Flashback of the Ages 6

It’s an hour past midnight at the Scarlet Devil Mansion. The grown up Chen lies on a bed in one of the darkest, smallest, and most dirty of all the guest rooms, showing the anger felt by Remilia towards the nekomata. Her face has returned to its beautiful and natural state and seems everything is back to normal. On the floor next to the tall bed is Ran, who regardless of what happened before, struggles to climb the bed to be with Chen. She’s finally reaching the top, raising her left leg over the edge of the mattress, but she slips and almost falls, if it isn’t for a hand that grabs her and gives her the needed support to climb back up. After managing to climb up, Ran can hear the soft and weakened voice of Chen, asking “why didn’t you fly... Ran-sama?” Ran unconsciously replies ”I forgot... oh, Chen.” Ran realizes Chen is awake, so she fearlessly gets closer to her face and after lowering her own ears, she says “sorry I woke you.” Chen smiles and softly pats Ran on the head, then says “funny... I’m comforting... Ran-sama... just like she did with me.” Ran grabs hold of Chen’s arm and presses it against her own cheek, rubbing her face against it, then Chen says “I’m sorry I did that, Ran-sama.” Ran closes her eyes and thinks for a moment. She remembers contacting Patchouli behind Yukari’s back, tricking Yukari into thinking it was for her best interest to help, though hiding her thoughts didn’t work against her master, then remembers herself sitting between two bushes, thinking about what she is doing, while Yukari and Patchouli activate the spell. When she comes back from her thoughts, her cheeks are drenched with tears, and without waiting another second, she says “no, Chen! I’m the one who should be sorry.” Chen slowly lifts her head to look at Ran, and noticing this, the little kitsune quickly gets closer to Chen’s face and says “I was so selfish. I was so wrapped up in my own selfishness, and forgot about you, and look what I caused.” Chen stares silently, feeling as though she could fall asleep at any moment, yet she fights this and waits for Ran to speak again. Ran rubs her eyes, sobbing as she dries up her tears with her sleeves, then sniffles and says “because of me your powers are out of control. Your mind can’t match all that power and it makes you go berserk.” Chen stares at Ran for a moment, then smiles with a long sigh, then says “I know. I tried to act like a grown up, but I just don’t know how.” She looks into Ran’s sad eyes and asks “but why am I so calm now? Even feeling this weak and tired I should still be a little stressed. I know this because even when sleeping, I could feel myself getting angrier all the time.” Ran sighs and says “Reimu placed a charm on your vest that should keep your powers in check. But don’t you worry. Reimu and the others found the cure. Once everyone is ready, we will all go back to normal.” Chen smiles, then yawns and asks “Ran-sama? Can we go home while we wait?” Ran gets herself under the sheets in order to sleep next to Chen, but before closing her eyes she says “I must apologize to Chen again. We’ll have to stay with miss Reimu so she can keep an eye on us. With you like this and Yukari and I turned into kids, I don’t think we would last long on our own.” Chen smiles as she closes her eyes and wraps Ran around her right arm, then says “it’s alright, Ran-sama. We’ll just go home later.” Immediately after finishing her sentence, Chen falls asleep, and Ran looks at her face as she thinks “it was just terrible of me to forget about you, Chen; the way I did. I’ll have to make it up to you, somehow.” Ran slowly closes her eyes, then slowly falls asleep with Chen, who’s purring softly beside her.

