The First Day of Spring Spring had come to Gensokyo, and nobody cared.

Of course, this could be easily forgiven, as it was in the wee hours of the morning, and most of the mystical country's denizens were either hours from awakening or just getting to bed. A shame too. For as far as mornings went, it was a beautiful one. The sun was just beginning to peek over the tips of the mountain range, illuminating miles of dewy fields and sleepy forests. The buds of the first flowers of the year began to open in response to the sun's rays. A low mist hovered over the ground to billow over the lakes, enjoying its last few moments of dominance before the sun banished it entirely. In the forest, birds began to flit from tree to tree, singing their greetings to one another. However, everyone else couldn't care less. Beyond the birds and the flowers, the various inhabitants of Gensokyo were asleep and planning on remaining that way for the foreseeable future. Everyone that was, except one. "SSSSSPRRRRRRIIINNNNGGGGG!" Lily White literally exploded into the air, showering the land with projectiles of various sizes and shape as flowers bloomed in her wake. The first day of spring always worked her into frenzy, and this year was no exception. Laughing with joy, she zipped to and fro through the air, announcing winter's end to anyone who would hear. Whether they liked it or not. "Wake up everybody!" she called as loud as she could. "Wake up! It's here, it's finally here! Spring has arrived!" And it worked. Throughout the forest, various youkai stirred in their makeshift beds, wishing that she would just shut up for once. Kappa poked their heads above water, curious to see what all the fuss was about. Even the humans in their villages weren't immune to Lily's cry, as many of them cursed themselves for forgetting their earplugs this year while those who remembered cursed themselves for not investing in a stronger set of earplugs. And in an ancient mansion several miles away, a cranky young vampire demanded that her maid "Shoot the damned thing down already." Unfortunately for them, Lily had learned from past experience to stay well out of firing range, If the white-clad fairy had any idea how irritating her self-imposed duty was making her, she gave no indication. This was her job, and she would do it to the very best of her ability. If people didn't like it, it was their fault for sleeping through part of the first day of spring. She twirled in the air, joyfully spreading love and bullets as she went. "SSSSSPRRRRRRIIINNNNGGGGG!" That was when something hit her in the face, something cold, wet and soft. Startled, she forgot how to fly and tumbled head over heels back to the ground. Fortunately there was a soft patch of grass for her to land in, but the impact still knocked her senseless. She struggled to sit up, but

three seconds after her arrival, a sudden burst of lilies erupted around her, knocking her back down again. Lily groaned and rubbed her head. She had no idea what had hit her, but she was growing increasingly aware of the fact that it was still in her mouth. She frowned and spat it out. Whatever it was, it was white and colder than anything had a right to be. Come to think of it, it looked a lot like Snow? A snowball? Someone had hit her with a snowball? On the first day of spring? The fuzziness in her mind burned away, engulfed by the fury that was now growing within her at an alarming rate. Someone had dared use an element of winter to attack her. She was going to find that someone. She was going to make them hurt. A raucous round of nearby laughter suggested that she would not have to look far. Growling, she pushed aside the lilies and got a good look at her attackers. There were five of them: three youkai and two fairies. The youkai were the ones responsible for the laughter. One of them, a girl in a black dress with a red and white ribbon in her yellow hair, was helping support a sparrow-girl with short brown hair, a tan dress and a strange winged hat. The third, a firefly by the looks of her, one with a mop of green hair and strangely boyish clothing, wasn't even bothering with trying to hold herself up and was rolling on the ground in hysterics. One of the fairies, a girl in a blue dress whose green hair was tied into a ponytail, looked incredibly nervous as she hovered behind the group. However, the other, this one with blue hair and six crystalline wings, didn't look nervous at all, and judging from the unrepentant grin on her face and the snowball she was tossing up and down Lily had found her culprit. Lily knew them, of course. Everybody knew them, nobody liked them. Rumia, Mystia Lorelei, Wriggle Nightbug, Daiyousei and, of course, Cirno. It was generally agreed that no matter the time, date, or season, Cirno's gang was going to be up to no good. It was also agreed that there wasn't enough brains between them to fill a water bucket. The combination made them very infamous indeed. "You!" Lily spat. Cirno's grin just increased. "Well, what'd you expect? All that flying around, screaming 'Spring!' at the top of your stupid lungs and waking everybody up! Frankly, I'm surprised someone didn't shut you up earlier!" Lily's eyes narrowed and she pulled herself to her feet. "How dare you!" she shouted. "This is Spring! Winter has no business here!" In response, Lily got another face full of snow. She quickly wiped it off to see Cirno's tongue sticking out and her thumb pressing up on her nose.

"I'm an Ice fairy, not a Winter fairy," Cirno announced. "So nyah!" Unlike her leader Daiyousei didn't look to confident about harassing Lily. "Um, C-Cirno," she stuttered, "maybe you shouldn't-" This warning was of course ignored. "What, you can dish out but you can't take it? Is that it?" Cirno taunted. "I guess you really are all talk! And that is why I'm the-" "Look out!" Daiyousei shouted. She swooped down and tackled Cirno to the ground. Just in time too, because Lily's trademark hurricane of bullets obliterated the area she had been occupying. The rest of her gang stopped their laughter to stare up as Lily White rose into the air. Though to be honest, the Spring fairy was now quite the captivating sight. She was now literally blazing with fury, with chaotic energies swirling around her fists and dancing in her eyes. "WHY YOU DISREPSECTFUL LITTLE TRAMP!" Lily bellowed with all the force in her lungs. "I'LL TEACH YOU TO DISRESPECT SPRING'S MESSENGER! FEEL THE MIGHT OF SSSSSPRRRRRRIIINNNNGGGGG!" "Scatter!" Rumia called, and good thing too. The surrounding around was immediately bombarded by a literal storm of hellfire. Grass exploded upwards in clumps and flower patches bloomed just in time to be cut to shreds. Cirno's gang, however, had not stuck around to see this happen. All five of them were now shooting through the forest, most of them sending out taunts and catcalls back at Lily. This of course did absolutely nothing to improve her mood. It would probably be pointless to go after them. There were five of them, after all, and in the Forest of Magic even one would be difficult to catch. Still, they had disrespected Spring. You just didn't let an insult like that slide. Lily took in a deep breath. Well, she had been planning on shooting the landscape up anyway as part of her yearly ritual. It looked like this time she would have a target. After taking a moment to ready all the energy she had available, Lily began to follow.

It was generally agreed upon that while being a part of Cirno's gang was great fun, it was not without risks. As such, having to need to flee an angry victim of one prank or another was starting to become routine. Fortunately, Lily White was far from the strongest person to have pursued them with murderous intent. And they did outnumber her five-to-one. In fact, Cirno could probably have taken her on her own. But why stand and fight when driving your victim nuts was so much more fun?

And seeing how Lily had never been playing with a full deck to begin with, they really didn't have to try hard. Three youkai and two fairies dashed and darted through the trees of the Magic Forest, laughing and taunting as they went. Above the treetops, a furious Lily could be seeing trying to shoot them down with burst after burst after burst. She was certainly doing a great deal of damage, but thanks to her obviously growing frustration none of her shots were hitting home. This of course was not lost on the targets of her ire, and their taunts and catcalls barraged her from every direction. "Ha! Missed again you loser!" "Wow, you really are a bad shot, aren't you?" "Not even close, not even close, and the dumb fairy can't hit the broad side of a mountain!" "Ahhh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, don't hurt me! Ahhh!" Well, taunts, catcalls and one plea for forgiveness. Daiyousei never had gotten the hang of the whole "danger" thing. Frustrated, Lily skimmed above the treetops, angrily searching every which way for her prey. Movement to her left caught her eye, and she launched another barrage in that direction. A highpitched cackling told her she had missed. Lily balled up her hands. "Where are you?" she cried out in frustration. "Come out and fight! You're all a bunch of filthy cowards!" A nearby voice answered. "Is that so!" "Huh?" And that was when the world went dark. Lily shrieked in surprise. She balked in mid-air and swung about in confusion. It was as if someone had deactivated her eyes and then struck out the sun for good measure. Now that was just cheating. "WHAT IS THIS?" Lily screamed into the darkness. "WHATEVER YOU'RE DOING, STOP IT!" When her opponents failed to answer, she tried firing several more blasts in random directions. She swooped around, listening carefully for sounds of impact. From the sound of things, she had managed to hit several trees, but there were no cries of pain. Damn it. Then the darkness disappeared. Lily breathed a sigh of relief. Apparently she had managed to hit whoever had swallowed the light. There was that at least

It was then that she noticed that she was on a collision course with a surprisingly tall and hard looking tree. Lily's eyes popped in their sockets. She tried to bank hard, but her momentum was too great. She slammed face-first into the trunk hard enough to make the top of the tree sway back and forth. Her brain rattled in her skull and her thoughts immediately dissolved into nonsense. "Guhhh, what in the tree love Spring I like beans-" Rationalism managed to catch up before she went tumbling. Lily shook off the confusion and steadied herself. She noticed a sizeable bump beginning to form over her right eyebrow. She gingerly touched it and winced as it protested the contact. Oh yeah. Someone was going to die. Unfortunately those someones were nowhere to be seen. She couldn't even hear their annoying taunts anymore. "That was a cheap shot!" she called out in hopes of luring them out. "Come out and face me like a ma-" Wait, that wasn't right. "Like a Fai-" No, that didn't quite work either. "Um, like something that's really, really brave!" Lame, but it got the point across. Still there was no response. Again, Lily felt murderous urges surge within her. This was by far the worst First Day of Spring she had ever had, and that was taking the incident with the vampire into account. Well, she couldn't kill anyone if she couldn't find them. Lily skimmed over the tops of the trees, hoping for some sign of those who had completely ruined her favorite day of the year.

Unfortunately for Lily White, Cirno's gang was no longer running. After Lily had collided face-first with the tree, they had taken shelter under a fallen log and snickered away while she shouted out her challenge. And once she had finally wandered out of earshot, their muted chuckles erupted and they fell over themselves laughing. Even little Daiyousei couldn't help but join in. "Oh wow, I can't believe she fell for that!" Wriggle said as she wiped tears from her eyes. "Me neither!" Mystia agreed. "And when Rumia hit her with the darkness?" Seeing an opportunity to claim the spotlight, Cirno jumped up and began twirling around in a passable imitation of Lily's movements while blinded. Her friends laughed and cheered their encouragement. "Oh, I'm blind, I'm blind," she wailed. "Where can I be?" She then spun around and pretended to collide with a nearby bush.

"Oh no, I am defeated by a giant stick!" Cirno declared as she tumbled onto her back. "May your mothers be cursed with lameness and you fathers with dysentery!" This performance was rewarded with another round of cheering from the gang. "Bravo, bravo!" Rumia applauded. "Your performance moves me to tears!" Cirno popped to her feet and bowed low to her audience. "Thank yew, thank yew. I call it 'Stupid Windbag Who Refused to Shut Up and Got What Was ComWAHHH!" Cirno's acceptance speech was suddenly interrupted by a hard metal object that had flown through the air to smack her in the head. Cirno was knocked over on her face, while the object in question tumbled into the underbrush. Her gang immediately dove for cover. Flying objects targeted towards their heads was an occupational hazard in their line of work, and one didn't survive long by being a hero. When it seemed that no more things would be flying with intent on doing them harm, they carefully peeked out from behind the log's shelter. Cirno was still lying unmoving on her face, and the thing that had hit her was likewise just as motionless. They gathered their courage and snuck out to check up on their leader. "Cirno?" Wriggle said as she prodded the nearly unconscious fairy with a fairy. "Hey Cirno, you all right? Daiyousei took a more direct route in her inspection. She flipped Cirno over and grabbed her face. "Hey Cirno, are you okay? Say something! Cirno?" Cirno's head wobbled from side to side as she me mumbled, "Gugghhh, no teacher, I swear the pink umbrella wasn't in the lovely garbage flower I need scissors, sixty-one. Where's the bus!" Everyone exchanged a look that clearly said "Huh?" "Sadly, that's the most intelligent thing she's said in awhile," Wriggle muttered. That got a snicker out of Rumia. "I hope no brain cells were killed. It's not like she can afford the loss." That was when two pale hands shot out to grab them by their necks, ending their slanderous conversation. Jerking in surprise, they saw a still damaged but irate Cirno rising to her feet. "I...heardthat" she snarled as she began to throttle her backbiting subordinates. Daiyousei yelped and tried to pull her away, but her efforts were completely ineffectual. Wriggle and Rumia both began gasping out their apologies as their faces began to change color. Mystia, it should be noted, was more interested in inspecting the strange flying object than saving her teammates. She pulled it out of the bushes and inspected it in puzzlement. "Huh. I wonder this came from," she muttered as she ran a hand over its surface.

Cirno stopped her murderous rampage long enough to take notice of her comment. "What?" The quarrel quickly forgotten, Cirno quickly released her teammates and the four of them joined Mystia in inspecting on object. The object in question turned out to be a small iron cooking kettle. Its black surface was covered with dried grease, and its interior was coated with something that could not be easily identified. Wriggle picked it up and inspected its side. "Wow Cirno, your head really dented this thing!" "Well, whose fault is that?" Cirno muttered. "I didn't ask to be assaulted by a crazy flying pot!" "Hehe, pothead." The cold glare this comment received told Wriggle that discretion would probably be the better part of valor in this situation. Mystia paid no attention to their exchange and instead turned her attention to the kettle's interior. What she found inside made her grimace. "Ugh, good thing you didn't get this stuff on you." "Why, is it gross?" "Big time." Daiyousei peeked in. "Ew, is that alive?" she gagged. "When was the last time somebody cleaned this thing?" "Wow, it looks almost sentient," Rumia agreed. Cirno looked at her in confusion. "Centa-what?" "It's a type of cheese," Mystia explained. Rumia didn't bother to correct her. She picked the kettle up and squinted at its dented side. "Now, I wonder where this could have come from?" she mused. A slight movement caught her eye. Reflexes honed by years of hanging out with Cirno took over and she dove out of the way. Just in time too, because what appeared to be a bamboo fishing pole whizzed right through the area previously occupied by her head and rebounded off a rock. Everyone's eyes boggled. "What the hell is going on-" Then they fell silent. Almost in unison, they turned to see where the objects were coming from. There, sitting by itself in a small clearing, was a one-story house. The building was T-shaped in construction, with the front door at the end of the lower-most bar. Its tiled roof sloped sharply

upwards, and one of its arching windows, presumably the source of the thrown objects, was open. From inside, the sound of crashing and yelling could be heard. Cirno and her friends exchanged a look and crept forward to investigate. As they approached, the shouting voices became more and more coherent. "Stop throwing my stuff, ze!" "Do you ever even use any of this junk? No wonder you can't find anything!" "I could until you started throwing things around and messing everything up!" "Messing things up? This place is a wreck! It is beyond a wreck! This place makes the dump look like a museum!" Rumia scratched her head. "Uh, is that" "Marisa Kirisame and Alice Margatroid?" Wriggle answered. "I think so. That's Marisa's house at least." "Sowhat are they doing?" Cirno asked. Her question only got shrugs and blank looks in response. Fortunately, there was a rather convenient open window available. The five of them arranged themselves around the opening and warily looked inside.

The young witch known as Marisa Kirisame was renowned throughout Gensokyo for her sharp intelligence and strong work ethic. Unfortunately, this was heavily counterbalanced by her infamous rudeness, impulsive nature, a tendency to be "free" with other people's belongs, a lightning quick temper and for being extremely messy. This latter trait was best exemplified by the state of her home. The place was almost a literal landfill of junk. Boxes, books, weapons, toys, clothing and a variety of other items were piled in her typical careless manner through the house. Dirty laundry was piled in unruly mounds, mixed in with several old volumes that looked rather valuable. Dirty dishes filled the mold-coated washtub and lay stacked along its sides. And to top it off, everything was coated with dust and spider webs. The girl herself had gone into a frenzy. Her arms were loaded with even more random items and she was frantically running to and fro trying to catch others as they flew through the air. The reason for her stuff's sudden interest in aerial acrobatics was her "guest," though that term would be applied loosely. Alice Margatroid was the closest thing Marisa had to a neighbor, in that she was the only person whose home was within walking distance. As such, the two could be technically considered friends, though given how often they were seen to be sniping at each there was much confusion as to whether they were close companions, bitter enemies, or passionately in love. Really, the rumors went all over the place.

At the moment, Alice was busy digging through one of Marisa' many junk piles, tossing item after item over her shoulder in her search, hence Marisa's distress. Over Alice's shoulder floated what appeared to be a blonde-haired doll in a black dress. Like the girls themselves, Alice's doll Shanghai was the source for many rumors, and no one could agree upon whether the anthropomorphic toy actually possessed a will of its own or was just controlled remotely by her master. "I swear to everybody," Alice muttered as she dug her way deeper into the refuse, "this is the last time I let you borrow my-What on Earth is this?" She held up a strange black plastic box. Buttons and odd holes dotted one side, and a squareshaped bit rising out of the top. Painted onto the square bit was some kind of smirking blue-andyellow creature. "Huh?" Marisa dropped her armful of rescued items and wandered over to look. "Oh, that. Dunno, got it from Rinnosuke's shop. I think he said it was some kind of game." Alice tugged experimentally on the square part. To her surprise, it popped right out, revealing itself to be a cartridge of some kind. She looked at Marisa in confusion, who just shrugged. "Lame," Alice said as she tossed them both her shoulder. Outside, five sets of eyes watched the two with intense interest. "Wow, where'd she get all that stuff?" Mystia wondered. "Knowing her?" Wriggle said. "Probably stole it." "That I can confirm," Rumia added. "Huh?" "Remember that summer I had to" Rumia coughed, "'intern' at the Scarlet Devil Mansion's library?" "Intern?" Mystia said. "They conscripted you because you broke Patchouli's-" "Anyhow! They never actually let me work with the books, so most of my job was trying to keep Miss Marisa out. She'd show up at least once a week, trying to snatch some of Miss Patchouli's rare books. Plus I hear she likes to shoplift from Mister Rinnosuke's shop, Miss Eirin's clinic, been caught over at Miss Yuuka's mansion a couple of times. The lady's a total klepto!" Cirno rubbed her jaw as she thought. The wheels in her head were turning, which rarely meant anything good. "Huh, so that means there's probably some pretty cool stuff in there" she mused. They turned their attention back to the scene unfolding inside.

At the moment, Alice had just extracted a large book with the keyhole on its cover from under a pile of dirty bloomers. "Ah, here it is!" "See, I told you I didn't lose it," Marisa said with a smug smile. Alice frowned. "You have a very loose definition of the word 'lose'." "Hey, you found your damned book, all right? Quit your bitchin'." The doll-master stood to her feet and brushed off her dress. "Sure, found it under your filthy laundry and" Something glittered in the same pile of laundry that her grimoire had been in, catching her eye. "What's this?" She pulled away the various scraps of linen and felt to reveal an odd looking chest. It was about half the size of a sailor's chest and made completely out of pale lavender quartz. The lid was cut in a crystalline shape, with four sharp edges slanting inward to support a flat rectangular top. The top itself was cut into a sort of grid shape, with each square containing a letter or number painted in deep scarlet. The chest itself was locked tight, with no keyhole or other visible means of opening. Marisa came over to peek over her shoulder. "Huh, I completely forgot about that, ze." Alice prodded the box with her foot. "What's in it?" "Dunno. Found it as the SDM. I think it's Patchy's." "You stole this too?" Alice said with a scowl. "How haven't you been arrested?" The blonde witch turned up her perpetual smirk. "Maybe because I'm just that good!"

Alice wasn't the only one interested in the odd chest. Now that there was treasure to be acquired and mischief to be had, excitement was mounting at an alarming rate. "Now that looks interesting!" Cirno said as she rubbed her hands together. Her eyes began to glitter. "I've seen boxes like that!" Rumia said. "They're where Miss Patchouli kept all her really valuable stuff, the stuff they wouldn't let me touch!" Cirno nodded. "It's probably full of jewels and gold! Andother cool stuff!" "From Patchouli?" Mystia said. "It's probably just all her cough medication." "Maybe it's a really rare book," Daiyousei suggested. "Like a first edition!"

"Or maybe it's porn!" Wriggle cut in. In the minds of her teammates, that last suggestion trumped all others. "Ooooohhhhh" they all said in unison. "That's it, now we have to grab it!" Cirno announced. "But how do we get in without being noticed?" Mystia wanted to know. Rumia tapped her lower lip while she thought. "Well, first of all, we need a distraction." "Hmmm" The team of youngsters floated to the ground and leaned against the wall as they pondered the problem before them. Heads were scratched, positions were shifted, and suggestions were cut off before being vocalized. Then, one by one, each head began to turn to stare directly at a single member of the gang. For her part, she was too deep in thought to notice right away. But no one can be stared at for any length of time without sensing it sooner or later. In time, she looked up and did not like what she saw. "Erm, w-why is everybody staring at me?" Daiyousei asked nervously.

Back inside the house, the two magicians were still discussing the box and Marisa's unorthodox and possibly unethical means of acquiring it. "I swear karma's got such a hard-on for you," Alice muttered. "Sohow do you open it? I don't see a keyhole or anything" "Ah, its password locked," Marisa said, carelessly waving off the mention of something so mundane as a keyhole. "She does this with all her stuff. Just type in the right phrase on the crystals and pop goes the lid, ze!" "Great," Alice groaned. "How are we supposed to figure that out?" "Are you kidding?" Marisa laughed. "She uses the same password for everything. You'd think she'd learn after the fourth or fifth-" A sudden knock at the door interrupted them. Marisa and Alice exchanged a confused look. "The hell?" Marisa muttered as she made her way towards the door. "You'd think living in the godsdamned Forest of Magic would keep people away, ze." She grabbed the door handle and pulled the door open. To her surprise, there was nobody there. She squinted in confusion and looked up, to the left, to the right, and finally down. It was then that she noticed a very nervous looking Daiyousei standing on her porch, looking down at the ground.

"Huh?" Marisa said. "Oh, it's Whatshernamesei, Cirno's friend. What do you want?" The small ice fairy blushed furiously. She started fidgeting by pressing the tips of her index fingers together over and over as she tried to think of what to say. "Umumum" Marisa's already thin patience was evaporating quickly. "Um? Um? Um?" she repeated, making a "Let's move this along" gesture with her hand. Unbeknownst to Marisa and Alice but beknownst to Daiyousei, the rest of the gang slipped in through the window and swooped down towards the crystal chest. Cirno, catching Daiyousei's eye, gave her friend an encouraging wink. Daiyousei steeled herself and blurted out, "UmI heard noises!" Alice scratched her head. "You heard" "Noises?" Marisa finished for her. "Yes!" Inside, each of Daiyousei's friends gathered to a corner of the chest and, working together, lifted it off the ground. Cirno looked over her shoulder to see a floating Shanghai staring at her. The ice fairy grinned conspiratorially and pressed her finger to her lips. Shanghai mimicked the gesture and watched as the four young pranksters slowly moved the chest towards the window. Unfortunately, Marisa had begun to pull the door shut. "Yeah, I would talk to your shrink about that" Daiyousei started to panic. Her friends were in the process of trying to fit the chest through the window and would surely be seen. "I mean here!" she shouted. "I heardcrashing and yelling! And Iwanted to seeif everything was okay" Marisa blinked. "Huh? Is that it?" She rolled her eyes and allowed herself a luxurious sigh. "Kid, it was nothing, okay? Alice here was just looking for her damned book and making a mess." Her companion glared daggers at her. "Making a mess?" "So thanks for the concern," Marisa finished, "but there's nothing to see. Now scram. "UmUm" Finally her friends turned the chest sideways and got it through. Cirno shot her a thumbs-up and they disappeared into the forest. Finally. It was time to wrap things up.

"I'm very sorry for intruding!" Daiyousei bowed low and shot off as fast as her wings would carry her. Startled by her sudden departure, Marisa and Alice stared as she flew over the house and disappeared. "Well, huh," Marisa muttered. "That was weird," Alice agreed. Marisa nodded. "Makes me kinda suspicious, you know?" "How so?" Marisa turned back into the house, closing the door behind her. "She's part of Cirno's little gang of idiots," she explained. "Anything that has one of them acting weirder than normal usually means that they're" Her eyes fell upon the pile of linen Alice had been digging through. "up to" The pile of linen that was now conspicuously bereft of a certain lavender quartz box. Marisa grabbed her head as she screamed, "WHAT? Where's the box, ze?" Behind her, Alice crossed her arms and smirked. "And that would be the karma I was talking about earlier." Marisa began to freak out. Her house turned into a virtual whirlwind of motion as she desperately tried to find the chest. Items flew every which way as their master, so previously disproving of Alice's own method of searching, began to toss them aside without heed of where they may fall. "Whatwhereit's gotta" Marisa stopped her search to pump her fists at the roof. "Cirno! It had to be Cirno!" "You're sure of that?" Alice said. "Of course I'm sure! Who else would use that little green-haired punk? Ohhh, I just got fooled by Cirno! That little twerp and her stupid friends stole my box!" "You mean the same box you stole from Patchouli?" "Shut up! And you!" Marisa whirled around to jab a finger at the still-hovering Shanghai. "You backstabbing piece of firewood! Why didn't you try to warn me?" she demanded.

In answer, the doll lifted her finger to her lips and made a shushing sound. Marisa stared at her in disbelief, and then her face began to grow a deep shade of red, edging on purple. Veins throbbed in her forehead and her fists were clenched so tightly that her knuckles conducted a symphony of pops. For a moment nothing happened. Then a thunderous boom shook the house and rippled outwards to the surrounding forest. The door to Marisa's house slammed open, and she tore out into the air. She was balancing on her broom, with one hand grasping the tip of the handle and the other clenched tightly around a wooden octagon-shaped amulet, which was now beginning to glow a blinding white. Her purple face was twisted into a grimace of rage. Anyone who knew anything about Marisa knew that when she looked like that, everyone in a thirty-mile radius should probably evacuate. Behind her, Alice wandered out of the house to watch her go. "Hmmm, should I follow her or should I let her handle it?" she wondered out loud. She turned to her ever-present miniature companion. "What do you think Shanghai?" Shanghai repeated the shushing gesture. Alice shrugged. "Good point. None of my business." She took to the air and flew off in the opposite direction. "I wonder what Medicine's doing today?"

Successful capers were hard to come by these days. When the overwhelming majority of people worth playing tricks on were either A) smarter than you and B) capable of turning you into a greasy little smear, it meant that the pranksters of Gensokyo often had to be content with targeting the small fry, such as Lily White. Therefore, having successfully pulled the wool over the eyes of the Mad With herself and gotten away to brag about it was cause for celebration. And celebration was certainly in the air. Cirno's gang jabbered and laughed as they rushed away through the forest, carrying the crystal chest with. Cirno herself was in the lead, with Wriggle and Mystia handling the chest behind her. Daiyousei and Rumia floated in the rear, though Daiyousei looked like she was having trouble holding in her breakfast. "Woohoo!" Cirno shouted. She pumped her fist in the air. "Mission accomplished!" "That went even better than I thought it would!" Wriggle added. "Victory, victory, we have victory!" Mystia sang. Then, in her normal voice, she added, "And nice work Dai! Best distraction ever! "R-really?" Rumia flew up to the nervous ice fairy and put on arm around her shoulder.

"Sure!" she said encouragingly. "You did a great job!" Daiyousei managed a weak smile. "T-th-thanks!" Cirno grinned. "No doubt about it!" She spun in the air and struck a victory pose. "Another win for Team Ni-" "MASTER FREAKING SPARK!" A blazing pillar of white light tore through the gang's flight formation. Caught totally off guard, Cirno and her friends were knocked in every which direction by the force of the blast. The chest itself was knocked free from their grasp and was sent sliding down a dew-slick hillside to crash into a mulberry bush. Unfortunately there was no time to go after it, nor was anyone even considering it. The arrival of a furious Marisa who's out for your blood will do that to almost anyone. As soon as Cirno managed to pull herself off the ground, every bit of her attention was sucked up by the fearsome sight of the fast approaching witch. A thousand things went through Cirno's head, none of them fully capable of conveying how the situation made her feel. Her mind went numb, and the only thing she was able to say was, "Oh wow, she looks pissed." Wriggle was suddenly at her side. "You think?" the firefly screamed. "Scatter!" A moment later everyone was in the air and fleeing for their lives as the ground beneath them simply ceased to exist. Had they the time to reflect, they would have probably experienced an odd sense of dj vu, as the situation almost completely mirrored the chase with Lily White. Except this time, there was no laughing. There were no taunts. There were only screams and pleas for mercy. "WAH! Watch out! You almost hit me!" "Dammit, that was too close!" "Oh jeez, oh jeez, not good, not good, not good!" "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Ahhh! Please don't kill me!" "Whoa!" Cirno banked hard to avoid being pasted. The blast intended for her demolished a bed of poppies instead. She growled and whirled to face Marisa. "Okay, that's it! Let's end this!" For all her faults, Cirno was certainly no coward. She intended to challenge Marisa directly, an action tantamount to suicide in many circles. But this was a matter of reputation and pride. Marisa had assaulted her gang, now she had to pay the price. Cirno placed herself directly in Marisa's path, her fist raised in defiance. "I'll show you who's the stro-

She never got the chance. A beam of pure white hit her directly in the face and she was propelled backwards through two groves of trees, a patch of overgrown yellow-spotted mushrooms, and a very surprised hive of bees before coming to rest at the roots of an old cedar that was made of sterner stuff than its neighbors. "Cirno!" Daiyousei cried before having to dive to avoid being shot herself. "And now for the rest of you!" Marisa shouted. She flew into the air above the treetops. Her eyes began glowing with gathered energy. Circles of power began forming around her, each one containing an eight-point star. She raised her arms in the air, her fists crackling with lightning. "NON-DIRECTIONAL LA-" "Duhduh-duh-duhduh!" "Huh?" Surprised, Marisa broke off from charging her spell to see a white bundle of fury coming directly at her. "Spring power!" Lily White fired one of her trademark barrages at Marisa. The witch was so taken back that she didn't even think to dodge until she had already been struck. The force of the blast cancelled her spell and knocked her right off the broom. Above, Lily began ranting. "First that gang of rude jerks and now you? Why can't you people just enjoy Spring like you're supposed to?" Marisa managed to grab the handle of her broom just in time. Holding her hat in one hand, she tried to pull herself back up. "What? What the hell are you talking about, you stupid flying klaxon alarm?" she shouted back. "I'm trying to" It was then that she noticed that Lily's blast had ripped a sizeable tear in her hat's brim. "you ripped my hat." Thunder shook the treetops and Lily was sent flying. Marisa was now on her broom and furious beyond all reason. Play her for a fool, steal her box, shoot her in the face, all these she could forgive. But never, ever touch her hat! "YOU RIPPED MY HAT!"

Her rage still burned as brightly as before, but now it was focused on Lily. For her part, Lily did not back down from the challenge, and the two were soon doing everything in their power to eliminate the other. Cirno's friends took advantage of the distraction and hid as the sounds of destruction moved further and further away.

For the longest time nobody dared to move. Then, one by one, their heads popped out of their hiding places. "Are they gone?" Mystia whispered. True to form, she had taken shelter in the branches of a gnarled old oak. "I think so," Rumia said. She was in the shadows of a large boulder. Nearby, Wriggle was creeping out of a patch of tall grass. Mystia sighed in relief. She dropped down to the ground. "That was way too close." This statement was met with agreement. That was when they heard Daiyousei cry "Cirno!" Wriggle, Mystia and Rumia looked at each other and went to go investigate. They found Daiyousei over by Cirno's prone body. The blue-haired ice fairy had taken quite a beating. Her clothes were burnt, her skin was now a shade darker, her wings were lined with cracks that were just beginning to heal, and her entire body was covered with a fine layer of ash, dirt and bits of honeycomb. Still, she was alive and awake, though the way her eyes refused to focus was worrisome. Wriggle whistled between her teeth. "Whoa, she got messed up pretty bad." Rumia waved a hand in front of Cirno's face. There was no response. "How's she doing, Dai?" she asked. Daiyousei shuddered. "I d-don't know. She's p-p-pretty out of it." Cirno's body suddenly began shaking. "like a diamond shining in the sky" she mumbled. Or perhaps wheezed would be more accurate. Her voice sounded like it had been strained through a rusty smokestack. "Cirno!" Daiyousei cried. She grabbed her leader and began shaking her back and forth. "Snap out of it!" "Wahwahwahwah!" Cirno wailed as her brain rattled in her skull. "Dai! That's enough!" Mystia grabbed Daiyousei and forced her to release Cirno. Cirno, for her part, just pitched forward and landed on her face.

There was a groan, and then she muttered, "Why do people keep hitting me in the face?" Everyone sighed with relief. "Just one of those days," Rumia said. They all helped her up. Cirno was still a little shaky, but for the most part she looked all right. Annoyed and a bit dazed, but all right. "Damn it, that hurt!" she complained. "Why'd she do that for?" "I don't know, maybe because we robbed her," Wriggle said sarcastically. "Yeah, but she didn't have to take it so freaking personal! I don't go around barbequing everyone who-" Her voice cut off as something horrible occurred to her. She looked around wildly. "Wait, where's the box?" she cried. "Seriously?" Rumia asked. "After all that?" Cirno stamped her foot and winced as pain shot up her ankle. "Yes, seriously! I did not just take a Master Spark to the face for nothing!" The others conceded the point. "Um, I think we dropped it back there," Mystia said, pointing. "Fine! Let's gowhoa," Cirno said as she tried to fly, only to begin wobbling immediately. Her friends tried to convince to slow down a bit, to wait until her wings were fully healed. But now that her mind was latched onto an idea, Cirno would have none of it. Finally, a compromise was struck. Rumia took one arm, Daiyousei the other, and together they helped her through the air. The chase had taken them a long way from where they had lost the chest, but fortunately the trail was easy to follow. Marisa's rampage had left a clear path of destruction almost a mile wide. They followed the line of craters and smashed trees until they found the hill where they had first been attacked. To their immense relief, Marisa was still occupied with Lily and hadn't returned for her prize. The box lay on its side in the mulberry bush it had landed in, glittering in the mid-morning sun. Cirno's gang immediately flew down to the bottom of the hill. They set Cirno down carefully at the edge of the bush. "Whew, it's still here," Rumia breathed. She didn't dare to think of what Cirno's reaction would have been had it been gone. Mystia agreed. "And it didn't even crack!" Cirno grinned from ear to ear. This day was starting to look a little brighter. "That settles it!" she declared. "Whatever's inside must be super important!"

"Only one way to find out," Rumia said. As usual, Cirno's enthusiasm was infectious. "C'mon!" She and Mystia pulled the chest loose and brought it over to the group. They all gathered around their prize and began oohing and ahhing over its shiny surface. Then Daiyousei said, "Sodoes anyone know how to open it?" "Sure, Miss Patchouli had a bunch of things like this," Rumia said. She pointed to the lid. "Just type in the right code on the keyboard and it'll open right up." "Type on the what?" "The pretty purple squares," Rumia explained. "Fortunately, Miss Patchouli uses the same code for everything. Now let's see" Her hands moved over the keys, typing in an odd sequence of letters and numbers. Everyone held their breath, fearing some sort of security countermeasure to activate should Rumia misremember the password. Instead, there was a click and the lid popped up a tiny bit. "Yay, it worked!" Cirno whooped "Rumia, I love you!" Wriggle scratched her head. "2BRNT2B? What the hell does that mean?" "No clue," Rumia said happily. "Now let's see what sort of treasure she has stashed" She pushed the lid open. Everyone edged in closer to look. "inside?" "Ew, what is that?" Mystia asked, sticking out her tongue. Wriggle just blinked. "Well, that's bizarre." "What?" Cirno said. "All that for a giant booger?" That was certainly what it looked like. The entire interior of the chest was taken up by what at first appeared to be a glistening bubble, but the way it moved showed it to be some sort of thick blob. Its substance was composed of a completely clear jelly-like substance, and the slightest movement caused shivers to ripple over its mass. Cirno and her gang couldn't decide whether or not they were disappointed. Certainly this thing was interesting, but it didn't appear to be worth invoking the wrath of Marisa. At any rate, their opinions of Patchouli Knowledge's personal habits were taking a sharp decline. Then Daiyousei pointed and called out, "L-look!" "Huh?"

The blob thing, whatever it was, had started to move. Its surface shivered, and a long tendril extruded from the main body. "Ah!" everyone cried as they leapt away. "It's alive!" Mystia screamed as she backed away. "Oh wow, that is so wrong," Wriggle agreed. "Wh-what is t-t-t-that?" Daiyousei stuttered. Unfortunately, the appendage had apparently sensed them. It shot out on the direction of their voices. Startled, they all dove out of the way, but Rumia's foot caught on a stone and she fell. She turned to see the appendage hovering only a few inches from her face. Her eyes went wide and her body began trembling. The others had no idea what to do. They certainly weren't going to leave Rumia on her own, but none of them wanted to chance shooting the thing. For all they knew they would just make it angry. "This is not good," Wriggle muttered. "So what now, boss?" Cirno stared at the tentacle-like appendage and shook her head. She was out of ideas. Suddenly Daiyousei called out, "Watch out Rumia!" The tentacle now seemed to be inspecting Rumia's body. It hovered a mere inch from her skin as it ran up and down her torso. Although it didn't seem possible, it appeared to be sniffing her. Rumia set her teeth and closed her eyes tightly. Then it poked her. Rumia's eyes shot open. "Wha-?" The tentacle began to tickle her. It dug into her side and dug in. She squirmed and tried to push it away, but it just dug in deeper. "Huh, whahey, stop!" Rumia said. She started laughing. "Come on, knock it off!" That only seemed to encourage it. Soon she was on the ground, laughing hysterically while trying to get away. The others could only stand and stare at what had to be the weirdest thing they had seen in their weird lives. "So" Mystia began, "it's friendly?" Cirno shrugged. "It looks like it" "Wonderful," Wriggle said. She folded her arms. "Just what I always wanted, a pet booger."

Daiyousei shushed her. "Careful! You don't want to make it angry." For its part, the tentacle didn't even notice them. It definitely seemed to have taken a liking to Rumia though. Finally, it stopped tickling her and began staring at her again. This time, Rumia smiled back. "Hey, you're a nice little pile of weirdness, aren't you?" She rubbed the body beneath the tip, giving it a friendly squeeze. "You are, aren't you? Yes you are." The tentacle's surface shook slightly. To everyone watching, it almost looked like it was giggling. Then the tip began changing. It expanded and reshaped itself. Soon Rumia found herself staring at what appeared to be the smiling face of a young girl with short hair. It winked at her. She blinked in confusion. "Hey, what" The face collapsed back into a normal tip again. Then it slithered down to envelop her hand in its viscous substance. "Hey, what's this all about?" Rumia asked. She wasn't sure if she liked what her new friend was doing. Suddenly it lunged forward, dragging the rest of its body out of the chest. Before she knew it, Rumia's arm was completely covered. "Hey, what is this?" she shouted. She tried to claw it off with her other hand, but it wouldn't budge. "Get off, get off!" The rest of the team was at her side in seconds. Wriggle and Mystia tried clawing the thing off her arm while Cirno beat it with a stick. "Let! Go! Of! My! Friend!" she shouted. "Let! Go! Of! My! Friend! Let! Go! Of! My! Friend!" Unfortunately there was no such luck. Instead of disengaging, the tentacle only began slither over more of her body. Soon Rumia's entire chest was covered. "Get it off me, get it off me!" she cried as she tried to get away. "We're trying!" Wriggle said. "This stuff is tougher than it looks!" "All right, I've had ENOUGH!" Cirno shouted. At that last word, her hands suddenly blazed with white light and a blast of freezing mist shot out from her. When the mist cleared, the entire lump of goo was frozen solid. Cirno grinned and put her hands on her hips. "There!" she declared triumphantly. Rumia tried to move. Unfortunately, she was just as immobilized as the blob was. "Um, that didn't help much" she began.

That's when cracks starting forming in the ice. Little ones at first, but they spider-webbed outwards, joining one another until the surface of the ice looked like some kind of crazy patchwork. Then the ice broke apart into small pieces that were slowly sucked into the goo's body to disappear completely. Everyone was in shock. "It ate the ice? Mystia said. "Kill it, kill it!" Cirno shouted. They certainly tried. Bullets of every kind shot from their hands to impact against the blob's body. But instead of exploding, they just stuck there until the thing looked like a giant, writhing pincushion. Then, just as the fragments of ice had been, they too were absorbed. "It's not working!" Daiyousei cried as she fired off another shot. "Thank you, Captain Obvious!" Wriggle shouted back. By now, Rumia was almost completely covered, leaving only her head. She cried and gasped and tried to escape, but nothing she did had any effect. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and her cries for help were now little more than whimpers. "Please don't let it eat me," she sobbed pitifully. "Oh gods, please don't let it eat me." "Hold on Rumia, we got you!" Wriggle shouted. She turned to the ice fairy hovering over her shoulder. "Dai!" "Huh?" "Make yourself useful and go get help!" "B-but where-" "Anywhere!" Then a thought occurred to her. "Reimu, get Reimu! Go!" Daiyousei nodded and shot off as fast as her wings could carry her. Meanwhile the others continued to try to release Rumia from the blob's hold, but it was now obvious that it was hopeless. Only her face was uncovered, and that was rapidly being sucked in as well. "Noplease no, please no" she whined, and then had to shut her mouth as the goo oozed over her last bit of free flesh. Rumia was now completely inside the thing. Cirno, Wriggle and Mystia stared and she kicked and struggled to break free. "Rumia!" Mystia cried. She slashed as the blob with her talons. It caved in to her assault, and then bounced back out, knocking her back a step. Cirno began pounding on the blob's surface. "Let go of her already, you giant pile ofhuh?"

That was when Rumia began to dissolve. It started with her clothing, which blurred and distorted. At first they thought it was due to being refracted through the blob's substance, but then they started to tear apart and disappear. Just as quickly the tips of her digits and hair began to fade away like smoke. The process sped up as her skin melted away, revealing the muscles and ligaments beneath. These too evaporated into nothingness. "WHAT?" Wriggle shrieked as she leapt away. "What is this?" Mystia's body began trembling, but she couldn't tear her eyes away. "Oh my gods," she whispered as Rumia's digestive system came into full view. "Tell me this isn't" Cirno didn't say anything. She just turned and vomited out everything she had eaten in the last ten hours. Then she looked again and retched out everything from five hours before that. Rumia was now nothing more than a small lump of meat and bone. It turned and swirled in the blob's body like a boiling egg, fizz surrounding it like so much steam. It shrunk until it was about the size of a small coin, than a postage stamp. And then, with one final sizzle, nothing. "She's gone" Mystia whispered. She had gone completely pale. They stared at the blob in shock. Never had it occurred to them that they would lose one of their number. Being young, foolish and immortal, they had thought that their days of mischief making would continue for eternity. Even when their plans blew up in their faces, there was no question that they would always bounce back in time for the next caper. But now Rumia was gone. It didn't make any sense. As for the blob, it sat in a glistening lump. If it had any idea of what it had done, it gave no indication. Well, that it, until the surface began shivering again. Than three more tendrils shot out of its body and snapped at Rumia's friends. "Ack!" Wriggle yelled as they dove out of the way. "It's after us now!" Mystia snapped out her stupor. She screamed, a piercing sound with perfect pitch that could have shattered glass. With that she took to the air, flying blindly in her desperation to get away. "I won't be eaten, I won't be eaten, I won't be eaten" she chanted over and over again. "Wait!" Cirno shouted after her. "What about Rumia?" The goo lunged for her again. Fortunately, Wriggle pulled her out of the way just in time. "C'mon, she's right!" Wriggle said, pulling on Cirno's arm. "We gotta get out of here!" "But I can't leave Rumia!"

"You won't help her by getting eaten too!" Wriggle responded. She pointed at Mystia, who was now a distant spot in the sky. "We need to go and get help, understand? This isn't something you can do on your own!" Cirno's eyes filled with tears, but she stiffened her lip and nodded once. "Right. Let's go," she said. Anymore and her voice would have cracked. Wriggle nodded in return and her into the air. They flew forward, heading for Hakurei and trying not to look back. But nothing would stop the glittering tears that dripped from Cirno's face to crystallize into snowflakes as they fell.

The blob was now left to itself, though it didn't know it yet. It sat where it was while its many tendrils roamed the surrounding area, searching for any indication of its prey. Two of them brushed against the now-empty box that had been its prison, only to retract quickly as if they had been burned. Once it was satisfied that it was alone, the tendrils all returned to the main body. Than it began to shiver again. This time, however, the shivering didn't stop. It increased in intensity, until the whole thing was shaking violently like a lump of jello in an earthquake. And then it began to change. Most of its mass was sucked into itself and was sent out again in four limp tendrils. Another lump bubbled up at one end, while the body below it writhed and thinned itself out. Digits extended from all four of the tendrils, which were now smoothing themselves out into humanlike limbs. The lump began to take shape, forming a nose, cheeks, lips and other facial features. A mass of tendrils erupted out of its end and smoothed themselves out into something resembling hair. Meanwhile, a darkness began forming at the thing's core. As it continued to reform itself, the darkness swam through the body, gobbling up the clearness of the substance. And the transformation was complete. Where a lump of transparent goo had been, a body that superficially resembled Rumia now lay. It had the same features, the same body-type, and the same dress. However, the entirety of its body was pitch black. Its fingers ended in tearing talons. Wisps of darkness danced liked smoke danced over the surface of its body. And the ribbon Rumia always wore in her hair was gone. One gnarled hand twitched, and the wisps of darkness shot out and twisted into the shape of a wickedly curved sword. Then, clutching its new weapon, the thing that wore Rumia's shape lurched to its feet. It turned its head to the sky and opened its eyes. Two blazing spheres of fire stared at the world around it.

Then it rose into the air and headed away from the Forest of Magic, its sword held limply in one hand. Grass and flowers wilted beneath its shadow, but it paid them no heed. Now that it was free, it had business elsewhere. Hopefully those it intended to see would be just as glad to see it as it was going to be to see them. Unwilling Rescuers Deep Within Is this what dying feels like? fallingfalling through darkness. Eyes opened or closed, it's all the same. I guess I should be happy. I like darkness. Darkness is my element, my comfort. But it's never felt so cold, so empty. What happened to me? Did I just get eaten? Did that blob just swallow me whole? It sure felt like it. Like my body was tearing itself apart from the outside in. I should have asked Mystia what it was like for her when she got eaten. She came back. Does that mean I'll come back too? But how? This must be what dying feels like. Endlessly falling through darkness. I may like darkness, but I don't want to be stuck in it by myself. I don't want to be alone forever! Falling throughwait. Something's not right. There's something out there. There's somethingno, someone nearby. I am not alone. Rumia opened her eyes.

