Paradise Sukima 8

It’s early morning, and the three little mischievous fairies fly above Alice’s house, giggling and snickering amongst themselves. A blur flies by and leaves a roll of newspaper in front of the door, and out of the sky, a second roll of newspaper flies straight to the door, making a loud thump after hitting the door itself. Inside her room, on the comfort of her bed, Alice tosses and turns, sweating coldly, looking as though she is under a lot of pain, when in reality, inside her mind, she is seeing certain events... Alice suddenly finds herself right in front of Marisa’s empty house. She looks around and tries to call for Marisa, but no sound comes out of her. Even though it seems empty, she enters the house, and finds it really is empty, except for the small steps heading to the door that leads to Marisa’s new basement, so she follows. She slowly opens the door, and after getting inside, she spots the gate with the swirling vortex in the middle. She opens her eyes wide and exclaims “what the hell? Marisa, what the hell have you done!?” She gets closer to the vortex and realizing it’s sucking in air, she gasps and tries to run away, saying “that FOOL! I have to tell Reimu... gyah~!” She trips and quickly finds herself being sucked inside the vortex, and once in it she realizes she’s inside a large void. She calls for help, but her voice fails her again, so she decides to investigate, and heads straight toward the small light at the end of the large black tunnel. The more the walks, the farther it seems to be, however, a small turn-color flame gets her attention, and quickly she sees a large black and white flame enter the same room and sit in front of the small turn-color flame. She flinches and thinks of turning back, but when she looks at the small flame she asks “Ail, is that you?” Suddenly, Alice feels as though she is inside a tube, being forcefully sucked out of the void, and a deep, calm and wise voice says to her “not yet. We have only just begun his healing. Come back in a few days, young girl.” Alice wakes up and sits on her bed in a frightful jump, her face covered in sweat, panting as though she’s just run a marathon, her heart racing, beating so hard she feels as though it’s going to pop out, and right after finally calming down, she notice Shikieiki and her shinigami, Komachi, standing next to her bed. Before she is able to speak, Shikieiki says “you have seen what she has done, and now I ask you... will you help us?” Alice wakes up on her bed again, feeling more calm, but still sweating a lot, while Shanghai and Hourai call for her. Sounding groggy, Alice says “i-it’s alright. I... just had a bad dream.” Hourai exclaims “but you looked like you were hurt!” Shanghai cries “who hurt mom! You just tell me and I’ll throttle them!” Alice grabs her dolls and holds them tight, then whispers “it’s alright. As long as you’re with me, I’ll be fine.” Outside the house, Komachi smiles while standing next to Alice’s window, then walks away from the house, back to Shikieiki, who says “very nice job. Now, if you were this devoted to your REAL job.” Komachi scratches the side of her head and smiling nervously, she says “th-that’s... really. Um, I mean, heh heh.”, then thinks “but if I do that, you’ll be too stressed out.” Shikieiki sighs, then says “never mind. Marisa’s moving, many trials are set in motion, and now we wait to rescue that soul and close that gate.”, then she stares toward Alice’s house. Komachi looks worriedly as Shikieiki, then asks “Eiki-sama, is something wrong?” Shikieiki sighs, then says “looks like we’ll have one more trial in our hands. I just hope it doesn’t break her.” Komachi silently stares back at Alice’s house, wondering what Shikieiki means with those words.