Morning at Hakugyokurou. Inside the ghostly shrine, a woman calls “Yuyuko-sama, breakfast is ready! ...Yuyuko~” Walking down the porch toward another building that composes the shrine is a tall woman with long silver hair that reaches her lower back, a comfortable-looking green skirt, and a green vest over a short-sleeved white shirt. Youmu, as expected, looks beautiful, with a well shaped body and powerful-looking arms and legs, and a normal sized chest that complements her shape quite well. She opens the sliding door to a larger building, saying “Yuyuko-sama, I’m coming in.” Inside, in the very center of the room, the little Yuyuko, whose hair looks just about the same, though her eyes look more alive and her skin has a bit more color, leans on the ground, moving left and right in a circle around something, using her arms and legs to move like a spider of sort. Youmu approaches the little Yuyuko with great curiosity, wondering what Yuyuko is so fixated on, only to find out it’s a piece of blue string that sways around every time a little wind passes by. Even though Youmu is so close, Yuyuko doesn’t seem to notice her yet, so Youmu decides to just watch in silence. Yuyuko moves like a spider around the string, first to the left, then to the right, then goes around in a circle and stops on the same spot Youmu found her on when she first entered the room. Yuyuko starts swaying her bottom around as she lowers her head, readying herself to pounce like a cat, then jumps amazingly high, only to land right on top of the string, which is followed by a loud yelp, and a little girl angrily saying “dammit, princess! That really hurt!” Yuyuko giggles and says “I told you to stop.” Youmu places her face right next to little Yuyuko, then asks “Yuyuko-sama, who’s under there?” Yuyuko’s body twitches, then she jumps in the air while screaming “KYAH~ Youmu! Youmu, there’s a monster in my room, and it wants to eat me~” Youmu stares curiously at the frightened Yuyuko, who has taken refuge under the sheets on her bed, then Youmu giggles and calmly says “I already took care of it, so you can come out now and tell me who’s under the floor.” While Yuyuko trembles and slowly pushes her sheets away, Youmu grabs the string and pulls it, revealing a secret door on the floor, where little Merlin Prismriver is hiding under. Her wavy, light-blue hair is a little shorter, and her face looks more lively than usual. She looks at Youmu as she dangles by her hat, smiles sheepishly, then starts to fiddle with her fingers as she says “um, I didn’t touch your daughter, ma’am.” Youmu gasps, and as the ghostly trumpet flies toward the tiny poltergeist, she exclaims “wait, what kind of things are you children saying!” Yuyuko calmly approaches Youmu and Merlin, and says “Youmu, we may look like children, but do remember our age.” Youmu sighs and says “there are limits, you know. Well, whatever. Breakfast is ready.” There is a mysterious trail of dust behind Yuyuko that seems to lead to the dining room while Yuyuko stands right there, staring straight at Youmu and Merlin. Youmu stares back at Yuyuko and asks “Yuyuko, are you alright?” Merlin adds “maybe she’s in shock.” Youmu places her hand on Yuyuko’s head, only to find out it goes right through, then Yuyuko starts to disappear. With great amazement, both Youmu and Merlin says “AN AFTER-IMAGE!” In the dining room, which is actually the living room, Yuyuko immediately recognizes her spot on the table, where there are extra servings of food. As she rushes in to devour her meal, the tiny Lunasa, whose only difference is her stature, says “whoa, take it easy, miss Yuyuko. You’re going to get sick.” Next to Lunasa is Lyrica, who has grown up, unlike her two sisters, and her hair is longer, reaching her mid-back, has decent hips and legs, and a small chest. She looks to Lunasa and says “better not even try is, sis.” From the door, Youmu says “yeah. Last time I tried, I almost lost an arm... if it wasn’t for my ghost half.” Lunasa exclaims “miss Youmu, Merlin. Where have you been?” Youmu and Merlin look at each other, and with a smile on her face, Merlin says “playing!”

After breakfast at the Hakurei Shrine, Chen kneels on the floor with Rika on her lap, rubbing the little shrine maid’s head as she slowly falls asleep. Ran notices this and approaches Chen, then asks “Chen, h-how are you feeling?” Chen smiles and softly says “much better. And I had forgotten how nice it can be in here.” Ran’s eyes hide in shadow as she smiles in a most disturbing manner, then whispers “heh, heh, yeah... nice.” Chen looks at Ran with curiosity, and that’s when Ran notices Chen’s vest is on the ground right next to her. Ran exclaims “whoa! Chen! How did you take that off?” Chen follows Ran’s sight to her vest, then Rika answers “well, it was so hot I thought she was being suffocated, so I took it off her.” Ran exclaims “bu-bu-but that’s where the charm was!” Chen softly says “oh that’s right. But really, I don’t understand why, but I feel so relaxed. Like there’s not a care in the world.” Ran notices how Chen continues to rub Rika’s head, and feeling great jealousy toward Rika, she turns around while glaring at the ground and thinking “I am being punished! Yes, that’s what this is! She wanted to kill me, so we had to put that charm on her, but then this maid takes it off and KEEPS her calm! It’s not fair! Okay, okay, calm down, Ran. This is just temporary, I’m sure! Once your mistake is all fixed up, Chen’s going to come back to me!” Ran turns around once again, smiling in a most disturbing manner toward Rika and Chen, but managing to remain calm as she asks “and where is everyone again?” Rika, in a dreamy tone, says “they are all spreading around and telling everyone about the cure for this spell. They should be back in... eh?” Rika suddenly finds herself sitting on the ground, while Ran has taken her place on Chen’s lap. Rika smiles at them as she gets up, then Chen looks at Ran with anger and asks “what do you think you are doing?” When Chen looks at Rika, she notices the escaped tears from the very edges of her eyes, while Rika thinks “oh no, I’m going to cry. No, Rika, they belong together. You were just borrowing Chen for a bit. But... but... It felt so nice.” Chen’s anger slowly rises, while Rika fights with her desire to cry, and Ran, though feeling awkward, thinks is in her rightful place.

