Paradise Sukima 15

Morning at the SDM. Rika walks out of Sakuya’s room with a smile on her while saying “well, you should be up and around very soon, miss Sakuya. Just make sure to rest up, and try not to overexert yourself.” From inside the room, Sakuya softly replies “thank you so much for all your help. I’ll call if I need anything.” Rika smiles back and says “please do.”, then gently closes the door. As she walks down the corridor, she sighs contently and says to herself “she should be up and at them in just two days.” She rubs her chin and looks to the ceiling, then curiously says “strange that miss Remilia hasn’t visited her while she’s awake. Maybe I should get her now... but no, she would just get angry. She does like her sleep.” From behind, Remilia sounds threatening as she asks “what was that? Are you plotting on taking me down, white-blood?” Rika turns around and finds Koakuma standing in a seductive pose next to Remilia. The mistress herself wears an extravagant white outfit, meant to intimidate Rika. Her usual small puffy hat is replaced by a white, oversized triangular hat that’s the same width as her body, adorned with a red ribbon that seems to split the hat into 4 segments, and ends tied into a bow to her right, and her light-blue hair is lose, making herself look more fearsome as she smiles down on Rika. Over her shoulders, she wears a white capelet with red borderlines, a neckerchief over a large red ribbon she ties into a bow right over her abdomen, her dress is white with red borderlines on the bottom of the skirt and short puffy sleeves with a small red ribbon at the border of the sleeves, and finally, she wraps her forearms with a pair of detached sleeves and adorns each wrist with a thin red bracelet that seems to float around her wrists without actually touching them. Remilia smiles wide, baring her fangs for Rika to see clearly, and notices how the maid seems a little intimidated by her sudden change of appearance, and while feeling high and mighty she says “well, it seems you are slacking off, miss maid. I’m going to have to take some disciplinary action!” Rika manages to recover from the shock of seeing Remilia in such extravagant clothing, and stands firmly in place while confidently saying “I was just on my way to address the maids, my lady.” Koakuma chuckles, then Remilia smiles and says “taking such a defying tone of voice to address me. I’m going to have to teach you some manners!” Rika scowls and says “please, forgive my rudeness, my lady Remilia.” Remilia grabs Koakuma and lifts her above her head and says “it’s too late for begging! Koakuma, teach her a lesson!” Before Koakuma can complain, Remilia tosses her like a log straight at Rika’s face. Koakuma screams as she flies straight to Rika, and just before crashing on to her, Rika side-steps in the blink of an eye, letting Koakuma fly past her and crash head-first against a column on the archway behind them. Concerned, Rika turns around and calls “miss Koakuma, are you alright!?” Koakuma groans, but doesn’t answer as her body hangs limp against the column where her head it stuck in. Rika turns around and says “miss Remilia, that is no way to treat—“ Remilia clenches her teeth and speaks louder than Rika, interrupting her speech while saying herself “look what you made me do!! Clean up this mess and FIX that wall.” Rika covers her mouth to keep herself from scolding Remilia, and when the mistress turns her back, she simply bows and says “as you wish, my lady.” Remilia heads back to her room, while Rika tends to Koakuma, gently placing her hand on the little demon’s back, making her twitch her wings for a moment, but calming her down by gently saying “it’s alright, I’m here. Don’t move, so I can get you out of there.”

