Paradise Sukima 19 Pandemonium vs Chireiden

At the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu enters the shrine with a face that suggest a dangerous amount of tension has been released. Her face shines brightly as she smiles to Hatate, who continues to stare at Rika. When Reimu looks at Rika, lying on the futon, just breathing softly, her smile disappears, though her shining face remains. She approaches Hatate and softly says “I haven’t thanked you properly for taking care of Rika for me.” Hatate smiles and says “I’m the one who should be thanking her. She, like, took care of ME.” Reimu keeps quiet for a moment, then asks “do you remember what spell card she used? The one that drained her life like that?” Rika looks at Reimu, then remembers Eirin’s words while she was treating Rika. Eirin’s voice echoes in Hatate’s mind, saying “she used a too much power with that spell. Much more power than she has. Still, she should at least have some level of consciousness by now. It looks as though she force herself to go on.” Hatate hears her own voice echo in her mind, saying “I saw her struggling to get up, like, after using that spell card. That’s when she started singing.” Reimu’s angry voice echo in her mind, saying “just like Ail! Pushing themselves beyond their own capabilities! What’s the matter with these kids!?” Suddenly, Hatate snaps out of her thoughts and says “Ars Magica... That’s the name of the spell. Ars Magica: Rensa... Rensa Hotsudou.” Reimu stares at Hatate and nods, then rummages through Rika’s clothes, which are hung on the wall besides the rooms corridor, then picks all the spell cards she can find. She places them all face-up on the floor, then Hatate immediately recognizes the spell card; the one with the image of one large magic circle surrounded by five elemental seals. Reimu picks it up and stares at it without showing signs of emotion, then says “when she wakes up, she’s gonna get it. Making such dangerous spell without my knowledge.” Hatate watches as Reimu pulls a yellow charm with red writing and orange borders, and places it on the spell card. Immediately, the spell card is engulfed in a while flame that slowly consumes it, but instead of ashes, the card turns to spiritual energy that flies away and falls on the ground outside, immediately getting absorbed and consumed as energy for the land. Reimu sighs and looks at Rika, then says “I just hope she wakes up.” Hatate smiles and confidently says “sis is strong! She’ll get up really soon, you’ll see!” Reimu smiles at Hatate and asks “sis? You’re calling Rika you sister?” Hatate pouts and crosses her arms across her chest and says “well why not. She gave me food when I was, like, dying of hunger.” Reimu stares at Hatate for a while, then starts to laugh and say “what a hopeless tengu you are!” Hatate’s eyes turn round and white as she exclaims “I am a GREAT tengu, I’ll have you know!” On the shrine’s porch lie two large mounds of censored, burned, steaming meat. From the left one, Suwako’s voice seems to come from the top part of the mound, saying “Kanako. We really need to lay low for a while.” Kanako’s voice comes from inside the mound, sounding a bit muffled as she says “I agree. We are not as young as we used to.” Suwako angrily replies “speak for yourself, wrinkled meat!” Kanako angrily says “oh, that’s it! I’m gonna kick your minced butt! Have at you!” Suwako asks “’have at you’? What the hell is that!?” Kanako sighs and says “ara~, I’m too tired now.” Suwako laughs, then says “you know what? Me too.”

At Pandemonium, Yumeko raises her voice as she says “alright girls, listen up! We are going into Gensokyo to look for Yuki! Now I want you all at your BEST behavior. I swear, if either one of you steps out of line even once, I’ll smack your butts so hard, you’re going to wish never had them in the first place! Did I make myself clear!?” Standing up straight, expanding their chests and saluting Yumeko, are Mai, Luize and Sara, all say at the same time “crystal, Yumeko ma’am!” Yumeko smiles and says “good. Now let’s go!” Before they move out, recovering her usual composure, Mai asks “wait, where’s lady Shinki? Isn’t she coming with us?” The atmosphere around Yumeko completely changes, her eyes turning watery as she says “um, the thing is, lady Shinki is acting really strange since last night. She says she wants to stay in her room...” Everyone lowers their heads along with Yumeko, but the maid raises hers, showing resolve to the others and in a brave voice she says “that’s why we are looking for Yuki! She needs to come home! Out of all of us, she has better chances of cheering lady Shinki up!” Mai smiles and says “ let’s bring that clown back home!” Sara and Luize raise their hands and cheer, then Yumeko points out the door and says “then let’s go and get Yuki!” All the girls cheer “for lady Shinki~” and fly straight out of the palace, heading to the gate to Gensokyo immediately after exiting. After they all leave, a woman in a red cloak with gold pyramid designs on the borders of the hood exits the rooms corridor, then silently rushes away to the exit. Meanwhile, at the Palace of the Earth Spirits, or Chireiden, Satori, Orin, Petal and Okuu go out the door of the palace, where they meet Parsee, who stares at them with jealous eyes. Orin asks “what? What’s the matter with you?” Parsee’s eyes glow green for a moment, then says “where are you going together like that? Why not go around alone, like me?” Satori stares at Parsee and with a calm tone of voice she says “I see. Yuugi decided to have her drinking party with miss Suika, and now you’re feeling lonely.” Parsee blushes and tries to smile to feign ignorance, saying “wh-what are you saying!? I’m just being properly jealous of you lot!” Petal flies straight to Parsee’s hands, then starts rubbing her head against her chest with a content face. Satori then says “we’re going to the surface to look for Koishi. You can come along if you want. Petal would love to have you join us.” Parsee’s ears twitch as they turn as red along with her face while she stutters for a moment, then looks at Okuu and notices some level of jealousy coming from her as she stares at Petal, who continues to rub her head against Parsee with such a content expression. Parsee smirks and snickers, then clears her throat and straightens herself out, and says “fine. It seems you need some help, and I just so-happen to have nothing to do, so let’s go!” Orin stares at the bridge princess, scratching her head while trying to figure out what’s going on. Satori looks at Orin and says “I believe you are misunderstanding again, Orin.” Orin snaps out of her thoughts and says “nya! Sorry, Satori-sama! Err, miss Parsee’s coming along, right?” Satori smiles and nods, then says “though her goal is a bit different, I still wish to see where this will lead to.” Satori stares at Okuu, who continues to stare unblinking at Parsee and Petal, then says “Okuu, you promised to behave.” Okuu sighs and says “sorry, Satori-sama. I’ll think of something else.” Satori nods, then they all begin their flight out of the underground. Satori hears Okuu thinking “why is Petal with that lady? She should be with me. I’m her mother.” Afterward, the hears Parsee thinking “oh, this is great. So much jealousy. Ohh, pretty Petal, you’re staying with me, u-fu fu~!” Satori sighs, then hears Orin thinking “I wonder how many corpses I’ll find today? Last time was a little disappointing, but this time... Ooh, boiled eggs. I’m hungry~!”