That afternoon, after the events outside Remilia’s mansion, Reimu arrives to the Human Village, accompanied by Kimi and Agava, and all three land right in front of Kyo’s house. Agava looks around curiously, while Kimi stares toward the town’s center, and staring back at them are a few humans, some hidden inside their houses, while others stand on plain view as they stare at the visitors. Kimi takes one step away, but Reimu places a hand on her shoulder and in a very serious tone says “keep your head, and try to keep trouble to a minimum.” Kimi turns her head to Reimu, then nods and quietly continues toward the town’s center, followed by Agava, who says “man, this village is so boring.” Kimi replies “well, why the hell are you here, then?” Agava quickly replies “chief’s orders.” Reimu sighs and asks herself “I wonder if I did the right thing...”, then she turns around toward Kyo’s house and says “well, I have my own business to attend to.” She walks to the house’s porch, and just as her knuckle reaches the door, from inside Medicine shouts “HEY~! Who ate my dumplings!? Kyo, you hog, I was saving them!” Kyo shouts back “who the HELL are you calling a hog, you little imp!” Medicine replies ”watch it~! Still, why do you eat EVERYTHING in this house!?” Kyo threateningly says “so you really want me to kick you back to that hill, don’t you.” Medicine sniffles, then suddenly cries out loud, and from the second floor, Luna, though sounding playful, her voice emanates an ominous feeling as she says “Kyo~ You better stop picking on her~!” Still holding her knuckle to the door, Reimu sighs and says “geez. I better just get it over with.” She knocks the door twice, and immediately Medicine opens the door, then stares at Reimu and says “Kyo~! You got a guest!” Looking bored and sounding uninterested, Kyo approaches the door and says “Reimu. This is a surprise. Come on in, I’ll...” Before he continues, Reimu says “this isn’t a social visit.” Kyo stares, then suddenly his expression changes to concern when he looks into Reimu’s eyes, urgency ever present in them. Reimu continues “look, I need your help. I am certain you felt that magical shockwave, correct?” Kyo nods, but then gets mad and says “look, Reimu, I am human, and you know that. How the hell am I even supposed to...” Reimu grabs him by his shirt, and in a sudden rage she pushes him against the wall beside the doorway and angrily says “I don’t want to hear excuses, Kyo! Listen, I can’t count on youkai! Even those that are friend are bound to ignore the incidents that are happening. I need a human friend, and you are the only one available!” Kyo looks a little scared toward Reimu, but calms down and asks “but what about Maris-“ Reimu’s eyes hide under a dark shadow as she shouts “SHE CAN’T HELP!” Their eyes meet once more, then Reimu releases Kyo and with a cracking voice she says “I am going to tell you something, and after I do, I want you to promise me you’ll do your best to help!” Kyo glares back, wanting to complain, but he realizes Reimu is holding back on something, however he can’t tell what it is. All he knows it is something of great importance, so he keeps quiet and nods. Reimu sighs, then says “alright, listen up...”
From one of the trees directly in front of Kyo’s house, a pair of brown eyes glare straight toward Reimu and Kyo, and while she speaks, Kyo exclaims and shouts incoherently. The onlooker continues to stare, then says “so~ even that maiden has a heart. Pheh, humans. They’re so, like, pathetic and weak. Still, this is a really good story. Front page material, even.” After Reimu finishes her tale, Kyo places a hand on his eyes, hiding a hate-filled rage as he asks “and he’s... alive?” Reimu nods and says “but he’s acting subconsciously. Right now, he’s only answering to Sanae and Budou, so it’s useless to even talk to him.” Kyo waves his hand in front of Reimu, signaling her to stop, then uncovers his eyes and looking straight at Reimu he says “I will help you out as best as I can, but I will remind you, my powers are minimal compared to Ail’s, or anybody else.” Reimu looks surprised at Kyo, then says “wait a minute.... humility!? Since when did YOU learn that?” A vein pulsates on Kyo’s forehead as he threateningly says “I can still kick butts, you know!” Reimu laughs for some time, then says “ok, alright, I get it!” Both turn serious again, then Reimu calmly says “then I’ll be back at the shrine. If there is something too big, you come and get me.” Kyo nods, and after exchanging glances, Reimu lifts to the air, then says “oh, Kimi and Agava are looking for Kali in the village. Keep an eye on them!”, then flies away. Kyo grumbles as he thinks about what Reimu told him, all sinking slowly into his mind, while Luna stares at him from the window with a mischievous smile, then says “well, it seems we have work, huh?” Kyo sighs and sounding a bit annoyed he says “sure looks that way. And from what I can tell, this could turn very ugly, very soon.” Luna sighs and says “well, you have me, and I will help you. You know that.” Medicine and Su-San peek from the doorway, then Medicine says “then that means you get to have some help from me and Su-San. You are so~ lucky!” Kyo turns away from them and smiles, then says “I’ll keep an eye out on Agava and that Kimi Reimu just mentioned.” Luna immediately adds “any sign of trouble...” she flicks a silver strand of hair from her face and finishes saying “...I’ll come and save your hide.” Kyo smiles and pulls out the amplifier belt, revealing the amplifier itself to look like an elegant belt buckle, then flies away toward the town’s center while putting the belt on. Luna quietly stares on, then says “I think we better contact Momiji.” Medicine nods with a smile.

In the Scarlet Devil Mansion, after easily going through the gates, since Meiling is missing from her post, and easily sneaking through to the basement, since the fairy maids and Sakuya all seem to be scattered around, Marisa walks straight to Flandre’s room. She hears a strange noise, however it’s simply a bit of dust that falls from the ceiling, and after shaking off the sudden scare she says to herself “geez, this place is even creepier without the fairy maids. I wonder what’s going on here?” When she stops talking, she hears a girl, crying and sobbing from deeper into the basement corridor. She feels an ominous energy, and thinks “whoa. Even I could feel that, and I don’t have any magic. I better hide!”, and as quickly as she can, she rushes inside Patchouli’s library. A few seconds later, her eyes and cheeks full of tears and her hair a dirty mess, Meiling walks by, sobbing and crying, repeating “they hate me, I hate them. They hate me, I hate them.” She looks to the library’s door and reaches for it, then suddenly opens it and shouts “Patchouli~!! Why do you hate me so much~!?”, expelling a powerful aura that sends even Marisa flying a few feet in the air. After struggling to get up, Marisa Realizes Meiling is standing right next to her, breathing heavily and crying. She stands perfectly still while looking up to Meiling’s distraught eyes, then Meiling angrily says “YOU! You hate me the MOST! I hate you too! I’m going to kill you!” Marisa yelps and jumps away just as Meiling tries to punch her, and after noticing the large hole on the floor left by Meiling’s punch, Marisa exclaims “whoa! Meiling, take it easy! I-I don’t hate you!” Thanks to the enhancements she did to her shoes, Marisa’s jump made it seem as though she’s flying on her own, however, unable to control the fall, Marisa is still airborne when Meiling jumps to her in the blink of an eye. Marisa thinks “dammit, I don’t remember her being this fast. Perhaps it was my magic. Crap, I need my magic now!” Meiling grabs Marisa by her shirt and forces her to face her directly as she says with a cracking voice “you just like to bully me. You truly hate me!”, then tosses Marisa straight toward the sharp edge of one of the bookshelves. Marisa screams, unable to control herself as she forcefully flies toward the hard edge, and as she approaches the bookshelf she thinks “dammit! Didn’t that yama say I could use my magic when in danger? I’m in danger, so why is nothing working!? I need help! Someone help!” Even though she thinks it, she’s too proud to call for help and thinks of any possible way to save herself, but luck is on her side, and finds herself inside a giant water bubble made by Patchouli, who casually flies toward Marisa and calmly says “you picked a really bad time to come and steal my books.” Marisa wants to thank Patchouli for saving her, feeling incredible relief from the fear she was just feeling mere seconds ago, however Patchouli’s comment makes her a little mad, so she shouts “I didn’t come to steal ANYTHING!!! I and I haven’t stolen a thing! You can HAVE all your books back after I’m dead!” Patchouli hums, then Meiling start to cry louder and louder, and in an instant, Sakuya and a few fairy maids appears just in front of Meiling. The gate guard stops crying, but continues sobbing. Sakuya looks back for a moment and says “Ma- *pant* Marisa, l-lady Patchouli *pant*. Let me handle this.” Meiling suddenly screams “you saw, miss Patchouli! You saw it all! Sakuya mistreats me! It’s UNFAIR!” Sakuya calmly says “Meiling, you know very well I haven’t mistreated you once. In fact, you KNOW you earned those punishments.” Meiling stops and thinks, then smiles and says “oh, you’re right...” Her smile turns into a frown almost immediately, then shouts “it’s the MAIDS!!! They are making FUN OF ME!” Meiling suddenly flies away, and Sakuya, even though she’s exhausted and out of breath, points to the door and shouts “fairies, after her!” The fairy maids salute Sakuya, then go after Meiling. Before Sakuya leaves, Patchouli says “Sakuya, you need to rest. You are exhausted. Remember that you are still human!” Sakuya turns her face side-ways to Patchouli, and with a smile on her face she says “don’t worry, miss Patchouli. I’ll be fine!”, then flies out the door after Meiling.

