The Story of a Past Scarlet 7

A/N:
This chapter... doesn’t really have that much blood in it, thanks to the Spell Card rules that Reimu implemented. Do keep in mind that although I’m trying to do things as close to ZUN’s facts about the SDM back story, remember he is vague with details, so I’ve filled the gaps with what I thought happened. Also, keep in mind this chapter uses dialogue from the EoSD (Touhou 6) game, as well as original dialogue by myself. In short, you may disregard this, since it’s mostly for entertainment. Please leave a review/comment, and thanks for reading.

Four months have passed since the maiden of Hakurei, Reimu, set the rules of danmaku play and Spell Cards. Many irregularities have happened, concerning the barrier that surrounds Gensokyo. One being the accidental crossing of a visitor from another time, from far away into the future, called VIVIT, and after having a brief contest of strength against Marisa and Reimu, as well as her learning much about her new friends from Gensokyo, Reimu and Marisa help her return home. Another irregularity was the disappearance of Yuka Kazami, the flower youkai that has recently settled in the Garden of the Sun. She reappeared as mysteriously as she disappeared, tough after reappearing, it is learned she now bears a set of thin wings that look like furry flower stems she magically hides. When questioned, she claims to only remember being in a derelict world full of strange magical rectangles called ‘vending machines’, as well as other inexplicable items she didn’t really understand, all from the far future where VIVIT comes from. Unknown to the resident of Gensokyo, some residents of the sealed world of Makai have also landed in this strange world, though they have gone even farther into the future than the Gensokyo residents. All in all, there have been no real signs of any incidents on the hot summer in Gensokyo, so Reimu seems to be taking it easy in her shrine. Easier than usual, some might say. At the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Remilia sits on the small shaded balcony on the mansion’s second floor, looking bored while she waits for Sakuya to bring her tea and cake. Sakuya suddenly appears next to her mistress with a small food cart, saying “sorry I took so long, my lady. Here’s today’s tea and snack.” Remilia smiles and excitedly exclaims “yay, finally.” Sakuya just smiles after placing the tea on the table, and continues to grab the piece of cake from the cart to serve it to her mistress. Right after she turns around and places the cake next to the empty teacup plate, she notices Remilia gazing toward the horizon with a longing face, holding her tea on her right hand. Worried, Sakuya asks “what’s wrong, my lady?” Remilia sighs, then says “I want to explore this world during the daytime, Sakuya, but the sun...” Sakuya looks down to the table with saddened blue eyes, then says “I wish I could cover the sun so I could keep my lady safe while she explores this world some more.” Remilia raises her head and opens her eyes wider, then looks at Sakuya and smirks, taking a sip of tea while narrowing her left eye. Sakuya stares back, clearly worried about her mistress’ stare, then asks “did I say something wrong, my lady?” Remilia smirks and chuckles, then says “maybe you can’t, but I can.” With those words, Remilia extends her arms, throwing her teacup toward the wall, though it’s saved by Sakuya before it shatters, then a thick and cool scarlet mist starts spreading around from her very body, quickly expanding all around the mansion and spreading to the lake. The mist spreads so quickly, Meiling gasps and asks “what is this?”, before realizing its Remilia’s doing. Once she does, she calms down and says “my lady’s been very playful lately. I wonder what has her in such good mood?” Later that very same day, at the Human Village, the villagers all gasp and shriek at the sight of the scarlet mist cloud that rapidly engulfs them, and immediately, a young man shouts “get the maiden, quick!” A small group of men have already gathered by the eastern exit, then one of them shouts “wait, I don’t think it’s necessary! Look!” The villagers watch as the scarlet mist quickly spreads toward the Hakurei shrine, then watch as a familiar witch, who dresses in black and white, hurries toward the shrine. Back at the SDM, Remilia stops spewing mist from her body and drops down on her knees, sweating and taking deep breaths. Concerned, Sakuya drops with her mistress to the ground and excitedly asks “my lady! My lady, are you alright?” Remilia takes a few more breaths while Sakuya rubs her back, then looks up at her maid and says “this... should cover... this whole... stinking... land.” She forces herself up, ashamed of being seen kneeling on the ground, and although staggering to maintain balance, she manages to keep on her feet, then says “this took a lot out of me. More than I expected. Sakuya, take care of the mansion while I rest.” Sakuya bows her head and says “as you wish, my lady.” Remilia staggers toward to door inside, and before entering, she places her hand on the doorway to keep from falling, then says “for no reason you are to disturb me, Sakuya. You are to wait until I wake up by myself. That is an order.” Sakuya twitches, but bows down, closing her glowing red eyes, then says “I will do as you have asked, my lady.”