At the void between the paradises, while Kimi, who is in her dragon from, sleeps coiled up, looking like a giant circle with rings on the black floor, Ail is in his humanoid form, sitting with his legs crossed while in meditation, his aura changing from grey to white in rapid succession. From the white gate, the dragon guardian enters the room like a ball of black and white fire, and with a mighty roar, he takes his humanoid dragon shape, waking up Kimi, who appears not to mind the rough wake-up call at all. While she stares at the dragon guardian, he stares at Ail, and in a calm, yet strict tone of voice, he says “Ail, time is running short now, and there is something I... Oh, I see.” Ail opens up a big pair of eyes that look like the star-filled night, surprising even Kimi, then says “I know. I understand now.” Kimi whispers “the eyes of his soul are wide open.” Ail continues “that world outside of Gensokyo may not be suitable for those like me, those that strongly believe in magic, but... It was my home for a long time. And yes, the people are misguided and literally sunk into technology, but...” The dragon nods and says “yes, I agree. Technology can be a form of magic.” Ail smiles and says “I don’t understand why I feel this way now, about that world. All I felt before was contempt. I hated that world, but now... I wish I could free the people there, but it’s not my decision to make.” The dragon guardian sighs with great relief and says “finally, the lesson that you needed to learn in order to ascend, Anilan. You are finally ready! And just in time too!” Kimi takes her human form and approaches Ail and the guardian dragon in order to hear what they are saying. Ail looks up to the guardian dragon and says “I have seen what happened. Interesting things my own subconscious body was able to learn.” The dragon guardian smiles and says “don’t forget to thank you friends, those two guardian angels that have been protecting you, even while you were in that world outside of Gensokyo, and that most peculiar satori, called Koishi.” Ail looks with curiosity and asks “Koishi? What do you mean?” The dragon guardian chuckles and says “you’ll know when you return.” Ail smiles and chuckles, then says “well, once I get back, I want to visit all my friends again. I really miss them.” Kimi interrupts the conversation when she asks “how can someone like you achieve this? How did you, of all people, manage to open the eyes of your soul!?” The dragon guardian gently, but with authority in his voice, says “Kimi, it’s not a matter of who, as anyone can achieve this, should they truly desire it.” Ail adds “I must say, it’s like seeing the universe with... well, brand new eyes.” Kimi stares at Ail for a moment, then turns her sight to the guardian dragon, then asks “anyone can achieve this? Even me?” The guardian dragon answers Kimi’s question with a question of his own “do you believe you have a soul, shadow of a dragon?” The question hits Kimi hard, her heart feeling like stone for a second, unable to answer the guardian dragon’s question. She opens her eyes with realization, then asks “you knew I was... am a shadow?” The guardian dragon asks “does it matter if you are?” Ail gets Kimi’s attention by saying “what about Spee, Suwako’s shadow, and little Girlie, Shinki’s shadow?” Kimi glares at Ail and says “they are shadows from the gods!” The guardian dragon asks “and does that matter?” Kimi feels as though she’s been attacked by both Ail and the guardian dragon, then Ail says “I see it. It’s hidden from you, but it’s there.” Kimi relaxes a little, then the guardian dragon says “you just have to believe you have it before you can see it.” Kimi completely calms down, looking at both Ail and the guardian dragon with the same light Meiling herself has in her own eyes. Noticing this, Ail and the guardian dragon look at each other with a half-smile.