After the library settles down, Patchouli and Marisa are close to the floor when Patchouli pops the bubble with a pin and Marisa falls straight to the ground on her back, getting wet as all that water lands right on her. As she gets up, Patchouli calmly says “so you truly lost your magic after all. For a moment, I thought I was losing my own powers.” Marisa looks a little surprised, but then smiles and says “I knew trying to hide that from you would be pointless, ze.” Patchouli stares at Marisa, then says “even so, you still came here, knowing well enough how dangerous this place is for common humans. Perhaps you need help?” Marisa grabs Patchouli by her shoulders and looks into her eyes, showing despair on her own, then says “I did something really stupid and got sealed. Patchouli, is there anything that could break this seal?” Patchouli stares back as casual as ever, but after looking into Marisa’s eyes she sighs and says “the seal placed on you is far too powerful. Even if I could do something to break it, doing so will destroy you, and not JUST in body.” Marisa loosens her grip on Patchouli and looks away, hiding her disappointed eyes with her hat, then says “I guess she was right after all. Oh well, it never hurts to ask...” Patchouli continues to stare at Marisa, then says “I see. So asking me for help was actually your backup plan.” Marisa holds her hat by its brim with her right hand, and lifting a smiling face she says “I was hoping to ask Flandre for help. If she can help me, I can at least move around with ease. If she lends me that flying machine of hers, I can fix my mistake and return everything to normal, da-ze!” Patchouli lets out a small smile and a soft giggle, then says “I see. Then you are very lucky she’s back to normal. She almost killed me yester...” Patchouli stops talking, then looks out her window. It’s already dark by now, and some lights come from the Hakurei Shrine. Patchouli narrows her eyes and while looking out she says “odd...” Marisa stares to the window, then Patchouli continues “there’s a pretty heavy battle being held at the shrine.” Marisa opens her eyes wide as she gasps and exclaims “Mima-sama!”