The next day, just after the sun sets, Reimu looks around her shrine and up at the cool scarlet mist, then says to herself “it’s nice that its cooled down and all, but this mist is blocking out the sun, and without it all the plants are going to die.” From behind her, making the maiden jump high in the air with a yelp, Marisa excitedly shouts “so we’re going out to find the culprit of this incident!” Upon landing, Reimu strikes Marisa on the head with her gohei and says “stop doing that! Anyway, if you’re coming, don’t get in my way!” Reimu takes flight with her gohei on one hand and square blue and yellow amulets and talismans on the other, while Marisa rubs her head, frowns and softly growls before sitting on her broom and flies after Reimu, saying “you just focus on flying straight, you bird-eyed maiden!” Reimu shouts back “I’m not bird-eyed!” Later, at the SDM, inside Patchouli’s library, Sakuya serves a cup of coffee to Patchouli, then sighs and says “I wonder if my lady will wake up tonight? She’s going to miss this most beautiful night.” Sakuya’s eyes suddenly turn red again when she looks out the window and suddenly notices the full moon is rising in red. Patchouli smiles and takes a sip of her coffee, then says “don’t go waking her up, or she’ll get mad.” Sakuya sighs again and says “I know. I have to follow her mandate after all.” Patchouli continues to stare into Sakuya’s eyes, unsettling the maid a little, then says “she should be about the mansion by now, Sakuya.” Sakuya smiles and takes a deep breath, then says “yes, I believe you’re right. And somehow... I feel strange tonight.” Patchouli smiles and says “then it’s going to be a good night for Remi.” Sakuya stares at Patchouli with some confusion, but before she asks, a childish giggle echoes from the second floor balcony in the library. Sakuya and Patchouli look all around for the source of the giggle, but Patchouli suddenly stops and takes another sip of coffee, smiles, then says “well, you’re looking good, Remi.” Sakuya looks up and front, and spots Remilia flying right above them, smiling mischievously as she floats down, then says “the red moon rises! It’s going to be a WONDERFUL night!” Smiling, Sakuya says “my lady, I am pleased to see you are well.” Their short conversation is suddenly brought to a stop when they hear some explosions and some rumbling coming from outside. Remilia shrugs, then says “I’ll be on the roof’s balcony. I want to enjoy this night to the fullest. Sakuya, bring me some tea and snacks.” Sakuya asks “what about the intruders, my lady?” Patchouli finishes her coffee, then says “the gate guard is certainly having trouble. We might have to deal with them ourselves.” Remilia’s smile and widened red eyes seems to tell both Sakuya and Patchouli what she wants done, so they both bow their heads, then Sakuya disappears, Patchouli grabs a thick black book with brown borders, then Remilia heads toward the second floor while saying “tell Koakuma to set up an ambush... and use those books.” Patchouli nods and flies to another direction on the first floor, while Remilia simply continues to smile and her eyes continue to glow, as she heads toward the roof’s balcony.

A few moments earlier, Meiling stands on her post in front of the mansion’s gate, when she is alerted by the sounds of yelping fairies, explosions, and laughing humans. At first, she thinks of waiting for them to come, thinking they are no real threat, but then she sees a talisman, followed by various green sparks headed straight for the mansion and leaving a burn mark on the wall after a quick explosion. Meiling grunts as she clenches her teeth, then shouts “ASEMBLE!”, and while she waits, she says to herself “whoever is foolish enough to attack the mansion like this is most certainly an idiot.” When she finishes her sentence, she notices a large group of fairy maids are now surrounding here and awaiting orders. Meiling smiles when she sees them, then loudly says “we have intruders coming here, so I want you all ready for when they get here!” The fairy maids all reveal kunai knives on their little hands when they all salute Meiling, then one of them says “we will not let you down, ma’am!” Meiling smiles, then says “I’ll go ahead and see what we’re up against.” As Meiling leaves, the fairy maids salute her, then two of them take the front and start giving orders to the others, and positioning them in specific locations. Up ahead, Meiling looks around with confusion as everything around her seems as peaceful as it always has been. She scratches the back of her head and asks herself “wait a minute, what’s going on here?” She yelps as she dodges a talisman, then looks in front of herself and sees the small images of two girls, one in black and white, the other in red and white. Meiling immediately takes the offensive and rushes to meet her two opponents, and as soon as she reaches them, she kicks the ground and uses the rubble she lifts and pushes it toward the girls with her energy. The two girls dodge, then the red and white says “look Marisa, we have company.” The black and white, called Marisa, chuckles and says “you can leave this one to me, Reimu.” Reimu angrily replies “hey, you already played with that black blob and the ice fairy back there. When am I going to have a turn?” While the girls discuss, they dodge everything Meiling throws at them as though it were nothing. Angry, Meiling pulls a spell card from under her beret and says to herself “this should do it”, then shouts out loud “Flower Sign, Gorgeous Sweet Flower!” Meiling waves her hands in front of herself and then pushes them forward after gathering energy, unleashing danmaku shards in red and yellow that make the shape of a flower in its pattern. Reimu admires this from afar and says “aw, isn’t that cute. A beautiful flower.” Marisa smirks as the bullets get closer to her face, then says “maybe, but mine is prettier. Love Colored Master Spark!” Meiling notices the massive beam headed her way, so she cancels her own spell in surprise, then dives to the ground to avoid the large beam. She looks up and hears when Marisa casually says “oh, I missed. Let me try again.” Meiling sweats and desperately thinks “I’m gonna need help!”, then springs up to her feet and as she runs away, she says “dammit, next up is my last stand!” Reimu approaches the area and asks “you’re going to stage a whole ‘last stand’ all by yourself... hey wait!” Marisa looks at Reimu and says “she’s lucky I let her get away.” Reimu sighs then starts to fly, saying “come on. And next time, I’m taking her on.” Marisa follows Reimu, shrugging and casually saying “well, if you say so.”