Aya arrives to the Hakurei Shrine and lands silently in front of the slightly opened entrance. Before she calls for Reimu, she hears Reimu saying “Hatate, staring won’t do a thing. Go home, or something!” Hatate replies “but what if sis wakes up!? I want to, like, make sure she’s ok!” From outside, Aya’s eyes open widely, losing their iris and pupils, her mouth opening wide like a square with a jagged top and bottom, and her cheeks look a bit blue. She suddenly opens the sliding doors and shouts “YOU~!” Hatate and Reimu look at Aya with curiosity, fire rising from under her feet as she glares with those wide, white eyes and points at Hatate while her mouth stays open wide with jagged borders. Aya takes a deep breath and recomposes, then shouts “you little cheater! Reimu, don’t listen to her! My newspaper is the BEST!” Reimu and Hatate look at each other, question marks flying all over their heads, then Reimu sighs, and with a bored expression on her face, she asks “what are you talking about?” Aya shouts “her paper is no good! All her news are totally outdated and useless!” Reimu replies in a matter-of-factly tone “so is yours.” Lightning strikes behind Aya as she winces and gasps then starts to stutter loudly. Rika moans and seems to try and open her eyes, but then stops. Hatate and Reimu look at Rika to make sure she’s alright, then the tengu stands up and casually walks to Aya and smacks her hard on the head, angrily saying “keep your voice down! Sis needs rest, you loud-mouth!” Aya grabs Hatate’s cheeks and starts to stretch them with force and says “make me, hikikomori!” Hatate’s eyes turn white, as rage takes her, then she shouts “you’re dead!” Outside the Shrine, Koishi, Budou and Sanae land right next to the porch, and immediately, Sanae looks to the two mounds of burning meat, which are still censored, then sighs and asks “what did you two do now?” Suwako replies “hey, Sanae. Auu~ what’s up?” Kanako says “we’ve decided to lay low for a bit. Seems we’ve been causing too much trouble.” Sanae sweats and asks “is that so~?” From above, a black blob falls on Sanae, quickly accompanied by Sanae’s screams and smacking sounds, then the orb flies away, Rumia saying “jeez, enough with stealing my few lines!” Sanae lies on the ground with her seat raised and her face on the ground, steam rising from the bump on her head. Ignoring this, Budou approaches the mounds of meat and says “eww, you look icky. Anyway, we need your help! We’re going to the black and white one’s house!” Before anyone says anything else, Sanae miraculously recovers when the sound of grunting and groaning comes from inside the shrine. Sanae rapidly walks to the door and asks “what’s that noise!?” When she opens the door, she finds Aya bear-hugging Hatate, while Hatate is leg-scissoring Aya, making it look like something very suggestive, even though they are glaring and growling furiously at each other. Sanae gasps and covers Budou’s curious eyes and says “miss Reimu, what’s the meaning of this!? In the shrine, of all places!” Reimu suddenly rises from the ground right next to Aya and Hatate, then strikes them both hard and softly grumbles “keep it down, your disturbing Rika!” Reimu looks to Sanae and smiles nervously while sweating, then says “s-stop with the misunderstanding! Anyway, are you here for those gods of yours?” Sanae quickly relaxes and says “oh that’s right! We’re going to Marisa’s house, and we need you, lady Kanako and lady Suwako there.” Reimu gasps then says “but I can’t! I need to take care of Rika!” Hatate jumps from the floor and says “I’ll gladly take care of sis for you! It’s, like, the least I can do!” Aya stands up smiling and says “and I’ll make sure she behaves while you’re gone!” Reimu smiles nervously and says “well, I’m not sure. Can you two stop from killing each other while I’m gone?” Hatate and Aya nod and say at the same time “you can count on me!”, and Hatate adds “for Rika-sis, anything!” Reimu sighs and says “fine then. So, what are we going to do there?” Suwako and Kanako are miraculously restored and stand next to Budou, all looking curiously at Sanae as she smiles and says “I promised Phredia I wouldn’t tell until we get to Ail’s home!” At the same time, Suwako, Kanako and Reimu asks “you can talk to Phredia!?” Sanae turns around and giggles, then opens her eyes and when she looks to Koishi, she raises her eyebrow and asks “who the heck are you?” Beside Koishi, Yuki stands with a smile while raising her hand, saying “I’m Yuki, don’t you remember me?” Koishi smiles and says “she’s a really nice friend.” Budou approaches Yuki and thoroughly inspects her, then flips her little thumb up and says “I approve!” Reimu sweats and says “s-somehow, things seem to be returning to normal rather quickly.” Very suddenly, Reimu looks to the trees and bushes with a serious expression and jumps straight at them, pointing her gohei at the lowest parts of the bushes, and holding her needles offensively. She pushes her gohei into the bushes and a girl yelps and says “hey, cut it out!” From the bushes, the hooded woman in red reveals herself, letting some strands of silver hair escape her cloak. Reimu gasps in surprise and at the same time as Yuki exclaim “Shinki!?” The hooded woman jumps back one step, her hood falling off, and says “found out already!?”