Moments earlier, Reimu arrives to the shrine and finds it eerily quiet. The lights are still off and not even the wind against the trees makes a sound. She prepares her gohei and approaches the open doors, calling “Rika! Are you there?” There’s no answer, except for the chirp of a small sparrow on a tree branch. Reimu glares at the bird and says “so it’s you. What did you do this time?” The Rabid Karate Night Sparrow ruffles his feathers and tweets twice. Reimu turns her sight to the left, and in a flash she finds herself blocking Mima’s crescent moon staff with her gohei from the right. Clenching her teeth and glaring with fury, Mima tries to strike again, but Reimu easily deflects the staff and counters with a forward kick. Mima disappears before the kick hits her, then her raging voice echoes all over the shrine as she asks “why!? Why the hell did you do that to her?” Reimu looks around, keeping a very serious expression on her face, but doesn’t answer. Mima reappears right behind the maiden and swings her staff with all her might, slicing a few strands of hair from Reimu’s head after she dodges the attack, then shouts “why the HELL did you seal her powers!? You KNOW how important that is to her! You KNOW it’s her only defense against the youkai! Why in hell’s blazes would you do that!?” Reimu keeps quiet, rolling on the ground, avoiding Mima’s continuous attacks and countering as best she can every chance she gets. Mima stops and shouts “so you think it was FUN!? Is that it? You know, you’ve been abusing your powers and your stature a little too much, and I, for once, am TIRED of it! I’ll enjoy separating that head from your body!” Rage takes Reimu senses and goes for the attack, using her gohei to try and strike Mima, and while their weapons collide Reimu shouts “you stupid ghost, are you even LISTENING to yourself!? You don’t even know what happened, so don’t spew that crap out now!” Reimu tries to strike Mima hard, but the spirit manages to deflect the attack, sending Reimu flying back. Reimu spins in the air and lands on her feet a good 5 feet away from Mima, and pulling out some charms and needles with her left hand she shouts “you have some guts saying all that! Do you think I enjoyed doing that!? Do you really believe I’d do something like that to my BEST FRIEND, just for a few cheap laughs!? I am not you!” Mima pulls out a spell card and says “Orrery’s Sun”, and while four orbs, green, blue, red and yellow, spin around the enraged spirit she says “of course. Why else would you do that? Give me one good reason you went and sealed off Marisa’s magic!” Suika and Aya, who are hiding on the roof of the shrine, gasp and look at each other in surprise. Reimu clenches her teeth so tight, she feels as though they are about to break, but doesn’t care. Even with that spell active, Reimu blindly rushes to Mima and tries to strike the spirit with her gohei, but Mima disappears and quickly reappears a few feet behind Reimu, firing 4 laser beams, one from each orb, however Reimu tosses her needles and amulets, and all explode after they come in contact with the piercing lasers, raising a thick smoke curtain. From the other side of the curtain, Reimu shouts “you have NO IDEA about ANYTHING! I didn’t have the choice! Your ‘apprentice’ did something very stupid, even for her, and I ended up having to seal her!” Mima shouts “you’re just coming up with the greatest excuse ever, aren’t you!?” Reimu flies straight at Mima, coming through the smoke curtain as fast as possible, pointing the tip of her gohei at Mima’s face and glaring back at Mima with great rage. Mima blocks the attack, then Reimu suddenly disappears and reappears sliding underneath Mima, her foot covered in an orange aura as she makes Mima trip and fall on her face. Reimu takes the chance and summons her yin-yang orbs to her and fires glowing red charms at Mima, making her fly away after they all explode with great force. Mima’s spell is cancelled out, but she manages to flip in the air to face Reimu, then lands safely on the ground and poofs a pair of feet under a long blue skirt, then stands up straight and points at Reimu, then menacingly says “I’ll make you pay for what you did to her!”

Mima and Reimu exchange powerful danmaku blasts and heavy blows as night creeps out on them, and the only thing lighting their view is their danmaku, glowing charms and lasers. Winded, Mima and Reimu land several feet away from each other, waiting for the opponent’s next move, then suddenly Reimu angrily shouts “you think I enjoyed that!? I was FORCED to do that! I warned her not to open that gate, but she did, and look at what happened!” A single, small tear escapes Reimu’s right eye as she says this, and noticing, Mima lowers her guard for a moment, however the evil spirit raises her staff again and shouts “you’re just FULL of lame excuses!”, then pulls a spell card and raises it above her head, and in an ominous tone of voice, she says “you should have seen her. That wound you left on her head crippled her so easily, and all she can do now is run.” Reimu clenches her teeth and glares back at Mima with rage in her eyes after hearing all that, then prepares her gohei and pulls a spell card from under her sleeve, then Mima continues “you took her life away, Reimu, and I intend to make you pay in full! Twilight, Crescent Moonlight!” The crescent moon on Mima’s staff glows yellow and 8 lasers fly out of it, each going its own direction. The lasers bounce off trees, rocks and even the ground itself, then head straight to Reimu, who stands in place, clenching her teeth and glaring at Mima as an ominous aura surrounds her. All the lasers pass right next to her and leave a large burn mark on the ground, however, one of the lasers passes close to Reimu’s left, burning through her clothes and leaving a small cut on her waist, however Reimu continues to glare, not even flinching from the pain. Mima laughs and says “so you’re giving up? Good, cuz’ here comes the SECOND WAVE!” Another wave of bouncing lasers fly from Mima’s staff, and waving her left hand across her body, Mima releases arcs of 5 medium orange orbs, and an extra-large yellow orb that comes from Mima’s own body every second, all headed straight to Reimu, who continues to stand in place, glaring at Mima and holding her spell cards and gohei in hand. Mima cackles as each and every single shot headed Reimu’s way explode with great force the moment they touch Reimu, however Mima is not done, and even with the curtain of smoke covering Reimu, she jumps from where she is, points her staff down, then lunges is straight to where Reimu stands. There is a loud impalement sound and Reimu’s grunt, followed by Mima’s laughter, then Mima shouts “and that’s what happens when you mess with me!” There is only silence, then Reimu shouts “Barrier, Extending Barrier!” Mima screams out loud and the dust clears, revealing Reimu standing just to the left of Mima’s attack full of cuts all over her face and body, but still glaring angrily at Mima as wave after wave of shocking barriers mercilessly punish the evil spirit. When the spell ends and Mima falls to the ground, Reimu approaches her and sounding dangerously upset, she says “you almost got my eye”, then pulls another spell card and shouts “Treasure Tool, Yin-Yan Demon God Orb!” Before Mima is able to Recover, a burning blue yin-yang orb, twice her own size, burns her very skin. She screams to the air, wishing for the spell to end, then is suddenly flung to the air and falls away from Reimu. Breathing heavily, Mima struggles to stand up, and sounding aggravated, she says “no, no! No way! I’m not DONE!” After finally standing up, Mima glares back at Reimu, then a white spell card forms right in front of her, and after grabbing it she shouts “Ghostly Sign, Cold-Hearted Dead Mist!” Mima’s body and clothes turn completely white, then very suddenly, she explodes, leaving behind thick white mist clouds, leaving Reimu almost blind in the center of the mist. Mima’s voice echoes all over as she laughs and says “you really think you’re all that, don’t you? Face it, you always knew someday, some youkai would finish you off. Although, in all honesty, I never thought it would be me. But because I like you, Reimu, I’ll let you have one last wish.” Reimu finally smiles as she flips her hair, then says “I wish for you to shut he hell up already!” Annoyed, Mima replies “I’ll make you eat those words as you choke on your own blood!” White danmaku petals fire themselves from the mist clouds and all scatter around at random, giving Reimu a very hard time to dodge, getting grazed by many bullets, her clothes getting torn all over. The area inside the mist clouds fills with enough danmaku to light up the night and reveal Mima’s silhouette floating to Reimu’s left. Reimu smiles once more, then places a spell card on the ground, touches it with her gohei, and just as a few bullets hit her back she shouts “Divine Arts, Omnidirectional Demon Binding Circle!” A large golden pillar reaches to the sky and strikes Mima so hard, she can’t even scream. Mima’s spell cancels out, and right after Reimu’s spell ends, Mima falls on her face to the ground. Again, Mima struggles to get up, but before she manages to do so, Reimu lowers her gohei and hides her charms and amulets, then says “see that this ghost doesn’t bother me again, Rika, or I will seal her off for good!” Before Mima realizes what she means, Rika comes from behind and strikes Mima behind the head with the hilt of her family sword, leaving the spirit lying unconscious on the ground, then says “as you wish... my lady!” Without saying another word, Reimu heads to her room, then Rika asks “is there anything you need, my lady?” Sounding aggravated, Reimu replies “take care of that wound of yours.” As Reimu continues her way to her room, Rika sighs and thinks “what about your wounds, my lady?” From the roof, Aya and Suika stare nervously, then Rika loudly says “could you guys help me here?” Before anyone answers, a silver washtub falls on Aya’s head, knocking her out-cold, then the RKNS comes from the right, chirping madly and grabbing Suika by one of her horns, then takes her away. Rika sweats as she looks up, then says to herself “I really didn’t see that coming.”

