Flashback of the Ages 7

It’s early morning at Makai, and in the main hall of Pandemonium, which is being remodeled to look similar to the inside of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Shinki sighs as she lets the book she was just reading drop from her hands, on to her lap. She looks at the tall window that stands in front of her large, and very comfortable looking chair, then says “not matter what I try, she won’t come back home. Ah well, I still got Yumeko.” As if having being summoned at the mentioning of her name, little Yumeko stumbles through the hall, trying to move as fast as her tiny legs can carry her, and once she’s close to Shinki, she bows down and asks “h-how may I be of service, mama... er, I mean, lady Shinki?” Shinki smiles widely and giggles, then suddenly grabs Yumeko and sits her on her lap, saying “stay with me like this.” Yumeko’s face turns beet red as she struggles to run away from Shinki, saying “my lady, that wouldn’t be proper! It’s not a proper thing to do!” Shinki smiles and asks “aww, but didn’t you just call me ‘mama’? Come on, it’s alright.” Little Yumeko manages to slip out of Shinki’s hands, and jumps to the ground below, running away while blushing and saying “I got stuff to clean, so-so I’m a bit busy, bye!” After Yumeko manages to leave the room, Shinki’s smile vanishes, quickly replaced by a sad frown. Her eyes hide under her hair as she rests her elbow on the chair’s armrest, and her head on her hand, and looking rather glum she says to herself “maybe they don’t love me. Alice gave me that look, and now Yumeko just ran away.” She sighs and looks around the hall, letting her book slip from her lap as she says to herself “no. They love me. It’s just, I am being pushy. Yes, that’s it. Mmm, I guess I better just... back off.” Shinki takes a deep breath as she straightens up, resting her back on her chair, looking both sad and a bit angry, thinking “it’s all my own fault.” Out of nowhere, Yuki falls on Shinki’s lap, smiling and giggling, immediately giving her goddess and mother a hug, saying “MAMA~ I’m back!” Shinki stares at Yuki with surprise, eager to give her a big hug, but remembers what she just said to herself and simply asks in surprise “Yuki! Where did you come from? Where have you been?” Yuki smiles and looks up at Shinki while still hugging her and says “I went to Gensokyo again, then I went to the village, where I was the bomb. Then I played with some goddesses, then I got hungry and tried to eat a bat, but she didn’t like it, so Sara and Luize brought me home.” When Shinki looks to the long red carpet in front of her chair, she sees Sara and the tiny Luize smiling while bowing to her, Sara saying “it was tough, but we got her!” Shinki smiles, but stops and looks to her lap when she feels a hard poke on her belly. Yuki looks up with glassy, yet determined eyes and says “you forget mean Alice and silly Yumeko! You can hug me ALL you want”, then whispers “just make sure I’m well fed.” Shinki squeals with glee and grabs Yuki, giving her a big hug, then Yuki says to her “see? Now Yumeko’s all jealous at the door.” She sticks out her tongue at little Yumeko, who is angrily peeking through the door, then the tiny maid storms out into the open, stretches her cheeks, then sticks out her tongue at Yuki. Shinki can’t help but start giggling, which progresses to a hearty laugh after witnessing Yumeko’s love for her. Just like that, there is a beeping sound coming from Yuki’s bottom. Everyone stares curiously at Yuki, who lifts up her skirt to reveal a timer that has hit 0, and with an angelic smile on her face, she spreads her arms and legs and shouts “BOOM!” Just like that, the entire room is engulfed in a large ball of fire that disappears almost as soon as it starts. Shinki continues to giggle, hugging Yuki tightly against herself, ignoring the burns stains all over her face, and the fizzle on her hair, then says “that was a nice trick, Yuki!” Yuki giggles and says “yeah! I make a good bomb, don’t I?” Shinki happily says “oh yes, you are a perfect little bomb.” While Shinki and Yuki giggle and laugh, Luize and Sara lie on the ground, spitting out a large cloud of smoke, while Yumeko stares with contempt toward Yuki and Shinki, whispering “she’s in my spot.”