It was a slow day at Hakurei shrine. This is to say, it was exactly like every other day. Despite its importance to Gensokyo as a whole, the shrine didn't see much in the way of visitors. One would think that guarding the actual gate between Gensokyo and the Outside World would inspire more in the way of reverence, but for the most part people went out of their way to avoid it entirely. Or was the close proximity to the Outside World the reason for the lack of visitors? Either way, it meant that the shrine's single shrine maiden, Reimu Hakurei, had a lot of downtime on her hands. At the moment, she was killing time with three of the shrine's only regular visitors. Unfortunately, they weren't the donating types. This was to be expected, as a youkai, a ghost and an oni couldn't be counted on to be particularly reverent. Still, if they were always going to be hanging around bugging her, couldn't they drop the odd tip in her donation box every now and then? Well, at least the oni helped her around the shrine every once in awhile, and the ghost was practically one of the shrine's patron deities by now, so the shrine couldn't expect anything coming from her. No excuses for the youkai though, and she remained forever oblivious to Reimu's constant hints that she really should be supporting her favorite hangout more.

Still, she had grown more-or-less accustomed to having them around. The four of them were lounging around the storehouse's porch. The oni had produced a pack of cards fromsomewhere, and they were now glaring at one another while clutching their hands tightly. It was the youkai's turn, though she was taking her time. Sometimes she would choose a card, seize it between her thumb and index finger, only to reject it and go back to frowning at her hand. Reimu's hands drummed out an impatient rhythm on the porch's wooden railing. "Yukari, you've been taking three times longer than the rest of us. Just pick a damned card already!" "Shush you," Yukari responded. "Some things are not to be ruuuuaahhhh" That final word dissolved into a cavernous yawn. The ghost, a girl with green hair and a blue outfit, was reclining on the porch's steps. "Long night Yukari? Or should I say, long winter?" "You can shut up too," Yukari grumbled. "And I would still be asleep if it weren't for that damned spring fairy. Woke me up with her idiotic announcements, and then something set her off and she went crazier than usual and wouldn't stop yelling. Drove me nuts. Mima, you got any threes?" "Go fish," the ghost said. Yukari selected one of the cards sitting in the pile between them, looked at it and smiled. She put down a pair of threes. "Lucky bitch," Mima grumbled. Yukari smiled sweetly at her. Then, to Reimu, she said "Okay, your turn." Reimu nodded and looked at her hand. It wasn't very encouraging. Seven cards, none of them related. Plus, she had the least amount of pairs at the moment. "I heard someone was trying to shoot her down," she said as she started playing mental eenie-meenie-miny-moe. "That's what upset her." "Remilia again?" Yukari asked. "I don't think so. It was by the Forest of Magic, a good ways from the SDM. Suika, got any fives?" The short oni was staring intently at her cards. Almost too intently. Of course, given the amount of alcohol in her system, she was probably having trouble making out the numbers. Then again, her pile of pairs was the largest. Reimu wasn't exactly sure how. "Uhhh" Suika said in a slow tone, slurring slightly. She shook her horned head. "Uh-uh." Reimu picked up a card, grimaced when she saw that it was useless, and nodded to Suika to take her turn.

While they waited for the oni to make up her mind, Mima said, "It was probably Marisa then. Good for her. About time someone shot that flying ball of nonsense down. Suika, are you going to go or are you trying to burn a hole through those cards with your eyes?" "I'm thinking!" Suika snapped. "Okay Yukari. You got anysevens?" Yukari blinked. Then she scowled and flipped a card over to her. Suika snatched it out of the air and started cackling. "Okay, seriously," Yukari said. "You have got to be cheating. No way is anyone that lucky. Suika stuck out her tongue. "I'm not cheating!" she announced. "I'm just that good!" "This is embarrassing," Mima grumbled. "Reimu, you got any ni-" "REIMU!" "Huh? Everyone's head snapped in the direction of the interrupting call. Reimu's eyes widened when she saw the green-and-blue blur approaching faster than anything had a right to be. Before she could react, it slammed right into her chest and they both were sent careening into the storehouse. From there, everything was a rolling confusion of cardboard, cloth and wicker until they landed in a messy heap against the far wall. Back outside, her companions watched with detached interest, as if seeing Reimu being tackled by surprise fairies out of nowhere were a daily thing. "Well, now she's got one," Yukari muttered to Mima. Inside, Reimu groaned and tried to put herself back together. She pushed a basket off her head, a basket that had, not five seconds ago, been filled with apples. Said apples were now scattered all over the floor. And the culprit was now sitting on her chest and staring at her with panicked eyes. "Reimu, you gotta help her!" Daiyousei shouted at the shrine maiden. "We got the box away from Marisa, and Marisa started chasing us! Only, she didn't get us, because Lily stopped her. Except, Lily probably thought she was us, so never mind! And then Rumia opened it up! The box I mean! She didn't know it was bad, she thought it was porn! But it wasn't porn, it was a giant booger! And Rumia thought it was a nice booger, because it started tickling her! But then it turned into a face and-" "Kid," Reimu said, nice and slow. "You have exactly three seconds to get off me before I turn your wings into wind chimes." Daiyousei stiffened. "Yipe!" she yelped as she bolted out the door and hid behind one of the porch's columns.

Grumbling to herself, Reimu pulled herself to her feet and surveyed the damage. Well, it could be worse. Just a bunch of boxes and baskets knocked over. She could deal with it later. But for now, there was a certain aerial torpedo she needed to deal with. "All right Daibooya or whatever your name is," she said as she exited the storehouse. "What the hell was that all about? And it better be damned good." The small fairy cowered. "Umwell" "REIMU!" Reimu looked up to see a tan blur fast approaching. She had just enough time to say "Oh crap" before she was once again knocked back into the storehouse. Yukari snickered. "Now she has two!" she said to Mima. "It's your lucky day!" In the storehouse, Reimu once again found herself sprawled among fallen containers with one of Cirno's annoying friends sitting on her chest. "It ate her!" Mystia shouted at Reimu's face. "It ate her, Reimu! And it tried to eat us too-" "GET OFF OF ME OR I'M GETTING OUT THE BARBEQUE!" "Ack!" Mystia fled the storehouse to hide behind Daiyousei. Reimu pulled herself to her feet, took a deep breath, and started forward. "All right," she said in a low growl. "That is it. Now Reimu needs to choke a couple of-Oh, you have got to be kidding me." "REIMU!" Fortunately, this time Reimu had the presence of mind to duck as not one, but two blurs sped towards her. They missed her entirely and crashed together against the storehouse's far end. Yukari said, "And now she has-" "Shut up," Mima snapped. Suika scratched her head. "Reimu, you didn't tell us you were having a party." "Oh yes," Reimu said in a calm steady voice. She walked into the storehouse. Inside, Cirno and Wriggle Nightbug were just coming to their senses. "An Idiot Stomping Party, everyone's invited." With that, she grabbed the nearly senseless fairy and youkai by their collars, hauled them out of the storeroom, and hurled them at their friends. With a cry of alarm, Daiyousei and Mystia tried to

dodge, but Mima chose that moment to appear behind them. With a sadistic grin, she shoved them back in time for them to be struck by the incoming missiles. Reimu watched dispassionately as Gensokyo's most notorious pranksters tried to straighten themselves out. She had, on more than one occasion, being inconvenienced by those four. Whether individually or as a whole group, their presence always meant her day was going to get a little more annoying. She waited until she had their attention. "Okay Gensokyo's Most Unwanted, I'm confused, I'm angry, and I'm armed. So whatever problems you have-" Terrified by her threat, her unwanted guests all began talking at once. Cirno kept going on about how it wasn't their fault, Daiyousei wouldn't shut up about a carnivorous ball of snot, Mystia was prophesying their impending doom of devourment, and Wriggle kept trying to get the others to be quiet and let her handle it. Taken together, Reimu learned absolutely nothing of importance. She listened as long as she could stand, which was about seven seconds. "Shut up!" she screeched. They shut up. Reimu sighed and eyed each of the idiots individually. No, too nervous, too freaked, too stupidShe pointed at the last one. "You! Bug!" Wriggle stood up straighter. "M-me?" she stuttered. "Yes, you! Tell me what the hell is going on and make it understandable!" Wriggle told her. Reimu and her friends stared at her. "So" Reimu began. "You guys stole a box from Marisa" "Yes." "and inside was agiant gooey bubble thing" "Uh-huh." "and it ate your friend Rumia?" Reimu exchanged a look with her friends and they all sighed. Well, all except for Suika, who seemed utterly fascinated and completely confused. "That's it; this has officially become too stupid. I'm leaving before I lose anymore IQ points," Yukari muttered. "I don't know, I think it's kind of cute," Mima smirked. "In a really pathetic sort of way."

"Which might be catching," Yukari pointed out. With a wave of her hand, she ripped open a tear in the fabric of reality. Staring eyes peered from within, and for whatever reason, the top and bottom of the tear was decorated with a deep purple bow. Nobody was bothered by this. They had long become accustomed to Yukari's "ways". "It's true, I swear!" Cirno protested as Yukari took a step through the tear. The border-watching youkai paused. She raised one elegant eyebrow at the small fairy. "Really now?" she said, irony dripping from every word. "Just like you once 'swore' that all the paint in the human village had come alive and was drinking all the sake?" Suika's head whipped around in Yukari's direction. "Wait, it did?" She was ignored. "Um" Cirno said. "Or how about the time you 'swore' that the Forest of Magic was flooded with blue honey?" Reimu added. Suika's eyes boggled. "It was?" "But that was Wriggle's idea!" Cirno said, pointing at the firefly in question. "Hey!" Mima calmly examined her incorporeal but somehow perfectly manicured nails. "And wasn't there that one time where you were convinced that a bunch of flowers appearing out of nowhere meant it was time for everyone to get down and party?" "Now that I remember!" Suika said with a grin. "Hey, I wasn't lying!" Cirno protested. "I was justconfused is all!" "But that's the point!" Reimu said. "You guys aren't exactly the most reliable sources of information. So why should we trust you?" Cirno looked like she was about to start tearing her hair out in frustration. "But this time I'm serious, I swear! I swear by Santa Claus himself!" "P-please Reimu," Daiyousei begged. "She's our friend!" Reimu sighed. She wondered exactly how much ofuda it would take to rid her of these pests. "This would be the same Rumia who tried to eat me that one time, yes? Even if she were in trouble, I'm not really seeing a whole lot of reasons to go help her." "Wait." Everybody's eyes turned to Yukari. The elder youkai had reemerged from her portal and was looking at the four mischief-makers with a thoughtful look on her face.

"This friend of yoursRumia, was it?" "Yes!" Cirno said, happy that someone was finally taking them seriously. "She's in big time trouble and really needs-" "Yes, I know," Yukari said. "But refresh my memory: she would be the darkness youkai that often wanders the shore of the Misty Lake, correct? Likes to surround herself in a bubble of shadows and has an unfortunate habit of running into trees?" "Yes! That's her!" "And does she wear a red-and-white ribbon in her hair at all times?" "The one she can't touch, don't know why?" Wriggle asked. "Yep, that's her!" "I see," Yukari mused. She appeared to ponder this for a moment long. Then she stepped out of the rift she had created and closed it again. "Reimu, I think you should go with them." "Uh, say what now?" the shrine maiden said in disbelief. Yukari smiled at her. It was not a nice smile, but then it never was. "Well, look at it this way. If they are indeed telling the truth you have the opportunity to prevent another unfortunate incident from occurring. But if they're lying, all you stand to lose is a few hours of wasted time, and let's be honest: you weren't doing much anyway." "Oh, that's all, huh?" Reimu's finger swung around to point accusingly at Cirno's gang. "The last time I listened to them, I ended up hanging upside-down in the Scarlet Devil Mansion's courtyard covered in noodles!" Cirno and the more daring members of her gang cracked a smile at the memory. "You got them back," Yukari pointed out. Cirno and every other member of her gang winced at the memory. "So? Doesn't mean I want to do something that stupid again." "Oh, come now," Yukari said as she playfully ruffled Reimu's hair. The shrine maiden bristled under hand, but she didn't move away. "I'll come with you and make sure these naughty ruffians don't hurt my sweet little Reimu." "You're asking for a Fantasy Seal to the mouth, you know that?" "Mmmm, sounds like fun."

Reimu sighed and pushed Yukari's hand away. "Okay, fine. Just stopflirting with me." She eyed the green-haired ghost who was watching everything with evident amusement. "What about you, Mima? Wanna join this pointlessness?" "Eh, might as well," Mima shrugged. "Been meaning to check up on my little Marisa anyway. I guess this is as good a time as any." "Can I come too?" Suika asked. "I wanna help stop the blue paint-drinking sake giant and save all the honey!" "Wait, no. Suika, that's not-" Reimu cut herself off and sighed. "Yeah, sure. Come along." "Hooray!" the little oni cheered. She took a celebratory swig from the gourd of sake she always carried. "Lesh go!" she slurred.

Deep Within The position Rumia found herself in was both alien and strangely familiar. The best she could figure, she was floating through a pitch black void. Absolute nothingness stretched in every direction, with not even a star to break the darkness. And yet, despite her natural affinity with darkness, her body was emitting a faint yellow glow. That was odd. Also, her clothing was completely gone, leaving her naked to the emptiness. That was embarrassing. And her arms were stretched out to either side, fingers spread, with her legs pointing straight down. Considering that that this was a pose she had been fond of adopting ever since she was told about its religious significance to the outside world, that was both funny and slightly ironic, especially since she now seemed to be stuck that way. As hard as she tried, every part of her body other than her head refused to respond to her commands. Unfortunately, she didn't have the luxury to further examine the weirdness of her surroundings, as there was something else demanding her attention. As she had thought, she was not alone in the nothingness. Another girl floated nearby. She was sitting in the fetal position, with her knees drawn up under her chin and her arms wrapped around her legs. She had straw-colored hair that just brushed her shoulders, a round face with blue eyes, and if she straightened her limbs she would stand just a little taller than Rumia. Like Rumia, she wore no clothes and had a halo of light surrounding her body, though hers was pure white and about three times brighter. Unlike Rumia, she didn't seem to have a problem moving her limbs. Now that was just unfair. Rumia recognized her, at least her face. It was the same face the tentacle had shaped itself into before devouring her whole. All things considered, her presence here didn't exactly fill Rumia with optimism. But the girl was at least happy to see her. As soon as she saw Rumia trying to move, she squealed "Rumia! You're awake!" and lunged forward to wrap her arms around Rumia's body.

"I'm so happy you're here!" the strange girl gushed as she pressed herself uncomfortably close. "See, I was worried you might not make it here okay, 'cause I've made mistakes in the past and well, it's been awhile. But hey, it's all okay, right?" Given the circumstance, Rumia did the only thing any rational person would do in such a situation. She started screaming.

Empty. The box was empty. Marisa stood stock-still, broom clasped in one white-knuckled hand, staring. The chest was still there, whatever it had once held was not. Which meant that Cirno's gang had somehow managed to get it open. Which meant they had it now. And on top of that, they had gotten away. Which meant they had won. Marisa wasn't angry. Her anger had been spent chasing those idiots earlier and during her fight with Lily White, who was now lying unconscious in a smoldering crater. She just felt cold. And that was fine. She did her best work when she felt cold. Had her moment of self-reflection continued uninterrupted, she might have eventually succumbed to a round of maniacal laughter. But interrupted she was, as her attention focused on eight distant figures traveling towards her through the sky. And when she saw who they were, a wide, sadistic grin spread over her face. This promised to be very interesting. Before they could spot her, Marisa hid herself in a nearby tree. And, just to make sure, she muttered a word under her breath. A slight tingle ran over her skin, and her body faded to transparency. Satisfied that she was now for the most part undetectable, she watched the new arrivals through the branches as they touched down near the box. Surprise, surprise, Cirno and her friends had returned, and this time they had brought reinforcements. Poor Reimu. Marisa wondered exactly what kind of bull they had spun to get her to come along with them this time. One would think that after the incident with the noodles she would stop listening to them all together. Suika's presence was somewhat of an oddity, but explainable. The oni would eat rocks if you dressed them up right. Yukari though, that was a puzzler. The youkai rarely involved herself such events, and there was no lost love between her and Cirno. Marisa couldn't help but wonder if Yukari's presence meant that the ice fairy and her friend had gotten themselves into some kind of trouble, of the punishable variety. Well, more trouble at least. But perhaps the strangest visitor to the forest would be Mima. The presence of her old master frankly bothered Marisa. Not that she was displeased to see her. Mima was one of the only beings in Gensokyo that Marisa harbored any sort of genuine respect for. And as a result, having her become involved in this dispute was troubling.

Still, given Mima and Yukari's personalities, Marisa doubted that they would take offense to her intentions. Keeping an eye on the group, she pulled out her hakkero and hid it in her grasp. Between her fingers, it began to glow. Now she just had to wait for the perfect opportunity to present itself. Cirno seemed to be worked up about something. "See? See!" she shouted, pointing frantically at the opened chest. "There it is, just like we said! I told you we weren't lying!" Reimu looked at the chest with a dubious expression on her face. "Okay, there's a box, sure," she said. "But I don't see a blob." "It must have left after we did," said the firefly, Wiggle something or another. Marisa frowned and leaned in closer. A blob of what? Some kind of weird security system Patchouli had wired into the chest? If so, then maybe letting those stupid kids open the box first had been for the best. That one green-haired fairy, the one whose name Marisa could never remember, seemed agitated about something. Well, okay, so she always looked agitated, but the way she kept bobbing up in the air only to come back down again while constantly glancing in every direction made it look like she was being hunted. Marisa grinned. Good, she at least hadn't forgotten whose woods she was in. "Um, g-g-guys?" the fairy said. "M-maybe we'd better be c-c-careful. It ate Rumia, so maybe it's just waiting around to eat us too." What. "Quite the voracious eater, this thing is," Mima muttered. The ghost floated over to the empty chest and inspected it with evident interest. "At this rate, it must have devoured half the forest by now." Little Mystia stamped her foot in frustration. "We're serious!" she cried. "It ate all the bullets we shot at it, including Cirno's ice!" What. "Mebbe it's a friend of the Blue Giant Paint!" Suika said as she began to happily wander around in a circle. "And they drank all the sake noodles!" What! "About as likely as anything it seems-" Mima suddenly cut herself off. She lifted her head from her inspection of the chest and started looking in every direction. Then she stared straight at Marisa. Oh. Right. She would be able to sense the young witch. After all, she had been the one who taught Marisa that hiding spell in the first place.

Fortunately, her former master didn't seem inclined to blow her cover. Instead, she just shot Marisa a friendly smile and a half-wave, as if finding a transparent Marisa spying on people from the trees were an everyday occurrence. Marisa glanced nervously at Reimu and Yukari, hoping they hadn't noticed the exchange. Fortunately, Reimu was too busy arguing with Cirno about the validity of this blob thing (whatever in the holy farting hell that was) while Yukari's attention was taken up by a trail of dead grass. Marisa looked back at Mima and brought her finger to her lips. Mima frowned and spread her hands in a "What are you doing?" gesture. Marisa motioned at Cirno and hefted her hakkero, which was now humming with energy. Mima's eyes widened in realization. She shot a glance over to Reimu and pointed at her with her thumb. Marisa shook her head. Mima nodded. She floated over to Reimu and said, "Say Reimu, take a look at this box. I think our culprit may have left some trace behind. Oh, and kids? Would you mind standing aboutthree feet over there?" "Huh?" Cirno said. "What for?" "Because your combined energies are interfering my detection spells." "Oh! Sorry." Mima glanced at Marisa with a smug "How's that?" smirk on her face. Marisa grinned and shot her mentor a thumbs-up. With a grace learned from years of living in these woods, Marisa dropped from the tree and strolled over to where Cirno and her friends were milling about. When she got about ten feet away she solidified herself and said in her most causal voice "Hey guys. How's it going? Master Spark." Things seemed to happen in slow motion. Glorious, immensely satisfying slow motion. Their heads automatically turned in the direction of the voice. There was a brief moment of horrified realization, no more than maybe one second, when they saw exactly who had just arrived. And then their world exploded into white light and tumbling bodies. Marisa smiled as she surveyed the trench of scorched earth that now slashed its way to the hill's summit. Her targets were now smoking, senseless, and draped carelessly over the branches of the old pine that resided at the top of the hill. She nodded in satisfaction. It took way too damned long, but at the end, a job well done. "Feel better?" Mima asked. Her arms were folded over her breast and a half-smirk of amusement crawled its way up her face. Behind her, a shocked Reimu was staring in incomprehension and

Suika was laughing so hard that the hysterics had her rolling on the grass. Yukari took no notice at all. With a nod Marisa said, "I do now. Thank you, Master." Mima shook her head and sighed. "Marisa, you're not my minion anymore. When are you going to stop calling me that?" "When you stop deserving it, Master." That got a laugh. For her part, Reimu was far from amused. "Wha-Marisa?" she squeaked. "Who, big laser, not there andWhere did you come from?" "Rinnosuke's shop. Haven't you heard? I'm sold in six-packs, ze." "What!" "Actually, that was going to be my line," Marisa said. She tossed her hakkero from one hand to the other. "What's all this nonsense about a hungry blob I've been hearing?" "We were actually hoping you could tell us," Mima said. "Those kids you just smoked showed up at Hakurei shrine about half an hour ago, babbling about finding a large mass of something in that box over there" the elder ghost nodded in the chest's direction "that apparently devoured one of their number. According to them, they acquired that box from you." "They did, huh?" Marisa felt an annoyed tic become active in her eyelid. "Did they mention the part where they stole that box right out of my house, ze?" "Yeah, they did," Reimu scowled. "They also said you blew up half the forest chasing after them. Looks like they were right." She shook her head. "Godsdamn it, Marisa, this isn't your forest to just destroy whenever something pisses you off!" Marisa waved off the shrine maiden's complaints. "Oh, chillax Reddie. It's more mine than it is yours, ze. 'Sides, it'll grow back by tomorrow. It always does." "That's not the point!" "Who cares? It's not like you haven't caused wanton amounts of destruction before." Marisa shoved Reimu aside as she marched back to the chest. "Move it, Armpits." Reimu growled and grabbed Marisa by her collar. She whirled the witch around to face her. "What did you just say?" In answer, Marisa matched Reimu stare-for-stare and shoved herself up against the shrine maiden. "I've had a pissy day, so let me make this clear. Get out of my waybitch."

Reimu's face went blank. Then she held up a single card. There was a flicker of motion around her fingers, and suddenly that one card became eight. The air around her shivered and her two yinyang orbs materialized into view. They began revolving around their master. Marisa grinned at the challenge. Holding her hakkero between her thumb and two primary fingers, she held it up in plain view. "So you wanna play too, is that it Reddie?" As she spoke, the hakkero began to blaze with violent energies. Two icy blue blues formed and began dancing around the fingers of her other hand. "Bring it on. I'm tired of wasting small fry and wouldn't mind-" Suddenly both the shrine maiden and the witch felt long, cold fingers wrapping around the backs of their necks. The owner of those hands shoved, and there was a loud crack as the top of their heads collided. A moment later the two combatants were on the ground nursing a throbbing bump apiece. "Owww!" Marisa complained as pain bit its way through her head. "Godsdamn it, that hurt!" Reimu agreed. "Yukari, why the hell did you do that for?" Yukari stood over the two, arms folded in annoyance. "As much fun as it would be to watch you two beat the snot out of each other, we have bigger concerns than your egos." "Wow Yukari, bigger than watching them throw down?" Mima said. She pressed her hands to her face in mock horror. "Say it ain't so!" Yukari apparently chose not to dignify that comment with a response. "You didn't have to do that though," Reimu grumbled and she straightened up, wincing at every movement. "You'll live. Now, if the two of you are done comparing the sizes of your dicks, there's something you need to see." "We don't have-" Yukari silenced them with a look. She led them over to a spot a little way up the hill. There, Suika was sitting at the beginning of the trail of dead foliage Yukari had been inspecting her. "They're all dead," the tipsy oni announced. "Right downa to the roots!" "Yes, I feared as much," Yukari sighed. "This better be worth knocking our heads together, ze," Marisa hissed. She flinched as another lance shot through her head. "Oh, it is," Yukari said. "Tell me: do either of you know anything about Rumia's history?"

Reimu and Marisa exchanged a look. They both shrugged. Mima, however, seemed troubled. She rubbed her jaw as she searched the recesses of her cavernous memory. She apparently found what she was looking for, because her eyes suddenly widened in realization. "Wait, are you saying she got rid of the ribbon?" she said. That got Marisa's attention. She didn't know what Rumia's ribbon had to do with anything, but the small sliver of concern that edged her words was as good as outright panic in anyone else. "I don't know just yet," Yukari said. She scuffed the dead grass with her foot. "But far too many things are adding up." "You mean about that blob thing? Reimu asked. "So that isn't complete bull?" Yukari shook her head. "Still have no idea about that one, but that's not what I was talking about. You see, I also once encountered Rumia, a good fifty-seven years before any of you. And she was much, much different than how she is now." Marisa stared at her with an incredulous look on her face. "Um, yeah. I know you ancient youkai like being cryptic and all, but what say you tell us what the hell you're talking about?" "Thatmight take awhile, but I'll do the best I can," Yukari said. "But in the meantime, let's just say if I'm right, the next few days are going to be very, very busy. They all stared at her. For her part, Yukari was gazing down the dead trail. It twisted and looped around various obstacles, but maintained a southward bearing, out of the Forest of Magic and towards the Bamboo Forest. And Eientei.

Deep Within It had been nearly half an hour since Rumia had first awoken to find herself in the literal middle of nowhere, sharing the space with a strange glowing girl. And she still had not calmed down. Though honestly, who could blame her? The glowing girl winced as another barrage of demands, verbal abuse and vulgarities assaulted her. "Rumia, please stop yelling. It hurts!" Another incomprehensible string of syllables blew past her. "Rumia, please! I'm trying to concentrate hereOkay, seriously, stop it. I can't understand you if you talk that fastplease be quietIdon't thinkSHUT UP!"

Rumia complied. Not because she was intimidated or due to being interested in opening a channel of communication, but because her mouth had ceased to exist. Sound still bubbled up from her throat, but with no means of escape it was reduced to nothing more than a series of muffled squeaks. "Sorry I had to do that," the girl said, making it sound sincere. "But it's been a long time since I've controlled a body, and I need to concentrate. So I'm willing to answer any questions you have. You just gotta promise me you won't start screaming again, 'kay? Calm question, straight answer." "Eeeee?" "Yes, I promise. Scout's honor." The girl held her right hand, three middle fingers extended, thumb bent over pinky. "Eeeee!" "No, I'm not going to hurt you. Believe me, I just want to be your friend." "eee?" "Yes, seriously! Do you have any idea how long I've" The girl broke off. She took a shaky breath (of what?) and said. "Okay, I'm gonna give you your mouth back. Remember, no screaming, 'kay?" Numb with fear, Rumia managed a nod. Suddenly there was the bizarre feeling of skin parting without pain, a sliding, almost tingling sensation. Rumia gasped and panted in relief. "Better?" the girl asked. She was now kneeling, though the lack of a level floor meant that she and Rumia were still eye-level. Rumia nodded. Then she managed to get out, "W-w-wherewhere are" "Inside me." Rumia's eyes boggled. "Sorry, I said that wrong," the girl said. She frowned and started hitting her head with the palm of her hand. "C'mon Rin, do better! You can explain thisOkay, listen. You're not really in a place. Your body isn't a real body, it's sort of aa make-believe, a construct. A familiar shape your mind took to help it cope. So you're not actually seeing or talking or breathing for that matter, it's just the way your mind is interpreting the sensations it's experiencing." Then she brightened. "Okay, think of it as a dream body in a really, really realistic dream. It's not real, but it feels like it is, and all of your consciousness is focused in that body. And it's in my dream, not yours. And it's really happening, which would kinda discount the whole 'not real' part. Also, you're actually awake right now, and so am I, sowow, that metaphor broke down really fast."

A small whimpering noise trickled out of Rumia's mouth. "Okay, it's like you're your ghost, only you're not dead. Mental ghost, soul, mind, whatever. It's inside my mind and this is how our, um, talking, conversation, line of communication is being translated." Rumia's head lolled back and forth. She felt a minor aneurysm forming. "And my body" "Oh, it's fine," the girl said brightly. "It just got broken down to its base particles and absorbed into the material of my being. It's safe and sound, promise." Rumia tried to shiver but found that it only occurred from the neck up. This was just getting weird. "And how do you know who I am? Did you read it from my mind or something?" "Yep. And I'm using your power, too." "What?" The girl seemed a little embarrassed. "Um, sorry about doing it without asking, but you were unconscious and I needed to leave before anyone found me. But anyway, I sorta combined your body with mine to create a wholly new body that looks kinda like you, and I'm using it to get around." She waved a hand, and all of a sudden a rip formed in the blackness beyond her. Rumia gasped as the rip expanded, forming a screen that had to be a good thirty feet tall and another forty across. Within, Rumia could see what appeared to be the dirt and shrubs of the old Night Road, just south of the Forest of Magic, passing below at high speed. Again, there was an odd sense of familiarity, as this was a road Rumia had flown over many times herself. However, everything seemed to be viewed through a filter of red, as if they were peering through a scarlet lens. Rumia wasn't sure what that meant and frankly, she wasn't sure if she wanted to. "Anyway, right now we're only a few minutes away from the Bamboo Forest. That's where we're going," the girl added, as if it were necessary. Rumia stared. "Uh, wh-what's in the Bamboo Forest?" "Old friends." A wistful smile spread across the girl's face. "Very old friends." Rumia shook her head. Despite the girl's promise of straight answers she still hadn't learned much of use. "Look, whatever it is youWhat is this place? What happened to me, what did youWho are you?" "Oh!" The girl exclaimed, her mouth perfectly forming the "O" shape. "Sorry, I forgot you can'twell, you knowanyway, my name is Rin. Rin Satsuki. And don't worry, we're going to have plenty of time to get to know each other. I guarantee it." The Prodigal

can't always be looking out for you you did great. ou hear me? Dai, can yo that was pitiful A movement. A twitch and she edged a little closer to consciousness. Not enough though. Darkness still flooded her mind, and distant-sounding voices kept talking to her, though never at each other. It was confusing. ster Spark she's still not waking up c'mon, I believe in no one expects us to be gods "Dai!" Finally one of the voices shouted loud enough to fully seize Daiyousei's attention and drag her from the depths of her mind. She opened her eyes just a crack, squinting at the shadows hanging over her. It was too bright to make anything out and the light hurt her eyes. "Whahappen" she managed to mumble through swollen lips. "Oh, thank the gods, she's awake," one of the voices said. It sounded like Mystia. "Good, I was starting to get worried," said another voice, Wriggle's this time. The shadow that most resembled the firefly pushed its way to the front. "Hey Dai, you okay? C'mon, say something!" Daiyousei tried to push the remaining fragments of fuzziness from her mind, a task that was much more difficult than it sounds. It felt like someone had hit her in the face with a sledgehammer and then dropped a bulldozer on her for good measure. Slowly and painfully, Daiyousei pulled herself to a sitting position. Mystia and Wriggle helped the best they could, but every movement still made her body throb. "Wh-" she started to say, but it was swallowed up by a fit of coughing. "Whoa, easy there," Wriggle said, lightly slapping her back. "Take it slow." Daiyousei nodded. When she could talk, she croaked, "What happened?" "Marisa," Mystia said. "She got us all."

Now that her vision was starting to clear, Daiyousei could see that her friends weren't in the best shape themselves. Both of their clothes were torn and singed, Wriggle was sporting a nasty black eye, Mystia's right arm was resting in a makeshift sling and her wings were missing a few feathers. "W-waitM-Marisa?" "Yeah, don't you remember?" Wriggle said. "She snuck up on us when we were showing Reimu and the rest where Rumia got eaten." Daiyousei struggled to remember. Everything seemed sodistant. Little fragments drifted in and out of her memory, slowly piecing themselves into larger clumps. These in turn stuck together to form The chase through the woods. The chest's horrifying contents. Rumia's useless attempts to free herself. Running to Reimu for help. And then, Marisa had appeared out of nowhere Oh yeah. Master Spark. It was the first time Daiyousei had actually gotten hit with the infamous spell. Certainly she had run afoul of Marisa on a couple of occasions, but the young witch had never unleashed her ace in the hole on her before. Now Daiyousei understood why people preferred to avoid upsetting Marisa unnecessarily. Then she noticed something out of place. "Wait," she said with a cough. "W-where's Cirno?" "She woke up before the rest of us did," Wriggle explained. "After me and Mysty were up, she left us to go look for Reimu and the rest." "Huh? But she's already been knocked out twice today! How'd she get up so fast?" Mystia shrugged. "We figure she's just used to it. Who else would shake off a Master Spark that fast?" Good point. "Sowhere is Reimu?" Another shrug. "Cirno said they were gone when she woke up. Marisa probably told them it was all stupid and that they should go home." Daiyousei's shoulders slumped. "B-but what about Rumia?" she asked, her voice cracking at the mention of their absent friend.

"Don't worry, we'll figure out a way to get her back," Mystia said reassuringly. "Don't give up on her yet." Daiyousei wasn't so reassured. Though they had managed to make some crazy plans work in the past, she had a feeling that they were in over their heads with this one. The fairy pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around her scratched and bruised knees. She looked out at the countryside around them. They were still at the top of the hill, with that stupid box glittering near the bottom, almost smug in its exposure. It was now midday, and the sun nearly reaching its zenith. Somehow, Daiyousei found the knowledge depressing. Had all that madness only occurred within a few hours' time? Despite the balminess of the day, Daiyousei began shivering. It started with a slow tremble but eventually her whole body was shaking so hard her teeth began rattling. She tried to stop but found that she had no control over it. Her friends of course took notice. Thankfully they said nothing. They just sat on either side and wrapped their arms around her. Daiyousei appreciated the gesture. She closed her eyes and leaned her head on Mystia's shoulder. Right now she would take all the comfort she could get, and there was no doubt they felt the same. The three of them sat together in the shade of the old tree, waiting for their leader to return.

As it would turn out, Cirno was not the only person on the hunt. Reimu and co. had not returned home as thought by Mystia, but were busy tracking whatever it was that had escaped from the box. Unfortunately, they were discovering that following a trail of withered grass and flowers only worked in areas that actually had grass and flowers. Once they reached areas that had more dirt than foliage, things slowed down considerably. Surprisingly, the one who proved to have the most aptitude for picking up the trail was Suika. Just when it looked like they had lost it again, she would spot a patch of weeds or a clump of leaves displaying the same signs of decay that the grass had. It also helped that the trail remained moreor-less pointed southward. Still, it was slow going, and many members of the party were getting impatient. As they continued through a grove of orange trees, Reimu took the opportunity to ask Yukari some questions. "So," she said as she hovered closer to the ancient youkai. "You wanna tell me what this is all about." Yukari frowned in annoyance, but she said, "If I must. It's just hard to think of where to beginLet's see, you first met Rumia back during Remilia Scarlet's red mist incident, correct?"

"Yeah, she tried to eat me and Marisa. We messed her up for it. So what?" "Well, I also had a little encounter with the same girl, only this was long before you were born. Your mother was about your age, maybe a little older, and was the current shrine maiden of Hakurei Shrine." Reimu shot her an odd look. "You know, one of these days you're going to have to tell me exactly how you knew my parents." "Perhaps," Yukari said, casually waving off Reimu's probing. "But that can wait. Right now, all you need to understand that when I met Rumia, she was much, much different from the silly prankster you know her as." "Different? How so?" "She was a life destroying abomination." Reimu nearly ran into an orange tree. She managed to recover just in time. "Say what?" "Just what I said. Rumia is, or at least was, one of the deadliest youkai ever to wander Gensokyo." A faraway look grew in Yukari's eyes. "We never did figure out where she came from. It seemed like she had climbed out of Hell itself. Maybe she had. But whatever her origins, she was bound and determined to burn Gensokyo to the ground." Reimu didn't say anything. She knew Yukari well enough to know that she wasn't pulling one of her jokes, but to picture silly little Rumia as some sort of harbinger of the apocalypse nearly caused her imagination to hemorrhage. So she remained silent and allowed Yukari to continue. "At any rate, there was a good chance she might have done it too. Fortunately, your mother and I got wind of it before things got out of hand and put a stop to it." "Oh. Well, good." Yukari smiled at her. There was no warmth in the expression. "It wasn't a simple matter. We got to her before she could do too much damage, but she wasn't one to go down easy." "Really? How so?" The origin of the question was Marisa, who had been pretending not to listen to the story but had taken the opportunity to enter the conversation. Mima floated a little ways beyond her, listening but not taking part. All of this she knew already. Yukari shook her head. "Rumia's power, the Rumia you know, is darkness. For her, it is a simple absence of light, an ability so ineffective it ends up blinding the silly girl as well. But the power of the Rumia I knew went much deeper. She was the antithesis of life itself. Lower life such as plants and small insects simply died by being in her presence. She could stop a heartbeat of a weaker

person with a touch. The stronger could resist for a time, your mother and I being the prime example, but it was

horrifying to behold. The Shadow Youkai knelt among the skeleton of the small human outpost, dried blood on her rosy lips and gore coating her pale curving talons and the black blade of the twisted sword she carried. Around her, the ash of the wreckage continued to burn, despite having little in the way of fuel left. Everything was dead. The humans, their youkai and fairy allies, the local animal life, and a fair portion of the surrounding forest. Anything that hadn't been ripped to pieces by the Shadow Youkai herself had shriveled up in her shadow. Even the stones themselves were cracked and splattered with blood. Above, the sun was blocked by dark clouds that rolled and billowed over one another as silent lightning cut its way through the sky, never enough to actually illuminate the place but enough reveal short glimpses of the carnage beneath. Yukari stood at the far end of the outpost, staring. It was at times like this she wished that her night-vision was not so good. When the Hakurei shrine maiden had first alerted her about the danger, Yukari's response was to laugh in her face. But now The shrine maiden herself stood to Yukari's right. Despite her young age, she didn't seem fazed by the devastation around her. She just lookedtired. Tired and grim. "Now?" she said. "Now do you believe me?" Yukari didn't respond. The Shadow Youkai had noticed them. The monster rose to her feet, tattered dress fluttering in a cold wind that had started blowing as her ruby red eyes focused on the two newcomers. Her grip on the sword tightened, and her bloodstained lips parted in a smile. Yukari and the shrine maiden readied themselves to meet the Shadow Youkai's attack. And not a moment too soon, because within moments it was flying through the air, howling in delight at having found more victims, the blade of its sword coming down on them

unpleasant, very unpleasant." Yukari said. "Still, we managed to beat her in the end. After that, we sealed off her powers and erased her memories. She was harmless after that. Reimu frowned. "Uh, harmless? Excuse me, I'm no big fan of executions, but wouldn't it have been best to just kill her?" "I'm with Reddie on this one," Marisa put in. "Something that crazy dangerous shouldn't be allowed to run around, mind-wipe or no." "And yet," Mima said without emotion, "we let you roam free."

Marisa winced. "Hey, waitaminute! I may be a little nuts, but I'm not genocidal, ze! Even Remilia knows that people like Flandre shouldn't be set loose, and this Rumia sounds way worse than psycho-vamp." "I agree," Yukari said. "In fact, I insisted we do just that. Unfortunately, that proved to be problematic." "How so?" Reimu asked. "Well, for one she turned out to be incredibly hard to kill. She wasn't a complete immortal like the Moon Princess or her pyromaniac of a rival, but she was still pretty close. For another, we discovered that even if we did manage to destroy her, all the life she had absorbed would be released in a manner that could be best described aswell, let's just say it would be enough to turn the Forest of Magic into a desert of glass." Marisa whistled. "Indeed," Yukari said. "At one point we considered dumping her in Makai, but Shinki would hear none of it, further lending credence to my 'Having crawled out of Hell' theory. We also tried draining her of her power, but that just made a mess. A great big, steaming mess that had me picking dead skin from five different people out of my hair for a week." "And that would be when you came to me, correct?" Mima said. Marisa's head swiveled in the direction of her former mentor. "Say what? Wait Mistress, you're telling me you were a part of this?" Mima smiled at her. "Dear, I know it pains you to entertain the thought, but I did have a life before you came around. This was just one of the many incidents I was involved in. Didn't want to be, given I wasn't exactly on speaking terms with the Hakurei family at the time, but Yukari managed to convince me it was in my best interests to help remove the soul-scarring affront to all that is good and holy." "Indeed," Yukari said. "With her help, we were able to work out a way to seal her more deadly powers where she couldn't access them, and at the same time reset her memory, wiping away the bloodthirsty killer we had encountered. It wasn't quite as perfect as sending her to oblivion, but it was the next best thing." Reimu was having several thousand different thoughts and feelings rushing through her head, and little way to decide on a specific one. She chose one of the most prominent. "Buwait, why did you never tell me about this?" "Because you didn't-" "Okay, stop. If you say 'You didn't ask', I swear I'm going to kill you."

"Very well." There was a moment of silence during which they emerged from the orange grove and into a meadow. The trail became easy to pick out again and they quickened their pace. Then Reimu got annoyed. "Well?" "Well what?" "Why didn't you tell me?" Yukari shot her a long look. "You told me not to say 'You didn't ask'. I was simply complying with your request." "Oh, come on! That can't be the only reason." "But it is. Like Mima said, as nasty as that incident was, it was far from the first crisis I had to deal with, nor was it the last. And it was dealt with before it became especially memorable, at least in comparison to some of the other messes I've had to clean up. If I were to take the time to detail every battle I've had to fight in my life, I would still be telling it to your great-grandchildren without having reached the halfway mark." "Then why didn't my mom ever tell me?" "The same. She had her share of problems she had to fix, and on the whole, this one only took a few weeks. After that, she had the thing with the guy with the killing notebook, then that mindcontrolling revolutionary, and then yet another genocidal girl, this one with invisible arms, and the list goes on. Even you've had your fair share of incidents, and you're not even twenty years old." "I told Marisa," Mima said. Marisa once again turned to stare. "Wait, you did?" "Certainly. It was during our lessons about magic seals. I told you the story about the life destroying youkai and how I found a way to partition off a portion of her powers using a simple hair-ribbon as an amulet." "Oh yeah, but you didn't tell me it was" "Wait!" Reimu snapped her fingers in front of her nose. She turned to Yukari. "Is that why you asked Cirno about her ribbon?" "Indeed. The ribbon was the spell's anchor. It had an enchantment that prevented her or anyone else from touching it. It seems something managed to bypass it though." "A ribbon?" Reimu asked, incredulous. "Seriously?"

"Don't knock it, child," Mima said reprovingly. "That ribbon was much sturdier than it appeared. If something did manage to remove it, than it must be formidable indeed." "Terrain is a-changing!" Suika suddenly shouted, drawing everyone's attention. She drank deeply from her gourd, burped, and announced, "Bamboo Forest is dead ahead!" "Wonderful," Marisa groused. "How are we supposed to find someone in there?" Yukari looked thoughtful. "You know, we may have an advantage. If I recall, Ran and Chen are at Eientei right now. I could call them and have them start searching the area from the other end." "Really? What are they doing there?" "Eh, Chen needs her shots," Yukari shrugged. "Hang on a second." She pulled a small, flat box fromsomewhere, and began pressing the bumps that adorned one side. With that, she held it to her ear. "Yes, Ran," she said, seemingly to the air. "Yes. Fantastic. Listen, we have a problem here. No, actually. We're pursuing a rouge youkai who seems to have fled to the Bamboo Woods. As soon as you can, I want you to take Chen and began sweeping the area from your end. We'll be entering from other end and catch her in the middle. Rumia of the Darkness. Indeed. It seems the Shadow Youkai is back. If you see her, do not engage unless you have no other choice. Inform me immediately, and we'll be there as quickly as possible. Not yet, but signs do point in that direction. Fortunately, I'm bringing a lot of firepower with me. Find her, tell me, and fall back until we arrive. Understood? Understood? Good." She pressed one of the bumps and returned the box to wherever it was she kept it. Marisa stared. "I have got to get me one of those." "As soon as Cingular opens up shop in Gensokyo, you can. Now, shall we begin?" "Sure," Reimu said. "Another question though: if this version of Rumia is really so badass, doesn't chasing her seem a bitstupid?" "Don't forget your mother and I were able to handle her on our own," Yukari pointed out. "And like I told Ran, we're bringing considerably more firepower with us this time." Reimu looked from one of her companions to the other. Yukari was easily one the oldest, if not the oldest, beings in Gensokyo. As such, she had several centuries of experience at her disposal, not to mention an incredible amount of power. And despite her youth, Reimu came from a family specially bred for exterminating threats such as this, in which she was extraordinarily talented. Then there was Marisa, who had numerous spells that leaned toward wanton destruction with no reservation at firing early and often. There was also Mima, who also was very old and had taught Marisa everything she knew while retaining a good portion of that knowledge for herself. And that wasn't even getting to Suika, whose preferred method of bypassing mountains was punching

straight through them with her bare fists. And even then, there was the possibility of Ran and Chen coming to their assistance as well, and neither of them were exactly slouches in the combat department. All taken together, this response bordered on overkill. Reimu conceded Yukari's point. "Okay, fine," she said. "But one more question, for curiosity's sake." Yukari sighed. "Very well. What is it?" "Exactly what kind of shots is Chen getting?" "Rabies." There was a bark of hoarse laughter. Yukari turned to frown at Marisa, who was laughing so hard she was having trouble staying on her broom. But before she could reprimand the witch, the box she had used to contact Ran began to sing.

Deep Within Despite the promise of straight answers, Rumia had learned relatively little about her new companion, Rin Satsuki. It wasn't for a lack of trying though. It seemed that every time Rin tried to explain something, her words would become confused and jumbled up, with about two or three different metaphors mixing together and creating an absolute mess. Still, Rumia had managed to learn a few things. First, Rin had originally been a youkai of the Kirin variety. Rumia didn't know much about the Kirin, but she was reasonably sure they didn't consist of transparent lumps of goo that delight in swallowing innocent girls just to talk nonsense at them. This brought her to the second bit of important information. "Seriously?" Rumia said. "Someone made you this way?" "Uh-huh," Rin said. She was sitting cross-legged, her back to Rumia, and was watching the huge red-tinted screen that was supposed to represent her new body's viewpoint. "It felt weird too. You ever been to the beach and accidentally step on a cucumber? Not the veggie-kind that kappa eat, the animal kind? And it's all squishy and disgusting but you still feel bad for stepping on it because it didn't do anything to you?" "Is that what it felt like?" "No, I was just thinking that that's what it would probably be like for someone who steps on me. No, for me it was justweird. All melty. Like literally."

