail flies around the goddesses as such speeds, leaving behind a blood red beam that showers a few danmaku shards, he also places blood-red colored knives all around. Kanako doesn’t wait around for the knives to start moving and uses a log as a bat to swat away the knives, while avoiding the light danmaku shower. Suwako sighs loudly and say “it’s no use. Kanako, you really hurt him, and now he’s beyond reasoning.” Kanako simply replies “be quiet and help me out here!” Suwako softly growls, but ignores Kanako and grabs a spell card from under her hat, and after raising it above her head, she shouts “Native God ? Froggy Braves the Elements!” The knives start to move straight toward the goddesses, but Suwako sprays a lot of water, danmaku orbs and shards all around, successfully stopping Ail’s attacks, and Ail himself, splashing him with divine water on the face and startling him to a stop. Ail yelps and starts to desperately wipe the water away from his face with his hands, and while still unleashing her spell Suwako shouts “Kanako, now!” Kanako replies “on it!”, and rushes to the distracted Ail with her log on her hands. Suwako shouts “not that you idiot!”, but it’s too late, and Kanako strike him hard on the back of his neck, forcefully sending him down on the ground, close to where Aya and Hina are. Suwako cancels her spell and grabs Kanako by her shirt, then starts shaking her violently while shouting “dammit Kanako, I meant for you to CAPTURE him, no kill him!” Kanako manages to reply “heEeEe iS FINEe~!” Down by the gate, Aya hurriedly takes as many pictures as she can at where Ail has fallen, however there is too much dust rising from the wrecked floor and neither she or Hina see Ail already standing and staring back at them until it’s too late. Hina and Aya freeze when they realize Ail’s glare is upon them; the hate-filled blood-red eyes staring accusingly straight at them. Ail calmly asks “are you going to kill me?” Aya stays quiet, but Hina quickly springs up, revealing herself from under the bushes as she says “Ail, we would never do that. Right miss Aya?” Aya looks at Hina, then says “r-right. We-we’re just...” Ail turns around to face the goddesses again as he calmly says “then stay away.” and floats back up to the sky, expanding his arms beside himself.
As he rises back up to meet the goddesses once more, he remembers how Budou got caught by Reimu’s “Fantasy Heaven”, and how after that, he and Sanae went to look for her at a horrible world where Sanae almost lost her life, if it hadn’t been for one of Suwako’s protections. He remembers how despair got the best of him after all the demons learned of their presence, right after finding Budou. He remembers how Nazrin glared at him after Captain Murasa rescued them, and then remembers the fight they had. He starts to think about her two spells, “Rare Metal Detector“ and “Nazrin Pendulum”. Outside his memories, Ail is again surrounded by the blood-red energy, but it quickly takes the shape of three large shards that spin around him, releasing many smalls shards as they spin around, and two batons that Ail himself holds on to his hands, releasing many beams all around himself, that after reaching a certain point shatter and turn into small oval bullets that spread widely. Kanako and Suwako have a hard time dodging so many bullets and find themselves overwhelmed. Kanako desperately pulls out a spell card, but it’s too late as the bullets are a mere inch away from them... then stop. Kanako and Suwako float in the air with their backs pressed against each other, trembling at the sight of the blood-red bullets mere inches away from their faces. When they realizes the attack has stopped they stop trembling and immediately move away from the bullet concentration after spotting some gaps between the bullets. After safely getting away they look to Ail, who hovers in place as his body is entirely surrounded by the blood-red aura, and only a pair of glowing scarlet eyes can be seen through the waving energy. He stares at them, then calmly asks “why hurt Sanae the way you did? Why not confront ME directly?” Before Kanako can open her mouth, Suwako jumps on her neck and covers her mouth with her hands and replies “Ail, we really are sorry! We were just jealous!” Ail’s eyes glow blood-red, then Suwako hurriedly continues “you have to understand, we care a lot about Sanae. She’s like our daughter, Ail. To us... you were taking her away from us! How would you feel if someone came and took Budou away from you?” Ail’s glare suddenly vanishes, the blood-red energy starts diminishing, revealing his surprised expression. Suwako continues “see? You understand. Look, why don’t you calm down so we can sort this out. I’ll explain everything to Sanae, and then... we can work something out.” By now, all the blood-red energy is almost gone, and Ail’s face slowly returns to normal. Suwako lets go of