Back at Hakugyokurou, after cleaning the dishes from breakfast, Youmu goes out back to one of the most secluded gardens in order to practice her sword skills. She stands with both blades unsheathed as she stares straight toward a large rock with many cut marks on it in front of her, bending her torso just slightly while pointing her long blade toward it, and her short blade away. Very suddenly, she’s at the other side of the rock and sheathing both swords with a satisfied smile, while her after image slowly rushes toward it. Before the after image reaches the rock, it becomes six separate horizontal pieces cut to perfection, then her after image shows as she spins three times where the rock was while the real Youmu looks at her ghost half and says “this is the best, isn’t it! Now that my body has grown, my mind and my senses are sharper than ever. I could rival master Youki now!” There are various claps coming from the right, and when Youmu glances over, Lyrica, little Lunasa, little Merlin and little Yuyuko are sitting close by, applauding Youmu’s display. Normally, the half human would blush and try to run away in embarrassment, but now she smiles confidently, bows, and gives thanks to her audience. She approaches the group and says “th-thanks. Been aiming to do that for years!” Lyrica smiles and says “that’s the spirit! Keep aiming high, Youmu.” Lunasa scoffs and says “looks who’s talking.” Merlin adds “yeah. Youmu, don’t listen to her! She’s the one that said she’d bloom to be a ‘gorgeous’ woman some day. Now look at her. Pretty flat, right?” Lyrica grabs her sisters by their necks and starts shaking them in the air while squeezing the air out of them, angrily asking “who the hell asked you, you little imps?” Youmu lightly taps the back of Lyrica’s head with her sword hilt, angrily saying “don’t pick on the kids.” Yuyuko is somehow sitting on Youmu’s shoulders now, saying “you listen to Youmu. She knows about these kind of things.” Surprised, yet sounding normal, Youmu says “yes, I’ve been taking care of a very childish princess all my life”, then whispers “and how did you get up there?” Yuyuko pats Youmu’s head and sounding as whimsical as ever, she say “now, now, Youmu~ You have to be careful of what you say~” Youmu sighs and prepares herself to speak, but the familiar sound of Yukari ripping a tear in the borders of space catches her ears, then says “ah, it seems Yukari came to visit.” Yuyuko smiles and says “wow, Youmu. You heard that all the way over here. Remind me to give you a prize later.” Youmu looks up at Yuyuko with her eyes, wondering if she’s just been insulted, or complimented, while Yuyuko just smiles at her.

Moments later, at the eastern outskirts of the Human Village, Sara, who’s only change is longer hair, walks beside little Luize, whose hair is so short, she almost looks like a boy, if it wasn’t for the bushiness of her hair, her white dress and her hat. As they walk through bushes, Luize comments “you know, I think we’ve been searching the wrong places. You know she likes it where there’s victims around.” Sara sighs and says “look, you may be right, but it wouldn’t be prudent if we just skipped over a few places, and just ‘cuz of a hunch.” Luize sighs as she looks at Sara with her narrowed eyes and says “yeah, you’re right. But I’m starting to get tired. This little body doesn’t have as much stamina.” Without saying a word, Sara grabs Luize and sits her on her back, saying “this way, you can rest AND have a better view.” Luize giggles and nods, then says “ah, I see something up ahead. A clearing.” Sara sighs and says “at last. We can fly and get our bearings.” The moment they enter the clearing, and their eyes adjust to the sudden change of lighting, they realize they are surrounded by many bodies that lie on the ground. Both girls freeze in a state of shock, and sounding nervous, Luize asks “o-o-oi... S-Sara? A-are they... dead?” Sara shivers in place, then says “th-that’s a dangerous thing to ask. Hey! Y-you guys! G-get a hold of yourselves.” To their left, Reisen struggles to get back up on her feet, saying “eh-he-heh. It took us all nigh... but we got her.” Further ahead is little Kyo, being embraced by little Luna, who has a triumphant smile on her face as she whispers “he’s all mine, heh-heh~” To their left is Momiji, who lies on her stomach, and as she struggles to get back up, she says “hau~ It’s too early to get up.” In front of them all is Nitori, who is sitting with her back against a tree with a wide smile on her face, holding a large glass container with a golden base, and sleeping inside are Hina and the little Rabid Karate Night Sparrow. Nitori slowly lifts her smiling face, then says “she almost escaped.... but we got her.” Both Sara and Luize sigh with great relief, then Sara says “s-see? Nothing to worry about. J-just a bunch of weirdoes.” From behind them, a little boy causally says “wow, you can say that again.” Sara and Luize scream as if their lives are in danger, Sara jumping up high and landing on her seat on the ground, while Luize does her best to keep from falling from Sara’s shoulders. When they get a better look, they realize it’s little Ail, little