Meanwhile, back at the SDM, Meiling chases some fairies to the clock tower, followed shortly by Koakuma and Sakuya. She turns around to her pursuers and cries as she says “they mock me, call me names, and you protect them!? *sob* You really hate me, don’t you!?” Sakuya raises her left hand to stop Koakuma from trying anything, then says “don’t worry, I intend to finish this.” Meiling stances ready, even though she’s still crying and sobbing, and after standing 4 feet away from her, Sakuya says “perhaps THIS will help you see reason.” She pulls out a spell card and calmly says “Sakuya’s World.” The world around her completely stops and turns dark, then Sakuya moves as quickly as her exhausted body can to place as many daggers as she possibly can around Meiling. After she’s done, she breathes heavily and thinks “this had better work. I’m exhausted already.”, then clicks her stopwatch, letting time flow free again. For a second, Meiling stops crying, then flip-kicks, back-flips, chops, jump-kicks, then summersaults and spin-kicks when high enough, knocking out all of Sakuya’s daggers. Sakuya turns around with horror and exhaustion in her eyes and exclaims “no! For the love of the gods!” Meiling kicks Sakuya so hard, she sends the maid flying to the entrance of the mansion, where she falls on some bushes that cushion her fall, however, she falls unconscious due to her exhaustion. Back at the clock tower, Meiling starts to cry again as she stares at Koakuma, then says “you see? You see what you made me do!? I’m going to have to teach you a lesson!” Koakuma stutters and sweats, then desperately looks around as Meiling approaches her, then smiles and says “er, I think I’ll be running now!” In an instant, Koakuma is flying for her life, while Meiling chases her down with hatred in her eyes, shouting “come back here, you intruder! Get BACK!” Back at the mansion’s front yard, Sakuya wakes up, moaning and holding her head, saying “ooh, that hurt more than I thought it would.” Sakuya stops moving and talking, then looks around herself with her eyes as they glow red. She calmly gets up and heads to the door, but the second she opens it, 4 blurs enter through the door, then a 5th one pushes her inside, making her fall on her face. Sakuya struggles to lift herself up, then realizes she is in the mansion’s foyer, surrounded by 4 female vampires and 3 males. The largest male walks close to Sakuya and in a commanding tone says “where is the so-called queen of the night!? I am here to claim the throne!” Sakuya says under her breath “Sakuya’s... W-world.” She stops time and pushes her body again, releasing an insane amount of silver daggers all around each of the vampires, then stands away from them as she releases time again, and all her daggers hit their mark, each getting stabbed on their wings and hearts. As they fall to their knees, Sakuya smirks and says “s-*pant* so you thought *pant* you could just barge... in like that?” Sakuya gasps in horror as 6 of the vampires stand right back up, all laughing as if just hearing a wonderful joke. One of the females shouts “GLIDE! She killed GLIDE!”, as the still body of the dead vampire burst to flames and turns to ashes on the floor. All the others stop laughing, and after noticing the male vampire turning to ashes, the largest of them all walks to Sakuya with rage in his eyes. Sakuya is exhausted, she can’t run away. All she can do is wait, as the large vampire approaches her, grabs her by her shirt, then lifts her to face him and says “you are going to pay dearly for that, human!”