Kanako’s mouth who immediately says “you forgot to mention how he blinds Sanae to the point of ignoring us. How she no longer cares about us, and how she rather spend time with him, rather than with us, and helping us gather faith.” Suwako strikes Kanako’s head as hard as she can and with clenched teeth she says “dammit Kanako, why can’t you keep QUIET!?” Ail’s face saddens, his eyes start glowing again, and tears start coursing through his cheeks, stinging him as the cut on his left cheek gets some tears in it. The pain effectively fuels him with rage as it reminds him of Sanae again, when she was looking into the mirror. He raises his head and glares at the goddesses again and says “no... after what you did... talking will not solve this. I must... I must...” Memories of Agava, back when she was trying to kill everybody, course through his mind. He remembers how she almost killed Chen, and how she badly damaged Mima. In his mind he says “it’s all your fault. Kanako is right. You should leave Gensokyo. It’s the only reasonable thing to do, Ail.” Outside his mind, Ail grabs his head with both hands and shouts “NO! SHE’S LYING!” Inside his mind he says “oh yeah? What about stranding Maribel in Makai, having opened that gap in her heart, experimenting as if you were some expert, when you were CLEARLY not. Face it, Ail... No matter how much good you try to do, you end up causing more incidents than you’re worth.” Outside his mind he shouts “NO~! I am NOT the cause.. I...”
At the Youkai Forest, Minoriko blushes and covers her cheeks with her hands, saying with a giggle “no way~! I’d NEVER do something like that. I don’t even like him like that!” Shizuha stands blushing and smiling nervously next to Sanae, calmly saying “what kind of people do you think me and nee-san are? We’re gods anyway. We wouldn’t do that with a human, EVER.” Sanae’s eyes hide under her hair and a dark shadow as she smiles widely, and as a small spirit escapes from inside her mouth she says “she even asked the village’s teacher...” Blushing bright red while looking serious, Momiji clears her throat as she approaches Sanae and says “and there you have it. If you want, I can go to the Bamboo Forest and get the alien’s stories too!” Sanae springs up and holds Momiji by her shoulders, desperately shaking her and shouting “no, NO! I get it already!” Sanae sits back down on the log and stares at her bandaged left hand and says “but after what I said to him... after what I did. Do you guys think he’ll forgive me?” Kogasa and Nitori sit beside Sanae, and at the same time they place a hand on her shoulders, then Nitori says “of course he will. He’s your friend.” Kogasa adds “more than that even. Just be true to your words, nee-san.” Sanae smiles and looks up the mountain, then says “looks like things settled down. I guess I better get going... but UUU~! When I get my hands on Kanako! Why’d she have to do something like that?” Kogasa is just about to say something when a powerful and explosive energy wave strikes them hard and pushes them all back, all the way outside the forest itself, along with some tengu, kappa, fairies and youkai from the forest. Sanae gets up on her knees and shouts “what the hell was that just now!!?” Kogasa is already on her feet and extends her right hand to Sanae while holding her umbrella with her left, letting it rest on her shoulder. Staring seriously at Sanae she says “Sanae nee-san, let’s go!” Sanae nods and quickly grabs Kogasa’s hand. Back at the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu gets up from the floor after the explosive energy reaches the shrine and immediately checks on Budou and Chen. After seeing they are still sleeping with their backs against each other, she sighs with relief, then says “Mima, check it out!” Immediately, Mima sits up and closes her eyes. Rika and Ran stare at Mima along with Reimu, then Mima gasps in horror and says “he’s mixing all sort of spells together. Reimu, he could destroy Gensokyo’s barrier with this!” Reimu bites on her thumb and says “shit! I’m sorry, Shikieiki, but he’s gone TOO far!” Before Reimu reaches the door leading outside, Shikieiki and Komachi stand firmly, blocking Reimu, then Shiki says “don’t!” Reimu shouts back “don’t give me lip! He’s messing with Gensokyo! I’m going to stop him!” Shikieiki raises her voice and says “REIMU!!! Trust me, if I wasn’t sure, I wouldn’t stop you. You know that.” Reimu tries to find an excuse so the yama and her shinigami would have to move, but she can’t find any, so she sighs and says “if you’re sure, then I won’t argue with you.” Shiki looks at Budou and Chen, then smiles tenderly and says “those two hold the answer to all of this. Innocence is such a wonderful thing. So pure, so white.” Phredia immediately flies from under a pile of pillows that fell on top of her and flies straight to Budou, landing on her shoulder and patting her head.