Sanae, and Budou, all peeking their heads from inside one of Ail’s gaps. Sara breathes rapidly and with rage as she gets up, then she and Luize shout at the same time “don’t do that, you idiot!” Sara finishes, by saying “you almost gave me a heart attack!” Budou chuckles as Ail says “geez, sorry. Anyway, I am here to deliver good news. We have found the cure for this spell. All you have to do, is drink either grape or cherry juice, or sake or beer.” Sanae waves her arms in the air as she says “that should cure us ALL, but you ALL have to drink!” Hina walks right in front of Ail and asks “is that all?” Ail nods and hands Hina, and the RKNS on her shoulder, a cup with juice each. Nitori, Reisen and Momiji all look toward Hina with desperate and frightened eyes, then Nitori angrily asks “HOW THE HELL YOU GET OUT OF HERE?” Momiji exclaims “we’re doomed!” Reisen giggles and says “oh my... this is not gonna end well.” To their surprise, Hina and the little sparrow drink their juice without hesitation, then look back at their even more surprised faces, then Hina says “it’s been fun messing with ya, but I want to go back to normal. Besides, my job is collecting misfortunes, not causing them.” She turns around and whispers at the RKNS “it was still fun”, to which the RKNS peeps once. Suddenly, and very mysteriously, everyone is holding a cup of either sake, or juice, and as if mentally linked, they all drink at the same time, Luna saying “I can’t WAIT for my Kyo to grow again!” Sara and Luize get closer to Ail and Sara asks “hey, would you guys happen to know where Yuki is?” Ail rests his arms on the edges of his gap and casually replies “Yuki? She’s in the village. I hear she’s the bomb.” Luize grabs Sara’s head and says “see, I told you!” Before anybody says another word, there is a loud chomp, then Budou suddenly screams and flaps her wings very violently, knocking Ail and Sanae right out of the gap along with herself. Luize shouts “look, it’s Yuki!” Little Yuki is biting down on Budou’s ankle with a wicked smile, while Budou desperately screams and tries to run away from the threat, to no avail. Sanae looks up, then says “I am so going to hunt that girl when I get big again.” Sara and Luize stare at little Sanae with frightful faces as an ominous aura escapes the tiny wind goddess.

Back at Hakugyokurou, lunch is already being served by Youmu and Lyrica, while Reimu, Remilia and Yukari prepare to explain. Yuyuko devours her meal, just like during breakfast, while everyone else eats a normal portion, and quite normally too. Reimu takes a bite off her meal with her spoon, then gulps and says “so, in order to return to normal, everyone who has been affected by this spell HAS to drink one of the four drinks we mentioned before.” Remilia, sounding a bit desperate, yet keeping a cool and collected look on her face, says “and EVERYONE has to drink, or NOBODY returns to normal. I for one am sick of being like this!” Yukari stares at Remilia’s chest, then says “she is right. Things must be set to their rightful place!” Remilia notices Yukari’s stare and asks “and what are you looking at?”, while Yuyuko giggles and says “then, let’s all have sake~ Youmu, since you’re weak against sake, I’ll forgive you and let you drink the cherry juice.” Youmu’s eyes are cast in shadow as she looks toward the shrine’s exit, and in an angry and defiant tone, she says “no.” Everybody around the table stops eating and stare at Youmu with shock and surprise, including Yuyuko, who concernedly asks “Youmu, what’s the matter with you?” Youmu gets up on her feet and defiantly says “I’ve never been this close to master Youki’s level! I am NOT going to give it up just like that!” Sounding a little more angry, yet still concerned, Yuyuko says “Youmu! What’s come over you? I will not repeat myself. Please, do as you are told. Do not insult me in front of our guests.” Youmu glares at little Yuyuko, then suddenly bows her head low in order to hide her teary eyes as she says in a cracked voice “I am sorry, lady Yuyuko. You are right. You are still the princess of the Netherworld and my... mistress. Please forgive my insolence.” She straightens up and looks away as fast as she can, then says “please wait while I bring the drinks”, then storms away. Yuyuko sighs, and while looking at Reimu, she says “I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s come over her. I apologize in her stead.” Reimu calmly says “she’s not the only one who’s been affected by the change, Yuyuko.” Remilia fans herself with her hand and says “there’s nothing to apologize for”, while thinking “heh, such ‘loyalty’. Sakuya would never do that to me, especially if there are guests.” Outside in the storage house, Youmu reaches a wooden display where many sake bottles are, some of the slots already empty. She reaches for one of the bottles, but suddenly takes her hand away and turns it into a tight fist, making her own hand turn even more white from the pressure. She lets her tears of rage escape as she angrily shouts “why the hell? Why the hell did they come here? They should have stayed away! And now, of all possible moments, right when I have reached so high! WHY?” Yukari’s voice