Meanwhile, at the Moriya Shrine, while Kanako and Suwako struggle to maintain order inside the shine, arguing with Koishi and Lily, and trying to keep Ail from flying to the ceiling, outside the shrine, Budou sits on the farthest corner of the porch, hugging her knees as she looks to her feet. Sanae and Chen sit close by, looking worriedly at her, then Chen asks Sanae “is there anything else we can try?” Sanae sighs and replies “we’ve tried talking to her, food and toys... I can’t think of...” Sanae raises her finger and gasps with a smile, then excitedly whispers “there are some strange flowers that bloom during the night. She loves those. I’ll go pick some up!” Chen immediately hops on her feet and says “then let’s go!” Sanae lightly pushes Chen back down and says “please, stay with her this time, in case she wants to tell you anything. These flowers grow very close by, so I’ll be alright.” Chen stares back at Sanae with worry, but nods and gets closer to Budou. Sanae says “I’ll be back real quick.”, then walks to the shrine’s lake. Using the light from the moon, Sanae quickly finds a bed of dark round flowers with what look like a pair of yellow glowing antenna, on the edge of the lake and whispers “yes! Budou’s ‘grape flowers’. If these don’t cheer her up, nothing will.” On the shrine’s porch, Chen pats Budou’s back, trying her best to somehow comfort her friend, but Budou continues to stare at her feet while hugging her knees. Chen opens her mouth, but is suddenly called inside by Suwako, who shouts “Chen, could you PLEASE come here for a second!?” Chen sighs, then whispers to Budou “I’ll be back in a second.”, then heads inside the shrine. The second she leaves, Budou gasps and raises her head, then exclaims “mama!?”, and even with her injured wing bothering her, she flies as fast as she can to the shrine’s lake. Very quickly, she finds Sanae lying on her back next to the water, holding on to her favorite ‘grape flowers’, however her eyes are closed. Budou’s heart races at the sight and immediately dives down to check on Sanae. She kneels next to the maiden and whispers “mama... mama what is it? Mama, wake up.” From behind, a familiar voice laughs and says “she’s not going to help you, little crybaby! After I’m done with you, I’m going to make her pay. Getting away from that blasted cat was a pain!” Budou turns around in a fright and gasps when she faces the same vampire she and Kyo faced during winter’s end. The vampire smiles and says “surprise, little brat! I am going to enjoy ripping you to shreds!” The vampire jumps at Budou, but the little youkai remembers some of her training and drops on her back, letting the vampire fly right above her and straight to the water. There is a loud splash, then silence. Budou stands up and stares at the water as the ripples settle and the reflection of the moon becomes as clear as if it were reflecting upon a mirror. She turns to Sanae and whispers “mama. Mama, wake up!” She touches Sanae’s forehead and feels she is very cold, then tries to lift her head, but feels something wet underneath, and after pulling her hand away, she realizes it’s blood. She starts to cry and says “mama, no! Don’t go! Don’t leave me too!” As she says this, she shakes Sanae’s body, hoping to wake her up, then is startled when the vampire rises from the water, cackling and shouting to the air. Budou hopes those screams would reach the others at the shrine, but there is too much noise for them to notice another outside noise. The vampire smiles and asks “are you surprised, little baby?” Budou flies next to Sanae’s unconscious body and pulls her only spell card. The vampire pulls out her own spell card and says “Bloody Night Fangs!”, then flies straight at Budou and Sanae while her fangs glow red. Budou bravely shouts “Wave Sign, Shapeless Mind!” The shapeless green beams take the shape of a giant spiked ball that flies so fast, the vampire can’t dodge and is struck hard and sent back into the lake’s waters. Budou reaches for Sanae, desperately wishing to be able to save her before the vampire comes back, however the vampire rises from the water again, this time going straight at Budou and knocking her away from Sanae, then grabs the maiden and lifts her from the ground and opens her mouth, ready to bite down on Sanae’s neck. On that second, the world around Budou turns grey and everything seems to move slow as she thinks “no! She’s going away. She’s going away too! They have taken everyone away. Papa, Phredia, and now mama! No, I won’t allow it! Don’t take her away! Give my mama back!” Suddenly, Budou flies so fast, she creates a beam of light behind herself, sending the vampire against one of the large logs on the lake after tackling her, and after safely catching, and placing Sanae behind her on the ground, she bravely faces the vampire and sounding enraged she says “you keep away from her! You won’t take her away!” The vampire recovers before plunging into the water again, then notices Budou’s eyes glowing aquamarine, and with a mocking voice she says “oh my, it seems I hit a nerve or something. That’s good, you know. Now, when I take her away from you, It’ll hurt DOUBLE!” Budou bares her little fangs at the vampire and hisses threateningly, and as the vampire arcs her body to lunge straight at Sanae again, a spell card, glowing yellow, appears from Budou’s forehead, and without waiting for another moment she shouts “Wave Sign, Ringing Ears!” Budou claps her hands and cups them around her mouth, and using all her might, she shrieks for as long as and loud as her lungs allow her. Invisible sound waves reach the vampire, paralyzing her and making her falls straight to the ground right in front of Budou and Sanae, then the sound waves turn to circles of light-blue danmaku orbs that fall like snowflakes on top of the vampire’s back. The vampire screams and lifts to the air again, however, Budou cups her hands around her mouth and shrieks again, paralyzing the vampire once more, then follows the attack with light-blue lasers that come from her fingertips and head straight toward the paralyzed vampire, who tries to scream in pain as the lasers and danmaku orbs all explode on her. Just as the vampire falls again, Suwako and Kanako appear beside Budou, Kanako asking “who dares attack my Sanae and Budou right in the safety of our shrine!” The vampire gets up from the ground and Suwako immediately grabs her by the neck, then says “what the...? This vampire is wet? How is this possible!? You should be ashes!” The vampire laughs softly, then progresses to a cackle, then says “beaten by a mere child. And even with my improvements.” Kanako holds Sanae on her arms as she gets up from kneeling on the ground, then asks “what do you mean ‘improvements’?” Again, the vampire laughs, then says “after that wonderful magical shockwave hit this land, we vampires were gifted with amazing powers! We... can touch... WATER!!!” Kanako and Suwako look at each other, then at Budou, who silently glares at the vampire as she continues “we all went through a stage of madness, but those of us that survived have gained immunity to many ancient weaknesses! Some of us can even walk around in broad daylight! We have become invincible!” The vampire laughs while Suwako continues to hold her neck, then Budou snarls, and in an instant, she stiffens her left hand, rushes to her, and thrusts it right through the vampire’s chest, to both Suwako and Kanako’s surprise, and as the vampire turns to ashes, Budou says “so much for invincible.” She turns to face Kanako, who stares back with horror and surprise, and looking seriously at her, she says “gramma, big sis. I can feel them. They are surrounding us!” Suwako asks “Budou, what happened? You just...” Budou turns her head and stare at Suwako, her eyes slowly turning back to violet as she says “I won’t let them take mama away. She’s all I got left! They won’t take her from me!” Kanako and Suwako stare at each other in complete shock, however Budou wakes them up from their trance as she shouts “hurry! Mama’s bleeding! She needs help!”