Above the Moriya Shrine, Ail hovers with his arms extended beside his torso, shaking violently as he causes a vacuum, all caused by a conflict of energies and emotions running though his heart. While doing her best not to get sucked in, Suwako shouts to Kanako “look what you did now~!” Ail’s voice echoes loudly as his body turns completely black and only his eyes glow blood-red. He says “I understand. Kanako and Suwako wanted to save Sanae from me. I truly understand. Alright... I’ll play the villain. If you two righteous goddesses can kill me before I destroy Gensokyo, then you were right. If not... well, I’ll deal with it afterwards. Now...” A powerful and explosive band of clear energy expels form Ail, breaking the seal made by the blessing in his bracelet, unleashing the blood red energy, again expanding 10 times his own size again, then takes the shape of 6 demonic wings, 3 pairs on each side of Ail’s back, then 4 large beams fall straight to the ground, followed by smaller beams and orbs, all raining down hard on to the ground, breaking it effectively; Shinki’s “God Recitation” also known as Byakuren’s “Devil Recitation”. Before Suwako and Kanako fly up, the energy continues to morph. First, 7 orbs circle Ail, three large shards join the orbs, then a large clock, then an octagonal shape forms above Ail, then small rods appear on his hands, a red beam zips around, then a large cross forms up. Suwako shouts “he’s using every single spell he’s used so far. Kanako, we have no other choice!” Kanako quietly nods, staring concerned at Ail. The goddesses fly up, then find themselves being chased by a blood-red incarnation of Ail. Suwako shouts “he’s using ‘The Red Frog in the Fourth Year of the Houei Era’?” Kanako shouts “move and concentrate your blessings on to my logs!” Suwako quickly replies “alright!” Sanae and Kogasa fly above the tengu’s mountain, hoping they can go through undetected, but three crow tengu spot them, and with a loud “halt”, they stop. Sanae shouts “out of our way! We have to go to the shrine.” One of the tengu shouts “you shall not pass!” Kogasa and Sanae stare at each other, determined to go through, but before either does anything, Momiji comes from behind and shouts “let them through! They are the only ones that can stop this now!” The tengu look suspiciously at Momiji, so she looks at them fiercely and says “Aya is up there, and these two are the only hope she has now. Either let them through..” she unsheathes her sword “...or I’ll MAKE you move.” The tengu seem to ready themselves for a fight, but quickly spread apart, allowing Kogasa and Sanae through. The tengu to the far right says “if they don’t fix this, you are going to be in serious trouble.” Momiji sheathes her sword and says “then I should be fine.”