At the Human Village, Kyo and Luna walk out of their house just as the sun rises, each holding a cup of coffee on their hands. The morning is eerily quiet, thought he sun looks beautiful against the blue morning sky, which takes any suspicions away from their thoughts. Medicine walks out of the house with Su-San flying just above her shoulder, and after yawning and rubbing her eyes, she smacks her lips and says “good morning, you guys.” Kyo and Luna immediately greet back as Medicine looks to the sky, then looking around with suspicion, she asks “say... don’t you think it’s a little too quiet? And what’s the deal with that glass thingy over there?” Kyo and Luna both stop drinking from their cups, then look worriedly toward Medicine and Kyo asks “what are you talking about!?” Before Medicine speaks, Renko comes running from behind Kyo’s house, desperately calling out to Kyo and Luna. She finally reaches the porch where Kyo, Luna and Medicine are, then bends down while catching her breath and says “Mary! Mary!! We have to save Mary!!” Luna despairs and hurriedly asks “Renko, girl, what’s the matter!? Calm down!” Renko raises her body, revealing a large cut on her left shoulder, and blood trailing all over the left side of her face. Kyo opens his eyes wide, Luna and Medicine gasps in horror at the sight, and Su-San covers her little face with her tiny hands. Kyo shouts “who the HELL did that!?” Medicine yells “don’t shout at her, you idiot!” Luna throws her coffee cup away and punches both on the head, effectively calming them down, and after taking a deep breath herself, she says “Kyo, Medicine, get me the first aid. Renko, let’s go inside.” Renko forcefully pulls her hand away before Luna touches her and desperately says “you don’t understand! We have to wake Mary up! We have to save her!” Dark clouds form just over the village, revealing the large crystal mountain to the north exit, and in the air echoes the malevolent laughter of a woman. Kyo, Luna and Medicine all look at the clouds as they take a human shape, then Renko says “listen. Yesterday, Mary started suffering from a very sudden headache, so we went to the Entei doctor for some medicine. After she drank the medicine, she said she felt sleepy and went to sleep. This morning, when I went to wake her up, she-she started attacking me with these blue bolts... and now she’s waking around, laughing like that and trapping others inside those glass mountains!” Kyo gasps and in surprise he asks “what!? You mean those clouds and that...?” Before Kyo can finish his question, a large creature hooded in black, holding a gigantic scythe, with a long dragon snout escaping the hood and thin purple claws for hands, appears right in front of the black clouds as they slowly form a large cloud version of Maribel with blue glowing eyes. The shinigami of the yama of the beasts opens her left claw and reveals a large red origami bird that flaps its wings as soon as the air touches it, then after a wicked laugh, the hooded shinigami leaves. The origami bird turns to fire and merges with the cloud, making Maribel scream out loud as her eyes turn red, then there’s a thunder and lightning strike and from the flash, Maribel appears in front of Kyo and Luna’s house, staring back at them with glowing purple eyes. Her usual poofy white hat is missing, and instead of her usual purple dress, she wears a blue gown with long white sleeves that reach the ground, even after she raises her hands, and tied around her waist is a single, thin red ribbon, tied into a knot. Before Kyo and the others can react, Maribel raises her hand, and in an instant, all of them are trapped inside a small crystal mound in suspended animation. Kyo is able to keep conscious long enough to hear Maribel say in a wicked and twisted grown-up tone of voice “and now, this place belongs to me!” She cackles as she disappears and turns back into a cloud, then starts covering the entire village up.

Meanwhile, at Alice’s house, Shanghai and Hourai burst out of the door and to the sky, quickly followed by Alice, then Shanghai hurriedly says “look, look! The village!” Alice covers her mouth as she gasps in amazement, watching as the village slowly becomes a bed of crystal spikes covered by a familiar dark cloud. Hourai flies close to Alice and says “it’s time, mama!” Alice feels a cold chill enter her heart as she looks to the village, then says “come on, girls! Let’s get ready before we leave.” Alice, Shanghai and Hourai rush back inside the house, where Alice picks up her spell cards, Shanghai and Hourai arm themselves with tiny spears and shields, then rush back outside, where they bump into Parsee and Yuugi. They easily knock Parsee down along with them, but Yuugi stays standing with a curious look on her face as she says “ah, look at that. Just like that lazy girl said.” Alice rubs her head as she slowly gets up on her knees and asks “whoa, what happened? Who are you two?” Alice takes a better look of the towering oni and the green eyed girl sitting up next to her and her girls, then says “you guys are from the underground, aren’t you? Parsee Mizuhashi and Yuugi Hoshiguma, right?” Parsee rubs her head and flicks her ears as she stares back at Alice and says “you know us already just like that!? I’m so jealous of you!” Yuugi helps Alice up, then Parsee, who says “next time, pick ME up first!”, then grabs both tiny girls from the ground and says “you must be Alice, the doll maker, magician and master puppeteer, right?” Alice looks away and says “well, um, yeah, that’s me. You may also call me the 7-colored magician.” Yuugi places Hourai on her shoulder and laughs as she says “yup, it’s you we’re looking for after all! So modest too!”, then grabs Alice with her free arm and crushes her with a one-handed hug. Parsee stares with contempt at them, then says “you never treat me like that!” Alice suddenly shouts “alright, alright, that’s enough! Why are you two here!?” Parsee answer before Yuugi “we came here because the big-breasted, lazy girl with pink hair asked us to help you!” Yuugi stare curiously at Parsee, then shrugs and adds “we are here to help you deal with the village.” Yuugi points toward the direction of the village, then adds “you wouldn’t’ believe that girl. She asked us for help before, but she didn’t even tell us what she needed help with.” Parsee snickers and says “see, just because she has a big chest doesn’t make her perfect!” Alice stares back at the two girls with suspicion, but she quickly realizes how relaxed Shanghai and Hourai are around Yuugi, and even Parsee, so she sighs as she lifts both hands beside her body and says “fine, fine. You can come with us, but please, try not to get in the way, alright?” Yuugi flips her thumb up, while Parsee shivers and her eyes glow green as she stares back at Alice, then says “fine, whatever. But why must you be the leader!?” Alice replies in a matter-of-factly tone “because I’m a natural born leader. Right Shanghai, Hourai?” From Yuugi’s shoulder, Shanghai raises her arm and exclaims “yeah!”, while Hourai floats around Alice’s face, then smiles and says “I love my mama!”