echoes all over the room as she giggles playfully, then says “my, and this crybaby claims to have reached Youki’s level? I wasn’t aware that Youki was such a selfish little crybaby.” Youmu gasps with surprise and swipes the tears from her eyes, then says “Yu... Yukari! I was... I mean... Um, the thing...” Yukari giggles as she reveals herself floating around while inside her gap, then says “sweetie, are you sure this is what you want? I mean, sure you are stronger, but what would Youki say if he saw how selfish you are. *gasp* And what would he think of you after that little outburst toward Yuyuko? Do you think he’ll like it?” Youmu sighs and lowers her head, trying her best to hide her sadness and shame, then says “it’s alright. I’ll follow yours, and lady Yuyuko’s orders.” Yukari wraps her arms around Youmu’s head and forces her to look into her eyes, then says “know that I am not forcing you to do anything, but reminding you how far you truly are from your master’s level. Now I ask you, are you truly ready? Are you sure it’s best to take the short route? Think about it, alright.” With that, Yukari giggles and enters her gap, swirling around and squealing with glee as she makes it look as though she’s being flushed down a toilet, then disappears along with her gap, while, Youmu thinks about Yukari’s words thoroughly, looking around the storage house with a lost expression in her face. Back at the dining room, Yuyuko is about to stand up, saying “I’m going to go get her”, but Yukari signals her to stay down, then says “she’s coming. Don’t worry.” Just after saying that, Youmu enters the room with a bottle of sake and says “forgive me. I had trouble picking a good bottle. I hope you all like this selection.” Yuyuko stares at Youmu’s face, then smiles and asks “you didn’t bring the cherry juice?” Youmu smiles nervously toward Yuyuko, then says “if Yuyuko doesn’t mind, I’d like to drink sake with her.” Yuyuko’s smile brightens as she stares at Youmu’s reprimanded smile, then says “I will gladly accept.” Youmu lets out a small giggle, then enters the room to serve the sake, when suddenly Remilia shouts “hey, kids shouldn’t drink sake!”, then Yuyuko playfully replies “I can’t hear you~”

Meanwhile, at the Hakurei Shrine, Ran stands by the shrine’s doorway with a small bandage on the back of her head, staring with contempt toward Rika, who sits on Chen’s lap, making Chen giggle, and Chen making Rika giggle as well. Ran grips the doorway’s border so hard, it cracks under her hand. Right behind Ran, smiling wickedly as her eyes glow green, is Parsee. She’s both absorbing little Ran’s jealousy, and making it stronger, whispering into her ear “yes, yes, that’s it. She’s in your spot, isn’t she? U-fu-fu-fu~, it’s only natural. She’s in YOUR spot, and you want it back. So what are you going to do about it?” Ran’s eyes glint as the raises her fist in front of her own face, then says “I’m going to claim what’s mine!” Parsee watches with malice in her smile as the little kitsune storms toward her target. Beside Parsee, little Yuugi watches unamused and says “you really like messing with others, don’t you?” Parsee chuckles and says “I live for it.” Ran skids in front of Rika and Chen, raises her fist, takes a deep breath, then Rika says “miss Ran, we were just talking about you.” Chen quickly adds “please, join us, Ran-sama”, while offering her free thigh. Ran stares at them in surprise for a short while, then her eyes water and she starts to sob. Surprised, Chen grabs Ran and places her on her thigh, then pats her head, while Rika reaches for Ran’s head, pats it, then says “there, there. It’s alright, little miss Ran.” Ran stares at Rika for a moment, and just like that she feels relaxed and at peace. Rika pushes Ran’s head on to her own lap and start to rub her head, saying “see, I’m not so bad, aren’t I?” Ran smiles and simply drifts to a state of bliss. Outside, Parsee bites down on her thumb and says “dammit, how anti-climactic. Geez, I wish I could lie on a lap like that.” Yuugi smirks while looking away and whispers “look who’s jealous now, heh-heh.” After a while, Yuugi realizes everything is too quiet, and when she turns around, she finds Parsee staring back into Tenshi’s eyes. The celestial continues to stare for a moment, then suddenly asks “why do you have such an amazing body?” Parsee smirks and tucks in her stomach, expanding her chest even more, then says “it’s not my fault you are lacking vitamins, girl.” Tenshi backs away in a rage and shouts “why you green eyed, hot blond with such an awesome body, who the HELL do you think you are?” Iku stands next to Yuugi, and sighs after Tenshi picks all the wrong words to try and insult Parsee, to which Yuugi smiles and says “I agree. This is gonna go nowhere and fast.” Iku smiles at Yuugi, then excitedly twirls in place, stops while pointing her finger upward, and a lightning bolt strikes both Parsee and Tenshi, knocking them both down to the ground. Yuugi smiles at Iku, pulls a sake cup out from under her shirt, then fills it up with grape juice, saying “here, you earned it.” Iku closes her eyes and smiles widely, then drinks her juice contently alongside Yuugi.