Behind the mansion’s gate, at the gardens, Meiling rushes to meet with the two fairy maid leaders and says “they’re coming this way! They are strong, so be ready!” The two fairies nod, and that’s when a talisman strikes the fairy to the right, making her explode with a quick yelp. Meiling turns around and shouts “hey, that was cheap!” Behind her, Reimu elbows Marisa’s ribs and says “you idiot, look what you made me do. Well, whatever, we’ll just continue on our way.” Meiling gets closer and asks “and who are you?” Marisa causally says “we just met back there.” Meiling rubs her chin to think, then says “oh that’s right. I met these two weirdoes back then.” A sweat drop falls from Marisa’s and Reimu’s heads, then Marisa asks “well, whatever. Are you some kind of guard, getting in our way like this?” Reimu steps forward as Meiling replies “I’m a normal person who just guards.” Reimu smiles and says “ah, but you attacked us back there.” Meiling quickly replies “I attacked normally. Besides, you attacked me first. Now, who are you?” Reimu places her hand on her chest and bows, saying “I’m a perfectly normal shrine maiden.” Meiling smiles wide and says “oh, a shrine maiden. There’s a rumor that says that shrine maidens are the kind of people you’re allowed to eat.” Reimu smiles sheepishly and sweats, then says “don’t spread rumors like that.” Marisa sits on her broom and starts to fly, saying “I’ll take care of the fairies, you go ahead and have fun, just like I promised.” Reimu replies “you didn’t promise a thing, you lying-“ Meiling stomps the ground, making a small quake, then says “guess I have no choice but to get rid of you the hard way.” Reimu smiles, narrowing her glinting eyes, taking notice of Meiling’s fighting stance, then says “I see. Three spell cards. If I win, you’ll have to guide me to that mansion. If I lose, I’ll leave. Deal?” Meiling nods without taking her eyes off Reimu, then says “deal. Foolish of you, little human, to challenge me to hand-to-hand combat. Don’t you know humans are no match for youkai like me?” Reimu smiles as she circles around while facing Meiling, then says “thanks for your concern, but I’ll be just fine.” Meiling smiles for a moment, then suddenly rushes straight to Reimu with a forward punch. Reimu stops her punch and uses the energy Meiling expelled on it, pulls on it, drops on her back, then kicks Meiling’s abdomen as she throws the gate guard away, flipping backward on the ground and landing right back on her feet. Meiling smile widens as she lands back on the ground on her feet with her back against the gates, and after rubbing her stomach, she says “good. Very good! I think I’m going to enjoy this!”

Meiling and Reimu stare at each other while circling around the expansive garden, then Meiling rushes forth, feigning a punch to Reimu’s face, only to duck and try a slide kick to knock the maiden out. Reimu takes notice, flips and stands on her arms, drops on her back, then twists her body in order to spin and sweep her own foot underneath Meiling, knocking her off balance and making her fall on her seat on the ground. Impressed, Meiling manages to quickly stand up and back away from Reimu, then pulls another spell card from under her beret and loudly says “Rainbow Sign, Wind Chime of Colorful Rainbow!” Meiling start to spin on one foot while lifting the other and waving it around, creating a swirl of rainbow energy around her, shooting a colorful circular wave of danmaku shards at Reimu, who watches cautiously as Meiling spins closer. Reimu smiles and easily gets closer to Meiling by walking through the large gaps in her attack, then notices Meiling’s stance and starts to spin clockwise on one leg, then throws her other leg in the air to match Meiling’s and stops her spell, capturing the spell card. Meiling gasps and thinks “she stopped my attack”, then immediately follows with an attempted punch, but Reimu is ready for her and blocks the punch with her bare hand, then punches Meiling’s face with the back of her fist. Again, Meiling has to back away, though this time she attacks immediately after recovering. She sends left and right jabs at Reimu, but the maiden dodges the attacks as though she were merely dancing. Frustrated, Meiling says “stop moving so much already!” Reimu jumps and uses Meiling’s head to vault over the dragon youkai, but before she’s away, she kicks Meiling’s back hard enough to send her running for a bit before tripping and falling on her face near the flowerbed. Meiling manages to stand up again, then sees Reimu fanning herself with her hand, saying “phew, I’m actually working up a sweat. Good job, miss gate guard.” Meiling scowls, yet smiles as she says “I never thought a human could stand up against me like that. Too bad I have to stop you at all costs!” Meiling pulls a spell card from her right pocket and loudly says “Colorful Sign, Colorful Rain!” Meiling claps her hands together and starts to spin again, this time dropping small multicolored danmaku shards that scatter all over the garden, making Reimu jump, flip, fly low and dive to avoid being hit. Noticing this, Meiling smiles and lifts to the air, thinking “so, she’s keeping herself low to the ground. Well, you are sadly mistaken if you think you’re gonna beat THIS spell that easily. Wait, where’d she-?” Reimu has taken flight just above Meiling after seeing a small opening just above the youkai’s head, then dive-kicks hard and captures the spell card, making Meiling scream out in pain and surprise upon impact. Reimu lands on her feet with a confident smile, while Meiling lands on her back as she slides all the way back to the gate wall, stopping when her head bumps against it. Frustrated and admittedly impressed, Meiling stands up and rubs her head, then looks at Reimu and points at her with her last spell card, then says “you are most amazing, miss maiden. I’m already using my third spell card, and against a mere human! Well, this ends here and now!” Reimu scoffs and says “bring it on already.” Meiling starts to focus her energy, standing as though she’s praying, even clapping her hands together. The back of her outfit is torn and dirty, and her hat looks as though it’s taken a small beating, her face is full of dirt, as well as some light bruises and some blood tricking down her forehead, yet Meiling presses on. Reimu watches and waits for the gate guard to attack, then smiles when Meiling shouts “Colorful Sign, Extreme Color Typhoon!” Before long, Reimu finds herself dodging countless multi-colored shards, while blocking Meiling’s rainbow punches and kicks. After blocking, flipping, jumping and nearly avoiding a powerful kick, Reimu thinks “crap, she got faster, and she’s attacking more viciously, and these bullets of her aren’t making things easier. I can’t find an opening to this. No choice but to defend myself for now.” Meiling continues to try and land her punches and kicks on Reimu, yet finds herself being frustrated by how quickly the maiden reacts to the attacks, dodging and blocking accordingly. Finally, Meiling places all her power on her punches and kicks, diminishing the amount of danmaku shards that fly all around, giving Reimu an easier time dodging, yet attacks so fast and so fiercely, it’s only a matter of just getting to land a single punch in order to win. Reimu starts smiling again, infuriating Meiling and making her throw her attacks a little more wildly, then suddenly, Reimu drops down and uses her hands to push herself up and kick Meiling’s abdomen so hard, the dragon youkai flies all the way toward the gate’s wall, where she abruptly stops after crashing on her back against it. Meiling feels dizzy, still unable to realize what just happened, and while she looks around, she drops to the ground on her knees while taking many deep breaths, thinking “what just happened? Why am I this tired? How many times she kicked me?” Meiling tries to remember the kick she just received, then realizes Reimu kicked her at least 5 times on her chest and ribs before the last kick to her abdomen. When she comes back from her thoughts, she sees Reimu standing beside her with a wide smile, saying “well, mind guiding me inside?” Meiling sobs and lets a small tear escape her left eye as she says “I’m so sorry, my lady~”