At the SDM’s library, Patchouli sits on her desk, looking seemingly uninterested toward the wounded Koakuma on the seat next to her, who has a large gash on her neck, done by a solid board inside the column she got her neck stuck in. The pain from the wound keeps the little devil from speaking or moving, and all she can do now is move her eyes around and think. Rika walks toward the desk with a first aid kit on her hands and with a smile she says “phew, those fairy maids are so rowdy, but they sure can do their job... with a little help, of course.” Sounding casual, Patchouli asks “so they fixed the damage?” Rika smiles widens and says “oh yes. They even prepared the mistress’ meal without my help this time.” Patchouli smirks and says “hmm, I see. This should be perfect for my experiment.” Rika opens the first aid kit and asks “what experiment, lady Patchouli?” Patchouli gets up from the seat, looking as expressionless as ever, then says “I’ll be back in a bit.” Rika stares at Patchouli with curiosity and worry, then the magician smiles and says “relax. You won’t have to clean anything.”, then walks away. Now Koakuma sits alone and defenseless against Rika, who she believes is going to try and assassinate her now that they are alone. Fear takes her as Rika slowly gets closer with strange medicines in colors she believe mean poison, sharp-looking metallic items that shine, even though there is no light inside the dark library, and a simple-looking roll of bandages. Koakuma stares with fear taking over her body, a cold chill making her already numb limbs feel like lead, and when Rika gets closer, she clenches her eyes shut and thinks “no! Lady Patchouli, how could you!? All these poisons and holy items. She’s not going to seal me! She’s going to destroy me! Someone help me!” She feels how Rika’s hands and fingers creep around her neck and starts to cry. Rika notices this and backs away, asking “oh dear, miss Koakuma, does it hurt that much!?” Koakuma opens her eyes and notices her vision isn’t fading, and the pain around her neck has lessened. She looks to Rika’s concerned face and thinks “what? I’m not dead? And what’s this? This girl looks genuinely concerned about me. No, this has to be a lie; an illusion. Why would a holy being care about a demon like me?” Rika’s expression changes to that of understanding and caring, and after taking a deep breath, she sighs, tilts her head slightly to the right and says “miss Koakuma, I’m not an assassin of any kind, and I most certainly not here to assassinate you. Why can’t you understand that?” Koakuma’s tears suddenly stop as she places all her attention on Rika’s eyes and says “this... warm feeling. Demons shouldn’t feel this, but... Miss Rika, you...” Rika approaches Koakuma, and using her apron, she cleans her face from the dried tears and smiles. She picks up a blue medicine and applies it to a cotton ball she holds with metal forceps, and as she gently cures the wound she says “to a demon like you I must seem like a monster that’s come to purify you. It’s not my intention, miss Koakuma. I must say, even with your pranks, I feel no ill toward you. In fact, you can say I like that about you.” Rika reaches for the red medicine next and applies it to a clean cotton ball she hold with the same forceps, and while applying the medicine she says “my, this wound was particularly bad, to leave a demon like you in this state. If you were human, you would probably be dead by now.” Rika switches to the bandages, and gently wraps them around Koakuma’s neck, cutting off the excess after finishing, and in an instant, Koakuma manages to move her arms and lightly wrap them around Rika’s waist. Rika understand what it means, and while she gently combs Koakuma’s hair with her fingers, she softly says “you’re welcome, miss Koakuma.” Unnoticed by Rika or Koakuma, Rika’s sword turns to its colorful state, and the diamond on the hilt glows pink, then the sword turns back to normal as soon as the glowing stops. Patchouli watches from behind a bookshelf, thinking “well, it seems she’s befriended her. Still, a little angel and a little demon. Perhaps I could convince miss Rika to stay here for good. This would prove useful for my experiments.”