Later that day, two rips in space open adjacent to each other, and from the left one come Yukari, Reimu, and Remilia, and from the right one, Ail, Sanae and Budou. When they see each other, Reimu asks “no problems, I assume?” Ail and Sanae looks dreadfully tired, and sounding almost annoyed, Ail says “n-none at all... right Budou?” Budou giggles nervously and says “she was biting too hard.” Reimu sighs and says “sorry I asked.” Ail is suddenly lifted from the ground by a squealing woman, who says “my baby boy is acting like such a mature grownup!” Ail sighs and looks unamused and tired as his limbs sway left and right, while Ayalina hugs and swings him around. Sanae looks at them and thinks “I’m too tired”, and right after thinking that, she feels herself being gently lifted from the ground by Suwako. The goddess smiles at the yawning little girl in her hands and says “what a naughty little girl. Away from home this long without saying a word.” Sanae yawns again and say “I’m sorry lady Moriya. But at least we found... the... cure.” With those words, little Sanae falls asleep on Suwako’s arms, and that’s when Reimu asks “I take it Suika managed to tell you about the cure?” Suwako nods and says “the entire mountain knows by now.” From inside the shrine, Rumia peeks her head and says “and so does the Bamboo Forest.” Before Reimu can ask, Agava and Mima jump from under Reimu and say “Forest of Magic is clear!” Suika and Shinki, who are holding on to Marisa and Alice, walk from the back of the shrine, and Shinki happily says “they’re having a party at Makai, so we’re all set.” Suika adds “and I think that’s everyone.” Reimu smiles and says “nobody went to the Myouren Temple. Someone has to go and tell them.” Budou smiles and asks “wait... what if there are more people we missed.” Reimu rubs her little chin while pondering, then says “you’re right. No matter what, there no guarantee we got everyone.” Suika suddenly smiles widely, then Budou chuckles nervously and says “I’m going to need help preparing dinner.” Remilia smiles and says “ah, if only Sakuya was here.” From behind Remilia, Sakuya says “but I am right here, my lady.” Remilia twitches and yelps, then slowly turns around, laughing nervously while saying “heh-heh, don’t do that, Sakuya!” Sakuya bows down as elegantly as ever, and says “I’ll help with the preparations my lady.” A pair of hands stick themselves inside Sakuya’s shirt and start rummaging. Sakuya screams out loud, while Remilia shouts “you sick celestial, what the HELL are you doing to my Sakuya?” As if not even listening, Tenshi seems to find what she was looking for and quickly pulls her hands out from Sakuya’s shirt, pulling a pair of pads. Remilia stares at Tenshi’s little treasure, then back at Sakuya, whose face is all red as she clenches her teeth while glaring at Tenshi, and even though Tenshi pulled those out of Sakuya’s shirt, her chest size looks the same. Sakuya growls and asks “what the hell was that for, you idiot?” Tenshi puts on the pads, making it look like she has a more decent chest, then says “it’s a start... but I’m gonna BEAT that girl!” Remilia’s and Sakuya’s eyes glow scarlet as they stare daggers toward Tenshi, then Remilia says “I’m gonna teach you not to mess with Sakuya”, while Sakuya says “I am going to teach you proper manners, you heavenly freak!” While Sakuya and Remilia beat up Tenshi, Reimu sighs and says “we aren’t moving forward at all.” A red balls bounces right in front of Reimu’s face, getting Reimu’s immediate attention, then Reimu clenches her eyes, raises her arms, then shouts “ball, ball, the ball is back! YAY, let’s play with the ball!” Just like magic, Sanae wakes up full of energy, Ail completely reanimates, Marisa squeals with glee, Alice frees herself from Shinki, Agava and Mima smile widely, Yukari opens a gap, where Meiling pops her tiny head from, and Ran jumps from inside the shrine, and as soon as they start chasing the ball around, Suika chuckles and says “that’s so cute.” Remilia is now standing right next to Suika, and with a smile on her face, she says “I know. It’s just adorable!”