Back at the SDM’s foyer, the vampires laugh as they use Sakuya like a ball, tossing her around the air toward each other, some of them hitting her so hard when they pass her around, they make a loud thudding sound, then finally, one of the females tosses Sakuya to the air and using his claws, the leader flies to her and sends her down as hard as he can, making her bounce violently against a wall and falling on the carpet on her face. They all laugh hard as Sakuya’s head bounces twice on the ground, then stops. Their leader raises he hands and declares “this loyal human wasted her life for a master that didn’t even show her face! Not even to save this pathetic life! I hereby declare myself the KING of this castle!” The other 5 vampires clap and cheer, then their leader says “as for this human... She’s too loyal to her former master. You make partake on her carcass as you see fit!” The other vampires cheer, then drool as they turn to face Sakuya. They all start slurping and laughing, then stop. Their leader awaits to hear them ripping the human’s body to shreds as they viciously suck on her blood, and maybe even some painful moans from Sakuya herself, however all he hears are five quick thuds. He turns around and finds Remilia and Flandre staring back at him with glowing scarlet eyes. The other vampires quickly get up from the ground, groaning and holding their wings and arms, all regrouping with their leader, then Remilia calmly says “you wanted to challenge me, well here I am.” The tall vampire stands proudly in front and center, then smiles as he cracks his fingers. In a flash, Remilia is already clawing off his wings and cutting his torso in half. The other vampires rush to attack her, but one of the females suddenly explodes, turning to ashes in an instant. Remilia looks back and sees Flandre with her hand clenched, then says “let’s show these wimps what power truly is!” Flandre jumps toward the group, joining Remilia in the air and saying “right behind you, sis!” Their hands look like blurs as they swing their claws at the invaders, quickly and easily defeating them all, then, while Flandre sits on the back of one of the male vampires, Remilia walks to her challenger, places her hands on his head, then the other vampires, and even Flandre, wince at the sight as the sound for ripping echoes around the mansion. The body of the tall vampire ignites in blue fire, then turns to ashes, and while Remilia walks to Sakuya, she says as loudly as possible “tell your friends, I am the true queen of the night, and if any of you ever come to my mansion again, I...” Remilia suddenly stops talking as she kneels next to Sakuya and raises the maid’s head. Her forehead is badly bruised and bits of blood course down her face, and her abdomen seems to be full of her own blood. Flandre gasps and asks “Sa... Sakuya-san?” Remilia, who has her back turned on the vampires and her sister, stares blankly at the wall in front of her. Inside her mind, grey images of a beautiful woman in maid’s clothing, covered on blood while on the floor suddenly course through. The grey images continue, pools of blood everywhere, maids lying dead all throughout an entire corridor. Flandre crying on the ground at the end of the corridor, blood splattered all around her, and torches and pitch-forks lying on the ground. Suddenly, the images show Flandre, staring back with a maddened look on her face, then all the previous images cycle back through her mind. Remilia stands up and gently places Sakuya’s limp head back on the ground, then her nails grow twice their size, her eyes glow bright scarlet, and even her fangs seem to grow. She turns around and reveals a monstrous face, but before the four vampires could react, Remilia is right in front of them all, slashing her claws as two spell cards float in front of her. She constantly repeats “Spear of the Gungnir. Scarlet Devil. Spear of the Gungnir! Scarlet Devil! SPEAR OF THE GUNGNIR!!! SCARLET DEVIL~!!!” Her voice echoes far after declaring her last spell card, and she only stops slashing her claws after the very last bit of ash completely disappears from view. The vampire under Flandre trembles and whimpers, then Flandre gets off him and pulls him up by his wings, then looking quite annoyed and sounding dangerously ominous she says “you should have played nicer...”, then tosses the vampire to the air, where Remilia cuts him in half with her claws, then Flandre blasts him from sight. After all the vampires are destroyed, Remilia rushes to Sakuya and turns her around, revealing a cut on her forehead and a single gash on her abdomen. With a cracking voice, Flandre asks “sis? What are we going to do?” Remilia, holds Sakuya for a moment, then screams to the air.