Once inside the mansion, Reimu follows the trail of destroyed ornaments and dead fairies, casually saying to herself “yup, she was here alright”, and finally arriving to the basement, standing next to the doors to the library. The moment she opens them, she finds Marisa looking around with a smirk on her face. Reimu takes advantage that Marisa still hasn’t seen her and flies over to smack her friend on the head with her gohei, clenching her teeth and saying “thanks for waiting, you annoying witch.” Marisa rubs her head and says “oi~ I took care of the fairies as promised, didn’t I?” Reimu ignores Marisa and looks around the dark library, then says “gee, it’s so dark. And is it just me, or is this mansion bigger inside than it is outside?” Marisa shrugs and says “whatever. Come on, let’s have a look.” Reimu smiles and sweats, then says “you just want to look for some books, don’t you?” Meanwhile, father inside the library, Patchouli raises her hand as it glows lightly, then lowers her hand again and says “alright, the defenses are activated. Now, Koakuma, there are intruders inside. Go and have fun with them, if you want.” Koakuma’s smirk shines brightly inside the dark library, and as she flies to meet with the intruders, she snickers and says to herself “she’s lucky she’s so cute, or I’d just go play somewhere else.” Patchouli sighs and rubs her forehead, then says “geez, that girl is impossible. I just hope it’s enough to stop them, or I’ll be in trouble.” After saying this, Patchouli starts to cough violently, dropping to the ground on her knees while gasping for air. Meanwhile, Marisa and Reimu are halfway across the great library, where they are bombarded with green danmaku orbs from many magical books, but they both sway through the bullets with ease. Reimu calmly looks around and asks “Marisa, can you see a way out of here?” Marisa smiles and says “nope. I can only see those orbs and knives headed our way.” Reimu and Marisa move left, right, up, down, then right again, then Reimu sees Koakuma and exclaims “target practice!” Koakuma sweats and says to herself “tck, isn’t she a cocky little maiden. So annoying.” Koakuma tries her attack a second time, but when she sees the insane barrage of talismans and amulets flying toward her, she shrieks and flies away while rushing tears escape her eyes. Although she tries to fly away, turning left and right and trying to hide behind bookshelves, the amulets continue to track her down until they finally hit her, the little devil whimpering before they impact. After hearing the explosion and Koakuma’s bloody scream, Reimu and Marisa shrug and say at the same time “small fry”, then continue on their way. The fairies and library’s defenses attack more fiercely now, yet the two girls blast anything that gets in their way and continue on their way, though both are having a harder time with these than they expected. Sounding a bit winded, Marisa asks “say Reimu, don’t you think they are getting a little too aggressive?” Reimu’s face turns serious as she dodges a thick shower of danmaku shards and says “that must mean we’re close to something important.” Suddenly, the attacks just stop and everything becomes calm and quiet. Marisa looks around in surprise and says “hey Reimu, they stopped... Reimu?” When Marisa looks around, she spots Reimu on the ground and looking around the bookshelves, seemingly interested in some books. Marisa sweats and says to herself “well, looks like she’s having fun. Oh well, I guess I could borrow some books now.” Patchouli’s voice echoes all around as she says “hey you red and white, don’t run amok in my study. These books are worth your shrine’s donations for the past five years.” Reimu sweats but doesn’t reply, while Marisa ignores Patchouli, who flies right in front of her, then says “so many books! I’ll definitely borrow some.” Patchouli calmly says “don’t take any books, please.” Marisa smiles, lowers her head, and places her hand on her chest as she says “I’m gonna take ‘em.” Patchouli looks through her book and says “let’s see. How to passively kill the black thing in front of you.” Marisa sweats and smiles sheepishly while thinking “is that really written in there?” Patchouli stops reading and says “my eyes are getting bad.” Marisa smiles and says “it’s too dark to read in here.” Patchouli immediately replies “perhaps I lack iron.” Marisa smirks and says “I think you mean vitamin A” Patchouli stares at Marisa with her unfriendly eyes and asks “how about you?” Marisa flies higher while saying “I got plenty of everything.” Reimu scoffs, and continues reading a book she found, using one of her yin-yang orbs for lighting. Marisa ignores Reimu and adds “I’m very delicious too.” Patchouli looks through her book and says “hmm, I should help myself, then. Let’s see, how to remove unneeded portions of food.” Marisa smirks wickedly, then asks “how many?” Patchouli stares at her for a moment, then says “four. Once you lose, I’ll get to take my share of vitamins.” Marisa smiles and says “fine, but if I win, you’ll help me find all the books I want, and no complaining.” Patchouli nods, then says “another good reason for me to win.”