Rumia's head (or metaphorical construct of a head, she was still trying to get used to the whole avatar of consciousness idea) swam as she tried to comprehend what that must have been like. The closest comparison she could come up with was when she had literally dissolved away inside of Rin' gelatinous body. That had been akin to being skinned alive by acid. She wasn't sure if she wanted a detailed description of Rin's experience, though the vengeful side of her found some satisfaction in the idea. She quickly moved away from that train of thought. "So is that where we're going? Did someone in the Bamboo Forest change you?" "Huh? Oh, no." It was still awkward talking to Rin. Beyond the absolute strangeness of their surroundings, lack of garments, and the fact that Rin had, for all intents and purposes, eaten her alive not three hours ago, Rin just didn't seem like she was paying attention. It could be that controlling her new body required a great amount of concentration, or maybe being locked up in a box for who knows how long didn't do much for one's social skills, but despite her previous enthusiasm at finally having someone to share her space with, Rin was treating Rumia more like a passenger than a new friend: she was certainly welcoming, but spoke with her out of obligation than an actual desire to interact. Then again, taking Rumia's entire life story directly out of her head did mean conversations would be a little one-sided. Rin continued, "No, it wasn't them, the people thatthe ones we're going to see. But it was a little bit kinda sorta their idea, you know? I mean not the blob thing, that wasn't their idea. I don't think it was anyone's idea. Just something that went wrong. Happens I guess. But the whole experiment was their idea." "Experiment? What experiment?" "The one that made me like this." This was getting frustrating. "But what was the experiment for? What was it trying to do? And who is 'they' anyway, and what did-" "Hold that thought, 'kay?" They were approaching a particularly thick cluster of bamboo shoots. Rumia expected them to simply go around, but then Rin hunched over, the muscles in her back tensing up. An arm and the attached hand drifted into view on the screen, and it was all Rumia could do to keep from screaming. It looked like someone had constructed it from the very substance of midnight itself. The entire appendage was absolute pitch black, with smoky tendrils dancing along the edges and leaving clinging wisps whenever it moved. But the worst part was the digits, which weren't so much fingers as they were claws. No, not claws, talons. Curving instruments, long, thin, sharp and cruel. Their purpose was obvious.

Was that supposed to be her? Rumia felt a chill sweep through her astral body at the thought of what the rest of the thing must look like. She knew she didn't have the best reputation, but she never thought she would be used to create a monster. Then her stomach lurched. From the palm of the horrid hand shot a twisting cone of darkness, apparently from the same substance that the hand was made of. It struck the bamboo cluster and immediately the shoots turned black and wilted like so many wet noodles. Seeing how Rumia had been hit with a bamboo shoot on more than one occasion and knew firsthand how hard they could be, the ease in which they were corrupted made her break out into cold sweat. They continued their journey through where the cluster had been. "Sorry Rumia, you said something?" Rin said, unconcerned at what had just been revealed. Rumia shook her head. "Nenever mind." "Hmmm." Rin shrugged. "Okay. Anyway, you ever been to Eientei before?" Rumia shook her head. She knew of it of course. Everyone did, especially after that incident of the never-ending night, but she had never actually gone to visit. "Oh. Well, that's where we're going. Used to work there, actually. Got some unfinished business that I need to take care." She nodded slowly, speaking more to herself than Rumia. "Long time unfinished. Needs some resolution, you know? Otherwise, what are we left with?"

For the first day of spring, it had been an unusually slow day at Hourai Clinic. On most days, there would be a steady stream of humans, youkai, fairies and other creatures, all bringing with them any number of bizarre ailments. But today there had just been one catgirl in need of shots and one really beat up fairy. All in all, things were getting boring. Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump Tewi sat behind the receptionist's desk, trying to amuse herself with a ball-and-paddle. She had previously had a set of throwing darts, but Eirin had taken those away. She stared balefully at the empty waiting room. The clinic was a relatively new addition to Eientei, constructed after Kaguya Houraisan and her subjects had gone public. They had the option of importing building materials from outside the Bamboo Forest but in the end Kaguya decided to reduce the cost by using what was already available. As such, the clinic was almost entirely constructed from bamboo. Split bamboo stalks formed the walls and ceiling, while smoothed down and polished bamboo tiles made up the floor. Even the furniture was made from crisscrossing bamboo slats. Fortunately, cushions had been provided for the patients' use, even if Tewi thought their lime-green color to be the absolute ugliest thing she had ever seen. Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump

Still, despite the simplicity of the building material, great lengths had been taken to make the place as modern as possible, especially by the standards set by the Outside World. Eirin was weird like that. To that end, mostly with Yukari's help, three fans swung round and round from the ceiling and the paper-paneled doors had been rigged to automatically slide open as soon as approaching movement was detected. Pictures of generic landscapes hung from the walls, potted plants were placed here and there, and horribly outdated magazines from nobody really knew where sat on the chairs and tables. All in all, when combined with the bamboo, it made for an interesting looking room. However, Tewi had ceased to be impressed by it years ago. Her ball-andpaddle was losing its appeal, and if something didn't happen soon she would develop an uncontrollable twitch, one that often resulted in her doing something that would get her yelled at. Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump- thump-thumpthumpthumpthumpthump! Then she heard the sound of the doors sliding open. Tewi sighed in relief. Hopefully this was the start of a busier day. She put the ball-and-paddle away and put on her best Helpful Receptionist smile. "Hi, welcome to Hourai Clinic!" she said cheerfully. "How can we helpumyou?" A nightmare stood in the doorway. It was like someone had taken the smoke of a forest fire and somehow made a girl out of it, like a shadow had come to life and abandoned its master. A humanoid shape of twisting darkness and ripping talons. And that wasn't even mentioning the fact that it held the scariest looking sword Tewi had ever seen in her life. It looked like a saber combined with an entire set of kitchen knives and meat hooks and then spray-painted black for good measure. But the thing's most striking feature was its eyes. Twin globes of fire, smoldering red set against the sooty black of its face. Tewi had seen things with glowing red eyes before and knew enough that they never showed up just because they wanted to be your friend. Except for Reisen, but she didn't count. Most of the others tended to be a bitaggressive. And yet, while one would expect the eyes of such a being to convey emotions such as rage, cruelty and a desire to rip innocent young rabbits limb from limb, this one's eyes just looked curious. It turned its head from side-to-side, surveying the room as if it were just there to do a property appraisal. For some reason, that just made it more frightening. Tewi wasn't scared however. One didn't last long in Gensokyo by being intimidated by every soulscarring abomination with a nasty weapon that waltzed in through the front door. Nope, not scared all. Cautious maybe. That slight trembling around her calves? That was just her body preparing her for possible action in case things got nasty. But who was to say they will? Gensokyo was home to such creatures as ghosts, demons and vampires, and most of them were more-orless benevolent. Maybe this new arrival was a new patient who was just looking into getting a sprained ankle fixed and would be perfectly pleasant The thing turned to look at her.

Oh. Shit. It didn't so much walk up to the front desk as it floated. Tewi couldn't help but notice that the sunflowers sitting in the pot on the desk turned brown and shriveled up as it drew near. So did every other plant in the room. But Tewi wasn't afraid. Maybe it had been infected with some sort of plant-killing disease and its love of botany had driven it to seek help here before more of its leafy friends suffered. But that didn't explain why her throat suddenly felt like she had been inhaling the smoke of a thousand burning corpses. Tewi straightened in her chair as the thing stood before. "H-h-hi!" she squeaked. "C-c-c-can I hhelp you?" The thing cocked its head. There was an indeterminate amount of time in which nothing was said, and then, speaking in a voice that sound like cinder-blocks been dragged against the wall at the other end of a very long, very dark tunnel, it said, "Eirin. I needto speakEirin. Please." Tewi laughed nervously. Being nervous was okay, right? It wasn't the same as being scared. "Well, um, I-I-I'm s-sorry, but D-Doctor Yagokoro is seeing other patients now! B-but if w-w-want to ccome b-b-b-b-back later I'll be happy to-" The thing placed a single hand on the top of the desk. The polished bamboo directly under its touch wasted away to sawdust. Tewi sucked her teeth. "Now," it said firmly. "Ineed tosee hernow." Tewi nodded enthusiastically. At that moment nothing sounded more reasonable. Of course the new patient would want to see the doctor in person! Eirin was probably done with the catgirl by now and would have plenty of time to meet with the thing. It was only natural. "Of course! Stay right there, and I'lland I'll" With that Tewi leapt from her seat and ran to Eirin's office. No sense in dawdling. Nothing would be accomplished in just sitting around. Plus her legs desperately needed to be stretched and oh gods don't let it follow me she prayed. As she ran, she became aware of a loud pounding noise. It sounded almost like her ball-and-paddle. But she had left that at her desk. Why was she hearing it now? Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump It was then that she realized that the sound was the beating of her heart. Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump

Deep Within Rumia stared as she watched as Tewi fled on Rin's giant red-tinted screen. In all honesty she couldn't blame the rabbit. In fact she was somewhat envious. Her life would have been so much simpler right now if she had possessed the presence of mind to run when the blob had first taken interest in her. "Wonder what's up with her?" Rin wondered out loud. She shrugged. "Oh well." Rumia declined pointing out the obvious. "So, uh, you used to work here?" she said instead. "Mmmm-hmmm. As a nurse. My first job. Last one too, now that I think about it. Place looked different though." "Is that so." "Yep. Didn't have this big bamboo hospital, just a little infirmary in the mansion." "AhUm, exactly what are you planning?" "Oh, you know. Talk. Catch up with my old boss. She how she's doing, how the clinic's working out for her. Find out why she abandoned me to eternal loneliness. That sort of thing." The view suddenly shifted as Rin directed her new body to wander over to the various chairs set out for waiting patients. Then it shifted again and lowered. It took Rumia a second to realize that Rin was sitting down. Rumia shook her head as she tried to think. Come on Rumia, you can figure this out, she told herself. There's got to be a way to get a message out without Rin knowing. Some way of regaining control. But what good was making plans when your captor could literally read your mind? Rumia shot a nervous glance at the captor in question. For her part, Rin did seem like she had heard her thoughts of escape. Maybe the mind-reading thing wasn't constant and Rin only did it when she wanted to find something out? If so, than Rumia might have a chance. Might. "Hey Rumia?" Rumia sucked in a sharp intake of breath (at least, that's what it felt like). "Y-yes?" she said, trying to sound as casual as possible. Rin gestured to the screen. From the looks of things, she was reading one of the magazines. "What's all this about Princess Kaguya getting with Fujiwara no Mokou? Because when I got locked up they hated each other."

At that moment, Eirin had her hands full with her current patient. The procedure itself was uncomplicated: just a simple prick of the skin with the needle and then pressing down on the injector. Five seconds, tops. However, the difficult part was getting the patient to just sit still already! Fortunately, having treated Chen in the past, Eirin was well prepared for the task at hand. The two-tailed catgirl was strapped to the swivel chair in the center of the operating room. Handcuffs bound her arms to the armrests and her legs to the foot rest. Several yards of bandages had been converted into makeshift rope, reinforcing the arm restraints and tying her body to the chair's back. A ball-gag covered her mouth and a blindfold was tied securely over her eyes. Eirin's assistant Reisen had remarked upon its resemblance to a BDSM scene. Reisen was now holding an icepack to her head as a result of her comment. Normally the operating room wouldn't be used for something as simple as given someone their shots. But considering the frenzy Chen had been in even before she had come in through the front doors, Eirin decided to take advantage of the greater amount of equipment the room offered. Indeed, it had taken the help of Ran, Reisen and two other rabbits to restrain the frantic catgirl, wrestle her into the chair and secure her. Band-Aids and lollipops had then been distributed all around. At least her other patient hadn't offered her any trouble. The spring fairy, one Lily White, had arrived earlier in a state of complete disarray. She had been talking too fast to be understandable, but once she mentioned the words "angry" and "Marisa", she had been granted immediate access to a special emergency room they had reserved for such an occurrence. According to Tewi, once the Mad Witch had learned that Hourai Clinic had an entire room nicknamed "Marisa's Dumping Grounds" she had sent the staff flowers and a thank-you note for thinking of her. Fortunately, Lily wasn't hurt too bad, just very banged up and dealing with the aftereffects of a Master Spark. She was now resting comfortably and would be ready to leave by evening. Eirin could only wish Chen were so easy to deal with. Honestly, it was just one shot. She had suffered worse in all the fights she tended to pick. Eirin grunted in annoyance as she finally snapped the final handcuff into place. "There we go," she muttered, more to herself than anything. "Finally." Behind her, Ran slumped with relief. "I'm sorry about all this, Eirin. She's normally much better behaved." Chen's head turned in the direction of her mentor's voice. "MMMPPHHH!" she hissed angrily. "Well, getting a rabies shot can be frightening," Eirin said, even if she did agree that Chen had overreacted. "Reisen, could you prepare the syringes please." "Huh? Oh, okay." The moon rabbit put the icepack down and walked over to the counter. From one of the cabinets she extracted two bottles and from one of the drawers, two syringes. She

placed the nose of each needle in one of the bottle and pulled back on the injectors. Then she tapped out the bubbles and handed them to Reisen. Ran blinked as Eirin inspected the syringes' contents. "What's the second one for?" "Knockout drug. We will have to release her eventually you know." Ran stared at her. "Wait, you have a tranquilizer and you didn't think to use it before she covered us with scratches?" "An injection is an injection. Would you have wanted to stick this in her when she was perched on your head and clawing your ears?" Chen stiffened in the chair. Then she began pulling at her bonds, thrashing and wailing incomprehensibly. Eirin groaned. "Oh for heaven's sakeReisen, hold her still!" Her assistant looked dubiously at the catgirl. Foam was starting to form around the gag and drip down her chin. "Um, are you sure-" "Just do it already." Careful to keep any vulnerable body parts away from Chen's claws, Reisen grabbed the catgirl from behind and did her best to hold her steady. Eirin held the syringe with the tranquilizer with one hand, thumb on the injector, and squinted. She started counting down mentally. Three, two, one, go! With that, she plunged the needle into Chen's shoulder and pressed down on the injector. Chen's howl was loud enough to still rattle eardrums even with the gag in place. "Well that was considerably more difficult than it had to be," Eirin muttered as she removed the syringe and handed to Reisen for disposal. "Okay, any second now" Ran scratched her head as she looked over her Shikigami. Chen was still growling and pulling against the restraints. "Shouldn't she be falling asleep by now?" "It varies from person to person," Eirin explained. "Depending on their age, weight, power levels, and so on." "But she's barely eighty pounds! She should be" Chen suddenly stiffened in her seat and slumped back. Her head rolled to one side and a sliver of drool mixed with foam dripped from the gag's side. "oh wait there she goes."

"Tenacious, isn't she?" Eirin muttered as she hefted the other syringe. She was about to proceed with the injection when loud music started playing. She had to react quickly to avoid dropping the syringe and turned to glare at the music's source. "If you embrace you hopes without fear, nothing exists that can keep you from it. You will meet with ominous disaster in the field where black death dances" Abashed, Ran pulled the singing cell phone from one of her robe's many pockets. "Sorry," she said, her face turning red, "Yukari. I have to take this." Eirin sighed as the Shikigami turned and walked to the other end of the room, answering the call as she went. One would think that living in Gensokyo would make it possible to avoid being interrupted by something like an annoying phone call, but she had to be treating the Shikigami of one of the only two people in possession of cell phones and they had to receive a call during the visit. How irritating. Eirin finished giving Chen her shot while listening with partial interest to Ran's conversation. "Master? Is something wrong? Chen's almost finished with her shots. Do you wish us to return? Understood. Who is this youkai? Who? Wait, is thatYukari, are you serious? I remember what she was like last time around. Are you sure? I...Yes." Apparently Yukari hung up first. Ran was left staring at the now silent phone with a troubled look on her face. "Miss Ran?" Reisen said, cocking her head in curiosity. "Is there anything wrong?" "Yeah, what was that all about?" Eirin asked as she disposed of the spent syringe. "You forget to clean out the toilets or something?" "What?" Ran started out of her reverie. "Oh, oh no, nothing like that. It just seems that there may be aproblem we'll have to deal with. Nothing you have to concern yourself-" "Eirin! Help me Eirin!" All eyes swiveled towards the room's entrance. Tewi stood in the doorway, one hand clutching the frame in a death grip while she hyperventilated, her eyes wide infear? Excitement? Overstimulation? Eirin wasn't sure, but something had gotten the rabbit worked into a tizzy. "Tewi!" Reisen said. She looked concerned for her friend. "What happened to you?" Tewi ignored her. "Eirin! You gottaThere's aIt said it wanted toIt was really scary!" "Um, I'm getting that," Eirin said, looking completely confused. "What in the world are you on about?"

"A monster!" Tewi blurted out. She lunged forward and grabbed Eirin by her collar. "In the waiting room! A big smoky monster with red eyes and a really, really big sword! It made all the plants die and said it wanted to see you!" Eirin had absolutely no idea how to respond to something like that. But before she could respond Ran cut in. "Wait, what was that about plants dying?" Tewi's wide eyes swiveled to the multi-tailed Shikigami. "All of them! She just looked at them and they shriveled right up!" "And you say she had a sword?" "Yes! A big nasty one with lots and lots of blades! I thought she was going to make mincemeat out of me!" Ran's posture stiffened. Her hands began trembling, but the rest of her body remained steady. When she spoke, her voice was calm and unwavering. "And did she have red eyes?" Tewi nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! Big ones, like this!" She pulled open her own eyelid to demonstrate the size of the thing eyes. Ran's eyes rolled back. "Oh, fuck me." "I'd rather not," Eirin said in irritation. "You sound like have some idea of what's going on. Care to enlighten us?" Ran already had her cell phone out. She pressed buttons while she talked. "Yes, but first, have your assistants go and round up every rabbit-at-arms and tell them to suit up. This is going to be ugly." "What is going to be ugly? Is explaining that really so hard?" "Hold that thought. Yukari? Yes. Bad news I'm afraid. We just got confirmation that the she's here at Eientei. No, not yet. Shall I engage? Yes, I do believe it's necessary. Okay, understood. No, I'm amassing reinforcements now. I'll do my best. Thank you." "Uh, Miss Ran?" Reisen asked when Ran hung up. "What's going on?" "For the love of the gods, are you two still here? Go get those soldiers!" Reisen looked confused. She glanced over to Eirin, who was frowning. But she nodded her permission. After the two rabbits had scampered off, Eirin turned to Ran with her arms folded. "Okay Shikigami, you've got your backup. Care to fill in the very large blanks here?"

Ran shook her head. "I don't have much time" "You might be endangering my girls here. Make time." "Point," Ran sighed. "Okay, how much do you know of, um, 'incidents' that have occurred in the last century or so?" "Considering that we started one? Quite a bit, actually. I may not leave Eientei often, but I make it a point to keep up with current events." "Good. Now, do the words 'Shadow Youkai' mean anything to you?" Eirin frowned as she thought. Her memory was exceptionally good, but there was much data to sift through. She recalled about hearing something a few decades back, something of Oh. That. "Now, by Shadow Youkai do you refer to an incident that took place about sixty years ago," Eirin asked calmly. "One that resulted in the destruction of several human and youkai settlements in particularly messy fashion until your master intervened?" "Yes." "And am I understand the person responsible for those murders is in fact in my waiting room?" "Seems to be." "And how much of a crisis would this be?" "Think the Flandre Scarlet World Tour." "I see." Without another word, Eirin marched to a locked cabinet, set a ways apart from the others. She pulled a key out of her pocket and unlocked it. From inside she extracted a heavy black suitcase. The Lunarian doctor popped the clasps and pulled the lid open. From inside she removed several syringes filled with a sickly green fluid. These stuck into her uniform where she could access them with ease. After this she reached back into the cabinet and pulled out a sawed-off shotgun. She pumped the action once and nodded in satisfaction. "Well then," she said to a staring Ran. "It seems we have a bit of problem on our hands. Shall we get started solving it?" Forgotten But Not Forgiven

It had been almost fifteen minutes since Cirno had left the rest of her gang to search out Reimu and company. Within those fifteen minutes she had become convinced that the Forest of Magic was a labyrinth designed by an absolute sadist, one with ADD. She had to have come back the same mushroom patch five times already, and the trees were all starting to look the same. Still, she had to press on. Rumia was counting on her. A general never abandoned her men, no matter how gross of a manner they've been devoured by Cirno drove out that memory, or at least tried to. The look of utter terror on Rumia's face as her skin began to waste away kept forcing itself to the forefront of her mind. That in itself wouldn't be as bad if it weren't for the voices in her head providing color commentary. She's dead, you know, they whispered. No one could survive that. She's dead and there's nothing you can do. Shut up! she shot back. She's not dead, okay? I'm gonna find her and I'm gonna save her and everything will be okay! Stupid. You saw her body get ripped apart. No one could survive that. Why do you keep trying to fool yourself? Mystia got eaten once, and she came back, Cirno reminded them. Rumia's a youkai too. She can come back. Are you absolutely certain Mystia wasn't lying? Cirno ignored that last part. Instead, she came to a brief halt in order to select a route she hadn't already traveled. She was at the foot of a gnarled old willow tree, with the path branching off in three different directions. Biting her lip, she closed her eyes and began pointing at each path in quick succession. "Eenie-menie-um, money-mie? Which path do Ino that's not right." "Well, hello there, sweet thing," a low, syrupy voice said from directly overhead. "Are you lost? Maybe I can help." Cirno looked up and had to keep from screaming. A spider youkai, tarantula by the look of him, was slowly descending on a string. Soon he was hanging upside-down directly in front of her, a wide toothy grin plastered on his face. "It's not safe for little girls like you to wander around by yourself," he leered, giving her a mocking tip of the bowler he wore. "Why, there's no telling what kind of-" Before he could finish, Cirno shrieked and fell back, bringing her hands up to bear. White light flashed, and a moment later the tarantula was frozen stiff, web and all. That lecherous smile remained on his face, displayed far too many jagged teeth.

Cirno shuddered and immediately left the area. She had to get out of this forest. Too many freaks wandering around. She decided to change tactics. Instead of continuing her fruitless wandering from one twisting path to the next, she shot straight up. Cirno closed her eyes and covered her face the best she could with her hands, but branches still scratched at her exposed skin as she tore her way through the intertwining treetops. Then suddenly the leaves gave way to open air. Sunlight burst into her vision and she was through. Cirno soared up and up until she was she could clearly see the landscape stretching around her in every direction. I really should've done this from the beginning, she thought as she shielded her eyes from the sun and looked in every direction. Nothing, nothing, nothing, noth There! Over the fields south of the Forest of Magic, Cirno could see five dots moving quickly through the air. She could barely make them out, but it looked like one of them was riding a broom. That was good enough for her. She immediately starting heading in that direction, ignoring the weariness and pain that was started to spread through her beat-up body. Fairies had amazing recuperative powers, but no one took two Master Sparks twice in one day and expected to be on their best game. To top it off, those damned voices still wouldn't stop taunting her. Even if she's still alive, what are you going to do? Your ice didn't do anything, nothing you and your friends did anything. You'll probably just end up getting eaten too, and then who willShut. Up. Mercifully, this time they complied. Cirno steeled herself and added as much speed as she could. It didn't matter if Reimu and the rest thought she was useless. Rumia was her friend and she would be damned before she got left behind. Hang on Rumia, she thought as she sped over the treetops. I'm coming.

Deep Within At that moment, Rumia was busy calculating her odds of surviving the coming encounter with Eirin Yagokoro. From what she had heard the Lunarian doctor wasn't one to be trifled with. Reportedly, back during the incident of never-ending night, she had stood fast against Eientei's invaders and almost held them off single-handedly. And considering those invaders had been composed of some of Gensokyo's biggest names, including Marisa Kirisame, Reimu Hakurei, Yukari Yakumo and several others, Rumia was growing understandably apprehensive about the upcoming meeting. Even though she personally wouldn't be the target of Eirin's wrath, she was still inside of Rin's body, and anything that happened to Rin would probably happen to her in some form or another.

And since Rin had only Rumia's meager powers to defend herself with, Rumia was starting to wonder if now would be a good time attract the attention of as many deities as possible and try to make peace. Of course, there was that one incident with the smoky pillar of darkness and the bamboo stalks. Rumia was still trying to figure out exactly where in the hell that had come from. For her part, Rin didn't seem all that concerned about the coming confrontation, though Rumia was starting to think that was more due to a short attention span than any measure of confidence. She was still in the sitting position and was watching her red screen intently. On it, her gnarled talons were turning the pages of the magazine she had picked up. "Oh look Rumia!" she squealed as one particular article caught her eye. "Did you know that there's a new shrine at the top of the Youkai Mountain with two goddesses? And the shrine maiden is one of the goddess' descendants? Oh wait, yeah you do. Sorry, forgot." Rumia sighed. "The Moriya shrine isn't exactly big news anymore, Rin. That magazine's a little outdated." "Is it? Oh well, my memory's even more outdated, so it's all good. But did you know that the goddess and the maiden were caught in an incestuous relationship? And the other goddess ran away crying? It says she was in love with the first goddess. Wow, things must be downright insane over there!" "Rin, it's a tabloid, it's all bullshit. Don't take it seriously. 'Sides, shouldn't you be more concerned about meeting your old boss?" Her words made the Kirin cringe. "I know, I know! It's just I'm so nervous about what I'm gonna say, I need some kind of distraction to keep from wetting myself. I mean, she was kinda pissed last time I saw her, but maybe she's calmed down. I don't know, do you think she'll be happy to see me?"

"Ran and I will lead the first squad," Eirin said to the assembled soldiers. "As we understand it, close quarters is this thing's specialty, so we'll try to force it outside. Once it's clear of the building, Tewi and Reisen's teams will move in and pound it to oblivion. That is, unless Yukari and her friends show up before then, in which case you let them pound it to oblivion. Do not engage in hand-to-hand combat, you will die. Maintain your distance at all times and if it singles you out, retreat immediately. But above all, do not, do not, do not let it go after the princess! Her safety is our number one priority, do you understand?" On cue, the members of the Eientei Guard snapped to attention and saluted. "Ma'am, yes Ma'am!" "Good. Now get to your positions, this is going to be nasty."

As Tewi and Reisen led their squads away, Ran took the opportunity to sidle up to Eirin. "Hey Eirin? Quick question. Why do you have amachine gun?" "Shotgun." "Right, shotgun. Why do you have one? After all, you can shoot a virtual storm of danmaku from your fingertips. Doesn't it seem a littleredundant?" A mirthless half-smile touched Eirin's lips. She hefted the weapon and ran on hand lovingly over its wooden handle. "Sure, if you want them to survive." Ran blinked. "What does that thing do?" "What does it do? It solves problems, my dear Shikigami. It solves problems."

Deep Within "So I can see why Eirin would get mad at me," Rin was saying. "I did go a little crazy and cause a lot of problems. But did she really have to squeeze all of my friends out of me and lock me up like that? I mean, she didn't even try to talk to me afterwards. Have you ever been alone in the dark?" "yes. All the time." "And you couldn't leave? And you were stuck in that darkness forever and ever with no one to talk to, nothing to do, can't even sleep or do anything to take your mind off of how lonely you are? That's just too much." Considering how Rumia had been convinced that that was going to be her fate she was hard pressed to disagree. "But you're just going to talk and sort things out, right? There's not going to be any shooting going on, right?" "Of course! I learned my lesson the last time around. No shooting, only talkingOh look, she came!" The view on the screen shifted, and Rumia found herself staring at the door at the far end of the waiting room, the one that rabbit had ran through. Through it had entered a long-haired woman wearing a red-and-black dress (at least she assumed it was red-and-black. It was a little hard to tell with the screen's tint) and hat decorated with what appeared to be depictions of constellations. Accompanying her was a fox youkai wearing a long robe and in possession of far more tails than should be considered strictly necessary. Rumia recognized the latter one as Ran, Shikigami to Yukari. Which would mean the former was Eirin. And neither of them looked like they were there to talk.

Rumia had no idea what Ran was doing here, but her presence couldn't be anything good. In fact, it probably meant that Yukari was close. For some reason that Rumia could never fully explain, the ancient youkai terrified her. Sure, everyone was scared of her on some level, but to Rumia it was akin to a phobia. She bit her lip and watched the proceedings while thinking I want to go home, I want to go home, I want to go home. "There she is!" Rin said happily. She directed her borrowed body to stand up. "Okay, here we-" That was when twelve rabbits, all dressed in green militaristic uniforms, took position on either side of the newcomers and, on Eirin's command, started shooting.

Eirin watched dispassionately as the air filled with danmaku, all focused on a single target. She was mildly surprised when the Shadow Youkai didn't even try to defend itself. If anything, it almost looked shocked that they would take initiative and throw the first punch. Whatever the reason, every shot hit home and the Shadow Youkai soon disappeared behind blinding flashes of light as the bullets exploded upon impact. Eirin waited a good ten seconds before shouting "Cease fire!" She wasn't so optimistic to assume they had finished it off with the first volley, but the smoke kicked up by her girls' firepower would make it difficult for her to take a shot of her own. And she didn't want to miss. "That waseasy," Ran muttered as they watched the smoke fade. Eirin took aim with her shotgun, barrel focused at where the Shadow Youkai had vanished. "It's not dead." "Yeah, probably not," Ran sighed. "You want this one?" "Yes." The smoke cleared enough for Eirin to get a good look at the other end of the waiting room. Aside from some splintered furniture and torn magazines, it was empty. Eirin frowned but she didn't move her finger from the trigger. She wouldn't relax until she did the thing's autopsy herself. There. Hiding behind one of the overturned chairs, a shadow was moving. The Shadow, to be exact. Eirin held her fire as the top of its head peeked out into view. "WaitEirin, wait," it said in a horrible gravelly voice that made her think of tombstones being ground into dust. "Don't shootit's me" Eirin lined up her shot and fired. The shotgun belched smoke and a blazing green fireball shot out, starting off the size of a pellet when it exited the barrel but swiftly grew as it charged towards the thing's face. By the time it impacted, it was the size of a cantaloupe and neatly blew off half of its head.

The room filled with a soulless howl of agony as the Shadow Youkai fell backward, clutching at the ruined remains of its face. Its sword fell clattering to the ground. Ran whistled her appreciation. "Damn, you weren't kidding about that thing. What is it?" Eirin frowned, but said, "It's of Outside World make, but I had the kappa upgrade it." "Upgrade? That's putting it mildly. You look disappointed though." "It was supposed to launch it through the wall." "Oh." Well, if they couldn't force it outside at that moment, then they would just have to change tactics. Eirin pumped another round into the chamber, walked around the waiting room until she had a clear shot at the moaning, writhing monster and fired. And fired again. And again.

Deep Within Gongs were going off in Rumia's head and light was exploding behind her eyes. All around her, the endless sea of nothing had become an endless sea of thrashing energy and pain. She could literally feel the substance she was floating in twist in agony as the impacts of whatever it was hitting them reverberated through the recesses of Rin's mind. Rin herself had taken the worst of it. She was lying curled up in the fetal position, clutching her belly and staring with glazed eyes at the shattered remains of her screen. She had managed to withstand the first round of fire without much difficulty, much as she had absorbed the bullets of Rumia's friends earlier. But whatever Eirin had shot at her had been much, much worse. The screen had exploded upon impact and though it was not actually Rumia's body taking the hit, she could still feel the echo of it rip through her core. "She shot me," Rin was whispering. "She shot me she shot me she shot me" Rumia cried out as another impact sent pain ripping through their space. "Rin, snap out of it!" she screamed. "You've got to get us out of here!" "she shot me she shot me she shot me" "She'll keep shooting you if you don't move your ass! Rin, listen to me, we have to-" "It was supposed to be a talk!" Rin screeched. Suddenly she was to her feet (metaphorically speaking) and shouting towards where her screen used to be. "I just wanted to talk! It wasn't supposed to be like last time! Why did you shoot me? Why?"

Eirin was seriously considering demanding a refund from the kappa. Despite shooting five rounds into the monster and blowing off its head and most of its torso in the process, it was still moving. And to top it off her shotgun had maybe one round left before it completely melted to slag from the heat. Oh well, at least they were making progress. Her concentrated fire had reduced it to a quivering mass of shadows that didn't even resemble a humanoid form anymore. If this last shot didn't finish it off, then she would turn to the syringes. Eirin pumped the final round into the chamber, noting with displeasure the amount of force required to accomplish just that simple movement, aimed for the core of the thing's mass, and fired. It hit, but not in the way she had intended. A literal split-second before collision a thin twisting appendage formed itself from the main mass and shot out to catch the fireball in mid-air. To Eirin's surprise, the projectile did not explode upon impact but remained burning in the monster's grasp like some sort of flaming baseball. A shiver ran over the thing's body and it began to grow. The tentacle holding the fireball grew fingers and shaped itself into an arm. Another arm braced itself against the floor and pushed the main body up as legs formed underneath. While all this took place, four smaller tentacles popped out of the top and twisted together to recreate its head. All of this takes time to describe. In reality, it was on its feet and opening its eyes in less than three seconds. Eirin felt the first quiver of unease, but she didn't lose her nerve. Before it could regain its senses, she threw away the ruined shotgun and shouted, "Shoot it down!" Her girls responded immediately, Eirin and Ran adding their own firepower to the barrage. This time, the Shadow Youkai didn't bother to seek cover. Its body shook as the bullets exploded against its frame, but it didn't disintegrate. Then Eirin's quick eyes noticed something strange. "Cease fire!" she snapped. The danmaku cut off in an instant. Ran sidled up to her. "Hope you got a plan," she muttered to the Lunarian. "Because we're kinda dropping the ball in the whole 'force it outside' department-" "Shhhh!" Eirin squinted at the Shadow Youkai's form, still visible through the smoke. It was as she had thought. The bullets had ceased to detonate upon impact and were instead sticking to it like knives. It still held the green fireball in one hand like some sort of demonic lantern. Eirin had seen that phenomenon from exactly one being before. Pieces came together in her mind, constructing a conclusion that she didn't even want to entertain.

Oh no, she thought as the feeling of unease grew into icy fear. No, not this. Not her. As if in confirmation of her fears, bullets began to sink into the thing's body. At the same time, it began squeezing the fireball, causing it to grow smaller and smaller. It seemed to be literally pressing it into its palm. A wave of uneasy muttering spread through her soldiers. It was clear that they found the situation as disturbing as their leader did. A few of the older veterans had been there the first time this had happened and, judging by the looks on their faces, they were reaching the same conclusion Eirin was. The last of the bullets vanished and the thing was whole once more. Eirin opened her mouth to ask a question, but before the first word left her mouth the Shadow Youkai screamed, a highpitched echoing cry that caused all to wince in pain and cover their ear. Then it grabbed up a fallen chair and hurled it at Eirin. "Watch out!" one of Eirin's rabbits shouted as she tackled her out of the way. The chair crashed against the far wall hard enough to crack the bamboo before breaking into splinters itself. The rabbits immediately began firing again, but this time the Shadow Youkai wasn't interested in being hit again. It snatched up its sword from the ground and leapt straight at the wall. The bamboo exploded into dust upon contact and it fled to the outside. "Are you all right, Ma'am?" asked the rabbit that had saved her, Utada Eirin thought her name was. Eirin nodded and allowed herself to be helped to her feet. "Thanks," she said. "Want a promotion?" Utada smiled wryly. "Do I get my own quarters?" "Don't push you luck." She took a deep breath and surveyed the battleground. It was bad, though not as bad as it could have been. The far end of the waiting room was a complete loss. Even without that hole in the wall, the floor and all the furniture was completely ruined. Still, all in all they had gotten off lightly. "Ma'am, forgive me, but it's her, isn't it?" Utada asked. "It's Rin Satsuki." There were some muffled gasps coming from the other assembled soldiers. Eirin pressed her lips together in a thin line, but she said, "Looks like it." "Huh?" Ran asked. "Who's Rin Satseki? Suki?" Eirin shook her head. She could feel on hell of a headache starting to form. "In a minute." She turned to the soldiers. "All right, we're clearing out. All of you, go find-"

That was when she heard someone yell "Fire at will!" and the sound of flying bullets filled the air. Eirin froze as she realized what had happened. The shock of what she had seen had completely driven one important fact from her mind. "Reisen and Tewi," she spat, making the names sound like a curse. "Godsdamn it, I forgot." She whirled back to Utada. "Okay, change of plans! You're in charge now. Go get the princess, sneak her out of the back, and get her as far away from her as possible! Head for the Scarlet Devil Mansion and tell Sakuya Izayoi what happened, got it?" The uncertainty vanished from her new commander's face as she snapped to attention. "Ma'am, yes Ma'am!" "Good. Move!" As Utada led her soldiers away Eirin grabbed Ran and pulled her along as she started running for the side exit. Ran complied, but she was still baffled. "What? What's going on? Who the hell is this Rin person? I thought we were dealing with the Shadow Youkai!" "We might be!" Eirin shouted back. "But it's much, much worse than that." "How could it be worse? What's all this about? Eirin!" "Later! We have a buffet to crash!" "Buffet?" "Yeah, and if we don't hurry it's gonna be all-you-can-eat rabbit. Now shut up and move!"

Reisen never liked fighting. She could do it if she had to, but on the whole it was something to be avoided. So when she found herself leading twelve of the Eientei guard, ready to attack an unknown enemy, she was understandably nervous. Her squad had taken position along the right wall of Hourai Clinic, waiting for the Shadow Youkai to reveal itself. Tewi's group was stationed at the left side, with the plan being to catch it in their crossfire and hopefully stall it until reinforcements arrived. Despite what Eirin had said, there was no question of ending the fight themselves. From what they had learned this thing didn't play by the rules. For what had to be the fifth time, Reisen dared to peek around the building's corner. The knowledge that the Shadow Youkai was only separated from them by a few thin walls of bamboo and paper was not doing her nerves any good. On the other side, she could see Tewi doing the same thing. The two met each other's glances, and Tewi shot her friend an encouraging smile and a thumbs-up. Reisen shakily returned the gesture and ducked back behind the clinic. She sighed

and slumped against the wall. Now that there was a definite plan of attack, Tewi had gotten over her previous panic and had become downright chipper about the upcoming battle. Reisen couldn't help feel a little envious of her friend's confidence. As for herself, she kept imagining the Shadow Youkai's sword suddenly jamming itself through the wall to pierce her skull. In which case she should probably stop leaning against the clinic. She gulped and scooted away. "Ma'am?" said Shiina, one of her soldiers. "Are you all right?" "What? Oh, I'm fine!" she said, forcing a laugh. It sounded fake even to her ears. "Just wondering what's taking them so long, that's all." The soldier shot her a dubious look. "If you say so." She turned away from Reisen and focused on the forest, presumably keeping an eye out for their promised help. Reisen had to repress a moan. And to top it off, she had been drafted as some kind of military leader. That was supposed to be Tewi's job and Tewi's alone. She wasn't cut out for this. That was when the chaos began. It started with Eirin's voice yelling something she couldn't make out, and then the sound of large amounts of danmaku being discharged pounded through the walls of the clinic. Reisen tensed up immediately. Oh gods, oh gods, it's really happening, what do I do, what do I do "Ma'am?" said Shiina. "Ma'am! Your orders?" Her voice jolted Reisen out of her panic attack. The Lunar rabbit pulled herself to her feet and took a deep breath. "Um, well, Eirin doesn't want us attacking until the Shadow Youkai's forced outside. So wait until you, um, see it come out, and, and take it out. Do your, um, do your, you know, your thing." Great speech Reisen, she berated herself. They're just overflowing with confidence now. But she didn't have time to worry about that now. The sound of firing had cut off inside, to be replaced with a repeating click-BOOM! That would be Eirin and her shotgun. Reisen had accompanied her when she had picked it up after the kappa had gotten done upgrading it and had witnessed a demonstration. Despite herself, she was almost starting to feel sorry for the Shadow Youkai. Almost. After all, Eirin stood a good chance of finishing this herself. If so, Reisen wouldn't even have to look at the thing. The sound of shotgun blasts ceased, and there was still no sign of the Shadow Youkai. Reisen found herself feel a small trickle of hope mixed with worry. Was it over? Had they killed the thing? Or had it killed them? The former was more likely, as there would have been a great deal more yelling if it had rose up and slaughtered the lot. But still, what if could kill someone with a look, just stop their heart and that was it? Reisen told herself not to entertain such thought, that they weren't doing her any good, but she couldn't help but think of worst case scenarios.

And then the yelling started. And the shooting resumed. Oh gods, it wasn't dead. And it was going to kill them and then kill everyone outside. That was when a good chunk of the clinic's front disintegrated and something charged out of the newly created hole. Reisen felt all the doubts she had been feeling freeze into ice. It didn't take a genius to identify the newcomer as the dreaded Shadow Youkai. "Ma'am! Do we fire?" Shiina demanded. Oh yeah. They had a job to do. "What? Oh right. Fire at will!" Reisen shouted. At the same time, Tewi was giving the same command to her squad on the other end. Somehow, now that she was actually facing the monster instead of waiting for it, she found the fear easier to ignore. Adrenaline was funny that way. The response was immediate. At her word, both squads of rabbits rolled into range and pointed their fingers at the Shadow Youkai. Fat spheres and small, sharp blades of energy in red, blue and lavender hurled forward from both directions. The Shadow Youkai tried to turn to face the new sound, but was caught in the crossfire and soon disappeared behind the barrage. It worked! Reisen thought numbly. It actually worked! Grinning, she pointed her right hand at the monster, index finger and thumb extended, and added her own firepower to the assault, adding wave after wave of glowing red blades. "How long do we keep this up?" Shiina shouted over the noise. "Until we see it explode!" Reisen yelled back. The surprising success they were experiencing was starting to fill her with confidence. "Sounds good to me!" Reisen nodded and kept firing. Funny though, the monster didn't show any of sign of caving to their attack. She had to squint to tell, but it looked like it was still standing. That couldn't be good. And then "Stop shooting!" someone's voice cried, somehow rising about the sounds of battle. "Cease fire! Fall back! Shut those fucking things off!" Cease fire? Huh? Confused, Reisen did as she was told. Around her, her soldiers were doing the same. Eirin was standing on the roof of Hourai Clinic. The Lunarian doctor was holding a megaphone, which was how she had managed to make herself heard. "Okay, everyone with ears longer than two feet, listen up! I've already sent my squad to help evacuate the princess! I want you to gather up the rest of the mansion staff and join them! Commander Utada will fill you in on the rest. Now move!"

Huh? We're supposed to go, just like that? Reisen exchanged looks with her squad they looked just a confused as she was. "I'd listen if I were you," said a soft voice directly behind her. Reisen whirled around. "Gah! How'd you-" Ran the Shikigami stood there, clasped hands covered by her sleeves. "There's been a change of plans. You're to follow Eirin's orders and let her handle this." "Bwuh? But it's not dead!" Reisen shot a glance over her shoulder to confirm. The Shadow Youkai was on its hands and knees, staring at the ground. It looked hurt, but it was definitely not down for the count. "How is Eirin supposed to kill it by herself?" "I'm not sure, so maybe you can tell me," Ran said calmly. "Does the name 'Rin Satsuki' mean anything to you?" Reisen felt like someone had punched her in the gut. She wobbled a bit and had to brace herself against the clinic's side. "Rin? That thing is Rin?" "So you do know her. Good. Perhaps you would care to-" Reisen whirled to her soldiers. "You heard the doctor!" Reisen screamed. "We're getting the hell out of here!" There was no argument, no questions. They also knew the name Rin Satsuki. Reisen and her squad turned and ran for the Eientei mansion as fast as they could, a disgruntled-looking Ran floating right behind. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Tewi's group had also gotten the message, judging by the way they hadn't even bothered going around the clinic and were now bounding across its roof. They had good cause too. If Ran was to be believed, and there was little reason not to, Rin Satsuki was on the loose again. May the gods help them all. Reisen hesitated for a second before entering the mansion. She looked back to see that Eirin was now on the ground and approaching thething. Reisen could only hope that her mentor knew what she was doing. Otherwise, unless they managed to get help, there would be no hope for the doctor. Reisen shook her head and rushed through the front doors. Overhead, Tewi's group was entering through the windows. There was no time to worry about Eirin now. They had their orders and the only thing to do was follow them to the letter.

It feltstrange, walking towards the intruder. Out of the many, many people she never expected to deal with again, Rin Satsuki was in the top five. Unfortunately, one of the side effects of living so long is that people on those sorts of lists tend to show up sooner or later. That is, of course, if the creature really was Rin Satsuki. There really was no way to tell based on sight alone. Of course, there was no one else who would simply absorb danmaku shots like that, and her showing up in Eientei would be quite the coincidence otherwise. To that end, Eirin was going to assume that it was her until proven otherwise. To that end, she had taken the time to retrieve her bow from storage. It was a bit of a step down from her now ruined shotgun, but it would get the message across. From the looks of things, her girls had done their job well. The thing she believed to be Rin was kneeling in the dirt, hands splayed before her and sword lying some feet away. It was partially turned away from her, but Eirin could still see what appeared to be smoking bits of pitch dripping from it face to leave smudges on the ground. Eirin frowned and notched an arrow in her bow. Tears or no, Rin Satsuki was still one of the greatest threats to Eientei. She would be damned before she let another rampage happen. "Rin," Eirin called out. "Rin! Rin Satsuki! Turn around." Still sniveling, the thing pulled itself to its feet and turned to face her. "Eirin. Yourecognize me?" Now I do for certain, Eirin thought to herself. Aloud, she said, "What are you doing here, Rin? How did you escape from your prison?" "Rumiahelped me. She openedthe box." That name didn't ring a bell. "Is Rumia the Shadow Youkai's name?" "I don'tknowwhat thatis." Huh, that was odd. "And is this Rumia's whose body you're wearing?" "Yes." Eirin pulled back on the bowstring. "Let her go, Rin. I don't want to hurt you." Rin's stolen eyes blazed up with new fire and her guttural voice came in stronger, losing that note of forced hesitation. "You already hurt me! Why? I just wanted to talk."