Meanwhile, at deep, unknown parts of the Forest of Magic, Yumeko leads the party of girls forward, pretending to know her way around. Luize groans and says “Yumeko, I told you, we’re going the wrong way. At this rate, we’ll end up at the caves.” Yumeko turns around with an angry face and shouts “I’m the leader here, and I follow my gut feelings!” Mai asks “what are they saying now?” Yumeko holds her chin while thinking, then points to her right and says “Yuki should be THIS WAY!” Sara and Luize exchange tired stares, then groan as they follow Yumeko. Ahead of them, Satori exits the cave to the subterranean, then looks back and says “come on, girls. It should take some time before we find her, so we better hurry up.” Parsee is the first one to come out, snickering while holding Petal to her chest, looking back to Okuu, who walks out with a discontent look while staring straight at Parsee. Last is Orin, who sniffs around and bends her hears backwards, saying “Satori-sama, there’s someone around here!” Okuu raises her wings in alert, then looks around nervously and points ahead of Satori, saying “here they come!”, then points her controller rod forward, while Orin drags Satori away. Yumeko peeks her curious face from some bushes, and immediately Satori shouts “Okuu, stop! Don’t fire!” Okuu lowers her rod and looks at Satori, then says “unyu? But they are suspicious!” When Yumeko and her party come out of the bushes, Yumeko shouts “halt! We got some youkai blocking our path.” Parsee steps up, staring at Yumeko with contempt, then her eyes glow bright green and says “you are a maid, and are in charge of those you serve!? I’m so jealous!” Yumeko raises her left eyebrow and asks “what’s the matter with you?” Parsee starts to tremble with rage, though still holding Petal very gently while patting her head, then says “and you’re an old hag with hot blond hair and a nice body, and perfectly fitted to your clothes!? That’s so unfair!” A large vein pulsates on Yumeko’s forehead as she clenches her teeth and growls “old- Uuu~! You just crossed the line, pretty green-eyes!” Yumeko summons 6 short swords, 3 in each hand, then says “Mai, Luize, Sara, they have Yuki, I just know it!” Mai raises her left eyebrow while narrowing her right eye, and sounding unsure she says “are you sure about that? I don’t think they’re the type!” Satori drags Parsee by the back of her shirt, grumbling “you really did it this time!” Parsee complains “wait! I’m not done being jealous! Just look at those swords! How can she have such awesome weapons!? Why can I have weapons like that!?” Okuu points her controller rod at Yumeko, then says “I see what this is all about! You have miss Koishi, don’t you!? Give her back to us, or else!” Satori calmly says “no, they don’t. They’re just looking for their friend.” Yumeko stares at Okuu and says “leave the raven to me!” Mai comments “Yumeko, I think we’re making a mistake!” Okuu and Yumeko at the same time shout “ATTACK~!”, and right after shouting, Petal flies off Parsee’s hands and flies away. Okuu clenches her teeth and raises her fist at Yumeko, then says “look what you did. You scared my Petal!” Yumeko summons various flying short swords and says “return Yuki to me, and I might be merciful!” Satori flies after Petal and shouts “Okuu, ignore them! Let’s go get Petal!” Sara says “Yumeko, I feel really uncomfortable about this!” Suddenly, Yumeko and Okuu charge each other, both ignoring their allies’ words, then are immediately followed by their allies in battle. Satori watches as Okuu engages Yumeko, Orin engages Mai and Sara, and Parsee engages Luize, then sighs and says “these girls are insane! I better get Reimu!”

Reimu flies alongside Sanae and Budou, followed by Koishi, Yuki, Kanako and Suwako. They are close to the Forest of Magic, when Sanae looks at Reimu and asks “are you sure about this? You know, you can go back if you want.” Reimu replies “she’s in good hands. I trust all of them with her. Even Shinki.” Yuki shouts from behind “don’t be fooled! She might make her wear pink!” Reimu, Budou and Sanae smile sheepishly and sweat, Budou asking “i-is that even a bad thing?” Yuki cries “it’s horrible~!” At the Hakurei Shrine, Hatate and Aya are battling over who changes the bowl of water for Rika, while Shinki smiles and says “please don’t fight. Just take your time.” Hatate says “I told you, I’ll get the water!” Aya replies “no, you can go prepare the medicine, I’ll get the water!” Shinki sighs and slowly shakes her head, and while the tengu argue, she kneels beside Rika. She makes sure neither Aya or Hatate are watching, then bends down and says “Rika, why did you do that? Now look at you!” She gently brushes her forehead with her fingers, making Rika clench her eyes, moan softly and whisper “m-mom?” Rika’s sword, which leans against the wall under her clothes, immediately glows a bright, intense pink, startling Shinki and getting the tengu’s attention. Hatate turns around but see’s nothing except Shinki kneeling next to Rika, then asks “is everything ok back there?” Shinki fiddles with her thumbs while casually looking away, then says “oh yes, everything’s fine, heh.” Aya and Hatate continue their debate, then Shinki leans closer to Rika once more and says “you drained a bit of your life there. I wish I could give it back, but I can’t. Shinki again looks to the tengu at the kitchen, making sure they are completely distracted, then whispers into Rika’s ear “but I can at least help you with this.” Shinki places her hand on Rika’s forehead, pouring her own energy into in the shrine maid, making her glow light- blue. Hatate and Aya turn around and ask at the same time “what was that?” Shinki kneels beside Rika, smiling back at the tengu and asks “what was what?” Aya looks curiously at Shinki and says “well, whatever. We placed the herbs in the water. This should speed up her recovery.” Hatate adds “and before you ask, we can’t, like, tell you what it is. It’s a tengu medicine, and that’s all you need to know.” Shinki smiles with confusion and says “you mean it’s made out of **** and *****,mixed together with ***** while rolling a cat’s eye stone and blowing on it with divine winds?” Aya and Hatate’s eyes turn white, they mouths open wide, the lips wriggling while their cheeks turn navy-blue, all while they tremble and stutter while staring straight at the confused Makai goddess.

At the void between the paradises, Ail, the guardian dragon, and Kimi, all walk farther away from the entrance to the dragon’s paradise, until they reach a room where the floors, walls and roof are made of violet energy waves, all moving clockwise in a spiral. Ail enters first, followed by Kimi, who immediately stops half-way though and turns around when she notices the guardian dragon doesn’t move further. Before Ail says anything, the guardian dragon says “young warrior, you cannot stay here.” Kimi’s eyes show great disappointment, but she hides her sadness by angrily shouting “don’t I get a say in this!? Give me a good reason I should go with that meat-bag!" The guardian dragon sighs and says “I can’t force you to go, but I strongly suggest you go with Ail.” Before Kimi replies, Ail adds “I don’t understand why, but I believe there is a reason for you to go back to Gensokyo. You are needed there.” The dragon guardian takes advantage and says “yes, listen to him, Kimi Hong.” Kimi feels as though daggers of ice stab her heart, her breathing becomes unbearable, and while she turns her head back and forth between the dragon’s paradise side, and Gensokyo’s side, she lets herself drop on the ground on her knees, looking at the guardian dragon straight into his eyes, then asks “but I want to stay... Why must I make such decision?”, while her eyes water and tears start escaping her. Meanwhile, Reimu and Budou enter Ail’s house, then Budou immediately calls “it’s time to go! Lily, papa’s body, where are you!?” Reimu looks around and places a hand on Budou’s shoulder, then says “stay here. I’ll go look for them.” After letting go, she takes slow, quiet steps further inside. Sanae enters the house, just as Reimu enters the storage room, then asks “what’s going on?” Before Budou answers, Reimu comes walking besides Ail’s subconscious body, who still has the broken pink shirt on, and holds Lily white against his chest, trying to keep her warm. Reimu looks sadly toward Sanae and says “we don’t have much time. She won’t shift until she sees Ail.” Sanae asks “shift? What do you mean?” Sanae and Budou gasp in horror when they see Lily White. Her skin has lost all color, her wings seem to be shriveling up, and her bright blue eyes look pale blue. The little fairy opens her eyes for a moment, then sighs and says “not back yet”, then closes her eyes again, as if falling asleep. Koishi and Yuki stand just outside the house, both looking a little worried, then Koishi says “if we hurry, she might allow the shift.” From behind them, Satori calls “Koishi, it is you!” Petal is the first to enter the house and perch on Reimu’s shoulder, while Satori lands next to her sister and give her a tight hug, saying “where have you been!? I was starting to get worried!” Koishi points at Ail, and when Satori looks at him she says “I see. Hope you weren’t teaching him to be a pervert.” Koishi giggles and says “didn’t have to. Miss Sanae was taking care of that.” Sanae blushes, steam escapes her ears and nose, then she says “I-I don’t know what you are talking about, young lady!” Budou says out loud “enough! We have to get papa and save miss Lily, so let’s go already!” Reimu immediately says “she’s right. Kanako and Suwako should be at Marisa’s house already!” Satori looks at Sanae and says “I see. You’re going to get him back. Reimu, after we are done, you have to come and help me. It’s Okuu and some girls form Makai. They started fighting and I couldn’t stop them!” Reimu rubs her eyes with her left hand and grumbles “one thing after another!” When she opens her eyes again, Sanae and Budou are already flying away while holding on to Ail and Lily, followed by Yuki, Satori and Koishi. She runs out the door and shuts it closed, then flies after them and shouts “hey, wait up!”

Meanwhile, Okuu, Orin and Parsee have the Makai girls on the run and are following after them, chasing them all the way toward the end of the forest, where there are countless caves in a deep valley. Okuu shouts “after them! They could hurt Koishi!” Orin shouts “what about Satori-sama and Petal!?” Before Okuu can say it, Parsee beats her to it, saying “Petal’s a tough girl, and Satori can take good care of herself!” Okuu growls and says “you keep away from Petal!” Parsee snickers and says “uu~, someone’s jealous!” Up ahead, Mai nervously says “Yumeko, are you sure you know where you’re going!?” Yumeko honestly replies “not a clue! But we need a plan if we want to take those youkai out, especially that raven!” Luize looks around, then says “wait, stop!” All 4 girls stop just before falling down the cliff, Yumeko flapping her arms to maintain balance. Sara sighs with relief, but that relief is soon taken away when Orin jumps from behind some bushes, however, she doesn’t attack. Nervously, Sara says “stay back! I’m warning you!” Orin flips her ears and says “wait, just tell me, do you really have Koishi?” The Makai girls look at each other with confusion, then Mai replies “no! We’re here looking for Yuki, one of our own.” Before Orin can say more, Okuu comes flying from behind, shouting “Orin, I’ll save you! Explosion Sign, Mega Flare!!” Orin shouts back “Okuu, you idiot, don’t!!”, but it’s too late, and the girls from Makai are already flying and ready to fight back. Massive explosions cause miniature suns to fly straight at the girls from Makai, and for good measure, Okuu decides to shoot blue orbs as well, scattering them along with the massive energy blasts. Mai flies up high and pulls a spell card form her pocket and shouts “Song of the Demonic Snowstorm!” Mai’s white angel wings change into large white demonic wings, then she sings a short, cold song and unleashes massive icicles the same size as Okuu’s fireballs, while firing thin tracking blue lasers at Okuu. When the icicles shatter, they turn to small countless crystal bullets that shape a giant snowflake, then rapidly home in on Okuu. While this happens, on the valley below, Marisa and Mima have a small chat, still unaware of the dangerous battle above their heads. Marisa sits on a rock while staring at the ground, and Mima approaches her, floating silently to her side. She sits beside Marisa and asks “so you finally calmed down?” Marisa nods, revealing her Hakkero in her right hand, then says “I can finally use a few weak spells, but I still can’t fly.” Mima smile and pats Marisa’s back, then says “you are still making progress, my apprentice. Just you wait. A few more days training with me again, and you’ll be good as new!” Before they can even notice it, one of Mai’s Icicles crashes right behind them, then explodes into crystals, impacting Marisa and Mima on the back. Marisa exclaims “what the heck was that!” Mima points up and says “someone’s really having fun up there.” After seeing the intensity of the attacks, Marisa feels a little nervous and says “oy, we better get away. I don’t think I can take on one of those right now.” Mima wraps her hands around Marisa’s head while smiling, then says “what a smart little apprentice you are!” Wriggle crawls out from under the rook, her eyes spinning in place as she says “wh-who the heck tried to squish me, dammit!” Marisa helps Wriggle on to her feet and says “come on, run! We’re in danger here!” Before running too far, Marisa stops and looks back, then grunts and says “shit, I forgot the ship!” She turns around and runs to look for her green UFO, ignoring Mima who shouts “Marisa, leave it! Darn it, come back!” Marisa reaches the little spaceship which lies next to the cliff’s wall and smiles, saying to herself “heh, excellent. Let’s get you out of here.” She doesn’t notice one of Okuu’s massive sun-like bullets heading straight her way, threatening to land right on top of her head. Mima phases from under the ground and shouts “heads-up, you idiot!!”, then covers Marisa up. One of Mai’s icicles flies quickly and impacts Okuu’s miniature sun, and the explosion it causes is so powerful, it causes Mai and Okuu to cancel their spell cards as they are pushed away by the powerful shockwave, along with all their allies, all screaming in fright and surprise. Meanwhile, down at the valley, the small craft is no more, and several yards away lies Wriggle, who groans as she slowly gets up on her knees. Farther away is Marisa, lying face-down next to a small stream, some blood dripping from the rocks she landed on, and trailing its way to the water, staining the small stream.

Meanwhile, Reimu enters Marisa’s house and finds the two goddesses holding on to the door to the basement with all their might. She sighs and asks “what are you two doing?” Suwako grunts and says “it’s the gate!” Kanako desperately adds “it almost sucked us in! It’s dangerous to try anything now!” Reimu whispers “just like Patchouli said.” Sanae and Budou enter after Reimu, followed promptly by Ail, who continues to carry Lily in his arms, then Koishi and Yuki. Yuki looks around and immediately comments “still as messy as ever, I see.” Reimu approaches the door and says “listen, you two, I want you to hold on to me. Patchouli taught me a spell that should reverse the vortex’s progress and give us more time, but I need to keep my concentration while reciting the spell, and I need you two to hold me down, so I don’t end up being sucked in.” Kanako and Suwako nod at the same time, but before they let go of the door, Kanako shouts “everyone, take cover! This is going to get violent!” Reimu pulls out her gohei and shouts “do it!” The second the goddesses let go of the door, it opens violently by itself, and a powerful vacuum threatens to absorb the entire house if not stopped soon. Budou uses the claws on her hands and feet to stop sliding, while Sanae holds on to a floorboard while holding on to Ail, who continues to hold on to Lily. Koishi and Yuki stand up straight without holding on to anything, yet stay firmly in place. Sanae shouts “how the heck are you unaffected!?” Koishi shouts back “we glued our shoes to the ground!” Yuki adds “this girl’s a genius, I tell you!” The ground rattles after a loud explosion is heard from a distance, then Reimu shouts “Satori, what the heck was that!?” Satori stands just outside the house, holding on to Petal as she says “it’s Okuu! Reimu, we have to hurry!” The goddesses use the force of the vacuum to stand on the doorway arc while holding Reimu by her waist, keeping her firmly in place. Reimu raises her gohei with both hands and starts to chant in a rapid manner, then a large white charm with green and black letters glows as it floats right out of her sleeve. Outside, Satori keeps holding on to Petal and says “no, we can’t go in yet. It’s too dangerous.” Petal ruffles her feathers, then suddenly takes flight, diving straight inside the house. Reimu finishes her chant and the charm flies straight to the top stone that makes the gate’s archway, but before it reaches, Petal manages to swoop in and peck the charm, giving it a boost of energy, and the second it touches the stone, the vacuum stops, and like in the beginning, cool air flows from inside the vortex. Satori rushes in, calling for Petal, then gasps when she finds her. Reimu desperately asks “what happened? Is she alright?” Satori stares at the wall to the left and asks “Petal, are you alright?” Instead of a tiny hell raven’s shadow, inside the room is a short girl about the same size as Satori, with short raven-black hair that has a white stripe in the middle, sparkling navy-blue eyes and wears a pastel-blue plaid overall dress that covers down to her knees, a pink short-sleeved shirt, covering her wings is a pink cape that looks like a bright day full of white clouds underneath, and wears a pair of knee-high boots. Like Okuu, she has a stone on her chest, however hers is Rika’s necklace, which out of her own desire, looks like Okuu’s red eye. She blinks twice, then giggles and says “Shatori-shama!”, raising her hands in the air while jumping on Satori, giving her a hug, saying “you are ok! We are all ok!” Reimu and Sanae stare at the situation with rosy cheeks and bright smiles, both saying at the same time “aww, so cute!” Budou pushes her way through Sanae and Reimu while holding on to Lily, then says “please, can we do what we came here to do!?” Sanae stares at Budou and asks “wait, why are you holding-“ She answers her own question when she finds Ail’s body kneeling on the center of the large magical circle, staring blankly into the vortex. Suwako and Kanako walk inside and position themselves right next to Ail’s body, then Kanako looks back at Reimu and says “whenever you guys are ready.” From Budou’s heart, Phredia flies out and heads straight toward the vortex, covering Ail’s body inside a triangular white light that seems to connect to the concentrating goddesses. Sanae enters the room, while Satori exits and joins Koishi and Yuki, and watch from outside. Sanae and Reimu stand next to the goddesses, then summon energy to themselves, then Reimu softly says “Fantasy Heaven”, and at the same time, Sanae softly says “Esoterica, Nine Syllable Stabs.” Instead of actually activating their spell cards, they link their energy to the goddesses’ and Phredia’s, then the magical circles and runes glow dark blue, and the magical circle starts to spin counter-clockwise. Inside the void, Kimi still sits between the two sides of the void, trying, but failing to hold back her tears as she glares at the ground next to her knees. Ail suddenly says “my friend, it’s time.” The guardian dragon says “I’m going to miss you, little Ail.” Ail turns into a flame and says “I wouldn’t be too sure about that.” The dragon stares and says “well, you learned more than just the holy dragons skills, did you?” Ail chuckles and says “you can say that.” Kimi shouts “how can you two be so calm about this!?” Ail sighs and says “Kimi, please, you have to come with me.” The dragon guardian adds “listen, without you, he can’t go back! He needs your strength!” Kimi asks “why should I lend my strength to that pathetic being!? All he does is cause trouble anyway!” Ail chuckles and says “you do realize, without me, you wouldn’t even be alive, right?” Kimi looks at Ail, then scoffs and looks to the guardian dragon, then asks “can I really come back here someday?” The dragon guardian nods, then says “I promise you, I’ll send for you when the time is right!” Kimi finally stands up, but still doesn’t move. A white door opens up inside the waving room, then Kimi hears Reimu’s voice, saying “come back home!” Ail hears Sanae and Budou calling “we’re waiting for you!” Kimi lowers her head, then sobs. Before the dragon guardian is able to speak, she suddenly rushes to him and grabs hold of his spiritual face and says “if you lie to me, I’ll come back and hunt you down!”, then gives him a kiss on his cheek. She runs to Ail, grabs him by his tail, then immediately jumps inside the glowing gate, which closes off immediately after she does. The dragon guardian looks around while rubbing his cheek, then blushes. His heart suddenly feels lonely inside the dark and quiet void, then there is a sudden roar. He smiles and says “and already, another incident for me to solve!” With that, he turns into a large ball of black and white fire, then rushes back to his home with a mighty roar.

Inside Marisa’s basement, a light shines so bright, it blinds everyone in the house, making Petal shiver and hug Satori tightly, saying “Shatori! Bright! Shcary!” When the light dims down, Reimu finds herself face-to-face with Kimi, and with surprise in her face she exclaims “Kimi! You were in there too!?” Kimi involuntarily gives Reimu and hug, then says “please... just for a bit.” Reimu pats her back, and like a flash of light, she immediately realizes what is wrong, then says “I see. Kimi, I want you to return with me to the shrine later, alright.” Kimi lightly pushes Reimu away, then nods. Meanwhile, Budou stands right in front of Ail’s still sleeping body, still holding on to Lily, and just stares. Suwako stands to her left, and Kanako to her right, while Sanae stands in the middle of them, all staring straight at Ail. For a moment, nothing happens, so Phredia hovers down, taps his forehead, then rushes back into Budou’s heart. A small, bright light enters Ail’s forehead, then he slowly opens his eyes. At first, everything seems blurry, but as soon as his sight adjusts, he can see Budou, the goddesses, and Sanae, all staring back at him. He smiles, then says “I’m back.” Budou gasps, and even while holding on to Lily, she jumps on Ail, tears of joy flowing out of her eyes as she screams “PAPA~! Papa is back~!” As Ail catches Budou to give her a much needed hug, he looks as Sanae and the goddesses stare with tears coming out of their eyes, then he smiles and says “join in. You know you want to.” All three jump on Ail, tackling him down to the ground along with Budou and Lily, laughing and giggling, until Ail notices Lily. Outside the house, Satori desperately says “Reimu, please, we got to stop that fight!” Reimu sighs and rubs her forehead, then looks at Ail. Ail sweats and smiles, then says “my, just got back and I’m already getting into trouble.” Sanae giggles, getting his attention, then he smiles at her and says “you know, I’ll forgive you for trying to give me those baths, but the pink shirt... has gotta go!” The goddesses looks at Sanae with terrorized faces, but suddenly switch to serious faces, then raise their thumbs up at her. Sanae blushes and stutter, then finally says “I-I was just making sure you were alright!” Ail chuckles, then rubs his chin and suddenly asks “hey, Sanae? What’s a ‘lecher’?” An uneven tune, like that out of a broken music box, starts to play, and the two goddesses start to tremble, their cheeks turning dark blue, as Sanae grabs hold of their necks, smiling with a dark face while her eyes hide in shadow. As the music plays and the goddesses scream in pain while Sanae bends their joints, smacks their heads, blasts their bodies, and continues punishing them with many other forms of torture, Ail looks to Lily, then surrounds her with a light-pink energy that wakes her up. The moment she opens her eyes, she smiles and weakly says “Ail is back. It’s spring.” Ail hugs the weakened fairy and smiles while he says “I’m sorry Lily, but spring is over. You have to rest now.” Lily smiles back, grabbing hold of Ail’s face and kissing his forehead, then says “you are safe. That’s good.” Before she finally falls back to sleep, Ail softly says “I promise, I’ll be here next spring.” Lily smiles and sighs, then lets herself fall into a deep sleep, her wings turning to thin glass-like wings, her hair turning light yellow, her skin turning white, and finally, a powerful and colorful energy leaves her body and returns to nature. Budou sniffles, then Ail says “she’s not dead, but she needs a safe place to rest.” Budou extends her arms and says “I’ll take her home, papa, so you can take care of that incident and come back as fast as you can!” Ail pat’s Budou’s head and smiles, then says to her “you have grown so much, Budou. You take good care of her and yourself. I’ll be back home soon, I promise.” With that, Budou giggles, then flies away. Ail suddenly realizes the broken music box tune is still playing, and when he, Reimu, Kimi, and Satori, who covers Petal’s eyes, look behind him, they find Sanae trampling the goddesses while smiling with great rage. The music finally stops, Sanae sighs with great relief, then she smiles a very natural smile and says “erm, it’s better if you don’t know what that is, ok?” Ail sweats with fear and thinks “I better agree, or she’ll kill me”, then says “sure Let’s just forget about all that. Let’s just go and help Satori already.” Satori sighs and exclaims “finally! I hope things are still under control.” Reimu giggles and says “I highly doubt that.” Sanae adds “this is Gensokyo after all.” Ail adds “come on. Let’s go to my welcoming party.” Kimi adds “that’s a laugh.” Petal then says “laugh! Shatori-shama looks cute when she laughs!” As they fly away, Ail asks “hey, anybody seen Koishi? I need to talk to her.”

Inside Marisa’s house, Yuki and Koishi stand side-by-side, still stuck to the floor, Yuki saying “splendid idea, you fool! Now we are stuck here!” Koishi angrily says “well who’s the fool who followed in the first place!?” Yuki angrily waves her fist in the air and says “at least I don’t shoot pink hearts!” Koishi growls and says “alright, you’re on!” They flap their arms in the air, while pulling their faces away from each other, Koishi saying “take that. How do you like that!? I got more where that came from!” Yuki says “take this! Oh, just wait ‘till I get my hands on you! Oh-ho-ho! A head shot!” There is a loud gong sound from outside and both girls stop fighting while they look out the window. Koishi asks “wanna go see?” Yuki smiles and says “after you.” They pull their feet out of their shoes and casually walk outside side-by-side, and immediately find a giant dented washtub the size of the house itself, sitting on top of the two goddesses. When Koishi looks up, she points so that Yuki looks up too. Above the washtub flies Koakuma, holding a spell card in her hands as she shouts “that’s for hurting Rika-onee-chan!” Meanwhile, down at the rocky valley, Marisa moans and clenches her hand, holding a rock with as much force as she can, then whispers “Mima-sama.”, then falls back out of consciousness.

To be continued...

Characters, Spell cards and Scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
Ail, Budou, Phredia, Spee, Girlie and Kimi were created by Willie G.R.
Mai’s Song of the Demonic Snowstorm spell card was created by Willie G.R.
Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot 2010

MAY 3 2010
Written by
Willie G.R.

A/N:
Well, it finally happened. Ail’s back, and Reimu will surely fill his agenda with more incidents. Ahh, how satisfying! Sanae and Budou should be happy. Now that the goddesses went through my “sadist mode” again, I think I’ll give them a break. Karma is a great equalizer, and I think they’ve had enough. Or... do I really?
Thank you all for leaving your comments/reviews. It really makes me glad to know my work is actually enjoyable. Hope you all keep enjoying Paradise Sukima, and thank you very, very much for showing your support! Until next chapter, if the spirits will allow. Take care.