At the entrance to the Human Village, Alice, Shanghai, Hourai, Yuugi and Parsee all look around for a way inside the village. It looks as though it’s going to rain, however, only thunder and lightning fall from the ominous clouds on the sky, and if any one of them tries to get too close to the crystals covering the entrance, a thick curtain of blue lighting strikes hard and pushes the would-be intruder away. Alice drops on her seat to the ground and sighs, then looks at the sky and asks “any idea how to get in there?” Yuugi is about to suggest she throws them all over the mountains, but before she can mouth her suggestion, Shikieiki’s voice comes from behind them loud and clear as she says “perhaps we can assist you!” Alice springs to her feet, while Shanghai and Hourai position themselves beside her, and Parsee and Yuugi lean against a tree, Yuugi smiling and saying “well, it’s the yama herself. This must be big.” Alice approaches Shikieiki and asks “were we too late?” Shikieiki stares seriously back at the group and says “I’m afraid there’s been some outside interference, so Komachi and I will be taking care of that, while you take the girl down.” Parsee’s eyes glow green as she stares at Komachi, but sounding quite casual she asks “and how are we supposed to get in there in the first place?” Shikieiki approaches Alice, then turns her attention to Hourai, and says “she will sing.” Hourai blushes, while everyone else, except Parsee, look with surprise at the embarrassed little girl. Hourai covers her red cheeks with her hands and says “oh, but that’s so embarrassing.” Alice looks confused toward Shikieiki, who continues to smile as she says “but you want to help your mother with her task, right? You just have to sing, and you’ll be helping her a lot!” Hourai gasps and exclaims “yes, I want to help mama!”, then quickly flies toward the village entrance, followed by Alice and Shanghai, while Yuugi, Parsee, Komachi and Shikieiki watch from a little farther behind. Hourai feels a bit nervous, all her friends, her sister and her mother watching her, but she takes a deep, calming breath, then lets her voice lose with a beautiful song, making Parsee’s eyes glow green, twice as bright as usual, and Mystia herself pops her head from behind a tree and clenches her fists with envy. When Hourai finishes singing, the clouds disperse and the crystal mountain blocking the entrance turns to dust. Alice stares at Hourai with great surprise, making Hourai blush even more, saying “d-don’t look at me like that, mama.” Shanghai asks “whoa! Since when could you do THAT!?” Shikieiki loudly says “cut the chatter and move. It’s going to close up again!” Yuugi carries Parsee with one hand as Parsee stares at Hourai with great envy, and runs after Komachi and Shikieiki, who follow after Alice, and her two girls. As soon as they enter, the crystal mountain reforms and the dark clouds take over their abandoned post. Alice grabs Hourai and gives her a big kiss on the cheek, saying “that’s my little girl!” Shanghai grabs Hourai and give her a big hug and says “sis has talent! We should get a stage!” Yuugi smiles and says “maybe we can have her as an opening act for a big music festival!” Parsee stares with contempt while twitching her ears and whispering “such a beautiful voice. It just so unfair.” Hourai lowers her head and blushes in embarrassment, bashfully saying “um, um... th-thanks.” Alice smiles and says “well, that’s enough of that. We have to find Maribel and wake her up.” When Alice looks back, she realizes Shikieiki and Komachi are gone. Shanghai looks around and says “they are gone, mama.” Alice sighs and calmly looks around and says “let’s just focus on our own task.” Yuugi winks, flips her thump up and says “well said, boss.”

At the Moriya Shrine, Budou convinces Koishi to have a friendly battle with her, while Ail and Lily watch from the shrine’s roof, Ail sitting like a dog, while Lily sits on his shoulders, cheering “go Budou! Go Koishi! It’s spring!” After declaring spring, danmaku flies all around her, striking Ail and herself with a few blasts, but neither one seems to be bothered by that. Up above the shrine, Koishi smirks and says “remember, if I win, you’re switching clothes with me!” Budou smirks back with a confident look and replies “and if I win, you’re going to ‘convince’ mama Sanny into making me that...”, she starts to drool as she says “delicious, squished grapes and cherry paste pie~! Yum~!” After slurping and smacking her lips, she and Koishi ready for battle, and the moment Lily says “GO~!”, Budou zips past Koishi, leaving a trail of blue lasers behind her. Koishi smiles confidently, then skillfully dodges up, down, left, then right, then turns around to face Budou, failing to avoid two lasers coming from above, and getting hit on the head and shoulder. Budou giggles and says “two hits already.” Koishi flaps her hat in the air to prevent it from burning, then smiles confidently while staring at Budou, then starts shooting a curtain of heart-shaped bullets that surround Budou before she can even move away. The little fruit bat focuses, and dodges all the groups of slow-moving hearts by moving slowly and steady. She’s in the clear and gets confident, making an abrupt movement to the right and getting blasted on the belly by the heart right in front of her. Koishi holds her sides as she laughs heartily, and after recovering she says “now that’s a new way of losing!” Budou flaps her hands close to her belly, relieving the stinging sensation of the blast, then growls and glares at Koishi and says “I haven’t lost yet!” Koishi knows what’s coming, so she readies herself defensively and says “come and get me!” For a moment, they just stare at each other, but in an instant, they lunge toward each other, danmaku trailing behind each. They are mere inches away from colliding, but neither is backing down, and from the front of the shrine, Sanae hears their screams after various explosions, and sounding annoyed and tired, she shouts “Koishi~! Budou~! Don’t make a hole on the roof again!” From her left, Kanako comments “she used to be so quiet and reserved.” Sanae sighs, then a sad tune, like one from a music box starts to play. Kanako’s face turns blue, her eyes expand, her pupils shrink, and she tries to turn around and run away as soon as possible, but Sanae already has a good grip on her shoulder. She grabs the goddess’ arm and pulls it back with force while saying “she’s had to grow up so much, and all on her own. Feeling she’s lost so much.” Sanae presses Kanako’s back against herself, then suddenly squeezes her abdomen with both hands, sighs, then says “I know she loves me, but I can never fill that void Ail and Phredia’s sudden departure left inside of her. Oh, lady Yasaka, why are these things happening?” Kanako lies on her stomach, while Sanae sits on her back, crosses the goddess’ legs, then pulls them upward, making the goddess cry out in pain. Sanae releases her legs, goes for her chin, then starts pulling backward while saying “he looked so scared when you broke his arm. He wouldn’t even let me get close.” Kanako feels relief when Sanae releases her and gets off her, however the sad little tune continues, and to her dismay, Sanae lifts her up above her head and spins in place, angrily saying “all because I, a human god, got filled with doubts!” Sanae stops spinning and tosses Kanako on to the ground, making a loud cracking sound as her face lands on the stone walkway, cracking the floor itself. Sanae sighs, dusts her hands and says “but it’s not your fault... You just thought you were watching out for me in the end.” The tune stops playing, and Kanako can only hear how her own body screams out in pain, groaning softly while trying to say something to Sanae. The wind priestess snaps out of her thoughts and looks at Kanako, shrieks, then exclaims “lady Kanako, what happened to you!? ... Lady Kanako!?”