Deep Within I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die

Her mind locked up by fear, Rumia stared with frantic eyes as Rin angrily addressed her newly created screen. On it, she could see Eirin grimly holding them at arrow-point. Considering that Rin had managed to absorb all attempts to destroy her, Rumia had little doubt that she could survive the arrow. But that didn't mean getting skewered first was going to be any fun, especially since it appeared that Rumia would be taking some of that backlash as well. Besides, this was Eirin they were talking about. The arrow was probably cursed or poisoned or something like that. "You didn't even give me a chance to explain myself!" Rin screamed. Her balled fists were trembling and angry tears were pouring down her face. "I didn't know it was you, not at first," Eirin said, her voice sounding strangely mechanical when filtered through Rin's borrowed ears. "But even if I did, have you seen yourself lately? Would you take the chance?" "Uh, R-Rin?" Rumia ventured. "Maybe you should calm down-" "If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't have bothered sending Tewi to get you!" Rin shouted. "I would have just smashed my way in and done it! I'm strong enough to do that now!" "Rin, stop shouting at her. You only have my power, and I-" "Rumia, please," Rin said in a strained voice. "Not now." "I'm sure," Eirin responded. "But even if I knew it was you, do you really think I'd be waiting for you with open arms? Face it Rin, you didn't exactly leave us with a good impression last time around." "But I've changed!" Rin cried in frustration. "I'm different now! I just want to get my life back!" "Oh? And how does this 'Rumia' feel about giving up her life so you might regain yours?" Rumia's spine stiffened. "She's my friend!" Rin protested. "She helped me escape!" "And did she willingly let you devour her body, trap her mind and steal her power?" Eirin said. "I see no difference between what you did then and what you're doing now. Still taking away people's lives against their will. Did you know that there are still those who wake up screaming from nightmares about what you did to them? And you wonder why we're not taking chances." Rumia glanced around at the endless void around them, at the gigantic crimson screen, at her own paralyzed body and at the increasingly nutty girl who had made it all happen. She thought about the brief glimpses of what Rin had created from her power, of the pain she had felt coursing through the space around them when Eirin had shot them. She thought about the signs of Rin's mental instability and being trapped forever in this place, unable to escape, unable to move and

with no one except one very strange girl with more than a few issues for company. Rumia found herself seeing Eirin's logic, harsh as it was, to be wholly reasonable. "I had no choice!" Rin shot back. "What was I supposed to do, just slither my way back? Let the sun dehydrate me until I shriveled up? Let all the fairies of the world turn me into a kickball or a beanbag chair? I'm not working with a lot of options here!" "Then prove it." "Eh?" The steel in Eirin's eyes sharpened. "You say that you're different, that this one incident was just an act of desperation? Then prove it. You've made it here, so you don't need Rumia anymore, right? Let her go, and I'll believe you." Rumia's heart leapt, though she did her best to conceal it. This was it. If Rin would only listen to the pissed off lady with the bow-and-arrow, then Rumia stood a chance of walking away from this nightmare. Then again, there was just a good a chance that her captor would completely disregard Eirin's words and keep her imprisoned. Or go crazy and tear her mental ghost apart. It could go any way, really. Rin, however, didn't respond. She just stared at her feet. "How about it, Rin? Are you really willing to start over with a clean slate? Let Rumia go." Rin's eyes remained downward. Her shoulders shook slightly, but other than that she made no move. "Rin, I need an answer here. Hello?" "Hey Rumia?" Rin said suddenly. "Huh?" "Am I really so terrible?" Rumia gulped. "W-what do you mean?" Rin looked over her shoulder. Her eyes were devoid of emotion, her voice a dead monotone. Rumia couldn't tell, but it also looked like her aura was starting to darken. That couldn't be good news. "Am I really that much of a monster, something to be feared and despised?" Rin turned completely and started walking towards where Rumia hung, her bare feet striding across the open

nothingness. "A horrible freak of nature, something's whose very presence makes your insides squirm. Is that how you see me?" Rumia gulped. "Well, um, you know I've really only known you for a couple hours, so it's way too early to make any, um, judgment calls," she babbled. "But you know, you seem like a nice person all around, and whatever happened back then, well, that's in the past right? So if Miss Eirin's giving you a second chance, hehe, then maybe you should, um" Rin reached up with one luminescent hand to touch Rumia's cheek. "listento her? Oh gods, please don't" A small, sad smile touched Rin's lips. "I guess it's true then," she said. Rumia couldn't tell who she was talking to. "Um, is that so? What's true?" Rin didn't answer. She turned again to face the screen. "Eirin?" "What is it, Rin?" Rin took a deep breath, and Rumia's body tensed with it. She squeezed her eyes shut. This was it. "Eirin, I-" That was when something hit them and the world was knocking spinning. Rumia screamed as the darkness started convulsing around them. White, red and purple bursts of energy erupted around them like pustules. Rin was knocked off her feet and knocked sprawling. The view in the screen was in complete disarray. It was difficult to tell if what they were seeing was static or if Rin's body was being whirled around at great speed. "What's going on?" Rin shouted as she tried to pull herself up. Another quake shook the place, knocking her flat again. "Rumia, what happened?" "How should I know? This is your mind!" Rin managed to stumble her way over to the screen just in time for the picture to clear. From the look of things, her constructed body was lying on its side in the dirt, staring at the bamboo forest. Both she and Rumia gasped in unison when they saw some of the biggest names in the Gensokyo's Who's Who list. Reimu Hakurei, youkai exterminator extraordinaire and Gensokyo's resident problem solver. Marisa Kirisame, Mad Witch of the Forest of Magic and someone who still might be holding a grudge against Rumia. Mima the Evil Ghost, notorious dark magician whose name was still spoken

of in whispers. Suika, the only known oni active in Gensokyo and reported to be able to bench press the Youkai Mountains without a warm-up. And, in keeping with the sort of day Rumia was having, Yukari Yakumo, Gensokyo's vicious watchdog and the closest thing they had to a Capital-G God. Also the person who ranked the highest on Rumia's Avoid-At-All-Costs list. All taken together, Rumia estimated their chances of surviving to be somehow near Cirno's chances of successful enrollment in the Gensokyo University. The cavalry had arrived, and they had brought hell with them. "She tricked me!" Rin screamed. She started banging her fists against the screen. "She tricked me! She just wanted to keep me busy until they showed up! Well, I won't let her get away with this." Even though Rumia knew it wasn't real, the feel of bile rising in her throat was pretty damned convincing. "Um, w-w-what d-do you mean b-b-by-" "I'm sorry Rumia, but I need for you to go away for awhile. I can't afford any distractions." "What? What does-" "Don't worry, I'll come get you after I'm done teaching these guys a lesson." "Wait! What are-" And then everything disappeared. Rin, the screen, the writhing substance around them, even Rumia's imaginary body and the sensations it was experiences. All gone. Just nothingness. Hello? she said, or at least tried to. Her mind formed the word, but there was no outlet. Oh Rin, she wondered as despair rose up. What are you doing?

"No!" Eirin screamed as Rin was ripped from the ground and tossed in the air like a ragdoll. "Not now! I was reaching her!" "So am I," Yukari said. "Watch me reach her." She called up fire and plasma and twisted them together to form a blazing rope of destruction, which she promptly hurled through one of her bizarre portals. Another portal opened directly over the still-flying Rin, causing the twisting rope to bear down on her and slam her to the ground. "That reached her! Didn't it reach her Suika?" "Sure did!" the little oni cheered. "Hey, I can reach her too!"

The little oni suddenly stopped being so little. Within a matter of seconds she was more than fifteen feet tall and tearing up bamboo by their roots. When she had enough to fill her enormous palm, she raised it over her head. "No!" Eirin cried, but it was too late. Suika slammed the entire load down on Rin, who was just struggling to her feet. The force of the impact literally drove her into the ground. Eirin stamped her feet in frustration. "You idiots! Stop! You don't know what you're dealing with!" "Maybe not, but we know how to deal with it!" Marisa laughed. "Reimu?" "Got it." The shrine maiden extracted a card from her skirt. At her command, it started hovering in the air, her yin-yang balls circling at high speed. "Evil Sealing Circle!" she snarled, and the card exploded in red and blue light, which surrounded the ripped-up stalks of bamboo and burnt them to ash. "Ready dearie?" Mima said sweetly to Marisa. Her former prodigy grinned and gave her a thumbsup. "Am I ever!" Mima's teeth flashed as she grinned. "Good." The two of them flew high above the smoking impact zone. Directly beneath, there was a still a small dark speck, lying motionless in the crater. Mima gently placed her hands on Marisa's shoulder. At the touch, her fingers began glowing with a sparkling green light. Meanwhile, Marisa's hakkero hummed loudly as it gathered power. "No!" Eirin screamed. She pointed her arrow at the pair, but then she was suddenly snatched up from the ground, dropping the bow in the process. "Uh-uh-uh," Suika chastised the struggling Lunarian. "Play nice!" Unable to break from the giant's grasp or even reach her syringes, Eirin could only watch helplessly as the light in the sky grew brighter and brighter, until "Final Spark!" Marisa and Mima cried in unison. Pure destructive force, thicker and brighter than even the Master Spark, shot forth from the hakkero directly down into the crater. "What's wrong, Lunarian?" Yukari said mockingly as she hovered over to Eirin's side. "You seem concerned for the monster's safety. Don't tell me you've gotten soft." "Idiot!" Eirin spat. "That's not the Shadow Youkai!" "Is it not?" Yukari seemed wholly unconcerned about this revelation. "Hmmm, it certainly looks a little different, all smoky and such." She shrugged. "Oh well, still close enough."

"No it's not! Seriously, you don't know what you're doing!" "And you do, I suppose?" "Yes! That's no normal youkai, that's-" "Hey guys!" Marisa shouted, magically amplifying her voice to make herself heard over the roar of her attack. "Something's happening, ze!" All eyes turned to her and Mima. They were still digging their way to Makai with the Final Spark, but Marisa's face had started to look strained. Considering that her ridiculously overpowered spells didn't usually tax her, especially with Mima lending her power to the mix, this was somewhat odd. "Marisa?" Reimu said as she floated to the witch's side. "What wrong?" "Don't know," Marisa mumbled back. "Feels like somethingpushing backnneeggghhh!" Suddenly the Final Spark seemed to tamper off near the hole's entrance. Just as it expanded out from Marisa's hands to a thick cylinder of energy, it shrank back down again to disappear into another set of hands. A sharp-taloned, pitch black set of hands that were slowly rising from the hole's epicenter. "Oh, here we go," Eirin groaned. She slumped over the oni's fingers. "It's the Satsuki incident all over again." "Uhhh, say what now?" Yukari said. Like everyone else, she was entranced by the seemingly impossible sight of someone not only surviving, but absorbing Marisa's Final Spark attack. Eirin ignored her. "Marisa!" she screamed. "Stop firing! You're only making her angrier!" "What?" Marisa shouted back. "I said" The Final Spark suddenly pulsed and reversed its direction, turning on its source and launching a very surprised Marisa and Mima into the sky. "never mind." Over the hole hovered Rin Satsuki, wearing the nightmarish form of Rumia the supposed Shadow Youkai. There was no denying it, the girl was pissed off. What had been smalls, dancing wisps along the edges of her body had erupted into angrily writhing vines of pure midnight. Her eyes had lost all her hurt confusion from earlier and now only blazed with hate. Her sword was clutched in one hand and by the looks of things she fully intended to use it. "You're going to want to put me down," Eirin told Suika.

"Huh?" The overgrown oni stared down at the woman clutched in her hand, as if she had forgotten that she was even there. "Put me down. You'll need your hands free." "Oh. Okay." Eirin was unceremoniously dropped to the ground. She landed with a thump on her rear but pulled herself to her feet as quickly as she could. "Uh, Eirin?" Yukari said. "What's going on?" "The end of the world." "Seriously?" "Near enough." Eirin reached into her dress and removed three of the syringes. She held these between her fingers on her right hand like a set of throwing knives. "Now, listen up: grab your friends and get the hell out of here. Things are about to get really ugly." Yukari bristled. "And who are you to tell me what-" A savage roar of hate and rage exploded from Rin's Shadow Youkai form. There was no more time. Eirin grimly readied the syringes as she started to run towards the whirlwind of darkness that was starting to form. She ignored everything around her; Yukari's cries of surprise, Suika's clumsy attempts to grab her again, the dark storm clouds that were forming overhead, the way the light seemed to grow dimmer over time, everything. The only thing she was focused on was her target and the single thought that repeated over and over in her mind. Now this? This is going to suck. Voices Three minutes ago... Being an exiled princess of the moon came with both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, there was no longer an advanced civilization under Kaguya's command. No more worshipful populace, no more gigantic palace full of servants, no more entire army ready to die at her word. Instead, she was left with a single mansion of Earth rabbits, Eirin and Reisen aside, whom she had to actually pay. The number of eager suitors seeking her hand had also dropped considerably. And while she locals seemed to like her well enough, she still had to get used to the fact that the most she was going to receive from them was a friendly hello instead of them prostrating themselves on the ground and begging for her favor. And of course, there still was the damned Mokou. There was always that damned Mokou. Still, there were upsides as well. At least people had stopped pretending to like her just because they were supposed to. Mokou aside, the number of assassination plots was at an all-time low.

What few people she had serving under her seemed to be honestly loyal to her personally instead of just her family. All those marriage proposals were starting to get a little annoying anyway. And damn it, she was starting to like being one of girls. Just last week she and Tewi had snuck out to one of Suika's infamous parties and had gotten so smashed that they had somehow woken up in five miles from where they started and were wearing each other's clothes. Of course, Eirin had had some choice words for them when she had found out, but it had been totally worth it, even if she and Tewi had been looking at each other awkwardly ever since. Plus, on the moon she wouldn't have access to Yukari's black market of Outside World toys. So on the whole things were going just fine. At the moment, she was in sitting cross-legged on her bed, dressed in shorts and a simple blue blouse with a green-and-silver scarf around her neck and glasses on her face, reading the latest novel she had acquired from Yukari. It was from a series that, according to Yukari, was all the rage back in the Outside World. Even though she didn't get most of the references, she was still enjoying it immensely. She turned the page and gasped. "Wait, Snape kills Dumbled-" A sudden knock at the door startled her out of her trance. She looked up, blinking in confusion. "Your Highness? Your Highness!" said a frantic-sounding voice on the other side as they continued to slam their hand against the door. "Please, it's an emergency. Kaguya scowled. Out of all the inconvenient times! She removed her glasses and scarf, slid off the bed and donned a robe patterned with blue flowers. Then, after tightening the sash around her waist, she went to see what the problem was. Whatever it was, it had better be damned good. "Your Highness, please! It's important!" the voice kept saying. "All right, all right! I'm coming already!" She slid the door open and frowned when she saw twelve nervous-looking members of the Eientei guard standing at attention. "Uh, what's going on?" she asked. "Is Mokou PMSing at the front Gate or something?" The rabbit who looked like she was in charge, the one who had done all the knocking and yelling, shook her head. "No, Highness. I'm sorry, but we need to evacuate you from the premises as quickly as possible. Eirin's orders." Kaguya stared at her. "Evacuate? That's preposterous! Eientei is a veritable fortress! What could possibly be so threatening at it would force us to retreat?" "Highness, it'sRin Satsuki. She's back." "Wait, who?" "Remember?" one of the other rabbits said suddenly. "Eirin's little people-eating blob girl?"

"Quiet!" the first rabbit snapped, giving the second an admonishing whack across the forehead. "Do not speak out of turn!" Kaguya, however, didn't even notice the disrespect. Now she remembered Rin Satsuki. "Wait, the same one that ate Reisen and most of the staff until Eirin managed to blow her up? That one?" The first rabbit inclined her head. "Yes, Highness. I saw her with my own eyes." "Then what are we waiting for, you ignorant fools!" Kaguya shouted, forgetting in her panic that she had promised to stop calling them. "Let's get out of here!" All of the gathered rabbits saluted. "Yes, your Highness!" They started to move, but then Kaguya paused. "Wait, where is Eirin?" "I'm sorry Highness, I do not know. She sent us to find you immediately after confirming Satsuki's identity." Kaguya's face became even paler than usual. "So you just left her there? She'll get eaten! We have to go back for her!" She moved to go find her companion but found her way blocked by the rabbits, who moved to stand in her way. "Your Highness," said the lead rabbit in a firm but respectful tone, "we were given direct orders from Eirin to evacuate you from the palace immediately, and we intend to follow those orders." Kaguya's jaw dropped. "What? How dare you! I outrank Eirin, in case you've forgotten. Since when do her orders supersede mine?" "When your safety is concerned," was the prompt answer. "I hope you can forgive us one day, but we cannot allow you to come within range of that creature." Kaguya was about to tell them in no uncertain terms exactly how forgiving she intended to be, but then the lead rabbit added, "In addition Highness, perhaps you have not considered the exact implications of what were to occur if you were to be devoured yourself." Being contradicted made Kaguya bristle, even if the rabbit had a point. But before she could respond the sound of yelling attracted her attention. Everyone turned to see even more rabbits, soldier and mansion staff alike, rushing toward them. Only this time, it looked like Reisen and Tewi were with them. And, curiously enough, that fox youkai that was always following Yukari around. "Princess Kaguya!" Reisen wailed. "She's back! It's-"

"I know!" Kaguya snapped. "Rin Satsuki. She's back, it's awful, panic and fear, I got it! Now, where in the hell is Eirin?" It was Yukari's pet fox (Ran! That was her name) that answered. "She said that she was going to talk to the intruder, try to reason with her. Considering that she had the intruder ambushed twice with a literal barrage of bullets not five minutes ago and shot it several times with a shotgun, I must confess I do not have high hopes for her success." The first soldier, the one that had knocked on Kaguya's door, cleared her throat. "Highness, forgive me, but we must-" "Shut up," Kaguya snapped. To the fox, she said, "What, is she insane? Satsuki's a psychopath! Delusional, mixed up, cuckoo, her brain is on extended leave! What is Eirin thinking?" Ran tilted her head. "Seeing how I have absolutely no idea who this Satsuki is in the first place, I cannot even hazard a guess. Though I should point out that Yukari is already on her way to help, and is bringing reinforcements. Perhaps Eirin is simply trying to distract said cuckoo psychopath until my Master arrives." Her eyes darkened. "And while I still remain uninformed as to this Rin Satsuki's history, I do know a thing or two of the new power she's acquired. And I know that is quite often a bad idea to get in the way of Yukari's operations. So you are going to tell me everything that Yukari will find useful and then you are going to evacuate. Now."

Now Pain. Uncontrollable, agonizing pain. Energy, much, much more than I can absorb, coursing down on me, burning, tearing, annihilating. Trying to stop it, trying to deflect it, trying to adapt to it. No good. It's too much, too fast. Not nearly strong enough. Feel my body start to disintegrate. Shriveling away, from the outside in. Is this what it felt like for Rumia, when I took her in? If so, then I owe her an apology. Too bad I'll never be able to give it. No, can't take much more of this. Trying to hold together, but it's so hard. Losing control of my cells, feeling the ones on the surface start to collapse. Wouldn't that be ironic? End it all in a nuclear explosion. Do organic cells work that way? I don't think so. Be funny if they did. Guess I'm gonna find out. Too bad, I was starting to enjoy the open air. Please, somebody help Well, I do believe that's my cue. What? Hello. Rumia! But I-

Rumia? Heh, not quite. Who are you? A friend. One you cannot afford to ignore. What? What do you mean? In short, I'm here to help you, Rin. And given how you're slowly being boiled away to vapor, I'd say you could use all the help you can get. Bu-but how? How did you even get into my mind? That isn't supposed to be possible! Is that so. Well, sorry to hear that. If I'm too much of a distraction I'll just go. Say hello to oblivion for me. No, wait! Hmmm? Can you really help me? Oh yes. That much is certain. Please, I don't know who you are, but if you can help me then help me! Oh, very well. First of all, you're going about this the wrong way. What? It's too much energy to take in all at once, right? Sort of like a raging river crashing against a dam. It can absorb and disperse some of the force, but too much too fast and thenbye bye! I know that already! HowSo stop thinking of yourself as a dam, and become a meander. Let the energy flow through you and back at them. Butbut how? Here, let me show you.

"What?" Marisa shouted at the tiny figure of Eirin Yagokoro. The Lunarian doctor had shouted something at her, but with the roar of the Final Spark it was difficult enough to hear her own voice. Plus, most of her attention was focused on the Spark itself, which had suddenly decided to behave rather oddly, almost like it was pushing back.

Eirin shouted again, but again her words were swallowed up. Just as well, because at that moment her hakkero started shaking uncontrollably. Marisa exchanged one very confused look with Mima. This was new. And in their field, having new things happen while controlling highly destructive forces tended to end badly. Suddenly a massive wave of force from their own attack rose up against them. Marisa had exactly enough time to think Oh shi- before her beam suddenly reversed direction. And then there was nothing but noise.

I did it! So I see, good job! But don't celebrate too soon; your work isn't done yet. It's not? No. The others who attacked you are still there. The traitor is there too. Am I right? yes. The traitor who took you in, pretended to care about you, made you love her like a mother. How did youWho used that bond to manipulate you. Who tore away your life and made you into an abomination. Who assaulted and tried to kill you when you dared to try to take it back, to try to find some escape from the endless loneliness of your own mind. Who claimed that you were the monster just because you tried to defend yourself. Who stuffed you in a box and handed you off to the vampire lover. Who left you alone in the dark for years, claiming it was for your own good when she knew damned well that there would be no end to your torment. Yes. And to add insult to injury, once you finally freed yourself, saw the sky and felt for the first time in years, what did she do? After you tried to make amends, did she greet you with open arms? No, she lured you in with talk of reconciliation and let her new friends try to kill you. Yes! Such a sad story. Now, what are we going to do about that?

Reimu tumbled head-over-heels through the dirt, tearing clothing and scraping skin. She finally skid to a very undignified stop, face down in a small puddle of mud. She did not want to know what had made the mud, but judging by the smell and the taste she could hazard a few guesses.

She gagged and spat out the foul stuff. When she had seen Marisa and Mima's Final Spark start to backfire, she had dived out of the way as fast as she could. Her feet had gotten singed in the process, but she had made it. Barely. What had happened though? Marisa and Mima were two of the most powerful practitioners she knew. In addition, when it came to magical matters, they were perfectionists. Their spells never backfired like that. It was something that simply didn't happen. Coughing, she pulled herself up and looked over her shoulder and got her answer. Her eyes widened and small squeaking noises emerged from her slack mouth. Oh, holy shit!

The shrine maiden is a problem. She will not stop until we are destroyed. What do I do? Hmmm, well, you could try this.

A twisting vine of darkness writhed its way over to where Reimu landed. The shrine maiden tried shooting it down, but it dodged her attack and struck. Reimu cried out as it wrapped around her left ankle. The touch was icy cold and poisonous. Pins and needles erupted over her foot, and then it went numb. The numbness began climbing up her leg. It wasn't done though. The vine lifted her off the ground, dangling her like a chunk of butchered meat. It swung her around a couple of times, almost playful in its abuse. And then it hurled her into the forest. Her body slammed through the bamboo stalks, shattering several until finally coming to a limp stop.

Not bad. Should have waited until the taint spread through her body though. But wouldn't thatkill her? Of course. I-I don't think I can do that. I'm not a murderer! I see. Well, baby steps then. Meanwhile, watch your back.

Yukari emerged from her portal, directly behind the Shadow Youkai. She had to admit, the thing was tougher than she remembered. Normally, she would be approaching such a threat more cautiously, but there were larger issues at hand. The bitch had hurt Reimu. It was going to pay. Once again she called up fire in one hand and plasma in the other. She pressed her wrists together and sent out death. Faster than she thought possible, almost as fast as thought itself, the Shadow Youkai whirled around and thrust one hand outward. Yukari's attack hit it in the center of its palm. Oh, this can't be good, Yukari thought numbly. She tried to turn off the juice, but before she could her own attack turned against her, redirecting itself to slam against her torso. Cloth disintegrated and flesh burned and Yukari was knocked backwards through her portal. Yukari tumbled through her unnatural world of eyes, completely senseless. She didn't even notice when her cell phone started to ring.

Now that was a long time coming. Oh irony, how I love thee. Now then, you say you don't want to kill anyone, correct? Yes! Hurt, maybe. But not kill! If you say so. Oh, I wouldn't remain hovering in one place if I were you. What? What do youAAAGGGHHHH!

Attacking a pissed-off Rin Satsuki head on was tantamount to suicide, but Eirin had run out of options. Now she just hoped that she could distract her long enough for Kaguya and the others to evacuate safely. At this point, nothing more mattered beyond keeping this thing from the princess. For its part, Rin hadn't turned her attention to her yet. She was too busy picking apart the rest of Yukari's posse. The ghost and the witch had already been dispatched, and the shrine maiden was soon to follow. Eirin felt her heart drop as Reimu was hurled screaming into the forest, but there was no time to worry about her now. Yukari was next. To the youkai's credit, she kept her head for tactics despite the fact that the battle was turning against her. She appeared through a portal right behind Rin and tried to finish her off at point-blank range. Unfortunately she was unfamiliar with Rin's unique abilities and was promptly removed from the game.

Her useless attack did some good though. It got Rin to turn her back on Eirin. The Lunarian doubled her speed and leapt forward at her onetime prodigy, throwing the syringes with all her might. Like her rifle, the syringes and their contents were made special. Each one had an enchantment that would press down on the injector once the needle pierced skin, sending 40ml of a particularly nasty bacterial disease Eirin had whipped up herself into whatever poor sap so happened to be on the receiving end of her wrath. That in itself was enough to paralyze and kill most people in seconds, but Eirin wasn't interested in taking chances, so three it was. Followed by three more. And a focused blast of danmaku to the head for good measure. To her surprise, it worked. As soon as the needles plunged in, Rin's spine stiffened and her dark aura began thrashing. Her sword fell from nerveless hands and she wobbled in the air. I'm sorry Rin, Eirin thought as she watched her greatest success and most tragic failure start to fall back into the pit that had been dug for her.

Wow, I actually felt that. Nasty stuff. AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! Oh, stop your crying. It's giving me a headache. Well, mind ache. Whatever. Anyway, you're fine. I can't moveburningwhole body burning Yeah, this would be lights-out for you under normal circumstances. One major problem with that though. wha Looks like that toxin is organic in nature. Spores, maybe? Germ warfare? Really cranky microscopic fairies? Whatever the case, life is life, and it's not going to work. Why? Because I'm here. Don't worry about the toxin, it's under control. All you have to worry about is the traitor.

Whatever steel resolve had been driving Eirin's assault began to melt into ice water. Rin wasn't dying. Just as it looked like she was going to fade away completely, her spine had straightened, her shoulders had squared, and the fire in her eyes began blazing with new life. Then the syringes started to sink into what passed for Rin's flesh. Damn it.

Eirin acted without thinking. As soon as Rin turned to face her, Eirin leapt into the air and slammed her foot into the monster's face. The contact felt like a dagger of ice being driven into her heel, but she managed to take Rin off guard. Her scarlet eyes bulged in surprise and the force of the kick sent her flying against the pit's side where her head collided with an audible crack.

So, you still don't want to kill anyone? Um Can you make just one exception for her? She did just try to kill you. But I... And she kicked you in the head. Now that was just rude.

The biggest drawback to kicking someone poised over a large hole is that once the kick connects, you really had nowhere to go but down. Of course, this being Gensokyo, Eirin could have simply flown to safety, but there were certain factors that made that impractical. Namely, an angry Rin recovering way too fast and grabbing her by and arm and a leg, swinging her round and round and tossing her headfirst down the pit's throat. As she fell, Eirin couldn't help but think, I knew this was going to suck. If she had time she would have smiled at the irony. Then lights exploded behind her eyes.

Feels good, doesn't it? Feel free to finish her off anytime. Huh

Eirin stared up through glazed eyes and swollen eyelids as the shadowy blur descended. Something in the back of her mind told her that she should probably be panicking right now, but for the life of her she could not think of why. Especially since staying down and going to sleep seemed like such a good idea. Something grabbed her by her collar and hoisted her up. She frowned in annoyance. Why wouldn't people let her rest?

Then the fuzziness in her mind cleared enough for her to recognize Rin Satsuki's stolen mask. Oh, that was right. Rin was back, and wanted to kill her. And from the looks of things, that was about to happen. Despite literally facing her impending death. Eirin felt an almost eerie sense of serenity. There was a certain rightness to going out this way. She had done her best uphold her duty and was now going to be ended by the person with the most reason to. It was almost karmic in a way. Holding her up with one hand, Rin reached back with the other. Eirin smiled slightly. Well, this was it. But to her surprise, Rin didn't rip out her throat or tear off her head. Instead, she hauled out and decked her.

Oh. Well. That wasprimitive. Yes. Now I'm curious; you had the perfect opportunity to kill her right there and every reason to. Why didn't you? Don't tell me you're still hoping to patch things up with her. I think we're a little beyond that now. I know. I'm not. Then? Because I'm not done with her yet. Really now? What more could youoh. Oh. Hehehe, I get'cha! Rin, I'm starting to like you! Um, thanks? Just be careful. These little games have a habit of coming back to bite you in the ass. I know. I'll be careful. Good. Oh, ah, look out for the oni. What? Yes. The very big one that flattened you earlier and is now reaching into the hole with one really large hand, looking to pop you like a pimple. Oni?

The nasty kind that are really three pimples in one and are so filled with pus that you swear there must be some sort of viral civilization living inside. Oh! That oni!

Wrong! This was all wrong! Suika charged at the hole, arms pumping furiously, angry tears leaking out of the corner of her eyes. It wasn't supposed to go this way! It was supposed to be just another brawl! They would go find the painted-blue-honey-sake-she didn't even care anymore and beat it up until it stopped being bad. That was how all the other times went! But now, in the space of thirty seconds, her two biggest buddies and the grumpy doctor lady had gotten the crap beaten out of them, and not in the usual way. You just didn't do that to people! Beat them up, sure! It was a time-honored tradition! But this thing was going too far! It didn't play by the rules. You just don't break the rules like that! And through the whole thing, Suika had just stood there, watching everyone else try to do something. Why hadn't she moved faster? She could have saved them! But no, she had to stay frozen like a big, stupid rock. Well, the time had come to fix all that. Suika reached the edge of the hole and looked in. At the bottom, the evil shadow person was standing over the doctor lady. The doctor lady looked kinda dead, which meant the evil shadow person was now a murderer. Suika could think of only one thing to do to murderers. Her eyes red with fury, she reached down with one gigantic hand, intending to twist the little monster's head right off. The evil shadow person didn't even so much as look at her. Instead, moving so fast it was almost a blur, she snatched up her black sword thing from the ground and jabbed it into Suika's palm. The pain of it was so great that for a moment Suika couldn't think. Her mind just locked up and she tumbled backward onto her rump. There was a loud crunch, signifying that she had landed on something, but she had other things to worry about now. The shadow thingy leapt out of the hole, sword in hand. Suika bared her teeth and got ready to crush the little pipsqueak. However, said pipsqueak didn't even bother attacking. Instead, it jumped right over her hands, pushed off of her head, and went right over her. Suika whirled in surprise, unable to understand why it hadn't wanted to fight. But there it was, running away from her, running towards the mansion. Suika was almost insulted.

She bared her teeth and shook her fist. "Where do you think you're going, you coward!" she yelled. "Come back and-" Something wet leaked through the bottom of her dress. Suika's eyes went wide and she leapt to her feet, sending tremors through the ground around her. She was pretty sure she hadn't wet herself. She wasn't nearly so drunk for that to happen. But still, what else could it have been? Then she saw the shattered remains of her gourd floating in a puddle of sake. Her heart fell in her enormous chest. Her gourd. Her most precious possession. An unending source of sake, and that made it good as family in her book. She must have landed on it when she fell back. But how could she have been so careless? It had always survived all of her fights before. Suika reached towards its fragments with twitching fingers, but couldn't bring herself to touch them. She didn't deserve to. It had been entrusted to her, and she let it get smashed. She was now a failure as an oni. She had let her friends get hurt, and now her gourd was gone, all thanks to her stupid clumsiness. Exile was too good for her now. It was all her fault, all her No. Not her fault. It's fault. Her breathing slowed to a steady pant as every negative emotion focused itself into a single clear conclusion. She looked up at the fleeing form of the evil shadow person. It was swinging its sword at Eientei's walls, cutting its way in. "Not so fast, murderer,"Suika whispered as she began walking towards the mansion with slow, deliberate strides. "You and I have unfinished business."

You are entirely too merciful for your own good. She's not even unconscious! You should have decapitated her on your way up. What? Who are you? Well, that sounded aggressive. Way to bite the hand that feeds you. You forced your way into my mind without permission, something that not even the strongest empaths could do. You know my history, despite the fact that my very existence is a closely

guarded secret, known only to Eientei, the scientist sisters and certain residents of the scarlet vampire's staff. You know things about my abilities that I didn't even know. Heh, wow. That's surprisingly insightful of you. Why so lucid? Look, who are you, and how did you get into my mind? What are you doing here? Is this really the best time for a Q and A session? We're kinda in the middle of something here. Answer, or I'll banish you! Okay, okay, Jeez! Bipolar much? As for who I am, think of my as your conscience. Except instead of telling you what's "good and proper", I tell you what's smart. I'm the part of your mind that's not deluding itself with ideas of "redemption" and "acceptance". I'm the part of you that tells it as it is, that you are going to be hated by everything and everyone no matter what you do, so you might as well become what they're going to accuse you of anyway. Because you have no chance of surviving otherwise. Butbutthat doesn't even make sense! So? Face it, sister: it doesn't really matter where I came from, because I'm all you've got. That Rumia girl is absolutely scared shitless of you. All your former friends at Eientei think you're pure nightmare fuel unleaded. Everyone else is trying to smash you into paste anyway, and if they're not now, they will as soon as word of this little scuffle gets out. I'm the only one looking out for you, so if you banish me, you're on your own. Stuck running for your life with no one but a terrified little girl who thinks your some kind of psycho-kidnapper for company. Does that sound fun to you? I'm sorry, was that an answer? What do I do now? That's better. And now, you get to do what every great hero aspires to do someday. You get to storm the castle, fight off the guards and rescue the princess! Oh, won't that be fun! Yeah, sure. Fun. Oh, chin up already. It's not that bad! Once you do this, you'll never have to worry about anything ever again. Cross my heart, hope everything else on this godsforsaken wad of dust dies. what? Sorry, reflex. Anyway, enough talk. Tally ho!

Yukari was not accustomed to losing, nor did she enjoy being manhandled. So when she finally came to her senses and realized what had happened, she was somewhat put out. "I will kill that fucking thing!" she raged. "I will kill it, kill it, kill it, and bring it back from the dead so I can kill it some more! I will kill it so hard that it won't even be a memory anymore! I will-" Then she noticed the many, many eyes floating through her world of borders, each of them staring at her. "What do you lamebrains think you're staring at?" she shouted. All of the eyes suddenly found something else to look at. Yukari took a deep breath and opened a portal back to the bamboo forest. With any luck, the situation was still salvageable. Unfortunately Yukari had never been much of a believer in luck. And with good cause too. The place was a deserted mess. Just like last time she had encountered the Shadow Youkai, black clouds blotted out the sun, and what little light there was had became strangely muted. The fallout from the battle was still there, such as the pit in the ground and the hole in the side of Hourai Clinic, but other than that there was no sign of anyone, friend or foe alike. Yukari's insides went sour, but she forced herself to investigate. Reimu, that's right. The young shrine maiden had been tossed into the Bamboo Forest. That was probably the best place to start. After that, she could get to work piecing the rest of the team together. Yukari floated into the patch of forest where Reimu had been thrown. The path that her hurtling body had made was still fresh, with several bamboo stalks snapped in half. "Reimu!" Yukari called as she followed the trail. "Are you all right? Reimu!" Then she saw her. The shrine maiden was on her side at the foot of several stalks that apparently been too tough to break. Her clothing was ripped, the bow she usually wore was missing from her hair and she was covered with cuts and scratches. Worst of all, her left foot and part of her shin was a dark shade of purple, almost black in some places. Yukari swallowed. It was the taint. She had seen it enough times to recognize it, and had actually suffered from it herself. Reimu wasn't moving, but she was still breathing. Her breath was shallow, but at least she was alive. Yukari dropped to her side and gently took Reimu's head in her hands and laid in on her lap. "Oh Reimu," she muttered as she gently stroked the girl's smudged face. "If only you knowhow completely ridiculous you look right now." Reimu cracked one eye open to glare at her. "Wow, thanks for the sympathy, dumbass," she mumbled.

Yukari smiled wryly, not letting the relief she felt show on her face. "The mighty Reimu Hakurei, taken out by a single youkai. Oh, just wait until I tell everyone. No one will ever be able to take you seriously again." "Shaddup." With Yukari's help, Reimu pulled herself up to a sitting position. She winced and said, "What's up with my foot, frostbite? I can't feel it." "It's called the taint," Yukari explained. "Something Rumia used to do. Once she touches something living, it slowly corrupts and shuts down." Reimu's eyes widened. "Seriously? She killed my foot?" "It's not permanent. I had a nasty case of it myself, taken from our last encounter. Covered my entire right arm and part of my shoulder. But it stops spreading once she releases you and will eventually go away." "Yeah? And how long does that take?" "Depends on the size. Yours doesn't look that bad. I give it about four days until you'll be a hundred percent again." "Four days," Reimu groaned. She sighed heavily. "You know, this incident is becoming a lot harder than you said it would." Yukari frowned. "So I've noticed." She shook her head. "Look, just wait here. I'm going to try to find the rest of the group." "What, with that thing on the loose? Fat chance!" Reimu tried to straighten up but fell back with a gasp of pain. Yukari frowned as she felt Reimu's side. "Looks like you've got some broken ribs there. You're in no shape to be going anywhere." "Yeah? And how about you? Looks like something torched your midriff there, or that just some daring new fashion?" "Hush. Wait here until I get back. And by the gods if you move I will knock you out!" Reimu glowered but she complied. Yukari left her to head back to Eientei. First order of business would be to find Eirin. A doctor would sure be handy right about now. Plus, she seemed to have some idea as to why the Shadow Youkai was suddenly so strong. After that, she should probably also find out what happened to Suika. They could use her strength in the coming rematch. Also, Yukari couldn't but feel just a little concerned for the oni. Suika could handle herself just fine, but impulse control was not one of her stronger points.

And she supposed she might as well find out where those witches had landed, if for no other reason than to make Reimu happy. The mansion would probably be the best place to start, mainly because of the hole torn out of one of the walls. Well, at least it now matched the clinic. On her way over, Yukari glanced in the pit by chance and froze in midair. Eirin was lying in a crumpled heap at the bottom. Her condition made Reimu look the absolute picture of health. Her face looked like it had been smashed in with a brick and there were the telltale signs of the taint on her nose, cheeks, collarbone and right foot. Yukari was down in the pit in an instant. A quick inspection confirmed that she was alive, but just barely. Considering what Rumia used to do to her victims, this was downright merciful. Still, she would be gone in less than an hour if nothing was done. Yukari wasn't usually the altruistic type, but they needed Eirin alive. Fortunately, despite not being a healer, she had somewhat of an advantage in this situation. On paper, her power of border manipulation didn't seem all the great, but with a little creativity it could work wonders. And she had had several millennia to learn how to be creative. She placed one hand on Eirin's swollen forehead and concentrated. Her mind steadied itself away and dove deep into the doctor's psyche, searching for her consciousness. She found it, but it was slipping away fast. Well, first order of business would be to ensure that it slipped no farther. Yukari reached even deeper until she found that great fissure, the border between life and death. In her mind, it appeared as a shining light-filled crack in a sky of black. She had to admit, the warmth it was emitting was very appealing. Of course, it had been designed that way. "Come forward, weary soul," she heard a soft voice whisper. "Come forward and lay youroh, hell. It's you again, isn't it?" Back at her body, Yukari smiled. "Hello dear. Fancy seeing you here." "Cut the crap, Yukari," the voice snapped back. "What are you doing here anyway? And don't tell me you're dying. I'll probably die before you do. No, wait, let me guess: you're about to get in the way of my job again, aren't you?" "So it would seem." "Godsdamn it, Yukari! Look, I'm in enough trouble as it is. Shiki's been riding my ass all week long, and I'm trying to score some points here. So I don't need you gumming up the works, all right?" "Ah, I'm sorry. But I'm afraid I must. Call of duty and all that."

"Of course you must," the voice said sulkily. "But when the call of duty means the little guy gets screwed" "Look, I'll speak to the Yamaxanadu for you. You don't have to worry." "Like that'll save me from a lecture. Look, if you're going to do it, do it. I've wasted enough time here already." "Aw, you're a peach. Thanks!" "Don't mention it. Ever." And with that, it was gone. Yukari finished sealing off the border between life and death, preventing Eirin from slipping completely out of reach. Then she started moving backward, coaxing Eirin's spirit closer and closer to wakefulness. It wasn't a perfect solution and it wouldn't fix the damage done to her body, but it would ensure that she wouldn't be slipping off into oblivion before she could get real help. Finally, she sealed off the border between consciousness and unconsciousness. Eirin's body twitched, and her swollen eyes opened. "Ughugh," she muttered. "Whuh hawppened?" "I just brought you back from near-death. Say 'Thank you.'" Eirin scowled and managed to lift a shaky hand bearing an obscene gesture. Then she tried to sit up. Yukari pushed her back down, though she did so gently. "Nuh-uh, not so fast. You're in no condition to go anyway, and I need some fast answers. You said that thing wasn't the Shadow Youkai, and after careful deliberation," she indicated the stinging burn on her torso, "I'm inclined to believe you. But I still need to know what I'm dealing with." Eirin sighed. "Long story," she said. Her voice was starting to clear up, but it was still weak. "Give me the abbreviated version then. What can it do?" "Adapt to and absorb most attacks. Can also" she started coughing. Yukari waited for it to stop. "can also apparently redirect attacks back at their source. That one's new though. Didn't know about it until the witches got shot. And then you." "So it's nigh indestructible." "Near enough. Not completely though. A big enough blast has a chance, as does blowing it up from the inside." Yukari repressed a small shudder. She didn't want to know how they found that out. "Okay, and how exactly does it have the same abilities as the Shadow Youkai?"

"She can" she coughed "she can envelop and devour people. Doing so will give her access to their full power and memories. Guess the Shadow Youkai was her first meal." The implications of what she had just been told sank into Yukari's mind like a piece of burning pitch, but there wasn't time to panic now. "Witnesses claim that they saw Rumthe Shadow Youkai being swallowed and dissolved by a large transparent blob." Eirin sighed, though it came out as more of a groan. "That'd be her." So, something with the strength of the Shadow Youkai coupled with near invulnerability. Yukari was starting to think that she was in over her head in this one. And if things were so bad that she would even entertain that thought, than that meant the situation was about as dire as it could be. "All right," she said. Her words were a carefully controlled monotone, masking the uneasiness she was starting to feel. "I'll take you to my place, and then I'm going to go find the rest of my friends, and we'll see what we can do about this mess. When I get back, I expect a full report on what this thing is. And I mean everything: strengths, weaknesses, origins, personal habits, secret crush list, everything. Got it?" Eirin nodded weakly, but then she frowned. "Wait," she said, and then with more urgency, "Wait!" "What?" Eirin suddenly lunged forward, grabbing Yukari by the sleeve. "Kaguya, I had the guard sneak her out the back. But Rin's sure to track them down! Please, you have to take me too her! I can't let Rin get the Princess!" "Whoa, hold on! First of all, who the hell is-" Eirin growled in frustration. "Rin is the monster's name, okay?" "Fine. You can explain that later too. But what makes you think I'm going to risk my life and your to save your dumb princess? I mean, loyalty is loyalty, but this-" "Idiot!" Eirin spat. "It's a monster who can absorb people and steal their abilities! What do you think will happen if it takes Kaguya?" With a shock, Yukari realized that the injured doctor was absolutely right. If this Rin could do as Eirin said (and there really was no reason to doubt her word) and it managed to devour Kaguya, then they would be dealing with a creature that had Kaguya's immortality and Rumia's pure annihilating force, with this "Rin's" super adaptability. Yukari was accustomed to putting down threats, even ones that were similarly unkillable. But at least those weren't fanatically dedicated to absolute genocide. If this thing had Rumia's Shadow Youkai abilities, than there was a good bet it'sdistasteful outlook on life would pop up as well.

Despite the fact that Rumia's memories had been wiped and her personality reset, Yukari had found that it's safer to assume the worst in such situations. A small moan escaped Yukari's lips. Exactly when and how did this day get so wrong? Well, best start working on fixing it. First order of business would be to get an update from Ran. She pulled her cell phone from her dress. Fortunately, it was undamaged. Then her eyes narrowed as she examined the screen. Huh, it seemed that she had missed a call. Unfortunately, she had no time to ponder the problem further. A thunderous bellow of rage tore from Eientei, followed by the sound of something smashing into something else. Well, at least she now knew where Suika was.

Did I not tell you to kill the oni? Now look what's happened. I know, I know, I'm dealing with it! You're actually dealing with the fact that your head's now flatter than aYou know, for a hallucination you're awfully pushy.

Suika had to admit, she did feel a little better now, but not enough by far. She had managed to take the evil shadow person by surprise (how, she had no idea) when she smashed through the mansion's wall and barreled right into the disgusting thing. It had tried to stab her again, so she had snatched up a piece of wreckage and threw it at the monster's head. Then she had stomped on it. Repeatedly. It had stopped moving about that point. Suika was almost disappointed. Still, she wasn't here to have fun, she was here to smash. And things were easier to smash when they lay still. She turned and bent down to wrench a large piece of the wooden floor loose. Then, turning back to where the monster lay, ready to batter it to a pulp. It wasn't there. The oni's eyes narrowed as she searched the corridor. Well, it was certainly fast. But speed alone wasn't going to save it from her wrath. Still holding her weaponized segment of floor, Suika went hunting. She was going to find it even if she had to tear the whole mansion apart with her bare hands. And from the look of things, she was already off to a good start.