Marisa smirks and points at Patchouli with her finger, then says “this should finish you off quickly”, and fires a thin laser beam at Patchouli. The purple-haired magician sways to the left, smiles very lightly, and asks “you call that a laser? Here, take a look at this.” Patchouli raises her hand, pointing upward at the ceiling, then four orbs of light appear around her, and each of the four orbs fire a large laser beam while circling around Patchouli in an uneven manner, forcing Marisa to take immediate evasive action, having to drop from her broom and hang from it while in mid-air, so she doesn’t get hit directly, and even so, she finds herself lifting her body up and clinging her legs on her broom to avoid being hit. When the lasers stop, Marisa manages to get on her broom while Patchouli says “if that’s all you can do, you better quit now... miss magician.” Saying those last two words in a mocking tone makes Marisa burn up with rage, and without thinking about it, she pulls a spell card and shouts “Magic Sign, Stardust Reverie!” Patchouli yelps with surprise and immediately opens her book, revealing her first spell card, then calls out as loudly as she can “Earth Sign, Rage Trilithon!” Marisa’s stars get broken down by Patchouli’s stone fragments with ease, saving the librarian from a painful experience, and causing Marisa to have to fly around as fast as she can to avoid being hit, which going through the small gaps between the rocks. As Marisa flies around, she passes over Reimu, who is casually reading a book about tea leaves, then shouts “Hey! A little help here!” Reimu casually flips to the next page and says “uh, if I do that, it wouldn’t be a fair fight.” Marisa roars with rage, but ignores Reimu and continues to fly away when a concentration of the rocks almost hit her head. Patchouli looks around and thinks “I hope the protection is holding up”, then notices how her magical stones all turn to dust before reaching her books, or even Reimu, for that matter. She sighs with relief and thinks “good. Now I can focus on the battle.” Before Patchouli finishes thinking, Marisa is already saying out loud “...and strike my enemies down with all my love! Love Colored Master Spark!” When Patchouli lays eyes on the massive multi-colored beam headed her way, she yelps and her book magically switches pages, where another spell card appears, and after reading the incantation out loud, she finishes by rapidly and loudly saying “Metal Sign, Metal Fatigue!” Gold coins appear in a circular formation all around Patchouli, and the metal coins are so well polished, they deflect the massive beam and splits it into thinner beams. At the same time, scattered gold coins rain down on Marisa, who notices the magical properties of the coins and dodges as best as she can in order to avoid being hit. Reimu casually looks up, then says “what a waste of gold”, then continues reading her book. Patchouli hyperventilate, feeling as though the air she breathes isn’t enough, and fears she might collapse, so she says to herself “calm down Knowledge. You’re alright now. Take a calming breath and...” She takes a deep breath and opens her eyes just in time to see green sparks headed her way. Cancelling her spell, Patchouli flies up with a quick shriek, then notices Marisa is flying behind her now, smiling while holding both hands in front of herself, cupping her hands while keeping her fingers spread. Patchouli gulps to place her loudly beating heart back in her chest, then says “ugh, you really are annoying.” Marisa smiles and says “we each have two more to go.” Patchouli scoffs and says “I’ll bring you down with my next spell.”