Inside the Human Village, all the houses have been replaced by mountains made of glass, all in different shapes and sizes, all holding within them the villagers themselves, frozen in place, some with a disturbing look of terror in their eyes. Shanghai and Hourai tremble as they hold on to Alice’s neck, trying their best to bury their faces behind Alice’s hair, while Alice continues walking forward, hoping to find Maribel sooner than later, however, the more they walk, the longer their path gets. Yuugi, who is looking around quite casually, says “we’ve been walking in circles. Look over there. It’s the first humans we found trapped.” Parsee looks to the sky and says “ugh, we fell under the spell. Why did I fall under such a pathetic spell!?” Alice stops, making the others stop as well, then gently grabs Hourai, and while placing her in front of herself and looking into her eyes, she says “sing! Hourai, you need to sing.” Hourai blushes as she slowly nods, then flies a few feet away from Alice and immediately starts to sing a beautiful song, using higher notes than the song before. Her voice echoes all over the village, creating a ripple in the air as the power in her song clashes against the dark magic in the air, and after the ripples get violent, there is a cracking sound, like that of a cracking egg, then Alice can see as far as Keine’s school. Yuugi and Parsee are about to follow Alice, but the magician turns around and says “Yuugi, Parsee. You need to free the people over the school. Think you can do that?” Yuugi salutes Alice and smiles while saying “on it, boss!” Parsee bites down on her scarf and says “why is she giving orders like that? What, just because she has sexy light-green eyes? I’m so jealous!” Yuugi continues to smile as she grabs hold of Parsee, and rushes away toward the school. Alice looks towards the direction to Kyo’s house, however, she can’t see father ahead due to the dark magic spell. She looks to Shanghai and Hourai and says “I’m going to need both your help.” Shanghai raises her lance and says “mama can always count on me!” Hourai continues to blush and says “anything for mama.” Alice smiles as she walks by, grabs Hourai, then places her on her shoulder as they continue their way.

Outside the village exit closest to Kyo’s house, Youmu, Byakuren, Nue and Yuyuko stand by, preparing a powerful spell to break through the crystal mountain blocking the entrance. Yuyuko and Byakuren stand inside a large pink magical circle that turns gradient purple and pink when Byakuren opens her scroll and begins to chant. Yuyuko breaks her concentration for a moment, then addresses to Youmu with a serious tone of voice as she says “Youmu, Nue, remember that you are there to assist. Do not interfere.” Youmu and Nue nod at the same time, then Yuyuko says “get ready. Once we open that up, it’ll close back up quickly.” Youmu grabs Nue by her waist and prepares to dash at Yuyuko’s signal. Yuyuko closes her eyes to concentrate, then suddenly Byakuren raises her voice and a gradient pink and purple beam trails from the floor toward the crystal mountain, and the second it crashes against it, Yuyuko shouts “NOW!” Youmu sprints with Nue on her arms, and in just 2 seconds, she’s inside the village. The glass regenerates itself, and Byakuren and Yuyuko watch with a little worry in their eyes as strange red clouds form above the village’s center. Meanwhile, inside the village, Parsee fills the glass on the crystal mountains with her jealousy energy, making the ones trapped inside jealous of them for being free, then Yuugi punches the glass, and with the help of the villagers’ will to break free, the mountains crumble to nothing, then the villagers run free toward the school, where Keine uses ever ounce of power and concentration in her to keep the school safe. Parsee watches with contempt as the villagers run safely into the school and says “it’s so unfair! I want to go there too!” Yuugi punches another one of the mountains, freeing 5 more villagers, and says “not until after we are done helping here.” Red clouds form right above them, and a black bolt of lightning strikes between the two girls, sending them flying in separate directions. In the center of the lightning strike stands a giant figure hooded in black, holding a large scythe on its purple claws, and even though the weapon is twice as large, the figure raises it without effort and aims to strike the school. Yuugi shouts “you coward! Pick on someone your own size!” The giant figure stops, then turns its hooded face to Yuugi and mockingly asks “you mean, someone like you!?” From behind, Shikieiki’s voice says “no! Someone like me!” The hooded figure turns around to face Shikieiki and Komachi, and in a commanding tone, Shikieiki says “you are not in your world. Either take a proper form, or be sent back to your own world by force.” The hooded figure grows softly, then starts to glow and shrink, and when the glowing stops, a woman with long purple hair and red eyes reveals herself from under the black hood. Parsee’s eyes glow intensely when she takes a look at the torso of the woman, realizing she also has an ample bosom, like Komachi’s. She bites down on her thumb, her face turning red with rage, then through her teeth she says “that is just so damned unfair! She thinks she better than me, doesn’t she!? Why are those shinigami so big!? Stupid meat bags!” The dragon shinigami approaches Shikieiki, then rests her large scythe on the ground, and with a smirk on her face she says “I am here to inform you that a certain human from this world interfered with the fate of one from our own world.” Shikieiki raises her voice and asks “what did you do!?”, but the dragon shinigami ignores her and continues “judgment was spared, but if he ever tries something like that again, my lord WILL pass his judgment on him!” Shikieiki loudly asks “where’s the report, then!?” The shinigami half-smiles and says “it’s inside the mistress of this LOVELY crystal graveyard.” Shikieiki loses her patience and readies herself to attack, but Komachi holds her shoulder and says “you let me handle this, Eiki-sama. You go and help that girl.” Shikieiki nods, then points at Yuugi and Parsee, and without saying another word, all three fly toward Kyo’s house. Komachi walks around the dragon shinigami, smiling as she says “now you gone and done it. Upsetting Shikieiki-sama like that. Now I’ll have to teach you some proper manners.” The dragon shinigami walks around, keeping away from Komachi while she smiles and says “and you plan to teach me said manners with such a weak scythe like yours? That edge only tells me how weak you really are. You don’t even take your job seriously, do you?” Komachi stops and smirks, holding her scythe defensively as she says “sure, let’s go with that.” The dragon shinigami smiles back, then quickly rushes straight toward Komachi.