She's going to kill us! No she's not. Stop whimpering. Yes she will! She smashed my head like a piece of fruit! And now she'llYou survived getting blown apart, you can survive whatever she can dish out. But I Do you want me to take over? Because I will if I have to. you can do that? I don't know. Shall we find out? No! Then shut up and listen to me! She's strong, but you are much, much faster than she is. Plus, she can't even touch you without hurting herself. And you can mold your body to fit into tight cracks, yes? Um, for a little while. But it's hard maintain a constantOkay, I get it, shut up. Now listen, this is what we're going to do Escalation "Are you sure this is a good idea?" a worried Reisen asked for what had to be the ninth time since they had left Eientei. Tewi did her best to ignore her and kept flying forward. All around them, the various members of Eientei's staff surrounded them in tight formation: the Guard forming the perimeter while those whose jobs were more practical in nature kept closer to the center. At the center itself, as protected as she was going to be, was the Princess. Unfortunately she wasn't there willingly. Both her hands and feet were bound securely to her body and an all-concealing mask, usually reserved for prisoners, was covering her head. Four lengths of rope stretched out from her trussed up body to four of the most experienced of the Guard, who were looking all kinds of uncomfortable. Tewi honestly couldn't blame them. Overpowering and tying up the Princess against her will went against their very basic nature. But in the end, her safety came first. And considering the situation, if she was bound and determined to go anywhere near Rin Satsuki, it was their solemn duty do anything and everything to prevent that. Tewi just hoped that Kaguya won't hate them for any longer than a decade. And to top it off, they were on their own for this one. As soon as the Princess had beensubdued, Yukari's Shikigami had left them.

"Tewi?" Reisen persisted. "Are you sure-" Tewi's already thin patience snapped. "No, Reisen, no I'm not!" she barked. "This whole thing was Ran and Eirin's stupid idea, so I'm not sure about anything. All I know is that if we don't do it, we'll be down one princess and up one immortal bunny-eating psychopath. So leave me alone already!" "Okay, okay!" Reisen said, holding her hands up defensively. "I'm just worried, that's all!" Tewi heaved a sigh. "Yeah, me too." They continued in silence. Or at least, Tewi and Reisen did. All around them, the staff muttered and whispered to one another. Tewi caught brief snippets of the conversations happening around her. Although the speakers and words were different, subject matter was more-or-less the same. They were screwed if Rin caught up to them, and they were screwed if she didn't. A few were wondering if Remilia Scarlet was hiring. Tewi's first impulse was to berate them, but truth be told, she had started to wonder how she would look in a maid's outfit herself. That was when one voice rose above the others. For one thing, it was shouting while the others kept their tones hushed. For another, it didn't sound much like a rabbit. And finally, it was from someone coming towards their caravan. Tewi blinked and looked in the voice's direction. A white-and-blue blur was flying up from the forest towards them. Not wanting to take chances, Tewi motioned for the nearest Guard to take aim. "Wait!" Reisen shouted, right into Tewi's ear. Tewi flinched at the sudden loudness. "What? Why?" "We know that girl!" Tewi looked again and her heart fell. They did indeed know that girl. She had caused all kinds of trouble for them back during the flower incident. And not out of maliciousness either. No, she had gotten into both their ways through simple stupidity and recklessness. Things had turned out all right in the end, but by the gods she had been annoying! Tewi had left that situation hoping they would never have to deal with the idiotic ice fairy again. Tewi dropped down to a few feet above the treetops to meet her, Reisen following close behind. Tewi scowled at the small girl. "What," she snarled, "the hell do you want?" Cirno's day looked like it was just as bad as theirs. Her clothing was torn and singed at the edges and her skin was filthy and covered with purples bruises. The girl herself was covered with dirt and had small twigs and leaves stuck in her hair. Small cracks ran through her crystalline wings. However, none of this seemed to register to the girl herself. Her eyes were wide with nervous energy and she was shaking from the exertion of having pushed herself despite her condition. And from the look of things, she fully intended to keep pushing herself until she collapsed.

"Pleaseyou gotta help me" the ice fairy panted. "Need tofind Reimuwhere is she?" "Reimu?" Tewi and Reisen exchanged a look. "The shrine maiden?" Cirno squeezed her little hands into fists and yelled in frustration. "Yes! Her! Where is she?" Tewi scowled. "Haven't seen her, don't know anyone who has. Now go away. We're kind in the middle of something important here." She turned away, but then the ice fairy lunged forward to grab her by the sleeve. Immediately the surrounding Guard snapped into position, right arms extended, left hand seizing their right bicep. "Hold it!" Tewi shouted. "You wanna shoot me full of holes too?" She grabbed Cirno by the head and pushed her off. As she did so, she was struck by how easy it was. The little fairy seemed to be flying on her final reserves of strength. "Look fairy, you want Reimu, go find her yourself," Tewi said. "We're dealing with our own problems here." Cirno, unfortunately, would not be deterred. "What about Marisa then? I saw them all heading into the forest!" Reimu and Marisa, heading into the Bamboo Forest of the Lost? If so, the pair must've gotten wind of the situation. Finally, Tewi began to feel some hope. Those two practically solved incidents such as these as a career. Maybe with them on the case, they had a shot. Still, she shook her head. "Sorry, haven't seen her eith-" "Yukari then! What about Yukari?" Tewi raised her eyebrows. She shot a glance at Reisen. "Um, her Shikigami's at Eientei," Reisen said. "I think she said something about Yukari heading that way." Cirno shuddered with relief. "Finally. Thank you! Which way's Enema?" "Eientei. And it's that way. But I don't think you-" "Okaythanksbye!" Cirno dove back into the forest and was gone. Tewi clouted Reisen over the head. "Idiot! Why'd you send her there for? She'll get eaten or caught in the crossfire!" Reisen returned the blow. "Hey, I tried to tell her, but she took off before I finished!"

Tewi groaned and regained altitude to join the main group. Whatever, they had no time to worry about suicidal fairies now. Their only objective now was to get Kaguya as far as away from Eientei and safely to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Still, it took an actual conscious effort to avoid thinking of those still at the battlefield. Despite the fact that it had occurred several decades ago, memories of Rin's first rampage were still fresh in her mind, and she could only imagine how Reisen was feeling. There was no going back though. Tewi could only keep the caravan moving forward and pray to anyone listening that those back at Eientei would be able to escape safely.

As the only known clinic open to youkai and humans alike, Hourai Clinic was often a bustling place, with Eirin's miniature army of rabbits running to and fro, seeing to the needs of the injured. Spellcard rules tended to be only loosely enforced in the more savage corners of Gensokyo, and even when they were the users tended to be rather rough on one another. And then there were all those wonderful pills Not today though. Even before everything had gone to hell, things had slowed to a veritable crawl, and most of the staff had wandered off to find something else to keep themselves occupied. But now that the place had been deserted in the wake of Rin Satsuki's attack, the emptiness of the bamboo-paneled corridors and still sterile rooms was positively eerie. If it weren't for the sounds of battle erupting from the outside, you could hear a feather drop from the opposite side. It gave the whole place a distinct haunted feel, one that Ran, even with her attention occupied with the situation at hand, couldn't help but notice. She had left the rabbits soon after they had pinned Kaguya down and bound her up. Tewi seemed to have things well in hand, and Ran's place was here, assisting her master any way she could. Plus, there was no way she was going to leave Chen. And that was the problem. Since Chen had been thoroughly sedated when this Rin person had arrived in the waiting room, Ran had taken the liberty of stashing the unconscious catgirl in the janitor's closet. Not the safest place perhaps, but it was the best she could do in a pinch. However, now that she had managed to break away and return for her Shikigami, Ran was facing a most worrying problem. Chen was gone. The bindings were still there; handcuffs, bandages and ball gag, all lying in a small pile among the buckets and spray bottles. But the catgirl herself was conspicuously missing. Ran felt a moan of despair threaten to rise up. It was bad enough that some sort of people absorbing monster had to appear toting the powers of the Shadow freaking Youkai, but now her Chen had vanished. Normally this would be annoying in a amusing sort of way (or was it the other way around?), but for it to happen now meant that Ran had to make an actual effort to banish pictures of Chen being skewered on the Shadow Youkai's sword, or being swallowed up by that Rin person.

And to top it off, Yukari had absolutely failed to answer her phone when Ran had tried to contact her with an update on their enemy's abilities. That in itself was almost panic-worthy. Unless she was asleep (which she was for an irritating amount of the time), Yukari always answered the phone. Ran didn't want to think of something that would prevent her from gaining knowledge that might just be vital to her survival. "Um, excuse me?" a confused voice said from nearby. Ran turned to see that she had been joined by a fairy. The blond girl was dressed in one of Eirin's admittedly hideous looking hospital gowns (further proof of the Lunarian's barely repressed sadism) and had various body parts bandaged up. Her face was also sporting several purple bruises. Ran's eyes actually widened in surprise. With everything that was going on, they had completely forgotten the clinic's other patient. "I'm sorry, but is something wrong?" asked Lily White. "I woke up and everybody was gone." Ran sighed. She didn't need this. "Wrong? Yeah, I'd say there is. We're under attack." Lily made an odd sort of hiccupping gasp. "Attack? From what? Marisa?" "No, it's not Marisa, it's, uh" Ran wondered exactly how to explain an unholy union between a life destroying abomination and a cannibalistic science experiment gone wrong without being barraged with endless questions. "demon," she said lamely. "Evildemonthing." "From Makai?" "sure, why not?" Lily grabbed Ran by the sleeve. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's get-" The sound of electric guitars filled the hall. Lily yelped in alarm and darted into the janitor's closet, slamming the door shut. Ran didn't care. She was just relieved that Yukari seemed to be back on the board. She flipped out her phone. "Master? Is that you?" "Who else?" Yukari snapped. "What the hell is going on?" Ran glanced around nervously. She lowered her voice. "Master, I think the situation is more complicated then we've been led to believe. The creature is more than just the Shadow Youkai. It's-" "Some kind of crazy monster that eats people and steals their powers," Yukari interrupted. "Yeah, I know. Eirin just got done telling me."

Ran blinked. "Eirin? Is she okay? Kaguya seemed very worried about her." "She's hurt, but she'll live. Now, about the princess herself, it seems that it's imperative that the monster is allowed nowhere near her. Something about stealing her immortality and thus making our job all the more difficult." "I know. She's already been evacuated safely." Ran could hear Yukari sighing in relief. "Good. One less headache. Okay, listen up. We just got our asses handed to us, but we're regrouping. Sort of. I need you to take Chen and get out of here." "Um, yeah, small problem with that." "Which is?" Ran sighed. "Chen's gone missing." She could practically hear the scowl just from Yukari's voice alone. "Well, then find her and get her gone! I don't need a hyperactive catgirl gumming up the works." "Understood, Master. I'll find her as quickly as possible." "Good. Where are you now?" "Hourai Clinic." "Again, good. Stay out of the mansion. I do believe Suika's going ten rounds with our gluttonous friend in there and I would hate for you to get caught in the middle." "oh. Thanks." There was a click, and the line terminated. No parting words, no goodbye, just a click. Ran shook her head and put the phone away. Nice to know there were some constants in the universe. Then she turned to see Lily White staring at her. "Is there someone in that box?" the fairy asked. "Like a really, really small youkai?" "What? No, that was Yukari." Lily's eyes went even wider. "Yukari Yakumo's in that box?" "What? No! It's" Ran groaned. Out of all the things she had time for, explaining the mechanics behind cell phones to a beaten and bruised fairy was not one of them. "It's magic. It lets me talk to her from far away."

"Oh. Okay." And with that, Lily's interest seemed to wane. Then again, to a fairy, something like magic boxes would seem somewhat commonplace. "Now by any chance, have you seen a cat youkai anywhere?" Ran asked. It was a long shot, but she might as well ask. "About yay tall," she said, holding her hand a few feet above the ground. "Red dress, short brown hair and two tails?" "Uh, yeah actually." Ran blinked. Hope flickered alive. "Really?" she said, trying not to sound too eager. "Where?" "She's what woke me up with her yelling. I saw her running past my room when I went out the door." Finally, some good news. Ran breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank whatever god's on shift. Which way did she go?" Lily just shrugged. "I only caught a glimpse of her. She could be anywhere by now." "Do you know if she was heading for the mansion?" "Dunno. Didn't see." Ran's left eyelid twitched. "Well then," she said in as calm a voice as she could muster. "Would you mind helping me search?" Lily opened her mouth, presumably to refuse, but she caught the look in Ran's eye and changed her answer to "Uhsure, why not?"

Given her constant state of drunkenness, Suika had become long accustomed to entertaining various voices in her head, and now was no exception. At the moment, one worried-sounding voice was noting that the enraged oni was doing a considerable amount of damage to the house and the Moon Lady would probably be mad at her. Another was concerned that the palm where she had gotten stabbed was losing all feeling and she should probably find out why. Yet another was pointing out that Suika's friends were still hurt and could probably use help. And finally, a fourth made the case that the Moon Lady was really rich and could afford to fix all damages, that the palm problem could wait for later, Suika's friends were really tough and could handle themselves, and finally she should probably find the evil shadow person and hit it until it stopped being fun. After carefully listening to their arguments and weighing their points, Suika came to the conclusion that the fourth voice was making the most sense. She didn't even bother slowing down as she walked right through a wall into the room beyond. Flimsy material. What was it, paper? The room itself seemed to be a sitting room, with cushioned

furniture made of some kind of dark wood surrounding a fire pit in the center. Shelves full of books and expensive-looking china lines the walls. That is, that's what it was when she entered. Five seconds and three swipes of her mighty arms later, it more resembled a lumber yard. "Where are you, you gutless little worm?" Suika screeched. She lifted up a couch, snapped it in two, and hurled one half through one wall and the other through the opposite. "Show yourself!" No response. Suika growled and marched forward. How big was this place anyway? She was reasonably certain she had already demolished enough rooms to fill two average sized houses. Well, maybe one and a half. She seized up a heavy piece of timber and heaved it over her head. It tore its way though one of the nearby walls. From the room on the other side came the sound of snapping wood and breaking glass. Now it was two houses' worth. Still, the evil shadow person, who henceforth shall be known in her mind as the ESP, had yet to show herself. Growling, Suika stomped into the newly opened room, ready to tear yet another several thousand yen's worth of furnishings to pieces. If she had the presence of mind to look over her shoulder, she might have noticed the indistinct figure of writhing darkness, skittering spider-like along the walls and ceiling, shadowing every move the oni made.

Sowhat do I do now? Seriously? Um Dear gods, you are thick. Get above the oni's head, wait for her to look up, and drop down on her. and then what? Well, what do you think? Stab out her eyes.

Suika heard the faintest rustle of movement above her, barely more than a whisper. She glanced up. The oni had just enough time to register a black shape moving directly over her before it released its hold on the ceiling and swooped down on her.

Do it now! Don't hesitate, do it now!

Suika roared in pain and clutched at her face. Ice and fire spread over her forehead, freezing all feeling in some parts while burning others. She thrashed blindly, hoping to hit something. Instead, something twisted around her horns and yanked her headfirst into the floor.

Okay, just so we're clear, running over her forehead, grabbing her horns and throwing her down is a far cry from stabbing her in the eyes. You do know this, right? yes Gah, this is getting disappointing. I get one rage-driven bout of nonlethal force and now all you can manage are a handful of martial arts tricks? Sorry. Sure you are. Okay, last chance. If you're so concerned about hurting her, then just stab her through the brain before she gets up. Quick, painless, done. ButI do not care. Do it.

Suika braced herself against the floor and pushed herself up enough to glare through hazy eyes. The ESP was standing some feet away, sword loosely clutched in one hand and burning eyes watching the struggling oni with an unreadable expression. Suika couldn't help but wonder why she was still alive. Certainly she wasn't complaining, but the ESP had her dead to rights. Instead, it had settled for just knocking her down and... She felt her tingling scalp and winced. The thing's footsteps had left cold patches of numbness across her forehead, similar to that on her palm. Speaking of which, the stab wound had turned a nasty shade of black and purple which spread through both sides of her hand. Her fingers had ceased to move altogether. Suika was starting to come to conclusion that touching the ESP with bare skin was probably a bad idea. But that was fine. She could adapt.

That was when the ESP took a page out of Suika's book and seized up a piece of broken lumber. Quick as a striking snake, it bolted forward and smashed it across Suika's face, the force of which physically lifted her off the ground and sent her careening backwards into one of the adjoining rooms.

Oh, come on! It's an oni, for crying out loud! What are you trying to do, massage her? But it worked! It knocked her back! So you took her off guard. Big deal. She'll be up in a second anyway. I'm trying! I just don't think we have to kill her, that's all. Really? Are you serious here? Well, yeah! I meanThat's it, you are officially an idiot. Kid, you are on your own. Have fun with your new friends. What? Wait, don't! You can't leave! Hello?

Judging by the thick clouds of steam that were billowing around her, the ESP had knocked her into a sauna or a bathhouse. Suika had to admit, the thing was strong. She sat up and felt her forehead. Not strong enough to bruise though. Numb spots aside, it was barely even tender. Not for the first time, Suika was grateful she was an oni. The need to avoid physical contact was a problem though. As big as this place was, there were only so many pieces of furniture and chunks of wall she could throw at the ESP. She preferred fistto-fist combat anyway, and being deprived of her element was aggravating. That's when her eyes narrowed and she studied the room around her. The wheels in her head began to turn. There were several towels lying folded up in cubbyholes set in the walls, some of them full body. Suika snatched several and, using her good hand and teeth, managed to wrap up her numb hand and attached arm. Then, more slowly this time, did the same to the other. She flexed her good hand and took a few practice swings. She nodded in satisfaction. Then she turned her attention back to the room where the ESP waited.

No doubt about it, it was clobbering time. With a challenging roar, Suika burst from the room. She was expecting the ESP to dodge out of the way, but to her surprise it stood perfectly still, allowing her connect with a solid punch that it flying through three consecutive walls. Suika wasn't about to let it recover. She followed the hurtling monster and, just as it finally came to a tumbling stomp, began hammering down on it, clenched fisted blows with her good hand and vicious backhands with her bad one. In her rage induced haze, it took her a moment to realize that the ESP was no longer there that and she had dug through the floor and was now burrowing through the building's foundation with her fists. Suika forced herself to stop. Panting, she surveyed the room around her. Aside from herself and some truly interesting sculptures of Reisen that could only be described as "scandalous," the room was empty. Suddenly a twisting rope of darkness shot up from between two of the floor slats. It wrapped around Suika's towel-covered right arm. Suika roared and tried to pull away, but as she did so another black rope seized her left arm. Then the floor seemed to explode with dark ropes, like the tentacles of some eldritch abomination summoned from the depths. They coiled themselves around Suika's waist, horns and chest, holding her in place. Even though none of them actually touched her skin, she could still feel the deadly ice of their touch through the few layers of fabric. Suika bellowed and thrashed about, tearing several of the ropes in the process. But for every one she ripped in half, three more appeared to replace it. Finally, physically exhausted and emotionally burnt out, Suika collapsed to her knees. She panted heavily, sucking in desperate gulps of oxygen. A shadow appeared in the upper part of her peripheral vision. Suika squinted through blurry eyes. The ESP stood over her, sword held in one hand while the other seemed to elongate and disappear into the floor, likely the source of the ropes. Suika bared her teeth. "So, gonna finish me off now, huh? Just chop off my head?" The oni gathered her will and forced herself to her feet. "Well, go ahead, monster. But don't expect me to make it easy for you." The ESP's eyes narrowed. It took one step forward. Then it staggered, needing to brace the tip of its sword against the ground to keep on its feet. Suika allowed herself a bitter smile of satisfaction. So, she had managed to hurt it after all. Then, for the first time that Suika could remember, it spoke. "You idiot, I don't want to kill you! You guys jumped me! I'm just trying to defend myself!"

Suika spat. "Sure, and I suppose you were just having a friendly talk with the Moon Doctor Lady, huh?" "Yes! And then you came the hell out of nowhere and attacked me! What did I ever do to you?" In the air behind the ESP, a tear opened up. Suika's massive heart leapt when she saw Yukari step into the room. The ancient youkai's eyes widened when she saw the situation. She raised a finger to her lips. Suika blinked and nodded once. "You? Like we'd need a reason to beat the crap out of you!" Suika snapped. "I mean, look at you! Who wouldn't want to smash you flat?" The ropes wrapped around her tightened. Good, it was getting angry. Which meant it wouldn't be looking over its shoulder any time soon. Which was fortunate, as Yukari raised a single hand. Orbs of different size and color began circling the air over her palm. "I don't know why I bother," the ESP muttered. "Maybe the scary voice is right. Maybe I should just kill you all." The orbs flew from Yukari's hand to hover behind the ESP. Yukari nodded to Suika and mouthed "Now." Suika's body tensed. "Yeah, slight problem with that." "What's that?" "You're about to find out. Goodbye!" Before the ESP could react, Suika suddenly shrank down until she was about a foot tall. The sudden loss of size allowed her to slip free from the ropes grasp. They convulsed in surprise and tried to grab for her again, but she ducked the thrashing vines and scrambled out of the hole. Just as she did, Yukari snapped her fingers. One of the orbs shot forward to impact against the back of the ESP's head, causing it to stagger forward. Before it could recover, another hit it in the side, followed by another to the back. It tried to catch the orbs before they struck, but they were too fast, even for it. The ESP was battered back and forth like a puppets swinging on its strings. Suika grinned. Finally they were making some headway. She returned to her normal size and extended her good hand. Yukari noticed what she was doing. "Wait, Suika! Don't-" Too late. Suika unleashed three blasts that struck the ESP in its head, chest and stomach. As it was already off balance from Yukari's attack, this sent it tumbling head-over-heels to crash into the far wall.

Suika whooped in delight and pressed her attack, sending burst after burst at the thing. Shoulda done this from the beginning, she thought as she pummeled the evil thing with bullets. Behind her, Yukari was yelling something, but Suika didn't pay attention. Now was shooty time. Talky time could come later. "Okay, that's enough!" Someone grabbed Suika by the arm and jerked her back. Surprised, Suika looked up to see Yukari glaring at her. "Didn't you hear me? I said stop!" Suika blinked up at her. She was not used to having brawl-time interrupted by friends. "What? Why? We've got it on the run!" "That's the point, idiot! It absorbs bullet energy! Keep shooting with the same kind and it'll adapt!" "It will?" Suika turned to look at the ESP. Sure enough, as it stumbled to its feet the bullets she had shot were sinking into its body. Then it turned to look at them. Suika braced herself, but instead of attacking it began to shiver. Then its body lost form and slipped between the floor slats. Suika and Yukari stared at where it had disappeared. Then they looked at each other. "Um, oops?" Suika blushed. Yukari sighed. "Never mind. Let's just find it before it gets away." Suika nodded her horned head. She took one step forward and then her eyes rolled back into her head. The world turned dark and she fell into unconsciousness.

Hello? You there? I changed my mind! Hello? As Rin slithered her way through Eientei's foundations, she tried time and time again to contact the voice that claimed to represent her darker self. While the voice's claim seemed unlikely, she had to admit it did know more about fighting than she did. And at the moment, she could use all the help she could get, even if the things it told her to do made her insides squirm. Still, there was no denying that she was hating herself for going trying to go to the voice for help. Okay, so maybe she had made more than her share of mistakes, but she was no killer! It was that part that made her disbelieve the idea that the voice was actually a part of her mind. Of course, she might be wrong. Of course, she might be completely insane. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

But in the end, she supposed it was a moot point anyway. The voice, whatever it was, wasn't answering. She searched every corner of her mind, and the only presence other than herself was Rumia's, which still hovered confused and afraid in the corner Rin had sent her. Yet another thing Rin hated herself for. After spending what felt like eternity by herself in the dark, who was she to condemn Rumia to the same fate? But in the end, what could she do? Trying to defend herself and deal with the terrified little youkai at the same time was beyond her capabilities. She was barely holding it together at it was. That oni alone had come this close to beating her into submission, and that was with Rumia's amazing raw power coupled with her own adaptive abilities. Rumia's power. She would have to ask her about that. There was nothing in the youkai's memories to indicate that she was aware of how much she was capable of. That in itself was very odd. Ah, she didn't have time for this. Everything was falling apart. Her meeting with Eirin had ended with her being lied to and betrayed, her plan to get back at the doctor by absorbing the princess was a complete failure, and now she had some very dangerous people after her blood. It was time to get the hell out of there and find a place to hide. She could worry about apologizing to Rumia later. Soon the consistency of the ground she was traveling through changed from wood and concrete to loose soil. She was outside. Good. Maintaining an amoebic shape was exhausting. Rin pulled her body to the surface. With a bit of mental will, she released a little of her control over the energies she controlled, allowing her body to resume Rumia's shape. The outside still looked deserted. The oni and the youkai Rumia was so afraid of were probably still inside. And the others apparently had yet to rejoin the game. Good. Rin hovered off the ground, intending to disappear into the forest. Then someone spoke. "'Sup?" Rin turned and her heart fell. Standing there were the witch and the ghost that had tried to fry her earlier. They were dirty, they were bruised (well, the witch was at least. Ghosts did have that whole incorporeal thing going for them), but they were upright and they looked pissed. And, if for no other reason than to add insult to injury, Eirin sat behind them, back up against Eientei's wall. She was still hurt but conscious. Her eyes glared out from between swollen lids. "So," the witch said. "Eirin here tells us that you can get used to and absorb shit. Nice trick, ze." The ghost nodded. "Indeed. But I must admit, we're curious: how well would you fair if we switched spells every, oh let's say, two and a half seconds? Could you adapt to that?"

The witch grinned. She lifted a single fist, which began glowing with barely repressed force. "And just to let you know, between the two of us, we have over seven thousand and four hundred thirty-eight types of offensive spells. So what do you say, Smokey? Ready for round two?" Rin tried to prepare herself for another onslaught, but then things got very, very loud.

One hour later Yukari had to admit, the whole operation had turned out to be much more difficult than she had originally anticipated. Of course, she had known that having to deal with the Shadow Youkai once again wasn't going to be fun, but with the added unknown element of Rin Satsuki had almost turned the whole thing into a disaster. But it had turned out all right at the end. She looked around the room they were in. They were inhabiting one of Hourai Clinic's emergency rooms. Eirin and Reimu were occupying the beds. Suika was still unconscious. It took an excessive amount of punishment to knock out an oni, but from the look of things, she had suffered exactly that. She had telltale signs of the taint all over her face and covering one of her hands. But it was the open wound in her palm that was most worrying. From the look of things, some of the taint had worked its way into her bloodstream, which accounted for the unconsciousness. Yukari had spent an exhausting fifteen minutes hunting down the microscopic fragments of death and forcing them out. However, Eirin was in even worse shape. She had been damaged almost as badly, and despite her great age and power, she simply did not have an oni's incredible stamina. If it weren't for Yukari cheating at the rules of life and death, she would have slipped away. As it was, it would be a long time before she would be at full strength. The others weren't in great shape either. Marisa and Mima had fared the best, but still, being hit directly with their own Final Spark had roughed them up pretty badly. And ReimuShe wasn't in danger, but she had suffered a mild concussion. And she would be lame for about half a week. Yukari grit her teeth. She wasn't usually murderous, but seeing her shrine maiden hurled through those bamboo stalks like that made her want to do questionable things to Rin Satsuki. And Suika's condition did absolutely nothing to help matters. And then there was the fact that Eientei was more-or-less demolished from the inside. Yukari had to give Suika credit: she had done amazingly well despite having little knowledge of what she was up against. In fact, she might have solved the problem by herself, given enough time. But still, the property damage was astronomically high. Further relations with Kaguya were going to bestrained. And to top it off, Ran was still out searching for Chen. Yukari had been seriously tempted to just tell her to forget the little nuisance until things were under control, but the last time she had done

that Chen had ended up trapped in Makai, no explanation as to how. It had taken a solid week of negations with Shinki to get her released. To that end, the less time that catgirl spent wandering around during a crisis, the better. Okay, so maybe things hadn't turned out all right. But at least they had survived and emerged somewhat victorious. In the end, that was the important thing. As for the antagonist herself, she was receiving a little lesson on physics and acceleration. Yukari had dumped her into one of her portals, which connected to a second portal directly over the first. As such, it was a literal bottomless pit, the results of which translated into a dizzying black blur that was painful to stare at. "So, uh, how does that work again?" Reimu asked. She was sitting in one of the chairs, with her bandaged foot propped up on a stool. "I mean, can't she just stop and hover?" Yukari grinned. "Not the way I have it set up. They're too close together. Plus, the portals are designed to add just a smidgen of speed to her fall every time she passes through. And since they're so close together, well, in layman's terms: speedy thing goes in, even speedier thing comes out." Marisa stopped her pacing to glare. "Yah know, you really coulda just done that from the beginning, ze. Save us a whole lot of trouble and property damage that I didn't get to take part in." "Stop whining, little witch. Point is, it's over. We won. Now, all that's left is to decide-" Marisa turned to face the others. "All in favor of killing the bloody psychotic risk to life and limb, say aye." "Aye," Mima said without hesitation. Reimu hesitated, then she looked down at her foot. She nodded. "Aye. Sorry Yukari, she's just way too dangerous." Yukari leaned back in her seat, carefully crossing her arms over her bandaged torso. "Why are you apologizing? Aye for me too. Only problem is, I'm not seeing how we can. Ending Rumia the first time around was problematic enough, but now we're dealing with someone that can take just about anything we can dish out."

Oh gods, they're going to kill me. I knew this was going to happen. And Rumia too! What did she ever do to them? Wow, tough luck. Bet you wish you had listened to me, huh? oh no.

"Speaking of which, what about Rumia?" Reimu asked. "I mean, she's still stuck in that thing. Is there any way we can get her out?" "Are you daft?" Marisa snapped. "Have you been sleeping through that whole beat down? Even if we get her out, the ribbon thingy is gone, ze! Evil Rumia's back! Better to off them both." Mima cleared her throat. "While the removal of the ribbon would return her to full power, we do not know if her memories would return as well. The wiping of her memory and the sealing of her power were two separate operations." "So? I mean, no offense, Master, but is that something you really want to bet your life on? Well, erm, whatever ghostly equivalent you have, I mean." "Hmmm, I suppose you're right."

Oh, this cannot end well. Poor Rumia. First you had to go eat her without permission, and now her doom is sealed as a result. Talk about a lousy day. Please, you have to help her! I can't let her die because of me! You mean help you? Yes! Even if it means killing? Um You really don't have a lot of time to think about it.

"As much as it hurts to say so, I'm afraid I must agree with the witch," Yukari said. "It is my job to keep Gensokyo safe from threats such as this, and while Rumia could be said to be blameless in this situation, the risk is too great to allow her to wander free." Reimu glowered. She shifted in her seat and folded her arms. "Look, I don't really care for Rumia at all, and I am glad to beat her up whenever she starts getting stupid, but I don't like the idea of killing her just because of something that might happen. Why can't we just seal up her powers again?" Her glare turned into a sneer. "Unless you've forgotten how." Mima raised a single elegant eyebrow. "Hardly. But even if we somehow managed to extract Rumia from within that thing, and even if she has not regained memory of what she once was, and even if we somehow restrained her long enough to create another amulet of sealing, what's to

prevent something else from unleashing her once again? Reimu, this isn't one of the incidents you're used to dealing with. This isn't a case of someone with too much power growing bored and causing trouble. We are talking of a potential massacre here. Maybe even genocide."

Things aren't looking good Rin. What's it going to be? But ILook, if it's really that big of a problem, I'll do it. what? Give me temporary control. I can break out of this thing for you. Hell, I'll even keep it clean if that bothers you. Just long enough to get us out of here.

"I don't know, I just refuse to accept that an execution is the only option," Reimu said. "This Satsuki person? Okay, that I'll give you. But Rumia, the Rumia we know, she didn't do anything. I hate to say this, but the annoying little twerp is a victim here." Marisa glared at the shrine maiden. "Okay, are we forgetting where she tried to eat us once? Imagine if she suddenly started packing the sort of juice that just kicked our collective asses." "And there still exists the possibility that her memories have returned," Mima murmured. "If we were to release her from Satsuki's hold, she would not hesitate to take us with her." Reimu still looked troubled, but she didn't argue.

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to honor the memory of Rumia. Taken from us because the spineless wuss who swallowed her in the first place couldn't stomach a little aggressive self defense. All right, all right! If only there had been someone willing to go the extra mile to defend her. If only there had been someone willing to stand up for the poor girl's right to survive. I said all right already! Just get us out of here! I knew you'd warm up to me. Now, just relax

Yukari folded her hands in her lap and crossed her legs. "All well and good, but there remains the problem of how. I'm afraid that I don't have the first idea of how to-" "Look out!" Yukari turned to look at the eternally falling blur that was her prisoner. Her face paled when she saw the spear of twisting darkness heading towards her. Somehow, it had managed to line up a perfect shot, despite having a mere fraction of a second for its window of opportunity. Once again they had underestimated it. Once again it was going to cost them. As quick as thought, Mima materialized behind her and yanked her out of the way; turning what would have been an impaling blow into a grazing one. The spear tore across her midriff, tearing the bandage and sending a shock of numbing cold through her torso. It was enough. Yukari's attention wavered, and the two portals began to collapse. As they did so, the monster separated itself into six curving rays that shot out in six different directions. Each ray landed on the floor, forming a small lump of the shimmering black material. Each lump then coagulated back together to form a single body. The embodiment of the Shadow Youkai once again stood before them. It cocked its head to one side. "Hello again. Now, I'd love to stay and eviscerate you all, but I'm on a bit of probation here. So I'd just leave you with something to remember me by. Until next time, ladies." With that, it fell to one knee and slammed a taloned fist into the floor. As hand met wood, the tendrils twisting around its fingers flushed scarlet. Energy pulsed down into the ground and exploded outward. The floor itself seemed to literally surge outward in a rolling shockwave that overturned and demolished all in its path. Suika and Eirin were tossed from their beds and nearly thrown against the wall. Reimu fell from her chair and Marisa was knocked from her feet. Yukari was quick enough to take to the air before she suffered the same fate, though the effort nearly caused her to black out. Of course Mima remained unaffected whatsoever. However, it was enough to their attention, and during that splitsecond of distraction the Shadow Youkai had torn its way through the wall to the hall beyond. Yukari landed in an untidy heap. She winced as pain stabbed through her unnumbed areas, but she didn't have time to worry about now. "Stop her," she choked out. "Don't let her get away!" "On it," Marisa said. She hopped to her feet and extended her hand. Her broom, which had been knocked to the other side of the room, smacked against her palm. She hopped aboard and, holding down her hat with one hand, took off in pursuit. "I'm going with her," Mima said. "I trust you'll be fine?"

Yukari nodded and winced. "Yeah, we got it. Go!" Mima vanished without another word, presumably to cut the fugitive off from the other end. Yukari grabbed her overturned chair and hoisted herself up. At the other end of the room, Reimu was using the wall to pull herself to a standing position, leaning all of her weight on her good foot. Suika was still lying unconscious under her bed, and Eirin was lying facedown on the floor, mumbling something incomprehensible. Yukari sighed. She was starting to hate this day. Reimu started hopping across the room to assist those more gravely injured than herself. "Hey Yukari?" she said. "What?" "The next time you want me to go help Cirno and her friends, I'm going to tape your mouth shut."

There, you see? Got us out, nobody died. I guess so. Thank you. Glad to hear it. Good luck. Wait, what? Did my part. You're on your own from here out, girly. Head for the outside and just keep running. Use that slithering trick if you have to. What? No, you can'tBye. No, wait! Rin tried calling again and again, but the voice had simply disappeared. Again. Whatever. She could worry about her evil twin (or whatever it was) later. Now she had to concentrate on survival. And judging by the massive explosion that suddenly tore up the hall she had just left, that was going to be difficult. She wasn't sure who was after her this time, but it couldn't be good. Rin focused all her attention to a point directly in front of her and charged forward. Wall, furniture and other obstacles barely slowed her down. Then, with a final push, she burst into open air.

The dark clouds summoned by her anger had dispersed after her painful defeat at the hands of the witch and the ghost. Now the sun was shining brightly overhead. It was almost deceptively peaceful looking. If it weren't for the telltale scars left by their battle and the wreckage of the surrounding buildings, the scene could be described as a cheerful spring day. Of course, the fact that she was being pursued by very powerful people who wished to brutally end her life and Rumia's as well sort of dampened Rin's appreciation of her surroundings. Some first day of freedom, she thought ruefully. I was better off in that box. Well, there was no time to worry about that now. The only thing to do was to find some far-off corner of Gensokyo to hide. And then she could worry about making things up to Rumia. And maybe see to the problem of her "imaginary friend." Of course, given the way the day was going for everyone involved, this proved to be impractical, as Rin was soon interrupted by a flying blue-and-white missile.

She had made it, she had finally made it! Despite being Master Sparked twice in two hours, flying around like her butt was on fire all day, and literally pushing herself far past her limits to catch up with Reimu, Cirno had finally reached the Moon Princess' mansion. Her body was shaking with exhaustion and her wings felt like they were about to crack to pieces, but she had made it! And, wonder of wonders, the first thing she saw upon arrival was Rumia herself. She must have found a way to escape the blob. Cirno felt relief sing through her body, giving her new strength. "Rumia!" she called as she darted towards her friend. "Oh awesomesauce, I found you!" She tried to wrap her arms around Rumia, but to her surprise her friend recoiled. "WaitCirno, right? Rumia's friend? Stay away from me." Cirno's jaw dropped. "What the hellsicles are you talking about? I came all this way to find you! What happened to your voice? Have you been smoking? And why did you paint yourself black? I know you like darkness and all, but come on!" Rumia kept nervously looking over her shoulder. "Okay, seriously. Not a good time. Can we postpone this until later?" Inspiration struck. "Wait, are you Rumia's shadow?" Cirno demanded. "Did youlike detach or something and now you're going to get help? Is Rumia still being eaten or is she going to float off into the sky without you?" "What? No! No, no, yes, no! Now please, we need to-"

Then the wall of the strange bamboo building exploded. Cirno yelped and covered her face as flaming shard pelted her arms. From within emerged a sight that Cirno was frankly getting tired of: an angry Marisa Kirisame, perched on her broom and looking to ruin somebody's day. At the same time, the air on the other side of she and Rumia shimmered. The scary ghost lady that was always hanging out with Reimu appeared out of nowhere. Her mouth was moving at a mile a minute, but the words were so low that they were impossible to make out. The ghost raised a single hand, index finger pointing at Rumia. Green light began to collect at her fingertip. At the same time, Marisa thrust a fist into the sky. Crackling red lightning shot down from the sky and struck her hand, illuminating it was a deadly scarlet light. "Spectacular Supernova!" Marisa howled. She hurled the ball of lightning forward, which erupted into a ball of rolling flame that surged forward, eager to devour all in its way. As she did so, the ghost stopped chanting and gestured. Twisting ethereal arms flew from her fingertip, each one ending in a grasping, long-fingered hand. Cirno suddenly realized two things. One, both attacks were heading straight for Rumia. Two, they didn't look like they were spellcard regulation. In fact, they looked downright lethal. "No!" she screamed. "Rumia, move!" She lunged forward and pushed Rumia out of the way. As her palms touched Rumia's dress, shocking cold, greater than anything even the ice fairy had experienced, shot through her arms. She cried out and recoiled. Just as she opened her eyes, Cirno realized that she had accidentally moved herself right into the line of fire. She didn't even have time to feel afraid before both attacks hit her at the same time. With a puff of white mist, Cirno evaporated. Phoenix Down Normally traveling the Bamboo Forest of the Lost didn't take long, provided you didn't get lost yourself. If you knew you way around, then it was a quick trip. And even if you didn't, you could always rise above the treetops and journey from one end to the other in about fifteen minutes. And seeing how the entire staff of Eientei both knew their way around and was planning to fly over the treetops anyway, they should have been moments away from the Scarlet Devil Mansion by now. There were a couple of problems with that. The first was that they were all flying in formation. While this made the most sense from a defensive standpoint, it did mean the slowest were setting the pace. And seeing how they had

many among their number whose jobs included simple housework, cooking, cleaning and maintenance, i.e. jobs that did not include much flying to begin with, the trip was taking nearly twice as long. The second occurred when they were only five minutes from the forest's border. Tewi had been in the lead of the caravan (convoy? Procession? Flock? Whatever) when it had happened. The sight sent a deep cleansing sense of relief singing through her. Even though she knew they weren't technically "safe" until they reached the Scarlet Devil Mansion, just having made it past such a large hurdle was heartening enough. And then everything had gone to hell. At first Tewi hadn't realized what was happening. Suddenly everything started yelling and the formation broke. Her first thought was that Rin had found them, or maybe Mokou was taking advantage of the situation. But then she realized that such was not the case. No, it was much worse. Kaguya had gotten loose. Somehow the princess had managed to work her arms from their bindings. After that, it had taken but one burst of power to free herself completely. "Kaguya!" Reisen yelled as she chased after the furious princess, all the host of Eientei behind her. "Come back, it's not safe!" Tewi agreed. "Are you crazy?" she called. "Rin'll just eat you too!" "Cowards!" Kaguya snarled. "Worthless pathetic cowards!" I hate it when she gets like this, Tewi thought to herself. Aloud, she said, "Anyone who's faster than her, try to cut her off! Only fire if-" Kaguya took a sudden turn and dipped downward into the forest. "Never mind, change of plans! Surround her on all sides and try to hedge her in!" "Do you really think that'll work?" the newly promoted Commander Utada asked. "No, but it's worth a shot! Hurry up!"

Marisa stared in shock at the space that had been occupied by Cirno's body not five seconds prior. Black smoke rose upward as green sparks fell to the earth, remnants of her dual attack with Mima. However, those were unimportant. Her attention was focused on the white steam that swirled in wisps where the two spells had stuck one another.

It was difficult to comprehend. One moment they were about to remove the monster for good, the next Cirno had come the hell out of nowhere and had gotten in their way. And as a result, she had been vaporized in an instant. I've killed her, she thought numbly. My gods, I've actually killed her. She didn't like Cirno; there was no secret about that. Nobody really did. The stupid braggart had inconvenienced her more times than she cared to count, to the point where beating her up was practically a national pastime. But she hadn't meant to kill her. "Come on!" Mima shouted, tearing Marisa away from her stupefied state. "She's getting away!" Marisa looked where her mentor was indicating. Rin Satsuki had taken advantage of the momentary distraction and was now vanishing through the bamboo. "Did you hear me?" Mima demanded. "Snap out of it, girl! We can't let her escape!" "But Cirno" "Forget her! She's a fairy, she'll be fine!" "Yeah, but who could come back from that?" Mima shoved herself up against Marisa, so that they were practically nose-to-nose. "Listen to me," she growled. "Cirno does not matter. She got in the way, so what happened was her fault. But if that gives you pause, if you let that stop you from helping me hunt that thing down, then whatever happens after will become your fault." "But-" "Furthermore," Mima continued. "I will be very, very disappointed." It was that last part that did it for her. She nodded once, knowing that any other response would turn out poorly for her. "Good. Now let's go." Marisa followed her former teacher into the bamboo forest. Now that she thought about it, Mima was right. What had happened to Cirno was her own damned fault. No one had forced her to jump into the middle of a way. No use crying over spilt milk or vaporized fairies. Still, she couldn't help casting one regretful look over her shoulder. Behind them, the mist was starting to clear.

Bamboo stalks passed by so fast they the seemed to melt into a formless blur. Sometimes they would suddenly appear to block her path, but Rin would just pass right through them without even noticing. The scene she had just witnessed played over and over in her head on an endless loop. Rumia's friend coming out of nowhere and taking the shot meant for her. The whole thing had been so sudden that Rin honestly didn't have the slightest idea of how to feel about it. No one had ever stuck their neck out for her, especially to that degree. Even if the little fairy did think she was Rumia herself, it still hit her hard. Especially since she had lost her life for it. Oh gods in everywhere, what was she going to tell Rumia? She's a fairy, she'll resurrect, she's a fairy, she'll resurrect. Rin repeated those words over and over again, trying to make them stick, trying to make them overpower the image of Cirno's body as it disintegrated. It didn't work very well. There was a whining sound and three spears of liquid fire spat over her. She managed to dodge just in time, but one grazed her shoulder, splattering her with droplets that hissed and burned as they stuck to her. A small effort of will, and they were absorbed into her being. Still, she was going to have to do something about her pursuers. As fast as she was, she couldn't outrun them forever. Rin spared a glance at the ground below her. Especially with that damned trail of dead plants she kept leaving everything. Might as well paint a glowing arrow in the sky with a sign that said "Shoot Here!" That was when inspiration struck. Rin increased her speed until she had gained enough distance. Then she dug deep into the abilities she had acquired from Rumia. As ugly as they were, they could prove useful. Remembering the spear of darkness that her "Evil Twin" had thrown at the portal youkai, Rin hurled several similar missiles straight out in numerous random directions, like the spokes on some kind of lunatic wheel. As she hoped, the ground beneath each missile withered and died, leaving a clear path of blackened foliage. Choosing a direction for herself, Rin sped along, praying that it would be enough to throw them off. At this point, she was going to take whatever advantage she could get. Well, except for one. She knew she was some kind of a monster, but she still didn't trust herself with using her new powers in the way they were intended. She wasn't a deliberate killer, no matter what her "Evil Twin" said. Not yet, at least.

Marisa saw a change in the trail they were following and swore out loud. She braked hard, bringing her broom to a stop. She felt her accumulated acceleration protest the sudden change in speed. The trail of dead plants and blackened leaves had suddenly exploded into several different directions. It looked like the tip of one of those sparklers the kids were always lighting up during the New Year's Celebration. Marisa grit her teeth as her eyes darted from one path to the other. She didn't know how it had pulled something like this off, but she had to admit it was very clever, even if it only made her want to kill it all the more. "What now?" she shouted over to Mima, who was studying the new obstacle in an almost scholarly manner. "What now?" Mima said with even bothering to look at her. "We follow, of course." Marisa growled and swooped down so that she was facing Mima directly. "Yeah? You got any suggestions as to how, ze? Because unless you brought a full searching party" Mima muttered some words under her breath. Her form blurred, and suddenly her body divided in a manner not unlike cellular reproduction. Where there once had been one Mima were now two smaller Mimas. Then those two also separated, bringing the total to four. And then eight. In the end, there were sixteen little green-and-blue ghosts, each one the size of a small child. "or you could do that," Marisa finished. "Neeaaaattttt. You gotta show me how to do that." The Mimas didn't bother to acknowledge the compliment. "Choose a path, I'll take the others," one of them said. "Don't you mean 'we'll' take the others?" another muttered. "We're here too, you know!" That one received a smack across her head from one of her neighbors. "We're all the same person, idiot!" the third snapped. "Singular personal pronouns work just fine." "Not now, we're not!" the second shot back. "If we were, we'd all be speaking in unison!" "Is this really the time to be discussing pronoun semantics?" another put it. "Agreed, we have a job to do." "But if we cannot even agree on how to refer to our collective selves, how can we be expected to even complete this mission?" argued one from the back. This comment brought forth a chorus of both murmured disagreements and assents. The one who had spoken first sighed and rolled her eyes. "You see why I don't like doing this often?" she said to Marisa.