After everything settles down again at late noon, Iku silently pokes the twitching body of Tenshi, while Suika stands in the center of the back of the shrine, saying “this might take some time, but it should work just fine.” Reimu holds the little red ball in her hands, and while sitting on the porch along with the other children, she says “just do it, and be careful.” Suika closes her eyes and starts to concentrate, quickly spreading her mist all over Gensokyo. Reimu looks to her right and notices Rika is sitting on Chen’s lap, and at first, though feeling a bit jealous, she doesn’t pay much attention, until she notices Chen doesn’t have her charmed vest on. Her little eyes expand with great surprise, even letting go of the little ball, then exclaims “CHEN! You don’t have the charm on!” Chen looks curiously toward Reimu, then Rika answers for her “it’s alright, miss Reimu. For some reason, even without the charm, she’s been very mellow.” Ran adds “I swear, she’s acting like her young self again.” Chen smiles and says “it’s true”, then snuggles Rika, which makes Ran and Reimu very jealous, and continues “I feel so calm and relaxed now.” Reimu stares at Rika as she involuntarily flaps her wings, then says to herself “as, I see. As long as it’s alright, I guess.” Suika suddenly opens her eyes and gasps, then says “ah, here they come, Reimu.” As soon as she says that, she raises her arms above her head and concentrates a ball of energy, then Yuka, Kurumi and Elly are sucked into the concentrated energy, and before Yuka can complain, Satori, Koishi, Okuu, Orin and Petal are brought in as well. Reimu gasps and exclaims “Suika, stop. You’re going to squish them!” Before Suika stops, four more people are sucked into the energy, but by now it’s too dark to tell who they are. When Suika stops, everyone above her head drops on her back, leaving her squirming as she pulls herself free, grunting “ugh, too heavy.” After Suika breaks free, Yuka pops her head form inside the pile and exclaims “who the hell has the guts to do that to me? I’m going to...” Yuka spots the red ball in Reimu’s hands, forgets what she was just saying, approaches Reimu, points at the ball, then Reimu smiles and says “ok!”, and just like that, all the kids, but Rika and Ran, who are sitting on Chen’s lap, run all over the ample back of the shrine, trying all to play with a single ball. Meanwhile, Satori manages to grab Orin and Okuu then frees herself from under Koishi and Petal, then asks “what is the meaning of this?” Suika sits on the ground, taking a sip from a small sake cup, keeping in mind the children may be watching, then says “I’m sorry, I was supposed to gather those that haven’t heard the news on how to turn back to normal.” Satori gasps and asks “there’s a way to turn back?” Suika asks “gosh, didn’t that jealousy girl tell you? Chen, didn’t you tell them to spread the word?” Chen looks at Suika and says “we did.” Rika adds “she was even jealous we knew about the cure before her.” Koishi and Petal stand beside Satori and help her back to her feet, then Koishi says “yup, that sounds like her. She told me all about it, but said she was jealous of my hair, so I left and went back home.” Petal stretches her arm and smacks Koishi on the head, then says “important thing it was. Telling of us you should have, and Satori-shama!” Satori sighs and says “look, it’s alright. Just tell us the cure already.” Suika offers each a cup of Sake and says “here it is. Sake!” Satori stares at her cup, and the inexplicable 3rd arm from Suika, then says “wait, children can’t drink that!” Suika smiles and says “I know, that’s why there’s also grape or cherry juice. Oh, you can have beer too!” Koishi and Petal accept their cups and immediately drink from them, and after Suika retracts two of her arms, Satori says “look, I’m not giving sake to these two-“ Satori opens her eyes widely in surprise after showing her arms to Suika, only to realize that Orin and Okuu are gone, then asks “wh-where are those two?” Satori accepts the sake cup, then Suika points behind them, and as Satori looks behind her, she takes a quick gulp of her drink and after sighing, she says “they are incorrigible.” Both Orin and Okuu have joined the group of children that are playing with the red ball, and while this happens, Kurumi, who already has a sake cup on her hands, asks “and who are these?” She points behind herself with her thumb as four figures, three small and one big, stand up.

Reimu now stands beside Suika and exclaims “Rikako, slim and smart Kyo!” A little girl with long, purple hair and wearing a pair of oversized glasses exclaims “please~ Give us something to eat!” With a loudly growling stomach, Kyo’s shadow self, who looks like a big-headed stick figure with a coat, calmly says “we’ve been stuck underground for a while. Ever since we turned into kids, the machines stopped responding to us!” Rikako desperately says “I’m starving! PLEASE, ANYTHING!” From inside the shrine, Budou, in a musical and sweet tone of voice, calls “dinner’s ready~” All the children stop playing and look toward the shrine with drooling mouths and hungry eyes, then exclaims at the same time “YAY~” then rush inside. Rikako cries as she looks at Reimu, then Reimu looks at Suika with a mischievous smile, then Suika says “don’t be mean Reimu”, turns her attention to Rikako and Kyo’s shadow, and continues “of course you may join in.” In an instant, little Rikako and Kyo’s little shadow rush toward the shrine as Reimu calls “Remilia, Budou, we have more guests than expected!” Sakuya stands right behind Reimu, and while bowing she says “we were expecting such blunder, so we prepared plenty.” Reimu yelps and jumps on to Suika’s lap, then trembles as she stares back at Sakuya and says “d-d-d-don’t scare me like that, you idiot!” Sakuya smirks and says “I’m sorry, I won’t do it again”, then turns around and whispers “so cute.” After everyone else leaves, Reimu and Suika stare at the two silhouettes in front of them, and before Reimu can ask, the tiny shadow says “Chiyuri, you were right! We ARE in Gensokyo again!” The woman called Chiyuri replies “see, I TOLD you! You’re such a scatter brain sometimes, you know that?” Reimu looks at Suika and says “drag them.” Suika grabs the woman, who holds the child in her hands, then drags them toward the light that shines from inside the shrine, ignoring the complains from the woman while doing so. When they come into the light, Reimu stares at them and asks “and who the heck are you two?” The woman has long blonde hair that reaches to the middle of her back, yellow eyes, a baby face, a well shaped body with a normal sized chest, and wears a white sailor’s hat and a sailor’s uniform that’s too small for her, leaving her belly and most of her legs exposed. The little girl has short, wavy dark-red hair that reaches to her shoulder, dark red eyes, and wears a matching red dress, a red vest over a white long-sleeved shirt, a small cape with rising shoulder cloths, and red bowtie around her neck. The little girl looks at the blond woman and excitedly says “look, Chiyuri, it’s the magic girl! We really ARE back!” Chiyuri smiles and says “yeah, yeah, I know. I can see.” Reimu asks “magic... girl?” The little girl looks excitedly at Reimu and says “wait, you don’t remember me? It’s me, Yumemi Okazaki! I tried to abduct you to show that damned university that magic exists!” Reimu rubs her chin while thinking, then shrugs and says “I’d probably remember you if that were true. And who’s the blonde sailor, your mom?” Chiyuri stomps on the ground and says “I’m Chiyuri Kitashirakawa, you idiot! Clearly you’re some kind of retard if you can’t even remem-“ Suika grabs Chiyuri by her shirt and lifts her with no effort, and with anger in her eyes she says “apologize to Reimu or I’ll pound you to pudding right here!” Yumemi sighs and says “you really should learn to keep your mouth shut sometimes.” Chiyuri shivers as she says “sh-shut up”, then looks at little Reimu, who is sniffling and sobbing while looking away, then says “oh my, I’m sorry. I guess I went too far.” Suika gets Chiyuri closer to her face, and with an angry expression, she whispers “I’ll be watching you, little lady.” As if nothing ever happened, Reimu says “well, let’s go inside. I’m hungry. We can eat, have a sleepover, then tomorrow you can tell us more about you, you weirdoes.” Yumemi smiles and says “yay! I get to sleep in a magical shrine!”, then signals Chiyuri to get closer and whispers “keep your eyes peeled and your mouth shut, or they could turn us into frogs.” Reimu stares at the two girls, then says “this is going to be very interesting.” Suika nods, then grabs Reimu and Yumemi, then walks toward the shrine. Chiyuri takes a step toward the shrine, and a golden washtub falls right on her head, knocking her to the ground. Written in red on the side of the washtub, is the word “Welcome”, which Chiyuri reads with contempt. She gets up, grabs the washtub, walks to the front of the shrine, then throws it down the stairs and dusts her hands while saying “take THAT you stupid household item of no real value!” After she turns around, that very same washtub comes straight at her and smacks her right on the forehead, knocking her out cold and leaving the word “emocleW” marked on her head.

To be continued...

Characters, Spell cards and Scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
Ail, Budou, Kyo, Luna, Shadow Kyo, Agava and Ayalina were created by Willie G.R.
Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot2010

JUL 03 2010
Written by
Willie G.R.

A/N:
Did you really think I was just going to end it so soon? Shame on you. Although I have to say, I do have a million ideas with this, I must end it soon. I’m starting to write a back story for the Scarlet Devil Mansion cast, as well as a few other spin-offs for the Sukima series, so I’ll be closing the curtains on this fiction really soon.
Now, I wonder, who remembers the PC-98 characters? I know many of us do, and adding Chiyuri and Yumemi should be nice, and I might be adding a few more from the Dim Dream (TH3) cast, but let’s not rush it. There are already plenty of characters, and honestly, I feel as though I’m forgetting someone. Hmm, I better do a head-count. Anyway, hope you are enjoying. Take care and see you next time, if the kind spirits will allow. They are good, you know.