Above the destroyed grounds of the Moriya Shrine, Kanako and Suwako continue to fly away from the blood-red Ail, while blessing a colossal log that hovers just above Kanako’s head. When they are done with the blessing, Ail’s red embodiment is pushed away and falls straight to where the beams and orbs are falling to. Suwako thinks “I’m sorry Ail, but you give us no other choice.” Kanako flies higher while Aiming her gigantic log, then shouts “ready!?” Suwako shouts back “let’s do it already!” Without their notice, bullets of many shapes and sizes all surround them as they concentrate on Ail. Ail’s skin has swollen, has turned purple, and he’s bleeding lightly through his mouth and nose. His scream echoes as the octagonal shape above him unleashes a thick and powerful beam downward, breaking the ground underneath even more. Inside his mind he says “well, you did it, Ail. You destroyed Gensokyo.” He replies to himself in his mind “it hurts. It hurts so much. My arms feel like their full of lead. Help me.” Mima’s voice comes through, saying “you first have to calm down.” Like a lost child having found safety, Ail says “Mima... Mima, I’m so sorry. I can’t stop... It hurts. Please make it stop.” Mima strictly says “then just calm down. Ail, you have to realize that just because so many bad things happen around you, doesn’t mean you are the cause!” Ail replies “but... ever since I came into Gensokyo...” Mima quickly interrupts him, saying “you’ve made lots of friends, saved lives, helped others. And what about Budou!?” Outside his mind, Ail’s eyes quickly return to normal, and the beams stop. Inside his mind, Mima says “what are we supposed to tell when after you blow yourself up?” Outside his mind, Ail whispers “B... Budou.” The orbs stop falling, and all the blood-red energy around Ail slowly vanishes, then his skin slowly turns back to normal. Inside his mind, Mima says “I know it seems all you’ve done are bad things, but did you ever think about Budou?” Ail replies “but... that time at Makai...” Mima quickly says “you saved her, remember? But stop thinking of the past... think about now. What about Budou NOW?” Ail replies “she’d be better off without me.” Mima replies “WRONG!!! She’s been crying for you all this time. Ail, it took a lot of effort to calm her down. In the end, the only way she stopped crying was after Phredia placed a sleeping spell on her.” For a moment, Ail’s mind is quiet, then he says “you’re right, Mima... I... was being selfish.” Mima chuckles and says “finally. Welcome back.” Ail replies “thanks.” Outside his mind, Ail feels drained of all energy as he looks around and notices how badly destroyed the shrine grounds are. He sighs and says “look at this mess... *sigh* Perhaps it really is best if I...” Suwako and Kanako have Ail on their sights and are ready to release the colossal log, but Suwako hesitates and says “wait... Kanako. He’s stopped. Look, he’s just floating there.” Kanako says in a panic “oh really? Look around!!” Scarlet colored oval and rectangular bullets slowly fly toward them, convincing Suwako that he’s still attacking, so she clenches her eyes and shouts “Ail, I’m sorry!” Kanako shouts “SUWAKO, NOW!”
Above the Forest of Magic, all the youkai, wet from the rain, slowly head back down to the forest. Before Yuki and Mai head back down, Alice comments “he managed all that power and somehow, he didn’t die.” Yuki and Mai stare at each other, then back at Shinki, who seems ready to start crying, then she says “you’re wrong *sob*.” Alice asks “mom? What are you talking about?” At the Garden of the Sun, sounding almost disappointed, Yuka says “and so it ended like that, huh? Figures.” She looks at the wilted flower that once used to be the size of a large house and says “oh... that... That explains it.” Elly and Kurumi come down to the ground, Elly saying “my, that Ail is scary. But I wonder why he stop so suddenly? Miss Yukarin?” Elly and Kurumi stare at Yuka, who continues to smile in a carefree manner, then opens her parasol and covers her face with it, however, from inside the parasol, one small drop of water falls to the ground below, making a few small flowers bloom and die in just one second. At the Myouren Temple, Shou holds Byakuren as she continues to hold her chest with her hands, saying “no, we need to help him. He’s going to come here, you’ll see.” Nazrin asks “why do you want to help him so much?” Shou answers “wouldn’t you want to help someone who’s heart no longer beats?” Nazrin looks at Shou curiously, then looks toward the Youkai Mountain and says “but... he’s alive.” At the Misty Lake, still covering herself with her hands after having her underpants ripped off, Meiling says “well, it’s over. Phew, for a moment there I thought he was really dead there.” Kali looks at Kimi, who continues to stare toward the mountain, and asks “what’s up with you?” Kimi smiles and says “a human as resistant as that should be fun to play with...” Kali sweats and says “geez, never mind I asked.” Inside the SDM, Patchouli and Remilia continue to stare into her crystal orb, same as in Hakugyokurou, where Yukari, Yuyuko and Youmu continue to stare into the gap, all looking silently as Ail hovers in place. Suddenly, Remilia gasps and Patchouli opens her eyes a little wider than usual, saying “oh no.” Yuyuko’s eyes are surrounded in a blue shade as she gets up and tries to enter the gap, however, Youmu and Yukari hold on to her, Yukari shouting “not now! Yuyuko, not now!”