Patchouli looks at Marisa and her odious confident smirk, then thinks “that girl is a real nuisance. And just look at her smiling like that. Even though I outrank her in class, she’s still so confident... and I can’t seem to connect a single attack either. Ugh, that smile! That’s it, I’m trying this one now!” Marisa waves at Patchouli and shouts “hey, are you giving up? I already saw some books I want to take home with me.” Patchouli, speaking as loudly as she can, says “I told you, you can’t take them! Metal and Water Sign, Mercury Poison!” Patchouli spreads her arms apart while her book rapidly flips through pages and flies in front of her chest, and a stream of water mixes with a stream of liquid metal, both elements mixing with each other as the water runs clockwise and the mercury runs counterclockwise. Marisa panics and flies between the gaps of the spell, getting grazed and rapidly losing bits of clothes every time. She looks to Patchouli and says to herself “this is very dangerous! What the hell is she thinking, mixing these two elements like this! Is she trying to kill me?” Patchouli looks at Marisa as she struggles to keep in the game, then thinks “good, I almost got her. And just in time. My asthma is staring to get to me again. Patchouli, you take calming breaths. Don’t let it take you now.” Meanwhile, Reimu is reaching the last pages of her book, and while reading she says to herself “that spell better not touch the water outside, or I’m really going to seal you... Oh look, this leaf can make the tea look red without affecting taste. Oh, and there’s a blue one too, heh.” Marisa’s skirt and shirt are full of tears and stained with the mercury from Patchouli’s spell; Patchouli is now confident she can win, but Marisa has a trick up her sleeve, and takes a dive, hiding beneath the spell. Patchouli gasps and says to herself “that girl is crazy!”, then hears Marisa shouting “Love Sign, Non-Directional Laser!” Patchouli cancels her spell in order to take immediate evasive action, though not quickly enough, as a thin beam manages to singe a large chunk of her robe’s back, and tear an opening through her undergarment on the left of her abdomen. Patchouli gasps and thinks “that girl just copied my spell, just like that. Still, mine is stronger, and moves faster than this... however, hers is still as dangerous.” Marisa comes flying straight to Patchouli while surrounded by three thin laser beams that slowly spin around her, asking “so what do you think, ze?” Patchouli tries to keep away while moving slightly to avoid being hit, then says “so you’re that skilled as a thief, already stealing my own spell and using it as your own.” A vein pops on Marisa’s forehead as she frowns and shouts “hey, I only borrowed you- err, the spell for self defense!” Patchouli scoffs and says “eat danmaku, you black and white!” Patchouli raises her hand and points to the air, unleashing her own non-directional laser, this time blue in color, and expelling blue danmaku orbs that fly toward Marisa, who quickly realizes the difference in spell power and finds herself dodging both the large laser beam and showering orbs. Watching how Marisa struggles, Patchouli thinks “no, I can’t keep going. I’ll have to finish this now!”, then stops her laser and opens her book again, where a spell card appears while the book continues to flip through pages, then shouts “Earth and Metal Sign, Emerald Megalith!” Marisa watches in horror as small and large green stones shower on her as though they were rain, threatening to finish her off quickly, giving her very little room to dodge through. Watching Marisa barely grazes through the rocks, Patchouli feels as her own strength wanes, and she feels a strong need to cough, but she manages to suppress it and continues her spell, thinking “just a little more. I almost got her.” Marisa’s clothes are full of tears all over, her skirt looks like a messy cloth, and her shirt and apron look like she’s been sleeping on a bed of nails, yet she still smirks, irritating Patchouli some more. Marisa gets closer to Patchouli and the source of the spell, and suddenly pulls a spell card from under her hat, but before she can declare her spell, Patchouli starts coughing very violently, cancelling her own spell and dropping from the second floor straight to the floor. Marisa is caught by surprise by these sudden turn of events and doesn’t realize Patchouli is falling to her death, and by the time she realizes it, Reimu jumps from the desk she was and rescues Patchouli long before she hits the ground. Worried, Marisa flies to Reimu and Patchouli, and asks “whoa, what just happened?” Patchouli coughs some more, sobs then replies “I... I’m so anemic, I can’t even recite my spells.” Reimu smiles, then says “well, looks like you owe Marisa some books. Though, why don’t you rest for a bit before that? Oh, and please point me to your mistress, if you’re so kind.” Patchouli smiles while taking a few calming breaths while on Reimu’s arms, then says “second floor balcony to the right. There’s a door there... but before you go, could you tell me who you are?” Reimu helps Patchouli to sit before letting go and saying “I’m Reimu Hakurei, your beautiful shrine maiden, and I’ll be resolving this little mist incident tonight.” As Reimu flies away, Marisa kneels beside Patchouli with that confident smirk, then says “right, once you’re all better, you’re helping me with those books.” Patchouli sighs as she wipes a tear from under her left eye and says “mukyu~, how annoying you are.”