Meanwhile, at the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu is the first to wake up, due to the heat waking her. She feels hot, sweaty, and a bit annoyed as she walks down to the shrine’s living room, where Chiyuri and Yumemi are sleeping. She decides to check on Rika, and upon heading down the corridor and opening Rika’s sliding door, she finds she’s sleeping with Chen to her left and Ran to her right. Reimu smiles and closes the door, and when she walks back to the living room, she finds Suika and little Mima sitting by the small table, smiling widely at her. Reimu can’t help but return the smile, then the three of them exit the shrine as quietly as possible. Outside, Suika asks “so you want me to try and gather them here again, or you rather go there yourself?” Reimu smiles as she looks up at Suika, then says “I’ll go there. If there’s trouble, like with Youmu, it would be best if I... of someone can be there to assist them.” Mima looks at Reimu and smiles, then says “it’s amazing how you’ve been able to keep your grown mind, being a human and all.” Reimu sighs and looks to the sky, then says “it hasn’t been easy. It’s been a whole week now, and every day, it gets harder to focus... and that red ball surely doesn’t help.” Suika smiles and pats Reimu on the head, then says “don’t worry. Today we all return to normal. Last night I used a lot of power to summon those guys, so it’s very possible the Myouren Temple is the only one left that doesn’t know about the cure.” Reimu sighs with a smile as a cold wind caresses her face, which makes her smile vanish suddenly, as she asks “hey, did... did you guys feel that?” Suika gently pats Reimu’s head and says “don’t pay much mind to it, Reimu.” Mima adds “it’s gonna be fine.” Right after Mima finishes her sentence, Yumemi calls “miss magical shrine maiden! Good morning~” Reimu twitches and turns around, saying “oh geez, there she goes again”, then smiles at Yumemi and says “good morning. Please call me Reimu.” Yukari suddenly appears right behind Reimu, and resting her arms on Reimu’s shoulders, Yukari smiles and says “hope you’re ready to grow up again, miss Hakurei Maiden.” Reimu looks a bit annoyed and says “Yukari, don’t remind me who caused all this to begin with so early in the morning.” As if realizing something, Reimu snaps her fingers with a gasp, then asks “Yukari, haven’t you been able to turn back to adult even once? I mean, you can change into a little girl at will, so...” Yukari sighs and says “I tried, but I’m afraid if I keep trying I might become a mere newborn.” Reimu smirks and says “that would be cute.” Yumemi finally reaches them and immediately asks “are you guys talking about magic? Can you repeat what you said? Is it true you tried to eat the boy the green-haired magical maiden likes so much?” Reimu wraps an arm around Yumemi’s neck and covers her mouth, laughing nervously while saying “we do not speak so boldly in the morning without making an offering and a prayer first!” Before anyone notices, Yumemi is already placing some money inside the donation box, ringing the bell with some effort, then praying silently for a moment, then runs back to Reimu and asks “now will you answer?” Reimu smiles and says “well, why don’t we have some breakfast first, and THEN we can talk, huh?” Yumemi gasps with excitement, as though she’s just been told they are going to her favorite theme park, then rapidly nods and says “yay, I get to finally study magic!”

Later, in the Human Village, in front of the House of Hieda, mansion of Gensokyo’s chronicler, Akyuu Hieda, a large explosion raises a lot of dirt that rains down on to the mansion’s roof. Many of the house’s servants run outside to see what is going on, accompanied by non-other than Akyuu herself. One of the child-like servants notices her presence and immediately bows his head, saying “my lady Hieda!” Soon after, the other little servants are all bowing down to their grown up mistress. Her hair has remained exactly the same length, perhaps due to one of her few still grown up servants cutting it for her. Though she wears her usual attire, her shapely body can be admired and her chest seems to have grown too, however she hides herself well. She looks toward the towering dust curtain and asks “now what kind of youkai would be attacking this place so early in the morning?” From the dust cloud, the annoying voice of Tenshi reaches everyone’s ears as she says “dammit Iku, why did you do that? We landed ALL the way down to this place!” When the smoke clears, Iku is looking up to Tenshi, shrugging at her while looking unamused. Tenshi rubs her own forehead and says “whatever. Let’s just fly there!” Before they move, Akyuu excitedly calls “WAIT!! Miss celestial, please wait!” Tenshi stops so abruptly, she falls face-down to the ground, but jumps back up so fast, it’s like she bounces like a ball. She looks back and asks “wh-what is it, miss?” Akyuu approaches Tenshi and asks “please, could you come with me? I need to ask you something very important.” Tenshi looks curiously at Akyuu, then shakes her head and says “sorry, but I have to go to the shrine and bother... I mean, inform the maiden there about something.” Akyuu looks disappointed to the ground and sighs, then asks “well, could you come another time? I really need to ask you about that battle you had with miss Rika.” Tenshi’s eyes glint as she turns around and smiles, scaring Akyuu a bit, then says “well, that’s more important than informing the maiden. Prepare to be left in awe as I tell you the tale of the brave celestial that fought, and lost, against the maid of the maiden right there in heaven! There’s drama, passion, action, love, betrayal and a BEAUTIFUL heroine who’s sure to take your heart from the beginning.” Akyuu giggles and points at Tenshi’s left, and when Tenshi looks down, Iku is preparing to shock her with an electric bolt on the tip of her finger. Tenshi start to tremble, so Akyuu decides to save her by saying “it’s alright, miss Tenshi. You can come another time. Besides, I rather have miss Rika here too. As chronicler of Gensokyo, I MUST have both stories.” Tenshi stares at Akyuu with a neutral face, then asks “you think I would lie to you?” Before Akyuu can answer, Tenshi is shocked by Iku, knocked down to the ground, then dragged by her ankle toward the Hakurei shrine. Akyuu stares toward the celestial and oarfish youkai, smiles, then says “this will be an interesting interview.”

Meanwhile, at the Misty Lake, Cirno sits on the very edge of the other side of the shore, facing toward the Scarlet island, dunking her feet in the water and freezing the immediate area around her legs, yet keeping the center unfrozen. She looks toward the center of the lake, where many giant orbs of ice float on, and above the water, each holding inside its own little world. Cirno raises her hand, and from the center of the lake, another giant orb rises, this one vibrating and emanating a constant tune that although at bit high-key, feels soothing as the sound and vibration surround the ice fairy. A small foot steps behind Cirno, so the ice fairy signals the orb to go down, and as it goes back into the water, she asks “what is it, Letty?” Little Letty stares back at Cirno, holding on to a white cat with black eyes. Without turning around, Cirno asks “hey Letty? How come you’re not sleeping? It’s summer, autumn is just around the corner, yet you’re still roaming about.” Letty shrugs and says “I dunno. I’m just full of energy.” The cat meows in a strange way that sounds as though it’s an echo over another echo. Cirno turns around and spots the cat on Letty’s hand, then says “I see. I guess I better get going.” Letty smiles and hops toward Cirno, offering her the cat, and after Cirno gets up and takes the cat form Letty’s hand, the little girl flies to one of the highest ice orbs and says “I’m going to try that imaginary sword-girl game again. See you later~” After Letty enters the orb, Cirno waves with her fingers and stares with a blank expression, then whispers “see you later, dear.” Cirno walks on the water, creating temporary ice patches that disappear as soon as she lifts her leg, then forms again when she places her foot on the water, then a sudden burst of water surrounds her and the cat, and as soon as the water sinks back, Cirno and the white cat are gone. At the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu, Mima and Suika, who come from the lake behind the shrine, approach Budou, who is on the shrine’s back porch, waiting for them. When they get close, Budou asks “so is she coming yet?” Reimu sighs and says “we can’t wait any longer. Suika, you stay here in case of any emergencies.” Suika smiles at Reimu and says “I’ll take care of everything here. Miss Budou, I have to outmost confidence you’ll take good care of miss Reimu and her guests.” Budou chuckles and says “you can certainly count on me.” After saying that, a giant pillar of ice rises from the lake, and after reaching the clouds, it turns around and drops down, creating a giant ice arch that ends right in front of Reimu and Suika. Cirno walks out of the ice, and as she does, the arch start to melt, creating a giant rainbow behind it. Cirno looks at Reimu and Suika, offers the single yin-yang orb back to Reimu, then says “sorry I’m so late.” Surprised, Reimu says “you... I thought... When you told me you could use bodies of water to move about, I wasn’t expecting THIS!” Cirno giggles while sticking out her tongue, then says “well, you know... I just wanted to make a good entrance.” From behind Budou, Chiyuri exclaims “holy crap, is that a fairy?” Yumemi exclaims “whoa! This is getting more and more exciting!” Yumemi approaches Cirno and tries to climb up her dress, so Cirno picks her up and Yumemi immediately asks “how strong are you? Can I study you? Can you tell me the first principles of using magic? WHY WON’T YOU ANSWER?” Cirno looks nervously at Suika and Reimu, then Reimu shrugs and says “try to ignore her. She’s just going to QUIETLY observe, correct?” Yumemi blushes and winks, then says “whoops, I forgot. Tee-hee.” Cirno stares at Yumemi with curiosity, but simply rubs her little head and smiles.

At the Myouren Temple, Kogasa sits on the roof of the temple, looking around while swaying left and right, humming a very cheery tune to herself. Beside her is Mystia, who just happens to be there, just humming along with Kogasa. The karakasa youkai grabs her umbrella from under her feet and looks into its eye and says “living here isn’t so bad. Sure I have to work a little, but everyone is so nice, and there’s so much food! And even miss Byakuren can be nice... sometimes.” The umbrella blinks once, then licks Kogasa’s cheek. Kogasa giggles, then looks at Mystia and says “thanks for the backup. It really was more beautiful with your voice added in.” Mystia smiles widely and says “don’t forget to visit my lamprey stand!” Kogasa waves at Mystia as she flies away, then whispers to her umbrella “there should be plenty of people to surprise there!” Again, the umbrella blinks, then their attention is turned to the entrance, where little Reimu calls “Hello~ Anyone! It’s me, Reimu! We’re coming in!” Kogasa stares at the five visitors, and sounding curious she asks herself “well this is a surprise. I wonder what’s up?” The first one to walk out of the temple to greet the guests is Nue, who still wears Byakuren’s dress. Reimu stares at Nue for a moment, then says “well, how decent. It actually suits you.” Nue fiddles with her fingers, blushes and mumbles “u-um, thanks. The other one was too small.” She composes herself, then asks “so what brings you here? And who are these?” As Kogasa lands softly next to Nue, Reimu says “well, you know Budou, this is Cirno the ice fairy from the Misty Lake, that’s Chiyuri, and this little eager girl is Yumemi. She wants to... study our magic... Though I keep telling her my powers are just divine powers, she...” Yumemi angrily says “it’s MAGIC! You’re just trying to confuse me!” Kogasa and Nue look at each other through the corner of their eyes, then Nue sweats as she smiles nervously and says “y... you don’t say. How interesting. Still, little Budou, it’s just like I said before. You’re gonna be beautiful when you grow up.” Budou giggles and blushes while looking away, then says “thanks”, recomposing herself and adding “anyway, we came here to tell you all that we found the cure for this age spell!” Nue gasps and stares at the girls with excitement and surprise, then excitedly exclaims “you found a cure? FINALLY! Hurry, you gotta tell me all about it!” Amongst the excitement, nobody but Chiyuri notices Kogasa’s fright, and not holding back, Chiyuri says “so, the blue-haired cutie over there doesn’t want to return to normal. We should BEAT her up right now!” Budou immediately gets in front of Chiyuri, then says “we do NOT force anyone.” Reimu sighs and says “that’s right. It is their choice to make, however, Kogasa, keep in mind not all of us are as pleased as you.” Kogasa stands defensively, prepared for any incoming attack, but after Reimu speaks, she calms down and nods, but doesn’t say a word. Nue points with her hand toward the temple and excitedly says “please, come in, come in! I am sure everyone else will be pleased with these news!” Budou and Cirno bow along with little Reimu, while Chiyuri looks around seemingly bored, and Yumemi exclaims with admiration at every single thing she sees. All five follow after Nue, walking past Kogasa, who flinches and keeps herself distanced from them, fearing they might attack her, but after they pass by, she relaxes and says to herself “phew... That was close. Oh, I wanted to stay like this a little longer. Uuu, what should I do, Karakasa?” She stares at her umbrella, hoping for an answer, but then she hears someone calling over. “Pst!” Kogasa looks around for the source of the sound, then looks at her umbrella and asks “did you hear that?” Again “pst”, followed by a “hey you, idiot.” Kogasa looks behind herself, and finds little Byakuren hiding behind a tree stump and looking back at her seriously. Kogasa asks “Byakuren? What’s the matter?” Byakuren continues to stare at Kogasa in silence, making her feel a bit uneasy.

Inside the temple, after Reimu explains to everyone how to break the spell, Nue and Nazrin immediately partake of some sake, while Shou, Minamitsu, Ichirin and Unzan all have a bit of cherry juice. Budou and Reimu count everyone, then say at the same time “we’re missing two of them.” Nue and Nazrin look around, then Nazrin asks “where’s that karakasa girl... and little lady Hijiri?” Ichirin whispers to little Unzan, and after he whispers back to her, Ichirin softly says “um... er... They-they’re outside.” Reimu looks at them and asks “what are you two talking about over there?” Little Minamitsu walks toward the door and bursts it open with a push, then says “she said outside.” Everyone runs outside, but before Minamitsu and Chiyuri follow, they stare at each other for some time. After a while, Minamitsu says “keep sharp, sailor!”, to which Chiyuri salutes and responds “aye, aye, captain! ... NOW WAIT A MINUTE!” Before she can argue with Minamitsu, the little captain is already outside and looking up at little Byakuren and Kogasa, who are floating side by side, glaring down to the ground. When the two mischief makers see everyone is outside the temple, Byakuren shouts “no chance in HELL I’m gonna grow up! It’s WAY too much fun being like this!” Kogasa adds “I’ve never been able to scare others so easily before! I’m not giving that up without a fight!” From the ground, Budou shouts “but what about the rest of us? Byakuren, Kogasa, you are a friend of papa Ail and me! We want to go back to normal. Please, don’t do this to us!” Byakuren smiles and says “it’s not that we don’t care about you...” Kogasa finishes “but this is a great chance for US, and we damned well deserve this!” Cirno steps up, smiling tenderly at the girls in the sky, then calmly says “allow me to reason with them, miss Budou.” Budou looks back at Cirno, then nods and steps back. Kogasa and Byakuren see this as a challenge, so they both smile wickedly at each other, then back at the people on the ground, then each pulls a spell card from their skirt pockets. They both shout a war cry at the same time, Byakuren flies above Kogasa, doing a cartwheel, while Kogasa rolls underneath, lifting her legs up, leaving her body horizontal, and spreading her arms around. Once they stop, Byakuren is floating to match Kogasa’s height, and Kogasa lifts her right leg, then they cross their arms as they declare their spell cards at the same time. Byakuren shouts “Yuugyou Hijiri!” while Kogasa shouts “Rainbow Sign, Over the Rainbow!” Although weakened, Hijiri’s spell causes a curtain of kunai knives to shower down, while Kogasa’s spell causes a giant rainbow to literally rain down along with numerous large raindrops, all attacks headed toward Cirno, who simply smiles tenderly at them and raises her hand, creating a large ice shield that covers herself and everyone else behind her. Reimu watches with amazement as every single danmaku shot becomes a water droplet, and all that water, after touching the ground, becomes an expansive and beautiful flower garden. After the first wave of attack stops, Cirno flies up, leaving her shield behind to protect her friends, and approaches Byakuren and Kogasa. With a smile on her face, Cirno says “alright, you naughty girls, that’s enough.” Kogasa stares at Cirno with fright and amazement, and asks “wh-what are you doing?” Byakuren shouts “HA~,I GOT YOU NOW!” Byakuren tries to power up, but all she manages to do is make her purple kunai turn red for a very brief moment. Byakuren looks around herself and asks “wait, where’s my lotus?” Cirno giggles, shaking her head, then says “you lack the energy to summon more power than what you are already using. You are now at your limit, little one.” Byakuren looks at both of her hands, trying to summon some power to her, however with her spell card active, all she can do is continue the ineffective shower. Meanwhile, Kogasa tries a sneak attack on Cirno, but the ice fairy simply smiles at her, already aware of the rainbow shower, then summons another ice shield, and instead of turning the danmaku into life-giving water drops, this one bounces the entire attack straight back at Byakuren and Kogasa, knocking them both down from the skies. Cirno rushes to grab Byakuren, while Budou uses one of her screeches to slow Kogasa’s fall with its sound vibrations. Once safely on the ground, Kogasa and Byakuren find themselves drinking cherry juice with defeated smiles, Nue angrily saying “and while we wait for this to take effect, YOU, little miss angel, are going to your room, and YOU, miss rainbow surprise, are going to tend to this beautiful garden with the outmost care, understood?” Byakuren pouts as she crosses her arms over her chest, grumbling while saying “dammit! Ugh, I hope this wears off soon!” Kogasa sobs, smiles, and says “oh well, at least I’ll smell pretty.”

At the Hakurei Shrine, Rika, Ran and Chen sit by the donation box, waiting for lunch to be served. A disturbing and continuous dragging and bumping sound, accompanied by a woman complaining from the stairs, unsettles their peace, and get ready for anything that is to come. Slowly flying up the stairs while holding a leg, Iku, with an unamused face, flies toward the shrine grounds, quickly revealing that the leg she’s holding belongs to Tenshi, who has been dragged all the way from the village and up the stairs to the shrine. When Rika sees them, she exclaims “miss Iku, Tenshi, what’s going on?” Ran stares at the situation and says “well this is a first.” Chen quickly says “yeah. Look at what the oarfish dragged in.” Immediately after Iku releases Tenshi’s leg, the celestial springs up and shouts “that’s not funny! Now where the heck is...” With great surprise, Tenshi looks down and spots little Rika, looking up at her and flapping her wings slowly, saying “welcome to the shrine. Um... we’re about to have lunch, and there may not be much, but you can join us if you want. Heh heeh.” Tenshi’s cheeks slowly turn pink as she stares at Rika, and after the quick giggle, Rika finds herself on Tenshi’s arms, asking “um, Tenshi?” Tenshi blindly rubs Rika’s head, making little Rika smile and blush a little, and as she does this, she thinks “crap, what’s the MATTER with me? I... I can’t stop! She’s so cute!” Iku stares straight into Tenshi’s eyes, and right after Tenshi notices, she blushes beet red and asks “wh-what? What’s the matter with you, Nagae?” A speech bubble appears above Iku’s head, filled with a squiggly line that seems to wriggle in place. Tenshi smacks Iku on the head and shouts “don’t be so perverted! And right in front of children!” Iku crouches on the ground, holding on to her hat while a bandaged bump pulsates right on top of it and a tear dangles from her right eye. Ran and Chen stand beside Iku, patting her head with sympathizing smiles, when Suika suddenly call “lunch is ready! Come and get it! That means you two as well, miss celestial and miss oarfish!” Like Magic, Iku recovers and smiles, then accompanies Chen and Ran to the shrine, while Tenshi continues to stare at Rika. Rika points to the shrine and says “Tenshi, it’s lunch time”, while rapidly flapping her tiny wings. Tenshi starts to tremble, her eyes widen, her iris expand, her pupils shrink, then Iku grabs and pulls Rika away, just as Tenshi’s nose explodes with jet-streams of blood, falling to the ground with a blank stare and blissful smile. Moments later, after eating lunch, Tenshi, who has her nose plugged with pieces of bloodied napkins, sighs and says “and I missed such an important interview too.” Suika smiles and says “look, she’s sure to come soon, so why don’t you just wait for a bit.” Tenshi scratches the back of her head and says “well, just so you all know, heaven knows about the cure, and everyone had beer. It was one heck of a party up there...” Iku blushes as a speech bubble with a heart pops right above her head. Chen, Ran and Suika stare at Iku with terrified face, while Rika looks at all of them with question marks popping all around her head. Suddenly, they all turn their attention to the entrance of the shrine, where they hear Reimu shouting “then why the HELL are we still like this?” On the doorway stand Reimu, Cirno and Budou, all looking a bit disappointed as well as tired. Suika asks “so you want me to try gathering them up again?” Reimu sighs and sounding desperate, yet still polite, says “please, do. We definitely missed someone! Yes, that HAS to be it!” Without waiting for another second, Suika jumps on to her feet and rushes outside to the back of the shrine, summoning miniature versions of herself that look just like her normal self, in both size and looks, except for the second set of horns on their foreheads, and after standing on the center of the back of the shrine, she says “gather to me all those unaware of the cure!” The mini-Suikas spread around faster than Suika’s mist can. While this happens, Rika asks “miss Reimu, what happened to miss Chiyuri and miss Yumemi?” An evil smirk fills Reimu’s face as she says “oh, they decided to stay over at the Myouren Temple. She wants to study magic there.” At the Myouren Temple, Byakuren bangs on the door of her room, shouting “PLEASE! I won’t do it again, I PROMISE! Just let me go~” Behind her, the excited Yumemi holds a strange machine with a large black monitor, saying “please, just show me again! I’ll just record you with this, then you can show me again, so I can take notes! COME ON!!” Byakuren’s eyes expand and starts banging on her door even harder, crying with despair. Back at the Hakurei Shrine, the mini-Suikas return empty-handed, and Suika’s mist stops spreading. Suika looks seriously at Reimu, then says “Reimu, everybody in Gensokyo already knows! Something else must have happened!” Reimu scoffs and looks angrily toward the sky and says “we’re going to the Scarlet Devil Mansion!”

Later that day, at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Remilia greets Reimu at the door, and immediately upon laying eyes on the maiden, she says “so you haven’t lost it.” Reimu, Suika, Budou, Rika, Ran and Chen all stare at Remilia curiously, then Reimu asks “what do you mean? What happened?” Sakuya appears to Remilia’s right as the vampire signals the girls to follow her inside. They reach the library doors, and before opening them, Remilia says “you’re not going to like this, one bit.” She opens the door, and all gasp in surprise at the sight. Patchouli is jumping on her desk and knocking out all the books on it, then jumps back down, gathers as many books as she can, then jumps back up and resumes the jumping and kicking. Marisa is flying around on her broom, squealing and shouting while holding on to the kiddy book she found before. Alice is forcing Shanghai and Hourai to play ‘house’ with her, sometimes lifting them in the air, making whooshing sounds, then making them crash against each other with a giggle. Ail rushes to Reimu and excitedly says “Reimu, Reimu! I have good news! I pantsed Sanae and took her sleeve!” Reimu gasps in horror and shouts “how is THAT good news?” Budou gasps along with Reimu, then asks “where is Ayalina? What’s going on here?” Sanae runs straight to Ail, crying inconsolably, begging him to return her sleeve. He’s about to run away, but after seeing Reimu’s and Budou’s expression, he stops and holds his head tightly while struggling against himself to give Sanae her sleeve back, then kneels on the ground and speaks as though he’s struggling to do so. Budou tries to grab hold of him, but he pushes her hands away and manages to say “c-can’t think straight. Patchouli. Someone is resisting! Someone powerful! She... won’t let us... change.” He suddenly stops talking and slowly gets back up, then looks up at the group with a smile, then looks at his empty hands. He asks “hey, who took the sleeve?” Sanae jumps on him and starts to snuggle, saying “boyfriend~”, to which Ail screams in disgust and says “no, I’ll get cuties!” Ayalina suddenly jumps from inside one of the nearest bookshelves and squeals after watching the little lovers scene, then says “my baby boy has a little girlfriend!” Ail tries to run away from his mother’s grasp, but fails to do so. Meanwhile, Koakuma tries to take the books away from little Patchouli, struggling with the little girl to return the book, but Marisa swoops down and kicks Koakuma’s back, then flies away just as Flandre tries to catch her, only to fall right on top of Koakuma. Remilia closes the door and sighs, then asks “do you have any idea what he said there?” Reimu face palms and says “it’s Youmu. She HAS to be resisting! This is bad. Nobody has seen Yukari around, so there’s a good chance she’s fooling around as well.” Rika starts to flap her wings rapidly while on Chen’s arms, then Reimu strictly calls “Rika! Try to hold on a little longer! We might need your help!” Ran looks a bit drained as she says “d-don’t blame us, Reimu. It’s really getting hard to focus now. All I want...” Rika suddenly jumps from Chen’s hands and shouts “I want to PLAY!” Rika and Ran run away toward Flandre’s room while laughing, then Remilia says “this is probably happening all over Gensokyo by now. Reimu, what should we do?” A gap opens right next to the group, then Yukari pops her head from inside. She looks drained, her eyes look a little red, and she’s shivering quite violently. She looks at Reimu and says “no questions! Let’s just go!” Reimu nods, then she, Budou, Chen and Sakuya enter the gap, while Remilia says “Sakuya, you do your best to help them. I’ll be waiting for your success.” Just before the gap closes up, Sakuya bows and says “I will not fail you, my lady.” After it closes up, Remilia looks at Suika and says “let’s get them, before they get into trouble, or worse.”

Meanwhile at Hakugyokurou, wood, glass, ceramic and even metal can be heard crashing and breaking all over, accompanied by Youmu’s screams as she shouts “Yuyu-sama, what’s gotten into you?” Lyrica shouts “get down!”, and a metal pan flies straight out to the shrine’s courtyard. Inside, Youmu angrily shouts “Yuyuko Saigyouji! Princess or not, that is NOT a proper thing to do, little lady!” Yuyuko stretches her cheeks to absurd proportions and sticks her tongue out at Youmu, then runs toward the corridor behind her to another room. Lyrica looks to Youmu, seemingly ready to cry, and says “what are we going to do? These three little monsters are impossible to catch!” Youmu looks determined toward the corridor Yuyuko took, then says “grr. I don’t understand! She’s acting like a little brat! Not a sign of her real self in there!” Lyrica adds “and what about my sisters? I mean, it’s normal for Merlin to moon me, but Lunasa! She’s normally so strict and so calm!” Right after saying that, Lunasa jumps hard on Lyrica’s head, dizzying her sister with ease, while Merlin clings on to the back of Youmu’s head, covering her eyes while giggling contently. When Youmu tries to reach for the little girl, both jump away and run to where Yuyuko went. Youmu stands up, followed shortly by Lyrica, and before she speaks, from outside the shrine, Sakuya calls in a demanding tone “Youmu Konpaku, you come out here!” Youmu and Lyrica look at each other with confusion, and before going out, Youmu says “you try and convince them to at LEAST settle down, while I check what the heck’s all that about.” Lyrica nods, then she and Youmu run their separate ways. When Youmu comes out of the shrine, Reimu shouts “why the hell do you keep resisting, you half ghost?” In front of Youmu are Reimu and Yukari, both looking a bit tired, and Sakuya, Chen and Budou, who glare at her as if ready to fight. Youmu stares back, showing no signs of fear, then asks “what’s wrong? What are you talking about?” Yukari, sounding tired, says “Youmu, I understand you don’t want to go back to normal, but holding everyone else back? Even I am losing my mind! How can you do that to us?” Youmu stares back, holding the hilt of her long sword, then says “I truly don’t know what you guys are talking about. Either start making sense, or I’ll have to respond to this obvious threat.” Tension is running high, and time seems to be running short. Youmu stands ready for an attack, still not sure about what’s going on, while the others continue to stare back at her in anger, sure that she is the cause of the spell’s effect to remain, even after everyone who has been affected by the spell is ready and eager to return to normal.

To be continued...

Characters, spell cards and scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
Ail, Budou and Ayalina were created by Willie G.R.
Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot2010
JUL 05 2010
Written by
Willie G.R.

A/N:
Uuu~ Things are heating up as we reach the end. The kids have lost their minds, and seem to be extra hyper. Hmm, I wonder what is Hina doing? Ah well, thankfully it seems my muse is with me, and helping me get inspired a lot! Anyway, not gonna say much this time, but as always, see you next chapter, if the spirits will allow, LOL.