On the other side of the village, Alice, Shanghai and Hourai find themselves struggling to keep the dark magic away. Even with Hourai’s magical songs, the darkness keeps getting thicker and harder to deal with. Hourai runs out of breath and falls to the ground, though Alice manages to catch her in time, then says “it’s alright. You rest now.” Shanghai growl in anger and shouts “stupid dark magic! Take THAT!” She raises her little lance and manages to merge her magic with it, then cuts a large opening with a small swing. Amazed, Shanghai asks “whoa. Did I do that!?” Alice shouts “it’s her! Come on!” She grabs hold of Shanghai and Hourai and runs straight toward Maribel, who sits in front of Kyo’s house, on a throne made from the same glass as the mountains around the village. When Alice and the girls clear the thick dark magic, Maribel, with a sinister adult voice says “welcome, miss 7-colored magician. Have you come to entertain me?” Alice takes a few breathes, then shouts “Maribel, you have to wake up!” Shanghai adds “if you wake up, we can help you properly.” Hourai adds “it’s morning. You shouldn’t be sleeping!” Maribel smiles disturbingly wicked as her eyes glow crystal blue, and in a flash Alice finds her legs and half her torso trapped inside the same crystal that surrounds the village. Shanghai and Hourai cry, calling out to Alice, but Alice says “be brave! Shanghai, protect your sister! Hourai, SING!” Shanghai gets in between Hourai and Maribel, while Hourai nervously looks around, claps her hands together, then starts to sing angelically, the waves of her magical song making Maribel cover her ears and groan while still sitting on her throne. The spell on Maribel is about to break, but Alice’s screams of pain distract both little girls, stopping before being able to defeat Maribel. Shanghai asks “mama, what’s wrong!?” Hourai shouts “MAMA! Someone save mama!!” Alice’s legs and half of torso slowly and painfully turn into glass, making Alice cry with empty eyes as she tries to fight the pain, breathing through her mouth while trying to pull herself free, feeling as though the inside of her body is being pierced by needles and knives. Shanghai readies her lance and lunges straight at Maribel, aiming for her heart, while shouting “you won’t hurt mama!!” Maribel quickly flies out of her throne at the last moment, letting Shanghai crash on to the throne and breaking it to pieces on impact, then points her arm at the tiny girl while preparing a blue bolt of lightning on her hand. Alice desperately calls for Shanghai, and before Maribel releases her attack, Youmu comes from the other side of the battlefield, cutting through the dark magic with ease, then Nue flies just above Maribel and unleashes massive red orbs, all falling scattered, confusing Maribel and getting herself hit countless times. Maribel screams enraged, then expands her hands and fingers and unleashes and attack of blue blots and black spikes, striking Youmu and Nue, knocking them out after a while. Maribel turns around to look at Alice, then smiles and says “now, to finish my lovely sculpture.” She points her hands at Alice, her eyes glow crystal blue, then Alice continues to scream in pain as the rest of her body gets turned into glass. Shanghai gets back up, just as Hourai starts shooting her danmaku at Maribel, and joins in with her sister, however Maribel deflects all the shots with ease using her own magic and continues to torture Alice, while turning her to glass. From behind, Youmu shouts “Life-Cutting Sword, Meditation Slash!” Youmu strikes Maribel hard on the side with a sword made of green light, knocking her to the ground and saving Alice from fully becoming a crystal sculpture. From behind Alice, Shikieiki jumps out of the dark magic, accompanied by Yuugi and Parsee, then immediately places a hand on Alice’s crystallized shoulder, turning her back to normal in a few seconds, then says “sorry I’m late, but it seems you’ll be needing my help after all.” After taking enough deep breaths, Alice asks “how do we stop her?” Maribel gets off the ground and flies straight to Youmu, tackling her against Kyo’s crystallized house and knocking her out, then turns to face Yuugi and Hourai, who stand defensively in front of Shikieiki, Alice and Shanghai. Shikieiki shouts “I’ll remove the curse. The moment I do, you hit her will all you got, understand!?” Alice nods, then Shikieiki joins Yuugi and Hourai, who are keeping Maribel entertained with hit-and-run tactics. Maribel manages to grab Yuugi by surprise, then tosses her straight to Hourai. Yuugi manages to embrace Hourai so as not to hurt her when they land on the ground, but in doing so she gets struck by a small glass stone Maribel summons just as they slide on the ground, leaving the oni in a daze. Shikieiki flies in place, staring at Maribel for a moment, thinking “it should be in her chest, or her head...” Maribel unleashes a hell of lightning bolts on to Shikieiki, who continues to stare, seemingly unaffected by Maribel’s attack. Shikieiki suddenly smiles and exclaims “ah-ha! Got it!”, spotting the red origami bird inside Maribel’s neck. She points her sword at Maribel, making her stop her attack completely, then shifts her hand into a ghostly state, then removes the origami bird. The moment she does, Maribel slowly descends, and while she does, Shikieiki shouts “WAKE HER UP, NOW!” Hourai stands on Yuugi’s shoulder and begins to sing, while Shanghai draws a star with the magic in her lance, then sends it straight at Maribel. Maribel holds her head, groaning as if in pain, then Shanghai’s magical star strikes her on the side, sending her to the ground, where Nue unleashes various fake seals that effectively keeps her on the ground. Alice rushes close to Maribel, raises a spell card, then shouts “Magic Sign, Artful Sacrifice!” Alice tosses three dolls on to Maribel, all exploding hard upon impact, managing to burn off Nue’s seals, and when the smoke clears, Maribel lies on the ground, seemingly knocked out. Alice gasps and asks “oh no, did we kill her?” Maribel suddenly wakes up, unleashing a powerful energy surge that sends everyone flying back with great force, even managing to make the yama flinch for a moment. Maribel laughs as she gets back up on her feet, looking a Shikieiki and saying “you tried... but they weren’t strong enough. I have great power within me, even if you did take out that boost.” Shikieiki closes her eyes and says “then I’m sorry, miss Maribel, but you give me no other choice. I will have to...” From below Shikieiki, Parsee shouts “I can’t take it anymore! Why do you have such great power, huh!? You think you’re so great, don’t you!? I’m so jealous!” Maribel turns her attention to Parsee, looking at her with confusion, then says “who cares if you’re jealous! I’m still better than you!” Parsee growls while clenching her teeth, then unleashes all her stored jealousy on to Maribel and shouts “now let’s see how you like THAT!” Maribel closes her eyes for a moment, seemingly unaffected by Parsee’s jealousy, but suddenly opens her eyes, looks at Parsee with contempt, then says “oh yeah!? Well I’m jealous of how COOL your clothes look!” Parsee immediately replies “well I’m jealous of your cute face!” Maribel quickly replies “and I’m jealous of how perky your breasts are!” Parsee gasps in shock, then shouts “and I am SO JELOUS that you are actually jealous of me!” Maribel replies “well I’m jealous of you green eyes and your cute pointy ears!!!” Parsee’s eyes glow green, but before she can speak, Maribel says “and you know what!? I’m jealous of how GREAT you think you all are, all looking at me with your waking eyes! RAH! I wanna wake up!” By now, everyone is standing on their feet, looking strangely toward the debating girls, then Maribel turns around with glowing blue eyes, and points at Hourai and says “YOU THERE! SING!” Hourai stares with confusion back at Alice, so Alice approaches the little girl, grabs her in her arms, then gets close to Maribel and whispers “go ahead, Hourai. Sing for miss Maribel.” Hourai looks up to Alice’s face, then back at Maribel’s eyes, takes a deep breath, then sings. At first, Maribel’s eyes start to twitch, and it appears as though she’s going to attack again, however she drops to her knees, holds on to her head, then glows with a blue light, while Hourai continues to sing. Shikieiki smiles, certain that the incident is finally solved, so she takes the chance and flies away to meet with Komachi. Maribel finally stops glowing, revealing her usual self, with her purple dress and poofy white hat on her curvy blond hair. Hourai stops singing as Maribel looks around with confusion, then asks “whe-where am I?” All the crystal mountains turn to dust, the dark magic vanishes, and the dark clouds disperse to reveal a beautiful sunny day. Yuugi suddenly cheers and exclaims “Parsee, you did it!” Parsee blushes while staring back at Yuugi with jealous green eyes, and when Yuugi grabs her to give her a hug, she manages to ask “then why is she getting all the attention!? Aren’t I the heroine or something!?” Yuugi rubs her head and says “ah, don’t you ever change, you jealous bridge princess, you!”

In front of Keine’s school, Komachi and the dragon shinigami continue their battle. Komachi twirls away from the dragon’s scythe, then kicks the back of the dragon’s head with a smile, then back-flips away, does a backward star, then stands defensively. Although the dragon is winded, full of cuts, bruises, and her black hooded robe is in tatters, Komachi looks fresh, and ready for more. She smiles to the dragon and asks “are you sure you want to continue?” The dragon shinigami stands proudly, raising the scythe’s blade just above her head, and says “what a disgrace! To be so humiliated by a WEAK shinigami that doesn’t even do her job right! Even her own weapon shows her lethargy. How is it even possible that I am losing to YOU!?” Komachi holds her scythe defensively while she smiles and says “I already told you. You upset Eiki-sama, and I intend to teach you some manners!” When she finishes her sentence, the crystal mountains turn to dust, the dark magic around them vanishes, and the dark cloud disappear. Komachi stands straight and smiles, then says “look at that. Even with your interference, they managed to wake that poor girl up.” The dragon shinigami growls with rage, then rushes straight toward Komachi with her weapon raised. At the last moment, Komachi flips out of the way of the weapon, waits for the second attack, a slash to the face, to bend backward to avoid being hit, then she lift her leg, kicks the dragon under her chin, back-flips on to her two feet, flips and strikes the dragon on the ribs with the blunt end of her scythe, and before the dragon can get up from the ground, Komachi has her blade on the dragon’s throat. She smiles wide to the fallen shinigami and says “once Shiki-sama gets here, you can apologize properly.” From behind, Shikieiki says “that won’t be necessary.” Komachi flies away toward Shikieiki’s voice, then says “well, at least I taught her about manners!” The dragon shinigami manages to stand up, using her scythe as support, then glares toward Shikieiki and Komachi. Shikieiki says “I got the report, thank you very much. And for all the trouble you caused, I believe you got just punishment. However, if you think I’ll let you off that easy, you are very mistaken. You know the rules, yet you clearly broke them, all out of spite towards me. So I’ll be sending you back home with a little something for you to remember me by, and for your boss to never forget HIS place!” The dragon shinigami trembles as Shikieiki’s shadow gets closer to her, feeling great fear, uncertain of what kind of punishment the yama of paradise has in store for her.

At the void between the two paradises, Ail and the guardian dragon are having a conversation about Ail’s recently recovered memories. The dragon guardian, in his humanoid dragon shape, looks at Ail and asks “so you actually had a second battle with Remilia?” Ail, in his humanoid form, sitting with his legs crossed, nods and says “well, I believed she let me win the first time, so in order to restore her pride and my own, I challenged her a second time. I must say, I am glad Nitori returned my boots before that, or I would have lost.” The dragon laughs along with Ail, then sounding curious, he asks “and what about that celestial you were talking to me about? The one you and Maribel had to subdue?” Ail chuckles and says “oh, right. That. That happened long before I even went into Makai, but that’s the first time I met miss Tenshi... though.” Curiously, the dragon asks “yes, what is it?” Ail laughs, then says “well, she was possessed by the same red spirit that had possessed me before, and while in that state, she wrote her name on a few walls. I swear, I though her name was actually Tenko Hinanai.” The dragon stares at Ail for a moment, then suddenly starts to laugh heartily, asking “Ten-Tenko Hinanai! HAHA! Bwahaha! Now THAT is a strange name!” Ail laughs as well, then says “she got mad when I called her Tenko, but really, I thought that’s how it was spelled... HAHAHA Tenko Hinanai.” Both Ail and the dragon continue to laugh heartily at the thought of the name. Up on heaven, Tenshi and Iku are having a casual conversation, when Tenshi suddenly twitches, then shouts “s-... Someone is calling me TENKO~~!!! I am Tenshi, TENSHI~!” Iku stares back at Tenshi with curiosity, then casually says “so... your Tenko senses are tingling.” Iku covers her mouth while letting out a weak laugh, and Tenshi raises her arms in order to attack her, however a large golden washtub falls right on her head, knocking her down with a loud clang. Iku stares down at Tenshi with concern, then asks “miss Tenshi, are you alright?” Tenshi manages to raise a trembling arm with a thumbs up, then another washtub falls on her head, making her groan and pass out right where she lies. Iku shrugs, continues walking, then says “must be divine intervention.”

To be continued...

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

APR 22 2010
Written by
Willie G.R.

A/N:
Uuu~ that was fun! Especially the end. Gosh, I love messing with those goddesses, but that’s because I have faith in them and their ability to survive Sanae’s depression. I wanted to add more things here too, but it’s ok because I can easily put them all on the next chapter. I must say that is was fun adding Remilia’s “Curiosities of Lotus Asia” outfit to my fic. It should prove fun to use it more often. Well, hope you enjoyed, and see you next chapter, if the spirits will allow it.