Above the Moriya Shrine, Ail looks at his hands and notices all the dried and fresh blood on them. He inspects his body and flinches when he touches the dagger wounds from Kanako, unaware that the two goddesses are just about to unleash their finishing attack. He turns his face toward Kanako and Suwako, after hearing Suwako shouting “Ail, I’m sorry!” and Kanako shouting back “SUWAKO, NOW!” Ail opens his eyes wide, terrorized at the size of the log and the power stored inside of it. He knows he doesn’t have to energy to even defend himself, but summoning all his willpower he manages to dodge the log at the very last second, realizing it is now headed straight toward Sanae, who has just landed with Kogasa on the remainder of the shrine’s courtyard. Ail shouts “SANAE!” and somehow manages to fly as fast as Aya would. The goddesses realize what is happening, but all they can do is watch and hope for Sanae’s safety. Getting ahead of the giant log, Ail gets in the way and summons a thin barrier. Sanae exclaims “Ail. You’re alright! What the-?” Sanae’s face fills with terror as the log crashes on Ail’s weak barrier. The barrier shatters like cheap glass and the log crashes on to Ail’s forearms, making a loud crunching sound that makes everyone, even the goddesses’ eyes to fill with horror. Ail yelps in pain but manages to summon enough energy to push the log away, regardless of the pain he’s feeling, then is sent flying alongside it. The log crashes against a tree, stopping in its tracks, but Ail continues to fly all the way back to the shrine’s gates, and upon crashing on the ground, he continues to roll all the way until her crashes with his belly against the large red gate, spitting out a bit of blood afterward. From the bushes beside the gate, Aya shouts “HOLY!! That’s not good!” Hina springs up and runs toward Ail, saying “this is terrible. Miss Aya, let’s help him!” Suwako flies as fast as she can, Kanako following after her, heading straight toward Ail with terrorized faces. Sanae stands horrorstruck, her face turning blue at the sight of Ail rolling around the ground like a tossed doll. When he crashes against the gates, she finally reacts and calls for him as she rushes to him, Kogasa looking equally terrorized as she follows Sanae. Miraculously, Ail, using his left arm, pushes himself up and quickly realizes his right arm is purple and swollen up like a balloon. At first, he stares at it, feeling fear as he stares at the limp arm, until the pain finally reaches him. Before anyone can reach him he screams in agony for a moment, and panting heavily he picks up his right arm with his left and cautiously rests it against his chest, then forces himself up. He notices all the concerned faces all around him, however he is frightened. He thinks they are there to finish him off, so he just stands there, staring back at them, awaiting for anyone to make a move. Sanae slowly approaches him and worriedly she softly asks “Ail? Are you alright?” When Sanae takes a second step toward him, looking frightened and sounding even more frightened he shouts “GET AWAY!” He opens up a small gap and without hesitation he jumps inside, escaping the Moriya Shrine. Sanae drops to her knees and starts to sob, then Suwako places her hand on the Sanae’s shoulder and says “now it’s not the time!” Aya adds “we need to find him!” Kogasa asks “but where do you think he went?” Sanae sobs “I-I don’t know.” When they all turn around, they notice Kanako is already gone. Suwako gulps, then says “go in groups. I’ll catch up to Kanako.” Sanae, in a saddened undertone says “lady Yasaka... All of this... Why?”
To be continued...
Characters, spell cards and scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
Ail, Kyo, Luna, Budou, Phredia, Kali & Kimi were created by Willie G.R.
Shiki’s "Great Magic - God's Recitation" spell card was created by Willie G.R.
Rika was created by Snapshot2010
JAN 20 2010
Written by
Willie G.R.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment