Paradise Sukima 11

At the SDM, after taking the scenic route back home, Flandre arrives and lands her aircraft next to the clock tower, where after she gets off, she pushes a small button that is covered by a red compartment and her UFO shrinks enough for her to carry it and fit it back inside the house. She grabs the vehicle like a toy and casually walks inside the mansion. She arrives to the door to her room, but skips to the next door, and upon opening the door she immediately enters a large vacant room with two privacy windows that let very little sunlight inside. She places her UFO on the floor in the center of the room, presses the button to make it grow again, then smirks. She walks toward it with little glints in her eyes and from behind Rika says “oh my, what a LOVELY aircraft, miss Scarlet!” Flandre jumps on the spot and after landing she trembles as she turns her head around with a wriggled smile, then says “m-m-m-miss Rika... P-p-p-please don’t do that again.” Rika gasps and covers her mouth with her hand, then flaps her wings as she smiles, bows, and says “my apologies, miss Scarlet. Um...” Flandre shakes of the shock, then stares back at Rika with curiosity and asks “what? Is my sister picking on you?” Rika waves her hands in front of herself and panicked she says “no, no, that’s... Thanks to the fairy maids, I’ve been able to satisfy lady Scarlet’s needs.” Flandre sighs, walks to Rika, places her hand on her shoulder, then says “look, first of all, call me Flandre, or I’m going to break you. Second, my sister is really kind, but she needs to get to know you first. It WILL take time, however.” Rika looks curiously back at Flandre, then bows and says “I understand lady... er, Flandre.” Flandre smiles and contently flaps her wings along with Rika’s, then the maid eyes her UFO and says “oh, I haven’t seen these in a while! Where did you get it?” Flandre scratches her left cheek while smiling suspiciously, then says “erm, had to get a lot of money for it. That gap hag did the rest.” Rika’s eyes glint and smiles widely as she says “if-if you’ll allow me, I can take a look at it to see if it’s up to date. W-would you like that?” Flandre hesitates and says “well... I don’t know. The kappa have done a pretty good job... but~... Alright, I guess you could take a look at... it?” Before Flandre even finishes her sentence, Rika holds between her fingers various screwdrivers and wrenches, and with a wide smile on her face, she approaches the UFO. She opens a compartment underneath and start to tinker inside, and while she does, worriedly, Flandre says “er, miss Rika, please be careful.” From inside the machine, Rika says “the gears need some greasing, and the polarity cables are almost entwined, so I’ll need to untie them while placing the electro-magnetic couplers in the right place, then polarize the shifter for better response of the controls, and finally replace these rusty bolts with the new ones and then...” Flandre’s eyes spin in place, getting dizzy as Rika tries to explain what she is doing, then lets herself fall on her seat on the ground while holding her head. Rika pulls herself out of the UFO, holding a rusty gear on her hand, and a smile on her face. Flandre smiles back, unable to resist Rika’s smile, then suddenly Rika yelps. She cuts her finger when placing the cover back on the UFO, and a drop of her blood heads straight at Flandre. Rika jumps as quickly as possible and grabs the drop of blood, preventing Flandre from even touching it. Concerned, Flandre asks “what happened? Why did you do that!?” Rika gets up after landing on her ribs, breathing with a little effort, then manages to look at Flandre and says “I heard what your sister said. My blood is dangerous for you. I’m sorry, I wasn’t being careful.” Flandre stares back at Rika as she gets back up on her feet, then smiles and hops on her two feet herself. She pulls Rika by her shoulder to bend to her, then kisses her cheek and says “I was right. You are a good person. I don’t care what onee-sama says. I can trust you. So, will you be my friend?” Rika stares into Flandre’s innocent eyes, and without thinking, she grabs Flandre, and being careful to not let her blood touch the vampire, she gives her a tight hug and says “I will if you become my friend too.” At first, Flandre is surprised, but then she hugs back lightly, and says “already am.” Rika’s family sword suddenly turns to its bright and colorful self, and the crystal on the hilt begins to glow. Rika and Flandre stare at it curiously, and when the shining stops, Flandre and Rika stare at each other, then smile and giggle.

Meanwhile, at the Forest of Magic, Alice, Shanghai and Hourai are returning home after trying to visit Marisa, only to find out she’s not home. While walking through the path back home, Alice sighs and says “it’s just like in that dream I told you about. Marisa isn’t there... And if what I saw is real, then it’s very dangerous to be near that house.” Hourai twirls around Alice and says “mama, you are so smart!” Shanghai hovers above Alice’s shoulder and asks “are we going to help her, mama?” Alice closes her eyes and smiles, then says “first we have to find her, sweetie...” Suddenly, Alice drops on her face to the ground, making both dolls shout with worry, calling out of their mama. After only a few second on the ground Alice lifts her head, finding both dolls staring back at her with worry and fright. She pats their little heads with her hands and whispers “it’s alright. It’s ok. Nothing happened.” Shanghai almost cries when she asks “what happened, mama Alice!?” Hourai tries to help Alice up, saying “mama doesn’t fall. She sleep on the bed only. You need a pillow too!” Alice chuckles weakly, then says “it’s alright. I just got a little dizzy, that’s all.” Shanghai and Hourai each grab on to Alice’s arms as she gets up, then Shanghai says “we go straight home. Mama’s not feeling well.” Hourai nods while pulling on Alice, who says “c-come on girls, not so fast. I told you, I’m just fine.” At Hakugyokurou in the Netherworld, Yuyuko picks a cup of tea and takes a quick sip, then Youmu comes from the kitchen with a plate full of cookies and looking curiously, she asks “so you gave up on those two souls you were so obsessed with, Yuyuko-sama?” Yuyuko aims a sweet look at Youmu and signals her gardener to sit next to the table, which she obediently does. Yuyuko grabs a cookie and while munching on half of it, she says “I won’t need to go there anymore.” Youmu stares with confusion for a moment, then Yuyuko continues “you remember what I told you happened when I broke in, right?” Youmu silently nods, then notices a wicked glance and smile on her mistress’ eyes, then Yuyuko continues “well, while I was lying on top of her, while she was too shocked looking at me with panic in her eyes, I planted a little something right here...” Yuyuko points to the back of her own neck, then Youmu covers her mouth and gasps in horror. Yuyuko calmly raises her hand to Youmu, then says “she won’t die, Youmu. She will be close to that in a few hours, maybe days though, and when those dolls start running around, looking for help, I’ll be graceful enough to come to their aid.” Youmu stares at Yuyuko for a moment, then smiles and thinks “I wonder how long was she planning this one?” Yuyuko calmly takes another bite of her cookie, then with a smile on her face she says “Youmu, take some tea and cookies and join me. I’m feeling a bit lonely.” Youmu blushes a little, but nods, accepting her mistress’ invitation, glancing over her whimsical and seemingly ditzy face while pouring her tea.

Meanwhile, at the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu speaks to the tree right in front of the shrine’s side-entrance, then says “I don’t care how loudly he’s snoring! You promised you’d keep an eye on them. Please, don’t let me down. I don’t want to see them hurt!” A small bird tweets and chirps, then Reimu says “I’m sorry, I’m just worried about them. A-anyway, I already paid you, so you better keep your end of the deal, got it!?” The RKNS rapidly flies away, chirping rapidly as he flies toward the Youkai Forest. Reimu goes back inside the shrine’s living room, where Patchouli sits on the floor with a book and some scrolls, all opened on specific pages. Reimu approaches Patchouli, sits in front of her, then says “sorry about that. Please, continue with what you were saying.” Patchouli nods, then calmly says “after what happened yesterday at Marisa’s house, and from what I’ve read here, in order for Marisa to actually energize that gate and prepare it for opening, she would have had to spend months and months using an equal amount of energy daily, without fail, in order to power up each magical circle, the runes, the symbols, AND each and every one of those stones that make the gate.” Reimu ponders, then asks “so what you are saying is... someone must have helped her. Someone with as much, if not more magic than Marisa herself... But who? Alice was too busy with Yuyuko to help her! Maybe Byakuren.” Patchouli lifts her index finger at Reimu, then points outside. Reimu smirks and quietly tip-toes next to the exit, jumps right out of the shrine, then pulls out a spell card and shouts “Barrier! Paparazzi-Repelling Barrier!” Seals and white danmaku orbs shaping flowers fly from Reimu herself, spreading out widely around her, but moving very slowly. The flowers suddenly move insanely fast, then there’s is a click and a scream, then a blur that falls off one of the shrine’s trees to the bushes below. Reimu rapidly walks to the blur and pulls it out of the bushes and tosses her between herself and Patchouli. The girl has brown hair tied up into pigtails by purple ribbons and wear a purple tokin on her head. She has brown eyes and wears a white shirt with frilly purple trims on the collar, a thin black tie, a black band around her right arm, and a black and purple checkered skirt with floral patterns on the purple tiles. Around her waist, she wears a small brown pouch clipped on a black belt and wears a pair of thigh-high black socks she rolls just under her knees, tied up by reddish-purple straps that connect to her red geta sandals. The girl rubs her head and angrily says “how rude for a shrine maiden you are. You could have, like, asked me to come down. I’m not like that Aya, you know!” Reimu holds in her hand a cell-phone-looking camera with yellow/dark-yellow checkered patterns, a heart next to the lens, and a brush hanging from it like a charm. The maiden smirks with malice and says “you have two choices now. Either help me find out who helped Marisa with her stupid experiment... or I’ll confiscate this contraption, break it to pieces, then have Patchouli here dispose of what’s left!” The tengu girl cries and shouts “NO~!! Please, I’ll help, just DON’T BREAK IT!!” Reimu reluctantly tosses the camera back at her, then Patchouli kneels down and softly asks “what is your name, miss tengu?” The tengu inspects her camera, then quickly places it back in the brown pouch and says “Hatate Himekaidou.” Patchouli stares at her with uninterested eyes, then says “can you use that spirit photography of yours to find out who helped Marisa out?” Hatate stares back at Patchouli with curiosity, thinking “how did she know about that?”, but smirks while turning her head to Reimu, then confidently says “of course I can. You’ll have to give me some time, though. This thing takes, like, some time to get the story.” Patchouli smiles, while Reimu angrily says “I’ll give you 3 days, bird! If you don’t come through, I’m plucking every single feather in your body, you got that?” Hatate nods and gulps, feeling Reimu’s threats are not to be taken lightly, and after that she takes off to the sky and flies back to her home. Patchouli asks “so you think she will help?” Reimu shrugs and casually says “who cares. At least she’s off our backs!”

~2 Days Later~
At the Human village, Luna and Kyo entertain some of the villagers while turning their training with Aya and Momiji into an amazing display of danmaku and skillful moves, accompanied by some eager young villagers, male and female, that get caught by stray bullets when getting too close to the action. At Nitori’s Kappa-pa Resort, Marisa trains to regain her magic with Mima’s guidance once more, while at the same time, when Mima is out and having fun in the pool, hot tubs, or at the artificial beach, she’s practicing with Nitori’s lasers, holograms, amplifiers and a few other of her inventions, learning quickly they aren’t as easy to use as she thought. Either way, she is running out of time, and unknown to her, the void in her house is now beginning to vacuum with more force, due to it consciously using Patchouli’s magic to accelerate the process. Inside the void, Ail and the guardian dragon laugh as Ail tells him a little bit more about himself. Ail glows bright yellow as he laughs and says “... and then, right after that, the teacher came to Kyo and me and asked us who put the glue on her chair. Kyo tells her ‘but teach, you are falsely accusing the chair. The glue was on your butt before you sat down.’ And I swear, even though I face palmed, I wanted to laugh hard.” The dragon, who is in his humanoid dragon shape, laughs heartily, then says “I see you had a constant battle within yourself with mischief and wisdom.” Ail stops laughing, then sounds a bit serious, his color turning a little dim as he says “and then, one day, one of his pranks went wrong and I found myself tumbling down the stairs when avoiding a firecracker to the face. I was fine, but the headmaster was furious. They were going to have Kyo expelled, so I told them I was the one who brought those things and lighted them up. I even took Kyo’s stash and stuffed it in my own backpack.” The dragon smiles and asks “and what happened?” Ail smiles, then says “I got a month of detention...” Ail and the dragon stare quietly for a moment, then laugh heartily.

That morning, in the Forest of Magic, at Alice’s house. Alice wakes up later than usual, looking dreadfully tired, her hair unkempt, walking in her sleeping robes like a zombie toward the kitchen, where Shanghai and Hourai have prepared breakfast as usual. When the dolls look at Alice’s face, they cover their little mouths and gasp in horror. Alice’s eyes are dark, red and swollen, her mouth slightly open as she lets some drool escape her. Her skin looks paler than usual, and she looks as though she’s covered in bedsores. Shanghai immediately flies to Alice and exclaims “mama, you look terrible! Quickly! Come, eat!” Hourai stares from the dinner table and says “she looks undead!”, then cries “she’s turning into a zombie~!” Shanghai gets very angry and shouts “Hourai, this is not time for stupidity! Mama is sick!” Alice manages to sit down on the chair and somberly says “Shanghai, Hourai... good morning.” Shanghai hands a piece of bread to Alice and says “mama eats now! After that, we go to the doctor!” Alice smiles weakly and says “what? You are such a dear, but I feel fine... I feel fine~...” Alice collapses, and before she falls on the table, Hourai manages to fly away. Alice’s face lies on her egg breakfast, talking with her eyes closed, saying “I feel just fine, sweetie. I feel fine.” Shanghai despairs and start to fly around, screaming “mama!! We need to get that doctor! We need gramma! Someone get help! Mama is sick! We need the doctor!” While Shanghai flies around in despair, Hourai stares at Alice’s back, then suddenly notices a glow on the back of Alice’s neck. She gasps and points at the glow and says “Shanghai look! Mama’s neck is glowing!”, but before Shanghai looks, the glow is already gone. Shanghai scowls and flies next to Hourai, slaps her across the face, then angrily says “Hourai, this is SERIOUS! I don’t want to hear another one of your stupid jokes!” Hourai sobs, letting a tear escape her right eye, then says “I... I’m sorry.” Shanghai ignores Hourai, then flies toward one of the rooms, saying “I’m preparing to go get the doctor. Please watch over mama!” Hourai quietly nods, then gets closer to Alice’s neck. She narrows her tiny eyes and focuses on the back of Alice’s neck, then sees another glow. From Alice’s room, Shanghai hears the front door bursting open and shouts “Hourai~! Who’s there!? Is that gramma?” Hourai doesn’t answer and this infuriates Shanghai, who flies out of the room, shouting “Hourai, what are you doing... now?” As she finishes her sentence, she calms down and notices Hourai is gone. From the kitchen, Alice moans, getting Shanghai’s attention, and when the little doll reaches the kitchen, she finds Alice standing up, rubbing her eyes, her skin color returning to normal, and her eyes looking normal again. Alice looks like her normal self again, so Shanghai shouts with glee “mama~! You’re all better now!” Alice looks around, and sounding alarmed she asks “where’s Hourai!?” Shanghai shrugs, so Alice narrows her eyes, focusing her sight, then sees a magical trail that links to herself. Three dolls come flying from Alice’s room, carrying a long silky pink robe Alice rushes to put on, then runs to the door and hurriedly says “come on! We need to find her!!” Shanghai rapidly nods, then flies after Alice as they run straight toward the thickest parts of the forest, where the magical trail leads to.

At the SDM, Rika enters Sakuya’s room, holding a tray with food and tea, and a roll of replacement bandages, softly saying “miss Sakuya. It’s time for your meal.” Inside the room, Remilia has fallen asleep on that uncomfortable-looking chair. Rika looks at the vampire and smiles tenderly, then thinks of placing a blanket on Remilia, however Sakuya softly moans and moves her left leg. Rika forgets Remilia and rushes to Sakuya, softly saying “it’s ok, it’s ok. I’m here. It’s alright.” Sakuya calms down, then Rika lifts her upper body just slightly, and holds her up with the help of an extra set of pillows. Sakuya manages to slightly open her eyes and smiles at Rika, then looks at Remilia and tries to whisper something. Rika gently pats the top of Sakuya’s head and says “you focus on healing. Let me focus on the other stuff. Now come, you have to eat. An important part of healing is a proper meal... now come on.” Rika finally convinces Sakuya to turn her sight to her, then feeds her some soup with a spoon. After finishing her meal, Rika helps Sakuya drink some iced tea, which has the medicine in it, through a little straw made by Rika herself, which helps Sakuya drink any liquid with minimal, to no effort. After drinking the tea, Rika softly claps her hands together while smiling angelically, then flaps her wings and says “there, you should be feeling even better now.” She unwraps the bandages around Sakuya’s forehead, revealing it almost perfectly healed and says “my, you’re a fast healer, aren’t you? It also seems my medicine is leaving your skin extra-soft. Aren’t you lucky?” Rika starts wrapping Sakuya with fresh bandages and just before finishing she says “don’t worry about a thing. The fairy maids have been very helpful. Thanks to them, miss Scarlet has been taken care of as if it were you taking care of her.” Rika notices a small tear running down Sakuya’s eye, then smiles and says “don’t you worry about a thing, miss Sakuya. There is no way miss Scarlet will replace you. She’s been so worried about you. She’s even been coming here almost every day to see that you are recovering.” Rika gently removes the extra set of pillows from Sakuya’s back and helps her back down as gently as possible, then smiles and says “you’ll see, miss Sakuya. You’ll be back on your own two feet before you know it. Just rest and make sure to let my medicine do its work.” Sakuya quietly stares at Rika and raises her left hand just slightly. Rika grabs her hand and asks “what is it, miss Sakuya?” Rika’s sword, once more, turns to its colorful state, and the diamond on the hilt glows again, and after it stops, Sakuya falls back to sleep. Rika stares at her sword as it turns back to normal, then gently places Sakuya’s hand back on the bed, then prepares to leave. Before she exits the room, she reaches for a blanket inside the cabinet in front of Sakuya’s bed, then gently places it on Remilia. The vampire wakes up as Rika finishes covering her up, and after seeing Rika so close, she jumps with a loud yelp, and while hanging by her claws from the ceiling she shouts “what the HELL were you trying to do to me!? You were going to KILL me, weren’t you!?” Rika gets scared and answers “n-no, miss Scarlet. I was just placing-“ Remilia drops from the ceiling and threateningly walks toward Rika, making her back away against the walls, then points at her face and angrily says “I don’t ever want to see you so close, you understand!? You are NOT trustworthy! Furthermore, the only REASON I haven’t clawed your heart out is because of my pledge to Reimu and that cursed blood of yours! However, if you take another wrong step around here and I’ll have you--!!” Remilia’s quiet threats progress to shouting, which cause Sakuya to wake up and start moaning and trying to move. Remilia panics and says “no, I’m sorry. Sakuya rests. Stay, stay! I’m sorry, I won’t shout again!” Rika takes the chance to quickly grab the tray with the empty dishes, the cup and the dirty bandages and rushes out of the room, where she takes desperate breaths, trying to keep herself from crying, then from her right, Flandre places a hand on her shoulder and says “you did nothing wrong. Onee-sama is just stubborn. Now calm down. I’ll go talk to her.” Rika nods and manages to calm herself down. Flandre smiles and giggles, then walks to Sakuya’s room. Rika takes a sigh of relief, then says to herself “Rika... you need to be more careful. You were too rough. I need to be more gentle than that.” She nods, filling herself up with determination, then walks back to the kitchen.

Back at the Forest of Magic, deep inside the darkest part of the forest, Hourai flies at full speed, trying to get away from the house as fast as possible, staring constantly at the thinning magical trail left behind by the death butterfly she holds on her hands. She stops for a moment and says “you mean butterfly! Let go of mama already! I told you I won’t let you hurt her anymore!” The butterfly slowly moves its wings, then Hourai yells “you are a mean butterfly! I don’t like you!” Suddenly Hourai notices the magical trail getting thicker again. She gasps and exclaims “no~! Mama’s coming after us! Oh no, oh no! If they find me holding you, they’ll be mad! I have to think of something!!” Hourai looks to her left, then her right, and desperately flies in a circle, stops and snaps her tiny fingers, then exclaims “I got it!” Farther behind, but still gaining on her, Alice and Shanghai call for Hourai while running through the forest. The robe Alice got on is full of tears and leaf marks, for running recklessly around the forest. Shanghai stops for a moment, fills herself with as much air as possible, cups her hands on her mouth, then shouts “HOURAI~~! Come back! Mama’s better now!” Alice continues to run ahead and rapidly says “come on, come on! She can’t be far behind! This magical trail is getting thicker!” The forest seems to be getting darker and darker the farther in they get, then Alice suddenly stops. The magical trail seems to spread all around, zigzagging around various trees. Shanghai reaches Alice and asks “mama, why did you stop?” Alice narrows her eyes and stares angrily toward the floating beams of magic and says “she noticed we’re following. Dammit all, Hourai! Now is not the time to get smart-ass on me...” Shanghai stares around, but she’s unable to see the magic trail left behind by the death butterfly. Alice continues to stare with determination, then suddenly gasps and says “THIS WAY!” then turns right and runs as fast as she can, Shanghai following as quickly as possible. Both Alice and Shanghai feel as if their chests are filled with a lead block that beats hard against their bones, their feet and hands turning cold, even though they are exercising, running around and breathing heavily. Suddenly, Alice and Shanghai both hear a woman’s laughter echoing over the sky, then a lightning strike, accompanied by thunder. Shanghai screams, immediately rushing to Alice’s neck, giving Alice a tight hug, then Alice desperately calls for Hourai once more. Meanwhile, farther ahead on the other side of the forest, Hourai speeds up, trying to get the butterfly as far away from Alice as she can so the magical link can break. Lightning and thunder strike once more and there is another laugh from the sky. Hourai starts to cry in fear, but continues to fly, saying to herself “I’m not scared! I’m not scared! Mama! Hourai, you have to save mama!” Again, another thunder strike, this one accompanied by a loud woman’s wicked laughter, and now Hourai slows down, clenching her eyes and crouching while in the air, holding her little head while sobbing and repeating “I-I’m not scared, I’m not scared!” Hourai opens one eye and notices the magical beam is just about to snap, so she steels herself, and even though her face is full of tears, she shows great determination in her eyes as she continues to fly away, then there’s a sudden snap and another lightning and thunder strike. Alice and Shanghai arrive to a cliff with a collection of caves, where the magical trail ends. Alice suddenly gasps and grunts as she stomps on the ground, then shouts “DAMMIT ALL! How did she do that!?” She runs back, following the fake trail, then Shanghai asks “what’s wrong, mama!? What about Hourai!? Where’s sis!?” While running and panting, Alice says “she’s gotten good with magic! She made a fake trail for us to follow!” Shanghai starts to cry and says “but she’s ok, right mama!?” Alice gasps for air and shouts “I don’t know!” They see how a bolt of lightning strikes a tree farther inside the forest, then Alice calls for Hourai, which makes Shanghai even more nervous. As they rush to Hourai’s real location, Alice feels as her feet turn to gelatin, while Shanghai constantly thinks of the harsh words she used on her sister just moments before. At Hakugyokurou’s porch, Yuyuko places her empty teacup on its tray, then calls “Youmu, please come here for a second.” Youmu walks from the kitchen and reaches Yuyuko, but before she even bows, Yuyuko says “we’ll be receiving two special visitors today. Make sure the shrine is clean for when they arrive.” Youmu stares curiously and asks “you mean the two dolls?” Yuyuko opens her fan and covers her whimsical smile, then Youmu panics and rushes back inside the shrine, saying “r-right away, Yuyuko-sama!” Right after Youmu enters the shrine, a blue bolt of lightning strikes the very center of the shrine’s living room, making Yuyuko yelp in fright, and Youmu scream in a panic.

At the SDM’s front gates, Meiling keeps performing her guard duties, even though what she rather do is go visit Sakuya and see how she’s doing. She sighs, then thinks “but with that new chief maid in there, I’m too frightened of leaving my post. My lady Remilia told me she’s brutal and mean. Ohh miss Sakuya, I’m so sorry I caused all of this. Please get well soon.” Without realizing it, Rika stands to her left, holding a tray with food for her, however when she realizes Rika is there, she panics and kicks the tray in a fright. Rika yelps, then looks up and rapidly jumps. Like a rapid blur, Rika grabs the tray, the plate, the food, the cup, the drink, and finally the cover, all without spilling a thing. Rika sighs and says “my, that was so clumsy of me. Please, forgive me, miss Meiling. Here’s your meal.” Meiling looks with horror and while trembling, she points at Rika and asks “you? Did you just stop time too!?” Rika looks back with confusion and whispers “time... stop... me?” Rika giggles and flaps her wings, startling Meiling to a shocked state, then says “no, I can’t really stop time, miss.. Meiling?” Meiling trembles and says “lady Remilia told me all about you! S-so don’t do anything funny, or I’ll have your neck!” Rika’s smile suddenly vanish as she sadly sighs and says “oh, I see.” She manages to smile lightly as she says “well rest assured, I’ll be on my best behavior, miss Meiling, so you won’t have to worry about me.” Meiling calms down and stares at Rika for a moment, then asks “wait, aren’t you going to try and take my left eye and add it to your collection?” Rika stares at Meiling with confusion for a moment, then suddenly starts to laugh. Meiling stares back even more confused, then Rika manages to stop laughing and says “no, miss Meiling. Regardless of what miss Remilia said, I don’t have a collection of, um, left eyes...” Meiling stares suspiciously at Rika, then Rika simply hands her lunch with a smile, then says “please, enjoy your lunch, miss Meiling. You truly have earned it. You really work so hard.” Meiling suddenly gasps and smiles, feeling appreciated by Rika for her hard work, however the moment is cut short when there is a loud thunder strike and a large blue lightning bolt that illuminates a large area, and hits the Forest of Magic. Meiling and Rika stare to the forest with surprise, then Meiling asks “what was THAT!? An omen?” Rika stares to the forest with concern, then hands Meiling her meal and kneels down to pray. After getting up, she wipes a small tear form her eye and says “may those souls rest in peace.” Meiling quietly stares at Rika, but ignores her and happily reveals her meal of curry and a big cup of juice. Rika smiles at her, then says “please enjoy.”, then walks back inside the mansion, while Meiling devours her lunch.

Back at the Forest of Magic, Alice and Shanghai continue to run back to where Alice first lost track of Hourai. When they get there, Alice notices the magical trail is getting faint, then hurriedly says “this way!” They go to the opposite direction of where they were going before, Alice saying “dammit, dammit, curse it all! Of all the times for her to get smart on us, she picked the WORSE!” Shanghai feels an ominous energy surrounding the forest, making her feel even more nervous and preoccupied for Hourai, then asks “mama, is Hourai going to be ok?” Alice suddenly starts hyperventilating, her nervousness taking over her entire body, not noticing her robe is torn up and almost falling off her. She manages to calm down, then says “I don’t know. There’s something in the air. I can’t sense her, and the magical trail she left behind is disappearing.” Finally, Alice and Shanghai reach the end of the trail, then look around, both calling for Hourai over and over. Alice looks in front of herself, then sighs with relief, placing her hand on her chest and calmly saying “there you are, Hourai. Geez, you gave us such a scare...” Alice approaches Hourai, who got caught by a small branch and is hanging limp while facing the ground. Alice places her hand on Hourai’s head, then the branch snaps and Hourai falls to the ground, making a few clacking sounds as her body bounces once on the ground before coming to a full stop. Alice’s face turns pale, her knees lose their strength, dropping next to the doll, then places a finger on her chest, pushing her lightly and realizing she won’t move. A tear escapes Alice’s left eyes and suddenly her entire face is full of tears. From the left of Hourai, Shanghai kneels beside her sister and starts pushing her, saying “Hourai, wake up. This isn’t funny...” Shanghai starts to cry, shaking Hourai’s body while saying “Hourai, enough of your stupid jokes! Wake up!” Hourai’s eyes suddenly roll around, but then stop and set themselves back in place after another soft clack. Shanghai suddenly starts to sob and cry, then drops on to Hourai’s body and cries “my sister. No! After all this time, she left me~” While Shanghai continues to cry on her sister’s body, Alice tries her best to sound strong, but when she tries to speak, she feels herself break to pieces and starts to cry as well. After a while, Alice starts to question how it all happened, looking all around themselves, hoping to find some sort of clue, and that’s when she finds the remains of Yuyuko’s death butterfly, slowly fading to nothing on the ground. Alice clenches her teeth, her tears stop, then she furiously look toward Hourai and the crying Shanghai. She gets closer and holds Shanghai against her shoulder, but before saying anything, she notices tears on Hourai’s face, then realizes Shanghai is also expelling real tears. Furthermore, while holding Shanghai she notices her body is warm. Alice is very surprised, and even more surprised at herself for not noticing this before, and sounding confused she ask “Sh... Shanghai, are you actually... crying?” Shanghai sniffles as she pulls her head away from Alice’s shoulder, then looks back at Alice with confusion, then suddenly gasps. Alice continues to hold Shanghai against her shoulder as she picks Hourai’s body up, then says “let’s go home, get dressed, maybe eat something, and then I want you to tell me, since when you two started to become real.” Shanghai gulps, feeling as though she’s been caught red-handed while hiding a terrible secret, then quietly nods as Alice gets up from the ground and starts flying back home.

Back at Alice’s house, Alice has left her robe and sleeping clothes on the couch, Hourai’s body on the table, with her little eyes closed and her arms resting on her chest. Outside the house, a heavy rain makes it look like there’s a curtain blocking the view from Alice’s house to the outside. Meanwhile, Alice takes a bath, thinking of everything that has happened, and when Shanghai flies inside to bring in a fresh set of clothes for Alice, looking like a saddened child, Alice quietly points at her and signals her to get close. When she’s close enough, Alice smiles and says “you can’t take a bath with your clothes on.” Shanghai looks surprised at Alice, but after a bit, her clothes drop to the floor next to the bath-tub, and when Shanghai gets inside, Alice says “so your bodies really are becoming real. Why didn’t you tell me? Wait, better yet, how is this possible?” Shanghai looks saddened to the water and shakes her little head as she says “I don’t know. We started noticing this right after that magical shockwave hit us. It was the first time Hourai and I felt pain while in these bodies.” Alice rapidly gasps then says “that magic was as powerful as I thought. But to give you two real bodies... And what did you mean by ‘while in these bodies’? What’s going on?” Shanghai sighs, then asks “can... we talk about this in the kitchen? I feel a little hungry.” Alice opens her eyes wide, but calms herself, nods, then says “sure. Let ME make break... er, I mean lunch, this time.” Shanghai looks at Alice with a small smile on her face, but quickly frowns and looks back to the water. At the kitchen, while Alice prepares their lunch, Shanghai holds Hourai’s hand against her chest, silent tears escaping her eyes as she watches over the body of her sister, which turned back into its original form, feeling as cold and lifeless as a doll. Alice places a tray with soup and bread, a large cup of hot tea for herself, and on small cup and bowl for Shanghai, who desperately reaches for the bread and takes a large bite out of an even larger chuck she takes. Before Alice asks, Shanghai says “we’ve always remembered. We have always known everything about our past. 600 years ago we were two human girls, twins, living with a very abusive father, and our very sick mother. Our house was poor and in a terrible state... but our... dad... that man, would waste all the money gambling. Mom was always sick and we could only get her just enough medicine to get by.” Alice stops her and with great concern in her eyes she asks “do you remember your names?” Shanghai shakes her head, then takes a tiny bowl and fills it with soup, then says “sis and I were always together, doing all we could to get money, so we could buy food for mom and ourselves. We were always starving, but we didn’t care! We wanted to help mom. Once she got better, we were planning to escape that horrible man... that was our goal.” Shanghai starts to sob, letting tears fall into her soup. Alice is about to ask her to stop, but Shanghai composes herself and continues her story. She takes a gulp of her soup, then says “mom suddenly got worse, so sis and I decided it was time to go on with our plan... but that terrible man found our hidden stash and used all the money on his gambling. We confronted him about it, my sister and I. He got angry at us and...” Suddenly Shanghai cries inconsolably, dropping her bowl of soup on herself. Alice immediately grabs her and embracers her, calming her down and saying “you don’t have to tell me anymore. It’s alright.” Shanghai cries “he hurt us. We couldn’t walk *hic*. We could only watch *sob* how mom died... right in front of us, mama! And then he just burns her body like that!” Alice pats the tiny girl’s head, brushing her hair with her fingers as gently as possible, calming Shanghai as best as she can. After finally calming down, Shanghai continues “after mother died, sis and I lost our will to go on, that is.. until we realized we still had each other. So one day, when that man left us, we crawled out the door. We were free from him, free to live our lives, but luck was never on our side, and he found us on his way back home. The last thing I remember was that man screaming at us and a lot of crashing and breaking...” Alice lets a tear escape her eye, then says “Shanghai, please stop.” Shanghai releases herself from Alice and goes back on to the table and looks back at Alice with a brave face. She takes a sip of her tea, then says “we became wandering spirits, lost and unable to find our way, but we remained together, always. I don’t really know how long we wandered the lands until we met princess Yuyuko. I don’t know how it happened exactly, but I remember she was surrounded by this beautiful light. She offered us to come with her, and so we did. For years we lived in the Netherworld until the day miss Phredia summoned us.” Alice sighs, then says “I never knew. I’m so sorry.” Shanghai looks at Hourai’s body, then says “I’ve never been without sis... without Hourai. Mama, I feel so lost!” She looks at Alice with watery eyes, looking to her for answers, for a path. Alice stares back for a moment, then looks away, hoping for some answers of her own. She suddenly remembers the vanishing death butterfly where they had found Hourai, and then looks back to Shanghai with a smile and a determined face. With confidence in her voice, Alice says “tomorrow, we are going to the Netherworld. We are getting Hourai back.” Shanghai looks back at Alice with confusion, then asks “how do you know she’s even there, mama?” Alice smiles at Shanghai, then picks her up once more, and while holding her against her chest she says “call it a mother’s intuition.” At first, Shanghai looks confused, however, as she feels Alice’s heart beating, she feels reassured, then thinks “even if she didn’t really give birth to us, even without any ties to us at all... miss Alice... has truly become our mother.” Shanghai rests her head on Alice’s chest and closes her eyes, then says “thank you... for being such a great mother to us... mama Alice.” Alice gets a little surprised after hearing that from Shanghai, but then smiles motherly as she continues to hold the tiny girl. She looks out the window, realizing the rain has stopped, then smiles once more and says “we’ll get Hourai back Shanghai. We’ll be together, no matter what.”

At the Moriya Shrine, Sanae serves some tea and snacks on a tray to the goddesses, and with a smile on her face she says “enjoy. I’m going to the lake to check on Ail and Budou.” Sounding a bit annoyed, Kanako says “you know, ever since that Koishi girl started coming by, we’ve been getting too many youkai visitors. This is not good for our shrine. What if some humans decide to visit?” Sanae sweats and giggles nervously, then says “first they would have to pass by the Youkai Forest, so I don’t think these children will bother them much.” Kanako’s left eye twitches while Suwako stares at her and Sanae with curious eyes, then says “I know we are gods... but aren’t we youkai too?” Kanako spits her drink while Sanae simply stares with curiosity. Before they two goddesses start to fight, a sad tune like that out of a music box starts to play. Kanako and Suwako look around, wondering where the sound is coming from, then Suwako asks “Kanako, you hear that, right?” Kanako nods then asks “Sanae, do you have any idea where that tune is coming... from?” When the goddesses look at Sanae, they notice as she stares outside with sad, wondering eyes, as Ail and Budou fly by the trees there. The goddesses turn pale and gaps, then try to run away, however Sanae has shackled their ankles to the floor under the table and suddenly starts talking. She sighs and swings the tray she holds on her hand, missing Kanako’s head by an inch, then says “poor Budou. I know she seems happy, but I know she misses Ail so much. Their house in the forest, they quiet, happy lives.” Sanae kicks the table away, revealing the chains on the goddess’ shackles are actually just one, and it’s lose, however it holds both goddesses close. Before they can run for it, Sanae grabs the chain and lifts the goddesses, then starts to swing them around with force, making them crash their heads together over and over, then starts to swing them around in a circle above her head. While doing this she says “I’ve been wondering about Ail’s consciousness too. I mean, what if we never find it? What if it’s already gone out of our reach? I wouldn’t know how to explain that to poor, little Budou.” While being swung around and crashing against Suwako and the furniture, Kanako manages to yell “Sanae! It’s ok! Everything will be fine! Think positive!!” Sanae slams the two goddesses on to the floor, making a loud thud that accompanies their “oomph”, then sits between their legs and grabs farthest arms, then pulls back on them as if her life depended on it. While the goddesses scream in pain, Sanae says “I should have asked him about it, instead of trying to beat him to a pulp. I should have confronted him with that mirror. Oh, but I was just so mad. I wouldn’t have listened anyway. I don’t blame you for that anymore, though. You were just scared of losing me... but you should have just talked to me about it.” Sanae sighs and lets go of the goddesses hands, then suddenly leans over and starts moving her hands in a very rapid fashion, making both Kanako and Suwako scream out in pain, then end with a gurgle. Sanae gets up, sighs again as she dusts her hands, then the music stops playing. She looks to the floor and notices both goddesses have been tangled up with one another like a pair of ropes, then gasps and exclaims “again!? Lady Yasaka, lady Moriya, you two have been getting injured quite a lot! I know you’re gods, but please be more careful.” The pain in their bodies prevents either goddess from saying a word, so Sanae simply leans over and says “alright, fine, let me help you here.” Just outside the shrine, Koishi makes Lily fly right after Budou, then she and Ail start playing leapfrog, while heading in the same direction as Budou and Lily. Right after jumping away, a golden washtub falls from the sky, but simply hits the ground. Everything is quiet for a while, then suddenly, something whimpers, and a small teardrop falls to the ground from the washtub’s left handle.

Meanwhile, at Hakugyokurou, while Youmu is busy with some other spirits, fixing the damage the blue lightning caused to the ghostly shrine, Yuyuko sits on a rock on the garden closest to the shrine, next to a saddened spirit that continues to stare into the small pond in front of them. Smiling whimsically, Yuyuko places a gentle hand on the spirit and says “don’t you worry, little soul. Your sister will be coming by soon. You’ll be together again, and be free to play all over the gardens once more.” The little spirit continues to stare at its reflection on the water, then the reflection turns into Hourai, looking on sadly, then says “sis... Mom... I’m all alone now. I’m all alone...” The reflection reaches out to herself, but it soon vanishes, and turns back into a simple, shapeless white spirit.

To be continued...

Characters, spell cards and scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
Ail, Kyo, Luna and Budou were created by Willie G.R.
Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot 2010

APR 7 2010
Written by
Willie G.R.

A/N:
I was SO inspired when writing this. At the same time, though, I felt horrible writing that story back there. I had to liven myself up to finish the chapter, so I added a small moment of laughter there. Though honestly, I winced when proofing and reading through what Sanae does to those goddesses. Still, I’m feeling very inspired, but at the same time, I think I’ll take it a bit slower for next chapter. Then again... for some reason, I can’t take things too slowly. At least, when I’m writing, I just want to go on and on and... well, you get it. Thanks for reading and I hope you are enjoying this.