After following Patchouli’s directions, Reimu finds herself flying over the main hallway of the mansion. The fairies are attacking relentlessly, however Reimu avoids every single bullet as though she’s not even being shot, lazily swaying left and right while blasting all the fairies. Up ahead, Sakuya looks on and watches how each and every fairy maid falls to Reimu’s attacks, so she grumbles as she takes flight to meet the intruder first-hand. Sakuya reaches the maiden, thinking “who the hell does this girl think she is, coming into the mansion and doing as she pleases? I’m going to have to teach her some manners!” As she thinks this, she sets many knives around her and releases them, smiling while saying “the cleaning is getting nowhere. The mistress is going to be angry at me.” Reimu smirks, but doesn’t reply, and simply launches a couple of needles at the maid’s knives, clearing a path for her amulets, which she launches quickly. Sakuya gasps and flies up, trying to avoid the attack, but the amulets seek her and stick on her legs, burning her skin just slightly before falling off. Sakuya growls and thinks “ugh, what the hell was that? I’ll make her pay for that. Oh, that’s right. Got to use these stupid spell cards now.” Sakuya pulls a spell card from her apron and shouts “Conjuring, Misdirection!” Sakuya throws countless kunai knives around herself, then stops time to move elsewhere. Once repositioned, she prepares a barrage of knives and releases time again. When Reimu sees this, she looks at Sakuya while dodging the knives, then thinks “I see. Nice trick, miss maid.” Once clear of the knives, Reimu prepares a few amulets and talismans, and the second Sakuya finishes setting up the kunai knives and stops time to set her knives, Reimu disappears from the front and reappears behind Sakuya, and while the maid wonders where her opponent is, Reimu places many of the talismans and amulets around the maid, then flicks her forehead, just as Sakuya turns around, capturing the spell card as soon as the talismans and amulets strike the maid. Sakuya falls to the floor and roars with rage after seeing the maiden still flying and looking down on her. She recovers and quickly retreats after stopping time, thinking “what just happened? How come I lost her from my sight like that? Grr, I’ll set up and ambush ahead!” Reimu glares forward, somehow knowing that maid is up ahead, then rusehs to meet her again. Sakuya can hear the fairy maids fall one by one, even the stronger ones, making her own rage escalate, and making her already red eyes glow brightly. She stops running when the fairies stop screaming, then looks back and sees the maiden heading straight for her. Angry, Sakuya thinks “there’s no way in hell I’m allowing her to go any farther!” Sakuya flies up to meet up with Reimu, then says “you’re getting in the way of cleaning again.” Reimu stares at Sakuya and says “you... you don’t seem to belong here.” Sakuya angrily ask “who are you? Are you a guest of the mistress?” There is an awkward silence, then Sakuya sternly replies “you’re not going any further. Rarely does my lady gets visitors.” Reimu asks “you’re the ones spreading the mist around here, right? What do you hope to achieve with this?” Sakuya frowns and replies “my mistress likes the darkness.” Reimu asks “well I don’t, and you’re going to kill all the nature around here, so could you stop already?” Sakuya’s eyes glow bright red as she says “you can ask the mistress yourself.” Reimu bluntly replies “then bring her here.” Sakuya pulls a knife from the belt on her thigh, then threateningly says “I’ll never allow my lady to face danger. I’ll stop you here for as long as I can by stopping time!” Reimu smiles and says “four spells. You know the drill, I’m sure.” Sakuya moves her hand with the knife and creates three dozens in front of herself, and before the releases them, she says “sure. After I win, your blood will nourish my lady for days.” Reimu smirks and says “you’ll be leading me straight to her before that ever happens.”

Sakuya throws her knives at Reimu, who bravely grazes through them, getting a few tears on her sleeves and skirt, and fires a barrage of needles that easily counter Sakuya’s knives, allowing her to get closer and try to kick Sakuya down. The maid sees the attack just in time and sways away from harm at the right moment, and thinking she has the upper hand, she pulls out a spell card and says “Illusion Existence, Clock Corpse!” Sakuya unleashes small shards in a straight line, then stops time and sets many knives to face her opponent, then releases time. When she does, she notices Reimu is gone from her sight, and before she can turn around, Reimu kicks her back hard and sends her crashing against her own attack, capturing the spell card and cancelling Sakuya’s attack. Baffled and sounding excited and angry, Sakuya looks up at Reimu and asks “how? How did you do that? You were right there! I know this! I stopped time!” Reimu smiles and in a calm undertone, she says “I know.” Sakuya gasps and asks “wha-? HOW?” Reimu smiles and says “when you attacked me back there, I noticed how you moved from one spot to another so quickly. Honestly, if I didn’t know about teleporting myself, I would have thought you WERE teleporting round... but there is a difference.” Sakuya flies back up, brushing the knives off her skirt and keeping her eyes on Reimu. The maiden smiles and continues “you see, when you teleport, you can attack much faster, without tiring yourself so much or spending so much energy. I noticed how agitated you were after setting up all those knives. Also, when you teleport, you leave a faint trace of energy that can be sensed, at the very least.” Sakuya clenches her teeth, angry at Reimu, throwing various knives that seem to multiply around herself. While Reimu dodges, she continues “I wasn’t very sure about this, until you attacked me the second time and I captured your spell card.” Sakuya gasps and stops her attack, staring at Reimu with fear and surprise. Reimu continues “you can stop time all you want, it won’t do a thing for you against me.” Sakuya starts to tremble as her anger escalates, then pulls out a spell card and angrily shouts “Illusion World, The World!” Sakuya stops time and blindly sets all her knives facing Reimu, who flies in the center of the room with that casual and uncaring face of hers. Sakuya’s rage reaches such point that she even manages to set fireballs in scarlet colors around her knives, and many randomly set knives all over hoping to put a stop to the maiden like that. To the maid’s dismay, the second she releases time, Reimu is gone from that spot and is striking her on the back of the head with her gohei, capturing yet another spell card, cancelling the spell, and sending Sakuya spinning in the air. When she stops spinning, Sakuya roars as she clenches her hands, then shouts “how are you doing that?” Reimu calmly sighs and says “I already told you.” Sakuya starts throwing dozens and dozens of knives that bounce off walls and the ceiling, forcing Reimu to move and dodge for dear life, flying low, swaying and twirling to miss being stabbed in the abdomen or eyes, getting grazed on her abdomen by a stray knife, having her red vest cut open. Sakuya smiles and says “I got you now!” Reimu throws a barrage of needles between Sakuya’s daggers, and forces Sakuya to cover her face with her own arms, getting many large needles with tiny charms attached on the balled end stuck on her forearms. Sakuya screams in pain and pulls the needles off, ignoring the pain due to her anger, then shouts “I’ll make you pay dearly!” Reimu calmly scoffs, then says “you won’t even hit me.”