Meanwhile, in one of the deepest corners of the mansion, Meiling has cornered Koakuma. The little devil panics and tries to fly above Meiling’s head, but the gate guard lifts her foot up high and kicks Koakuma back down to the corner. Whimpering, Koakuma thinks “what should I do? What should I do? She’s going to kill me, lady Patchouli! Please, help me!” Meiling towers in front of Koakuma and says “you’ll pay for trespassing and telling the maids to hate me!” Koakuma suddenly opens her eyes, and a red spell card materializes in front of her eyes, startling Meiling. She grabs the spell card and shouts “Mind Sign, Pleasurable Mind!” The entire mansion turns into a large landscape filled with flowers, coursing rivers, rainbows and some trees for shade. Meiling blinks twice, then rubs her eyes, and instead of just Koakuma, she sees the entire Scarlet Devil Mansion inhabitants, including the fairy maids, all smiling and waving happily toward her. The gate guard starts to cry, then holds her head with both hands and says “wha-what is this? No... what have I done!? What have I been doing!? Koakuma!? I’m sorry! I’m so sorry~!” Outside the illusion, Koakuma holds a wooden board and is ready to strike Meiling as hard as she can with it, but then Meiling says “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me! Of course I know you all love me! And I love you all too!” Koakuma stops, then sighs, and after throwing the board away, she cancels her spell, allowing Meiling to see her. The second she does, Meiling lunges to Koakuma and gives her a tight hug, sobbing and apologizing over and over. Koakuma nervously pats Meiling’s back and softly says “it’s alright, miss Meiling. You’re back to normal now.” Suddenly, from the foyer, Remilia’s voice makes the entire mansion vibrate as she screams Sakuya’s name. Still holding Koakuma in her hands, Meiling looks at the little devil and says “that was miss Remilia!”, then runs to the entrance while holding Koakuma around her arms. Patchouli and Marisa are the first to arrive to the foyer, finding Remilia quietly combing Sakuya’s hair with her fingers. Patchouli opens her eyes wide and whispers to Marisa “go hide at the library!” Marisa gulps and silently nods, then heads back to the library, however when Patchouli goes to approach Remilia, Marisa turns around and hides behind the doorway to the basement, though only Flandre seems to notice her. From the next floor, Meiling shouts “I’m coming! ...I’m coming!”, and the moment she notices Sakuya, she gasps and stares, releasing Koakuma from her arms. Patchouli slowly approaches Remilia and softly says “Remi... She needs the lunarian doctor.” Remilia looks to Patchouli, but says nothing, so the magician continues “Remi, you need to go, now!” Flandre shouts “I’ll do it! I’ll get that doctor here in a flash!” Remilia shouts “NO!”, then gently places Sakuya down and calmly says “I’ll go get the doctor. You try your best to clean her up and treat those wounds.” She walks to the door, but stops and turns her head left and says “miss Kirisame, you help too, or I swear I’ll have your head!” She opens the door, and in an instant, she flies away, flapping her wings with force. Marisa comes out of hiding and slowly approaches Patchouli, who kneels next to Sakuya and begins to treat her wounds with a white piece of cloth she pulls out from her coat. The doors to the mansion close on their own as everybody else approach the fallen maid.

To be continued...

Characters and Scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
Ail, Budou, Phredia, Kyo, Luna, Agava, Kimi, Kali and the RKNS were created by Willie G.R.

Budou’s "Wave Sign - Shapeless Mind" & "Wave Sign - Ringing Ears"
Mima’s "Twilight - Crescent Moonlight" & "Ghostly Sign - Cold-Hearted Dead Mist"
AND, Koakuma’s "Mind Sign - Pleasurable Mind"
Spell cards were created by Willie G.R. (any similarities are strictly coincidental)

Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot 2010

MAR 27 2010
Written by
Willie G.R.

A/N:
Geez, all this happens in a single day. Talk about a “hard day’s work”. Well, now the stage is set for the next incidents to occur, while Marisa bravely faces danger, all to fix all the damage she’s caused. Uuu~ this chapter came out quite action-packed, and all by accident too. I wasn’t expecting so many battles at once. It’s crazy I say XD!!!

Anyway, thank you all for reading, and I do hope you are enjoying this Sukima so far. Also... well it’s slow progress, but I’ve managed to edit a few more chapters of Misplaced Sukima. Geez, so many mistakes I failed to see before. Ah well, when I am done editing them, I am sure I’ll feel great about it. Take care everyone, and again, thanks for reading.