"You mean 'we!' You're not the only Mima here, you know!" Marisa, who was finding the whole thing hypnotically fascinating, started and said, "Huh? Oh, yeah. Anyway, I'll gothis way. Okay?" "Works for us. Good hunting." Another rubbed her chin and frowned. "Wouldn't she be more suited heading off in-" Before another argument could erupt, Marisa shot off along her selected trail, following the line of the taint. Interesting or no, seeing a chorus of miniature Mimas argue amongst themselves was just too strange. Behind her, the Mimas themselves all chose separate paths, bickering with and pushing one another until they finally got themselves situated. The hunt was on.

Less than five minutes into the search, Ran had begun to realize how pointless things were going to be. Now that an hour had passed, she was sure of it. The Bamboo Forest of the Lost was named that for a reason: it was a place where people got lost. And given how much experience Chen had in getting lost even in the most normal of places, it was starting to become akin to searching for a needle in a hayfield. "I don't think we're gonna find her," Lily said as she prodded a bush with a stick. "I mean, this forest is huge. She could be anywhere." Ran pursed her lips. "Just keep looking," she growled, careful to keep her own doubts out of her voice. "Oh-kayyyy," Lily said with a shrug. "Though if you ask me, she probably went into the mansion." The thought of Chen getting caught between an angry Suika and Eirin's Satsuki person sent a powerful shiver down Ran's spine. "No," she said out loud. "She wouldn't." "Why?" "Chen's not much of an inside person," Ran explained. "Every time she's run away, it's always to somewhere outside. Though come to think of it" Ran's eyes narrowed. A possibility had just occurred to her, one that was almost as troubling as the thought of having to search for her in this enormous forest. Lily tilted her head to one side. "What is it?" she asked. "There's thisgroup she often hides with when she's made at me. I'm thinking she might have-"

"Shit!" a sudden shrill, high-pitched voice screeched from nearby, making them both jump. "Shit, shit, shit! Wrong path!" Both of them whirled around to see one of the last things they had expected to see. Some kind of spirit, only about a foot tall, with long green hair dressed in a blue robe and tall, pointy hat decorated with depictions of celestial bodies had suddenly appeared on the scene. Apparently something had upset her, as she was banging her fist repeatedly against a tree as she cursed out loud. "Why did I have to get stuck with a fake path!" the spirit cried. "I wanted to be the one to find her! Why couldn't I find her?" Ran stared in utter bewilderment. The thing was, she knew the spirit, or at least her master did. Yukari had dealings with her in the past. The only thing was that Ran was pretty sure the spirit had been significantlytaller. And much more emotionally composed. Lily tugged on Ran's sleeve. "Who's that?" she whispered. "Do you know her?" "Um, I think so. Hang on." Ran approached the bite-sized spirit. "Um, excuse me? Mima? Is that you?" Mini-Mima's head swiveled to look at her. Her demeanor changed immediately. "Oh, you!" she said enthusiastically as she darted over to stare Ran in the eye. "Hi Ran! Yukari said you would be here. How's it going?" It took a few seconds for Ran's brain to remember how to communicate with her mouth. "Um, yeah. Fine. Mima, what-" "Happened to me? Oh, we were chasing that Satsuki person, and the path split off into a bunch of other paths. So I used a dividing spell to make more of me! That way, I can follow all the paths at once! Smart, huh?" Perhaps, but Ran found the idea of several hyperactive pint-sized Mimas running through the forest to be utterly terrifying. "Um, I guess so" "Well, no, not really," the mini-Mima shrugged. "I really don't like using it, since my mind gets broken down a little bit more with each division and my pieces usually end up doing something incredibly embarrassing. But desperate times at all that, hey? Speaking of which, did you see anyone looking like they've painted themselves black and covered their eyes in cherry juice flying by here?" Ran shook her head. "I'm afraid not. We're out here looking for my Shikigami. Haven't seen the Shadow Youkai or whatever it is since Eirin sent me away."

"Aw, bummer. See, I really wanted to be the one to find it, because then I could rub it in the faces of all the other Mimas! They're kinda mean, you know what I'm saying?" "I guessWait a minute, Yukari told me that she had Satsuki contained!" "Yeah, but she got away. Made a big mess too. Me and Marisa were the only ones who weren't like really beat up, so we went after her! Sucks, don't it?" "What about Yukari, is she okay?" "Wellsort've. Got slashed with a nasty dark spear thing, but she's alive. Anyway, it was fun catching up, but I really gotta head back. The other me's really are helpless without me. Laters!" With that, the mini-Mima turned and sped back the way she came. Not long after, Ran's phone began to ring. "Yes, Yukari?" she said. "Ran, I need you back at the clinic. I need an extra set of hands and you need to get out of that forest." "Yeah, I just ran into Mima. Erm, I think I did anyway. She told me Satsuki got out." "Indeed. I have to admit, she's a clever little bitch. Mima and Marisa are going to try to shut her down. But it's best if you stay out of their crossfire." "But what about Chen?" There was a short pause, and then Yukari said, "There's no helping that. I can't have a monster hunt and a Chen search party going at the same time. I need you here, now. We'll have to worry about her after." Ran's brow furrowed. "I'm sorry Master, but that is not acceptable." "Excuse me? What was that?" "With all due respect Master, if there really is some kind of psycho-killer on the loose, then I'm not going to leave Chen alone to get caught in the crossfire either." "That's an order, Shikigami." Ran gritted her teeth. Refusing a direct order from Yukari was difficult in the extreme, but she wasn't going to waver. "Chen's your responsibility too. I will not abandon her." There was a long pause, and then Yukari said, "Very well. I didn't want to resort to this, but" Lily cried out in shock. Ran started to turn to see what she was reacting to, but a hand seized her shoulder and whirled her around. There, Yukari herself was emerging from one her portals. That in

itself wasn't unusual, at least to Chen, but her Master's dress was torn at the midriff, exposing an ugly black wound. Yukari's lips were pressed together so tightly that they had turned white, and sparks were flying in her eyes. Yukari mumbled a word, and Ran's body suddenly seized up. Ran set her will and tried to move, but her body would not obey. No surprises there. It was taking marching orders from someone else. "I hope you realize," Yukari said as she grabbed Ran by the collar and yanked her into the portal, "how much this hurts. I also hope you realize that I am never incapacitated for long. Remember that the next time you decide to disobey me." The portal sealed itself up, taking both of the youkai with it. Lily White stared at the spot where the portal had disappeared. She had no idea what Yukari was going to do to Ran, but she did not envy the fox. Not one bit. She looked around the forest and wondered what she was supposed to do now. Her yearly announcements had been ruined so completely that sticking around was pointless. And from the look of it, things were going straight to hell. It just wasn't fair, damn it. She did her best to fulfill her purpose in life. All that really was making people feel relieved that winter was over. Everybody loved spring, right? Why did people always try to screw things up for her? Why did they have to go and ruin her special day? Well, enough was enough. "Screw those guys," she muttered to herself. "I'm going home." Lily snapped her fingers and vanished, not to be seen again for another year. She could only hope that the next first day of spring wouldn't suck nearly as much as this one did.

Rin had to admit, it wasn't the best solution. But then again, the best solution involved everyone suddenly saying they were sorry for hurting her and welcoming her back with open arms, Rumia forgiving her and promising to be her best friend forever, Eirin giving Rin her body back and a pat on the head, and then everyone celebrating their eternal friendship with a big party with lots of laughter and dancing. Rin wasn't nearly so crazy to start believing that was going to happen in the next few moments, so she had to settle for just a potentially workable solution. After she had gone a good distance from where she had created those false trails, Rin had paused just long enough to hear someone fast approaching. Now that was just not right. The missile idea had been a good one! Why didn't it work? Well, no use crying over possible ensuing disintegration. It was time to improvise. Again.

Selecting a particularly thick cluster of foliage, Rin shot into the air, careful to avoid getting close enough to the surrounding bamboo stalks to leave traces of that taint. Then, when she was right over the cluster, she pulled all the power she got from Rumia as far as she could into herself and shoved it into the farthest corner. Once that had happened, the body she had stolen from Rumia collapsed back on itself. She lost form and color, turning back into her natural blob-like state. Suddenly deprived of Rumia's ability to fly, she had fallen right into the undergrowth. Hopefully it would be enough to hide her for the time being. Unfortunately, she could not hold that state for very long. Once she absorbed someone, her body would naturally conform to that person's general shape. It made slithering around difficult. And reverting back to blob form required a great amount of concentration. She could only hope the danger passed before her cells started to take damage from the strain. Also unfortunately, she was now effectively blind. Well, not entirely. She could still sense things that were nearby and achieve a kind of very limited sight, one that mainly displayed things as silhouettes, but there was no way she could work up the concentration to accomplish that. So unless her pursuer decided to sit on her or step on her, she was in the dark in this one. So the only thing to do was sit tight as long as she could and pray that no one would see her. Already she could think of a dozen things wrong with that plan. She can't see me, she can't see me, she can't see me Wait. Vibrations. Something had just landed on the ground. Something was near. Rin tensed up. She could feel something moving close by. Something moving very close by. How typical. How utterly typical. Out of all the bloody godsforsaken trails she could have picked, she picked one that led to a dead end. Marisa scowled and hopped off her broom. She had no idea how Satsuki had pulled off that red herring trick, but it was frustrating her to no end. Still, so long as she was here, she might as well be thorough. After all, Satsuki might be hiding nearby. Worth a shot. Holding her pulsing hakkero in front of her like a ward, Marisa began to investigate the area. "Come out, come out wherever you are," she sang. "Fee-fie-foe-fum, I smell the blood of something about to be very, very dead. The vibrations had ceased. Even though she no longer had much in the way of an endocrine system, Rin tensed up. Right now she would trade all the apocalyptic powers in the word just to know what was going on. She waited. Time moved oddly in the dark places of her mind. She had figured out how to slow it down if necessary, but not speed it up. So she waited, as the seconds ticked by, every one feeling like minutes.

If she had teeth, Rin would be gritting them right about now. Keeping still would be a whole lot easier if it weren't for the strain of holding Rumia's power at bay. Even now, she could feel it pressing against her mind, trying to get out. WaitRumia's power Fully aware that this was a bad idea, Rin let a bit of the dark energy leak past the barrier she had formed around it. This she took and twisted into the shape of a singular burning eye. I am so violating every single rule I've ever learned about anatomy, she thought grimly. And probably a few about nature. Still, according to just about everyone, she had been doing that anyway. So why stop now? The eye formed just enough to give her a murky view of the surrounding areas. Everything was hazy and done in a pale shade of pink, but she could at least make out shapes. Unfortunately the only thing she could see was leaves. Rin extended a single stalk upward like a periscope, the partially formed eye sitting at the top. The Mad Witch was standing about seven feet away, her back to the bushes where Rin was hiding. Shock shot through Rin's mind, nearly causing her to lose control of the power she had been restraining. She sucked the stalk and attached eye back into her body and hunkered down as low as she could.

Marisa was pushing her way through yet another cluster of bamboo when something started rustling nearby. She paused, and turned in the direction of the noise. It had come from some leafy bushes. She approached the source of the noise cautiously. It was highly unlikely Satsuki was in there, seeing how the bushes were very much unwithered. Probably just some kind of small animal. Still Marisa approached the bushes, broom held in one hand, hakkero in the other. Using the broom handle, she cautiously pushed branches out of the way. Something shot out of the bushes. Startled, Marisa hopped back and snapped her hakkero forward. Then she saw what it was and groaned. Fairies, about five of them. And the small fry variety too. None of them were over a third of a foot tall. Marisa had cleaned more formidable things out of her pantry. They swarmed around her head, laughing and chittering in their small squeaky voices. "Hey, knock it off," Marisa yelled as she tried to swipe them away. "Get out of here!"

That of course only made them laugh harder. One of them swooped low enough for her to make out what it was saying. "Marisa, Marisa, big fat witch, doesn't wanna stop being a snitch. Papa smacked her and hit her with a switch and when she cried, he made her his bitch." Blinding light tore up the surrounding area. When it cleared, Marisa was standing alone among the now decimated foliage. She was panting heavily and holding her spent hakkero in one trembling hand. Marisa slowly mounted her broom. Stupid fairies. Always getting in the way. If they didn't want to get fried, then they should just leave her alone. Not her fault. Right? Whatever. No time to think about that now. Marisa lifted from the ground and headed back. If she hurried, she might be able to help smash Satsuki with whatever Mima copy had chosen the right path.

Wary and terrified, Rin emerged from the ash of her hiding place. She would have stayed longer, but the strain was getting to be too great. Any longer and she would start taking cellular damage. In the distance, she could see the witch flying away. Now that had been too close. When the blast of heat had swept over her, she had been utterly convinced that she was about to die. She had no idea why the witch was leaving or why she had been attacking in the first place, but Rin wasn't complaining. Now the only problem was what she was going to do now. Plan A: "Make up with Eirin" was a complete bust. Stupid Lunarian had lied to her and let her get beat up by those people. Plan B: "Devour Kaguya to pay Eirin back" was also a bust. Just as well. Now that she was no longer listening to her Evil Twin, the very idea gave her a sour feeling in her stomach. Time for Plan C: "Find some place to hide and hope Rumia wouldn't hate her for long." Rin rose into the air and headed north.

"So how do you think it's going?" Reimu asked as she helped a noticeably sullen Ran place Eirin back into her bed. "The hunt I mean."

Yukari glowered, but she said, "Horribly. Definitely horribly. Now shut up." With that, she went back to applying some sort of lotion to her wound. The shrine maiden winced. She shot a glance at Ran, who just shook her head and went back to sulking. Reimu wasn't sure where she'd rather be. On the one hand, being stuck trying to fix up a messed up hospital room with a lame foot and two pissed off youkai for company was almost stifling. On the other hand, the memory of that deadly cold shooting through her veins was still fresh in her memory. Reimu was certainly no coward, but that was not an incident she was overly eager to repeat. Well, on the plus side Marisa and Mima had already kicked that thing's ass before. Provided they could cut it off, there was nothing saying they couldn't do it again. Then again, given the sort of day they were having, Reimu wouldn't put it past fate to throw some sort of unseen complication in their way. In fact, she was almost counting on it.

Elsewhere, someone else was also wandering through the forest. Unlike everyone else, she was wholly unaware of everything that had gone down at Eientei, nor would she have cared if she did, except maybe to point and laugh. Hands stuck in her pockets, she whistled a song that was stuck in her head as she strolled through the stalks of bamboo. "Gee, gee, gee, gee, baby, baby, baby," she sang under her breath. "Gee, geehuh?" A nearby commotion caught her attention. Blinking, she carefully approached the source of the noise. When she was what it was, her eyes widened in surprise. Well, well, well, Mokou thought as a wide grin spread over her face. How about that. Must be my birthday after all.

Tewi grit her teeth as she forced the hood over the struggling Kaguya's face. Restraining the princess had taken much, much longer than it should have. Unfortunately everyone had understandable reservations about shooting their own master. Kaguya had no such reservations. "I hate this day," Tewi told Reisen as she walked away from Kaguya. The soldiers would take responsibility for her now. "I hate, hate, hate this day." All around them, the rabbits of Eientei were sprawled about and nursing their wounds. Despite the overwhelming advantage of numbers, the fight had exhausted them.

Reisen rubbed a sore spot on her arm where Kaguya had managed to clip her. "Seems like everything's turned upside down, huh? Eientei evacuated, Rin coming back, Eirin's probably gone, Kaguya's beating us up" She frowned. "No, wait. That last part's pretty normal." "Not the part with us hitting back. I'm tellin' you, when all this is over, I'm taking a nice long vacation. Somewhere far away, with lots of grass and no-" That's when Kaguya started screaming. Tewi and Reisen whirled around to see the princess writhing and thrashing against her bounds, muffled cries of distress coming from under the hood. Tewi could tell that this was more than just protesting her situation. This was pure terror. The two hurried over as the soldiers tried to restrain her. "What's happening? Tewi shouted. "Is something wrong?" Utada shook her head in confusion. "I don't know!" she shouted as she wrapped her arms around Kaguya's waist and tried to hold her still. "She just started freaking out!" Kaguya's cries took on a distinct rhythm. "Muhoo! Muhoo! Muhoo!" Bewildered, Tewi looked over at Reisen, who just spread her hands and shrugged. Utada reached over to lift the bottom of the hood, just enough to expose Kaguya's mouth. "Mokou!" she screamed. "Mokou! It's Mokou, you idiots!" Everybody stiffened. Oh shiAnd that was when the chaos began. Balls of flame erupted from the edge of the clearing where they were situated and exploded in their midst. Rabbits scattered every which way, desperate to avoid getting torched. Of course it was all pointless. They were in no danger. "Stop running!" Tewi cried as she tried to restore order. "She's not after you! Protect the Princess!" Of course everyone ignored her. Even Reisen looked like she was about to split. Growling, Tewi turned to the elite of the Eientei Guard, the only ones who had kept their heads. "Okay, I've had enough," she said. "Fuck spellcard rules, it's not like she's following them anyway. Find that pyromaniac and-" She never got the chance to finish. A fireball hit the ground only three feet away and sent her sprawling.

Rin had put a good amount of distance between her and Eientei when a stray fireball had flown by and nearly hit her in the head. She yelped in surprise and dove for cover.

When no more came, Rin hesitantly peeked out. From the look of things, there was some sort of commotion going on nearby, one that strangely enough did not involve her. Thunderous explosions were tearing up the landscape and people were screaming. Two of those people ran past her. Ran stared after them. Rabbits, both wearing Eientei uniforms. The wheels in Rin's head began to turn. If she was right, then all the yelling was from everyone who had evacuated from Eientei. Which meant You should probably investigate that. I should probably investigate that, Rin thought. She floated towards the tumult, careful to remain in the shadows. It might be dangerous. Shouldn't you be armed? Rin glanced down at her right hand. Well, better safe than sorry. A weapon was just a weapon, after all. A small focus of will, and her sword once again sprang into existence. Over there, where all the fire is. That's where you want to be. Rin noticed that there was a substantial amount of flame concentrated in one area. There, she could see figures moving, figures she thought she recognized. That was probably where she needed to go. Strange though, a part of her was saying that this was a bad idea. She supposed she should listen, but for some reason it was getting harder and harder to think. Though she could still see, everything was growing fuzzy, almost like she was falling asleep. A dream, it was all a dream. Just slip away and dream a dream

Tewi tried scrambling to her feet, but one of the panicked rabbits ran into her from behind and she hit the ground face first. Tewi spat out dirt and leaves and pushed herself up on her palms. She looked up and froze. A pair of baggy red pants, covered with paper charms, stood before her. Suspenders held the pants to a button-up shirt that might have been white once in its past, but time and heat had made it a more light brown. Above this was an ethereally beautiful face framed by flowing hair of a shade of purple so pale it was almost white. Tewi whimpered. Mokou smirked down at the terrified rabbit. Then she stepped over her and strolled casually past the fires she had started, heading over to Kaguya's bound form. The few soldiers who had stood their ground snapped to attention and took aim; though it was obvious they also doubted their chances of success.

Tewi snapped out of her paralysis. "Mokou, wait!" she said. "This isn't the time for your-" Mokou pointed a finger over her shoulder at her. The tip was glowing. "Not the time?" Mokou said, her voice completely devoid of any concern whatsoever. "Time is all I have. All time is my time." "Not now it isn't!" Tewi shouted back. "Please Mokou, not this time! It's an emergency!" "Well, well, well, when did you suddenly get so serious? I thought you liked games." She pointed her finger at Kaguya and the soldiers surrounding her. "And right now, this is the only game in town. Oh, by the way. Pyrofuego." A searing column of flame lashed out from her finger and struck the ground in front of the soldiers, scattering them. A few more blasts followed this, and soon Kaguya was left unguarded. Mokou sauntered over to where her rival lay helpless, that satisfied smirk never leaving her lips. When she was within kicking distance, a wall of fire rose from the ground to surround them. Tewi and some of the remaining soldiers tried to approach, but it flared up in response to their presence and drove them away. Safe from any rescue attempts, Mokou reached down and pulled off Kaguya's hood, exposing her smudged and glaring face and bloodshot eyes. "Man Kaguya, what the hell did you to do end up like this?" Mokou said. "I knew your bunny brigade would go on strike sooner or later butdamn." Tewi felt like screaming in frustration. Normally this sort of thing wouldn't be such a big deal, but they needed to leave the forest now. Rin could show up at any moment. As if her thinking it brought it about, Tewi's eyes went wide when she saw an almost formless black shape slinking along the edge of the clearing, heading towards the wall of fire. Despite the overwhelming heat, Tewi felt her insides turn to ice, especially when it turned to regard her with those horrible red eyes. Then it winked at her and crept into the fire. Like before, the fire blazed up and tried to ward it off, but if she felt the heat at all it gave indication. "Mokou, wait!" Tewi called. "Get out there!" Unfortunately, the roar of the fire drowned out her voice. Inside the wall, the two eternal rivals were too preoccupied with one another to pay attention to anything else. Kaguya spat. "Coward! Untie me and face me on equal terms!" "Yeah, no thanks." Mokou held up one finger. Fire ignited on the tip. "I've been doing that every day forgods, I don't even remember anymore. Something-odd centuries. So I think I'll just take advantage of a very convenient situation and have myself a little barbeque. Fire Spin."

She gestured, and three whirling fiery tongue washed over Kaguya's body. The princess screamed as her blackened and began to crack. The fat underneath started to melt and run out in sickly yellow rivulets. Her hair burst into flames and shriveled away to floating ash. Mokou kept smiling even as she turned up the heat. "How did you kill me yesterday? Something about slicing open my stomach and pulling out my entrails? Not the worst you've done, but it still kinda sucked. But I win this round." "You'd like to think so, wouldn't you?" "Wha-" Mokou's question was suddenly cut off as a blackened blade exploded from her chest in a spray of gore. The wall of flame flared up one last time and withered to nothingness. Oh no, Tewi thought numbly as Rin Satsuki kicked Mokou off of her sword. Oh no, no, no. The immortal fell to her knees. Blood vomited from her mouth. Rin stared down at Mokou with a contempt that Tewi would have thought her to be capable of. Back during her last rampage, she had been plenty crazy, but never coldly malicious like this. "You people never learn. Always thinking your petty little squabbles are the only things that matter. But I'm afraid this is game over for you, fire bird. Now, let's see: how did that spineless little waste of space do this again? Oh yes" Rin extended both hands. Her talons shriveled away, and the darkness fled from her palms and forearms, leaving the lower half of the appendages purely transparent. "No!" Tewi cried as she rushed forward. She grabbed a heavy stick off the ground and swung it with all her might at Rin's head. It hit, but predictably enough it did nothing other than snap in half. Three twisting coils off darkness sprouted from Rin's back and speared the ground where Tewi was standing. She managed to leap away just in time. Rin's now transparent arm expanded and joined together into a single mass, about the size of a tent. This dipped down to envelop a skewered Mokou and her charcoaled enemy. It picked them up, gore, ash and all. Despite the obvious pain she was in, Mokou kicked and pushed and tried to break free. Of course, all of her attempts were fruitless. Once Rin had you, there was no escape. Kaguya, it should be noted, just hung limply. But this was of course to be expected. Rin cackled as Mokou and Kaguya's mutilated bodies began to tear apart from the outside in. Their clothing and (in Mokou's case) hair dissolved away, followed by their skin. For a moment, Tewi was treated to an unforgettable anatomy lesson as Mokou and Kaguya's internal organs became wholly visible. Then these too crumbled away. Mokou and Kaguya wasted away into nothingness.

Still laughing, Rin separated the large blob into two separate appendages again and reformed her arms. "Wow, that was...interesting. Wonder when the changes will starHELLO!" Rin's neck snapped back and her arms spread wide and stiffened. Shivers ran up and down her stolen body. And then she began to change. The twisting aura of darkness exploded into a frenzy of motion and her skin looked like it was boiling. Her limbs extended and reformed themselves into a smoother, more graceful shape. Her "hair", if it could be called that, shuddered and suddenly shot out about four feet. The midnight black of her body dissolved away in patches, revealing its inverse beneath. Then the metamorphosis was complete. Rin dropped to her knees. For a moment she was motionless. And then she stood. Her new body wasdifferent. It retained aspects of the form she had taken from the Shadow Youkai, particularly in the shape of the face, the ripping talons on the hands, and certain parts of her clothing, but bits and pieces of her new victims had been added to the ensemble, turning her into a gothic artist's wet dream. She was now much taller and more graceful in her movements. Her hair now flowed in Mokou's distinctive style, but the color was Kaguya's. The dark aura remained, but it was now shot through with flashes of red and purple. The Shadow Youkai's vest also remained, but the skirt now more resembled Mokou's trousers, decorated with the floral pattern of Kaguya's robe. The ropes that had bound Kaguya's arms now twisted around the wrists and forearms like some sort of avant-garde bracelets. And her skin, once a featureless expanse of black, was now the pale color of ash. Her eyes though. They had not lost their shape, but had cooled to a haughty shade of lavender. But the burning cruelty was the same. Rin cocked her head as she examined her new form. She held out her left hand and extended her fingers. "Not bad," she murmured as she ran the fingers of her other hand up and down her forearm. "Not bad at all. Is this was it feels to be completely indestructible?" She gave one of her new breasts an experimental squeeze. "I think I like it!" Then her eyes narrowed as she took notice of her frozen audience. "Oh, is it rabbit season already? Time to take the new body for a test drive." Oh wow, what to do, what to do, what to do? Tewi thought desperately. Shooting her wouldn't work, blunt impact wouldn't work, and running would only delay the inevitable. She hated to admit it, but by all accounts, they were now royally screwed. Rin extended her right hand. Her sword, dropped while she absorbed the two immortals, trembled and snapped to her palm. Yep, royally screwed. "Rin?" said a nearby voice, drawing everyone's attention.

Reisen stood there, arms outstretched, palms up in a nonthreatening manner. She slowly approached the nightmare. Her entire body was trembling, but she kept walking. "Rin, it's me," she said. "It's Reisen. You remember me, right?" "Reisen, are you stupid or something?" Tewi shouted. She skirted around Rin and darted to her friend's side. "Now is not the time to get suicidal," she hissed in Reisen's ear. This was ignored. Reisen's eyes remained focused on Rin. "Come on Rin, I know you remember me. Remember the time we snuck out to go to the Winter Solstice festival? And we got kicked out for cheating at all those rigged games? Remember all those picnics we took when we were supposed to be sparring? Remember all those times you came crying to my room after Eirin chewed you out and I let you sleep in my bed? I even spent a week inside of your mind and stood up for you when Kaguya wanted to execute you. Please Rin, I know you remember. I know this isn't you." Tewi shot a glance at Rin and sucked her teeth. To her surprise, Reisen's words seemed to be working. Rin now lookedunsure of herself. Hesitant. There seemed to be some kind of internal struggle going on. "Rin, please," Reisen pressed. She was now only a few feet away. "Don't do this. I know you're angry, and the gods know you have every right to be. But don't become the monster. You're better than that." Rin shook her head and shuddered. She looked up. "Reisen?" "I'll be twice-over damned, it worked," Tewi whispered. Reisen smiled and nodded. "It's me, Rin. Don't worry. I won't let anyone-" Then Rin laughed and swung out with one arm, knocking Reisen to the ground. Reisen tried to push herself up, but Rin planted one foot on her back and pressed her back down. Tewi screamed and rushed forward. Rin barely glanced at her before slashing her side with one talon. Hot pain flared up, only to be replaced with bitter cold. Tewi tumbled to the ground, grasping her injured side. "Just when I thought you people couldn't get any stupider, you go and prove me wrong," Rin said in a conversational tone. "I swear, you have got to be the most gullible piece of shit I've ever encountered. I don't know what she saw in you, I really don't." She lifted the sword up, ready to plunge it into Reisen's skull. "Well, if I'm going to rip this country to pieces, I suppose this is a good place to start as any. Sayonara, Inaba." Then she froze, sword poised in midair. Her head twitched, and her other hand went to her forehead. She grimaced and looked like she was fighting off a headache.

"Oh, for crying out loud," Rin growled. "You had to wait until now to wake up?"

Rin clawed her way to the surface of her mind, screaming all the way. What are you doing? she cried. What's it look like? Plan B, times two. Stop it! Leave Reisen alone! She felt the other her sigh. Look Rin, can you just give me a minute here? I promise it won't even hurt. No! You said I was on my own! You promise! Why did you lie? Situation changed. You weren't going to do what was necessary. I, on the other hand, just made you explode-proof. Say "thank you". Rin screamed and forced control away from her "Evil Twin". Get out, get out, get out! She tried to mentally crush the monster, but it slipped away before she could. For the merest fraction of a second, she could feel it slithering through the recesses of her mind. And then it was gone. Rin frantically searched every bit of her mind, but the only other presence she could feel was Rumia's, who was still floating alone in the dark and totally confused and oblivious to all that was going on. Wait, not just Rumia. There was something new, another mind. Two other minds, in fact. The minds of Oh no. Oh no, no, no.

Rin stiffened. Her body swayed back and forth like a reed in the wind. Her sword dipped low and fell from her hands to clatter on the ground. Then she shook her head and looked at the world around her. "What happened?" she whispered. "What did she do?" Then she glanced down. "Oh my gods, Reisen?" Rin cried. She leapt off the rabbit's body. "I'm so sorry. It wasn't me, I swear! Did she hurt you?" She reached down with one hand to help her up.

In response, Reisen screamed in terror and bolted into the forest "Wait!" Rin called. "It wasn't me! Please Reisen, listen to me!" Then she saw Tewi, still on the ground with a blackened gash along her side. "Tewi? What happened? Did I...did she do that to you? Did she do all this? NoI can't" Rin screamed, a horrible echoing sound that pierced through Tewi's skull and nearly sent her into unconsciousness. Then she leapt into the air and flew away, crying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" as she sped off.

"You know what the worst part is?" Mima said as she tried to hold her final miniature still. "Having sixteen different sets of memories for the same ten minutes. Can you imagine having to sort all that out? Quantum physics is easier." Her miniature clamped her teeth down on Mima's hand. Of course it did no good, and soon she was reabsorbed into Mima's body. The ghost sighed. "Well, that's done with at least." Then she frowned and looked over at Marisa. "Hey, what's wrong with you?" The two of them were back at the Eientei courtyard. After their search had proved to be fruitless, they had regrouped and headed back on the possibility that Satsuki had pulled a fast one and doubled back. Of course, no such luck. Now the only question was what they were going to do now. Satsuki was proven to be far cleverer than they had thought, and by now she could be anywhere. It didn't help that Marisa was acting very odd, especially for her. She didn't look like she was even paying attention to Mima, which was a definite first. Instead, she kept glancing toward the spot where Cirno had disappeared and biting her lower lip. Mima sighed and floated to her former prodigy's side. "Oh, come now. You're not still worried about that fairy, are you?" "What? Oh, of course not, ze! It's just" Marisa waved her hand at the space in front of her. "Shouldn't she be back by now? It doesn't usually take this long." "Well, of course not," Mima scowled. "For one thing, the air's still too hot. And given the size of the blast, her cells were probably scattered far and wide. I wouldn't expect her to piece herself back together for another half an hour or so." "Oh. Well, um" "Spit it out."

"Is there something you can do?" Mima pressed her fingertips to her forehead and sighed. She thought she would never see the day when Marisa would express this degree of concern for another person, much less Cirno. "All right, fine. Then will you stop freaking out about her?" "Hey, I'm not freaking out! I'm just-" "Save it and let me work." Mima closed her eyes and concentrated. Even though she was still dealing with the aftereffects of her own being recently fractured, she could still feel the pieces of Cirno's essence floating around like a billion confused dust motes. A small focus of will, a quick muttered spell, and they began to coagulate at a single point. At the same time, the temperature of the surrounding area took a steep trip downward. Marisa's breath became visible and she shivered. Frost started to form on the ground. Mima gestured, and there was a sudden blaze of white light. The light formed itself into a small humanoid form, and Cirno dropped to the ground. The ice fairy scrambled to her feet and stared at the world with her new eyes. "No, wait!" Cirno cried as she lurched forward. "Run Rumia, I'll hold them off! I can do it, I'mthestrongest " With that, she pitched forward and flopped on the ground, where she continued to mumble under her breath. Marisa stared. "Um, is she okay?" Mima shrugged. From her point of view, there had been nothing to worry about in the first place. "Yes, she's fine. Her body just reformed quicker than usual. She'll be a little loopy for a few minutes and then she'll back to her irritating self. Still sprawled in an untidy heap, Cirno began to snore. "There, you see?" Marisa slumped. "Oh, good. I mean it's not like I was worried or anything, I just didn't want put up with Reimu screaming my ear off again, ze." "Sure you weren't," Mima smirked. "Sure you weren't." Marisa opened her mouth to respond, but she was interrupted by a nearby rustling. Both of them whirled to face the forest. Marisa shot a glance at Mima, who returned the look and nodded. Marisa flipped her hakkero into her hand and energy began to gather at Mima's palms. But to their surprise, it wasn't Satsuki at all. It was two rabbits dressed as maids. One was supporting the other, and both were smudged with ash.

Mima blinked and let her gathered power fade away. Beside her, Marisa was doing the same. More rabbits were emerging from the forest, dressed in a variety of uniforms. More maids, soldiers, cooks, laundresses, etc. All of them looked exhausted, and many of them were covered with ash. "Uh, what's going on?" Marisa muttered out of the corner of her mouth. "I thought they took off!" Mima nodded. She had been thinking the same thing. All things considered, the rabbits return in this condition was not a good side. Then the rabbits' leaders appeared. Reisen limped out of the forest, carrying a shivering Tewi on her back. Tewi's dress was ripped along one side, and underneath a black tear could clearly be seen on her pale skin. Oh no. Marisa ran up to them. "Hey Ears, what the hell happened here? You guys were supposed to be gone an hour ago, ze! What are you doing back?" Reisen's scarlet eyes fixated upon her. That was when they saw the tear tracks smearing their way through the ash on her cheek. "Where were you?" Reisen said in a hollow voice. "What?" Marisa looked confused. "Where do you think? We were trying to stop Satsuki!" Reisen didn't say anything else. She just looked away from the witch, hefted her friend back up and continued to limp towards the clinic. Mima floated out of their way without a word. Marisa stated after them, her mouth agape. She ran back to Mima. "Hey, what do you think happened?" she said. "Did Satsuki get Kaguya? What's with the ash?" Mima just pursed her lips and shook her head. She had been wondering the same thing herself. Satsuki was of course the most obvious explanation, but she had yet to exhibit fire-based abilities. Unless she ate that Mokou as well, she thought. If that was the case, they might as well cut their own throats right now and save Satsuki the trouble. Well, everyone else except Mima herself, of course. Before she could continue down that depressing line of thought, another voice cut in, drawing their attention. "Huh?" Cirno said as she pushed herself up on her palms. She looked around at the procession of weary rabbits, confusion all over her face. "Where am I? What happened? Where's Rumia?"

Deep Within Rumia pitched forward and landed on what could only be described as solid nothing. Whatever, she didn't care, so long as she landed on something, even if that something was nothing. She took stock of herself. Arms, legs, torso, head, hair, all there! Oh thank the gods, she had a body again! Sure, she knew her body wasn't actually real and from the look of things still stuck in Rin's head, but it was miles better than that being trapped in that void, with no sensation of feeling, no movement whatsoever, no nothing except her fear and memories to keep her company. And to make things even sweeter, she could move her whole body now! She was no longer trapped in the crucified position and driving herself crazy with trying to get her limbs to obey. Sure, it wasn't the same as actual freedom, but it was a step in the right direction. Unfortunately she didn't the chance to enjoy her newfound mobility, as Rin chose that moment to appear the hell out of nowhere. Her captor had a wild look in her eyes, and if to punctuate that observation she grabbed Rumia by the shoulders and shoved her up againmore nothing. "Was it you?" Rin shouted. "Were you the dark voice? How did you get out? Tell me!" Rumia gaped at her. "Wha-I-I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Angry tears formed in Rin's bloodshot eyes. "It had to have been you!" she cried. "There was no one else in here! It had to be you!" "I swear, it wasn't me, it wasn't me!" Rumia babbled frantically. "I don't even know what it was! Please, please don't hurt me!" Rin stared at her with an unreadable expression on her face. Then she lunged forward with one hand. Rumia cried out in fear and covered her eyes, convinced that she was about to be killed. Instead, Rin pressed the palm of her hand against Rumia's forehead. A feeling of warmth tingled across Rumia's scalp. It didn't hurt per se, but it wasn't exactly comfortable. Still, given her predicament, complaining wasn't exactly the most prudent action at the time. Rin jerked away from her as if she had been burned. "You're right, it wasn't you," she whispered. "There's nothing in your memories, nothing to indicate" She began shaking. "Bu-but if it wasn't you, then who was it whispering in my ear, telling me to do all those awful things? Who was it trying to turn me into a monster, who took control and tried to kill everyone? Who was that, Rumia?" Rumia scooted away from her. "I don't know what you're talking about! I was stuckwhere you put me the whole time! I'm innocent, I swear!"

"I know, it's just" Rin grabbed her head and fell to her knees. "I don't know what to think anymore!" she sobbed. "It doesn't make any sense! I mean, I've studied up on psychological conditions. You know, back when I was normal? And I can't have an alternate personality, not like that! They just don't work that way! At least I don't think they do. I just don't know anymore." She shook her head. "Rumia, I know you don't want to hear this, but I think I may be going crazy." Oh, Rumia thought bleakly. Isn't that just swell. The weird-ass blob girl from who knows where who goes around eating people, killing plants and picking fights with virtual gods was going insane. And here Rumia was, stuck in said girl's mind. Rumia was starting to get the sneaking suspicion that she was in somewhat of a bad situation. That was when she noticed the other noises for the first time. It sounded like the muffled cries of someone trying to scream through blankets. Rumia reluctantly turned around to the source of the sound. What she saw made her stare. Apparently Rin had gone and picked up some new travelling companions. Two people hung in the air, much as Rumia had done herself. One was a statuesque beauty with a regal bearing and flowing hair so dark it was almost invisible against the backdrop of nothing. Her arms were crossed over her chest, like a corpse in a coffin. The other was much leaner, much more vicious looking, but no less beautiful. Her pale lavender hair also flowed down her back and her arms went down and then up, with her palms open to the (metaphorically speaking) sky, as if she were shrugging. Though judging by the way both of their muscles were straining, they were clearly in those positions against their will. Rumia gulped. She had never seen those two personally, but given where they had been when she had been sent away and considering all the stories she had heard along with the occasional picture in the Bunbunmaru, she guessed that she was now in the presence of Princess Kaguya, mistress of Eientei and the only recognizable sovereign of the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. Which probably meant the other was the infamous Fujiwara no Mokou, Kaguya's eternal rival. Stories of what had happened to the unlucky few who dared to piss her often were sometimes used to scare small children. However, that wasn't the only why Rumia was staring. Like both her and Ran, the newcomers were also completely naked. Now, Rin wasn't bad looking, but Rin's bizarre powers, the fact that she had eaten her and her general craziness meant that her casual nudity wasn't exactly erotic. Instead, it only made her scarier. These two, howeverwell, Kaguya reported used to have suitors lining up by the dozens. There had been talk of actual wars being declared for her hand. And while Mokou's history wasn't nearly sovaried, from what Rumia could see (and she could see a lot), she could go head-to-head with Kaguya in this matter as well.

In fact, if it weren't for the final reason Rumia was staring, her cheeks would be turning red and her eyes dipping to places south. However, there was one more reason for her staring, one that made all the other reasons fall to the wayside. Both Kaguya and Mokou were wide awake and staring in turn. They appeared to be both frightened and furious, but this presumption was based upon facial expressions alone, as their mouths were completely gone. Where they should have been was a smooth span of skin. That didn't stop them from trying to communicate, as dampened cries and curses, some of which Rumia could almost understand, shot out from their throats as a furious rate. As Rumia had also been in the same place they were, both in terms of being unable to move and in losing her mouth, she could sympathize with their distress. That didn't change the face that the sight scared the shit out of her. "Oh, them," Rin sighed. She sounded more annoyed than anything. "The evil voice in my head grabbed them after she knocked me out and took control. I didn't want to send them away too, but they wouldn't stop yelling, and this was the only way I could get them to shut up. Honestly, I have no idea what I'm gonna do with them." Answers and Questions Yukari Yakumo hobbled out of Hourai Clinic and squinted. Overhead, the sun was giving its final hurrah before retiring for the night, lighting up the sky in a brilliant display of oranges and reds. She supposed it was all very pretty, but it was difficult to find any appreciation for it. All around her, Eientei was bustling, even more so than usual. After their return, Kaguya's flock of bunnies had gotten to work on cleaning up the mess their home had been reduced to. At the moment, debris was being cleared from the clinic's waiting room while the damage to the mansion was still being assessed. Yukari couldn't blame them, as there was little else they could do. Their sovereign was gone, taken by a life-destroying monster that was now, for all intents and purposes, completely invulnerable. Most of their leaders had been severely wounded and would be contributing no actual leadership for awhile. And the "experts" who had been called in to solve this problem had just gotten their asses thoroughly kicked. On the whole, it was a bleak situation. Yukari took a step and had to grab the doorframe to keep from stumbling. Damned wound. If it had been only the burn or only the gash, it would be easier. But instead, she had to endure cold numbness and fiery pain at the same time. The treatments she had found around the clinic were helping, but it still wasn't fun. She had refused the use of a crutch or even a cane, citing the fact that she had endured worst injuries in the past. This was true, but it did mean that walking was going to be difficult. But still, she would be caught dead before she was seen using any kind of crutch this early in the game.

Taking a deep breath, she set off through the courtyard. She was able to keep her face expressionless and her steps more or less going smoothly, with only a slight limp every left step. Not bad, all things considered. She ignored the rabbits running to and fro and was ignored in return. Her attention was focused on the two figures standing at the edge of the forest. Mima and Marisa were in the middle of what appeared to be a heated argument. In keeping with their temperaments, Marisa's points were accompanied by a great deal of arm flailing and shouting, whereas Mima just kept her arms folded and spoke in a calm, steady tone. As Yukari came closer, their words became more and more audible. "if we don't, she'll be long gone!" Marisa was yelling. "You wanna have that thing loose in Gensokyo?" "She's long gone anyway," Mima replied. "And seeing how nothing we do will cause the slightest bit of good anyway, I fail to see what a suicidal charge will accomplish. Ah, good evening." That last bit was directed to Yukari herself, who had gotten close enough to be noticed. She nodded curtly and said, "The same. I take it you're discussing our wayward monster?" "Who else?" Marisa growled. "And what the hell are you doing even up? I thought you were all injured and bedridden, ze." "I checked myself out. Too much to prepare for, and I don't trust any operation that doesn't include my direct involvement." Marisa gritted her teeth and stomped over to butt foreheads with the ancient youkai. "What, you saying we'll screw it up? 'Cause I don't know if you noticed, but we were the ones who managed to bring that freak down at all, while you just got your old hag ass kicked. Twice." Yukari didn't so much as blink. "The situation has changed since then. Your skills lie primarily in causing wanton destruction, and Satsuki is now entirely immune to wanton destruction. Also, remove yourself from my face." "Or you'll what?" "Nothing. I won't have to. Because you are going to remove yourself from my face." Sparks flashed in Marisa's eyes. Her clenched fists started trembling, as if she might lay Yukari out at any moment. Yukari simply returned her gaze and said nothing. Then Marisa's whole body shook and she took a step back. "Screw this, I don't have time for you, you crazy old bitch," the witch spat. To Mima, she said, "Look me up when you guys actually decide to do something." Pulling down the brim of her hat, she hopped on her broom and took off in an angry cloud of dust.

Yukari watched her go. Her eyebrows narrowed. With a sigh, Mima floated over to her side. "Don't be too hard on her," she said. "She's still young." "Mima, I really don't need an emotional intervention right now." "Perhaps. But I saw that look on your face. Infighting is not something that you, nor anyone of us, need right now. We have enough problems as it is." Yukari's left eye twitched. "Fair enough. Just know that if your little witch tries to touch me again, her limbs will be scattered among the four corners of Gensokyo. In the space of a minute." Mima gave her an odd look, but she didn't comment on Yukari's surliness. Instead, she said, "At any rate, with Satsuki's acquirement of immortality, I would say the situation has evolved beyond our control." "You have a keen grasp of the obvious." "As such, this crisis may soon reach catastrophic levels." Yukari shot a glance at what remained of Eientei, and then at her own bandaged torso. "See above comment. What's you point?" Mima clasped her hands in front of her waist and looked out over the forest. "As much as it hurts me to admit it, we may need to call in the cavalry." She lowered her voice to an almost whisper. "Yukari, I think we may have to involve the Ringleaders." "No." "Every second we delay increases the danger of-" "No." "Come now, Yukari. I hate the idea as much as you do, but-" "I said no!" Yukari snarled. She took an aggressive step forward, and winced as the burning areas of her wound voiced their protest. Mima of course took notice. "You, I, Reimu, Marisa, Suika and the entirety of Eientei's forces, more than enough combined power to bury most armies, could not stop that thing. Most of us, you included, are gravely injured, and it was only through cheating that no lives were actually lost. Yukari, this is not the time for pride. And to hear it coming from me" Yukari seethed. "And tell them what, exactly? That we were stupid enough to get our asses handed to us by onething? Us, the supposed elite? How do you think that'll affect our reputation?"

