Chapter 1
A Disruption
The relative peace of Misty Lake is disturbed as a loud explosion sounds from a well-known island. "H-hey Cirno, what was that?" the fairy Daiyousei asks her friend.
"I dunno, but Imma go check it out!" the childish ice fairy says.
"I don't think that's a good idea, what if it's dangerous?" Daiyousei says, sweating nervously.
"Meh, I'll be fine. I'm the strongest, after all." Cirno says, a big grin on her face.
"But isn't looking into this sort of thing that shrine maiden's job? What if you run into her again?" Daiyousei says.
"I need to pay that Reimu back for that one time anyways. I can't be the strongest if she can beat me. I'll be fine, Dai!" Cirno says, preparing to fly toward the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
"O-okay. But if you don't come back by tomorrow, I'm going to get help." Daiyousei says.
"Don't worry about it, Dai! I'll be back before you know it. This'll teach that shrine maiden, doing her job better than her!" Cirno says, flying away.
I hope nothing happens today, I'm still exhausted from that birdbrained god-eating raven. Reimu Hakurei thinks, relaxing in her new hot spring. Mere seconds after thinking that, she hears a commotion out in front of the shrine. Of course, no breaks for me. Reimu thinks, grumbling and exiting the spring before getting re-dressed. She heads for the entrance to the shrine and gets knocked over by Daiyousei, who is babbling incoherently. "Slow down and let your brain work before you try to use your mouth." Reimu says, standing back up.
Daiyousei takes a deep breath, then babbles some more. She pauses, takes another deep breath, and says "R-Reimu, it's Cirno! She- there was an explosion and- the island with the big house- and she hasn't- I told her it- she's missing, Reimu!"
"So Cirno's missing after checking out an explosion at the Scarlet Devil Mansion? She probably just got killed by Meiling or something. What's the big deal, she'll just pop back into existence soon anyways." Reimu says.
"But she's normally back already, and I told her not to be there too long, and I have a bad feeling, and I'm worried, Reimu!" Daiyousei says.
"Ugh, fine. I'll go check it out. It's probably just one of Patchouli's spells that messed up or something." Reimu says, her hand on her forehead.
Well, after that fiasco, I think somebody owes me some books. Marisa Kirisame, sitting in her mess of a house, thinks. After all, she's the one who made me go down there in the first place. Hmm, I wonder if Alice wants to come along. I'm sure Patchy has some books that'll help her with her doll thingy, and Alice helped just as much as the other two did. The witch flies over to her friend's house, and kicks the door open. "Oi, Alice! You home?" Marisa says boisterously upon this action.
"Actually, I was just leaving." says a disgruntled Alice Margatroid. The door had hit her in the face, and she is now sitting on her floor.
"Oh, whoops. Sorry 'bout that. Anyway, you wanna come with me to go get some books from Patchy? She owes me after that whole deal with the crow." Marisa says, grinning sheepishly.
"After the amount of things you've taken from her, I doubt she owes you anything. However, if you're going to be attempting to do this diplomatically, I guess I will go with you to make sure you don't cause too much trouble." Alice says, standing up.