In her anger, Sakuya pulls her next spell card and loudly says “Maid Secret Skill, Marionette!” Sakuya stops time once more, then sets various knives close to Reimu, all pointing at her, then sets a few more on random positions, hoping to catch Reimu off guard. When she releases time, Reimu disappears again, but this time Sakuya is ready and flies away from the shrine maiden’s attack, stopping time once more and setting more straight and random knives. Again, Reimu disappears and reappears behind Sakuya, then says “stop that, you’re going to make me dizzy.” Sakuya growls and says “then maybe I’m doing something right!” Sakuya stops time once more and sets her knives again, then admires the many knives that are flying all over the hallway and smirks, thinking “there are knives bouncing off the walls and ceiling, some are scattered all over. I’ll overwhelm her! She’ll never reach the mistress while I’m around!” As soon as she flies away and releases time, Reimu disappears again, though this time she doesn’t reappear, making Sakuya look all around, thinking “wait, did she give up? No... I can sense her... she’s...” Sakuya gasps and looks up, just as Reimu pulls a spell card from under her sleeve and shouts “Spirit Sign, Fantasy Orb!” Five orbs in the colors red, blue, green, yellow and white fly all around Sakuya in a circle, making the maid so nervous she forgets to stop time, but the moment she remembers to do so, all five orbs close in and strike her hard, making her scream out in pain and cancelling her spell card. Sakuya falls to the floor, then slowly gets up on her knees and struggles to keep herself kneeling, using her arms for support. Reimu lands next to her and casually asks “so, are we done here?” Sakuya can’t answer; all she can do is grunt as she uses all her strength to keep herself up, while thinking “I... can’t move. I didn’t even get to use my fourth spell card.” Reimu pats Sakuya on the left shoulder and says “don’t feel bad. You fought well, but in the end, my strategy beat yours. Now, if you’ll kindly point me to your mistress.” Sakuya grumbles the word “roof” lightly, to which Reimu smiles and says “thank you. Now, to stop this mist once and for all.” As Reimu flies toward what her instincts tell her are the stairs to the roof, Sakuya manages to weakly say “she’s too strong... but maybe the mistress can stop her.” Outside, in the garden, Meiling sits with her back against the gate’s wall while having her wounds treated by the fairy maids, and while she looks between her feet with her eyes covered by a dark shadow, her heart beats slowly while she thinks “I am such a failure. I am so very sorry, miss Remilia. I failed you. I am... useless to you.” At the library, Marisa happily chatters away while picking up stacks of books, while Patchouli sadly stares at the desk in front of herself, trying, but failing to hold back her tears, thinking “after all of this, I failed you Remi. I am worthless to you after all. I am so sorry.” In the hallway, Sakuya continues to struggle as she attempts to stand up, her heart feeling as though rocks have settled inside it, making each beating as painful as the last, making it even harder for her to move, let alone breathe. As she manages to crawl, she thinks “my lady, after all you’ve given me, I have let you down. I can’t... I can’t let this happen! I must stand up! Sakuya, you have to stand UP! Please, stand up!” Sakuya starts to sob as the hallway becomes darker with each passing minute, making her feel as though her failure has cost her the life Remilia had given her, all because of one overwhelmingly powerful human.

To be Continued...

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
AUG 9 2010
Written By
Willie G.R.

A/N:
Note that this story has been and will be used as base for anything concerning the SDM's cast history on my stories, unless noted otherwise.
I am sure that many of you noticed I used the dialogue from the “Embodiment of Scarlet Devil” game itself, so do keep in mind that credit goes to both ZUN and the translators of the game as well... but mostly ZUN. Yes, I do believe the SDM girls felt like failures after being defeated, but this isn’t the end! Well... of course it isn’t, we all know that. Anyway, if you are wondering why I omitted Rumia and Cirno... well, this is a story for the SDM cast, and I wanted to show their point of views of the events that took place, even if just briefly. Not much left to say, except thank you for reading, and please leave a comment/review, and of course, thanks for your comments/reviews. See you next chapter.