Mima arched an eyebrow. "This is a day for reversed roles. I thought you didn't care about reputation. Besides, you've lost before and didn't care." "That was different. Losing a fair fight is one thing. Failing to do our job is something else. Besides, you're already on shaky ground with the other Ringleaders as it is. Do you really want to give the rest of them a reason to bring your parole up for review?" "Oh, I'm not worried," Mima replied in that infuriatingly calm voice of hers. "And neither should you be. After all, if looking bad is all you're worried about" she cast a glance over her shoulder to where the rabbits were milling around "I can think of a few convenient scapegoats." Yukari frowned, but she didn't say anything. "After all, we weren't the ones who created Satsuki," Mima continued. "We weren't the ones who 'conveniently' forgot to mention that we had a psychotic people-absorbing abomination locked in the attic." "As opposed to psychotic, people-killing abomination locked up in a stupid girl?" Mima just shrugged. "They know about that one already, and never objected. I doubt they were informed about Satsuki. And then there's the ice-fairy and her little team of misfits. Weren't they the ones that unleashed her in the first place? There are ways to, hehe, 'rephrase' things, you know." Yukari turned away from her. "I'llthink about it." "I'm sure you will. By the way, how's that shrine maiden of yours?" That comment made Yukari whirl around again, ignoring the pain that it caused her. "The hell was that supposed to mean?" "What? I'm simply inquiring as to her condition," Mima said innocently, no mean feat for her. "After all, Satsuki treated her so roughly. I must admit, I was quite worried myself when I saw what had happened to her foot. I'd hate to think what would happen should Reimu encounter that thing again, without help. Oh, I'd hate to imagine what tragedies would befall the poor girl." "You're treading on very thin ice, Mima," Yukari said in a low, dangerous voice. "She'd do it, too. You know she would. Even if all of Gensokyo were to turn their backs on her, she would still stand alone. Even if it meant her doom, she would still stand alone. Of course, if she had the backing of, oh I don't know, maybe the most powerful beings in Gensokyo? Maybe then she might survive." Yukari wondered what the absolute worst place she could send the impertinent spirit was, or if she could send her to more than one place. Maybe she should drop her off in the Outside World

and let her enjoy being cut off from magic entirely. However, good sense won over in the end. Mima was right, after all. "That is very low," Yukari said, enunciating every syllable. "Even for you." Mima shrugged and smiled. "What? I'm just doing my job and pointing out the obvious. Any additional meaning is provided by you alone." Yukari sighed. "You evil bitch." "That would be my other job, yes." "Fine, I'll send out the word. Just don't be surprised when they go and make things worse. In the meantime" Yukari turned and started to head back to Hourai Clinic. "Where are you going?" Mima asked. "To get some answers. There's a certain physician that owes me an explanation." Her eyes narrowed. "And a certain ice fairy that I need to have words with."

Deep Within Rumia didn't have the slightest idea of what to do. She sat by herself, away from everyone else. Behind her, Rin was watching that stupid screen of hers, directing the path of the hodgepodge body they were now residing in. Only thing was, it was now more purple than red. Rumia wasn't sure how that had happened nor could she work up the nerve to ask, but she was pretty sure it had something to do with Rin's new "guests". Kaguya and Mokou still floated in the bizarre positions Rin had put them in, staring at the nothing around them with wide eyes. As their mouths had yet to return, their cries of indignation came out sounding like a series of squeals, squeaks and groans. Rumia could sympathize, as she had been in the same position not too long ago. Though oddly enough, some time ago they had ceased directing their cries at her and Rin and had started what honestly appeared to a subdued conversation between themselves. Rumia wasn't sure how they understood each other or what they were saying; she just hoped their plans didn't involve her head on a stake. She supposed she should talk to them and try to explain that she wasn't Rin's co-conspirator or anything, but the thought of speaking to them while they were in that freakish mouthless state, especially with Rin still sitting within earshot, made her insides started to tremble. Rumia held her hand up, palm out, and spread her fingers. Well, at least she could move now. It was true when they say that you never know what you've got until it's gone. After losing first her mobility and then her body entirely, she swore she would never take something so mundane for granted ever again. It was a small comfort, but she was going to take what she could get.

"Rumia?" said a soft voice behind her. Rumia flinched and huddled in a small ball. "Y-y-yes?" she squeaked. Rin walked around to sit next to her. Rumia couldn't bring herself to meet her captor's eyes. Ever since Rumia had returned, Rin had been actingstrangely. Well, okay, so she had been pretty weird before, but that had just been a confusing over-enthusiastic cheerfulness. Now she spoke very little to anyone, preferring to stare at her screen while mumbling something under her breath. Rumia hadn't been able to make out the specifics, but it had sounded like she had been going on about her "Evil Twin", a sort of dark voice that had been telling her to hurt people. Rin apparently noticed Rumia's reluctance. She frowned and leaned in closer. Rumia winced and shied away. "You're still scared of me, aren't you?" Rin asked. Rumia tried to force a grin. "M-me? Scared. Hehehe, whatever gave youYou're not going to hurt me, are you?" Rin shook her head and withdrew. "Yeah, I'll take as a yes. Jeez." She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "Wow, I've really screwed things up, haven't I?" Rumia wasn't sure if that was a rhetorical question or not, but she decided to play it safe and say nothing. "Rumia?" Damn it. "H-huh?" "I, uh, don't really know how to do this. I mean, everything's all crazy and I don't have the slightest clue as to howbut yeah, anyway, I think I owe you an apology." Rumia blinked. "What?" "See, when you opened the box and let me out, I thought you were freeing me on purpose. I thought you had heard about me and wanted to rescue me." Rin let out a bitter cackle. "And I ate you anyway. Way to show gratitude, huh?" "Um" "SoI'm sorry. I screwed up, and got you stuck in my mess. Sorry." "Oh. Uh, thank you." Rumia built up some courage and asked, "So, um, does that mean you'll, you know, let me go?" Her hopes started to build, but the guilty look on Rin's face sent them crashing down. "Uh, Rumia? I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?" "Because, uh, well you see" Rin frowned and started knocking her wrist against her head. "Okay, c'mon, think! How do I put thisOkay, I was actually gonna let you go. Right before Eirin's stupid friends ambushed us, remember? But now I think it's safer if you stay here, where I can protect you." "Uhfrom what?" "From them. From those people who attacked us. Rumia, I know you weren't around to hear this, but I think they wanna kill you as much as they wanna kill me." Rumia's jaw dropped. "Wait, say what? That's crazy! I mean, sure they've beaten me up a few times, but they always just let me off with that! They wouldn't want to kill me, that's not what they do! You must'vemisheard them or something!" She looked to Rin for affirmation. When the other girl didn't meet her eyes, Rumia added in a weak voice, "right?" In response, Rin pointed at the space before them. Again, a tear opened. But unlike the huge screen she used as her eyes, this was more like a swirling hole. The images she saw through it made no sense. It looked like a never-ending series of horizontal lines perpetually shooting upward, broken by repeating flashes of color. Rumia thought she could make out shapes in those brief glimpses of color, the shapes of people, but everything was moving too fast to be sure of anything. Rumia cast a dubious look over at Rin. "A memory," Rin explained. "One of mine. From a couple of hours ago." "Oh. What's going on?" "The tall youkai, the one that you seem to be" Rin stopped talking immediately, her cheeks reddening. But Rumia caught on. "The one I'm afraid of, right? Miss Yukari? Hey, she's scary. Everyone's afraid of her. What about her?" Rin twirled a lock of her hair with her fingers and frowned. "Uh, she did something really weird with those holes, those gaps of hers. Pretty much she set it up so I was constantly falling through two of them, over and over." "Oh." "But yeah, anyway, they thought I was stuck and started talking about what they were going to do to me. I could still hear them andWell, just listen." Rumia frowned and did so. Like Rin said, there were people talking, but everything was covered with an irritating whooshing sound.

Rin noticed. "Yeah, sorry about the wind. Here, lemme see what I can do" She made a slight gesture, almost as if she were turning something with her fingers, and the whooshing noise faded into the background. At the same time, the sound of the voices increased. It still sounded odd, but at least Rumia could make out what they were saying. "all in favor of killing the bloody psychotic risk to life and limb, say aye." "Aye." "Aye. Sorry Yukari, she's just way too dangerous." Rumia blinked. Even through the noise filter, she knew those voices. She turned her head towards Rim, who simply nodded and said, "Keep listening." Yukari was talking. "ending Rumia the first time around was problematic enough, but now we're dealing with someone that can take just about anything we can dish out." Wait, what? What first time? "Speaking of which, what about Rumia? I mean, she's still stuck in that thing. Is there any way we can get her out?" "Are you daft? Have you been sleeping through that whole beat down? Even if we get her out, the ribbon thingy is gone, ze! Evil Rumia's back! Better to off them both." "Whoa, wait a minute!" Rumia cried as she leapt to her feet. "Stop that thing!" Rin gestured, and the ever-rising lines and wavering voices paused. "What are they talking about, 'Evil Rumia'? There's only one Rumia, and that's me! And I definitely haven't gone anywhere, and I sure as hell aren't evil!" Rin shook her head. "I don't know, I was trying to figure that out myself. But, uh, there is something" "What?" "Just listen to the whole thing. I'll explain after." The picture once again began moving in a manner that threatened to cause seizures. The ghost was talking now. "While the removal of the ribbon would return her to full power, we do not know if her memories would return as well. The wiping of her memory and the sealing of her power were two separate operations." Rumia frowned and touched her hair in the spot where her ribbon used to be. What did that have to do with anything? Certainly, being unable to touch it was annoying, especially when she had an

itch, but she never gave it much thought. She shook her head in confusion and turned her attention back to the memory. "As much as it hurts to say so, I'm afraid I must agree with the witch," Yukari was saying. "It is my job to keep Gensokyo safe from threats such as this, and while Rumia could be said to be blameless in this situation, the risk is too great to allow her to wander free." "Look, I don't really care for Rumia at all, and I am glad to beat her up whenever she starts getting stupid, but I don't like the idea of killing her just because of something that might happen. Why can't we just seal up her powers again? Unless you've forgotten how." "Hardly. But even if we somehow managed to extract Rumia from within that thing, and even if she has not regained memory of what she once was, and even if we somehow restrained her long enough to create another amulet of sealing, what's to prevent something else from unleashing her once again? Reimu, this isn't one of the incidents you're used to dealing with. This isn't a case of someone with too much power growing bored and causing trouble. We are talking of a potential massacre here. Maybe even genocide." "Okay, I've heard enough!" Rumia shouted. "Shut that thing off right now! The voices cut off and the tear closed. Rin looked up at her. "See, that's what I was talking about. They wanna kill us both! If I let you go now, they'll tear you to pieces!" "No! You're lying! This has got to be a fake. There's no way they wouldthat I could beAAAHHHH!" Rumia grasped at her skull and fell to her knees. This had to be a trick. There was no other explanation. No way would they be out to kill her. Yukari thoughthat she could almost believe. Rin laid a hand on her shoulder. Rumia jumped away from her. "No, don't touch me!" Rumia shouted. "You're lying to me! You're just trying to make me stay so you won't be left alone!" Rin balled up her fists and stamped her foot in frustration. "No I'm not! Jeez, why does everyone always think I'm lying?" "Oh, I don't know, let me think about that. Hmmm, maybe you're a psychopath who goes around eating people and sending them into complete darkness?" "So do you!"

"No I" Rumia stopped, and then continued. "Okay, maybe I do, but not like you do! And I'm not crazy like you! People don't try to lock me up in a box to get rid of me, and I definitely don't listen to imaginary voices that tell me to kill people!" "I made a mistake! Years ago! And I told you, I have no idea where that voice came from! The only thing I know is that it never showed up until after you did!" Rumia's nostrils flared. Suddenly, her fear was forgotten. In fact, she was about ready to test just how physical this illusionary body could get. "You're saying that I was the one telling you to go all axe-crazy?" Rumia snarled as she stomped forward. "That's it. When I get done with you your mind is gonna start thinking sideways!" She formed a fist and swung it at Rin's face. Rin blurred and vanished right before knuckles made contact. "Knock it off!" Rin shouted from behind. Rumia whirled around. Rin was now standing there, looking irritated. Scowling, Rumia tried to hit her again. Again Rin disappeared before being hit, only to reappear a few feet away. "Rumia, seriously! Stop-" Rumia swung again. The same thing happened. "-being-" Rumia swung again. "-an-" And again. "-idiot! Okay, that's enough!" Rumia froze in mid-swing, one foot braced in front of her, her fist only halfway past her own face. She grunted and tried to move, but with no success. Rin appeared in front of her. "Will you please just knock it off!" she said. "I've had people beating me up all day and I'm getting real sick of it!" She blinked once, and Rumia suddenly fell forward. Rin stepped aside, letting Rumia land face first on the expanse of nothing.

"I don't know why I even bother," Rin muttered as she walked away. "I do my best to be all honest and make up with people, and they keep trying to smash me flat! Not my fault that the truth is so freaking weird." "Truth?" Rumia said as she pushed herself up. "Truth of what? You've seen my memories, you know I didn't have anything to do withwhatever you think I did. What makes you so suspicious of me?" Rin paused, her back still to Rumia. "Well, um, like I said I'm not sure what it was," she said, sounding uncertain of herself. "And the voice did sound a little different. Deeper, darker, more scary, you know? But uh, the voice?" "Yeah?" Rin turned. Her large blue eyes were troubled. "Rumia, it sounded like you."

The level of activity inside of Hourai Clinic stood in sharp contrast to its earlier snail pace. Now, like outside, the halls were filled with rabbits running to and fro, mostly maintenance and soldiers seeing to the damage. Yukari was reminded of blood cells frantically trying to clot up tears in the veins. She was sure Eirin would appreciate the image, though sharing a joke wasn't exactly high on her list of priorities. She made her way through the clinic, ignoring the rabbits and the occasional dirty look they shot her. They could blame her and her friends all they wanted, but the fact of the matter is that this problem was their doing, not hers. She and her friends had been the ones trying to take Satsuki down while the rabbits had turned tail. Her destination was another one of the emergency rooms, specifically the one nicknamed Marisa's Dumping Ground. As it was the one that saw the most business, it was the best equipped to handle the number of wounded the operation had incurred. Suika, Eirin and Reimu had been moved there after Satsuki's escape, and Tewi Inaba and Cirno had recently been added to the patient list. CirnoYukari pursed her lips and marched forward. As she neared the room, distinct voices rose above the general babble. "are you sure you haven't seen her?" she could hear Ran saying. Yukari's scowl deepened. She had a good idea what her Shikigami was talking about. To be truthful, Chen's disappearance was bothering her as well, though she would never admit it. "Uh, no," said another voice, namely Cirno's. "Not since yesterday. We invited her to hang out, but she said she couldn't make it. Something about needing to get shot? I didn't get it. Hey, what are you doing with that pointy thing? Get away!"

Yukari quickened her pace, wincing at every step. "I'm fine!" Cirno said. "Seriously, I don't needI said get away with that thing! Wait aOw!" Yukari approached the doorframe and saw Cirno sitting on a stool and being tended by Reisen. Ever since the rabbits' return, Reisen had taken over Eirin's duties as Head (and in truth, the only) Physician. Suika, Eirin, Reimu and now Tewi were lying in the room's four beds. Despite all the chaos taken place around her, Reimu had fallen fast asleep. Not surprising, considering how exhausted she must have been, thought Yukari suspected that Reisen and her drugs were equally to blame. Ran was standing near Cirno. She glanced up as Yukari stepped into the room but looked away when she saw who it was. Yukari still caught the flash of resentment in her eyes, though. Enough of this. Yukari walked up to her. "Go find your cat," she muttered. Ran blinked in surprise and stared at her. "Seriously?" "Just go," Yukari said wearily. Ran looked like she was going to say more, but apparently thought better of it. She nodded her thanks and ran from the room. Now that was taken care of, Yukari focused her attention back on the fairy, who was still arguing with Reisen. "You," Reisen said as she disposed of the syringe she had just stuck into Cirno, "just got blasted to atoms with not one, but two very powerful, not mention highly illegal, spells and were hastily thrown back together before your body was ready. I don't care what Mima says, you're not going anywhere until I'm sure there won't be any side effects." "But I gotta find Rumia!" Cirno said, rubbing her arm. "She'll get hurt without me!" Yukari took that moment to butt in. "You can forget that idea." Reisen turned to glare at the ancient youkai. "I thought you checked yourself out." "I did. But I still have business with some of your patients, starting with the little idiot here." Cirno sat up straighter. "M-me?" she hiccupped. "Yes, you. This whole disaster wouldn't have happened if it weren't for you and your stupid friends poking your noses where they don't belong." "It wasn't our fault!" Cirno protested. "Wait, hold up," Reisen said. "What are you talking about?" "Haven't you heard?" Yukari told her. "Cirno and her friends here were the ones who stole the box Satsuki was trapped in. They were the ones who set that nightmare loose."

"We didn't know!" Cirno shouted back. "'Sides, Marisa stole the box before we did." "Oh, believe me when I say I'll deal with her in due time. But for now I think you're long overdue for a lesson in actions and consequences." To her credit, Cirno didn't back down. Instead, she hopped up and stood on the stool, fists up in a boxing stance. Yukari was almost amused. Almost. She took a threatening step forward. Unfortunately, she never got further than that, as Reisen situated herself between the two. "All right, that's enough," she said, spreading her arms wide. "Get out of my way, rabbit," Yukari told her, not taking her eyes off of Cirno. "Yeah, I need to show her who's the strongest around here!" Cirno agreed. Reisen ignored her. "You checked yourself out," she told Yukari. "Cirno hasn't. So she's still in my care until I say so. And I will be damned if I let anyone threaten my patients." Yukari turned her attention to the rabbit. "I said. Get out. Of. My way." Reisen's eyebrows dipped lower. "And I said back the hell off. This is my home, not yours." Yukari returned the glare, but then she noticed that Reisen's scarlet eyes had started to glow. She quickly broke eye contact. "Have it your way," Yukari said as she turned. "But this isn't over." "Is is so long as you're here." "What, you don't think I can take her?" Cirno said, sounding annoyed. "C'mon, let's do this!" "Shut up," both Yukari and Reisen said at the same time. Cirno plopped back down on the stool and began to sulk. "Fine, be that way," Cirno grumbled. She looked up to Reisen. "But seriously, what happened to Rumia? Why was she all black and scary looking?" Yukari shot a glance down at Reisen, who was taking Cirno's blood pressure. "Well? Will you tell her or should I?" Reisen sighed. "Cirno, that wasn't Rumia. That was theperson who, uh, ate her." "What? That blob thing? But it didn't look like that before!" "That's what she does when she absorbs someone. She uses their power to make a body that sort of looks like them. But it's not them." Cirno just looked confused. "Whhhaaatttt?"

"Don't think about it too much," Yukari grumbled. "In fact, don't think at all. Stick to what you know." "Butwhat about Rumia? Is she still alive?" "No," Yukari said. "Yes," said Reisen, at exactly the same time. They glared at each other. "She is, and she can be saved," Reisen continued to Yukari's annoyance. "But please, please, please let us handle this. We've dealt with the situation before, and can do so again." "But how?" "Does it matter?" Yukari snapped. "You heard the lady. Shut up and keep the hell away from this operation." Reisen snapped to her feet. "Yakumo, if I have to warn you again, I will have security escort you off the premises!" Yukari wondered if they would be capable of removing her, wound or no wound. In a brief flash of rage, she was seriously tempted to put that question to the test. However, the situation at hand brought her back to her senses. Getting into a fight with Eientei when she possibly needed them the most would be pointless. "Fine. The fairy wasn't my main purpose here anyway," she muttered as she turned to the beds. Eirin, who was now wide awake and watching the whole exchange with an amused look on her bruised face, managed a half-smirk. "I have to say, Yakumo," she said in a scratchy voice. "Your skills at diplomacy continue to astound me." "Glad to see you're awake," Yukari said. "And if you're strong enough to be a wiseass, you're strong enough to answer a few questions." "I suppose it's inevitable," Eirin sighed. She levered herself up into a sitting position. Then she pushed away the sheets and swung her legs over the side of the bed. "Well?" she said. "Don't just stand there. Give me a hand." "Eirin? Eirin, what the hell do you think you're doing!" Reisen cried. "You just had a near-brush with death! Literally! Get back in bed!" "It's okay, Reisen," Eirin said as Yukari helped her to her feet. "I'm made of sturdier stuff than that. Plus, as I understand it, Yukari here has personally ensured that I will lose no more ground, correct?" When Yukari nodded, Eirin said, "There, you see? I'll be fine." "No, absolutely not!" Reisen shouted. "I'm not going to let you go off-"

"Reisen," Eirin said, her voice tinged with a note of warning. Apparently that was all it took. Reisen flinched and backed off. "Good girl." Eirin looked up at Yukari. "Shall we continue this conversation somewhere where we'll have some privacy? Say, my office?" "Works for me." Eirin took a step forward and stumbled. Reisen rushed to her side and stopped her from falling. "Well, that was predictable," Eirin muttered. "Reisen, go grab me a set of those crutches." Reisen looked like she wanted to protest, but she held her tongue and did was told. Eirin placed the crutches under her armpits, took an experimental step forward, and nodded her satisfaction. "Good. Reisen, Yukari and I are going to have a private chat. Carry on as you have done." Reisen frowned, but she nodded. "Good. Yukari, follow me." Eirin hobbled from the room, somehow making it look dignified. Yukari started to follow, but something grabbed hold of her, forcing her to stop. She looked to see Reisen holding her by the sleeve. "If anything happens to her," Reisen said in a low voice, "if she hurts herself because of you, you'll answer to me. Personally." "Really now," Yukari said icily. "Well, I'll keep that in mind. Now, if you'll excuse me" Reisen released her arm, allowing Yukari to follow after the rabbit's master. "I have to say," Eirin said as Yukari caught up. "I'm actually impressed with how Reisen's stepped up and taken charge. She's rarely this authoritative. Perhaps I should start trusting her with more responsibility. Don't tell her I said that, though. It's just go to her head." Yukari frowned. "If you say so." Eirin smiled at her. "Oh, don't let that little spat get to you. Given that Kaguya's been kidnapped and Tewi and I have been forced to lay aside our duties, she is technically the acting Head of Eientei, in additional to her duties as physician. I would imagine that the stress is weighing on her, especially considering everything else that's happened. Besides, you wouldn't want someone challenging your authority in your own house either." "At this point, I could care less about your pet's attitude," Yukari snapped. "All I want now are some answers." "And I'll give them to you. Here we go"

They reached a door near the wreckage of the waiting room. With her free hand, Eirin reached into her dress and extracted a small key. With this, she unlocked the door and pushed it open. "After you," she said. Yukari went in. As would be expected from Eirin, her office reflected the epitome of neatness. No loose papers, no excess dust on the furniture, the carpeted floor was free from stains and everything looked like it had been placed there with a purpose. Two filing cabinets sat in the back of the room behind a simple oak desk, which Yukari supposed to have predated the clinic's construction. Two leather chairs sat in front of the desk and, curiously enough, several pictures and other memorabilia lined the walls. Yukari was actually surprised by this, as she never took Eirin for the sentimental type. Eirin limped around the desk and lowered herself into the black leather chair with a look of relief. She indicated for Yukari to have a seat. "I'd rather stand," Yukari said crossly. Eirin sighed. "Yukari, there's no one here besides you and me, and we both know that wound of yours cannot be comfortable. There will be no slight on your pride just by sitting. Besides, this is going to be a long story." Yukari frowned, but she nodded. She sat down in one of the seats in front of the desk. "Now," Yukari said as she shifted her body into a position that was at least somewhat comfortable. "Tell me about Rin Satsuki."

Deep Within Rumia stared at Rin. She tried to think of something to say, but her brain was locked up. "But" she started, and stopped. She glanced over her shoulder. Kaguya and Mokou had stopped their muffled conversation and were now watching her and Rin interact. Wonderful, now they had an audience. Rumia shook her head. She tried again. "You, uh, you mind saying that again?" In answer, Rin waved her hand. This time, there was no tear in the nothingness around them, no strange visuals to accompany the memory. Instead, there were just voices, seemingly coming from all around. The first one was Rin's. "Please, somebody help" "Well, I do believe that's my cue."

Rumia jumped with a squeak of surprise. The voice did sound a great deal like her, but like Rin said, it was much deeper, much more sinister sounding, much morewell, evil. "Rumia!" Rin said in her own memory. "But I-" "Rumia?" the dark voice said. "Heh, not quite." "Who are you?" "A friend. One you cannot afford to ignore." Rin waved her hand again. "You are entirely too merciful for your own good. She's not even unconscious! You should have decapitated her on your way up." Again. "Think of my as your conscience. Except instead of telling you what's 'good and proper', I tell you what's smart. I'm the part of your mind that's not deluding itself with ideas of 'redemption' and 'acceptance'. I'm the part of you that tells it as it is, that you are going to be hated by everything and everyone no matter what you do, so you might as well become what they're going to accuse you of anyway. Because you have no chance of surviving otherwise." And again. "Okay, last chance. If you're so concerned about hurting her, then just stab her through the brain before she gets up. Quick, painless, done." "But-" "I do not care. Do it." Rumia couldn't take it anymore. "Okay, stop!" she shouted. "I get it! Stop!" Rin snapped her fingers, and the voices cut off. "You see what I mean? And that's just a small fraction. That thing was whispering in my ear on and off forI don't know, an hour? Two? It kept trying to get me to kill everyone. And it actually took over my body twice." "What?" "See? I didn't get it either! The first time I, uh, kinda let it." When Rumia's jaw fell, Rin quickly added, "It was when I was captured and they were talking about how to kill us, I was desperate! But the second time, it just slipped in and took over. I didn't even notice until after it had absorbed those two." She motioned towards Kaguya and Mokou.

"And when I retook control, I felt something crawling around in my head," Rin continued. "Somethingdisgusting. Creepy. It made me feel dirty." She shuddered. "But it was only for like a second, and then it was gone, I have no idea where." "Is that so." "Yes! I know you don't know where it came from, but stillthere's something very weird about you." "Me?" Rumia growled. "We are standing naked inside your head while you go flying around in a body that you stitched together from three different people and there's something weird about me?" Rin flinched. "Okay, point. But I know where my weirdness came from. YouRumia, what's the earliest thing you remember?" "What? I don't know." Rumia thought hard, tracing her thought back through the years. "I'mnot really sure. Fending for myself in the Forest of Magic, I guess. When I was younger, and before I met my friends." "So you don't know where you came from? Family, origin, anything?" "Uh, no. Not really. Wriggle says I was probably a shadow of someone that stuck around after the real person died andjust became a youkai, I guess." She shrugged. "Things like that have happened before, so it's a good explanation as any. Hey, you read my mind and all, you tell me." Rin shook her head. "I've tried that, but it's a lot of memory to sift through. Haven't been able to come up with anyBut there is one thing I've noticed." Now Rumia was completely interested. She still didn't buy all this bullcrap about her being some sort of devil on Rin's shoulder, but she was curious about what Rin had found, even if the thought of her clawing through Rumia's memories made her feelviolated, on a very primal level. Rin continued. "Well, it's not so much of a thing as a lack of a thing, but when Iwell, you know, absorbed you and all that? I got a lot of power from you, and I mean a lot. Didn't think too much of it at first, since there's a whole bunch of really powerful people running around, and I was just happy to have a real body again. But after awhile I got a little confused. See, there is nothing in your memories that shows that you even knew you had that kind of strength. Nothing about summoning swords or making plants die or leaving taints or weird darkness spears or darkness tentacles or darknesspretty much anything you can think of, really." Rumia felt cold inside. "You got all that from me?" "Uh-huh. Scary, I know. And like I said, there was a lot of stuff in your memories about making the lights go away, but nothing like what I was using. Rumia, I almost won."

Rumia made a choking sound. "Wait, hold up! Youbut Miss Yukari! And Miss Reimu, and Miss Marisa! And thewhat?" "Exactly! And it wasn't that hard! And I managed to get away anyway! So that's why I was wonderingdo you remember anything? Anything at all?" "No, I don't remember anything about that! I'm not any kind of evil super person! I'm just Rumia! I can't shoot evil missiles, or make evil swords out of nothing, or anything like that! I don't know where the hell you're getting all this, but it's not from me." "It is," Rin said softly. She sat knelt down and folded her arms. Her eyes stared downward. "No it's not!" Rumia shouted back. "There's just no way!" "If you say so, but if not you, then where?" Several answers sprung to Rumia's mind. Rin had always had that power and just didn't know. Rin was lying to her about the battle. Rin was lying to her about not knowing anything about the power. Rin was lying to her about the voice. Rin was lying to her, period. "I don't know where," Rumia said. "And you know that I don't know. So stop accusing me!" "I'm not! I'm justah, forget it." An uneasy silence passed between them. Rin kept staring downward, while Rumia started pacing back and forth. Back a ways, near the screen, their new roommates had begun a more subdued conversation. It sounded like they were whispering to each other. Again, Rumia wondered how they were able to communicate. Maybe they just understood the tones. She stopped pacing and shook her head. She was tired of being in the dark, metaphorically speaking. "Hey, uh, Rin?" "What?" "Where did your weirdness come from?" "Huh?" "How did you become like, you know, this?" Rin sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Oh wow. That's kinda a long story." Rumia looked around. "I don't see us having anything else to do." Her eyes narrowed. "Besides, you owe it to me." "Yeah, I guess I do. Okay, fine, but I don't know if you're gonna like it"

"Rin Satsuki, huh?" Eirin sighed. "Well like I said, that's a bit of a long story." "Start at the beginning, then," Yukari said. "What is she and how do you know her?" "A youkai. Just a simple youkai. A Kirin, if you want to be specific." This news was troubling. The Kirin were anything but simple. For one thing, they were high on the youkai social ladder. Very high. Almost the level of dragons, to be exact. While they mostly kept to themselves and preferred not to involve themselves with outside trouble, the amount of influence they wielded when they did was not insignificant. And while they weren't unfriendly or especially violent, they did not react well to attacks on one of their own. "How in the world did you wind up with a Kirin?" "By accident, believe it or not. About, oh, forty-seven years ago, two rabbits were kidnapped. Infants. Even though they weren't ours, we are allied with the local tribes, and they appealed to us for help." Eirin shrugged. "It seemed a simple enough matter, so we said yes. It didn't take long. The kidnappers had set up camp a few miles north of the forest. As we had not gone public yet, they were entirely unaware of our existence." Eirin smiled at the memory. "So it was quite the shock for them when the Eientei Guard showed up in the middle of the night." "Who were they?" "Just a couple of humans. Slavers, to be exact. No one of any importance. Not then, and thanks to us, they never will be." Yukari nodded. Rabbits in general weren't all that dangerous, but the Guard knew their business. "And then what?" "The children were terrified, but unharmed," Eirin said. "We returned them to their family with little more trouble. However, as it turned out, the young rabbits weren't the slavers' first victims. We found another child locked in a cage, a toddler." "Satsuki," Yukari growled. It wasn't a question. "Indeed," Eirin said calmly. "I really must give those slavers credit. Acquiring her must not have been easy. I've never actually had any dealings with the Kirin, but I know their reputation." "Maybe they found her wandering around," Yukari suggested. "Or something had happened to her parents." "It's possible. At any rate, not knowing what else to do, the Guard brought her back with them." "Why didn't you return her as well?" Yukari asked. The thought of keeping a baby Kirin, especially one that had been kidnapped, sounded nearly tantamount to suicide. Eirin pursed her lips. "I wanted to, but Kaguya overruled me."

"Why?" "As I said, this was before we had gone public. The rabbits and a select few others were the only ones who were even aware of our presence, and we were determined to keep it that way. Kaguya feared that having any dealing with youkai of such high prestige, even on such a small level, would eventually find its way back to the Lunarians." Yukari scowled. "That's just paranoid. It would be more dangerous to keep a missing child when its family would come looking for it. Besides, you could have just had one of the rabbits drop it off." "Exactly. However, I don't know if you've noticed, but Kaguya can be somewhatstubborn. The last time we had revealed ourselves had eventually resulted in the creation of Mokou, after all. And she is my princess." "God save us from lunatic princesses," Yukari said, shaking her head. "So you didn't take the kid back. Bad idea, we all agree. What happened then?" "Well, by then some of the other rabbits had grown fond of her. Reisen especially seemed to enjoy spending time with the girl. So they asked if they could raise her. I didn't see the harm beyond what has already been noted, so I said yes." The thought of Kaguya's pet having a pet of her own almost made Yukari smile. Almost. "That was very kind of you. Pity she turned out to be such a nightmare. Surprising, considering how peaceful the Kirin are. Wonder what that means in the Nature vs. Nurture debate, eh?" "That's cute. Can we stay focused here?"

Deep Within "The funny thing about all this," Rin waved an indicating arm at the nothing around them, "is that I can read minds, dig through memories, and even warp the mind-bodies of anyone that gets sucked into mebut not my own, at least not any of my memories before the change. And no, I have no idea why. I'm sure there's some big mystical/scientific reason, but for now it means I don't really remember a lot about growing up. Reisen told me that they saved me from some bad people, but I really don't remember much about that at all. 'Course, I was just a baby when it was supposed to happen, so I guess that makes sense." She and Rumia were now sitting cross-legged across from one another. Even Kaguya and Mokou had fallen silent and appeared to be listening intently to the story. Rumia leaned forward. "You think maybe they were the ones to kidnap you?" she asked. "Eirin and the others?"

Kaguya made a sudden noise of protest. Both Rin and Rumia twisted their necks around to stare at her. She started squealing something incomprehensible and violently shaking her head. "Uh, what's she saying?" Rumia asked. Rin cleared her throat. "Something to the affect of 'We never kidnapped you, you little trollop! We saved your crazy rear from slavers! We took you in and raised you and this is how you' well, you get the idea." Kaguya made more noises. "Yeah, I'm not gonna translate that," Rin said. "Anyways, no, I don't think they kidnapped me. Kaguya's memories pretty much confirmed that. Though I do something wonder about Eirin, you know? Like, maybe she was looking for a new test subject. Especially considering everything that went down" Once again, Kaguya started protesting incoherently. An annoyed look crossed Rin's face, and she waved a hand in the princess's direction. Kaguya's ravings suddenly cut off. She looked surprised and tried to make more noises, but no sound came out. Mokou's shoulders started shaking as she made stifled laughing noises. Rin waved her hand again and these too cut off, to Mokou's obvious distress. "Sorry about that," Rin said. "You really don't wanna know what she was saying." Rumia stared at the casual display of total control with a look of horrified fascination. She started when she realized that Rin was speaking to her again. "Ohoh, of course not!" she said, laughing nervously. "A-anyway, you were saying?" "Right. Okay, like I was saying I grew up at Eientei. Reisen" a small, wistful smile tugged at the corners of Rin's mouth. "Well, she wasn't really like my mom, more like a big sister. But she still pretty much raised me. Some of the other rabbits helped too. Sayu, Maki, Shiina, and the rest. They were all like my big sisters." She frowned. "Not Tewi, though. I don't think she ever really liked me all that much, and Reisen said she was a bad influence. But yeah, they'd play with me, take me for walks, taught me how to read and write and do math and chemistry and quantum physics" "Chemiwhat? Quatuwhat?" "Oh. That's right, you neveruh, it's science stuff." "Oh." Rumia interest immediately waned. "I thought they were some sort of game." "No. They're definitely not. But anyway, as I got older I'd start helping out around the mansion. You know, running errands, cleaning up, washing dishes, that sort of thing. I liked being useful. Then when I got even older, I knew what I wanted to be."

"She wanted to be like me," Eirin said wryly. "I have no idea why. The gods know I paid her little enough attention. She was always just Reisen's little pet to me, and I never even let her in the infirmary." Yukari scratched her jaw. "That was probably the reason why. It's been my experience that kids tend to look up to those aloof and distant. It makes them seem powerful." "Are we speaking from personal experience here?" Yukari shrugged, but she didn't answer. "At any rate, I wasn't too fond of the idea," Eirin said. "The way I saw it, no one had any right to be touching my equipment except for me and occasionally Reisen when I was watching her very carefully. Still, she was rather persistent." Eirin rolled her eyes. "You ever known a child that wanted something and would not take 'no' for an answer?" "I live with Chen." "Right. Okay, so you know what it's like. So finally, I told her that if she wanted to become a physician, she had to pass the required training." Yukari's eyebrows went up and down. "Let me guess: your idea of 'required training' was a bit moredifficult than most, to discourage her." Eirin shrugged. "No more than what I experienced myself, back in the Lunarian capital. Though I have to admit, I did not expect her to last long. Like I said, she was just that annoying kid that followed Reisen around. But to my absolute surprise, she actually managed to survive." Eirin's fingers drummed a beat on the desk as a frown knitted her brows together. "In fact, she damned well excelled. There was nothing I could throw at her that she couldn't handle. Anatomy, proper sterilization, surgical procedures and so on. I guess it was her Kirin heritage at work. Always heard they were supposed to be intelligent. Butdamn." "Disappointed by the lack of disappointment?" "I didn't say that. I just said I was surprised." "No wonder Reisen's the only one who hangs out with you." "Yukari," Eirin said in a threatening tone. Yukari held her hands up in a defensive gesture. "Sorry, I get snippy when I'm exhausted and have a gash of death along one side. "Whereas I was fatally wounded and practically dragged from my near-deathbed to give you answers. Please Yukari, at least try avoid making this less pleasant than it already is."

Yukari nodded once is agreement. "Okay. So anyway, she turned out to be a model student," she said to bring the conversation back on track. "Good for her." "Well, not quite," Eirin said. "She did well in the medical aspect, certainly, but not so well in other areas." "Such as?" Eirin braced both hands against her chairs armrests and pushed herself up. She turned to the wall and carefully pulled down a framed diploma that looked as old as Yukari was. In the space previously occupied by the frame was an old steel safe. Yukari had to choke back laughter, even if the very effort sent pain lacing through her burn. "A wall safe? Hidden behind a picture frame? Isn't that a little clichd?" In response, Eirin picked up a blank piece of paper from her desk. This she crumpled into a ball and tossed at the safe's door. The wad of paper froze in midair less than a centimeter before contact. There came a sudden highpitched whining sound, and the paper shook slightly. Then it crumbled to dust. Yukari's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Oh," was all she could think of to say. "Clichs are considered such because they're overused," Eirin said, twisting the dial lock of the safe. "And sometimes they're overused because they work. And if it doesn't, than the spell will ruin the day of any who isn't me or has been personally authorized to access its contents. Now, turn around." "Why?" "Because I am about to open my safe, that's why. Turn around, and leave your portals alone. And don't try peeking at some other time. There are safeguards against that as well." Yukari smirked, but she did as she was asked. As she did so, she asked, "This secret safe thing that only you can touch: does Kaguya have access?" There was a pause, and Eirin said, "I'm loyal to my Princess. That doesn't mean I'm an idiot about it." "Thought so." "Of course you did. You may face me again." Yukari did so. The framed diploma was already back in its place. Eirin was sitting back in her chair with a file folder sitting on the desk before her, one that age was starting to brown. There was a large scarlet X drawn along the folder side. It didn't take a flash of brilliance to figure out what that meant.

Eirin opened the file as she talked. "All of our employees are required to pass a self-defense class, regardless of position. Given our status as exiles and the long standing feud with that bloody Mokou, it only makes sense. Especially then, as we had not made peace with the Lunarian government yet. The class in question covers most of the basics. Spellcards, bullet firing and dodging, grazing at the more advanced levels, as well as hand-to-hand combat. Fairly simple stuff, all around." Yukari saw where this was going. "But Satsuki wasn't exactly, ah, up to snuff?" Eirin's lip curled. She opened the file. "Far from it. In fact, she was downright awful. We only pitted her against other low-skill trainees, aspiring cooks and the like, and she'd still get her ass kicked every single sparring match. She was unable to grasp the most basic styles and all of her so-called 'spellcards' were in name only!" She picked up one of the papers in the file. "I mean, look at this! 'Wind Sign: Calming Breeze'? Give me a break. 'Flower Sign: Gently Wafting Petals'? Good gods, what was that supposed to be? And don't get me started on the hand-to-hand stuff. The girl had trouble forming a proper fist, much less hitting someone without hurting herself in the process!" Yukari looked down at the bandage covering her mutilated torso, still visible beneath the ripped tatters of her robe. "Looks like she's stepped up her game since then." "Yes, I noticed that," Eirin said. A trouble look passed over her face. "Even during her first rampage she neverWell, we'll have to look into that later. But my point it, back then she just plain sucked. We went easier on her than anyone else, worked more slowly with her, took extra time to teach her the proper methods and technique, pitted her against the weakest opponents we could find, and she just wouldn't get it. I ask you, Yukari. What is a teacher supposed to do with a student like that?"

Deep Within "So she couldn't drive me off with medicine, so she tried just having me beat up over and over until I gave up," Rin said. There was a distinct note of bitterness in her voice. "She said everyone had to pass the same class. What a load of crap. Did everyone have to square off against the Guard's kickboxing champion their very first day? Did everyone have to get pushed into the sparring ring three times a day? Was everyone taught submission holds by having the teachers demonstrate the holds on them?" Rumia winced at the image. "Ouch." "I know, right? And when I refused to quit, she just kept upping it and upping it and upping itYou know how I was taught how to dodge bullets? Real bullets. Like from a gun." "Are you serious? Is that even legal?"

"I have no idea. And it hurt." Rin rubbed her arm. "A lot. But by that point I just wanted to prove to Eirin that I could do it, so I stuck with it. Then, something weird began to happen." "What?" "I started lasting longer during fights, at least the danmaku kind. At first, I thought it just meant I was finally getting better, though I should've known better to think that. But no, it was something else entirely."

"Her natural abilities were finally making themselves known," Eirin said. She flipped through the file's papers and pulled out another. "To be honest, I had been wondering when they would appear. When she was growing up, she didn't seem to be able to do anything beyond fly and shoot very sad looking bullets, no more than anyone else was able to do. It was disappointing, as I had expected a bit more from a Kirin. But as it turned out, she could do something. Something very interesting." Yukari steepled her fingers and nodded solemnly. "Adaptation." "Correct. Not too dissimilar to the small boost of energy that we receive whenever we graze bullets, actually. But much, much more effective." Eirin pushed the paper towards Yukari, who took it. It was an ability sheet, such as any decent place of employment might use to keep track of what an employee was capable of. It was only good business, as if your new dishwasher was able to call up flames from the very pit of hell, than you would want to know about it first. As it was, Rin Satsuki's numbers weren't all that impressive. High points for intelligence and factual learning, with abysmal scores in physical and most magical abilities. Her flight speed was a bit below average and her danmaku skills were so low that it actually made Yukari embarrassed for the girl. However, when it came to special abilities, there was a sudden spike in power. Alongside the bar was a scribbled note in Eirin's spidery handwriting: Bullet/Magic Absorption: possible divine levels? Must investigate further. "Interesting," Yukari muttered. "Oh, believe me, it was. Now, her powers weren't nearly as potent as you saw today. It took a prolonged exposure to the same energy wavelength before her body got used to and would be able to absorb energy. Even then, a concentrated barrage could still take her down." Yukari handed the paper back to Eirin. "That doesn't sound so divine. Interesting, but not divine." "I wasn't referring to what she had, I was thinking about what she could become." A small glitter of excitement sparkled in Eirin's eye, even through the swollenness. "Think about it, Yukari. Such abilities have been known to have been experimented with and expanded beyond their initial levels. If someone could develop the ability to actually absorb energy"

"They would be nothing short of invincible," Yukari finished for her. A sick feeling formed in her stomach that had nothing to do with the taint. "You wanted to turn Satsuki into a weapon." Eirin sighed, blowing a stray strand of hair out of her face. "No, I didn't. Not Satsuki. Maybe you missed the part about her not being able to fight? But I did want to her to learn more about her abilities and increase them. And from there" The Lunarian doctor hesitated. "Well, I wanted to find a way to harvest them, and transfer them over to those who could fight. In a way that didn't hurt the original possessor, of course. Reisen would never let me hear the end of it." Yukari tapped her lower lip and scowled. "You do realize that I established danmaku and spellcard rules for a reason, correct? And that I put a lot of effort into making sure everyone in Gensokyo played by them." "Even though we were effectively fugitives who were only hiding in Gensokyo by chance?" Eirin said wryly. "Besides, we still intended to follow your rules, even if we didn't know whose rules they were. We would just havean edge, should anyone choose to attack us." "Really. And Kaguya never expressed any desire to use these abilities for more ambitious purposes?" "Like I said, I'm not an idiot. Kaguya usually leaves my studies alone, and what she doesn't know doesn't hurt her. Besides, she's invulnerable already. At any rate, once we did figure out what Satsuki was potentially capable of, a deal was struck. She would be allowed to skip the selfdefense class and go straight to helping Reisen and me in the infirmary as a nurse, and in exchange I would get to run some tests on her abilities." "Tests?" Yukari blinked. "What kind of tests?" "Prolonged exposure to low levels of energy, try to have her concentrate and absorb physical objects, see if the energy she absorbed affected her own bullets, that sort of thing. Nothing dangerous. All altruism aside, we didn't want to risk hurting her before we could figure out a way to extract her powers."

Deep Within "She pretty much turned me into her lab bunny," Rin growled. Her fists were clenched and trembling. She bared her teeth in an angry grimace. "She'd stick me in an empty room and just bombard with whatever she could think of. Lasers, intense heat and cold, invisible force, whatever! She'd line me up against a wall and have the Guard use me for target practice. All just to see how much I could take." Rumia scratched her forehead. "And you just let her?"

"What else was I gonna do, say no? Eirin's the second in command of Eientei. What she says goes. Though I did try to complain to Princess Kaguya once. Yeah, that pretty much went nowhere." Rumia glanced at the princess in question. Kaguya just rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Yeah, but anyway, she started to get the results she wanted, but it was way too slow," Rin continued. "I was adapting, but it wasn't to any level that would be useful for combat. So she decided to cheat." "In time, it became apparent that I was doing it all wrong," Eirin said. "Certainly Rin's abilities were improving, but I could tell that even with the eternity available to us, it just wasn't at any rate that would prove useful in the long term. Besides, no possibility for safe extraction of her abilities was making itself available. The problem was that we were limited by the resources at hand. Despite being fairly well off for the simple task of hiding, all we had were what we had brought with us when we fled the moon and whatever we managed to make ourselves or trade with the rabbits. And since the rabbits were our only trade option, we were limited in what we could use. This was an experiment that required both magical and scientific resources far beyond what we had at hand." Yukari grimaced. "Don't let Reimu hear you say that. She gets a bit cranky about the science stuff." "Her loss. If magic could solve everything I wouldn't be needed, now would I? At any rate, we weren't about to go and expose ourselves just for one experiment. Fortunately, I soon discovered that I did know someone else in Gensokyo. An old acquaintance, one who had visited the moon on a number of occasions back when Kaguya was still in power, and whom I had worked with personally on at least one of her operations." "Who? What operations?" In response, Eirin pulled out a photograph and passed it to her. The photo was dulling with age, but the picture of a tall, elegant young woman with braided silver hair and red eyes was still clearly visible. If that alone was not enough to tip off Yukari as to the young woman's identity, than the pale blue maid outfit she wore and the silver-bladed knife she held in one hand made it completely obvious. "No doubt you're familiar with Sakuya Izayoi's previous career as a celebrated monster hunter," Eirin said. "She helped the Lunarian Royal Family dispose of some unwanted pests several times. I was rather surprised to find that she was now serving one of the monsters she had once hunted. In fact, I found the irony hilarious, though I would never tell her that to her face." "Of course not," Yukari muttered. The picture Eirin was painting was becoming more and more troubling by the second. Yukari's relationship with Remilia Scarlet and her entourage had always been a working one at best. Although she had no reason why they could not stay in Gensokyo, she had always been a little wary about their presence. Vampires were notoriously shifty in their

dealings, and if the denizens of the Scarlet Devil Mansion were involved in this caper, than that opened the door for any number of problematic possibilities. Plus, there was that crazy sister they kept locked up in the basement Then again, given that Cirno had mentioned that Marisa had acquired the box from Patchouli Knowledge, another member of Remilia's entourage, Yukari supposed she should have seen this coming. "So, you turned to the vampire for help," Yukari said. "I can't imagine that it was inexpensive." "Actually, I never even met with Remilia," Eirin said. "Fortunately for me, at least at the time, she was away from Gensokyo, visiting relatives back in the Outside World. Sakuya was left in charge, which made things considerably easier. Given our experience working together in the past and that she was sympathetic toward our current status as exiles, she was willing to help. In exchange for a portion of the formula itself, of course." "I see. Continue." "What I needed was a sorcerer, a magician. I'm no slouch when it comes to magical matters, and neither is Kaguya, but magic is not our main field of study. I needed someone who pursued the mystic arts as a lifestyle. And as it so happened, Sakuya knew such a person. I think you know who I mean." Patchouli. Of course. Yukari sighed. She didn't have anything personal against the magician, but the amount of knowledge she possessed was potentially dangerous if used for the wrong reasons. She glanced down at her bandage and the wound it covered. Check that, it had been used for the wrong reasons, and the results were clear to see. "Miss Knowledge was also willing to lend her assistance," Eirin said. "The experiment interested her, and she wanted to see what would happen. So it was settled: everything I knew about the body combined with my vast knowledge of chemistry and medicine combined with her arcane prowess, and together we were going to revolutionize danmaku duels, at least for our own personal use. Now the only thing left was to acquire some decent equipment. Sakuya had some suggestions down that line"

Deep Within "She brought in a couple of crazy-ass, bloody-minded, artery snipping, laws of nature warping, absolutely off their rockers humans," Rin growled. "I mean, Eirin was bad enough. The stuff she would slip into our food! But they had to bring in two legit mad scientists!" She took in a shaky breath. "Eirin wanted me to be experimented on by two mad scientists! And she has the nerve to call me the monster!"

"Who were they? Do you remember their names?" "Remember their names? Of course I do!" Rin laughed, a sound that was a little crazier than Rumia was comfortable with. "Rika and Rikako Asakura, sisters in crime! My gods, those two were crazy! You wanna know the first thing they wanted to do when they got brought into the experiment? Electrocute me, just to see my progress." Rumia didn't recognize the names, but that wasn't surprising. She tended to keep away from human settlements, and the number of humans she interacted with on a semi-regular basis could be counted on two hands. Maybe even one. "Why didn't you say 'no', then?" Rumia asked. "I mean, if someone wanted to shoot me with lightning, I would be all like 'Over my dead body!'" She frowned. "Which would end up being the case, actually." "I wanted to, but they told me it was too late to back out. I should've just run away. That's it, I should've run away. Would've saved everyone a whole lotta grief."

"The operation itself was risky, I'll admit it, but at the time it seemed to be worth it. What we planned to do was artificially accelerate the the development of her abilities, while at the same time tricking Rin's body into thinking the power increase was natural. So the five of us, Patchouli, Sakuya, the Asakura sisters and I, worked together to produce a new kind of elixir. Just as the original Hourai elixir used Kaguya's power over eternity as a base, this one used Sakuya's control over space and time to create the illusion of several decades' worth of power development. This would then been injected straight into Rin herself." "Did you at least test it first?" Yukari asked. Eirin looked puzzled. "What do you mean? We were testing it. On Rin." Yukari sighed. She supposed this sort of attitude was to be expected from Eirin. "Never mind. So anyway, let me guess what happened: it worked, but not in the way you were expecting. Rin's powers shot up by a hundredfold, but it made her go crazy and attack everyone in sight." "Close, very close," Eirin said. "Yes, the experiment was a success. Too much of a success. Only hours after the elixir was injected, she was able to adapt to new kinds of energy in seconds, something that usually took some weeks to happen. But when we were patting each other on the back and breaking out the champagne, something began to happen." Eirin's eyes became unfocused. At first Yukari was worried that her injuries were starting to send her into a daze, but she kept talking at the same, steady pace. It was just the reliving of the memory that was affecting her. "Rin began to change."

Deep Within "I was melting!" Rin said in a horrified voice. She wrapped her arms around herself and her eyes focused downward, at a spot between her and Rumia. "My body just started melting like I was made of wax. I could feel all my organs turning to jelly and fusing together. My sight grew hazy as my eyes liquefied, my ears were shrinking and being reabsorbed into my skull and my throat was closing up and my whole body was drooping down, down, down" The rest of the description was swallowed up by whimpering noises.

"No one really knows what happened," Eirin muttered. "This sort of thing literally had never happened before, at least not to my knowledge, and once she finished it was impossible to extract any data that would tell us why. The most popular theory is that her body was adapting to itself, with all her cells trying to imitate their neighbors. At any rate, once she finished, she was no longer even recognizable as a living being. In fact, she looked like a" "large transparent blob," Yukari finished for her. "Appearing to be a large wad of clear mucus or a surprisingly tough bead of water." Eirin nodded. "So you've seen her in her 'natural' state, if that word applies." "No, but I've spoken to those who have." "Ah, right. The fairy. I heard the two of you, heh, 'talking'. I presume she was one of the witnesses you mentioned earlier?" Yukari nodded. "I see. Cirno is very, very lucky then. It could have been her that Rin took for a joyride." "I wish it was. Our job would be so much easier then." Eirin smiled, though there was no humor in the expression. "Perhaps. Perhaps at first, but if she wasn't put down quickly than it would soon become very, very difficult, as difficult as what we did encounter. That's how it worked last time. It started small, but it quickly grew to a full catastrophe." "How so?" "Well, at first we thought that the metamorphosis had killed Rin, but when the, erm, blob started responding to our probing, it eventually because obvious that her mind was still intact. How this was possible without her actually having a physical brain, I do not know. But this is Gensokyo, after all. Strange things do happen." "You mean like how one of my best friends is a ghost who's still capable of eating solid foods despite not having a physical stomach?" Yukari suggested.

"Yes, exactly like-" "Or how bits and pieces of trash can become sentient and start walking around for no discernable reason? And take on the appearance of young humans in the process?" "Also correct. And-" "Or how back when you and your bubble-headed princess decided to screw up the moon, I was able to just stop night for as long as I wanted, even though doing so meant interfering with the Earth's rotation and potentially wreaking havoc on the weather conditions? And everything ended up working out fine in the end?" "Yukari, the point has already been made. You don't-" "Or how Suika apparently broke the sky once as a party trick, and it ended up just fixing itself overnight with barely anyone even noticing? Or that some parts of Gensokyo are several centuries behind the Outside World in terms of development while others are at least twenty years ahead? Or that we once invaded your home town on the moon using a rocket ship made out of bamboo?" One of Eirin's fingers tapped her desk impatiently. "You've made your point, Yakumo. Which by the way happens to be my point, so I don't see the reason to prove it further." "Right. So sorry," Yukari said with a small smirk. "Pray continue." Eirin sighed in annoyance, but she said, "Anyway, like I said, despite undergoing a horrific transformation, Rin was still alive" "Obviously. She just kicked all our asses after all." "and still self-aware. Communicating with her wasdifficult, but we managed through an old Lunarian code system I had her memorize. She could sense nearby sensation, and extrude long appendages in order to pick up objects, so we were able to keep her in the loop at least. However, she was very confused, and very scared. I don't blame her, but there was hope." Eirin leaned forward on her desk. "If she concentrated, she could force her cells to retake their former state and reform her old body. Yukari coughed. "Wait, she could?" "Indeed," Eirin said with a nod. "Unfortunately, doing so put her cells under incredible strain, which could potentially cause irreparable damage if allowed to continue. Still, that fact led us to believe that the situation could be reversed. And so we went to work to find a way to save her. Her, and hopefully the experiment as well."

Deep Within

"They told me they would do everything they could to find a cure," Rin muttered. Her left hand kept twitching and tapping against her thigh. "And like a fool, I believed them. They weren't interested in finding a cure, they just wanted to find a way to dissect me and get my powers out of me. But how was I to know that Eirin was that much of a liar? She was my mentor, after all." "Are you sure?" Rumia asked. "Seeing how they actually tried to cut off large chunks of me, yeah, I'm pretty sure. They also tried injecting a whole bunch of different stuff into me, but it never worked. My body would just absorb that as well. Everything they tried ended up the same way. So really, can I be blamed for going a little crazy? Was what happened really my fault?" "What do you mean?" "Well" Rin looked uncomfortable discussing the next part. "You see, while that was going on, Reisen was still there, looking after me. She'd come to visit me during the night and keep me company. I can't sleep, you see. Guess my body doesn't need it anymore. So the nights were the worst, but having Reisen there made thingsI don't know, easier I guess. That code they had me using was really slow, so it was still hard to communicate with her, but we still managed to talk a little. She kept telling me that everyone was working as hard as they could to fix me. Eirin was lying to her too, you see. Brainwashing her, just like she did me. And it would have kept going on that way, but then the, heheh, 'accident' happened." Rumia didn't like the sound of that, nor did she like the look Rin was getting. She swallowed. "Um, what accident?" Rin started giggling. "Oh, it happened this one night. Reisen was with me, telling me all the places she was going to take me once everything was better. Then she reached over and sort of petted me? And I don't know what happened, really I don't. But all of a sudden I got fed up with that halfassed form of contact I had been having to deal with. I wanted to really see and touch her. So when her hand touched the surface of what passes for my body, I just sorta, um, grabbed her and pulled her in." Her giggling took off to nearly maniacal levels. Rumia squeaked and started scooching away from Rin, who was starting to get more than a little weird. "Pulled her in, pulled her right into me! And then everything changed. All that time, and I could have been free from the very beginning. One minute I was stuck in that awful limbo, and the next minuteRumia, I could see again! I could see, and hear, and feel, and all that stuff. I was free! And the best part was, Reisen was there with me! Sure, she was a little freaked out, but I had time to work on that. That's when it hit me. It wasn't fair that everyone would be walking around on the outside while she was stuck on the inside. So the only thing to do was to make everyone come inside."

"What happened next was what we call the 'Satsuki Incident'," Eirin muttered darkly. "That is, if we talk about it at all. After Rin finished absorbing Reisen, the realization of her capabilities made what little sanity she had been clinging to snap." "Ahhh" Yukari said. "So that was that 'Rampage' you're always going on about." "Exactly. Rin went mad. Ihonestly can't say I blame her, all things considered, but that doesn't change the fact that it was easily one of the worst weeks in my life. And seeing how I've probably been alive about as long as you" "Point taken. So what exactly happened?" Eirin sighed. "Well, I woke up to lots and lots of shouting. When I went to go to investigate, I saw the weirdest looking rabbit I'd ever seen holding two maids up by the throat. It looked a little like Reisen, but it was covered with a pale red aura, so I figured either Reisen had injected herself with the same elixir that had started this whole Satsuki mess or the Lunarians had sent some sort of super-soldier." Her face darkened. "And then its arms grew transparent and swallowed those maids right up, and I understood. I tried to shoot her down, but of course that was useless. She came after me next, but fortunately she was still blinded by excitement and the fact that she had gone completely off the bend, so she still wasn't thinking clearly. I managed to give her the slip, and organized the rest of Eientei against her. Of course, things became even more difficult. Because that was when Kaguya found out." Yukari choked. "You mean she still didn't know?" "She did then. And dear gods, she was furious. Though personally, I think she was more angry about the fact that I wasn't making the super-absorbing powers for her rather than the fact that I was running dangerous experiments behind her back. And she also wasn't pleased about me involving outsiders, to say the least." Eirin winced. "But that'sa different bit of unpleasantness altogether." Yukari agreed. Kaguya's temper tantrums were beside the point. "So, everything went to hell, and Satsuki was trying to absorb everyone. What then?" "Once it became apparent that nothing we threw at her was doing any good, we evacuated the mansion and fled to one of the nearby tribes. Of course, it was only a matter of time before she followed. That was when we figured out how to beat her." Yukari leaned in as close as her injury would permit. Now they were getting somewhere. "It was Sakuya who came up with the idea, actually. She reasoned that Rin's abilities made her all but immune to an outside assault, and any attack capable of overwhelming her adaptation would likely take the forest with it. So she suggested that we switch tactics and try blowing her up from the inside out, as opposed to the other way around."

"I see," Yukari murmured. "And how did you pull that off? Because it seems that Satsuki would just absorb any explosive device before you got the chance to detonate it." "Oh, we didn't bother with explosives," Eirin said calmly. "Though the Asakura sisters certainly wanted to try. But no, we had a moredirect method at our disposal." "What's that?" "We unleashed Flandre Scarlet on her."

Deep Within "I don't know how she did it," Rin whispered. "One moment I saw this glowing red person approaching. At first I thought it was Mokou over there. The rabbits used to tell me stories about her, to scare me. But it turned out to be a weird little girl with even weirder looking wings." Rumia felt a shiver go down her illusionary back. Suddenly she was feeling much more sympathetic towards Rin. Though she had thankfully had never encountered the infamous vampire girl herself, everyone had heardstories. Disturbingly gruesome stories of what the cheerful girl had done to her "playmates". "Oh, my gods," Rumia whispered. "Are they? Because they sure weren't mine, not that day. Anyway, I got closer, curious about who she was, and then she started laughing. Laughing! At me! And then she held up her hand" Rin's account trailed off. She appeared to be lost in a daze. Rumia frowned and leaned forward. "Uh, Rin? What happened next? You said she held up a hand. What'd she do next?" Rin shook her head, supposedly shaking off the memories. "Oh, um, she held up her hand, saidI don't know. 'Akuu?' 'Ukaa?' Something weird like that. Then she closed her fist and" "What?" "I blew up." "It worked like a bloody charm," Eirin said smugly. "Flandre's power wasn't an outside barrage of energy. It wasn't something Rin's body could identify and absorb. It was pure destruction. Over and over again, we had her blow Rin up. It wasn't hard. We just told her that Rin was a bad person who needed to be punished, and that she could have extra cookies at tea if she did the punishing." Yukari swayed in her seat. Flandre Scarlet was kept locked up for a very, very good reason. The thought of the insane vampire being unleashed on another being, even if that being was Satsuki,

was so unthinkable that she was shocked that anyone had dared to try it, much less Sakuya herself. "It didn't kill her, of course," Eirin continued. "At the time, she didn't possess the regenerative abilities of the Princess or Mokou, but she could still piece herself back together. It just took a long, long while. Then we'd ask her if she had enough, and if she said no, we'd blow her up again." Eirin leaned back her in chair and stared at the wall beyond Yukari. "Of course, once she saw the way the wind was blowing, Rin eventually surrendered. She consented to releasing her prisoners and gave herself up to our care. Once that happened, all that was left was the mop-up. The prisoners themselves were of course traumatized by their ordeal, Reisen especially. I would imagine having someone you thought of as a little sister turn on you like that would hurt. And riding shotgun during Flandre's assault could not have helped, though we had little choice in the matter. So I was very busy for the next few weeks, making sure they didn't suffer a complete mental breakdown." "I can see that. So what else?" "Well, what do you think? Flandre was coaxed back to her basement. All it really took was the aforementioned cookies. Our hired help promised never to speak of this incident, and we likewise swore to keep quiet, especially to Remilia, and everyone left. As for Rin herself, Kaguya wanted to have her executed, a position that I quite agreed with." Her face darkened in a frown. "That didn't work out so well." "Kind of hard to kill the unkillable, eh?" "Correct. Plus, there werecertain members of the staff that did not like the idea of us removing an obvious danger, the gods alone know why. Reisen, of course, was among them. Then again, she was never the most rational person. But any rate, we couldn't figure out a way to kill her anyway, so we decided to contain her instead." Eirin coughed into her hand. "Patchouli was actually the one who volunteered for that. She had devised a container intended to hold items of dangerous magical quality, which she used to keep her various instruments safe. She figured that one of those would serve nicely as Rin's prison, and I agreed. The only catch was that they actually had to be on the ground of the Scarlet Devil Mansion to work, something about being anchored to its place of creation. I wasn't complaining. I would sleep much better knowing that Rin was locked away somewhere deep in the vampire's mansion, miles away from Eientei."

Deep Within "And that's where I stayed," Rin said softly, bringing her story near its end. "Years and years of being trapped in that box. Just me, stuck in the darkness, with literally nothing else. Nosunlight, no food, no contact with anyone else, no real sensations at all."

Rumia nodded. "And then I let you out." Rin wiped her nose with her arm. "Something like that, yeah. So, there it is. My stupid, sad story. And now it's gone and gotten a bunch of people hurt and sucked you in along with it. I guess some things never change, huh?" Rumia didn't know what to say to that, so she said nothing.

"And then Rin got loose and the hell that was today happened," Yukari muttered, more to herself than anything. "Correct. I must admit, I'm curious how she escaped, and it sounds like you know." Yukari sighed. "You can thank Marisa Kirisame for that. From what I've heard, she randomly lifted the box from Patchouli's care during one of her many cat burglar escapades." "Did she now?" Eirin said. Her voice had taken on a dangerous edge. "Well, I'll just have to speak to them both about that. She was the one who set Rin loose, then?" "No, that was the ice fairy. From what I've been able to tell, her and her stupid little friends stole the box from Marisa. They were the ones who set Satsuki loose. Apparently, she ate one of their number and they headed off to find help, which is how I became involved. And how she acquired the Shadow Youkai's powers, by the way." Eirin looked confused. "Cirno's friends with the Shadow Youkai?" Yukari rolled her eyes. "Yes, actually, though neither of them knew it. After bringing the Shadow Youkai down, I also couldn't find a way to safely eliminate her. So Mima and I wiped her mind and depowered her to a low-level youkai. I supposed Rin must have eaten through the enchantment we placed on her. Given the strength of the enchantment, I thought things were safe. Obviously, I was wrong." "We both were," Eirin muttered. She sighed and slumped into her chair. "You know something, Yukari? Sometimes I think that just living in Gensokyo increases your carelessness by a good hundred points." Yukari could think of no argument for that. "I suppose so." "Indeed. So then, you're supposed to be the master planner. Seeing how Rin's acquirement of both Kaguya and Mokou has made the Flandre option no longer feasible, got any bright ideas?" Yukari sighed. "One, actually. Though I'm not too fond of it." Eirin shrugged. "Better than nothing. Hit me."

"Well, Mima suggested that we bring this problem to the Ringleaders." A silence passed between them, composed of mutual staring. Then Eirin said, "Uh, Yukari? I hate to point out the obvious, but aren't you the head of the Ringleaders?" "Don't remind me," Yukari growled. "And individually I supposed they're all right. But togetherGensokyo's most influential beings or no, dealing with those personalities all at once can be a real headache." "Well, it's better than nothing," Eirin muttered. She leaned forward on her desk and rubbed her forehead. "In the meantime, I have enough to deal with here, including recovering fully from my dance with death." "Which you're only able to thanks to me." "Yes, yes, thank you very much. But for now, was there anything else you wanted to know?" Yukari thought. There were a few details Eirin could provide, namely in regards to Rin's habits and what could be used against her. But Eirin was right about pushing herself too hard and needing rest. "No, not at the moment. We can finish this later." "Excellent. Feel free to take that file with you. I'm sure you'll find the information to be quite useful. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to pass out for awhile. Please send some of the staff my way to collect me, and have them lock up on their way out." With that, Eirin's eyes rolled back into her head and she slumped in her chair. Yukari blinked in surprise. She stood and tried prodding the Lunarian doctor. This failed to elicit any response whatsoever. "Now that," she said. "Is just plain weird. And impressive. But still weird." She tucked the file under her arm and limped toward the door. As she went, she started composing what she was going to tell the Ringleaders. She could already envision the meeting in her head. First would be the irritated demands as to why she had summoned them, then they would impatiently interrupt her every other sentence during her explanation to ask her what all this had to do with them, then would come the pointed comments regarding Yukari's failure to deal with the problem herself and wondering if she was growing too old for her job. Then would come the bickering, finger pointing, old grudges and past mistakes brought up for no reason whatsoever, and any number of petty time wasters. As bad as her day had been, Yukari was definitely not looking forward to the rest of her week. She swung open the door. There was the sound of a loud smack and it rebounded back. Someone cried out in pain. Yukari raised an eyebrow and looked to see who it was.

Cirno was kneeling in the hallway, clutching her nose and muttering "Ow, ow, ow, ow" over and over. Yukari sighed and glanced down the hall in both directions. There was some rabbits moving around, but they didn't look like they were planning on approaching. Good. With her free hand, Yukari snatched up the ice fairy by the neck. Cirno's eyes bulged and she shouted "Hey! What're you-" This was cut off when Yukari shoved her up against the wall. "So, looky what we have here. A little bug, sneaking around and listening to conversations that don't concern her. Ever hear the phrase 'Curiosity killed the fairy?' Want to find out how?" Cirno struggled against her grip. "I just wanted to find out what happened to Rumia!" she cried. "I just want to find my friend!" "Really now?" Yukari released her. Cirno fell to the ground, coughing. She tried to get up, but Yukari slammed her palm against the wall above her and glared down at her. "And how much did you hear about that?" Cirno glared back up at her. That was another annoying thing about the ice fairy. She was impossible to intimidate. "Just the end. Some weird stuff about Rumia being asomething? What the hellsicles is a Shadow Youkai?" "A monster," Yukari answered in a sweet, syrupy voice. "A monster that tried to kill me and everyone else in Gensokyo." She leaned in closer. "That's right. Your little friend used to be an abomination, one that would not hesitate to slash you to snowflakes and sing a merry tune while doing it. Now do you see why we don't want you sticking your cold little nose into this business?" True to her nature, Cirno just looked confused. "Uhhhh, what?" "Exactly." Yukari backed off from the wall, letting Cirno scamper to her feet. "Bu-but what about Rumia?" Cirno whined. "Can you get her back? The bunny said you could!" Yukari's nostrils flared as her rage ignited anew. "Listen to me, you idiotic overgrown snowball. I don't care what Reisen said, your friend Rumia is gone. Dead. Deceased. She's ceased to be, shuffled off the immortal coil, has joined the burning choir of hell." She knelt down on one knee so she and Cirno were seeing eye-to-eye. "That thing you saw? She was an ex-Rumia! Do you understand me?" Yukari hissed. "There is no more Rumia. So for the love of all that is good and intelligent, stay out of this business!" Cirno stared right back, her expression impossible to read. Then she turned and ran down the hall, jumping to full flight once she picked up speed. She zipped around a corner, surprising a couple of rabbits carry rope and carved bamboo slats, and disappeared.

Yukari sighed as she straightened. The pain and lack of sleep must have made her sloppy. What she should have done was clamp that fairy in cold iron and shove her in a locked room. She considered sending someone after her and wondered if it was worth it just to remove a potential future obstacle. All common sense said yes, while everything told her that she was just being paranoid. After all, what could a single fairy do? The answer was quite a lot. Yukari made a mental note to take steps to prevent Cirno's future inference. But for now, there was just too much she had to take care of first. First order of business was to find someone to collect the unconscious doctor. And Mima needed to be informed about Satsuki's history. The other Ringleaders needed to be contacted as soon as possible. As did Remilia Scarlet, come to think of it. She may have been out of town during the original incident, but her staff were still partially responsible. Same with the Asakura sisters. Yukari didn't know them personally, but she was sure Reimu had mentioned them once or twice. Also, Marisa was also proving herself to be a dangerous wildcard. She should do something about that as well. And Reimu She thought back to earlier that day, when she had convinced Reimu to come along. It wasn't her fault that the shrine maiden had been injured, but she still felt somewhat responsible. Yukari gnawed the inside of her mouth. Regret wasn't an emotion she was used to. She couldn't say she much cared for it. It made her feel odd. Look at you, she thought in disgust. One bad day and you go to pieces. Pull yourself together, you've handled worse! Yukari tucked the file under her arm and went to go find some to retrieve Eirin's unconscious body. After that, Mima. That was a good a place to start as any.

Deep Within Taking Rumia's silence as a message, Rin had walked away to go sit in front of her screen again. Rumia wasn't sure if she needed to actually watch the screen to know what was going on, or if it was entirely there for her "guests'" benefit. Certainly, she had no trouble navigating while she had been speaking to Rumia. Some kind of autopilot, maybe? Rumia supposed it didn't really matter. At the moment, they were flying through a canyon that Rumia was unfamiliar with. That made a certain amount of sense. Given the whole "Nearby plants dying" thing, sticking to arid areas would be the best. Rumia bit her lower lip as she thought. Rin's story was bizarre to the extreme. Even in a world where six impossible things happened before breakfast on a daily basis, this one was unusual. She still didn't trust Rin. She wasn't sure if she was lying or not, but Rin was obviously not stable. Earlier that day, she had claimed that Eirin did not have a direct hand in the experiment while the story she had just told said otherwise. She had gone from claiming that everything was all a

mistake that would be cleared up with a simple apology to making Eirin out to be some kind of torture technician who had abused her at every available opportunity. Of course, that ambush probably had killed any warm feelings Rin might have held for her, but still However, Rumia was no longer convinced that Rin meant to do her harm. And from the look of things, she might be here for awhile. Rumia she took a deep breath and walked over to sit down next to Rin. The latter gave her a look of surprise as she did so. "Hey Rin?" "Huh?" "Can you make me a promise?" "Aa promise? Uh, what kind of promise?" Rumia thought hard, trying to put her feelings into words. "Promise me that ifif we manage to fix this, if we manage to find a way for you to get your life back, if we find out where all these scary powers came from and how to get rid of them, and if we figure out what's with that evil voice, and what to do with those two," she indicated the nearby rivals, who were still silently glaring at the pair. "And we do all that and make sure that people won't keep trying to kill uspromise me you'll let me go, okay?" Rin grimaced. "Rumia, I don't know if-" "Promise me, okay?" Rin stared at her for a few seconds. Then she nodded once. "Okay. I promise." Rumia breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Rin." Then she nodded toward the screen. "So, where are we going now?" Nightfall It wasn't that Alice was concerned about Marisa. The witch was more than capable of handling herself. If anything she should be worried about Cirno, if such a thing were possible. Still, Marisa wasn't known for thinking straight when she was angry. And accidents do happen. So, before going home herself, the puppet-master stopped by Marisa's house to check on her. By then, the sun had completely set. The Forest of Magic had succumbed to shadow, and creatures of the night were slinking from whatever holes they hid in during the day. Alice didn't care. The locals knew better to mess with her.

What did bother her was that Marisa's house seemed to be empty when she arrived. At most times, the witch would be up late, poring over text after text and experimenting with any number of new spells. But now, the interior was completely dark. And strangely enough, the front door was still open, just as it had been when she left. "I don't know about you, Shanghai," she muttered to the doll hovering over her left shoulder. "But there's just something wrong about all this. Should we go investigate?" She took Shanghai's interested look for an affirmative. "I agree. Let's go see what's up." Alice walked up to the doorframe. She knocked a couple of times against the door and said, "Marisa? Are you here? Just seeing if you got your box back." A few seconds ticked by. "Don't think I was worried or anything." No reply. "Curiouser and curiouser," she muttered. Alice held up one hand, igniting a softly glowing sphere of light over her palm. "Marisa? You here?" she said as she looked over the piles of junk. "Hey Marisa! Where are-" "What?" The other voice made Alice jump. She whirled around, her heart beating from the sudden surprise. Marisa stood in the doorway. From the look of things, her day had been absolutely miserable. Her face and arms were bruised and filthy, her clothes looked beat up, and she was breathing heavily from exhaustion. "Marisa?" Alice said in shock. "What happened to you?" "Mmm. Don't wanna talk about it." Marisa pushed her way past Alice, tossing her broom in the corner. Alice stared as the young witch collapsed, face-first and still fully clothed, on top of the bed. Alice scratched her head as she wondered what in the world had happened. She didn't expect to get any response though. When Marisa said she didn't want to talk about it, she meant it. "Okay," Alice said uncertainly. "I'll see you tomorrow, I guess." She started to leave when suddenly Marisa said, "Hey Alice?" Alice paused by the door. "What?" "Talk to me about something." "About what?"

"I don't care, anything. So long as it's boring, stupid and normal. Your day, tell me about your day, ze." Alice turned, her face a mass of confusion. "You want me to do what?" Marisa lay on her side, arms crossed and sullen eyes smoldering. "You did stuff today, right? Stuff that was boring and pointless? Tell me about your stupid day." Alice opened her mouth to question her further, but thought better of it. "Um, okay. So after I left, I headed over to Medicine Melancholy's field. See, lately we've been working together to try to increase Shanghai's independence, but all we've gotten her to do so far are a few automated responses and her occasionally mimicking other people's actions." Marisa closed her eyes. "Okay." "So anyway, today we were trying to see if we get her to react to things in unpredictable ways, but then something got Medicine talking about botulinum and how it's used. And, well, you know how she can get when she's talking about one of her poisons, so we didn't get much done." "Mmph." "But it was actually kind of interesting. Did you know people in the Outside World actually use it for cosmetic reasons, even though it 's probably the deadliest known-" Alice stopped talking when she saw that Marisa had started snoring. The puppet-master rolled her eyes and chuckled. Of course. Moving carefully so as not to wake her, Alice removed Marisa's hat and sat it on a nearby table. Then she picked up Marisa's blanket from where it had been carelessly kicked aside that morning and gently laid it over the sleeping girl. "Good night, you weirdo," Alice said as she left, softly shutting the door behind her.

A tear ripped open in mid-air, above three feet from the ground. Moving gingerly with the support of a crutch, Reimu exited Yukari's portal and stepped onto the grass. "Thanks for the ride," she said. "Let me know how Suika's doing. And when you've got something new." Inside, Yukari nodded. "I will. Get some rest. I'll check on you in the morning." "You too." Yukari started to close her portal, but she hesitated. "Oh, and Reimu?" "What?"

"Iam sorry I dragged you into this, I really am." Stunned, Reimu tried to wrap her mind around the thought of Yukari giving anyone a sincere apology and failed. "Ohum, thanks?" was all she could manage to say. Without another word, Yukari closed up the portal, disappearing with it. Reimu was left standing alone in front of Hakurei shrine. A minute later, a sparkling lavender border erupted around the shrine's grounds, curving upward to form a dome shape. Reimu glared upward and limped her way to the shrine. "She doesn't do anything by halves, does she?" Reimu muttered to herself. Consenting to have one of Yukari's borders placed around Hakurei Shrine was the only way Reimu could get Yukari to consent to allowing her to return home, instead of staying in the rabbits' care or, even worse, Yukari's. Reimu had quite enough of Eientei for one day, and the one time she had spent the night at Yukari's home had made her swear to never even enter the building ever again. Even thinking about it made her crave a long, hot shower. Still, she had to admit that Yukari's concern had a justifiable reason, seeing how Rin Satsuki was still on the loose. Even if Reisen had pointed out that Rin was highly unlikely to go after her, seeing how Reimu easily done the least during the battle. Still, Rin Satsuki had shown herself to be dangerously unstable. But Reimu just couldn't stay there, sidelined among the wounded. Hence, her current compromise. Well, at least Yukari's barrier was soundless. It was going to be difficult enough to sleep without that obnoxious humming noise energy fields sometimes made. Reimu hobbled up the steps of the shrine and carefully eased herself onto her sleeping mat. She pulled the blanket up to her chin and closed her eyes. As predicted, she couldn't sleep. It wasn't just her injuries. This hadn't been the first time she had been roughed up in a fight. And it wasn't just the situation at hand. No, the problem was that the shrine was just too empty. Suika was more-or-less a constant visitor, and Reimu had grown accustomed to her giggling snores. And then there was Mima, who claimed to prefer to stay at the site of the battle. Although the spirit never made any noise, Reimu had also gotten used to knowing that she was floating around, nearby. Her lack of presence was almost tangible. Reimu growled and pushed away the covers. She wasn't going to get any sleep anyway, and she needed someone to talk to. To that end, she pushed herself back up on her crutch and limped her way around to the back of the shrine.

Immediately behind the shrine was a grove of cherry trees. Spring was already making its presence known in the white buds that were forming on the branches. Reimu ignored them as she made her way through the trees until she reached a large lake, glistening in the moonlight. Reimu lowered herself down against a nearby tree. She rapped the tip of her crutch against the lake's water, sending splashing ripples across the surface. "Come on out, you old reptile. I know you're awake." The water nearby started bubbling, and out came a large, scaly head. Rheumy, yellow eyes squinted at her around a beaklike mouth. "Young lady, what the devils are you still doin' up? It's near midnight! And what the hell is with the light show?" "Bite me, Genji. And there's no way I'm getting any sleep tonight." "Why, that oni friend of yours won't stop fartin'?" "Genji!" There was a hissing laugh, and the waters surged as an enormous turtle lurched its way onto the dry ground. It was easily five feet across from nose to tail, and the hump of its shell, cracked and worn from age, rose another three feet off the ground. And it had lived there in the lake back before the time of Reimu's grandmother. "So," Genji said as he plodded over to sit beside Reimu. "What's on your mind? You know it's so rare that you come an' visit me these days. I was wonderin' if you'd plumb forgot I was still here." "Sorry." "Sure you are, missy. Sure youWell now, do my old eyes deceive me, or are those bandages 'round your head?" "Sure are. Rough day." Genji tsked, which sounded very odd coming from his reptilian beak. "Must've been. That's a heavy duty barrier you've got over us. You expectin' a war? And is that a crutch I see? Kiddo, I don't know what kind of scrapes you've been gettin' yourself into, butWait." The elderly turtle's eyes narrowed. "Your foot. I've seen that before." Reimu sighed. "Yeah. Yukari calls it the taint. You ever hear about the Shadow Youkai?" Genji didn't immediately answer. A long silence passed, and then he said "Tell me what happened." Reimu did. She started with the card game between her, Mima, Suika and Yukari and how it had been disrupted by the arrival of Cirno and her friends. She told him about flying to the Forest of Magic and Marisa's sudden arrival. She told him about encountering Rin Satsuki wearing the form of the Shadow Youkai and the ensuing fight. She described being hurled headfirst through the

forest and being forced to sit on the sidelines while the others worked together to catch Satsuki. She went on to tell him about Satsuki's escape and the disaster with Kaguya and Mokou. All the while, Reimu's former mentor didn't interrupt, he didn't ask questions or have her clarify any points. He just listened. When she finished, he said in a soft voice, "Well now, that's a real pickle you've got yourself into, and no mistake." "Thanks, I've noticed," Reimu groused. "Genji, what am I supposed to do?" Genji blinked, a long, deliberate motion that took three times as long as it would for a human. "Now that there's a funny question. What'ya mean?" "Well? Aren't you supposed to be the old, wise master who teaches every new generation of Hakurei shrine maidens what they're supposed to know?" "Uh, sort of," Genji said. "But it don't work quite that way. Already taught you all that I can. You're supposed to work things out from here on your own." Reimu brought up the knee of her good foot up under her chin and crossed her arms around it. She stared out across the still waters of the lake. "Fine. I won't ask Genji the Hakurei teacher. I'll ask Genji the cranky old wiseass who's seen more than any three shrine maidens put together." "Now that's more I like it!" Genji said. He laughed, a harsh wheezing sound. "But it don't seem to me like you want advice 'bout how to squash this latest pest. Seems like somethin' else is botherin' you." Reimu hesitated, and she nodded. "I was just so useless back there," she said. "The only good I did was get off one Evil Sealing Circle before Satsuki took me out. Everyone else took even more than I did and got back up to keep fighting. But for me, one throw and I was done." "Heh, I can see how that would make you feel useless. But that's just stupid." "Huh?" Reimu straightened up and whipped her head around to stare at Genji. "What do you mean, 'stupid'?" If the elderly reptile could have shrugged he would have. "Girl, I don't know if you've been payin' the slightest bit of attention to that story you just got done tellin' me, but it seems to me all your weird friends got themselves a serious ass-thrashin' as well. And they be things like an oni, superyoukai, whatever the hell that creepy ghost lady you're always hangin' around with. Ain't no shame gettin' beat by somethin' that beat them too." "But Marisa" "What about her? Sure, she got blasted in the face with her own damned spell, which by the way is an image I will cherish for now and eternity, but that ain't bad. Big as her spell is, it's still all

spellcard regulated and proper. Now that taint?" Genji cast a critical eye over Reimu's useless foot. "That oneain't. And I didn't remember hearin' 'bout that crazy witch gettin' thrown through no bamboo trees, no sir." Reimu frowned thoughtfully, but she didn't answer. Genji went on. "Kiddo, you had a bad day, it happens. And from the look o' things, it's only gonna get worst. Not sayin' you ain't entitled to feel a little sorry for yourself, but don't go thinkin' yourself useless, 'cause you ain't. Your ma had plenty of bad days too, so'd your grandma, and your great-grandma before her. And they still kept fighting. And lemme tell you somethin': you're just as tough as any of them. A littlelazy maybe, but still tough. So stop whinin'. You'll be back on your feet and usin' 'em to kick ass again in no time." With a small laugh, Reimu scratched the back of the elderly reptile's head. "How's it you always know how to make me feel better?" Genji closed his eyes and twisted his neck, giving her better access to the spot he liked having scratched best. "Decades an' decades of practice. What, you think your ancestors never got all whiny themselves?" Reimu smirked and leaned back against the tree. Genji settled down, and the two of them watched the moonlight sparkle off the waters of the lake.

It had been hours since Daiyousei had awoken, and she was growing nearly frantic with worry. She and Mystia were still waiting on the same hillside, waiting for some sign of Cirno's return. Wriggle was long gone. The firefly's patience had snapped after about an hour and she had disappeared into the forest, determined to find Cirno herself. Daiyousei herself was perched on the upper branches of the old oak, nervously surveying the forest around them, hoping to catch a glimpse of Cirno or Wriggle. Down below, Mystia sat near a small fire that she had started, singing softly to herself while occasionally poking the burning embers with a stick. Although she couldn't identify exactly why, Mystia was starting to worry Daiyousei as well. True, everything worried Daiyousei, but the night-sparrow had started to behave differently from her normal cheerful and mischievous self. Ever since Wriggle had left, Mystia had started to withdraw further and further into herself, barely even acknowledging that Daiyousei was there unless addressed directly. Sure, she still smiled and claimed that she all right, but there was something not right, something more than just concern for their missing friends. Daiyousei knew her too well to tell that. Frankly, it was getting to be too much. There were too many things to worry about. Daiyousei was worried about what happened to Rumia, she was worried about Cirno finding help and returning

safely, she was worried about Wriggle getting lost and/or attacked, she was worried about whatever it was that was bothering Mystia, she was even worried about herself. If things kept up the way they were, Daiyousei would be left alone. And if that happened, who would be there to tell her what to do? That's when she spied a circle of light floating through the entwined trees of the forest. Not daring to hope, Daiyousei squinted her eyes and focused as hard as she could. There seemed to be a figure walking towards them, surrounded by the light. Then she recognized the mop-head haircut and the two antennae jutting from them. Almost giddy with relief, Daiyousei dropped to ground. "Mystia!" she cried. "It's Wriggle! She's back!" "Oh, what?" Mystia started. She looked in the direction Daiyousei was pointing. "Oh, you're right. It is." "That's all you have to say? C'mon already!" Daiyousei grabbed Mystia by the arm and pulled her along to go meet with the new arrival. As would be expected from someone who had spent the majority of the day searching through an overgrown forest, Wriggle looked both tired and dirty. The light turned out to be several fireflies, normal ones that flitted and fluttered around their larger kinswoman. "Wriggle, you're back!" Daiyousei said as she got within earshot, Mystia in tow. "Did you find anything?" "Hey guys," Wriggle said wearily. "Hang on a sec." She said something in a weird, buzzing language that Daiyousei didn't understand. The fireflies around her flashed their lights once in reply and flew off on whatever firefly business they had. "No luck," Wriggle said, dashing Daiyousei's hopes to pieces. "I asked around, and nobody knows where Cirno is, or Reimu for that matter. A few saw an ice fairy flying through the forest at high speed, but she apparently took off over the trees and disappeared." She smirked. "Found a frozen tarantula youkai though, so I guess she's handling herself at least." "Well, the important thing is that you tried," Mystia said unhelpfully. "Oh boy," Daiyousei muttered. "Who'd you ask? Other youkai? Fairies?" Wriggle gave her a hard look. "There's more people around than just fairies and youkai, genius." Right. Bugs then. Even though Wriggle was technically a bug herself, Daiyousei still found it weird that she could talk to insects that weren't youkai. But if it could get them information, then she had no complaints. "How about you guys?" Wriggle asked. "No luck, huh?"

Daiyousei shook her head. "N-no. Nothing. Do you think something happened to her?" "I don't know. Maybe. Maybe she got caught up in something else. Would be just like her, wouldn't it? To just go off and" Wriggle's eyes suddenly widened. "Well, I'll be squished flat, it's her!" Daiyousei whirled around. To her immense relief, Wriggle was right. Cirno was flying through the air towards the three of them. Even better, she was in one piece. For the first time, Daiyousei began to think that things would be all right. "Cirno!" she called, cupping one hand around her mouth and waving with the other. "Over here!" Cirno nodded at them and swooped down for a landing. "Took you long enough," Wriggle remarked, her hands on her hips. "I was looking all over for you! Where've you been?" "Umaround" Cirno replied, staring at the ground. "Huh?" Daiyousei bent over to get a look at her face. Cirno quickly turned away, but not before Daiyousei caught a glimpse of bloodshot eyes, framed in frost. "Cirno? What happened?" Cirno grimaced. "L-look, not now, okay? Please." The other three exchanged a glance. "Okay" Wriggle said. "But, uh, Rumia? Did you learn anything about her?" "I don't know." "Huh?" Wriggle pushed her way past Daiyousei to get right in front of Cirno. "What'ya mean, 'I don't know'? What the hell happened?" "I don't know, okay?" Cirno exploded. She grabbed Wriggle by the collar and shoved her face against the firefly's. "I don't know what really happened to Rumia, or if she's still alive, or who she really is, or anything! People kept telling me different things, and now I'm really confused andI. Just. Don't. Know! Okay?" "Okay, okay!" Wriggle said hastily. "I got it!" Cirno shoved the firefly away and turned from her friends. "I don't know, I just don't know," she muttered as she wrapped her arms around herself. "Cirno?" Daiyousei said softly. She laid one hand on Cirno's shoulder. "Um, a-are you all-" Cirno pulled away from her touch. "Let's just go home."

"What? But, we'reokay." Cirno took off into the air, and the other three followed. No one said anything, no one understood anything, and no one could work up the nerve to ask Cirno again what had happened. They flew through the night air, away from the Forest of Magic, over fields and rivers and around villages. In time, the Youkai Mountains came into view. The remaining members of Cirno's gang dipped low and darted into an overgrown thicket at the foot of the foremost mountain. Cirno pulled aside a length of wood covered with leaves and bits of branches, revealing the mouth of a cave. Cirno had discovered the cave some years prior, entirely by accident. She had miscalculated during one of her many capers and had to flee the Tengu village in a hurry. Unfortunately, a parting shot had sent her careening into the thicket. However, that bit of ill fortune had turned out for the best, as it led to her finding the cave and immediately declaring it the personal hideaway of her and her friends. It was into this cave that the four of slipped into, carefully replacing the board they used for camouflage back in its place. Mystia produced a box of matches from a nearby crevice and lit a lantern, illuminating the small cavern they had entered and casting shadows over the nearby stones and jutting stalagmites. As they walked around, lighting the other lanterns that hung along the cavern's wall, Daiyousei sidled up to Wriggle. "What do we do now?" she whispered. Wriggle shook her head. "I have no freaking idea," she admitted. "But if you ask me, I think something bad's happened. Something really, really-" "Cirno!" The high-pitched voice came out of nowhere. Everyone shouted in alarm and whirled around to see a dark shape leap from the other end of the cavern to pounce on Cirno, tackling her to the ground. Even more confused than before, Cirno stared up to see a pair of wide, brown eyes framed by disheveled hair of the same color. "Hi Cirno!" Chen shouted down at the ice fairy. "Ran was being a real meanie and had the doctor from the moon stick needles in my arm and I fell asleep and woke up in a closet and decided to run away to find you and I got here but you weren't here yet so I waited until you got back so we could go out and play like you said except it's night now, so can we play all night instead of-Huh?" She then noticed the other fairy and two youkai, standing nearby and staring at her. "Hey," Chen said in a more normal voice. "What happened to you guys?"

Night had fallen on Gensokyo. Everywhere, those who preferred the light of the sun were going to sleep while those who stalked the darkness were starting to crawl from their holes. The chirping of birds had been replaced with the chittering of crickets, and lanterns were illuminating the various settlements. Wholly unaware of the recent changes that had happened to their world, the various inhabitants of the land went about their nightly routine, whether it meant shutting down for the day or starting up. And why shouldn't they? It was just another day, the same as all the others. Elsewhere, however, others were much more restless. Yukari stood at the door of her home, staring down at the sprawling country before her, her lips closed so tightly they were almost bloodless. Reimu eventually drifted off to sleep by the lake, causing a chuckling Genji to heave her onto his back and carry her back to the shrine. Ran searched frantically through the Bamboo Forest of the Lost, unaware that Chen was safely with Cirno and her friends. Marisa snored softly to herself, lost in a rare moment of peace that would be gone as soon as she awoke. And, in the wreck that was Eientei, a rabbit named Reisen crawled exhausted into the sleeping bag that had been provided for her until her quarters could be repaired. When she was sure no one was listening, she pulled out the object she had managed to pull from the debris of her room. It was a framed photograph, showing her dressed in a purple kimono and smiling for the camera. Standing beside her and totally unaware of the rabbit ears Reisen was holding up behind her head was a cheerful blond-haired girl wearing a red kimono and holding up a sparkler. Reisen clutched the picture to her chest as stubborn tears formed in her eyes. Even though she kept telling herself that everything would eventually work out for the best, she knew in her heart that they were about to get much worst. Spring had come to Gensokyo, and nobody cared. They had bigger things to worry about.